f. ranjbar

Given the increasing demand for clean and high-efficiency systems, this study investigates a novel integrated cycle for the cogeneration of hydrogen, power, and heat based on steam methane reforming (SMR). In the proposed system, the thermal energy required for the reforming process is supplied through biogas combustion, and a supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO₂) Brayton cycle is employed to recover waste heat and enhance system performance. A comprehensive thermodynamic model is developed using energy and exergy analysis, and the system's behavior is examined under various operating conditions. The results indicate that the energy and exergy efficiencies of the system reach 84.96% and 59.89%, respectively, with a hydrogen production rate of 1.35 ton/hr. Furthermore, the combustion chamber accounts for the highest exergy destruction, contributing 64.5% of the total. Parametric analyses reveal that increasing the steam-to-carbon (S/C) ratio and reforming temperature leads to higher hydrogen production, while simultaneously reducing the net power output.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a vital crop of great global importance. Common scab is one of the most destructive diseases affecting the quality and yield of potatoes. Effective disease management strategies for potatoes include crop management, crop rotation, seed certification, natural and chemical pesticides, disease prediction models, germplasm screening, and the development of resistant varieties. Sulfur fertilization improves potato resistance to common scab, possibly by decreasing the soil pH. Applying sulfur and Thiobacillus bacteria in alkaline and calcareous soils has improved nutrient solubility and reduced damage caused by common potato scab disease.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of sulfur and Thiobacillus on tuber yield and the common scab disease index under field conditions. The farm had a history of natural and uniform infection with potato scab disease. The treatments included: 1- control (no use of Thiobacillus and sulfur), 2- application of Thiobacillus, 3- granular sulfur, 4- liquid sulfur, 5- Thiobacillus+granular sulfur, and 6- Thiobacillus+granular sulfur+liquid sulfur. The experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with four replications.

Analysis of variance indicated that the application of sulfur and Thiobacillus significantly affected tuber yield and the common scab disease index. However, there was no significant difference in the mean number of plants among the experimental treatments. Regarding the mean number of tubers, the count increased from 104 in the control group to 135.75 in the treatment with granular sulfur+liquid sulfur+Thiobacillus treatment. This combination significantly increased tuber weight by approximately 4 kg compared to the control. Regarding the average number of tubers per plant, the treatments of granular sulfur+liquid sulfur+Thiobacillus and granular sulfur+Thiobacillus showed a significant difference compared to the control, increasing the number of tubers by 13.06% and 8.10%, respectively. Both treatments also significantly increased the mean tuber weight per plant by 19.69% and 16.21%, respectively, compared to the control. The percentage and disease index varied under the influence of the experimental treatments. The lowest disease index on potato tubers was associated with the simultaneous application of granular sulfur+liquid sulfur+Thiobacillus, followed by liquid sulfur alone. The decrease in the disease index on potato tubers can be attributed to the reduction in pH resulting from sulfur application. This study demonstrated that the simultaneous application of sulfur and Thiobacillus can effectively lower soil pH.

In conclusion, the application of sulfur and Thiobacillus bacteria enhances the yield and quality of potato tubers by improving soil conditions and plant nutrition. The forms of sulfur used played a crucial role in disease management; liquid sulfur, either alone or in combination with other treatments, significantly reduced disease severity. Liquid sulfur contains sulfate forms and has a pH of approximately one. Additionally, its liquid form allows for better penetration into soil pores and does not require soil microbial processes to alter pH. In contrast, powdered and granular forms of sulfur must be converted to sulfate forms by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria such as Thiobacillus. This conversion process is lengthy and gradually reduces soil pH over time. In the present study, various forms of sulfur, especially the liquid form, effectively reduced soil pH, although it did not lower it enough to classify the soil as acidic. It is important to note that the study's soil was calcareous, which has buffering properties that prevent drastic pH changes. Moreover, the effect of sulfur is not solely dependent on pH; even low amounts or specific forms of sulfur can significantly reduce common potato scabs without altering soil pH. This phenomenon may be due to the conversion of sulfur into toxic forms for microbes, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S).

