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Paying attention to stakeholder participation and identifying affecting factors on nonparticipation of rural communities and eliminating its implementation barriers in watershed management projects enable the potential of intellectual, executive, supervisory and indigenous knowledge of stakeholders in different stages of studies, implementation, evaluation and maintenance. This will reduce costs, guarantee success and make projects more effective. In order to achieve this goal in this study, affecting factors on nonparticipation of rural communities in watershed management plans were prioritized from the viewpoint of stakeholders by analyzing four indices and twelve sub-indices with Likert spectrum in Gheshlagh watershed located in the north of Fars province. The frequency and relative abundance of indices and sub-indices were determined in SPSS software (version 23) and the t-test was used to determine their significance. Then, the relationship between each index and its sub-index was determined using correlation coefficients and Friedman nonparametric test was used to prioritize the effective indexes and sub-index. The results showed that in the prioritization of indicators from the stakeholder point of view, "educational-promotion", "economic", "social", and "design-executive" indices were the effective factors, respectively and in subprioritization of sub-categories "lack of training of basin residents on related plans and objectives" and "ethnic and local differences", had the highest and lowest priority in nonparticipation in watershed planning, respectively. In order to sustainable participation of rural communities in watershed management projects, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive program of training and solve the "economic" problems of stakeholders and promotion of practical actions.

Social isolation affects the nervous system and leads to behavioral disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of treadmill running on spatial memory and anxiety and depression behaviors in rats exposed to social isolation.
 
In this study, 40 male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups as follows: 1) Control, 2) Isolation, 3) Treadmill and 4) Isolation-Treadmill. In groups 3 and 4, each rat lived alone in cage for 4 weeks. Groups 2 and 4 were trained 30 min/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks. At the end of this period, spatial memory, anxiety and depression were evaluated using Morris water maze, elevated plus maze and forced swimming test, respectively.
 
Four weeks of isolation caused spatial memory impairment and anxiety and depression behaviors in the rats. The results of water maze test showed that the time and distance traveled to reach the hidden platform in the Treadmill-Isolation group significantly reduced compared to the Isolation group (P<0.05) and the elapsed time in the target quadrant increased (P<0.05). The results of elevated plus maze test showed that the percentage of entrance to the open arm and the percentage of staying in this arm in the Isolation-Treadmill group increased compared to the Isolation group (P<0.05). Also, the immobilization time of animals in the Isolation-Treadmill group in the forced swimming test was lower than the Isolation group (P<0.05).
 
Treadmill running improves spatial memory and decreases anxiety and depression behaviors in social isolated rats.

Resistin is a peptide hormone, secreted by adipose tissue. Increased secretion of resistin results in insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of hydro-alcoholic spinach (Spinacia oleraceae L.) extract on the expression of resistin mRNA in the visceral adipose tissue of rats exposed to chronic immobilization stress. In this experimental study, 30 adult male Wistar rats were allocated to six groups, including: 1) Control, 2) Spinach 200, 3) Spinach 400, 4) Stress, 5) Stress-Spinach 200 and 6) Stress-Spinach 400. Groups 2 and 5 were gavaged with spinach hydro-alcoholic extract at dose 200 mg/kg body weight and groups 3, 6 were gavaged with dose 400 mg/kg body weight of extract for 21 consecutive days; groups 4, 5 and 6 were placed in restrainers 6 hours a day for 21 consecutive days. At the end of this period, the expression of resistin mRNA in adipose tissue was evaluated by Real Time PCR. Data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and P<0.05 was considered significant. Chronic immobility increased the expression of resistin mRNA (2.78±0.30) in adipose tissue, compared to the control group (1±0.36) (P=0.002). Resistin mRNA expression in visceral adipose tissue of Stress-Spinach 200 and Stress-Spinach 200 (0.74±0.23 and 1.45±0.15 respectively) was lower than in the stress group (P=0.000 and P=0.020 respectively). Results indicate that spinach extract can reduce resistin mRNA expression in rats exposed to chronic restraint stress.

