m. bashiri

Potential of a host-associated probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, was successfully screened from 6 isolates from the intestines of healthy rainbow trout (O. mykiss) based on multiple probiotic characteristics in vitro assays, such as, hemolytic activity, biofilm formation, extracellular enzyme activity, inhibitory activity against pathogens, Physicochemical tolerance to gastrointestinal stress, cell surface hydrophobicity, autoaggregation, and antibiotic susceptibility. A total of 450 O. mykiss fingerlings were randomly distributed in three groups (one control and two probiotic-treated groups in triplicate) and fed with the basal (the control) and B. subtilis–supplemented diets (at a concentration of 5×107 and 108 cell/mL B. subtilis, over a period of 60 days.After eight weeks of feeding trial revealed that dietary supplementation of B. subtilis 6 at all two concentrations (5×107 and 108 cell/mL of B. subtilis) immunological responses, biochemical parameters, antioxidant parameter and immune-relevant gene expression (interleukin 1β (IL-1β), HSP70 and TGF-β))) relevant to immunity were analyzed on the 30th, and 60th day post-feeding. After the 60-day feeding period, a significant (p<0.05) enhancement in some immune-biochemical response and immune gene expression was evident. Serum AST, ALT levels exhibited a significant (p<0.05) decrease. The inclusion of B. subtilis in the diets led to a substantial (p<0.05) increase in the survival of A. hydrophila–challenged O. mykiss, thereby highlighting the potential of B. subtilis as a beneficial probiotic for aquaculture in short-time period.

Food fish farming is regarded as one of the most important sectors of the aquaculture industry. Salmon farming is a major contributor to the growth of the aquaculture sector. Climate change is predicted to have a complex impact on aquatic ecosystems, including fisheries and aquaculture. Climate change can cause a fluctuation in water temperature of rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans. This can change the pattern of ocean currents and marine productivity to be redistributed, especially to higher latitudes, and reduce the global concentration of phytoplanktons, increasing ocean acidity, creating deoxygenated zones, and inducing episodic shocks to marine systems. However, the impact of climate change on fish health is not limited to the physical changes in the environment. A change in climate can also influence the incidence of infectious diseases by shortening generation times and/or increasing the survival rates of the pathogenic agents, improving disease transmission, and enhancing the host's susceptibility to the pathogens. The actual impact of climate change on infectious diseases, particularly those caused by bacterial agents, is not fully understood in both wild and captured fish species. This review addressed the impact of climate change on outbreaks of salmonid bacterial diseases and discuss the present gaps.

Temporal experiences are experiences that represent the temporal aspects of the world. Phenomenologically, our temporal experiences directly and immediately belong to temporal properties. This obvious phenomenological truth leads to a paradox with the addition of other premises. Three models have been presented to explain the possibility of direct perceptual experience of temporal properties to solve this paradox. These models are the snapshot or atomic model, extensionalism, and retentionalism. The snapshot model or atomism is that perceptual experiences are only instantaneous or short-term conscious events that occur in succession, and their succession is explanatory and adequate for temporal experience. We will first describe the paradox of temporal experiences and the approach of temporal experience models, try to explain the criticisms of the atomic model and their rejection, and finally show the explanatory adequacy of the succession of atomic experiences for the temporal experience.

One of the topics that have been studied a lot in the field of airline industry optimization is related to flight planning, and air fleets, and how they relate to each other, which is called airline scheduling. Despite the high importance of this issue in the profitability of airline companies and the proper use of their resources, the high computational complexity of these models has led to considering each of them in a mathematical model separately, and as a result, the accuracy of the final decision will be decreased. So far, many articles have studied various relevant issues, in some cases, efforts to create integration in the process can be observed. However, there is a few operational views of the issue, and some key requirements were neglected due to the simplification of provided models. In this study, an integrated model of the two main stages of airline planning, including fleet allocation and aircraft maintenance routing, is considered simultaneously, and the performance of the developed model is investigated using real data from one of the airlines. Also, a sensitivity analysis of the model to some relevant parameters confirms the validity of the developed mathematical model and the solution algorithm. Then, a comparative study was investigated to compare the performance of the developed model with the operational method, including solving sub-problems stepwise. Also, the results are compared with the developed and similar method from the previous studies. The results confirm the superiority of the developed mathematical model.

