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The adsorption of polymeric systems onto reservoir rock through altering the wettability of rock surface improves oil recovery and reduces the unwanted water production. . In this study, the adsorption behavior of dilute polymeric systems based on sulfonated polyacrylamide  on the glass particles surfaces (representative of sandstone reservoirs) was investigated and the effect of this phenomenon on changing their surface properties was examined. Results show that crosslinked polymeric samples have lower adsorption on glassy surface comparing with uncrosslinked sulfonated polyacrylamide solution. Furthermore, the contact angle tests results showed that crosslinked samples change the surface property of glass particle less than sulfonated polyacrylamide solution. In addition the Langmuir isotherm model fitted the isotherm data better than the Freundlich model for these dilute polymeric systems. Furthermore, study of the thermodynamic of adsorption showed that their adsorption behavior on glassy surfaces is a spontaneous and exothermic process. 

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Background: Integrons are considered as to play a significant role in the evolution and spread of antimicrobial resistance genes.
Materials and Methods: A total of 120 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (collected from Zanjan hospitals between March 2015 and February 2016) were investigated for molecular characterization of MBLs and Class I and II integrons. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was also performed based on the CLSI guidelines. The frequency of MBL producing isolates and the susceptibility to various antimicrobial agents were investigated.
Results: Based on the obtained results, Bla_IMP was the most frequently detected metallo-β-lactamase. The frequency of bla_VIM, blaSPM, and bla_SIM, in MBL producing isolates was 17.1, 57.1, and 14.1%, respectively. No bla_GIM harboring isolate was detected in our study. We detected two (5.7%) multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa strains isolated from the urine and sputum samples, which harbored bla_NDM-1. These isolates also contained bla_IMP and bla_SPM. Class I integron was detected in 94.3% of the MBL positive isolates while 8.5% of the isolates contained Class II integrons. Of five different gene cassettes identified in Class I and II integrons, cassette encoding resistance to trimethoprim (dfr) was found to be predominant.
Conclusion: These results indicate that Class I integrons are widespread among the MBL producing P. aeruginosa isolates. Therefore, appropriate surveillance and control measures are essential to prevent the further spread of MBL and integron producing P. aeruginosa in hospitals.­­

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The effects of mucal proteins of sea anemone, Stichodactylahaddoni,on different stages of embryonic development of zebra fish (D. rerio) were examined. The sea anemone samples were collected from the intertidal areas of the Hormuz Island (Persian Gulf), and were frozen at -160 °C. Protein and peptide components were extracted by 100% methanol. Following the total protein assessment by ELISA, three concentrations (2.1, 3.7 and 7.4 mg/ml distil water) were prepared. From each concentration, 2 ml was added to the microplates containing 150 zebra fish eggs each, with 2 replications; microplates with normal aquarium water was also used as control group. The eggs were incubated for 72 hrs and the process of embryonic development was observed every 6 to 12 hours. Results showed that the embryonic development was normal in the control group, while the eggs treated with 3.7 and 7.4 mg/ml ofmucal proteins degenerated and blackened in less than 12 hours. Also a delay in the phase of growth in embryonic development was observed in the group with 1.2 mg/ml of protein. Our results showed that the mucal proteins from this sea anemone can affect embryonic development rapidly, causing delayed growth at low concentration, and cell lysis and embryonic degeneration at high concentrations.

