nemati

In recent years, with the increase in the elderly population, the trend of transferring the elderly to nursing homes has been increased. Therefore, the existence of standard centers according to international standards for maintenance and care of this vulnerable group has become very important. The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of structural standards of nursing homes in Ardabil.

This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Four nursing homes in Ardabil were selected by census method and included in the study. To check the status of structural standards, a checklist consisting of three dimensions of manpower standards, physical space and tools and equipment was used. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS software version 22.

According to the results, the studied nursing homes met the standards by 71.61% and obtained the average score of 580 out of a total score of 810. The highest score obtained in the manpower dimension was related to the division of labor and manpower with a score of 96.36%, in the physical space dimension was related to the four subdivisions of doors, parking lots and corridors, kitchen and dining room, nursing station, and treatment room and storage of special tools with a score of 100% and in terms of supplies and equipment was related to medical tools and equipment with a score of 97.5%.

According to the results of the present study, the structural condition of nursing homes in Ardabil Province is lower than international standards. Therefore, it is suggested that health and welfare officials and nursing homes take the necessary measures to upgrade the necessary standards to the level of international standards.

In order to evaluate the effects of medicinal plants (Thymus vulgaris L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Lavandula angustifolia Mill., Mentha piperita L.) with melon intercropping on pests control and fruit yield in melon, and to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, a factorial experiment was performed based on a completely block randomized design with three replications in 2017. Experimental factors included two melon cultivars ("Khatoni" and "Khaghani"), chemical control and four medicinal plant species (thyme, rosemary, lavender, and peppermint) that were cultivated as additive intercropping among melon bushes. The ANOVA results showed that the effects of cultivar on weevil (Acythopeus curviostris) population, number of healthy and damaged fruit and fruit weight, the effects of intercropping on weevil, whitefly and aphid population, number of healthy and damaged fruit and fruit weight, and the interaction effects of two factors on weevil and aphid population and number of healthy and damaged fruit were significant at 5% probability level. Based on the results of the experiment, chemical control had the greatest effect on pest population control in both melon cultivars. Among the intercropping treatments, peppermint had the greatest effect in reducing the weevil population in both melon cultivars. Moreover, intercropping of "Khatoni" with peppermint and "Khaghani" with peppermint, lavender, and rosemary had positive effects on reducing the aphid population. However, intercropping of both melon cultivars with all four medicinal plant species had no effect on whitefly population control. Based on the results of this study, and in order to keep the sustainability of crop ecosystems, intercropping of melon with some medicinal plants such as peppermint can be considered to reduce the population of some pests on melon.

Biochar reduces the bioavailability of a wide range of pollutants, especially heavy metals (HMs).To evaluate the effects of waste biochar of cutflower rose on growth characteristics and accumulation of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) HMs of in lettuce, a factorial experiment, based on completely randomized design, with four replications was conducted. The amount of rose biochar at 3 levels (0, 5 and 10 g/kg), Cd at 3 levels (0, 10 and 20 mg/kg) and Pb at 3 levels (0, 300, 600 mg/kg) were tested. Results showed that the highest amount of leaf area, fresh and dry weight of shoots, and root volume were observed at 5 g/kg level of rose biochar. Increasing the rose-biochar level from 5 to 10 g/kg decreased all traits except height and diameter of shoots. Application of 600 mg/kg Pb decreased the number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of the shoots, fresh and dry weights of roots, and root length by 6.92, 13.38, 18.04, 22.44, 12.66 and 8.61%, respectively, compared to the control treatment. The highest amount of fresh and dry weight of shoots and root volume was observed in 5 g/kg rose biochar and 300 mg/kg Pb treatment, and the least amount of all of the abovementioned traits was observed at the highest levels of biochar and Pb. Increasing the level of biochar from zero to 5 and 10 g/kg and 20 mg/kg of Cd reduced the loss of root Cd by 92.9 and 24.17 percent, respectively. In fact, rose biochar (especially at 5 g/kg level) has improved the lettuce growth characteristics by reducing the bioavailability of Pb and Cd in the soil.

Nasrin plant (Amaryllis) is considered as a valuable bulbous plant. The propagation rate of this ornamental plant in natural condition is low. Therefore, application of modern techniques such as tissue culture is an appropriate way to increase the propagation rate of this ornamental plant. In order to study the effect of explant kind, type and concentration of cytokinin on scale explant regeneration of amaryllis, afctorial experiment was done based on a completely randomized design with 4 replications. Different explants including twin scale with basal plate, single scale with basal plate and single scale without basal plate was used. Explants were cultured on MS basal medium supplemented with different concentration of BA or TDZ (0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg/l) and 0.1 mg/l NAA, 30 g/l sucrose and 8 g/l agar. Results showed that twin scale explants with basal plate were the best explants for in vitro propagation of amaryllis and produced thicker bulblets. On the other hand, no bulblets were regenerated from single scale without basal plate and these explants became brown over the time. Also cytokinin type had no significant effect on the diameter of regenerated bulblets but in medium containing BA more bulblets were regenerated in comparison to medium supplemented with TDZ. Medium without any hormones produced less and thicker bulblets compared with other treatments. By considering the diameter and number of bulblets, application of twin scale and use of MS medium containing 0.5 mg/l BA in combination with 0.1 mg/l NAA is recommended for in vitro propagation of amaryllis

