---

A solid state fermentation method was developed for the production of citric acid from date pulp (obtained of date syrup production from the process) by Aspergillus niger PTCC 5010. Poor yield was obtained when potassium ferrocyanide treated date pulp were used as substrate, but methanol at a 3-4% concentration markedly increased the forma-tion of citric acid from the waste. The optimum range of pH and moisture for citric acid production were 3.5-4.5, and 70-80% respectively. This method produced about 168g cit-ric acid per kg of date pulp under optimum conditions. On the basis of reducing sugar consumed, the yield was 87% within eight days.

---

An experiment was conducted to determine the dietary digestible lysine requirement of male and female broiler chickens (Arian) during the period from 6 to 21 days post-hatching. An amino acid-fortified basal diet containing corn and soybean meal as intact protein sources provided 20 % CP, and 3200 kcal AMEn / kg. In this experiment 150 male and 150 female chicks were allocated on the basis of BW to 12 treatments in a factorial arrangement (two sexes at six digestible lysine levels) with five replications of five chicks each in a completely randomized design (CRD). The digestible lysine levels fed were 0.85, 0.95, 1.05, 1.15, 1.25 and 1.35%. The growth rate and feed efficiency of birds fed the basal diet fortified with a surfeit level of l-Lysine-HCl were equal to those of birds fed a corn-soybean meal positive control diet. Average body-weight gain (ABWG) and gain: feed (GF) responded quadratically (P<0.05) to incremental dietary lysine addition. Subjecting the growth data to broken-line analysis indicated that the digestible lysine requirement for maximum body weight gain was 1.075% for males and 1.049% for females. The lysine requirement for maximum feed efficiency was 1.179% for males and 1.149% for females. Male chicks required a higher level of dietary lysine than females for both maximal ABWG and GF. Regardless of sex, 8.8% more digestible lysine (percentage of diet) was required for maximal GF than that needed for maximal ABWG.

---

Ninety one monoconidial Bipolaris isolates were obtained from lesions on different parts of rice in different locations of Mazandaran province during the summer of 2009. Bipolaris species were identified using morphological features such as color and shape of colony and color and size of conidia and conidiophores. The isolates were separated into two species; 85 (93.4%) isolates belonged to Bipolaris oryzae and the remaining 6 (6.6%) isolates to Bipolaris cynodontis. Therefore B. oryzae is regarded as the major cause of rice brown spot disease in Mazandaran province. In order to analyze genetic diversity among B. oryzae isolates, 71 isolates were subjected to fingerprinting analysis by rep-PCR using BOX and REP primers. In cluster analysis, 15 clonal lineages and 54 haplotypes were identified. The largest clonal lineage contained with 36 haplotypes was the most common lineage. These results also indicate a relatively high level of genetic diversity among B. oryzae isolates. Also, pathogenicity test of a few B. oryzae isolates (12 isolates) was conducted under greenhouse condition and showed that those isolates were pathogenic to rice seedlings of cv. Tarom. All isolates produced some leaf spots 24 h after inoculation.

---

In this study, gelatin was first extracted by alkaline and acidic treatment including 0.19 N NaOH and 0.12 N acetic acid solution by ratio of skin of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss (to solution of 1 to 7 and then heat treatment in 50 °C. Then, hydrolysed by alcalase enzyme for 4 hours with the ratio of enzyme to the substrate 1 to 100 and the degree of hydrolysis were measured after 4 hours. DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging activity, as well as reducing power assay of gelatin hydrolysate were measured. The results showed that the degree of hydrolysis after 4 hours was 46/7%. Also the highest DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging and reducing power at concentration of 10 mg/ml were 39/8%, 50/7%, and 0/123, respectively. The skin from fish filleting can be a suitable raw material for extraction of peptides with biological activities. The results showed that peptides derived from rainbow trout fish skin gelatin can be considered as a natural antioxidant.