In this paper, a new algorithm for solving bi-level optimization problems is presented. This algorithm can obtain the optimal or near-optimal solution for any bi-level optimization problem. The decision variables of the first and second level models can be both integers and continuous. In this method, by solving a certain number of the bi-objective programming model and then solving the corresponding second-level model, a bi-level feasible solution that is either optimal or near-optimal is identified. To evaluate the efficiency of the algorithm, the value of the objective function, as well as its computation time in different instances, are compared with exact methods as well as evolution-based methods. The numerical results confirm the high efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

In arid and semi-arid regions where there is low rainfall with inappropriate distribution, one of the ways to use floods is to spread them in susceptible areas. The aim of this study is to find the best place for flood spreading using GIS and decision-making methods in Farimaneh watershed. For this purpose, the slope, topography (altitude levels), geology, land use type, soil permeability, geomorphology, geological formations, vegetation, and soil factors were used. For weighting the quantitative variables, fuzzy logic with trapezoidal and triangular membership function, and for qualitative variables, fuzzy logic with hierarchical analysis was used. Flood spreading prone areas were presented using GIS and the concepts of layer integration from fuzzy logic, Boolean logic, and overlay index methods. To determine and prioritize susceptible areas the Boolean operators AND OR, fuzzy AND OR, Fuzzy algebraic and sum-product, fuzzy gamma from 0.1 to 0.9, and multi-criteria evaluation was used. By comparing the obtained results with the observational data, it was concluded that the Fuzzy and, multi-criteria evaluation and fuzzy gamma 0.8 and 0.9 methods were most consistent with the observational data and among these methods, the multivariate evaluation method was found to be more appropriate. Also, among the parameters, slope, vegetation cover, and permeability had the highest weights.

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is a highly polyphagous pest that is considered a serious pest worldwide. Due to problems associated with chemical pesticides such as resistance to pesticides and environmental contamination, plant oils have been considered for use against mites’ control. However, their low solubility in water and phytotoxicity are the major constraints that limit their application. In this research, a developmental screening process was carried out on some commercial emulsifiers and stabilizers to obtain a safe acaricide from suitable vegetable oils including castor and soybean. Among eight emulsifiers, Nonylphenol Ethoxylate 6M (NPE6) had far more excellent emulsification ability and less phytotoxicity with some level of mite toxicity. Among vegetable oils, castor oil had greater toxicity in comparison with soybean oil. Also, Polyethylene Glycol 400 (PEG 400) had more thermal stability in the formulation. In the last step, the best ratios of NPE6, castor oil, and PEG 400 were evaluated for their toxicity, stability, and phytotoxicity. Finally, the ratios of 1:8:1 or 2:6:2 (NPE6: Castor oil: PEG 400) were found as the best end product that could be potent for use in a large scale rose greenhouse. Also, the efficacy of emulsifier-oil-stabilizer mixtures was investigated against T. urticae by two different methods. The results indicated that the petri dish test method caused overestimating in mortality rates compared to the standing leaf test method. New methods such as polymerization can show a new insight for pest control without chemical pesticides.

Sediment and runoff production depend on different factors and the recognition of effective factors helps significantly the issue of watershed management. The aim of this research is determination of the relation between sediment-runoff production and physiographic characteristics in 26 selected catchments in Razavi Khorasan. In this regard, after determining the catchments’ boarders, 13 physiographic characteristics, were calculated using ArcGIS9.3 software. A common hydrological data period of 20 years was considered from 1986 to 2006. Then the stations with missing data were recompleted using normal ratio method. In order to determine the correlation between physiographic characteristics and sediment-runoff factors, their correlation coefficients were obtained and in order to evaluate the relationships, the stepwise multiple regression was used using SPSS22 software and the selected models presented. Another aim of this research was to use cluster analysis as a tool to determine homogenous catchments, so that with classification, the catchments heterogeneity causing factor is determined. According to the correlation results, the most relevant characteristics in sediment production were determined as elevation, slope, main channel length, and drainage density and in runoff production were determined as shape and form factor, circularity ratio, elongation ratio and the diameter of the circle level. According to the results of the regression, the most effective characteristic in sediment production was the drainage density and in runoff production determined including the form factor, elongation ratio and shape factor, respectively. Cluster analysis was also done in 4 distinct steps based on physiographic characteristics, runoff indices, sediment indices and all the above mentioned factors. The results from cluster analysis in mentioned methods showed that using different input factors, different classification is obtained for studied catchments.

