Heritability and genetic gain of some morphophysiological variables of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum)

The purpose of this work is to estimate genetic variability parameters and relationship among 11 agrophysiological traits studied on 18 experimental durum wheat and two checks under rainfed condition. The studied traits included the grain yield (YLD), plant height (PH), number of tiller per plant (NT), peduncle length (PL), flag length (FL), leaf dry weight (LDW), stem dry weight (STW), spike dry weight (SPW), spike height (SH), leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate (RGR), leaf area ratio (LAR) and net assimilation rate (NAR). Analysis of variance showed a significantly variation among genotypes for the characters PH, NT, PL, FL, LDW, STW, SPW, SH, LAR and NAR. High correlations were found among the PL, LDW, STW, SPW, LAR and NAR. Heritability estimates were high for PH, PL, LDW, STW and NAR. High genetic gains were observed for YLD, NT, PL, LDW, STW, SPW, LAR and NAR

Surgical treatment of postintubation tracheal stenosis: Iranian experience of effect of previous tracheostomy

Shahryar Hashemzadeh1, Khosrow Hashemzadeh2, Farzad Kakaei3, Raheleh Aligholipour4, Kamyar Ghabili51Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Research Center, 2Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Shahid Madani Hospital, 3Department of General Surgery, 4Students Research Committee, 5Medical Philosophy and History Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranBackground: Postintubation tracheal stenosis remains the most common indication for tracheal surgery. In the event of a rapid and progressive course of the disease after extubation, surgical approaches such as primary resection and anastomosis or various methods of tracheoplasty should be selected. We report our experience with surgical management of moderate to severe postintubation tracheal stenosis. We also compared intraoperative variables in postintubation tracheal stenosis between those with and without previous tracheostomy.Methods: Over a 5-year period from June 2005 to July 2010, 50 patients aged 14–64 years with moderate (50%–70% of the lumen) to severe (>70%) postintubation tracheal stenosis underwent resection and primary anastomosis. Patients were followed up to assess the surgical outcome. To study the effect of previous tracheostomy on treatment, surgical variables were compared between patients with previous tracheostomy (group A, n = 27) and those without previous tracheostomy (group B, n = 23).Results: Resection and primary anastomosis was performed via either cervical incision (45 patients) or right thoracotomy (five patients). In two patients with subglottic stenosis, complete resection of the tracheal lesion and anterior portion of cricoid cartilage was performed, and the remaining trachea was anastomosed to the thyroid cartilage using a Montgomery T-tube. There was only one perioperative death in a patient with a tracheo-innominate fistula. The length of the resected segment, number of resected rings, and subsequent duration of surgery were significantly greater in group A compared with group B (P < 0.05). Six months after surgery, the outcome was satisfactory to excellent in 47 (95.9%) patients.Conclusion: This surgical approach leads to highly successful results in the treatment of moderate to severe postintubation tracheal stenosis. In addition, previous tracheostomy might prolong the duration of surgery and increase the need for postoperative interventions due to an increase in the length and number of resected tracheal segments. Therefore, in the event of emergency tracheostomy in postintubation tracheal stenosis, insertion of the tracheostomy tube close to the stenotic segment is recommended.Keywords: trachea, tracheostomy, tracheal stenosis, intubation, tracheal resectio

Analiza niezawodności urządzeń wiertniczych wykorzystywanych w kopalniach odkrywkowych

Considering the high investment and operation costs, reliability analysis of mining machineries is essential to achieve a lean operation and to prevent the unwanted stoppages. In open pit mining, drilling, as the initial stage of the exploitation operations, has a significant role in the other stages. Failure of drilling machines causes total delay in blasting operation. In this paper, the reliability of drilling operation has been analyzed using the Markov method. The failure and operation data of four heavy rotary drilling machines in Sarcheshme copper mine in Iran have been used as a case study. Failure rate and repair rate of all machines have been calculated using available data. Then, 16 possible operation states have been defined and the probability of being of drilling fleet in each of the states was calculated using Markov theory. The results showed that there was 77.2% probability that all machines in fleet were in operational condition. It means that, considering 360 working days per year, drilling operation will be in a reliable condition in 277.92 days.Biorąc pod uwagę wysokość kosztów inwestycyjnych a także eksploatacyjnych, przeprowadzenie analizy niezawodności maszyn i urządzeń górniczych jest sprawą kluczową dla zapewnienia sprawnego działania i dla wyeliminowania niepożądanych przestojów. W kopalniach odkrywkowych prace wiertnicze prowadzone w początkowych etapach eksploatacji mają ogromne znaczenie również w późniejszych fazach działalności przedsięwzięcia. Awaria urządzeń wiertniczych powoduje opóźnienia przy pracach strzałowych. W pracy tej przeanalizowano niezawodność urządzeń wiertniczych w oparciu o metodę Markowa. Jako studium przypadku wykorzystano dane zebrane w trakcie eksploatacji i awarii czterech obrotowych urządzeń wiertniczych wykorzystywanych w kopalni rud miedzi Sarcheshme w Iranie. Awaryjność maszyn i zakres oraz częstość napraw obliczono na podstawie dostępnych danych. Zdefiniowano 16 możliwych stanów działania, a prawdopodobieństwa znalezienia się jednego z urządzeń wiertniczych w każdym z podanych stanów obliczono z wykorzystaniem teorii Markowa. Wyniki pokazują, że poziom prawdopodobieństwa tego, że wszystkie urządzenia wiertnicze znajdować się będą w stanie gwarantującym ich właściwe działanie wynosi 77.2%. Biorąc pod uwagę 360 dni roboczych w roku, oznacza to, że prace wiertnicze prowadzone być mogą w warunkach niezawodności przez 277.92 dni w roku

