alireza beheshti

The continuation of agricultural operations, based on conventional ploughing along with removal or burning of plant residues, can lead to soil degradation and erosion. Taking into account the increase in environmental pollution, the exploitation of new technologies in the direction of sustainable agriculture should be taken seriously. Along with conservation tillage, maintaining or adding plant residues, especially wheat mulch, on the soil surface can also be emphasized. Increased yield, stimulated soil microbial activity, improved soil structure and reduced water erosion are among the beneficial consequences of wheat residues on the soil.Determining the effects of crop residue and tillage systems on productivity is essential for sustainable land management. Therefore, the current experiment was carried out with the aim of investigating the effect of different tillage systems and wheat residue levels on growth indicators, yield and yield components of wheat.

In order to study the effect of tillage systems and residue management on yield and yield components of wheat, a field study was conducted as a split block experiment in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Experiment was implemented at experimental site of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran in 2013 growing season to evaluate the impact of tillage systems and wheat residue application on growth parameters, yield and yield components of wheat. For this purpose, four different tillage systems (disk, mouldboard plough + disk, sweep plough + disk and chisel plough + disk) as were employed vertical factor in combination with five different crop residue applications (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% wheat residue) as horizontal factor. Number of ear per plant, seed number per ear and plant, 1000 seed weight, grain and biological yields of wheat were determined. Experimental data were analysed considering the analysis of variance using SAS 9.3. In order to determine the statistical differences between treatments, the least significant difference (LSD) was performed at level of P ≤ 0.05.

According to the results, the highest leaf area index and crop growth rate of wheat were observed in 167 and 151 days after sowing. These times were equal to beginning of seed filling. Chisel plough + disk tillage system increased leaf area index and crop growth rate by 14 and 21%, respectively compared with mouldboard plough + disk tillage system. In addition, the lowest and the highest ear number per plant and seed yield were observed when disk and chisel plough + disk tillage systems were applied, respectively. In general, the chisel system creates relatively deep furrows in the soil, but unlike the mouldboard plough, it does not cause overturning. As a result, at the same time as a decrease in the loss of moisture and nutrients, slight changes in the soil structure are caused.The results showed that by increasing wheat residues up to 75%, the leaf area index and plant growth rate considerably increased. For example, at the level of 75%, these traits were registered up to 35 and 60%, respectively, more than the control treatment. Moreover, ear number per plant and seed yield was significantly increased with increasing crop residue application. In a general statement, providing as much organic matter and nutrients as possible is considered one of the main benefits of applying wheat residues on the soil surface. Hence, an increase in the leaf area index, growth rate, and seed yield of wheat following the application of straw residues may be due to the gradual decay of plant residues during the growing season and subsequently the availability of nutrients required for plant growth. 

Application of wheat residue along with reduced tillage (based on disk and chisel plough) as an ecological approach can be recommended in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran to increase wheat yield and promote sustainable production.

The discharge of a large volume of colored wastewater into receiving water sources has caused widespread concern around the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of pumice as an adsorbent in removing methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. The adsorption process was also modeled and optimized by the methods as follows: central composite design-central composite design (RSM-CCD) and artificial neural network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA).

Methods and Materials:

The independent variables in the study were included pH (3-11), contact time (10-50 minutes), adsorbent dose (0.1-2 g/L), and MB concentration (20-100 mg/l). The effect of these parameters on the efficiency of pumice in MB uptake was modeled and optimized by RSM-CCD and ANN-GA methods. A spectrophotometer at 620 nm was used to measure the residual MB concentration in solution.

The results showed that the RSM-CCD method has the ability to develop a quadratic polynomial model with high validity (R2 = 0.9997) for the adsorption process. Similarly, the ANN-GA method fitted well with experimental data to develop a model with high validity (R2 = 0.9978). The results of optimization process by RSM-CCD and ANN-GA methods obtained the highest adsorption efficiency at pH = 11, contact time = 50 minutes, adsorbent dose = 1 g/L, and concentration MB = 20 mg/L. Adsorption efficiency shows a direct relationship with pH, contact time and adsorbent dose and inversely with contaminant concentration. The linear effect of pollutant concentration and adsorbent dose variables had the greatest effect on adsorption efficiency.

In this study, it was observed that pumice as a cheap and available adsorbent can be considered as a suitable choice for absorbing dye pollutants from aqueous media. RSM-CCD and ANN-GA methods can also be used to model and optimize adsorption processes.

Construction is one of the most dangerous industries in the world and one of the authorities’ concerns of officials in this area is to improve their safety. This study was carried out so as to investigate the causes of unsafe behaviors in a combined cycle power plant.

In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire for 300 workers of the combined cycle power plan were used. The obtained information was divided into criteria and sub-criteria affecting the causes of unsafe behaviors. Criteria and sub-criteria were distributed as a pairwise comparison questionnaire among 19 people who worked on the safety and they were supposed to answer based on their experiences as well as the distance scale. Criteria and sub-criteria were ordered by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and using Expert Choice software.

the results showed that the criterion of individual characteristics (34 %) is the most effective factor for unsafe behaviors and followed by employer (22%), teaching 915%), education (12%), specialization and experience (7.8%), age (7.6%), job characteristics (3%), and weather condition (2%) respectively.

the most important sub-criterion of individual characteristics is a onechr('39')s susceptibility to accident. Hence, it is necessary to prevent unsafe behaviors by employing vulnerable people in less dangerous occupations.

