soheila ebrahimi

Today, animal nutritionists and experts are looking for solutions to produce high quality animal products. In lamb meat, post-mortem biochemical changes, such as lipid oxidation, lead to off-odours and flavour development that have negative impact on the shelf life of these products. Therefore, the possibility to extend the shelf life of lamb meat is a primary objective of the meat industry. Some of plant compounds are excellent source of natural antioxidants that can improve the shelf life and quality of meat mainly by inhibiting fat oxidation and microbial growth. Saffron petal (SP) is one of the by-products of saffron, which is a plant source rich in flavonoid compounds and anthocyanins, and annually large amounts of it discard as a waste product. Also, the use of these residues in animal feed, cause the reduction of environmental pollution. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the effect of feeding of SP on performance, blood parameters and antioxidant status of blood and meat of Afshari fattening lambs.

Eighteen male Afshari lambs aged four to five months with an average initial weight of 17±2.5 kg in a completely randomized design were used. Experimental treatments were included: 1) control (basal diet without SP), 2) basal diet supplemented with 1.5% SP and 3) basal diet supplemented with 3% SP (DM basis). The experimental period was 84 days and lambs were slaughtered at the end of the experiment.

The results showed that the addition of SP to the diet had no effect on feed intake, daily weight gain and nutrient digestibility. The amount of plasma urea in lambs fed with both levels of SP and the concentration of plasma glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride in lambs fed with 3% of SP significantly decreased (P<0.05). In lambs fed with 3% SP, the total antioxidant capacity and activity of glutathione peroxidase enzyme in blood and longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle was increased and the amount of malondialdehyde in the blood and LL muscle was decreased (P<0.05). But the activity of superoxide dismutase in the blood was not affected.

Overall, the results of this research showed that adding 3% of SP to the diet of fattening lambs without affecting the performance, improved the antioxidant status of the blood and increased the shelf-life durability of meat.

One of the widely used elements that plays an important role in sustainable agricultural production is potassium.The potassium in the surface soil of the playa originates from the potassium present in the underground water. As a result, there is a correlation between the surface soil potassium and the potassium grade of the groundwater. The aim of this research is to utilize a combination of the random forest (RF) algorithm and satellite imagery to establish the relationship between soil surface potassium and remote sensing indicators. This will enable the prediction of the potassium grade of the underground in Khoor and Biabank playa in Isfahan province. For this purpose, 60 soil samples were taken from the 0-5 cm layer to measure potassium in the surface layer(dependent variable). In order to determine the sampling coordinates, the Latin supercube method was used. Twelve boreholes were drilled to extract and measure the potassium grade of underground saline water. The 12 bands of the Sentinel-2 satellite and four main mathematical operations were used to define the index (independent variables) to model the potassium content of the surface soil layer and ultimately estimate the rate of potassium grade in the underground saline water. The data were categorized into two groups: 70% for calibration (training) and 30% for validation (testing). The data were modeled using the RF algorithm in the Google Colab environment and implemented with the Python programming language. The results of this algorithm were obtained with R2, MSE, RMSE and MAE statistical indices of 0.51, 0.0179, 0.1338 and 0.1130 respectively. The results of this research confirm the effectiveness of remote sensing data and machine learning algorithms in predicting the potassium grade of saline groundwater.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of various active carbon weights (100 and 150 g)and sizes (0.3, 1.5 and 4 mm) on the remediation of soil hydrocarbon pollution and monitor the negative impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on parameters such as C/N, electrical conductivity (EC) and hydrophobicity of aggregates in petroleum polluted soil. This pilot study was conducted over 60 days as a split-plot in time experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replicates and included seven treatments (W100S0.3, W100S1.5, W100S4, W150S0.3, W150S1.5, W150S4, C), in which w and s indicated active carbon weight (g) and size (mm), respectively. The results showed that the application of active carbon at smaller sizes resulted in a significant decrease in the concentrations of C, N, C/N, pH, and total petroleum hydrocarbons )TPH(.. Active carbon treatment with 150 g weight and 0.3 mm size was the most effective treatment in TPH biodegradation, reduction of organic carbon content and C/N ratio in the polluted soil. Also, this treatment decreased aggregate hydrophobicity and dispersible clay percentage by TPH degradation.

Diesel is one of the important petroleum products widely used in Iran and other parts of the world. Its release into the environment can cause an imbalance of nutrient levels, especially carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratios in soils, which is unfavourable for microorganisms' growth. This condition negatively impacts the bioremediation of hydrocarbon pollutants (Molina-Barahona et al., 2004; Sarkar et al., 2005; Khosravinodeh et al., 2013). However, in such conditions in contaminated soil systems, by providing nutrients through fertilization and optimizing the growth conditions of these organisms, it will be possible to adjust these imbalanced ratios (Lee and Ward, 1985; Kim et al., 2005). Using nutrient modifiers is one of the main methods to reduce petroleum pollutants in contaminated soils, accelerating these compounds' biodegradation by providing critical nutrients for microorganisms.Total nitrogen is the second most influencing factor affecting the distribution and activity of bacteria in soil which mainly affects biodegradation rates of hydrocarbon pollutants (Wang et al., 2018). Many studies have investigated the effect of nitrogen on the biological remediation of contaminated soils (Brook et al., 2001; Gallego et al., 2001; Walecka-Hutchison and Walworth, 2006), and nutritional supplementation of contaminated soils using inorganic N sources is proposed as an effective method in bioremediation process (Toffoletto et al., 2005).Kinetics analysis of biodegradation reactions has a crucial role in determining the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in polluted soils (Nabgan et al., 2016; Sharma and Shane, 2016; Yuan et al., 2017; Guo et al., 2018; Safdari et al., 2018; Doustaky et al., 2022) which is based on providing practical trends of hydrocarbon elimination from the contaminated environments. Kinetic modelling is usually performed using first- and second-order models to evaluate the biodegradation rates of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) over time (Yeung et al., 1997; Namkoong et al., 2002; Sarkar et al., 2005; Adesodun and Mbagwu, 2008; Chemlal et al., 2013; Nwankwegu et al., 2016). Based on a computational approach, this modelling analysis can provide estimations of biodegradation constant (K), half-life values (t1/2) and correlation coefficients (R2) for pollutant removal trends (Yuan et al., 2017; Safdari et al., 2018). These valuable indices could be used practically in predicting residual levels of hydrocarbons and the time required for their removal from contaminated soil systems.The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of different inorganic nitrogenous modifiers on the bio-elimination of hydrocarbon pollutants in diesel-contaminated soil. Three inorganic nitrogen sources, including NPK, Urea, and NH4SO4, were used as soil modifiers at different initial diesel contamination levels of 0, 5 and 10% during three months. Also, kinetic modelling was applied as an essential part of the bioremediation process assessment due to the addition of nitrogen modifiers.

