a. nobakht

Piers and abutments cause local contraction in the rivers. As a result of the contraction, the water level increases in the upstream section of the bridge named as afflux. Afflux is one of the key concerns in the design of a bridge construction and the afflux estimation is important when the specific regions in the upstream of the bridge is to be protected against the flood. Hence, estimation of the afflux is required for river training of the upstream sections, before bridge construction. In this research 54 experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of different parameters such as the pier angle with respect to vertical, the Froude number and the contraction ratio on afflux. Design expert software is used to design the experiments and to analyze the results. According to the results, for a downstream inclined and laterally inclined piers, the afflux increased. However, the afflux decreases due to an upstream inclined pier. Also, the effect of inclination angle on the afflux is smaller for inclined piers towards upstream than inclined pier to the downstream or laterally inclined piers. By increasing the pier angle from zero to 24 degrees, toward channel side walls and toward downstream the afflux increases by 20 and 15 percent, respectively. While in the same situation by increasing the pier angle from zero to 24 degrees toward upstream, the afflux decreases by about 5 percent. The higher affluxes were observed in larger Froude numbers and contraction ratios. The analysis showed that the Froude number and contraction ratio have more effects on the afflux as compare to other parameters. Finally, appropriate equations are presented to estimate the afflux.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of pennyroyal and ration crude protein levels on performance, egg quality and blood metabolites of laying hens. Experiment was conducted as a factorial (3*3) (0, 1, 2% pennyroyal) and crude protein (NRC, 10, 20% lower than NRC recommendation) in a completely randomized design with 432 of Hy- line (W36) laying hens in 9 treatments and 4 replicates (with 12 hen in each replicate) for 12 weeks from 25-37 weeks of hens age. Using of 2% pennyroyal and ration crude protein and interaction between them negatively affected the performance of laying hens. The use 2% pennyroyal increased the percentage of eggshell. The egg production, egg mass and feed intake reduces in using pennyroyal and low crude protein diets. In interaction effects the best performance was observed in diet with no pennyroyal and NRC crude protein level. Using pennyroyal with low crud protein diets reduced the egg production percentage, egg mass, feed intake and increased the feed conversion. Interaction between pennyroyal and ration crude protein significantly affected the eggshell strength and Haugh unit. 2% pennyroyal reduced the blood uric acid level and 10% lower crude protein than NRC recommendation reduced blood total crude protein percentage. By reducing 20% ration crude protein, the percentages of hetrophlis increased and lymphocytes decreased. The overall results showed that in laying hens using pennyroyal, 10% and 20% crude protein lower than NRC recommendation have adverse effects on their performance.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of fortifed Alhaji (Alhaji maurorum L.) with 1% urea on egg production, egg traits, blood biochemical parameters and blood cells of laying hens. In this experiment 192 Hy- line W36 laying hens were used from 65-76 weeks of age in 4 treatments, 4 replicates and 12 hens in each replicate in a completely randomized design. Experimental groups included: 1) control group and 2-4 groups with 1.5, 3 and 4.5 percentages of Fortifed Alhaji (FA). FA had signifcant effects on performance, egg traits, blood biochemical parameters and blood cells of laying hens (P<0.05). The highest amounts of egg weight, egg production percentage, egg mass, the best feed conversion ratio, the lowest feed cost for production each kilogram of egg, the highest egg color index and the highest amounts of Hematocrits, Hemoglobin and red blood cells were observed by using 4.5% FA. The lowest blood albumin and the highest blood HDL were obtained in treatment contained 3% FA. The overall results indicated that using 4.5% fortifed Alhaji, has positive effects on performance, egg traits, blood parameters and could reduce the production cost in laying hens.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of increasing levels of probiotic (Bioplus) on performance, egg traits and blood serum chemical parameters of laying hens. Experiment was conducted with two hundred and ffty six Hy-line (W36) laying hens in four treatments and four replicates with 16 hens in each replicate from 45 to 55 weeks in a completely randomized design. Experimental groups included control group and experimental groups with 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 g/kg of probiotic (Bioplus). Different levels of probiotic signifcantly affected the performance, egg traits and blood serum chemical parameters of laying hens (P<0.05). The highest amounts of feed intake (129 g/day/hen), feed conversion (2.72) and egg specifc gravity (1.089 mg/mL3) were observed with using 0.6 g/kg of probiotic. Whereas the lowest feed price for production per kilogram of egg (853.11 toman), the lowest level of egg yolk triglyceride (437.5 mg/gr) and minimum level of blood serum phosphorus (7.42 g/dl) were observed with using 0.2 g/kg of probiotic and fnally the minimum level of blood serum cholesterol (124.33 mg.dl) were observed with using 0.4 g/kg of probiotic. The overall result of this experiment showed that the using high levels of probiotic (Bioplus) has adverse effects on performance of laying hens and not recommended.