As of December 2019, a new strain of coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was discovered in Wuhan, China, following an epidemic of a fast-spreading viral respiratory disease, later called Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which then lead to the present pandemic the world has come to know. Patients who tested positive for COVID-19 are mostly asymptomatic or present with mild self-limiting symptoms. While GI symptoms occur with less prevalence, they are increasingly being reported. A diagnosis of Covid-19 has increased dramatically in patients presenting with gastrointestinal symptoms suggesting that GI symptoms should be taken into serious consideration with patient diagnosis. Case 1: A 65-year-old man presented to the hospital emergency room with abdominal pain, Murphy's sign and chills without fever, subsequently diagnosed as acute acalculous cholecystitis with a positive COVID-19 rRT-PCR. Case 2: A 78-year-old woman presented to the hospital emergency room complaining of severe positional epigastric pain precipitated by lying supine, chills with no fever, being later diagnosed as acute pancreatitis and a positive COVID-19 rRT-PCR. It has become evident that the ACE2 receptor plays a significant role as the entry site into human cells for the virus. This receptor is generally expressed in respiratory cells, as well as the gastrointestinal tract, corresponding with extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19. Studies concluded that the origin of gastrointestinal symptoms could be caused by the interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with cells through the ACE2 receptor. The findings of the present study support this theory, as both patients presented with symptoms regarding tissues with high ACE2 expression.

The nitrogen budget or balance is often evaluated by comparing various nitrogen inputs and outputs in soil–crop systems. Research on nitrogen balance can provide more detailed information on the nitrogen cycle and its losses by integrating soil nitrogen processes with the total nitrogen budgets. There are restricted researches for evaluation of nitrogen balances in the cropping systems. It is clear that accurate measuring of each component of nitrogen budgets in relation to soil processes is difficult. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the main cereal crop cultivated in Iran. According to published data the average nitrogen application rates in wheat cropping systems of Iran is 120 kg.ha-1 but, the excessive use of fertilizer nitrogen is very common in wheat fields. It is estimated that in Iran, about 2.2 million ha of wheat production areas are under irrigation. Alike, there are limited studies on nitrogen dynamics, budgets and its losses pathways in wheat production systems of Iran. Such studies are essential to understand the nitrogen behavior and balance in wheat cropping systems. This research was carried out with the aim of evaluating nitrogen balance of wheat cropping systems with different climatic conditions over the country by using CENTURY model.

We used CENTURY model (Parton et al., 1994) to evaluate nitrogen dynamics and nitrogen balance in wheat cropping systems. For this purpose 14 wheat cropping system located in diverse climates were selected. Soil data was collected from Soil and Water Research Institute and weather data from 2000 to 2014 were obtained from Iran Meteorological Organization for 14 selected stations. The CENTURY model simulates the long-term dynamics of Carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N), for different Plant-Soil Systems. The model can simulate the dynamics of agricultural crop systems. The crop system of CENTURY have different plant production sub-models which are linked to a common soil organic matter sub-model .The soil organic matter sub-model simulates the flow of C, N through plant litter and the different inorganic and organic pools in the soil. CENTURY model runs in monthly time step with monthly precipitation (cm), monthly mean minimum and maximum temperature (°C), site latitude and longitude, sand, silt and clay (%), soil bulk density (g.cm-3), rooting depth (cm), C and N content of the top 20 cm of soil and management information such as planting date, first and last month of wheat growth, number and amounts of applied fertilizers, amount of irrigation water and its schedules are required. For model validation we used two statistical measures including Normalized Root Mean Squared Error (nRMSE), Willmott (1982) index of agreement (d value) and linear regression coefficients between actual and predicted values.

Results revealed that the highest nitrogen input in wheat cropping systems (9.5 - 12.5 g.m-2) was observed in Northwest, West and Southwest and the lowest (7.3 - 9.4 g.m-2) were in East and Southeast areas of the country. Also, nitrogen output plan in wheat cropping systems was similar to nitrogen input. In addition, stepwise regression analysis indicated that fertilizer application rate with partial coefficient of 97.33% and grain nitrogen with partial coefficient of 92.79%, respectively, were the most important variables in relation to nitrogen input and output in wheat cropping systems of Iran.

According to the results, it seems that in relation to nitrogen input, the role of agronomic management such as fertilizer application, coincidence of fertilizer application time with plant requirement and increasing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) which is mostly dependent on agricultural management are important issues. But in the case of nitrogen outputs from wheat cropping systems, in addition to agronomic managements, use of improved cultivars with higher nitrogen uptake efficiency is more important.

Sorghum is an important forage crop used as silage, fresh forage and dry forage. To evaluate the yield stability of 16 genotypes; cultivars, lines and hybrids, of forage sorghum, experiments were conducted using randomized complete block design with three replications during 2016-17 at Karaj, Isfahan, Gorgan, and Mashhad field stations, Iran. The results of combined analysis of variance showed that the effect of location, year, genotype and their interactions were significant on forage yield. Mean comparison showed that hybrids No. 8 (Siloking) and 12 (FGCSI12) were superior to other genotypes with 130.6 and 127.5 t.ha-1 of fresh forage yiled, and 26.97 and 27.17 t.ha-1 of dry forage yield, respectively. The hybrid No. 2 (Speedfeed), No. 9 (PHFS-27), No. 5 (Juicy Sweet BMR SSH.1) and No. 13 (Sucarose- Photo- BMR) had also high fresh forage yield of 105.6, 107.8, 108.2 and 107t.ha-1, respectively. The analysis of variance by AMMI method and fitting of principal components to the interaction effects of genotype and environment showed that the two principal components were significant for fresh and dry forage yield. According to the AMMI model and AMMI stability value (ASV), genotypes No. 8 (Siloking) and 12 (FGCSI12) with the high yield and stability were identified as suitable genotypes.

