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Introduction: Sesame is one of the oldest crops and probably the oldest oilseed in the world. In most regions, the landrace and local masses of sesame are used. To increase production and yield, the production of modified cultivars for different agricultural climates is extremely important. Material and Methods: Seven genotypes included Isfahan, Sirjan, Fars, Oltan, Jiroft, Sabzevar, TS-3 and 21 hybrids that were obtained from them were studied in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Birjand under the drought stress conditions during 2015-2018. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications as a 7 × 7 one-way diallel. In this study, several traits were measured. These traits were including plant height, height to the first fruiting capsule, number of capsules per plant, number of sub-branches, number of leaves, leaf length, number of seeds per capsule, capsule length, capsule weight, capsule width, days to 50% and 90% flowering, days to physiological maturity, thousand seed weight, oil percentage, protein percentage, amount of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, biological yield, economic yield and harvest index. Results: The investigation of the adequacy of the additive-dominance model showed that the model was sufficient in the traits including plant height, capsule length, capsule weight, number of leaves, number of sub-branches, number of capsules per plant, economic yield, biological yield, days to 50 flowering, days to 90% flowering and days to physiological maturity, and therefore diallel analysis was done on these traits. Hayman's variance analysis showed that were significant component a (additive effects of genes) in all traits and component b (dominant effects of genes) in all traits except plant height. Also, were significant the component b1 (mean dominance effects) in most traits except plant height, number of auxiliary branches, number of capsules and seed yield, the component b2 (other dominance deviation due to the parents) in most traits except plant height, number of auxiliary branches and number of capsules, and the component b3 (residual dominance variation) in all traits except plant height. The investigation of genetic parameters showed significant additive genetic component (D) and dominanant genetic components (H1 and H2) in most traits. Also were significant the component F (average covariance of additive and dominance effects) and the component h2 (the overall dominance effect of heterozygous loci) in half of the traits. The average degree of dominance (√ (H1/D)) in different traits was observed as additive, incomplete, and over dominance. In all characteristics, except capsule weight, the ratio of genes with positive and negative effects (H2/(4H1)) was not equal to 0.25; therefore, in all traits, increasing and decreasing genes did not have symmetrical distribution among parents. The ratio of dominant and recessive genes in parents ((√(4DH1)+F)/(√(4DH1)-F)) was more than unity in most of the traits, so there was an uneven distribution of dominant and recessive genes in most of the traits. The number of dominant gene groups (h2/H2) was obtained from 0 to 2.04; therefore, all traits were controlled by one or two gene blocks. Broad sense (hb 2) and narrow sense (hn 2) heritability were high in all traits. Conclusion: In the traits studied, the type of action of genes controlling the traits, the ratio of dominant and recessive genes, the ratio of genes with increasing and decreasing effects, additive effects and dominance were variable and were different in most of the traits. Generally, most traits were controlled by genes with additive and dominant effects. The high heritability estimate indicates the promising news of the studied genetic materials in future studies. Therefore, among these materials, better genotypes can be selected for the climatic conditions of Birjand, so that it can be further investigated in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative and qualitative traits and stability of marketable tuber yield of 14 promising potato clones, along with three commercial cultivars (Agria, Marfona and Savalan) as checks, were evaluated at the Ardabil Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Station during 2013 and 2014. The experiment was based on a randomized complete block design with four replications. During growing period and after harvest, traits like main stem number per plant, plant height, tuber number and weight per plant, total and marketable tuber yield, dry matter percentage, baking type, hollow heart, tuber inner ring and discoloration of raw tuber flesh after 24 hours were measured. Combined ANONA for quantitative traits showed that there were significant differences among promising clones as to total and marketable tuber yield, tuber number and weight per plant, plant height, tuber mean weight, main stem number per plant and dry matter percentage and their interactions with year in total and marketable tuber yield. The clone 9 (397078-3) with the least amount of marketable tuber yield had significant difference with clones 4 (397045-13), 1 (397031-16), 3 (397031-11), 6 (397009-8) and 12 (397067-6) in 2013 and with clone 4 (397045-13) and Agria cultivar in 2014. The clones 4(397045-13), 1 (397031-16) and 12 (397067-6) had uniform tuber, yellow to dark-yellow skin and light-yellow to yellow flesh color, tuber shape of oval round and round, shallow to mid shallow eyes, no tuber inner ring, hollow heart and tuber inner crack and mid-late maturity. They were selected for home consumption of chips, french-fries and frying. Based on the results of factor analysis, "tuber yield", "number of tuber" and "plant structural and quality "were named as first, second and third quality determining factors respectively. In this experiment, GGE Bi-plot model and AMMI Stability Value (ASV) parameter, were acceptable methods for the selection of marketable tuber yield stability which found to be simultaneously could introduce clones 1 (397031-16), 3 (397031-11), 4 (397045-13) and 12 (397067-6) to be selected as stable clones with high marketable tuber yield.

To investigate the stablity of common millet, five new common millet promising lines with a control (Pishahang) were cultivated in six locations (Karaj, Birjand, Gonbad,Yazd, Iranshahr and Sari) across two years in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results of combined analysis for studied traits (number of tillers, number of leaves, days to flowering, height, fresh forage yield, dry forage yield and seed yield) showed that the cultivars and environments main effect and intraction between cultivars and environments were statistically significant. Total mean of fresh forage yield was 29.74 t/ha and the average yield of all the cultivars except KCM92/3 and KCM92/4 was lower than total mean. The results of the stability analysis by GGE biplot partitioned the testing environments into two mega-environments with KCM92/4 and Pishahang as superior genotypes. According to discriminate ability and representativeness, the E5 and E6 environments were perfect. Overall, the results of this study indicated that KCM92/4 is high-yielding genotyp and has good stability across the studied environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

مقدمه از تلاقی‌های دای‌آلل جهت بررسی عمل ژن و تعیین گروه‌ها و الگوهای هتروتیک می‌توان استفاده نمود. دردهه‌ی اخیر استفاده از روش گرافیکی یا روش GGE biplot در بررسی اثر متقابل ژنوتیپ × محیط در برنامه‌های به‌نژادی متداول شده است. در این روش اثر ژنوتیپ و اثر متقابل ژنوتیپ و محیط از هم تفکیک‌شده و گزینش ارقام پایدار بر اساس هر دو اثر مذکور صورت می‌گیرد. زمانی که GGE biplot برای داده‌های دای‌آلل استفاده شود هر ژنوتیپ هم به‌عنوان لاین و هم به‌عنوان تستر در نظر گرفته می‌شود. همچنین در این مواقع اصطلاحات میانگین عملکرد و پایداری ژنوتیپ‌ها به ترتیب با ترکیب‌پذیری عمومی و ترکیب‌پذیری خصوصی والدین معادل است. روش بای‌پلات ابزاری بسیار مفید جهت ارزیابی چشمی و تفسیر پاسخ الگوی ارقام، محیط‌ها و اثر متقابل آن‌ها است. هدف از این تحقیق ارائه اطلاعات زیر در رابطه با گندم به‌صورت گرافیکی بود: (1) تعیین ترکیب‌پذیری عمومی والدین؛ (2) برآورد ترکیب‌پذیری خصوصی هیبریدها؛ (3) تعیین تسترهای مناسب برای تحقیقات آینده؛ (4) تعیین بهترین هیبریدها؛ و (5) تعیین گروه‌ها و الگوهای هتروتیک در بین ژنوتیپ‌های مورد ارزیابی. مواد و روش‌ها در این تحقیق هفت رقم گندم نان به نام‌های هامون، الموت، C-84-12، گاسپارد، قدس، مغان 1، ا‌فشار (به ‌عنوان والدین) مورداستفاده قرار گرفتند. این ارقام همراه با 21 ژنوتیپ نسل F1 حاصل از تلاقی دای‌آلل آن‌ها که به‌صورت نیمه دای‌آلل (فاقد تلاقی‌های معکوس) انجام گرفته بود، در سال زراعی 92-1391 در مزرعه تحقیقاتی دانشکده‌ کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد کرج، در شرایط اعمال تنش رطوبتی، کشت گردیدند.طرح آماری مورداستفاده، بلوک‌های کامل تصادفی با سه تکرار بود. تجزیه واریانس داده‌ها با استفاده از نرم‌افزار SAS و تجزیه دای‌آلل توسط نرم‌افزار D2 انجام شد. آنالیزهای گرافیکی توسط نرم‌افزار GGE biplot طبق روش پیشنهادی یان و هانت صورت گرفت. به‌منظور بررسی نتایج حاصل از تلاقی دای‌آلل در گندم نان از روش بای‌پلات استفاده گردید. در این تحقیق دوازده صفت زراعی شامل عملکرد دانه، ارتفاع بوته، طول سنبله، وزن سنبله، قطر ساقه، طول ریشک، طول میانگره‌ دوم، طول پدانکل، بیرون آمدگی پدانکل، طول بذر، قطر بذر و وزن هزار دانه ارزیابی شدند. نتایج و بحث تجزیه واریانس تفاوت معنی‌داری بین ارقام از نظر اکثر صفات مورد بررسی نشان داد. میانگین مربعات ترکیب‌پذیری عمومی برای تمامی صفات به‌جز ارتفاع بوته، طول میانگره دوم و قطر ساقه معنی‌دار بود. میانگین مربعات ترکیب‌پذیری خصوصی برای تمامی صفات به‌جز قطر ساقه در سطح احتمال یک درصد معنی‌دار گردید. بیشترین و کمترین میزان میانگین عملکرد دانه به ترتیب برای والدها در ارقام هامون و افشار و برای تلاقی‌‌‌ها در هیبریدهای هامون×قدس و C-84-12×گاسپارد مشاهده گردید. بیشترین ترکیب‌پذیری عمومی مثبت و معنی‌دار برای صفت عملکرد دانه، مربوط به رقم هامون بود. بیشترینترکیب‌پذیریخصوصیمثبتومعنی‌داربرای صفتعملکرددانهدرمترمربع، مربوطبهتلاقی‌های هامون×قدسو C-84-12×مغان 1 بود. برایصفتوزن سنبله بیشترینمقادیرترکیب‌پذیریخصوصی معنی‌داربه ترتیبمربوطبه تلاقی‌های C-84-12×افشار و الموت×گاسپارد بود. برای صفت وزن هزاردانه بالاترین ترکیب‌پذیری خصوصی را تلاقی‌های الموت×قدس وC-84-12×افشار نشان دادند. برایصفتطولسنبله تلاقی‌های الموت × C-84-12و C-84-12 × قدس، گاسپارد × افشار و قدس× مغان 1 دارای ترکیب‌پذیری خصوصیمثبتومعنی‌داربودند. بر اساس نتایج حاصل از بای‌پلات داده‌های دای‌آلل برای صفت عملکرد دانه، لاین‌های الموت و افشار به ترتیب بیشترین و کمترین میزان ترکیب‌پذیری ‌عمومی را دارا بودند. ارقامC-84-12 ، قدس و گاسپارد دارای ترکیب‌پذیری خصوصی بالاتری نسبت به بقیه‌ی لاین‌ها بودند. ارقام موردبررسی به دو گروه هتروتیک تقسیم‌بندی شدند. گروه اول شامل ارقام گاسپارد، C-84-12 و هامون و گروه دوم شامل ارقام الموت، قدس، مغان 1 و افشار بود. تستر‌های قدس، الموت، C-84-12و گاسپارد از شباهت بیشتری نسبت به سایر تستر‌ها برای صفت عملکرد دانه، برخوردار بودند. ارقام قدس، C-84-12 و الموت نسبت به سایر ارقام قدرت تمیز بیشتری را دارا بودند. نتیجه‌گیری در مجموع، بین ارقام مورد بررسی تنوع ژنتیکی قابل‌توجهی وجود داشت که سبب وجود اثرهای افزایشی و غیرافزایشی برای صفات موردبررسی ازجمله عملکرد می‌شود. مقایسه نتایج تجزیه‌های عددی با نتایج گرافیکی نشان‌دهنده مطابقت خوب نتایج این دو روش بود. با توجه به برتری روش‌های گرافیکی ازنظر تفسیر سریع‌تر و ساده‌تر نتایج، استفاده از این روش‌ها، جهت سهولت در تحقیقات توصیه می‌شود.

