---

The current study evaluated the interactive impacts of water temperature and feeding rate on digestive enzymes, intestine histology, growth and stress-related genes, and cultivable intestinal microbiota of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer). For this purpose, 180 fish (85.0±3.0 g) were reared at three different temperatures (20, 27, and 33 °C) and two feeding rates (apparent satiation and 2.5% of biomass) with three replications for 6 weeks. The results revealed no significant differences among different treatments regarding the activity of digestive enzymes (P˃0.05) of fish reared under different temperatures and feeding rates. The length, width, and thickness of intestinal villi were unaffected by different temperatures and feeding rates (P˃0.05). In addition, no variations were found in the total aerobic bacterial count of fish gut from different experimental groups (P˃0.05). At the molecular level, IGF-I and HSP70 coding genes were found to be highly expressed in experimental treatments (P<0.05). To conclude, present results showed that temperatures between 27 to 33 °C are more optimal for Asian seabass, and the different temperatures and feeding rates do not affect digestive enzymes, intestine histology, and gut microbiota after 6 weeks. Further molecular research is needed to unravel the complex impact and mechanisms of feeding rate and different rearing temperature on fish physiology.

---

Researched show that backpack is the most appropriate means to be carried by the primary students every day.As the weight of these backpack may be not standard, this study aimed to evaluate the Standards associated with the primary school students’ backpack in Karun, Iran. This cross-sectional study was done on primary school students studying in Karun, Iran in 2016. In this study, a randomized multi-stage sampling method was performed by which a total of 400 students were selected. A flat scale used to measure the students’ weight and a sliding scale used to measure the students’ backpack weight Furthermore, a checklist including the questions regarding standard items of backpack was completed. Collected data and information on the checklists were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics

---

In the Persian translations of the Holy Quran, numerous equivalents have been used for the verb “kaada” and its different forms which is a controversial issue in syntactic, interpretive and investigative works. One of these equivalents is verbal structures of the infinitive “want” that has been chosen in some of the ancient and contemporaneous translations. The present research studies the mentioned translations with a limited scope of 60 prose translations and considers whether the verb “want” is able to transmit the exact definition of “kaada” in the Holy Quran`s translations or not? Therefore, after explaining kaada`s rhetorical and syntactic features in Arabic language, it assesses the verb want features in Persian grammar and researches its rhetorical functions. Afterwards it recognizes the verses where “kaada” has been translated to want and with presenting syntactic and rhetorical reasons it explains the verb want as one of the most rational equivalents for “kaada” in Holy Quran`s translations. This research’s findings indicate that besides the main meaning of kaada it can have the meaning of willing and desiring in some verses, and the meaning of predicting, expecting and possibility in some other verses which in both cases, want in Persian language can present the same definitions and do the same functions with absolute conformation with Persian language structures.

---

.

---

---

Aims: This study was carried out to determine the effects of urban gaseous pollutants (sulfur dioxide [SO₂], nitrogen dioxide [NO₂], and ozone [O₃]) and climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) on the morphological and anatomical reaction of Platanus orientalis L. in Tehran.
Materials & Methods: Seven districts of this city with a wide spectrum of climatic conditions and diversity of elevation were selected, and gas concentration of SO₂, NO₂, and O₃ was determined. Then, morphological and anatomical parameters of this plant including leaf area, specific leaf area (SLA), wet and dry weight, leaf toughness and thickness, water content, lamina, and main vein were measured and the analysis of their correlations with environmental (climatic and pollutant) factors along with their t-tests were evaluated.
Findings: The results showed that the climatic factors made significant (P < 0.05) changes on SLA, water content, wet and dry weight of green leaves of this plant. In addition, different levels of pollutant gases had significant (P < 0.05) effects on natural toughness, thickness, wet weight, number of spongy parenchyma layers, and the ratio of lamina mesophyll to subvein of leaves.
Conclusion: The results explain that anatomical and morphological characteristics of P. orientalis leaves have been influenced by environmental stresses and changes in these factors show the resistance of the plant to the environmental conditions.