Chronic restraint stress impairs spatial learning and memory. Myrtle (Myrtus communis) has antioxidant, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective and neuroprotective properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of myrtle hydroalcoholic extract on chronic restraint stress-induced spatial learning and memory deficit in adult male Wistar rats.

In this experimental study, 80 adult male Wistar rats were allocated to eight groups (10 in each) included control group (intact), myrtle0.75, myrtle1.5, myrtle3 groups (were gavaged with hydroalcoholic extract of myrtle at 0.75, 1.5 and 3 mg/ kg bw doses), stress group (restrained in restrainers for 6 hours per day for 21 consecutive days), stress- myrtle0.75, stress-myrtle1.5 and stress- myrtle3 groups (received myrtle extract at 0.75, 1.5 and 3 mg/ kg bw doses and exposed to chronic immobility stress). Spatial learning and memory were examined through the Morris water maze test.
Findings: Chronic immobilization stress caused spatial learning and memory impairment. Consuming doses 1.5 and 3 of Myrtle extract to stressed animals caused significant decrease in spent time and swam distance to reach the hidden platform (p

It has been concluded that myrtle extract can improve spatial learning and memory in rats exposed to stress in a dose dependent manner.

In order to selecting of salinity tolerant variety (ies) of Canola in saline conditions and determination of the salinity response, 60 canola varieties were evaluated during two years. In the first year we reduced the number of varieties in the way of logic reduction by Augment experiment. Total of 41genotypes were eliminated and 19 of them were evaluated in the second year. So, the salinity response of selected varieties was investigated in this paper. The experiment was conducted as a split plot design with randomized complete block design in three replications. The salinity of irrigated waters (2 and 11 dS/m) were as main plot and varieties were placed in subplots. Based on the results of the experiment, the average of grain yield was 2419.8 and 1456.5 kg.ha-1 in high and low salinity conditions respectively, so that there was significant differences between them at 1% level of probability. In the low saline condition, the varieties of Hyola401, Opera, Option500, Sarigol, Hyola420, SYN and Option501 were produced higher grain yield rather than others. Also in the high saline condition, the varieties of Hyola420, Hyola401, Option501, RGS, Mozart, SYN, and Rindow had higher grain yield rather than others. Evaluated of the grain yield in both low and high saline condition showed that the varieties of Hyola420, Hyola401, Option501, Opera, RGS, Option500, Mozart, SYN, and Sarigol were produced highest average yields of 2871.4, 2814.4, 2400.7, 2394.7, 2347.4, 2338.5, 2295.4, 2288.5 and 2178.8 kg.ha-1, respectively.

Converting point data to continuous one is the first step in order to use them in scorpan flowchart. For this purpose, different geostatistic methods are available which at present research regression kriging with local variogram was applied. For mapping apparent electrical conductivity at the area covering 72000ha located in Ardakan region, 700 readings in horizontal and vertical modes carried out by electromagnetic induction. Auxiliary data used in this study to represent predictive soil forming factors were terrain attributes, Landsat 7 ETM+ data and a geomorphologic surfaces map. At first, the relationship between independent variables (i.e. auxiliary data) and dependent variable (i.e. apparent electrical conductivity) was calculated by regression tree. Then, the residuals, derived from regression tree, were mapped by using kriging with local variogram. Finally, the residual and ECa maps were aggregated in order to produce the final maps. Results showed some auxiliary variables had more influence on predictive apparent electrical conductivity model which included: wetness index, geomorphology map and the first principal component analysis. Results also confirmed that regression kriging with local variogram had high performance; however, determination of coefficient, root mean square error and mean error calculated for model in vertical mode were 0.49, 37.74 and -1/07, respectively. These results are acceptable in digital soil mapping studies and hence, it is suggested using of regression kriging with local variogram for spatial prediction of soil properties in future studies.

