Impacts of different salt source and concentrations on germination and seedling growth of many pumpkin seeds used as rootstoch in Iran

The effects of different salt sources (C Cl2, NaCl, and KCl) and concentrations, as measured by electrical conductivity, (0, "control", 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 dS m-1) on seed germination and seedling growth of “Ferro”, “Obez”, “RS 841” and “Strong Tosa F1” pumpkin varieties used as rootstock were investigated in this study. The results showed that germination rate, root length, shoot length, fresh root weight, dry root weight, fresh shoot weight and dry shoot weights tend to decrease when the electrical conductivity of the solution is higher than 5 dS m-1, independent of salt sources and in all of the varieties. Three days after seeding, a germination ratio of 5 % was obtained from RS 841 variety in all salt source and concentrations, while a germination ratio over 50 % was obtained in “Strong Tosa” variety for the same conditions except CaCl2 salt source. Nevertheless, seeds germinated in medium having high concentrations of CaCl2 had lower germination rate and poor seedling growth, compared to media having the same concentrations of NaCl and KCl. It was concluded that all of the varieties studied were more sensitive to the concentrations prepared using CaCl2 than that of the KCl, and NaCl

Effect of 'Gutingen V' as an intensive training system on agromorphological characters of some apple cultivars in Karaj region of Iran

V-shape systems represent an efficient and popular option to increase yields and fruit quality in fruit trees. Hence, this paper attempts to compare some vegetative and yield characteristics of five apple cultivars grown at horticultural research station in Karaj, Iran. The selected apple cultivars were included: 'Golab-kohans' (Iranian cultivar), 'Fuji', 'Gala', 'Starking' and 'Delbar estival' (commercial foreign cultivars) that were grafted on M.9 rootstock which were trained in a V system. All of these trees were planted in winter 2005. The time of irrigation started from the second experimental year after planting and the method of irrigation was drip irrigation system. Results showed that the 'Golab-kohans' had the most tree height (278.63 cm), trunk cross sectional area (7.308 cm2) and mean shoot length (100.58 cm). Also 'Delbar estival' had the most yield (0.98 kg), yield efficiency (0.550 kg/cm2). Consistently, Results revealed that among the investigated cultivars, 'Delbar estival' can be introduced as a prone and productive cultivar for V system in Karaj's climatic conditions

Comparison of pulmonary arterial pressure in patients under chronic hemodialysis with and without arteriovenous fistula

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disorder and a newly-discovered disease in people with end stage renal disease (ESRD). In patients who are hemodialyzed through arteriovenous fistula (AVF), the incidence of pulmonary hypertension (PHT) is highly probable. Regarding the main role of the AVF in the pathogenesis of PAH and the fact that AVF is the main method of vascular access in patients undergoing dialysis, we decided to investigate pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) in patients under chronic hemodialysis.METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. All patients with chronic hemodialysis were divided into two groups according to the status of the fistula. The number of cases examined included 100 patients and data were analyzed by SPSS software.RESULTS: The most common cause of ESRD was hypertension (HTN) followed by diabetes mellitus (DM), polycystic kidney disease (PKD), urologic disorders, DM and HTN, combined blood pressure (BP) and PKD, renal stones, and other items ultimately. The average creatinine level was 8.59 mg/dl. Therefore, the mean creatinine level of patients, although relative to mode and median, was in any case significantly higher than the mean, which was predictable according to the ESRD community studied. The mean phosphate level was 5.66 mg/dl, and the mean hemoglobin (Hb) was 11.56 g/dl. The mean parathyroid hormone (PTH) and PAP were 558.68 and 27.33 mmHg, respectively, and the mean of ejection fraction (EF) was 50.75%. There was a significant difference between the mean PAP in the two groups (P = 0.048), as it was higher in the AVF group.CONCLUSION: Results of this study showed that AVF and ESRD both were risk factors for high PAP and PHT

Application of sorting dependent criterias in determination of volume and area bruising of “Golab-Kohanz” apple in Iran

Apple fruits are subjected to different loading damage from harvesting to supermarket shelf. Bruising has been attracted many researchers as one of the most important damage criteria. In this research, the effects of some factors such as counter-face material, drop height and linear velocity of apples (conveyor speed) were investigated. Influence of these factors on bruising of “Golab-Kohanz” variety was analyzed by a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with factorial test at three levels of drop height (10, 20 and 30 cm), conveyor speed (0.05, 0.1 and 0.15 ms- 1) and four counter-face materials (wood, steel, plastic and cardboard). Tests were conducted at three replications with 108 treatments. Analysis of variance results showed that the effects of drop height and counter-face material on bruising area at 1% level was significant while bruising volume only affected by contact surface material (P<0.01). Mean comparison test indicated that there was no significant difference among levels of conveyor speed on the area and volume bruising. Also, there was no significant difference among levels of drop height on volume bruising while it was significant on the area bruising. Steel and wooden material had no significant effect on the area and volume bruising but their differences with plastic and cardboard were significant. Therefore, drop height and counter-face material must be considered in designing the apple processing systems