Search

Explicit dimensionless models are proposed for estimating the minimum spouting velocity, operating pressure drop and peak pressure drop in open-sided draft tubes spouted bed using the genetic programming (GP). The models are developed based on 664 experimental data for minimum spouting velocity, 660 for peak pressure drop and 652 for operating pressure drop. The parameters of significant influence are considered as GP input variables, and reliable semi-empirical correlations have been obtained. The models predict the hydrodynamic parameters analyzed with average absolute relative errors of 12.90%, 15.99% and 10.92% for the minimum spouting velocity, peak pressure drop and operating pressure drop, respectively. A comparison of literature correlations with the present ones shows that the latter lead to considerably lower errors from the experimental data. The prediction capability of the new models was evaluated in a range of operating and geometric conditions and a close agreement with the experimental data was observed.

In this study, the intelligent method of genetic programming (GP) was used for developing predictive models for estimating the frost layer thickness under natural and forced convection on ultra-low temperature surfaces. The affecting dimensionless parameters were used as GP input variables, and realistic empirical correlations were developed for estimating the frost thickness under different conditions. The coefficient of determination of 0.9731, 0.9812, and 0.9906, and average absolute relative error of 6.52%, 11.65%, and 2.87%, were obtained by the developed models for natural convection on vertical plates, natural convection on horizontal plates, and forced convection on horizontal plates, respectively. The physical trends of the developed models were evaluated by comparing the model predictions with the experimental data for different operating conditions, and reasonable agreements were obtained. The same experimental database was also compared to some existing correlations for ordinary-low temperature surfaces, but they failed to provide reasonable estimates for the data.

A new general explicit correlation is proposed to predict the heat transfer coefficient of fluids condensing in conventional and mini channels. The expression has been developed by correlating the Numix number with Remix, Prmix, phase density ratio, Pres, WeGT, and FrL using genetic programming for the two-phase flow. The model has been validated with a big dataset consisting of 6521 data samples, covering a wide range of fluids used in refrigeration and heat pump industries, cross-sectional geometries (different diameters), mass fluxes, and saturation temperatures. The new generalized correlation fits the wide range of data points used with an average relative error of 17.82 %. The same database has been used to compare predictions of eight correlations available in the literature, but they failed to give a reasonable estimation of the present experimental results.

Spouted beds are extensively used in different industries. The minimum spouting velocity is a critical hydrodynamic parameter needed for the design and scale-up of these systems. This study deals w...

Platelet degranulation allows the release of large secretable pools of biologically active proteins which are critical in wound healing initiation and angiogenesis. Exosomes, which can transport a diverse suite of macromolecules, derived from amniotic epithelial cells (AEC-Exo) improve wound healing and angiogenesis. However, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In this investigation, we performed a user-friendly bioinformatics analysis system to identify association among the angiogenic and wound healing effects of AEC-Exo treatments. To this end, FunRich software was used, and linked to the Universal Protein Resource (UniProt) as a background database. Several enrichment analyses, including biological process, cellular component, molecular function, and protein domains were conducted on AEC-Exo proteome. Furthermore, to identify the proteins involved in platelet degranulation and evaluate protein–protein association information, comparative analyses and interaction network analyses were illustrated using the NCBI BioSystems, ExoCarta, and STRING databases. Our results indicated the statistically significant association between the proteome in AEC-Exo, platelet degranulation, and their corresponding processes. Therefore, the involvement of platelet degranulation in AEC-Exo proteins may elucidate the angiogenic and wound-healing effects of AEC-Exo treatments.

