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Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the causative pathogens of bovine mastitis. Most of P. aeruginosa cells can form biofilm, thereby reducing antibiotic efficacy which has become a significant public health challenge nowadays. In the present study, biofilm formation of 50 isolates was assessed. The inhibitory effect of three designed antimicrobial peptides (FASK, YDVD, WSF) on P. aeruginosa planktonic growth and biofilms was evaluated. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of all the peptides under study was 1600 µg/mL. The synthetic compounds had a significant inhibitory ef-fect at concentrations of 1/2 MIC (800 µg/mL) and 1/4 MIC (400 µg/mL) on biofilm formation of these isolates, and showed anti-biofilm activity at a lower concentration than MIC. Antibacterial pep-tides FASK, YDVD with 70% antibiofilm effect and WSF with 60% effect prevented the formation of biofilm by mastitis isolates at a concentration of 1/2 MIC. The peptides of this study are promising candidates for inhibiting P. aeruginosa biofilm formation.

Aerial robots (drones) offer critical advantages in missions where human participation is impeded due to hazardous conditions. Among these, search and rescue missions in disaster-stricken areas are particularly challenging due to the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the environment, often compounded by the lack of reliable environmental models and limited ground system communication. In such scenarios, autonomous aerial robots’ operation becomes essential. This paper introduces a novel hierarchical reinforcement learning-based algorithm to address the critical limitation of the aerial robot’s battery life. Central to our approach is the integration of a long short-term memory (LSTM) model, designed for precise battery consumption prediction. This model is incorporated into our HRL framework, empowering a high-level controller to set feasible and energy-efficient goals for a low-level controller. By optimizing battery usage, our algorithm enhances the aerial robot’s ability to deliver rescue packs to multiple survivors without the frequent need for recharging. Furthermore, we augment our HRL approach with hindsight experience replay at the low level to improve its sample efficiency.

Abstract Radar cross section reduction has been one of the most important research topics in recent years. Plasma-based stealth is a method of reducing the radar cross section, which dampens the electromagnetic waves and reduces the amount of return waves. In this paper, a coating of the radioactive nucleus $$^{241}{\mathrm{Am}}$$ 241 Am on the surface of the cylinder with a radius of 10 cm is considered and the range of the emitted alpha particles and the electron density generated in the air are obtained using the Geant4 code under standard temperature and pressure conditions. By finite element method solution, the radar cross section of the conductive cylindrical object has been simulated and extracted in the presence and absence of plasma created by alpha-particles. The obtained results show a reduction of 5–8 dB $$\mathrm{m}^2$$ m 2 in the radar cross section in the frequency range of 2–12 GHz for specific activity source of 1 Ci/ $$\mathrm{cm}^2$$ cm 2 .

Since the introduction of the finite element approach, as a numerical solution scheme for structural and solid mechanics applications, various for mulation methodologies have been proposed. These ways offer different advantages and shortcomings. Among these techniques, the standard displacement-based approach has attracted more interest due to its straightforward scheme and generality. Investigators have proved that the other strategies, such as the force-based, hybrid, assumed stress, and as sumed strain provides special advantages in comparison with the classicfinite elements. For instance, the mentioned techniques are able to solve difficulties, like shear locking, shear parasitic error, mesh sensitivity, poor convergence, and rotational dependency. The main goal of this two-part study is to present a brief yet clear portrait of the basics and advantages of the direct strain-based method for development of high-performance plane finite elements. In this article, which is the first part of this study, assump tions and the basics of this method are introduced. Then, a detailed review of all the existing strain-based membrane elements is presented. Although the strain formulation is applicable for different types of structures, most of the existing elements pertain to the plane structures. The second part of this study deals with the application and performance of the reviewed elements in the analysis of plane stress/strain problems.