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Research Subject: One of the important methods in the treatment of skin wounds is the use of wound dressings. Recently, the use of polymer-based wound dressings has become increasingly common. The use of natural polymers is very important in wound dressings. The aim of the present study is to design and manufacture a polyvinyl alcohol/aloe vera wound dressing with the capability of healing skin wounds.
Research Approach: The electrospinning method was applied to prepare the samples. Aloe vera gel was first extracted, purified, and powdered by freeze-drying. In all samples, the amount of polyvinyl alcohol and aloe vera powder was fixed at 8 wt.%. This value was selected empirically based on the quality of the produced fibers. Different samples including different amounts of polyvinyl alcohol and aloe vera were produced and their properties including morphology, tensile strength, swelling, degradability, and antimicrobial properties were investigated.
Main Results: The results showed that the dropless random oriented fibers with uniform diameter were produced. The diameter increased with increasing aloe vera contribution, which was attributed to an increase in viscosity due to the presence of aloe vera. With increasing aloe vera contribution in the samples, tensile strength decreased and the elongation percentage increased. The swelling behavior of the specimens was evaluated by measuring the weight of the specimens in a simulated skin environment and the results showed that the presence of aloe vera increased the hydrophilic properties of the specimens. Antimicrobial activity of the samples against two gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa was investigated using the disk diffusion method and it was found that the presence of Aloe vera in the samples brought antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Finally, the findings of this study confirm the feasibility of using polyvinyl alcohol /aloe vera for the production of the electrospun wound dressing.

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Abstract Sharks are relatively large sea creatures by an extensive cartilaginous skeleton. The shark cartilage is a rich source of bioactive molecules including collagen protein and glycosaminoglycan. In the present study, Cetyl Piridinium Chloride cationic salt was used for extracting of glycosaminoglycans from dryed cartilage of Carcharhinus dussumieri and their anticoagulant properties were examined. FTIR spectrum was also used to identifing and structurally compare with heparin. The total amount of the extracted glycosaminoglycan was 42.8 mg/g of the dry cartilage. Also, FTIR spectrum results confirmed the presence of heparin- like compounds in the extract. Finally, the anticoagulant properties of extracted glycosaminoglycans was examined by the Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time anticoagulant test (APTT) method in 410, 763, and 1250 concentrations, and Prothrombin Time (PT) method in the 1250 concentration on the human plasma. The anticoagulant time was 43, 50, and 85s in 410, 763, and 1250 concentrations of extracts, respectively, which extended the coagulation time 1.3, 1.5, and 2.5 folds.

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Field experiment was conducted in 2010 and 2011, in order to study the effects of NPK fertilizers on the incidence of Verticillium wilt of a commercial variety 'Agria' in deficient soil at Eghlid Agriculture Research Station in the north of Fars province, Iran. Experimental design was randomized complete blocks and each treatment replicated three times. Treatments were the amounts of recommended NPK rate (180N, 125P, 100K), 20% and 40 % less and more than the rate based on the soil tests. Soil at planting sites was inoculated with 5 ml of microsclerotia suspension (70 ms/ml). Tubers weight, plant height and disease scores were recorded. Two-year combined analysis indicated that there were significant differences at 1% level between the treatments. The results showed a marked decrease in Verticillium wilt incidence and increase in yield when NPK was used at the recommended rate. Lowest disease score and highest yield even more than the cultivar potential were obtained in the plots when N was used 40 % more than the recommended level of the soil test (252 N), combined with K at the level of the soil test (100 K). P was essential for plant growth but had no effect on the disease.  

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Internal branding has been recognized as an important issue in marketing in recent trends. Also, internal marketing is one of the tools for implementing the strategy within an organization that focuses on employees as the organization's first customers. Due to increasing importance of the employee's role in the organization, this paper seeks to develop a model in which internal marketing and internal branding are used as internal tools. These tools improve employees’ commitment and encourage them to deliver the brand promises to customers. The statistical population of the research was Semnan Taxation Office personnel from which 78 samples were selected through simple random sampling. Structural equations modeling is used to test the research model using WarpPLS 3.0 software. Based on the findings, the internal marketing does not have a direct impact on the brand performance, but it affects brand performance indirectly through the internal branding. The results of path analysis confirmed the direct effect of internal branding on the brand performance, as well as its indirect effect on performance through employee's commitment to the brand. Moreover, the results indicated that internal marketing does not have a significant effect on corporate brand commitment.