This work aims at the preparation of AC from chemical activation (H3PO4, KOH, and HCl)and physical activation (thermal treatment under N2atmosphere at 500 and 700◦C) of Astra-galus Mongholicus (AM) (a low-cost bio-adsorbent and agro-industrial waste), used as carbonprecursor. The obtained materials were further applied in the adsorption of diclofenac(DCF) from water/wastewater. The physicochemical properties of the as-prepared ACs andcommercial activated carbons (CAC) were evaluated by SEM, XRD, FT-IR, and BET analyses,revealing the high surface area and mesoporous proportion of AC when compared to CAC. Adsorption results showed that the efficiency of AC-700◦C (774 m2g−1) for DCF removal(92.29%) was greater than that of AC-500◦C (648 m2g−1, 83.5%), AC-H3PO4(596 m2g−1, 80.8%),AC-KOH (450 m2g−1, 59.3%), AC-HCl (156 m2g−1, 29.8%) and CAC (455 m2g−1, 67.8%). The opti-mization of effective parameters in adsorption was examined at a laboratory-scale using theselected AC-700◦C. The Langmuir isotherm and the pseudo-second-order model fitted wellthe experimental data. The regeneration efficiency was maintained at 96% (DI-water) and97% (heating) after three cycles. Besides, genetic programming (GP) and molecular dynam-ics (MD) simulations were applied to predict the adsorption behavior of DCF from aqueousphase as well as in the ACs structure. It was found that the adsorption mechanisms involvedwere electrostatic interaction, cation–pi interaction, and pi–pi electron interaction. This research project was submitted to Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran (Grant No.: 99R001/25). The authorswould like to thank Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Frost accumulated on heat exchangers' surfaces is a common phenomenon in air-source heat pumps, affecting the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop, adversely. The mechanism of frost deposition at cryogenic conditions under forced convection (Tw ≤ 100 ° C) shows remarkable differences from those in ordinary-low temperature. The models for predicting frost characteristics on cryogenic surfaces have been rarely reported in the literature. This study aims to model frost density and thickness over ultra-low temperature plates under forced convection. Accordingly, the intelligent models were developed based on radial basis function (RBF), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and Gaussian process regression (GPR) methods using collected measured data from available sources. Although all smart models presented excellent results for training and testing data, the GPR model for frost thickness and RBF model for frost density were designated as top models with AAREs of 1.06% and 0.83%, and R2 values of 99.94% and 99.80%, respectively. The analyzed data were also used for evaluating the precision of earlier models, however, they led to unfavorable results. The developed models exhibited favorable trends under different physical conditions. Besides performing sensitivity analysis, explicit empirical correlations were also obtained with AARE values of 9.38% and 9.68% for estimating frost density and frost thickness, respectively.

Introduction: Doctors undertake calculation of body fat percentage by using BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis) equipment. In this study, we measured body fat percentage without using equipment. For this purpose, an artificial neural network has been used to estimate the exact amount of fat. Materials & methods: The sample was selected from patients admitted in a nutrition clinic in Tehran. 400 patients took part in this study. MLP neural network was used to estimate body fat percentage. The used neural network had five input neurons and ten neurons in the hidden layer. Also, cross validation method for evaluating the proposed method has been used. Findings: The proposed method is efficient because of the results that demonstrate 2.5 units error based on cross validation. The results of experiments show that the proposed neural network for estimating body fat percentages has an average accuracy of 93%. Therefore the proposed method can accurately estimate body fat percentage of people with very high accuracy. Discussion & conclusions: The results of this research show that the proposed method as the first method used in machine learning technique, can estimate fat percentage with high accuracy. This method can be used as a useful method without using BIA device.

A multilayer perceptron with back-propagation learning algorithm is developed to predict the minimum spouting velocity (ums) in draft tube conical spouted beds. Six dimensionless variables involving ten essential geometric and operating parameters of the beds were taken as model inputs. To compare the model results with both experimental data and those predicted by the limited existing empirical equations, the root mean square error and the mean relative error are utilized. Although there is a complex relationship between the input variables and ums, and despite the huge number of data available, the steps of training and testing show good agreement with the corresponding experimental values. This demonstrates that an artificial neural network is a useful approach to predict ums, especially when the relationship between the geometric and operating parameters and ums is complex and difficult to define.

This study presents the results of an experimental study on the mechanical properties of graphene oxide (GO)-cement mortar composites. Four different mixes of cement mortars with GO contents of 0%, as a control mix, 0.03, 0.1, and 0.5% by the weight of cement were prepared. The effect of the GO content on the axial tension and compression strength of mixes were examined. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) tests were performed on the specimens to understand the mechanisms behind the mechanical test results. The results show that the tensile and compressive strength of GO-cement mortar composites steadily increase up to 37.5 and 77.7% with an increase in GO content to 0.1%, respectively. This is attributed to the improved bonding between the cement matrix and GO particles due to the high dispersibility of GO sheets in the composite at the optimum concentration. The results also show that further increase in the GO content was unfavorable as the GO sheets restacked, which reduced the bridging stress and gave poor dispersion of GO in the composite.

