Crop productivity and chemical compositions of black cumin essential oil in sole crop and intercropped with soybean under contrasting fertilization

Intercropping systems and the application of organic manures play an important role in increasing of quantity and quality of plant products. In order to evaluate the quantity and quality of black cumin products under contrasting fertilization, a factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in 2016. Soybean and black cumin seeds were sown in five planting patterns (sole black cumin, sole soybean and three intercropping ratios of soybean: black cumin (1:2): one row of soybean plus two rows of black cumin, soybean: black cumin (1:1): one row of soybean plus one row of black cumin and soybean: black cumin (2:1): two rows of soybean plus one row of black cumin. All these cropping systems were received organic manure and chemical fertilizer. The results indicated that the highest seed yield (on an average by 86 g m−2) of black cumin was achieved in sole crop of black cumin treated with organic manure. The maximum seed yield of soybean (on an average by 247 g m−2) and land equivalent ratio (1.06) was obtained in two rows of soybean + one row of black cumin under the application of chemical fertilizer. The p-cymene (20.51–62.77%), carvacrol (2.40–25.99%), longifolene (1.11–24.69%) and spathulenol (0.9–14.45%) were major chemical compositions of black cumin. The highest content of p-cymene and carvacrol of black cumin essential oil were recorded in one row of soybean + two rows of black cumin with the application of chemical fertilizer and one row of soybean + one row of black cumin under chemical fertilizer, respectively. The highest longifolene and spathulenol content was observed in one row of soybean + two rows of black cumin treated with organic manure. These major chemical compositions are useful for industrial use (food and pharmaceutical). Therefore, according to different subjects of applying in industries it could be suggested especial treatment with favorite major compounds. © 2018 Elsevier B.V

The relationship between information literacy, internet addiction and general health of an Iranian medical students

Introduction: Given the prevalence of Internet use worldwide and its existing risks to societies especially the youngsters, information literacy can affect the use of Internet. Hence, the objective of present study is to assess the relationship between information literacy and Internet addiction and then to investigate the relationship between Internet addiction and general health of students in Iran University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: It is an analytical cross-sectional study which was conducted during 2016 on students in Iran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran). The sample size for the surveyed community of 6,500 university students was 362 from the Cochran sample size formula. Then, using a simple random sampling method, from each of the colleges, the sample size was selected according to the student population. Three questionnaires of information literacy, Yang's Internet addiction, and general health scale (GHQ-28) were distributed among students. Finally, 365 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Results: 29.9 of students were about to be addicted to the Internet, 1.3 had symptoms of Internet addiction and 68.8 had no addiction. In terms of information literacy, most of the students were in moderate level (60.5 moderate, 3.3 low, and 36.2 high information literacy level). There was a significant inverse relationship between increasing of information literacy and the Internet addiction (r = -0.45 and p<0.001). The score of general health demonstrated an inverse and significant relationship in different levels of Internet addiction (P <0.001). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it was perceived that the higher the information literacy, the lower the level of Internet addiction; besides, reduction of internet addiction increased the general health of students. Therefore, considering the importance of students as the leading group in societies, and favorable consequences of increased information literacy, universities' authorities have to develop and run specific programs within the educational and research schedule in order to increase the students' information literacy. Accordingly, undesirable outcomes of Internet use would be diminished and general health of society would be improved. © 2018, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

The relationship between information literacy, internet addiction and general health of an Iranian medical students

Introduction: Given the prevalence of Internet use worldwide and its existing risks to societies especially the youngsters, information literacy can affect the use of Internet. Hence, the objective of present study is to assess the relationship between information literacy and Internet addiction and then to investigate the relationship between Internet addiction and general health of students in Iran University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: It is an analytical cross-sectional study which was conducted during 2016 on students in Iran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran). The sample size for the surveyed community of 6,500 university students was 362 from the Cochran sample size formula. Then, using a simple random sampling method, from each of the colleges, the sample size was selected according to the student population. Three questionnaires of information literacy, Yang's Internet addiction, and general health scale (GHQ-28) were distributed among students. Finally, 365 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Results: 29.9 of students were about to be addicted to the Internet, 1.3 had symptoms of Internet addiction and 68.8 had no addiction. In terms of information literacy, most of the students were in moderate level (60.5 moderate, 3.3 low, and 36.2 high information literacy level). There was a significant inverse relationship between increasing of information literacy and the Internet addiction (r = -0.45 and p<0.001). The score of general health demonstrated an inverse and significant relationship in different levels of Internet addiction (P <0.001). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it was perceived that the higher the information literacy, the lower the level of Internet addiction; besides, reduction of internet addiction increased the general health of students. Therefore, considering the importance of students as the leading group in societies, and favorable consequences of increased information literacy, universities' authorities have to develop and run specific programs within the educational and research schedule in order to increase the students' information literacy. Accordingly, undesirable outcomes of Internet use would be diminished and general health of society would be improved. © 2018, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Effect of light, food additives and heat on the stability of sorghum 3-deoxyanthocyanins in model beverages.

