Abstract: Plant growth is affected by the osmotic stress as well as toxicity of salt in leaves. In order to study of salt stress effects on stomatal conductance and growth rate and relationship between them as wells osmotic and Na+-specific effects on these traits, four bread wheat genotypes differing in salt tolerance were selected. Salinity was applied when the leaf 4 was fully expanded. Sodium (Na+) concentrations in flag leaf blade at 3 salinity levels (0, 100 and 200 mM NaCl) were measured. Salt-tolerant genotypes showed higher stomatal conductance and growth rate compared to salt-sensitive ones. After 10 and 20 days exposure to salt, stomatal conductance and relative growth rate were reduced, but the reduction was greater in sensitive genotypes. Growth rate was reduced severely in the first period (1-10 days) of salt commencements and it was due to osmotic effect of salt not Na+ toxicity. In the second period (11-20 days) after salt treatment growth reduced only when salt accumulated to toxic concentrations in the leaves. A positive relationship between stomatal conductance and relative growth rate showed that stomatal conductance can be a reliable indicator of growth rate, and finally can be considered as a sensitive indicator of the osmotic stress. It seems 20 days after salinity, the major effect of salt, especially at low to moderate salinity levels on growth properties was due to the osmotic effect of salt, not to Na+-specific effects within the plant.
Abstract: This paper studied the synthesis of monoacylglycerol (monolaurin) by glycerolysis of coconut oil and crude glycerol, catalyzed by Carica papaya lipase. Coconut oil obtained from cold pressed extraction method and crude glycerol obtained from the biodiesel plant in Department of Chemistry, Uttaradit Rajabhat University, Thailand which used oils were used as raw materials for biodiesel production through transesterification process catalyzed by sodium hydroxide. The influences of the following variables were studied: (i) type of organic solvent, (ii) molar ratio of substrate, (iii) reaction temperature, (iv) reaction time, (v) lipase dosage, and (vi) initial water activity of enzyme. High yields in monoacylglycerol (58.35%) were obtained with molar ratio of glycerol to oil at 8:1 in ethanol, temperature was controlled at 45oC for 36 hours, the amount of enzyme used was 20 wt% of oil and initial water activity of enzyme at 0.53.
Abstract: Coal fly ash (CFA) generated by coal-based thermal
power plants is mainly composed of some oxides having high
crystallinity, like quartz and mullite. In this study, the effect of CFA
crystallinity toward lead adsorption capacity was investigated. To get
solid with various crystallinity, the solution of sodium hydroxide
(NaOH) of 1-7 M was used to treat CFA at various temperature and
reflux time. Furthermore, to evaluate the effect of NaOH-treated CFA
with respect to adsorption capacity, the treated CFA were examine as
adsorbent for removing lead in the solution. The result shows that
using NaOH to treat CFA causes crystallinity of quartz and mullite
decrease. At higher NaOH concentration (>3M), in addition the
damage of quartz and mullite crystallinity is followed by crystal
formation called hydroxysodalite. The lower crystalllinity, the higher
adsorption capacity.
Abstract: Our results showed that for the growth of qualitative
seedling and vegetative raw material of ðó. marschallianus Willd. and
T. serphyllum L. it is more profitable to use the in vitro and
hydroponics combined method. In in vitro culture it is possible to do
micro-propagation whole year with 98-99% rhizogenesis. 30000
micro-plants were obtained from one explant during 9 months.
Hydroponic conditions provide the necessary microclimate for
microplants where the survival rate without acclimatization was
93.3%. The essential oil content in hydroponic dry herb of both
species in vegetative and blossom phase was 1.3% whereas in wild
plants it was 1.2%, the content of extractive substances and vitamin
C also exceeded wild plants. Our biochemical and radiochemical
investigations indicated that the medicinal raw materials obtained
from hydroponic and wild plants of Thymus species correspond to
the demands of SPh XI, and the content of artificial radionuclides
does not exceed the MACL.
Abstract: This paper presents a new and efficient approach for capacitor placement in radial distribution systems that determine the optimal locations and size of capacitor with an objective of improving the voltage profile and reduction of power loss. The solution methodology has two parts: in part one the loss sensitivity factors are used to select the candidate locations for the capacitor placement and in part two a new algorithm that employs Plant growth Simulation Algorithm (PGSA) is used to estimate the optimal size of capacitors at the optimal buses determined in part one. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it does not require any external control parameters. The other advantage is that it handles the objective function and the constraints separately, avoiding the trouble to determine the barrier factors. The proposed method is applied to 9, 34, and 85-bus radial distribution systems. The solutions obtained by the proposed method are compared with other methods. The proposed method has outperformed the other methods in terms of the quality of solution.