Pepino (Solanum muricatum Aiton) is a diploid herbaceous plant belongs to the Solanaceae family, which is growing in subtropical zone, originates from Andes in South America. It is commercially grown for its fruit, which is appreciated not only for food but also for its appearance, in South American countries, including Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, as well as in countries such as New Zealand and Australia. Pepino is propagated by seed, cutting, and tissue culture methods. Most pepino cultivars are sexually fertile and produce viable seeds, but their seeds have poor germination and high level of heterozygosis causing to highly variable plants. Both mentioned negative aspects have limited the mass production of this plant through seed. In this case, stem cutting is used as the most common way of propagating pepino led to transmission of viral diseases and increasing propagation costs as two main limiting factors of pepino propagation. So, micropropagation systems are a promising tool to produce disease-free clonal plant material with low costs. Therefore, the present study was aimed to assess the effect of different media and plant growth regulators on micropropagation traits of pepino.

Three separate experiments were carried out in institute of plant sciences of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2016. Pepino seeds were bought from company of Plant World Seed, UK, were cultivated on MS medium. Grown plants were used as source of providing explants. Four mediums, including MS, ½ MS, SH and B5 were used to determine the best culture medium for shoot regeneration of pepino using single node explant. A factorial experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design. Some growth properties such as number of shoots, shoot length, number of roots, root length, leaf number and leaf length were evaluated after two and four weeks. In proliferation experiment, MS medium was compared with MS supplemented with different concentrations of BA (0.5, 1 and 2 mg L-1) and Kin (0.5, 1 and 2 mg L-1) applied as combined treatments, and also BA used alone at concentrations of 2, 4 and 6 mg L-1 that was conducted based on a completely randomized design. For rooting of explants, an experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design containing of two concentrations of IBA (at 0.3 and 0.6 mg L-1) and three concentrations of NAA (at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 mg L-1) in MS medium. Some growth properties including root number and length, root density and root quality were evaluated after four weeks

Results indicated that micropropagation rate of pepino was affected by culture medium type. The highest shoot length, number of root, root length and leaf number were obtained in MS medium, although statistically there was no significant difference between MS and ½ MS media. The highest number of shoots and leaf length were observed in MS medium, which led to a significant difference with other media (½ MS, SH and B5). Overall, Based on obtained results MS medium was the best culture medium for micropropagation of pepino using single node. In the proliferation experiment, the highest shoot and leaf number and plant color were obtained with using 2 mg L-1 BA + 1 mg L-1 Kin, whereas the highest shoot length and leaf length were observed in the 1 mg L-1 BA + 2 mg L-1 Kin and 1 mg L-1 BA+1 mg L-1 Kin treatments, respectively. Increasing in concentration of BA up to 2 mg L-1 in combination with Kin had a positive effect on shoot proliferation, while applying BA at concentration 2, 4 and 6 mg L-1 alone led to decrease in proliferation. Results obtained from rooting experiment showed that the highest root number, root density and root quality were obtained using IBA at the concentration of 0.6 mg L-1, whereas the highest root length was observed by applying IBA at concentration of 0.3 mg L-1, which led to a significant difference with other treatments. Furthermore, results indicated that the effect of IBA on rooting of pepino microshoots was more than NAA.

Generally, the best results were obtained by MS medium, 2 mg L-1 BA with 1 mg L-1 Kin for shoot proliferation, and IBA at concentration of 0.6 mg L-1 for the rooting of pepino nodal segments.

The objective of this research was to develop a novel method for the synthesis of colloidal solutions of titanium dioxide nanoparticles with high stability and life span.

Based on mentioned points, the issue of this study is the synthesis of nanoparticles via chemical reduction process. The morphologies, compositions, and physicochemical properties of the prepared samples were characterized by TEM, XRD and DLS. Also, the cytotoxic effect of fabricated NPs against human white blood cells (WBCs) was investigated via MTT assay. In addition, antibacterial activity was investigated.

The results of this study indicate that the diameter of the synthesized nanoparticles is about 50nm and contains the anatase phase, in the range of 2θ from 25-80°C, and the hydrodynamic radius of nanoparticles is about 95.8±12.78nm and the zeta potential of nanoparticles is about -34.87±4.78mV. Also, the effect of toxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the white blood cell line showed that these nanoparticles cause the toxicity of cells at concentrations above 200μg/ml, but in lower concentrations, normal cells can survive. Also, these nanoparticles at the same low concentrations.

In conclusion, colloidal solutions with high stability were successfully synthesized, which, in addition to increasing the antibacterial properties due to diminished dimensions.

