To investigate the effects of fertilizer regimes on quantitative AND qualitative traits of Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss, a field experiment at three replications with the Split Plate arrangement in a completely rANDomized block design was conducted in the Research Field of Tarbiat Modares University during the 2017-18 growing season.Water deficit stress (irrigation after discharging 20 (optimal irrigation), 40 (mild water deficit stress), 60 (moderate water deficit stress) AND 80% (severe water deficit stress) of water used (available water)) in the main plot AND fertilizer regime (urea, nitroxin, vermicompost, azocompost AND no fertilizer) in the subplot were studied. The results showed that the highest leaf fresh weight (1797 kg ha-1) AND total biomass (2957 kg ha-1) were obtained by application of urea in mild water deficit stress condition AND the highest dry matter digestibility percentage was observed in azocompost treatment in moderate water deficit stress condition (57.8%). The highest crude protein was produced in severe water deficit stress condition (19.72%) AND moderate water deficit stress (18.4%), respectively.. The highest percentage of water soluble carbohydrate AND neutral detergent fiber were obtained from no fertilizer in moderate water deficit stress (22.06%) AND application of urea in severe water deficit stress conditions, respectively. Mild water deficit stress application to produce high biomass is recommended for Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss. According to the results, application of urea in mild water deficit stress was selected as the best treatment to produce FORAGE 32% more than control.

ABSTRACT Considering the concept of QUALITY of life in cities to be the same, urban planners do not have a precise understANDing of the factors affecting the QUALITY of life. Therefore, according to the size of the city, different indicators should be considered to measure the QUALITY of life. Thus, according to the main goal of the research, which is to recognize, identify AND compile the factors affecting the improvement of the QUALITY of life in middle AND small cities on an intra-provincial scale, Qazvin AND Zia Abad cities in Qazvin province were selected as study samples. In order to achieve the goal of the research, exploratory factor analysis AND regression analysis were exerted. The findings show that the homogenization of the indicators affecting the QUALITY of life in all cities is incorrect. Some concepts, such as the size of the city, are effective in compiling AND selecting the indicators affecting the QUALITY of life. So, the indicators affecting the QUALITY of life in each city can be different according to some concepts, such as the city's characteristics or the city's size. Examining study samples also shows that in small cities, social indicators are more important due to strong social solidarity among people AND the high importance of social AND cultural concepts. Moreover, in middle cities, due to the importance of finding economic concepts AND urban services in people's lives AND people's less communication with each other AND the weakening of solidarity AND social connections, indicators of urban services AND facilities AND economic factors have the most importance in explaining the QUALITY of life; this shows that the QUALITY of life indicators are different in all cities Extended Abstract Introduction QUALITY of life is a multifaceted AND dynamic concept that can be different from city to city AND region to region AND can be defined by various indicators. Not paying attention to this issue AND considering the concept of QUALITY of life equally in all cities has caused the level of QUALITY of life to decrease in many cities, especially middle AND small cities, in recent years. On the other hAND, considering the concept of QUALITY of life in cities to be the same, urban planners do not have a precise understANDing of the factors affecting the QUALITY of life. Following this, the main goal of this research is to identify, identify AND compile effective factors for improving the QUALITY of life in middle AND small cities on an intra-provincial scale. In order to achieve this goal, the cities of Qazvin AND Zia Abad in Qazvin province were selected as study samples, so that according to the size of the city, in order to achieve the goal of the research, the factors affecting the QUALITY of life are analyzed on an intra-provincial scale.   Methodology The research method is applied research based on quantitative methods. In line with data analysis, after extracting 60 indicators of QUALITY of life, first, the indicators were separated into separate AND structured factors using the exploratory factor analysis method in SPSS software. AND then, step by step regression method was used to measure the effective factors in improving the QUALITY of life in cities.   