IEvaluation of cold-tolerance in genetic resources of some annual forage crops under cold climatic conditions Introduction Temperature influences plant physiological processes, cellular structure and development. Habitat from which plants originate has undeniable effects on plant tolerance to cold temperatures. Plants from higher latitudes exhibit more tolerance to cold stress than plants from lower latitudes. When plants are exposed to cold stress, a sequence of events is triggered inside them, leading to an improved tolerance to the environmental condition. This phenomenon is known as plant hardening. Having access to winter-hardened species and cultivars is one of the important necessities for the development of crop production systems in local microclimates of cold regions. Utilizing genetic diversity in crop plant resources is an important approach towards achieving sustainable agriculture. Diversity in Iran`s forage germplasm for traits such as early maturity, high ratio of leaf to stem, dense ground cover and high yield has been shown in temperate regions such as Karaj and Mashhad (Abbasi, 2009, Abbasi et al., 2017). Testing a selection of these germplasm accessions can determine their potential for growing under water-limited conditions in cold regions. Hence, different genera and species of legumes in national plant gene bank of Iran originated from high latitudes were used to be evaluated under cold growing conditions. Materials and Methods A total of 124 annual-forage accessions from 40 species and 10 genera were selected based on the previous research works and were planted in an experimental filed at Jolge-Rokh agricultural research station. The number of accessions in each genus included Trifolium (36 accessions), annual medics (28 accessions), Onobrychis (9 accessions), Vicia (21 accessions), Melilotus (17 accessions), Lolium (6 accessions), Bromus (5 accessions), and Phalaris (1 accession), Lathyrus (1 accession) and barley (1 accession). Each accession was planted in two 2-meter long rows spaced 50 cm apart using an augmented experimental design. Some of the traits characterized in this study from autumn to spring included growth rate in spring and autumn, cold-tolerance score, plant height etc (IPIGRI, 1984). Statistical descriptive parameters were determined for the evaluated traits. One-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) and Duncan's multiple tests were performed on data of each trait. The analyses were carried out by SPSS 15. Results and Discussion Meteorological data showed that there were a total of 68 days of freezing temperatures in the region from November till March. The lowest absolute temperature recorded was - 17.4 °C in December. Also, the mean of daily minimum temperature for December, January, February and March was below zero and the mean of daily maximum temperature for December, January and February was -10 °C, indicating the occurrence of cold stress in the region. The results of one-way ANOVA analysis for the investigated genera and species showed that there were significant differences among their traits at 1 % probability level, particularly prior to cold stress. Lolium and Bromus were the most tolerant species among the narrow-leaved forages and the tested germplasm. Among forage legumes, sweet clover exhibited the highest tolerance to cold temperatures. Although the species vicia, Lathyrus and Iranian clover were not tolerant to cold, they were found to be beneficial in terms of soil conservation and sustainability due to the production of proper vegetative cover prior to the cold spell, which lasted till the spring of the next year. Based on the results of this investigation, the studied species and genera can be classified into the following groups: 1- Cold-tolerant forage grasses including accessions of Lolium: 14TN00072, 14TN00038, 14TN00052, 14TN00054 and accessions of Bromus: 10TN00049, 10TN00012, 10TN00036, 10TN00039, and 10TN00026. 2- Cold-susceptible forage grasses such as accessions: KC126013 (L. temelentum) and barley. Although this group was sensitive to cold, they produced good vegetative cover on ground before the occurrence of cold, which can be used as mulch for soil protection throughout the year. 3- Cold-tolerant legumes, such as accessions of Melilotus: 58TN00025, 58TN00047, MahNo313, 58TN00182, 58TN00223, 58TN00140, 58TN00181, 58TN00080, and 58TN00190 4- Cold-susceptible forage legumes: they were categorized into two groups, one group produced good vegetative cover on ground before the cold spell such as accessions 44TN00047, 44TN00041, and 44TN00005, and the other group failed to produce enough vegetative cover on ground such as some accessions of annual medics, Onobrychis, and Trifolium.

In order to evaluate the effect of intercropping cultivation of forage maize and sorghum on forage production, a study was carried out in 2014 growing season. Maize Hybrid (SC 704) and sorghum hybrid (speed feed) were evaluated in five row intercropping with different ratio of two spices including: M1(100%corn), M2(75 :25), M3(50:50), M4(25 : 75) and M5(100% sorghum). Two separate experiments for applying two irrigation regimes, normal (8, EXP1) and limited (16, EXP2) days irrigation intervals were used. By decreasing 52.7% water in EXP2, its total mean production for green and DM yield decreased by 16.7%, but the mean values for LER and WUE increased by 45%. In EXP.1, Maximum values for green and dry matter yield, WUE and LER were recorded for M2 treatment as 93.75 and 26.25 t -ha, 13.02 kg m-3 water, and ratio 1.35 respectively. At EXP2 these values were recorded for M4 treatment as 77.72 and 21.76 t -ha, 22.83, kg m-3 water and 1.62. With these results, the M2 treatment (75%:25%) and M3 (50%:50%) are recommended for situation of normal and severe water restrictions.

Exposure to formaldehyde in ambient air has attracted a great attention, due to harmful health effects. This study was aimed to determine formaldehyde concentration in winter and spring seasons, in Azadi square region, Tehran, and the relation of variations of CO, NO2, O3, temperature and humidity with formaldehyde concentration was modeled based on Response Surface Methodology.  This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014–2015 in Tehran. For measuring the formaldehyde concentration, NIOSH3500 method was employed. The concentration of formaldehyde was detected at 580 nm wavelengths by PerkinElmer LAMBDA spectrophotometer model of 25UV/Vis. Data of CO, NO2 and O3 concentration were attained from Tehran Air Quality Control Company. SPSS 16 and Design Expert (version 7) were used for analyzing data. Results showed the concentration of formaldehyde in the spring was on average 4.7 ppb more compared to winter season. The Model fitted for the prediction of formaldehyde showed a significant p-value (<0.001). Moreover, the R2 and Adj-R2 values were obtained about 0.8237 and 0.7607. In this model, it is observed the parameters of CO, NO2, O3 and temperature has a direct relation with the variations of formaldehyde, and humidity has an indirect relation.

