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The potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is an important pest of potato and other solanaceous plants. It is cosmopolite and oligophage that exists in most countries where potatoes are grown. Because of chemical treatment adverse effects, there is a necessity to find safe alternatives to synthetic insecticides. So, medicinal plants are promising since they are safe, inexpensive and effective. In this direction, potato tubers were dipped in 1 ml of 5% methanolic extracts of fumitory, licorice, lavender and oregano. The percentage of first larval penetration to tubers and oviposition-preference of mentioned medicinal plants was investigated on PTM. Subsequently, fumigant toxicity of essential oils of basil, european pennyroyal, lavender, mint and savory were investigated on P. operculella. Treated potato tubers by methanolic extract of lavender elicited the lowest percentage (19.3) of first larval penetration. Studying of oviposition-preference demonstrated that the largest number of eggs were laid on control and fumitory with 28 and 10 eggs after three days, respectively. Probit analysis of essential oils showed that the most effective oil was savory which exhibited LC₅₀ value on adults of PTM equivalent to 0.048 µL/L air.  

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Research subject: In this study, EDTA-functionalized Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ magnetic nanocomposites with core-shell structure were synthesized to remove divalent cadmium ions from aqueous solutions.
Research approach: During the first step, Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ nanosphere core-shell is synthesized using nano Fe₃O₄ as the core, TEOS as the silica source and PVA as the surfactant. This strategy relies on the covalently bonding of ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid to bis(3-aminopropyl)amine and cyanuric chloride functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. In the next step, characteristics of surface functional groups, crystal structure, magnetic properties, size and surface morphology of these nanoparticles were investigated, identified and analyzed using physico-chemical characterization techniques including fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), vibration sample magnetometry (VSM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analyzer.  The adsorbent, due to its magnetic property, could be simply separated from the reaction mixture by a permanent magnet and reused in five consecutive cycles without considerable loss in its activity.
Main results: To probe the nature of the adsorbent, various experiments were investigated like adsorbent dose and contact time were optimized. Kinetic studies and the effect of different amounts of adsorbent to remove divalent cadmium ions from aqueous solutions show a maximum adsorption of 94% at ambient temperature. Moreover, the recyclability of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-EDTA was investigated in order to remove the divalent cation for successive adsorption-desorption cycles. All the results of studies show that the synthetic nanocomposite Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-EDTA is an effective, recyclable adsorbent with excellent performance for the removal of divalent cadmium.

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Research subject: This study demonstrates a synthetic strategy for the preparation of porous SiO₂ for adsorption applications using natural and waste materials from rice husks which are functionalized with polymer dendrimer molecules and surface amino groups as the source of biosilica and were investigated to remove divalent cadmium ions from aqueous solutions.
Research approach: Porous silica nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 45 nm were successfully fabricated from rice husk (RH) biomass via a multistep method. During the first step, sodium silicate is extracted from rice husks. Then, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, HCl, and acetic acid were added to the sodium silicate solution, and the resulting mixture was sonicated. After the hydrothermal reaction, the collected samples were calcinated to obtain silica nanoparticles. These synthetic nanoparticles were identified using various techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis and dynamic light scattering analysis. Then, the adsorption kinetics and the effects of synthetic nanoadsorbents dosage on the removal of divalent cadmium ions were investigated. The effect of contact time on cadmium adsorption and recyclability of adsorbent was also investigated.
Main results: The results show that there is no significant reduction in the performance and activity of this nanosorbent in the adsorption of metal ions after 6 times of recycling and reuse. The excellent performance of this nanosorbent in the removal of metal ions is due to its high porosity, active surface amine groups and high surface-to-volume ratio.

