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: This study aimed to apply a high-power pulsed alexandrite laser in vitro, the researchers tested different exposure periods, pulse lengths, and laser fluencies to see which dosage was most successful against S. aureus bacteria, which had developed resistance to many antibiotics. Method: Three bacteria samples were exposed to laser beams for 30 seconds with a 5ms pulse duration and a laser fluency of 5J/cm2. The process was repeated with laser fluencies of 10, 15, and 20. Results: The study was carried out by using different doses of Alexandrite laser. Results: There are significant differences (p = 0.05) in the mean number of bacteria colonies exposed for 30 and 60 seconds at any laser fluencies utilized in the present i
... Show MoreA study of the effects of the discharge (sputtering) currents (60-75 mA) and the thickness of copper target (0.037, 0.055 and 0.085 mm) on the prepared samples was performed. These samples were deposited with pure copper on a glass substrate using dc magnetron sputtering with a magnetic flux density of 150 gauss at the center. The effects of these two parameters were studied on the height, diameter, and size of the deposition copper grains as well as the roughness of surface samples using atomic force microscopy (AFM).The results of this study showed that it is possible to control the specifications of copper grains by changing the discharge currents and the thickness of the target material. The increase in discharge curre
... Show MoreCarrageenan extract is a compound of sulfated polyglycan that is taken out from red seaweeds. Being hydrocolloid in nature, carrageenan has gelling, emulsifying and thickening properties allowing it to be commonly used in the oral healthcare products and cosmetics. Due to its bioactive compounds, carrageenan has been shown to have antimicrobial, antiviral, and antitumor properties. The purpose of this work is to study the probable use of carrageenan on the diseases that are related to oral cavity and on the genomic DNA in in vitro experimental model
In this study, the effects of k-carrageenan on four different cell lines related to the cancer and normal cells which cultured on selective media were done. Moreover, the eff
... Show MoreBackground and aim: Pomegranate is a medicinal herb that can promote healing of periodontal tissue through differentiation of mesenchymal cells both in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, this study is to investigate the effect of oral supplementation of Punicagranatum L. peel extract on bone defect in rabbit. Methods: Forty five male rabbits were divided into 3 groups; group 1; baseline group(5 rabbits) left without bone defect. Group 2; study group (20 rabbits) with bone defect model that received daily 1ml of oral supplementation of pomegranate peel extract (PoPx). Group 3; control group (20 rabbits) with bone defect model that received distilled water. Bone defect was done into facial plate of lower right central incisor. Blood biopsies by
... Show MoreThe present study was set to demonstrate the prevalence of toxoplasmosis infection and its effects on patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) through determining their serum levels of anti-dsDNA and IL-18 antibodies. For this purpose, the sera from 132 SLE and/or toxoplasmosis patients and 30 healthy women, were collected. The study sample was divided into four groups of SLE, toxoplasmosis, SLE coinfected with toxoplasmosis, and healthy control. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were examined for all the samples using ELISA kit. The results showed a high mean level of anti-Toxoplasma IgG among SLE patients coinfected with toxoplasmosis (104.8792±12.31585pg/ml) in comparison to that in toxoplasmosis patients (91.1705±12.577
... Show MoreThe effect of different cutting fluids on surface roughness of brass alloy workpiece during turning operation was carried out in this research. This was performed with different cutting speed, while other cutting parameters had been regarded as constants(feeding rate , and depth of cut). Surface roughness of machined parts that will be tested by electronic surface roughness tester .The results show that the standard coolant gives the best values of surface roughness for fixed cutting speed ,followed by sun flower oil that has approximately the same effect, while the air stream as a coolant gave unsatisfied results for the evaluation of surface roughness.
In the other hand the best values of surface roughness were recorded for max
... Show MoreBackground: Red clover oil (Trifolium pratense) has isoflavones bunches which have estrogen-like exercises and may establish an option in contrast to hormone substitution treatment. The present study investigated the impact of Red clover oil on bone healing in rats by histomorphometric study. Materials and Methods: Intra bony defect was performed in right femur of thirty six healthy male albino rats. Then these rats were randomly divided into three groups (12 rats each): one control and 2 experimental groups. For control, the bony defect was left for normal healing; for the experimental (S) group, the defect was treated with hemostatic absorbable gelatin sponge; and for experimental (RS) group, the bony defect was treated with 0.2 ml red
... Show MoreCarbon tetrachloride (CCl4) has been demonstrated to induce testicular damage via oxidative stress. Bromelain (Br), a proteolytic enzyme known for its biological activities and pharmacological properties, exhibits limited absorption owing to its low solubility and bioavailability. The present study aimed to investigate the histological and immunohistochemical effects of bromelain conjugated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the testis histology of albino mice treated with CCl4. Thirty-five male albino mice (Mus musculus), with an average age of 9 weeks, were randomly divided into five groups, each containing seven mice. The experiment was prolonged for four weeks. The first group (G1) was the control group, the second group (G2) re
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