امید علیزاده

Triticale is a relatively new man-made cereal crop created by crossing wheat (Triticum spp.) and rye (Secale cereale) to combine the high grain quality and productivity of wheat with the stress tolerance and adaptability of rye. This crop has received attention worldwide due to its high protein content, tolerance to a wide range of environmental stresses, and its ability to thrive in marginal soils. Triticale genotypes are generally more resilient than wheat under drought, salinity, and other abiotic stresses. However, despite its potential, the large-scale cultivation of triticale in many countries, including Iran, remains limited, partly due to a lack of comprehensive knowledge regarding its performance under different environmental conditions. Since drought is one of the most critical limiting factors for cereal production in arid and semi-arid regions, identifying genotypes with enhanced drought tolerance is of paramount importance. The application of drought tolerance indices, which combine yield performance in stressed and non-stressed conditions, is a widely accepted approach to screen for stable and adaptable genotypes. Nevertheless, relying on a single index may be misleading, as each index captures only a specific dimension of tolerance. Therefore, integrative multivariate approaches such as principal component analysis (PCA), biplot, and heatmap clustering can offer a more comprehensive understanding and accurate discrimination of tolerant and high-yielding genotypes.

To investigate the effect of different irrigation regimes and to identify triticale genotypes with superior drought tolerance, a two-year field experiment was conducted using a split-plot design in randomized complete blocks with three replications. The study involved four irrigation treatments: full irrigation (control), irrigation withholding at the flowering stage, at the milky stage, and at the doughy stage of grain development. Nine improved triticale genotypes, mostly derived from CIMMYT lines and recently developed in national breeding programs, were evaluated. Grain yield was measured for each plot and subsequently used to calculate a range of drought tolerance indices, including tolerance index (TOL), stress tolerance index (STI), geometric mean productivity (GMP), mean productivity (MP), yield index (YI), yield stability index (YSI), stress susceptibility index (SSI), and stress tolerance score (STS). Combined and simple analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed using SAS software, while multivariate statistical methods such as PCA-based biplot and heatmap clustering were applied using R software to visualize genotype–index relationships and to classify genotypes into tolerant and susceptible groups.

The combined ANOVA across two years revealed significant effects of genotype, irrigation treatment, and their interaction, while year effects were not significant, confirming the consistency of results. Grain yield decreased significantly under water deficit treatments compared to full irrigation, with the strongest reduction observed when irrigation was withheld at the flowering and milky stages. Among the nine genotypes, Sanabad (G1), Paj (G2), and ET-85-04 (G4) consistently exhibited the highest mean yields across normal and stressed conditions, while ET-85-04 and ET-83-20 showed the lowest variability across environments, indicating strong stability. Biplot analysis demonstrated that combining multiple indices provided clearer separation of tolerant genotypes compared to individual indices. Notably, STI, GMP, and MP were strongly correlated with grain yield under both stressed and non-stressed conditions, confirming their reliability as selection criteria. Heatmap clustering further confirmed that genotypes ET-85-04, Sanabad, and Paj grouped together with favorable stress tolerance indices, suggesting their superior adaptability. In contrast, some genotypes, such as ET-92-18 and ET-92-15, showed weaker associations with tolerance indices and were classified as less suitable for drought-prone areas. The use of multivariate methods was proven to be a powerful approach, integrating diverse tolerance indices to provide a more holistic assessment. These findings highlight that genotypes with high yield potential and stable performance across environments are ideal candidates for breeding programs aimed at improving drought tolerance in triticale.

In conclusion, the results of this two-year field evaluation emphasize that relying on a single drought tolerance index is insufficient for accurate identification of tolerant genotypes. Instead, combining multiple indices through multivariate statistical methods such as PCA-based biplot and heatmap clustering offers a superior strategy to distinguish stable and drought-tolerant lines. Based on both yield performance and tolerance indices, ET-85-04 was identified as the most promising genotype under both stress and non-stress conditions. Alongside Sanabad and Paj, this genotype demonstrated a balanced combination of high productivity, drought tolerance, and stability, making it a strong candidate for release as a new triticale cultivar. These results suggest that triticale can be effectively incorporated into cropping systems in drought-prone regions, potentially offering a reliable alternative to wheat, particularly in areas where water resources are limited. The findings also provide valuable insights for future breeding programs, reinforcing the necessity of integrative statistical approaches in screening and selecting stress-tolerant genotypes.

In this study, we employ three cause-and-effect approaches on an interannual time scale to investigate the complex interplay between Arctic sea ice cover (SIC) and atmospheric circulation on an interannual time scale. We employed these three approaches on the ERA5 data for winters from 1979 to 2023 and examined the linkage between SIC and surface turbulent heat flux (STHF). We focused on three regions with high winter SIC variability: the Barents-Kara Seas (BKS), the Chukchi-Bering Seas (CBS), and the Baffin-Davis-Labrador Seas (BDL). We introduced an improved classification method by combining two approaches: (1) winters are classified into ice-driven and atmosphere-driven regimes based on the signs of STHF and SIC anomalies; (2) winters are classified into shallow and deep warming/cooling regimes. Based on this new approach, we classified winters into four regimes: (1) ice-driven winters with shallow warming/cooling; (2) ice-driven winters with deep warming/cooling; (3) atmosphere-driven winters with shallow warming/cooling; and (4) atmosphere-driven winters with deep warming/cooling. We then analyzed the relationship between the standardized sea ice index in each regime with STHF, storm track density, and the mean intensity of positive meridional wind at 850 hPa (V850).  Our results indicate that the effect of atmospheric circulation on SIC in atmosphere-driven winters varies depending on the depth of warming/cooling over regions with SIC variability. Specifically, in the BKS and CBS regions, downward anomalies in STHF in the south of the region with a reduction in the SIC area and the storm-induced intrusion of warm and moist air into the Arctic are more pronounced in atmosphere-driven winters with deep warming compared to those with shallow warming. We argue that in the BKS region, atmosphere-driven winters with deep warming/cooling are most representative of winters when the atmosphere is driving the SIC. For the CBS region, however, atmosphere-driven winters should be analyzed separately under deep and shallow warming/cooling regimes. For the BKS region, ice-driven winters can exhibit either deep or shallow warming/cooling regimes. Therefore, not all winters with deep warming/cooling represent periods when the atmosphere controls SIC. Hence, to investigate the influence of SIC variability on atmospheric circulation in the BKS region, it is more insightful to separately examine ice-driven winters with shallow and deep warming/cooling. In contrast in the CBS region, ice-driven winters are strongly linked to shallow warming/cooling. This refined classification can be applied to model outputs to enhance our understanding of the intricate interactions between winter sea ice variability and atmospheric circulation across different Arctic regions.