The uncontaminated soil was sampled in farmlands (depth = 0 – 20 cm) of Gorgan City, Golestan Province, north of Iran. Three initial gasoil concentrations (0, 5 and 10%) were considered as pollution levels, and initial pollution was applied through complete mixing. The resulting soil mixtures were incubated for one month before N modifier applications (Nwankwegu et al., 2018; Onwosi et al., 2018). The soil moisture was held at 60% FC during this period. Inorganic nitrogen modifiers were applied to the contaminated soils as 80 gr N modifiers per 3 kg soil in each treatment. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content, degradation ratio (%D) and microbial respiration (CO2-C) values were weekly measured for three months. TPH measurements were done using the standard methods of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 4113.1) (Hutchinson et al., 2001). Degradation ratio (%D) was calculated using the following equation:Where TPHi and TPHr were initial and residual levels of TPH in soil samples, respectively. The Anderson (1982) method was used to determine the microbial respiration (CO2-C). Kinetic modelling analysis was done using the first- and second-order models (Agarry et al., 2013). Also, degradation constant (K), half-life (t1/2) and correlation coefficient (R2) values for TPH data were calculated using these kinetic models. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the effects of different nitrogen modifiers and the initial contamination level on TPH and CO2-C. The normality of experimental data was checked using the Shapiro-Wilk test, and if necessary, data transformation was applied to normalize the data. The Comparison of means for experimental treatments was conducted using the Tukey-HSD test at a significance level of 0.05. Statistical analysis was performed using R (version 4.1.2).

The results showed that using inorganic nitrogen modifiers led to significant (p < 0.05) reductions in TPH concentrations in the contaminated soils compared with the control condition. A similar trend was observed for decreasing TPH concentrations in all N modifiers with all initial gasoil concentrations (0, 5 and 10%). Among nitrogen modifiers, the highest degradation ratio belonged to Urea, followed by NPK and NH4SO4. The lowest elimination of TPHs in all initial concentration treatments was found in the control (i.e. no modifier application) condition, and the highest TPH decrease belonged to the Urea application condition. Using Urea fertilizer led to the highest biodegradation ranging from 79.31% (10% initial concentration) to 85.00% (0% initial concentration). The levels of natural degradation of TPHs in the control conditions varied between 41.35 to 48.08% for 10% and 0% initial gasoil concentrations, respectively.Microbial respiration (CO2-C) levels were significantly (p < 0.05) elevated during the first six weeks of the experimental period due to the effects of nitrogen sources. Using Urea and NPK nitrogen sources had the highest microbial respiration levels (NPK: 2.93 – 3.66 mg C/kg soil; Urea: 2.83 – 3.66 mg C/kg soil) while the lowest levels were obtained with the control condition (1.61 – 2.66 mg C/kg soil). The microbial respiration levels were higher at 5 and 10% initial gasoil concentrations compared to the 0% level.The first-order kinetic model had better fits and higher predictive performance than the second-order model for the obtained data. Considering all modifier treatments, the biodegradation constant (K) scores decreased with increasing initial pollution concentrations. The highest K values were calculated for Urea application with 0% pollution concentration (first-order: 0.1321 day-1; second-order: 0.4374 day-1), and the lowest K values were obtained for the control condition at 10% pollution level (first-order: 0.0364 day-1; second-order: 0.0258 day-1). Conversely, the lowest half-life (t1/2) scores were obtained using Urea at 0% gasoil pollution (first-order: 5.25 days; second-order: 3.84 days), and the highest scores were calculated with no application of N modifiers (control condition) at the highest initial gasoil concentration (10%) (first-order: 19.4 days; second-order: 22.86 days).The findings of the present study indicated that using different inorganic nitrogen sources (NPK, Urea and NH4SO4) as soil modifiers in the bioremediation of diesel contamination in soils improved biodegradation efficiency by stimulating microbial activity and metabolism in the contaminated soils. Among nitrogen sources, the highest practical improvement of pollutant removal was obtained with Urea. Also, kinetic modelling showed better performance of the first-order model in predicting the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons than the second-order model. It could be said that using inorganic nitrogen sources could practically result in reductions in diesel contamination levels and their persistence in the soil environment.