In this paper, the performance evaluation of a concentrating photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) collector is carried out. By writing energy, balance for the various components of CPVT collector, a set of nonlinear equations is obtained to calculate the temperature of different parts of the system. The electrical parameters of the CPVT collector are calculated by the four-parameter model of current-voltage. The simulation results of the present study are in good accordance with the previous studies data. The results show that with the fluid velocity increase from 0.08 to 0.43 m/s, the electrical efficiency and thermal efficiency increase by 1.05% and 2.2%, respectively. The thermal efficiency is enhanced by 9.4% as the receiver width is increased from 0.06 to 0.2 m. With the increase of diameter pipe from 0.017 to 0.06 m an increase of 2.75% and 3.9% is observed in the thermal and electrical efficiencies, respectively. The thermal efficiency has an ascending/descending trend with the increase of collector length. The increase of fluid inlet temperature from 273.15 to 363.15 K reduces the thermal and electrical efficiencies by 7.3% and 4.05%, respectively. The increase of the incident beam radiation from 300 to 1000 W/m2 enhances the electrical efficiency by 4%, while the thermal efficiency has an ascending/descending trend. The ambient temperature increase causes an increase of 5.1% in thermal efficiency. The effect of receiver width and ambient temperature on electrical efficiency is negligible.

In this paper, a new method based on combination of the natural transform method (NTM), Adomian decomposition method (ADM), and coefficient perturbation method (CPM) which is called “perturbed decomposition natural transform method” (PDNTM) is implemented for solving fractional pantograph delay differential equations with nonconstant coefficients. The fractional derivative is regarded in Caputo sense. Numerical evaluations are included to demonstrate the validity and applicability of this technique.

A general nonlinear equation for estimating the frictional pressure drop during condensation of fluids in different mini/micro and macro channels was obtained using the genetic programming (GP). The developed model is similar to that of the Lockhart and Martinelli [1] model. For developing the new correlation, 7328 data points were collected from 35 sources, which cover a wide range of fluids, channel geometries, diameters, mass fluxes, and saturation temperatures for single-port and multi-port channels. The newly developed correlation for the two-phase flow predicted a wide range of conditions with an average absolute relative deviation (AARD) of 22.92%. The same database was used for the evaluation of the available empirical correlations. Their deviations were significantly higher than that of the new correlation.

Growth of frost layer on cold fins of tube-fin heat exchangers leads to an increase in the pressure drop and a decrease in the frost thermal conductivity and thereby the heat transfer rate. There is a lack of a general model in the literature for estimating the frost thermal conductivity on parallel plate channels, including almost all parameters affecting this factor. In this study, for the first time, the general explicit semi-empirical correlations consist of dimensionless parameters are developed, which apply to parallel surface channels. The dimensionless input parameters include the wall temperature, air temperature, air velocity, frost porosity, relative humidity, specific heat of moist air, latent heat of sublimation, and operating time. The comparative results indicate that the best correlation predicts data points with an coefficient of determination, average absolute relative error, and relative root mean square error equal 0.9921, 2.755%, and 3.713%, respectively. Other available published correlations present higher deviations using the same dataset. Furthermore, to provide a good insight into this study, a sensitivity analysis is carried out employing the validated model. It is shown that the effective thermal conductivity of the frost layer is not only a function of frost density but also depends on a group of dimensionless parameters. It is observed that the thermal conductivity of the frost layer increases with the increase in the Reynolds number, Fourier number, air humidity, and it decreases with the increase in the dimensionless temperature, modified Jakob number, and porosity.

Milk vetch species (MV) as activated carbon (AC) precursors were prepared and modified by multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in order to remove humic acid (HA) removal. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR) and Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) techniques were applied to characterized MVAC/CNTs. The HA adsorption presented the highest value (22.57 mg/g) at pH 3, while the equilibrium state was reached after 30 min. By increasing the adsorbent’s dosage (0.4–0.5 g/L), the removal efficiency was also improved from 90.3 to 97.6%. The kinetics of adsorption were fitted to the pseudo-second-order model (R2 = 0.9991). The Langmuir isotherm model was well fitted to the equilibrium data revealing monolayer adsorption model of HA onto the MVAC/CNTs with the maximum capacity of 73.29 mg/g (R2 = 0.9967). The obtained values of thermodynamic parameters indicated that the HA adsorption was spontaneous, endothermic and physical in nature. Also, genetic programming was used to obtain an appropriate equation revealing the relationship between the variables. The results showed that the introduced equation can successfully predict the HA removal. All experimental results suggested that MVAC/CNTs are promising adsorbents for the contaminated (with HA) water.

Purpose To investigate the effects of daily consuming of green tea on clinical criteria in Periodontitis. Methods Thirty patients with chronic periodontitis were randomly divided into control and experimental groups after scaling and root planning (SRP). Experimental group consumed green tea herbal for 6 weeks and the control group received no intervention. Clinical indices were measured before and 6 weeks after the intervention, and compared for each groups by non-parametric Wilcoxon test and between two groups by Man–Witheny test. Significance level of the test was considered at 95%. Results The results showed that probing depth (PD) and bleeding index (BI) reduced significantly in both groups before and after SRP, this reduction in the intervention group was higher than the control group (P = 0.003 and 0.031, respectively). On the other hand, reducing the amount of plaque index (PI) despite being significant in each group, was not significant between the two groups (P = 0.135). Conclusions According to the results of this study, daily consumption of green tea herbal can have a positive impact on the treatment of periodontal diseases and can be applied as a supplement for improving the effects of phase I periodontal therapy.

