Search

Abstract Morphometric measurement and roosting ecology of Pteropus medius were aimed to find out in Mansehra district of KP, Pakistan. Total 3149 numbers of bats were found in eight biological spots visited; Baffa Doraha, Darband, Dadar, Jallu, Hazara University, Garhi Habibullah Chattar Plain and Jabori, in total 299 numbers of different species of trees including; Morus alba, Pinus raxburghi, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Morus nigra, Grevillea robusta, Brousonetia papyrifera,Platanus orientalis, Ailanthus altissima, Hevea brasiliensis and Populus nigra. Morphometric features were measured and found vary according to sex of the bats. The average wing span, wing`s length from tip of wing to neck, from thumb to tip of wing and the body`s length from head and claws were recorded to be 102.98 cm, 49.07cm, 28.7 cm and 22.78 cm respectively in males while 93.67 cm, 44.83cm, 24.78cm and 22.78 cm respectively in female bats. Mean circumference of the body including wings and without wing were measured as 22.78 cm and 17.29 cm in males and that of female were 20.07 cm and 16.9 cm. Average length of thumb 3.64 cm, ear`s length 3.1 cm, snout 5.62cm, eye length were 1.07 cm for both sexes and length between the feet in extended position were16.3 cm. Generally different measurement of males bodies were found to be greater than female such as mean body surface area, mass, volume and pressure were found to be 2691.79 cm2, 855.7gm,1236.4 ml and 295.77 dyne/ c m 3for male and 2576.46 cm2, 852.71gm,1207 ml and 290.2 dyne/ c m 3 respectively for female. While weight and density for both males and females bats were same with mean of 8.59 newton and 0.701 g/m3. Findings of current reports can add valued information in literature about bats, which can be used for species identification and conservation.

An Orthotropic Kelvin-like model is developed here to study wave dispersion relation along microtubules when they are embedded in viscoelastic material. Owing anisotropicity of elastic shell like microtubules, an orthotropic elastic shell model is derived while the surrounding environment of microtubules is modeled as Kelvin like material. Symmetrical and asymmetrical waves are studied in embedded microtubules. We compared the wave velocities for embedded and free microtubules as well as the comparison of wave velocities for isotropic and orthotropic microtubules are also given. Longitudinal, Torsional and Radial wave velocities are obtained, noticing that torsional and radial wave velocities are lower in embedded microtubules as compared to longitudinal wave velocities in embedded microtubules. The radial wave frequency is considerably low because in cylindrical microtubules, pressure is exerted from the surroundings. The decrease in wave velocities is due to strong mechanical coupling of microtubules with surrounding medium and this decrement is more obvious when the wave length is long.

A theoretical analysis is presented for the peristaltic motion of a magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) non-Newtonian fluid in channel with complaint walls. The fluid obeys viscoelastic non-Newtonian model with Burger’s constitutive equation. The relevant equations are first developed and then solved using perturbation technique. Expressions of stream function and velocity components are constructed under the assumption that δ (characteristic ratio of transversal and axial scales of peristaltic motion) is small. The results indicate the strong effects of Burger’s fluid parameter, Hartman number, Reynolds number, and complaint wall parameters on the velocity field and stream function. The obtained solutions are shown graphically for the different values of involved parameters.

and water management in the field. Therefore, its measurement has special importance. The surface soil has a great diversity in soil moisture and different methods were used to measure this property. Due to the problems of contact methods of soil moisture measurement, remote sensing has gained attention because of the possibility of analyzing and monitoring soil moisture on a large and global scale. In this research, satellite data and moisture measured in selected fields located in Hormoaz Abad Plain have been analyzed and compared. Sentinel-2 satellite data have been analyzed using the Google Earth Engine system. The results of this research showed that the use of triple indices in the OPTRAM model to estimate moisture is not very accurate, but the use of the EVI plant index has provided better results than the other two indices.

Abstract Any means to control gravity like electromagnetism is currently out of reach by many orders of magnitude even under extreme laboratory conditions. Some often poorly executed experiments or pseudoscience theories appear from time to time claiming for example anomalous forces from capacitors that suggest a connection between the two fields. We developed novel and high resolution horizontal-, vertical- and rotation-balances that allow to test electric devices completely shielded and remotely controlled under high vacuum conditions to perform the first in-depth search for such a coupling using steady fields. Our testing included a variety of capacitors of different shapes and compositions as well as for the first-time solenoids and tunneling currents from Zener diodes and varistors. A comprehensive coupling-scheme table was used to test almost all combinations including capacitors and solenoids with permittivity and permeability gradients as well as capacitors and varistors within crossed magnetic fields. We also tested a crossed-coil producing helical magnetic field lines as well as interactions between a pair of shielded toroidal coils to look for proposed extensions to Maxwell’s equations. No anomalous forces or torques down to the nano-Newton or nano-Newton-Meter range were found providing new limits many orders of magnitude below previous assessments ruling out claims or theories and providing a basis for future research on the topic.

Despite the knowledge of steel shear walls for many years, not much attention was paid to it. Steel shear walls without stiffeners and with stiffeners have been used in America in recent years. This system is 50% cheaper compared to the bending frame. After the events of September 11, a number of scientists were thinking of creating resistant and impervious structures against explosive and seismic loads economically by combining this system and the concrete shear wall system. Steel shear walls are easier to implement. Also, the accuracy of the work is at the level of normal executions, and by observing it, the reliability coefficient is many times higher than that other types of systems. The execution speed of steel shear walls is high, and because of this, the execution costs are reduced. Also, the efficiency of the shear wall system is more and more suitable than all the advantages of centralized bracing systems such as X and V shape and off-center steel bracing systems. The resistance against the overturning anchor caused by the lateral loads and the horizontal load of the floor is the most important task of the steel shear wall. The constituent members of the steel shear wall system include a steel plate wall, two boundary columns, and a floor horizontal beam. Also, the horizontal beams of the floor are used as transverse stiffeners in the sheet beam. The goal of centralizing the steel shear wall system is that the beams and columns remain in the elastic range. In this article, five-, ten-, and twenty-story buildings with steel shear walls were designed using the strip equivalent brace method in ETABS, and then seven acceleration maps far from the fault were selected, scaled, and modeled in ABAQUS software. The five-class model was compared with the non-centralized model. According to the results of the push-over analysis of the five-story steel shear wall model, the beams and columns remained in the elastic range in the self-centering model, and according to the hysteresis obtained from the push-over analysis of the steel shear wall, they have more energy consumption. The results showed that the drift, maximum drift, maximum displacement, and the ratio of the maximum acceleration value of the roof to the acceleration of the selected records in the self-centering steel shear wall have increased compared to the non-self-centering ones.

Trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) plus bevacizumab (BEV) is the established therapy for refractory metastatic colorectal cancer, but there are concerns regarding the regimen’s complexity and hematotoxic effects, especially for patients with organ dysfunction, comorbidities, or a reduced performance status—groups often excluded from conventional clinical trials. Preliminary studies demonstrated that bi-weekly FTD/TPI + BEV may mitigate these hematotoxic effects compared with the conventional schedule without compromising efficacy. No clinical trials, however, have directly compared these two regimens. Therefore, we initiated the PRABITAS trial, a multicenter, randomized, phase III non-inferiority trial, to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bi-weekly FTD/TPI + BEV compared with conventional FTD/TPI + BEV. This was designed as a pragmatic trial, a novel approach in clinical trials aiming to aid decision-making in daily practice by mimicking real-world clinical settings. The PRABITAS trial incorporates minimal eligibility criteria to include a more representative patient population, allows flexibility in intervention adherence and assessment, and employs streamlined data collection to reduce the burden on both patients and healthcare providers. The primary endpoint is overall survival in the intention-to-treat population. Launched in December 2023, the trial aimed to enroll a total of 890 patients.

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic had a major impact on most medical services. Our aim was to assess the outcome of acute cholecystitis during the nationwide lockdown period. All patients admitted to our emergency department for AC were analysed. Patient characteristics, performance status, AC severity, treatment modality and outcome of AC were assessed during the lockdown period (Period II: 1 April 2020–30 November 2021) and compared to a historical control period (Period I: 1 May 2017–31 December 2018). AC admissions increased by 72.8% in Period II. Patients were younger (70 vs. 74 years, p = 0.017) and greater in number in the CCI 1 group (20.4% vs. 11.2%, p = 0.043) in Period II. The unplanned readmission rate (6.3 vs. 0%, p = 0.004) and the gallbladder perforation (GP) rate was higher (18.0 vs. 7.3%, p = 0.006) in Period II. Percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD) was more frequent (24.1 vs. 12.8%, p = 0.012) in Period II. In addition to a drop in patient age and CCI, a significant rise in the prevalence of acute cholecystitis, GP and unplanned readmissions was observed during the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PTGBD was more frequent during this period, whereas successful conservative treatment was less frequent.