The aim of this research was to study the effects of supplementation of alfalfa silage with a combination of essential oils and fresh apple pulp and on the dry matter, organic matter and crude protein degradabilities by nylon bags. The treatments included: 1) alfalfa silage (control treatment), 2) alfalfa silage processed with essential oil, 3) alfalfa silage (75%) + apple pulp (25%), 4) alfalfa silage (75%) + apple pulp (25%) + essential oil, 5) alfalfa silage (50%) + apple pulp (50%), 6) alfalfa silage (50%) + apple pulp (50%) + essential oil, 7) alfalfa silage (25%) + apple pulp (75%) and 8) alfalfa silage (25%) + apple pulp (75%) + essential oil that ensiled for 90 days. Degradabilities determined using nylon bags technique with four replications. The data were analyzed in a factorial arrangement of 2×4 on a completely randomized design. At the end of 96 h of incubation, the highest amount of dry matter disappearance was observed in the treatment of alfalfa 25% and apple pulp 75% with the essential oil additive and the lowest amount was for the treatment alfalfa and essential oil additive. Adding essential oil to alfalfa silage during the preparation of silage increased the dry matter degradation rate and the effective degradation and improved nutritive value of silage. Also, the addition of apple pulp at different levels increased rapidly degradation and slowly degradation fractions and effective degradability.

In this paper, for the first time, natural convection heat transfer of a nanofluid in the presence of a uniform magnetic field inside a parallelogram shaped cavity with two triangular obstacles with different boundary conditions is simulated by using lattice Boltzmann method. The right vertical wall of the cavity is assumed to be adiabatic and the inclined walls are kept at constant cold temperature, while the left vertical walls are kept at constant hot temperature. The flow and temperature field is calculated by solving lattice Boltzmann equations for velocity and temperature distribution functions simultaneously. D2Q9 lattice arrangement for each distribution function is used. The results have been validated with available results in the literature. The effects of different parameters such as Rayleigh number (103-105), Hartmann number (0-90), nanoparticle volume fraction (0-0.05) and different boundary conditions at triangular obstacles on natural heat convective heat transfer are investigated. The results show that, at a constant Rayleigh and Hartmann number, the average Nusselt number takes its maximum and minimum value when the triangular obstacles are kept at constant cold and hot temperatures, respectively. For all cases, it is found that the average Nusselt number increases with enhancement of Rayleigh number. Also, increasing of Hartman number decreases the flow velocity and heat transfer rate. Furthermore, increase of volume fraction of nano particles enhances heat transfer rate, however its changes for different Rayleigh and Hartman numbers are not the same.

Drought is an event that happens due to lack of rainfall in a period of time. The occurrence of drought, reduces available soil water, but water losses through evaporation and transpiration is constantly increasing. The first stage of the plant, which may be faced with drought, is germinating. Since Germination begins with water uptake, lack of water at this stage in terms of duration and intensity of the stress causes or reduce germination percentage and germination rate. Because of the heterogeneity of soils in the field and lack of control of the environmental factors such as drought, laboratory research on the stress is considered. Some of these methods can be used to study the reaction of the landraces to the solutions from materials polyethylene glycol. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the native population of fenugreek germinating rate under drought stress conditions and identify landrace was incurred.

To investigate the effect of drought stress on germination and seedling growth characteristics of native landrace fenugreek, an experiment was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design with three replications in Seed Laboratory of University of Mashhad in 2014. The experiment treatments consisted of eight landraces of fenugreek of Esfahan, Tabriz, Hamedan, Sari, Challous, Amol, Mashhad and Yassooj on polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) at four levels: (0, 3, 6 and 9 Bar) were replicated three times. The stress test for the simulation of polyethylene glycol 6000 was used and the amount of material needed to create each of the stress levels using the formula Michel and Kaufmann respectively. For control treatment distilled water was used. Landraces seed of fenugreek of Esfahan, Tabriz, Hamedan, Sari, Challous, Amol, Mashhad and Yassooj purchased. Before the start of the experiment, the seeds disinfest with a three percent solution of hypochlorite for two minutes to disinfect and then were washed three times with distilled water on the twelfth day, seeds and traits such as root length and root out the Petri measure.

In the study the interactions between landrace and drought, the rate of decline in most of the traits was related to native populations of fenugreek, Tabriz, Hamadan, Sari, Challous, Amol, Yasuj and Mashhad, respectively (-9 Bar) compared to control (0 Bar). As can be seen, the Isfahan landrace was more stable in most of the traits due to changes in drought levels. On the other hand, as the drought stress increased, the percentage and rate of germination of fenugreek seeds decreased. Fenugreek seed germination rate and percentage with increased drought stress the germination rate under drought stress signifcantly was higher than the percentage of germinating. The plants grow in different stages react differently to drought show seed germination and seedling production and a dry condition indicates that the plant is a potential for drought tolerance but that does not mean that the seedlings start to grow in dry conditions, can continue to grow in the same conditions.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different selenium sources plus vitamin E on the quality of Japanese quail eggs. The birds were fed the diets for 56 d.  At the end of feeding period, the eggs were collected and stored for 15 or 30 d at 5°C or 22°C before quality measurement. A completely randomized experimental design in factorial arrangement 2 × 3, with four replicates and 24 eggs each was applied. The dietary treatments included three diet types (basal diet, basal diet plus 0.4 mg sodium selenite and 120 mg/kg vitamin E and basal diet plus 0.4 mg sel-plex and 120 mg/kg vitamin E) and two different storage temperatures (5°C or 22°C). The quality measurements included egg weight loss, albumen height, albumen pH, Haugh unit (HU), yolk index, yolk pH and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration. Organic and inorganic sources of selenium plus vitamin E supplementation significantly decreased the percentage of egg weight loss but increased height albumen, HU and yolk color of egg compared to control group (P

