UAS-based Remote Sensing Techniques for Detecting Evapotranspiration, and the Effects of LEPA/LESA and MESA Sprinkler Configurations for Precision Irrigation Management

This was a study of various methods for site-specific irrigation management. The effects of low elevation spray/precision application system (LESA/LEPA) and mid-elevation spray application (MESA) on spearmint and peppermint oil yield, crop lodging, and evapotranspiration (ET) suppression were studied. The results showed that a LESA/LEPA system could reduce water use by at least 15% without reducing oil concentration and mint oil yield. MESA caused the significantly higher amount of lodging in spearmint. The entropy value, or texture feature, is a viable method for estimating lodging using low-altitude RGB imagery. The total reduction in ET due to the microclimate modifications from wind drift and evaporation losses was small (0.5% of the total applied water) compared to the 15-20% differences in irrigation application efficiency between MESA and LESA. The second part of this thesis focused on improving ET estimation of the unmanned aerial system (UAS)-based METRIC energy balance model. The UAS-METRIC model is adapted from the Landsat METRIC model, which auto-selects two extreme temperatures, a hot pixel (dry, bare soil) and a cold pixel (fully irrigated and fully transpiring crop) for the internal calibration of the model. The results of this study showed that with UAS imagery, auto-selection of hot and cold pixels could result in poor internal calibration due to the limited scale of the imagery. Therefore, temperatures of several reference surfaces were compared with temperatures of dry, bare agricultural soil and fully irrigated grass to find the best correlated artificial hot and cold reference surfaces for the UAS data acquisition. A green sponge floating in the water and a terra cotta saucer plate full of water were the selected artificial cold reference surfaces. These were between 1.9–8.3 °C warmer than the non-stressed spearmint canopy. A dry mulch and dry terra cotta saucer plate were selected as the artificial hot pixel references. Application of dry red mulch/wet sponge and dry/wet saucer plate as artificial hot and cold reference surfaces for internal calibration of the UAS-METRIC model results in overestimating ET compared to using fully irrigated spearmint crop and dry red mulch as the cold and hot pixels respectively

The Incidence of Renal Scarring and its Related Factors in Children with First Pyelonephritis

Introduction:Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common in children. UTIs are important in view of the morbidity and risk of scarring. Several factors have been reported to be responsible for progression to scarring. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of scar and its related factors. Materials and Methods:In this study, 26 males and 77 females (3 months - 12 years) with first pyelonephritis were evaluated. All patients underwent ultrasound, cystourethrography, and Dimercaptosuccinic acid scan. A follow-up scan was performed 6 months later. Age, gender, organism, presence, and grade of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), delay in treatment, total white blood cell counts (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels on admission were recorded. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between the variables and scar.Results:Of 103 patients, 47.6% had VUR. Scar was detected in 38.8%. There were significant associations between delay in treatment (p=0.0001), grade of VUR (p=0.03) and elevated ESR (p= 0.006), CRP (p=0.002) and WBC (p=o.oo5) with scar. No association was established with age, sex, VUR, and organism. On multivariate analysis, delay in treatment was independently associated with scar.Conclusions:We found that the grade of VUR, delay in treatment, and increased ESR, CRP and WBC were important factors related to scar. Keywords: Child; Pyelonephritis; Renal Scar

Corrigendum to “Comparison of conventional IVF versus ICSI in non-male factor, normoresponder patients” [Iran J Reprod Med 2012; 10: 131-136]

This article is a corrigendum to "Comparison of conventional IVF versus ICSI in non-male factor, normoresponder patients” [Iran J Reprod Med 2012; 10: 131–136]. Please download the PDF or view the article HTML.&nbsp

Guide to Pivot Track Management

Irrigation uniformity can be reduced by wheel track rutting because of tire slippage (Meyer & Hoffman, 1983). These impacts can result in costly repairs to equipment, including gear boxes (about $700 each) and center-drive motors (about$550 each), or hydraulic pumps and motors on certain makes of pivot. Labor and crop damage associated with freeing or repairing a pivot or caused by downtime can also be a great expense to the farmer. This guide covers different strategies for managing wheel track rutting for center pivots and lateral-move systems

Mobile drip irrigation (MDI)

Mobile drip irrigation (MDI) drags drip tubing with in-line emitters behind a center pivot. This publication describes the advantages and disadvantages of MDI and concludes that growers should consider MDI if they have inadequate water for unstressed crop production and field runoff problems that make it difficult for them to use low elevation spray application (LESA) or low energy precision application (LEPA)

Comparison of conventional IVF versus ICSI in non-male factor, normoresponder patients

