h. kazemi

In recent decades, the need for increased food production has resulted in the expansion of intensified agriculture practices characterized by high consumption of inputs, thereby reducing agricultural sustainability. The agricultural sector's contribution to the world's energy consumption, ecological footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions has grown substantially. Emissions of greenhouse gases have negative ecological effects, including climate change, global warming, and diminished sustainable development. In this sector, energy analysis and greenhouse gas emissions in ecosystems are the most common methods for assessing sustainability. This study was conducted to evaluate the sustainability of canola agroecosystems by analyzing energy consumption, carbon footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Methods and Materials:

The study was conducted using a questionnaire in Kalaleh County, in Golestan province, and gathering information from Golestan Agricultural Jihad Organization, during 2018-2019. The number of samples was determined by the Cochran formula. Accordingly, 50 farms were selected for canola cultivation. The questionnaire's reliability was determined to be 0.81. To calculate the energy indices, carbon footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions, after determining the most important inputs and output, first, their amounts were determined in each of the 50 farms and then their average was calculated. The energy equivalent of each input and output was calculated by multiplying its raw value by the corresponding energy conversion factor. The carbon footprint of the canola system was calculated as the amount of land required to absorb the environmental pollution caused by input and resource consumption. Carbon uptake in canola agroecosystems served as the basis for evaluating the carbon footprint and consequently the sustainability of this study. Also, the amount of greenhouse gases produced was determined by multiplying the raw values of the consumed inputs by their emission coefficient.
 

In canola agroecosystems, the total energy input was calculated to be 13,200 MJ ha-1, the total energy output was 63,400 MJ ha-1, the energy use efficiency was 4.8, and the energy productivity was 0.17 kg MJ-1. In addition, the ecological footprint and global warming potential were 0.99 gha and 779.03 CO2e ha−1, respectively. In canola production, fossil fuel and nitrogen fertilizer inputs contributed the most to ecological footprint and global warming potential respectively. Reducing the number of machines entering the farm through the application of conservation tillage methods and the modernization of machines can be effective in reducing the consumption of this input. Due to the non-renewability of this input, reducing its consumption is effective in reducing both economic costs and environmental pollution. Consuming as much livestock manure (cattle) as possible and implementing crop rotations with legumes such as soybeans that can grow well in this area is effective in supplying soil nitrogen and reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.

Analysis of energy indices, such as energy efficiency and net energy, revealed that energy loss in the canola farming ecosystem is low and that the system's sustainability is adequate. Evaluation of carbon footprint revealed that the value of this index for canola production in the county of Kalaleh was less than the ecological capacity of each hectare of land used for canola production, indicating the environmental sustainability of canola production in the county of Kalaleh. In general, canola agroecosystems in the county of Kalaleh were sustainable based on terms of all three indices: net energy, carbon footprint, and global warming potential. Due to the large proportion of two inputs, fossil fuel, and nitrogen fertilizer, in these indices and their significant impact on production sustainability, consumption management of these inputs and training and justification of farmers are recommended to increase production sustainability.

For optimal production and maintaining its stability, environmental and weather conditions must be determined from the perspective of capabilities and limitations. For this purpose, it requires reliable regional data such as planting date, ripening time, plant density, soil, and meteorological information, which are generally not available for most regions. Obtaining this information is very time-consuming and expensive in many areas and is often simply not possible. Therefore, zoning can facilitate access to this information on a large scale. In other words, if the regions that are similar in terms of climate, soil, and management conditions are identified, the time and cost needed to collect information on a wide scale will be minimal.  

The present study was conducted for the agro-ecological zoning of the country. In this research, the existing climatic zones of the country were analyzed based on GYGA, and the existing soil zones of the country were analyzed based on the HC27 method.

The combination of climatic zones and soil, 198 polygons or agro-ecological zones were obtained for all agricultural lands of the country. The zones in which more than 1% of the country's agricultural lands are located include 28 zones, and in total, about 80% of the agricultural lands are located in these zones. The highest frequency percentage is related to agro-ecological zone 4103-5 with a frequency of 85.11%. Also, the frequency of agro-ecological codes (climate code 5003 with soil code 5) 5003-5 (28.7%) and (climate code 4003 with soil code 5) 5-4003 (93.4%) were placed next. Zoning can facilitate the selection of points for plant studies and other planning.