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Witches' broom disease of lime (WBDL) is a lime disease that has destroyed several citrus orchards in Oman, United Arab Emirates and Iran. WBDL is caused by a bacterium ''Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia'' which is spread through the citrus orchards by a leafhopper, Hishimonus phycitis (Distant) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). Leafhoppers are associated with symbiotic microorganisms which provide them with essential amino acids lacking in their diets. Yeast-like relationships with insects are known as common and obligate symbiotic relationship. A prerequisite for the development of future strategies for the symbiotic control of insect pests and insect-vector competence is the identification of insect-associated yeast-like symbionts. In the present study, yeast-like symbionts housed in H. phycitis were investigated in insects collected from 13 districts of citrus orchards distributed in southern Iran (Hormozgan, Kerman, Sistan-Balushestan and Fars provinces). Insects were collected from infected lime trees by a D-Vac and stored at -20 ºC up to the DNA extraction. Total DNA was extracted and PCR was conducted with specific primer sets targeting 18S rRNA and 26S rRNA genes of the symbionts. Results revealed that the vector harboured two yeast symbionts, namely Yeast like symbiont of H. phycitis (Hp-YLS)and Candida pimensis,with a similarity of (98-99%) to those reported from the other Cicadellids. These results substantiate the association of these two endosymbiotic microbiota with H. phycitis which may suggest their ecological interactions. To establish any endosymbiotic relationship and probable interfering in pathogen transmission, further studies are needed.

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During a survey in 2016, Convolvulus glomeratus showing symptoms resembling those caused by phytoplasmas were observed in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan province, Iran. These plants were examined for phytoplasma presence by nested-PCR assays using universal primer pair P1/P7 followed by R16F2n/R16R2. All the infected plants indicated positive results using universal primer pairs of P1/P7 followed by R16F2n/R16R2. Results of phylogenetic and virtual RFLP analyses of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the phytoplasma associated with Convolvulus glomeratus witches' broom (CgWB) was a strain of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium'. The phytoplasma was successfully transmitted to healthy plants by leafhopper, Orosius albicinctus (Distant) which account as a vector of this phytoplasma. This is the first report on the presence of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium’ (phytoplasma group 16SrIX-J) in C. glomeratus and its insect vector in Iran.
 

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Despite successful lime witches'-broom (LWB) phytoplasma transmission by Hishimonus phycitis to the lime trees and Bakraee seedlings, there is no published document regarding LWB transmission by H. phycitis to lime seedlings. To study the possibility of vector-based transmission to lime seedlings, the feral leafhoppers were collected in LWB-infected lime orchards and caged on one-year old Mexican lime seedlings. Six months after inoculation, 50% of inoculated seedlings showed typical symptoms of LWB and were strongly positive in PCR assays. To our knowledge, this is the first report of transmission of Ca. P. aurantifolia to Mexican lime seedlings by H. phycitis under greenhouse condition.
 
 

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Aims:  This study aimed to investigate persistent symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients admitted to a general tertiary teaching hospital during a 9-month follow-up period.
Materials & Methods: In this study, 400 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Iran were studied, among them 78 RT-qPCR positive cases were identified from February 19 to March 18, 2020. After excluding readmitted and deceased patients, 75 cases underwent in-hospital follow-up. Out-of-hospital follow-up was done for 57 living patients, of whom four cases were unreachable, and five cases died after discharge. The remaining 48 participants were followed up for nine months, and their symptoms and complaints were checked by regular visits to the infectious disease clinic and telephone calls via a checklist designed by the authors.
Findings: The mean age of RT-qPCR positive hospitalized patients was 54.64 ± 17.42 years, and 38.7% of them were female. Overall, five (10.4%) patients complained of dyspnea, three (6.2%) patients of olfactory nerve complications, three (6.2%) patients of persistent fatigue, and two (4.2%) patients of prolonged cough up to the end of the follow-up period. New-onset symptoms were reported in five (10.4%) patients; in most of them (4 out of 5), these symptoms were neurological (urinary retention, tremor with ataxia, distraction, and insomnia).
Conclusion: A large proportion of patients who recover from COVID-19 infection experience prolonged symptoms. Further investigations should be done to provid more data on the underlying causes and risk factors of developing these post-COVID conditions.

