Rosemary wilting disease and its management by soil solarization technique in Iran

Wilting disease on Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), an ornamental-medical plant, was studied from 2007 - 2009 in Mashhad, north-east Iran. Different Rosemary fields in this area were visited and root samples of the infected plants and soil around the roots were collected and transferred to laboratory. Samples were cultured on CMA, PDA and WA media and isolated fungi were identified. Three fungal pathogens including Phytophthora citrophthora, Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum were determined, whereas Helicotylenchus spp. was also associated. Pathogenicity tests proved that they were wilting pathogens, although P. citrophthora was the major pathogen in the field and glasshouses. This is the first report on Rosemary disease in the  country. The disease caused losses from 30 – 60% in the fields where the suitable conditions allowed the disease to build up. Soil solarization technique was carried out to control pathogens before planting of  seedlings. Application of this method reduced population density of P. citrophthora and F. oxysporum from  1300 - 1800 cfu –g/soil to 500 - 700 after 4 weeks and then 200 - 300 cfu (colony forming propagules) after 6  weeks. Solarization is a simple, economic and effective technique in managing Rosemary wilting disease  before plant planting in new established orchards.Key words: Rosemary, Phytophthora citophthora, wilting, Iran

Thermodynamics of rotating black branes in (n+1)(n+1)-dimensional Einstein-Born-Infeld gravity

We construct a new class of charged rotating solutions of $(n+1)$-dimensional Einstein-Born-Infeld gravity with cylindrical or toroidal horizons in the presence of cosmological constant and investigate their properties. These solutions are asymptotically (anti)-de Sitter and reduce to the solutions of Einstein-Maxwell gravity as the Born-Infeld parameters goes to infinity. We find that these solutions can represent black branes, with inner and outer event horizons, an extreme black brane or a naked singularity provided the parameters of the solutions are chosen suitably. We compute temperature, mass, angular momentum, entropy, charge and electric potential of the black brane solutions. We obtain a Smarr-type formula and show that these quantities satisfy the first law of thermodynamics. We also perform a stability analysis by computing the heat capacity and the determinant of Hessian matrix of mass with respect to its thermodynamic variables in both the canonical and the grand-canonical ensembles, and show that the system is thermally stable in the whole phase space.Comment: 12 pages, one figur

Foodborne Listeriosis

Abstract: Foodborne listeriosis is a rare and very dangerous disease which is caused by Listeria monocytogenes. This bacterium is found in the nature in very high population, but can cause disease only in certain groups of people. Listeriosis usually happens after consumption of unpasteurized dairy products especially soft and unripe cheeses and ready to eat meat products like hot dog by susceptible people. In general, pregnant women, infants, elderly people and immuno deficient patients are susceptible to this disease. Listeria monocytogenes is able to produce septicemia, meningitis and abortion in human. The important characteristic of this bacterium is its ability to live inside the cells of immune system and by this way, it is able to distribute through body easily. In order to prevent listeriosis, susceptible people should avoid eating unpasteurized dairy products and ready to eat meats. Keywords: Foodborne disease, Listeria infections, Listeria monocytogene

Glutathione, cell proliferation and differentiation

All organisms require an equivalent source for living. Reduced glutathione is the most abundant thiol containing protein in mammalian cells and organs. Glutathione was discovered by Hopkins in 1924 who published his findings in JBC. It is a three peptide containing glutamic acid, cystein and glycin and is found in reduced and oxide forms in cell. High concentration of glutathione and its high reduced/oxide potential makes GSH a powerful antioxidant and the first defense line against free radicals. However, glutathione is the most efficient tool for detoxification of xenobiotic. In several studies, the effect of GSH on different cell types has been investigated and so, in this study, a review of the glutathione function, focusing on cell proliferation and differentiation would be carried out.Key words: Glutathione, proliferation, differentiatio

Motivation-based Market Segmentation in Rural Tourism: the Case of Sámán, Iran

Market segmentation is a pivotal and under-investigated issue when evaluating decision-making processes and motivational factors shaping rural tourism. The present study has examined market segmentsof rural tourists in Iran based on their sociodemographic attributes, travel characteristics and preferred leisure activities, profiling rural tourists on the base of their motivational background. The survey results indicated that rural tourism in the study area is a heterogeneous market, whose development depends on general trends in Middle East tourism market. A comprehensive knowledge of rural tourism actors may help formulating appropriate marketing strategies for internal areas destined to tourism growth

A Multi-Objective Economic Load Dispatch Considering Accessibility of Wind Power with Here-And-Now Approach

The major problem of wind turbines is the great variability of wind power production. The dynamic change of the wind speed returns the quantity of the power injected to networks. Therefore, wind–thermal generation scheduling problem plays a key role to implement clean power producers in a competitive environment. In deregulated power systems, the scheduling problem has various objectives than in a traditional system which should be considered in economic scheduling. In this paper, a Multi-Objective Economic Load Dispatch (MOELD) model is developed for the system consisting of both thermal generators and wind turbines. Using two optimization methods, Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), the system is optimally scheduled. The objective functions are total emission and total profit of units. The probability of stochastic wind power is included in the model as a constraint. This strategy, referred to as the Here-and-Now (HN) approach, avoids the probabilistic infeasibility appearing in conventional models. Based on the utilized model, the effect of stochastic wind speed on the objective functions can be readily assessed. Also a Total Index (TI) is presented to evaluate the simulation results. Also, the results show preference of PSO method to combine with HN approach

Sensitivity Analysis of Coulomb and HK Friction Models in 2D AFM-Based Nano-Manipulation: Sobol Method

Abstract: Nanotechnolog

Monorail/Foxa2 regulates floorplate differentiation and specification of oligodendrocytes, serotonergic raphe neurones and cranial motoneurones

In this study, we elucidate the roles of the winged-helix transcription factor Foxa2 in ventral CNS development in zebrafish. Through cloning of monorail (mol), which we find encodes the transcription factor Foxa2, and phenotypic analysis of mol(-/-) embryos, we show that floorplate is induced in the absence of Foxa2 function but fails to further differentiate. In mol(-/-) mutants, expression of Foxa and Hh family genes is not maintained in floorplate cells and lateral expansion of the floorplate fails to occur. Our results suggest that this is due to defects both in the regulation of Hh activity in medial floorplate cells as well as cell-autonomous requirements for Foxa2 in the prospective laterally positioned floorplate cells themselves. Foxa2 is also required for induction and/or patterning of several distinct cell types in the ventral CNS. Serotonergic neurones of the raphe nucleus and the trochlear motor nucleus are absent in mol(-/-) embryos, and oculomotor and facial motoneurones ectopically occupy ventral CNS midline positions in the midbrain and hindbrain. There is also a severe reduction of prospective oligodendrocytes in the midbrain and hindbrain. Finally, in the absence of Foxa2, at least two likely Hh pathway target genes are ectopically expressed in more dorsal regions of the midbrain and hindbrain ventricular neuroepithelium, raising the possibility that Foxa2 activity may normally be required to limit the range of action of secreted Hh proteins