A framework for identifying the competencies of senior production managers of holding companies (the case of Golrang industrial group)

Today the need of identify ways for increasing competitive advantage is more tangible because the business world have been increasingly changed. A successful organization is an organization where human resources have the required competencies to achieve business success and the strategic objectives of the organization. so the competency-based human resource management becomes important.The first step in this area is to identify key competencies of managers .Many studies have been done in this area to provide a human resource competency model for organization. National prospect of Iran is having important goals, such as becoming the first power of economic, science and technology in the region and to engage constructively and effectively in international relations, for achieving these goals we requires competent managers in the public and private sector organizations.Competency models, which should be designed for all key positions in the company, show what competencies are necessary for individual position(s). The question is what the key competencies for each position are. Main objective of this paper is to offers a framework to identify and prioritize Senior Product Managers competencies at Golrang Industrial Group

Economic Valuation of Sufficient and Guaranteed Irrigation Water Supply for Paddy Farms of Guilan Province

Cultivation of the strategic crop of rice highly depends to the existence of sufficient and guaranteed irrigation water, and water shortage stresses have irreparable effects on yield and quality of productions. Decrease of the Sefidrud river inflow in Guilan province which is the main source of supplying irrigation water for 171 thousand hectares under rice cropping area of this province, has been challenged sufficient and guaranteed irrigation water supply in many regions of mentioned province. Hence, in present study estimating the value that paddy farmers place on sufficient and guaranteed irrigation water supply has been considered. Economic valuation of sufficient and guaranteed irrigation water supply improves water resource management policies in demand side. Requested data set were obtained on the base of a survey and are collected from 224 paddy farms in rural regions that faced with irrigation water shortages. Then, using open-ended valuation approach and estimation of Tobit model via ML and two stages Heckman approach, eliciting paddy farmers' willingness to pay for sufficient and guaranteed irrigation water supply has been accomplished. Results revealed that farmers in investigated regions willing to pay 26.49 percent more than present costs of providing irrigation water in order to have sufficient and guaranteed irrigation water

Anti–oxidative and anti–inflammatory effects of Tagetes minuta essential oil in activated macrophages

Objective: To investigate antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Tagetes minuta (T. minuta) essential oil. Methods: In the present study T. minuta essential oil was obtained from leaves of T. minuta via hydro-distillation and then was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The anti-oxidant capacity of T. minuta essential oil was examined by measuring reactive oxygen, reactive nitrogen species and hydrogen peroxide scavenging. The anti-inflammatory activity of T. minuta essential oil was determined through measuring NADH oxidase, inducible nitric oxide synthase and TNF-α mRNA expression in lipopolysacharide-stimulated murine macrophages using real-time PCR. Results: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis indicated that the main components in the T. minuta essential oil were dihydrotagetone (33.86%), E-ocimene (19.92%), tagetone (16.15%), cis-β-ocimene (7.94%), Z-ocimene (5.27%), limonene (3.1%) and epoxyocimene (2.03%). The T. minuta essential oil had the ability to scavenge all reactive oxygen/reactive nitrogen species radicals with IC50 12-15 μg/mL, which indicated a potent radical scavenging activity. In addition, T. minuta essential oil significantly reduced NADH oxidase, inducible nitric oxide synthaseand TNF-α mRNA expression in the cells at concentrations of 50 μg/mL, indicating a capacity of this product to potentially modulate/diminish immune responses. Conclusions: T. minuta essential oil has radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activities and could potentially be used as a safe effective source of natural anti-oxidants in therapy against oxidative damage and stress associated with some inflammatory conditions

In vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activity of essential oils encapsulated in gelatin-pectin particles against sugar, lipid and protein oxidation and amylase and glucosidase activity

The in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of Oliveria decumbens, Thymus kotschyanus, Trachyspermum ammi, and Zataria multiflora essential oils incorporated into gelatin-pectin composite were investigated. The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry characterization revealed that thymol (1.2%–86.4%), carvacrol (3.2%–52.4%), gamma-terpinene (0.0%–12.7%), para-cymene (3.2%–5.2%), geraniol (0.0%–14.5%), and spathulenol (0.0%–13.6%) are the major constituents of the essential oils. Gelatin-pectin composite incorporated with the essential oils exhibited acidic pH (2.40–3.04), low conductivity (265–278 µS/cm), low surface tension (19.0–23.5 mN/m), low Newtonian viscosity (23.7–28.5 mPa.s), negative zeta-potential (14.2–16.9 mV), and nanoscale particle size (313–336 nm). These rheological properties result in the production of globular gelatin-pectin nanoparticles with a size range of 500–700 nm. The FTIR spectra of gelatin-pectin and gelatin-pectin-essential oils to some extent were similar, suggesting the noncovalent interactions between them. Gelatin-pectin composite incorporated with the essential oils displayed antiglucose oxidation (130–150 µg/ml) antilipid peroxidation (120–130 µg/ml), antiprotein oxidation (150–168 µg/ml), and antiprotein glycation (145–170 µg/ml) as well as antiamylase (216–230 µg/ml), and antiglucosidase (212–238 µg/ml) activity. The essential oils strongly improved the antioxidant capacity of the gelatin-pectin composite so strongly which can be recommended as a natural compound for oxidative stress management

