Toxicity appraisement of methaldehyde, ferricol®, snail repellent tape® and sabzarang® (snail repellent paint) on land snails (Xeropicta derbentina), (Xeropicta krynickii)

Different control methods have been applied to control the land snail (Xeropicta derbentina and Xeropicta krynickii) but the chemical method is realized to be the most effective method to control this pest. The main goal of this work was to determine the efficacy of methaldehyde Ferricol, Snail repellent tape and Snail repellent paint (Sabzrang) on this pest. Methaldehyde, Ferricol were used as bait around citrus trees and Snail repellent tape and Snail repellent paint rolled up around main stem of the citrus trees. The life snails on citrus trees were monitored at 2, 15, 29, 36, 68 and 98 days after treatments. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences between treatments and control,and also significant differences were found among treatments (p < 0.01). LSD and Tukay-Test among the above treatments has shown that repellent band and methaldehyde with 5 ± 1.3 and 10.6 ± 0.9 percentage of the alive snail on trees, respectively, were more effective than repellent color and biological toxin with 14.2 ± 2.6 and 31.3 ± 3.9 percentage alive snail on citrus trees and significant differences with control, respectively. The control efficacies of the methaldehyde and Ferricol were91.87 and 82.63%, respectively; also the total control efficacies of the Snail repellent tape and Snail repellent paint were 95.22 and 82.26%, respectively, after 2, 15, 29, 36, 68 and 98 days of post treatment.Therefore the Snail repellent tape and methaldehyde were better than the other treatments for the management of land snail population

Toxicity evaluation of Tracer, Palizin, Sirinol, Runner and Tondexir with and without mineral oils on Phylocnistis citrella Stainton

The bioinsecticides are considered to be the best and effective pesticides. The main aim of this experiment was to determine the efficacy of Tracer (Spinosyn), Insecticidal Gel (Palizin), Insecticidal Emulsion (Sirinol), Runner (Methoxifenozide) and Tondoxir with and without mineral oils (MO) on the control of citrus leaf-miner (CLM),phylocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) in laboratory condition at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h post treatments. Leaves of citrus with second and third instars of leaf-miner larvae were used in all tests and the larval mortality were monitored. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences between reatments and control, and also significant differences were found among treatments. Tukay-Test among above treatments has shown that Tracer + oil, Runner and Runner + oil and Tondxir + oil with 98 ± 3. 2, 98 ±  phylocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) in laboratory condition at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h post treatments. Leaves of citrus with second and third instars of leaf-miner larvae were used in all tests and the larval mortality were monitored. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences between reatments and control, and also significant differences were found among treatments. Tukay-Test among above treatments has shown that Tracer + oil, Runner and Runner + oil and Tondxir + oil with 98 ± 3. 2, 98 ± phylocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) in laboratory condition at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h post treatments. Leaves of citrus with second and third instars of leaf-miner larvae were used in all tests and the larval mortality were monitored. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences between reatments and control, and also significant differences were found among treatments. Tukay-Test among above treatments has shown that Tracer + oil, Runner and Runner + oil and Tondxir + oil with 98 ± 3. 2, 98 ± 8.1 and 93 ± 5% mortality were more effective than MO, Tondxir and Sirinol + oil with 85 ± 8.3 and 81±7.2 and 78.25 ± 8.2% mortality and significant different with control (P< %1), respectively. Tukay-Test among 96 and 72 h post treatments with 77 ± 3.82 and 70.65 ± 7.5% of total mortality are more effective than 48 and 24 h post treatments with 52.27 ± 4 and 35.90 ± 3.8% of total mortality, respectively

