Soil Erosion Control in Drylands

This book focuses on drylands such as arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas where they form the main part of ecosystems, e.g., in Iran, but also around the world. Mismanagement and improper exploitation of these areas lead to more degradation day by day. Besides an introduction to the role and importance of vegetation cover in conserving soil against wind and water erosion, this book gives a scope of appropriate techniques and methods for vegetation establishment and maintenance, indicators for suitable plants selection for soil conservation, and soil erosion prevention and combat. It provides methods of soil erosion prevention and combating through the application of plants, using bioengineering systems for soil erosion control and the role of agroforestry in soil erosion prevention. This book can be helpful to those with an interest in countries with similar climates to Iran. In particular, this includes Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan

Investigating the Effect of Marketing Mix and Corporate Image on Brand Equity of Talia and Rightel Companies

Brand equity is known as a key index of determining the health of brand and its continuous reviewing is an important activity in effective brand management. One of the aspects of investigating brand is studying it in the view of customers that is according to subjective estimation of customer from a brand. Perceived quality of a certain brand, brand loyalty and brand awareness accompanied by brand associations are the main components of that brand.. The present study is a descriptive survey one. It aims to determine the effect of marketing mix components (price, product, place and promotion) in terms of customers’ perspective of Rightel and Talia companies. Twenty two hypotheses were developed. Population was customers of Rightel and Talia companies and a self-administrated questionnaire was employed to collect data. Reliability was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha. Data analysis was based on correlation and regression analyses with SPSS software. The results indicated that marketing mix components including price, product, place, and promotion have a significant relationship with brand equity and corporate image. Further, a significant relationship between corporate image and brand equity was found. Key words: Combined factors; Corporate image; Brand equity; Talia and Righte

بررسی الگوی راه رفتن و تعادل بیماران مبتلا به اسکولیوز بر اساس بررسی متون

مقدمه: اسکولیوز (Scoliosis)، یک ناهنجاری سه بعدی ستون فقرات و قفسه سینه است که منجر به تغییر ارتباط بین اجزای سیستم اسکلتی بدن، آناتومی ستون فقرات و تقارن تنه شده و باعث تغییر الگوی راه رفتن بیماران می‌شود. اسکولیوز موجب تغییر وضعیت مرکز ثقل بدن و نحوه‌ توزیع وزن بر اندام تحتانی می‌گردد. بنابراین می‌توان استنباط کرد که بیماران مبتلا به اسکولیوز تعادل کم‌تری نسبت به همسالان سالم خود دارند مواد و روش‌ها: جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با اسکولیوز و تأثیر این ناهنجاری بر پارامترهای کینتیکی و کینماتیکی و نیز تأثیر بریس بر پارامترهای ذکر شده با استفاده از سایت‌های جستجوگر PubMed، Google scholar و ISI web of knowledge انجام گرفت. مقالات مرتبط با این حوزه بین سال‌های 1998 تا 2012 منتشر شده بودند. یافته‌ها: با استفاده از کلمات کلیدی مدنظر 54 مقاله به دست آمد. 26 مقاله بر اساس عنوان و چکیده،‌ مطابق با موضوع تحقیق بود و 6 مقاله‌ دیگر با بررسی رفرنس مقالات انتخاب شده در مطالعه شرکت داده شدند. مقالات محدودی تأثیر بریس را بر متغیرهای کینتیکی و کینماتیکی مورد بررسی قرار بودند. نتيجه‌گيري: با بررسی مطالعات موجود نمی‌توان به نظر واحدی در مورد تأثیر اسکولیوز بر پارامترهای کینتیکی و کینماتیکی و نیز تأثیر بریس بر این پارامترها رسید. کلید واژه‌ها: اسکولیوز ایدئوپاتیک، گیت، بالانس، بریس اسکولیو

Fractal Features of Soil Particles as an Indicator of Land Degradation under Different Types of Land Use at the Watershed Scale in Southern Iran

