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.
This study aims to analyze the spectral properties of plasma produced from rice husk(Rh) using the laser breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) method. The plasma generation process used the fundamental harmonic (1064 nm) of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) is a man-made crystalline material. The laser fired pulses with a duration of 10 ns and a repetition rate of 6 Hz. Thus, the energy outputs achieved were 50–200 mJ at the wavelength of 1064 (nm). The silica content in the rice hulls was verified using an XRF measurement, which revealed the presence of silica in the rice hulls in a high percentage. Precise beam focusing was achieved by focusing the laser on the target material. This target material is placed with
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, AA Noaimi, EA Al-Janabi, Our Dermatology Online, 2014 - Cited by 11
A chemical optical fiber sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was developed and implemented using multimode plastic optical fiber. The sensor is used to detect and measure the refractive index and concentration of various chemical materials (Urea, Ammonia, Formaldehyde and Sulfuric acid) as well as to evaluate the performance parameters such as sensitivity, signal to noise ratio, resolution and figure of merit. It was noticed that the value of the sensitivity of the optical fiber-based SPR sensor, with 60nm and 10 mm long, Aluminum(Al) and Gold (Au) metals film exposed sensing region, was 4.4 μm, while the SNR was 0.20, figure of merit was 20 and resolution 0.00045. In this work a multimode
... Show MoreGypseous soils represented one of the most complex salty soils that faced the geotechnical engineers. Structures that built on gypsum soil will undergo unexpected distortions that will eventually contribute to catastrophic failure. The purpose of this article is to understand the durability of gypsum soil against wetting drying cycles after improvement with polyurethane polymer especially investigate the effect of the wetting-drying cycle on collapsibility. The soil was brought from Sawa lake in AL-Muthanna Governorate in Iraq, with gypsum content 65.5%, A set of Odometer tests were performed to determine the collapsibility potential (CP) for treated and untreated gypsum soil. The result shows that adding a different per
... Show MorePetroleum is one of the most important substances consumed by man at present times, a major energy source in this century, petroleum oils can cause environmental pollution during various stages of production, transportation, refining and use, petroleum hydrocarbons pollutions ranging from soil, ground water to marine environment, become an inevitable problem in the modern life, current study focused on bioremediation process of hydrocarbons contaminants that remaining in the bottom of gas cylinders and discharged to the soil. Twenty-four bacterial isolates were isolated from contaminated soils all of them gram negative bacteria, bacterial isolates screening to investigate the ability of biodegradation of hydrocarbons, these isolates
... Show MoreThis research focuses on studying the effects of soil movement on the behavior of an existing pile driven in sandy soil. A physical model has been manufactured to investigate the effect of construction of an embankment adjacent to free head single pile driven in sand of dry unit weight of 13.5 kN/m3. The model pile of diameter (D) of 10 mm are tested under two conditions of loading: loaded axially and without load. The model piles are instrumented with strain gauges along the embedded length to measure strains resulting from the soil movement. The embankment loads are applied at distances of 2.5, 5, and 10D from the edge of the pile. The results obtained from the
In this research, the geotechnical properties of the soil profile in Hilla city within Babylon Governorate in the middle parts of Iraq are described. The geotechnical data at the specific sites were collected from some geotechnical investigation reports performed at some selected locations. This article is devoted to studying the distribution of soil properties (the physical and mechanical) in the horizontal and vertical directions. Moreover, a correlation between different physical and mechanical properties is performed. The correlation is executed using statistical analysis by Microsoft Excel Software (2016). From the regression results, it was found that the nature of the soil is c