In recent years, there has been a great development in the digital soil mapping which has led to production of maps for countries and the continents. Although many studies have been conducted all over the world, few Iranian soil scientists have shown interests in digital mapping. Therefore, in the present research, different data mining techniques (i.e. regression logistic, artificial neural network, genetic algorithm, decision tree and discriminant analysis) were applied to spatial prediction of great group soils in the area covering of 72000 ha in Ardakan. In this area, by using the conditioned Latin hypercube sampling method, location of 187 soil profiles was selected, which was then described, sampled, analyzed and allocated in taxonomic classes according to soil taxonomy of America. Auxiliary data used in this study to represent predictive soil forming factors were terrain attributes, Landsat 7 ETM+ data and a geomorphologic surfaces map. Results showed that decision tree model had the highest accuracy while it could increase the accuracy of prediction up to 44% in comparison with discriminant analysis technique. Results also indicated using the taxonomic distances led to improving the overall accuracy of decision tree up to 3%. Results confirmed capability of decision tree, artificial neural networks, genetic algorithm, logistic regression, and discriminant analysis with 70%, 65%, 65%, 55%, and 47% accuracy, respectively. Moreover, results showed that decision tree model could predict soil classes in sub-great group with the overall accuracy of 84.2%.

On-farm management practices with the aim of improving Water Use Efficiency (WUE) are among the practical ways of overcoming the water scarcity problem. This study aims to investigate ways of implementing agricultural water management in Abarkouh region, Yazd province, which mainly deals with problems such as water scarcity and salinity of soil and water resources. To this end, the resulting scientific and practical solutions of the research were implemented on two separate wheat fields. The proposed methods include alternative irrigation techniques, land leveling, irrigation scheduling (intervals and volumes), seed density and fertilization. The total applied water during a full agricultural season, grain yield and water use efficiency index (the ratio of the product to the water consumed) were determined and eventually compared with the control treatment (agricultural land). The results indicated that the precise application of the proposed techniques can result in up to 15% decrease in the irrigation time and 20% increase in WUE. This could be a practical step towards ensuring sustainable agricultural production in spite of water scarcity problems, especially in rural areas, and conserving agricultural inputs, especially water.

Plant extracts are of considerable interest due to antioxidant and lipid-lowering activities. In this study، the effects of hydromethanolic extract of Karde (Biarum carduchrum) in in vitro and animal model systems were determined. This study was conducted in two stages. Firstly، the antioxidant activity of hydromethanolic extract of Karde was assessed by three tests (namely: 2،2-Diphenyl–picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging، chelating activity and reducing power)، and compared with ascorbic acid، α-tochopherol، BHT and EDTA. Secondly، the study was continued with five groups of six rats for 21 days. The first and second groups of rats were fed with normal diet (control) and high-fat diet، respectively. The other three groups of rats received high-fat diet، and were orally fed with extract at a single dose of 200، 400 and 600 mg/kg body weight، respectively. Triglycerides (TG)، total cholesterol (TC)، LDL-C and HDL-C along with the body weight of experimental animals were determined at the beginning and end of each week. Antioxidant activity of the extractwas increased proportionally with the concentration. Karde extract had significant DPPH radical scavenging and reducing power properties compared to BHT and α-tochopherol، respectively (p≤0. 5). Moreover، the plant extract significantly reduced the serum TC، LDL-C and TG levels (p= 0. 000، 0. 012 and 0. 045، respectively) and increased serum HDL-C (p=0. 006). Karde extract has a relatively good antioxidant activity، and can modify abnormal blood lipid levels induced by high-fat diets.

