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The aim of this study was to investigate the viability of free and encapsulated forms of L. acidophilus (LA) and L. casei (LC) in probiotic quark cheese and comparing their effect on chemical and sensorial properties of the obtained cheese during 21 days of storage. Results showed that pH values and titratable acidity of all samples decreased and increased, respectively upon storage time. The decrease of pH was more enhanced in the LC-free samples compared to those of LA-free and capsulated forms of both bacteria, and control sample. Titratable acidity changes in cheese samples was similar to pH change. There was a significant increase in soluble nitrogen of LC-free sample upon storage time. However, this increase was not significant for control, LA-free, LA-cap and Lc-cap samples. Free fatty acid content (lipolysis index) of all samples were the same in the first week. It was increased for control, LC-cap, LA-cap compared to those of LC-free and LA-free after 14^th day of storage. For all samples increasing storage time led to significant decrease in all sensory properties except for surface color and appearance. Between probiotic strains, LC-free provided higher scores for flavor and overall acceptability attributes during 2^nd week of storage. Increasing storage time up to 14 days did not significantly (p<0.05) decrease the number of free forms of lactobacilli. However, after 14^th day, the number of free forms of bacteria were declined. Nevertheless, the viability of capsulated forms was preserved upon all storage days.
 

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Demand for the production and consumption of fresh meat has led to the use of various methods to improve the quality characteristics and increase its shelf life. In this study, stinging nettle extract (SNE) in combination with epsilon (ɛ-PL) were used for the production of fresh, functional, and extended shelf life of beef fillets. After drying of stinging nettle leaves under favorable conditions, aqueous extraction was performed at concentrations of 3, 6 and 9% (w/v) of leaves. A solution of ɛ-PL at 0.5% (w/v) concentration was prepared and mixed with 3, 6 and 9% of SNE. Beef fillets (4 treatments) were prepared in 2×2×2 sizes and treated for 1 h at 4 ° C with a ratio of 1 to 1 (meat fillets to SNE). Distillation water was used to treat the control. Finally, beef fillets were packed in polyethylene bags and quality properties were performed at days 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12. During storage, pH, phenolic compounds, redness value (a) and sensory scores decreased significantly (P < 0.05), and in contrast to lipid oxidation, total volatile nitrogen, lightness (L) and yellowness (b) increased significantly (P < 0.05). It was found that the treatment of beef fillets using SNE (6%) in combination with ɛ-PL (0.5%) resulted in a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in the amount of lipid oxidation and total volatile nitrogen compounds of about 50% compared to the control sample. The color and sensory characteristics of processed beef fillets showed that SNE in combination with ɛ-PL could increase the sensory scores of the samples. Based on the results, SNE had synergistic effects with ɛ-PL in reducing lipid oxidation and total volatile nitrogen compounds, therefore it could be used to produce fresh and functional beef.

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Damping is one of many different methods that have been proposed for allowing a structure to achieve optimal performance when it is subjected to seismic, wind, storm, blast or other types of transient shock and vibration disturbances. Conventional approach would dictate that the structure must inherently attenuate or dissipate the effects of transient inputs through a combination of strength, flexibility, and deformability. The level of damping in a conventional elastic structure is very low, and hence the amount of energy dissipated during transient disturbances is also very low. During strong motions, such as earthquakes conventional structures usually deform well beyond their elastic limits, and eventually fail or collapse. Therefore, most of the energy dissipated is absorbed by the structure itself through localized damage as it fails. The concept of supplemental dampers added to a structure assumes that much of the energy input to the structure from a transient will be absorbed, not by the structure itself, but rather by supplemental damping elements.
Fluid viscous dampers are known as energy dissipating devices with high capacity in reducing seismic effect on buildings Fluid dampers which operate on the principle of fluid flow through orifices have found numerous applications in the shock and vibration isolation of military and aerospace hardware and in wind vibration suppression of missile launching platforms. fluid Viscous damping reduces stress and deflection because the force from the damping is completely out of phase with stresses due to flexing of the columns. This is only true with fluid viscous damping, where damping force varies with stroking velocity. Other types of damping such as yielding elements, friction devices, plastic hinges, and viscoelastic elastomers do not vary their output with velocity; hence they can and usually do, increase column stress while reducing deflection.
Determination of mechanical characteristics of these devices is usually based on experimental studies using cyclic tests with different amplitudes and frequencies.
In this work, a new type of viscous damper is chosen for experimental studies in which the main body of the devices has been made of contractible steel bellows (developed in IIEES).
The nominal force capacity of dashpot is about 500kN and its maximum stroke is around 150 millimeters. Maximum axial force in damper device will be reached about 300kN during the test. A model for representative the above viscous device should also include axial flexibility for device in the form of Kelvin or Maxwell models. Finally this model represents the general behavior of the damper based on various factors that effects its performance. In this study, a nonlinear viscous behavior has been shown in the device with respect to velocity. During Cyclic test the average of initial frictional force is about 10kN, which can be used as a functional fuse for damper. In addition, the damping force, a second friction force is about 50kN that depends on oil pressure, which increases the capacity of damper and improve its behavior. Results show that the friction force can be considered as an effective factor involved in energy dissipation of dampers.

