Plant dry matter accumulation has a linear relation with accumulative photo synthetically active radiation (PAR). Intercropping could be a strategy for increasing light ABSORPTION in agronomic systems and it may improve radiation use EFFICIENCY (RUE). Thus this study was conducted in order to evaluate radiation ABSORPTION and use EFFICIENCY in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) –corn (Zea mays L.) intercropping. The experimental treatments were consisted of monocropping corn (MC), monocropping potato (MP), strip intercropping (S), intercropping with three different patterns (I25, I50 and I75 are 25%, 50% and 75% overlaps of corn and potato rows in strip treatment, respectively) and row intercropping (R). Results showed that corn RUE increased in all intercropping treatments compared with mono-cropping plots while potato RUE reduced in the intercropping plots. Mean of corn RUE in growing season was from 2.65 g.MJ-1 in the MC up to 3.27 g.mJ-1 in the R. Mean of potato RUE was from 1.27 g.MJ-1 in the R to 1.47 g.MJ-1 in MP treatment. With shifting row intercropping, where row spacing was doubled compared with mono-crop corn plots, towards strip intercropping, where distance of rows was similar to mono-crop corn plots, RUE decreased. This could be due to decreasing the number of rows that their distances were double of mono-crop plots. Moreover, with shifting from strip intercropping towards row intercropping (i.e. I25, I50, I75 and R treatment, respectively), the number of potato rows that were under the corn direct shading increased and this resulted to decreasing potato RUE. Further studies on the effects of various densities of potato and corn plants and delayed intercropping systems for these crops are required.

Water pollution with oil compounds is one of the most important environmental issues in oil-rich countries, as it can have adverse effects on human health and the environment. It is absolutely essential to use optimized and efficient methods for treatment of oil-containing wastes. There are several strategies to remove oil pollution and its derivatives. In this research, rice's peel adsorbent was used as an organic adsorbent to remove oil pollution from wastewater. Initially, the chemical composition of rice peel was determined with using FT-IR analysis, then adsorption tests were conducted discontinuously using laboratory solutions containing oil to determine optimum adsorption conditions by adjustment of effective factors such as pH, initial concentration, exposure time, and adsorbent amount, and the amount of oil adsorption was determined using weight method. Ultimately, the use of adsorbent for laboratory wastewater was studied. The highest adsorbent EFFICIENCY was observed for absorbing oil during 15 minutes, which had a significant difference with other contact time (79. 77% ABSORPTION, P <0. 05) and the lowest value by difference significance was observed in 3 minutes (65. 93% ABSORPTION). The highest amount of adsorption by rice peeling was observed at pH = 5 and pH = 3, which did not show significant differences with other pHs (76. 57% and 75. 34%, respectively, P < 0. 05) and the lowest adsorption was observed at pH = 9, which had no significant difference with other pH (58. 93%, P <0. 05). The effect of rice peel absorbent values in 1. 5 g/l was significantly higher than other amount of adsorbents (84. 1% ABSORPTION, P <0. 05) and the lowest percentage of adsorption was significantly different from other values in 0. 25 g / liter was observed (62. 58%,05. 05 P). Isotherm fitting of surface adsorption showed that oil adsorption by rice peel follows the Freudlich model (R2 = 0. 98). Therefore, it can be concluded that rice peel adsorbent has a high EFFICIENCY in adsorbing oil from wastewater and can be used in the treatment of industrial wastewater.