Nowadays, optimization techniques such as Genetic Algorithms (GA) have attracted wide attention among scientists for solving complicated engineering problems. In this article, pumping test data are used to assess the efficiency of GA in estimating unconfined aquifer parameters and a sensitivity analysis is carried out to propose an optimal arrangement of GA. For this purpose, hydraulic parameters of three sets of pumping test data are calculated by GA and they are compared with the results of graphical methods. The results indicate that the GA technique is an efficient, reliable, and powerful method for estimating the hydraulic parameters of unconfined aquifer and, further, that in cases of deficiency in pumping test data, it has a better performance than graphical methods.

Introduction Considering the lack of food in the world, increasing the production of rice is one of the demands of the global market and one of the important goals of many countries producing this crop plant. The final performance of each organism is affected by the genotypic potential, the environmental effects and the interaction between genotype and environment. The interaction of genotype and environment causes that different genotypes do not have the same reaction under different environmental conditions. Genotypes that can produce higher yields in different regions or under different environmental conditions and maintain their performance stability are considered as successful genotypes. In this study, nine promising rice lines originating from the Hashemi variety, along with two varieties Hashemi and Gilaneh, were evaluated for grain yield in two regions during two years. The objective of this study was to evaluate the stability of the studied lines and introduce the most stable ones in order to introduce the new varieties. Materials and methods The plant materials of this experiment were nine promising rice lines originating from the Hashemi variety, as a Iranian local variety with good quality, along with two varieties Hashemi and Gilaneh as control varieties. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replications in two regions, Rice Research Institute of Iran (Guilan province, Iran) and Chaparsar Research Station (Mazandaran province, Iran), in two years, 2017 and 2018. The studied traits included grain yield, days to 50% flowering, head rice percentage, milling efficiency, grain length, amylose content and gelatinization temperature. For data statistical analysis, simple analysis of variance was firstly performed for grain yield, and then Bartlett's test was done to check the uniformity of the experimental errors. Combined analysis of variance and comparison of means by Duncan's method was performed with SAS software. To evaluate the stability of the studied lines, Lin and Binns and GGE-biplot methods were used. Research findings The results of combined analysis of variance showed that the effects of genotype and year as well as the interaction of year×place and year×place×genotype on grain yield were significant. Therefore, grain yied stability of the studied genotypes was evaluated using Lin and Binns and GGE-biplot methods. The results of Lin and Binns method indicated that two genotypes Gilaneh and 19603 (Hashemi/IR74720-85-1-2-1), with the lowest intra-location variance, were the most stable genotypes in this experiment. The results of GGE-biplot graphical method also showed that the genotypes 19607, Hashemi and Gilaneh, which formed the vertices of the polygon in the grain yield biplot, were the best or the weakest genotypes in some environments or in all environments. Also, the simultaneous evaluation of stability and grain yield of the studied genotypes identified the promising line 19603 as the best genotype. The graph of ideal genotype also showed that the promising line 19603 had the smallest distance from the hypothetical ideal genotype compared to other genotypes, so it was the best genotype of this experiment. Conclusion The results of stability analysis of rice genotypes using Lin and Binns and GGE-biplot methods introduced genotype 19603 as the most stable genotype of this experiment. This promising line along with the promising line 19607 produced the highest average paddy yield in all studied environments. These genotypes with the number of days to 50% flowering less than 95 days, grain length more than seven mm, and medium amylose content and gelatinization temperature, were considered as genotypes with mid-maturing, long-grain (Sadri) and good cooking quality. Therefore, two promising lines 19603 and 19607 are suggested for cultivar introduction programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Traditionally the classical estimators of unknown parameters of the linear regression model are based exclusively on the sample information, like the maximum likelihood method. Sometimes, in practice the researcher has some prior information about the unknown intercept parameter as a guess that is called non-sample prior information. In this case, the shrinkage and shrinkage preliminary test estimators are introduced by a linear combination of sample and non-sample prior information. Now, if the non-sample prior information is available according to the experimenter's experiences or the results of previous experiments, it can be expressed in the form of a preliminary hypothesis test and the desired parameter can be estimated using the shrinkage pretest estimator. The results show that the closer the guessed value to the real parameter, the better shrinkage pretest estimator performs compared to the maximum likelihood estimator. In the past years, in the regression estimation problem, the behavior of the shrinkage and shrinkage pretest estimators under the squared error loss (SEL) and LINEX loss functions was investigated. The squared error loss (SEL) function is popularly used for estimating the unknown parameter in decision theory because of its mathematical and interpretational convenience. Due to the symmetric nature, the use of SEL function may not be appropriate, when positive and negative errors have different consequences. The SEL and LINEX loss functions are symmetric and asymmetric loss functions, respectively, but both are unbounded. Also, The SEL and LINEX loss functions have an infinite maximum value which isn’t always appropriate. Sometimes in practice it is necessary to use bounded loss functions to estimate parameters. So we used the reflected normal loss function to estimate parameters, which is the bounded loss function. Material and methods In this article, the shrinkage and shrinkage pretest estimators are introduced for the intercept parameter of the simple linear regression according to the non-sample prior information and their risk functions and relative efficiencies are derived under the reflected normal loss function. The behavior of shrinkage pretest estimator is compared with respect to the shrinkage and maximum likelihood estimator using graphical method. The intervals where the shrinkage pretest estimator has less risk compared to the maximum likelihood estimator are presented. The optimum value of the significant level of test is determined using the max-min method. Besides, several methods of finding shrinkage coefficient of the shrinkage pretest estimators are proposed. Then, the application of the proposed estimators is shown using a real data set. Results and discussion In comparison between the desired estimators, our findings show that the shrinkage and shrinkage pretest estimator are better than the maximum likelihood estimator when non-sample prior information is close to the real value. Also, the shrinkage pretest estimator with smaller level of significance has higher efficiency. An important issue for the shrinkage pretest estimator is the proper selection of the shrinkage coefficient. So, we applied several methods for finding the shrinkage coefficient to obtain shrinkage pretest estimator. Conclusion According to the reported results, the shrinkage pretest estimator has smaller risk than the maximum likelihood estimator in neighborhood of null hypothesis. Therefore, in practice, if the researcher can have prior information of the unknown intercept parameter from previous knowledge or experience that is not far from the real value, the shrinkage pretest estimator would be the best choice as intercept estimator. The effective intervals where the shrinkage pretest estimator has less risk compared to the maximum likelihood estimator was presented. By increasing the significant level of the test and the sample size, the length of the effective interval decreases. The optimal value of the significant level of the test was obtained using the max-min method. Then, the application of the proposed estimators is shown using a real data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Determining the minimum number of samples and parameters required for acceptable results is crucial in rangeland vegetation studies. The common methods for determining Article history: sampling intensity are graphical methods and statistical characteristics. This RReecveisievde:d:101.00.40.32.2020222 study aims to compare these two methods in desert ecosystems dominated Accepted: 16.04.2022 by Salsola richteri and Ammotamnus lehmannii in South Khorasan. Methodology: An area of 100 hectares was randomly sampled using 10 Keyods: initial plots of 1010 meters. The number of sampling units was determined Sampling intensity, species accumulation curve, Cochran's sample size formula, coefficient of variation. using conventional graphical methods and the species accumulation curve (SAC). Statistical methods including the first and second Cochran's sample size formula, Yamane's sample size formula, confidence interval, and coefficient of variation (CV) were also used. All statistical calculations were performed in the biotools package in R software environment. Results: The appropriate number of sampling units determined using the SAC and conventional graphical method were 40 and 50, respectively. The first and second Cochran's sample size formula with an acceptable error rate of 10% required 78 to 92 plots, respectively. The range method suggested 53 to 160 plots, with an optimal number of 75. The CV method indicated that 10 plots had the lowest CV and were the most appropriate number of plots in the study area. The optimal sampling design was determined to be 75 plots, providing maximal information with minimal effort. Conclusion: The SAC method is suggested for determining sampling intensity in the desert ecosystems in this region due to its lower cost. The study revealed no significant relationship between the CV and the number of initial plots, and it is suggested not to use graphical methods or the CV method if the number of initial plots is less than 40. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The sustainability of agricultural systems plays a key role in adapting to climate change. There is ample evidence that biodiversity can increase the stability of ecosystem processes by changing environmental conditions. Therefore, the effectiveness of breeding programs requires a correct understanding of the reaction of breeding cultivars to environments with different climatic and soil conditions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the response of some new maize hybrids to divergent environmental conditions and determine their grain yield stability. Material and methods: This study was conducted with 16 maize hybrids using a randomized complete block design with three replications in six locations, during the 2017 cropping season. Considering significant differences for hybrid × environment (GxE) interaction, stability analyses were performed using AMMI and GGE-biplot methods to determine stable and high-yielding hybrids. Results and discussion: The results of the AMMI model showed that only the first two principal components of AMMI (AMMI1and AMMI2) were significant and described 68.53% of the variance of G×E interaction. Based on the results of statistics of the AMMI model (ASV and SPCA1), hybrids No. 16 (SC704) and 1 (KLM77002/3-1-1-1-1-1-1-3 × K18) were recognized as the most stable hybrids. Stability analysis by GGE biplot procedure explained 71.5% of grain yield variation due to two components of GGE. In addition, hybrids No. 16 and 1 were identified as superior and stable hybrids by the GGE biplot graphical method. Conclusion: Generally, results of grain yield and stability analyses showed that hybrids No. 16 and 1 with 12.76 and 11.72 t/ha yields, respectively, were better than other hybrids across environments for yield and stability with wide adaptation and thus can be cultivated in Iran. Also, biplot analysis of correlation among environments revealed that Kermanshah, Esfahan, and Shiraz, as well as and Moghan and Miyandoab were closer and similar in ranking, grouping, and assessing stability. Also, Kerman and Karaj regions were less similar to other regions in terms of hybrids discrimination. Considering the high discriminate power of hybrids in Shiraz, Miyandoab, Kerman, and Karaj environments, and in order to decrease the costs, it is recommended to conduct future trials in the aforementioned environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The sustainability of agricultural systems plays a key role in adapting to climate change. There is ample evidence that biodiversity can increase the stability of ecosystem processes by changing environmental conditions. Therefore, the effectiveness of breeding programs requires a correct understanding of the reaction of breeding cultivars to environments with different climatic and soil conditions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the response of some new maize hybrids to divergent environmental conditions and determine their grain yield stability. Material and methods: This study was conducted with 16 maize hybrids using a randomized complete block design with three replicates in six locations, during the 2017 cropping season. Considering significant differences in hybrid x environment (GxE) interaction, stability analyses were performed using AMMI and GGE-biplot methods to determine stable and high-yielding hybrids. Results and discussion: The results of the AMMI model showed that only the first two principal components of AMMI (AMMI1and AMMI2) were significant and described 68.53% of the variance of GxE interaction. Based on the results of statistics of the AMMI model (ASV and SPCA1), hybrids No. 16 (SC704) and 1 (KLM77002/3-1-1-1-1-1-1-3 x K18) were recognized as the most stable hybrids. Stability analysis by GGE biplot procedure explained 71.5% of grain yield variation due to two components of GGE. In addition, hybrids No. 16 and 1 were identified as superior and stable hybrids by the GGE biplot graphical method. Conclusion: Generally, results of grain yield and stability analyses showed that hybrids No. 16 and 1 with 12.76 and 11.72 t/ha yields, respectively, were better than other hybrids across environments for yield and stability with wide adaptation and thus can be cultivated in Iran. Also, biplot analysis of correlation among environments revealed that Kermanshah, Esfahan, and Shiraz, as well as and Moghan and Miyandoab were closer and similar in ranking, grouping, and assessing stability. Also, Kerman and Karaj regions were less similar to other regions in terms of hybrids discrimination. Considering the high discriminate power of hybrids in Shiraz, Miyandoab, Kerman, and Karaj environments, and in order to decrease the costs, it is recommended to conduct future trials in the aforementioned environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tall festuca (Festuca arundinacea) is one of the most important crops and rangelands, with a high tolerance to different climatic conditions and its effective role in livestock feed and rangeland regeneration. In the present study, 36 populations of tall festuca from the Iranian Natural Resources Gene Bank were used that. Plant materials were evaluated in a randomized complete block design under two irrigation and rainfed conditions at Kheirabad Research Station, Zanjan, Iran, during 2005-2007. The results of the biplot method showed that the first component (as main effect of genotype or G) and second component (as genotype environment interaction effect or GE) were 49% and 28%, respectively, and totally explained 77% of the total variation, that is showing relatively good reliability in explanation of G+GE variations. Results of the graphical method indicated that in all environments, the population G15 (Tavankash), G31 (Australia), G11 (Borujen), G25 (Occupied Palestine) and G35 (Ireland) had relatively high yield and stability. Also, according to the ideal genotype, the G35 (Ireland) and G25 (Occupied Palestine) populations were identified as the nearest populations to ideal hypothetical genotype which are the most compatible populations suggested for the environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Sesame is one of the most important oil plants in the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions and is known as the queen of oil seeds. The high percentage of oil with the combination of suitable fatty acids, medicinal properties and very low water requirement are the characteristics of this oil plant. The main challenge for the lack of development of sesame cultivation all over the world is seed shattering at the time of ripening. Many efforts have been made to obtain non-shattering sesame cultivars with the characteristics of indehiscent capsule at the ripening stage and resistance to seed loss. In this article, we introduce and evaluate the agronomic characteristics of new indehiscent sesame cultivars named Barkat, Mohajer, Chamran and Dezful. Material and Methods Indehiscent sesame cultivars with the proposed names of Barkat, Mohajer, Chamran and Dezful have been improved during a breeding program at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in collaboration with Shahid Rajaei Agriculture Company. For registration and commercialization, these cultivars were subjected to Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) tests and agricultural Value of Cultivation and Use (VCU) experiments under the supervision of the Seed & Plant Certification and Registration Research Institute during the two cropping years 2022- 2023. In these experiments, new indehiscent sesame cultivars along with commercial cultivars of dehiscent sesame named Oltan, Sardar and Shevin as control cultivars were evaluated in four regions with different climatic conditions of Iran, including Dezful, Darab, Mughan and Gorgan in the frame of complete blocks design with four replications. In addition, the mechanized cultivation of four promising indehiscent sesame cultivars was performed separately in 100- hectare fields in the Dezful region, and harvesting was done with a combine harvester.Results and Discussion The highest plant height was obtained in Barkat with an average of 144 cm and the lowest in Chamran with 140 cm. The highest number of capsules per plant, with an average of 89.8 and the highest number of seeds per capsule, with an average of 72.3, was observed in the Mohajer. The thousand-seed weight was reported between 2.41 and 3.72 g in Dezful and Mohajer respectively. A significant difference (P≤0.01) was observed in the group comparison between indehiscent and dehiscent (control) sesame cultivars, whilst dehiscent cultivars with an average of 1.05 tons per hectare were completely superior to the control cultivars with 0.80 tons per hectare. The highest average seed yield of cultivars in different regions during two years of experiment was obtained with 1.08 tons per hectare in Barkat and Mohajer cultivars. In the mechanized harvesting of indehiscent sesame cultivars with a combine harvester, the amount of seed loss was estimated to be less than 2.8%. The evaluation of morphological traits showed that indehiscent sesame cultivars had