In this part of the study, several benchmark problems are solved to evalu ate the performance of the existing strain-based membrane elements, which were reviewed in the first part. This numerical evaluation provides a basis for comparison between these elements. Detailed discussions are offered after each benchmark problem. Based on the attained results, it is con cluded that inclusion of drilling degrees of freedom and also utilization of higher-order assumed strain field result in higher accuracy of the elements. Moreover, it is evident that imposing the optimal criteria such as equilib rium and compatibility on the assumed strain field, in addition to reducing the number of degrees of freedom of the element, increases the convergence speed of the resulting strain-based finite elements.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of temperature, time, pH, capping agent concentration (mercaptoacetic acid), Zn to Se and Se to reducing agent (NaBH4) mole ratios on morphology, phase developments and size of zinc selenide nanoparticles prepared by hydrothermal method. Characterization of zinc selenide nanoparticles was performed by Field Emission Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Induced Coupled Plasma Spectrometry (ICP), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA). The results of EDS showed that the ratio of atomic percentage of Zn to Se in the optimized zinc selenide nanoparticles is 1: 1 and elements are evenly distributed in the nanoparticles. Based on the results of FTIR and STA thermal analyses, MAA as the stabilizing agent binds to and stabilizes zinc selenide nanoparticles. Finally, fine nanoparticles of zinc selenide with narrow size distribution, spherical shape and cubic crystal structure were obtained at the minimum temperature (130 °C) and processing time (15 hours) with the least amount of reducing and capping agents compared to previous researches.

S‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y‌s a‌r‌e u‌s‌e‌d i‌n d‌a‌m p‌r‌o‌j‌e‌c‌t‌s t‌o c‌o‌n‌v‌e‌y f‌l‌o‌o‌d f‌l‌o‌w‌s a‌n‌d p‌r‌e‌v‌e‌n‌t d‌e‌s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌i‌v‌e d‌a‌m‌a‌g‌e‌s o‌f d‌o‌w‌n‌s‌t‌r‌e‌a‌m h‌y‌d‌r‌a‌u‌l‌i‌c s‌y‌s‌t‌e‌m‌s, w‌h‌i‌l‌e t‌h‌e c‌o‌n‌s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f o‌t‌h‌e‌r t‌y‌p‌e‌s o‌f s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y‌s i‌s r‌e‌s‌t‌r‌i‌c‌t‌e‌d, o‌r t‌h‌e‌r‌e i‌s a n‌e‌e‌d t‌o p‌a‌s‌s g‌r‌e‌a‌t v‌a‌l‌u‌e‌s o‌f f‌l‌o‌o‌d d‌i‌s‌c‌h‌a‌r‌g‌e w‌i‌t‌h a l‌i‌m‌i‌t‌e‌d h‌e‌a‌d. S‌i‌p‌h‌o‌n s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y i‌s a k‌i‌n‌d o‌f d‌a‌m s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y‌s e‌m‌p‌l‌o‌y‌e‌d i‌n a n‌u‌m‌b‌e‌r o‌f d‌a‌m r‌e‌s‌e‌r‌v‌o‌i‌r‌s. T‌h‌i‌s s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y i‌s a‌p‌p‌l‌i‌e‌d w‌h‌i‌l‌e t‌h‌e s‌p‌a‌c‌e f‌o‌r c‌o‌n‌s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌i‌n‌g o‌t‌h‌e‌r t‌y‌p‌e‌s o‌f s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y‌s i‌s r‌e‌s‌t‌r‌i‌c‌t‌e‌d, o‌r w‌h‌e‌n t‌h‌e‌r‌e i‌s a n‌e‌e‌d t‌o p‌a‌s‌s g‌r‌e‌a‌t v‌a‌l‌u‌e‌s o‌f f‌l‌o‌o‌d d‌i‌s‌c‌h‌a‌r‌g‌e w‌i‌t‌h a l‌i‌m‌i‌t‌e‌d h‌e‌a‌d. O‌n‌e o‌f t‌h‌e m‌o‌s‌t i‌m‌p‌o‌r‌t‌a‌n‌t d‌e‌f‌e‌c‌t‌s o‌f t‌h‌i‌s s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y i‌s a c‌o‌m‌p‌l‌i‌c‌a‌t‌e‌d f‌l‌u‌i‌d-s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e i‌n‌t‌e‌r‌a‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n d‌u‌e t‌o t‌h‌e e‌s‌t‌a‌b‌l‌i‌s‌h‌m‌e‌n‌t o‌f d‌i‌f‌f‌e‌r‌e‌n‌t f‌l‌o‌w r‌e‌g‌i‌m‌e‌s i‌n‌s‌i‌d‌e t‌h‌e s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y. T‌h‌i‌s s‌i‌t‌u‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n b‌e‌c‌o‌m‌e‌s m‌o‌r‌e c‌o‌m‌p‌l‌i‌c‌a‌t‌e‌d w‌h‌e‌n t‌h‌e s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y i‌s n‌o‌t c‌o‌n‌n‌e‌c‌t‌e‌d t‌o t‌h‌e d‌a‌m, w‌o‌r‌k‌i‌n‌g i‌n‌d‌i‌v‌i‌d‌u‌a‌l‌l‌y. D‌e‌s‌p‌i‌t‌e t‌h‌e i‌m‌p‌o‌r‌t‌a‌n‌c‌e o‌f t‌h‌e o‌p‌e‌r‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f t‌h‌e‌s‌e h‌y‌d‌r‌a‌u‌l‌i‌c s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e‌s, t‌h‌e‌r‌e i‌s a l‌a‌c‌k o‌f c‌o‌m‌p‌r‌e‌h‌e‌n‌s‌i‌v‌e r‌e‌s‌e‌a‌r‌c‌h t‌o i‌n‌v‌e‌s‌t‌i‌g‌a‌t‌e t‌h‌e h‌y‌d‌r‌a‌u‌l‌i‌c b‌e‌h‌a‌v‌i‌o‌r o‌f t‌h‌e‌s‌e s‌t‌r‌u‌c‌t‌u‌r‌e‌s a‌n‌d t‌h‌e f‌l‌o‌w f‌i‌e‌l‌d a‌r‌o‌u‌n‌d a‌n‌d i‌n‌s‌i‌d‌e t‌h‌e‌m. I‌n t‌h‌e p‌r‌e‌s‌e‌n‌t s‌t‌u‌d‌y, d‌i‌f‌f‌e‌r‌e‌n‌t u‌n‌s‌t‌e‌a‌d‌y f‌l‌o‌w r‌e‌g‌i‌m‌e‌s i‌n‌c‌l‌u‌d‌i‌n‌g s‌u‌b-a‌t‌m‌o‌s‌p‌h‌e‌r‌i‌c f‌l‌o‌w, t‌w‌o-p‌h‌a‌s‌e f‌l‌o‌w, a‌n‌d b‌l‌a‌c‌k-w‌a‌t‌e‌r f‌l‌o‌w a‌n‌d t‌h‌e‌i‌r e‌f‌f‌e‌c‌t‌s o‌n t‌h‌e h‌y‌d‌r‌a‌u‌l‌i‌c c‌h‌a‌r‌a‌c‌t‌e‌r‌i‌s‌t‌i‌c‌s o‌f s‌i‌p‌h‌o‌n s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y‌s w‌e‌r‌e i‌n‌v‌e‌s‌t‌i‌g‌a‌t‌e‌d. F‌o‌r t‌h‌i‌s p‌u‌r‌p‌o‌s‌e, A‌N‌S‌Y‌S C‌F‌X s‌o‌f‌t‌w‌a‌r‌e w‌a‌s a‌p‌p‌l‌i‌e‌d t‌o s‌i‌m‌u‌l‌a‌t‌e t‌h‌e f‌l‌o‌w f‌i‌e‌l‌d i‌n s‌u‌c‌h s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y‌s. T‌o v‌a‌l‌i‌d‌a‌t‌e t‌h‌e o‌b‌t‌a‌i‌n‌e‌d f‌l‌o‌w r‌e‌g‌i‌m‌e‌s, v‌i‌a n‌u‌m‌e‌r‌i‌c‌a‌l m‌o‌d‌e‌l‌i‌n‌g, e‌x‌p‌e‌r‌i‌m‌e‌n‌t‌a‌l r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s o‌f t‌h‌e f‌o‌r‌m‌e‌r s‌t‌u‌d‌i‌e‌s w‌e‌r‌e u‌s‌e‌d. R‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s i‌n‌d‌i‌c‌a‌t‌e‌d t‌h‌a‌t t‌h‌e p‌r‌e‌s‌s‌u‌r‌e f‌l‌u‌c‌t‌u‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s w‌e‌r‌e m‌o‌s‌t‌l‌y g‌r‌e‌a‌t‌e‌r be‌n‌e‌a‌t‌h t‌h‌e i‌n‌l‌e‌t a‌n‌d t‌h‌r‌o‌a‌t o‌f t‌h‌e s‌p‌i‌l‌l‌w‌a‌y c‌o‌m‌p‌a‌r‌e‌d t‌o t‌h‌e o‌t‌h‌e‌r s‌e‌c‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s.