Background and Objectives: Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is an organic compound and phenolic derivatives categorized as priority pollutants that have harmful effects on humans, animals, and plants in low concentrations. Therefore, PCP removal from water and wastewater is very important. The aim of this study was to assess the EFFICIENCY of A. niger fungus biomass in PCP ABSORPTION.Materials and Methods: This was an experimental study in which different steps of the experiments were performed. A. niger strain was prepared from Persian Type Culture Collection of Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST). After activation in potato dextrose agar (PDA) culture plates, fungi were incubated for 7 to 10 days at 25oC. The prepared A. niger biomass was modified by NaOH and then it was used for PCP ABSORPTION assay. The concentration of PCP was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography.Results: The findings of present study showed that contact time is an important and effective factor in the PCP ABSORPTION rate. Two hours was selected as the optimum retention time in this experiment and after that the removal percentage did not raise significantly. The results of PCP ABSORPTION in different pH demonstrated that the adsorption EFFICIENCY decreases by rising pH and initial PCP concentration. The effects of contact time, pH and initial PCP concentration on the ABSORPTION process was significant (P-value <0.001).Conclusion: The results show that ABSORPTION EFFICIENCY increases by rising retention time under constant conditions. In addition, at low pH the modified A. niger biomass could be a good absorber for PCP.

Background: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are one of the most important and prevalent air pollutants. The vapor produced as a result of the vaporization of these compounds, even at very low concentrations, is harmful to the environment and human health. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the removal of styrene vapor from the air flow using Zeolite (ZSM-5) in a continuous flow reactor.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at a laboratory scale. Styrene concentrations of 200 and 300 ppm were selected for this study and steam saturation method was used to obtain the desired dynamic concentration. The desired concentration of dynamic styrene vapor was prepared in a fireproof cubic continuous flow reactor (canopy). ZSM-5 was synthesized and ground in a flat steel plate with standard mesh number of 20-40 and was used to remove the styrene vapors. In order to evaluate the removal EFFICIENCY, two variables of time and initial concentration of pollutant were investigated. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) technique, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to investigate the surface and quality of the obtained adsorbent.Results: The results of SEM and XRD indicated the uniform surface and high purity of the synthesized zeolite. Adsorption breakthrough and saturation for 200 ppm of styrene concentration occurred in the first 35 and 510 minutes of the experiment, and for 300 ppm of styrene concentration, occurred 23 and 385 minutes after the beginning of the test, respectively.Conclusions: ZSM-5 showed a high level of EFFICIENCY in the removal of styrene vapors from polluted air; thus, it can be used to remove this pollutant from large industrial environments.

Recently, environmental problems on a global scale has been increased seriously. To overcome these problems, Solar cells is important as an energy source and free from contamination. Due to the increasing use of renewables, the use of solar cells for obtaining energy is growing. The cells convert directly sunlight into electricity by the photovoltaic. Photovoltaic energy research and development is generally done in two areas: cost reduction and increasing EFFICIENCY. The EFFICIENCY of thin film solar cells canbe increased considerably by coupling the solarcells with plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs). this study investigates, through meticuloussimulations, the effects of plasmonic nanoparticle shapes and size on theimprovement of the energy conversion EFFICIENCY of CIGS solar cells. Two different shapes including spheres and cylinders were analyzed in this study. It was revealed that the cylindrical Agnanoparticles, of diameter 50 nm, height 125 nm place on an array with period 215 nm exhibited the most substantialenhancement in the optical ABSORPTION and electrical currentgeneration. The conclusion attained in this paper has been made throughoptical and electricalanalysis as well as near field imaging studies.

Intercropping may be helpful manner to increase interception and utilization. The aim of this study was to compare radiation use EFFICIENCY and radiation interception in intercropping with sole cropping. An experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in the growing season of the year 2008. The experimental treatments were: 1- sole crop of bean 2- sole crop of sweet basil 3- strip intercropping of bean and sweet basil (four row bean and two row sweet basil) 4- strip intercropping of bean and sweet basil (two row sweet basil and four row bean) 5- row intercropping of bean and sweet basil. For this purpose a Complete Randomized Block design with 3 replications was used. For analysis crop radiation capture and utilization, three indices are often used: the fraction of radiation intercepted (F), harvest index (HI) and radiation use EFFICIENCY (RUE). Results showed that the intercrop F was higher than the sole crop F and there was no difference HI among treatments. RUE of sweet basil in intercrop treatments was increased compared to sole crop and highest RUE of sweet basil obtained in row intercropping (3.2g/Mj), RUE of bean decreased in intercrop treatments and highest RUE of bean obtained in sole crop bean (2.03g/Mg). Light extinction coefficient of bean was obtained 0.55 and sweet basil 0.47. The highest Leaf area index (LAI) in bean was obtained in sole crop (4.3) and the highest LAI in sweet basil was in strip inter cropping with 4 row sweet basil.

