نشریه کارافن
سال هفدهم شماره 48 (تابستان 1399)

Investigation of energy consumption and its management in industrial and semi-industrial units of livestock breeding is one of the most important issues in economy and energy of these units. The present study was conducted to investigate the energy flow and greenhouse gas emissions in dairy farms in Qazvin Province. Data was collected through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with 62 dairy farm managers . The results showed that the total energy input to produce one liter of milk was 27.8 MJ. In addition, livestock and fuel feeders with 48% and 29% share were the most energy consuming units. Energy efficiency in this study was estimated to be 0.25. Greenhouse gas emissions were calculated to be 0.65 kg of carbon dioxide per liter of milk and among the inputs used, machinery and fuel accounted for 72% and 24% of greenhouse gas emissions, respectively,. Based on the results obtained, it is possible to increase energy efficiency and reduce environmental impacts by replacing low performance machines and equipment with higher performance ones and by consuming natural gas fuel instead of diesel fuel. It is also possible to reduce energy consumption by appropriately managing diets and using optimal nutritional patterns and suitable nutrition.

Due to the development of human societies, food security has become a priority. Technological advancements and introduction of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have provided sufficient quantities of food in recent decades, but food quality is questioned. Fertilizers from natural sources might be a practical solution. Coastal farmers in various countries have been applying seaweed for crop growth and development for many years. Nowadays, with technological development, some species of seaweed such as Ascophyllum nodosum are cultivated and processed as seaweed extract alone or mixed with other fertilizers to be used by farmers. Although seaweed extract contains small amounts of mineral nutrients, it has been applied widely as a growth stimulator for improving and accelerating crop growth and development and eliminating environmental stresses.

European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana (Lep: Tortricidae), is one of the most significant pests in Iran and the world. This research was conducted in three parts; the first part aims to measure nutritional indices of L. botrana on ten Iranian grapes cultivars, the second part of this study is dedicated to investigating the physical and chemical characteristics of fruit cultivars, and the third part is related to larval host preference and moth egg laying preference. The results illustrated a significant difference between nutritional indices between grape cultivars. The cultivars Sefid Angoor Ghoochan and Sahebi Siah revealed antixenotic and antibiotic properties against larval feeding, and also showed ovipositional antixenosis, demonstrating their relatively high resistance against the aforementioned pest. The cultivars Rotabi Sefid Zarghan and Keshmeshi Bavanat were found to be relatively susceptible cultivars. The findings of the present research offer fundamental information on susceptible and resistant cultivars of grape against the pest L. botrana.

In the present study, the physical and mechanical properties of fire retardant treated thermowood of scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) was evaluated. Specimens were impregnated with %7 solution of borax fire retardant for 40 minutes at the pressure of 4 bars. Heat treatments were carried out at temperatures of 170 ◦C and 190 ◦C for 3 hours. Surface quality, color change and glueline shear strength of specimens were verified. Surface roughness according to ISO-4287 and color change according to ASTM D-2244 were studied with variables of impregnation and heat treatment temperature. Glueline shear strength was measured according to ASTM D-905 with variables of impregnation, heat treatment temperature and resin type. Results indicated that borax fire retardant increased surface roughness while heat treatment decreased surface roughness. As heat treatment temperature increased, the surface roughness diminished. Color of specimens became darker as the temperature of heat treatment was raised. Fire retardant treated thermowood showed the most color change. Impregnating with borax weakened the bonding strength. Glueline shear strength in fire retardant treated specimens was higher than fire retardant treated thermowood. Fire retardant treated thermowoods displayed greater glueline shear strength than thermowoods.

Cleaner production helps preserve raw materials and water. It also eliminates hazardous materials and reduces the amount of emission toxicity as well as waste in the production process. This type of production is a universal strategy to make the necessary changes to technology and industry. Since factories of medium density fiberboard face such problems as excessive energy consumption and production of significant amounts of solid waste, reducing the adverse effects of these problems, in line with cleaner production strategies, should be considered a priority in planning. This article describes the results of the first phase of a research project which aimed to prioritize the cleaner production criteria in a medium density fiberboard factory through a hierarchical analysis process. After rigorous field research, the main criteria of product improvement, process change, recycling, implementation of BOM system, and human resources were identified and subsequently divided into 62 sub-criteria.

In this research study, the biometric properties of fibers and microscopy of fraxinus wood were investigated. For this purpose, a perfectly healthy stem of the fraxinus tree native to Chamestan area was selected and one disc of 5 cm thickness was prepared at breast height. In transverse direction, the test specimens were cut 2 × 2 cm to 3 cm from the pith to the bark sequentially and examined. Then, the biometric properties of the fibers including fiber length, fiber lumen diameter, cell wall thickness and fiber diameter were measured.  The results showed that all the dimensional properties of the fibers from the brain to the skin were increasing. In order to microscopically study fraxinus tree wood, microscopic sections of three transverse, tangential and radial surfaces of wood close to the bark of the fraxinus tree were prepared and evaluated by a light microscope. Results of the anatomical study indicated that the fraxinus tree is a ring porous hardwood species with distinct growth, simple perforation plates and scalariform, alternate intervessel pits and without tyloses.

