Integration of ANP and Fuzzy set techniques for land suitability assessment based on remote sensing and GIS for irrigated maize cultivation

Land suitability assessment can inform decisions on land uses suitable for maximizing crop yield while making best use, but not impairing the ability of natural resources such as soil to support growth. We assessed the suitability of maize to be produce in 12,000 ha land of Dasht-e-Moghan region of Ardabil province, northwest of Iran. Suitability criteria included soil depth, gypsum (%), CaCO₃ (%), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), slope (%) and climate data. We modified and developed a novel set of techniques to assess suitability: fuzzy set theory, analytic network process (ANP), remote sensing and GIS. A map of suitability was compared a map created using a traditional suitability technique, the square root method. The coefficient of determination between the land suitability index and observed maize yield for square root and ANP-fuzzy methods was 0.747 and 0.919, respectively. Owing to greater flexibility to represent different data sources and derive weightings for meaningful land suitability classes, the ANP-fuzzy method was a superior method to represent land suitability classes than the square root method.     

Spatial modeling of soil salinity using multiple linear regression,ordinary kriging and artificial neural network methods

Salinity as an important property of soil plays a major role in reducing the fertility in the world. Accurate information about the spatial change of soil salinity is essential for sustainable soil management and utilization in agriculture lands. For this purpose, 150 soil samples were collected from Dashte-e-Tabriz Iran and tested and soil salinity was estimated by land surface parameters including elevation, aspect, length of slope, wetness index, slope and normalized difference vegetation index as basic parameters. In order to model and predict the salinity, ordinary kriging (OK), artificial neural networks (ANN) and multiple linear regressions (MLR) were used. Accuracy of models was evaluated by the coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). Based on Pearson correlation, elevation, normalized difference vegetation and wetness indices were selected for soil salinity spatial modeling from six land surface parameters. The results showed that the ANN had the lowest RMSE and highest R2. The values of R2, RMSE and MAE were 0.36, 25.89 and 17.06 for regression and 0.56, 17.70 and 13.05 for OK and 0.69, 16.06 and 11.60 for ANN, respectively, which indicated more accuracy of ANN in comparison with MLR and OK.     

Beta-lactoglobulin structure and retinol binding changes in presence of anionic and neutral detergents

Bovine beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) in vivo (in milks) has been found in complexes with lipids such as butyric and oleic acids. To elucidate the still unknown structure-function relationship in this protein, the structural changes of beta-lactoglobulin variant A (beta-LG A) in the presence of anionic surfactant such as sodium n-dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and in the presence of nonionic surfactant such as Triton X-100 have been investigated. Subsequently, the retinol binding by beta-LG has been investigated in the presence of various amounts of these surfactants as its binding indicator. The results of UV-vis and fluorescence studies show a higher denaturating effect of SDS at acid pH that can be due to greater positive charges of beta-LG at this pH indicating also the nonspecific hydrophobic interactions of Triton X-100 with beta-LG at all studied pHs. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) measurements indicate the endothermic nature of beta-LG/SDS interactions and the exothermic nature of Triton X-100/beta-LG interactions. The analysis of the binding data demonstrates the absence of considerable changes in retinol binding properties of beta-LG in the presence of various amounts of these surfactants. This implies that surfactant binding does not change the conformation of beta-LG in the regions defining the retinol-binding site.     

Evaluation of infiltration models with different numbers of fitting parameters in different soil texture classes

In this study, the ability of eight different infiltration models (i.e. Green and Ampt, Philip, SCS (US-Soil Conservation Service), Kostiakov, Horton, Swartzendruber, Modified Kostiakov (MK) and Revised Modified Kostiakov (RMK) models) were evaluated by least-squares fitting to measured infiltration data. Six comparison criteria including coefficient of determination (R²), mean root mean square error (MRMSE), root mean square error (RMSE), the F-statistic (F), C_p statistic of Mallows (C_p) and Akaike information criterion (AIC) were used to determine the best performing model with the least number of fitting parameters. Results indicated that R² and MRMSE were not suitable for model selection. A more valid comparison was achieved by F, C_p, AIC and RMSE statistics. The RMK model including four parameters had the best performance with the majority of soils studied. RMK was better than the MK model in approximately 51.6, 57, 68.5 and 70.6% of soils, when using F, C_p, AIC and RMSE statistics, respectively, and for the other models, a higher per cent of soils was obtained. The RMK model was the best for loam, clay loam and silty clay loam soils, but the MK model was the best for silty loam soils.     

A wind tunnel experiment to investigate the effect of polyvinyl acetate,biochar, and bentonite on wind erosion control

Due to the heavy costs of wind erosion control measures, the correct selection of technical methods is indispensable for a sustainable land management in arid and semiarid regions. Thus, the main goal of this research was to investigate the feasibility of using the clay minerals (i.e., bentonite), polyvinyl acetate and palm biochar for reducing the wind erosion in deserts surrounding the cities. The treatments were sprayed uniformly onto the containers (5 × 35 × 105 cm, 0.37 m²) with sand (collected from sand dunes surrounding Isfahan city, central Iran) in 3 replicates. The experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel with sequential repetitions after 1, 10, and 20 weeks. Among the studied treatments, the bentonite planters demonstrated to be the most effective soil erosion control measure by reducing soil loss and improving sand ablation. On the contrary, the palm biochar had less influence on the soil erosion control and only a slight effect on the threshold speed. For the future, further studies are required to select the best and most relevant soil erosion control measures under field conditions considering all the environmental aspects in arid regions of Iran.     