We investigated the linkage between the Northern Hemisphere extratropical storm tracks, interannual atmospheric circulation patterns, and sea ice cover in winter. We employed feature tracking on 850 hPa relative vorticity and positive meridional component of wind (V) from the ERA5 data to identify storm tracks and to analyze track density and mean intensity of storms. We examined the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Blocking Oscillation (BO), and Atlantic Ridge (AR) in the North Atlantic and Eurasia. Positive NAO shifts the North Atlantic storm track poleward with decreased track density upstream of the Mediterranean Sea. Positive BO disrupts the zonal propagation of cyclones and enhances the intrusion of storms into the Arctic from the east of Greenland. The BO-related warm and moist air intrusion by cyclones into the Arctic significantly increases sea ice cover in the Norwegian and Barents Seas, suggesting that BO has the strongest impact on interannual sea ice variability in these regions. In the North Pacific and North America region, we examined the Pacific North American (PNA) and West Pacific (WP) patterns. The negative PNA pattern strengthens cyclonic circulation in the eastern North Pacific, weakens the zonal propagation of cyclones, and shifts the North Pacific storm track toward the pole. Despite increased storm-induced intrusion of warm and moist air into the Arctic during negative PNA, ice cover in the Bering Sea remains largely unchanged, suggesting the contribution of other processes. The positive WP phase is associated with reduced geopotential thickness over the Bering, Chukchi, and Okhotsk Seas, but increased sea ice is limited to the Okhotsk and western Bering Seas. This pattern of anomalies of sea ice cover aligns with the increase in the mean intensity of positive V850 in these regions.    We found a poleward shift upstream of the North Atlantic storm track, along with a decrease in the intrusion of storms into the Arctic east of Greenland in recent decades. The North Pacific storm track also has shifted poleward. These changes may be linked to a strengthened cyclonic circulation over the North and Norwegian Seas, hindering the intrusion of storms from the North Atlantic into the Arctic, and strengthening the eastern Pacific anticyclonic circulation that resembles the negative PNA pattern. The decrease in the North Atlantic storms that enter the Arctic suggests that changes in atmospheric circulation and storm tracks are not the drivers of the recent decline in the Barents-Kara sea ice. The absence of the poleward shift in the downstream of the North Atlantic storm track is due to rapid Arctic warming, which is favored for an equatorward shift of storm tracks. Our findings suggest that recent climate changes may favor strengthening a positive AR-like pattern and ice-induced Ural blocking, potentially linked to the Barents-Kara sea ice loss, as well as a negative PNA-like pattern in the North Pacific.

Many efforts have been made to combine the diverse capabilities of different plant species into a unique plant to increase the quantity and quality of the food product. Accordingly, scientists succeeded in producing triticale as a new pathogen by using a cross between wheat (Triticum spp.) and rye (Secale cereale), which aims to increase the ability of wheat, as one of the most important food sources among grains in the world. It was to withstand harsh environmental conditions such as drought stress. Various studies show that this grain has a high potential to be used as a multipurpose product for direct human use or as a fodder product. Therefore, triticale can be considered a potential product with special genetic conditions, whose yield is still far from its potential. According to scientists of breeding science, creating diversity, whether natural or synthetic, in agricultural products and selecting genotypes with the highest yields and stability in different environments are among the main goals of studies in the field of breeding. It is also reported that the stress tolerance of triticale genotypes is usually higher than wheat genotypes, triticale is less affected by stress conditions, and its yield will be higher than wheat. Resistance to drought stress is a complex process that includes a network of plant responses at the physiological and molecular levels that have not yet been properly discovered and understood. However, creating diversity, selecting genotypes, and studying different traits will help scientists in this direction. In the current study, different triticale genotypes produced by domestic scientists were cultivated and tested under different irrigation conditions to consider the possibility of introducing new cultivars resistant to drought stress and changing environmental conditions. In addition, the relationship between morphological and agronomic traits related to seed yield was evaluated in this research using some advanced statistical methods to find possible traits suitable for indirect selection. The amount of different genetic, phenotypic, and environmental indicators was also investigated to examine the effect of the environment and genetics on the traits.

To reflect the effect of water deficit on triticale and the probability of screening some suitable genotypes tolerant to drought stress, a study was carried out on nine triticale genotypes under four irrigation regimes during two years. These genotypes included Senabad, Pag, Juanillo, ET-85-4, ET-92-15, ET-92-18, ET-83-20, ET-85-17, and ET-83-18. In each year, four different irrigation regimes were applied with interruption of irrigation in three stages, including the flowering stage, the seed milky stage, and the seed pulp stage, along with the control condition. In each year, a split-plot design based on a randomized complete block design with three blocks (replication) was used every two years of the experiment (the growing season 2018-2019) in the research station located in the research complex of the Zarghan Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Training Center, Fars, Iran. Different traits, including plant height, leaf angle, leaf weight, total dry matter, spike length, spike weight, spike number, grain number, straw yield, harvest index, and grain yield, were measured for all applied genotypes in this study. The data obtained from this experiment were first subjected to the composite analysis of variance, and year variance, environmental variance, genotypic variance, phenotypic variance, and test error variance were estimated based on these calculations. The analysis was performed in SAS-9.4-M6 software using a programming code stored on the GitHub website.

