Effects of Gibberellic Acid and Nitrogen on Some Physiology Parameters and Micronutrients Concentration in Pistachio under Salt Stress

Introduction: Salinity is one of the main problems which limits crop production, especially in arid and semi-arid areas such as Iran. Iran is the most important producer of pistachio in the world. However, its performance is low in many areas. Most pistachio plantations are irrigated with saline water and with low quality (28). On the other hand, nitrogen is a dynamic element which is a constituent of amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids and Enzymes and it has a vital role in plant physiology, growth, chlorophyll formation and production of fruit and seeds (34). Gibberellic acid is known as phytohormon which varied physiological responses in plants under stress. acid gibberellic increases the photosynthesis and growth under stress and impact on the physiology and metabolism of plant (29). Based on previous studies, production and activity of plant hormones are affected by natural factors and plant nutrient requirements and the nitrogen has an important influence on production and transmission of acid gibberellic plant shoot. Therefore, in this study the effect of acid gibberellic and nitrogen on some characteristics of physiology parameters and micronutrient pistachio seedlings (Cv. Qazvini) under saline conditions was studied. Materials and methods: Experiment under greenhouse condition and factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted in greenhouse agriculture college, Vali-E-Asr University of Rafsanjan. Treatments consisted of three levels of salinity (0, 1000 and 2000 mg of sodium chloride per kg of soil), three levels of nitrogen (0, 75 and 150 mg per kg of ammonium nitrate source) and three acid gibberellic levels (0, 250 and 500 mg per liter). Adequate soil with little available salinity conditions was collected from the top 30-cm layer of a pistachio-culture region of Kerman province. After air drying and ground through passing a 2 mm sieve, some of the physical-chemical properties of this soil include pH (7/63), Tissue (Sandy loam), electrical conductivity (ECe) (1 dS m-1), Silt (23.1%), Clay (5.5%), Organic matter (0.5%), Olsen phosphorus (P) (5.35 mg kg-1), Ammonium acetate-extractable K (100 mg kg-1) were determined. Nitrogen treatments 3 weeks after planting, dissolved in irrigation water was added to pots. Salinity, after the establishment of the plant (5 weeks after planting), divided into two equal parts and one-week interval dissolved with irrigation water was added to the pot. as well acid gibberellic treatments, as spray after salt treatment was applied at three times and at intervals of one week. Results and discussion: The results showed that the salinity content of carotenoid and Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters significantly reduced but with increasing acid gibberellic and nitrogen application, mentioned parameters were significantly increased, compared to controls. The ability of photosynthesis improved and increased productivity. Mozafari et al studied the pistachio, reported that with increasing salinity from zero to 150 and 300 mM NaCl, carotenoids decreased more than 16% and 22% compared to control respectively. Carotenoids play a most important role in light, protecting plants against stress condition. Salinity application increased leaf proline, but with application of 150 mg nitrogen and 500 mg per liter foliar application of acid gibberellics, this parameter increased by 55 and 26 percent, respectively. Also, combined use of these two treatments increased proline content by 79 percent compared to control. The researchers stated that the increasing gibberellin concentration caused leaf proline increased, so spraying 100 and 200 mg per liter gibberellin significantly increased leaf proline compared with the non-application of gibberellin. The results also showed with increasing salinity increased iron, manganese and zinc concentrations shoots and roots and decreased copper concentrations, but using 150 mg of nitrogen and acid gibberellic consumption concentrations of copper element increased. Hojjat nooghi and Mozafari (28) reported, the used salinity of 60 mM NaCl increased shoot Fe concentration, but by applying the same amount of salinity in the root iron concentration decreased compared with the control. Research has shown that the copper concentration in the leaves and shoot of corn planted in soil decreased with increasing salinity. Micronutrient absorption reduction such as copper in salt condition can result in greater absorption of nutrients such as sodium, magnesium and calcium. The researchers in the study reported that with increasing nitrogen in the form of nitrate and ammonium, zinc concentration in plant tissues increased along with increasing salinity and lower shoot dry weight, zinc concentration was increased in two wheat cultivars too. Conclusion: The results of this experiment showed that under saline conditions, acid gibberellic and nitrogen applied alone or in combination improved physiology parameters and increased nutrient concentration of pistachio seedling