 Results indicated formaldehyde concentration in spring season is on overage higher than winter spring. The fitted model showed the CO, NO2, O3 and temperature is in a direct correlation with formaldehyde changes in ambient air, and humidity is in an indirect correlation.

Today, the performance of the Health, Safety, and Environment Management System (PHSE) has different dimensions depending on the type of organization or industry. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Health, Safety, and Environment Management System (HSE) of Saba Tire Cord Company using the Balanced Scorecard Model (BSC).

This descriptive-analytical study was carried out in 2016 at Saba Tire Company in Zanjan, Iran using the multi-criteria decision making (AHP & TOPSIS) and BSC models. To determine the validity and reliability of the tool, the content validity and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were used. The process of the sampling was done using an all count method among 300 employees of Saba Tire Company. Data were analyzed using SPSS 11.5, TOPSIS, and Expert Choice software Two questionnaires were used for the criteria and sub-criteria ranking and prioritization of the options.

In the 5-dimensional Balanced Scorecard, the customer dimension with 86.7% had the best performance and the financial dimension showed with the lowest score in the PHSE management system by 84.3% from the results of data analysis using Expert Choice software, the customer benchmark with the relative weight of 0.46 and the environmental criterion with a relative weight of 0.06, had the highest and the lowest scores for the panel members in the performance of the HSE management system; from the results of data analysis with the TOPSIS software, it was seen that the safety dimension (with a final value of 0.7) had higher rating than health and environment.

Among the perspectives that were analyzed in the hierarchical analysis method, the customer’s criteria were chosen as the superior benchmark for the PHSE management system.

Nitrogen fertilizers, plays an essential role in crop production and additionally its application has environmental drawbacks. So, nitrogen dynamics between cropping systems and environment is one of the most important agronomic management practices. Improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is an important target in wheat cropping systems, it increases profitability through greater yields and reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production and it could be reduce environmental hazards. There are many definitions related to NUE in the context of crop production and as well as in the literature review. One of the fundamental definition related to Moll et al (1982). According to Moll et al. (1982) definitions’ NUE as grain dry matter yield per unit of nitrogen available from the soil and fertilizer and divided it into two components 1-Nitrogen-uptake efficiency that is crop nitrogen uptake to nitrogen available and 2- Nitrogen-utilization efficiency which is grain dry matter yield to crop nitrogen uptake. Wheat is one of the most extend cultivated crops in the world. It is estimated in Iran, about 2.3 million ha of wheat cropping systems are under irrigated cultivation. The specific objectives of the present study were to 1- investigation and analysis nitrogen use efficiency variations and its components in wheat cropping systems by using simulation model.2-Determine how nitrogen use efficiency and its components (component analysis) is affected by nitrogen fertilizer levels. We used CENTURY model to evaluate nitrogen use efficiency in wheat cropping systems. For this purpose 14 wheat cropping system from different locations were selected. Soil data was collected from Soil and Water Research Institute and weather data from 2000 to 2014 were obtained from Iran Meteorological Organization for 14 selected stations.The CENTURY model simulates the long-term dynamics of Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), for different Plant-Soil Systems. The model can simulate the dynamics of agricultural crop systems. The crop systems have different plant production submodels which are linked to a common soil organic matter submodel. The soil organic matter submodel simulates the flow of C, N through plant litter and the different inorganic and organic pools in the soil. CENTURY model runs in monthly time step with calculating monthly precipitation (cm), monthly mean of minimum and maximum temperature (c°), site latitude and longitude, sand, silt and clay (%), soil bulk density (g/cm3), rooting depth (cm), C and N content of the top 20 cm of soil and management information such as planting date, first and last month of wheat growth, number and amounts of fertilization, amount of irrigation water and its schedules are required. For model validation we used three statistical measures including Normalized Root Mean Squared Error (nRMSE), Willmott (1982) index or (d index) and linear regression coefficients between actual values and predicted values. Results, revealed that average nitrogen use efficiency in wheat cropping systems of Iran was 28.3 kg grain per kg of nitrogen applied. The highest and lowest mean nitrogen use efficiency were 36.02 and 21.26 kg grain per kg N that observed respectively in (Tabriz, Shiraz, Gorgan) and (Kerman, Zabol, Birjand). Regression of nitrogen use efficiency vs. yield showed that with increasing nitrogen use efficiency, yield is raised (b=0.14 kg kg-1). Separation of nitrogen use efficiency to its components indicated that on range of value (80-120 kgha-1) use of nitrogen, relative contribution of nitrogen uptake and utilization efficiency separately were 64 and 36 percent. When use of nitrogen fertilizer was increased up to value (121-160 kg ha-1) relative contribution of nitrogen uptake and nitrogen utilization was changed to 33 and 67 percent, respectively. It seems that, when in cropping system nitrogen uptake will be dominant, agronomic management practice and in versus, if nitrogen utilization efficiency will be more important choice of superior cultivars are emphasizes the improvement of nitrogen use efficiency.