Grain Yield, Its Components, Genetic Diversity and Heritability in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

The current research was carried out to investigate grain yield and components and their genetic diversity and heritability of some important agronomic traits, in 19 chickpea genotypes, based on a randomized complete block design with 3 replications in Research Field of Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran in 2011-2012 growing seasons. The ANOVA results showed that, there were highly significant differences (p < 0.01) among genotypes for the SPAD number, number of sub-branch per plant, pod number per plant, 100-kernel weight, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index. The mean comparisons results indicated that the genotypes 14, 12, 4 and 19 (with 234.7, 240, 250.3 and 259.4 kilogram of grain yield per ha, respectively) and the genotypes 18, 8, 15, and 6 (with 151.01, 167.6, 167.8 and 189 kilogram of grain yield per ha, respectively) had the maximum and minimum economic yield, respectively. According to phonotypical correlation results, there were positive and significant (p < 0.01) correlations between grain yield and pod number per plant (0.623**), plant height (0.432**), harvest index (0.425**) and biomass (0.349**). Step-wise regression indicated that the pod number per plant, harvest index, biomass, number of sub-branch per plant, and plant height were the most effective traits on economic yield and they explained 84.68 percent of the variation in economic yield. Furthermore, harvest index and seed number per plant had the maximum and minimum heritability, respectively, indicating that they could be hired as sources of variation for improving the grain yield and selecting superior genotypes

Preparation of a sepiolite/Cu-BDC nanocomposite and its application as an adsorbent in respirator cartridges for H2S removal

A newly developed Cu-BDC MOF nanocomposite based on natural sepiolite (Sep) was prepared and characterized using XRD, SEM, EDS, BET, and FTIR techniques. The surface areas of the sepiolite and the Sep/Cu-BDC nanocomposite were obtained as 105.5 m(2) g(-1) and 270.5 m(2) g(-1) with average micropore volumes of 0.39 and 0.32 cm(3) g(-1), respectively. The Sep/Cu-BDC nanocomposite was prepared from the Cu-BDC metal-organic framework with values of 10, 25, and 40 by weight. The synthesized nanocomposite was tested to estimate the adsorption capacity and breakthrough time under various temperature, humidity, and concentration conditions using a designed setup. The aeroqual S500 direct-reading sensor with 0.01 ppm accuracy was used to measure the exact amount of hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S). The produced Sep/Cu-BDC nanocomposites had an extremely high adsorption capacity compared to the primary sepiolite. Among the different adsorbents, the Sep/Cu-BDC (25 wt) nanocomposite exhibited the highest adsorption capacity of 55.13 mg g(-1) (SD = 0.70) and breakthrough time of 46.32 min (SD = 1.53), respectively. Also, the amount of adsorption and breakthrough time of H2S were decreased with increasing moisture and concentration. The pressure drop was also increased slightly. The nanocomposite with 40 wt of Cu-BDC showed a significant decrease in the adsorption capacity and breakthrough time of H2S. The Sep/Cu-BDC adsorbent was regenerated using thermal regeneration at 190 degrees C in N-2 flow for 4 h, and the results showed that the adsorbent could be used for three consecutive cycles exhibiting excellent recyclability and thermal stability

Synergistic role of carbon nanotube and SiCn reinforcements on mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of Cu-based nanocomposite developed by flake powder metallurgy and spark plasma sintering process

Hybrid-reinforced metals are novel composite materials in which nano-phases including nanoparticles and nanotubes/nanosheets are used simultaneously to reinforce metals or alloys to enhance physical, mechanical, wear and other properties. In this research, Cu/(CNT-SiC) hybrid nanocomposite was synthesized using flake powder metallurgy and spark plasma sintering method and the effects of hybrid reinforcements on microstructural, wear and corrosion properties of the developed material were investigated and compared with those of copper. Microstructural characterization showed reduction of average grain size from 419 to 307 nm and increase of low angle grain boundaries with the introduction and homogeneous dispersion of hybrid reinforcements. Mechanical tests indicated that the addition of hybrid SiC and CNT reinforcements substantially increased microhardness and reduced wear rate and friction coefficient of the Cu. Also, polarization and EIS tests revealed the suppressing of the anodic dissolution of the matrix, hindering the oxygen reduction reaction and 62.5% improvement of corrosion rate for the composite material. The effects of hybrid nano-reinforcements are presented and discussed.11Nsciescopu