The importance of potassium in agricultural products has increased the demand for potassium fertilizers. Potassium grade in aquifers ensures its extraction. The purpose of this research is to use RF and SVM algorithms in order to prioritize the effective parameters on the potassium grade of saline water groundwater in playa Khoor and Biabank in Isfahan province. For this purpose, 55 parameters were measured in 12 drilling holes.The parameters measured as independent variables include the percentage of saturated moisture, the apparent specific gravity and the porosity of the core at 15 different depths, the area  polygon, the depth of the underground water, the depth of the salt layer, the potassium of the surface layer, the density of the brine and the amount of Elements of calcium, magnesium, sodium, chlorine and grade potassium were included in the model as dependent variables. In the RF model, the (PFI) and (RFE) were used for prioritization. In the different kernels of the SVM algorithm, in order to prevent the collinearity of the independent parameters, all the combinations of the independent variables, considering the variance inflation factor less than 8 and the highest coefficient of determination and the lowest MSE error, were examined and selected as the best combination. The effective parameters in predicting the grade potassium of the brine in the RF algorithm and the linear function of the SVM algorithm are sp, ap, duw, slp, SAR and n, sp, duw, and SAR respectively, which led to the best results. The coefficient of determination for both models is 0.99 and 0.97, respectively, which indicates the good accuracy of both algorithms.

There is an increasing need for continuous spatial and quantitative soil information for environmental modeling and management, especially at the national scale. This study was conducted to predict the soil particle size fraction (PSF) using the combination of quantile regression forest model (QRF) and spline function in a part of Golestan province. An equal area spline equation was fitted to the data of 105 soil profiles from the database of the Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources for estimating PSFs at five soil depths (0-25, 25-50, 50-75, 75-100, and 100-125 cm). The primary auxiliary variables in this research included 22 environmental variables derived from DEM, 15 remote sensing indicators obtained from the Landsat 7 ETM+ images, rainfall and piezometric maps. Based on principal component analysis (PCA), 15 variables were selected and entered into the modeling process of soil texture components (clay, sand, and silt). The efficiency of the quantile regression forest model was evaluated using the coefficient of determination (R2), the root mean squared error (RMSE), and the mean absolute error (MAE). The results indicated that the coefficient of determination for clay, silt, and sand at different depths varied from 0/12 to 0/22, 0/07 to 0/30, and 0/07 to 0/28, respectively. Also, the relative importance of environmental variables showed that rainfall (thirty-year average), piezometry (ten-year average), B3/B7, and valley depth were the most important factors in predicting soil texture components. To improve model performance and validation results, some structural uncertainties in this study should be addressed.

Landfills are one of the sources of heavy metal pollution worldwide. The increasing expansion of urban life and the excessive increase of the urban population have caused an increase in the production of all kinds of waste materials. One of the problems of rapid population growth and industrialization in third world countries, especially Iran, is the improper disposal of waste and and pollution caused by it. One of the issues that should be paid special attention to is the burial of these wastes and urban solid wastes, water and gases produced from the decomposition of wastes containing organic compounds. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Gorgan urban waste disposal landfill with a burial history of more than 37 years, in the Hazara Pitch area, on the spatial distribution of heavy metals including nickel, cadmium, lead and copper in the soil of the area. The amount of pollution was investigated using the environmental indicators of spatial distribution of heavy metals, pollution factor, Geo-accumulation and Pollution Load. By conducting preliminary studies and taking into account the existing basic maps, 110 samples were prepared from zero to 30 cm depth with regular intervals and finally, the amounts of heavy metals were measured using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The obtained results showed that the concentration of heavy metals in the collected samples was the highest in zinc, lead, copper and cadmium, respectively. The average concentration of heavy metals cadmium, lead, copper and zinc respectively increased by 2.25%, 1.01%, 0.99% and 0.63% compared to the background, which indicates the presence of a source of point pollution in the study area.Spatial distribution according to the extracted maps showed that the high level of concentration of heavy metals in the central and northwestern parts of the studied area was indicated by the location of the landfill. The humid climate and the presence of topography in the area have caused the release of waste leachate by runoff, but with increasing distance from the landfill site, the downward trend of the concentration of pollutants is evident. The pollution factor in the target area indicated moderate contamination for lead, copper and zinc heavy metals and Severe contamination for cadmium metal. The results related to the Geo-accumulation index also showed that the average value of this index in cadmium is in the " slightly contaminated " Contamination class and in copper, zinc and lead it is in the " Uncontaminated to slightly contaminated " Contamination class. Also, according to the average value of the pollution load index, the surface soil has a Moderate contamination load, and the results of the pollution load confirm the contamination of the soil with heavy metals.The highest concentration of heavy metals can be seen in the vicinity of the landfill, and there was a decreasing trend as the distance increased based on the available slope and topography. It seems that the source of heavy metal pollution was the landfill, and the main factor of spreading the resulting leachate was spreading the pollution to the surrounding areas based on the topography of the area and in the direction of the slope.

Water erosion causes as loss of quality and environmental issues problems. The best methods of soil management are prevention of soil erosion, control of runoff and sediment, and maintenance of soil quality.

This research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of compost and vermicompost on physical and chemical properties of soil (based on a completely randomized blocks) and runoff and sediment (factorial based on a completely randomized blocks). For the experiment 9 plots were used, (3 plots include of compost, 3 plots include of vermicompost and 3 plots control) in an average 5 percent slope area. 18 ton/ha compost and vermicompost were added to each plot and mixed it with soil 30 cm deep. Soil erosion was estimated by runoff and sediment by 2 natural rain and 1 rainfall simulator with 3 Repetition in each rain. Some physico chemical and biological properties of soil, as pH, EC, MWD, BD, NPK, OM, Sp, CaCO3 were measured.