The results showed that a lower number of irrigation and earlier withholding of water from the triticale plants can lead to a high decrease in the productivity of triticale genotypes.  Consequently, irrigation treatments and water availability are significant factors in determining the type of breeding programs. Moreover, some genotypes showed a high potential for being considered for releasing cultivars. ET-83-20 and ET-85-04 showed better performance under normal and severe water deficit, respectively, than the other genotypes. Estimation of genotypic features, such as heritability and coefficient of variation, showed a high possibility and potential of producing cultivars with high productivity under either normal or stressed conditions.

Overall results indicated that high heritability and the significant association with grain yield for some traits, such as spike weight, spike number, and grain number, suggest that they are suitable traits for indirect screening and selection criteria. In addition, higher variation for triticale is required to find genotypes with the best quality and quantity traits to be released as a new and proper cultivar to be cultivated in environments with changing conditions.

In the present work, a polyetherimide/ZIF-8 composite membrane was fabricated by solution casting technique. The prepared membranes were Characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy – attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, the membrane's performance in separating carbon dioxide and methane was analyzed through single gas permeability measurements. FTIR-ATR spectrum of the prepared membrane confirmed the functional groups of polyetherimide. XRD analysis showed that the additive was well dispersed in the polymer, resulted in a reduction in the membrane's crystallinity. EDAX analysis confirmed the existence and proper dispersion of Zn particles in the membrane. Finally. The results of permeability tests showed that adding ZIF-8 to the membrane significantly increased its permeability and selectivity. The permeability of the composite membrane for CO2 gas was 5.91 GPU, more than twice that of the pure polyetherimide membrane. Additionally, the permeability for CH4 gas was 0.31 GPU, representing a significant improvement over the pure membrane's permeability of 0.17 GPU. The carbon dioxide/methane selectivity also rose from 15.3 in the pure membrane to 19.1 in the composite membrane. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that adding ZIF-8 to a polyetherimide matrix can improve the effectiveness of the resulting composite membrane for separating CO2 from CH4. The improvement in selectivity was primarily due to the increased solubility coefficient of carbon dioxide compared to methane in the composite membrane.

We analyzed meteorological data from 33 synoptic stations spanning 1987-2022 to investigate dust storms in western Iran. Dusty days were defined as instances where suspended dust coincided with horizontal visibility below 1 km at a minimum of three nearby synoptic stations. We employed ERA-Interim data to identify synoptic patterns associated with dust storms. By analyzing surface pressure and geopotential height maps at lower atmospheric levels, we distinguished the summer and winter Shamal Wind patterns, both of which play a crucial role in dust transport to western Iran. Of the 229 recorded dust events, 70 were linked to summer Shamal Winds and 25 to winter Shamal Winds. Summer Shamal Wind storms predominantly originated from dust sources in northern Iraq, particularly around Lake Tharthar, Nineveh Province, and Kirkuk Province. In contrast, winter Shamal Wind storms showed a reduced contribution from central Iraqi lakes (15%), with dust primarily sourced from eastern and southeastern Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and southwestern Iran.

The aim of this research is to analyze the climatology of the Northern Hemisphere extratropical storm tracks in different seasons using the ERA5 data for the period 1979-2023. To do this, we applied the Lagrangian feature tracking method on the relative vorticity and the positive meridional wind at 850 hPa to identify storm tracks. A positive meridional wind extrema indicates the poleward advection of warm air in the east of a cyclone center, while a negative value points to an equatorward advection of cold air in the west of a cyclone center. Therefore, tracking the positive meridional wind extrema can be applied to identify the storm-driven intrusion of warm air into the Arctic, which can accelerate the Arctic sea-ice melting. It should be noted that in identification and analysis of storm tracks based on the feature tracking method, it is important to choose an appropriate meteorological field. For instance, if we apply mean sea level pressure (MSLP) to track storm tracks, the western parts of the Mediterranean storm track can be detected, while it is not possible to detect the eastern parts. Also, tracking the positive meridional wind extrema is more useful, compared to tracking the relative vertical vorticity at 850 hPa pressure level and MSLP fields, to investigate the impact of extratropical storm tracks on the Arctic sea ice, because this field is associated with the poleward advection of warm air. In this study, in addition to the track density and mean intensity of storms, we investigated the genesis and lysis densities. Also, we discussed the main entrance pathways of extratropical storms into the Arctic.Our results show that storm tracks are the strongest in winter and the weakest in summer. The west of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans are active oceanic basins for the genesis of storms. The center of the North Pacific is also a secondary genesis region for oceanic storms, particularly in winter. There is a maximum of the genesis density in the east of the Rocky Mountains, and also in the Tibetan Plateau. In the former case, most storms reach a lysis maxima on the east coast of North America and west of Greenland. In the latter case, some storms reach a lysis maxima on the east coast of Asia and some of them enter the North Pacific and penetrate into the Bering Sea. In some regions, storm tracks are connected with each other. For example, the Atlantic storm track can feed the storm track in North Russia, while the storm track in North Russia can feed the Northeast Asian storm track. We identified noticeable stretching of the Atlantic storm track from the west of the North Atlantic to the Arctic, through the Greenland and Norwegian seas, which indicates the storm-driven intrusion of warm and moist air from the North Atlantic into the Arctic. Tracking the positive meridional wind extrema reveals a significantly higher lysis density in the Bering Sea compared to tracking the vertical relative vorticity extrema. Hence, storms that penetrate as far as the Bering Sea/Strait can bring heat and moisture from the North Pacific into the Arctic. This storm-driven intrusion of warm and moist air can cause a local melting of sea ice in the Arctic or slow down the sea-ice production, especially in winter.