---

 Fish protein hydrolysates from whole kilka, using alcalase enzyme (ratio 1: 100) under optimal temperature (55°C) and pH (8.5) was evaluated for its hydrolysis degree and antioxidant activity. Results of the hydrolysis degree recorded at time intervals of 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours indicated the hydrolysis degree increased with increase in the hydrolysis time. The evaluation of FPH antioxidant activity, using DPPH, ABTS and reducing power assay tests at 3 concentrations (1, 2 and 5 mg/ml indicated the highest inhibitory effect at 5 mg/ml was 74.4%, 72.3% and 1.8 absorbance in 700 nm for DPPH, ABTS and reducing power assay, respectively. Generally, the findings of this research confirmed the potential of kilka as a source of natural antioxidants for food applications.

---

Aims: Foodborne infections caused by bacteria, including Salmonella enteritidis, Shigella flexneri, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 are one of the most common diseases among poultry and humans. The purpose of this study was the simultaneous and rapid detection of important microorganisms found in fecal samples of poultry and poultry workers.
Materials & Methods: A total of 144 fecal samples were taken from poultry and poultry farms workers. Fecal swabs were cultured on specific media, and biochemical tests were performed for further confirmation of bacterial isolates. Moreover, genomic DNA of fecal swabs was extracted for molecular identification of S. enteritidis, E. coli O157: H7, and S. flexneri species using multiplex-PCR technique.
Findings: According to the multiplex-PCR technique results, 16.7, 13.9, and 9.5% of the poultry samples were positive for the presence of S. enteritidis, E. coli O157: H7, and S. flexneri species, respectively; whereas culture method results showed the corresponding prevalence rates of 18.1, 15.2, and 12.5% for the above species. Moreover, regarding the samples collected from the poultry farms workers, multiplex PCR showed the prevalence rates of 6.9, 12.5, and 4.2% for S. enteritidis, E. coli O157: H7 , and S. flexneri species, respectively; whereas culture method showed the corresponding prevalence rates of 8.3, 13.9, and 13.9% for the above species.
Conclusion: In the current study, the sensitivity and specificity of multiplex-PCR in detecting S. enteritidis, E. coli O157: H7, and S. flexneri species were 74 and 100% for samples taken from the poultry farms workers, and 82.2 and 100% for samples taken from the poultry, respectively, suggesting the possibility of using a designed multiplex-PCR method for rapid detection of infectious agents in poultry farms.

 

---

Aims: Bioactive peptides with antioxidant properties derived from fish by-products and wastes by enzymatic hydrolysis have become a topic of great interest for pharmaceutical, health food, and processing/preservation industries. Materials & Methods This study aimed to characterize peptide fractions with antioxidative activity recovered from rainbow trout gelatin hydrolysate. Four peptide fractions (<3 kDa, 3–10 kDa, 10–30 kDa, and >30 kDa) were obtained from gelatin hydrolysate by subjecting them to centrifugal ultrafiltration using successively a 30 kDa, 10 kDa, and a 3 kDa membrane. The
10–30 kDa fraction was characterized in terms of amino acid composition. The antioxidant activity of all fractions was monitored by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-azino bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging as well as reducing power activity.
Findings: The free amino acids in 10–30 kDa fraction were dominated by Gly, Pro, Ala, and Hyp; the total hydrophobic amino acid of 10–30 kDa fraction was also 61.5%. All hydrolysate and peptidic fractions demonstrated high antioxidant activities. Moreover, 10–30 kDa fraction exhibited the highest DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity (2, 5, and 10 mg ml⁻¹) and reducing power (10 mg ml⁻¹) compared to other fractions (p<0.05).
Conclusion: These results revealed the potential of peptide fractions recovered from rainbow trout skin gelatin as source of natural antioxidants for use in food products.

