An evaluation of harvesting costs in present and planned operations: case study—Waston District of Mazandaran Wood and Paper Industries

Amongst all forest utilization phases, harvesting plays a key role as the beginning phase of the utilization cycle and has a significant effect on the following phases.In this research, in order to examine the reduction of costs with respect to present and planned operations, the starting time of the harvesting or cutting phase and work flow were recorded. The starting time of each phase of the entire operation was recorded as well. Before harvesting the marked tree, the appropriate felling direction was determined and the azimuth of the correct direction was taken.The results indicate that there was not a meaningful relationship between the differences in direction of a leaning tree compared with the felling direction. However, there was a significant relationship between the difference of the defined and felling direction and the difference in tree leaning and defined direction. The same trend was observed between tree leaning and felling directions and tree leaning and defined directions. On the other hand,there was no significant relationship between tree leaning and felling directions and the defined and tree felling directions. In addition, this research shows that with an increase in tree volume, the time for tree cutting rose.Furthermore, when the difference of tree leaning and felling direction decreased, the time to cut the tree declined.The regression equation is Y = 168.9–0.14(the difference between tree leaning and felling direction) + 0.7(volume).     

Relationship between branch-scar parameters and knot features of oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Libsky)

The classification of roundwood is inextricably linked to the measurement of a particular single wood defect. The appearance, location, and number of defects are important in the quality evaluation of logs and sawn timber, and the most important defects are knots. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the appearance of branch scars and features of the related knot inside oriental beech logs, and to model the relationship between well-defined branch-scar and knot parameters. One hundred and fifty knots in 15 stems of oriental beech trees were studied. Image analysis software was used to measure the branch-scar and knot features. The results showed a significant positive correlation between the branch-scar parameter “moustache length” and the knot length. The ratio of branch-seal length to width was found to be a good estimator of the stem diameter at the time of knot occlusion and the amount of clear wood between the knot occlusion and the bark. The relationship obtained for the oriental beech stem radius at time of knot occlusion confirms relationship reported for European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.).     

Estimation of the organic carbon content by the pattern recognition method

Studying the status of agricultural soils is one of the most important concerns in the agricultural sector. The soil organic carbon (SOC) is one of the main parameters and it plays an important role in improving soil properties. Hence, knowing this parameter is important in soil science. This study applied the pattern recognition (PR) method in predicting the SOC. Also, the ability of this method was compared with different methods such as the Radial Basis Function Network (RBF), Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network (MLP), Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Support Vector Regression (SVR). To compare the results, four performance criteria, namely, root mean square errors (RMSE), the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NS), Willmott’s Index of agreement (WI), mean absolute error (MAE) and Taylor diagrams were used. Results indicated that the PR model performed significantly better than the MLP, MLR, SVR, and RBF models for the estimation of the SOC.     

Positive effects of Penconazole on growth of Brassica napus under drought stress

The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of drought on some physiological and biochemical parameters and to assess the inducing effects of Penconazole (PEN) on drought tolerance in two cultivars (RGS003 as a drought tolerant and Sarigol as a drought sensitive) of canola. Plants were treated with various PEG concentrations (0, 5, 10, and 15%) without or with PEN (15 mg l^?1). Decrease in fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW) in Sarigol under drought was higher than that of RGS003. Surprisingly, PEN reversed prominently the negative effects of drought on FW and DW in RGS003. Concomitantly, PEN treatment decreased malondialdehyde content in RGS003 under drought. Moreover, higher content of proline in RGS003 under all drought levels could be considered as a factor for drought tolerance of this cultivar. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities were induced by PEN in both cultivars under drought. Inducing effects of PEN on phenylalanine ammonia lyase and thyrosine ammonia lyase activities decreased by increasing of drought levels in both cultivars. In summary, PEN alleviated the negative effects of drought in RGS003 cultivar by inducing activities of SOD, CAT and PPO and proline content comparing to Sarigol.     

The effect of silver nanoparticle on Fenugreek seed germination under salinity levels

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect s of silver nanoparticles for ameliorating negative effects of salinity on germination and growth of Fenugreek seeds. In order to investigate salinity stress on Fenugreek germination indices, an experiment was carried out in Iran from October 2014 to November 2014 at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, in the biotechnology Laboratory, to create salinity stress, sodium chloride (NaCl) at the levels of 0 (as control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 dS/m and Five levels of silver nanoparticles (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 μg mL^–1) on Fenugreek seed (Trigonella foenum-graecum); were tested Germination characteristics such as total germination (GT), Germination Speed Index (GSI), Shoot and Root of seedling long, Fresh Mass and Dry Mass were measured. Results showed the great effects of silver nanoparticles to improve salinity stress on Fenugreek seed germination. Results showed a significant reduction in germination percent and seedling growth due to the salinity stress while significantly increased with silicon nano-particles application. In without silver nanoparticle low level of salinity (0 dS/m) increased seed germination percentage, while the high levels (5, 10, 15 and 20 dS/m) inhibited the seed germination significantly. The results showed that the effect of AgNPs was significant on germination percentage in P ≤ 0.05. Overall, application of AgNPs was beneficial in improving salinity tolerance in the Fenugreek seedling and its application may stimulate the differences defense mechanisms of plants against salt toxicity.     