We utilized the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) data with a horizontal resolution of 0.5°×0.625° for the period 1980-2022 to identify sources of dust that influence Tehran province in different months of the year. The results indicated that surface dust mass concentration in Tehran reach peak levels in late spring and during summer, particularly in July. The maximum dry deposition flux in Tehran is in April and May, whereas the maximum wet deposition flux is in March and April. Wet deposition flux is higher in highlands and in areas where precipitation is relatively high compared to lowlands and areas with low precipitation. Dust emission flux is higher during spring and summer in Tehran compared to other seasons, with the highest values in June and July, concurrent with the maximum dust emission flux in Dasht-e Kavir. Varamin is the only region in Tehran province that contributes to extensive dust emissions. In this region, dust emission flux is higher than dust deposition flux in summer. The analysis of dust emission flux and dust surface mass concentration in Tehran during the period 1980-2022 indicates significant increasing trends in spring and summer, respectively. In this study, we also identified potential dust sources that influence the Tehran province. We examined those sources that have a high level of dust emission flux and are either located in or near Tehran or along the path of weather systems moving from the west to the east. These sources include (1) the western Middle East region; (2) Dasht-e Kavir; and (3) sources in Tehran. In all these areas, the maximum dust emission flux and surface dust mass concentration occur in late spring and during summer, particularly in June and July, whereas their minimum values are in autumn and early winter (October to January). Although dust dry deposition flux shows high values in the vicinity of or near the regions with high dust emission flux, dust wet deposition flux has high values in areas with relatively high precipitation such as the Alborz and Zagros Mountains. In the western Middle East and Dasht-e Kavir, dust emission flux is higher than the sum of dry and wet deposition fluxes in all months of the year. The correlation analysis between dust emission flux in the abovementioned potential sources of dust and surface dust mass concentration in Tehran indicates that from January to April, the western Middle East region is the main source of dust that contributes to the occurrence of dust events in Tehran. In summer and early autumn, in addition to dust sources in the western Middle East, the contribution of Dasht-e Kavir and dust sources in the Tehran province becomes significant. This explains the observed maximum dust surface mass concentration in Tehran during summer. The results of this study have important implications for better understanding potential sources of dust that influence Tehran in different months, based on which monthly variation in terms of the health and environmental impacts of dust can be obtained.

In the present work, a polyetherimide/ZIF-8 composite membrane was fabricated by solution casting technique. The prepared membranes were Characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy – attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, the membrane's performance in separating carbon dioxide and methane was analyzed through single gas permeability measurements. FTIR-ATR spectrum of the prepared membrane confirmed the functional groups of polyetherimide. XRD analysis showed that the additive was well dispersed in the polymer, resulted in a reduction in the membrane's crystallinity. EDAX analysis confirmed the existence and proper dispersion of Zn particles in the membrane. Finally. The results of permeability tests showed that adding ZIF-8 to the membrane significantly increased its permeability and selectivity. The permeability of the composite membrane for CO2 gas was 5.91 GPU, more than twice that of the pure polyetherimide membrane. Additionally, the permeability for CH4 gas was 0.31 GPU, representing a significant improvement over the pure membrane's permeability of 0.17 GPU. The carbon dioxide/methane selectivity also rose from 15.3 in the pure membrane to 19.1 in the composite membrane. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that adding ZIF-8 to a polyetherimide matrix can improve the effectiveness of the resulting composite membrane for separating CO2 from CH4. The improvement in selectivity was primarily due to the increased solubility coefficient of carbon dioxide compared to methane in the composite membrane.

Modeling of crack and discontinuity related problems has had a great influence on numerous industries for a long time. Simulation of discontinuity behavior in different scales, especially in atomistic scales, can lead to better insight of the crack/discontinuity initiation and propagation phenomena and prediction of its behavior in larger scales. On the other hand, modeling based on fully refined scales requires huge computational effort compared to other methods due to the higher number of degrees of freedom. Concurrent multiscale methods have been developed to overcome the high computational cost issues of refined models, while preserving sufficient accuracy. Studies have shown that concurrent multiscale methods are capable of simulating all atomic behaviors in order to establish a compatible solution with larger scales, and to accurately resemble the laboratory results. In the present review, concurrent multiscale methods, which could be categorized into homogenization and partitioned-domain methods, are briefly investigated and compared. These methods have been widely used for modelling of cracks, discontinuities and impurities in different types of problems in the past two decades. To create a suitable basis for comparing the main concurrent methods, the problem of edge crack propagation is redesigned and modeled, and the simulation results and their computational accuracy are compared.

In order to consider the effect of different irrigation treatments on triticale and considering the probability of screening some suitable genotypes tolerant to drought stress, a two-year study (2018 and 2019) with four irrigation regimes (normal irrigation and withholding irrigation in thrre different growing stages containing flowering, milky seed, and seed filling) and nine elite genotypes (Sanabad, Paj, Javanilo, ET-92-15, ET-92-18, ET-83-20, ET-85-17, and ET-83-18) was performed. Grain yield of the triticale genotypes were measured in all treatments and used to estimate the tolerance and stability of the genotypes based on numerous number of related indices. Since, according to results of this study, no single index could be suitable for distinguishing tolerant genotypes, these indices should be applied together and extract information from all of such tolerance indices by using multivariate methods. In this study in addition to biplot based on PCA, a new method as heatmap was also applied. Furthermore, multivariate stability indices containing AMMI and GGE models applied for finding stable genotypes. According to the results of tolerance indices, genotypes ET-85-04, Sanabad, and Paj were the most tolerant genotypes in response to drought stress condition in comparison to other genotypes. Meanwhile, The results of stability analyses indicated that genotypes ET-85-04 and ET-83-20 were the genotypes with lowest variability in different environments. Therefore, ET-85-04 based on the results from both tolerance and stability indices is an suitable genotype to be used as a candidate for releasing new cultivars of triticale genotypes or applied in future breeding plans. In this study the results indicated that using stability and tolerance measuring methods together as a mixed method can be the most effective way to distinguish proper genotypes.