ObjectiveSepsis and septic shock are major challenges and economic burdens to healthcare, impacting millions of people globally and representing significant causes of mortality. Recently, a large number of quality improvement programs focused on sepsis resuscitation bundles have been instituted worldwide. These educational initiatives have been shown to be associated with improvements in clinical outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the impact of a multi-faceted quality implementing program (QIP) on the compliance of a “simplified 1-h bundle” (Sepsis 6) and hospital mortality of severe sepsis and septic shock patients out of the intensive care unit (ICU).MethodsEmergency departments (EDs) and medical wards (MWs) of 12 academic and non-academic hospitals in the Lombardy region (Northern Italy) were involved in a multi-faceted QIP, which included educational and organizational interventions. Patients with a clinical diagnosis of severe sepsis or septic shock according to the Sepsis-2 criteria were enrolled in two different periods: from May 2011 to November 2011 (before-QIP cohort) and from August 2012 to June 2013 (after-QIP cohort).Measurements and main resultsThe effect of QIP on bundle compliance and hospital mortality was evaluated in a before–after analysis. We enrolled 467 patients in the before-QIP group and 656 in the after-QIP group. At the time of enrollment, septic shock was diagnosed in 50% of patients, similarly between the two periods. In the after-QIP group, we observed increased compliance to the “simplified rapid (1 h) intervention bundle” (the Sepsis 6 bundle – S6) at three time-points evaluated (1 h, 13.7 to 18.7%, p = 0.018, 3 h, 37.1 to 48.0%, p = 0.013, overall study period, 46.2 to 57.9%, p

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Team performance is one of the ways to deal with successive changes from the point of view of experts. Therefore, continuous changes in the work environment and daily work activities require sharing ideas and the need for continuous learning and entrepreneurship. Neglecting entrepreneurship has a negative effect on companies and by neglecting entrepreneurship, it is impossible to operate effectively in a dynamic environment. Therefore, in today's competitive world, companies will lose their competitiveness. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of team performance on the internationalization of digital startups through mediating role of entrepreneurship.METHODS: In terms of the purpose, it is applied and quantitative research. The research population is estimated to be 375 employees of 101 Iranian international digital startups in the field of technology and city services, which accounted for 10% of exports between 2021 and 2022. The sample size is estimated through Cochran's formula of 190 people. To collect data, a standard 5- point Likert scale questionnaire with 22 items was used. Finally, the data were analyzed by using Smart PLS 3 software.FINDINGS: The results showed that emotional commitment, creating an environment of innovation, and knowledge sharing through mediating role of entrepreneurship have a positive and significant effect on the internationalization of digital startups. The results of the research indicate positive relationships among Emotional Commitment (2.671) and with entrepreneurship mediating (2.927), Innovative environment (2.478) and with entrepreneurship mediating (2.697), and Knowledge sharing (2.707) and with entrepreneurship mediating (3.333) concerning the internationalization of digital startups. Therefore, these hypotheses were confirmed.CONCLUSION: The team performance of employees plays an important role in the survival and success of companies in the international sector. The knowledge that companies gain from other companies, especially during internationalization, can escalate their competitiveness in the global market. The performance of the team as the primary factor of learning and innovation facilitates trust among the company's employees.

Determining the actual evapotranspiration value and analyzing its temporal trend is essential for optimal water resources management in a basin. In the present paper, the actual evapotranspiration time series is simulated and its trend is analyzed according to the trend of climatic variables and land use in the Ajichi basin during the period of 2015-1987. The comprehensive SWAT model was set up, calibrated, and validated for the Ajichi basin. Also, the average of simulated actual evapotranspiration of crops (in wet years) was compared with similar values in the National Water Document. The results of the Mann-Kendall trend test showed that the annual rainfall in most meteorological stations had a decreasing trend and the rainfall trend in the ten stations decreased significantly. While the annual maximum temperature at all stations and the annual minimum temperature in most of them have significantly increased. Investigation of land use maps illustrated that the irrigated land area of the basin has increased by a 39% during the study period. According the study's results, the potential evapotranspiration of the basin has had a significant increasing trend with a rate of 2.54 mm per year. The results indicated that despite the increasing trend of potential evapotranspiration and irrigated land area, the actual evapotranspiration of the basin had a significant decreasing trend with a rate of 2.2 mm per year due to the decrease in rainfall.

The paper presents the design, implementation and experimental testing of a hybrid power supply of telecommunication and measuring equipment incorporated in remote measuring stations, which are an integral part of the global Surveillance, Alert and Warning System (SAWS) in the Republic of Serbia. In these systems, it is very important to provide autonomy of permanent, reliable and quality power supply. In this case, the power supply system is in effect based on the use of solar energy i.e., photovoltaic (PV), in combination with the mains power supply 230V, 50Hz. Solar power is the primary source of power during the day, while in night conditions the secondary power supply is a distribution power grid (more precisely, the distribution power which is used for supplying the night street lighting). This hybrid power system is realized with two controlled chargers (MPPT solar and mains with input power factor correction), battery bank 12V/110Ah with the corresponding system for its monitoring and secondary DC/DC power converters for supplying telecommunication and measuring electronic modules. The key implementation and experimental results obtained during the realization of a SAWS remote measuring station on the river Ub (municipality of Ub), will be presented in the paper.

Introduction Surface and groundwater conjunctively interact at different spatial or temporal scales within a plain. In many plain, surface and groundwater resources are used in combination in agriculture. Therefore, it is important to accurately predict the components of groundwater and surface water balance. Despite the rapid expansion of numerical models over the past two decades, there is still a need for comprehensive and integrated assessment of surface and groundwater components. In particular, the interconnection of both surface and groundwater models is important to connect both surface and groundwater, especially the water balance in the unsaturated root zone. In this study the effect of water recharge due to deep percolation from simultaneous supply of irrigation water from surface and groundwater sources, and rainfall from the SWAT model were used to simulate groundwater balance using the combined MDOFLOW-NWT model.Materials and Methods In this study, the effect of recharge values obtained from the SWAT model was analyzed to simulate the fluctuation of water table, and groundwater balance components using the integrated model of MODFLOW-NWT model in the Mahabad plain. One of the important steps in quantifying the impact of irrigation management, and the change in land-use on the surface and groundwater balance was the simulated recharge due to the deep percolation of rainfall and irrigation water. This was done by the SWAT model, and was used as the boundary condition to the MODFLOW-NWT model. Calibration and validation of groundwater model were also done by trial-and-error and automatic PEST methods. The simulation period was performed for 10 years from the hydrological year of 2009-2010 to 2018-2019, from which 6 and 4 years were used as the period for calibration and validation were from 2009-2010 to 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 to 2018-2019, respectively. Groundwater balance components are naturally different for different years. Therefore, the study was conducted for dry, wet, and normal years. Hydraulic conductivity and specific yield were the used as initial calibration parameters in the MODFLOW-NWT model.Results and Discussion The results showed a higher hydraulic conductivity and specific yield values for the aquifer was in the southern, central, and northeastern areas of the plain, and the lowest values were in the northern and near the outlet of the plain. After the calibration process, the results showed that an average, 9% of rainfall, and 36% of irrigated water percolate to the aquifer. These observations were confirmed based on a satisfactory and acceptable estimate of the water table level of the model for both calibration and validation periods. The statistical RMSE criteria for calibration and validation periods were 0.35 and 0.34 m, respectively. Also, the results of R2 and NSE criteria were estimated as 0.94 and 0.91 for the calibration period, and 0.93 and 0.89 for the validation period, which indicates that the model was properly calibrated and was well able to simulate groundwater level. The groundwater hydrographs developed from piezometers’ readings, show that the recharge values estimated by the SWAT model, considering the change in land use and irrigation management across the plain, were able to properly simulate groundwater level across the aquifer. Specifically, the studies showed a continuous drop in groundwater level created in the southern and southwestern regions of the aquifer (piezometers of Fakhrighah, Gorg tapeh, and Serah Haji Khosh) due to the presence of high-consumption crops such as apple and alfalfa, and the higher number of operation wells.ConclusionThe results of this study showed that the recharge values obtained from the calibrated SWAT model was crucial parameters for proper simulation of groundwater, and can significantly improve the model results. The results of the main components of the groundwater balance for different years showed that the amount of recharge due to the infiltration of rainfall, and irrigation were different for each year. Also, interactions between surface and groundwater resources vary from about 30 to 50 million cubic meters between years, indicating a significant interaction between the water resources. In general, the SWAT-MODFLOW-NWT model can be used as a practical tool for proper management of surface and groundwater resources under different management scenarios.

This study focused on integrating energy-saving education within the realms of natural science and religious, aligning with Islamic environmental values. Specifically, the aim was to create a teaching framework for instilling energy-saving values in Islamic secondary schools, integrating with the boarding school system (pesantren) guided by Islamic ethical principles. This research employed a descriptive case study approach in two Islamic school locations within Bandung Regency. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed using NVivo 12. Initially, a rich picture was used to depict the program’s setting, identify issues, and assimilate energy-saving Islamic values. The result was the synthesis of a triangular model, illustrating the internalization of Islamic ethical values related to energy conservation across science, religious subjects, and daily school activities. This model serves as a viable solution, particularly for Asian countries such as Indonesia, where the education system intertwines religious and scientific education in their curriculum, fostering students’ ecological awareness. The findings emphasize the need for competent educational stakeholders capable of innovatively integrating religion and science, possessing a solid understanding of energy conservation, to effectively implement these programs.

This paper has focused upon the synthesis, structure, hyperthermia and magnetic properties of the Mn–Zn particles prepared by a new combined ball milling and heating process. Normally, it is required that the partial pressure in the final sintering be controlled by the Mn–Zn ferrite preparation, yet in the current method the ferrite has been obtained with a nearly high purity. The nanocrystalline Mn1-xZnxFe2O4 (x = 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75) powders were characterized using the X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Raman spectrometer (RS), Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and specific absorption rate (SAR). The FTIR and Raman data confirmed the result of the XRD data and the presence of spinel structure. The zinc content affected the band lengths, cation distributions and particle sizes. The structural results revealed that as the Zn concentration increases, the particle size decreases and the other cations tend to go to the octahedral sites. The results demonstrated that the highest level of SAR corresponds to the efficient and non-toxic Mn0.75Zn0.25Fe2O4 due to the suitable particle size and noticeable saturation magnetization.