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Aims: This study aimed to examine the challenging experience of parents with hospitalized chronic kidney disease children in the nephrology department.
Participants & Methods: Using the content analysis approach, a qualitative study was carried out on 19 parents with chronic kidney disease children. The participants were selected through purposive sampling. For data gathering, in-depth, semi-structured, and face-to-face interviews were carried out and the collected data were analyzed through conventional content analysis.
Findings: Data analyses revealed two overarching categories of “confusion and the lack of support” and “chronic illness challenges.” The subcategories of category 1 were “insufficient information in parents and others” and “inadequate support.” Category 2 included the subcategories of “chronic nature of the disease” and “hard to manage the disease.”
Conclusion: Through creating a proper communication and supportive environment, the health team members can significantly assist parents.

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 Beet curly top Iran virus (BCTIV) and Beet curly top virus (BCTV) are responsible for the curly top disease in sugar beet Beta vulgaris L. and many other plants. Mixed infection by BCTIV and BCTV in sugar beet plants results in a synergistic interaction, with more severe symptoms than plants infected by either virus, accompanied by an increase in BCTIV and a decrease in BCTV titers. Interaction of the Replication associated protein (Rep) with the nonanucleotide motif within the origin of replication is crucial for the replication of the geminivirus genome. Using an in silico approach, we investigated the possible contribution of the interaction between Rep and the nonanucleotide motifs in the interference between BCTIV and BCTV in mixed infections. The physicochemical characterization of both Reps was performed, and their secondary and tertiary structures were predicted by SOMPA tool and I-TASSER server, respectively. Then, the binding affinity of each Rep towards cognate and non-cognate viral nonanucleotide motifs was assessed using Docking simulations. Cluster analysis of HADDOCK revealed that the total binding energy of BCTV Rep toward its cognate nonanucleotide motif was lower than for the BCTIV complex, confirming a higher affinity of BCTV encoded Rep for its nonanucleotide motif. Interestingly, the BCTIV Rep showed the highest affinity for the nonanucleotide motif of the non-cognate BCTV nonanucleotide motif. Since the replication of geminiviruses relies on species-specific Rep interactions and activities, this result could be considered responsible for the competitive interference of BCTIV towards BCTV.

 

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Hibiscus chlorotic ringspot virus (HCRSV), genus Betacarmovirus, family Tombusviridae, is a common pathogen of hibiscus plants in tropical and subtropical regions. During 2020-2021, leaf samples of Chinese hibiscus Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. with mottling and chlorotic ring spot symptoms were collected from Ahvaz and Molasani Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran. Total RNA extracted from symptomatic samples was subjected to RT-PCR analysis to amplify the sequence of the coat protein gene (CP) (p38) of HCRSV. Complete (1038 bp) and partial (932 bp) p38 sequences were determined and deposited in the GenBank database. The consensus sequences obtained from CP were compared with those of known isolates using the nBLAST program and phylogenetic analysis. The phylogenetic tree constructed based on the p38 sequences showed different ancestors for Iranian isolates of HCRSV. Additionally, the isolates studied were grouped into clades regardless of their geographic distribution, suggesting that there is no differentiation of population based on location and that populations are interconnected. Recombination analysis based on p38 sequences predicted at least two acceptable recombinant isolates, Ahvaz (Iran) and Israel. In silico prediction of CP structures of isolates involved in recombination events showed low sequence to structure identity between HCRSV isolates. In addition to reporting two new HCRSV isolates from Iran, our work demonstrated that HCRSV exhibits a high genetic variation through recombination and that the classification criterion could be changed from low nucleotide sequence identity to a higher value, along with the structural analysis of betacarmovirus proteins.


