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With the instrumentation of Mass Spectrometry (MS) and advances carried out in bioinformatic tools and databases, along with birth of nanotechnology in 1990s, biology experienced a dramatic revolution and new perspectives were found in molecular biology and medicine, agriculture, environmental sciences and pharmatiuticals. The most important one is systematic look at the entire organism and solving biological problems at the level of entire system viewed as an integrated and interacting network of genes, proteins and biochemical reactions (Systems Biology). In addition, :union: of biology and nanotechnology result in creation of nanobiotechnology. This paper provides an easy-to-read guide to the concepts of some of the major topics in today’s biology. Topics discussed here, include fundamentals of proteomics and systematic descriptions of the various types of studies in proteomics. After a brief review on the physical principles of nanotechnology, the application of one of its products, known as quantum dot in biology and particularly, proteomics studies, were discussed. This account covers the general principles and applications of new emerging fields in biology.

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The potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), is a major pest of potato, both in the field and storehouses. In this study, we have evaluated the lethal effects and persistence of Zingiber officinale (Roscoe) pure (PEO) and nano-formulated essential oil (NFO) on different developmental stages (egg, male and female adults) of PTM. Essential oil was extracted by hydro-distillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Nanofibers were produced by electrospinning technique. The morphology of nanofibers was investigated by SEM. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was used to identify the characteristic functional groups in the PEO, nanofiber and PEO/NFO scaffold. Bioassays were performed in 250 ml glass jars. The essential oil consisted of α-Zingiberene as the most abundant component (14.21%), followed by Ar-curcumene (12.58%), β-sesquiphellandrene (12.48%) and cis-α-bisabolene (10.29%). The results of FTIR spectra showed the establishment of the functional groups of PEO on the structure of the nanofiber. The images of SEM also demonstrated the establishment of PEO in the structure of the nanofiber. LC50 values of PEO and NFO were estimated 75.44 and 30.24µl/l air for eggs, 19.08 and 10.28µl/l air for female adults, and 17.76 and 9.56µl/l air for male adults, respectively. Persistence data showed that nano-formulated essential oil (49 days) in comparison with pure essential oil (15 day) had longer persistence. The results demonstrated that Z. officinale PEO and its nano-formulation could play an important role as natural pesticides for the management of PTM.

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Background: In recent years, the use of medicinal plants has increased significantly. Essential oils are one of the most important secondary metabolites in plants with promising potentials to promote health. Paying attention to the quality and effectiveness of medicinal plant products is important. Use of free essential oils due to volatility, low stability, poor solubility in water and low bioavailability, limit both their use and effectiveness. The most important tool to increase the quality of essential oil is the use of nanoparticles as carriers. This study aimed to investigate the nanoencapsulation of essential oils of medicinal plants and its effect on increasing the stability of essential oils and improving the quality of drug delivery systems. Method: In the present study, the data of scientific research articles have been used to investigate the use of nanoparticles in increasing the effectiveness of the essential oils. Findings: Drug-carrier nanoparticles include various materials such as nano polymers, dendrimers, etc. that can have different morphology and sizes depending on their synthesis method. Technology of nanoencapsulation of essential oils is used to increase stability, purposefulness and control the release time of essential oil in the human. One of the advantages of targeted drug delivery is the accurate and intelligent accumulation of essential oil as a drug at the target site, thus increasing the stability and pharmacological effects of the essential oil on the organs in the human. Conclusion: Nanocapsules containing essential oils of medicinal plants have significantly increased the effectiveness of essential oils in medical applications.

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Nanotechnology has been shown to have promising roles in the development of various industries including the agricultural sector. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the researchers’ attitude and the obstacle hampering the development of nanotechnology in the agricultural sector of Iran. The population of this study consisted of researchers in national research centers/institutes (N= 187) during the biennium, 2009-2010. Proportional stratified random sampling was used for sample selection in the study (123). A questionnaire was developed and its validity was evaluated by a panel that consisted of the experts in the Nanotechnology Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Iran, and the faculty members of Tarbiat Modares University. A pilot test was conducted to determine the reliability of the questionnaire and Cronbach Alpha coefficient was confirmed for the scales of the questionnaire (α= 0.92). The results of this study showed that the respondents’ attitude toward the significance of nanotechnology was in the range of adequate to excellent level (92%, accumulatively). On the other hand, among the 37 obstacle variables investigated, 5 factors were found to account for 69.89% of the variance of obstacle variables. These included budget hindrance, instructional difficulties, management problems, research problems, and relative-informative hardships.