Distributed Distance-rr Dominating Set on Sparse High-Girth Graphs

The dominating set problem and its generalization, the distance-$r$ dominating set problem, are among the well-studied problems in the sequential settings. In distributed models of computation, unlike for domination, not much is known about distance-r domination. This is actually the case for other important closely-related covering problem, namely, the distance-$r$ independent set problem. By result of Kuhn et al. we know the distributed domination problem is hard on high girth graphs; we study the problem on a slightly restricted subclass of these graphs: graphs of bounded expansion with high girth, i.e. their girth should be at least $4r + 3$. We show that in such graphs, for every constant $r$, a simple greedy CONGEST algorithm provides a constant-factor approximation of the minimum distance-$r$ dominating set problem, in a constant number of rounds. More precisely, our constants are dependent to $r$, not to the size of the graph. This is the first algorithm that shows there are non-trivial constant factor approximations in constant number of rounds for any distance $r$-covering problem in distributed settings. To show the dependency on r is inevitable, we provide an unconditional lower bound showing the same problem is hard already on rings. We also show that our analysis of the algorithm is relatively tight, that is any significant improvement to the approximation factor requires new algorithmic ideas

Changes in gill histology and mortality rate of juvenile Caspian Sea brown trout (Salmo trutta caspius Kessler, 1877) in different weights and water salinities

Changes in gill histology and mortality rate of juvenile Caspian Sea Brown Trout Salmo trutta caspius Kessler-1877 in different weights and water salinities were studied. The indicators used in this study were the change in number and size of gill chloride cells as well as mortality rate of the juvenile trout. Juveniles weighing 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 grams were directly transferred into water with salinities of 0, 4,8 and 12.5 gait and kept for 120 hours. Histological assessment showed that the number of gill chloride cells increases with the increase in weight and their size increases invisibly. Also, we found that the number of gill chloride cells is increased when salinity increases while the size of the cells undergoes an invisible downward trend. During the 120 hour test, mortality rate of the juveniles weighing 2 to 20 grams was zero in water salinities ranging 0 to 12.5 grilit. This supports the fact that the fish have a remarkable adaptability to changes in the environmental condition. Considering changes in the histology and mortality rate, it is concluded that the proper weight for release of juvenile Caspian Sea Brown Trout is 10 grams and the best water salinities is in the range 8-12.5 gr/lit, the same value found in the estuary

Description of the ovarian follicle maturation of the migratory adult female Bulatmai barbel (Luciobarbus capito, Güldenstädt 1772) in captivity

The study aimed to investigate the maturation process of ovarian follicles and ovary structure of migratory form of female Bulatmai barbel (Lucioarbus capito). The histology of oogenesis coincided with that known from most teleosts. The ovarian structure was found to be cytovarian. The development of the oocytes is started from early May along with spawning and the degeneration of matured oocytes. The oocytes’ development continues during summer and early fall and the ovary undergoes a dormant period in fall and winter. In the next spring, the next phase of oocyte development started along with the rising of water-temperature. During May and June the development of the oocytes is completed and the final maturation can occur if the environmental conditions are suitable. The Gonadosomatic Index values show a concordance with the oocyts maturation in the ovaries. The reproductive strategy, with long spawning periods during spawning season, found to be batch spawner with asynchronous oogenesis pattern. The results show that it can be matured while captivity

Osteological development of the vertebral column, paired, dorsal and anal fins in Rutilus caspicus, Pravdin (1927) (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

Study of the osteological development in fishes is important in fisheries, biology and aquaculture. It can be used as an early bio-indicator of non-optimal rearing conditions. The Caspian roach, Rutilus caspicus is a native cyprinid fish of the Caspian Sea basin that its artificial propagation is fulfilled in hatcheries to recruit its natural stocks. Hence, this study was conducted to provide early development of its vertebral column, paired and median fins from hatching up to 90-dph as basic biological information. For osteological examinations, the specimens were cleared and stained and a detailed description of the ontogeny of the post-cranial skeleton provided. The results showed that no osteological structure was present at hatching. The first observed skeletal structure was the vertebral column followed by the pectoral fins, caudal fins and almost simultaneously dorsal, anal and pelvic fins