Experiment was conducted to study the effect of different antibiotics on sperm quality of ram by a completely randomized block design using 23 factorial arrangement with 2 block and 4 observations in each experimental units. Factors include three antibiotics named Gentamycin (G), Lincomycin (L) and Ampicillin (A) that were used at two different levels including zero and, respectively 5, 10 and 2.5 μg / ml of diluents. Tris-based and skimmed milk-based diluents were considered as block1 and block2 respectively. Semen was collected from four rams in 8 times. Samples were aggregated and divided into eight equal parts. The different levels of antibiotics were added to each part. Samples temperature was reduced at a rate of 0.25° C/min t 5° C and was stored at this temperature for 72 hours. Sperms evaluations were performed at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h after storage. The interactions between antibiotics on the progressive mobility, plasma membrane integrity and viability of sperm were significant (P<0.05).After 0,24,48 and 72h of storage, progressive motility(78.19, 66.26% and 54.52%), plasma membrane integrity(85.12%,75.12% and 62.62%) and viability of sperm(86.12% 78.38% and 70.62%) in a0g0l10 (Lincomycin 10μg / ml of diluents) were significantly (P<0.05) higher than other treatments except a0g5l0 (Gentamycin 5μg / ml of diluents) at 24, 48 and 72 h after storage. However the characteristics of a0g0l10were significantly higher than a0g5l0 at time zero. From this study we concluded that using Lincomycin 10μg / ml had the most effect on quality of spermatozoa during storage at 5° C.

This research investigates the carbon sequestration potential for Pistachio atlantica Desf in Firuzabad Pistacia and amygdalus forest research in Fars province. Using Random-systematic inventory for determining the number of trees in 5-cm diameter classes, 3 trees were selected in each diameter class, they were cut and trunk, branches, leaves and litter were weighted separately. Samples were transferred to laboratory. Organic carbon and its conversion ratio were measured. In order to estimate the organic carbon storage in soil, samples were randomly taken in aspects and flat terrains. Their contents were compared with control samples. The results showed that carbon sequestration potential for Pistasia atlantica Desf is 1.99 tons per hectare and 18654.3 tons in total. Soil carbon storage is 12.78 tons per hectare. Duncan test showed that there is a significant difference among the tree components (p<0.01). The highest and lowest Sequestration belongs to the trunk and leaves, respectively. Leaves and litters have the lowest and highest conversion ratio organic carbon, respectively. These results show that by increasing the density and conserving these forests, much carbon Sequestration can be done by Pistasia atlantica Desf due to their vast distribution.

Natural environment hasn’t permanently adjusted with urban expansion and human settlements. Many historical cities have been abandoned due to these Natural environment incompatibilities. The most effective factors of natural environment on urban expansion are topography، slope، weather، geology، hydrology and geomorphology conditions. By increasing of trend urbanization، cities need to vast territories for settling the population، these territories have composed of different topographic and geomorphologic units. The impact of growth rate of city size on topographic and geomorphologic units will be complicated، by increasing of urban expansion. Orientation of physical expansion in terms of effective factors must be in a way that less damages imposes on natural environment and can be preserved environment in a direction of preservation of sustainable Development. Changes in the earth’s surface can be related to natural dynamics or human activities and can occur either suddenly or gradually. Accelerated urban growth is usually associated with and driven by the population concentration in an area. The extent of urbanization or its growth drives the change in land use/cover pattern. Land use and land cover changes may have adverse impacts on ecology of the area، specially hydro-geomorphology and vegetation. As the characteristics of land cover have important impacts on climate، biogeochemistry، hydrology and species diversity، land cover change has been indicated as one of the high priority concerns for research and for the development of strategies for sustainable management. Although urban areas currently cover only 3% of the Earth’s land surface، they have marked effects on environmental conditions at both local and global scales، including climate change. Recently، remote sensing has been used in combination with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems to assess land cover change more effectively than by remote sensing data only. This paper presents an integrated study of land use/cover changes and urban expansion in Shiraz city، Fars province in Iran. The study explores the temporal and spatial characteristics of urban expansion and land use/cover changes from 1990 to 2009. Statistical classification approaches have been used for the classification of the remotely sensed images obtained from various sensors viz. Landsat TM، ETM+ and IRS PAN، LISS-III. Land use/land cover changes (LUCC) are major cause of ecological environmental changes. Geometric correction was performed on all the images. At least 17 ground control points (GCPs) were used to register the images UTM zone 39. GCPs were dispersed throughout the scene، yielding a RMS error was around 0. 2 pixels. Geospatial data including municipal boundaries، road networks، geomorphic units and elevation units (DEM) were used to produce GIS layers by ArcGIS 9. 3. The most useful band combinations in Landsat for discrimination of land cover categories are bands 4-5-3، 4-3-2، and 3-2-1 assign ed as red، green، and blue، respectively. All satellite data were studied using spectral and spatial profiles to ascertain the digital numbers (DNs) of different LULC categories prior to classification. Finally، classification has been done using the Knowledge Classifier Module of ERDAS. Finally classification، five land cover categories exist in this area: (a) urban or built-up land; (b) agriculture; (c) water، (d) orchard، and (e) bare land. Results indicate that cropland، water، and orchard areas reduced by 37. 8%، 5. 8%and 45. 7% continuously over the past 19 years، while built-up area increased by 37%، respectively. The built-up area increased at the cost of decreased cropland، water and orchard. Lastly، the major factors influencing urban expansion and land use/cover change are also discussed. In general، the population، traffic conditions، industrialization، and policy are the major factors that influenced the urban expansion.

