Critical rationalism faces difficulty in Karl Popper’s Socratic formulation: “I may be wrong, and you may be right, and by an effort, we may find the truth.” But the Socratic elenchus, using refutations, can only give us negative knowledge of general principles, which is not the wisdom we seek. Affirmatively, we can only find a collection of opinions to be coherent, which is one of many. Francis Bacon proposed an improved elenchus to find general truths. You must take up a limited topic to study, then cross-examine your evidence for and against its apparent nature. Experiments contrary to evidence and presumed knowledge are entered as self-contradictions in tables of opposition recorded in an “EXPERIMENTAL and natural history.” Such an account highlights a challenging puzzle if the account is to be made coherent. With enough problematized evidence, a coherent reading, or a solution of the puzzle, will be unique. Being both coherent and unique, it will be the truth about that limited reality being investigated. Unlike the method of hypothesis (“Anticipating Nature”), deciphering a coherent model is “Interpreting Nature,” allowing us to find a general truth on a limited topic. Isaac Newton achieved great success using Robert Boyle’s mechanistic version of this method. Using the “EXPERIMENTAL philosophy,” he discovered general principles of optics and astronomy.

This study presents a combined pneumatic seed-metering device (SMD) that could not only fill, carry, and meter seeds, but also switch quickly between seed-metering and seed-cleaning modes, and clean seeds thoroughly and rapidly. The seed-filling, seed-carrying, and seed-metering modes of the SMD were analyzed based on a theoretical kinematic model. Furthermore, a three-factor, three-level orthogonal test was conducted by using a performance test bench arranged for the SMD as well as Design-Expert software. The combination of parameters that led to the lowest mis-seeding rate (0.59%) was as follows: an air pressure of 2.67 kPa, a slot width of 2.83 mm, and a seed-metering speed of 20 r/min. The optimized scheme that resulted in a relatively low multiple-seeding rate (4.3%) and met other requirements at the same time was as follows: an air pressure of 2.35 kPa, a slot width of 2.78 mm, and a seed-metering speed of 20 r/min. A field test was subsequently performed by using a combined pneumatic PLOT cotton planter prototype. While the mis-seeding and re-seeding rates obtained from the field test were both somewhat higher than those obtained from the laboratory bench test, they still met precision planting requirements. The field test validated the accuracy of the theoretical analysis and bench test and served as a foundation for future prototype production and popularization.

Introduction: Researchers frequently include multiple cultivars and fertility levels in field experiments. Therefore, the experiments sowing operation must represent a considerable saving in time and labor, compared to hand sowing. Greater flexibility in EXPERIMENTAL design and setup could be achieved by equipment that enables quick changes in the cultivar and fertilizer rates from one PLOT to the next. …

Choosing a response surface design to fit certain kinds of models is a difficult task. Extensive research comprising a collection of efficient second-order response surface designs from which a researcher may choose to best fit his/her needs has been conducted, which are based solely on a widely-accepted assumption of a completely randomized error structure of statistically-designed experiments. However, this assumption is not feasible in industrial experiments, which are often split-PLOT in nature and for which randomization of some factors have to be restricted due to certain constraints. The performance of such EXPERIMENTAL designs depends strongly on the relative magnitude (d) of the whole-PLOT and sub-PLOT error variances. This work focuses on reduced second-order models having one, two, or all of their quadratic and/or interaction terms removed from the full models of some chosen candidate split-PLOT central composite designs (CCDs). It investigates the effects of model reduction on efficiency of these designs by computing the relative D-efficiencies for the formulated reduced models with respect to their corresponding full designs and assessing the efficiency losses under specific values of d. The study revealed a significant loss of D-efficiency in these designs, which depend strongly on the removed term(s) and increases, across all values of d, as the number of whole-PLOT factors increases.

Introduction The hills surrounding the international wetlands of Almagol and Ajigol in the Golestan Province are exposed to severe erosion and every year a large amount of sediments from these hillslopes discharge into these wetlands. Whilst a large extent of these surrounding hills, covered with Biological Soil Crusts (BSC), has been destroyed due to lack of awareness of their values, sensitivity and ecological functions. Improving soil properties, preventing direct contact of raindrops with the soil surface, all indicate the important role of BSC in hydrological processes and soil loss control. Materials and methods In this study, the role of BSC in the hydrological processes of dry areas was investigated using a rain simulator. After a field survey and evaluation of the area, different treatments including biological crust with a dominant lichen cover, biological crust with a dominant moss cover, an area covered with vascular plants, an area without cover and areas covered with a combination of moss and lichen were selected to perform rain simulation and compare their effects on the hydrological processes of the selected region. Rain simulation was done in 2×1 meter PLOTs for 30 minutes and intensity of 82 mm per hour. The start time of runoff and the volume of produced runoff at the outlet of the PLOT were measured and recorded. Also, at five-minute intervals from the beginning of the simulation process, 500 ml runoff samples were collected and transferred to the laboratory for testing in order to estimate the sediment concentration and mass. In addition, the depth of the wetting front caused by the infiltration of rain was measured at the beginning, middle and end sections of the PLOTs. Results and discussion The results of rainfall-runoff simulations at a 2×1 m2 PLOT scale with a rainfall intensity of 82 mm.h-1 and a duration of 30 minutes PLOTs, showed that the average mass of sediments from PLOTs with the dominant cover of moss (104 g), lichen (91 g), lichen-moss combination (176 g) and bush (99 g) was significantly higher than bare soil (1133 grams). Therefore, in case of destruction of the existing BSC and the formation of bare lands, the sedimentation rate will increase by more than 5 times. A significant decrease in water infiltration into BSC causes a significant increase of 30-40% in runoff generation compared to the treatment covered with bushes and a significant increase of 8-18% compared to the bare soil treatment. Conclusions by reducing soil loss and sediment concentration, BSC cause the production and transfer of high-quality runoff to the wetlands and as a result maintain the ecological function and health of the region’s wetlands. The results of this research show the positive influence of BSC on the hydrological and ecological performance of arid areas in the north of Gorgan Plain and protection of Ramsar-listed wetlands in the region.