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Contamination of water and soil with heavy metals poses serious risks and threats to human health and the environment, and therefore finding an effective solution to remove these metals is very necessary. In this research, magnetic nanoparticles MnFe₂O₄ @ SiO₂ functionalized with N-phosphonomethyl aminodiacetic acid with core-shell structure were synthesized. These nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, (TGA) thermal gravimetric analysis, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and (VSM) vibration sample magnetometer. The performance of this synthetic nanoadsorbent for removing Cr (VI), Cu (II) ions from aqueous solutions was evaluated by various parameters such as adsorbent amount, contact time effect on adsorption rate and pH effect. The results show that the adsorption efficiency increases with raising pH (2.5-5) and the best adsorbent performance in the adsorption process of Cr ((VI) and Cu (II) ions at pH 7 was observed. The amount of R in the Freundlich adsorption diagram of copper ion is higher than the Langmuir isotherm. As a result, the adsorption of copper ions on the adsorbent follows the Freundlich adsorption equation. In addition, the amount of R in the Freundlich adsorption diagram for chromium ion is higher than the Langmuir isotherm. Therefore, the absorption of chromium ions on the adsorbent follows the Freundlich adsorption equation. In conclusion, a high n value indicates a favorable and effective absorption in the Freundlich equation. The adsorption data were analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm model. In addition, the recyclability and reuse of the adsorbent was investigated. The results show that no significant reduction in adsorbent activity is observed.
 

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Research subject: The presence of heavy metal ions in surface and underground water, followed by their infiltration into drinking water at high concentrations, poses irreparable risks to human health and the environment. In this context, solid-phase extraction (SPE) has recently been recognized as a routine and practical method for removing heavy metals from water and wastewater samples. Consequently, the development of selective adsorbents for application in the SPE method is of significant importance in environmental studies.
Research Approach: In the present study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) molecules were functionalized onto Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ core-shell nanoparticles using cyanuric chloride and triethoxysilyl propylamine compounds. The synthesized nanoparticles were then employed as an effective adsorbent for the removal of Pb²⁺ ions from aqueous solutions. The structural characteristics, morphology, and particle size were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, the key operational parameters affecting adsorption performance were evaluated to optimize the adsorption capacity for the effective removal of heavy metal contaminants.
 

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Maternal separation (MS) is a model to induce early life stress (CNS) and is related to increased levels of anxiety and cognitive deficiencies. Voluntary exercise has been shown to be associated with learning and memory improvement in behavioral tests and electrophysiological experiments. Since it plays a significant role in learning and memory and enhances synaptic plasticity, the authors hypothesized that voluntary exercise may affect MS-induced changes in synaptic plasticity and cognitive performance.
Rat pups underwent the MS protocol for 180 min/day from postnatal day (PND) 1 to 21. Voluntary exercise was performed in the exercise (Ex and MS + Ex groups from PND 29 to 49. Anxiety-like behavior, learning and memory were measured in adolescent rats. In addition, evoked field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSP) were recorded from the CA1 region of the hippocampus.
MS induced higher anxiety-like behavior as well as impaired learning and memory, but did not affect locomotor activity. Voluntary exercise improved MS-induced deficits and increased the learning and memory of MS rats. It also decreased anxiety-like behavior in the open field test. The results revealed that long-term potentiation (LTP) was induced in all groups, except for MS. However, voluntary exercise induced LTP and had maintenance in MS + Ex.

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 In recent years, the development of a knowledge-based economy and the presence of Iranian companies in global markets has become one of the main economic priorities of the country. The purpose of this study is to develop and develop a strategic model for the transnational presence of knowledge-based companies in foreign markets in a mixed exploratory study. After identifying the knowledge-based companies’ internationalization constructs in a qualitative study in this research, by interviewing 14 connoisseurs and analyzing the data that acquired from the interviews using the grounded theory method, in a quantitative study and collecting information through a questionnaire of 243 in 73 company, the partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling has been used to estimate and calculate the relationships in the achieved model. Analysis of research data shows that the combination of three categories of resource-oriented, network-oriented, and entrepreneur-oriented components can lead to the sustainable international presence of Iranian knowledge-based companies. And their strategy is to grow through a customer-oriented competition based on technology, and they can get improved performance in three components: reputation, survival, and technological growth.

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Maternal separation (MS) is a well-characterized model of early life stress, based on the postnatal disruption of the mother-infant interaction. Studies on rodents have demonstrated that MS, as an early adverse life event, leads to spatial memory deficits and lasting changes in brain plasticity. Here, we review data from animal studies regarding the impact of MS on long-term potentiation (LTP). Evidence shows that animal models are useful for evaluating the effects of MS on LTP. Overall, studies suggest that MS impairs LTP.