 

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Chitinases are essential enzymes in crustaceans that play an important role in the molting cycle and digestion of chitin. Based on the present study, the chitinase encoding cDNA of Penaeus mergueinsis with a length of 1440 bp containing 467 amino acids was sequenced by PCR and then its phylogenetic and bioinformatics analysis was performed. The new sequence was registered in the gene bank with the accessition number MT250539 and the molecular weight of the protein resulting from this sequence was predicted to be 51.84 KDa and the theoretical isoelectric point of 4.79. Comparison of amino acid sequences among penaeid chitinases showed the highest identification (about 97 to 92%) with P. mondon chi-3, F. chinensis, P. vannamei and P. japonicus chi-3, respectively. Phylogenetic studies showed that chitinase in the present study belongs to group 3 chitinases. Revealed protein pattern analyzes showed that chitinase from P. mergueinsis contained the catalytic domain Glyco-18 at position 2-347, a chitin-binding site of pritrophin A at position 403-456, a disulfide bridge formed by two cysteines at position 436-421 is a chitin-binding domain type 2, active site (¹¹7FDGLDMDWE¹²⁵), a proline / threonine-rich region at positions 376-412, and a putative N-glycosylation site at position 427-424 (NTSG). The present study shows that the P. mergueinsis sequence contains active chitinase motifs similar to previously sequenced chitinases, and in the case of cloning, expression and purification probably has functional and structural features similar to the enzymes of the above species.

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Sandwich panels have high strength to weight ratio because of their special structure. The variables which are defined for designing sandwich panels should be determined with applying necessary strength and lowest weight. In this paper, the imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) has been used for minimizing the weight of a sandwich panel with prismatic core based on yielding and buckling criteria. ICA is inspired of imperialist competitions and it is based on two special criteria as recruitment policy and stable imperialist competition. Arrays numbers, core and surface thickness and panel height are assumed as design variables for decreasing panel weight. The results were shown that core and surface thickness and the total height of panel has been increased by increasing loading for given number of arrays. Also the core and surface thickness has been decreased and the total height have been increased by increasing array number for a determined loading and so panel weight has been decreased. A panel with diamond core has highest structure efficiency. It was shown that ICA is useful and competitive than the other heuristic algorithms because of direct using of function values in some problems which was required to the total optimization.

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Since there are struggles with CNTs dispersion in the resin and production costs, synthesis and test of epoxy/carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposites is not economical. For this reason, simulation methods are proper techniques to predict mechanical properties of these nanocomposites. But the actual dimensions of CNTs and their length to diameter (aspect) ratio is a cause for concern in nano and micro scale finite element modeling. In this paper, different arrangements of CNTs in epoxy matrix have been presented using a beam element as a CNT and creating representative volume element of nanocomposite in micro scale. Effects of volume fraction, aspect ratio and wave effects of CNTs on nanocmposite effective elastic moduli have been investigated. The results show that this method eliminates the limitation of both micro and nano molding and simulates the real conditions of nanocomposites and can be used to examine the effects of geometric parameters in the effective moduli. On the other hand, the simulation results have a good agreement with experimental results.

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Qashqai Turkic is one of the southwestern​​ (Oghuz) Turkic languages which is spoken in the south of Iran. The intense and long-term linguistic contact of Qashqai Turkic with Persian has caused profound changes in it’s original characteristics at all language levels and its convergence with Persian language is increasing day by day. In this research, in the framework of the code-copying model introduced by Lars Johanson, the syntactic changes occured in this language as a result of contact with Persian have been studied. Changes in causation strategies, strategies for expressing modality, expressing the verb "have", deletion of genitive case marker of the possessor in a genitive-possessive construction, change in the expression of copula and existential verbs, investigation of evidentiality, investigation of newly made compound "belä+possessive suffix", change of case government in some verbs, investigation of the presence of Persian Ezafe, Persian indefinite article and Kurdish definite article in Qashqai Turkic, deletion of the interrogative enclitic -mI and change in order of adjective and indefinite article (bir) are the items that have been studied in this study. In this research, in addition to re-evaluating the results of previous research about syntactic changes in Qashqai Turkic, some new achievements have also been introduced by investigating and analyzing a written corpus consisting of seven story books and relying on the quantitative data obtained from this investigation.

