hassan shojaei

This study has been conducted to investigate the relationship between political socialization and political participation among women in Ahwaz, Iran. The statistical population of the study included all the women aged 18 to 64 in Ahwaz from among whom a sample of 384 women was selected using the proportionate stratified random sampling method. This is an applied research work in terms of purpose, and it has been carried out using the descriptive-survey method. The required data were collected using a questionnaire. The results indicated that the variables political socialization, age, ethnicity and social class are significantly related to the variable political participation. The results further revealed that the variables ethnicity and social class affect the variable political socialization. The structural equations modeling results showed that, in evaluating the model measurement section, the factor loadings of all measures related to the variables political participation and political socialization are higher than 0.4. Therefore, it can be said that, in the context of the indices of the concealed variables, the measurement model is sufficiently reliable. Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the composite reliability (CR) were greater than 0.7, and the average variance extracted (AVE) of political participation was greater than 0.5, and that of political socialization was 0.5. Therefore, the measurement model has acceptable reliability and validity. In the structural model section, the fitting indices including the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) with a value of 0.7, incremental fitting index (IFI) with a value of 0.91, comparative fitting index (CFI) with a value of 0.91, parsimonious normed fitting index (PNFI) with a value of 0.62, parsimonious comparative fitting index (PCFI) with a value of 0.64, parsimonious goodness fitting index (PGFI) with a value of 0. 57 and normed chi-square index with a value of 3.368 indicated that the model has an acceptable fitting value. Given that the absolute value of T-statistic for all hypotheses was higher than 1.96, all the research hypotheses were confirmed. Therefore, it is confirmed that the effect of political socialization (Beta ₌ 0.15), age (Beta ₌ 0.18), social class (Beta ₌ 0.15) and ethnicity (Beta ₌ 0.10) on political participation and the effect of social class (Beta ₌ 0.14) and ethnicity (Beta ₌ 0.19) on political socialization is meaningful.

IntroductionMungbean (Vigna radiata L.) is an important, environment friendly staple food legume with rich source of proteins, vitamins, and minerals for human. Drought stress is one of the most adverse factors of Mungbean growth and productivity. Proper nutrition under stress conditions could partly help the plant to tolerate different stresses. Zinc plays a key role in the synthesis of proteins, DNA, and RNA. By consumption of zinc, it is possible to improve the growth status of the plant in stress conditions. Various studies were carried out to understand the effect of nanoparticles on the growth of plants. For example, Hong et al. (2005) and Yang et al. (2006) reported that a proper concentration of nano-TiO2 was found to improve the growth of spinach by promoting photosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism. Nano-particles have high reactivity because of more specific surface area, more density of reactive areas, or increased reactivity of these areas on the particle surfaces. Thus, the objective of this research was to investigate the effect of foliar application of Zno2 in common and nanoparticles forms on growth traits and yield of mungbean (V. radiata L.) under drought stress condition.
Materials & MethodsExperiment was carried out as a split plot in complete randomized block design with four replications in Shahrood Agricultural Research Center during the growing season of 2011-2012. Water stress at three levels (control, cutting of irrigation in 50% flowering and 50% pod setting stages) were assigned as main plots and zinc oxide foliar application in five levels (control, 5 and 10 gl-1 nano sized zinc oxide and 5 and 10 gl-1 non-nano-scale zinc oxide) were randomized in sub-plots. According to soil analysis experiment results, the soil was loam and having pH=7.8; EC=1.5 (dS/m); 0.4% of organic carbon; 0.08% N; 10, 280 and 1.1 ppm of P, K and Zn respectively. Zinc spraying on leaves was done two times at 40 and 55 day after planting. The plots were 24 m2 with 6 sowing rows, 4 m long. Seeds were placed at 3 to 5 cm depth in each row. Irrigation operations were performed until the emergence once every 7 days. Afterwards at 50% flowering and 50% of pod formation stages, irrigation was disrupted. Intended traits were measured in the end of crop season. All data collected were subjected of analysis of variance (ANOVA) using MSTATC software procedure and the significant treatment means were separated using Duncan's multiple range test.
Results & DiscussionResults showed that the drought stress at flowering and podding stages decreased the height, number of branches, chlorophyll a, b, grain and biological yield in comparison to control treatment significantly, but the effect of drought stress at podding stage was more than drought stress at flowering. Water deficit in the plant disrupts many cellular and whole plant functions, having a negative impact on plant growth and reproduction. Thus, it is one of the most yield limiting factors as it affects growth and development. Seed protein and proline content increased under drought stress significantly, while there was no significant difference for carotenoid content between treatments. Foliar application of Zinc in common and nanoparticles forms increased the height, proline content, grain and biological yield in comparison to control treatment significantly. The results showed that foliar application of 10 grams per liter nano zinc oxide in normal and drought stress at flowering and podding stages increased the grain yield by 6.6, 3.6 and 5.4 percent in comparison to no spraying treatments respectively. The maximum effects of Zinc on increasing of traits was found by foliar application of 10 grams per liter nano zinc oxide, 10 grams per liter zinc oxide, 5 grams per liter nano zinc oxide and 5 grams per liter zinc oxide respectively. With the completion of Micro-Nutrients consumption through spraying, the growth state of plant can be improved in stress conditions. Liu et al. (2005) reported that nano-Fe2O3 promoted the growth and photosynthesis of peanut. Prasad et al. (2012) reported that nano-scale zinc oxide particles increased stem and root growth and pod yield of peanut as compared with ZnSO4 application. Reduction of particle size results in increased number of particles per unit of weight and specific surface area of a fertilizer that should increase contact of fertilizer with plant leading to increase in nutrient uptake. Nanoparticles have high reactivity because of more specific surface area, more density of reactive areas, or increased reactivity of these areas on the particle surfaces. These features in nano-scale simplify their absorption in plants.
ConclusionMungbean growth characteristics could positively influence by foliar application of zinc oxide as nano and micro-particles in drought stress conditions. But, the effects of nano-scale zinc oxide particles on plant growth and yield was more in comparison to micro particles zinc oxide in stress and non-stressed conditions.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria are of crucial importance in medicine due to their undisputable impact on human health. Among ecosystem factors, hospital water plays a major role as the inhabitant of mycobacteria and medium for transmission of opportunistic pathogens to a human. In addition, there is increasing evidence showing the correlation of mycobacteria in hospital water and nosocomial infection. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to assess the frequency of mycobacteria in hospital water and identify them according to Runyon classification.

A total of 85 water samples were collected from hospital water resources in Isfahan, Iran. They were transferred to the research laboratory and subjected to filtration and decontamination. They were then subcultured to Lowenstein Jensen media and incubated at various temperatures and inspected weekly for the appearance of Mycobacterium-like colonies. A set of phenotypic tests were finally applied to identify the isolates based on Runyon classification.

Out of 85 water samples, 76 were collected from tap waters and showers used in patient departments and the rest were collected from surface and underground water used in hospitals. Of 40 mycobacteria isolated, 15, 11, and 14 belonged to Runyon's groups of I, II and IV, respectively.

The results of the current study showed that a noticeable rate of water resources in hospitals in Isfahan are contaminated with mycobacteria. This can be considered as a potential hazardous source of infection for patients with immunocompromised immune systems such as the elderly, children, and patients with immunodeficiency conditions.