Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is one of the most successful techniques of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and is mostly in use for the treatment of infertility with male factors. In this method, before injecting sperm into the intracytoplasmic of the oocyte, cumulus cells around the oocyte must be stripped to facilitate the injection process. To achieve this, both enzymatic and mechanical methods are used in embryological laboratories for denudation, which has major deficiencies, including the possibility of damaging the oocyte prior to the injection process. In this research, a microfluidic-based device is introduced for the separation of cumulus cells around the oocyte with minimum manual operations. The results prove high efficiency, and non-destructive denudation of the oocyte with the reduced amount of culture medium leads to the low-cost preparation process of oocytes. The process can also be integrated with ICSI chips under development and will be reported shortly.

A B S T R A C T Considering the location of vital centers in the heart of the cities, they are more affected by unexpected events. Hence, due to the probability of the loss of existing services and devastating effects on the social organization and the necessity to prepare essential needs of people and military agencies, planning and building the storage for essential items as a replacement for the damaged services are considered a critical factor in social and defensive reliability. This research tries to locate stockpile of essential Items in Mashhad by emphasizing passive defense criteria and analyzing stockpiles of essential items in terms of form communicational structure. The type of research is applied, and the research method is in theoretical discussion and formulation of mental models, descriptive-analytical and information-gathering methods, documents, questionnaires, and interviews. Moreover, the information analysis method is with the IHWP model in GIS software in the locating section. In the section on examining architectural patterns and forms is content analysis. The research results show that 20.61 percent of Mashhad has an optimal location potential, and 0.94 percent of city also has a favorable potential for location. Also, parts of the north-east and south of the city have the priority for location. The types of spatial organization of the rectangular form, including centralized, four-armed, introverted, and diagonal, were investigated in the architecture department. The centralized form is preferable to other forms for its capacity and access to exits and spatial organization Extended Abstract Introduction As a stockpile of essential items to facilitate the process of activities and to achieve goals, the warehouse plays a vital role in creating this flexibility in organizations. In fact, from the point of view of crisis management, the stockpile of essential items can play a significant role in the supply chain to deal with unforeseen internal or external incidents. Passive defense in the stockpile of essential items refers to measures that do not require expensive and challenging methods and solutions to protect the stockpile of essential items. Furthermore, it can help avoid the substantial expenses of monitoring the entire inventory and increasing non-conformities (such as theft, fire, non-conformity in the inventory and management inspection, fatal accidents, etc.) or reduce this amount. Choosing the form of the stockpile of essential items for essential items with a passive defense approach requires a comprehensive analysis based on defense principles such as hierarchical protection, nationwide coverage, dynamic protection, relative self-sufficiency, and minimum vulnerability. Therefore, in addition to placing this category of stockpile of essential items in Mashhad, the mentioned research also tries to establish a relationship between architectural forms and principles of defense to reduce vulnerability and improve the level of relief in times of crisis.   Methodology The current type of research is applied, and the research method is descriptive-analytical. In this research, 29 people were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews with urban and passive defense experts. The method of data analysis is quantitative and qualitative. Also, the content analysis method was used to compile and analyze the architectural forms of the stockpile of essential items of essential items compatible with the principles of passive defense. The fuzzy quantitative model IHWP was exploited in GIS software for placing the stockpile of essential items in the studied sample.   Results and discussion Locating From the overlaying of 10 indicators, distance from the fault, height of buildings, distance from gas lines, distance from high voltage power lines, road width, building density, risk of uses, distance from water transmission lines, population density, and land prone to liquefaction, location in 10 class was conducted that the first and second priority is the north-east and south of Mashhad, which has the most favorable location. In Mashhad, 17.2% of the city area has a very low score, 12.8% low score, 48.37% medium score, 20.61% high score, and 0.94% very high score regarding location desirability.   Architecture According to the previous studies on geometric forms, the suitable form for warehouse DESIGN is a simple form that does not have frequent breaks and sharp and vague points to reduce the spatial deviation. Among the geometrical shapes, square and rectangular right-cornered shapes meet the criteria of warehouse DESIGN. In the meantime, the rectangle can define joints along its length, each of which is a focal point for concentrating activities and organizing their performance. Additionally, the internal spaces in this form are reasonably defined, which results in the building's overall form being overshadowed. This also makes the surrounding accesses more targeted and focused, ultimately providing more suitable relief during times of crisis. In order to create four types of stockpiles of essential items, A (centralized), B (four arms), C (introverted), and D (polar) were DESIGNed, and the way of combining these stockpiles of essential items was expressed and analyzed separately. The research results on accesses and circulation shows that type A covers a population of over 100,000 people, which has the best performance in terms of access to exits and spatial organization and provides services in times of crisis. Therefore, type A, due to the sequence of layers, lines, and expansion on the surface, has the most functional symmetry with the body of the warehouse, and its spatial projection is limited to adapt the shell to the body. Visually, it has the least visibility from a high height. Due to its volume and formal indicators, it has a high level of homogeneity and camouflage with its surrounding environment.   Conclusion The results of placing stockpiles of essential items in Mashhad showed that the northeast and south of the city have a higher talent for establishment. According to the examination of geometric forms, the rectangular form has the most efficiency for warehouse DESIGN in the architecture area. Due to formal capabilities such as the value of lines, angles, and proportions, it has the most efficiency in terms of performance, motion circulation, and the least spatial deviation. In order to research as mentioned above, after choosing the dominant form of the rectangle, an attempt has been made to analyze the spatial organization of the rectangular form using linear, combined, decomposition, and combination methods and centripetal and radial arrangements in terms of passive defense principles. Furthermore, four different types of warehouse DESIGN were formally analyzed as patterns and representative types, which are four arms, centralized, introverted, and diagonal, each of which, in addition to functional capabilities, also covers the population's needs in crisis conditions. Finally, the concentrated type due to the extent of its successive lines and layers in close proximity to each other, the perceptibility of the surfaces of the body joints because it can be recognized from a high altitude in order not to be identified in times of crisis such as air raid, they have the highest degree of compatibility between function and form from the point of view of passive defense.   Funding There is no funding support.   Authors’ Contribution All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.     Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.   Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the scientific