Each of these areas has a different climate and soil code, which indicates the specific production conditions of that area. From these agro-ecological zones, to improve studies and make agricultural management decisions, it is possible to prepare and complete the climate and soil information bank in each zone for use in simulation models of plant production, to facilitate the collection of information (such as management information, cultivar information plant) and the implementation of plant production simulation model to be used in studies related to the food security of the country. The current research was conducted to determine the main agro-ecological areas of agricultural production in the country so that simulation studies and other studies can be carried out in the main production location in each province. Therefore, it is necessary to know where the main production centers of each province were, what kind of climate and soil it has, and which meteorological station is the indicator of that region. In this research, the climate zones of irrigated, rainfed, garden, and pasture lands of the country were determined by using the Giga climate map. Based on this, more than 50% of water lands are located in climates 5003, 4003, 5002, 8003, and 6003, respectively. Also, the rainy lands are located in 4103, 4003, and 3103 climates respectively. Also, by using the HC27 soil map, the soil areas in the irrigated, rainfed, garden, and pasture lands of the country were determined. Therefore, more than 50% of water lands in soil codes 5 and 17; Rainy lands in Kodkhak 5 and 12; Garden lands were located in soil codes 5 and 12 and pastures were located in soil codes 5 and 17. By combining climatic zones and soil zones, agricultural-ecological zoning of the country was done, and finally, 198 zones were obtained. The zones in which more than 1% of the country's agricultural lands are located include 28 zones, in total, about 80% of the agricultural lands are located in these zones (Figure 7). The highest frequency percentage (11.85%) was related to the area with agroe-cological code 4103-5, which covered 1789965.8 hectares of agricultural land. Also, after that, the agro-ecological code 5003-5 has the highest frequency (7.28 percent), which covers 1100599.25 hectares of agricultural land in the country. In this research, after the agro-ecological zoning of the country's agricultural lands, several 198 zones were obtained, and after calculating the area covered by each zone, finally, 28 agro-ecological zones have an abundance percentage of more than 1%, and together they are about 80% (11813518.66 hectares). They cover the country's agricultural lands. These climate zones obtained can be used for food security studies and calculating and determining the production capacity of each region. On the other hand, considering that in agricultural studies, extensive and comprehensive information about climate and soil is needed for each region and access to this information is usually expensive and time-consuming, the use of agro-ecological zones resulting from this research can be necessary.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of crop type on soil carbon accumulation in soybean (Glycin max L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rotation, in 150 fields of soybean and 89 wheat fields in Gorgan county, in the cropping years of 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, respectively. In order to determine the amount of organic carbon and its changes, soil samples from two depths of 0-15 cm (first depth) and 15-30 cm (second depth) were prepared and then soil carbon was measured by Walkley-Black method. Spatial distributions of soil organic carbon and carbon accumulation potential at different depths and also, in the pre-sowing and post-harvest stages were performance using different types of interpolation methods in ArcGIS enviroment. The results of interpolation methods showed that Kriging was the best model for interpolation of organic carbon distribution and carbon accumulation in agricultural fields of Gorgan. Average amounts of soil organic carbon in the first depth of soybean fields were as 14.84 mg ha-1and 13.41 mg ha-1for the second depth in the pre-sowing stage. Also, it was estimated as 16.85 mg ha-1 in the first depth and 15.52 mg ha-1 for second depth, in the post-harvest stage. The amounts of soil organic carbon in the wheat fields were determined about 16.78 and 15.25 mg ha-1for first and second depths in the pre-sowing stage, respectively. Those were 13.68 and 12.30 mg ha-1for of first and second depths in the post-harvest stage sampling, respectively. The results showed that the eastern, northern, northeastern, southern, southeastern and central parts of the county had the highest carbon accumulation due to access to modern irrigation systems, more water resources, better crop management, suitable return of crop residue to the soil, develop of minimum tillage, minimizing the burning of residue and using manure. Results showed that the western and southwestern parts of the county had the lowest carbon accumulation.

Renewable natural resources have had a fundamental role in economic and social development of societies during history. Increasing environmental disasters has also concerned economists as well as environmental specialists, and has made the experts at management level to realise the need for protection and sustainable use of natural resources. In this study, it was tried to determine the economical value of Urmia Lake,usingLogit method which is based on people’s willingness to pay, by CVM method and WTP measurements. The main purpose of this study was to provide non-consumable value (conservation value) of this lake. In this method, 31 variables were investigated. The estimation of the model was carried out using the Logit method with EVIEWS software (10). Analyzing the results indicated that the amount of willingness to pay for each unit price rise is decreased by 21%. Finally, the average value of WTP for non-consumable economic value of UrmiaLake was estimated to be 52.58x103 and the total economic value of the lake was estimated to be $605 million.

