Abstract: The main objective of present study was to evaluate the phyllospheric bacteria for their auxin production and plant growth promoting potential under axenic conditions. Bacterial strains were isolated from the phyllosphere of different plants and screened for in vitro auxin production in the presence of precursor L-tryptophan. Finally, 7 isolates (BjP-2, BjP-5, CsP-1, CsP-6, ZmP-3, ZmP-4, SpP-6) that released maximum auxin levels were selected to evaluate the phytostimulatory effect on Cicer arietinum L. under axenic conditions. Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of strains was evaluated by using different antibiotic discs. Maximum auxin production was recorded with strain CsP-1 (85 µg ml-I) when medium was supplemented with 250 µg ml-I L-tryptophan. Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of phyllobacterial strains was also evaluated by using six different types of antibiotic discs. Results showed that strains BjP-2, CsP-1, CsP- 6, ArP-1, ZmP-3, ZmP-4, BjP-4 and SpP-5 were resistant to erythromycin (15 µg) ampicillin (10 µg) and oxytetracyclin (30 µg). In pot trials, majority of the treatments showed significant improvements in different growth parameters amended with 250 µg g-I of soil. It was obesrved that strain CsP-1, ZmP-4 and SpP-6 showed the most promising results for shoot length, root length and plant biomass. Strain CsP-1 showed up to 190%, 160%, 50% and 32% increases for shoot length, root length, fresh and dry biomass, respectively, over control. It can be concluded that phyllosphere of plants can be screened to select agriculturally important bacteria on the basis of their auxin production. Keywords: Phyllobacteria, phytostimulatory effects, plant growth promotion, Cicer arietinum, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria.

Abstract: This study investigated the effect of maturity on the some antinutritional factors of Sesamum radiatum leaves. Sesamum radiatum seeds were sown on an unfertilized land and the leaves were harvested on weekly basis from the fourth to the tenth week after planting (WAP) when senenescence has started setting in. Phytate, tannin and oxalate of the plant were determined using A.O.A.C standard methods. The results obtained showed that the tannin ranges between 1.20 mg/100g – 5.60mg/100g, phytate ranges between 1.65 mg/100g – 3.82 mg/100g and oxalate increase from 4WAP (2.84 mg/100g) to 10WAP (4.64 mg/100g). The antinutritional factors were significantly (p< 0.05) affected by the maturity of the leaves. Furthermore, oxalate increase with increase in maturity of the leaves. The study indicated that as the leaf matures the antinutrient increases. The optimum value for tannin, oxalate and phytate for human use was observed at 9 WAP. Keywords: Antinutrient, age of plant, leaves, Sesamum radiatum.

Abstract: Cavitation damage is one of the complex and prevalent process that occur in spillways. Cavitation damage is derived by magnitude and interaction of several effective parameters. These operative parameters are pressure, flow velocity and surface strength, operative time and air content. For evaluating the cavitation, a traditional method is computing the cavitation index. In this research the damage levels were adjusted using fuzzy logic, then damage intensity was predicted, and the fuzzy modeling results based on velocity and cavitation index was compared with the real damage levels. The verified numerical modeling data of Karun1 old spillway was used as input and the cavitation damage to Chute 1 of Karun 1 dam spillway in 1977 flood has been used for calibrating model. Finally the fuzzy prediction model was tested for Chutes 2 and 3 of this flood and showed a good compatibility. Keywords: Spillway, Cavitation damage, Fuzzy prediction model, Membership function.

Abstract: Liquefaction can cause ground subsidence, flow failure and lateral spreading among other effects. Estimation of the hazard of lateral spreading requires characterization of subsurface conditions. In this paper, the relation between liquefaction induced lateral displacements and both geotechnical and earthquake soil parameters is investigated. In order to assess the merits of the proposed approach, database containing 526 data points of liquefaction- induced lateral ground spreading case histories from eighteen different earthquakes are used from renowned references. This study addresses the question of whether Group method of data handling (GMDH) type neural networks could be used to estimate lateral displacement based on specified variables. At the end the results of this paper models are compared with those of a commonly used and the advantages of the proposed GMDH model over the conventional method are highlighted. Keywords: Rice, Rural Women, Iran.

Abstract: Birds distribution was studied in two natural forest fragments and two plantation forest fragments all near each other in Mau Forest complex, a montane tropical forest and an important bird area. Mist netting was the major method used. Mist nets were set in a concealed position in the forest early morning and operated from a set station per site. Birds were extracted every twenty minutes from the mist and studied. A comparison of birds’ composition between natural forest and plantation forest fragments showed significant difference. Zero birds were captured in plantation forest fragments despite being next to the natural forest fragments that recorded high number of bird species. Habitat quality and diversity of resources available for birds play a major role in distribution of birds. Forest edge bird species were more abundant than forest specialist species. Fragmentation of forest habitat has showed possible increment of habitat types adjacent to one another but poor for habitat specific species due to lack of continuity. Keywords: Birds’ distribution, conservation, Gregory Rift Valley, habitat quality, natural forest, plantation forest.