One of the important issues in the production of concrete is environmental variability that affects the concrete and elements constructed from this material. Due to the importance of different characteristics of concrete in short- and long-term conditions, this article aims to investigate the influence of initial temperature conditions of self-compacting concrete on its long-term characteristics and determine the initial optimal temperature of concrete. For these purposes, several experiments under three temperature conditions of 5, 20, and 40 degree-of-Celsius were conducted to evaluate the rheology and mechanical properties of fresh concrete in the range of 7 and 28 days. In these experiments, alternative mineral admixtures of cement such as micro-silica, fly ash, and zeolite were used to build the concrete specimens. Results demonstrate that the mechanical properties of the specimens increase with increasing initial temperature in the short term, while such properties significantly decrease in the long term compared to the specimens constructed under lower initial temperature. Moreover, the fluidity of self-compacting concrete increases with increasing initial temperature.

The ability of plant communities in natural ecosystems to modify temperature has become increasingly important due to the profound impacts of global climate change, particularly in arid regions. However, previous studies have provided limited information on the long-term temperature feedback of these plant communities and the biotic drivers behind these changes. This study aimed to determine the functional traits and types of plant communities as biotic drivers of land surface temperature (LST) at the plant community scale, with a focus on identifying co-functioning communities in the Sirjan region of Kerman Province. To achieve this, we utilized the MODIS-LST 8-day composite product at the plant community scale and measured functional traits of dominant species through field operations. The results revealed that leaf dry matter content (LDMC), maximum height (MH), and leaf width (LW) traits significantly reduce LST. Additionally, cluster analysis indicated that the plant communities in the study area can be classified into five functional groups, which fall into two co-function categories. The S-strategized co-function (e.g., 26 communities), characterized by high LDMC values and a combination of abrupt and trend feedback in LST, was found to be more effective than the R-strategized co-function (e.g., 13 communities), which exhibited only trend feedback. Therefore, it can be argued that extreme temperatures, as a global concern, can be mitigated through careful selection of vegetation based on functional traits and strategies. This approach, particularly through rangeland improvement practices using species such as Astragalus spachianus, Cornulaca monacantha, and Launaea acanthodes, could play a significant role in addressing this challenge.

The current study aimed to optimize artificial insemination in aged broiler breeder hens in two experiments. In the first experiment, the effect of (two) different diluted semen temperatures (5 and 25 °C) of Hubbard rooster (40 roosters, 58 weeks of age) on fertility, hatchability and sperm penetration (SP) rate in the perivitelline layer of Hubbard hen (180 hens) were investigated. In the second experiment, three (different) sperm concentrations (100 (C100), 200 (C200), and 400 (C400) million sperm in 0.25 mL per hen) of Hubbard roosters (40 roosters, 62 weeks of age) on fertility, hatchability and SP rate of Hubbard broiler breeder hens (270 hens) were explored. In the first experiment, the results showed that the temperature of 5 °C of diluted semen compared to the 25 °C, increased percentage of hatchability of set eggs, hatchability of fertile eggs, and SP and decreased early embryonic mortality. The results of the second experiment showed the highest percentage of fertility and SP rate were observed at treatment C400. Also, in this experiment that highest percentage of hatchability of set eggs and hatchability of fertile eggs and lowest early embryonic mortality were observed at treatment C400. Return on investment (ROI) of the treatments C200 and C400 was approximately 2.9 and 1.4, respectively. In overall, the results of this study showed that (in attention to ROI and hatchability) to optimize artificial insemination of aged broiler breeder hens we can use a sperm concentration of 200 to 400 million in 0.25 mL per hens at 5 °C.

In this study, the life history characteristics of Trichogramma euproctidis (Girault), an established egg parasitoid species in southwestern Iran, parasitizing Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) were examined at 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, and 33 °C. The results showed that different constant temperatures significantly affected the number of parasitized eggs, development time, sex ratio, tibial length, number of parasitoids per host egg, progeny longevity, and fecundity. T. euproctidis failed to complete development at 18 °C, the lowest temperature tested. The mean developmental duration from egg to adult female decreased from 15.33 days at 21 °C to 7.25 days at 33 °C. An average of 188-degree days was required to complete development above the lower threshold temperature (7.2 °C). Survivorship was 96.20, 97.20, 98.33, 85.46, and 82.22 % at 21, 24, 27, 30, and 33 °C, respectively. The mean longevity of T. euproctidis ranged from 11.60 days at 21 °C to 4.57 days at 33 °C. Mean total progeny ranged from 19.50 / female at 33 °C to 168.70 / female at 21 °C. Data analysis demonstrated that different constant temperatures had a significant effect on the net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), and generation time (T). The intrinsic rate of increase (r) improved with temperature from 0.240/day at 21°C to 0.370/day at 27 °C and then decreased at higher temperatures. Generation time decreased from 16.90 days to 7.53 days with increasing temperature. The optimal temperature for development and reproduction of T. euproctidis was 27 °C. The results of this study showed that this strain of T. euproctidis appears to have the potential to be utilized in integrated management programs targeting H. armigera.