In this research, nanocomposite coatings based on zinc oxide and homopolymers of aniline, anisidine, toluidine and aminophenol were prepared by electrophoresis on the surface of 304 stainless steel and their corrosion resistance was studied while characterizing the coatings. Polymerization took place in an acidic medium using ammonium persulfate as the oxidizing agent. The nanocomposites were characterized using FTIR, XRD and SEM techniques. The corrosion behavior of the coating in 3.5 wt% sodium chloride solution was evaluated by dynamic dynamic methods at ambient temperature. The results showed that the conductive nanocomposite as a coating reduces the rate and intensity of corrosion flow. The anti-corrosion effect of each polymer depends on the extraction group on the benzene ring and with increasing the lethality of each extraction group, the anti-corrosion effect of the polymer decreases.

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is one of the most important oilseed plants. It is the third largest sources of oil and meal in the world. While most of the edible oil needed by the country is supplied from abroad, this crop with proper performance and adaptation to different climatic regions can play an important role in increasing oil production and required meal by the country. The potential production of grain yield and oil in canola is affected by environmental conditions and crop management. Therefore, understanding the relationship between plant production and these variables seems to be necessary to achieve sustainable yield. This study was conducted to quantify the relationships between climatic variables and management factors with plant biodiversity and canola grain yield in Gorgan fields.

This study was conducted as a survey in 58 canola fields in Gorgan County, during 2015-2016 crop year. Management data of each field collected by questionnaire and through face- to- face interview with farmers. This data included agricultural history, type of crop rotation, amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, type of tillage tools, amount of applied seed, spraying tools, snowing tools and other information about farmers. Also, grain yield of fields was recorded. In continue, the required meteorological information for this study, were prepared from the meteorological office of Golestan Province. The studied climatic variables were annual precipitation, minimum temperature, maximum temperature and average annual temperature. The collected data was then prepared in Excel. In the next step, in order to determine the relationship between yield and plant biodiversity with climatic and management factors, we used the analysis of RDA and Canoco software ver. 4.5.

The results showed that management factors such as farmer's history, fertilizer application, phosphorus fertilizer consumption, cultivar type (Hayola), potassium fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizer, tillage with disc and manure fertilizer application had the important impact on grain yield. Because, these factors had the closer angle with the canola yield vector. But, some factors such as burning the residue of previous crop, manual fertilization, using RGS cultivar, manually sowing and tillage with a moldboard plough had the opposite effect on canola yield. Among the climatic factors, the annual precipitation was the most important climatic factor and affected on grain yield, while other factors such as average, maximum and minimum temperatures had less effects. The biodiversity indices such as Shannon-Wiener, Simpson and reverse Simpson were calculated as 0.9-2.2, 0.11-0.46 and 2.1-4.9, respectively. According to Canoco software output, annual rainfall variable had a positive effect on plant biodiversity indices in canola fields.

In general, based on the results obtained, with the optimal use of nitrogen fertilizer, appropriate pest management, optimal seed consumption, selection of appropriate sowing date, selection of suitable cultivars and seed infection, canola yield can be increased in fields of Gorgan County.

Powdery mildew of wheat caused by Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici, is one of the most important and common wheat disease in humid, semi-humid and semi-arid regions of the world, including Iran. At present, one of the important aspects of the management of this disease is its chemical control. In this study, the efficacy of the Pilartep (Tebuconazole +Pyraclostrobin) SC 30% was evaluated in controlling the powdery mildew of wheat in three regions of Qarakheil and Bayekola (Mazandaran) and Kohnekand (North Khorasan province) regions based on randomized complete block design with six treatments and four replications. Experimental treatments included Pilartep (SC 30%) 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7 l/h, Tilt (EC 25%) 1 l/h, Folicur (EW 25%) 1 l/h and control. Spraying operation was performed in the growing stage of stem emergence with the emergence of flag leaves. The plots were evaluated for disease incidence and severity percentage using double digit scale and at the end of the season, wheat yields were recorded for each plot. In evaluating the effect of fungicides on incidence, disease severity percentage and crop yield, Pilartep fungicide at the rate of 0.6 and 0.7 l/h was placed in the first statistical group (the highest group). In general, according to the results obtained in order to use the fungicide optimally, Pilartep (SC 30%) at the rate of 0.6 l/h is recommended in the control of powdery mildew of wheat.

Oilseeds are the second largest food sources in the world after cereals. Soybean (Glycine max L.) is the largest source of protein and oil in the world and is cultivated in some regions in Iran. Golestan province is one of the important agricultural regions in Iran with about 62.01% of the soybean cultivation area. Most of these areas are located in Gorgan County. There are a number of approaches that they use to management of weeds in agroecosystems. Management and protection of crops from weed damage depend on our knowledge about weed richness and their distribution status. For this purpose, generation of weed distribution maps provide very important information for weed management. Also, determination of weed flora help to managers and farmers to identify weeds and select the best method for weed control, especially invasive weeds in soybean fields. Therefore, the aim of study was to determination of flora and distribution of weeds in the current soybean fields in Gorgan County.

