a. mokhtari

The use of thermodynamic cycles for power generation is very important. The use of renewable energy in thermodynamic cycles instead of a heat source causes these cycles to become popular from an environmental point of view. In this study, Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is considered for power generation. Ground source at 100 °C and flat plate collectors (FPC) have been used to provide the required heat. Also, an off grid residential building with 408 residents has been considered to provide power. For energy storage, the hydrogen system including proton electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer and fuel cell has been used. This cycle is used to supply the demand of the building from an economic and environmental point of view, with variable decisions of collector area, flow rate and tank volume for multi-objective optimization. The generated energy is initially consumed in the building and the excess power is stored in the form of hydrogen to be used during power shortage hours. The results showed that the payback time of the studied cycle is 6.32 years and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) was 0.26 $.kWh-1. Also, from the environmental point of view, 583.3 tons of CO2 will be reduced throughout the year.

St. John's Wort, known as Hypericum perforatum L., is a valuable medicinal plant in the Hypericaceae family. Its most common use is for its antidepressant properties. The active compounds hypericin and hyperforin in St. John's Wort and their proven therapeutic effects have made this plant one of the most valuable medicinal plants worldwide. Hypericin, a major plant metabolite, has antiviral and anticancer effects. Hypericin belongs to the naphthodianthrones family and is light-sensitive. It mainly accumulates in the dark-colored glands on the leaves and flowers of the plant, and its concentration ranges from 0.3% to 3.0% in the leaves and 1% to 14% in the flower buds, depending on the plant variety, height, light conditions, and season. Hyperforin is another important compound of the phloroglucinols group found abundantly in St. John's Wort flowers, especially in the stamens and the fruit. However, it is also present in large amounts in the leaves. Hyperforin content of 6.9% in flower buds, 8.5% in unripe fruit, and 5.1% in leaves has been reported. Unlike hypericin, hyperforin accumulates in transparent glands. Since hypericin and hyperforin depend on environmental conditions, asexual reproduction is preferred over sexual reproduction. In this study, 20 populations from 20 different regions of Iran were collected and examined for micropropagation optimization. In addition to identifying the most suitable medium for micropropagation of these populations, the morphological, physiological, biochemical, and histological characteristics of them were also investigated. To prepare the modified culture medium, ½ MS salts, FeEDDHA, B5 vitamins, and two g.l-1 Glycine was used. The MS basal medium was used as a control after adjusting the pH to 8.5 and adding 8.6 g.l-1 Agar, the desired medium, was distributed into culture vessels and autoclaved at 121°C and 2 bar pressure for 20 minutes. Seven explants containing 1-2 buds were placed in each culture vessel. All cultures were incubated in a growth room with 8 hours of darkness and 16 hours of light at an intensity of 1500-2000 lux, a temperature of 25°C, and a relative humidity of 60-70% for four weeks. After the emergence of new shoots, data were collected on the number of branches, length of branches, fresh weight, and dry weight. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to measure the hypericin content in the leaves of the plantlets. This study shows that changing the culture medium composition in most studied populations increases branch length and number. Reducing the amount of mineral salts in the culture medium has affected the plant's osmotic relationships to water and nutrient uptake. This and increased glycine concentration have created a better fine growth trend. This study showed that among twenty native es of Iran, the North Khorasan population had the highest morphological (shoot number, shoot length), physiological (fresh weight, dry weight), and biochemical (hypericin content) indices in the modified medium. Also, histological studies in this study showed a larger growth of dark glands in the modified medium than in the basal medium. Based on the findings for twenty native populations of Hypericum perforatum in Iran, the North Khorasan population had the highest morphological (shoot number, shoot length), physiological (fresh weight, dry weight), and biochemical (hypericin content) indices in the modified medium. Also, histological studies showed a larger growth of dark glands in the modified medium than in the basal medium.

The current study investigates the two-phase turbulentnanofluid flow insidein a heat exchanger tube equipped with a novel type of conical turbulators having two parallel rows of holes, for first time.The range of Reynolds number was between 4000and20000 under turbulent flow regime and uniform wall temperature condition.Water is considered as the base fluid and TiO2 nanoparticles with volume fractions of0–2.5% are added as the second phase to the base fluid.The effect of number of the conical insert turbulators, number of the holes and volume fraction of the nanoparticles on flow field,average Nusselt number,friction factor and performance evaluation criterion(PEC) have been numerically investigated.The results show that the proposed turbulators create vortices and recirculating currents that have significant effect on heat transfer.As number ofthe turbulators increases,Nusselt number increases obviously.However,the presence of holes also reduces the friction factor andpressure drop that is related to lower resistance in the flow path.In general,the use of perforated conical turbulators improves PEC by creating controlled turbulent flows.Onthe otherhand,the useof added nanoparticles also enhances heat transfer.The presented turbulators increase PEC up to43% compared to the smooth tube,if the parameters are determined properly.The maximum PEC of1.43 is obtained at M=8,N=4 and Re=4100,which shows good performance compared to othertypes of turbulators.

