Cover crops (CC) improve soil quality, including soil microbial enzymatic activities and soil chemical parameters. Scientific studies conducted in research centers have shown positive effects of CC on soil enzymatic activities; however, studies conducted in farmer fields are lacking in the literature. The objective of this study was to quantify CC effects on soil microbial enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolase, and dehydrogenase) under a corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation. The study was conducted in 2016 and 2018 in Chariton County, Missouri, where CC were first established in 2012. All tested soil enzyme levels were significantly different between 2016 and 2018, irrespective of CC and no cover crop (NCC) treatments. In CC treatment, β-glucosaminidase activity was significantly greater at 0–10 cm depth in 2016 and at 10–20 and 20–30 cm in 2018. In contrast, dehydrogenase activity was significantly greater in NCC in 2018. Soil pH and organic matter (OM) content were found to be significantly greater in CC. Overall, CC have mixed effects on soil enzyme activities and positive effects on soil OM compared to NCC. This study highlights the short-term influence of CC and illustrates the high spatial and temporal variability of soil enzymes under farmer-managed fields.
An evaluation for the performance of model pile embedded in expansive soil was investigated. An extensive testing program was planned to achieve the purpose of this research. Therefore, special manufactured system was prepared for studying the behavior of model pile having different length to diameter ratios (L/D). Two types of piles were used in this research, straight shaft and under reamed piles. The effect of model pile type, L/D ratio and number of wetting drying cycles were studied. It is observed that significant reductions in pile movement when under reamed piles were considered. A proposed design charts was presented for straight shaft and under reamed piles to estimate the length of both types of piles that is requi
... Show MoreThe contamination of soil with the wastes of oil industry products that are complex mixtures of hydrocarbons increased recently due to the large development of oil industries in Iraq. This study deals with the remediation of low permeability contaminated clayey soil by using the enhanced electrokinetic technique (EK). The contaminated soil samples obtained from Thi-Qar oil refinery plant in Al-Nassyriah city, where the byproducts of refinery plant are disposed into that site. The byproduct contaminant treated as total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) to avoid dealing and complexity of treating the individual minerals and compounds consisting the contaminant. The initial concentrations of TPH were (702.7, 1168, 1235) ppm in the contaminated s
... Show MoreOne of the Iraqi geotechnical problems is the presence of gypseous soils covering about (27-36) percentage of Iraq soils containing gypsum between (10-70) ratios. The main reason for soil problematic is the gypsum dissolution when these soils are inundated. However, the soluble gypsum can be leached out of the soil particles, so these problems can be led to cracking, tilting, and collapsing the related soil structure and changing the soil properties. The aim of this work is to investigate the performance of under-reamed piles as a new, improved method to reduce the moisture sensitive and the primary triggering mechanism for the volume reduction of collapsible soil, which is considered as a non-elastic deformation; this was done by c
... Show MoreStaphylococcus haemolyticus is one of the most frequently isolated coagulase-negative staphylococci. The ability to form biofilm is considered as one of the most important virulence factors of coagulase negative staphylococci. There is only limited knowledge of the nature of S. haemolyticus biofilms. This study was aimed at evaluating the ability of S. haemolyticus strains to produce biofilm in the presence of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs). The biological synthesis of nanoparticles is an environmentally friendly approach for large-scale production of nanoparticles. Copper oxide nanoparticles were produced in the current study from the S. haemolyticus viable cell filtrate. UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffra
... Show MoreDental implants can be made of various materials, and amongst them, titanium and titanium alloy were the materials of choice for dental implants for many years because of their biocompatibility. The two alloys have a high level of biocompatibility, a lower modulus of elasticity, and better corrosion resistance than other alloys. Thus, they are frequently utilized in biomedical applications and mostly replace stiff fabrics. The latest advances in a new strontium oxide–cp titanium composite alloy are the main topic of this research. With regard to biomedical applications, additions of strontium oxide were synthesized at three distinct weight percentages (2%, 4%, and 6% by wt%). Powder metallurgy was used to create the alloys, which
... Show MoreIn this study, the effects of different loading doses of cerium in the prepared NaY zeolite from Iraqi kaolin were investigated. Al-Duara refinery atmospheric residue fluid catalytic cracking was selected as palpation reaction for testing the catalytic activity of cerium loading NaY zeolite. The insertion of cerium in NaY zeolites has been synthesized by simple ion exchange methods. Three samples of modified zeolite Y have been obtained by replacing the sodium ions in the original sample with cerium and the weight percent added are 0.35, 0.64, and 1.06 respectively. The effects of cerium loading to zeolite Y in different weight percent on the cracking catalysts were studied by employing a laboratory fluidized
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