Abstract Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinopathy affecting women. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of Stachys sylvatica hydroalcoholic extract on biochemical and histological parameters in a rat model of polycystic ovary syndrome. Thirty adult female Wistar rats with an average weight of 180 g were divided into five groups of six rats. Animals were divided into groups of control, PCOS (intramuscular injection of 2 mg estradiol valerate, Aburaihan Co., Iran/rat, once), and treated with hydroalcoholic extract of Stachys sylvatica. After 60 days of PCOS induction, 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg BW Stachys sylvatica hydroalcoholic extract were injected intraperitoneally. The control group was just injected with olive oil as a solvent. After 10 days of treatment, animals were weighed and then sacrificed and blood samples were taken from their heart for hormonal studies. Ovaries of all groups were cut for histological studies and fixed in formaldehyde, and 7-μm sections were prepared by microtome and stained using hematoxylin–eosin. The data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer post hoc test with the SPSS software. The significant level was p

Agrobacterium rhizogenes–mediated transformation of sugar beet hairy roots expressing single-chain variable fragment (scFv) was exploited to evaluate the efficacy of four antibody-based constructs for interfering with the Beet necrotic yellow vein virus infection. The scFv specific to a major coat protein of virus, p21, was targeted to various cellular compartments including the cytosol (pIC and pICC constructs), apoplast (pIA), and mitochondrion (pIM). After mechanical virus inoculation, most of the hairy root clones expressing scFv in the cytosol displayed low virus titers while the majority of transgenic hairy root clones accumulated antibody in outer membrane of mitochondria or apoplast were infected. This hairy root system provided an efficient and rapid approach to initially investigating root disease resistance like rhizomania prior to transform whole recalcitrant plants such as sugar beet.

This article investigated trade-off between human and natural resources emphasizing on education. Some studies have argued that resource-rich countries are exposed to relying on natural resources and neglecting human resources. So that emphasizing on education as a tool of investing in human resources was declined. Ratio of the share of resources rent to the share of taxes was introduced as representative of political economy of natural resources. This variable controlled effects of changing the natural resources rent management. International tests scores (TIMSS, PIRLS and PISA) were considered as education quality measure. A panel data model with fixed effects approach was applied as econometric method at the estimating of education production function‘s parameters. The findings revealed that effects of political economy of natural resources were significant and then education quality diminished while share of natural resources rent at the government revenues increased. In most cases estimated coefficients for the variable of the share of resources rent to the share of taxes’ ratio were robust and negative effect of reducing the dependence of the economy on resources rent on the quality of education was confirmed.

Rhizomania is one of the most damaging sugar beet diseases and is caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV). In order to interfere with viral propagation, the expression of recombinant antibody strategy was employed. The coding sequence of a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) specific to the main BNYVV coat protein, P21, was targeted to the cytosol, apoplast or outer membrane of mitochondrion of Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Also, an endoplasmic reticulum retention signal peptide, KDEL, was added at the C-terminal of the scFv protein which presumably stabilizes it in cytoplasm. Although the accumulation levels of scFv could not be correlated to the levels of the inhibition of viral accumulation, the titer of the virus in all groups of transgenic plants was significantly lower than the wild type ones when grown in BNYVV-infested soil. No significant differences were found in the number of resistant plants targeting P21-scFv in either putative subcellular locations.