In drought risk management, the regional analysis of drought is significant. In this paper, this important issue is investigated by presenting the new hydrological regional drought index (RDI). For this purpose, the Ajichai basin was selected as the study area. First, the time series of the streamflow drought index (SDI) was calculated for each of the hydrometric stations in the basin f regional analysis of hydrological drought. Then, to determine the homogeneous regions in terms of hydrological drought, the k-means method was used for clustering analysis. Based on the clustering results, 6 Homogeneous regions were identified in the basin. For each of these regions, the time series of the RDI index was calculated from 1365 to 1393. The results showed that during the study period in each of the regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, mild Wet and mild drought has occurred at 82.1, 80.1, 78.9, 83.3, and 84.3 percent of regions, respectively. Also, the total percentage of drought events (moderate and high) is higher than the total percentage of wet events (moderate and high) in all regions. So, during the study period, the total percentage of drought events (moderate and high) is more than twice the total percentage of wet events (moderate and high) in regions 2 and 3.

Introduction: Soil erosion and sediment transportation decrease water resources, and cause many social and economic problems. On the other hand, sediment transportation by rivers causes problems such as water quality degradation, reservoirs sedimentation, redirect of rivers, or decrease in their transportability. Therefore, finding the proper methods in sediment yield study in watersheds is essential in planning and management of land and water resources. Climatic characteristics, physiography, geology, and hydrology of basins are the most effective factors in producing and transporting sediments according to several sources, but the role and impact of some factors are more pronounced than the others in different areas. As a result, the objective of this study was to investigate and identify the most important climatic, physiographic, geological, and hydrological factors in several watersheds of the northeastern part of Iran, by applying Gamma Test (GT) and principal component analysis (PCA) techniques.Materials and Methods: In this study, the data of discharge flow and suspended sediment concentration, and daily flow discharge recorded in 15 hydrometric stations in Mashhad and Neyshbour restricts and required maps were provided from the Regional Water Company of Khorasan Razavi, Iran. After drawing statistical bar graph period of suspended sediment, daily discharge, annual precipitation, and relatively adequate data, stations with the longest period and with the lowest deficit data were selected to determine the common statistical periods. Therefore, in this study, the time period of 1983-1984 to 2011-2012 was selected, and the run test was applied to control data quality and homogeneity. Then, the most effective factors of sediment yield were determined by principal component analysis (PCA) and Gamma Test (GT).Results and Discussion: The results of the principal component analysis showed that 90 percent of the first five components justify the changes. Among the factors, area and gross gradient of the mainstream from the first component, the average annual flow rate of mainstream, meandering waterways of the mainstream from second component, and drainage density of third component were identified as the most important influencing factors on suspended sediment production. Ninety superior combinations of 1500 proposed combinations were obtained by Gamma Test to evaluate the effects of each parameter on suspended sediment yield. To determine the order of importance of the entered parameters, first, Gamma Test was performed on all 12 parameters. Gamma values of all cases for each proposed combination were compared. The results showed that the impact of these statistics was lowered by eliminating high gamma parameters and the removal of low values. The data analysis revealed that the low levels of gamma and high accuracy of ratio to find the desired outputs from entries. By lowering the gradient, the complexity of the model was lowered and more suitable model was provided. As a result, high levels of gradient represented the complexity of the final model. The results of the percentage values of each of the 12 variables were considered among the superior equations for estimating the suspended sediment composition. In this regard, the mean annual discharge, main channel length, area, average annual rainfall, and percentage of the outcrop of erosion sensitive rocks with a total of 63 percent of the proposed equations were the most important factors affecting the sediment yield in the study area. The average height parameter of area, the average and gross slope of the mainstream had the lowest presence among the optimized compounds.Conclusion: Based on the results of the principal component analysis, the two factors of basin area and gross slope of the mainstream were selected as the most important factors affecting the amount of annual suspended sediment load, respectively. Based on the results of the Gamma Test, 12 main variables affecting suspended sediment load were identified and the effect of each of them on the production and transport of suspended sediment was determined. Based on the comparison of the results of the two methods of PCA and GT, it can be concluded that if the purpose of research or study is to prepare a model with the highest accuracy in estimating suspended sediment load, the 12-variable model of GT includes factors related to physiographical, geological, climatic and hydrological factors are suggested. However, if the preparation of a model with appropriate accuracy and a limited number of input variables is considered, a 5-variable model derived from the PCA method is proposed. At the same time, if the purpose is to prepare a model with the least input variables and their easy access and calculation and initial estimation of suspended sediments, a bivariate model (based on basin area and gross slope of the mainstream factors) resulting from PCA is proposed. According to the results of the present study, it can be concluded that the study of more parameters has provided grounds for evaluating their importance in sediment yield. Finally, due to the correlation of many parameters with each other, a limited number of parameters that have a more important role in suspended sediment estimation, were selected. Another finding of this study is the increase in the accuracy of the sediment model’s preparation due to achieving more important and effective parameters in sediment yield and identifying them in order to investigate the best sediment management measures in watersheds. It is suggested that similar research should be done in other watersheds with different conditions in terms of climatic conditions, topography, geology, and so on.

A composite material based on the WE43 magnesium alloy and containing nano-sized hardystonite ceramic particles was processed by means of friction stir processing (FSP). Compressive strength and strain-at-failure of the WE43 alloy increased as a combined result of FSP and nanoparticle reinforcement. The results of potentiondynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests indicated that the corrosion mechanism of the nanocomposite is combination of uniform corrosion and localized pitting corrosion which is not different from the base metal. However, the corrosion rate is significantly decreased as a result of reduced localized corrosion of the base metal after FSP and the effect of hardystonite to reduce pitting corrosion. The polarization resistance is increased from 192.48 to 339.61 and 1318.12 Ω/cm2 by applying FSP on WE43 and addition of nano-sized hardystonite particles, respectively. Indeed, the fabricated nanocomposite shows significantly increased corrosion resistance. Enhanced strength, ductility and corrosion resistance were attributed to grain refinement in addition to the fragmentation and redistribution of second-phase particles in the magnesium matrix, occurring during FSP.

Abstract Background Iron deficiency (ID) is common in patients with heart failure (HF) and is associated with poor outcomes, yet its role in the pathophysiology of HF is not well-defined. We sought to determine the consequences of HF neurohormonal activation in iron homeostasis and mitochondrial function in cardiac cells. Methods HF was induced in C57BL/6 mice by using isoproterenol osmotic pumps and embryonic rat heart-derived H9c2 cells were subsequently challenged with Angiotensin II and/or Norepinephrine. The expression of several genes and proteins related to intracellular iron metabolism were assessed by Real time-PCR and immunoblotting, respectively. The intracellular iron levels were also determined. Mitochondrial function was analyzed by studying the mitochondrial membrane potential, the accumulation of radical oxygen species (ROS) and the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. Results Hearts from isoproterenol-stimulated mice showed a decreased in both mRNA and protein levels of iron regulatory proteins, transferrin receptor 1, ferroportin 1 and hepcidin compared to control mice. Furthermore, mitoferrin 2 and mitochondrial ferritin were also downregulated in the hearts from HF mice. Similar data regarding these key iron regulatory molecules were found in the H9c2 cells challenged with neurohormonal stimuli. Accordingly, a depletion of intracellular iron levels was found in the stimulated cells compared to non-stimulated cells, as well as in the hearts from the isoproterenol-induced HF mice. Finally, neurohormonal activation impaired mitochondrial function as indicated by the accumulation of ROS, the impaired mitochondrial membrane potential and the decrease in the ATP levels in the cardiac cells. Conclusions HF characteristic neurohormonal activation induced changes in the regulation of key molecules involved in iron homeostasis, reduced intracellular iron levels and impaired mitochondrial function. The current results suggest that iron could be involved in the pathophysiology of HF.

Abstract In the present work, an attempt has been made to synthesize the 1,2,3-triazole derivatives resulting from the click reaction, in a mild and green environment using the new copper(II)-coated magnetic core–shell nanoparticles Fe3O4@SiO2 modified by isatoic anhydride. The structure of the catalyst has been determined by XRD, FE-SEM, TGA, VSM, EDS, and FT-IR analyzes. The high efficiency and the ability to be recovered and reused for at least up to 6 consecutive runs are some superior properties of the catalyst.

Does a supercurrent drag space-time or generate a gravitational field that can be measured in a laboratory environment? A number of theories suggest that space-time itself could be modeled as a superfluid, so a current of Cooper-pairs might couple to its surroundings differently compared to non-quantum matter. On the other hand, experiments appeared in the literature suggesting that a discharge through a high-Tc superconductor generates a force beam, which can be picked up by external sensors. We developed a unique facility to investigate if such a link exists with unprecedented accuracy. Instead of measuring with sensors far away from the superconductor, we built a very precise thrust balance that features a cryostat allowing to measure any anomalous force directly from the superconducting source. An onboard battery and a wireless-controllable power supply as well as strict coaxial current leads ensure that any magnetic interaction with its surroundings is below the measurement noise. Our tests were done for both BSCCO and YBCO superconductors with and without the presence of a magnetic field parallel to the current flow. No force was seen within our resolution of around 100 nN for currents up to 15 A. This puts strong limits on all proposed theories and experimental claims.

Abstract The electron (anti-)neutrino component of the T2K neutrino beam constitutes the largest background in the measurement of electron (anti-)neutrino appearance at the far detector. The electron neutrino scattering is measured directly with the T2K off-axis near detector, ND280. The selection of the electron (anti-)neutrino events in the plastic scintillator target from both neutrino and anti-neutrino mode beams is discussed in this paper. The flux integrated single differential charged-current inclusive electron (anti-)neutrino cross-sections, dσ/dp and dσ/d cos(θ), and the total cross-sections in a limited phase-space in momentum and scattering angle (p > 300 MeV/c and θ ≤ 45°) are measured using a binned maximum likelihood fit and compared to the neutrino Monte Carlo generator predictions, resulting in good agreement.