In this research, dust storms in the west of Iran have been investigated, which include days when the dust suspension brings the horizontal visibility to less than or equal to one kilometer in at least three meteorological stations. In order to extract synoptic patterns, the data were obtained on sea level pressure, geopotential height, temperature, zonal (u) and meridional (v) components of wind at different levels of the atmosphere related to ERA-Interim. Using the visual analysis of the maps, the maps were categorized based on the similarity between the pressure patterns. The analysis of synoptic patterns showed that the dynamic and thermal cyclone patterns are the most important patterns of the dust cycle in Iran. In the storms caused by a dynamic cyclone, according to the location of the cyclone in the region, the most dust rise was found to be from the western and southwestern cyclone in Iraq, so about 40% of these storms came from the central lakes and especially from Lake Tharthar. The storms caused by thermal cyclones in the region have lower intensity than those caused by dynamic cyclones. The sources located in the southern half of Iraq, northern Arabia, Kuwait and southwestern Iran have been more effective in the occurrence of dust than the other parts in the region.

The near-surface temperature in the Arctic has increased about four times greater than the global average temperature in recent decades, the feature called rapid Arctic warming or Arctic amplification. Different dynamical pathways have been hypothesized through which Arctic amplification may influence the midlatitude weather. There is also some evidence that extreme weather in midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere is linked to rapid Arctic warming. We analyzed the ERA5 data for the period 1965–2021 to investigate the impact of rapid Arctic warming on weather patterns in West Asia. We defined pre-Arctic and post-Arctic amplification periods as 1965–1991 and 1995–2021, respectively. We analyzed wind speeds between 400 and 100 hPa to investigate the response of the upper-tropospheric jet stream in West Asia to rapid Arctic warming. We defined the meridional extent of an isopleth of the geopotential height at 500 hPa (Z500) as the difference between the maximum and minimum latitudes reached by a single Z500 isopleth each day. By averaging these daily values in different seasons during the pre-Arctic and post-Arctic amplification periods, we obtained seasonal averages of the meridional wave extent in these two time periods. In winter, the altitude of the maximum geopotential height in the middle troposphere has increased in the post-Arctic amplification period. Moreover, the latitudinal extension of the maximum amplitude of Rossby waves has decreased. These two changes imply that the speed of the eastward propagation of Rossby waves has intensified in the post-Arctic amplification period.In summer, the subtropical jet stream has wakened and shifted toward the equator in the post-Arctic amplification period. Due to the weakening of the meridional temperature gradient, both the subtropical and subpolar jet streams become weaker and shift poleward in summer. The poleward shift of the subtropical jet stream has also occurred in the post-Arctic amplification period, while the jet has weakened compared to the pre-Arctic amplification period. The analysis of the meridional circulation index (MCI) shows significant positive and negative values in most parts of West Asia in the post-Arctic amplification period, implying that Rossby waves have become wavier and their speed has decreased, associated with which is a higher possibility for the occurrence of extreme weather events in summer. In autumn, in the post-Arctic amplification period, the jet stream has intensified in the eastern parts of West Asia compared to the climatology and the pre-Arctic amplification period. Between 50 and 75 ºE, the subtropical jet stream in West Asia has shifted toward the equator in the post-Arctic amplification period. As the subtropical jet stream separates the warmer tropical air from the colder air of higher latitudes, its equatorward shift in the post-Arctic amplification period implies the development of negative temperature anomalies in most parts of West Asia.

In recent decades, the introduction of high-yielding cultivars under optimal conditions has been the main focus of grain research programs. The identification of wheat cultivars that have acceptable yields on different planting dates has been taken into account.

The present split-plot test was performed with three replications in two cropping years, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. The main factor included three planting dates (October 20, November 20, and December 20 as early, normal, and delayed planting dates), and the sub-factor included six wheat cultivars (Zare with winter growth habits, Heidari, Pishgam, and Alvand with facultative growth habits, and Sirvan and Pishtaz with spring growth habits). The soil was sampled from a depth of 0 to 30 cm before the experiment, and the physical and chemical traits of the soil were determined. Land preparation steps were performed before the experiment. For this purpose, a land area of 1500 m2 was plowed by a reversible plow and then leveled. Fertilizer application was performed based on the soil experiment results as 100 kg.ha-1 of triple superphosphate, 100 kg.ha-1 of potassium sulfate, and 100 kg.ha-1 of urea before planting. The rest of the urea fertilizer (200 kg.ha-1) was applied at the stage of stem emergence and the beginning of anthesis wheat. Iron, zinc, and manganese fertilizers were also used from their sulfate sources at the rate of 0.2%, which were sprayed in two stages at the beginning of stalking and spiking. Each plot was 5 m long and 2 m wide and consisted of 8 planting rows at a distance of 25 cm. A distance of 50 cm was considered between the two sub-plots and 1 m between the two main plots. The required seed for each experimental plot was determined and distributed based on the density of 400 seeds per m2 based on the weight of 1000 seeds of each cultivar. Irrigation was performed immediately after planting. Agricultural care was applied uniformly, including pest, disease, and weed control. In each subplot, 50 cm from the beginning and end of the rows was considered as the margin. All data were subjected to ANOVA using the GLM procedure of SAS (SAS 9.1) and means were compared by using the Duncan test at 5% probability level.

The results showed that delayed planting reduced nutrient uptake and increased the extinction coefficient. Radiation use efficiency on the planting date of December 20 showed a reduction of 27% and 25%, compared to the planting date of October 20 in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, respectively. Also, on December 20, Sirvan and Pishtaz cultivars with spring growth habits showed lower extinction coefficients and higher photosynthesis rates than winter and facultative cultivars. On October 20 and November 20, the highest grain yield was obtained in cultivars with winter and facultative growth habits. On December 20, the grain yield was higher in cultivars with facultative and spring growth habits than in winter cultivars. Late planting of wheat cultivars with winter growth type, which must receive low temperatures for Vernalization, is very risky. Because delaying planting may lead to a sharp decrease in yield. These negative consequences of the delay in planting may have occurred through disruption of absorption of water, nutrients, and absorption of active photosynthetic radiation. Late cultivation shortens the vegetative growth period and the plant enters the reproductive stage prematurely, and then the plant faces a lack of photosynthetic resources. Also, the grain filling period is faced with drought and heat stress at the end of the season and this final stress causes a sharp decrease in yield.