This research was carried out in 48 soybean fields of Gorgan County, during 2015-2016. In the field section, the W method used to collect weed samples in order to calculate the number, frequency, species density, etc. The spatial information of the fields was recorded by GPS and sampling was done by 0.25*0.25 square meters quadrate. Total weed samples moved to weed research laboratory of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (GUASNR) and identified in terms of scientific and family names based on taxonomical classification way. Then, all data entered to Microsoft Excel spread sheets var. 2010, and were averaged and arranged. In order to determine the weed flora status of these fields, some indices such as frequency, relative species frequency, species uniformity, relative species uniformity, density and relative species density were calculated. To better display of distribution maps, weeds were divided based on frequency index into three categories; 50-100%, 50-30% and less than 30% and weeds with a frequency of 50-100% were considered as important weeds of soybean fields in Gorgan. Finally, the data were processed in ArcGIS software var. 10.3, and then weed distribution maps of soybean fields were generated.

In this study, 21 types of weeds were identified from 14 plant families, which 14.28% were belonged to perennials group and the rest amounts were annual weeds. Also, 76.19% were belonged to dicotyledons and about 23.81% were monocots. The highest density was related to ground cherry (Physalis divaricate L.) with 16.68% compared to other weed species in the measured plots. Crab grass (Digitaria sangunalis L. Scop.) with a density of 0.94 and sorghum (Sorghum halepense L. Pers) with a density of 0.78 had the highest density than other weeds. The weeds of the studied fields included 23.80% of narrow-leaved weeds and 76.19% of broadleaf weeds. In terms of photosynthetic cycle, 28.57% of weeds classified to C4 cycle and 71.42% to C3 cycle. Also, the most important plant family was Poaceae with 19.04% of the observed weeds in soybean fields, compared to other plant families. The most dominate species of this family are sorghum, cockspur grass (Echinochloa crus-galli L. P. Beauv) and crab grass. The weeds with a frequency of 50-100% were included ground cherry, sorghum and wild melon (Cucumis melo var. agrestis L.) with a frequency of 91.66, 54.16 and 52.08%, respectively. Results of weed distribution maps showed that weeds with frequency of 50 to 100% were observed in the most of surveyed field and they were distributed across the county, from east to west.

In the study, the weed distribution maps showed the existence of broadleaf weeds such as ground cherry, sorghum and wild melon in the most of the studied fields. Also, we identified the large number of weed families in this study. Considering this high number of identified weed and the presence of some invasive weeds in the surveyed fields, these results can useful for weed management programs of soybean fields and other crops in Gorgan County. Therefore, it is necessary that farmers and agricultural managers of the Gorgan County care to distribution of invasive weeds. Finally, it concluded that a combination of local and longer-term weed management can possible to deliver reduced weed infestation levels. Also, integrated weed management is an essential practice for reducing the impact of pesticides in the agroecosystems.

One of the most important issues in the health sector, especially in medical centers, is the quality of care. The quality of care consists of a set of elements, among which patient safety is one of the most important. Nursing error, which is an unintentional error, affects the safety and quality of patient care. This study was performed to determine the relationship between patient safety culture and medication errors of nurses in Ardabil and Khalkhal hospitals.

This was a correlational study conducted in 2020. The study population included all nurses working in Ardabil and Khalkhal educational and medical centers, among them 300 samples were randomly selected. To collect data, the standard questionnaire of patient safety culture and self-made medication error tool were used. Data analysis was performed using Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman tests using SPSS software version 16.

The results showed that the mean score of safety culture was 144.94 14 ±14.82 and the mean score of drug error were 38.96 6±6.04, which indicates the mean status of safety culture and less medication error, respectively. In regard to marital status, single nurses (p=0.001), working in surgery room (p=0.001) and people with promissory employment status (p=0.001) had fewer errors. There was an inverse relationship between age (p=0.001), work experience (p=0.001) and patient safety culture (p=0.001) with the rate of medication error.

The results of this study indicated that the high level of patient safety culture can reduce medication error. Therefore, health officials and hospitals, by holding classes and workshops and briefing programs, should work to promote patient safety culture in staffs of hospitals including doctors and nurses.