Results AND discussion The research findings show that based on exploratory factor analysis, 16 factors were extracted in Zia Abad city AND 15 factors in Qazvin city as effective factors on the QUALITY of life in small AND middle cities. In order to present AND explain the factors affecting the improvement of the QUALITY of life in small AND middle cities, the factors extracted from the factor analysis were analyzed by multivariate regression method AND step-by-step method. Furthermore, finally, (13) factors were introduced in Zia   Abad AND (13) factors in Qazvin as the main factors influencing the QUALITY of life. The analysis of the findings indicates that in Zia Abad, factors such as life expectancy AND social relations, security, the state of urban services AND access to urban facilities, living expenses, the state of urban furniture, urban traffic, the state of offices AND housing have more effects in explaining AND improving the QUALITY of life. In Qazvin, factors such as the state of urban services, the state of green AND public spaces in the city, the state of security AND economic opportunities in the city, the density AND hope of urban, economic, AND cultural life, the state of roads AND leisure in the city are effective in explaining the QUALITY of life. Following this, according to the above findings, QUALITY of life is a multidimensional AND dynamic concept that directly relates to the type of cities AND the specific characteristics of cities. Therefore, the QUALITY of life AND its indicators can differ from city to city; because every city has its characteristics AND characteristics with citizens with different cultures AND thinking, which causes the factors affecting the QUALITY of life to be different. Therefore, considering the QUALITY of life AND its indicators to be the same in all cities is wrong, which can lead to the decline of the QUALITY of life AND the failure of QUALITY of life improvement programs.   Conclusion Finally, the research results indicate that QUALITY of life is a simple concept covering various urban life aspects. This concept can be defined as a determining factor in the excellence AND progress of cities AND residents' satisfaction with their urban life. It is multifaceted AND dependent on place AND time. As a result, the perception of people in different cities AND communities about the concept of QUALITY of life AND the factors affecting it can be different. Following this, factors AND indicators should be selected according to the characteristics AND conditions of that city in urban planning to improve the QUALITY of life for each city. Thus, this research, using the classification of cities based on the size of the city, has presented factors specifically for middle AND small cities, which in small cities due to strong social solidarity among people AND the great importance of social AND cultural concepts, social indicators are more important. Moreover, in middle cities, due to the importance of finding economic concepts AND urban services in people's lives AND people's less communication with each other AND the weakening of solidarity AND social connections, indicators of urban services AND facilities AND economic factors have the most importance in explaining the QUALITY of life; this shows that the QUALITY of life indicators are different in all cities.   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.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using portulaca oleracea as a source of plant antioxidants for feeding fattening male lambs, on carcass traits, meat QUALITY, AND oxidative stability. Twenty-one male lambs with an average weight of 24±1.5 kg AND 150±15 days old were fed with one of the experimental rations included a diet without portulaca oleracea as control, a diet containing 7.5%, AND a diet containing 15% portulaca oleracea, for 84 days. The muscle (Longissimus dorsi) samplewas used to determine pH, chemical composition, colorimetric properties, AND oxidative stability of meat. Meat lipid oxidation was determined after 1, 7, AND 30 days of refrigerated storage using thiobarbituric acid (TBARS). The use of portulaca oleracea in diets improved meat color characteristics such as L, chroma, AND Hue. The highest ash concentration AND the lowest meat moisture were observed in the treatment of 15% portulaca oleracea (P<0.05). Meat pH was the lowest in the first hour after slaughter but did not differ at 24 h. Compared to the control, in both treatment groups feeding the lambs with portulaca significantly reduced the concentration of Malondialdehyde in the meat of the lambs AND increased the meat oxidative stability (P<0.05). The results of this experiment showed that feeding portulaca oleracea by improving properties such as color AND increasing the meat oxidative stability improves meat QUALITY, which may have lead to an increase in its nutritional value in terms of human health.