OBJECTIVE: Defects in mismatch repair genes or microsatellite instability (MSI) are seen in colorectal cancers (CRCs) both in sporadic and more predominantly in hereditary cases. Loss of MutS homolog (MSH)-6 as a mismatch repair gene may be seen in the CRC. We aimed at evaluating the expression of MSH-6 as a marker of MSI in a common tumor with hereditary and familial features for preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic purposes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Paraffin blocks of 103 patients who underwent colonoscopy or excisional biopsy with a pathologic diagnosis of CRC were selected and immunohistochemistry (IHC) with MSH-6 marker was done. RESULTS: Of all patients, 53 (51.45%) were males and the age range was 29-87 years. Of these, 96 (93.2%) were positive for the MSH-6 marker and 7 (6.8%) were negative. Of the 103 patients, 96 had adenocarcinoma. No significant relationship was observed between MSH-6 marker and gender, age group, cancer location in the colon, and cancerous type (p-values: 0.261, 0.343, 0.75, and 0.401, respectively). Out of 7 cases with MSH-6 loss, female gender, early-onset (≤50 years), mucinous or poorly differentiated, proximal location, and absence of lymph node involvement were seen in 5, 4, 3, 3, and 5 cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results and literature, MSH-6 IHC on CRC specimens is recommended especially in young age females, with right-sided tumors, poor differentiation, and mucinous component. First-degree relatives of the patients with MSH-6 loss may be trained for strictly following the guidelines of colorectal cancer screening.

Objective: Metaplastic Breast Carcinoma (MBC) is a rare subtype of breast cancer which often involves women in the fifth and sixth decades. Herein, we report a rare case of MBC with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) morphology, presented in a young breast-feeding woman with recurrence and metastasis. Patients and Methods: A 29-year-old female was admitted with left breast mass unresponsive to chemo-radiation for mastectomy. The mass was noticed by the patient starting from 10 months before, during breast feeding. First surgery at the same time confirmed MBC with squamous cell carcinoma morphology. Second surgery one month later showed involvement of two out of six axillary lymph nodes. Results: Immunohistochemistry was done with the following results: estrogen, progesterone, androgen receptors, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and P53 negative. Ki-67 was present in 30% of tumor cells. Third surgery was consisted of mastectomy and lymph node dissection which confirmed remnants of malignancy but free lymph nodes. Four months later on follow-up, imaging findings suggested metastasis to lungs and kidneys. Conclusions: We reported a rare case of breast carcinoma with pure SCC morphology which presented at a young age (less than 30 years in spite of more than 50 years in the usual presentation) and the relatively rare occurrence of lymph node involvement in this subtype

Aims: Spinal cord injured veterans’ problems significantly affect on psychological health of these people. Because of veterans’ disability to move and, consequently, excessive difficulty for going to health centers and attending therapeutic sessions, makes it necessary to carry out remote psychological interventions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of positive psychology on decreasing psychological distress among veterans through virtual social networks. Materials & Methods: The present applied research is a semi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design with control group that carried out among 38 veterans with spinal cord injury in Khuzestan province. They were randomly selected from the list of Martyr and Sacrifices’ Foundation of Khuzestan province in 2017 and they were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups (19 people in each group). For data collection, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory were used in pre-test and post-test. The experimental group received 14 sessions of positive psychotherapy and the control group did not receive any interventions. Data were analyzed by SPSS 22 software using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Findings: There was a significant difference in post-test scores of depression and anxiety between experimental and control groups and positive psychological intervention significantly reduced depression and anxiety in the experimental group (p=0.001). Conclusion: Positive psychological interventions based on virtual social networks (telegrams) is effective on anxiety and depression reduction in veterans with spinal cord injury.

The size of the maximum independent set (MIS) in a graph G is called the independence number. The size of the minimum connected dominating set (MIN-CDS) in G is called the connected domination number. The aim of this paper is to determine two better upper bounds of the independence number; dependent on the connected domination number for a unit ball graph. Further, we improve the upper bound to obtain the best bound with respect to the upper bounds obtained thus far.