Many of the space applications that previously required the use of large, complex and expensive satellites have now been made possible by very small satellites due to the development of technology. The applicable international laws and regulations, which typically govern large satellite operations with sophisticated technology, also govern state's responsibility for regulating and controlling small satellites. However, in recent years, the private sector has increased its commercial use of small satellites without complying with applicable regulations. As a result, the irregular operation of small satellites in space has increased in orbits without states oversight. Therefore, the responsibility of states in the international space community to regulate the operation of small satellites has been challenged. This paper focuses on the responsibility of states and two challenges arise in relation to the responsibility of states in the operation of small satellites; activity of private section and transfer small satellites ownership into orbits. Finally, the author proposes solutions to address these challenges.

Nowadays, food production systems need to be explored for supplying the needs of the world's growing population, as well as sustainable production in the face of global climate change. In this regard, Cereal's yield has played a significant role in supporting global food security. The unceasing growth in demand for water in the industrial sector, drinking water, and reduction in the amount of water available for the agricultural sector has led to a reduction of water usage in rice, which threatens its production. Crops simulation models can be used to carry out various studies such as the selection of suitable cultivar and plant, determining the best agricultural management and production capacity of the area. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ORYZA2000 and AquaCrop accuracy in simulating grain and biomass yields of rice affected by irrigation and planting dates.

To evaluate the ORYZA2000 and AquaCrop models for rice production under irrigation management and planting date, a split-plot experiment based on a complete randomized block design with three replications was carried out on a local (Hashemi) cultivar in the years of 2016 and 2017 in the Rice Research Institute of Iran, Rasht. Irrigation interval was considered as the main factor at four levels including full flooding, 5, 10, and 15 days irrigation intervals, and transplanting date was assigned to subplot at three levels (April 21st, May 11th, and May 31th). Simulated and observed values of grain yield and biomass yield were evaluated based on the coefficient of determination, T-test, root mean square error (RMSE), Model efficiency (EF), Structural deviation of the model (RMD), and normalized root mean square error (NRMSE).

The results showed that normalized root mean square error of the grain yield and biomass yield were 9% and 5%, in the Aquacrop model and were 7% and 6% in the ORYZA2000 model, respectively. Evaluation of the results showed that the efficiency of the model and the coefficient of the explanation were above 0.7 and structural deviations were less than 2% that showed good accuracy in simulating the grain yield and biomass yield during calibration and validation of models. Evaluation of the amplitude of actual grain yield (3000 to 4761 kg.ha-1) and simulated by AquaCrop model (1741 to 4231 kg.ha-1) and ORYZA2000 model (with 2215 to 4766 kg.ha-1 range) showed simulated values had between -15 and 20 percent of error. The results showed that with increasing irrigation intervals, the actual grain yield decreases. The planting date of April 21st and May 11th (with an average of 3795 and 3820 kg.ha-1, respectively) had the highest yield of grain in two years, and the models also had a predicting of changes in grain yield during calibration and validation. ORYZA2000 model, due to the high coefficient of explanation and efficiency (0.83 and 0.81, respectively), has higher accuracy in simulating the grain yield than the AquaCrop model. The results showed that based on the mentioned equations, the ORYZA2000 model is well able to simulate the effect of environmental conditions including water shortage, air temperature, time, and intensity of stress during the growth cycle under the influence of irrigation and planting date on yield production. It seems that due to the better description of plant and soil conditions in the model and better genetic evaluation, it increased the accuracy of yield estimation in the ORYZA2000 model. Also, according to the acceptable results obtained in the AquaCrop model, it can be concluded that the mentioned model has a good simulation of the changes in the plant's water relations under the influence of the interaction effect of planting date and irrigation intervals.

According to the present study, the ORYZA2000 and Aquacrop models can be used to support the results of experiments under irrigation management conditions and planting dates.

In this study, a 10% w/w PolyorthoAminophenol/Ferric oxide nanoparticle (PoAP / Fe3O4) nanocomposite film was chemically prepared, then a polymer mixture with other polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl pyrolidone (PVP), polyvinylacetate (PVAc), pure polyacrylate (PA) and polyacrylate/styrene (PAS)  was prepared in N-methylpyrrolidone solvent. The results showed that the corrosion resistance behavior of the nanocomposite depends on the added polymer matrix, so that the best protection is obtained when pure polyacrylate is used PoAP / Fe3O4 nanocomposite is characterized by the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine the structure and morphology and magnetometry (VSM) to determine magnetic properties. Corrosion protection of coatings on stainless steel 304 metal in 3.5% sodium chloride solution was evaluated by electrochemical methods at ambient temperature. Corrosion test was performed with potentiostat-galvanostat apparatus with three electrodes.