Turbofan engines have attracted a lot of attention due to their high propulsion power. Compatibility of the simultaneous operation of the two main components of the turbofan engine, i.e., compressor and turbine, is one of the main concerns of designers and manufacturers. Because the form of characteristic curves of turbine and compressor are different and almost contradictory and will cause stagnation. In order to prevent turbofan surge, determining the matching of different components of this type of motors has become very important. The sensitivity of different parameters in the design of these types of engines is very high and achieving precalculated simulations that can have less calculation error will reduce the cost and time of the design stage. In this research, a lowerror simulation is designed to calculate the matching line of turbofan engines. In the stages of this research, first, the parameters affecting the matching line have been determined, and the method of calculating it has been extracted and simulated. Validation has been done for this simulation using the specifications of the RR-Trent 772-60, PW-PW4098 engines. According to the experiment performed, the thrust fuel consumption has been calculated with an error accuracy of less than 0.05 and the amount of thrust for different engines is less than 2000 (lbs). In another experiment, the correctness of determining the matching line for different components of the turbofan engine has been confirmed using the available resources. On the other hand, the accuracy of the overlap of the matching line of the simulation is 92% for the RR-Trent 772-60 engine and 94.2% for the PW-PW4098 engine.

The flame fuel cell is a new type of solid oxide fuel cell in which the solid oxide fuel cell is integrated with a rich fuel flame to generate power. In this paper, a flame-assisted solid oxide fuel cell is employed to generate power, and the cell is simulated in EES. The model includes the equations of mass, energy, and chemical and electrochemical reactions. Parametric analysis of the fuel cell shows that by increasing the equivalence ratio from 1.2 to 2.8, the fuel cell efficiency changes from 4.21% to 18.23%. In this study, the supercritical Brayton carbon dioxide cycle is used to recover the waste heat of the cell. To optimize this thermal cycle, the compressor pressure ratio and flow split fraction have been considered. In the optimal pressure ratio, efficiencies for turbine inlet temperatures of 583.15 K, 823.15 K and 923.15 K have been obtained as 31.56%, 47.95% and 52.69% for the pressure ratio parameter, respectively. The results reveal that the efficiency of the integrated cycle is improved and reached from 18.23% to 26.95% for Φ = 2.8

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) as a member of Malvaceae family is a subtropical medicinal plant. This plant is self-pollinated and sensitive to cold. Bolls of Roselle are used in food and pharmaceutical industries. One of the most important purpose to achieve high quality and quantity yield is evaluation of nutritional systems and irrigation management for plants. The use of chemicals in the production of medicinal plants in addition to environmental pollution, decreases the quality of drug. Furthermore, sustainable agriculture, by replacing organic fertilizers with chemical fertilizers, increasing the efficiency of inputs such as water, and fertility and soil health, preserving the environment and increasing product quality and protect resources. Drought stress is one of the most important problems in crop production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Effective management of nutrition and irrigation and planting of drought resistant plants is one of the effective proceeding to increase water use efficiency in semi-arid regions. Roselle is relatively drought-tolerant plants, so that cultivation of this plant is common in Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran. So, studying the ecological and agronomic needs of this plant in new areas is important. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the yield and yield components of this plant in response to application of nutritional resources and irrigation management.

In order to study the yield and water use efficiency for Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), an experiment was conducted with 12 treatments as strip plot based on complete block design with three replications at Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in year 2014-2015. Experimental factors included: nutritional management in four levels (chemical fertilizer, cow manure, cow manure+ chemical fertilizer and control) and irrigation management in three level (30, 70 and 100% of water requirement of Roselle). Roselle seeds were planted in seedling trays at greenhouse in February 2014. Then seedlings transferred to field in last April 2015. The distance between rows and plants were 75 and 25 cm, respectively. Chemical fertilizer (150, 100 and 200 kg.ha-1 Triple super phosphate, Potassium sulfate and Urea, respectively), and cow manure (32 ton.ha-1) were used at depth of 30 cm. Then, different water requirement of Roselle is determined and the water volume of irrigation will be recorded in each irrigation cycle by the contour, furthermore, water use efficiency was calculated. Statistical analysis of the data was performed by using of Minitab Ver.16. Also, means comparison were compared by Duncan multiple range test at 5% level.

Results indicated significant effects of treatments on most of the traits of Roselle. The maximum plant height (89.3 cm), number of lateral branch (6. 6 number), dry sepal yield (860.1 kg.ha-1), biomass yield (7197 kg.ha-1), harvest index (11.9%) and water use efficiency based on bolls and biomass yield (0.11 and 0.89 kg.m3) of Roselle obtained in cow manure + chemical fertilizer treatment. Also, providing of 100% of the plant's water requirement induced the highest height (91.5 cm), number of bolls on main and lateral branch (20.0 and 47.5 number), sepal yield (672.7 kg.ha-1) and biomass yield (6944 kg.ha-1) of Roselle. Combined application compared to single application of nutritional sources increased 16, 18, 35, 20 and 20%, respectively, height, number of lateral branches, bolls yield, biomass yield and harvest index of Roselle. Furthermore, results of interaction effects showed that application of cow manure + chemical fertilizer with providing of 100% of the plant's water requirement obtained the maximum number of lateral branch (8.5 number), bolls yield (934 kg.ha-1) and biomass yield (7920 kg.ha-1) of Roselle. The highest amount of water use efficiency based on sepal and biomass yield (0.2 and 1.5 kg.m3) obtained by application of cow manure + chemical fertilizer and providing of 30% of the plant's water requirement.