Abstract: In this paper, the energy performance of a selected
UHDE Ammonia plant is optimized by conducting heat integration through waste heat recovery and the synthesis of a heat exchange
network (HEN). Minimum hot and cold utility requirements were estimated through IChemE spreadsheet. Supporting simulation was
carried out using HYSYS software. The results showed that there is
no need for heating utility while the required cold utility was found to
be around 268,714 kW. Hence a threshold pinch case was faced. Then, the hot and cold streams were matched appropriately. Also,
waste heat recovered resulted with savings in HP and LP steams of
approximately 51.0% and 99.6%, respectively. An economic analysis
on proposed HEN showed very attractive overall payback period not
exceeding 3 years. In general, a net saving approaching 35% was
achieved in implementing heat optimization of current studied UHDE Ammonia process.
Abstract: Phylogenies ; The evolutionary histories of groups of
species are one of the most widely used tools throughout the life
sciences, as well as objects of research with in systematic,
evolutionary biology. In every phylogenetic analysis reconstruction
produces trees. These trees represent the evolutionary histories of
many groups of organisms, bacteria due to horizontal gene transfer
and plants due to process of hybridization. The process of gene
transfer in bacteria and hybridization in plants lead to reticulate
networks, therefore, the methods of constructing trees fail in
constructing reticulate networks. In this paper a model has been
employed to reconstruct phylogenetic network in honey bee. This
network represents reticulate evolution in honey bee. The maximum
parsimony approach has been used to obtain this reticulate network.
Abstract: Ozone (O3) is considered as one of the most
phytotoxic pollutants with deleterious effects on living and non living
components of Ecosystems. It reduces growth and yield of many
crops as well as alters the physiology and crop quality. The present
study described series of experiments to investigate the effects of
ambient O3 at different locations with different ambient levels of O3
depending on proximity to pollutant source and ranged between 17
ppb/h in control experiment to 112 ppb/h in industrial area
respectively. The ambient levels in other three locations (King Saud
University botanical garden, King Fahd Rd, and Almanakh Garden)
were 61,61,77 ppb/h respectively. Tow legume crops species (vicia
vaba L ; and Pisum sativum) differ in their phenology and sensitivity
were used. The results showed a significant negative effect to ozone
on morphology, number of injured leaves, growth and productivity
with a difference in the degree of response depending on the plant
type. Visia Faba showed sensitivity to ozone to number and leaf area
and the degree of injury leaves 3, pisum sativum show higher
sensitivity for the gas for degree of injury 1,The relative growth rate
and seed weight, it turns out there is no significant difference
between the two plants in plant height and number of seeds.
Abstract: This paper presents a threshold voltage model of pocket implanted sub-100 nm n-MOSFETs incorporating the drain and substrate bias effects using two linear pocket profiles. Two linear equations are used to simulate the pocket profiles along the channel at the surface from the source and drain edges towards the center of the n-MOSFET. Then the effective doping concentration is derived and is used in the threshold voltage equation that is obtained by solving the Poisson-s equation in the depletion region at the surface. Simulated threshold voltages for various gate lengths fit well with the experimental data already published in the literature. The simulated result is compared with the two other pocket profiles used to derive the threshold voltage models of n-MOSFETs. The comparison shows that the linear model has a simple compact form that can be utilized to study and characterize the pocket implanted advanced ULSI devices.
Abstract: Sediment and mangrove root samples from Iko River
Estuary, Nigeria were analyzed for microbial and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content. The total heterotrophic
bacterial (THB) count ranged from 1.1x107 to 5.1 x107 cfu/g, total
fungal (TF) count ranged from 1.0x106 to 2.7x106 cfu/g, total
coliform (TC) count ranged from 2.0x104 to 8.0x104cfu/g while
hydrocarbon utilizing bacterial (HUB) count ranged from 1.0x 105 to
5.0 x 105cfu/g. There was a range of positive correlation (r = 0.72 to
0.93) between THB count and total HUB count, respectively. The
organisms were Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus,
Flavobacterium breve, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Erwinia
amylovora, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter sp, Desulfovibrio sp,
Acinetobacter iwoffii, Chromobacterium violaceum, Micrococcus
sedentarius, Corynebacterium sp, and Pseudomonas putrefaciens.