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Selection of superior chance seedling genotypes is an important task in pear breeding programs. This research was carried out in order to explore and evaluate some of European pear (Pyrus communis L.) chance seedling genotypes that are primarily used as rootstock for the Asian pear (Pyrus serotina Rehd.) in Tarbiat Modares University (TMU) Asian Pear Collection Orchard. After four years visual observations of the genotypes, the evaluation process started on the pre-selected genotypes in order to identify the superior promising individuals during 2009 and 2010 growing seasons. Selected chance seedling genotypes were A₉₅, A₁₀₁, A₁₈₉, A₁₉₅, and A₃₇₄. A local commercial cultivar `Shahmiveh’ was used as a reference and labeled as A<sub>238</sub> in the evaluation program database. Results showed significant differences among the studied genotypes in most of the evaluated characters. Among the studied genotypes, genotype A<sub>95</sub> showed indications of appropriate fruit physicochemical properties and higher fruit quality compared with the reference cultivar. Good fruit aroma as well as a reddish background skin color, highest acidity and lowest pH among the examined genotypes were other superior characters of A<sub>95</sub>. Based on the measured characters compared with `Shahmiveh' as a good reference commercial Iranian pear cultivar, we conclude that A₉₅ showed superiority and higher rank in flavor, fruit color, and attractiveness. Also, this promising genotype showed a good productivity potential in terms of producing higher yield with a suitable supporting vigor. Further research on the standard rootstocks within the TMU pear breeding program will continue in the framework of final new cultivar release program.

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            From a legal viewpoint, although the standby letter of credit is used in a form similar to the commercial letter of credit, but this type of letter of credit is issued in order to perform the obligation of underlying contract, not to exchange goods. Indeed, the standby letter of credit, like bank guarantee, supports the beneficiary when the obligation of underlying contract is not performed completely, whereas the commercial letter of credit acts as a mechanism to ensure the payment of price to the beneficiary. This article tries to explain the documentary and security characteristics of the standby letter of credit in order to determine: "Whether it has truly documentary feature like the commercial letter of credit?" and "whether it acts as an exceptional and secondary instrument of payment both in form and intent like guarantees? "        
     

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Olive is a perennial evergreen tree which has good adaptability to poor environmental conditions such as salt and drought resistance. In recent years, there is a tendency to plant olive trees in green spaces. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate 15 olive cultivars regarding growth habit, form, and texture to recommend for landscape. Six-year-old trees of 15 olive cultivars, which had been planted in Isfahan University of Technology (2000), were used in randomized block design with 3 replications and some of their vegetative characters were measured. A cluster analysis was done using seven factors effective on tree texture, which divided cultivars into 3 groups and a separate genotype. Also, another cluster analysis done on the seven factors effective on tree form classified olive cultivars in 3 groups. In short, Manzanilla, Spain, and Amphisis cultivars performed wide oval form and fine-medium coarse texture, so they could be used as background tree, screen, and group planting in green spaces. Roughani, Mishen, Valanolia, Gorgan, Kroneiki, Zard, and Sevillana cultivars showed round form and medium texture which could be used as specimen tree to plant in lawn. Rashid cultivar with long height, long oval form, and coarse texture is suitable as accent, screen, and frame plant.