Soil structure and aggregate stability affect soil erodibility. There is a necessity for increasing aggregate stability against erosive factors such as wind and water. This study conducted on surface soil samples (0-20cm) collected from agricultural land susceptible to erosion located in the south of Fars Province. The experimental design was CRD with 10 treatments of control plot (without addition of soil amendments)، pure gypsum، chopped wheat straw، animal manure، wheat straw and gypsum، animal manure and gypsum (1% w/w)، cement (0. 3، 0. 6 and 0. 9% w/w)، and gypsum and cement (0. 9% w/w) in 3 replicates. Amounts of soil aggregates in 53-4000 µm sizes were determined by wet sieving and MWD was calculated after one، four and seven months. After seven months، the results showed that the wheat straw، wheat straw and gypsum، and animal manure and gypsum treatments 2. 7، 3. 5 and 1. 4 times respectively increased the MWD compared to the control. Generally، based on the results of this study، application of wheat straw with gypsum، wheat straw and animal manure with gypsum for increasing the stability of similar soils is recommended.

A new formulation for the dynamic stability of cracked columns is proposed. In this formulation, a differential equation governing the free vibration of a cracked column subjected to compressive axial force is derived. The solution of the proposed equation needs only the end conditions for its solution (similar to that of intact beam columns). The equation is solved using the Laplace Transform. Both conservative and non-conservative forces are considered. The closed form solution is then used in the dynamic stability investigation of the cracked column with different boundary conditions. The accuracy, efficiency and robustness of the work are verified through numerical examples.

Nitrate in high dosage may cause serious diseases for both human beings and animals. WHO has set 45 mg/l as the maximum permitted level for nitrate in drinking water. High concentrations of nitrate in drinking water of the Mian Jungle region of Fasa, located 120 km south east of Shiraz, caused inhabitants to avoid using groundwater as the source of drinking water. Main objectives of this study were i) to determine the main sources of nitrate in the groundwater and ii) to introduce a feasible nitrate removal method in the region. Monthly groundwater sampling were carried out from April 2010 to March 2011 for 15 sources including water wells and outcropped springs. Nitrate, EC, and pH were measured in situ, however remaining parameters were determined in the lab using standard methods. Amounts of nitrate changed from 3.1 mg/l to 259.4 mg/l in diferent times and locations in this region. Results showed that an internal and external background of nitrate in groundwater are originating from the geologic formations and the animal husbandry activities as the main sources.