Investigating the Relationship between Economic Growth, Energy Consumption and Human Development in Selected MENA Countries

Human development is one of the main aspects of development in each country in which different factors could influence this indicator. In this research, interrelationship between gross domestic product (GDP), energy consumption per capita and HDI and their control factors investigate by using simultaneous-equation panel data models based on Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) for a panel of 12 MENA countries during 1997-2015. Findings of this study show that there is a mutual positive and significant relationship between GDP, energy consumption and HDI of the MENA countries. Labor force and investment volume both have positive and statistically significant impact on GDP. On the other hand, Openness of the economy has positive and CO_2 emission have negative relation with HDI of the MENA countries. Also, population and financial development variables have significant and negative relation with energy consumptio

Turkey’s Foreign Policy in South Caucasus and Interests of Iran and Russia

With power succession of “ justice and development” party in Turkey in 2002 the foreign policy of this country in regional and far regional relations has seriously changed. Before 2000 Turkeys foreign policy was far westernized and the government policy-making was west, specially US, oriented. But with rise of justice and development government in Turkey, the country’s foreign policy changed to a multidimensional pragmatic interest-based policy .one aspect of this policy modified foreign policy toward collaboration with neighbors in order to enhance Turkey’s role in the region including south Caucasus. This study tries to evaluate Turkey foreign policy in Caucasus and its conflicting interests with the two powerful countries of area – Iran and Russia. The main question of this study is concentrated on the Turkey’s Caucasian Policy and its affects on interests of Iran and Russia. The hypothesis of the paper is that new Turkey’s foreign policy in the region brought contradiction between the country and two abovementioned powerful neighbors

Leaf Water Relationships and Canopy Temperature as Criteria to Distinguish Maize Hybrids under Drought Stress

This research aimed at studying the physiologic traits of maize different hybrids and considering them as screening criteria to select the drought tolerant hybrids. The experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with three replications and in a split-plot arrangement. The treatments were as follows: Maize Hybrids (including SC400, ZP434, SC524, ZP599, BC66, SC704) and irrigation regimes (including optimum; 100% FC, moderate; 75% FC, and severe stress; 50% FC). Results showed that drought stress significantly affects most of the studied indices. These indices also had significant differences in the above mentioned hybrids. Indices of leaf relative water content and temperature of the canopy varied significantly under drought stress. So, they could be used as suitable criteria to measure the level of stress effect on the plant and also to lay out the irrigation schedule. Findings of the study suggest that blistering is the best growth stage to screen the hybrids and among the studied indices, the ELWL is the best item for screening

Optimizing growth conditions in vertical farming: enhancing lettuce and basil cultivation through the application of the Taguchi method

This paper reports on the findings of an experimental study that investigated the impact of various environmental factors on the growth of lettuce and basil plants in vertical farms. The study employed the Taguchi method, a statistical design of experiments approach, to efficiently identify the optimal growth conditions for these crops in a hyper-controlled environment. By reducing the time and cost of designing and running experiments, this method allowed for the simultaneous investigation of multiple environmental factors that affect plant growth. A total of 27 treatments were selected using the Taguchi approach, and the signal to noise ratio was calculated to predict the optimal levels of each environmental condition for maximizing basil and lettuce growth parameters. The results showed that most of the parameters, except for EC and relative humidity for certain growth parameters, were interrelated with each other. To validate the results, confirmation tests were conducted based on the predicted optimal parameters. The low error ratio between expected and predicted values (1-3%) confirmed the effectiveness of the Taguchi approach for determining the optimal environmental conditions for plant growth in vertical farms

Nutrient Use in Vertical Farming : Optimal Electrical Conductivity of Nutrient Solution for Growth of Lettuce and Basil in Hydroponic Cultivation