Weeds are wild plant species which grow in agricultural ecosystems and compete with crops for resources such as water, nutrients, light, and space. Wild oat is reported as one of the most troublesome autumn weeds in croplands and its dominant species in Iran is winter wild oat (Avena ludoviciana Dur.). Herbicide resistance is the inherent ability of a weed biotype in survival after being exposed to a rate of herbicide which would be lethal to the wild type species. In the recent years, there have been several reports on the occurrence of herbicide resistance in Golestan province. The following research was conducted to identify the ACCase- resistant winter wild oat biotypes and generation of distribution map for the resistant biotypes in wheat fields of Ramian Township.

The present study was conducted in 2017-2018 at the greenhouse and Weed Science laboratory of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Plant material included 80 putatively resistant winter wild oat biotypes which were collected from 100 wheat fields of Ramian Township. The susceptible biotype was also collected from the regions with no history of herbicide spray. Three Acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) inhibiting herbicides including clodinafop propargyl, fenoxaprop-P ethyl, and diclofop methyl which are common graminicides applied in wheat fields of the country were used to confirm the occurrence of resistance in winter wild oat biotypes. Three herbicides including pinoxaden, clethodim, and haloxyfop-R methyl ester were also applied on the biotypes as the possible alternative herbicides. First the winter wild oat seeds were hulled by hand. To obtain a more uniform germination, the seeds were placed in 9 cm Petri dishes topped with a filter paper and 2.5 mL of distilled water was added to the Petri dishes. Then, the Petri dishes were transferred to a refrigerator with a temperature of 4-5°C under darkness conditions. After pre-chilling, the petri dishes were incubated at the room temperature to germinate. To perform the discriminating concentration, pre- screening and concentration- response assays, 10 pre- germinated seeds from each biotype were placed on the Petri dishes as described above, then were treated with various concentrations of the mentioned herbicides. Three Petri dishes were used for each concentration, with each Petri dish serving as a replicate. Also, the Petri dishes treated with distilled water were regarded as control. The Petri dishes were kept at the room temperature for seven days and then the length of their coleoptile was measured. Four parametered log-logistic function was fitted to the data using R software (drc package). ArcGis V.10.3 was used to generate the distribution map of the herbicide- resistant biotypes.

Results of the present study indicate the confirmation of resistance to clodinafop propargyl, fenoxaprop-P ethyl, and diclofop methyl herbicides in 58 out of 80 winter wild oat biotypes gathered from wheat fields of Ramian Township. Resistance factor to clodinafop propargyl, fenoxaprop-P ethyl, and diclofop methyl herbicides were 48.69 to >851.33, 52.57 to >752.57, and 310.27 to >1443.90, respectively. For further investigation on the response of these resistant biotypes, three herbicides including pinoxaden, clethodim, and haloxyfop-R methyl ester were applied on the biotypes as a Petri dish assay. Two biotypes with the highest resistance factors (ram1, ram18) and two with the lowest resistance factors (ram15, ram4) were selected for this assay. In the haloxyfop-R methyl ester treatment, the highest and lowest resistance factors were observed in ram1 with 423.35 and ram15 with 284.50, respectively. In the other two herbicide however, resistance factor had no significant difference with the value 1.  Application of herbicides possessing different modes of action may lead to elimination of both susceptible and resistant biotypes. However, this will serve as a new selective pressure which will eventually result in intensification of resistance and furthermore, evolution of cross and multiple- resistant species. Thus, meticulous application of integrated weed management methods are of great importance to prevent or delay the evolution of resistance to herbicides.

Implementation of cultural methods for weed management and preventing the distribution of herbicides to which the weeds have readily developed resistance will lead to reduction of selective pressure. Adoption of crop and herbicide rotation principles will serve as a tool to debilitate the weed in competition with the crop, which in long term may contribute to reduced frequency of resistant alleles.

The beneficial use of unconventional water resources for sustainable agriculture, taking into account the environmental impacts and economic returns, is a multi-criteria decision-making process based on the value of each criterion. In this research, after collecting resources and extracting decision making criteria regarding the use of wastewater in agriculture, a hierarchical structure based on two technical-economical and environmental factors is prepared and using a hierarchical analysis in the GIS software environment, the feasibility of using wastewater for cultivation of 10 common crops was carried out in Golestan province. The irrigation water fairness, the techno-economical distance from the outlet of the treatment plant and the suitability of the land for cultivating are from the technical-economical sub-criteria And the quality of irrigation water, soil, plant and aquifer vulnerability are the environmental criteria of this structure. Also, some parameters such as slope, topography, land use, depth of soil and technical permissible distance were considered as limiting factors. The results of this feasibility study, which was carried out using data from Kurdokoy wastewater treatment plant, Despite the low utilization rate of all plants due to lack of utility parameters such as nitrate, microbial contamination and aquifer vulnerability, which had the highest sensitivity and relative weight, cotton and canola have the highest desirable yield of 10 common crops In the area covered by the wastewater plant.