---

Abstract
Research subject: Low biodegradation rate of plastics, especially different grades of the polyethylene leads to many environmental problems. To reduce these effects, pro-oxidant added to the polyethylene to increase the photo-degradation and subsequently the bio-degradation rate of the polymer matrix. Besides the pro-oxidant, it seems that the photocatalysts can affect on the photo-degradation of the polyethylene and the subject of this study is to examine this idea.
Research approach: Photodegradable films of LDPE were prepared by melt blending of the polymer with cadmium selenide (CdSe) and trisilver phosphate (Ag₃PO₄) as photo-catalysts and manganese stearate as pro-oxidant. The samples were irradiated with visible and ultra-violet light. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and viscometry measurements were used to investigate the microstructure of the films.
Main results: FTIR spectra indicated to increment of the carbonyl index (CI) and vinyl index (VI) of the samples with photo-catalysts. In addition, SEM imaged confirmed higher and more homogeneous photo-degradation for these samples in comparison with other ones. Also, the dynamic-mechanical-thermal analysis showed that the polyethylene samples without the additives had higher modulus compared to other samples. However, the crystallinity of the samples with photo-catalysts increased due to nucleating agent effects of their particles. The viscosity of the samples containing the photo-catalysts and  pro-oxidants decreased significantly and the modeling results showed that this decrement  was due to the polymer chain degradation and reduction of their molecular weights. In general, the results showed that the combination of the photo-catalysts and the pro-oxidants had synergistic effect on the photo-degradation of the LDPE and accelerates its degradation process a lot more in comparison when only the pro-oxidant was used.

---

---

---

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious and communicable disease and one of the top ten causes of death throughout the world. Monitoring and evaluating TB treatment outcomes provides the required data for taking the necessary measures to control TB. Thus, this study was carried out to find determinants of treatment failure among patients with smear-positive pulmonary TB in Khuzestan province during 2006-2014
Materials & Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted over a 9-year period in Khuzestan province. Predictors of treatment failure were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression
Findings: Among 5342 patients, the cumulative incidence of unsuccessful TB treatment was 1.85%. More than half of TB patients (59.2%) enrolled in this study were male, and most of them were living in urban areas (79.8%). Significant predictors of treatment failure were age (p=·001), weight (p= ·039), number of delayed days in diagnosis (p=·01), isoniazid resistance (p≤·001), and number of bacilli in patients` sputum at the beginning of treatment (p≤·001).
Conclusion: In this study, the rate of successful treatment was quite high; nevertheless, new cases of treatment failure could be prevented with special efforts such as prompt diagnosis and precise follow-up under Direct Observation Treatment Short course (DOTS) strategy.

---

A non-linear finite element model could be a useful tool in the development of a method of predicting soil pressure-sinkage behaviour, and can be used to investigate and analyze soil compaction. This study was undertaken to emphasize that the finite element method (FEM) is a proper technique to model soil pressure-sinkage behaviour. For this purpose, the finite element method was used to model soil pressure-sinkage behaviour and a two-dimensional finite element program was developed to perform the required numerical calculations. This program was written in FORTRAN. The soil material was considered as an elastoplastic material and the Mohr-Coulomb elastoplastic material model was adopted with the flow rule of associated plasticity. In order to deal with material non-linearity, incremental method was adopted to gradually load the soil and a total Lagran-gian formulation was used to allow for the geometric non-linear behaviour in this study. The FEM model was verified against previously developed models for one circular footing problem and one strip footing problem and the finite element program was used to pre-dict the pressure-sinkage behaviour of the footing surfaces. Statistical analysis of the veri-fication confirmed the validity of the finite element model and demonstrated the potential use of the FEM in predicting soil pressure-sinkage behaviour. However, experimental verification of the model is necessary before the method can be recommended for exten-sive use.