To investigate the effect of vermicompost, N fertilizer and their integration on growth, biological and essential yields oil and its components in two populations (Varamin and Isfahan), an EXPERIMENT was conducted in a randomized complete block DESIGN with three replications in the field of Isfahan Medicinal Plants Research Center in 2016. Fertilizer treatments including 100% urea, vermicompost 33.3 and urea 66.6%, vermicompost 66.6 and urea 33.3%, 100% vermicompost and control treatment (without fertilizer) as the first factor and Varamin and Isfahan populations as the second factor were selected. The results showed that the interaction effects of nitrogen fertilizer and populations on all studied traits were significant. In both populations, nitrogen fertilizer improved height, biological and essential oil yields, content of essential oil compounds (d-Carvone and its yield, α-phellandrene and linalool; except p-Cymene and Limonene in Isfahan population). Since in medicinal plants, the quantity (biological yield) and quality (essential oil and d-Carvone; the most important ingredient and the highest amount of essential oil in this EXPERIMENT), 66.6% vermicompost + 33.3% urea in Varamin population, was the best treatment in the EXPERIMENT. In addition an in the direction of human health and sustainable agriculture, it is possible to reduce 33% of chemical fertilizers application and pollution; however, in terms of other essential oil contents (α-phellandrene, Linalool and p-Cymene), 100% vermicompost fertilizer treatment was superior in Isfahan population.

To evaluate the effects of different treatments on seed dormancy breaking of Notobasis, two separate EXPERIMENTs were conducted at Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, in 2017 with three replications. The first EXPERIMENT included nine physical, mechanical and chemical treatments (control, surface scarification, intense scarification, one and two weeks of chilling at 4°C, soaking into hot water for two hours without scarification , soaking in 25°C distilled water for two hours with scarification  and acid treatment for six and 12 minutes) based on completely randomized DESIGNs (CRD). The Second EXPERIMENT was hormone priming arranged as a factorial EXPERIMENT based on completely randomized DESIGN with gibberellin concentrations (0, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 ppm) and priming duration (12 and 24 hour) as the treatments. The highest seed germination (40%) obtained from 12 minutes of acid treatment. Results showed that seed germination reached to 100% after priming seeds with GA3 concentrations for 12 hours. However, increase the priming durations to 24 hours, significantly declined seed germination to 47% in 200 and 400 ppm of GA3 concentrations. The Increase of GA3 concentrations in 12 hours led to a linear reduction of T50 from 31 hours in 200 ppm to 19 hours in 1000 ppm). In 24 hours of priming treatment, T50 followed a Gaussian function and the highest T50 (92 hours) was obtained from 600 ppm. It is recommended to immerse the seeds for 12 minutes in sulfuric acid and prime with 400 ppm GA3 acid for 12 hours to break dormancy and increase the vigor index.

In order to identify the correlations and relationships between different traits in the bread wheat, 30 genotypes were investigated as sub-factors under the split plot EXPERIMENT in the completely randomized DESIGN in greenhouse and the randomized complete block DESIGN in the field with three replications under the normal irrigation and post-anthesis water stress conditions. The results of the canonical correlation analysis showed that at both normal and moisture stress levels, there was a significant correlation between the pair of canonical variables obtained from the phenological traits and the yield components. Under the normal conditions in the greenhouse, to increase the spike density and length, the number of days to 50% flowering can be considered as a suitable selection criterion. According to the results of canonical correlation analysis, under the stressed conditions in greenhouse, to increase the spike length, the number of days to the heading, maturity and 50% of flowering were among the important and effective factors. Under the optimum irrigation conditions in the field, the number of days to maturity was considered as one of the factors influencing the seed weight per spike. The results of canonical correlation analysis under the field stress conditions showed that to increase the 1000-seed weight, the number of days to maturity can be considered an appropriate selection criterion.