The PAH were Naphthalene, 2-Methylnaphthalene, Acenapthylene,
Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthene, Anthracene, Fluoranthene,
Pyrene, Benzo(a)anthracene, Chrysene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene,
Benzo(k)fluoranthene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene,
Benzo(g,h,l)perylene ,Indeno(1,2,3-d)pyrene with individual PAH
concentrations that ranged from 0.20mg/kg to 1.02mg/kg, 0.20mg/kg
to 1.07mg/kg and 0.2mg/kg to 4.43mg/kg in the benthic sediment,
epipellic sediment and mangrove roots, respectively. Total PAH
ranged from 6.30 to 9.93mg/kg, 6.30 to 9.13mg/kg and 9.66 to
16.68mg/kg in the benthic sediment, epipellic sediment and
mangrove roots, respectively. The high concentrations in the
mangrove roots are indicative of bioaccumulation of the pollutant in
the plant tissue. The microorganisms are of ecological significance
and the detectable quantities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
could be partitioned and accumulated in tissues of infaunal and
epifaunal organisms in the study area.
Abstract: This article presents the evolution and technological changes implemented on the full scale simulators developed by the Simulation Department of the Instituto de Investigaciones Eléctricas1 (Mexican Electric Research Institute) and located at different training centers around the Mexican territory, and allows US to know the last updates, basically from the input/output view point, of the current simulators at some facilities of the electrical sector as well as the compatible industry of the electrical manufactures and industries such as Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE*, The utility Mexican company). Tendencies of these developments and impact within the operators- scope are also presented.
Abstract: To achieve the desired specifications of gain and
phase margins for plants with time-delay that stabilized with FO-PID
controller a lead compensator is designed. At first the range of
controlled system stability based on stability boundary criteria is
determined. Using stability boundary locus method in frequency
domain the fractional order controller parameters are tuned and then
with drawing bode diagram in frequency domain accessing to desired
gain and phase margin are shown. Numerical examples are given to
illustrate the shapes of the stabilizing region and to show the design
procedure.
Abstract: Starting with an analysis of the financial and
operational indicators that can be found in the specialised literature,
this study aims to contribute to improvements in the performance
measurement systems used when the unit of analysis is the
manufacturing plant. For this a search was done in the highest impact
Journals of Production and Operations Management and
Management Accounting , with the aim of determining the financial
and operational indicators used to evaluate performance when
Advanced Production Practices have been implemented, more
specifically when the practices implemented are Total Quality
Management, JIT/Lean Manufacturing and Total Productive
Maintenance. This has enabled us to obtain a classification of the two
types of indicators based on how much each is used. For the financial
indicators we have also prepared a proposal that can be adapted to
manufacturing plants- accounting features. In the near future we will
propose a model that links practices implementation with financial
and operational indicators and these two last with each other. We aim
to will test this model empirically with the data obtained in the High
Performance Manufacturing Project.
Abstract: This paper deals with a design method of a discrete
modified Internal Model Control (IMC) for a plant with an integrator
and dead time. If there is a load disturbance in the input or output side
of the plant, the proposed control system can eliminate the steady-state
error caused by it. The disturbance compensator in this method is
simple and its order is low regardless of that of a plant. The simulation
studies show that the proposed method has superior performance for a
load disturbance rejection and robustness.
Abstract: Biochemical and molecular analysis of some
antioxidant enzyme genes revealed different level of gene expression
on oilseed (Brassica napus). For molecular and biochemical
analysis, leaf tissues were harvested from plants at eight different
developmental stages, from young to senescence. The levels of total
protein and chlorophyll were increased during maturity stages of
plant, while these were decreased during the last stages of plant
growth. Structural analysis (nucleotide and deduced amino acid
sequence, and phylogenic tree) of a complementary DNA revealed a
high level of similarity for a family of Catalase genes. The
expression of the gene encoded by different Catalase isoforms was
assessed during different plant growth phase. No significant
difference between samples was observed, when Catalase activity
was statistically analyzed at different developmental stages. EST
analysis exhibited different transcripts levels for a number of other
relevant antioxidant genes (different isoforms of SOD and
glutathione). The high level of transcription of these genes at
senescence stages was indicated that these genes are senescenceinduced
genes.