---

Aims: In the present study, a three-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic model with the capability to simulate the diffusion of chemical pollutants released in marine basins was developed and used as a case study to simulate the diffusion of phosphate released by fish culture cages located in the Sisangan marine basin.
Materials & Methods: The equations of the model including momentum equations, continuity of mass equation, temperature, salinity, representative of vertical velocity, the tendency of bottom pressure equations and an extra three-dimensional advection-diffusion equation for simulation of pollutant’s diffusion rewritten in the earth’s spherical coordinates with a vertical Sigma coordinate were solved using finite difference method. To provide the open boundary conditions, the model was used for simulation of wind driven currents in the Caspian Sea from 20 October 2018 to 20 May 2019. For the application of wind field and real geometric condition, it was used the time series of wind fields supplied by ECMWF reanalysis dataset and GEBCO bathymetry with 0.125 degrees resolution and 15 seconds of geographical resolution, respectively.
Findings: Considering the concentration of 17ppb for the phosphate as a concentration of pollutant in the source of the pollution in the location of the fish culture cages, wind induced currents and the diffusion of the phosphate were simulated for 8 months in both horizontal and vertical directions. The results of the simulations were demonstrated and analyzed within the framework of the horizontal surface current, distribution of the phosphate’s concentration in both horizontal and a vertical latitude-depth cross section.
Conclusion: The phosphate’s diffusion is affected by the wind induced currents and after 8 months, it could be extended to the distance of 11, 8.5, 9.5, and 5.7 kilometers far from the cages in eastern, western, southern, and northern directions, respectively. With the generation of vertical velocity and the turbulence effects in the upper layers, phosphate might be diffused in the vertical direction up to 400m depth, as well.

---

---

This paper presents the effect of tilt angle on static and dynamic performance characteristics of two gas-lubricated noncircular journal bearing configurations, namely two and four lobe bearings. The linearized system approach using finite element method is used to obtain both steady state and dynamic characteristics. The results of the investigation show that tilt angle has a significant effect on static and stability characteristics. With an increase in tilt angle, power loss is decreased while stability margins are increased.

---

---

In this experiment, head wastes were prepared and enzymatically hydrolyzed using alcalase (2.4 L) enzyme. The hydrolysate was fractionated by ultrafiltration with 10 kDa molecular weight cut-offs and the desired fraction was encapsulated following ion coagulation method (chitosan and triphosphate (TPP)) in nanochitosan capsules. Encapsulation process was optimized based on different ratios of chitosan:TPP and different concentrations (1, 5 and 10 mg/ml) of peptidic fraction. Finally, the degree of hydrolysis and the length of the peptides obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis were determined. The nanocapsules were examined for size, zeta potential and polydispersity index (PDI) using dynamic light scattering (Malvern, England). Structural and surface morphology studies including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of capsules produced under favorable conditions were also performed. Particle size was measured in various concentrations and treatments in the range of 30 to 150 nm. The best results were obtained in the treatment of 2: 1 ratio of chitosan to polyphosphate and concentration of 10 mg / ml. The size, dispersion index, zeta potential and size of nanocapsules in the optimal conditions were 0.375, 2020 and 30.13 nm, respectively, and storage conditions at -20 °C had no effect on the quality of nanocapsules. Based on the efficiency study, it was found that fraction with a concentration of 10 mg/ml is well encapsulated by chitosan with an efficiency of 91.04 ± 0.18 percent. The results showed that chitosan-TPP could be used for nanocapsulation of bioactive peptides with an approximate molecular weight of less than 10 kDa.

---

In this paper, first, a new criterion, titled “surplus percent of the customers” is defined for static transmission expansion planning in restructured power systems. Then by a simple example, the new criterion is compared with some already presented market-based criteria and it is shown that the new criterion can realistically evaluate the transmission network expansion from the market view. In this paper the bid of market participants (producers and consumers) to sell and buy power are considered as random variables with known probability density functions. Then the expectation of the surplus percent is introduced as an index for measuring the competitiveness of each transmission expansion plan. Then a least-investment cost expansion plan that increases the surplus percent to its ideal or near ideal value is searched. In this paper a fast method is also presented to calculate the expectation of the surplus percent using Monte-Carlo simulation with a predefined approximation. The results of applying the proposed method are illustrated for an example 8-bus power system.

---

---

Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo) volume was measured using water displacement and image processing methods. The volume determined from image processing method was compared to the volume determined by the water displacement method using the paired samples t-test and the Bland-Altman approach. The paired samples t-test results showed that the volume determined by image processing method was not significantly (P> 0.05) different from the volume measured through water displacement method. The mean and standard deviation of the volume difference between the two methods were -81.1 cm3 and 237.4 cm3, respectively (95% confidence interval: -212.5 and 50.4 cm3, P= 0.207). The average percentage difference between the two methods was 7.60%. The Bland-Altman approach was also indicated to be a satisfactory, image processing method suitable for volume estimation of almost all size cantaloupe. Accordingly, image processing provides an accurate, simple, rapid and non-invasive method to estimate fruit volume and can be easily implemented in monitoring fruit growth as well as in sorting of fruits during postharvest processing.

---