The aim of this work is to optimize the hardness of anodizing aluminum coating by DESIGN of EXPERIMENTal method. Various parameters affect the hardness of these coatings among which time, temperature and pulse current parameters (current density limit, frequency and duty cycle) were considered. According to this, mentioned parameters in different levels were considered as input variables. Also, the effect of parameters on the hardness of anodizing aluminum coating was obtained as a mathematical model. The final model was achieved by Analysis of variance which was used for attaining the best method to predict the maximum hardness of these coatings. The most effective variables and optimized hardness of anodizing aluminum coating were obtained by using the mathematical model. EXPERIMENTal results showed that temperature and quadratic behavior of duty cycle were the most important terms on the hardness of these coatings. Furthermore, the maximum hardness of this coating was 491Hv, which was attained at the maximum and minimum current densities of 4. 09, 1. 23 A/dm2, frequency of 146. 94 Hz, time of 29. 50 min, duty cycle of 65. 16% and the bath temperature of 3. 13oC.

In order to investigate the possibility of quinoa producing in Garmsar, Iran, a factorial EXPERIMENT conducted in randomized complete block DESIGN with three replications in 2018-2019 growing season at Garmsar Agricultural Research Station. The factors were planting date at three levels (March 6th, April 1st and April 6th) and the three genotypes of quinoa (Q26, Q29 and Titicaca). Results showed that the effect of planting date was significant for all studied traits except the harvest index. Also, all studied traits were significantly different in all genotypes. Titicaca planted on March 6th had the highest yield (2276 kg.ha-1).The grain yield and yield components decreased with the delaying the planting date. Compared to early plantings, Latest date, April 6th, led to reduction of all traits, especially grain yield (about 50%). The results of simple phenotypic correlation between the studied traits showed that grain yield per hectare had the highest correlation with plant yield (0.877) and then with leaf area index (0.832), panicle weight (0.815) and number of branches per plant (0.745) that was significant at the 1% probability level.

To study the effect of salinity stress on some physiological traits in wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.), a factorial EXPERIMENT based on randomized complete block DESIGN with three replicates was performed at 2017 in the research greenhouse of Agronomy Department, University of Tehran. Salinity treatments at two levels; control (1.2 dS/m) and sodium chloride treatment (16 dS/m) and seven wheat cultivars, Rowshan, Inia-66, Mahdavi, Khazar-1, Karaj-2, Ghods and Shole were the EXPERIMENTal treatments. According to the results, relative water content, yield and its components and potassium/sodium ratio decreased in all genotypes while Na+ content and remobilization of carbohydrates were increased. Salt resistant varieties, Roshan and Inia-66, had the highest level of relative water content, remobilization of soluble carbohydrates and number of grains per spike. In addition, Roshan cultivar showed the highest potassium concentration and K+/Na+ in the shoots, while Ghods and Sholeh as sensitive cultivars had the highest sodium concentration in the shoots. Findings showed that the ability of a cultivar to remobilize soluble carbohydrates is one of the traits that determine salt stress tolerance, hence, this trait is suitable for evaluating salt tolerance of wheat cultivars in the future investigations.

Directed Acyclic Graphs stand as one of the prevailing approaches for representing causal relationships within a set of variables. With observational or interventional data, certain undirected edges within a causal DAG can be oriented. Performing intervention can be done in two different settings, passive and active. Here, we prove that an optimal intervention set can be obtained based on the minimum vertex cover of a graph. We propose an algorithm that efficiently identifies such an optimal intervention set for chordal graphs within polynomial time. Performing intervention on this optimal set recovers all the undirected edges in graph G, regardless of the underlying ground truth DAG. Furthermore, we present an algorithm for evaluating the performance of passive algorithms. This evaluation provides insights into how many intervention steps of a specific algorithm are required to recover all edges in the causal graph for any possible underlying ground truth in the equivalence class. EXPERIMENTal findings underscore that the number of nodes in the optimal intervention set increases with growing the number of nodes in a graph, where the edge density is fixed, and also increases with the rising edge density in a graph with a fixed number of nodes.

Directed Acyclic Graphs stand as one of the prevailing approaches for representing causal relationships within a set of variables. With observational or interventional data, certain undirected edges within a causal DAG can be oriented. Performing intervention can be done in two different settings, passive and active. Here, we prove that an optimal intervention set can be obtained based on the minimum vertex cover of a graph. We propose an algorithm that efficiently identifies such an optimal intervention set for chordal graphs within polynomial time. Performing intervention on this optimal set recovers all the undirected edges in graph G, regardless of the underlying ground truth DAG. Furthermore, we present an algorithm for evaluating the performance of passive algorithms. This evaluation provides insights into how many intervention steps of a specific algorithm are required to recover all edges in the causal graph for any possible underlying ground truth in the equivalence class. EXPERIMENTal findings underscore that the number of nodes in the optimal intervention set increases with growing the number of nodes in a graph, where the edge density is fixed, and also increases with the rising edge density in a graph with a fixed number of nodes.