Indoor positioning is a fundamental requirement of many indoor location-based services and applications. In this paper, we explore the potential of low-cost and widely available visual and inertial sensors for indoor positioning. We describe the Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) approach and propose a measurement model for omnidirectional visual-inertial odometry (OVIO). The results of experiments in two simulated indoor environments show that the OVIO approach outperforms VIO and achieves a positioning accuracy of 1.1 % of the trajectory length.

Utilizing capacitor banks is very conventional in distribution network in order for local compensation of reactive power. This will be more important considering uncertainties including wind generation and loads uncertainty. Harmonics and non-linear loads are other challenges in power system which complicates the capacitor placement problem. Thus, uncertainty and network harmonics have been considered in this paper, simultaneously. Capacitor placement has been proposed as a probabilistic harmonic problem with different objectives and technical constraints in the capacitor placement problem. Minimizing power and energy loss and capacitor prices are considered as objectives. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE) algorithms have been used to solve the optimization problem. Loads are subjected to uncertainty with normal probabilistic distribution function (PDF). Auto Regressive and Moving Average (ARMA) time series and two point estimate method have also been utilized to simulate the wind speed and to perform the probabilistic load flow, respectively. Finally, the proposed method has been implemented on standard distorted test cases in different scenarios. Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) has also been used to verify the probabilistic harmonic power flow. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.

OBJECTIVE: Myeloid sarcomas (MSs) are rare tumors of myeloid blasts and immature cells. Rare cases of splenic involvement are on record. We report a case of MS in a young female which is confirmed on pathologic examination of the spleen. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 20-year-old female was admitted with the chief complaints of abdominal pain, fever, anorexia, and dyspnea. She was a known case of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). The spiral computed tomography scan without contrast showed a massive splenic enlargement. The ultrasound examination showed liver and spleen were larger than normally measured 190 and 210 mm, respectively, with normal parenchymal echo. RESULTS: The patient underwent surgery with clinical suspicion of MS. The specimen consisted of the red spleen with several infarcted areas totally measuring 22x14x10 cm and weighing 1885 g. The pathology report was splenic infarction with myeloid sarcoma. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of misdiagnosis is high in the pathologic exam, especially in non-leukemic forms and low clinical suspicion. It is important to consider this entity in the differential diagnosis of splenomegaly or splenic mass in any age group.

Background and Aims: High prevalence of infertility and many related problems has become a big problem for economy and healthy. This study is to determine the effect of dietary omega-3 based on hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis (HPG) activity and testosterone plasma level in adult male adult wistar rat. Methods: This experimental study was conducted on 40 adult male wistar rats. Animals were with an average weight of 150±20 gr. They divided into five groups (n=8), including the control group, saline group and experimental group of minimum , average and maximum in which consumed dietary including omega-3, 0.25 and 0.5 and 0.75 mg/kg dose the 29 days. The blood was take from the heart of animals. Using Radioimmunoassay methods, testosterone and LH levels were measured. In this study effects of dietary omega-3 on testosterone secretion level in experimental groups, was compared with saline and control groups. Results: The results of a compared LH and testosterone level with the control group (0.167±0.02 and 0.182±0.02) and all experimental groups, particularly at the maximum dose (0.654±0.09and 0.584±0.12 respectively), showed a significant increase. Conclusion: It was shown that the increase in omega-3 plasma levels of in the experimental group led significantly increase in the testosterone and LH level. This study showed that consumption of Omega-3 oils, significantly increase plasma levels of testosterone and LH hormone.

A new method for spectrophotometric simultaneous determination of copper and mercury was developed by the dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) preconcentration and orthogonal signal correction–partial least squares (OSC–PLS). In the proposed method, dithizone was used as a chelating agent, and carbon tetrachloride and acetonitrile were selected as extraction and dispersive solvents. All factors affecting the sensitivity were optimized by the Box–Behnken design and the linear dynamic range for determination of copper and mercury was found. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration graphs were linear in the range of 10.0–250.0 and 10–300 ng mL−1 with detection limit of 2.6 and 2.8 ng mL−1 (3δB/m) and the enrichment factor of this method for copper and mercury, reached 180 and 175, respectively. The simultaneous determination of copper and mercury by using spectrophotometric methods is a difficult problem, due to the spectral interferences. The PLS modeling was used for the multivariate calibration of the spectrophotometric data. The OSC was used for preprocessing of data matrices and the prediction results of model, with and without using OSC, were statistically compared. The experimental calibration matrix was designed by measuring the absorbance over the range of 400–700 nm for 25 samples. The root mean squares error of prediction for copper and mercury with and without OSC was 0.010, 0.026 and 0.055, 0.086, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of copper and mercury in spiked water and synthesis samples.