Mismanagement of water in irrigated fields of Dasht-e-Azadegan (DA) in west of Khuzestan province، lower part of Karkheh river basin، with low slope and poor natural drainage، influences ground water table and also salinity of its adjacent soil profile، especially when the groundwater is saline. Such condition can contribute to reduction of crop yield and degradation of soil and water resources gradually in a long term period. The main objective of this study was to investigate and evaluate the salinity of soil profile in saline-waterlogged area of Azadegan plain through field surveys، laboratory measurement، and data interpretation. For this purpose eighty ground water and soil profile samples were collected from DA during August 2007. Samples were analyzed for ECe and، finally، relationships between ground water and soil salinities (ECgw and ECe) of different depth intervals were interpreted. Results of the study indicated that shallow/saline ground water significantly influenced the salinity of adjacent soil layers and the effect increased with increase in soil depth. Additionally، a simple relationship was obtained for ECe vs. ECgw as ECe =0. 27ECgw+6. 27 (R2=0. 70).

Although there are different devices for rapid and low cost monitoring of some soil properties، extended field surveys، both in space and depth، seem to be necessary for mapping of these and other soil attributes. In this study، electromagnetic induction device (EM38) has been introduced as a tool for rapid and low cost measurement of soil salinity and other attributes. Main objective of this study was to test and evaluate capabilities of this device for monitoring soil cations and anions in addition to salinity in Azadegan plain، west of Iran. For this purpose، soil samples were taken at different locations and depth intervals، simultaneously with EM38 readings. Relationships between EM38 readings and anions، cations، salinity and Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR) were investigated through statistical analysis approaches. Results of this study indicated significant correlations between EM38 readings and soil sodium measures as well as SAR. The mentioned result suggests this device as a rapid tool for measurement of soil sodium in different parts of the country.

Precise mapping of the spatial distribution of salt-affected soils is prerequisite for effective management of these soils. This study was carried out for mapping soil salinity of 78000 hectares of Ardakan soils (0-30 and 0-100 cm) using 151soil samples which were taken based on hyper cube method. The secondary variables used in co-kriging method were ETM data، terrain analysis and EM38 readings. The best model was selected by means of cross validation and error evaluation methods، such as RMSE and ME methods. Results showed that co-kriging method with EM38 data as a secondary variable was the best method for prediction of soil salinity (69. 1، 30. 55، 48. 8 and 20. 41، respectively). Results recommended EM38 as secondary data for mapping soil salinity. Additionally، results showed the largest amount of soil salinity in the north of the area and the smallest values in the areas with more elevation. The concavely shaped plain could help to move soluble salts toward the north of area in which the soils with highest electrical conductivity are found.

Maria is 17 and from Colombia. She leaves her family and friends behind, and heads for the United States to deal drugs. In the final moments of her return to Colombia, she decides that she would be better off staying in the United States. Latin American Identity is a heated topic that has caused a lot of debates in recent years. However the social, political, and cultural aspects of the region has come to a point, where the young generation are not able to preserve and transfer this identity to future generations. The aim of this study is to identify the aspect that makes Maria to leave everything and everyone behind, and choose a life outside of her birthplace. The descriptions and details of Maria's situation shows that the social identity crisis is an issue the younger Latin American generation is facing. Many Latin American youth have chosen to refuse their ancestral identification, so to create a new identity for themselves in a more advanced society.