One of the fundamental problems in aerodynamic shape optimization with Genetic Algorithm (GA) and numerical flow solution is the computational time required to obtain the optimum airfoil. This is mainly due to the large number of flow solution calls that contributes the majority of the total computational time in an optimization process. In transonic flows the computational cost will further increase due to the existence of shock wave and flow instabilities especially when the fitness function is calculated by solving full Navier Stokes equations. Thus, one simple idea could be using the inviscid flow solution instead of viscous flow one. Thus, the purpose of the present paper is to study the effects of the flow viscosity on the optimum airfoil and investigate the possibility of using inviscid flow solution for objective function calculation instead of expensive viscous solver. The modified PARSEC parameterization method is used for airfoil shape modeling that is able to generate airfoils with divergent trailing edge suitable for viscous flow calculations. The linear and torsional spring analogy are used simultaneously for moving computational grids. The optimization process used an adaptive range Genetic Algorithm for obtaining the optimum geometry in the less number of generations. The fitness function is calculated by solving the compressible flow equations using a cell centered finite volume scheme on unstructured grids. The time integration is also carried out using a dual time implicit approach. A two equations k-e turbulence model is also used for high Reynolds number flow computations. The results show that the optimum geometry at real transonic flow conditions can only be achieved when viscous effects are fully considered in the fitness function computations. They also show that using the viscous flow solution for fitness calculation can increase the objective function by about 70% in comparison with the inviscid optimum airfoil.

Transplant production is one of the most important commercial production of melon. Transplanting of seedlings with strong and healthy stems and roots will be successful. Environmental conditions, such as light, affect the proper growth of healthy transplants. The light provides the necessary energy for photosynthesis. Due to the stimulation of the activity of photosynthetic pigments and light receptor pigments, it can be expected that plant performance increase by improving the quality and quantity of light. High pressure sodium and fluorescent lamps are common artificial light sources in greenhouses but because of their high power consumption, heat generation and the light spectrum that the plant does not use, application of LED is taken into consideration. The production of specific spectrum of light and the possibility of spectral composition are advantages of LED lamps. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of light quality and cultivar on some physiological and vegetative characteristics of two melon cultivar seedlings, Ghasri and Khatooni, which are among the most important melon cultivars in Iran. To investigate the effect of light quality and cultivar on vegetative characteristics of melon (Cucumis melo Gr. Inodorus) transplants, a research was conducted from April 4 to May 10, 2016 as split plot experiment in completely randomized design with five replications and the seedlings of Khatoonia and Ghasri cultivars were treated under different light quality include two combinations of blue and red spectrum with ratios of 15%B : 85%R , 30%B : 70%R, fluorescent lamp and HPS lamp. In order to set spectra combinations, LED lamps of Red (R625nm )  and Blue (B476nm)  were used. The 85%R: 15%B ratio was obtained through using of 340 R lamps plus 60 B lamps and the 70%R: 30%B ratio was obtained by the usage of 280 R lamps plus 120 B lamps on separate Plexiglass plate. Closed growth chambers without natural light were used. The size of LED growth chambers were 70×60×60 cm3 and the size of HPS lamp growth chamber was 120×60×60 cm3. The seeds were planted at a depth of 4 cm and were transplanted to growth chamber equipped with the desired light compounds. Light intensity was 65 mmol    and duration of light was 16 hours. Data was collected when transplant had four leaves. Emergence speed index, mean time for emergence of  transplants, fresh and dry weights of foliage and root, root volume, leaf area and thickness, leaf number, height, height to diameter ratio, stem caliper, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll total and carotenoids contents were measured. The result showed that the interaction effect of light quality and cultivar was significant on fresh and dry weights of foliage and root, root volume, leaf area and thickness, height to diameter ratio, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll total and carotenoids contents. The fresh and dry weights of foliage of Ghasri cultivar and fresh weight of root of Khatooni cultivar under 15%B: 85%R ratio, the dry weight and root volume of Ghasri cultivar under, 30%B: 70%R ratio, the chlorophyll a and carotenoids contents of Ghasri cultivar under, 30%B: 70%R ratio, the chlorophyll b and chlorophyll total contents of Khatooni cultivar under, 30%B: 70%R ratio were superior. The results of this study showed that the use of compounds of blue and red lights increased the dry matter and development of roots in studied plants. Proper dry matter and root development are important because they make the plant resistant to environmental stress. However, the effect of light quality was affected by the cultivar. For example, Ghasri cultivar showed the highest fresh and dry weights of foliage under 15%B: 85%R ratio and with the increase of blue light level, these two traits decrease significantly, but this results was not obtained in Khatooni cultivar. The results showed that the light quality affected leaf area and thickness of two cultivars in a different way. In Ghasri cultivar the highest leaf area and thickness were obtained under, 30%B: 70%R ratio. In Khatooni cultivar, under, 30%B: 70%R ratio, the highest leaf area and under fluorescent light, the highest leaf thickness were observed. The effect of blue light on the variation of leaf area among plants has been reported differently. The leaf area plays an important role in photosynthesis in plants and with its increase, photosynthesis and plant growth improved. The result showed that the interaction effect of light quality and cultivar was not significant on emergence speed index, mean time for emergence of transplants, leaf number, stem caliper and height. The highest emergence speed index and mean time for emergence of transplants were obtained under, 30%B: 70%R ratio without significant difference with 15%blue: 85%red ratio. Leaf number was lowest under HPS lamp and there is no significant difference in leaf number among 15%B: 85%R ratio, 30%B: 70%R ratio and fluorescent lamp. The highest stem caliper and lowest height were obtained under, 30%B: 70%R ratio. Interaction of phytochromes and cryptochromes due to different levels of blue and red lights lead to the formation of different concentrations of gibberellins and this affects the height of the plants. In some plants, increasing the amount of blue light leads to a decrease in the secretion of this hormone and as a result, plant heights are reduced. The results showed that the blue light had a positive effect on the increase of stem caliper and increasing transplant diameter has a positive effect on its establishment and development after their transfer  to the main planting site. The result showed that the application of the blue and red spectra compared to fluorescent and HPS lamps improved the quality of transplants growth. Improve or mitigate results and the performance in traits such as fresh and dry weights of foliage and root, root volume, leaf area and thickness, height to diameter ratio, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll total and carotenoids contents depend on  light quality and cultivar.