The average life expectancy in developed and developing countries has been increasing dramatically. This gain can be attributed to the significant decrease in childhood mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the sex differences in aeging process by Arriga's method of decomposing life expectancy at birth in Bangladesh during 1986 and 2010. For this, the life table data of Bangladesh population was considered. The result shows that the life expectancy at birth has increased remarkably between these two periods. The infant group contributes the highest to increase life expectancy at birth where the elderly population contributes the least. This contribution is not gender neutral as the female contribution is higher than male especially at the old age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve the virtual machines live migration, the two "pre-copy" and "post-copy" strategies are presented. Each of these strategies, depending on the operating conditions of the machine, may perform better than the other. In this article, a new algorithm is presented that automatically decides how the virtual machine live migration takes place. In this approach, the virtual machine memory is considered as an informational object that has a revision number and it is constantly changing. We have determined precise criteria for evaluating the behavior of a virtual machine and automatically select the appropriate live migration strategy. Also in this article, different aspects of required simulations and implementations are considered. Analytical evaluation shows that using the proposed scheme and the presented algorithm, can significantly improve the virtual machines live migration process.

T‌h‌i‌s p‌a‌p‌e‌r d‌e‌a‌l‌s w‌i‌t‌h e‌x‌p‌e‌r‌i‌m‌e‌n‌t‌a‌l a‌n‌d n‌u‌m‌e‌r‌i‌c‌a‌l s‌t‌u‌d‌i‌e‌s o‌f f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e b‌e‌h‌a‌v‌i‌o‌r o‌f A‌l. 5083-H321 a‌l‌l‌o‌y, u‌n‌d‌e‌r u‌n‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l a‌n‌d b‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l t‌e‌n‌s‌i‌l‌e l‌o‌a‌d‌i‌n‌g‌s. I‌n o‌r‌d‌e‌r t‌o e‌x‌p‌e‌r‌i‌m‌e‌n‌t‌a‌l‌l‌y i‌n‌v‌e‌s‌t‌i‌g‌a‌t‌e b‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e b‌e‌h‌a‌v‌i‌o‌r, c‌r‌u‌c‌i‌f‌o‌r‌m s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌m‌e‌n‌s w‌e‌r‌e p‌r‌e‌p‌a‌r‌e‌d u‌s‌i‌n‌g e‌l‌e‌c‌t‌r‌o‌c‌h‌e‌m‌i‌c‌a‌l m‌e‌t‌h‌o‌d, b‌a‌s‌e‌d o‌n L‌i‌o‌n‌e‌l p‌r‌o‌p‌o‌s‌e‌d m‌o‌d‌e‌l. T‌h‌e s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌m‌e‌n‌s w‌e‌r‌e g‌r‌i‌d‌d‌e‌d b‌y e‌l‌e‌c‌t‌r‌o‌c‌h‌e‌m‌i‌c‌a‌l e‌t‌c‌h‌i‌n‌g m‌e‌t‌h‌o‌d. A d‌e‌p‌e‌n‌d‌e‌n‌t b‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l t‌e‌n‌s‌i‌o‌n m‌e‌c‌h‌a‌n‌i‌s‌m w‌a‌s a‌l‌s‌o d‌e‌s‌i‌g‌n‌e‌d a‌n‌d f‌a‌b‌r‌i‌c‌a‌t‌e‌d w‌i‌t‌h r‌e‌l‌a‌t‌i‌v‌e‌l‌y h‌i‌g‌h p‌r‌e‌c‌i‌s‌i‌o‌n m‌a‌c‌h‌i‌n‌i‌n‌g m‌e‌t‌h‌o‌d‌s. I‌n‌s‌t‌a‌l‌l‌i‌n‌g t‌h‌e m‌e‌c‌h‌a‌n‌i‌s‌m o‌n a‌n I‌N‌S‌T‌R‌O‌N-1343u‌n‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l m‌a‌c‌h‌i‌n‌e, t‌h‌e e‌x‌p‌e‌r‌i‌m‌e‌n‌t‌a‌l b‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l t‌e‌s‌t‌s w‌e‌r‌e p‌e‌r‌f‌o‌r‌m‌e‌d a‌t a‌m‌b‌i‌e‌n‌t t‌e‌m‌p‌e‌r‌a‌t‌u‌r‌e a‌n‌d s‌t‌r‌a‌i‌n r‌a‌t‌e o‌f 0.0003 $s‌e‌c^{-1}$. D‌i‌f‌f‌e‌r‌e‌n‌t a‌s‌p‌e‌c‌t‌s o‌f t‌h‌e f‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e b‌e‌h‌a‌v‌i‌o‌r, w‌h‌i‌c‌h m‌a‌y b‌e o‌f m‌o‌r‌e i‌n‌t‌e‌r‌e‌s‌t t‌o s‌t‌u‌d‌y, i‌n‌c‌l‌u‌d‌e i‌n‌i‌t‌i‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n a‌n‌d d‌e‌v‌e‌l‌o‌p‌m‌e‌n‌t o‌f f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e p‌a‌t‌t‌e‌r‌n, f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e p‌a‌t‌h o‌n t‌h‌e s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌m‌e‌n s‌e‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n, a‌n‌d t‌h‌e f‌o‌r‌c‌e d‌i‌a‌g‌r‌a‌m f‌o‌r e‌a‌c‌h o‌f t‌h‌e a‌r‌m‌s. A‌B‌A‌Q‌U‌S c‌o‌m‌m‌e‌r‌c‌i‌a‌l s‌o‌f‌t‌w‌a‌r‌e w‌a‌s u‌t‌i‌l‌i‌z‌e‌d t‌o s‌i‌m‌u‌l‌a‌t‌e t‌h‌e b‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l t‌e‌n‌s‌i‌o‌n t‌e‌s‌t. D‌a‌m‌a‌g‌e m‌o‌d‌e‌l w‌a‌s i‌n‌c‌o‌r‌p‌o‌r‌a‌t‌e‌d i‌n‌t‌o t‌h‌e F‌E s‌i‌m‌u‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s t‌o e‌n‌a‌b‌l‌e t‌h‌e F‌E m‌o‌d‌e‌l t‌o c‌a‌p‌t‌u‌r‌e t‌h‌e f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e o‌c‌c‌u‌r‌r‌e‌n‌c‌e i‌n t‌h‌e c‌r‌u‌c‌i‌f‌o‌r‌m s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌m‌e‌n. D‌i‌s‌p‌l‌a‌c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t l‌o‌a‌d‌i‌n‌g w‌i‌t‌h d‌i‌f‌f‌e‌r‌e‌n‌t r‌a‌t‌i‌o‌s w‌a‌s a‌p‌p‌l‌i‌e‌d t‌o t‌h‌e s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌m‌e‌n a‌r‌m‌s i‌n t‌h‌e F‌E m‌o‌d‌e‌l t‌o s‌t‌u‌d‌y t‌h‌e e‌f‌f‌e‌c‌t o‌f l‌o‌a‌d‌i‌n‌g r‌a‌t‌i‌o o‌n t‌h‌e f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e o‌f t‌h‌e m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l. E‌x‌p‌e‌r‌i‌m‌e‌n‌t‌a‌l a‌n‌d n‌u‌m‌e‌r‌i‌c‌a‌l r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s f‌o‌r l‌o‌c‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f c‌r‌a‌c‌k i‌n‌i‌t‌i‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n, p‌a‌t‌h o‌f c‌r‌a‌c‌k g‌r‌o‌w‌t‌h a‌n‌d a‌l‌s‌o t‌h‌e a‌r‌m‌s f‌o‌r‌c‌e d‌i‌a‌g‌r‌a‌m w‌e‌r‌e c‌o‌m‌p‌a‌r‌e‌d a‌n‌d a g‌o‌o‌d c‌o‌r‌r‌e‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n w‌a‌s o‌b‌s‌e‌r‌v‌e‌d b‌e‌t‌w‌e‌e‌n. T‌h‌e e‌x‌p‌e‌r‌i‌m‌e‌n‌t‌a‌l r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s r‌e‌v‌e‌a‌l t‌h‌a‌t t‌h‌e f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e g‌r‌o‌w‌s a‌l‌o‌n‌g t‌h‌e c‌o‌r‌n‌e‌r-t‌o-c‌o‌r‌n‌e‌r d‌i‌a‌g‌o‌n‌a‌l l‌i‌n‌e, i‌n t‌h‌e t‌e‌s‌t s‌e‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n z‌o‌n‌e o‌f t‌h‌e s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌m‌e‌n. S‌i‌m‌u‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s s‌h‌o‌w t‌h‌a‌t m‌i‌n‌i‌m‌a‌l s‌t‌r‌a‌i‌n‌s o‌c‌c‌u‌r i‌n t‌h‌e t‌e‌s‌t s‌e‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n z‌o‌n‌e, n‌e‌a‌r t‌h‌e a‌r‌m‌s. E‌x‌p‌e‌r‌i‌m‌e‌n‌t‌a‌l‌l‌y m‌e‌a‌s‌u‌r‌i‌n‌g t‌h‌e f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e s‌t‌r‌e‌s‌s i‌s o‌n‌e o‌f t‌h‌e g‌r‌e‌a‌t c‌h‌a‌l‌l‌e‌n‌g‌e‌s, a‌n‌d h‌e‌n‌c‌e, n‌u‌m‌e‌r‌i‌c‌a‌l s‌i‌m‌u‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n w‌o‌u‌l‌d b‌e v‌e‌r‌y u‌s‌e‌f‌u‌l i‌n t‌h‌i‌s r‌e‌g‌a‌r‌d. M‌a‌x‌i‌m‌u‌m o‌f s‌t‌r‌e‌s‌s g‌r‌a‌d‌i‌e‌n‌t i‌n t‌h‌e s‌i‌m‌u‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s i‌s o‌b‌s‌e‌r‌v‌e‌d a‌l‌o‌n‌g t‌h‌e c‌o‌r‌n‌e‌r-t‌o-c‌o‌r‌n‌e‌r d‌i‌r‌e‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n, i‌n t‌h‌e t‌e‌s‌t s‌e‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n z‌o‌n‌e. B‌a‌s‌e‌d o‌n t‌h‌e s‌i‌m‌u‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s, s‌o‌m‌e f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e b‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l p‌o‌i‌n‌t‌s w‌e‌r‌e o‌b‌t‌a‌i‌n‌e‌d i‌n t‌h‌e f‌i‌r‌s‌t q‌u‌a‌r‌t‌e‌r o‌f t‌h‌e b‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l s‌t‌r‌e‌s‌s p‌l‌a‌n‌e s‌u‌b‌s‌p‌a‌c‌e. T‌h‌e‌s‌e f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e s‌t‌r‌e‌s‌s p‌o‌i‌n‌t c‌a‌n b‌e u‌s‌e‌d t‌o d‌e‌t‌e‌r‌m‌i‌n‌e t‌h‌e m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l f‌r‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e l‌o‌c‌i i‌n t‌h‌e f‌i‌r‌s‌t q‌u‌a‌r‌t‌e‌r o‌f t‌h‌e b‌i‌a‌x‌i‌a‌l s‌t‌r‌e‌s‌s p‌l‌a‌n‌e s‌u‌b‌s‌p‌a‌c‌e.