In order to investigate the effect of inorganic selenium replacement with organic selenium from Spirulina algae on performance AND breast meat QUALITY of broilers, a total of 160 one-day-old chicks were used in a completely rANDomized design with four treatments, eight replicates AND five birds per each replicate. The sources of selenium used included sodium selenite AND organic selenium from Spirulina algae which were replaced at two levels of 50 AND 100 percent. The organic selenium was produced by the culture of Spirulina algae AND its enrichment with selenium. The selenium content of different treatments was measured by ICP-Mass method. In this experiment, the feed intake AND body weight gain parameters were measured weekly AND feed conversion ratio was calculated. At 42 day of age, one bird was slaughtered from each replicate AND the weight of carcass ready to cook was measured. The breast meat was sampled for measurement of pH AND selenium storage. The results showed that it was not observed any significant difference in performance traits AND ready to cook carcass percentage among different treatments. There was no significant difference in breast muscle pH at 0 AND 24 hours after slaughtering. The amount of selenium deposited in breast muscle of birds fed organic selenium had significant increase when compared with other treatments (P<0.05). Generally, the results of this study showed that 100% replacement of sodium selenite with organic selenium from Spirulina algae led to increase in breast muscle selenium deposition without reduction in bird performance.

Introduction: The widespread use of chemical fertilizers AND their effects on agricultural products is an issue that is still being studied AND discussed. An important subject for study is the replacing of biofertilizers AND organic fertilizers with chemical fertilizers AND the application of integrated fertilizers to increase soil fertility in sustainable agriculture AND for livestock (Wu, et al., 2005). Integrated fertilizing systems are more reliable than conventional fertilizers in producing better QUALITY AND higher quantities of whole FORAGE in arid environments with water stress or a water deficit irrigation system. (Jahanian, 2012). On the other hAND, drought stress is the most important abiotic factor that limits growth AND development of plants in arid AND semi-arid areas. Water stress conditions can also effect the root’s ability to uptake nutrients AND leads to decreased FORAGE QUALITY. Evaluating new methods of irrigation AND deficit irrigation systems can reduce the adverse effect of drought stress (Keshavarz Afshar et al. 2012). Therefore, the study of different fertilizing systems along with irrigation regimes is the main goal of this research in order to improve FORAGE QUALITY AND TRIGONELLINE content in fenugreek plants. Materials AND methods: A field experiment using a split plot on a RCB design with three replications was conducted at the Research Farm of the College of Agriculture, University of Tehran, in Karaj, Iran during the 2012 growing season. Treatments consisted of three levels of irrigation protocols assigned to the main plots as follows: complete irrigation (providing 100%), moderate drought stress (providing 75%) AND severe drought stress (providing 50% of weekly evaporation). Six levels of fertilizing systems assigned to the subplots consisted of: a control, chemical fertilizer, biological fertilizer (seeds inoculated by Pseudomonas AND Azotobacter), AND three different integrated fertilizers: bio+100% chemical, bio+75% chemical AND bio+50% chemical.Results AND discussion: By increasing the drought severity, the percentage of CP, WSC, NDF, ADF, ash AND TRIGONELLINE concentrations increased while the percentage of DDM, mineral contents AND TRIGONELLINE yield followed a decreasing trend. By increasing NDF AND ADF, FORAGE QUALITY was reduced. This reduction also came with a decrease in DDM. Drought stress caused an increase in the TRIGONELLINE, while most of the growth parameters in the fenugreek plant decreased. The highest values for DDM, mineral contents AND TRIGONELLINE yield were achieved with full irrigation treatment accompanied by integrated fertilizer (Bio75% AND Bio50%). The highest percent of CP, WSC AND TRIGONELLINE was measured in severe drought stress together with Bio100%. Conclusion: The results of this experiment indicated that the integrated fertilizers were more efficient than bioAND chemical fertilizers. They could mitigate the adverse effect of drought stress AND produced the highest FORAGE QUALITY AND secondary metabolite. These characters along with less use of chemical fertilizers produced the highest yield in QUALITY AND quantity compared to the other fertilization systems. Under the conditions in Karaj, it seems that application of integrated fertilizers along with moderate deficit irrigation (providing 75% of weekly evaporation), due to less water consumption AND less negative effect on yield AND FORAGE QUALITY, can be suggested for a sustainable agricultural system in arid AND semi-arid areas like Karaj, Iran. Fenugreek, due to its dual positive characteristics, can be suggested as a medicinal-FORAGE crop for livestock.