In general, the delayed planting significantly reduced grain yield, especially in cultivars with winter growth habits. Therefore, it is recommended to use intermediate and spring cultivars for delayed cultivation.

Drought is one of the major factors limiting productivity in agriculture and nutrition management, including the use of potash fertilizers, plays an important role in plant resistance to drought. In order to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of forage amaranth in comparison with forage millet, a split factorial experiment was designed and conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in 2016 and 2017 in Saadatshahr region of Fars province. In this experiment, three irrigation intervals (5, 10 and 15 days) were used as the main factor, potassium fertilizer (50, 100 and 150 kg.ha-1) and forage plants (amaranth and millet) as sub-plots. The results of mean comparison of two-year combined analysis showed that amaranth had significantly more height, stem diameter, inflorescence length, number of leaves per plant, dry forage yield, ash percentage, crude protein and carbohydrate content than millet. Increasing the irrigation interval reduced the height, stem diameter, inflorescence length, number of leaves per plant, 1000-seed weight, percentage of crude fiber, dry matter yield, ash percentage, and soluble carbohydrates. By increasing potassium fertilizer level, plant height, stem diameter, inflorescence length, number of leaves per plant, percentage of crude fiber, dry forage yield, ash percentage, crude protein percentage, ADF percentage and NDF percentage in the plant decreased. In general, it can be concluded that amaranth plant has higher yield and drought tolerance than millet and the application of 150 kg.ha-1 of potassium fertilizer can be recommended to achieve higher yield.

Paying attention to social contributions has recently attracted a lot of attention in empirical research and theoretical literature. In the last decade, the attention of companies has shifted from maximizing the wealth of shareholders to paying attention to the interests of all stakeholders. Social partnerships can lead to gaining the trust of society as well as reducing the company's risk and improving the company's reputation. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate the effect of corporate governance and financial distress on the relationship between the company's sustainability performance and profit sharing policies. Is. This research is practical in terms of purpose and analytical in nature. To collect its data, the financial statements of the Tehran Stock Exchange companies were used, and for their analysis, Eviuse software version 10 was used. The statistical sample of the research is 105 companies from the companies admitted to the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2015 to 2021. The findings of this research show that there is a positive and significant relationship between sustainability performance and profit sharing policies. The bord size lead to the weakening of the mentioned relationship. The independence of the board of directors and the dual duties of the CEO also have no significant effect on the mentioned relationship.

Development of QSAR and molecular docking is a key to the elucidation of pathomechanisms of epigenetic diseases. Quantitative structure- activity relationship (QSAR), Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation were carried out for some modulators of modified chromatin proteins as anticancer agents. The Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA), partial least squares (PLS), Principle component regression(PCR), Coralsea,and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) were used to achieve the QSAR models. Suitable descriptors were selected which includes features such as atomic mass, Van der waals volume, shape and geometrical structure of compounds. Then, molecular docking studies were performed using Autodock Vina software which had a high throughput accuracy. Based on features such as number of hydrogen bonds, bonding length, binding affinity, and also root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), the best complex were selected. In general, QSAR, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation illustrated that compounds 9 and 14 were selected as suitable agents for the design of anticancer drugs. Drug-likeness descriptors of compounds calculated by DruLiTo. In the molecular docking study, the maximum binding affinity of -9 kcal/mol was obtained between each of enzyme systems (PDB: 3MXF) and the geometric-optimized molecules, representing a strong interaction.

In this study, the distribution of tropospheric ozone as an air pollutant and an important greenhouse gas has been investigated in various layers of the troposphere over Southwest Asia. This research has been conducted for a 5-year period (2012-2016) using the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service Reanalysis (CAMSRA) dataset, the result of the third European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) project on atmospheric composition reanalysis. The analysis of the monthly mean concentration of tropospheric ozone over Southwest Asia and its time series (6-hourly data for the 5-year period) over three areas in northwestern and southeastern Iran, and Tehran show that the concentration of ozone has an annual cycle, with the maximum in summer. The maximum ozone in different layers of the troposphere (at the surface, and 700 and 500 hPa) occurs during summer. The maximum concentration in the lower layers (up to 700 hPa) is mostly caused by anthropogenic sources, while in the middle to upper troposphere, it is the result of the injection of stratospheric air into the troposphere. The high concentration of NO2 in highly populated metropolitan areas, such as Tehran and industrial areas in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, contributes to the photochemical production of ozone. In these areas, the concentration of ozone is higher during the daytime and summer compared to the nighttime and winter. This is due to the increase in the photochemical production of ozone when the incoming solar radiation is high. Moreover, there are two hot spots of ozone concentration at 500 hPa over two regions: the eastern Mediterranean region and the east of the Caspian Sea toward Afghanistan. Large-scale subsidence and the occurrence of the tropopause fold and/or the stratosphere to troposphere transport (STT) in these two regions, linked to the Indian summer monsoon, are the main causes of the occurrence of high concentrations of ozone in the middle troposphere. The monsoon diabatic heating can induce Gill-type Rossby waves that propagate westward and cause descent via the interaction with the midlatitude westerlies. The topography of the region, e.g., the Zagros Mountains, is also effective in increasing this descent. In general, every horizontal airflow that encounters steep isentropic slopes at the upper and middle troposphere is forced to descend. We were able to detect a wave-like pattern in ozone concentration at the 300 hPa level, which can be linked to a corresponding pattern of vertical velocities in the region. Furthermore, the statistical analysis indicates that high ozone concentration events frequently occur in southeastern Iran. This could be due to transient variations in the monsoon circulation over India, the Tibetan anticyclone, and the mid-level anticyclone, all of which also affect the transport of the stratospheric ozone in the region.

