background:  ramsar, a northern city in iran, lies on the coast of the caspian sea. this city has areas with some of the highest levels of natural radiation measured to date. the radon concentration in some areas of ramsar is up to 3700 bq m–3. on the other hand, due to high level of humidity, damp-proof barriers should be used in construction of new buildings in radon prone areas of this city....

Background: Ramsar, a northern city in Iran, lies on the coast of the Caspian Sea. This city has areas with some of the highest levels of natural radiation measured to date. The radon concentration in some areas of Ramsar is up to 3700 Bq m–3. On the other hand, due to high level of humidity, damp-proof barriers should be used in construction of new buildings in radon prone areas of this cit...

Background: Nowadays, extensive technological advancements have made it possible to use nanopaints which show exciting properties. In IR Iran excessive radon levels (up to 3700 Bq m–3) have been reported in homes located in radon prone areas. Over the past decades, concerns have been raised about the risk posed by resi- dential radon exposure.Objective: This study aims at investigating the ef...

Downed logs are known to increase species diversity in many forest ecosystems by increasing resource and structural complexity and by altering fire behavior in fire-prone ecosystems. In a frequently burned oak savanna in central Missouri, combustion of downed logs formed patches that have remained free of herbaceous vegetation for more than 3 years. To assess the influence of ‘‘log burnouts’’ o...

land cover change constitutes one of main way of alteration of soil organic matter in both quantitative and qualitative terms. the goal of this study was to compare the carbon stock and the isotopic signature of the organic matter in the soil of areas with different land use, covered with forest and grass (pasture). the study area is located at sorocaba, sp, brazil. using un-deformed soil sampl...

ELISA techniques were used to detect imidacloprid in guttation fluid of young cantaloupe plants in Arizona. Imidacloprid was detected at up to 4.1 microg/ml (ppm) in a coincidental guttation collection 3 d after a top label rate soil application and at 37 microg/ml one d after a separate top label rate soil application study. These imidacloprid titers exceed reported median oral toxicities for ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Worldwide, many plant species are confined to open, shallow-soil, rocky habitats. Although several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this habitat specificity, none has been convincing. We suggest that the high level of endemism on shallow soils is related to the edaphic specialization needed to survive in these often extremely drought-prone habitats. Previous research...

Numerous studies have observed the physiological responses of soil microorganisms to water stress caused by soil drying, however, only a few have attempted to assess the microbial response in soil in situ. An experiment was conducted to analyze the change in extractable metabolites, particularly sugars and amino acids, in soil and the associated microbial community at various intensities of soi...