Effect of drought stress on yield, proline and chlorophyll contents in three chickpea cultivars

Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses in agriculture worldwide. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of drought stress on proline content, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis and transpiration, stomatal conductance and yield characteristics in three varieties of chickpea (drought tolerant Bivaniej and ILC482 and drought sensitive Pirouz). A field experiment with four irrigation regimes was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments included control (no drought),drought stress imposed during the vegetative phase, drought stress imposed during anthesis and drought stress during the vegetative phase and during anthesis. All physiological parameters were affected by drought stress. Drought stress imposed during vegetative growth or anthesis significantly decreased chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll content. Proline accumulation was higher in ‘ILC482’ than in ‘Pirouz’ both under control and drought stress conditions. Photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance and yield were higher but sub-stomatal CO2 concentration was lower under drought stress conditions than under control conditions. The results showed that mesophyll resistance is the basic determinate of rate of phototosynthesis under drought stress conditions. Under drought conditions the drought tolerant variety ‘Bivaniej’ gave the highest yield whereas the drought sensitive variety ‘Pirouz’ gave the lowest yield. Drought stress at anthesis phase reduced seed yield more severe than that on vegetative stag

Total angular momentum sorting in the telecom infrared with silicon Pancharatnam-Berry transformation optics

Parallel sorting of orbital angular momentum (OAM) and polarization has recently acquired paramount importance and interest in a wide range of fields ranging from telecommunications to high-dimensional quantum cryptography. Due to their inherently polarization-sensitive optical response, optical elements acting on the geometric phase prove to be useful for processing structured light beams with orthogonal polarization states by means of a single optical platform. In this work, we present the design, fabrication and test of a Pancharatnam-Berry optical element in silicon implementing a log-pol optical transformation at 1310 nm for the realization of an OAM sorter based on the conformal mapping between angular and linear momentum states. The metasurface is realized in the form of continuously-variant subwavelength gratings, providing high-resolution in the definition of the phase pattern. A hybrid device is fabricated assembling the metasurface for the geometric phase control with multi-level diffractive optics for the polarization-independent manipulation of the dynamic phase. The optical characterization confirms the capability to sort orbital angular momentum and circular polarization at the same time.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure

Effect of drought stress and subsequent recovery on protein, carbohydrate contents, catalase and peroxidase activities in three chickpea (Cicer arietinum) cultivars

Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses in agriculture worldwide. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of drought stress and subsequent recovery on protein, carbohydrate content, catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX) activities in three varieties of chickpea (drought tolerant Bivaniej and ILC482 and drought sensitive Pirouz). A field experiment with four irrigation regimes was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments included control (well-watering), drought stress imposed during the vegetative phase, drought stress imposed during anthesis and drought stress during the vegetative phase and anthesis. Drought stress imposed during vegetative growth or anthesis significantly decreased soluble protein content and increased water soluble carbohydrate concentration. The tolerant variety accumulated more soluble carbohydrate than the sensitive one. Drought stress at flowering stage had significantly higher POX activity compared to than that at vegetative stage. Compared with the stress, there was significantly more soluble protein after exposure to recovery conditions but POX decreased in all three varieties. These results suggest that CAT and POX activities play an essential protective role against drought stress in chickpea. Antioxidants act as a major defense against radical mediated toxicity by protecting the damages caused by free radicals. An increase was observed in POX and CAT activity of three cultivars under stress conditions throughout the experiment. Results showed that POX acts as the major antioxidant enzyme in chickpea leaves under oxidative stress condition. So activity of this enzyme in stress condition can be used as an index for chickpea cultivars tolerance assessment

Response of Sunflower Yield and Phytohormonal Changes to Azotobacter,Azospirillum,Pseudomonas and Animal Manure in a Chemical Free Agroecosystem

There are new trends in agriculture to move toward the low input systems with the lower application of chemical fertilizers. To reach this goal, different methods, such as the application of biofertilizers, may be used. So this experiment was conducted in 2010 at a research farm in Arak, Iran, in factorial in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications and four factors: animal manure (M), Pseudomonas putida (P), Azotobacter chroococcum (A)and Azospirillum lipoferum (Z). Results indicated that manure significantly affected grain yield (P≤0.01); the highest grain yield was achieved in the interaction of manure × Azotobacter × Pseudomonas (4.556 ton/ha). Grain yield was not significantly affected by the microorganisms. Moreover, the four factors of the experiment significantly affected auxin, gibberellin and cytokinin content of plant. Overall, this experiment indicated that desirable yield can be achieved by the application of manure and biofertilizers, in a sustainable agriculture