Climate change (CC) is one of the most important concerns for mankind in the current century. Increasing CO2 concentration and the proof of the greenhouse effect theory in which the type and composition of atmospheric gases which influence the earth temperature, are among undeniable facts makes the future climate change more possible. Impacts of Global warming on hydrological cycles and precipitation patterns would be more prominent in arid and semi-arid regions of the earth. For the arid and semi-arid nature and the poverty more fraction of Afghanistan suffer from, it is likely that the impacts of CC on the country will be more intense. This is while there is no credible and reliant research addressing the impacts of CC on agriculture and food security sector of Afghanistan. Studying the impacts of CC on agriculture, future changes in agroclimatic indices and application of crop growth simulation models intensively require a precise and adequate sets of meteorological data. Because of many reasons, Afghanistan's historical meteorological data coverage is really weak. In this research the applicability of AgMERRA as a gauge-satellite based dataset for filling the Afghanistan in-situ meteorological gaps is evaluated via goodness of fit measures, patterns of seasonal changes and the probability distribution functions.

This study is conducted on four major stations of Afghanistan (Kabul, Herat, Mazar Sharif and Qandahar in the east, west, north and south of the country, respectively) (Fig. 1 and table 1) which had the best in-situ meteorological data coverage. Observed Maximum (Tmax) and Minimum temperature (Tmin) and precipitation (PRCP) data is collected via Afghanistan Meteorological Authority (AMA) or other sources. AgMERRA database downloaded with .nc4 format and extracted with R statistical software or Panoply ver. 4.8.4, dependently. Then five goodness of fit (GOF) measures (RMSE, NRMSE, MBE, R2 and d) are calculated according to the equations 1 to 5. There are different norms and indices to measure the validity of a models, some based on Pearson correlation coefficient (R and R2) which indicate the degree of correlation between observed and predicted data but have some amounts of sensitivity to extreme values (outliers). Although, many other measures are considered to overcome the weaknesses but it is hard to distinguish the best.

The results of this research indicated the good potency, effectiveness and ability of AgMERRA for gap-filling of in-situ meteorological data and producing spatiotemporal data series. Several studies in this area have almost the same results. It is reported that AgMERRA is the most applicable dataset for reflecting precipitation data comparing with ERA-Interim, ERA-Interim/Land and JRA-55 datasets. Comparisons via NRMSE shows great (>10%) and good (>20%) amounts in all stations and temporal scales. Among other stations, Mazar Shrif showed the best conformity between AgMERRA and observed data, while Kabul station had the weakest, probably due to complex topographic situation of the Kabul airport station. The amounts of R2 for predicting temperature (Tmax and Tmin) were more than 0.86 in daily, 14-days and monthly temporal scales. The lowest amount of the coefficient of determination was obtained at Qandahar station for Tmean in daily temporal scale (R2=0.8) and the highest amount obtained for daily Tmax at Mazar Sharif station (R2=0.947). R2 for daily PRCP were inadequate, but increasing to adequate amounts in 14-days and monthly temporal scales. The highest spatiotemporal amount of Tmax,Tmin and Tmean was obtained in daily scale and the lowest amount was obtained for Tmean (1.8 and 0.9, respectively). The Index of agreement (d), also had adequate amounts for 14-days and monthly PRCP (>0.87). The amount of MBE for precipitation in Herat, Mazar Sharif and Kabul stations were negative, while it was positive in Qandahar station with a hot and dry climate. AgMERRA could show a good compliance with changes of observed seasonal patterns, however, some amount of over and under-estimates are obvious especially for Kabul station. This compliance with in-situ observed patterns was acceptable for daily temporal scale, although AgMERRA was unable to predict some of the fluctuations in probability distribution composition (with the range of 1 °C), especially fot Tmax and Tmin, but fot Tmean the fluctuations simulated well.

According to the results of the study, AgMERRA showed an acceptable potency to simulate the in-situ meteorological data in four major studied stations of Afghanistan. According to the stochastic nature of PRCP, the variable showed the weakest results in daily temporal scale but acceptable in 14-days and monthly. Given the weak coverage of in-situ meteorological data of Afghanistan, AgMERRA could be a valid dataset for producing well scaled spatiotemporal data series to be used in agroclimatic, CC and crop growth modeling studies.

IntroductionLegumes such as Pinto Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), in addition to the value of food and proteins production, they are able to fix biological nitrogen and therefore, are desirable for planting in sustainable agricultural systems in order to strengthen and preserve soil fertility. Low input farming systems (LIFS), which are a part of sustainable agricultural systems was defined as a way to optimize the use of ecological inputs and to minimize the use of inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides in every time and every place to reduce the cost of production, reduce pollution of groundwater and surface water, reduce of pesticide residues in food, reduce total risk in agriculture and an increase in short and long term profitability of agriculture. Evaluation and identification of the suitable cropping plant cultivars for planting in low-input agricultural systems has begun three decades ago, in the world. The aim of this study was to identify of pinto bean genotypes suitable for cultivation in low input crop management system and use them in breeding programs and the cultivar release process of this crop.
Material & MethodsIn order to evaluate Pinto bean genotypes (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in terms of response to low input crop management, 559 Pinto bean genotypes were evaluated using augmented design in both conventional, and low-input crop management conditions. According to grain yield of genotypes in the two conditions, MP, GMP, TOL, STI and SSI were calculated and then, the correlation between the index and the main component analysis was performed. All Statistical analysis, correlation estimates, factor analysis and graphs performed using SPSS software.
Results & DiscussionAccording to correlation between grain yield in optimal and low input conditions (r=0.34**, n=559), it was found that genotype selection based on grain yield in both conditions can identify genotypes with high yield and stable production. The correlation between grain yield in conventional condition and MP, GMP, STI, SSI and TOL was positive and significant. In addition, the grain yield in low input condition had a positive significant correlation with GMP, MP and STI. Negative significant correlation was shown between grain yield in low input condition and SSI and TOL. According to cluster analysis, the bean genotypes were placed in 5 cluster that genotypes in cluster 2, in term of GMP and STI were 76% and 181% higher than overall average and in term of SSI and TOL were 60% and 48.5% lower than overall average, respectively. Therefore, they were selected as the best genotypes for cultivation in low input conditions. Based on the main component analysis on five indexes and YP and YS in evaluated genotypes, it was observed that two main component explained 97.8 percent of the total variation. The first and two principle components explained 61.8% and 35.9% of total variation, respectively. The highest positive factor in the linear combination of the first component was related to Yp, YS, MP, GMP and STI. Therefore, this component was called as yield component and tolerance to low input conditions. Because of high levels of these indicators are favorable, due to the positive and high values of these component, to select genotypes were acted that have a higher grain yield in both conventional and low input conditions. The highest positive factor in the linear combination of second component was related to SSI, TOL and a little Yp and the highest negative factor was related to Ys. So this component was called as sensitive to low input conditions. The genotypes that had lower values of second component had the least sensitive to low input conditions. According to biplot of two main components, genotypes were classified into four groups. Genotypes that were in the A zone, in terms of the tolerance index to low input conditions (MP, GMP and STI) have higher values than average and in terms of the sensitivity index to low input conditions (SSI) have lower values than average so they were most suitable genotypes.
ConclusionAccording to grain yield and tolerance indexes to low in put condition, the group 1 genotypes (Ks-21184, Ks-92021, Ks-21119, Ks-21280, Ks-21461, Ks-21362, Ks-92198, Ks-21671, Ks-21673 and Ks-21236) as the best genotypes for cultivation in low input farming systems (LIFS) were identified and selected.