Totally, results showed that combined application and providing of 100% of the plant's water requirement improved the most traits of Roselle. Also, combined application of nutritional sources decreased water consumption and increased water use efficiency.

It is not clear whether women can decide to become pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic or whether they are at risk, because examining the long-term consequences of the virus, especially in the first months of pregnancy, requires further time and research(1). The COVID-19 virus has not been found in the semen and testicles of men infected with the virus in the acute phase or during the recovery period, so it is unlikely that the disease will be transmitted sexually(2). However, it has been reported that the male reproductive system is vulnerable to the infection, and significant changes have been observed in the sex hormones of patients with COVID-19, suggesting damage to gonadal function. Therefore, young men who have recovered from COVID-19 and are interested in having children should receive counseling when deciding to have children(3). Due to damage to cellular immunity and physiological changes, pregnant women are susceptible to respiratory diseases and are more likely to develop severe pneumonia(4). Pregnant women may be at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease. To reduce severe COVID-19 disease, pregnant women should be aware of the potential risks of the severe form of the disease. Therefore, the need to prevent COVID-19 in pregnant women should be emphasized, and potential barriers to these measures should be identified(5). However, a systematic review study found that pregnant women with COVID-19 had milder symptoms than the general population, and that despite the symptoms of viral pneumonia, their RT-PCR tests may be negative(6). Pregnant women with COVID-19 have a higher prevalence of preterm labor, low birth weight, cesarean delivery, and hospitalization in the NICU than in the general population(6,7). In reproductive-aged women with COVID-19 infection, pregnancy has been associated with increased risk of hospitalization in the intensive care unit and mechanical ventilation, but has not increased the risk of death. Although most mothers have been discharged from the hospital without any serious complications, severe maternal morbidity, multiple maternal deaths, and prenatal deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported. The possibility of vertical transmission of the virus to the fetus has not been ruled out, and therefore careful monitoring of pregnancy in cases of COVID-19 and measures to prevent neonatal infection are essential(8,9). Vertical transmission has been reported in several cases of maternal infection around delivery in the third trimester, suggesting fetal infection but it is not common. In the at risk newborns, neonatal outcomes such as preterm labor or placental abruption have been well reported in the absence of other problems(10). Little is known about the consequences of maternal infection in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy(10). Fever or hyperthermia during the first trimester of pregnancy, when organogenesis occurs, may be an environmental risk factor for fetal abnormalities, especially neural tube defects and miscarriages(11). Given that there is no evidence of maternal teratogenicity or increased risk of miscarriage, mortality, or maternal morbidity, fertility decisions (such as pregnancy decisions, termination of pregnancy) should not be made on the basis of these concerns from the outset(10). It should be noted that some of the drugs used to treat COVID-19 are contraindicated in pregnancy or their effects on the fetus are unknown. Antiviral drugs such as Remedivir and Arbidol have been shown to be effective against COVID-19, but further investigation is needed to assess their effectiveness in pregnancy(4). Pregnant and lactating women have been excluded from these studies(12). There is still no vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection, and few drugs have been shown to reduce mortality and morbidity(13). The COVID-19 crisis may also make it difficult for women to access to information, services, and essential products for sexual and reproductive health(14). The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the number of pregnancy visits(10). There is still scarce knowledge about the short-term and long-term mental health of mothers and fetuses following maternal experience during the pandemic(15). However, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, pregnancy in the COVID-19 conditions is a personal choice and decisions about becoming pregnant should be made independently and based on their health status, potential risks of COVID-19 and other factors. People with a history of diabetes, lung disease, and heart disease have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease. Patients should also consider the economic aspect of pregnancy and the increase in family size in the situation that the pandemic has impaired the economy(16). According to the WHO, those who have given birth in the past six months or have experienced conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure or breast cancer, or who smoke cigarette, should use a safe contraceptive method during the COVID-19 pandemic(17). Given the gap of knowledge, infertile patients should also be consulted about the advantages and disadvantages of initiating infertility treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This advice should be given to those who have certain conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity that may be at increased risk if they become infected. Also, people with the disease should avoid pregnancy until they are fully recovered, and if they are during the infertility treatment cycle, it is recommended that they freeze their eggs or embryos and do not transmit the embryo until complete recovery(13). It is important to follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including washing hands with soap, not touching face, and observing physical isolation in all pregnant women or those planning to become pregnant(18). It is clear that access to contraception must also be maintained, and a range of long-term to short-term contraceptive methods, including emergency contraceptives, must be available to individuals. Preferably, contraceptive methods should be given to people for a few months and, if possible, counseling should be done remotely and people should be directed to self-management(10,14). Considering that we have to live in these certain conditions until the discovery of a vaccine or drug, all couples who want to become pregnant should receive sufficient and up-to-date information about the known risks of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy and how to prevent it. The use of telehealth or telemedicine for pre-conception counseling and other sexual and reproductive health services is a priority.