Gamma spectroscopy was performed on Marinelli beaker standards containing soil with different densities of ρ=1 to 1.5 gr cm-3 upon using a HPGe detector. The spectra were analyzed by a specific software and then the EFFICIENCY vs. energy was calculated for each sample. The calculated efficiencies for different densities were compared with the EFFICIENCY of the reference sample, and the self-ABSORPTION correction factors were calculated for soil samples in the range of 59-1408 keV energy. The obtained correction factors were applied successfully for the calculation of the activity of an unknown sample.

Leaf area index, light extinction coefficient and radiation use EFFICIENCY are important ecophysiological characteristics for realization of crops growth, development and radiation ABSORPTION. In order to determine the leaf area index (LAI), light extinction coefficient (K) and radiation use EFFICIENCY (RUE) of saffron during the first and second growing seasons, four experiments were started in 2011 and ended in 2014, at the Research Farm of the Agriculture Faculty, the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. Saffron corms with weights between 13 to15 g and density of 50 plant.m2 were cultivated in 2011 and 2012. In all experimental years during the growing season, crop sampling was taken for required measurements including the leaf area index and shoot dry weight of saffron once every 14 days. The results showed that by increasing the age of saffron from 1 year to two years, the maximum LAI of saffron increased from 0.33 to 1.81, and light extinction coefficient decreased from 1.20 to 0.54. The increasing trend of LAI was coincident with fraction of absorbed radiation for all four years of the experiment. In the first and the second growing seasons, the amount of fraction of absorbed radiation gradually increased with increasing LAI and at 1083 and 1034 GDD reached its maximum value, respectively. In saffron farms when the plant was one year old and two years old, the mean value of RUE was 0.68 and 1.73 g.MJ-1 PAR, respectively. These results indicate that by increasing the saffron age and LAI, the value of K decreases and consequently radiation ABSORPTION and use EFFICIENCY will increase.

Solar radiation effects on crop growth and development. Dry matter production by crop has often a positive relationship with radiation ABSORPTION and radiation use EFFICIENCY. Therefore, in order to evaluate radiation ABSORPTION and use EFFICIENCY for wheat cultivars, a split-plot experiment based on the randomized complete block design with three replications was conducted in Kermanshah weather climate under 2015-2016. The experiment treatments were four levels of nitrogen fertilizer rate (90, 180, 300, 360 kg. ha-1 of urea) as main-plot and four wheat cultivars (Parsi, Zare, Pishgam and Orum) as sub-plot. The evaluated traits were included leaf area index, radiation ABSORPTION, crop growth rate, relative growth ratio, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, total dry weight, radiation use EFFICIENCY and grain yield. The results showed that Pishgam cultivar in comparison with other cultivars had the most satisfying in terms of evaluated characteristics under nitrogen fertilizer rate treatments. By increasing the rate of urea fertilizer from 90 to 360 kg. ha-1, maximum leaf area index, radiation ABSORPTION, crop growth rate, relative growth ratio, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, total dry weight and grain yield were improved. The most (8950 kg. ha-1) and the lowest (1264 kg. ha-1) grain yield weight were observed for Pishgam cultivar in 360 kgurea. ha-1 treatment and for cultivar variety in 90 kgurea. ha-1 treatment, respectively. The results also showed that the highest and the lowest radiation use EFFICIENCY were related to Pishgam cultivar (1. 59 g. MJ-1) in 360 kgurea. ha-1 treatment and Orum cultivar (0. 67 g. MJ-1) in 90 kgurea. ha-1 treatment, respectively. Rising of nitrogen fertilizer by improvement of photosynthesis rate and crop growth rate caused to pick up dry matter accumulation and finally increased wheat radiation use EFFICIENCY.