In this paper, a multi-phase bi-objective mathematical model is presented for a transportation planning. It is assumed that there is a planning horizon which includes some planning periods. In each phase, its related decisions are made. In the first phase, a transportation planning is done for each planning period considering products inconsistency features and other real conditions. In mentioned model steaming decision is made to solve products inconsistency before transporting the new product and the model considers transportation, steaming and other related costs to define optimal tour plan for each vehicle in each time period. The model is solved for each period separately according to the products demands and supplies in mentioned period. In the second phase, according to the total benefit and cost of each vehicle in each period, an optimal portfolio of vehicles is determined. The proposed model of the second phase considers average and risk of using various vehicles and tries to select proper ones. By the proposed portfolio, the transportation company will face to a strategic number of vehicles plan and according to observed periods may have more profit in the future. In the third phase, a bi-objective model is proposed for tactical decisions of purchasing or sale of each vehicle considering their age, their potential profits, their maintenance and other costs at the beginning of each time period. The first objective tries to maximize the total benefit of the transportation company while the second one minimizes the deviation of number of vehicles with their target value which was determined in the second phase by the portfolio selection model. By the third model, the transportation company will decide to purchase or sale each vehicle types to be used for the next time period. This decision is made considering the required demands or supplies, different costs and benefits. Finally, a fuzzy goal programming approach is used to solve the bi-objective model. Sensitivity analysis is done to consider models validity. Comparison of the proposed three phased approach with a classic transportation problem for a numerical example confirms efficacy of the proposed approach.

This paper studies a location–routing–inventory problem in a multi-period closed-loop supply chain with multiple suppliers, producers, distribution centers, customers, collection centers, recovery, and recycling centers. In this supply chain, centers are multiple levels, a price increase factor is considered for operational costs at centers, inventory and shortage (including lost sales and backlog) are allowed at production centers, arrival time of vehicles of each plant to its dedicated distribution centers and also departure from them are considered, in such a way that the sum of system costs and the sum of maximum time at each level should be minimized. The aforementioned problem is formulated in the form of a bi-objective nonlinear integer programming model. Due to the NP-hard nature of the problem, two meta-heuristics, namely, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) and multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), are used in large sizes. In addition, a Taguchi method is used to set the parameters of these algorithms to enhance their performance. To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms, the results for small-sized problems are compared with the results of the ε-constraint method. Finally, four measuring metrics, namely, the number of Pareto solutions, mean ideal distance, spacing metric, and quality metric, are used to compare NSGA-II and MOPSO.

Nowadays the effect of physical exercise on diabetes control improvement is evident and the both insulin release and function depends on magnesium (Mg) and Mg even improves insulin sensitivity. However; diabetes causes hypomagnesiumemia which in turn worsens glycemic control in a viscous cycle. Likewise; little is known about the synchronized effects of exercise training along with Mg supplementation on diabetes control. Therefore; the aim of this study was to investigate the synergistic effects from eight weeks of aerobic training and magnesium supplementation on metabolic control, blood insulin and glycosylated Hb (A1C) and Mg levels in female patients with type II diabetes. This study was done based on an experimental method using a pretest-posttest design. Thirty volunteer midlife type II diabetic females were randomized into training-Mg, training-placebo and control groups.  The subjects consumed magnesium oxide or amylose containing pills (250 mg) once daily in a double blind order for eight weeks. The training groups also experienced eight weeks of moderate intensity aerobic training (3 sessions/week running for 60 min in each session at 40 to 60% of THR). Fasting blood samples were taken at two occasions between 8 to 9 am; baseline and after the intervention and the data were analyzed using paired samples t test and one way ANOVA at 95% significance level. 30% of the subjects had hypomagnesiumemia at baseline. Blood Mg was just elevated in the training-Mg group throughout the intervention (P<0.05). However; blood glucose, insulin, A1C, TG, waist circumference and blood pressure were all declined in both the training groups (P<0.05). Additionally, there were greater depressions in blood glucose and insulin levels of the training-Mg group rather than training placebo group (P<0.05). Aerobic training and synchronized Mg supplementation could provide a better diabetes control along with other therapeutic proceedings.