---

Due to the wide applications of gold nanoparticles, there have been great demands for their synthesis recently. Chemical methods produce pure and Non-dispersive nanoparticles, but these are quite expensive and potentially toxic to the environment. It has been suggested that the use of biological organisms and their components could be a suitable alternative for the production of nanoparticle in an eco-friendly manner (green synthesis). Using plant extracts for nanoparticle synthesis can be advantageous over other biological processes because it eliminates the elaborate process of maintaining cell cultures and can also be suitably scaled up for large-scale synthesis. In this study leaf extracts of Water cress, were used for green synthesis of gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles were formed by treating an aqueous HAuCl4 solution by different amount of plant leaf extract as reducing agent at different temperatures. UV–visible spectroscopy was used for monitoring of the reaction progress. The synthesized gold nanoparticles were characterized with Dynamic light scattering (DLS) size analyzer, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results show that only a few minutes were required for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles at 60 °C and 80 °C by 1000 μl of plant extract, suggesting appropriate reaction rates in comparable to those of nanoparticle synthesis by chemical methods. TEM images showed that spherical nanoparticles (size, 10–50 nm) were obtained at higher temperatures and leaf broth concentrations. The analysis of FTIR bands show that the Polysaccharides and proteins are probably involved in the bio reduction and synthesis of nanoparticles.

---

---

Anthracnose disease caused by Ophiognomonia leptostyla, is the most important and widespread fungal disease on Juglans regia. Walnut disease symptomatic samples were collected from different provinces of Iran, during 2015–2016. Fungal isolates were identified based on ITS-rDNA sequence data. Variance analysis of colony growth rate (mm/day) and acervulus density on medium, was significant. Acervulus density on medium was strongly correlated with colony growth rate. The Max acervulus density was 60% and > 80% for Hamedan and Mazandaran isolates respectively. The virulence of six selected isolates was examined on cv. Chandler. Virulence indices including spot diameter, disease severity, spot area average and logistic infection rate except spot number index, could successfully detect significant differences among isolates. SA-SE1 isolate from Mazandaran showed significantly the most virulence indices: disease severity (%), spot area and logistic infection rate. For the other five isolates, four significant levels in all virulence indices were observed. In summary after this isolate, other isolates including TA-ZY21, LA-SY21, U94-SR1, HA-GH22 and MA-K1 were placed in the next steps of virulence ranking. There was insignificant correlation between colony growth rate and disease severity. However, the acervulus density and disease severity were significantly correlated implying the importance of acervular conidial inoculum in secondary disease cycle progress. Disease severity was strongly correlated with number of spots, spot diameter and logistic infection rate. Disease severity was also negatively correlated with Mid-time (time to progress 50%). Moreover, there was positive relationship between logistic infection rate and three traits: number of spots, spot diameter and spot area average. This study was the first of the disease virulence components on cv. Chandler in Iran.
 

---

An experiment was conducted to reevaluate the digestible lysine requirement of Arian male broilers by comparing the performance of chicks fed different levels of cottonseed meal (CSM) on a total amino acid (AA) versus a digestible AA basis. Four hundred and thirty two (432) Arian male broiler chicks were allotted to 18 treatments with four repli-cates of six chicks each in a completely randomized block design in a factorial arrange-ment with two factors (two levels of digestible lysine  nine different diets). The first of the eighteen treatments was the corn and soybean meal control diet based on previously de-termined digestible lysine requirement for maximum body weight gain. Diets 2 to 5 con-tained 5, 10, 15 or 20% CSM, respectively and were formulated to contain levels of total AA equivalent to those in the first treatment. Diets 6 to 9 contained the same levels of CSM as diets 2 to 5 but the diets were formulated to be equal in digestible AA content to the first treatment. Treatments 10 to 18 were the same as treatments 1 to 9, but on the ba-sis of determined digestible lysine requirement for maximum feed efficiency. Formulating diets containing CSM on a digestible AA basis resulted in an improvement in chick per-formance compared to those formulated on a total AA basis (P<0.01). The lessening of chick performance with diets formulated on a total AA basis compared to a digestible AA basis, indicated that the previously determined digestible lysine requirement for the Arian broiler strain may be correct.