HIV/AIDS is a global health concern that spans three decades of its emergence(1). However, it remains a complex, unique issue among experts. While HIV/AIDS is medically recognized as a chronic, fatal disease, there is a social stigma attached to the disease, which targets the dignity of the patients. In addition to the burden of the disease, stress, and fear of death, an HIV-infected patient is faced with negative emotions, such as social rejection, prejudice, humiliation, and discrimination, so that HIV-related stigma seems to be more burdensome for the patients than the disease(2). Since HIV infection is associated with avoidable behaviors (e.g., unsafe sexual relations and substance abuse), the patients are often responsible for their own illness(3). On the same note, the failure of the media to properly inform people has led the populace to regard AIDS immoral(4).
The fear of judgment or discrimination from others deeply affects the self-image of the patients with HIV infection, as well as their coping abilities. This experience may cause self-blame in the patients, who may, as a result, presume themselves to be deserving of maltreatment(5). They may even give up their rights to treat and receive other social benefits, which is associated with devastating effects on HIV prevention, care, and treatment. HIV-related stigma also interacts with cultural prejudices and gender issues. Globally, when a woman is infected with HIV, her status subjects her to more discriminatory treatment compared to a man. Therefore, many women living with HIV tend to hide their status from their spouses due to the fear of rejection, violence, and even death. This leads to the loss of the opportunity to prevent the infection of the spouse, and also deprives women of access to the necessary care and treatment(6).
There is a cyclical relationship between stigma and HIV; the individuals who experience stigma and discrimination due to HIV infection are marginalized, thereby becoming more vulnerable to HIV. On the other hand, patients with HIV are more prone to discrimination and stigma than others(7). The World Health Organization has identified the fear of stigma and discrimination as the main barriers to HIV testing, HIV status disclosure, and access to HIV treatment. It is reported that in 35% of countries, more than 50% of the population have discriminatory attitudes toward HIV patients(8), and about one out of eight peopleinfected with HIV does not use health services due to the fear of discrimination and social stigma. Text Box: 4In 2016, 60% of the countries across the world reported the discriminatory attitude of healthcare providers toward intravenous drug users, which in turn discourages them to provide adequate services for HIV prevention to these patients(9). HIV-related stigma and discrimination have been frequently observed in healthcare professionals at all levels, and the attitudes are manifested in a variety of manners. Healthcare providers may minimize their contact with HIV, neglect their proper care, delay their treatment, and isolate these individuals from other patients. However, the unwillingness of people to receive HIV testing delays the diagnosis of the disease, leading to its progression to the stage of AIDS and ineffective treatment, thereby increasing the risk of infection transmission and untimely death(7).
Despite the advancement in the detection of HIV and its transmission, there have not been sufficient effort to reduce the social stigma and labeling attached to this disease(10,11). Management of HIV-related stigma and discrimination is a major impediment to the coordinated action at global, regional, national, and social levels, as well as a human rights obligation. Implementing specific programs that emphasize on the rights of HIV patients is a well-known way of eradicating HIV-related stigma(12).
Stigma is a social construction(2), and it is imperative to adopt a comprehensive approach to deal with it. Therefore, tackling with stigma should be taken into consideration at the individual, social, organizational, and policy-making levels. At the individual level, raising public awareness regarding HIV transmission, care, and prevention, while ensuring access to proper services and legal rights is absolutely essential. Another influential factor in this regard is providing social support to HIV patients. In the educational programs for healthcare providers, the cultural stimuli for the establishment of HIV-related stigma and discrimination (e.g., fear of infection, prejudice toward vulnerable groups, and misconceptions/lack of knowledge regarding HIV transmission, treatment, and prevention) should be considered. Furthermore, the media should raise public awareness regarding HIV and its effects on the lives of people, thereby tackling HIV-related stigma through changing the false attitudes and emphasizing on the fact that patients with HIV have the same human rights as others. At the policy-making level, factors such as discrimination in employment, education level, health service provision, and other needs of HIV patients must be addressed. Eradicating the discrimination and stigma attached to HIV infection, which is a major obstacle to access to health and preventive services, is the key to stopping the HIV epidemic.