indeterminate growth habits and could produce 1-6 sub-branches per plant depending on the genotype and plant density. The superiority of seed yield for all indehiscent sesame cultivars was observed in compare with the control cultivars. The indehiscent sesame cultivars had appropriate agronomic features and could increasing about 24% seed yield in compare to control cultivars. This issue promises a significant increase in sesame production in Iran. Conclusion Finally, Barkat, Mohajer, Chamran and Dezful sesame cultivars were introduced as the first cultivars with resistance to seed shattering during ripening in the country. In addition to the higher seed yield in compare to the control cultivars. These cultivars are able to be harvested using a combine harvester in the mechanized systems at the time of full ripening. Ultimately, the widespread use of these cultivars in the agricultural cultivation pattern of the country promises food security in oil production and water consumption reduction in the stressful season of summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of drought stress and foliar application of Fe and Zn on agronomical characteristics of sunflower. Methods: a farm experiment was carried out in the Fars agricultural research center in the split plots form base on a randomized complete block design with three replications during 2014. Irrigation at three levels (irrigation after 60, 120, and 180 mm of evaporation from A class evaporation pan) as the main plots and foliar application at four levels (water, iron sulfate, zinc sulfate, and iron sulfate+ zinc sulfate) were used as sub-plots. Results: The results showed that the delay in irrigation from 60 to 180 mm of evaporation caused a decrease in the number of seeds per head, grain yield and biological yield by 24.8%, 37.5% and 30%, respectively. The foliar application of iron sulfate+ zinc sulfate compared to the control treatment increased the number of seeds per head, 1000-seed weight and grain yield by 24.1%, 16.6 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively. The delay in irrigation, increased the water use efficiency by 50.9%. The interaction between irrigation and foliar application had a significant effect on leaf and grain iron concentration and leaf zinc concentration, so that with delay in irrigation, absorption of nutrients decreased, but foliar application under drought stress conditions increased iron and zinc absorption in sunflower. Conclusion: According to these results, it can be stated that with micronutrient foliar spraying, the severe drop in sunflower yield can be prevented under drought stress conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: The wild species of safflower have different degrees of non-deep physiological dormancy, which affects the seeds germinability under different environmental conditions. Afterripening (dry storage) of seeds with non-deep physiological dormancy can increase their germination by releasing of seed dormancy. Also, it has been found that according to the afterripening period, the germination response of some species changes to temperature and water potential. Wild species of plants are of great importance due to their use as genetic resources in breeding programs. On the other hand, knowing the characteristics and needs of their germination under different environmental conditions leads to facilitating the reproduction and preservation of these valuable genetic resources. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the germination response of safflower wild species to temperature and water potential during different afterripening period. Materials and methods: In this study, the seeds of two wild species, C. oxycanthus and C. glaucus, were Afterripened for 0, 2, 4, 6, and 12 months at 25°C. After each afterripening period, the percentage and rate of seed germination at temperatures of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 ℃ were checked and the cardinal temperatures of germination were calculated. Also, the response of germination to different water potential levels including zero, -0.2, -0.4, -0.6 and -0.8 MPa was investigated. Results: The results showed that afterripening the seeds for 2-6 months increased the germination percentage of the seeds compared to the control, while the germination percentage decreased in the treatment of 12 months afterripening. In addition, the seeds of C. oxycanthus and C. glaucus species were sensitive to light and gibberellic acid application, and in the presence of these treatments, the germination percentage increased. These findings showed that both species have different degrees of non-deep physiological dormancy. However, the species C. glaucus had higher dormancy. Also, different afterripening periods led to an increase in basic, optimum and germination ceiling temperatures compared to fresh seeds. Examination of the germination response of the seeds of the two studied species showed that in both species, with the increase in the duration of the afterripening period, the base water potential for 50% germination (ψb50) became more negative, and hence, tolerance to water stress increased during the afterripening period. Nevertheless, afterripening for 12 months significantly increased the hydrotime coefficient (θH) and actually decreased the germination rate compared to other treatments. Conclusion: In summary, afterripening of seeds in safflower wild species during a suitable period of time (2-6 months) can lead to the improvement of their germination characteristics under different temperature and humidity conditions. In addition, it should be noted that long-term storage of seeds can lead to a decrease in the quality of seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Attention to economic dimensions is one of the most important factors for the success the field of art. The purpose of this study is strategically analysis of the economic status of higher art education in Iran with emphasis on postgraduate education and providing appropriate strategies. Methods: Based on the status quo, the strategic issues in this area identified in 45 propositions and analyzed in the framework of the PESTEL strategic model. In order to prioritize the strategic issues system, a questionnaire provided to 30 specialists in strategic cultural, artistic, economic and higher education studies. After analyzing the responses, the Maxi-Max method used to prioritize the strategic issues system. Results: Finally, 11 strategies provided to realize the dynamic economics and sustainable development in higher education with emphasis on postgraduate education as following: 1. Institutional-functional independence of academic centers. 2. Effective interaction of university art centers with economic and industrial sectors. 3. Planning courses in university centers of art with the labor market. 4. Adopting a financing approach based on inbound economy of the university. 5. Informing about the functional importance of the entrepreneurship. 6. Use of new technologies in order to generate income. 7. Use of the existing capacities in the informal course of education and artistic skills. 8. Creating an innovative environment for entrepreneurship activities. 9. The establishment of higher education institutions and research centers of the economic arts and entrepreneurship. 10. The establishment of supportive and facilitating laws. 11. Standardization of Entrepreneurship in the laws of staff attracting Conclusion: Facilitating the movement of university art centers from the current situation towards the University of Art Entrepreneurs requires the expansion of management structures and policy-making of the country as the main stakeholders of the higher education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the reaction of the different genotypes under different environmental conditions helps breeders to detect stable and high-yielding genotypes. In this regard, 11 new sunflower hybrids along with four cultivars (Golsa, Ghasem, Shams, and Farrokh) were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with four replications in four experimental field stations (Karaj, Sari, Kermanshah, and Dezful) during two cropping seasons. GGE biplot statistical method (genotype effect + genotype × environment interaction) was used to study the adaptation of genotypes in the studied environments. Results of combined analysis of variance indicated that the effects of environments, genotypes, and genotype × environment interaction were significant, suggesting that the genotypes responded differently in the studied environment conditions. Results of the GGE biplot method showed that the two first and second principal components of the GGE biplot explained 66.4% of the total seed yield variation. Based on the biplot polygon view, the hybrid RGK15×AGK1221 in Sari and Karaj locations and the hybrid RGK25×AGK330 and Shams cultivar in Dezful location were superior genotypes with the high specific adaptation. Besides, all environments had high discriminating ability so that could able to show differences between genotypes. Sari environment was the nearest environment to the ideal environment that had the highest discriminating ability and representativeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted for create genetic diversity and access to suitable hybrids in terms of agronomic traits, marketability and adaptation to climatic conditions and tolerance to water deficit stress in Ardabil region during two years (2017 and 2018). The experiment was splitplot based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The main plot was deficit irrigationat three levels (100, 80 and 60% of plant water requirement) and the sub plot consisted of 12 potato populations. Results of analysis of variance showed that there was significant difference between different levels of deficit irrigation, genotypes and their interactions in terms of number and weight of tuber per plant, tuber yield, number of main stems per plant and length of stolon and in terms of tuber dry matter percentage, only significant difference was observed between genotypes. In this experiment of the 279 successful crossings 244 hybrids were selected. Selected hybrids had an average of 975.5 g and 7.5 tubers per plant. I؟n all three environmental conditions, the highest tuber weight per plant and tuber yield was related to Agria X Ceaser hybrid, and in normal and moderate stress conditionsbelonged to Savalan X ؟