Ocimum basilicum L. growth and nutrient status as influenced by biochar and potassium-nano chelate fertilizers

In sustainable agriculture, the protection of environment against pollution is the main goal for consumers. Nowadays, the overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, are one of the main causes of environmental pollution. It is claimed that incorporation of organic compound into soil enhances nutrient availability and plant productivity. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to determine the effects of 0%, 1.5% and 3% cattle manure biochar and 0, 300 and 600 mg K-nano chelate kg^?1 soil on agronomic properties and nutrient status of Ocimum basilicum L. Biochar increased leaf area and plant height, significantly. Application of 1.5% and 3% biochar increased fresh weight by 40% and 42% and dry weight by 50% and 49%, respectively. Addition of 3% biochar increased P, K and Mn concentrations by 45%, 17% and 109%, respectively. Biochar increased N, P, K, Zn and Mn uptake, significantly. Addition of 300 mg K increased dry weight by 15%; while application of 600 mg K decreased it. Application of 300 and 600 mg K-nano chelate increased K and Zn concentration and K uptake significantly. Furthermore, 300 mg K increased Cu and Zn uptake. In order to achieve sustainable agricultural productions, biochar application is recommended especially in the soils of arid and semiarid regions.     

Genetic variation of ten microsatellite loci in Makui sheep of Iran

The native breeds, because of their natural selection against harsh environment and adaptation to regional conditions are important to resource-poor farmers and pastoralists. The molecular characterization of genetic variation is a fundamental step to manage and conserve indigenous breeds. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic variation of Makui sheep. Totally, 100 sheep (60 ewes, 10 ram and 30 lambs) were used in this study. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was performed using microsatellite primers BM1329, OarAE101, OarFCB11, OarFCB128, OarFCB129, OarFCB20, OarFCB304, OarFCB5, OarHH35 and OarHH55 in a standard 25 μl reaction. All microsatellite loci were amplified and produced minimum 2 and maximum 14 alleles ranging from 90 to 185 bp in size. The mean number of alleles for each locus was 6.8. Loci OarFCB128 and OarAE101 produced the highest (8.5288) and the lowest (1.0304) effective number of alleles, respectively. The mean expected heterozygosity for all loci was 0.6893 (range 0.0295–0.8837). The highest (2.12) and the lowest (0.07) Shanon Index was observed in OarFCB11 and OarAE101, respectively. Only two (OarFCB5 and OarAE101) out of ten loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The present study was able to demonstrate a reasonable genetic variation and polymorphism across all microsatellite loci studied in the Makui sheep.     

Reproductive performance of Holstein dairy cows in Iran

The objectives of the present study were to describe the current reproductive parameters of Holstein dairy cows in Iran and to determine factors which have a significant effect on reproductive performance with emphasis on high-producing dairy cows. Five large Holstein dairy herds from the major milk production areas of Iran were selected for this study. Reproduction data including parity of dam, calving date, days to first service, days open, number of services, dry period, and occurrence of diseases for cows that calved from 2004 to 2007 were collected from the herds' databases. To determine the effects of year and season of calving, disease status, level of milk production, and parity of dam on reproductive parameters, the proc-mixed procedure in SAS software was used. Overall, data about 8,204 lactation were collected for the study. Results showed that mean (±SD) days open, calving interval, and days to first service for study herds were 134 (±89), 403 (±86), and 67 (±38) days, respectively. Conception rates at the first service and the overall service-conception rate were 41.6% and 41%, respectively. The level of milk production and diseases had significant negative effects on days open and service per conception (P < 0.05); statistical analysis showed that for every 100-kg increase in milk yield, days open will increase by about 0.3 days. However, no significant effect of level of productivity was observed on days to first service. The results of this study indicate that high milk production is a risk factor for decreasing fertility in Iran, like many other parts of the world.     

Prevalence of Salmonella associated with chick mortality at hatching and their susceptibility to antimicrobial agents

The prevalence of Salmonella associated mortality at hatching was investigated in three hatcheries in Jos, central Nigeria. Their susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was also evaluated. S. Kentucky and S. Hadar were isolated. While half of the isolates were from internal organs, 26.7% came from meconial swabs of dead-in-shell embryos, 17.8% from intestinal samples and 4.4% from egg shells. S. Hadar is known to colonise only the gut and is classified as non-invasive, but in this study 82% were obtained from internal organs which suggests that infections with this serotype may also cause invasive disease. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests showed a high prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in the study area with complete resistance to gentamycin, enrofloxacin, nalidixic acid, tetracycline and streptomycin and substantial resistance to triple sulphur and ciprofloxacin. Six multiple resistance profiles were recorded with a high level of multiple resistance to quinolones. Quinolone resistance has implications for veterinary and human therapy as their misuse in poultry could lead to the emergence of resistant animal and zoonotic pathogens.