Introduction: In recent years, production techniques and equipment have been developed for conservation tillage systems that have been adopted by many farmers. With proper management, overall yield averages for conventional and reduced tillage systems are nearly identical. Sometimes, field operations can be combined by connecting two or more implements. Much research has focused on either reducing or eliminating tillage operations to develop sustainable crop production methods. The greatest costs in farm operations are associated with tillage due to greater specific energy requirement in tillage and the high fuel costs. Combined operations reduce both fuel consumption and time and labor requirements by eliminating at least one individual trip over the field. Light tillage, spraying, or fertilizing operations can be combined with eitherprimary or secondary tillage or planting operations. The amount of fuel saved depends on the combined operations. Generally, light tillage, spraying, and fertilizing operations consume between 0.25 and 0.50 gallons of diesel fuel per acre. Fuel savings of 0.12 to 0.33 gallons per acre can usually be expected from combining operations. Eliminating one primary tillage operation and combining one light tillage, spraying, or fertilizing operation with another tillage or planting operation can usually save at least a gallon of diesel fuel per acre. Combining operations has the added benefit of reducing wheel traffic and compaction. To improve the tillage energy efficiency, implementing effective and agronomic strategies should be improved. Different tillage systems should be tested to determine the most energy efficient ones. Tillage helps seed growth and germination through providing appropriate conditions for soil to absorb sufficient temperature and humidity. Tillage is a time consuming and expensive procedure. With the application of agricultural operations, we can save considerable amounts of fuel, time and energyconsumption. Mankind has been tilling agricultural soils for thousands of years to loosen them, to improve their tilth for water use and plant growth and to cover pests. Tillage is a process of creating a desired final soil condition for seeds from some undesirable initial soil conditions through manipulation of soil with the purpose of increasing crop yield.The aim of conservation tillage is to improve soil structure. Considering the advantages of conservation tillage and less scientific research works on imported conservation tillage devices and those which are made inside the country, and considering the importance of tillage depth and speed in different tiller performance, this investigation was carried out. Materials and methods: This investigation was carried out based on random blocks in the form of split plot experimental design. The main factor, tillage depth, (was 10 and 20cm at both levels) and the second factor istillage forward speed, (was 6, 8, 10, 12 km h-1 in four levels for Bostan-Abad and 8, 10, 12, 14 km h-1 for Hashtrood) with 4 repetitions. It was carried out by using complex tillager made in the Sazeh Keshte Bukan Company, which is mostly used in Eastern Azerbaijan and using Massey Ferguson 285 and 399tractors and its fuel consumptionwas studied. Results and Discussion: In this study, the effect of both factors on the feature of fuel consumption was examined. Regarding tillage speed effect for studies characteristic in Bostan-Abad at 1% probability level fuel consumption was effective. The effect of tillage depth has significance at 5% probability level on fuel consumption. The interaction effect of tillage speed and depth on fuel consumption was significant at probability level of 1% . In Hashtrood, the effect of tillage speed was significant on fuel consumption at probability level of 1% , and also tillage depth effect was significant on fuel consumption amount at probability of 1% . The interaction effect of tillage speed and depth on fuel consumption was significant at 1% level of probability . Conclusions: In this study, the effect of both factors on fuel consumptionwas examined. In Bostan-Abad and Hashtroud on the whole, the results indicated that with the increase in the speed of tillage, fuel consumption, was reduced per hectar.The speed of 10 kilometers per hour was the best for this implemented work. Also, with an increasing depth of tillage, the fuel consumption increased.Through an increase in tillage speed, fuel consumption mass reduced at unit level. Moreover, the optimum speed was concluded to be 10km per hour. The best tillage depth using this machine is 10cm.