Soil structure changes due to different land-use practices in the central Zagruos region,Iran

In this study, the effect of land-use treatments and the feasibility of fractal dimension to quantify soil aggregate stability were investigated in the central Zagrous, Iran. For this purpose, the non-linear fractal dimension (D_nl), linear fractal dimension (D_l) and the mean weight diameter (MWD) of aggregates were compared. Soil samples from three sites with four adjacent land-use types, namely: forest area (F), cultivated lands adjacent to forest (CAF), pasture (P) and cultivated lands adjacent to pasture (CAP) were collected. Results showed that soils under cultivated lands had higher bulk density (BD) (1.30–1.38 Mg m^?3) compared to the adjacent soils under forest (1.19 Mg m^?3) and pasture (1.21 Mg m^?3). In the 0–15 cm layer, soil organic matter (SOM) content in the cultivated plots were respectively 30% and 31% lower compared to the forest and pasture soils. The lowest CVs belonged to D_nl (5–8%) demonstrating that D_nl was more accurate than D_l (8–14%) and MWD (30–53%) methods. CAP had the largest value of D_nl, while P had the smallest value of D_nl. Difference of D_nl between forest and pasture was not significant, whereas both of them significantly differed from CAF and CAP. D_l did not differ significantly between forest and CAF. There were significant differences between forest and pasture for the measured MWD. Both fractal dimensions had negative correlation with MWD, SOM, hydraulic conductivity (HC) and macroaggregates (>0.25 mm) and positive correlation with BD and total porosity (TP).     

Comparative in vitro study of the intestinal absorption of titanium and iron in rats

Rat Everted Gut Sac (EGS) model was employed to study the intestinal uptake of titanium and iron. Incubation of freshly prepared rat EGS in Earle's medium pH = 7.4 containing titanium showed that the absorption of titanium as well as iron was a dose dependent process. Ascorbic acid enhanced the absorption of both metal ions, while NaF (1 mM) as an inhibitor of glycolytic energy supply, decreased their absorption. The Na+-K+ ATPase inhibitor, ouabain (1 mM) reduced intestinal absorption of Titanium. This suggests that titanium uptake is an active transport process as is iron uptake. Iron absorption was reduced approximate by 17% when titanium was presented to incubation medium EGS whereas, the absorption of titanium was decreased by 35% when iron was added to the reaction mixture.     

A simple approach for regulating saline groundwater inflows to natural streams in irrigated agricultural areas

Stream salinity management is of prime importance for ensuring environmental sustainability of rivers, streams, lakes and other water bodies. Saline groundwater inflows are the main cause of deteriorating quality of stream flows; especially during periods of low flows. The Murray-Darling Basin is a good example for reducing groundwater recharge from irrigated agricultural areas with successful implementation of land and water management plans (LWMPs). In most cases, these plans help minimize the influence of saline groundwater flows on the stream salinity, as a preventive measure. As a remedial measure, this paper introduces a simple but an innovative approach for regulating saline groundwater inflows to natural streams in irrigated agricultural areas. The approach uses the flap gate with an automatic lowering and raising mechanism. During low stream flow, this gate is kept in a raised position. Depending upon the upstream inflows, the ponding situation will develop hydraulic gradient away from the stream; groundwater inflows to the creek will become minimal. During high stream flows, the gate is kept in a lower position to let the diluted water flows through the stream uninterrupted. To install, operate and manage such gates on multiple sites along the stream(s), the individual control panels can be joined into a central control station via telemetric link up. This approach, which holds a key for successfully regulating groundwater induced salinity to natural streams, should be considered in conjunction with other LWMPs to improve stream salinity in an irrigated agricultural area.     

Resistance of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum</Emphasis> species to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cucumber mosaic virus</Emphasis> subgroup IA and its vector <Emphasis Type="Italic">Myzus persicae</Emphasis>

Sixty-nine tomato genotypes representing nine Solanum species were evaluated for resistance to Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) subgroup IA and its aphid vector Myzus persicae. Resistance was assessed by visual scoring of symptoms in the field under natural conditions, and in the greenhouse by artificial inoculations through aphid M. persicae and mechanical transmissions in the year 2007 and 2009. Considerable variation in responses was observed among the evaluation methods used. Field evaluations were found liable to errors as different levels were observed for the same genotypes in the different years, however mechanical inoculation was found to be the most useful in identifying CMV subgroup IA resistance, in contrast aphid transmission was most useful in identifying insect transmission resistance. All genotypes observed as highly resistant to CMV subgroup IA in the field or through vector transmission became systemically infected through mechanical inoculations. Using mechanical inoculation, six genotypes (TMS-1 of S. lycopersicum, LA1963 and L06049 of S. chilense, LA1353, L06145 and L06223 of S. habrochaites) were found resistant and another six (L06188 and L06238 of S. neorickii, L06219 of S. habrochaites, L05763, L05776 and L06240 of S. pennellii) were found tolerant showing mild symptoms with severity index (SI) ranging 1-2 and with delayed disease development after a latent period (LP) of 18–30 days. However, these genotypes were found to be resistant to highly resistant in the field and through inoculation by M. persicae; and they also supported low population levels of M. persicae except TMS-1. Another nine genotypes (LA2184 of S. pimpinellifolium L., LA2727 of S. neorickii, LA0111, L06221, L06127 and L06231 of S. peruvianum L., LA1306, L06057 and L06208 of S. chmielewskii) showing a susceptible response after mechanical inoculation were highly resistant, resistant and tolerant after M. persicae transmission. The resistant genotypes, identified in the present study can be exploited in the breeding programmes aimed at developing tomato varieties resistant to CMV subgroup IA and broadening the genetic base of CMV-resistant germplasm. The differences observed between mechanical and aphid transmission suggests that one should consider both evaluation methods for tomato germplasm screening against CMV subgroup IA.