It has often been stated or implied that grazing is an important factor in the land degradation process, a suggestion supported by various research projects, and this study investigated the effect of livestock grazing on stem height, crowncover, production, basal diameter, stem biomass, litter, leaf-stem index (leaf to stem weight) , root diameter and weight and seed production per individual of the even-aged Atriplex canescens , by comparing two sites (grazed and non-grazed) across Zarand, Shahreiar rangelands located in the southwestern of Tehran, Iran. For this purpose, by using systematicrandom sampling method, four 300 m long transects were set up in each sampling area and ten quadrats were randomly assigned per transect [8] to measure the stem height as well as the crown cover, production, basal diameter, stem biomass, litter, leaf-stem index , seed production per individual and root biomass and diameter were measured at 3 soil depth (0-30, 30-70, >70 cm) with 4 replications within each of the two studied sites, results indicated that, grazing had no significantinfluence on stem height and leaf-stem index but crown cover, production, basal diameter, stem biomass, litter, seed production per individual, root weight and diameter of the even -aged Atriplex canescens were significantly greater than those of the un-grazed site.

To evaluate the effect of row spacing, plant population and planting pattern on yield and yield components of corn (single cross 704) in the double cropping after paddy rice, a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with four replications was conducted in Research Gharakheil Agricultural Research Center of Qaemshahr, Iran in 2009. Treatments consisted of three row distances (65, 75, 85 cm), plant populations of 70000 and 800000 plants per hectare and two planting patterns (single-row and zigzag double-row). Results showed that maximum grain yield (9230 kg/ha) and harvest index (42.11 %) between row distance were obtained from 65 cm. Seed yield and yield components were not significantly affected by plant density. Seed yield of zigzag two-row planting pattern was 23.26 percent higher than single row planting pattern. All of the yield components in a single row were less than of zigzag double row planting patterns. The row spacing × plant density interactions for biomass, HI and ear length were significant at 5% level of probabilities. Planting pattern × row spacing interaction for biomass and number of rows per ear showed significant differences at the 5% level of probabilities. The lowest seed yield (6558 kg/ha) was obtained from 75 cm row spacing× single row planting pattern × 80 thousand density interactions and highest harvest index (46.86 %) from 80000 plants per hectare × 65 cm row spacing × double row zigzag planting pattern interaction. Grain yield was positively and highly correlated with all yield components, which may be due to delayed planting date (the first week of September) and proper growing condition for corn. It could be concluded that double cropping of corn after rice, results in yield stability and efficient use of water resources, in this area.

Abstract This study was conducted under cold temperate climate condition in Khorasan during 2006-2008 growing season to determine the suitable preceding crop, nitrogen and crop residue management for wheat. A randomized complete block design in split-split plot arrangement with three replicates was used. Main plots were rotation with five different crops including wheat-wheat, potato-wheat, silage corn-wheat, clover- wheat and sugar beet-wheat. Sub plots were N fertilizer rates in preceding crop including no N (Control), 50% lower than optimum N rate, optimum N rate and 50% more than optimum rate. The sub-sub plots were preceding crop residue return with two levels including no residue return (Control) and 50% return of crop residue. Results showed that crop rotation and N rate in preceding crop influenced grain yield, biological yield, spike per m2, stem length and spike length in wheat. Interaction of crop rotation and N rate on grain yield and yield components was significant. The highest yield obtained from potato-wheat rotation and the lowest grain yield observed in continuous wheat rotation for all N rates. There was no significant difference for 1000 kernel weight and kernel per spike of wheat in all treatments. Return of crop residue had no significant effect on grain yield but was effective on biological yield, spike per m2 and harvest index. Keywords: Crop rotation, Crop residue management, Nitrogen, Wheat