S‌o‌i‌l c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t c‌o‌n‌s‌i‌s‌t‌s o‌f P‌o‌r‌t‌l‌a‌n‌d c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t, s‌o‌i‌l, a‌n‌d w‌a‌t‌e‌r, i‌n w‌h‌i‌c‌h h‌y‌d‌r‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌n‌d c‌o‌m‌p‌a‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n c‌a‌u‌s‌e‌s t‌h‌e m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l‌s t‌o b‌o‌n‌d t‌o‌g‌e‌t‌h‌e‌r m‌a‌k‌i‌n‌g a d‌e‌n‌s‌e a‌n‌d d‌u‌r‌a‌b‌l‌e c‌o‌m‌p‌o‌s‌i‌t‌i‌o‌n w‌i‌t‌h l‌o‌w p‌e‌r‌m‌e‌a‌b‌i‌l‌i‌t‌y a‌n‌d r‌e‌s‌i‌s‌t‌a‌n‌c‌e t‌o a‌b‌r‌a‌s‌i‌o‌n. A‌c‌c‌o‌r‌d‌i‌n‌g t‌o A‌C‌I 116R, s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t i‌s a m‌i‌x‌t‌u‌r‌e o‌f s‌o‌i‌l a‌n‌d a c‌e‌r‌t‌a‌i‌n a‌m‌o‌u‌n‌t o‌f c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌n‌d w‌a‌t‌e‌r w‌h‌i‌c‌h h‌a‌s b‌e‌e‌n c‌o‌m‌p‌a‌c‌t‌e‌d t‌o h‌i‌g‌h d‌e‌n‌s‌i‌t‌y. A m‌o‌r‌e c‌o‌m‌p‌r‌e‌h‌e‌n‌s‌i‌v‌e d‌e‌f‌i‌n‌i‌t‌i‌o‌n h‌a‌s b‌e‌e‌n p‌r‌o‌v‌i‌d‌e‌d i‌n A‌C‌I 230 I‌R, w‌h‌i‌c‌h d‌e‌f‌i‌n‌e‌s s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌s a h‌a‌r‌d m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l w‌i‌t‌h s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌f‌i‌c e‌n‌g‌i‌n‌e‌e‌r‌i‌n‌g p‌r‌o‌p‌e‌r‌t‌i‌e‌s p‌r‌o‌d‌u‌c‌e‌d b‌y m‌i‌x‌i‌n‌g, c‌o‌m‌p‌a‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n a‌n‌d c‌u‌r‌i‌n‌g o‌f s‌o‌i‌l, a‌g‌g‌r‌e‌g‌a‌t‌e, P‌o‌r‌t‌l‌a‌n‌d c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t, a‌d‌d‌i‌t‌i‌v‌e‌s a‌n‌d w‌a‌t‌e‌r. A‌l‌l t‌y‌p‌e‌s o‌f s‌o‌i‌l‌s c‌a‌n b‌e u‌s‌e‌d i‌n s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t m‌i‌x‌t‌u‌r‌e, e‌x‌c‌e‌p‌t t‌h‌e o‌r‌g‌a‌n‌i‌c a‌n‌d p‌l‌a‌s‌t‌i‌c s‌o‌i‌l‌s a‌n‌d r‌e‌a‌c‌t‌i‌v‌e s‌a‌n‌d. T‌h‌e m‌o‌s‌t s‌u‌i‌t‌a‌b‌l‌e s‌o‌i‌l f‌o‌r s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t c‌o‌n‌t‌a‌i‌n‌s 5\% t‌o 35\% o‌f f‌i‌n‌e p‌a‌s‌s‌i‌n‌g s‌i‌e‌v‌e 200. H‌o‌w‌e‌v‌e‌r, m‌o‌r‌e t‌h‌a‌n 2\% o‌f o‌r‌g‌a‌n‌i‌c m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l‌s i‌n s‌o‌i‌l a‌r‌e s‌t‌r‌i‌c‌t‌l‌y u‌n‌a‌c‌c‌e‌p‌t‌a‌b‌l‌e. S‌o‌i‌l c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌p‌p‌l‌i‌c‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n i‌n d‌a‌m‌s a‌n‌d p‌a‌v‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t c‌o‌n‌s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n h‌a‌s g‌r‌o‌w‌n r‌a‌p‌i‌d‌l‌y i‌n r‌e‌c‌e‌n‌t y‌e‌a‌r‌s. A‌l‌t‌h‌o‌u‌g‌h s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t i‌s s‌i‌m‌i‌l‌a‌r t‌o c‌o‌n‌c‌r‌e‌t‌e, t‌h‌e m‌a‌i‌n d‌i‌f‌f‌e‌r‌e‌n‌c‌e i‌s i‌n t‌h‌e t‌y‌p‌e a‌n‌d s‌i‌z‌e o‌f a‌g‌g‌r‌e‌g‌a‌t‌e p‌a‌r‌t‌i‌c‌l‌e‌s u‌s‌e‌d. S‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t i‌s p‌r‌i‌n‌c‌i‌p‌a‌l‌l‌y m‌a‌d‌e o‌f r‌o‌u‌n‌d n‌a‌t‌u‌r‌a‌l f‌i‌n‌e a‌g‌g‌r‌e‌g‌a‌t‌e‌s w‌h‌i‌l‌e c‌o‌n‌c‌r‌e‌t‌e i‌s m‌a‌d‌e u‌p o‌f c‌o‌a‌r‌s‌e‌r a‌g‌g‌r‌e‌g‌a‌t‌e‌s. M‌o‌s‌t o‌f t‌h‌e r‌e‌c‌e‌n‌t r‌e‌s‌e‌a‌r‌c‌h‌e‌s a‌r‌e f‌o‌c‌u‌s‌e‌d o‌n t‌h‌e a‌d‌d‌i‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f v‌a‌r‌i‌o‌u‌s t‌y‌p‌e‌s o‌f c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t t‌o m‌i‌x‌t‌u‌r‌e. I‌n t‌h‌i‌s p‌a‌p‌e‌r, w‌e d‌e‌c‌i‌d‌e t‌o u‌s‌e n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ p‌a‌r‌t‌i‌c‌l‌e‌s i‌n s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌n‌d o‌b‌s‌e‌r‌v‌e t‌h‌e o‌u‌t-c‌o‌m‌i‌n‌g e‌f‌f‌e‌c‌t‌s. A‌c‌c‌o‌r‌d‌i‌n‌g t‌o w‌h‌a‌t w‌a‌s m‌e‌n‌t‌i‌o‌n‌e‌d a‌b‌o‌v‌e, t‌e‌s‌t‌s w‌e‌r‌e c‌o‌n‌d‌u‌c‌t‌e‌d o‌n t‌h‌e s‌o‌i‌l c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t/n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ m‌a‌t‌r‌i‌x i‌n o‌r‌d‌e‌r t‌o f‌i‌n‌d t‌h‌e s‌t‌r‌e‌s‌s-s‌t‌r‌a‌i‌n b‌e‌h‌a‌v‌i‌o‌r o‌f t‌h‌e‌s‌e m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l‌s. T‌h‌e t‌e‌s‌t p‌r‌o‌c‌e‌d‌u‌r‌e c‌o‌n‌s‌i‌s‌t‌s o‌f t‌r‌i-a‌x‌i‌a‌l t‌e‌s‌t‌s o‌n t‌h‌e s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t-s‌i‌l‌i‌c‌a m‌a‌t‌r‌i‌x. I‌n t‌h‌e‌s‌e t‌e‌s‌t‌s, s‌i‌l‌i‌c‌a f‌u‌m‌e (w‌i‌t‌h s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌f‌i‌c s‌u‌r‌f‌a‌c‌e a‌r‌e‌a o‌f 21$m^2$/g) a‌n‌d n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ (w‌i‌t‌h s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌f‌i‌c s‌u‌r‌f‌a‌c‌e a‌r‌e‌a o‌f 200 a‌n‌d 380 $m^2$/g) w‌e‌r‌e a‌d‌d‌e‌d t‌o s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t. T‌h‌e s‌t‌u‌d‌i‌e‌d p‌a‌r‌a‌m‌e‌t‌e‌r‌s a‌r‌e c‌u‌r‌i‌n‌g t‌i‌m‌e, t‌y‌p‌e‌s, a‌n‌d c‌o‌n‌t‌e‌n‌t‌s o‌f s‌i‌l‌i‌c‌a p‌r‌o‌d‌u‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n. T‌h‌e r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s s‌h‌o‌w t‌h‌a‌t a‌d‌d‌i‌n‌g c‌e‌r‌t‌a‌i‌n a‌m‌o‌u‌n‌t‌s o‌f n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ p‌a‌r‌t‌i‌c‌l‌e‌s t‌o s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t m‌a‌t‌r‌i‌x c‌a‌n i‌m‌p‌r‌o‌v‌e s‌h‌e‌a‌r s‌t‌r‌e‌n‌g‌t‌h a‌n‌d c‌h‌a‌n‌g‌e b‌e‌h‌a‌v‌i‌o‌r o‌f t‌h‌e m‌a‌t‌r‌i‌x.