In order to study the effects of tillage systems and wheat residue levels on soil physical, chemical and biological characteristics a randomized complete block design arranged in split block with three replications was set in research farm of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2013-2014 growing season. Four different tillage systems (disk, mouldboard plough disk, sweep plough disk and chisel plough disk) as vertical factor were employed in combination with five different crop residue applications (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent wheat residue) as horizontal factor. Due to soil sampling in April (2013), November (2013) and June (2014), data were analysed as split block in time. According to the results, the lowest total nitrogen (0.094%), available phosphorus (12.50 mg/kg) and organic carbon (0.52%) were observed when mouldboard plough was applied, while the highest values were obtained using chisel plough followed by disk. Irrespective of sampling time, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and potassium as well as organic carbon significantly increased with increasing wheat residue application. Furthermore, crop residue application caused significant reduction in soil pH (up to 0.45 unit) and improved microbial biomass and activity (by 20.6%).

People commonly spend, on average, 5-6% of their time in a day in enclosed vehicles. Smoking in vehicles with little volume can result in potential harmful effects on children and other passengers. This study aimed to evaluate the concentrations of suspended particles produced from smoking and the exposer time of passengers to the produced smoke.
This cross–sectional study was performed in Tehran, 2014. The exposure to cigarette smoke was measured using Grimm11-A device that had 16 entrances with different sizes from 0.3 to 20 µm. The studied vehicle was Pejo 405 , andwindows condition were as following: 1 back window open, 2 back windows open, 1 front window open, 2 front windows open, 2 front and 1 back windows open, 4 windows open and 4 windows close. SPSS 16 software was used to make statistical analysis ( one-way ANOVA (p Numerical concentrations of particles in small size row (PM2.5) were several LOGs higher than larger sizes row. In addition, it was observed that exposure time to particles in small size row had significant difference with large size row. The maximum exposure concentrations with a p-value According to the gained results, the largest portion of cigarette smoke particles in vehicles belonged to the PM2.5. Different conditions of windows in their opened and closed states can be effective on ventilation. So that the more numbers of windows are opened the greater ventilation will occure. Generally, because of the limit space of vehicles and high exposure concentrations, the enactment of cigarette smoking prohibition legislation seems to be necessary.

The performance of the HSE units has various dimensions Leading to different performances. Thus, any industry should be capable of evaluating these systems. The aim of this study was to design a standard questionnaire in the field of performance evaluation of HSE management system employing Balanced Score Card model.
In this study we, first determined the criteria to be evaluated in the framework of Balanced Score Card model based on the objectives and strategies of HSE Management System and existing standards, and then designed questions on every criterion. We used content validity and Cronbach''s Alpha to determine the reliability and validity of the questionnaire.
The primary questionnaire was comprised of 126 questions some of which were omitted regarding the results obtained from the CVR and CVI values. We obtained the CVI average of environmental dimension to be 0.75 and its CVI average 0.71.
With respect to the results of the reliability and validity of this questionnaire,and its standardized design we can suggest using it for evaluation of HSE management system performance in organizations and industries with the mentioned system.

Approaches of data analysis in intercropping experiments and evaluation of crop competition are very important in interpreting the results. Intercropping advantages may be influenced by both plant density and relative frequency of the intercrop components as key factors. The fundamental problem in replacement series method (usual method on intercropping experiments) arises from the two-dimensional nature of intercropping. Results based on linear regression model are not independent of plant densities, and varying densities produce different results. Conducting methods such as univariate analysis of variance or comparing the means by using procedures such as the least significant difference (LSD) or Duncan's multiple range test (DMRT) are not appropriate to evaluate data obtained from the interpreting experiments, due to fact that they cannot explain simultaneously the response of agronomic plant to different treatments. On the other hand, bivariate analysis of variance has enough accuracy and sensitivity in this regard because effects of treatments on each plant, as a component of a planting system, are not independent of another plant and are placed under its interaction effect. The effects can be explained with the help of graph drawing in which the angle between two axes depends on the magnitude of the effect and the positive or negative effect of the interaction changes between two states of open angle and closed angle. The variance and covariance calculations, mean comparisons, graph drawing and the determination of significant differences between means were performed by using a program (Skew Axes)*. For practical application of the method of bivariate analysis and Skew Axes program with incorporation of one input data file (yield of sesame and sorghum intercropping ) and showing some figures, correlation and relation between yield of two specific for a specific treatment(density, proportion or interaction of density and proportion), also possibility to analyzed two values obtained from one plot related to a specific treatment simultaneously were presented and discussed.