In this study, 150 Manchurian and 150 Japanese quail breeds were used in a completely randomized block design to investigate the relationship between daily weight and IGF-I gene expression at 35 days of age in quail breast muscles. On the seventh day of rearing, quail chicks were weighed and each breed was divided into two groups: light and heavy. The amount of IGF-I gene expression was evaluated at 35 days old on the breast muscle by using Real-Time PCR. At 35 days old, breast weight was measured. The lowest IGF-I gene expression was indicated in the lightweight and heavyweight groups. The highest and lowest IGF-I gene expression occurred in the heavyweight group of the Manchurian quails and in the lightweight group of Japanese quails, respectively. The highest breast muscle weight was observed in the heavyweight group of Manchurian quails. According to this study, IGF-I gene can impact the metabolism of quail; so its expression can affect the growth rate and weight gain and is also one of the factors that results in weight difference between the two breeds.

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of Chlorella algae as a source of protein on the rate of queen bees laying eggs (egg, larva and pupa), pollen storage, colony population and feed consumption. This experiment on honey bees (Apis mellifera) was conducted based on a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 4 treatments and 10 replications at the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran. Treatments were classified as follows: 1- Basal diet, 2- Basal diet containing 5% of Chlorella, 3- Basal diet containing 10% of Chlorella, and 4- Basal diet containing 20% of Chlorella. Results showed that different levels of Chlorella algae have significant effects on total brood rearing, feed consumption and colony population (p < 0.05). The present research findings suggest that levels of dietary Chlorella algae can improve the total brood and population of the colony.

Effects of wilting and usage of formic and/or sulphuric acids on alfalfa silage (AS) composition, aerobic stability and ruminal degradability were tested in three trials. Chopped alfalfa hay (AH) were wilted and then ensiled. There were no differences between compositions of wilted and fresh AH. In silage 1 and 2, crude protein and true protein increased while NDF decreased. Compared to control silage, formic acid treated silage had more crude protein and true protein while silage 3 had more crude protein only. Aerobic stability of silages was evaluated using changing values of pH and N-NH3. The pH data illustrated that acid treatment can protect silage from spoilage to a greater degree compared to the control silage until 48 h. In all incubation times, N-NH3 contents of control silage were higher than acid treated silages. Ensiling decreased fraction a and increased fraction b of DM compared to AH. Ensiling decreased fraction a+b of DM compared to AH and this decrease was more pronounced for acid treated silages. For the degradability of CP, fraction a of AH was less than the control silage and formic acid treated silage; however, this fraction was higher in AH compared to silage 3. The reverse order was noted for fraction b.

Microwaves are one of the fastest methods of drying food whose energy is comparable to that of hot air drying.In this paper, the kinetics of drying film-thin carrot layers was investigated and analyzed. First, the carrots were cut into 2.5 mm and 5 mm thicknesses and then the experiments were carried out using Samsung M945 Microwave. Microwave power and shape of the carrot layers affected the drying time and effective moisture penetration to the extend that the drying time was reduced by 57.5%. The moisture penetration for the samples with 2.5 and 5 mm thickness changed from 1.35 ´ 10-7 to 3.6 ´ 10-7 m2 /s and 5.37 ´ 10-7 to 1.06 ´ 10-6, respectively.

Antioxidants are compounds that protect the body against free radical damages. Eggplants are one of the most common vegetables consumed all around the world, containing large amounts of bioactive compounds with medicinal properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of solvent type (80% ethanol and 80% methanol and water), extraction method (ultrasonic bath and soaking) and extraction time (20, 60 and 80 minutes) on the amount of phenolic, flavonoids and anthocyanin compounds and DPPH  radical scavenging activity, Fe reducing power and total antioxidant capacity of eggplant peel extracts. The results showed that 80% ethanol was the best solvent for extraction of phenolic compounds (86.87 mg gallic acid/g), whereas the maximum flavonoids content (18.23 mg rutin/g) was extracted using 80% methanol. The anthocyanin content of the extracts varied in the range of 0.8-4.33 (mg cyanidine/g), and the use of ultrasound significantly increased the anthocyanin extraction. The DPPH radical scavenging activity and Fe reducing power of the ultrasound extracts were more than the extracts obtained from soaking method. The maximum DPPH radical scavenging activity (51.96%) and Fe reducing power (2.46, absorption at 700 nm) were related to aqueous and methanol extracts, respectively and derived from ultrasonic bath method and extraction time of 80 minutes. The maximum total antioxidant capacity (2.23 and 2.27, absorption at 695 nm) was related to methanolic extracts obtained from ultrasonic bath and extraction time of 60 and 80 minutes. As a result, utilization of ultrasound is a useful method for extraction of bioactive compounds present in eggplant peel. In addition, the obtained natural antioxidant compounds can be used in food formulations as alternatives to synthetic antioxidants and functional foods.