Effect of municipal wastewater with manure and fertilizer on yield and quality characteristics of forage in corn

In order to study the effects of wastewater with two kinds of fertilizers (manure and chemical fertilizer) on yield and quality characteristics of forage in corn, a field experiment was conducted in the Universityof Zabol in Iran during 2007 growing season. The experiment was conducted in split plot design with three replications. The treatment were comprised of two levels of irrigation water (W1 = Well water andW2 = Wastewater) in the main plot and five levels of fertilizer (F1 = Control; F2 = Manure, 30 ton/ha; F3 = Manure, 15 ton/ha; F4 = NPK: 350, 200 and 100 kg/ha; and F5 = NPK: 175, 100 and 50 kg/ha) in the subplot. Results showed that irrigation with wastewater significantly increases the fresh and dry forage yield of corn than well water. Treatment of treated wastewater also had a significant influence on crude protein content, ash percentage and macro elements (N, P and K) contents in corn forage (P < 5%). But wastewater had no significant effect on Fe, Mn and Zn elements content. The highest fresh and dry forage yield and the most crude protein content, ash percentage and macro elements (N, P and K) contents were obtained from F4 (NPK: 350, 200 and 100 kg/ha) treatment. However, the highest Fe, Mn and Zn elements content were obtained from F2 (Manure: 30 ton/ha) treatment

Downregulation of plasma MiR-142-3p and MiR-26a-5p in patients with colorectal carcinoma

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and cancer- related death worldwide. Identification of new specific biomarkers could be helpful to detection of this malignancy. Altered plasma microRNA expression has been identified in many cancers, including colorectal cancer. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to identify the circulating microRNAs with the most expression changes in colorectal cancer patients compared with neoplasm free healthy individuals. Materials and Methods: MicroRNA expression profiling was performed on plasma samples of 37 colorectal cancer patients and 8 normal subjects using microRNA microarray. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the two selected altered microR NAs. Plasma samples from 61 colorectal cancer patients and 24 normal subjects were used in our validation study. Results: In profiling study we found a panel of six plasma microRNAs with significant downregulation. MicroRNA-142-3p and microRNA-26a-5p were selected and validated by polymerase chain reaction. Our results demonstrated that expression levels of plasma microRNA-142-3p and microRNA-26a-5p were significantly downregulated in patients with colorectal cancer when compared to control group. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that downregulation of plasma microRNA-142-3p and microRNA-26a-5p might serve as novel noninvasive biomarkers in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer, although more studies are needed to highlight the theoretical strengths. © 2015, Iranian Journal of Cancer Prevention

Optimizing the Steering of Driverless Personal Mobility Pods with a Novel Differential Harris Hawks Optimization Algorithm (DHHO) and Encoder Modeling

This paper aims to improve the steering performance of the Ackermann personal mobility scooter based on a new meta-heuristic optimization algorithm named Differential Harris Hawks Optimization (DHHO) and the modeling of the steering encoder. The steering response in the Ackermann mechanism is crucial for automated driving systems (ADS), especially in localization and path-planning phases. Various methods in the literature are used to control the steering, and meta-heuristic optimization algorithms have achieved prominent results. Harris Hawks optimization (HHO) algorithm is a recent algorithm that outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms in various optimization applications. However, it has yet to be applied to the steering control application. The research in this paper has been conducted in three stages. First, practical experiments were performed on the steering encoder sensor that measures the steering angle of the Landlex mobility scooter, and supervised learning was applied to model the results obtained for the steering control. Second, the DHHO algorithm is proposed by introducing mutation between hawks in the exploration phase instead of the Hawks perch technique, improving population diversity and reducing premature convergence. The simulation results on CEC2021 benchmark functions showed that the DHHO algorithm outperforms the HHO, PSO, BAS, and CMAES algorithms. The mean error of the DHHO is improved with a confidence level of 99.8047% and 91.6016% in the 10-dimension and 20-dimension problems, respectively, compared with the original HHO. Third, DHHO is implemented for interactive real-time PID tuning to control the steering of the Ackermann scooter. The practical transient response results showed that the settling time is improved by 89.31% compared to the original response with no overshoot and steady-state error, proving the superior performance of the DHHO algorithm compared to the traditional control methods. The MATLAB source code and the result files for the proposed algorithm are available at https://github.com/MohamedRedaMu/DHHO

A Self-Consistent Model for Positronium Formation from Helium Atoms

The differential and total cross sections for electron capture by positrons from helium atoms are calculated using a first-order distorted wave theory satisfying the Coulomb boundary conditions. In this formalism a parametric potential is used to describe the electron screening in a consistent and realistic manner. The present procedure is self consistent because (i) it satisfies the correct boundary conditions and post-prior symmetry, and (ii) the potential and the electron binding energies appearing in the transition amplitude are consistent with the wave functions describing the collision system. The results are compared with the other theories and with the available experimental measurements. At the considered range of collision energies, the results agree reasonably well with recent experiments and theories. [Note: This paper will be published on volume 42 of the Brazilian Journal of Physics

Vertically Self-Gravitating ADAFs in the Presence of Toroidal Magnetic Field

Force due to the self-gravity of the disc in the vertical direction is considered to study its possible effects on the structure of a magnetized advection-dominated accretion disc. We present steady-sate self similar solutions for the dynamical structure of such a type of the accretion flows. Our solutions imply reduced thickness of the disc because of the self-gravity. It also imply that the thickness of the disc will increase by adding the magnetic field strength.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science