Crop yield, including sorghum, is limited under drought conditions, as one of the most important abiotic stresses. Although sorghum can be able to deal with a lot of stress like heat, drought and salinity, but in arid and semiarid areas is usually affected by water stress in the reproductive stage and after the flowering and its yield is reduced. There are significant differences between sorghum genotypes about tolerant to periods of drought stress and reactions to these periods. Some researchers emphasize on the characteristics of flag leaf water relations, especially because of its remarkable interaction with resistance to drought stress. Morphophysiological traits including leaf relative water content widely were used as selection parameter in addition to grain yield for drought tolerance in various crops. In this study, some traits such as cell membrane stability and relative water content and the response of yield and yield components of sorghum genotypes under drought stress treatments (irrigation cut off at vegetative and reproductive growth stage and normal irrigation) were evaluated in field conditions.
In order to evaluate the effect of water stress on grain yield and its components, cell membrane stability and relative water content of leaf (RWC) in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), a field experiment as a split plot design was carried out with 3 replications in 2014 at the research farm of the southern khorassan Agriculture and natural resources research and education center. Water stress treatments including normal irrigation (control), irrigation cut off in vegetative growth stage(emergence of terminal leaf as rolled) and irrigation cut off in generative growth stage(50% of plants in start of flowering) as the main plot and 10 genotypes of sorghum including KGS29, MGS2, Sepideh, KGFS27, MGS5, KGFS5, KGFS17, KGF13 and KGFS30 was considered as sub plots. To determine the yield components, half a meter in length of each plot was harvested and the number of plants, number of panicle, grain weight, and number of seeds per panicle were recorded. To determine the yield and biological yield and harvest index after the removal of 2 and a half meter of margin line and beginning and end of each plot, plants was harvested from the surface of 3 square meters, after drying, biological yield of each plot was determined. To calculate the relative water content (RWC), flag leaf samples were taken from each plot and the samples were weighed immediately and then refrigerated for 24 hours in distilled water untill their full swelling, then the excess water was taken by tissue paper and then put into the oven at 72 ° C for 48 hours. After drying, the samples are weighed and leaf relative water content was calculated through wetherley formula (wetherley). To calculate the amount of damage to the membrane or membrane permeability, three plants of each plot were randomly selected and their flag leaf were removed. Then 4 discs of the leaves prepared was puted in distilled water for 24 hours at refrigerator temperature (4 ° C). Electrical conductivity of water in wich leaves had been laid was measured by the electrical conductivity meter (EC meter) and resulting values were used for calculations. After collecting data on yield and its components, simple analysis of variance was done using SAS software. The means comparison was done using LSD test at the 5% probability level.
Results showed that water stress had significantly effect on grain yield, biological yield, harvest index, 1000 seed weight and seed number per panicle, cell membrane permeability and Relative water content of leaf and caused to decrement of Them. The grain yield reduction was about 42% at the highest level of water stress in comparison with the control. Also the genotypes were significantly different about all above characteristics. The genotype KGFS13 had the highest grain yield, biological yield and harvest index. Interaction between water stress and genotype showed significant effect on all traits except for 1000 seed weight and cell membrane permeability. The highest value for (RWC) was belonging to severe water stress. Also with increase of water stress, cell membrane leakage increased, as the lowest value of cell membrane leakage and therefore the highest membrane stability was belong to normal irrigation and the lowest membrane stability was commonly belong to medium and severe water stress.
There are significant differences between sorghum genotypes about tolerant to periods of drought stress and reactions to these periods, also grain yield and its components, biological yield, harvest index, relative water content and cell membrane stability were different between genotypes and water stress treatments. Generally, water relations in flag leaf and cell membrane permeability can be used as criteria for assessment of drought tolerance as well as grain yield.

One of the most important and widespread environmental stresses is drought which has made limitation in agricultural productions. Many researches were done about drought stress. Plant improvement for drought tolerance is very complicated and difficult due to unpredictable environmental conditions and variability of cultivars responses in different degrees of drought stress. Alfalfa production on regions by alternative interval drought conditions is very important because of its adaptability and having tolerant germplasm. Alfalfa with specific morphological characteristics and adaptability of these traits to environmental stress especially drought conditions caused high production potential in these regions. Main parts of cold and even temperate regions of Iran cultivated unimproved populations or local ecotypes of Hamedani alfalfa.
Material and In this study alfalfa ecotypes seeds were obtained from these regions. This study was done to evaluate drought tolerance in 11 Hamedani alfalfa ecotypes through tolerance indices in the growing season 2011-2012 using randomized complete block design with three replications in two separate farm experiments at Torogh Research Station. The first experiment was complete irrigation (non-water deficit) once in a week as usual. Second experiment was drought conditions by changing in irrigation interval and making water deficit in ecotypes through 10 and 14-day irrigation intervals alternatively among growing season. The tolerance indices STI, SSI, GMP and MP evaluated by using of alfalfa ecotypes’ dry matter in both stressed and non-stressed conditions. Ecotypes distribution was drown on three dimensional graph based on these indices.
The positive and significant correlation between dried forage yield and MP, GMP and STI indices in both stressed and non-stressed conditions showed that these mentioned indices were the best indices. Chaleshtar and Famenin alfalfa ecotypes had the most potential of dried forage yield in both stressed and non-stressed conditions and had the first and second STI ranking respectively. STI index in comparison with the other indices was the better estimator for genotypes yield in both YP and YS conditions because it can separate A type genotypes from the other types. STI results revealed that Ghahavand, Chaleshtar,Sedighan and Famenin ecotypes were the most tolerant and Gharghologh and Hamedani were the most sensitive ecotypes. A genotype with higher STI is an indicator for higher yield potential in both conditions. Famenin and Chaleshtar alfalfa ecotypes had the higher MP with 8.8 and 8.7 and Gharghologh had the lower with 7.6. High TOL was an indicator for ecotype stress sensitivity and lower TOL lead to select the drought stress tolerate genotypes. Ordobad ecotype with 3.5 and Malek kandi with 0.9 TOL had the least and most index tolerance respectively.SSI indices Ordobad and Malek kandi caused the most drought sensitive and drought tolerate genotypes respectively. The results showed that between the studied genotypes, Ordobad with 1.9 SSI and Malek kandi with 0.5 SSI were the the most sensitive and tolerate genotypes respectively. Although Malek kandi with low SSI is relatively drought tolerate ecotype but its low yield prevent to select this ecotype. Chaleshtar and Famenin alfalfa ecotypes had the greatest dry matter yield potential in both condition and were the most tolerant ecotypes in this study. Classification of ecotypes in both stressed and non-stressed conditions showed that they allocated in four separated groups depending on yield in normal and stress environmental conditions.