In order to evaluate the effect of different systems of tillage and herbicide application on the density of weed seedbank and grain yield in maize, an experiment was carried out as split plots in a randomized complete block design with five replications in the years 2017 and 2018. The main plots consisted of three treatments: conventional, low and no-tillage and the subplots included herbicide and non-herbicide treatments. Seedbank review after maize harvesting in the autumn 2018, in the control treatment without spraying showed that Amaranthus retroflexus, Chenepodium album, Setaria viridis, Sorghum halepense, Portula caoleracea, Convulvulus arvensis, Malva neglecta, Descura iniasophia, and Lactuca serriola seeds were significantly more in no-tillage treatments, than in conventional and low tillage treatments. The average number of Avena ludveciana seeds in no and low tillage decreased significantly compared to the conventional tillage. In each of the tillage systems, nicosulfuron herbicide at the rate of 2 liters per hectare had the greatest effect on increasing grain yield. In general, the tillage system over two years led to the accumulation of weeds in the surface crust and increased the density of perennial weeds in the soil.

Research subject:

 Investigation of the effect of temperature on the polymer flooding performance at the pore scale, leads to an understanding of the behavior of the polymer solution in porous media with varying permeability.

Research approach:

 In this study, the effect of temperature on flooding of polyacrylamide polymer on enhanced oil recovery in two homogeneous micromodels at 25 and 70 °C was investigated. The polymer solution and DW were injected at the injection rate of 1 μl/min up to 1 PV into the micromodel and the amount of produced oil and the movement of the injected fluid in the porous medium were analyzed. In addition, polymer rheology and injected fluid viscosity were measured for better analysis of results. Then the results were compared with flooding of distilled water as the control test.

Examining the flood results, it was found that on the one hand, the temperature factor helped to increase oil recovery by reducing the viscosity of the oil. On the other hand, it has reduced the role of injected fluid viscosity in oil extraction by reducing the viscosity of the polymer. The results showed that the phenomenon of fingering decreases in the case of polymer injection, and the rate of improvement of oil recovery during polymer and water flooding in both micromodels increases with increasing temperature. Also, the rate of improvement of oil recovery during polymer flooding in the A micromodel increased from about 43% at ambient temperature to more than 51% and in the B micromodel from about 51% to more than 60% at 70 °C. In fact, it can be said that the flow pattern and stability of the polymer solution front and consequently the ultimate oil recovery are significantly affected by the morphology of the pores, the shape and the throats pores.

In the present study, the effect of different levels of water and salinity stresses was investigated on dry matter production, biochemical attributes, and activity of antioxidant enzymes in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] in Marvdasht and Arsanjan regions in 2017. The treatments included four levels of water stress: 100%, 85%, 70%, and 55% of field capacity (FC) in the main plots and four levels of salinity stress: 1.5, 4.5, 7.5 and 10.5 dS m-1 in the sub plots, which were arranged in split plots based on randomized complete block design, with three replications. The results showed that water and salinity stresses in both regions were associated with decreased dry matter production and concentrations of chlorophylls a and b and carotenoids, while the concentration of free proline and the activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase were increased depending on the stress level. Ascorbic peroxidase activity was increased only under water stress. The highest dry matter yields were obtained from 100% FC irrigation with 4.5 dS m-1 salinity and were 1.292 and 1.198 kg ha-1 in Marvdasht and Arsanjan, respectively. Non-significant effect in 85% FC irrigation regime showed that only 70% and 55% FC irrigation regimes led to water stress in sorghum. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed between non-saline conditions and 4.5 dS m-1, which indicates salinity tolerance of sorghum, at least up to this level. In both regions, the intensity of changes due to water and salinity stress was correlated with the intensity of that stress. The results of this research showed that due to antagonistic effects, drought and salinity stresses have a greater effect on reducing plant yield; therefore, water deficit irrigation strategies are not recommended in case of using water with salinities of 7.5 dS m-1 and more for sorghum irrigation.

Continued use of herbicides has increased the resistance of weeds to them and also reduced the quality of soil and groundwater. Due to the herbicidal properties of plant essential oils, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fennel essential oil on seed germination and seedling growth of common mallow and white goosefoot in laboratory conditions, which was performed as a factorial in a completely randomized design in the research laboratory of the Cooperative Foundation of Rudan city, Hormozgan province, in 2016 . The essential oils were extracted from Fennel seeds by hydrodistillation by using a clevenger apparatus and were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The results showed that the highest percentages of seeds essential oil components were related to e-anethole (66.92%), methyl chavicol (14.54%), fenchone (7.01%) and limonene (6.84%), respectively. Weed seeds after disinfection with sodium hypochlorite and then drying, exposed to concentrations of 0 (distilled water), 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 μl/l of fennel essential oil in suitable light conditions at 25 °C. Based on the results the Fennel essential oil reduced the percentage and speed of seed germination, root and shoot length of common mallow and white goosefoot. With increasing the concentration of essential oil, the percentage and speed of seed germination also decreased significantly. In general, the response of the studied weeds to fennel essential oil was different; In a way, the common mallow was more sensitive to white goosefoot. The greatest inhibitory effect on the germination of common mallow and white goosefoot seeds was related to the concentration of 1000 μl/l of essential oil, so that in the case of common mallow, germination stopped completely. Allelopathy index at a concentration of 1000 μl/l fennel essential oil for common mallow and white goosefoot was -1 and -0.83, respectively.According to the results, the use of 1000 μl/l fennel essential oil is recommended to control common mallow and white goosefoot.

