a. kamyab

Drought is one of the most important factors limiting the production of crops in the world, which can adversely affect the growth and performance of plants. Bacterial endophytes, as one of the microorganisms symbiotic with plants, play an essential role in improving the growth and performance of their host plants under drought-stress conditions. Considering the problems of water scarcity in Iran, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of the bacterial endophyte Agrobacterium deltaense isolated from the bitter myrtle (Salvia mirzayanii) plant on some quantitative and qualitative characteristics of thyme plants under drought stress. The bacterial endophyte was identified using morphological, physiological and molecular methods. Then, the sterilized Thyme seeds were cultivated under standard conditions and transferred to pots after two months. Six months after transplanting the culture to the pot, Thyme plants were inoculated in three stages weekly using A. deltaense bacterial endophyte. The bacterial suspension was adjusted in an NB culture medium with a 1 × 108 ml concentration. Then, they were applied as foliar spraying to the aerial parts of the plants and injected into the roots. To ensure the presence of endophytes after one month of foliar spraying to the aerial parts and injection to the roots, the bacterial endophyte establishment test was performed in the plant, and then drought stress was applied for three months, and then the morphological traits, Physiological and biochemical properties of thyme plant were evaluated. A factorial experiment in the form of a randomized complete design was performed in three replications on the research greenhouse of the Horticulture Department of Hormozgan University in 2021. The treatments were determined at four levels of drought stress (0, 25, 50 and 75% of field capacity) and two levels of bacterial inoculation (no inoculation and inoculation with A. deltaense). The assessed traits included: height, fresh and dry weight of stem and root, percentage of electrolyte leakage, chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid, prolin, soluble sugar, Total Phenolic Content, Essential Oil Percentage and mycorrhizal dependency. Drought stress led to significant effects on the reduced performance of garden thyme plants, including decreased stem height, fresh and dry weight of stems and roots, chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids. However, under severe drought stress (75% field capacity), inoculation of garden thyme with the endophytic bacterium A. deltaense resulted in a significant increase in stem height (41.35%), root dry weight (71.85%), root fresh weight (74.35%), stem dry weight (83.22%), stem fresh weight (37%), chlorophyll a (97.15%), chlorophyll b (09.41%), total chlorophyll (77.20%), carotenoids (25%), and caused a significant reduction in electrolyte leakage by 90.5% compared to the control. Furthermore, the presence of the endophytic bacterium A. deltaense, in contrast to its absence under drought stress conditions, led to an increase in proline (17.07%), soluble sugars (15.09%), total phenolics (27.39%), and essential oil percentage (20%), mycorrhizal dependency (84%) compared to the control. The study's results suggest that beneficial microorganisms, including bacterial endophytes, can be used as a suitable way to increase plant resistance to drought.  This potential can be used for sustainable agriculture and reduced slaughter limits in dry and low-water areas. In the case of the use of A. deltaense bacterial endophyte in garden aviation slaughter under dry conditions, improvement in the growth and functioning of plants can be observed, as well as an increase in the percentage of essential oil and phenol content, which is an indicator of their quality and effective therapeutic compounds. This increase not only helps promote plants' medicinal properties but also increases their economic and commercial value.

Yazd is located in a hot-dry region with harsh weather conditions. Houses with an iwan were suitable for establishing comfort conditions in the past. An evaluation of the visual comfort conditions in residential courtyard buildings in Yazd city was carried out by investigating the effects of the depth of the iwan and the ratio of the adjacent rooms' openings.  Research is currently being conducted on an optimal model of the iwan in an effort to facilitate sustainable development and increase the use of such a model in contemporary housing. The effect of the parameters was investigated by simulating models containing different proportions of the iwan and sizes of the window in the Design Builder software. The results indicate that the proportion of the iwan and Window Wall Ratio of the adjacent room's window significantly affects the daylight that penetrates into the rooms. For the purposes of this study, climate-based daylight metrics (CBDMs), such as Useful Daylight Illuminances (UDI) with thresholds of 100–3000 lux and Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA) over 300 lux. In models with an iwan depth of 1.5 and above, windows from 20% to 60% WWR have the ability to bring a suitable amount of light into the room. This means that by using the iwan, wider windows can be designed without having glare and adding extra thermal load to the building. Results obtained from this research will provide new insight into the concepts of iwan. Furthermore, findings of this research help architect to design spaces with the utilization of daylight.

The city of Yazd has a large number of traditional houses. Houses with central courtyards and an Iwan were suitable for establishing thermal comfort conditions. In this research, the effect of Iwan's depth and the ratio of the adjacent room's openings on the comfort condition in the residential courtyard buildings in Yazd city were evaluated. The current research aims to provide an optimal model of the Iwan to increase sustainable development and use such models as the Iwan in contemporary housing in the hot and dry climate of Yazd. In order to investigate the effect of parameters, samples from the north-facing room and south-facing room in a central courtyard model with different proportions of the Iwan and different sizes of the window were simulated in Design Builder software. The results showed that the depth of Iwan and window to wall ratio's (WWR) of the adjacent room’s window significantly affects the comfort (according to cooling load, heating load, and energy consumption) in this room. The results obtained in this research will be a new window to recover the concepts of old patterns and help to solve climate problems.

In a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment with 6 treatments and 4 replicates per treatment, the effect of energy and protein dilution during 6-12 days of age was tested in broilers. Rice hull was used for dilution of energy and protein at levels of 0.05 (control), 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 percent. The metabolizable energy and crude protein content of the experimental diets were 3089, 2780, 2626, 2472, 2317 and 2163 KCal/kg and 21.45, 19.29, 18.23, 17.16, 16.10 and 15.02 percent, respectively. The results indicated that diet dilution at early age (6-12 days) increased feed consumption but energy and protein intake and weight gain were reduced. No significant differences in body weight were observed due to compensatory growth among treatments. After feed restriction, feed intake was lower for the birds receiving diluted diets as compared to control. Meanwhile feed efficiency somewhat improved among the birds fed with diluted diets, but the differences were not significant. Diet dilution had no significant effect on carcass and abdominal fat percentage at the slaughter age (45 days). Diet dilution with rice hull at 20 and 25 percent decreased feed consumption and improved feed efficiency and, therefore, its use can reduce feed cost.