The results showed that Vermicompost and Compost fertilizers significantly increase the total N, available k, available P, organic matter, Mean weight diameter (MWD) and saturation percentage more than the control plot. Soil bulk density decreased in plots of Vermicompost and Compost compare to the control. The compost and vermicompost in the level of 1 percent reduce significantly the runoff volume in the first natural rainfall 68.5 and 82.6 and the second natural rainfall 62.56 and 74.2 and the simulator 30.3 and 45.45. The compost and vermicompost in the level of 1 percent reduced significantly sedimentation the compare to the control. Vermicompost treatments had the least and control treatments had the most of runoff volume and sedimentation. The compost and vermicompost in the level of 1 perecent reduce significantly sedimentation the compare of control. Vermicompost treatments had the least and control treatments had the most of runoff volume and sedimentation.

Thus, it seems Using the fertilizers such as compost and vermicompost can significantly effect on the soil nutrition preservation and improve soil properties and can be found useful in the development of erosion control programs.

There are few studies on the effectiveness of this type of management on soil properties of Golestan province as the main agricultural pole in Iran. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of limited tillage on improving biological soil quality indicators.

Three types of operations which include No Tillage (NT), Minimum or Occasionally Tillage (OT or MT) and Conventional Tillage (CT) were selected. From each management, 30 samples were taken at depths of 0-30 cm. Microbial respiration, microbial biomass, urease, acid and alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenase and cellulase activity were measured.

Conservation tillage (ST) which include both MT and NT increased acid and alkaline phosphatase by 1.6 to 2.5 times. The reverse trend was observed for cellulase, which showed a decrease from 37.5% in MT to 25% in NT. Urease and dehydrogenase increased by 14 and 18% in MT and decreased by 5.7 and 10% in NT. Microbial biomass and microbial respiration increased by 1.8 and 2.5 times in MT and in no tillage, operation decreased by 15 and 44%.

The emphasis is on the advice of ST, However, it seems that some points related to the promotion of this method in agricultural lands should be considered.  It seems that MT has a better condition for enzyme activity than NT. Low enzyme activity in NT conditions may reduce the availability of nutrients and thus reduce the yield, then extension experts should be inform the Farmers.

Multiple sclerosis is a neurological and progressive disease. Living with MS has many negative and positive effects on patients' physical and mental health. This study aimed to investigate the effect of supportive therapy on post-traumatic growth and psychological capital in women with MS. This study used quasi-experimental method (a pretest-posttest and fallow up plan with a control group). Participants consisted of 30 women with MS who were selected using convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control groups. Our measuring tool was Psychological capital questionnaire (2007) and post-traumatic growth questionnaire (1996) which was completed by the participants. Then, the participants in the experimental group participated in 10 sessions of 50 min of intervention based on Winston, Rosenthal, & Pinsker (2004) supportive therapy protocol. Repeated-measures mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze data. Data analysis showed that supportive therapy had significantly increased the psychological capital (F=16/50, P≤ 0/001) and post traumatic growth (F=14/40, P≤ 0/001) in the experimental group, compared to the control group and the effects of intervention over time remained constant. Based on the findings of this study, supportive therapy can be an effective intervention to increase psychological capital and post traumatic growth in MS patients and can be used to improve the psychological state and better cope with the disease.

Hydrocarbons derived from petroleum and gas have gained increased attention as the most important fossil resources of energy as well as crude material for petrochemical industries. However, environmental issues such as pollution due to extraction, exploitation and transportation of these materials has raised concerns as an environmental warning. In recent years, utilization of biochar (via biomass burning) has been regarded as a soil refiner to reduce or eliminate pollution, especially in in situ studies. Biochar is a product rich in carbon, which is produced during the pyrolysis of various types of woods, fertilizers, leaves, straws as well as agricultural wastes under abiotic conditions. It seems that biochar can be suggested as a suitable compound to manage biomass wastes as well as to enhance soil fertility. Thus, kinetic behavior of biochar in reduction of gasoil pollution of soil, its changes of this pollutant over time and changes in the microbial activity in this time period were investigated.

The soil polluted with gasoil was collected from the vicinity of the gasoil tanker located in Shiraz refinery. The soil had been polluted for years due to the leakage of gasoil. Then, after the measurement of the initial total petroleum hydrocarbon content and physical and chemical properties (soil texture via hydrometry, electrical conductivity in the saturated paste, available phosphorous using the Olsen method, total nitrogen using the Kjehdahl method, pH of soil in the saturated paste, soil carbon using the Walkey and Black method) of the polluted soil, 700 gram soil samples containing wheat straw biochar at one and two mm sizes and 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 g kg-1 weight doses were prepared as split-split-plot experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replicates. The samples were then rested in a 50% constant humidity for four weeks at 28 ± 2 °C, and were aerated two times a week. Finally, the results of the changes in the total petroleum hydrocarbon and microbial activity over time were recorded. A three- parameter sigmoidal function was fitted to the data related to the total petroleum hydrocarbon and microbial activity over time. Analysis of variance was carried out using the SAS software v. 9.0. The leas significant difference method (LSD) was used to compare the means. The changes in the total petroleum hydrocarbons and microbial activity were analyzed using the SigmaPlot software v. 12.5. Microsoft Excel v. 2013 and SigmaPlot v. 12.5 were used to draw the figures.