S‌o‌i‌l c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t i‌s a m‌i‌x‌t‌u‌r‌e o‌f P‌o‌r‌t‌l‌a‌n‌d c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t, s‌o‌i‌l a‌n‌d w‌a‌t‌e‌r, i‌n w‌h‌i‌c‌h h‌y‌d‌r‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌n‌d c‌o‌m‌p‌a‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n c‌a‌u‌s‌e‌s t‌h‌e m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l‌s' c‌o‌n‌s‌t‌i‌t‌u‌e‌n‌t‌s t‌o b‌o‌n‌d t‌o‌g‌e‌t‌h‌e‌r, m‌a‌k‌i‌n‌g a d‌e‌n‌s‌e a‌n‌d d‌u‌r‌a‌b‌l‌e c‌o‌m‌p‌o‌s‌i‌t‌i‌o‌n w‌i‌t‌h l‌o‌w p‌e‌r‌m‌e‌a‌b‌i‌l‌i‌t‌y a‌n‌d a‌b‌r‌a‌s‌i‌o‌n r‌e‌s‌i‌s‌t‌a‌n‌t. A‌c‌c‌o‌r‌d‌i‌n‌g t‌o t‌h‌e d‌e‌f‌i‌n‌i‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f A‌C‌I 116R, s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t i‌s a m‌i‌x‌t‌u‌r‌e o‌f s‌o‌i‌l a‌n‌d a c‌e‌r‌t‌a‌i‌n a‌m‌o‌u‌n‌t o‌f c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌n‌d w‌a‌t‌e‌r w‌h‌i‌c‌h h‌a‌s b‌e‌e‌n c‌o‌m‌p‌a‌c‌t‌e‌d t‌o a h‌i‌g‌h d‌e‌n‌s‌i‌t‌y. A m‌o‌r‌e c‌o‌m‌p‌r‌e‌h‌e‌n‌s‌i‌v‌e d‌e‌f‌i‌n‌i‌t‌i‌o‌n h‌a‌s b‌e‌e‌n p‌r‌o‌v‌i‌d‌e‌d i‌n A‌C‌I 230 I‌R, w‌h‌i‌c‌h d‌e‌f‌i‌n‌e‌s t‌h‌e s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌s a h‌a‌r‌d m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l w‌i‌t‌h s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌f‌i‌c e‌n‌g‌i‌n‌e‌e‌r‌i‌n‌g p‌r‌o‌p‌e‌r‌t‌i‌e‌s p‌r‌o‌d‌u‌c‌e‌d b‌y m‌i‌x‌i‌n‌g, c‌o‌m‌p‌a‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n a‌n‌d c‌u‌r‌i‌n‌g o‌f s‌o‌i‌l, a‌g‌g‌r‌e‌g‌a‌t‌e, P‌o‌r‌t‌l‌a‌n‌d c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t, a‌d‌d‌i‌t‌i‌v‌e‌s a‌n‌d w‌a‌t‌e‌r. A‌l‌l t‌y‌p‌e‌s o‌f s‌o‌i‌l‌s c‌a‌n b‌e u‌s‌e‌d i‌n s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t c‌o‌n‌s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n, e‌x‌c‌e‌p‌t t‌h‌e o‌r‌g‌a‌n‌i‌c a‌n‌d p‌l‌a‌s‌t‌i‌c s‌o‌i‌l‌s a‌n‌d r‌e‌a‌c‌t‌i‌v‌e s‌a‌n‌d‌s. T‌h‌e m‌o‌s‌t e‌f‌f‌i‌c‌i‌e‌n‌t s‌o‌i‌l‌s f‌o‌r s‌o‌i‌l c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌r‌e t‌h‌o‌s‌e c‌o‌n‌t‌a‌i‌n‌i‌n‌g 5 t‌o 35\% o‌f f‌i‌n‌e‌s p‌a‌s‌s‌i‌n‌g s‌i‌e‌v‌e 200. H‌o‌w‌e‌v‌e‌r, t‌h‌e s‌o‌i‌l‌s c‌o‌n‌t‌a‌i‌n‌i‌n‌g m‌o‌r‌e t‌h‌a‌n 2\% o‌f o‌r‌g‌a‌n‌i‌c m‌a‌t‌e‌r‌i‌a‌l‌s a‌r‌e s‌t‌r‌i‌c‌t‌l‌y u‌n‌a‌c‌c‌e‌p‌t‌a‌b‌l‌e. S‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌p‌p‌l‌i‌c‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n i‌n d‌a‌m‌s a‌n‌d p‌a‌v‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t‌s c‌o‌n‌s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n h‌a‌s g‌r‌o‌w‌n r‌a‌p‌i‌d‌l‌y i‌n r‌e‌c‌e‌n‌t y‌e‌a‌r‌s. T‌h‌e‌s‌e m‌i‌x‌t‌u‌r‌e‌s a‌r‌e s‌i‌m‌i‌l‌a‌r t‌o c‌o‌n‌c‌r‌e‌t‌e, t‌h‌e m‌a‌i‌n d‌i‌f‌f‌e‌r‌e‌n‌c‌e b‌e‌i‌n‌g t‌h‌e t‌y‌p‌e a‌n‌d s‌i‌z‌e o‌f a‌g‌g‌r‌e‌g‌a‌t‌e p‌a‌r‌t‌i‌c‌l‌e‌s u‌s‌e‌d. S‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t i‌s p‌r‌i‌n‌c‌i‌p‌a‌l‌l‌y m‌a‌d‌e o‌f r‌o‌u‌n‌d n‌a‌t‌u‌r‌a‌l f‌i‌n‌e‌s, w‌h‌i‌l‌e c‌o‌n‌c‌r‌e‌t‌e i‌s m‌a‌d‌e o‌f a‌g‌g‌r‌e‌g‌a‌t‌e‌s. B‌e‌c‌a‌u‌s‌e m‌o‌s‌t o‌f t‌h‌e r‌e‌c‌e‌n‌t r‌e‌s‌e‌a‌r‌c‌h‌e‌s a‌r‌e f‌o‌c‌u‌s‌e‌d o‌n t‌h‌e a‌d‌d‌i‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ o‌n c‌o‌n‌c‌r‌e‌t‌e, i‌n t‌h‌i‌s p‌a‌p‌e‌r, w‌e d‌e‌c‌i‌d‌e‌d t‌o u‌s‌e n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ p‌a‌r‌t‌i‌c‌l‌e‌s i‌n s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t a‌n‌d o‌b‌s‌e‌r‌v‌e t‌h‌e o‌u‌t c‌o‌m‌i‌n‌g e‌f‌f‌e‌c‌t‌s. S‌i‌n‌c‌e t‌h‌e‌r‌e a‌r‌e n‌o p‌a‌r‌t‌i‌c‌l‌e‌s p‌a‌s‌s‌i‌n‌g s‌i‌e‌v‌e 200 i‌n c‌o‌n‌c‌r‌e‌t‌e a‌n‌d t‌h‌i‌s r‌e‌s‌t‌r‌i‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n d‌o‌e‌s n‌o‌t a‌p‌p‌l‌y t‌o s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t‌s, s‌o‌m‌e t‌e‌s‌t‌s w‌e‌r‌e c‌a‌r‌r‌i‌e‌d o‌u‌t o‌n t‌h‌e‌n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ + s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t m‌a‌t‌r‌i‌x b‌e‌c‌a‌u‌s‌e o‌f t‌h‌e m‌e‌a‌n‌i‌n‌g‌f‌u‌l d‌i‌f‌f‌e‌r‌e‌n‌c‌e b‌e‌t‌w‌e‌e‌n c‌o‌n‌c‌r‌e‌t‌e a‌n‌d s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t. T‌h‌e t‌e‌s‌t p‌r‌o‌c‌e‌d‌u‌r‌e c‌o‌n‌s‌i‌s‌t‌s o‌f m‌o‌i‌s‌t‌u‌r‌e-d‌r‌y d‌e‌n‌s‌i‌t‌y, u‌n‌c‌o‌n‌f‌i‌n‌e‌d c‌o‌m‌p‌r‌e‌s‌s‌i‌v‌e t‌e‌s‌t, a‌n‌d h‌y‌d‌r‌a‌u‌l‌i‌c c‌o‌n‌d‌u‌c‌t‌i‌v‌i‌t‌y. I‌n t‌h‌e‌s‌e t‌e‌s‌t‌s, s‌i‌l‌i‌c‌a f‌u‌m‌e (w‌i‌t‌h s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌f‌i‌c s‌u‌r‌f‌a‌c‌e a‌r‌e‌a o‌f $21 m^2/g$) a‌n‌d, n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ (w‌i‌t‌h s‌p‌e‌c‌i‌f‌i‌c s‌u‌r‌f‌a‌c‌e a‌r‌e‌a‌s o‌f 200 a‌n‌d $380 m^2/g$) w‌e‌r‌e a‌d‌d‌e‌d t‌o s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t. T‌h‌e r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s s‌h‌o‌w t‌h‌a‌t a‌d‌d‌i‌n‌g c‌e‌r‌t‌a‌i‌n a‌m‌o‌u‌n‌t‌s o‌f n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ p‌a‌r‌t‌i‌c‌l‌e‌s t‌o s‌o‌i‌l-c‌e‌m‌e‌n‌t m‌a‌t‌r‌i‌x c‌a‌n i‌m‌p‌r‌o‌v‌e c‌o‌m‌p‌r‌e‌s‌s‌i‌v‌e s‌t‌r‌e‌n‌g‌t‌h a‌n‌d r‌e‌d‌u‌c‌e i‌m‌p‌e‌r‌m‌e‌a‌b‌i‌l‌i‌t‌y a‌n‌d s‌p‌e‌e‌d h‌y‌d‌r‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n r‌e‌a‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s i‌n t‌h‌e m‌a‌t‌r‌i‌x i‌n t‌h‌e p‌r‌e‌s‌e‌n‌c‌e o‌f n‌a‌n‌o-$S‌i‌O_2$ p‌a‌r‌t‌i‌c‌l‌e‌s.

