High tunnels, or unheated plastic greenhouses, are becoming increasingly popular among organic vegetable growers across the United States. However, the intensive production typical of these systems presents soil health challenges, including salinization due to high fertilizer or compost inputs coupled with lack of rainfall to leach salts. Legume cover crops may improve soil health in high tunnels by reducing the need for external inputs, while adding organic matter. We tested the soil health effects of a winter hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) cover crop used to replace fertilizer N in an organic tomato cropping system in high tunnels. Studies were replicated across three sites differing in climate and soil type (Kansas, Kentucky, and Minnesota) over three years. We measured vetch cover crop effects on a suite of soil health indicators, including potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), permanganate oxidizable carbon, and microbial biomass. Preliminary results suggest that vetch effects on PMN were highly variable. Soil mineral N, meanwhile, was often lower in the vetch treatment than in a fertilized control, both in spring and in fall. While further work on vetch effects on crop yields is needed, our results suggest that even legume cover crops such as vetch have the potential to reduce nitrate leaching.
Background: Limited data are available on the dimensional stability and surface roughness of ThermoSens, which is a material used in denture processing. This study aimed to measure the vertical teeth changes and surface roughness of ThermoSens dentures prepared using three different investment materials. Materials and methods: For the dimensional changes test, 30 complete maxillary dentures were prepared using different investment methods: group I, dental stone; group II, silicone putty; and group III, a mixture of dental stone and plaster (ratio, 1:1; n = 10 for each group). Four screws were attached to the dentures: two were attached to the buccal surface of the canine and first molar, and the other two were attached in the flange areas o
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Grass trimming operation is widely done in Malaysia for the purpose of maintaining highways. Large number of operators engaged in this work encounters high level of noise generated by back pack type grass trimmer used for this purpose. High level of noise exposure gives different kinds of ill effect on human operators. Exact nature of deteriorated work performance is not known. For predicting the work efficiency deterioration, fuzzy tool has been used in present research. It has been established that a fuzzy computing system will help in identification and analysis of fuzzy models fuzzy system offers a convenient way of representing the relationships between the inputs and outputs of a system in the form of IF-THEN rules. The paper presents
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The aim of the present research is to illustrate γ-ray levels emitting from soil and bitumen producing from 238U, 232Th, and 40K along Abu-Jir Fault Zone. in the area extended from Al-Marj valley to Abu-Jir village using scintillometer device. Such study is important in environmental assessment to buildup data base about radioactivity. The concentration of natural radionuclides in the study area was determined to be occurring mostly in the clay minerals and organic matter. A high purity germanium spectrometer was used to detect the activity of these elements which ranged between 00.6±18.1- 1526±102, 0- 8.4±1.4, and 70.1±10.9- 328.2±73 in soil, and 28.2±5.6- 94±22.1, 0- 2.2±0.5, and 38.4±7.9- 70.1±10.9 in bitumen for 226Ra
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This study was focused on biotreatment of soil which polluted by petroleum compounds (Diesel) which caused serious environmental problems. One of the most effective and promising ways to treat diesel-contaminated soil is bioremediation. It is a choice that offers the potential to destroy harmful pollutants using biological activity. The capability of mixed bacterial culture was examined to remediate the diesel-contaminated soil in bio piling system. For fast ex-situ treatment of diesel-contaminated soils, the bio pile system was selected. Two pilot scale bio piles (25 kg soil each) were constructed containing soils contaminated with approximately 2140 mg/kg total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). The amended soil:
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Soil stabilization with stone powder is a good solution for the construction of subgrade for road way and railway lines, especially under the platforms and mostly in transition zones between embankments and rigid structures, where the mechanical properties of supporting soils are very influential. Stone powder often has a unique composition which justifies the need for research to study the feasibility of using this stone powder type for ground improvement applications. This paper presents results from a comprehensive laboratory study carried out to investigate the feasibility of using stone powder for improvement of engineering properties of clays.
The stone powder contains bassanite (CaSO4. ½ H
... Show MoreThe study is devoted to both static and earthquake response analysis of retaining structures acted upon by lateral earth pressure. Two main approaches were implemented in the analysis, namely, the Mononobe-Okabe analytical method and the numerical Finite element procedure as provided in the ready software ABAQUS with explicit dynamic method. A basic case study considered in the present work is the bridge approach retaining walls as a part of AL-Jadiriya bridge intersection to obtain the effects of the backfill and the ground water on the retaining wall response including displacement of the retaining structure in addition to the behavior of the fill material. Parametric studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of several factors
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