Geostatistical analysis of a water well field for determination of land management constraints

Soil spatial variability and heterogeneity is a tough but very important matter in the field-scale description of soil properties, such as soil electrical conductivity, soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, and soil salinity. Geostatistics is a useful tool to study spatial distribution of soil properties and optimum sampling strategies in field. Estimating soil salinity, EC and Ks is a vital issue in soil fertility and management. Geostatistical methods, kriging and cokriging, were applied to estimate spatial distributions of the variables that were collected from a large size water well field for the surface soil, rather than entire bore-hole profile of the soil. The results suggested that estimation can be improved using cokriging , rather than kriging. Comparing to kriging results, cokriging reduced the mean squared error and improved the estimation of EC by 2-100% depending on cross-correlated variables. Using the cokriging prediction maps of the soil properties, the soil can be managed cell by cell with prescribed appropriate management strategies such as irrigation and manure application to mitigate soil salinity in the region

Regulation of growth and some key physiological processes in salt-stressed maize (Zea mays L.) plants by exogenous application of asparagine and glycerol

Maize seedlings were subjected to concentrations of 0 and 100mM of NaCl in Hoagland’s nutrient solution medium in plastic pots containing perlite. Two levels of asparagine (5 and 10 mM) and glycerol (20 and 40 mM) were sprayed onto the leaves of maize seedlings 10 days after germination. Saline stress caused considerable decline in total dry mass, chlorophyll content and relativewater content in the maize plants. It increased the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and polyphenol oxidase as well as electrolyte leakage, but did not alter the activity of non-specific peroxidise. Foliar application of asparagine or glycerol was found to be effective in checking shoot growth inhibition under NaCl stress. Exogenously applied asparagine or glycerol reduced superoxide dismutase, non-specific peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activities in salt-stressed maize plants compared to those not treated with these organic compounds. Salinity increased Na+ contents but reduced those of K+, Ca2+ and P in the roots of the used genotype of maize. Foliar application of asparagine or glycerol increased the contents of K+, Ca2+ and P, but it reduced that of Na+ in salt-stressed maize plants as compared to those of the salt-stressed plants not supplied with glycerol or asparagine. Glycerol was more effective than asparagine in improving salinity tolerance of maize plants in terms of growth and physiological attributes measured in the present study

Can proliferative hypertrophic scars of the median sternotomy incision predict the occurrence and characteristics of urethral stricture?

Conclusion: A poorly healed median stemotomy incision scar can predict a poor wound healing in the urethra tissue. Further large scale, multi-center and prospective studies are needed to clarify this relationship