Ceaser hybrid. The highest water use efficiency was observed in all three environmental conditions in hybrids 2 [Agria (mother parent) X Caeser (mother parent)] and 9 [Caeser (mother parent) X Savalan (father parent)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equity is the basic structural component of the development of any business, so it is important for an industrial enterprise to develop tools to determine its effective management. It it is impossible without conducting qualitative financial analysis, timely and effective adaptation of valuation approaches in the modern conditions of functioning of enterprises. The effective functioning of enterprises is impossible without the use of modern complex methods, which include not only a methodology, a system of indicators, but also modern technologies for their assessment, planning and control. Information management is one of these technologies. To solve the problems of the study we used the method of structural-logical analysis, methods of theoretical generalization and comparative analysis, synthesis and method of grouping of absolute and relative values, graphical method and information management methods. The result of the study is the formation of a comprehensive approach to the financial analysis of the equity of the enterprise on the formed system of four groups of indicators. These indicators take into account the state of equity, its efficiency, ensuring risks in the process of the enterprise and directions of financial analysis.

The purpose of this study was to compare the statistical parameters of maximum annual precipitation in the watershed of Haraz River located in the central part of the Alborz Mountains. After reviewing the data of precipitation in Haraz watershed and considering lack of long-term statistics in the study area, Panjab-Haraz, Karsang-Haraz and Mahmoudabad-Haraz stations in different parts of the river from mountain to plain in 44-year statistical period from the water year of 1968-69 to 2011-2012 were selected. The annual precipitation frequency analysis of the selected stations was performed and the results of the Residual sum of squares (RSS) test were extracted by the method of ordinary moments and the maximum likelihood at this stage to be compared with the linear moments method. Residual sum of the squares in the linear moment method were also calculated by a computer program for the studied distributions. The results showed that in general, normal moment and maximum likelihood methods in selected stations have better fit and less RSS. The results of scoring and ranking the best selected method and distribution also showed that in all three selected stations, the maximum likelihood method with the minimum RSS was the best fit with the annual maximum precipitation data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selection of high yielding genotypes is very important in sunflower. Thus, 24 new sunflower hybrids along with Golsa cultivar were evaluated in a simple lattice design (5×5) with two replications in the Agriculture Research Station of Gorgan, north of Iran, during 2020. The genotype by yield × trait (GYT) biplot method was used in order to study the relationships between different traits and to select the new hybrids of sunflower based on yield-trait combinations. The result of polygon view of GYT biplot indicated that G19 was the best genotype in terms of the combination of seed yield with traits such as stem diameter, head diameter, seed number per head, thousand seed weight, early maturity and leaf number. Similarity, G5 also was superior genotype in terms of the combination of seed yield with a number of traits, including plant height, head height from ground level, leaf length, leaf width and petiole length. Based on average tester coordinate (ATC) view of GYT biplot, the genotypes G19 and G5 in terms of all positive yield-trait combinations were recognized as the best genotypes and genotypes G24, G23 and G25 as the weakest genotypes. A significant positive correlation was observed between seed number per head, thousand seed weight and early maturity in combination with seed yield. Moreover, these traits had high broad sense heritability. Therefore, it seems that traits such as seed number per head, thousand seed weight and early maturity could be used as suitable selection criterions for increasing seed yield in sunflower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sunflower is an important crop that its oil has high nutritional and economic value. In this study, genotype-trait biplot method was used to study interrelationships between different traits and new sunflower hybrids. For this study, 24 new sunflower hybrids along with Golsa cultivar were evaluated in a simple lattice design with two replications in Gorgan Agriculture Research Station, Gorgan, north of Iran, during 2020 cropping season. The results showed that thousand seed weight, head diameter, seed number per head, stem diameter, leaf length, leaf width and petiole length had a positive correlation with seed yield. Also, a negative correlation was observed between seed yield and phonological traits and plant height. Therefore, it can be concluded that improving seed yield may simultaneously lead to improve in the early maturity and dwarfism. Based on biplot polygon view, the genotypes No. 5 and 19 had superior characteristics in terms of seed yield and its attributes. Also, based on a hypothetical ideal genotype biplot, the genotypes No. 3, 2 and 10 outranked the other genotypes in terms of all examined traits. A majority of the examined traits had high discriminating ability and were able to show differences between genotypes. The stem diameter was the nearest trait to an ideal trait and, therefore, it has the highest discriminating ability and representativeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an acoustic analysis of Persian nasalized vowels which aims to develop an acoustic vowel space of these vowels compared to that of oral vowels (the vowel space provides a graphical method for showing where a speech sound, such as a vowel, is located in both “acoustic” and “articulatory” space. The illustration shows an acoustic vowel space based on the first two formants for vowels. The vertical axis represents the frequency of the first formant (F1) and the horizontal axis shows the frequency gap between the first two formants (F2-F1) (Giacomino, 2012). In this regard, such a survey is investigating the effect of nasalization on the first and second formants of Persian vowels as well as the effect of this factor on their F1span and F2span. In addition, this article studies the effect of gender on the first two formants of oral and nasalized vowels. In order to reach the purposes of this survey, the speech of a total of ten Persian speakers, including five women and five men were recorded. All of the speakers were between the ages of 25 and 35. A list of forty-eight words (the words were embedded in a common carrier sentence) was presented to the speakers and their utterances of the words were recorded with a Huawei G750-U10 sound recorder. The words the participants had to pronounce were two to three syllabic nouns and adjectives. The findings of this paper are based on the pronunciation of six vowels, i.e., /i/, /e/, /a/, /A/, /o/ and /u/ found in the unstressed syllable of these words. Some of these unstressed syllables contained a consonant-vowel-consonant phoneme structure (i.e. /CVC/) and some others contained a nasal-vowel-nasal one (i.e. /NVN/) in order to examine oral and nasal vowels, respectively. Each word was uttered five times by each speaker, so each one provided 240 tokens. Collectively, 2400 tokens were provided by the participants. The recorded words were converted to .WAV files and analyzed acoustically with the free program, Praat (an online open source software designed for acoustic phonetic analyses). The data taken were the first two vowel formants, i.e., F1 and F2. For the purposes of this study the central part of each vowel, which reaches a practically steady state, was measured. Averages were taken for each value for each speaker and then calculated for the entire group. It should be mentioned that mahalanobis distance criterion was used to remove outlier data. Generally, this criterion is used when the data are two-dimensional. The data, when so analyzed statistically, reveal that nasalization significantly affects all vowels’ first and second formants. In fact, the F1 frequency of the nasalized vowels, except for the vowel /a/, is more than that of oral vowels. In comparison with the oral vowel /a/, the F1 frequency of its nasalized counterpart is less. Moreover, the F2 frequency of the nasalized vowels is more than that of oral vowels. It is also found that nasalization has no significant effect on vowels’ F1span and F2span. The data show that, gender significantly affects the frequency of the first two formants in both oral and nasalized vowels, except for the vowel /u/. The effects may be indicated as follows. a. In nasalized vowels as well as oral ones, the F1 frequency of the vowels /o/, /A/, /e/ and /a/ for female speakers is more than that of these vowels for male ones. Additionally, the F1 frequency of the nasalized vowel /i/ for females is less than that of this vowel for males, but conversely, the F1 frequency of the oral one for females is more than that of this vowel for males. b. In both nasalized and oral vowels, the F2 frequency of the vowels /A/, /i/, /e/ and /a/ for female speakers is more than that of these vowels for male ones. Furthermore, the F2 frequency of the nasalized vowel /o/ for females is less than that of this vowel for males but conversely, the F2 frequency of the oral one for females is more than that of this vowel for males. Finally, it should be noted that the vowel space has been studied in different languages, for instance, the studies of Barney and Peterson (1952), and Hillenbrand et al. (1995) on English vowels, Klein’s study (1970) on Dutch vowels, the survey of Johngman et al. (1989) on modern Greek and German vowels, and the article of Most et al. (2000) on Hebrew Vowels. There are also some papers on Persian vowel space, such as Gharaati (2010), Mohammadi et al. (2011), Bijankhan (2013), Modarresi Ghavami (2013), Esfandiari and Alinezhad (2015), and Alinezhad (2016).