The complications of unwanted surface roughness of composite restorations are highly common due to the increasing use of this restorative material. Therefore, the present study was designed to compare the effect of four finishing and polishing (F&P) tools on surface roughness of microhybrid resin composites.

This experimental study was performed on 42 samples of CLEARFIL™ AP-X ​​microhybrid composite, which were divided into four groups of different F&P methods and one control group as follows: control (n=2), Flexi-D discs (n=10), Flexi-D + diamond polishing paste (n=10), Intensive twisted rubber polisher (n=10), and Rubber Polisher Teco (n=10). The samples were examined by profilometry. Surface roughness (Ra) of each specimen was measured at three points, and the mean value was considered as surface roughness. The results were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc statistical tests.

The surface roughness of composite discs in an ascending order was as follows: control (0.048±0.014 µm), Flexi-D disc (0.179±0.132 µm), Intensive twisted rubber polisher (0.233±0.105 µm), Flexi-D disc with diamond polishing paste (0.232±0.141 µm), and Rubber Polisher Teco (0.251±0.087 µm; P=0.001). The difference between the two groups of Flexi-D disc with diamond polishing paste and Rubber Polisher Teco was not statistically significant (P=0.742). The level of surface roughness in Flexi-D samples was significantly lower than that of the other samples (P<0.05).

It seems that the Flexi-D disc is the best F&P tool for microhybrid resin composites.

  Infertility imposes various problems on infertile couples including low distress tolerance. Recently, emotional focused therapy is one of the interventions that has been used to treat psychological problems of these couples. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of emotionally focused therapy on distress tolerance in infertile couples in Isfahan city. The present study was a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-test measures and two groups (experimental and control). Using available sampling method, 20 infertile couples are selected among all infertile couples referred to the infertility centers in Isfahan city in 2015. They were then randomly divided into two groups of 10 couple. Both groups completed Simons and Gaher distress tolerance questionnaire (2005) as a pre-test. The experimental group received 8 sessions emotionally focused therapy for four weeks prior to performing post-test. Data analyzing tools were descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics including multivariate analysis of covariance. The results of the study showed that in the experimental group, the mean of pre-test was increased significantly from 29.37 to 33.13 in post-test (p= 0.001) compared to the control group. According to the result of the present study,emotionally focused therapy may improve distress tolerance and can be recommended to infertile couples

The meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method is employed for dynamic analysisof fully saturated porous materials under shock loading considering two directional functionally gradingpatterns in constitutive mechanical properties. To approximate the trial functions in the radial pointinterpolation method (RPIM), the radial basis functions (RBFs) are utilized. The mechanical propertiesare simulated using a non-linear grading model with the radial and axial exponent. The 2D propagationof displacement and stresses are tracked through radial and axial direction in a two dimensional domainfor various grading patterns at different time instants. By employing the presented meshless technique,the effects of various grading patterns on maximum values of stresses and displacements are studiedin detail. The variation in the value of radial exponent has a significant effect on the dynamic behaviorof radial displacement and radial stress comparing to the variation in the value of axial exponent. TheMLPG method has a high capability to track the stress and displacement wave fronts at every arbitrarytime instant in 2D domain.

World-wide water scarcity, especially in the developing world, indicates a pressing need to develop inexpensive, decentralized small-scale desalination technologies which use renewable resources of energy. Major desalination processes consume a large amount of energy derived from oil and natural gas as heat and electricity, while emitting harmful CO2. Solar desalination has emerged as a promising renewable energy-powered technology for producing fresh water. One of the innovative methods for decentralized low-scale purification of water is the humidification dehumidification (HDH) desalination technology. Combining the principle of humidification-dehumidification with solar desalination results in an increase in the overall efficiency of the desalination plant. Solar still is an ideal source of fresh water for both domestic and agricultural aspects. It is one of the most important viable applications of solar energy. In this review the operated desalination of solar stills and HDH units; their operating principle; advantage and disadvantage has been extensively reviewed.