According to the results of the present study, the application of biochar had a significant effect on the reduction of gasoil pollution of the soil. The results related to determination of the kinetic model for the reduction of pollution during the biochar application process showed that the kinetic of reduction in total petroleum hydrocarbon was of first order equation; so that in the first 28 days of the experiment, the rate of total petroleum hydrocarbon degradation was increasing, whereas it decreased 35 days after the beginning of the experiment. Biodegradation constant (k) was higher for the soil treated with the refiner and these soils had a lower half-life compared with the polluted control. The rate of reduction in half-life and Biodegradation constant rate increased with increasing refiner weight. On the contrary, half-life increased and Biodegradation constant decreased with increasing refiner size. The results indicated a significant difference in the traits as a result of applying various sizes and weights of refiner. Weekly monitoring of the pollution degradation and bioremediation performance in all refiner sizes and weights showed that the lowest time to 50% pollutant removal was obtained in 100g kg-1 and 1 mm size treatment. Investigation of the respiration under the mentioned conditions showed that the lower sizes and higher weights of biochar led to improved hydrocarbon degradation. Also, according to the results, biological efficiency (E%) of biochar was calculated 40.05 at the end of the 60 day period.

According to the present study, biochar refiner has a great potential for utilization as a cheap and relatively new strategy to eradicate or reduce soil hydrocarbon pollution. This method is compatible with the in situ bioremediation in the soils polluted with petroleum and other petroleum derivate compounds, due to being less costly and posing less hydrocarbon threat to the environment. It is also a suitable tool to devise bioremediation strategies.

In this study, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) decontaminating mechanisms for soils around the Rey refinery complex (South of Tehran, Iran) was investigated. Natural attenuation, biostimulation and bioaugmentation (separately and in combination) methods were evaluated TPHs and soil microbial respiration in 210 days, using laboratory treatments The modified methods were applied through 13 different treatments, including improving the environmental conditions for native bacteria (natural attenuation for treatments 1-8), adding non-native bacterial complex (bioaugmentation for treatment 9) and intensifying and stimulating growth while adding non-native bacterial complex (biostimulation-bioaugmentation for treatments 10-13). Although, overall of the treatments, a significant decreasing TPHs concentration were observed over the time, biostimulation-bioaugmentation treatments had the highest amount of TPHs decomposition, the highest rate of bio-respiration, the lowest half-life times (t1/2), and the highest remediation efficiency and biodegradation constants rate. Among natural attenuation treatments, modifiers with manure and sawdust had the greatest effect on reducing the TPHs concentration and the highest rate of bio-respiration. The first-order kinetic model was fitted to the data related to biodegradation in a satisfactory manner. The results showed that there was a strong and positive linear correlation between decreasing TPHs concentration and microbial respiration in all modifiers. Although for the bacterial treatments and at the early stages of inoculation, the rate of total respiration was low, but as the time passed and with adaptation of the effective inoculated bacteria to contaminated soil, the respiration rate gradually was increased. Due to its low cost and low environmental risk, the proposed bioremediation technique for oil contaminated soil can be recommended to the region.

Multiple sclerosis is a neurological and progressive disease. Living with MS has many negative and positive effects on patients' physical and mental health. This study aimed to investigate the effect of emotion-focused therapy on post-traumatic growth and psychological capital in women with Multiple Sclerosis.

This study used a quasi-experimental method (a pretest-posttest plan with a control group). Participants consisted of 30 women with Multiple Sclerosis who were selected using a convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control groups. Our measuring tool was a psychological capital inventory and posttraumatic growth inventory which was completed by the participants. Then, the participants in the experimental group participated in 10 sessions of 60 min of emotion-focused therapy in 10 weeks but the control group didn’t receive any therapy. Analysis of covariance method was used to analyze data.

Analysis of data showed that there was significant difference in psychological capital and posttraumatic growth in the experimental group, compared to the control group. (P≥ 0/05) There was a significant deference in all the subscale of psychological capital (self-efficacy, hope, resilience and optimism) and the fourth posttraumatic growth subscale (communication, personal strength, value of life and new ways) in women with MS in the experimental group (P≥ 0.05), but no significant difference in the spiritual change subscale.

The result showed, emotion-focused therapy can be an effective intervention to increase psychological capital and posttraumatic growth in MS patients and can be used to improve the psychological state and better cope with the disease.

Ischemic stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability worldwide. The present study aimed to explore the antidepressant and antioxidant activities of the cyanobacterium Nostoc commune (N. commune) in a rat brain ischemia/reperfusion model.

In this experimental study, thirty-five male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups (control, N. commune, ischemia, N. commune 35 + ischemia, and N. commune 70 + ischemia). Rats were pre-treated with N. commune (35 or 70 mg/kg bodyweight, dissolved in saline, once orally) for 14 days, while the rats in control and ischemia groups were given an equivalent volume of saline. The antidepressive‐like effects of N. commune were determined by tail suspension and forced swimming tests 48 hours after ischemia induction. Catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were assayed in the brain cortex.

The present study exhibited Nostoc commune treatment (70 mg/kg) significantly attenuated the immobility times induced by ischemia damage in FST and TST and reversed the climbing time. Compared to the ischemia group, N. commune treatment considerably increased cerebral CAT, SOD, and GPx activities.

These findings demonstrated that N. commune extract could protect ischemia -induced brain injury rats by inhibiting cerebral oxidative stress, suggesting that it may have potential as a therapy for cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Soil improvement in loess soils, due to susceptibility to erosion, can increase strength, resistance and change or modify their mechanical properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in soil moisture curve parameters and some mechanical indices of loamy sand soils containing montmorillonite nanoclay. Thus, soil water retention was investigated by applying 1 and 5% of nanoclay and water holding capacity in soil was investigate by VanGenukhten and Brooks-Corey models. Then mechanical properties of soil was investigated by measuring Atterberg limits and how they change. Both experiments were re-evaluated over time. Nanoclay had a significant effect on water retention in various moisture suction systems and increased volumetric moisture content, especially in low suction. It also increased the fine porosity at the air entry value, indicating a decrease in the rate of water drainage from soil and increased its storage capacity in losses soil. Increasing the amount of nanoclay led to increase in Θs, but the change in Θr was not significant. As nanoclay increased, α and n parameters decreased, respectively. Predicting the parameters of the moisture curve equation using VanGenukhten model showed better results. Liquid and plasticity limits of the soil also increased. However, the increase in the amount of liquid limit was higher and the soil plasticity index increased. The increase in the surface area and the ability to maintain water by the clays and their shear strength can be due to this fact. Monitoring of atterberg and moisture curve parameters over time indicated their persistence.