Holographic generation of highly twisted electron beams

Free electrons can possess an intrinsic orbital angular momentum, similar to those in an electron cloud, upon free-space propagation. The wavefront corresponding to the electron's wavefunction forms a helical structure with a number of twists given by the \emph{angular speed}. Beams with a high number of twists are of particular interest because they carry a high magnetic moment about the propagation axis. Among several different techniques, electron holography seems to be a promising approach to shape a \emph{conventional} electron beam into a helical form with large values of angular momentum. Here, we propose and manufacture a nano-fabricated phase hologram for generating a beam of this kind with an orbital angular momentum up to 200$\hbar$. Based on a novel technique the value of orbital angular momentum of the generated beam are measured, then compared with simulations. Our work, apart from the technological achievements, may lead to a way of generating electron beams with a high quanta of magnetic moment along the propagation direction, and thus may be used in the study of the magnetic properties of materials and for manipulating nano-particles.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures - Supplementary Material (3 pages and 2 figures) accompanies this manuscrip

Prioritization of six-sigma project selection: A resource-based view and institutional norms perspective

Purpose – With increasing choice from a range of programs, improvement project selection within broader supply chain context and resource constraints has become a major research challenge. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the different criteria for selecting Six-Sigma (SS) projects based on previous studies. The study is supported by two grounded theories: resource-based view and institutional norms. The criteria include: first, business drivers for improvement and the common performance metrics deployed; second, the organization’s stakeholders needs; and third, process owner’s needs. Design/methodology/approach – To determine the relative importance of influencing factors, opinions were collected from 30 experienced practitioners including SS champions/master black-belts, company directors, consultants, and process owners through a series of interviews in small, medium, and large organizations including multi-national organizations. The evaluation of criteria is based on analytical hierarchy process. Findings – The results show that impact on customer, financial impacts, and impact on operational goals are the most significant factors in selecting SS improvement project. Originality/value – This study is a first attempt to determine the relative weight among SS project selection criteria, which help the practitioner to allocate their limited resources in implementing SS project

Short communication: Dieback of rose caused by Acremonium sclerotigenum as a new causal agent of rose dieback in Iran

Severe dieback of rose has been recently observed in several rose greenhouses in Fars province of Iran. During 2014 and 2015, stems of rose plants showing yellow to brown discoloration and dieback were collected from rose greenhouses. Coniothyrium fuckelii, Botrytis cinerea and Acremonium were subsequently isolated from the margin between healthy and symptomatic tissue. B. cinerea and C. fuckelii isolates were similar to those previously reported for dieback of rose worldwide. Morphological and cultural characters along with molecular analysis based on partial sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal RNA genome allowed confirming the affiliation of the Acremonium isolates, corresponding to A. sclerotigenum as a new causal agent of rose dieback. To determine its pathogenicity on rose, Koch's postulates were fulfilled by stem inoculation of nine rose cultivars under greenhouse conditions. While A. sclerotigenum is considered as a soil-born pathogen, and produces sclerotia that are resistant to adverse conditions enables the fungus to survive extended period in soil, propagule trapping in our study revealed that conidia can become airborn, imply that an aerial phase, forms an important component of the disease cycle

The relationships between emotional intelligence, sensation seeking, and marital satisfaction among female teachers

Background: Marriage and matrimony is an issue widely affected by emotional intelligence and sensation seeking. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between emotional intelligence, sensation seeking, and marital satisfaction among female teachers in the city of Borujerd.Methods: The statistical population consisted of all married female teachers in the city of Borujerd among whom 100 were selected as the sample using random cluster sampling method. To collect the data, Enrich marital satisfaction, Bar-On emotional intelligence, and Zuckerman sensation seeking questionnaires were used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software running Pearson’s correlation test and stepwise regression.Results: The results of the analysis indicated that, with a significance level of P<0.001, there was a negative and significant relationship between sensation seeking and marital satisfaction, and there was a positive and significant relationship between emotional intelligence and marital satisfaction. Also, a statistically significant relationship was found between sensation seeking and emotional intelligence. Due to the inverse relationship, any increase in sensation seeking scores results in a decrease in marital satisfaction and vice versa. Moreover, because of the direct relationship between the two variables, any increase in emotional intelligence results in an increase in marital satisfaction.Conclusion: Considering the findings of the present study, sensation seeking and emotional intelligence have a significant relationship with marital satisfaction. The results of the study can help psychologists and counselors to pay more attention in marital satisfaction and affecting factors to enhance couples’ relationships