To evaluate nitrogen uptake, nitrogen uptake efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen harvest index of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) affected by different tillage systems and wheat residue application, an experiment was conducted as a split block experiment in a randomized complete block design with three replications at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, during 2013-2014 growing season. Four different tillage systems (disk, mouldboard plough disk, sweep plough disk and chisel plough disk) were considered as vertical factor and five different crop residue applications (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% wheat residue) as horizontal factor. The results showed that lowest (2.58%) and highest (2.77%) seed nitrogen percentage were obtained from disk and chisel plough disk, respectively. Also, the highest nitrogen uptake and use efficiency (60.67% and 17.25 g seed/g soil) were obtained from chisel plough disk treatment. The results indicated that seed nitrogen percentage, nitrogen uptake and use efficiency significantly increased with increasing the levels of wheat residue, so that application of 75% wheat residue increased nitrogen uptake to 62.2% compared with control treatment. Regarding to the results of this study, it seems that application of wheat residue along with reduced tillage as an ecological approach can be recommended in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran to increase nitrogen uptake and use efficiency.

In order to prediction competitive effects of redroot pigweed on yield and yield components of grain sorghum by observation of relative leaf area an additive series experiment (response model) with factorial in randomized completely block design (RCBD) were conducted in 2005 growing season at farm research of khorasan Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center (Torogh Research Station). Two factors were involved in the experiment, redroot pigweed density in four levels (0, 2, 8 and 16 plant/m2) and sorghum density in three levels (10, 15 and 30 plant/m2). kropff three parameter model was used for data analysis and predicting of competition and relative yield loss coefficient (q). Result of this study indicated that sorghum is sensitive in competition and has sever damage. The economical yield reducing at 10, 15 and 30 plant/m2 density due to red root pigweed competition was 0.11, 0.38 and 0.22 kg/m2 respectively, where as the biological yield loss was 0.6, 1.27 and 1 kg/m2. Prediction of model from relative yield loss coefficient (q) indicated high competitiveness of pigweed and also faster leaf area spreading. Result showed that this model is very suitable to describe competition effects and to determine relative yield loss coefficient (q) by observation of relative leaf area.

In order to predict competitive effects of redroot pigweed on yield and yield components of grain sorghum by observation of relative leaf area an additive series experiment (response model) with factorial in randomized complete block design were conducted in 2005 growing season at Research Farm of Khorasan Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center. Two factors were involved in the experiment, redroot pigweed density in four levels (0, 2, 8 and 16 plant/m2) and sorghum density in three levels (10, 15 and 30 plant/m2). Investigation about the pigweed growth index showed that sorghum and pigweed density was significant (p

The conception of the self is underpin of the identity (personal and social).The understand of the identity is requirement understand of the self. One of the sources of the conception of the self is Confession of St.Augustine. Confession of St.Augustine is the first autobiography in the western history. It is personal narrative of St.Augustine by himself. The narrative is better of place for funded self. The article in the perspective literature-philosophy research of roots the conception of the self in the Confession of St.Augustine.

In order to determine the best seed vigor test in laboratory which may provide high correlation between alfalfa seedling stablishment in the field, two experiment were conducted in field as well as in laboratory. Four alfalfa cultivars Bami, Ghareyonjeh, Hamadani and Yazdi were used. Different seed vigor tests including standard germination, germination in low tempretaure (5c), germination rate, osmotic stress, accelerated ageing and electrical conductivity tests were laid out in a randomized completely design (RCD) with four replications in laboratory experiment‌. The second experiment was carried out in a randomized completely block design (RCBD) and each treatment replicated four times‌. Results revealed significant differences (p≤ 0.01) among different cultivars for establishment percentage and rate. Results also showed that there were significant correlations between electrical conductivity test and establishment percentage (r= -0.65, p ≤ 0.01) as well as establishment rate (r= -0.80, p ≤ 0.01). Correlation coefficients for rate and emergence percentage were significant and positive (r= 0.91, p ≤ 0.01). Stepwise method disclosed that the regression model (y=165.23 – 0.15 x r2=0.64), (p ≤ 0.01) for predicting rate of emergence could be recommended. In this model x (dependent variable) is value of electrical conductivity and y (independent variable) is rate of emergence.