Escherichia coli is the most common fecal coliform in the cow manure that is considered as an indicator of groundwater contamination. In this regard, the present study was designed to investigate the preferential transmission and retention of Escherichia coli bacteria as an indicator of pollution in terms of using saline water.

Laboratory studies were conducted in preferential flow system with synthetic m acro-pores with different diameter and salinity treatments under saturation flow in 2016. E. coli and chloride bio-tracer were used for detecting the effect of different water salinity levels. The wastewater samples were collected continuously during the transmission experiment at specific intervals. At the end of the experiment, three depths of soil from each column were sampled in two macro-porous and matrix areas. Then, the concentrations of bacteria and chloride were analyzed.

 The highest and the lowest concentration of E. coli in the collected drainage were observed in salinity of 1dS m-1 and 4dS m-1, respectively. At a depth of 5 cm, the bacterial retention rate was maximal and equal to 1.3 × 105 CFU-1.

The results showed that most of the treated bacteria were retained in the surface layers of the soil. Also, the amount of contaminants passing through the soil decreased with soil depth, so that the retention rate was decreased 10% per 5 cm increase in depth. In addition, the high concentration of bacteria exhausting from the soil columns treated with high salinity is due to the role of minerals such as salt in the transmission of bacteria. Therefore, water salinity can play an important role in reducing the pollution of groundwater resources.

In the oil-rich country of Iran, pollution of soil with petroleum compounds is a very important factor for pollution. Gasoil is one of the major products of crude oil and is a major source of environmental pollution. Currently, there is an urgent need to prevent the expansion and distribution of oil pollutions as well as their derivatives.Organic carbon has gained attention as an effective compound in applied management programs of environment conservation. The present study aimed to evaluate the refining of total petroleum hydrocarbon content, determining its kinetic model during the application of refiner and quantitative investigation of the effect of active carbon weight and grain size on the attenuation rate of total petroleum hydrocarbon.

The soil polluted with gasoil was collected from the vicinity of the gasoil tanker located in Shiraz refinery. Then, after measurement of the amount initial total petroleum hydrocarbon content and physical and chemical properties of the polluted soil, 700 gram soil samples containing active carbon at 0.05 and 2.05 mm sizes and 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 g kg-1 weight doses were prepared as pilot. The samples were then rested in a 50% constant humidity for four weeks at 28 ± 2 °C, and were aerated and incubated two times a week. Finally, the results of the changes in the total petroleum hydrocarbon and microbial activity over time were reported after statistical analysis.

The results showed that the application of active carbon had a significant effect on the reduction of gasoil pollution of the soil. The results related to determination of the kinetic model for the reduction of pollution during the biochar application process showed that the kinetic of reduction in total petroleum hydrocarbon was of first order equation; so that in 100 g kg-1 active carbon treatment, the lowest half- life was 21.13 days, and the half- life of control soil was 78.76. The results of total petroleum hydrocarbon showed that there was a significant reduction of total petroleum hydrocarbon content in all active carbon treatments. Investigation of bio- respiration (activity index of degrading microorganisms) showed that the application of active carbon in smaller sizes and amount higher weights led to improved hydrocarbon degradation. The biological efficiency of active carbon was calculated 38 percent at the end of the 60 day period.

Application of active carbon refiner in the gasoil- polluted soil is a cheap, effective and environment- compatible method which provides a suitable environment for the plants and soil microorganisms if utilized properly in the polluted soil. This method may be utilized in remediation of the polluted soils as a pre-refining method alone or along with other biological methods (depending on the extent of the pollution and the required remediation).

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is routinely used in combination with chemotherapy to battle neutropenia. However, studies suggest that this chemokine may increase the risk of metastasis and malignancy in many cancers. To counteract the adverse effects of G-CSF in cancer, antibodies have been used to block its action. However, antibodies are large and complex molecules which makes their production expensive. Thus in this study, we aim to construct different structure variants of the G-CSF receptor containing different domains and select the best variant that prevents the adverse actions of this chemokine. These novel structures are smaller than antibodies and easier to produce.

Different domains of the G-CSF receptor were designed and cloned into the pET28a expression vector. These recombinant receptor subunits were then expressed in Escherichia coli and purified using standard affinity chromatography techniques. Interaction of recombinant receptor subunits with G-CSF was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and NFS60 cells.

Two recombinant receptor subunits containing D1 + D2 + D3 domains and D2 domain showed the strongest inhibitory activity to G-CSF.

These novel recombinant receptor variants could be candidates for further studies in the development of novel therapeutics.

 This study considering grascophobia and its related factors in University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science.

This study is cross-sectional and we used available sampling. A Persian translation of Ageing Anxiety Scale (AAS) was administered to the university students.

 The total Mean±SD is 70.08±9.69. The scale has 4 subscale and higher level is fear of lost: mean is 20.14; also between 17 factors 3 factors has statistical significance. Different academic year (F=2.21; Sig.=0.05), satisfying of major (F=2.34; Sig.=0.44) if their fathers age was 60 and more (T=2.18; Sig.=0.031). SD is 4.84 and lower level is fear of older people: Mean±SD is 14.19±5.08.