Reproductive biology of jinga shrimp (Metapenaeus affinis) in coastal waters of Hormozgan Province, southern Iran

The main goal of this study was to understand the reproductive biology of Jinga Shrimp (Metapenaeus affinis) that is found in coastal waters of Hormozgan Province and is relatively unknown to the scientific community. To achieve this goal, we conducted a monthly sampling over the years 2001 to 2003 sweeping a long area from Bandar Abbass to Sirik in the south of Iran.We found that the sex ratio is not 1:1 either seasonally (except in autumn 2001) or annually (p<0.05). The peak of spawning of the shrimp observed in spring and also calculated the carapace length of female shrimps at first maturity (LM50) as 27.16mm

Changes of hormones (T3, T4 and cortisol) and ions (Na+ , Cl, K+ ) during smoltification in Salmo trutta caspius Kessler 1877

Salmo trutta caspius is an important and economic fish in the Caspian Sea has several morphological and physiological changes during smoltification. In this study, Hormonal (T3, T4 & Cortisol) and ionic (Na+ , Cl & K+ ) changes in the serum were determined during the period of smoltification in 5, 10, 15 & 20g of hatchery reared salmo trutta caspius in different seasons (spring, summer, autumn & winter). Hormones were measured by Eliza and Radio Immuno Assay, Na+ and K+ using flame photometer, Cl by colorimeter. T3 and T4 were quite high in spring, especially in the juvenile of 20g. Cortisol was quite low in spring and summer in all of weight groups. Ionic changes showed no significant differences with weight, but it was significantly different among seasons. This result suggests that analyzing the plasma thyroid hormones and ionic provide useful information about the optimal time of transferring Caspian Sea trout from fresh water to sea water. It is concluded that the juvenile fish of 20g shows a better smoltification process in the spring

Optimization of Band Gap and Thickness for the Development of Efficient n-i-p+ Solar Cell

By using an electrical-optical AMPS-1D program (One Dimensional Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic structures), a n-i-p type solar cell, based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si : H) and hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide (nc-SiOx : H) has been investigated and simulated. The numerical analysis describes the modeling of the external cell performances, like, the short-circuit current (JSC), the open circuit voltage (VOC), the fill factor (FF) and efficiency (Eff) with the oxygen content in the p-ncSiOx : H window layer by varying its mobility band gap (Eg) associated simultaneously to the effect of the absorber layer (i-a-Si : H) thickness. Also, the i-a-Si : H absorber layer band gap was optimized. The simulation result shows that the VOC depend strongly on the band offset (ΔEV) in valence band of p-side. But, VOC does not depend on the thickness of the intrinsic layer. However, VOC increases when the energy band gap of the intrinsic layer is higher. It is demonstrated that the highest efficiency of 10.44 % (JSC = 11.67 mA/cm2; FF = 0.829; VOC = 1070 mV) has been obtained when values of p-nc-SiOx : H window layer band gap, i-a-Si : H absorber layer band gap and i-a-Si : H absorber layer thickness are 2.10 eV, 1.86 eV, and 550 nm, respectively

Information technology directors' efforts on innovation, integrated marketing communications and brand equity

Purpose – The main purpose of this study is to examine information directors in the area of communication activities related to innovation and marketing decisions in branding. Design/methodology/approach – The study is quantitative and utilized structural equation modeling technique with the approach of minimum trivial squares for analyzing the data. 130 questionnaires were distributed among information technology directors in Tehran and they form the statistical population for the research. Findings – The results suggested that innovation in integrated marketing communications has positively significant effect. In addition, both the variables of innovation and integrated marketing communications positively and significantly affect the three components of brand equity (namely, brand image, the perceived quality and brand loyalty). Originality/value – Despite the growing acknowledgment the importance of innovation, integrated marketing communications and brand equity, however, there are few studies on the role and importance of information technology directors’ efforts on innovation, integrated marketing communications and brand equity