Evaluation and Optimization of Acanthophyllum Extract in Washing of the Historical Textiles

Contamination is an unwanted threat, which affects the health and the artistic features of a piece of textile. One of the most important concerns in the area of protection of historical woven fabrics is the presentation and use of safe materials and methods for the historic works. So far, many researchers have been working on this field and have caused a lot of changes in this field. The purpose of this research is to apply Acanthophyllum extract to the cleaning and washing of historical cotton fabrics. For this purpose, after preparing the Acanthophyllum, using the Soxhlet method, the extract of hydro-alcoholic was obtained. The extract was applied, as a detergent, to the prepared contaminated samples in the washing step. In the washing process, all constant independent variables were concerned, and only three concentrations of extract, washing frequency and times were considered in the design of the test, using a Central Composite Design (CCD). The detection of delta DE* by spectrophotometer as a dependent variable expresses the effect of extract cleansing rate. The results show that extract concentrations, washing frequency and time are most effective in cleaning the contamination. However, the adopted washing process and the applied materials had the least impact on reducing the strength of the fabric

Effect of Micronutrients on Growth and Yield of Pinto Bean under Irrigation– cutback Treatments

To study the effect of micronutrients and irrigation cutback at different development stages on vegetative characteristics and yield of pinto bean (Talash cultivar), an experiment was carried out at Agricultural Research Station of Khoy in 2009. This experiment was performed as strip split plots based on randomized complete blocks design with 3 replications. Treatments included irrigation as the main factor at 3 levels (conventional irrigation (control), irrigation cutback at podding stage, irrigation cutback at seed-filling stage), and application of micronutrients (boron, zinc and manganese) as sub factor at 4 levels (soil treatment, one foliar application, two foliar applications, and control (no micronutrients application)). According to the results, irrigation levels had significant effects on height of the first branch above the ground, stem diameter, seed yield, biological yield and protein content of the seeds. By irrigation cutback at podding and seed-filling stages, the seed yield decreased from 2647 kg/ha to 1269 and 1920 kg/ha, respectively. Micronutrients treatments had also significant effects on number of branches per plant, height of the first branch above the ground, stem diameter, seed yield, biological yield and protein percent. The highest seed yield (2379 kg/ha) was in two foliar applications, which was 893 kg/ha more than control (no micronutrients application). The highest protien content (26.8%) belonged to irrigation at control level and two foliar applications of micronutrients. The general result of this research shows that due to high sensitivity of pinto bean to water deficiency, irrigation at conventional level with two foliar applications of micronutrients is recommendable to improve its growth

The assessment of antifungal effect of Thiophanate-methyl on Paper destructive fungi and ‎its application in conservation paper works

Paper works are more attacked by biological agents such as fungi, bacteria and insects due to its organic nature. In ‎archives, most of the biological destruction of paper is related to fungi. The importance of paper works ‎conservation has led to applying different methods to fungus removal. The chemical disinfection is of of the most ‎common disinfection methods. In this research, the application of Thiophanate methyl in paper destructive fungi ‎has been studied. Laboratory studies to evaluate the effects of Thiophanate methyl on paper and fungus include ‎accelerated ageing, the evaluation of effectiveness of antifungal Thiophanate methyl on fungi such as ‎Aspergillusniger, Aspergillusflavus and Penicilliurnsp and determination of antifungal stability after accelerated ‎ageing. Examination shows that Thiophanate methyl has successfully prevented spread of fungus in all density of ‎‏10‏‎, ‎‏50‏‎, ‎‏100,200‏‎ and ‎‏500‏‎ ppm. Aspergillus flavus fungus had a slight growth at ‎‏10‏‎ ppm, but no growth were ‎observed in other density. Aspergillusniger fungus had no growth capacity in density more than ‎‏100‏‎ ppm. ‎According to the results, treated papers are still able to control fungus growth after being in accelerated ageing ‎condition. In general, the results obtained by fungus growth halo and non-growth halo indicate that all fungi are ‎controllable in density of ‎‏200‏‎ ppm.