Soil water use and water storage vary by vegetative management practices, and these practices affect land productivity and hydrologic processes. This study investigated the effects of agroforestry buffers (AB), grass buffers (GB), and biofuel crops (BC), relative to row crops (RC) on soil water use for a claypan soil in northern Missouri, USA. The experiment located at the Greenley Memorial Research Center included RC, AB, GB, and BC established in 1991, 1997, 1997, and 2012, respectively. Soil water reflectometer sensors installed at 5‐, 10‐, 20‐, and 40‐cm depths monitored soil water from April to November in 2017 and 2018. Results showed significant differences in weekly volumetric water content (VWC) among treatments for all fou

Breastfeeding (BF) serves as a complete nutritional source for the first six months of infant’s life. Breast milk contains all essential nutrients that necessary for the physiological growth and development of infants. The aim of this study was to compare the physiological growth of infants including weight, height and head circumference who were exclusively breastfed for 6 months and those who were given bottle-fed or mixed fed and to find a percentage of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers who contributed in this study in Sulaimani city. This study was carried out in Sulaimani city/ Kurdistan region of Iraq and the cases were enrolled between the first of October 2018 and first of October 2019. The infants’ weight, height and hea

Crystalline silicon (c-Si) has low optical absorption due to its high surface reflection of incident light. Nanotexturing of c-Si which produces black silicon (b-Si) offers a promising solution. In this work, effect of H₂O₂ concentrations towards surface morphological and optical properties of b-Si fabricated by two-step silver-assisted wet chemical etching (Ag-based two-step MACE) for potential photovoltaic (PV) applications is presented. The method involves a 30 s deposition of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in an aqueous solution of AgNO₃:HF (5:6) and an optimized etching in HF:H₂O₂:DI H₂O solution under 0.62 M, 1.85 M, 2.47 M, and 3.7 M concentrations of H₂O<

Some coordination complexes of Co(??), Ni(??), Cu(??), Cd(??) and Hg(??) are reacted in ethanol with Schiff base ligand derived from of 2,4,6- trihydroxybenzophenone and 3-aminophenol using microwave irradiation and then reacted with metal salts in ethanol as a solvent in 1:2 ratio (metal: ligand). The ligand [H4L] is characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis, C.H.N, 1H-NMR,13C-NMR, and mass spectra. The metal complexes are characterized by atomic absorption, infrared spectra, electronic spectra, molar conductance, (C.H.N for Ni(??) complex) and magnetic moment measurements. These measurements indicate that the ligand coordinates with metal (??) ion in a tridentate manner through the nitrogen and oxygen atoms of the ligand, octahedral st

Some coordination complexes of Co(??), Ni(??), Cu(??), Cd(??) and Hg(??) are reacted in ethanol with Schiff base ligand derived from of 2,4,6- trihydroxybenzophenone and 3-aminophenol using microwave irradiation and then reacted with metal salts in ethanol as a solvent in 1:2 ratio (metal: ligand). The ligand [H4L] is characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis, C.H.N, 1H-NMR,13C-NMR, and mass spectra. The metal complexes are characterized by atomic absorption, infrared spectra, electronic spectra, molar conductance, (C.H.N for Ni(??) complex) and magnetic moment measurements. These measurements indicate that the ligand coordinates with metal (??) ion in a tridentate manner through the nitrogen and oxygen atoms of the ligand, octahedral structures

Some coordination complexes of Co(ІІ), Ni(ІІ), Cu(ІІ), Cd(ІІ) and Hg(ІІ) are reacted in ethanol with Schiff base ligand derived from of 2,4,6- trihydroxybenzophenone and 3-aminophenol using microwave irradiation and then reacted with metal salts in ethanol as a solvent in 1:2 ratio (metal: ligand). The ligand [H4L] is characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis, C.H.N, 1H-NMR,13C-NMR, and mass spectra. The metal complexes are characterized by atomic absorption, infrared spectra, electronic spectra, molar conductance, (C.H.N for Ni(ІІ) complex) and magnetic moment measurements. These measurements indicate that the ligand coordinates with metal (ІІ) ion in a tridentate manner through the nitrogen and oxygen atoms of the ligand, octahed

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a public health problem and many studies support the link between kidney dysfunction and cardiovascular events.  Aldosterone has been shown for decades that a plasma aldosterone concentration is elevated in CKD. Whilst, Osteoprotegerin (OPG), after its capacity to protect bone, also osteoprotegerin is elevated in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), where it could predict the deterioration of kidney function, cardiovascular, vascular events and all-cause mortality. On the other hand, fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), in patients with CKD, its levels seem to increase progressively as kidney function worsens. The aim of the present study is to assess the correlations between serum osteoprotegerin

The beet armyworm (BAW), Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a highly destructive pest of vegetables and field crops. Management of beet armyworm primarily relies on synthetic pesticides, which is threatening the beneficial community and environment. Most importantly, the BAW developed resistance to synthetic pesticides with making it difficult to manage. Therefore, alternative and environment-friendly pest management tactics are urgently required. The use of pesticidal plant extracts provides an effective way for a sustainable pest management program. To evaluate the use of pesticidal plant extracts against BAW, we selected six plant species (Lantana camara, Aloe vera, Azadirachta indica, Cymbopogon citratus, Nicotiana tabacum ,