Introduction Oilseed rape is the third most important oil crop in the world after oil palm and soybean. The world's oilseed rape production was 4.6 million tons in 2018-2019 and has the ability to compensate for the lack of edible oil in Iran (containing 40-45% oil). The production of this crop is mainly done by using two zero cultivars with a low level of glucosinolate in the feed and the absence of Erucic acid in the oil. Two types of oilseed rape are cultivated in Iran, spring and autumn. Spring type is cultivated in warm regions of the Caspian Sea coast and southern regions of the country and its autumn type is mostly cultivated in cold and mild cold regions. Materials and Methods In this study 16 rapeseed mutant lines obtained through Gama radiation of three rapeseed cultivars Talaye, Zarfam and Express with 800, 900 and 1200 gray dose rates, followed by 7 selfing generation, are compared during two years for earliness, seed and oil yield and other important agronomic traits in four regions Karaj, Kermanshah, Esfahan and Zarghan with three check varieties. The oil content of rapeseed varieties and lines were determined by NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) at chemic laboratory of Oilseed Crops Research Department of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute. Finally, the highest yield early maturity lines were defined. Each treatment was sown in plot with four rows, four meters lenght and 30 cm between row distances. The experimental field was prepared in late summer and chemical fertilizer were given to it. The sowing experiment were planned for late week of September until the first week of October.At the end of each cropping year, the yield of each plot was harvested separately and the statistical calculations were carried out after the gathering of two years results by GGE biplot method. Results and Discussion Results of combined ANOVA showed that main effects of year and genotype, interaction of location xgenotype; year x location, and interaction of year, location and genotype had significant effects on grain yield. The genotypes showed the highest and the lowest grain yield in Kermanshah 4016 kg/ha and Zarghan 2886 kg/ha stations, respectively. Line T-900-4 produced the highest grain yield 3840 kg/ha in all locations. To study the interaction of genotypes and environments, GGE biplot method was used. Based on the polygonal graphs related to genotypes, line Z-800-6, Z-900-7, Okapi and Z-800-3 produced the highest yield in Karaj, Zarghan, Kermanshah and Esfahan, respectively. Regarding the imaginary ideal genotype graph and biplot of genotypes and environments and seed yield ranking, line Z-900-7 were identified as the best genotypes due to its higher yield and stability. Conclusion In Iran, 70% of rapeseed production is done in warm regions and only 30% in cold regions. Therefore, breeding cold-tolerant cultivars by using mutations will increase rapeseed cultivation in the cold region of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Anthropometry is the branch of human science that considers the physical measurement of the human body, especially size and shape. One application of anthropometrical data in ergonomics is the design of working space and the development of industrialized products. So that the tools, equipment and workstations, which designed based on the physical dimensions of the workers, can increase their productivity. According to statistics, 32% of workers possess awkward postures, and 15% of them use improper tools while working. These lead to increases the possibility of work-related injuries, particularly musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, most countries have made great efforts to build own anthropometrics databases for various groups of citizens. Due to the lack of comprehensive databases in Iran, often it has been referred to information from the Western countries, especially the United States. The western nations have a big difference in anthropometric dimensions with the Iranian population, and their manufacturers also have been designing and developing tools and machines based on own mental criteria. The mismatching of these designed tools and workstations with the dimensions of the Iranian userchr('39')s body can cause complications such as fatigue or other physical damage. So, Iranian researchers have suggested that at least one comprehensive, up-to-date and general database needed from the population of the country. Consequently, the building of anthropometric databases is necessary. The results of several studies have shown that there is a correlation between the dimensions of the body with each other. These correlations can be used to create regression equations for estimating anthropometric dimensions. Identifying, categorizing, and determining the type of relationship between anthropometric dimensions play a significant role in treatment, fitness talent, and clothing production, etc. But, the relationship between these dimensions is affected by the environmental, economic and social factors change. The important affecting physical factors include age, sex, race, body structure, occupation, diet, and physical activity. Among these factors, the race has a very critical role in the variation of body size. So, the differences among diverse races are more than the variations between different nations. Ethnic diversity is a crucial factor that can affect anthropometric data and its application areas. For example, this variety in body dimensions between people with different sex and races can produce many problems in product design. Therefore, due to the necessity of having a comprehensive database (anthropometric data from different races) in the country, extracting appropriate information from massive data and transforming them into knowledge on one hand, and time-consuming and high expense process for collecting data on the other hand, especially in the Iranian population with many races, the use of modern methods is essential. Data mining is a new method used to extract useful and unknown information from raw data. Classification is a data mining function that assigns items in a collection to target categories or classes. The goal of classification is to accurately predict the target class for each case in the data. Decision Tree is one of the easiest and popular classification algorithms to understand and interpret. It can be utilized for both classification and regression kind of problem. It can also remove part of the consumed time and expense of collecting anthropometric data. Therefore, this study was intended to investigate and identify the most important factors of ethnic differences in anthropometric dimensions of Iranian workers using the decision tree. Methods: The present research is a methodological study using the classification systems in the field of data mining. The sample of the study was anthropometrics raw data (37 dimensions) of 3720 subjects (3,000 men and 720 women) from six races (Fars, Turks, Kurds, Lars, Baluch, and Arabs) of Iranian workers. The decision tree (DT) method was used to identify the most important factors of racial differences in anthropometric dimensions of Iranian workers. The WEKA software (version 3.6.12) was used to analyze data and implement data mining algorithms. In the case of the WEKA system, the data is extracted and translated into a standard format we call ARFF, (Attribute-Relation File Format). In the current study, the preprocessing operation on raw data performed by using a classification. Data preprocessing is one of the most critical steps in a data mining process which deals with the preparation and transformation of the initial dataset. Data preprocessing methods are divided into, data cleaning, data integration, data transformation, data reduction categories. Data cleaning routines work to clean the data by filling in missing values, smoothing noisy data, identifying or removing outliers, and resolving inconsistencies. Dirty data can cause confusion for the mining procedure, thus removing these data is a more appropriate method. For data preparation, first of all, missing data values identified by using statistical methods and then to replacing the lost data, the PLS Filter and Missing Class Values algorithms were used in the WEKA software. These algorithms first classify the data and compute the average value for each class and fill the missing data of each class with the mean value of that class. Distorted data also eliminated by using the Remove Useless algorithm. Later data preparation, Principal Components Analysis (PCA), one of the most used methods, implemented. It is a statistical procedure that uses an orthogonal transformation to convert a set of observations of possibly correlated variables (entities each of which takes on various numerical values) into a set of values of linearly uncorrelated variables called principal components. The primary motivation behind PCA is to reduce, or summarize, a large number of variables into a smaller number of derived variables that may be readily visualized in 2- or 3-dimensional space. The new set of variables created by PCA can be used in other analyses, but most commonly as a new set of axes on which to plot your multivariate data. After data preparation, the data are standardized and then the KMO factor is calculated. The KMO factor measure of sampling adequacy and compares the observed correlations and partial correlations among the original variables. The KMO increases with an increase of the number of variables and the correlation coefficients between them but does not much depend on the sample size. Specifically, correlation matrices with KMO< 0.5 are entirely inappropriate whereas those with KMO below 0.6–0.7 must be treated