Background: Conventional IVF and ICSI are two common techniques to achieve fertilization. IVF has long been used for treatment of infertility, although it is not an effective treatment in severe male infertility. The use of ICSI has been expanded in severe male factor and fertilization failure after IVF cycle. In spite of the widespread use of ICSI in patients with non-male factor infertility, there is still little evidence to confirm its effectiveness in this population. Objective: To evaluate assisted reproductive technology outcomes between IVF and ICSI cycles in non-male factor, normoresponder patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 220 non-male factors, normoresponder patients who were indicated for ART were enrolled in this study. The patients received standard long GnRH agonist or GnRH antagonist protocols for ovarian stimulation and after oocytes retrieval, the patients were divided into two groups (IVF and ICSI groups). In IVF group (n=112), all of retrieved oocytes were treated by conventional IVF and in ICSI group (n=88), microinjection (ICSI) was done on all of retrieved oocytes. Results: In IVF group, fertilization and implantation rates were significantly higher than ICSI group (66.22% and 16.67% in IVF group versus 57.46% and 11.17% in ICSI group, respectively). Chemical and clinical pregnancy rates were statistically higher in IVF group as compared with the ICSI group (42.9% vs. 27.3% and 35.7% vs. 21.5%, respectively). Conclusion: According to our study, the routine use of ICSI is not improved fertilization, implantation and chemical pregnancy rates and is not recommended in non-male factor, normozoospermic patients

The reasons for colposcopy and histopathological outcomes in referral patients to Ayatollah Mosavi Hospital of Zanjan (2012–2017)

Objectives: The present study aimed at assessing the prevalence of cervical cancer and premalignant lesions of the cervix in patient referred to colposcopy unit in Zanjan, and to determine what extent colposcopy is conducted based on the scientific indications. Materials and Methods: In this registry-based cross-sectional study, all women who were referred to the Colposcopy unit of Zanjan Ayatollah-Mousavi Hospital to undergo colposcopy during 2012–2017 were studied. The required data were collected from the registered medical records in the Pathology Department of the hospital. The Bethesda System Terminology was used for classifying premalignant cervical lesions. Results: In the present study, the most common abnormal clinical signs were abnormal vaginal bleeding, whereas atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (39.5%) remained the most common abnormal Pap smear test result. The clinical appearance of the cervix in 104 patients (62.3%) showed cervical erosion. The results of colposcopy showed some signs of inflammation in all patients. Out of these patients, 5.4% were reported with acute inflammation, and 39.5% with chronic inflammation. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the patients' referral for a colposcopy must be based on the scientific indications and unnecessary colposcopy should be avoided

Assessing Suitability of Auto-Selection of Hot and Cold Anchor Pixels of the UAS-METRIC Model for Developing Crop Water Use Maps

The METRIC energy balance model uses an auto-selection approach for identifying hot (dry, bare soil) and cold (fully transpiring crop) anchor pixels for the internal calibration of the model. When an unmanned aerial system (UAS) is used for imagery, the small image size and the varying crop and soil water status of agricultural fields make the identification of reliable hot and cold pixels challenging. In this study, we used an experimental spearmint field under three irrigation levels (75%, 100%, and 125% of crop evapotranspiration, ETc). As a way of providing diverse field conditions, six different extents (Extent 1 to Extent 6) were selected from each day of the seven days of UAS imagery campaigns of the same field for generating UAS-based ETc maps using auto-selection of hot and cold anchor pixels for the internal calibration of the model. Extent 1 had the smallest coverage area of the field, including only plants that were irrigated at 75% of ETc, while the fields of view of the other extents increased to where the Extent 6 covered the spearmint field and all the surroundings including trees, a nearby water canal, irrigated grass, and irrigated and non-irrigated soil. The results showed that different sizes of extent resulted in the selection of variable hot (bare, but moist soil in small extents, and dry bare soil at the larger extents) and cold anchor pixels (crop under water stress at the small extents, and tree canopy or grass alongside the water canal at the larger extents). This variation resulted in significantly different ETc estimation for the same spearmint crop field, indicative of a potential limitation for the use auto-selection of hot and cold pixels when using the UAS-METRIC model

Assessing Suitability of Auto-Selection of Hot and Cold Anchor Pixels of the UAS-METRIC Model for Developing Crop Water Use Maps

The METRIC energy balance model uses an auto-selection approach for identifying hot (dry, bare soil) and cold (fully transpiring crop) anchor pixels for the internal calibration of the model. When an unmanned aerial system (UAS) is used for imagery, the small image size and the varying crop and soil water status of agricultural fields make the identification of reliable hot and cold pixels challenging. In this study, we used an experimental spearmint field under three irrigation levels (75%, 100%, and 125% of crop evapotranspiration, ETc). As a way of providing diverse field conditions, six different extents (Extent 1 to Extent 6) were selected from each day of the seven days of UAS imagery campaigns of the same field for generating UAS-based ETc maps using auto-selection of hot and cold anchor pixels for the internal calibration of the model. Extent 1 had the smallest coverage area of the field, including only plants that were irrigated at 75% of ETc, while the fields of view of the other extents increased to where the Extent 6 covered the spearmint field and all the surroundings including trees, a nearby water canal, irrigated grass, and irrigated and non-irrigated soil. The results showed that different sizes of extent resulted in the selection of variable hot (bare, but moist soil in small extents, and dry bare soil at the larger extents) and cold anchor pixels (crop under water stress at the small extents, and tree canopy or grass alongside the water canal at the larger extents). This variation resulted in significantly different ETc estimation for the same spearmint crop field, indicative of a potential limitation for the use auto-selection of hot and cold pixels when using the UAS-METRIC model