Abstract: This study evaluates the performance of horizontal
subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) for the removal of
chlorinated resin and fatty acids (RFAs) from pulp and paper mill
wastewater. The dimensions of the treatment system were 3.5 m x 1.5
m x 0.28 m with surface area of 5.25 m2, filled with fine sand and
gravel. The cell was planted with an ornamental plant species Canna
indica. The removal efficiency of chlorinated RFAs was in the range
of 92-96% at the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 5.9 days. Plant
biomass and soil (sand and gravel) were analyzed for chlorinated
RFAs content. No chlorinated RFAs were detected in plant biomass
but detected in soil samples. Mass balance studies of chlorinated
RFAs in HSSF-CW were also carried out.
Abstract: Saffron (Crocus sativus) is cultivated as spices,
medicinal and aromatic plant species. At autumn season, heavy
rainfall can cause flooding stress and inhibits growth of saffron. Thus
this research was conducted to study the effect of silver ion (as an
ethylene inhibitor) on growth of saffron under flooding conditions.
The corms of saffron were soaked with one concentration of nano
silver (0, 40, 80 or 120 ppm) and then planting under flooding stress
or non flooding stress conditions. Results showed that number of
roots, root length, root fresh and dry weight, leaves fresh and dry
weight were reduced by 10 day flooding stress. Soaking saffron
corms with 40 or 80 ppm concentration of nano silver rewarded the
effect of flooding stress on the root number, by increasing it.
Furthermore, 40 ppm of nano silver increased root length in stress.
Nano silver 80 ppm in flooding stress, increased leaves dry weight.
Abstract: Energy generated by the force of water in hydropower
can provide a more sustainable, non-polluting alternative to fossil
fuels, along with other renewable sources of energy, such as wind,
solar and tidal power, bio energy and geothermal energy. Small scale
hydroelectricity in Iran is well suited for “off-grid" rural electricity
applications, while other renewable energy sources, such as wind,
solar and biomass, can be beneficially used as fuel for pumping
groundwater for drinking and small scale irrigation in remote rural
areas or small villages. Small Hydro Power plants in Iran have very
low operating and maintenance costs because they consume no fossil
or nuclear fuel and do not involve high temperature processes. The
equipment is relatively simple to operate and maintain. Hydropower
equipment can adjust rapidly to load changes. The extended
equipment life provides significant economic advantages. Some
hydroelectric plants installed 100 years ago still operate reliably. The
Polkolo river is located on Karun basin at southwest of Iran. Situation
and conditions of Polkolo river are evaluated for construction of
small hydropower in this article. The topographical conditions and
the existence of permanent water from springs provide the suitability
to install hydroelectric power plants on the river Polkolo. The
cascade plant consists of 9 power plants connected with each other
and is having the total head as 1100m and discharge about 2.5cubic
meter per second. The annual production of energy is 105.5 million
kwh.
Abstract: In order to study of hydropriming and halopriming on
germination and early growth stage of wheat (Triticum aestivum) an
experiment was carried out in laboratory of the Department of
Agronomy and Plant breeding, Shahrood University of Technology.
Seed treatments consisted of T1: control (untreated seeds), T2:
soaking in distilled water for 18 h (hydropriming). T3: soaking in -
1.2 MPa solution of CaSO4 for 36 h (halopriming). Germination and
early seedling growth were studied using distilled water (control) and
under osmotic potentials of -0.4, -0.8 and -1.2 MPa for NaCl and
polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000), respectively. Results showed that
Hydroprimed seeds achieved maximum germination seedling dry
weight, especially during the higher osmotic potentials. Minimum
germination was recorded at untreated seeds (control) followed by
osmopriming. Under high osmotic potentials, hydroprimed seeds had
higher GI (germination index) as compared to haloprimed or
untreated seeds. Interaction effect of seed treatment and osmotic
potential significantly affected the seedling vigour index (SVI).
Abstract: To study the performance of soybean (Glycine max L.) cultivars in varying weeding regimes, a field experiment was conducted in 2010. The experiment was split plot in a randomized complete block design with 3 replicates. The four cultivars and two lines of soybean including: Sahar, Hill, Sari, Telar, 032 and 033 in main plot and weeding regime consist of no weeding (control), one weeding (35 days after planting) and two weeding (35+20 days after planting) were randomized in sub plot. In weed infested plots inevitably had the highest yield reduction in all varieties. On the other hand, plots weeded twice showed the best performance for all cultivars and lines. Although 033 had the highest yield over weeding regimes, but Hill was the best cultivar in suppression of weeds, which indicated the competitiveness of this cultivar. Double weeding, with the use of competitive soybean cultivars would be an effective approach for producing yield.