with caution. Then after the decision tree technique is applied. This technique is a tree-like structure that describes the set of rules that led to the decision, and the ease of interpretation is one of its most important features. This technique is used for categorization and is a graphical method for comparing alternative competition and assigning value to them by combining uncertainties, costs, and repayments by specific number values, which usually consists of several nodes called nodes Inputs and outputs are known. The rules created in the decision tree are also "if" and "then". In each node, you can also split more than two. The CHAID algorithm used to splits the target into two or more categories that are called the initial, or parent nodes. Results: for the analysis of the main factors, the 37 variables (anthropometric dimensions) converted to standard values. KMO value for the total data was 0.947. Since the obtained KMO (0.95) value was greater than the considered criterion (0.7). The existence of the necessary correlation between the input variables confirms the main factors analysis. The result of the analysis indicated, of the 37 anthropometric input variables, only 21 variables had a coefficient of above 0.7 in the seven extracted factors. The remaining 16 variables had little importance due to their high correlation with the main variables and excluded from the analysis cycle. In the decision tree, the race variable selected as the target variable or dependent variable, and its relation with 21 anthropometric variables examined. The optimal number of clusters obtained was 7 clusters. After entering and determining the type of data and dividing them into two sets: one with 70 percent of the source data, for training the model, and one with 30 percent of the source data, for testing the model. This default was chosen because a 70-30 ratio is often used in data mining. The results of the study disclosed that the distinctive factors in categorizing and creating ethnic differences among men were the Shoulder height in sitting position, the eye height in sitting position, the elbow- fingers length, bi-acromial breadth, the width of foot and length of the head, and among the women, Face Breadth, bi-acromial breadth and the length of the elbow-tip of the fingers. Conclusion: Identification of distinctive factors in the classification of racial differences is one of the main findings of the present research in various ethnic groups. According to the results of this study, these factors in Iranian women and men were different and regardless of race, the following conclusions are made; the distinguishing factors in men are related to anatomical factors (temple) and in women related to facial aesthetics (beauty). The results of this study also confirm the utility of using the decision tree method to investigate the interactions between predictor variables that can be identified the most important determinants of race by combining different nodes in the overall structure. The results from this study verified the using decision tree as an effective method of identifying important variables for classification and detection of racial differences in the anthropometric field. Furthermore, this finding could be used to designing optimal ergonomic workstations for Iranian workers with different Races, moreover to applications in the manufactures and design process, can be used in other cases such as forensic medicine for diagnosis and making orthopedic products.

Background: During spinal anesthesia, blood pressure is often measured indirectly through inflating a cuff at the arm. However, the measurement of blood pressure at the arm is sometimes not possible due to the presence of burns and implementation of orthopedic or plastic surgery on the upper limb. In these cases, lower extremity blood pressure should be measured. Materials and Methods: This descriptive analytical study was conducted on 34 candidates for lower abdominal surgery. The blood pressure cuff was first placed on the right arm and leg, and then on the left arm and leg. The recorded variables included the region of measuring blood pressure, blood pressure, duration of surgery, and type of surgery. The agreement between the lower and upper extremity pressures at any time was determined using the Bland-Altman graphical method. Results: According to the results, 32 patients were male. The graphical analysis revealed 5 min after spinal anesthesia, systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressures of the right hand and leg were approximately equal. Conclusion: The results indicated an agreement among the systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressures of the right hand and leg 5 min after spinal anesthesia. The agreement between arterial systolic blood pressure was greater than those of the diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure. Regarding this, we can recommend that when the arm is unreachable to measure arterial blood pressure or the accuracy of measured pressure is not guaranteed, ankle can be used as an alternative.

Introduction: Drought is a recurrent feature of climate that caused by deficiency of precipitation over time. Due to the rise in water demand and alarming climate change, recent year’s observer much focus on drought and drought conditions. A multiple types of deficits and relevant temporal scales can be achieved through the construction of a joint indicator that draws on information from multiple sources and will therefore enable better assessment of drought characteristics including return period, persistent and severity. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) combines information from precipitation and temperature in the form of water surplus or deficit according to Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). Rainfall over some regions of Iran during some resent year was below average while mean and maximum temperatures were very high during this period, as was evaporation. This would suggest that drought conditions were worse than in previous recent periods with similarly low rainfall. The main objective of this study is to assess the influences of humidity on the SPEI index and investigate its relation with SPI and Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) over six different climatic regions in Iran. Materials and Methods: Iran has different climatic conditions which vary from desert in central part to costal wet near the Caspian Sea. In this study the selection of stations was done based on Alijani et al (2008) climatic classification. We chose 11 synoptic stations from six different climatic classes including costal wet (Rasht and Babolsar), semi mountains (Mashhad and Tabriz), mountains (Shiraz and Khoram Abad), semi-arid (Tehran and Semnan), arid (Kerman and Yazd) and costal desert (Bandar Abas). The Meteorological datasets for the aforementioned stations were obtained from the Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO) for the period 1960-2010. The compiled data included average monthly values of precipitation, minimum and maximum air temperature, mean relative humidity, sunshine hours) and wind speed at 2 m height. A probability-based overall water deficit assessment was achieved from multiple drought-related indices (i.e. SPEI, SPI and RDI). The humidity conditions were monitored for given stations based on each index during annual, short term (1, 3 and 6 months) and long term (9 , 12, 18 and 24 months) periods. This research further examine the Locally Weighted Scatter plot Smoothing (LOWESS) graphical method and nonparametric Man- Kendal test to evaluate the trends associated with humidity deficiency in annual and monthly time scales during 51 years period (i.e. 1960-2010). Results and Discussion: Our results revealed that the maximum correlation between SPEI index with indices of SPI and RDI was achieved in the coastal wet region and with a declining trend in relative humidity condition in the rest of the regions, this correlation is down over both short- and long-term periods. A comparison between SPI and SPEI also performed that the SPI index was able to reflect prolonged drought over the costal wet region where it showed significant inconstancy in desert and semi desert regions. SPEI result suggested substantial deficiencies in relative humidity at the beginning of 1997 during long term period which indicated an increasing trend of drought statues during last decades. Overall, according to the results of SPEI index in 1month periods monthly drought assessment showed a declining trend in drought magnitude during autumn, winter and spring season months (October to June) at investigated stations excepts Tehran and Shiraz stations and with a potential deficiency in relative humidity conditions. Unlikely, annual trend showed increasing trends in drought frequency and persistent over last decade. Conclusion: Our results can be summarized as below: Focusing on various types of deficits, the result of humidity based deficiencies indicated that for semi-mountains, mountains, semi-arid, arid and costal desert regions the period of 1997 to 2010 has a large total moisture shortage over all climatic regions. Most of the climate stations showed moisture deficits (decline trends) during October to June (9-month) at many stations expect Tehran and Shiraz stations which revealed a significant increasing over 51 years. We recommend using SPEI index for arid and semi-arid regions because it includes temperature variability in drought model so it reflects drought conditions better than other indices. Furthermore, three drought indices (i.e. SPEI, SPI and RDI) have similar sensitivity to water deficits over wet climatic regions; therefore, each of those indices can be used.

