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Different layers of acorn (Quercus infectoria), hull, seed coat and seed kernel were analyzed for determination of chemical composition. The results of the preliminary analysis showed that acorn contained more than 65% carbohydrates, 8% lipid and 10% tannin among other constituents. The fatty acid composition of the seed oil was determined using thin layer chromatography and comparing with standards. The results showed the presence of both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acid: are C14:0, C16:0, C18:0, and C20:0. Unsaturated fatty acid: C18: 1 and C18: 2. Total saturated fatty acids represented 20% and unsaturated fatty acids contributed 80% to acorn fat content.

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The change in the concept of social development over the last few decades, from the physical aspects to human dimensions has increased women’s participation in socio-economic activities and enhancement of their capabilities has been regarded as key strategies in sustainable development. The present study attempts to achieve the following objective: Investigation of the impacts of NGO’s activities in enhancing women’s socioeconomic participation in the management of watersheds. This paper has presented the results through employing parts of the phases, methodologies, and techniques of participation Rural Appraisal(PRA) in sample villages located in Hableh Roud watershed in the Garmsar plain. Among the achievements of the project is the actualization of local community participation including women’s participation in decision-making on sustainable development, improvement of natural resource management through integration of modern and traditional technologies, increasing local community income sources through production of pharmaceutical plants, planting seedlings, strengthening traditional women’s organizations, improvement of exploitation methods and conservation of soil and water resources. The most important result obtained from the present study is the finding that participatory activities are cultural and social issues. As such, work must continue until participation becomes institutionalized in the target community. The milestone and deliverable showing success in this endeavor will be gradual but steady changes observed in the behavior of the rural communities with reference social and economic problems reflecting their self-reliance and self-confidence. Continuity and sustainability of the projects are also determined by direct involvement and participation of local communities, especially women, in all phases of project implementation from concept development to implementation, monitoring, and assessment.

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In recent years, to reduce positioning cost for civil and robotic applications, low-cost inertial sensors especially Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) types have been produced. Positioning Error of an inertial navigation system comprising low-cost inertial sensors increases due to significant uncertainty of noises, bias and drift of MEMS sensors in short times. Therefore, combination with an auxiliary system such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) is proposed in order to reduce the errors trough integration estimator algorithms. This paper aims developing a new estimation algorithm for integrated attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) with GPS. Kalman Filter is commonly used for linear systems and its extended version has been used for nonlinear system. Generally, the Kalman type estimators fall in trouble when the system exhibits nonlinear behavior and to overcome these issues, the predictive estimator is considered in the paper. Design process of Model Predictive Observer (MPO) is proposed based on the duality between the problems of control and estimation in linear systems. To assess the performance of the proposed method compared with the extended Kalnman filter, practical tests of AHRS/GPS have been done on car and flight vehicles. The test results of the designed MPO during all tests show the significant superiority in comparison to the extended Kalman filter.

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In today's, the preservation and maintenance of masonry structures in historical areas have become very important. A significant part of this issue is rooted in the use of non-reinforced construction materials in the building of such structures. In Iran, most of the historical buildings were built using masonry materials. The buildings were designed according to the special architecture of this region. The existing structures mostly consist of masonry walls as well as some openings with arched configurations. In these types of walls, the wall consists of two piers and an arch on top of them. Since Iran is located in a highly seismic zone, investigating the performance of these types of structures is essential under the action of earthquakes and lateral loadings. Therefore, in this paper, a numerical investigation is accomplished on the in-plane behavior of traditional brick arches under the action of lateral loads. To this end, the numerical model of a sample of an existing arch (in Kerman’s Mesgari bazaar) was considered. The model was developed on STKO software. In this regard, the nonlinear response of bricks and mortar joints was simulated by using the DamageTC3D material. As well, the geometry of the wall was constructed with four-node plane-stress elements. The lateral capacity of the wall was assessed under the action of gravity loads. To this end, the wall was analyzed under gravity loads with intensities of 0.0 to 0.2 MPa. Next, it was pushed laterally through the pushover analysis and the shear force-displacement capacity curve of the wall was obtained. Through a specific procedure, the obtained capacity curves were estimated with a bilinear graph. By using this graph, the performance points corresponding to the wall’s capacity were extracted and a complete discussion was made regarding the shear capacity and the corresponding displacement to each performance point. Based on the obtained results from the analysis, it was observed that with an increase in the intensity of the applied gravity load, the maximum shear capacity of the walls increases. However, a higher increase in gravity load intensity (over a specific limit) would cause more damage to the arch which leads to a smaller shear capacity. Also, it is observed that the distribution of cracks and their pattern along the walls follow a similar outline. However, crack widths are affected strongly by the intensity of the applied gravity load on the wall.