Introduction: In recent years, production techniques and equipment have been developed for conservation of tillage systems that have been adopted by many farmers. With proper management, overall yield averages for conventional and reduced tillage systems are nearly identical. Sometimes, field operations can be combined by connecting two or more implements. Combined operations reduce both fuel consumption, and time and labor requirements by eliminating at least one individual trip over the field. Light tillage, spraying, or fertilizing operations can be combined with either primary or secondary tillage or planting operations. Tillage helps seed growth and germination through providing appropriate conditions for soil to absorb sufficient temperature and humidity. Moreover, it helps easier development of root through reducing soil penetration resistance. Tillage is a time-consuming and expensive procedure. With the application of agricultural operations, we can save substantial amounts of fuel, time and energy consumption. Conservation tillage loosens the soil without turning, but by remaining the plant left overs, stems and roots. Bulk density reflects the soil’s ability to function for structural support, water and solute movement, and soil aeration. Bulk densities above thresholds indicate impaired function. Bulk density is also used to convert between weight and volume of soil. It is used to express soil physical, chemical and biological measurements on a volumetric basis for soil quality assessment and comparisons between management systems. This increases the validity of comparisons by removing the error associated with differences in soil density at the time of sampling. The aim of conservation tillage is to fix the soil structure. This investigation was carried out considering the advantages of conservation tillage and less scientific research works on imported conservation tillage devices and those which are made inside the country, besides the importance of tillage depth and speed in different tiller performance. Materials and methods: This investigation was carried out based on random blocks in the form of split plot experimental design. The main factor, tillage depth, (was 10 and 20cm at both levels) and the second factor, tillage speed, (was 6, 8, 10, 12 km h-1 in four levels for Bostan-Abad and 8,10,12,14 km h-1 for Hashtrood) with four repetitions. It was carried out using complex tillage made in Sazeh Keshte Bukan Company, which is mostly used in Eastern Azerbaijanand using Massey Ferguson 285 and 399 tractors in Bostab-Abad and Hashtrood, respectively. In this investigation, the characteristics of soil bulk density were studied in two sampling depths of 7 and 17 centimeters. Bulk density is an indicator of soil compaction. It is calculated as the dry weight of soil divided by its volume. This volume includes the volume of soil particles and the volume of pores among soil particles. Bulk density is typically expressed in g cm-3. Results and Discussion: In this study, the effect of both factors on the feature of the soil bulk density at the sampling depth of 5-10 and 15-20 cm was examined. In Bostan-Abad, regarding tillage speed effect for studies characteristics at 1% probability level on soil bulk density was effective. The effect of tillage depth on the soil bulk density was significant at 5% probability level . The interaction effect of tillage speed and depth on soil bulk density was significant at probability level of 1%. Regarding sampling depth effect, the soil bulk density was significant at 5% probability level, respectively. In Hashtrood, the effect of tillage speed on soil bulk density at probability level of 1%, and also tillage depth effect on soil bulk density was significant at 5% level of probability. The interaction effect of tillage speed and depth on soil bulk density was significant at 5% level of probability. Regarding the depth of sampling it was significant on soil bulk density at probability level of 1%. Through an increase in tillage speed, soil bulk density reduces at unit level. Conclusions: In this study, the effect of both factors on the feature of the soil bulk density in the sampling depth of 5-10 and 15-20 cm was examined. In Bostan-Abad and Hashtroud, on the whole, the results indicated that the increase in the speed of tillage, soil bulk density, was reduced and the speed of 10 kilometers per hour was the best for this to implement work. Also, with an increasing depth of tillage, the bulk density increased. Through an increase in tillage speed, soil bulk density reduced at unit level. Moreover, the optimum speed was concluded 10km per hour. Through an increase in tillage depth, bulk density and soil humidity increase accordingly. The best tillage depth using this machine is 10cm.

Several algorithms based on PageRank algorithm have been proposed to rank the document sentences in the multidocument summarization field and LexRank and T-LexRank algorithms are well known examples. In literature different concepts such as weighted inter-cluster edge, cluster-sensitive graph model and document-sensitive graph model have been proposed to improve LexRank and T-LexRank algorithms (e.g. DsR-G, DsR-Q) for multi-document summarization. In this paper, a density-based graph model for multi-document summarization is proposed by adding the concept of density to LexRank and T-LexRank algorithms. The resulting generic multi-document summarization systems, DensGS and DensGSD were evaluated on DUC 2004 while the query-based variants, DensQS, DensQSD were evaluated on DUC 2006, DUC 2007 and TAC 2010 task A. ROUGE measure was used in the evaluation. Experimental results show that density concept improves LexRank and T-LexRank algorithms and outperforms previous graph-based models (DsR-G and DsR-Q) in generic and query-based multi-document summarization tasks. Furthermore, the comparison of the number of iterations indicates that the density-based algorithm is faster than the other algorithms based on PageRank.