Introduction Volcanic rocks with a porphyritic texture have experienced two crystallization stages. The first is slow, resulting in phenocrysts, and the second, which took place at, or near the surface, or during intrusion into a cooler body of rock, result in a groundmass of glass, or fine crystals. The pressure and temperature history of a magma during crystallization is recorded in the chemical composition of the phenocrysts during both stages. These phenocrysts provide valuable data about the physicochemical conditions of the parent magma during the process of crystallization. The composition of clinopyroxene (cpx) reflects not only the chemical condition and therefore the magmatic series, but also the physical conditions, i.e., temperature and pressure of a magma at the time when clinopyroxene crystallized. The Ghohrud area lies in the middle part of the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc , which is part of a much larger magmatic province extending in a vast region of convergence between Arabia and Eurasia north of the Zagros-Bitlis suture zone (Dilek et al., 2010). In the Ghohrud area, north of Isfahan, exposed Eocene volcanic rocks belong to the first pulse of Cenozoic volcanism of Iran (Sayari, 2015), ranging in composition from andesitic basalt to basalt. The basaltic rocks of the Ghohrud area are composed mainly of plagioclase phenocrysts surrounded by smaller crystals of clinopyroxene in a groundmass of microlites, glass and opaques. In this study, the clinopyroxene and plagioclase of these rocks were analyzed in order to estimate the physicochemical conditions of the parent magmas. Results Clinopyroxene and plagioclase phenocrysts of nineteen samples were analyzed with the electron microprobe. The chemical compositions of the clinopyroxenes were used to estimate both the chemical evolution and temperature and pressure conditions of the magmas during crystallization, using SCG, a specialized software for clinopyroxene thermobarometry (Sayari and Sharifi, 2014). Microprobe analyses show that plagioclases in the Eocene basaltic rocks are labradorite-bytownite (An85-58Ab15-41) and clinopyroxenes are augite (En41-49Di29-38Fs17-26). The compositions of the clinopyroxenes indicate a tholeiitic affinity for the magma. After plotting the cpx thermobarometry results on a P-T diagram, and applying a linear regression, an equation of P-T describing the physical conditions of the ascending magma was obtained. Discussion Several complex thermobarometry equations used to estimate T and P of cpx have been introduced to the Society of Petrology by different researchers (e.g., Sayari, 2012; Sayari and Sharifi, 2014Putirka et al., 1996; Nimis and Ulmer, 1998; Putirka, 2008). Ten well-known barometric and six thermometric equations developed for clinopyroxene were tested for the analyzed samples with the aid of SCG, and then the equations giving the best match were selected and integrated to estimate contemporaneous P and T. According to the systematic cpx-thermobarometry calculations done with SCG software, it was inferred that the clinopyroxenes crystallized over a range of 1120-1170 °C and a range of pressure of 2-6 kbar. The results of the cpx-thermobarometry were then plotted on a P-T diagram and a linear regression was used to find a function describing P and T for clinopyroxenes. The equation of the regression line is: P (kbar) = 0.0846T (°C)-93.128 The equation has a high coefficient of determination parameter (R2), making it reliable to determine the rate of T-loss against P-reduction. By assuming that the pressure on the magma was lithostatic due to the weight of overlying rocks, and considering the density of continental crust of about 2.7 gr/cm3, this equation shows that while magma was ascending while the clinopyroxenes were crystalizing, pressure was decreasing at a rate of about 84.6 bar per 1 °C temperature loss. This pressure loss indicates a rise of about 320 m in the continental crust. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the University of Isfahan, and Dr. Seyed Mohsen Tabatabaei Manesh for his help for doing microprobe analyses. References Dilek, Y., Imamverdiyev, N. and Altunkaynak, S., 2010. Geochemistry and tectonics of Cenozoic volcanism in the Lesser Caucasus (Azerbaijan) and the peri-Arabian region: collision-induced mantle dynamics and its magmatic fingerprint. International Geology Review, 52(4-6): 536-578. Nimis, P. and Ulmer, P., 1998. Clinopyroxene geobarometry of magmatic rocks. 1. An expanded structural geobarometer for anhydrous and hydrous, basic and ultrabasic systems. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 133(1-2): 122-135. Putirka, K., 2008. Thermometers and Barometers for Volcanic Systems. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 69(1): 61-120. Putirka, K., Johnson, M., Kinzler, R. and Walker, D., 1996. Thermobarometry of mafic igneous rocks based on clinopyroxene-liquid equilibria, 0-30 kbar. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 123(1): 92-108. Sayari, M., 2012. APG: An efficient software program for Amp-Pl thermobarometry based on graphical method. Journal of Sciences, Islamic Republic of Iran, 22(4): 345-349. Sayari, M., 2015. Petrogenesis and evolution of Oligocene-Pliocene volcanism in the central part of Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (NE of Isfahan). Ph.D Thesis, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran, 195 pp (in Persian with English abstract). Sayari, M. and Sharifi, M., 2014. SCG: A computer application for single clinopyroxene geothermobarometry. Italian Journal of Geosciences 133(2): 315-322.

To determine gene action and heritability of grain yield related traits in rice, six rice varieties including Hashemi, Vandana, Kadous, Hassani, Shahpasand and IR36 were crossed in a diallel design in 2010. The parents and seeds of F1 generation (36 genotypes) were grown in a completely randomized block design with three replications at the Research Field of the Rice Research Institute of Iran-Rasht in 2011. In this experiment, the yield related traits including grain yield, number of panicles per plant, number of spikelet’s per panicle, 1000-grain weight, plant height, panicle length and flag leaf area were measured in each experimental unit. Evaluation of the gene action based on the Hayman graphical method indicated that 1000-grain weight was controlled by partial dominance effect and the other attributes were controlled by complete dominance to over-dominance effects. Broad-sense heritability varied from 54.91% to 99.84% for flag leaf area and plant height, respectively and narrow-sense heritability ranged from 26.04% to 88.68% for panicle length and 1000-grain weight, respectively. Results of this research showed that the additive gene effect can be used to improve several traits including 1000-grain weight, but utilizing the heterosis phenomenon and hybrid production is recommended to improve the remaining traits in the studied population.

Production of high sunflower yield is important in sunflower breeding programs. With regards to the importance of estimation of general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA), genetic evaluation of sunflower seed yield was carried out in normal and water stress conditions using biplot analysis of 6×6 diallel design. Parental lines and their progenies were investigated using a randomized complete block design with three replications in each condition in greenhouse. According to the separate analysis of variance, mean squares of genotypes were significant for seed yield in 0.01 probability level in both conditions. The first two principal components explained 77.9% and 82.5% of the variation for seed yield in normal and stress conditions respectively. Therefore, it is possible to extract any information by using graphical method of biplot. Among studied parental lines, LR25 had the positive and the highest general combining ability in both states. RHA266 had positive and the highest specific combining ability in water stress condition and genotype LR4 had the negative and the highest specific combing ability in normal condition. Considering the polygon graphs of biplot, cross LR25 × LR4 in normal condition and crosses including LR25 × C104, LR55 × RHA266 and C100 × RHA266 in water stress condition, depicted high level of heterosis for sunflower yield. Results revealed that genotype C104 is suitable tester for recognition of general combining ability of studied genotypes.

The studied volcanic rocks, in the middle part of the Central Iranian volcanic belt (Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc) belong to a vast magmatic province located in the north of the Bitlis-Zagros suture zone. Petrographically, these rocks show dacite to andesite composition and include phenocrysts of plagioclase, amphibole and biotite with a prevailing porphyritic texture in a matrix composing of feldspar, quartz, microlite and glass. Having a relatively invariable composition, plagioclases are all andesine. Amphiboles are calcic and tschermakite type. Estimation of temperature and pressure of crystallization resulted from graphically integrating amphibole and amphibole-plagioclase geothermo-barometry equations indicates that the amphibole-plagioclase phenocrysts were crystallized in the temperature range of 763-823 °C with average of 797 °C and in the pressure range of 2.2-4.5 kbar with the average of 3.4 kbar. The maximum depth of crystallization is evaluated at 17 km in continental crust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]