 According to the results we suggest to reduce grascophobia by educate students about aging.

In studies realted to hydrology, water conservation and management, accurate information of the water capacity in different soils for measuring water infiltration, drainage and erosion control is essential in order to launch irrigation projects in watersheds. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of clay layers in the transfer of water through loamy sand.

Soil columns with a height of 150 cm and a diameter of 15 cm, were filled with clay layers to depths of 13 and 20 cm. Then the same volume of water with different salt concentrations was added to all columns. Also water sampling was carried out on a daily basis.

Results showed that the layer clay could reduce the volume of water passing through the columns and by increasing the thickness of the clay layer, the ratio of passed water decreased. The results showed that by increasing the depth of the clay layer in the control treatment to a depth of 20, the amount of water at a concentration of 13 mEq and 20 mEq decreased by 16 and 35 percent.

Different performances were due to the thickness of clay layer. Because of the small clay texture and high compressibility, the movement of water in the soil can be delayed. This feature can be used to prevent the movement of leachate and pollution into the soil and contaminate groundwater. It seems that by changing the depth of the clay layer, the conductivity can be controlled in sensitive areas.

In this research, a comparison of biodiesel produced by ultrasound and heat methods was investigated. Methanol was used as the alcohol with molarity 3, 6 and 9 and KOH 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt.% As a catalyst. In ultrasound technique, five vibrating pulse levels and three time levels were used. The results indicate that biodiesel produced by ultrasound in some properties includes a flash point of about 9% increased and the amount of viscosity, carbon residue and water content in fuel decreased by 27%, 50% and 5%, respectively. The biodiesel cloud point produced by the heat treatment method -2 and ultrasound waves 7 was obtained. It should be noted that the fuel produced in both methods can be used as a standard fuel in the engine. It was also found that ultrasonic waves are more appropriate than heat treatment due to the need for less time and better quality characteristics.

In recent years, the use of conservation tillage methods in the world has been widely considered and the use of conventional tillage methods has become obsolete in some parts of the world. Soil conservation tillage systems in arid and semi-arid usually runs. In semi-arid areas, the key to increasing the production of crops is to maximize the penetration of superficial waters. In addition, techniques that lead to a decrease in evaporation from the soil and increase the amount of water available to plants when drought occurs, they are very important. Conventional tillage methods, by increasing energy costs, lead to processes of degradation and reduction of water and soil resources, and long-term effects on soil properties produce undesirable effects and cause the formation of hard layers. The metabolic share and microbial contribution are among the ecophysiological indices that are evaluated to determine the microbial status of the soil.

This research was conducted in 2015 to investigate the effect of different tillage systems on soil biological activity in Golestan province. In this study, in the first stage, three regions were selected from Golestan province in the Gorganroud basin and in the cities of Gonbad, Kordkuy and Bandargaz. From each of these managements, 30 samples were taken at depths of 0-30 cm. Then biological soil properties such as soil microbial respiration, microbial biomass, urease, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, dehydrogenase and cellulase activity Measured. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized block with three replications.

The results showed that the effect of tillage treatment in three areas of Gonbad, Kordkuy and Bandargaz on microbial respiration traits, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, urease, cellulase and dehydrogenase was significant, but there was no significant effect on microbial biomass in Gonbad region. The results of the comparison of mean values indicated that soil biological activity was affected by different tillage systems in the three studied areas. In all three studied areas, the rate of respiration in conventional tillage systems was higher than that of no-till and conservation tillage systems. While in the no-till system, due to reduced organic matter decomposition, the amount of microbial biomass was higher than the other two systems. Considering the differences in enzymatic activity in different regions in different systems, the results showed that alkaline and acid phosphatase enzymes activity, urease and cellulase activity in the Gonbad region in the conservation tillage system was higher than of two other systems While in the Kurdkuy region the activity of these enzymes in the conservation tillage system was less than the other two systems. In the Kurdkuy and Bandargaz regions, the activity of the dehydrogenase enzyme in the conservation tillage system was more than the other two systems, while in the Gonbad region the activity of this enzyme in the no-till system was more than the other two systems.

Different tillage systems affect the level of biological and enzymatic activity of the soil, which was also dependent on the area, so that the microbial biomass of the soil decreased with decreasing moisture content and soil organic matter. Also, according to the results of this study, it was determined that the conventional tillage s system in terms of biological and enzymatic activities in all three areas, especially the Gonbad area, had less efficiency and more efficient no-till and conservation tillage systems, although in areas the different situations were different. Key words: tillage, enzymatic activity, conservation tillage and organic matter