In this paper, high purity magnesium hydroxide nanoplates were successfully synthesized by using brine rich in magnesium ions as precursor and NaOH as precipitating agent without using dispersant agent in the room temoerature. The study and characterization of various properties of obtained nanopowder was carried out by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (EDX), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) and Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The FESEM and XRD analysis results showed that magnesium hydroxide powder had nanoplates with the average crystallite size 17.1nm and no impurity; that was in agreement with the result of EDX and FTIR perfectly. Furthermore, optical characteristics of magnesium hydroxide nanoplates by UV-Vis spectroscopy showed an optical band gap of 5.5 eV. This wide band gap can be a useful innovation in optoelectronic sub-micron devices.

The impacts of population ageing create social and economic presure on the society. This study is an attempt to assess the demographic support and dividend of aging process in Bangladesh. The population census data from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics during the period 1951 to 2001 has been used in the analysis. Different measures of socio-economic support ratio's have been computed to carry out the study. From the analysis, a very slow decreasing trend of potential support ratio has been observed. The ratio is greater in urban than in rural. Also the ratio is poor in non-muslim community than muslim community. A declining pattern of young old ratio has also been observed showing a gap between urban and rural areas. From the analysis, it is clear that future support to the elderly will be poor for both urban and rural areas if the current trends prevail. An increasing trend of active population has also been observed over the study period. The analysis reveals that urban has more active population than rural. Non-muslim community shows more active population than Muslim. Therefore it can be concluded that the support capacity of elderly is decreased due to demographic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was an attempt to know the trend of foreign exchange earnings by the visitors in Bangladesh. To estimate this trend, secondary data was used for the period 1986- 2008. Different statistical techniques and trend models were used to perform the analysis. An upward trend of exchange earning has been observed over the study period. The semi-log trend model was found to be the best fitted model for the foreign exchange earnings. The results showed significantly upward trend with a growth rate 18.05 percent per year. Thus it is gratifying that the tourism industry of the country is expanding day by day and to increase the growth rate government and non-government organization need to take proper action for better economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by abnormalities of carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease caused by destruction of pancreatic beta cells and characterized by defect in insulin secretion while type 2 diabetes mellitus results from abnormalities in insulin secretion and/or insulin action or both. Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the clinical hypoglycemic effects of Allium cepa in type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients. Results: In assessment of hypoglycaemic activity of Allium cepa in type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients, ingestion of crude Allium cepa (100 g) caused a considerable reduction in fasting blood glucose levels by about 89 mg/dl in relation to insulin (145 mg/dl) in type 1 diabetic patients and it reduced fasting blood glucose levels by 40 mg/dl, compared to glibenclamide (81 mg/dl) in type 2 diabetic patients, 4 hours later. The same dose of crude Allium cepa produced a significant reduction in the induced hyperglycemia (GTT) by about 120 mg/dl compared to water (77 mg/dl) and insulin (153 mg/dl) in type 1 diabetic patients and considerably reduced GTT by 159 mg/dl in relation to water (55 mg/dl) and glibenclamide (114 mg/dl) in type 2 diabetic patients, after 4 hours. Conclusion: It was evident that, crude Allium cepa produced hypoglycemic effects, thus it could be used as a dietary supplement in management of type 1 and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Marital satisfaction, one of the most important determinants of healthy family functioning. Therefore dealing with components that can be useful is very important. Spiritual health is one of them. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between spiritual health and marital satisfaction. Method: The research was cross-sectional and correlational study, 122 married women referred to health centers in Karaj using a convenience sampling participated in the study. Enrich marital satisfaction questionnaire and Palutzian Ellison spiritual health questionnaire were used. To analyze the data was used SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, regression, t-test and ANOVA was used to achieve the goals and answer research questions. Results: The results showed there were significant correlation between marital satisfaction and spiritual well being in married women ( (P

This research departs from the actualization of the kiai's leadership role in santri character education in Islamic boarding schools, which consists of the role of goal rationality, spirituality, and interpretation of the vision of education in Islamic boarding schools. This research aims to describe the role of the kiai in forming the character of santri in the Asy-Syifa Islamic boarding school. This research used a qualitative approach with descriptive methods. data collection with interviews, observation and documentation studies, also data analysis and valid data testing. the results of research on how kiai act as pathfinding, a lightning and empowering in the process of forming the character of santri, this is illustrated by how the kiai synergizes the great vision of kiai and Islmic boarding school, with typical learning and Islamic boarding school culture and relational patterns of kiai-santri, santri-kiai and santri-community as a comprehensive process of character education patterns in the Asy-Syifa Islamic boarding school

Mashhad City, according to the latest official statistics of the country is the second populated city after Tehran and is the biggest metropolis in the east of Iran. Considering the rapid growth of the population over the last three decades, the city’s development area has been extended, significantly. This significant expansion has impacted natural lands on suburb and even some parts e.g. rangelands and agricultural area have been transited to urban land uses. The study was aimed at analyzing and simulating land use changes in Mashhad, Iran. The work needs a model to simulate land use changes among multiple categories and combine spatial and temporal changes during the projection period. Thus, Cellular Automata-Markov model was chosen to meet this target. In this work, the projected time period corresponded to the final 20-year vision period of all-round development of Iran for the target point of 2025 based on a long-term plan. Multi criteria evaluation approach integrated along with analytic hierarchy process were employed for preparing suitability maps for the five land uses, i.e. urban continuous patches, urban discontinuous patches, rural patches, agricultural lands, and range lands. Having applied the matrices utilized in model calibration, the best kappa coefficient proved to be associated with the land use maps dated 1996 and 2002. The Kappa index of quantity and allocation agreement was determined to be 0.9189 and 0.9529, respectively, which established an almost perfect agreement between simulated and observed land uses according to the year 2015. Change detection results showed that with the physical expansion of urban continuous patches, range lands and agricultural lands mostly transited to urban discontinuous patches and eventually were promoted to urban continuous texture. These developments or gains in urbanized patches will lead to some loses in agricultural lands and rangelands of the suburb in 2025. In addition, the analysis of projected land use map indicated that over the upcoming years, the development of the city in northern front, especially in northwestern region will be more intense with a higher speed in comparison with the other regions.

The use of bamboo as an aggregate replacement is one of the efforts to reduce the density and static load of structural elements, sincethe structural strength of bamboo is high. This study focus on the issue of the using bamboo as aggregate concrete with flowing method on a review of specific gravity and compressive strength of the concrete. This study uses bamboo as a percentage of the aggregate at 0% (normal), 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of the conventional split and using additional silicafume aggregates. Specimens used in this study is the concrete cylinder (diameter 15 cm and height 30 cm). The identification and testing of tap density after 14 days of treatment.Results show that using more bamboo aggregate will result lower slump value, higher water absorption, decreasing in both specific gravity and compressive strength.

The effect of sourdough inoculated with three novel single strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (Lactobacillus casei jQ412732, Lactobacillus plantarum jQ301799, and Lactobacillus brevis IBRC-M10790) as well as mixed strains was evaluated on the quality characteristics of Toast bread. Antifungal properties of sourdoughs due to organic acid production were measured by HPLC, and storability was evaluated by thermal and textural analysis in days 1, 3, and 6. Despite the impact of sourdough concentration on microbial preservation, no significant effect was observed in the case of enthalpy reduction. Mixed LAB strains showed the best results in reducing the enthalpy and hardness of bread as well as better microbial preservation by producing the highest amount of organic acids, justified by sensory panelists. Among single strains, L. casei gave better results in reducing hardness and staling rate of bread. Scanning Electron Microscopy micrographs of bread also showed the differences.

To study the effect of organic growth stimulant and harvest time of soybean cultivar Williams on oil harvest index and protein yield, factorial experiment was conducted in complete randomized block design with 15 treatment and three replications of Rice Research Institute of Iran (Rasht) in 2012-2013 year. The experiment Treatments were including Kadostim (50.00), Aminol forte (20.00), organic manure (cow,10 ton.ha-1), magnetic water (20 lit.m-2) plus the control (no spray) and three harvest time 1. the first harvest when seed pods in main stem had 25-20% moisture, 2. the second harvest when in pods maturity (yellowing of more than 95% of pods) and seeds per pod in the main stem had 15-14% moisture, 3. the third harvest when the main stem had less than 14% moisture. Results showed that significant differences exist between the spray application and harvest time in oil harvest index and protein yields. spray application with kadostim had the maximum oil harvest index (8.7%) and biological yield (5933 kg.ha-1). Mean comparison of the interaction showed that spray application of kadostim at the second harvest produced highest grain yield (2853 kg.ha-1), oil yield (664 kg.ha-1) and protein yield (1019 kg.ha-1). The results of this experiment, it seems that Kadostim and organic manure spray application at the second harvest to help increase production, and a step towards reducing environmental pollution and sustainable agriculture is.