Hydatidosis is an important zoonosis caused by a parasitic tapeworm, namely Echinococcus granulosus. This infection is distributed worldwide and affects the health as well as economic loss in both humans and animals. In most cases, the disease needs chemotherapy with or without surgery. Conventional drugs have some major problems, including drug complications, harmful side effects, and also progressive resistance. According to the importance of biological productions as alternative medicine, a large number of studies confirmed that whole venom and many peptide ingredients of the scorpion venom have various different medical benefits, including antimicrobial properties, due to the mechanism of blocking gated ion channel. In this study, the venom peptides of Mesobuthus eupeus scorpionwere purified using gel filtration chromatography and subsequently ion exchange chromatography, followed by the determination of the molecular weights of the proteins by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) procedure. After collecting the hydatid cysts fluids from the liver of infected sheep, protoscolices were derived, washed, and encountered to the whole venom as well as eight different fractions of toxin 30, 60, 120, and 240 min after the exposure. In the next step, the viability of protoscolices was determined by eosin staining. The obtained results revealed that a venom fraction under 10 kDa killed all protoscolices after 30 min. Moreover, it was found that the scolicidal activity of fractions increases according to the time of exposure. As a result, it can be concluded that M. epeus venom peptides under its LD50 (1/2 LD50) can properly and quickly destroy the protoscolices of hydatid cysts at the level of applied concentrations and such components are good alternatives to treat hydatidosis.

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive coccus that, in specific conditions, is able to generate various diseases. By secreting different enterotoxins, this bacterium prepares the settings to attack the host; among these, enterotoxins A and B play the most important roles in food poisoning. This study was performed to trace the genes coding enterotoxins A and B in Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the clinic and poultry slaughterhouse. In addition, the present study analyzed the relation between the prevalence of these genes and resistance to erythromycin and tetracycline. This study was performed from October 2015 to December 2016. A total of 200 samples of noses and cloaca from broiler poultry farms in Ilam, Iran, were collected, including 150 samples from the slaughterhouse and 50 samples from the clinic isolated for separating Staphylococcus aureus. After bacterial culture and confirmation of biochemical tests, the samples were evaluated for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus and the resistance pattern to antibiotics regarding the presence of femA, tets, ermb, sea, and seb genes using the disk diffusion method and polymerase chain reaction test. Out of 200 tested samples, 112 strains of Staphylococcus aureus (56%) were identified from which 91 and 21 strains were associated with the poultry slaughterhouse and clinic, respectively, and all the samples were identified using biochemical tests. After the detection of femA gene as an exclusive gene for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus strain, 100 strains (50%) were confirmed to be contaminated with this bacterium. Out of 100 strains, 46%, 14%, and 5% possessed the genes coding enterotoxin A, the genes coding enterotoxin B, and both genes, respectively. The results of antibiotic tests showed that 85% and 86% of the examined strains were resistant to erythromycin and tetracycline, respectively. In the present study, the analysis performed using QuickCalcs software showed that the strains resistant to these two antibiotics possessing the sea gene were more prevalent than those possessing seb genes in the samples isolated from the poultry slaughterhouse. This comparison revealed that during the short period of broiler poultry farms growth, resistant strains were able to proliferate sea gene among the herd, and its prevalence increased until reaching into the slaughterhouse. This study showed that the relation between the genes resistant to erythromycin and tetracycline and the sea gene was close and significant.