In this experiment 144 Hy- line (W36) laying hens were used from 65-76 weeks of age in 4 treatments, 3 replicatesand 12 hens in each replicate in a completely randomized design. Experimental groups included: 1) control group,2) 2.5% of apple wastes, 3) 5% of apple wastes, 4) 7.5% of apple wastes. The results showed that using apple wastehas signifcant effects on performance, egg quality and blood parameters of commercial laying hens (p<0.05). Thehighest amounts of egg weight and egg mass, the highest egg production percentage, the best feed conversion,and the lowest price of feed intake for production per kilogram of egg were resulted by using 5% of apple waste.Using 7.5% of apple waste signifcantly decreased the amount of feed intake. Using more than 2.5% of apple wastein laying hens diets had adverse effects on egg traits. In this case the percentages of eggshell, egg yolk, Haughunit and eggshell thickness decreased. The lowest level of blood cholesterol was resulted by using 2.5% of applewastes, whereas the highest level of lymphocyte was obtained by using 5% of apple wastes. The overall resultsshowed that using 5% of apple wastes improve the performance of laying hens, however using more than 2.5% ofapple waste has adverse effects on egg traits.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of Alhaji maurorum L. on egg production,egg traits and blood parameters of commercial laying hens. In this experiment 144 Hy- line )W36( laying henswere used from 65-76 weeks of age in 4 treatments, 3 replicates and 12 hens in each replicate in a completelyrandomized design. Experimental groups included: 1( control group, 2( group with 1.5, 3 and 4.5 percentage ofAlhaji maurorum L. Different levels of Alhaji maurorum L. had signifcant effects on performance, egg traitsand blood metabolites of laying hens )p<0.05(. The highest amounts of egg mass, the highest egg productionpercentage, the best feed conversion ratio, and the lowest price of feed intake for production per kilogram of eggwere resulted by using 3% of Alhaji maurorum L.. 3% of Alhaji maurorum L. signifcantly improved special eggweight, egg yolk color and eggshell surface/eggshell weight. The lowest percentage of heterophile, the highestpercentage of lymphocyte and the lowest ratio of heterophile/lymphocyte were resulted by using 3% of Alhajimaurorum L. Different levels of Alhaji maurorum L. did not have any signifcant effects on blood biochemicalparameters of laying hens )p>0.05(. The overall results indicated that in commercial laying hens using 3% ofAlhaji maurorum L. without having any adverse effects on blood parameters, improve the performance and eggtraits of laying hens and decreased the amount of feed price for production each kilogram of egg. Using Alhajimaurorum L. in laying hens diets is an effective way in weeds control of agriculture crops

Emission of carbon dioxide via human activities is known as the main cause of global warming. Appropriate forest management practices can have effective role to mitigate carbon emission as well as adsorb atmospheric carbon. The present research was carried out to investigate the effect of 35 years old Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.), Chestnut-leaved Oak (Quercus castaneifolia C.A.Mey), Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Krast) and Black pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) plantations on soil carbon sequestration in Dehmianplantation. Systematic soil sampling was done randomly. Totally 54 soil samples were taken from the top soil layers (0 – 10 and 10 – 20cm depths) in four plantations. Soil texture, pH, bulk density, electrical conductivity, organic carbon and total nitrogen were measured in the laboratory. Analysis of variance indicated that the amount of soil carbon sequestration of softwood plantations stands increased in comparison with hardwood ones. Results showed that the amount of soil carbon sequestration in Norway spruce stand (124.27 ton/ha) was significantly (P<0.05) higher than Black pine (94.67 ton/ha), Common ash (87.58 ton/ha) and oak (78.11 ton/ha). Results of stepwise regression showed that nitrogen percentage and C/N ratio were the most important factors affecting soil organic carbon content.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of using of probiotic, organic acid and blends of some medicinal herbs on performance, egg quality, blood biochemical and immunity parameters of laying hens. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with one hundred and ninety two of Hy-Line (W36) laying hens from 37 to 49 weeks of age. There were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments with 4 replicates and 12 hens in each replicate. The treatments included: 1) control group 2) using 0.005 % of probiotic (Protexin®), 3) using 0.2% of propionic acid and treatment 4) using blends of medicinal herbs (zizaphora, Menta pulagum, peppermint and nettle. The results showed that there were some significant difference in performance and egg quality between experimental groups (p>0.05). The highest amount of egg mass production (51.38g), and the best value of feed conversion (2.04)), were observed in experiment group 3. Whereas the best yolk color index (4.5) was observed in experiment group 4. There were not observed any significantly difference between experimental groups in blood biochemical and immunity parameters. With consideration in obtained results in laying hens using probiotic, organic acid and blends of some medicinal herbs have positive effects on performance and egg yolk color.