Splash detachment and transport of soil particles through the impact of raindrops on the soil surface form the initiating mechanisms of water erosion. However, mechanistic analysis of different affecting factors has less been taken into account. The present study was therefore formulated for a comparative analysis of the effective intensities as well as slopes on Raindrop Impact Induced Erosion (RIIE) components within a laboratory scale and for a sandy clay loam soil. Towards this end, a total of 81 rainfall simulation experiments were conducted in a set of 1 ´ 6 m PLOTs with varying slopes of 5, 15 and 25% while using the current situation prevalent in the region. The experiments were performed in three replications and with simulated rainfall intensities of 30, 60, and 90 mm h-1 using region IDF. The experiments were also adopted while using rainfall simulation system along with upward as well as downward Morgan’s splash cups placed at upper, middle and lower parts of the PLOT. Results indicated that all the study variables viz. total vs net splash and upward downward splash were significantly (p £ 0.01) influenced by rainfall intensity and cups’ locality, but net splash was not statistically influenced (p ³ 0.13) by spatial variation of cups. In addition, the results showed that slope did not affect any study variables (p ³ 0.11) except the phenomenon of net splash (p £ 0.01).

The rainfall erosivity factor is one of the important parameters for the correct prediction of soil loss amount by water. However, the used rainfall erosivity indices in any region must be accurate. The aim of this research was studying the regression relations between rainfall erosivity indices and related soil losses from EXPERIMENTAL PLOTs after individual rainfall event in order to investigate the appropriate rainfall erosivity index in Semnan province. For this reason, rainfall events were recorded from a recording raingauge at the Jashloobar Researches Station in Semnan province, from 2008 to 2010. Also, soil loss amounts after any rainfall events were collected and determined from 6 PLOTs with standard dimensions in two slopes, 3 and 15 percentage and 3 replications. Then, daily rainfall amounts, maximum intensities in different base times, total kinetic energy and other rainfall parameters for calculation of different indices were calculated and relations between these indices and related sediment amounts were studied.With statistical analysis of mentioned relations, ÖP. (I60) 2 index, showed strongest correlation, r=0.651 and significant at 0.001 level. Also, long-term average of selected index and seven rainfall amount-based indices at 10 stations with raingauge in Semnan province for periods of 1 to 25 years were calculated. The regression relationships between ÖP. (I60) 2 and readily available indices were investigated. Mean annual rainfall, standard deviation of annual rainfall and maximum monthly rainfall, showed good correlations (r=0.83, 0.82 and 0.81, respectively) at 0.001 level.

What structuralist narratologists have in common is that, instead of analyzing the actants of a literary genre based on traditional rhetoric, they analyze a literary genre as a systematic structure whose actants have internal links together. The PLOT or the sequence of events is the most significant element that both the first and the second generation of Narratologists have considered attentively. Although the first generation emphasizes on causative and effective sequence, the second generation, especially, Raymon Kenon, has also added the periodic sequence to that. The present study aimed at considering 300 Sufis’ revelations selected from 30 mystical prose from the 4th to the 7th Century. It was found that even though the combination of events had numerous superficial differences, they followed few similar patterns. The results also showed that, in addition to the causative or periodic relevance, the revelations had another kind of sequence whereby a unique moment of the mystic’s incoming is briefly narrated. These kinds of revelations are highly inspired by a type of French story which is called “Nouvelle - instant” revelation.

hariri and hamidis amqamat ,as two prose works in classical Arabic and Persian literature have special values for the critics. The study of "PLOT" in these two literary works illustrates that hariri had prepared an attractive and independent sketch for each short story (amqamat) in advance each to be employed for a macrostructure. hamidis however failed to follow what hariri did in this respect. as a result his short stories are know to have failed in matching those of the hariri both in attraction and an organized sketch.