Soil macropores are the prominent factor in the transfer of wastewater, fertilizers, and microorganisms, including fecal bacteria to deeper soils and even underground waters. On the other hand, a vast majority of land in Iran is located in arid and semi-arid regions. Therefore, the use of salty and unconventional waters has recently gained considerable importance. The aim of this study is to investigate the preferential transportation and storage of Escherichia coli (as an important bacterium in commonly used fertilizers) under the condition of saline water application. The laboratory studies were conducted in a preferential flow system with artificial macropores with different diameters (1 and 2 cm) and varying salinity treatments (1, 2 and 4 dsm-1) under a saturated flow condition. The leaching test was performed at 20°C within several phases. Microbial transfer tests were carried out in two phases with boundary conditions and flow velocities similar to the zero-phase condition. In order to evaluate the bacteria in the soil profile, after the end of the bacterial transfer test, the soil column was divided and cut into 3 layers. Two samples were collected from 3 depths and at macropore and matrix zones. The experiment was conducted in a factorial format and completely randomized design with three replications. The results showed that the mutual effect of salinity and macropore diameter was significant (at 5%) on mean output concentration (Cav), soil filtration coefficient (fλ), relative absorption index (SR), and maximal predicted depth of bacteria transfer (Zmax). The results indicated that the bacteria were affected by the treatments during the transfer, so that with increasing the salinity and reducing the diameter of macropores, the average bacterial concentration output decreased. The presence of macropores and the integrity of pores in a column with a diameter of 2 cm accelerated the bacterial movement and increased the pollutant outflow index due to high porosity; therefore, more bacteria passed (compared to the control column without macropores). The salinity treatment, however, served as an inhibitor and hindered further transmission of bacteria. Moreover, The macropore-free column with a salinity of 4 dsm-1 exhibited a higher refining coefficient (0.85 cfuml-1) compared to other treatments. A salinity treatment involving a 1 dsm-1 salinity and a pore diameter of 2 cm showed the least filtration coefficient (0.82 cfuml-1), so by doubling the ionic strength, 30% reduction can be seen in the bacterial filtration coefficient. Increasing the salinity up to 2 dsm-1 and decreasing the macropores diameter increased the relative absorption index. The macropore-free treatment with a 2 dsm-1 salinity showed the highest relative sorption index (0.92). Although the bacterial growth and mortality are unknown during the bacterial transfer process, according to the results, it is expected that the bacterial mortality rate increases by the salinity enhancement from 2 to 4 dsm-1 and the relative adsorption index reduction which may result in lower surface sorption. The significant treatment for the maximum predicted depth of bacterial transfer was the mutual effect of salinity and diameter at a probability level of 5%, which confirmed the significant impact of salinity on the bacterial filtration and transfer. The maximum depth of predicted bacterial transfer was obtained in the macropore-free treatment with the salinity of 1 dsm-1 (16.81 cm). The role of the underlying layers in the bacterial refinery seems to be more profound compared to the surface layer. Overall, the results showed that the main source of transmission of bacteria is the preferential flow due to the macropore continuity. However, the salinity reduced the amount of bacterial refining by increasing the ionic strength of the soil solution. The salinity had a significant effect on the average output bacterial concentration, bacterial refining coefficient, relative sorption index, and maximum predicted bacterial transmission depth. The results of this study revealed that increased ionic strength of soil solution can enhance the bacterial refining and the further elimination of bacteria which can be effective in controlling the pollution of underground water by saline irrigation management. Regarding the quantitatively and qualitatively critical water status in the country, conditions can be provided for the use of unconventional water sources, without threatening the environment and contaminating the underground water.

Despite the mental, physical, and behavioral problems of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in reproductive women, there is no general agreement on effective treatment. To determine the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicine capsules of peppermint oil as a novel formulation used for the severity management of PMS symptoms. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was carried out on 50 high school students who were diagnosed with PMS in Babol, Iran. The subjects were divided into two groups based on blocked randomization to receive capsules of Colpermin® containing the peppermint oil (187 mg peppermint oil/0.2 mL), or placebo twice daily for 10 days, from the 15th day of one period to the first day of the next period for two cycles. The degree of PMS was assessed using Delany’s PMS checklist with 28 items as primary, at the first luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and at the third luteal phase. The PMS score was decreased for the two menstrual cycles, from 30.3 ± 10.1 to 15.5 ± 6.0 in peppermint oil group and from 23.2 ± 7.0 to 20.7 ± 8.0 in the placebo group. The mean difference of the total PMS score between the two groups was -9.77; 95% CI: -12.52 to -7.02 (P < 0.0001). The number of participants needing treatment (NNT) for the peppermint oil group was approximately two compared with that of the placebo group. The proposed novel peppermint oil formulation was proved to be safe and may be used as an effective treatment for reducing the severity of PMS symptoms.

Evolution of fate, transfer, distribution and transportation of pollution waste liquid (leachate), is one of the most important problems in urban community and environment. On the other hand, soil has complex biological, physical and chemical properties; therefore, soil characteristics are considered as a natural filtering for much type of pollutants. For this purpose, an experiment in polyethylene columns in the five period over 20 days with in a completely randomized design to evaluate the rate of change of many important parameters such as acidity, salinity, total nitrogen and refined nickel in leachate soil columns, with different textures of soils (loam, clay loam and sandy loam), were implemented. The amount of leachate has been applied, considering the volume of leachate collected from the waste storage in the area of Agh Ghala landfill, with water content calculated based on the rate of 10-year area was considered and in intermittent flood conditions to the soil columns, were added. The average amount of pH value decreased with time and use more applied leachate anaerobic landfill in all three soil textures; however, this change was especially obvious in clay loam soil. The average quantity of EC in loam soil texture increased, but decreased in other soil textures, therefore, the downward movement in clay loam soils was more intensity than the other soils. The mean values of total nitrogen in the soil drainage in clay loam and loam reduced; however, in sandy loam soils increased. The average change regarding soil nickel values in clay loam decreased and in sandy loam and loam soil texture increased, however providing that there is no statistically significance. Although the application of latex on the amount of each of the desired parameters (such as nickel in loam and sandy loam, EC in loam and sandy loam soil and total nitrogen in sandy loam) increased in water drainage of leachate anaerobic landfill of Agh ghala, however, soil played an important role to improve the quality of leachate. The results confirmed it when the mean values of salinity and acidity in clay loam and sandy loam soils, nickel in sandy loam soil and total nitrogen in clay loam and loam decreased in output leachate anaerobic landfill than the input. Consequently, it seems the effect of clay loam soil in reducing parameter (Ec, pH, N and Ni) were higher and had more effective role in improve the quality of leachate.