Soil particle-size distribution (PSD) is an important soil feature that is associated with soil erosion, soil fertility, and soil physical and chemical properties. However, very few studies have been carried out to investigate soil degradation using the fractal dimension (D) of the PSD of soils from different land-use types in the calcareous soil of Iran. For this study, 120 soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected from different land-use types in the Fars Province, and various basic soil properties such as soil organic matter (SOM), soil texture fractions, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), pH, and cation-exchange capacity (CEC) were measured. The PSD of the soil samples was determined using the international classification system for soil size fraction, and the D of the PSD was calculated for all soils. The results of this study show that D is significantly correlated with clay content (r = 0.93) followed by sand content (r = −0.54) and CEC (r = 0.51). The mean D values of the forest areas (D = 2.931), with a SOM content of 2.1%, are significantly higher than those of the agricultural land (D = 2.905 and SOM = 1.6%) and pastures (D = 2.910 and SOM = 1.6%), indicating that fine soil particles, particularly clay, have been preserved in forest soils but lost in agricultural and pasture soils. We conclude that agricultural land has experienced significantly higher levels of soil erosion than forest areas

Fractal Features of Soil Particles as an Indicator of Land Degradation under Different Types of Land Use at the Watershed Scale in Southern Iran

Soil particle-size distribution (PSD) is an important soil feature that is associated with soil erosion, soil fertility, and soil physical and chemical properties. However, very few studies have been carried out to investigate soil degradation using the fractal dimension (D) of the PSD of soils from different land-use types in the calcareous soil of Iran. For this study, 120 soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected from different land-use types in the Fars Province, and various basic soil properties such as soil organic matter (SOM), soil texture fractions, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), pH, and cation-exchange capacity (CEC) were measured. The PSD of the soil samples was determined using the international classification system for soil size fraction, and the D of the PSD was calculated for all soils. The results of this study show that D is significantly correlated with clay content (r = 0.93) followed by sand content (r = −0.54) and CEC (r = 0.51). The mean D values of the forest areas (D = 2.931), with a SOM content of 2.1%, are significantly higher than those of the agricultural land (D = 2.905 and SOM = 1.6%) and pastures (D = 2.910 and SOM = 1.6%), indicating that fine soil particles, particularly clay, have been preserved in forest soils but lost in agricultural and pasture soils. We conclude that agricultural land has experienced significantly higher levels of soil erosion than forest areas

GIS-Based assessment of groundwater quality for drinking purpose in northern part of Fars province, Marvdasht

With increasing population and freshwater shortages worldwide, it is necessary to protect vital groundwater resources using innovative methods. The main objective of this study is to use a GIS-based approach with the Groundwater Quality Index (GWQI) to analyze groundwater quality in Marvdasht located in the semi-arid region of Iran. For this purpose, we used groundwater quality data that were collected in a five-year period (2010–2015). The most influential water quality parameters were determined by performing map removal sensitivity analysis. Mean maps of the groundwater parameters showed that total dissolved solid (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC) and total hardness (TH) were the most important parameters that exceed the maximum permissible limits for drinking water. The groundwater quality of the study area is generally desirable for drinking (GWQI = 71). The GWQI map indicated that groundwater was higher quality in northern regions of the study area. The GWQI also revealed that only 2% of the study area (11 km2) was below the low quality class. According to map removal sensitivity analysis, Mg2+, TH and Na+ were identified as the most sensitive water quality parameters. Therefore, these parameters need to be monitored regularly and with increased precision

Effects of a super absorbent polymer on soil properties and plant growth for use in land reclamation

Effects of the super absorbent polymer (SAP) were tested on both the soil attributes and growth properties of Seidlitzia rosmarinus in the arid Emrani region of Iran in a reclamation study. A SAP concentration gradient (SAP 0=SAP 0g dm(-3), SAP 1=SAP 1g dm(-3), and SAP 3=SAP 3g dm(-3) of soil) was coupled with 30- and 60-day irrigation intervals, and results were evaluated after two growing seasons. Results indicate that application of SAP 1 increased available water content up to 68.5% and decreased soil bulk density by 25.5% and soil infiltration rate by 21.5%. SAP enhanced growth indices and seedling establishment rates of S. rosmarinus under drought stress. In addition, the application of SAP 3 can significantly increased soil cation exchange capacity up to 31% compared to the control. This study demonstrated the increased water retention properties of SAP that leads to higher soil water storage capacity for S. rosmarinus seedlings during the first months of out-planting in arid regions. Overall, the used SAP enhanced soil and plant properties, but most assessed parameters did not differ between SAPs 1 and 3. Therefore, the 1g application rate is recommended based on technical as well as economic considerations.Iranian National Science Foundation [89003312]12 month embargo; published online: 16 October 2018This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]