The aim of this study was to examine how timing of supplemental lighting and different light combinations affect the vegetative and reproductive responses of petunia (Petunia × hybrida Super cascade Blue). This experiment was designed as a factorial based on a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. After being in the greenhouse for 12 hours, the plants received supplemental lighting at two different times (from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.) by the usage of various combinations of red light (R, 625 nm) and blue light (B, 467 nm) including 100% R, 15% B : 85% R, 30% B : 70% R and high pressure sodium lamp (HPS, serving as control). Results showed that there was not significant interaction between light combination and the timing of supplemental lighting on vegetative characteristics. Plants under 30% B : 70% R light ratio had the highest foliage fresh weight (15.73 g) and dry weight (0.86 g), root fresh weight (1.13 g) and dry weight (0.3 g), average height of lateral shoots (6.63 cm), Chlorophyll a, b, total  and  carotenoids contents (1.03, 0.35, 1.38 and 0.44 mg/g FW, respectively) and the plants under 15% B : 85% R light ratio had the highest height of central stem (14.4 cm), leaf area (313.07 cm2), number of leaves (80.5) and number of lateral shoots (9.83). Also, results revealed that there was significant interaction between timing of supplemental lighting and light combination on the flowering time, and the shortest time to flowering (56 days after sowing) was obtained under 30% B : 70% R light ratio from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m

The study aimed to investigate the acute and chronic effects of endurance training on calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in the brain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and serum in male Wistar rats. Frothy animals were equally divided into four groups including control, acute, trained chronic, and trained acute. The acute group performed only one endurance exercise session, trained acute performed a single exercise session following a twelve-week endurance training, and trained chronic performed twelve-week of endurance training. CSF was collected from the cisterna magena and various parts of the brain were extracted. CSF and serum concentration of CGRP and its gene expression were measured by ELISA and Real Time-PCR technique, respectively. Statistical test of One-way ANOVA was used for data analysis. Compared with control group, CGRP concentration in CSF (acute: P=0.006; trained acute: P=0.008) and serum (acute: P=0.009; trained acute: P=0.007) increased significantly. CGRP gene expression increased only in the cortex of the acute (P = 0.007) and trained acute (P = 0.006) in comparison to control group; Compared with the acute group, CGRP gene expression increased in the cortex of the trained acute group (P = 0.018). The chronic effect of exercise did not appear in any of research variables in trained chronic group. In conclusion, CGRP increment in CSF and serum during endurance exercise is likely due to its enhanced expression in the cortex. In addition, resting values of CSF and serum CGRP are not affected by long-term endurance exercise; however, they are subjected to exercise response to adaptation.

In order to investigate the host range of various populations of causal agent of wheat leaf rust, Puccinia. recondita sensu lato, during 2010-2016, fifty isolates of the pathogen were collected from different hosts of Poaceae in various parts of Iran including: Ardabil, Fars, Golestan, Ilam, Kerman, Khuzestan, Khorasan Razavi, Kurdistan, Mazandaran and West Azerbaijan. Pathogenicity of all isolates on seven hosts, including bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Boolani), durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf., cv. Karkhe & cv. Yavaroos), barley (Hordeum vulgare L., cv. Afzal), oat (Avena sativa L.), rye (Secale montanum Guss.) and triticale (Triticosecale Wittm. Ex A. Camus) was examined. Results indicated that all isolates had high disease severity on bread wheat (cv. Boolani) and triticale. Bread wheat isolates were avirulent on all hosts except for triticale, which showed a hypersensitive reaction or small, dispersed pustules. Triticale isolates were only pathogenic on triticale and bread wheat. Durum wheat isolates were virulent on bread wheat, durum wheat, and triticale, and were avirulent on barley and rye plants. Oat isolates showed an avirulence response on barley, rye and various genotypes of durum wheat and rye. Barley isolates were also pathogenic on bread wheat, triticale and barley and avirulent on durum wheat and rye. Although wild barley isolates were virulent on bread wheat, durum wheat, and triticale, they were avirulent on other hosts. Oat is a non-host for all leaf rust isolates, except for its own isolates. The findings indicate that in the absence of wheat, leaf rust populations are able to survive on other members of the Poaceae family.

With the advances in the development of biomaterials for tissue replacement, the attention of scientists has been focused on the improvement of clinical implant properties. In this regard, despite the appropriate properties of the stainless steel, the application of stainless steel as implants has been limited due to the weak corrosion resistivity. The purpose of this paper was preparation and characterization of hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-SiO2-CuO nanocomposite coating on the 316L stainless steel surface. The 316L stainless steel was coated by SiO2 nanoparticles (20 wt. %), CuO nanoparticles (0.5, 1 and 2 wt. %) and biocompatible PDMS. In this research, x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to characterize the coating. Moreover, the roughness and water contact angle of the coatings consisting of various amounts of CuO nanopowder were estimated. Finally, the effects of various amounts of the CuO nanopowder on the corrosion resistivity of nanocomposite coatings were investigated. XRD patterns confirmed the presence of crystalline CuO nanoparticles on the substrate. Due to the non-crystalline nature of silica nanoparticles and the semi-crystalline PDMS polymer, no peak confirming the presence of these phases was detected on the XRD pattern of the nanocomposite coating. SEM images showed the formation of a lotus leaf-like layer on the surface of the nanocomposite coating containing 1 and 2 wt. % CuO. Moreover, water contact angle evolution revealed that while contact angle was 81 degree without CuO nanoparticles, it was enhanced to 146 degree in the presence of 1 wt. % CuO. Moreover, the corrosion study showed the nanocomposite containing 2 wt.% CuO had the best corrosion resistance, the corrosion current density of 2.1E-7 A.cm-2, and the corrosion potential of 0.22 V.