Chemical composition, radical scavenging and anti-oxidant capacity of <i>Ocimum Basilicum</i> essential oil

<p><i>Ocimum basilicum</i> has several functional characteristics including carminative, stimulant, diuretic, antiseptic, anesthetic, anti-spasmodic, analgesic and anti-tussive properties. <i>O. basilicum</i> essential oil (basil oil) was tested for chemical composition and in vitro and ex vivo anti-oxidant activities. The in vitro anti-oxidant capacity of basil oil was examined using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hudrazyl radical (DPPH^•), 2, 2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical (ABTS^•), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), hydroxyl radical (HO^•), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrite (NO₂) scavenging effects. The <i>ex vivo</i> anti-oxidant activity of basil oil was determined through measuring NADH oxidase (NOX) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated murine macrophages using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). GC-MS analysis indicated that the main components in the basil oil were methylchavicol (47%), geranial (19%) and neral (15%). Basil oil had effective DPPH^•, ABTS^•, H₂O₂, HO^•, NO and NO₂ scavenging effects. Basil oil significantly reduced NOX and iNOS mRNA expression in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated murine macrophages at concentrations of 1-10 μg/mL. Basil oil had radical scavenging and anti-oxidant activities and could potentially be used as a safe and effective source of natural anti-oxidants in therapy against oxidative damage and stress associated with some inflammatory conditions.</p

Up-regulation of wheat nitric oxide synthase gene in response to Zataria multiflora essential oil dispersion

Abstract Overproduction of nitric oxide (NO) results in nitrative stress, in turn causing peroxidation of lipids, oxidation of protein and damage to nucleic acids among many others. Presumbly, a simple mode to suppression of nitrative stress is found to be a natural antioxidant from aromatic plants. Zataria multiflora essential oil (ZO) is known for its potent antioxidant activities. Highly insoluble in water, ZO can be easily degraded by light, oxygen, high temperature and extreme pH. Dispersion of ZO into polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) might enhance its stability and self-life while storage and applications. The present research assesses in vitro antioxidant function of PVP/ZO dispersion versus nitrite and nitric oxide (NO). Followed by this efficiency of the PVP/ZO dispersion on the production of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) mRNAs in the wheat seedlings in hydroponic condition was evaluated. PVP and PVP/ZO dispersions characterized with negative zeta-potential was a non-Newtonian shear-thickening fluid. PVP/ZO was fraught with effective in vitro nitrite (IC 50 , 160 µg/mL) and NO (IC 50 , 168 µg/mL) scavenging activities. The result indicated that PVP/ZO dispersion up-regulated NOS (3.5 folds, at 30 µg/mL) mRNA production while down-regulated it at higher concentration. Hence, once applied at low concentration PVP/ZO can be promising as plant modulator for plant growth regulation

Investigation of financial performance of rural cooperatives network of Guilan province after implementation of centralized agricultural purchase and sale plan

Expansions of distribution and sales networks as well as diversification of domestic suppliers and diversified supply methods and also, price fluctuations make purchasing process complex and cost management necessary. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the financial performance of rural cooperatives network of Guilan province after implementation of centralized agricultural purchase and sale plan. This research is applied in terms of purpose, descriptive-analytical in terms of research method and the documentary method of data collection is also used. In order to fulfill the research objectives, the financial information of 91 cooperative units was studied and analyzed over a seven-year period from 2011 to 2016. The research methodology is a post-event type (using past information). Due to the panel nature of the data, panel regression and Eviews software were used for statistical analysis. The results showed that the ratio of debt to asset or financial leverage, size of cooperative, cooperative loans, and dummy variable for mentioned plan implementation had an indirect (negative) effect on cooperative ROE during the understudy period. Meanwhile, the negative effect of leverage, size and loans was statistically significant at the five, one and one percent levels, respectively. Also, during the study period, cooperative capital, cooperative sales, cooperative current ratio and cooperative futures ratio had a direct (positive) and statistically significant effect on ROE at one percent level