Air conditioning systems are used in industries and residential environments with the aim of improving environmental conditions and creating a comfortable temperature for users. Considering the production of sound and vibration in most of its components, the lack of control of the production sound level always exposes the users to unwanted sound, which in addition to hearing complications, also causes fatigue and dissatisfaction with the environmental conditions. . Compressors are one of the most important sources of sound production in air conditioning systems, and screw compressors are one of the most widely used in air conditioning industries. Therefore, the compressor shell should be designed to minimize the transmission of sound from inside to outside. Since the maximum working temperature of compressors is up to 80 degrees Celsius, therefore, in this research, an acoustic test was performed on a sample of a screw compressor shell in two modes of ambient temperature and maximum working temperature inside the acoustic room, and the effect of temperature increase on the sound pressure level. transferred from the shell to the external environment is discussed. Finally, based on the frequency analysis performed in two conditions of ambient temperature and maximum working temperature and comparing the amount of sound transmitted to the environment at different frequencies, practical solutions to reduce the amount of transmitted sound pressure have been presented.

Heat transfer characteristics of supercritical CO2 in horizontal semicircular channels are numerically investigated using Computational Fluid Dynamics method validated with experimental data. Comparison study is conducted for semicircular and circular channels with the same hydraulic diameter and boundary condition at the bulk temperature range including pseudocritical point. The results show that the heat transfer coefficients of the semicircular channel are significantly smaller than those of the circular channels due to the blocking effect at the corner area of the channel cross section, and the fluid thermophysical properties near the wall have a significant effect on the convective heat transfer performance in both heating and cooling cases. A modified model was proposed based on Olson correlation of the semicircular channel considering the channel geometry and near-wall fluid viscosity influence. Further study was conducted to discuss the effect of hydraulic diameter and boundary conditions on the heat transfer performance of the semicircular channel and indicate that the modified correlation shows a reasonable prediction of the heat transfer coefficients in the heated semicircular channel.

Listeria monocytogenes is a gram positive bacterium which through the contaminated foods causes Listeriosis in the human and abortion in livestock. This bacterium is widely available in the nature that the possibility of the food contamination is very high.Therefore, one of the possible ways of controlling the bacterium in the food and environment is the biocontrol of this bacterium. For this purpose bacteriophages might be used. To get rid of bacteria using phage depends on complex physical and chemical conditions. In this study we evaluated the effect of pH and temperature for 5 separate phages from lysogenic Listeria monocytogenes of aborted fetus on 4 strains of Listeria monocytogenes. The common bacteria in the ewes' fetus abortion in different regions of Isfahan were investigated for two years. Lysogenic Listeria was inculcated in liquid medium. Five Listeria phages were extracted by a 0.45-mm filter. Then, 5 pages with a titer of 109 PFU/ml were selected and mixed together .Subsequently the selected mixtures were poured equally into 3 test tubes. The tubes' pH s was adjusted to 4, 7, and 9. At temperatures 0oto 7oC, 8oto 14oC, 15o to 25oC and 26oto 37oC 2.5ml of each bacteriophages mixture with the same pH were mixed separately with 4 strains of Listeria monocytogenes and were incubated for 24 hours. Thereafter, a drop of each tube's content was cultured on the blood agar. Lytic or lysogenic colonies of the bacterium were assessed. More than 2/3 of Listeria monocytogenes causing the abortion in the ewes are in lysogenic forms. The best pH for the attachment of the bacteriophages to the host bacterium is a neutral pH. To transform the bacterium into all pH s, a wide temperature range of (15oC to 37oC) was used. There was a significant difference (p= 0.05) between the formed lysogen from the bacterium having a 1<pH<7 and worth mentioning the bacterium form was transformed to lysogen forms. For biocontrol of Listeria monocytogenes in the environment and foods it is essential to know all the effective factors for the bacteriophages attachment to the Listeria monocytogenes and the conditions of the infected cells with the bacteriophages.

Morphological and ecological variations and inter-specific relationships of a red algal genus, Hypnea were investigated in 15 populations belong to 5 species from Oman Sea coasts. In this study, cluster analyses, principal component analysis and Canonical Correspondence Analysis were done. Statistical analyses indicated that characters such as special branches or branchlets, position of tetrasporange and algae habit are the most important diagnostic characters in intera-genus variation. In general two major clusters were formed. The first major cluster comprised H. boergesenii. Second major cluster contains two subclusters. The first subcluster comprised of H. charoides, H. valentiae and H. musciformis. The second subcluster comprised of H. pannosa. Results showed that variation in the cluster one was explained by average of annual salinity and morphological variation and in cluster two was related to average of annual PH, water temperature and impurities.