Developing strategies to tackle water stress in lawns in arid climate regions is significantly important. In such conditions, using growing media amendments as well as native plants can relieve drought stress in different growing stages of the plants. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of some types of soil amendments on the emergence and early seedling establishment of tall fescue (Festuca arundinecea Schreb ‘GazBorkhar ecotype’) under water stress conditions. The experiment was performed in a factorial trial based on a completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor, water stress, was applied based on field capacity (FC) at three levels (80% FC (control), 60% FC and 40% FC). The second factor, growing media amendments, was applied at nine levels of municipal solid waste (MSW), vermicompost (5% and 10% w/w), Stockosorb® (1% and 3% w/w) or zeolite superabsorbent (4% and 8% w/w) which were mixed with loam soil, and the loam soil was used as a control treatment. Theresults showed that using an irrigation system at 60% FC during seed emergence and early seedling growth did not reduce the quality of the turf grass, and also, in many cases, led to a higher quality lawn compared to the control, leading to water saving in turf grass management. Using MSW and manure vermicompost as soil amendments could maintain soil moisture and water supplement for the improvement of morphological, physiological and visual quality of this ecotype of Festuca arundinacea Schreb.

This study aimed to assess ecological quality status of hard substratum macroinvertebrates communities of the Caspian Sea with three ecological indices and their relationship with environmental factors. For this purpose, benthic communities of the Caspian Sea basin were studied seasonally during 2014 in 8 sampling sites. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate, nitrite, silicate and phosphate were measured as environmental factors. The benthic classification indices AMBI (AZTI Marine Biotic Index), M-AMBI (Multivariate AMBI) and BENTIX (BENthic IndeX) were applied to assess the ecological status of the studied area. Results showed low dissimilarity based on species composition and abundance among seasons, while all seasons discriminated clearly based on environmental factors. In addition, AMBI index was more successful to assess ecological health of hard substratum in the Caspian Sea basin than M-AMBI and BENTIX. Furthermore, AMBI showed high sensitivity to environmental variation. Results indicated that temperature, nitrate, silicate, phosphate and nitrite were the most important factors in the composition and abundance fluctuation of hard substratum macroinvertebrates communities, respectively.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes and since dietary fiber lowers the absorption of sugars, so it is effective in preventing and treating diabetes, hyperlipidemia and obesity. Also, in those who have a regular exercise program, reduced blood glucose levels and increased insulin sensitivity, can be the beneficial effects of this activity. Therefore, it is considered necessary to study the factors involved in the prevention and treatment of this disease (diabetes) in the age group of 40-60 years with type diabetes 2 so that its results can be used to design programs that lead to treatment and The control of diabetes is in middle age, and in this way the cost of treatment in the country will be reduced. Therefore, the subjects were matched to age, sex, height, and weight and blood glucose in 3 groups of 10, and the subjects were all type diabetes 2 mellitus. Forty grams of wheat bran were fed to the daily diet of the subjects in group A and group B aerobic exercise (walking), three sessions per week, for 30 minutes with moderate intensity (60-80% of maximum heart rate) and for 8 weeks And group C: control group and the results showed that only FBS had a significant difference and HBA1C was significantly lower in the aerobic exercise with diet and bran intake group were more significant than other groups after consuming wheat bran supplementation, the blood glucose levels are lowered and controlled.

In this research seismicity parameters, repeat times and occurrence probability of large earthquakes are estimated for 35 seismic lineaments in Persian plateau and the surrounding area. 628 earthquakes of historical time and present century with MW>5.5 were used for further data analysis. A probabilistic model is used for forecasting future large earthquake occurrences in each chosen lineament. Based on the processing, it reveals that high risk (P>66%) regions in Iran for MW≥7.0 earthquake occurrence in the next 20 years are Apsheron, Main Recent Fault, Dasht-e Bayaz, Golbaf, Minab, Makran and Bandar-e Abbas areas. North Tabriz fault and Ipac, Toroud and Neyshabour fault systems, which are form the southern border between the north and central Iran, have the largest repeat times (>40 years) for 5.5≤MW

A thermodynamic analysis of a flash/ORC geothermal plant using zeotropic mixtures as working fluid is carried out to investigate and improve the performance of the system from the viewpoint of first and second laws of thermodynamic. The mixtures of three hydrocarbons (Hexane, Cyclohexane and Isohexane) with two refrigerants (R245fa and R236ea) are investigated as the working fluid of organic Rankine cycle (ORC). Variation of first and second laws efficiencies, net output power and exergy destruction as a function of the mass fraction of refrigerants from 0 to 1 is reported. The results showed that the first and second laws efficiencies maximized at a specific value of refrigerant mass fraction. Also, the net power output of ORC shows an optimum amount by changing the refrigerant’s mass fraction. Furthermore, exergy destruction in evaporator which is the main source of exergy destruction in ORC has its lowest value in the average amounts of refrigerant mass fraction. According to the results, Cyclohexane/R236ea mixture with a ratio of 0.6/0.4 represents the best performance from the viewpoint of energy and exergy which leads the system net output power production of 7.31 MW.