Most research on multi-document summarization explores methods that generate summaries based on queries regardless of the users' preferences. We note that, different users can generate somewhat different summaries on the basis of the same source data and query. This paper presents our study on how to exploit the information regards how users summarized their texts. Models of different users can be used either separately, or in an ensemble-like fashion. Machine learning methods are explored in the construction of the individual models. However, we explore yet another hypothesis. We believe that the sentences selected into the summary should be coherent and supplement each other in their meaning. One method to model this relationship between sentences is by detecting actor---object relationship (AOR). The sentences that satisfy this relationship have their importance value enhanced. This paper combines ensemble summarizing system and AOR to generate summaries. We have evaluated this method on DUC 2006 and DUC 2007 using ROUGE measure. Experimental results show the supervised method that exploits the ensemble summarizing system combined with AOR outperforms previous models when considering performance in query-based multi-document summarization tasks.

The main purpose of this paper is the experimental investigation of an electricity and preheated water cogeneration system by thermoelectric. In the presented design, Fresnel lens and thermoelectric module (TE module) were utilized in order to concentrate solar beam and generate electrical power, respectively. The energy of concentrated sunlight on the heat absorber of TE module is transferred to cold water reservoir. Heat transfer in TE module leads to temperature difference in its both sides and finally electrical power is generated. The main components of this system consist of a monoaxial adjustable structure, a thermoelectric generator (TEG) and a Fresnel lens with an area of 0.09 m 2 . Results revealed that matched load output power is 1.08 W with 51.33% efficiency under radiation intensity of 705.9 W/m 2 . In order to apply TE module capacity optimally for electrical generation, it is recommended to employ an array of Fresnel lenses which transfer heat to TE module by an intermediate fluid.

This study was conducted for evaluating the combined effect of soil moisture, phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) levels on crop evapotranspiration (ET), leaf water potential (LWP), water use efficiency (WUE) and various tuber attributes of potato ( Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Agria) under greenhouse conditions. This investigation was conducted as a factorial experiment based on randomized complete blocks design with Zn at three levels (0, 10 and 20 mg Zn per kg dry soil as ZnSO 4 ·7H 2 O), P at three levels (0, 30 and 60 mg P per kg dry soil as Ca(H 2 PO 4 ) 2 ·H 2 O) and soil moisture at three levels (0.5 FC–0.6 FC, 0.7 FC–0.8 FC and 0.9 FC–FC) using three replications. The various attributes of potato tubers including tuber numbers, dry matter content (DM), yield, WUE and indicators of water deficit stress intensity (ET and LWP) were measured routinely during the crop growth period. The results showed that the water deficit stress resulted in a significant decrease in ET, tuber numbers, yield and WUE. Application of P significantly increased the ET, tuber numbers and yield and Zn application significantly affected the tuber numbers. The P × soil moisture interaction effect was significant for ET, LWP, tuber numbers and yield. While the Zn × soil moisture interaction was significant only for yield. The results showed that the two way interactions of Zn, P and soil moisture were mainly synergistic on the most of above mentioned attributes. In general, to achieve the optimum yield of potato tubers in similar soils, application of 10 mg Zn and 30 mg P per kg of dry soil could be recommended under full-irrigated conditions. The regression analysis showed that the yield of potato was increased by application of P under water deficit conditions.

In order to study different times of cultivating and type of medical and cover plants on performance and weed biomass of corn (single cross 504), the experiment was carried out in 2010-2011 in research farm of the agriculture faculty of university of Tabriz. The experiment was carried out in a factorial arrangement with the base of randomized complete block design in three repetications. The treatments of this experiment included type of medical and cover plant in 4 levels (Clover, hairy vetch, basil and dill) as first factorial and time of cultivating cover and medical plant in tow levels(synchronic cultivation with corn and cultivation 15 days after corn cultivation) as second factorial. The results showed that the ear height, the number of grain row per ear and yield of grain lied under effect of the time of cultivation and the type of cover plants as the highest amount of these traits were seen in treatment of the corn with clover and the lowest amount were seen in the treatment of the corn with dill. Treatment composition of cover plant × the time of cultivation on ear diameter and weight of 100 grain was significant and in both traits, ear diameter and weigh of 100 grain, the treatment of synchronic cultivation of corn with clover and the treatment of dill with 15 days delay in comparison of the cultivation of corn had the highest and lowest amount, respectively. Also, the highest weed biomass was seen in dill treatment with 15 delay than corn cultivation and the lowest amount was seen in synchronic cultivation of clover with corn.