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of variable nitrogen supply on yield parameters of two sugar beet varieties, as well as on biomass allocation to different parts of sugar beet plant at Safi-Abad Agric. Res. Center during 2003-4 AND 2004-5. Five nitrogen rates (0, 60, 120, 180 AND 240 kgha-1) AND two monogerm sugar beet varieties (Shirin AND Rasol) were arranged as factorial in a rANDomized complete block design with four replications. There was a significant difference between years for most sugar beet yield parameters. In the first year, nitrogen had no significant effect on root yield (mean of five rates was 93 t/ha) but changed sugar content significantly. N0 had the highest sugar content (13.7%). In the second year, root yield was influenced significantly by nitrogen so that N240 produced the highest root yield (80.9 tha-1) whereas sugar content did not change significantly. There were no significant differences between two varieties for all yield parameters in the two years. Increasing N shifted allocation of biomass to petiole AND crown AND reduced its allocation to root. But no differences between nitrogen rates for biomass allocation to leaf were found. All nitrogen rates had same leaf number, leaf area index AND canopy closure during the first year, but during the second year increasing nitrogen levels accelerated canopy closure AND increased leaf number AND leaf area index. Nitrogen had no significant effect on nitrogen content AND nitrogen uptake of different plant parts in the first year. Total nitrogen uptake by sugar beet at the end of season was 574 kgha-1 in the first year. In the second year, total nitrogen uptake was influenced by application of nitrogen, so that uptakes in 0 AND 240 kgha-1 N were 186 AND 351 kgha-1 respectively.

Evaluation of different FORAGE crops (clover, barley, chickpea, vetch, AND fenugreek) AND the planting method's impact on QUALITY AND quantity of FORAGE yield is this study’ s main goal. The study has been conducted as a split-plot based on a rANDomized complete blocks design with three replications on the experimental research field of agriculture faculty, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz during 2017-2018. The main plot includes three planting methods (row intercropping with 10 cm AND 20 cm interval AND mixed intercropping) with the sub-plot being seven FORAGE crops with dominance of barley (50% barley+50% clover as control, 50% barley+25% clover+25% chickpea, 50% barley+25% clover+25% vetch, 50% barley+25% clover+25% fenugreek, AND 50% barley+25% vetch+25% fenugreek). Total FORAGE yield AND yield components as well as some QUALITY parameters of FORAGE (ADF, NDF, WSC, DMD, raw fiber AND ash have been measured, with the results showing that the highest total FORAGE yield (1268. 9 g. m-2) belongs to crop diversity of 50% barley + 25% chickpea + 25% fenugreek with 10 cm-row intercropping. This can be due to the highest of all FORAGE yield components, including stem, leaves, AND reproductive dry weight. On the contrary, mixed intercropping with the diversity of 50% barley + 50% clover (common method) has had the lowest total dry weight (607. 2 g. m-2), 47% less than row intercropping. For both QUALITY AND quantity parameters, 10 cm-row intercropping have higher FORAGE yield AND protein percentage than mixed intercropping, mainly because of higher leave weight produced. The 10-cm-row intercropping has lower CF, ADF, AND NDF, but higher WSC AND DMD than row intercropping. This variety explains higher raw fiber in mixed intercropping. Yet, it seems that crop diversity has no significant effect on FORAGE yield as well as increased QUALITY parameters, which improve the FORAGE QUALITY AND digestibility statistically. Therefore, crop verity could be an effective factor to improve FORAGE yield quantity AND QUALITY in crop management.