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This study was conducted to determine the effects of the combined use of rain shelters (RS) and deficit irrigation (DI) on tomato yield and quality characteristics. Two experiments with different treatments were conducted in the southern China during the growing season in 2011 and 2012. The crops were irrigated to field capacity once average soil water content at the 0-60 cm layer in the treatment decreased to 80% of field capacity under open-field (T1, the control) and RS (T2), and 30, 40, and 50% decreased water of T2 as treatments T3, T4, and T5, respectively. The results showed that T2 increased the yield and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) by 13 and 11.5% in the two years, and improved fruit firmness (FF), total soluble solids (TSS), soluble sugar (SS), and vitamin C (VC) compared to T1. Under RS conditions, DI reduced the yield, but increased IWUE of tomato relative to T2 from 25 to 52% in 2011, and from 26 to 41% in 2012. The effects of DI on fruit quality were generally the inverse of those on fruit yield. FF, TSS, SS, VC, organic acid, and color index were positively affected by DI. With regard to the rank of comprehensive quality index (CQI) calculated by the analysis hierarchy process and modified technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution, it exhibited good fitness to the rank of single quality attributes. The highest CQI was obtained in treatment T4 in 2011, and T3 in 2012.

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Biochar and activated carbon, as carbon-rich porous materials, have wide environmental applications. In the present research, rice husk (RH) was used for preparation of biochar at 400, 600, and 800 °C under simple pyrolysis, physically-activated carbon with water steam, chemically-activated carbon with potassium hydroxide (KOH), and physiochemically-activated carbon with KOH and steam. Physical and chemical properties of biochar and activated carbons were characterized using nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm, Fourier transform, infra-red analysis, and Boehm method. The results showed that carbonization temperature and activation agents had significant effects on the characteristics of the samples. Activated carbon produced by KOH activation had the highest surface area (2201 m² g^-1) and total pore volume (0.96 cm³ g^-1). High concentration of sodium (Na) is an important limiting factor to reuse poor quality water resources in arid and semiarid regions. The sorption capacity of biochars and activated carbons was investigated by performing batch sorption experiments using Na as adsorbate. Na sorption was increased with increasing surface area and pore volume. The highest Na sorption capacity of 134.2 mg g^-1 was achieved by the KOH activated carbon, which has the highest surface area and pore volume. The kinetic data were well-fitted to pseudo-first order and intra-particle diffusion models.

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Remediation of contaminated soil by heavy metals is an important environmental issue which attracted many attentions and was evaluated by several methods. It is highly desirable to apply suitable remedial methods to reduce the risk of heavy metal contamination in soils. Development of new low-cost, efficient and environmental friendly remediation technologies is the main goal of the recent research activities in environmental science and technology. Using nanotechnology in removal of environmental pollutions is of modern and applicable methods. One of the early generations of nanoscale technologies in the field of environment is the use of iron nanoparticles as a ground for sorption of pollutants. These nanoparticles are nontoxic, inexpensive, and very strong absorbents.The aim of this study was to assess the effects of cadmium removal by soil washing with iron (III) oxide nano particles (Fe3O4), stabilized with Polyacrylic Acid (PAA) as nanofluid, on physicochemical characteristics of nanofluid and soil in two defined systems including batch and continuous flow configurations. For this purpose, after complete removal of Cd from the soil in both systems under the optimized conditions, the effects of removal on the physicochemical characteristics of soil and nanofluid including pH, electrical conductivity, and total dissolved solid were assessed. The results of XRD and SEM of soil samples and also zeta potential and size distribution of nanofluid, before and after the removal were investigated. To ensure the absence of other pollutants and elimination of any interaction between soil pollutants, the soil was prepared with clean standard materials and afterwards it was contaminated with cadmium solution prepared by cadmium nitrate. The optimum conditions for cadmium removal in the batch system was as follows: nanofluid concentration=500 ppm, pH=6.5, contact time=24 hr and the ratio of contaminated soil mass (gr) to nanofluid volume (mL) =1:150 . completely Cd removal in continouse flow configuration obtained in the following conditions: nanofluid concentration=500 ppm, pH=6.5, contact time=24 hr, and the flow rate =0.5 mL/min. Cadmium content in the nanofluid after remediation was determined with UV spectrophotometer by using APDC complexes in Tween 80 media. As per the results of this study, pH of the soil samples in the both batch and continuous flow configuration increased from 7.8 to 8.55 and 8.35 respectively. pH of nanofluid increased from 6.5 to 6.8 in the continuous flow configuration and 7.59 in the batch system. EC and TDS of the nanofluid decreased from 1.66 mS/cm and 1110 mg/L to 1.049 mS/cm and 699 mg/L in the continuous flow configuration and these parameters also reached respectively to 0.952 mS/cm and 635 mg/L in the batch system. Soil washing using Fe3O4 nanoparticle did not changed remarkably EC and TDS of the contaminated soil. Nanoparticles size with highest frequency in nanofluid before removal was 205 nmand after Cd removal reached to 23 nm and 29 nm in the continuous flow configuration and batch system respectively, which was an indication of the sorption of nanoparticles with grater size to the soil during the soil washing process. Zeta potential values of influent and effluent of nanofluid from continuous flow configuration and batch system were -61.5, -51.3, and -37.4 mV respectively. The structural changes of soil samples after removal in the both systems were assessed by XRD and SEM tests which confiremed the sorption of nanoparticles through the soil washing.