---

---

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.

---

Since one of the main problems in bone tissue repair is the bacterial infections, recently the development of drug-eluting nanocomposite scaffolds for bone regenerative medicine applications has attracted significant attention. In this study Polycaprolactone (PCL)-based composite scaffolds containing 10vol% of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (~21nm), and bioactive glass particles (~6µm), were prepared without drug and also loaded by Tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) antibiotic (0.57, 1.15 mg/mL) through solvent casting method for bone tissue engineering applications. Structural characterizations based on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and FTIR analysis were utilized to study the chemical bonds of glass/ceramic particles, and antibiotic crystals on the surface. In addition, in vitro cytotoxicity, and antibacterial analysis were performed by MTT, and Agar well-diffusion assays, respectively. In this study polymeric and composite scaffolds were fabricated with TCH clusters decorated on the surface. It was shown that the bioactive glass/PCL scaffolds loaded by 0.57 mg/mL of TCH revealed significant antibacterial effect, despite the acceptable cell viability. These scaffolds seem to be of interest as a potential candidate in drug-eluting scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications.

 

---

Developing a technique for efficient and safe gene delivery to plant cells is a fundamental aim of plant biotechnology. Agrobacterium mediated transformation as the most common and practical method in plant gene delivery has considerable difficulties such as limitation in applicable for plant species. In recent years several new methods have been suggested, although none of them could be a good replacement. The use of nanotechnology has been provided new solutions to overcome the limitations of biotechnology. Designing biocompatible nanostructures for passing cell barriers and targeted delivery of cargo has improved the biological achievements. In this research the capability of arginine functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube (Arg-SWNT) as a new carrier to transfer plasmid DNA, which codes green fluorescent protein (GFP) to tobacco suspension cells, has been investigation. It is suggested that single-walled carbon nanotubes can pass through cell wall pores and plasma membrane while it carries plasmid DNA along with. The fluorescence microscopy images illustrate the success of gene delivery by Arg-SWNT

---

 to enhance the closed loop performance in presence of disturbance, uncertainties and delay a double loop mixture of MPC and robust controller is proposed. This double loop controller ensures smooth tracking for a 3-axis gyro-stabilized platform which has delay intrinsically. This control idea is suggested to eliminate high frequency disturbances and minimize steady state error with minimum power consumption in simulation and experiment. Proposed controller based on the combination of ℋ₂ and ℋ_∞ controllers in the inner control loop shows the robustness of the proposed methodology. In the outer loop to have a good tracking performance, an integrated MPC is used to handle delay in system dynamics. Also, the main idea for dealing with uncertainties is using integral and derivative of platform attitude. In the proposed platform, the ℋ_∞ controller is compared with ℋ_∞/ℋ₂ controller in KNTU laboratory in theory and experiment. Results of experimental set up shows the same reaction of two controllers against disturbance and uncertainties in delayed system.

---

Grapes are among the world most planted horticultural crops. Since the last century, attempts have been made to improve the quality of grapes in the world. Meanwhile, the necessity of having knowledge about the history of progenies families led to the link between genealogy and breeding. Considering some previous mislabeling, in order to find out the accuracy of the controlled crosses as well as determining the possible parents and genealogy of the hybrid progenies, 23 grapevine genotypes were studied by using 14 SSRs loci. These progenies included 12 promising lines selected from 22 crosses as well as their parents that included four seedless and seven seeded cultivars from Iranian Grape Breeding Program, The highest similarity between a female parent and its progenies, which was obtained from dice similarity coefficient and cluster analysis, was about 0.65, belonging to 'Alibaba' and its three progenies (S54, S55, S40). Results rejected any cross-selfing in female parents and also discriminated progenies from parents. Due to possible common genetic backgrounds in the parents, assigning progenies to their parents by cluster analysis or allele counting was impossible. Therefore, parentage analyses were done within likelihood based assignment approach using CERVUS 3.0 software. By this approach, true parents could be identified from candidate parents based on calculated positive and negative LOD scores. Also, by using this approach, genotyping errors, which were previously derived from low number of SSR loci or similarity in the parents' backgrounds, decreased in the final results. In addition, full sib and half sib relationships between S55 and S54 with S40 were obvious. Furthermore, wherever prevention of inbreeding depression is required, the results could be used to select convenient parents for backcrossing.