During the past few decades, vertical farming has attracted a lot of interest as an alternative food production method. Vertical farms use engineered growth environments and hydroponic cultivation techniques for growing plants indoors. One of the important factors in vertical farming for the cultivation of different plants is the amount of nutrients, which can be measured as electrical conductivity (EC). Studying the optimal EC is important for avoiding nutrient loss and deficiency in vertical farms. In this study, we investigated the effect of five EC levels (2, 1.2, 0.9, 0.7, and 0.5 dS m(-1)) of Hoagland nutrient solution on the growth and development of basil cultivar Emily and lettuce cultivar Batavia-Caipira. During the study, the environmental parameters were kept fixed using an automatic dosing machine. The experiment was done in automatic vertical farms using the hydroponic ebb-flow cultivation technique with a temperature of 20 +/- 1 degrees C, relative humidity of 50-60%, CO2 concentration of 450 ppm, pH = 6, the PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) of 215 +/- 5.5 mu mol m(-2) s(-1), and the photoperiod of 16:8 h (day/night). Each treatment was replicated four times. We studied the effects on several growth parameters (including the dry and fresh weight of leaves and roots, number of leaves, and leaf area) as well as the chlorophyll and nitrogen concentration of the leaves. According to the results, the basil and lettuce growth parameters among the five treatments have been significantly higher in the treatment with EC of 1.2 and 0.9 dS m(-1). These EC values are lower than the recommended EC value given as the optimum in the previous studies. However, the concentration of chlorophyll and nitrogen show different trends and were higher in full strength of nutrient solution with EC = 2 dS m(-1).Funding Agencies|Vegger B.V</p

Quality of Life and Assessment of Efficacy of Rehabilitation on Improvement of Quality of Llife and its Subtypes after PCI in Qom

Abstract Background: Cardiovascular diseases is one of the most prevalent causes of mortality in all around the world accounting for high rates of decrease of physical function and daily work. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of cardiac rehabilitation on quality of life dimensions Percutanous Coronary Intervention (PCI) patients. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial study was conducted on 96 patients in the rehabilitation unit in Qom. Half of patients put in the test group and the others remained as control. Data of all patients including of demographic parameter and questionnaire of quality of life before and after rehabilitation (in case and control groups) were collected. Data analysis was done in SPSS 18by central statistical indices and frequency distribution as well as independent t-test, pair t-test ans Chi-square and p-value below than 0.05 was significant. Results: out of 96 patients, the mean age was 57.21±9.09 and 57.3± 10.89 years in case and control groups respectively and 70.8% were male and remains were female. There was significant relationship between quality of life and its subtypes except physical function (p<0.001). Moreover, difference between quality of life and six out of eight subtypes scores before and after rehabilitation in both groups was significant. Conclusion: it seems that cardiac rehabilitation after PCI affects quality of life

The study of a hermaphroditic sheep caused by a mutation in the promoter of SRY gene

In mammals, sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene plays vital role as a transcription factor to regulate the expression of the genes contributing to development of male genitals. Any mutation disrupting expression of SRY gene can cause disorders of sex development (DSDs).In this study, the examination of a hermaphroditic (female-like) Shal sheep which was referred for infertility is described. Initially, the reproductive system of the sheep was histologically and anatomically assessed. Karyotyping was used to determine the real gender of the animal. Sex hormones including progesterone, estradiol, and testosterone were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Eventually, promoter part and SRY gene were sequenced and aligned to detect any potential mutation using NCBI data base.Although anatomical inspection led to identification of uterus, ovary, and enlarged clitoris as well as testes in the sheep, the karyotyping results interestingly revealed that the animal was genetically a male. Although the sheep had both male and female gonads, there were no overt signs of reproductive behavior and gamete production was not observed. Plasma steroid hormone levels were reported to be at basal levels. Additionally, a mutation was detected on the promoter of the SRY gene.In conclusion, the case implies that mutation on the promoter part of SRY gene could disrupt sexual development of the fetus culminating in DSDs in the sheep