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A survey on the genus Exallonyx Kieffer, 1904 (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupidae) was conducted in northern Iran. The specimens were collected using Malaise traps during 2010–2011. The genus Exallonyx and six species were collected and identified for the first time from Iran: Exallonyx ater (Gravenhorst, 1807), E. brevicornis (Haliday, 1839), E. formicarius Kieffer, 1904, E. ligatus (Nees, 1834), E. minor Townes, 1981 and E. nixoni Townes, 1981. A key is presented for identification of Exallonyx species occurring in northern Iran.

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Targeted extension for heterogeneous farming systems is a challenge in developing countries. Farm type identification and characterization based on estimates of income from different farm components allows simplifying diversity in farming systems. Use of multivariate statistical techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA), help in such farm typology delineation. Using this methodological approach, the present study conducted in West Bengal, India, identified four distinct farm types, namely, farms growing food grain and jute, farms with animal husbandry and fishery based diversification with high off-farm income, farms with crop based diversification with off-farm income, and farms growing vegetables and fruits. Such typology delineation helps in differentiated, holistic, and broad-based extension intervention to address the need of different identified farm types and a reduced transaction cost in the agricultural research and extension system. inbred lines, and 9 hybrids). A total of 94 and 262 loci were amplified using 5 IRAP and 15 REMAP primers, respectively. The percentage of polymorphic loci (PPL) in populations ranged from 39% (Zivari Shahrood) to 48% (Shadegani E). The Mantel test between IRAP and REMAP cophenetic matrices evidenced no significant correlation (r= 0.29). IRAP+REMAP-based cluster analysis using UPGMA algorithm and Dice similarity coefficient depicted 6 groups among 100 melon genotypes. AMOVA revealed the higher level of genetic variation within populations (67%) compared to among populations (33%). The mean Fst values of all groups, except for group VI, were more than 0.20, demonstrating differentiation among the populations and genetic structure of the studied melon collection. 

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The anatomical and epidermal characteristics, as well as the physiological response, of 'Colombia' ecotype cape gooseberry plants treated or untreated with foliar applications of kaolin at 2 irrigation levels (well-irrigated plants vs. water-stressed plants) were evaluated. Relative Water Content (RWC), stomatal density, and chlorophyll index were reduced under water stress. Water stress increased leaf temperature and trichome density. In water-stressed plants, the foliar application of kaolin decreased transpiration rates, leaf temperature, trichome density, and leaf thickness. Kaolin also improved the plant height, total plant dry mass, water-use efficiency, and increased stomatal density in water-stressed plants. The results suggest that kaolin may be a useful tool to mitigate the negative effects of water stress and may improve the efficient use of water in cape gooseberry plants with especial water conditions.