Information about the genetics of callus formation is needed for efficient in vitro selection. Hybrid breeding has been proposed for genetic improvement in the crop, but there isn’t enough information on heterosis for callus growth in crosses among crop genotypes in Iran. In the present study, genetic analysis of three in vitro characters (percentage of callus induction, callus diameter, callus fresh weight) for five inbreed line of rapeseed such as Orakel, ACSN1, P504588, P704591 and Boanty were carried out through a 5 × 5 diallel analysis using calli derived from mature embryo cultures of Brassica napus L. in MS medium. Positive heterosis was noticed for all these characters. Variance component due to specific combining ability (dominance) were larger than general combining ability (additive) for each traits. High broad-sense (70.12 to 89.43) and low narrow-sense (3.49 to 23.01) heritability values suggested that dominance gene action was more important in the genetic control of the characters studied. Orakel, among the five pure lines, was found to have the best genetic background for callus growth rate.

Polyurethane (PU)/Clay nanocomposite rigid foams were synthesized with modified layered silicate clay (organoclays, Cloisite 30B). PU foams were prepared by a batch reaction injection molding process. Organoclay was dispersed first in the isocyanate component using an ultrasonic homogenizer and then mixed with polyol and physical blowing agent mixture to produce nanocomposite PU foams. To study the reaction possibility between cloisite 30B and isocyanate as well as the effect of sonication on the reaction, Fourier transfer infrared (FTIR) analysis was conducted. The dispersion of organoclay in the rigid PU/clay nanocomposite foams was analyzed by wide angle X-ray diffraction (XRD). The microstructure of the foams was studied by an optical microscope and image analysis software. It was concluded that with increasing of nanoclay content the cell size is decreased and the cell size distribution is narrowed. The mechanical properties of pure and nanocomposite foams were examined by compression test. The data obtained from the compressive stress-strain curves reveals that the strength and modulus of polyurethane foam increase by addition of organoclay up to 1wt% and then decrease. Thermal conductivity coefficient (k-factor) of rigid PU nanocomposite and neat foams was measured by a simple transient method. The thermal conductivity results demonstrated that the polyurethane foam k-factor continuously decrease by addition of organoclay. It can be attributed to the reduced cell size as well as narrow cell size distribution in of nanocomposite foams.

Regarding the decreasing number of the available crop species for plant breeders, the study of “ignored” crops seems necessary, one of which is grasspea (Lathyrus sativus). In order to evaluation of the Iranian landraces of grasspea for agro-morphological traits, 26 accessions were planted in the field as an augmented design based on a complete block design with five replications. Some traits, such as date of maturity, number of pods/plant, number of grains/pod, dry biomass, one-hundred grain weight, and grain yield per plant were studied. The analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference between the agro-morphological traits.The cluster analysis of the landraces for their agro-morphological traits using UPGMA method resulted in three distinct groups: 1) Tabriz-1 and Tabriz-2, 2) Arak-246, and 3) the others. The diversity of the aforesaid 26 grasspea landraces as well as Lathyrus ochrus and L. cicera species for their total seed storage proteins using SDS-PAGE method was studied and 19 protein bands identified. The cluster analysis based on the SDS-PAGE results through UPGMA method and simple matching coefficient could separate Tabriz-2 as well as the two species from the remaining of the landraces being in a single group.

There are two methods to be used to harvest canola crop, namely direct and indirect methods; each method having it’s own procedure. The most common procedure prefered by Iranian farmers in direct harvesting is using combine with either conventional or canola head, while in indirect harvesting windrower is used prior to pick the rows up with grain harvester which is equipped with pickup head. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate grain losses in above mentioned methods and proposing an appropriate method for Khorasan region. Experiments in direct harvesting included three levels of grain moisture content, namely %15, %12 and %9. In indirect harvesting, crop was cut by windrower at three levels of grain moisture content of %40, %35 and %30. Then a grain combine with pick-up head was used for picking the rows when the moisture level reduced to 11%. Results showed that using a grain combine equipped with the canola header, was relatively more efficient than other harvesting methods, while the total losses in this method was much higher. The lowest loss in direct and indirect methods occurred at grain moisture contents of 12 and 40% for direct and indirect harvesting, respectively.

In order to determine the most promising lines of bitter vetch regarding drought tolerance in rainfed areas, an experiment was conducted with 16 lines, under irrigated and rainfed conditions at Dryland Agriculture Research Institute, Maragheh. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used for each experiment. Analysis of variance for both rainfed and irrigated conditions showed that there were significant differences between lines for all studied traits. Combined analysis of variance indicated significant differences between two environments for all traits except plant height. Genotype × environment interaction was significant for all traits, except for plant height, pod number per plant and seed number per pod. Comparing means under irrigated and rainfed conditions showed that Sel 2518 had the lowest number of days to flowering and Sel 2515 and Sel 2516 had shorter period of grain filling. Local bitter vetch possessed the highest plant height, biomass, number of pods per plant and seed yield. Biomass, number of pods per plant and plant height had highest correlations with seed yield in both conditions. According to three drought tolerance indices (STI, GMO and MP), the local landrace was recognized as the most drought tolerant line with ability to produce highest yield in both rainfed and irrigated environments. This landrace was separated from other lines in the cluster analysis. In some cases, lines Sel 2644 and Sel 2647, originated from Bulgaria, were grouped with the local landrace. The results indicate that the local landrace was more productive than other lines under study and therefore, it is possible to identify suitable varieties for cultivation by evaluating different landraces of bitter vetch