Anthropometric kits are extensively used in workstation and product design projects, and with the advancement of technology, they have turned into highly complex and effective instruments. However, there are still many challenging problems in usability and reliability of application of these kits in real-world settings. To identify the usability and accuracy issues with a conventional anthropometric caliper, and to propose measurable design features to enhance the functionality of the caliper. The measurement process using a conventional anthropometric caliper was systematically analyzed through detailed hierarchical task analyses. Also, six qualified anthropometry specialists performed heuristic evaluations to gain valuable insights into major usability issues in relation to the existing body measurement devices. Based on the resulting concepts, a mock-up was developed and evaluated against the desired specifications. Incorrect positioning angle of the caliper, as well as applying various amounts of force by different investigators to push the caliper branches against body parts, appeared to be the main factors introducing inaccuracy to anthropometric data. Installing a spirit level on caliper, and also a pre-programmed microprocessor for real-time saving of the obtained data, facilitated the measurement process for both investigators and subjects. Accuracy, followed by usability is the primary concern in designing anthropometric instruments. However, expectations would vary from one specialist to another. Therefore, trade-offs should be made when incorporating innovative features in novel designed body measurement kits.

Slum is a character of urbanization and urban is the main character of industrial society. In pre-industrial societies, production activities concentrated in rural areas, the main activity was agriculture.and farmers formed much of the work force, while the population of cities, small towns and many residents had no significant employment base. With the advent of the industrial revolution changed all these dimensions and entering new industries, the need for labor increased in urban areas, thus ¬ a major migration to the cities, villages spread (Mohseni, 1998). Today, all cities are faced with the phenomenon marginalized, so that the Babar mentioned to some slum (kind of marginalized) in England in the 100 years ago and refers them knows from the

Between different factors, atmosphere conditions are most important natural factors which affect the agricultural crops production. One can observe these effects as frost, sunstroke, outbreak of pest and etc. At the moment, agriculture is one of the most important sections in the economy of a country. In fact, one can say that economic growth is impossible without agriculture. Agricultural crops growth is widely dependent to the atmosphere conditions. Light, temperature, co2, water and nutrients are controlled by the atmosphere. Cultivation of crops in sites with compatible conditions for them has two results. First, it produces the maximum profit and efficiency for farmers. Second, it causes the least damage to the agricultural resources during the long time. Now, as a result of new inventions, cotton includes 48 percent of loom productions. Assessments indicate that producing of cotton in the country provides only half of the country needs at the present time. Therefore, imports of cotton bring out a lot of money from the country each year. The main objective of this study is assessment of environmental and climatic conditions of Khuzestan province according to the cotton needs in order to investigation of the existence and non-existence of potential of cotton planting as a significant product at this province. First, beginning and end of cotton cultivation date was determined regarding to the climate of Khuzestan province and necessary condition for cotton, on the basis of 90% possibility. To do so, the daily precipitation and temperature data from synoptic station of Khuzestan province which had long-term data (20 years) were used. Then, the important environmental and climatic conditions of cotton cultivation were identified according to the scientific references. Next, for studying the compatibility rate of each factor, a map was prepared separately in Geographical Information System. So, 11 factors were used for cotton planting and their GIS maps were provided. For providing climatic maps, data from 6 well-scattered synoptic stations were used. Finally, with run of Query at GIS by using eternal Boolean Model, suitable areas for cotton planting across the Khuzestan province were exploited and at the next stage, the Topsis Model was used in order to privileging selected areas. According to the analysis, 31 March and end of September and October were determined as the beginning and end of cotton planting date, respectively. From the analysis of the factors which were applied following conclusions were drawn:Suitable degree-day for cotton planting is accessible in whole of the province. Temperature of germination is between 26-28 C in this province and so provides the cotton thermal need in this period. Temperature of flowering is only provided in North-West of province. Also, temperature of harvest month has no limitation for cotton planting. Cloudiness during the planting period is less than 2.5 Octa which indicates the suitability of this factor for cotton planting. Sunshine hours are completely provided, too. Humidity of harvest month is a limitation for cotton planting in the province, since it is only provided in the West of province. Precipitation of harvest month is zero which produces appropriate conditions for cultivation. Slope factor is suitable only in the Central and West of province. All of places in the province have suitable height for cotton planting except some regions in the North and North-East of province. Between the necessary factors for complete the cotton planting period in the Khuzestan province only two factors cause limitation: humidity of harvest month and temperature of germination but other factors are appropriate for cotton planting. The results revealed that Khuzestan province with 280000 hectare of apt lands for cotton planting is one of cotton cultivation poles in Iran and can help to remove the inner needs to cotton. These lands are located in the North-West of province in the Safi Abad and Bostan Townships. Also, the privileging of the selected areas indicated that southern regions are more appropriate for cotton planting in comparison with northern regions. So attention to cultivation of cotton is urgent in this province, regarding to needs of Iran and potencies of Khuzestan province in field of cotton cultivation.