The present study was conducted to study the effect of protected-glutamine (Gln) supplementation on dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield (MY) and composition, somatic cell counts (SCC) and blood parameters in fresh cows. Forty Holstein cows at zero day of parturition (calving day = day 0) were divided into four groups (n=10), and fed (ad libitum) with one of the diets including: basal diet (control), basal diet supplemented with 150 (low Gln, LG), 250 (medium Gln, MG) or 350 (high Gln, HG) g of Gln protected with formaldehyde/cow per day. The DMI and MY were recorded from 0 to 21 days post-calving. Milk fat and protein were assessed on days 7, 14 and 21, and blood was collected on days 0, 7, 14, and 21 after parturition. The DMI and MY at 21 days in milk (DIM) in HG group were compared with control (P<0.05). The DMI at 14 and 21 DIM and the MY at 21 DIM were higher in MG group compared with control group (P>0.05). Glucose concentration at 7, 14 and 21 DIM increased in both HG and MG groups compared with control group (P>0.05). The milk SCC of Gln groups was lower (P<0.05) compared with control, at 14 and 21 DIM. Glutamine supplementation increased the blood concentrations of total protein and albumin, but lowered the β-hydoxybutyrate (BHBA), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and aspartate amino transferase (AST) concentrations (P<0.05). These results indicate that rumen protected Gln supplementation at 250 g/heat/day to fresh Holstein cows improved the SCC in milk and health status.

The practices that make breeding programs effective in generating genetic gain results the reduction in genetic diversity. The loss of diversity and the resulting increase in homozygosity may result in decreased production and fitness of inbred animals. One of the important parameters in assessing the level of genetic diversity of population is effective population size. Effective population size is a key parameter in population and conservation genetics due to its direct relationship with the rate of inbreeding and the amount of genetic variation lost because of random genetic drift. As a consequence, effective population size is usually considered as a useful criterion for classifying the livestock breeds according to the degree of endangerment. Classically, effective population size can be estimated from the rate of inbreeding between two successive generations. However, in real populations with overlapping generations, the definition of a ‘previous’ generation is quite difficult to establish and assignment of animals to various generations is not simple. A number of methods are available to estimate the effective population size on the basis of pedigree in livestock populations. However, when it comes to monitoring animal genetic resources not all methods are equally well suited and depending on the conditions in the population under consideration, different methods may have to be chosen. The objective of this study was to estimate effective population size in the breeding flock of sangsari sheep using different methods and to select the best estimates among them according to the pedigree structure.
Material and In this study the pedigree information of Sangsari sheep collected in 28 years (1988- 2015) at breeding station of Damghan were used to estimate effective population size. The quality of available pedigree information is of great importance when interpreting the results of pedigree analysis. Thus, the degree of completeness of pedigree was assessed before analysis. For the whole file, the proportion of animals with both parents known was computed by simple counting. The pedigree completeness index (PCI) was used to describe the degree of completeness of pedigree. In addition, for each individual, the number of equivalent complete generations (EqG) was computed. Effective population size was estimated using the six different methods. The best method was selected considering some criteria such as time period used, subpopulation stratification, stability of estimates and negative estimate for effective population size. The proportion of animals from the whole file with two known parents was 70%. The completeness of pedigree was low in the early years of the foundation of the center, however, pedigree filling improved over time, with the most recent cohort of lambs having pedigree completeness index of 0.61 and equivalent complete generations of 4.1. Accordingly, the pedigree had an acceptable completeness level for estimation of the effective population size. Estimates for effective population size were different according to the methods used for estimation. Estimated effective population size from and Ne-Coan resulted negative values for some years in the time period of last generation interval, which is clearly meaningless and leads to the rejection of these estimates. Another criteria for choosing the best method is the variability of estimates that should be as small as possible. Here, we consider the square root of the residual after fitting a linear regression to the yearly Ne estimates that should not be greater than 20. In all methods this criteria was greater than the critical value (20) except for the methods Ne-Cens and Ne-Ecg, and Ne-Ecg has the smaller value between the methods. Considering the necessary criteria, estimates from the method of individual increase in inbreeding (Ne-Ecg) were chosen as the best estimates for effective population size in this pedigree. Average estimated effective population size using this method was 131 animals. Estimated realized effective population size was greater than the critical levels reported by FAO (50) and Meuwissen (100). Also, the estimated effective population size in this study was in the range of estimates for some foreign and Iranian sheep breeds. Considering the closed nucleus with no entry of animals from other herds, implementation of methods for preventing the losses of effective population size in the future such as optimum contribution of parents is suggested.