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In the present research, numerical simulation of the characteristic chart and steady-state Wakefield flow around a marine propeller is conducted. Solutions were performed using the open-source OpenFOAM software and the steady incompressible simple-Foam solver. The gradients were calculated using the linear Gauss algorithm, and the pressure equation was solved with the multi-grid method. In this research, characteristic chart simulation of the propeller was carried out for the entire operational conditions and the effect of using Realizable-k-ε and k-ε-v^2-f turbulence models on the results was investigated. The results were found to be in good agreement in all conditions except for the near bollard region. In this region, the propeller inlet angle of attack severely increased, and the two equation model predicted the thrust coefficient with 24% error, while implementing the four equation model significantly developed the results and decreased the error to 5%. The wake region parameters were also investigated in the numerical simulations at different longitudinal and radial cross sections behind the propeller which showed good agreement compared with the available experimental data. Wake region investigation showed that the flow behavior in downstream cross sections is similar to the corresponding upstream section with smaller variation ranges and for the swirling flow behind the propeller, the maximum and minimum angular position of the wake components rotates. The obtained results also show that the wake axial velocity component deviation is extremely large at the blade tip.

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Literary theory is a systematic study of the essence of literature and a way to analyze the literary phenomenon. Although the literary theory has been widely used in Persian literature research in recent years, it seems that its semantic and empirical realm has not been well established; because in some research conducted in the field of Persian literature, individuals’ literary opinions have been mistakenly read as literary theory. In the following article, to show the difference between literary theory and literary perspective, five specific characteristics of literary theory have been explained and described; which includes these items: "Arising from a philosophical mindset", "Systematic and coherent", "The result of reflection on the text", "Providing a new perspective" and "Using in criticism". In the following, the extreme point of view that believes in the similarity between some opinions in Persian classical texts and Western theories on the existence and even the precedence of theories in its past has been criticized. And it is clear that basically the discovery of these views in past scientific and literary texts was due to familiarity with western ideas. In the end, the obtained result shows that because of the inefficiency of the literary opinions collected by the researchers from the characteristics of the theory, the term "literary theory" is not correct and accurate for their opinions and literary opinions. It is better to use the term "literary perspective" to make the field of knowledge of Persian literature more precise about such opinions and theories.

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Pistachio is one of the most popular nuts in the world because of its taste and nutritional properties. Mostly, its consumed dry in harvest period. Major factors limiting for shelf life of pistachios are browning and water accumulation. In this study, the effects of citric acid (1, 1.5 and 2%) and ascorbic acid (15, 25 and 35 ppm) and two types of plastic packs (polyethylene and polystyrene) on storage life (days 0, 25 and 45), Ahmad aghaie pistachio was studied. According to panelists, the use of acid treatments for 25 day of storage was able to maintain the appearance and taste characteristics of pistachio and since then there was no significant difference between treatment and the control sample. Pistachios treated with 15 ppm ascorbic acid in polystyrene pack were more favorable in appearance and browning than polyethylene pack. The maximum of phenol was related to ascorbic acid treatments (15 ppm) in polyethylene pack. Anthocyanin and chlorophyll amount decreased during storage, but carotenoids first increased and then decreased. Pistachio pigments such as chlorophyll, anthocyanin and carotenoids were preserved in polyethylene packages than polystyrene. Citric acid treatment (1.5%) had the maximum percentage of fat. Overall, the polyethylene pack and ascorbic acid 15 and 25 ppm and citric acid 1.5% concentration maintained the qualitative and quantitative properties of pistachio.

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soybean and its products have been considered as functional products. Due to applying of functional properties of soy milk, a mixture of cow milk and soy milk in different proportions (zero, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% soy milk) was processed to yogurt and then liquid kashk was produced. Liquid Kashk was converted to powder by spray dryer and their physicochemical and sensory properties were measured. The results showed that the amount of moisture and protein in the Kashk powder increased from 3.1% to 3.96% and 29.2% to 65.57% respectively and the amount of acidity decreased from 1.72% to 0.8% in the 100% soy milk sample compare to 0% soy milk Kashk (P ≤0.05). The increase in soy milk also increased the viscosity and consistency of the reconstituted Kashk. Adding soy milk up to 40% did not make a significant difference in taste and color compared to the control sample, but adding soy milk at levels higher than 40% caused a significant reduction (P ≤0.05) in taste and color score. Soy milk reduced the overall acceptance score of reconstituted Kashk, which did not significant up to 60% of soy milk. 