1. Introduction
Contact-induced change which is traditionally called borrowing, is one of the main types of language change. The rate and extent of this change is directly proportional to the intensity and duration of language contact. Qashqai Turkic, which is one of the southwestern (Oghuz) Turkic languages in Iran, has undergone profound changes in its syntactic structure due to its intense and long-term contact with Persian. In this research, we have identified these changes at the level of simple sentences, and by statistical analysis, we have determined the extent and progress of the changes and also re-evaluated the results of past research in this regard.

2. Literature Review
Researchers who have worked in the field of contact linguistics in Turkic languages have pointed out various syntactic changes that have occurred as a result of their contact with Indo-European languages and especially Iranian languages. Changes in causation strategies, strategies for expressing modality, expressing the verb "have", deletion of genitive case marker of the possessor in a genitive-possessive construction, change in the expression of copula and existential verbs, change in evidential marking role of the suffix -mIš, change in pronominal system by newly made compound "belä+possessive suffix", change of verb government of postpositions (case suffixes) in some verbs, investigation of the presence of Persian Ezafe, Persian indefinite article and Kurdish definite article in Turkic varieties of Iran, deletion of the interrogative enclitic -mI and change in order of adjective and indefinite article (bir) before nouns are among the changes that have been mentioned. These studies were reviewed here as Soper (1987), Johanson (1998), Özkan & Musa (2004), Csató (2005), Kıral, F. (2005), Hashemi Zarajabad (2009), Karakoç (2009), Bosnalı (2010), Erfani (2012), Nazari & Routamaa (2012), Sultanzade (2016), Bulut (2016, 2018), Heydari (2019) and Johanson et al. (2020).

3. Methodology
In this study, contact-induced syntactic changes have been identified by examining and analyzing seven story books published in Qashqai Turkic in Iran. The extent and progress of these changes have been also determined by statistical results obtained from counting native and modified structures. The theoretical framework used in this research is the code-copying model introduced by Lars Johanson and applied in a lot of research about contact linguistics in Turkic languages.

4. Results
By examining the corpus and based on quantitative data obtained from counting both native and modified structures, the results of this study can be summarized as follows:

• Despite the native order, the dative object often appears after the verb.
• Following Persian paradigms, two analytic causative constructions have been developed using the verbs qoy- (to put) and ver- (to give).
• In modals of necessity and possibility, instead of the native morphological strategies, the analytic use of the modal adverb gäräk (must) and bälkäm (maybe) which appears with the main verb of the clause in optative mood, has been developed. According to a pattern that exists in Farsi, verbs sometimes used in the past tense to refer to irrealis mood. To express the ability, an analytic solution has been developed using the verb bašar- (to succeed).
• Along with more and more convergence with Persian, a more advanced construction has been developed to express the verb to have in Qashqai.
• The presence of Persian Ezafe construction, Persian indefinite article and Kurdish definite article was confirmed with a relatively limited extent.
• In most genitive-possessive constructions, the possessor noun appears without the genitive case marker.
• The verb government of postpositions (case suffixes) in some verbs such as bɑšlɑ- (to start), soruš- (to ask), inɑn- (to believe) and ɑs- (to hang) has been changed by following the Persian paradigms.
• Copula and existential verbs were used interchangebly with relatively low frequency.
• The evidential marking role of the suffix -mIš in Qashqai Turkic has been lost under the influence of Persian and this suffix is ​​used to express the perfect aspect. In addition, a copied analytic construction is also developed to express evidentiality using demä ki (Don’t say that...).
• Qashqai pronominal system has been changed by a newly made compound "belä+possessive suffix" following Persian pronominal system.
• The interrogative enclitic -mI has been disappeared and replaced by a rising intonation at the end of sentence.

The order of adjective and indefinite article (bir) before nouns has been changed.