Soil structure and aggregate stability affect soil erodibility. There is a necessity for increasing aggregate stability against erosive factors such as wind and water. This study was conducted on surface soil samples (0-20cm) collected from agricultural land susceptible to erosion located in Chahoo, southeast of Fars province. The experimental design was CRD with 10 treatments and was replicated 3 times as follows: control plot (without addition of soil amendments), pure gypsum, chopped wheat straw, farm yard manure, gypsum+wheat straw, gypsum+ farm yard manure (1% w/w), cement at levels (0.3% w/w), (0.6% w/w), (0.9% w/w), gypsum +cement (0.9% w/w). After one, four and seven months, the amounts of soil aggregates in 53-4000 µm sizes were determined by wet sieving and MWD was calculated. The results of aggregate size distribution in every stage of the experiment showed that application of farm yard manure and wheat straw separately or in combination with gypsum through reduction in aggregates with diameters of <106 µm has caused an increase in aggregates with diameter of >106 µm. Based on the results of this research, the effect of these treatments, which increased MWD of the aggregate, results from the amount of aggregates with diameters larger than 1000 µm. According to the results of this study, it is suggested that these treatments be considered suitable to increase the stability of sensitive silt loam soils.

Soil structure and aggregate stability affect soil erodibility and increasing aggregate stability against erosive factors such as wind and water is a necessity. This study was conducted on surface soil samples (0-20cm) collected from agricultural lands susceptible to erosion located in Chahoo Plain, southeast of Fars Province. The experimental design was CRD with 3 replicates and10 treatments as follows: control (without addition of soil amendments), pure gypsum (1% w/w), chopped wheat straw (1% w/w), animal manure (1% w/w), wheat straw + gypsum, animal manure + gypsum, cement (0.3% w/w), cement (0.6% w/w), cement (0.9% w/w) and gypsum (1% w/w) + cement (0.9% w/w). After one, four, seven and ten months, the amounts of soil aggregates in 53-4000 µm sizes were determined by wet sieving and MWD were calculated. Application of wheat straw and wheat straw with gypsum increased MWD compared to the control and other treatments. These increases were significant at p<0.05. The mentioned treatments increased the MWD as much as 2.8 and 2.9 times compared to control, respectively. Generally, for increasing the stability of the soils similar to the soil understudy, application of wheat straw alone or wheat straw with gypsum seems recommendable.

To determine various stability indices related to grain yield of wheat genotypes in different saline conditions, an experiment was conducted at the Salinity Research Farm, National Salinity Research Center. Treatments consisted of 14 wheat genotypes that were evaluated under saline and non-saline conditions. Electrical conductivities of the irrigation water used for saline and non-saline conditions were 10.0 and 2.5 dS/m, respectively. Results showed that grain yield and kernel per spike under non-saline conditions were significantly higher than those under saline conditions, for all genotypes. There were no significant differences between saline and non-saline conditions with regard to thousand kernel weight. Grain yields of the genotypes were significantly different in both conditions. Genotype No. 5 (PF70354/BOW) produced the highest grain yield under saline and non-saline conditions by producing 723.44 and 976.56 g.m-2, respectively. The correlations among grain yield in saline and non-saline conditions, mean productivity (MP), and Salinity Tolerance Index (STI) were significant. Thus, STI could be considered as an effective index for selecting wheat genotypes under different saline conditions.