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Ensuring food security in developing countries is highly challenging due to low productivity of the agriculture sector, degradation of natural resources, crop losses, less value addition, and high population growth. therefore, researchers are striving to adopt newer technologies to increase the supply of agricultural products. one of these technologies is nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the science of producing, manufacturing and using materials at the atomic and molecular levels and it can transform various industries, including the agricultural industry, with the help of new tools. Nanotechnology By using new materials such as nanofertilizers, nanoherbicides, nanopesticides, etc., strengthens the soil and increases the growth of plants and with the help of new tools such as nano-sensors and intelligent delivery systems, identifies pathogenes in plants.  For these reasons nanotechnology can be a promising way to increase the productivity of agricultural products.­­­

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The use of nanotechnology can create new important applications in various fields of agricultural resulting in improvement of plant yield, and increase of growth and photosynthesis. Using this technology, the techniques in product management can be improved. The absorption rate of nanoparticles varies in plants, depending on type of plant, chemical composition and size of particles. Nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) are widely used in agricultural industries to enhance plant growth properties. In this case, the aim of this study was to study the effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on photosynthetic pigments and some biochemical properties and antioxidant enzymes of Rosmarinus officinalis L. This research was carried out in a completely randomized design with three replications in the greenhouse of Sana Institute of Higher Education of Sari in 2017-2018. Different concentrations of titanium nanoparticles in seven levels (0, 20, 40, 80, 100, 200 and 400 ppm) were sprayed onto rosemary plants in three stages with a one-hour interval. The results showed that the contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids were increased by increasing the concentration of titanium nanoparticles, since the highest total chlorophyll content and carotenoids were related to 200 ppm nanoparticle titanium concentration. Also, the effect of titanium nanoparticle on the amount of soluble sugar indicated that by increasing the concentration of titanium nanoparticles as 100, 200 and 400 ppm nanoparticles, there was an increasing trend in this trait. In addition, there was a significant increase in the amount of antioxidant enzymes studied in high concentration of titanium nanoparticles (80, 100, 200 and 400 ppm).

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      Abstract Nanotechnology policy making in different countries is performed using various programs. Each country according to its own characteristics and uses of various actors is endeavored critical to the development of this critical field of application. In Iran a special committee of nanotechnology as the key responsible to policy making in this area was formed in 2003 and two years later, Nanotechnology Development Plan has been formulated. This research using Network Analysis Approach is aimed to focus on Nanotechnology Strategic Plan in order to find that to which extent decision making in this area is based on optimal and efficient networking between involved programs and actors in the field. Research findings are showed that there is a relatively significant distribution and balance of power among actors and programs and also an network of communications and co-operations have been formed. Finally, in some of sections, there are centers of power in the network that these arose from the circumstances and needs of the country and have been formed based on purposeful policy making.  

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Nanotechnology deals with objects and materials in nanometer scale and it is being expanded in the field of materials tools and systems. Nowadays, human knowledge in nanotechnology is going through a commercializing path in order to provide more services. Living creatures are built of cells with 10 μm size.  Some nanoparticles application in biology and medicine include drug and gene delivery, tissue engineering, and tumor destruction with heat. These procedures, which are done with nanoparticles manipulation, have two specific phase in general; in phase one, the amount of critical force and time are calculated based on dimensional and peripheral parameters. Now, it is tried to calculate nanoparticles displacement and velocity during the process in the phase two of nanoparticles manipulation. Also, in this paper, nanoparticles displacement and velocity were investigated in two dimensional space, using three main friction model namely coulomb, Hk, and lugre in phase two of nanoparticles manipulation. According to the results of this project, maximum speed and displacement was obtained, using lugre friction model and the minimum amounts in coulomb model. Also, with particles radius increase, displacement and velocity were reduced; this effect is engendered even without considering friction factor. Correspondingly, considering accuracy and validity, the coulomb model was the least accurate model and lugre was the most accurate one and the HK model was placed between these two models.
 

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The aim of this research is exploring and analyzing the informational interactions among the actors of Iran’s nanotechnology domain by the quantitative exploring of their relations using Network Analysis approach. Recognition and delineation of the informational networks resulted in identification of powerful and influential actors and the weaknesses and strengths of status and relations among the actors. The results can be used by policy analysts and policy-makers as policy tools. The results in the individual level of actors revealed that Iran’s Nanotechnology Initiative Council with the highest amount of centrality is the most powerful actor of network. In the current conditions which Iran’s nanotechnology has not been entered to commercialization phase sufficiently, established institutions by the government to develop this technology have the highest amount of centrality in network. Also Nano Products Production Companies Group and Policy-Maker Institutions Group are the most powerful groups in the information network, respectively. On the other hand, Policy-maker institutions have the least informational interactions with media, non-governmental associations, and promotional institutions.