 In recent years, the aggressive application of chemical fertilizers for agricultural production has endangered the health of soil, water, air, as well as crops, and has raised many concerns for the global environment and human health. In addition to the positive biological effects and modification of soil physical and chemical properties due to the gradual release of nutrients, organic fertilizers cause less pollution in the environment. Due to the significant role of medicinal and aromatic plants in different industries, it is important to increasing production of yield and secondary metabolite produced without the use of harmful chemical fertilizers. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill) is widely grown in arid and semi-arid regions and due to its economic importance and pharmaceutical industrial applications, it is one of the world’s most dimension medicinal plant. This plant has antiseptic, antispasmodic, antiinflammatory, diuretic, carminative and analgesic effects and is effective in gastrointestinal disorder treatment. Moreover with its antioxidant and antiulcer properties, it is used to treat neurological disorders.

 This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of organic and biological fertilizers on the morpho-physiological and phytochemical properties of fennel (Foeniculum vulgar Miller). In this study, the impacts of vermicompost (0, 4, 8% in pot), animal manure (0, 7.5, 15% in pot) and mycorrhizal fungi (0, 1%) on physiological and biochemical properties of fennel in greenhouse conditions was evaluated. In order to extract the samples to measure biochemical factors, methanol 70% was used at a ratio of 5:1 (volume- weight). Determination of free radical scavenging was performed by using the DPPH test. The samples’ absorptions were read at a wavelength of 517 nm with Epoch Microplate Spectrophotometer, BioTek Instruments, Inc., USA. Measuring the total phenols was performed according to the Folin’s reagent method and the use of gallic acid as standard (purchased from the brand MERCK, Germany) by using a spectrophotometer at the wavelength of 765 nm. Total flavonoid content was measured using a spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 510 nm through a standard curve of quercetin from Sigma-Aldrich. The Essential oils were obtained from seeds by hydrodistillation for 3 h using a clevenger type device. The analyses of essential oil volatile components were determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Data were analyzed by using Duncan’s multiple range test (P< 0.05) by SAS, version 9.4 for Windows.

 The results of current investigation showed that organic and biological fertilizers improved the fennel yield and phytochemical properties such as the plant height, seed weight per plant, fresh and dry weight of roots and plants, content of total phenols and flavonoids, antioxidant activity, percentage of essential oil and root colonization. The highest plant height, number of flowers, umbrellas and seeds per plant and fresh and dry weight of roots were obtained after combined application of 8% in pot vermicompost, 15% in pot animal manure and application of mycorrhiza. According to the results, the highest amount of total flavonoids (177.66 mg/100g DW) and root colonization (35.8%) after of 8% in pot vermicompost + 15% in pot animal manure + mycorrhiza application was observed. The results also revealed that the highest fresh and dry weight of the plants (121.33 and 17.41 g, respectively) was obtained after application of mycorrhiza + 15% in pot animal manure. Application of mycorrhiza in combination with 15% in pot animal manure compared to other treatments caused a significant increase in total phenol content in aerial parts with 73.22 mg/100g DW. In addition, the highest amount of antioxidant activity (51%) was obtained after 8% in pot vermicompost + 15% in pot animal manure application. Application of organic and biological fertilizers significantly increased the 1000 seed weight and the percentage of essential oil in fennel. After 15% in pot animal manure treatment, the highest percentage of essential oil by 3.43% was recorded. In general, the highest percentages of essential oil components were related to (E)-Anethole (78.26%), Fenchone (7.15%), Limonene (6.12%) and Methyl chavicol (3.85%), respectively. The amount of (E)-Anethole as the essential oil predominant compound, in the control treatment was 66.92%. The application of mycorrhiza + 4% in pot vermicompost increased the content of (E) -Anethole in essential oil to 80.72%.

 In general, application of vermicompost, animal manure and mycorrhizal fungi improved the growth, biochemical and yield characteristics and essential oil yield of fennel in greenhouse conditions. These fertilizers increased plant yield by providing large amounts of required nutrients and affecting various aspects of root growth and development. Among them, the role of nitrogen may be more prominent due to its participation in protein synthesis and the role of iron in nitrogen fixation, photosynthesis and electron transfer.

Aerosols can act as cloud condensation nuclei in inhomogeneous nucleation. Thus, changes in the concentration of aerosols can affect cloud microphysics and precipitation by changing the number and concentration of cloud droplets. Using the two-moment Thompson cloud microphysics for two nested domains in the weather and research forecasting (WRF) model, the impacts of aerosols on cloud microphysics and precipitation are investigated for a convective system in northern Iran on 17-23 April 2019, in which the first 24 hours are considered as spin-up of the model. Aerosols are obtained from the Goddard chemistry aerosol radiation and transport (GOCART) model and used in the WRF model. Mass mixing ratios are of sulfate, dust, black carbon, organic carbon, and sea salt, although black carbon is ignored in the cloud condensation nuclei activation. Dust aerosols larger than 0.5 μm in diameter are accumulated into the ice-nucleating mode, while all other aerosol types mentioned above are combined into the cloud-droplet-nucleating mode. Three numerical experiments have been conducted. In the control experiment, the extracted aerosols from the GOCART model are used in the WRF model. In the polluted experiment, the number of hygroscopic aerosols in all model grid points that contain aerosols is increased by a factor of five. The third experiment is similar to the second experiment in terms of the number of hygroscopic aerosols. However, relative humidity is increased by 10 percent in all grid points with relative humidity between 0 and 90 percent. It is changed to 100 percent in all grid points with relative humidity higher than 90 percent. This experiment is referred to as the polluted-humid experiment. The maximum number of ice crystals is found in the polluted-humid experiment. The increase of relative humidity in the polluted-humid experiment also leads to the formation of more cloud droplets, and thus more release of latent heat of condensation, which results in higher cloud tops and the formation of more ice crystals. The lifted condensation level (LCL) is also shifted to lower heights in the polluted-humid experiment. In the polluted experiment, the accumulated precipitation in the innermost domain is decreased, which can be due to a decrease in the size of cloud droplets, associated with which is less collision of cloud droplets, which results in a delay in warm precipitation. Nevertheless, higher relative humidity in the polluted-humid experiment and associated larger cloud droplets are accompanied by higher accumulated precipitation.