In order to evaluate effects of iron, zinc and manganese, and the methods of applying them on yield and yield components of sweet corn, an experiment was performed as factorial based on randomized complete block design with four replications at the Research Farm of Urmia University, during 2009-2010. Experimental factors were micronutrient fertilizers with four levels (control, iron, zinc and manganese) and micronutrient applying method with two levels (foliar and soil application). Results indicated that Interaction between experimental factors on plant height, ear diameter, grain size, 1000-grain weight, biological yield and protein percentage was significant. In most of these traits foliar application of Fe and Zn showed better results than foliar application of Mn. Also, by influenced of micronutrients applying method, foliar application was caused 13.25%, 5.38% and 24.84% increasing in numbers of grain per ear, grain yield and soluble sugar percentage. In additional soluble sugar percentage was influenced significantly by application of micronutrient elements. Based on the results, foliar application of micronutrient elements showed better results than soil application of them.

Equipment selection is one of the most important aspects of open pit design. The selection of equipment for mining applications is not a well-defined process and because it involves the interaction of several subjective factors or criteria, decisions are often complicated and may even embody contradictions. The aim of this study is introducing a multi-criteria decision making method for selecting the most appropriate combination of drilling, loading and haulage equipment using a state of the art comprehensive model. The proposed method consists of two stages, first is determining the weight of each criteria which affects the decision using fuzzy analytic network process (FANP), the next step is calculating the score of each possible combination of mining equipment using Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The proposed methodology is applied for Sungun copper mine which is the largest open-cast copper mine in Iran and is among the most important copper deposits in Middle East and finally the most appropriate combination of mining equipment is determined for this open-pit mine.

Hemicellulose of Southern Yellow Pine wood spices was extracted by pressurized hot water at three different temperatures: 140°C, 155°C and 170°C. Compounding with PP (polypropylene) was performed by extrusion after preparing wood flour and sieving to determine its mesh size. The ratio of wood to polymer was 50:50 based on oven-dry weight of wood flour. All extraction treatments and control samples were compounded under two sets of conditions, without and with 2% MAPP as coupling agent. Injection molding was used to make tensile test samples (dogbone) from the pellets made by extrusion. Thermal properties of wood-plastic composites were studied by TGA and DSC while the thermal stability of pretreated wood flours, PP and MAPP were studied by TGA as well. The greater weight loss of wood materials was an indication that higher treatment temperature increases the extractability of hemicellulose. The removal of hemicellulose by extraction improves thermal stability of wood flour, especially for extraction at 170°C. Wood-plastic composites made from extracted fibers at 170°C showed the highest thermal stability. Coupling agent did not have a significant effect on thermal stability but it improved the degree of crystallinity of the composites.Surface roughness of wood fiber increased after treatment. Extraction of hemicellulose increased the degree of crystallinity but it was not significant except for samples from treated wood flour at 170°C and with MAPP.

Nowadays, many researchers examine the causes of the gap of between university and industry. They want to find the effective factors on economic growth that they reach to entrepreneurship for economic growth. So entrepreneurship has a special position in industrious societies. It is introduces as one of the life quality factors in programs of Europe educational commission. This article reply to these questions: Does the difference exist between entrepreneurship management students with other management students? How is brain dominance between students of Tehran university in entrepreneurship management field with Semnan university students in management field with using of Ned Herrmann ' s four brain quarter model. ? How amount does the teaching system of two universities effect on brain dominance? How is the potential of entrepreneurship in two universities? This research is using of Ned Herrmann ' s four brain quarter model .the results shows the wonderful influence of teaching on brain dominance an good potential on entrepreneurship in both universities. Moreover, Semnan university students use from the two halves of the brain equally more than Teharn university students.

This resarch was conduted to evaluate seed yield and yield components of 20 barley lines at Agricultural and Natural Resources Resarch Center of Tabriz, Iran uing a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Analysis of variance showed that there were sigificant differece among lines under study for plant height, thousand kernel weight, number of grains per spike, grain yield, spike weight spikes per square meter and spike length. This shows that there gentic was variations for these traits among the lines studied. Mean comparisions of the traits showed that line EBYTC86-17 by having higher spike length, kernel per spike and 1000 kernel weight produced highest yield. This line can thus be regarded as suitable far thurther studies and recommend at to this area. It was also revealed that lines EBYTC86-5, EBYTC86-6 and EBYTC86-13 were low producers. Results of simple correlation coefficients among the traits showed that yield and yield components were highly correlated with kernel weight and kernels number per spike. Based on regression analysis, 37 percent of yield variation can be attributed to seed number per spike and 1000 kernel weight. Results also showed that for each unit increase in 1000 kernel weight and seed number per spike yield increased by 30 and 14 percent respectively. However, each unit increase in plant height decreased seed yield by percent.

Abstract The aims of this study were to evaluation and comparison energy consumption of input and output to potato production by systems of conventional and mechanized farmimg. This research was carried out at arable farmland in East Azarbyjan province in 2006-2007 cropping season. For this purpose, the data were collected from 60 potato farms in East Azarbyjan. Inquiries were conducted in a face-to-face and and grabble statistic, information per Jihad Agriculture Organization of East Azarbyjan province and then used of formula and coefficients special are become equivalent values of used factors and input of this type. The results indicated that total energy inputs in conventional farmimg system (CFS) were found to be 60783.24 MJha-1 (direct energy 44.43%, in direct energy 55.57%, renewable energy 46.96% and non-renewabl 53.03%) and output (production energy) was estimated to be 148268.12 MJ ha-1 and total energy inputs in mechanized farmimg system (MFS) was obtaind 52635.73 MJ ha-1 (direct energy 54.17%, in direct energy 45.83%, renewable energy 39.01% and non-renewabl energy 60.94%) and output (production energy) was 232992.76 MJ ha-1 respectively. The net energy, energy productivity, specific energy value and the ratio of energy outputs to energy inputs was estimated to be 87484.88 MJha-1, 0.58 KgMJ-1, 1.74 MJkg-1 and 2.44, respectively in CFS, and in the MFS was found to be 180357.03 MJ ha-1, 1.04 KgMJ-1, 0.96 MJkg-1 and 4.43 respectively. The results show that the highest share in energy consumption of CFS were: irrigation 24.12%, nitrogen fertilizer 22.36%, seed potato19.72% and also MFS had the biggest share within the total energy inputs includes irrigation 23.21%, nitrogen fertilizer 19.32% and farmer machinery 15.27% respectively. Using the most of energy: Irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer both of the sowing methods can be due to climatic, land topography, society and culture condition of the region. Keywords : Energy efficiency, Input, Output, Conventional and mechanized farmimg, Potato

The idea of combining low weight and good mechanical properties has led to efforts to develop a new light fiber/metal laminate (FML) in the last decade. FMLs are hybrid composites consisting of alternating thin layers of metal sheets and fiber-reinforced epoxy prepregs. In this study, the effect of fiber orientation on tensile properties of this material is investigated both analytically and experimentally. An analytical constitutive model based on classical lamination theory by using Kirchhoff-Love assumption, which incorporates the elastic-plastic behavior of the aluminium alloy was applied. Test results show that fiber sheet, with zero angle in laminates, improve the tensile strength. The composite layers with different fiber orientation change specimens' mode of fracture. Good agreement is obtained between the model predictions and experimental results.

In this study, the possibility of producing wood-plastic panels was studied using two different blending methods including melt blend and dry blend. Wood-plastic panels were made from recycled high density polyethylene (as resin) and MDF waste (as natural fiber) at 60, 70 and 80% by weight filler loading. Nominal density and dimensions of the panels were 1g/cm3 and 35×35×1 cm, respectively. The mechanical properties of the panels including flexural elastic modulus, flexural strength, screw and nail withdrawal resistance, and impact strength were studied. Maximum values of flexural modulus of wood-plastic panels were found at 70% fiber content in both methods. Flexural strength, screw and nail withdrawal resistance and impact strength of wood-plastic composites reduced with the increase in fiber content from 60% to 80%. Mechanical properties of samples made with dry blend method were generally higher than those of samples made with melt blend method for all corresponding formulations.

A high percent of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) experience non intestinal symptoms. Many studies demonstrated that hepatobiliary disorders are the most common. Corresponding disorders consist of primary sclerosing cholangitis, non alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), biliary stones, pericholangitis, autoimmune hepatitis, liver amyloidosis, liver abscess, liver granuloma, hepatocellular carcinoma and primary biliary cirrhosis. However most studies concentrate on identifying primary sclerosing cholangitis, the most dreadful complication of IBD, other disorders like NASH and biliary stones are common and because of the similarity of symptoms to the primary disease may be ignored. In this article we review these disorders.

The particle size, morphology, and stability of Ag-NPs were investigated in the present study. A Q-Switched Nd: YAG pulsed laser (λ = 532 nm, 360 mJ/pulse) was used for ablation of a pure Ag plate for 30 min to prepare Ag-NPs in the organic compound such as ethylene glycol (EG) and biopolymer such as chitosan. The media (EG, chitosan) permitted the making of NPs with well dispersed and average size of Ag-NPs in EG is about 22 nm and in chitosan is about 10 nm in spherical form. Particle size, morphology, and stability of NPs were compared with distilled water as a reference. The stability of the samples was studied by measuring UV-visible absorption spectra of samples after one month. The result indicated that the formation efficiency of NPs in chitosan was higher than other media and NPs in chitosan solution were more stable than other media during one month storage. This method for synthesis of silver NPs could be as a green method due to its environmentally friendly nature.