Centralized and Distributed Self-x Features in heterogeneous 5G Networks.

The continuous evolution of mobile network technology is leading to the 5th Generation (5G) of cellular networks, a level of development that exhibits unprecedented network features, capability, and intelligence. New technological cost–efficient solutions are, therefore, required to boost the network capacity and advance its capabilities in order to support the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. Network densification is known to be as one of the promising approaches aiming to increase the network capacity and reduce latency. For example, Heterogeneous Wireless Networks (HWN) can provide flexible and diverse network access to the users by integration of different wireless technologies. By introducing dense and diverse networks, the importance of network coordination and automated controllability has never been higher. Despite the advantages of network densifications, there are challenges that have to be addressed properly in order to use the best performance of heterogeneous networks. An example of HWN is the 5 GHz unlicensed band which is open to different wireless systems such as WiFi or Unlicensed LTE. The presence of the two mentioned OFDM-based systems in the same band rise the importance of studying their performance when sharing the same band with the other technologies and introduce new models and methods to reach the friendly coexistence. Another example of dense networks is roaming, especially in the 5G systems, with ever-increasing heterogeneous users. In the small cells and densified networks, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) need to share their mobile networks with other operators more often to reduce the operator investment costs on infrastructure. Thus, the mobile networks are transferring from uniquely own single authorities to complex interactions among heterogeneous participants which rise the need for a new level of controllability

DESKRIPTIVNA OSTEOLOGIJA Oxynoemacheilus kermanshahensis (BĂNĂRESCU AND NALBANT, 1966) (CYPRINIFORMES, NEMACHEILIDAE)

Oxynoemacheilus kermanshahensis is an endemic species of the family Nemacheilidae from the Karkheh River drainage of the Tigris basin. This study was conducted to provide the detailed osteological characters of this species, comparing it with those of other endemic species of the genus Oxynoemacheilus from inland water basins of Iran viz. O. kiabii, O. persa and O. bergianus. For this purpose, eight specimens of O. kermanshaensis were collected and cleaned and stained for the osteological examination. Then a detailed description of its skeletal structure was provided. The results showed that O. kermanshahensis can be distinguished from other three compared Oxynoemacheilus species on the basis of the connection pattern of the frontal and parietal, presence of a supratemporal commissure and orbital shelf, connection pattern of two prootics, possessing a maxilla with convex margin, having the more vertebrae, bearing the least number of the branched ray in the dorsal fin, presence of the five hypurals, possessing fine and thin neural and hemal spines and the shape of swim bladder capsule.Oxynoemacheilus kermanshahensis je endemska vrsta iz obitelji Nemacheilidae iz rijeke Karkheh koja pripada slivu rijeke Tigris. Ovim istraživanjem se prikazuju detaljne osteološke karakteristike ove vrste, uspoređujući je s drugim endemskim vrstama roda Oxynoemacheilus iz otvorenih voda Irana: O. kiabii, O. persa i O. bergianus. Za ovu svrhu osam primjeraka O. kermanshaensis je skupljeno, očišćeno i bojano za osteološka ispitivanja te je potom dat detaljan opis njihove skeletne strukture. Rezultati su pokazali da se O. kermanshahensis može razlikovati od ostale tri vrste preko veze frontalnog i parijetalnog dijela neurokranijuma, prisutnosti supratemporalnih usana kao i orbitalnog pojasa, vezom od dva prootica, posjedovanjem čeljusti s konveksnom marginom te više kralježaka i najmanjeg broja mekih žbica u dorzalnoj peraji, prisutnosti pet hipurala, posjedovanjem fine i tanke živčane i hemalne košćice te oblikom capsule plivajućeg mjehura