Endophytes are fungi, bacteria, or yeast symbionts that live in the intercellular spaces or vascular tissues of host plants. The Echinophora platyloba endophytes with production of seondray metabolites and compunend has antifungal and antibacterial properties and prolnages the shelf-time food. The present study was designed to isolate and evaluate the effects of Echinophora platyloba bacterial endophytes and their antifungal and antibacterial properties on Streptococcus agalactiae and Cryptococcus neoformans. Plant components were randomly collected from Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran, and then cleaned and sterilized. Bacterial endophytes were isolated after culturing plant components in YEA and PA media and the antimicrobial properties of endophytes were investigated by studying structural factors (by chloroform) as well as endophyte metabolites. A total of 12 bacterial endophytes were isolated from different parts of leaves, stems and roots of Echinophora platyloba and showed favorable inhibitory effects on Streptococcus agalactiae and Cryptococcus neoformans. In general, secretory metabolites derived from bacterial endophytes showed stronger inhibitory effects than structural factors against these pathogens. The results of this study indicate the efficacy and potential of Echinophora platyloba bacterial endophytes in inhibiting human pathogens.

Yersinia ruckeri (Y. ruckeri)-associated disease remains a problem in fish farming, despite widespread vaccine use. Y. ruckeri is still one of the main causes of economic loss in the aquaculture industry. In this study, we developed outer membrane vesicles (OMV) as a new antigen and compared its efficacy with the classical antigen (whole-cell bacteria). Rainbow trouts were immunized with Y. ruckeri-derived OMVs and formalin-inactivated whole-cell bacteria by immersion route. The fish were then subjected to an intraperitoneal challenge with live bacteria during 2-10 weeks post-immunization. Subsequently, relative percentage of survival (RPS), antibody titer, lysozyme serum activity, lymphocyte percent and kidney pathological signs were evaluated. The OMV morphology was confirmed by electron microscopy. OMV and whole-cell bacteria immunized fish had higher RPS relative to the control group, but whole-cell bacteria resulted in higher RPS than the OMV group. Moreover, in the whole-cell bacteria group antibody titer was higher than the control and OMV groups. Lymphocyte percentage and lysozyme level in the whole-cell bacteria group was increased compared to OMV and control groups. Y. ruckeri's pathological damage was observed in the control group, while only eosinophilic secretions were identified for both immunized groups. These findings proved the protection of Y. ruckeri-derived OMV against Y. ruckeri, but whole-cell bacteria in the immersion method had a better effect on disease protection.

Structural and electronic properties of double perovskites Sr2BWO6 (B = Co, Ni, Cu)  were studied  for each of three magnetic configurations nonmagnetic, ferromagnetic, and antiferromagnetic by using density functional theory in generalized gradient approximations (GGA) and strong correlation correction (GGA + U). Due to magnetic transition from antiferromagnetic to nonmagnetic phase, an electron transition occurred from semiconductor to metal in the tetragonal structure of Sr2CoWO6, and from insulator to metal in the two tetragonal structures of Sr2NiWO6 and Sr2CuWO6. Furthermore, in Sr2CoWO6, another electron transition occurred from metal to half-metal, due to the octahedral rotation of cobalt and possibly because of changes in the magnetic interactions resulting from it. Structurally, the lattice parameters of Sr2CoWO6 and Sr2NiWO6 were decreased by eliminating magnetic interactions. But, the lattice parameters of Sr2CuWO6 was increased with loss of magnetic order, due to the dominance of Jahn-Teller deviation.

In this research, the effects of some topography and soil factors influencing vegetation structure have been studied in Chal Kabud basin located in the northern slope of Oshtorankouh. It enjoys the greatest altitude variations, a rich diversity of plant species as well as topographical features. Nineteen altitudinal classes were identified by 100 m altitudinal interval. In each altitudinal class, 4 transects (2 vertical and 2 horizontal) each with 200 m length were established and 8 quadrates were sampled alongside each transect. In selected classes along the homogenous units, soil profile was dig and some edaphic parameters were measured. Vegetation characteristics and grazing intensity of all units also were studied. Fourteen vegetation classes were classified by TWINSPAN and plant species as well as sampling sites were analyzed and grouped by Dterended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) to 4 and 6 similar categories, respectively. In order to study the effects of environmental factors on vegetation, Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) were applied and correlation among each environmental factor and plant species were measured. CCA results showed that edapic factors were the most effective factors on distribution and establishment of plant species in the study area and altitude, slope and grazing intensity were among the next important factors respectively.

The objective of this study was to describe endometrial cytology to determine the prevalence of subclinicalendometritis (SCE) and iťs impacts on fertility in Repeat breeder dairy cows.Dairy cows parity 1 to 5 which were inseminated 3 or more times (the average number of AI in selected cows was3.8) were examined in 190±40 days in milk. Clinically normal cows (n=77) were selected based on the absenceof abnormal discharges on external inspection and also absence of abnormal fndings on transrectal palpation andultrasonographic examination.Endometrial samples were collected from the uterus using the lavage technique in the luteal phase of estrus cycle.Collected solution centrifuged and a drop of sediment was streaked on to a clean microscopic slide and stained withGiemsa. The percentage of polymorphonuclear cells(neutrophils) was counted for each specimen.Analyzed data showed that in the selected cows, the mean amount of neutrophils was 3/1 %(0-9) and the prevalenceof cytologically diagnosed SCE (based on more than 2% neutrophils) was 52/7 %(n=38).Cytologically diagnosed SCE was signifcantly associated with impaired reproductive performance.In this study, 25% of cows (n=18) became pregnant in the next service. Conception rate (in the next AI) was 5% forcows (n=38) with SCE (more than 2% neutrophils), and 47% for cows (n=34) without SCE(less than 3% neutrophils)(p=0.009).In conclusion, subclinical endometritis in repeat breeder cows which diagnosed by endometrial cytology wasassociated with reduced reproductive performance such as relative conception rate and increased risk of involuntaryor premature culling.