Ba ckground The only curative therapy for end-stage liver disease is transplantation but due to a shortage of available donor livers the waiting list mortality is high. This study aimed to evaluate the outcome and characteristics of patients on the waiting list for liver transplantation in Shiraz, southern Iran during the period from April 2004 to March 2007. Methods Medical records of all chronic liver disease patients ≥14 years that were on the waiting list for liver transplantation at the Nemazee Hospital Organ Transplant Center during April 2004 to March 2007 were reviewed. Hospital records were used to retrieve demographic, clinical and laboratory data. Records of the referring gastroenterologists provided information about the etiology and complications of liver disease. The patients were followed at the end of the study period by clinic visits or telephone contact. R esults There were 646 patients on the waiting list for liver transplant during April 2004 to March 2007. Hepatitis B was the most common etiology of liver disease (31.2%). Of those on the waiting list, 144 patients 22.3%) underwent liver transplant and 166 (25.7%) died while waiting for a transplant. The mean waiting period for transplant was 6.6 months. Receiving a transplant was correlated with the etiology of liver disease and Rh blood group (p<0.05) but had no significant association with gender or ABO blood type. Among non-transplanted patients, survival was lower in those who had a history of encephalopathy, SBP or uncontrolled ascites and in patients with a Child-Turcotte-Puph (CTP) class C and/or a Model of End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score≥15. C onclusion Hepatitis B virus is the most common cause of end-stage chronic liver disease amongst patients on the waiting list for liver transplant in Shiraz, southern Iran. Patients with a MELD score≥15 particularly those with a history of SBP, hepatic encephalopathy or uncontrolled ascites are recommended for waiting list enrollment.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of four levels of irrigation (irrigation of plants after I1 = 40, I2 =60, I3 = 80 , and I4 = 100mm of evaporation from class A pan) and four plant densities(D1 = 30, D2 = 40, D3 = 50 and D4 = 60 plants/m2) on the seed yield and seed quality in three soybean cultivars(V1=Hobit, V2=Williams and V3=Hill) in a split factorial design, based on the completely randomized blocks, with three replication for two years(2001 and 2002). The Irrigation treatments were assigned to the main plots, and the plant densities and cultivars to the sub plots. Results indicated that soybean seed yield was influenced by the different irrigation and plant density levels in the both years. Irrigation levels I2 produced the highest and I4 the lowest seed yield. It was also revealed that the plant density D3 produced the highest and D1 the lowest seed yields. Among the cultivars under investigation, V2 produced the highest and V3 the lowest seed yield . Seed oil and its protein contents both were affected significantly by the irrigation levels, plant densities and cultivars in both years. The plants receiving I1 treatment had the highest and those having I4, the lowest percentages of seed oil. Changes in the plant densities also affected seed oil and protein content. The plant density of D1 caused the seeds to have the highest oil and lowest protein percentages. However, D4 decreased oil and increased protein percentages. The highest water use efficiency was obtained from I3 and that of the lowest value from I1. The results also indicated that D4 had the highest and D1 the lowest water use efficiencies. Therefore, it could be concluded that the water use efficiency can be increased by increasing the plant density per unit area. The highest efficiency for biological and grain yield belonged to V2 and V1 respectively where as the lowest efficiency for those two mentioned characters belonged to V1 and V3, respectively. However, the treatment I2V2D2 is recommended for higer the seed yield production per unit area.

The potential mycoherbicide Alternaria alternata was isolated from one lesion on a leaf of Amaranthus retroflexus which had been inoculated with conidia of the fungus. The isolate was cultured on V-8 agar medium. Hyphal tip isolates (HTI) were derived from young germ tubes of single spores and cultured on a semidefined culture medium with a C:N ratio of 15:1. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis detected genetic variation in four HTIs and revealed 29% polymorphism. Selected HTIs that were different in at least one DNA fragment pattern varied in degree of sporulation, length of conidial germ tube, virulence and desiccation tolerance. The results indicated that the original culture of A. alternata is heterogeneous and, thus, cannot be considered as a suitable candidate for development as a commercial biocontrol agent.

The reaction of forty two barely landraces, mostly from Azarbijan Province and a susceptible cultivar, Zarjo, was studied under greenhouse conditions in the presence of four highly virulent isolates of Pyrenophora graminea, i.e. Marand 3, Ajabshir 2, Khasseban-Tireh, and Bostanabad. The experimental design was a split-plot based on randomized complete blocks with three replications. Landraces were considered as sub-plots and the isolates as whole plots. The seeds were inoculated by the sandwich method and responses of the landraces were evaluated by the method of Mathur and Bhatnagar. The resistance of landrace #1 to the isolates of Marand 3 and Ajabshir 2 and that of landrace # 27 to the isolate of Ajabshir 2 was observed. These landraces could be used as a source of vertical resistance in barley. Landraces 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 34, 36, 37 and 41 were classified within the range of partial resistance to partial susceptibility, which may be utilized as the sources of horizontal resistance.