This work aimed to evaluate the stability of sorghum 3-deoxyanthocyanins (DXA) in model beverages (pH 3.5) elaborated with crude sorghum phenolic extract, containing ascorbic acid and sulphite, under fluorescent light exposure and subjected to heat treatment. There was no significant difference in the DXA degradation during storage under light exposure (24.16%) and absence of light (20.72%). DXA degradation did not differ in the presence of ascorbic acid during storage under light exposure (23.99-25.38%) and absence of light (19.87-21.74%). The addition of sulphite caused an initial bleaching reaction, but as a reversible reaction, the anthocyanin content was higher on the last day of storage compared to the first day. There were no significant differences in total anthocyanin content of all treatments subjected to the heat treatment (80 °C for 5 and 25 min). Thus, crude DXA are very stable under light, additives and heat, and may be useful as natural food colourants

Observation of a sudden cessation of a very-high-energy gamma-ray flare in PKS 1510-089 with H.E.S.S. and MAGIC in May 2016

The flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) PKS 1510-089 is known for its complex multiwavelength behavior, and is one of only a few FSRQs detected at very high energy (VHE, E >100 GeV) -rays. VHE -ray observations with H.E.S.S. and MAGIC during late May and early June 2016 resulted in the detection of an unprecedented flare, which reveals for the first time VHE -ray intranight variability in this source. While a common variability timescale of 1.5 hr is found, there is a significant deviation near the end of the flare with a timescale of ∼ 20 min marking the cessation of the event. The peak flux is nearly two orders of magnitude above the low-level emission. For the first time, curvature is detected in the VHE -ray spectrum of PKS 1510-089, which is fully explained through absorption by the extragalactic background light. Optical R-band observations with ATOM reveal a counterpart of the -ray flare, even though the detailed flux evolution differs from the VHE lightcurve. Interestingly, a steep flux decrease is observed at the same time as the cessation of the VHE flare. In the high energy (HE, E >100 MeV) -ray band only a moderate flux increase is observed with Fermi-LAT, while the HE -ray spectrum significantly hardens up to a photon index of 1.6. A search for broad-line region (BLR) absorption features in the -ray spectrum indicates that the emission region is located outside of the BLR. Radio VLBI observations reveal a fast moving knot interacting with a standing jet feature around the time of the flare. As the standing feature is located ∼ 50 pc from the black hole, the emission region of the flare may have been located at a significant distance from the black hole. If this correlation is indeed true, VHE rays have been produced far down the jet where turbulent plasma crosses a standing shock.Accepted manuscrip

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Organic and inorganic fertilizer effect on soil CO2 flux, microbial biomass, and growth of Nigella sativa L.

Cattle manure has a high carbon/nitrogen ratio and may not decompose; therefore, full-dose application of urea fertilizer might improve biological properties by increasing manure decomposition. This study aimed to investigate the effect of combining cattle manure and urea fertilizer on soil CO2 flux, microbial biomass carbon, and dry matter accumulation during Nigella sativa L. (black cumin) growth under field conditions. The treatments were control, cattle manure, urea, different levels of split and full-dose integrated fertilizer. The results showed that integrated application of cattle manure and chemical fertilizer significantly increased microbial biomass carbon by 10%, soil organic carbon by 2.45%, total N by 3.27%, mineral N at the flowering stage by 7.57%, and CO2 flux by 9% over solitary urea application. Integrated application increased microbial biomass carbon by 10% over the solitary application and the full-dose application by 5% over the split application. The soil properties and growth parameters of N. sativa L. benefited more from the full-dose application than the split application of urea. Cattle manure combined with chemical fertilizer and the full-dose application of urea increased fertilizer efficiency and improved biological soil parameters and plant growth. This method decreased the cost of top dressing urea fertilizer and proved beneficial for the environment and medicinal plant health

Role-based approaches for engineering interactions in large-scalemulti-agent systems

This chapter discusses how the concept of role can be exploited in engineering large-scale multi-agent systems, in order to support the development of the applications and to simplify the related tasks. A role can be considered as a stereotype of behavior common to different classes of agents. Role-based approaches can give several advantages, the most important of which is the separation of concerns between different issues (for instance, algorithmic ones and interaction-related ones), which is very useful to simplify the development of large-scale agent-based applications. A survey of different approaches shows the advantages and the peculiarities of introducing roles in agent-based application development. Moreover, we present in detail the BRAIN framework, developed at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, which is an approach based on roles to support agent developers during their work