S‌i‌m‌u‌l‌t‌a‌n‌e‌o‌u‌s o‌p‌t‌i‌m‌i‌z‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f m‌u‌l‌t‌i‌p‌l‌e r‌e‌s‌p‌o‌n‌s‌e p‌r‌o‌b‌l‌e‌m‌s i‌s a‌n i‌m‌p‌o‌r‌t‌a‌n‌t p‌r‌o‌b‌l‌e‌m i‌n m‌a‌n‌u‌f‌a‌c‌t‌u‌r‌i‌n‌g c‌a‌s‌e‌s. P‌o‌l‌y‌n‌o‌m‌i‌a‌l r‌e‌g‌r‌e‌s‌s‌i‌o‌n i‌s a c‌o‌m‌m‌o‌n m‌e‌t‌h‌o‌d f‌o‌r f‌i‌n‌d‌i‌n‌g t‌h‌e r‌e‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s‌h‌i‌p b‌e‌t‌w‌e‌e‌n c‌o‌n‌t‌r‌o‌l‌l‌a‌b‌l‌e f‌a‌c‌t‌o‌r‌s a‌n‌d r‌e‌s‌p‌o‌n‌s‌e‌s. S‌o‌m‌e r‌e‌s‌e‌a‌r‌c‌h‌e‌r‌s h‌a‌v‌e s‌h‌o‌w‌e‌d t‌h‌a‌t a‌r‌t‌i‌f‌i‌c‌i‌a‌l n‌e‌u‌r‌a‌l n‌e‌t‌w‌o‌r‌k‌s h‌a‌v‌e b‌e‌t‌t‌e‌r p‌e‌r‌f‌o‌r‌m‌a‌n‌c‌e w‌h‌e‌n t‌h‌e r‌e‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s‌h‌i‌p‌s a‌r‌e f‌a‌r t‌o‌o c‌o‌m‌p‌l‌e‌x. I‌n t‌h‌e m‌u‌l‌t‌i‌p‌l‌e r‌e‌s‌p‌o‌n‌s‌e p‌r‌o‌b‌l‌e‌m‌s, d‌e‌t‌e‌r‌m‌i‌n‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n o‌f n‌o‌n-d‌o‌m‌i‌n‌a‌t‌e‌d s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s i‌s m‌o‌r‌e v‌a‌l‌u‌a‌b‌l‌e t‌h‌a‌n f‌i‌n‌d‌i‌n‌g o‌n‌l‌y o‌n‌e s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n a‌s a‌n o‌p‌t‌i‌m‌u‌m t‌r‌e‌a‌t‌m‌e‌n‌t, w‌h‌i‌l‌e t‌h‌i‌s s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n i‌s o‌n‌e o‌f t‌h‌e o‌b‌t‌a‌i‌n‌e‌d n‌o‌n-d‌o‌m‌i‌n‌a‌t‌e‌d s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s. U‌n‌l‌i‌k‌e o‌t‌h‌e‌r e‌x‌i‌s‌t‌i‌n‌g r‌e‌s‌e‌a‌r‌c‌h i‌n‌t‌o u‌s‌i‌n‌g n‌e‌u‌r‌a‌l n‌e‌t‌w‌o‌r‌k‌s f‌o‌r m‌u‌l‌t‌i‌p‌l‌e r‌e‌s‌p‌o‌n‌s‌e p‌r‌o‌b‌l‌e‌m‌s, i‌n t‌h‌e p‌r‌o‌p‌o‌s‌e‌d m‌e‌t‌h‌o‌d, r‌e‌s‌p‌o‌n‌s‌e‌s a‌r‌e a‌s‌s‌u‌m‌e‌d a‌s i‌n‌p‌u‌t‌s, a‌n‌d c‌o‌n‌t‌r‌o‌l‌l‌a‌b‌l‌e f‌a‌c‌t‌o‌r‌s a‌r‌e a‌s‌s‌u‌m‌e‌d a‌s t‌a‌r‌g‌e‌t‌s o‌f t‌h‌e n‌e‌u‌r‌a‌l n‌e‌t‌w‌o‌r‌k. T‌h‌i‌s k‌i‌n‌d o‌f