---

Aims: This study aims to investigate the impact of shading devices and airflow velocity on the thermal (energy) performance and convective flow in a south-facing double-skin façade of a building located in Semnan, a hot and arid region in Iran. The research seeks to determine which type of shading device, including inclined and multi-layer shades, can most effectively reduce indoor temperature and enhance convective flow.

Methods: Numerical simulations were conducted using SolidWorks and COMSOL Multiphysics software for geometry modeling, fluid flow simulation, and heat transfer analysis, respectively. A two-dimensional double-skin façade with various shading configurations was considered, and turbulent natural ventilation flow within them was examined.

Findings: Simulation results demonstrated that the geometry and airflow velocity significantly influenced the velocity and turbulence of the airflow within the double-skin cavity. A geometry with a multi-layer (asymmetric) shading device exhibited an 18.5% temperature reduction at the same wind speed. The maximum temperature reduction occurred in a geometry with a multi-layer (asymmetric) shading device and an airflow velocity of 5 meters per second. In other words, the best thermal performance was observed in multi-layer shading devices.

Conclusion: This research indicated that the use of multi-layer (asymmetric) shading devices can effectively reduce indoor temperature and enhance convective flow. These findings suggest that the appropriate design of shading devices can be employed as a passive method to reduce energy consumption in buildings.
 

---

In this paper, the problem of the navigation error effect for the optimal and constraint Trajectory of the UAVs that are required to fly at low altitude over terrains has been discussed. Due to the increasing deviation problem of inertial navigation systems in terms of time, having a safe flight and collision avoidance with terrain at low altitude is the main point in the trajectory design of this type of the vehicles. On the other hand, some of these vehicles use Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) as a navigation aiding system. This system is more efficient in rough terrains, and providing the requirements of this system beside other constraints is a complex task. In this paper is tried to meet these constraints in the trajectory design process. For this purpose, an algorithm based on the layered network flow on the digital terrain maps used in a manner that has a high potential in adoption of various constraints and optimal trajectory is generated. Then, using equations of motion on a terrain digital data in 3D space with the dynamical constraints and different optimality criteria, a complete model of navigation error and also parameters affecting TERCOM has been developed to generate feasible path reducing terrain collision probability to zero.. Numerical results show validity of this issue.

---

Twenty promising barley lines were evaluated at seven research stations in Iran, during two cropping seasons. The analysis of variance on grain yield data showed mean squares of environments, genotypes and Genotype×Environment Interaction (GEI) as significant, respectively accounting accounted for 60.38, 4.52 and 35.09% of treatment combination sum of squares. To find out the effects of GEI on grain yield, the data were subjected to Additive Main effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) and Sites Regression (SREG) GGE biplot analysis. Mega-environmental investigation is the most suitable way to utilize GEI. "Which-won-where" pattern was followed with three distinct mega-environments found in the barley assessment. Entries G5 and G6 showed general adaptability while G7 and G13 exhibited specific adaptation to Neishabour and Esfehan, respectively. Considering both techniques, genotype G1 revealed high grain yield along with yield stability. With regard to barley assessment, Esfehan was identified as a location with larger main effects interaction, making it a less predictable location for barley variety evaluation. The results finally indicated that AMMI and GGE biplot are informative methods to explore stability and adaptation pattern of genotypes in practical plant breeding and in subsequent variety recommendations. In addition, finding mega-environments help to identify the must suitable barley cultivars that can be recommended for areas within the mega-environment in either one or more test locations.