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Performance assessment is one of the activities, which has many advantages and can have a considerable effect on the performance of organizations. Inadequate accountability of senior managers of marketing in recent years has incurred a loss to the position of marketing unit. As a result, studying the effect of marketing activities on organizational performance is specifically important. Framework of marketing productivity shows that it is possible to establish a relation between marketing activities and organizational performance. On the other hand, results of studies in many academic fields conducted about a specific issue are usually confusing and contrasting. Meta-analysis is a research approach that helps the researcher to a large extent to identify the moderating variables in the results of previous studies. Despite that various researches have been conducted, such contrast is also observed in the relation between marketing activities and organizational performance. Characteristics of the research sample can be referred among the several reasons that have been mentioned for such divergence in similar studies. It was tried in the present survey to identify the role of moderating variables the regarding characteristics of the research sample in relation   between marketing activities and organizational performance using meta-analysis approach. Given to the use of meta-analysis approach in the present paper, the statistical population consisted of all previous studies, which have explained and measured the relationship among marketing activities and organizational performance, and the researcher had access to them. On the basis of searching in the mentioned databases, 523 studies were gathered. With regard to the meta-analysis standards and the researcher constraints, ultimately 142 studies were selected to implement the mete–analysis method. The obtained results revealed that the moderating variables related to the characteristics of the research sample like the kind of industry, type of ownership of the organization and so on have led to a significant difference in the results of studies regarding the effect of marketing activities on the organizational performance of organizations.         

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This study was conducted to evaluate a temperature regime ranged from 15 to 30°C on survival, growth, life span and reproductive traits (reproductive period, clutch number, offspring number) of Phallocryptus spinosa from Iran. Newly hatched nauplii (N= 200 and 3 replicates per each treatment) were allocated into containers and maintained at various temperature regimes (at 15, 20, 25 and 30˚C). During trial, the larvae were fed with unicellular algae Dunaliella tertiolecta and Lansy PZ (lipid-enriched yeast). Survival and growth rate of P. spinosa with an interval of 3 days to 18 days were examined. After attaining adulthood, 16 pairs of adult P. spinosa were transferred from all culture vessels into separate containers supplied with 300 ml of brackish water (5 ppt) and similar temperatures to compare their life span and reproductive traits. Based on results obtained, maximum growth at shortest period (13.2±2.0 mm on day 12) was observed at 30°C; whereas, all P. spinosa died before reaching sexual maturity by day 15. Maximum survival (86%) was observed at 15°C; however, minimum growth also was obtained at the same temperature with none of P. spinosa reaching sexual adulthood. On the 18th day, P. spinosa reached sexual adulthood only at 20 and 25°C. Furthermore, a significant difference was observed in most of the reproductive traits especially in total egg production per female at 20°C. Thus, it seems that 20°C is the suitable temperature to rear this fairy shrimp. Future studies should be focused on the feasibility of mass production of this species as a valuable live feed in the aquaculture industry.

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Grafting and mycorrhizal fungi have gained interest for the positive effects they can have on vegetable crops. The aim of this work was to study the combined effect of grafting with Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) inoculation on fruit yield and quality of mini-watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (thumb.) Matsum and Nakai]. Ungrafted plants or grafted onto rootstock RS 841 (Cucurbita maxima×C. moschata) were transplanted to the field. During cultivation, half of the plants were inoculated with a suspension of AMF. Plant growth and fruit yield and quality were evaluated. The inoculation of AMF resulted in a significant increase of root colonization both for grafted and ungrafted plants. The grafted inoculated plants had a greater vigour and productivity than ungrafted uninoculated plants. Grafting and AMF inoculation caused significant increases in yield and fruit weight. Qualitative characteristics of watermelon fruits were significantly affected mainly by grafting. The combined use of grafting with mycorrhizal inoculation may increase the yield of mini-watermelon fruit, maintaining good quality characteristics.