In this paper, modeling of physical behavior of plain-woven fabrics under the condition of yarn pullout test is investigated. An analytical model called “the oscillation model” is represented to estimate the required force of yarn pullout test for the plain-woven fabrics. The main idea of this model is based on a combined approach of friction in interlacing points and vibration of yarns during the pullout test. This oscillatory behavior is the outcome of the stick-slip motion, caused directly by contact interactions in interlacing points. In this study, the oscillation model is investigated experimentally for five different plain-woven fabrics. The model includes many physical parameters, which cannot be measured directly. These parameters have been estimated using the force-balance model, which is another analytical model, for predicting the internal mechanical parameters of the plain-woven fabrics in the same test. Experimental results showed that the oscillation model is a suitable approach for anticip...

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles were modified using a sacrificial organic acid carrier at low pH values where the zeta potential of the TiO2 nanoparticles was found to be highly effective forming 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 wt.% Ag/TiO2 nanocomposites. The organic carrier was acting both as an Ag ion carrier and a hole scavenger enhancing the photodeposition of Ag atoms. The formed nanocomposites were calcined at 300 and 400 °C under controlled atmosphere and later examined for photocatalytic performance using a 125 medium pressure mercury lamp decomposing formic acid as an organic pollutant. Morphological, crystallographical and UV–vis spectroscopy analyses were used to characterize the synthesized nanocomposites. The studies have revealed that non-calcined 0.5 wt.% Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite has the best photocatalytic activity compared with other synthesized nanocomposites and that of the non-modified TiO2 (P25). Further calcination of the synthesized nanocomposites has shown to be effective in lower Ag concentrations where 0.1 wt.% Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite has the best photocatalytic activity at the 400 °C.

The commercial potato Solanum tuberosum L. autotetraploid, has many wild relatives with the ploidy range of 2–6×, which are suitable sources of traits interesting in potato breeding. However, not all of these species can be readily crossed with cultivated potato due to pre- and post-zygotic barriers. Post-zygotic barrier on Solanum spp. is attributed to their difference in endosperm balance number (EBN). According to the EBN successful crosses need to have a 2:1 ratio of maternal to paternal EBN in hybrid endosperm. Thus, only parents with the same EBN can be crossed. The cultivated potato is 4EBN, while wild allotetraploid relatives such as S. stoloniferum are 2EBN. In this study, meiosis and crossability of an exceptional tetraploid 3EBN hybrid obtained from our previous research by crossing S. stoloniferum × S. tuberosum with 2 and 4EBN testers were studied. Although the exact chromosome pairing analysis was not possible, the formation of several polyvalents in each meiocyte suggests that recombination could occur between different genomes. Meiosis had many irregularities such as unequal segregation as well as having laggard chromosome and micronuclei. Crosses involving the interspecific hybrid, as the male parent with 2 and 4EBN testers were not successful, some of which were apparently due to the pollen–pistil incompatibility. Interestingly controlled self-pollination resulted in viable seeds. Crosses of the interspecific hybrid as pistillate parent in the absence of pre-zygotic barrier in most case were successful. Results of the study confirmed the segregation of EBN value in the gametes of hybrid. It was expected that backcross progeny of this hybrid would be a good source for selecting aneutetraploids.

Pullout test is a conventional and suitable method to investigate the effects of yarn properties and the structural characteristics of weave on fabric mechanical behaviour. Frictional specifications of the fabric yarns influence the fabric strength and efficiency and its ability to absorb energy. This paper is concerned with formulating an analytical model on yarn pullout force in plain-woven fabrics. The model can predict variations in the internal mechanical parameters of woven fabrics based on a force-balance analysis. These parameters are yarn-to-yarn friction coefficient, normal load at crossovers, lateral forces, lateral strain, weave angle variations, and pullout force. These parameters were predicted using fabric deformation data, which were measured by image processing method during a yarn pullout test and the information of weave angle of fabric, its modulus and density, which were obtained experimentally. Yarn pullout force was calculated through Amonton's friction law to evaluate the ...