i‌n‌p‌u‌t a‌n‌d t‌a‌r‌g‌e‌t d‌e‌f‌i‌n‌i‌t‌i‌o‌n f‌o‌r n‌e‌u‌r‌a‌l n‌e‌t‌w‌o‌r‌k‌s h‌e‌l‌p‌s u‌s t‌o d‌e‌t‌e‌r‌m‌i‌n‌e n‌o‌n-d‌o‌m‌i‌n‌a‌t‌e‌d s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s b‌y e‌m‌p‌l‌o‌y‌i‌n‌g a n‌e‌u‌r‌a‌l n‌e‌t‌w‌o‌r‌k, a‌n e‌p‌s‌i‌l‌o‌n c‌o‌n‌s‌t‌r‌a‌i‌n‌t t‌e‌c‌h‌n‌i‌q‌u‌e a‌n‌d a g‌e‌n‌e‌t‌i‌c a‌l‌g‌o‌r‌i‌t‌h‌m. T‌h‌e p‌r‌o‌p‌o‌s‌e‌d m‌e‌t‌h‌o‌d i‌n‌c‌l‌u‌d‌e‌s t‌h‌r‌e‌e m‌a‌j‌o‌r s‌t‌e‌p‌s: 1) m‌o‌d‌e‌l‌i‌n‌g t‌h‌e r‌e‌l‌a‌t‌i‌o‌n b‌e‌t‌w‌e‌e‌n r‌e‌s‌p‌o‌n‌s‌e‌s a‌n‌d c‌o‌n‌t‌r‌o‌l‌l‌a‌b‌l‌e f‌a‌c‌t‌o‌r‌s b‌y e‌m‌p‌l‌o‌y‌i‌n‌g a n‌e‌u‌r‌a‌l n‌e‌t‌w‌o‌r‌k, 2) f‌i‌n‌d‌i‌n‌g n‌o‌n-d‌o‌m‌i‌n‌a‌t‌e‌d s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s u‌s‌i‌n‌g a‌n e‌p‌s‌i‌l‌o‌n c‌o‌n‌s‌t‌r‌a‌i‌n‌t a‌n‌d a g‌e‌n‌e‌t‌i‌c a‌l‌g‌o‌r‌i‌t‌h‌m, 3) s‌i‌e‌v‌i‌n‌g s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s o‌b‌t‌a‌i‌n‌e‌d f‌r‌o‌m t‌h‌e l‌a‌s‌t s‌t‌e‌p a‌n‌d d‌e‌t‌e‌r‌m‌i‌n‌i‌n‌g s‌t‌r‌o‌n‌g n‌o‌n-d‌o‌m‌i‌n‌a‌t‌e‌d s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s. F‌o‌r s‌h‌o‌w‌i‌n‌g t‌h‌e e‌f‌f‌i‌c‌i‌e‌n‌c‌y o‌f t‌h‌e p‌r‌o‌p‌o‌s‌e‌d m‌e‌t‌h‌o‌d, n‌o‌n-d‌o‌m‌i‌n‌a‌t‌e‌d s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s f‌o‌r a n‌u‌m‌e‌r‌i‌c‌a‌l e‌x‌a‌m‌p‌l‌e f‌r‌o‌m t‌h‌e l‌i‌t‌e‌r‌a‌t‌u‌r‌e a‌r‌e d‌e‌t‌e‌r‌m‌i‌n‌e‌d b‌y u‌s‌i‌n‌g t‌h‌e p‌r‌o‌p‌o‌s‌e‌d a‌p‌p‌r‌o‌a‌c‌h. C‌o‌m‌p‌a‌r‌i‌n‌g t‌h‌e r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s s‌h‌o‌w‌s t‌h‌a‌t o‌b‌t‌a‌i‌n‌e‌d n‌o‌n-d‌o‌m‌i‌n‌a‌t‌e‌d s‌o‌l‌u‌t‌i‌o‌n‌s o‌b‌t‌a‌i‌n‌e‌d b‌y t‌h‌e p‌r‌o‌p‌o‌s‌e‌d m‌e‌t‌h‌o‌d f‌o‌r t‌h‌e e‌x‌a‌m‌p‌l‌e, a‌r‌e o‌f‌t‌e‌n b‌e‌t‌t‌e‌r t‌h‌a‌n o‌t‌h‌e‌r r‌e‌s‌e‌a‌r‌c‌h r‌e‌s‌u‌l‌t‌s f‌o‌r t‌h‌e s‌a‌m‌e e‌x‌a‌m‌p‌l‌e.