World population increasing need for food have prompted the rapid development of chemical fertilizer technology and also consumed them as a source of nutrition for the food production. Recently, chemical fertilizer consumption in conventional agro-ecosystems imbalanced soil nutrient, declined quantitative and qualitative crop yields, and polluted water and soil. Chemical fertilizers provide crop nutrients need in the short time, and thus farmers had forgotten long-time soil fertility and its controlling processes by using these fertilizers. Hence, ecological and low input farming systems can be considered as a suitable replacement for traditional systems, and they can sustain production systems and maintain environmental health. In order to reduce the pollution caused by the use of chemical fertilizers and the restoration of agro ecosystems, along with the reduction of the dependence on non-renewable resources used in the production of fertilizers, the use of fertilizers that are derived from the environments known as an alternative. It seems that with good and proper management of biological and organic fertilizers, we can provide better nutritional conditions for the plant, stepping in the path of regeneration of agroecosystems and sustainable agricultural development. Therefore, in this experiment, the effect of biological, manure and chemical fertilizers on the growth characteristics of anise plant has been studied. It seems that the information obtained from such experiments can increase the economic efficiency of producers as a means to develop agricultural policies that are consistent with the environment.

In order to study the effects of single and combined applications of biofertilizers and organic fertilizers on growth indices of Anise, a field experiment was conducted with 15 treatments based on a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications at Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2011. Treatments were: (1) Mycorrhiza (Glomusin traradices), (2) Mycorrhiza + Cow manure, (3) Mycorrhiza+Vermicompost, (4) Mycorrhiza + Compost, (5) Mycorrhiza + Chemical fertilizer, (6) Biosulfur (Thiobacillus sp.), (7) Biosulfur + Chemical fertilizer, (8) Biosulfur + Cow manure, (9) Biosulfur + Vermicompost, (10) Biosulfur + Compost, (11) Cow manure, (12) Vermicompost, (13) Chemical fertilizer (NPK), (14) Compost and (15) Control. Plant thinning and weeding were carried out in two stages of four and six leaves of anise, and finally the plant density reached 66 plants per square meter. Due to the adverse effects of chemical pesticides on medicinal plants, weed operation was carried out manually by the worker on several occasions. During the growing season, in order to determine the grow trend and leaf area of the anise, the sampling was started from 25.05.2011 at intervals of 15 days until the end of the growing season. The leaf area was determined by the Leaf Measurement System Area (I-COR model) and then leaf area index and other growth indices were calculated. At the same time as the plants were matured and yellowed on first of July, after removing the marginal effect, the biomass of the whole Anise plant was harvested at an area equal to 5 square meters, and after drying in open air, seed yield and dry matter were determined. Data were analyzed, with SAS Ver. 9.1 and MINITAB Ver. 16 statistical softwares. Duncan multiple test was used to compare the means at a probability level of 5%. Figures also were drawed with Excel Ver. 11 M.S office.

The results indicated that the highest (2.4) and the lowest (1.35) leaf area index (LAI) were shown in combination of Mycorrhiza + Chemical fertilizer and compost treatments, respectively. The highest dry matter production (DM) (348.744 g.m-2) and crop growth rate (CGR) (14.42 g.m-2.day-1) were resulted from combination of biosulfur+vermicompost treatment. Compost and control treatments produced the lowest DM (200 g.m-2) and CGR (4.93 g.m-2.day-1), respectively.

In generally, the results revealed that the application of organic and biological fertilizers particularly mycorrhiza and biosulfur had a significant effect on improving the growth indices of anise. Furthermore, the combined application of organic and biological fertilizers had higher positive effects on growth index than their single application

Climate is numbered amongst the most significant factors which have been considered throughout the history and almost most of agricultural activities deal with a few meteorological factors diurnally (Mohammadi and Moghtaderi, 2005; 163. Therefore, one of the most important and effective factors in human activities especially in the agrarian section, is climate so that nearly all cultivations should be done in connection with climatic conditions, otherwise it might simply fall through the cultivation process. Limitation and boundaries of the agricultural crop productions is highly depends on the climatic conditions (Mohammadi, 2007; 89). This research aims to examine the climatic conditions for Saffron cultivation in Marvdasht city.