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The use of nanotechnology in the food industry provides facilities such as encapsulation, targeted transfer of plant compounds and extracts without unfavourable sensitive effects. In this study, the essential oil (EO) of Santalum album (Santalum album linn.) was used to prepare a nanoemulsion. The nanoemulsion characteristics were evaluated and the data was optimized. To conduct the research, Design-Expert 12, statistical method of response surface, Central composite design with variables such as ultrasound frequency (25-31 kHz), ultrasound duration (10-20 sec.), and Santalum album EO (1%-10%) were used. After extraction of EO and identification of its effective compounds; percentage of antioxidant activity, viscosity, color indexes and the particle size of nanoemulsions tests were done. After optimization, stability test was performed on the optimized sample. The optimization results showed that with 5.5% Santalum album EO, ultrasound frequency of 28 KHZ, ultrasound duration of 15 seconds a nanoemulsion having optimum characteristics can be produced. After repeating the experiments for the obtained point, resulted in production of a nanoemulstion having particle size of 230 nm, the viscosity of 3.10 mPa.s, the brightness index of 78, the whiteness index of 58, and the antioxidant activity of 70%. It is believed these nanoemulsions have the potential to be used in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industries.
 

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Job creation, income generation, and natural resources conservation, all are pillars of sustainable development for industries using new technologies. Despite the importance of new technologies, developing countries face many limitations, such as economic and political problems, which make the development and transfer of technologies more difficult. In this study, we focus on development of new technologies in Iran’s petrochemical industry, including nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, and membranes. Solutions are proposed to improve the current unsatisfactory status. For that matter, taking into account experts’ viewpoints, a new technology tree is suggested for Iran’s petrochemical industry. The literature on technology assessment and prioritization is reviewed, and then primary indicators are proposed based on ability, attractiveness, and patent features. Forty industry experts are surveyed and the results are analyzed using face validity, reliability test, and factor analysis, by which the current status of new technologies is assessed.

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Nine tomato genotypes (‘NACGRAB-1’, ‘NACGRAB-2’, ‘NACGRAB-3’, ‘NACGRAB-4’, ‘NACGRAB-5’, ‘NACGRAB-6’, ‘NACGRAB-7’, ‘NACGRAB-8’and ‘NACGRAB-9’) from the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Ibadan, Nigeria; with four commercial varieties (‘Petomech’, ‘Uc 82B’, ‘Yolince’ and ‘Derica’) and two landraces (‘Ekwunato’ and ‘Tomato Mmiri’) were evaluated for their agronomic performance in a derived savannah region. Morphological and floral data were collected on them. At maturity, forty tomato fruits, each from five selected genotypes, were immersed in 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 g L^-1 AgNO₃ varying concentrations of silver/neem (Azadirachta indica) solutions and a control to study the storability of the fruits. During storage, number of days to 10, 50, and 100% fruit rot incidences were monitored on the treated fruits. ‘NACGRAB-7' took the longest number of days to 10, 50, and 100% fruit rot and was significantly different from the other genotypes. The lowest number of days to fruit rot was obtained from 'NACGRAB-6'. Solution-B containing (8 g L^-1 neem extract plus 0.2 g L^-1 AgNo₃) had the highest number of days to 10 and 50% fruit rot. The fruits that were not treated rotted faster than the treated fruits.
 

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In recent years, nanotechnology has been increasingly used in the food industry, especially to increase the food security. Nanotechnology provides the grounds to understand the food components on a small scale in the food industry. The present study aimed at analyzing the application of nanotechnology to improve the food security. The study sample included all experts (N= 90) of Iran's Nanotechnology Innovation Council selected by a census. This study used a descriptive-survey method. A questionnaire was developed based on the study’s theoretical framework and used for data collection. The validity (content and face) and reliability (factor loading, coefficient of composite reliability, and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient) of the questionnaire were confirmed. The results of testing the hypotheses using Smart PLS, i.e., t-test and path coefficients (β), showed that the food packaging mechanisms directly and significantly affected food security improvement through using nanotechnology. The findings also displayed that the food preservation, processing, and production mechanisms influenced food security improvement through using nanotechnology. By using nanotechnology, the results indicated a direct relationship between foods' taste and color improvement as well as food safety and health improvement.