Improvement of Physical and Biological Quality of Soil in a Sugarcane Plantation through the Management of Organic Matter Input

Changes in soil quality of sugarcane plantation as a result of changes in land management can not be measured directly, but must be demonstrated by measuring the change in the properties of the ecosystem as an indicator. This research aimed to study the effect of the addition of various quality and quantity of organic matter on soil biology （earthworms） and physical quality （aggregate stability, macroporosity and infiltration rate）. There were i 5 treatment combinations tested. The first factor is the type of organic matter： （1） cattle manure （CM）, （2） filter cake （FC）, （3） sugarcane trash （ST）, （4） a mixture ofCM ＋ FC and （5） a mixture of CM ＋ ST. The second factor is the application dose of organic matter, which consists of three levels-5, l0 and 15 Mg/ha. The treatments were arranged in a factorial randomized block design with three replicates and one control treatment （without organic matter input）. The result of this research showed that the highest population density of earthworms was found in the treatment of ST （78 individuals/m2） and a mixture of CM ＋ ST （84 individuals/m2）. The type of organic matter with C/N ratio ranged from 15.5 to 34.7 and cellulose content in 33.3%-40.1% gave better growth of earthworm. The effect of increase in earthworm growth on soil physical improvement is more apparent in the treatment of mixture of low quality and high quality organic matter. The increase of earthworm density and biomass enhanced soil macroporosity （from r = 0.683 to r = 0.606） and infiltration rate （from r = 0.669 to r = 0.756）. The results of this study suggest a mixture of CM ＋ ST or ST alone as organic matters, which is recommended to improve soil physical and biological quality of sugarcane land, with the dose application ranged from 10 Mg/ha to 15 Mg/ha.

Initial impacts of rain gardens＇ application on water quality and quantity in combined sewer： field-scale experiment

Green infrastructures such as rain gardens can benetit onsite reduction ot stormwater runott, leading to reduced combined sewer overflows. A pilot project was conducted to evaluate the impact of rain gardens on the water quality and volume reduction of storm runoff from urban streets in a combined sewer area. The study took place in a six-block area on South Grand Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. The impact was assessed through a comparison between the pre-construction （2011/2012） and the post-construction （2014） phases. Shortly after the rain gardens were installed, the levels of total suspended solids, chloride, total nitrogen, total phosphorous, zinc, and copper increased. The level of mercury was lower than the detection level in both phases. E. coli was the only parameter that showed statistically significant decrease following the installation of rain gardens. The likely reason for initial increase in monitored water quality parameters is that the post-construction sampling began after the rain gardens were constructed but before planting, resulted from soil erosion and wash-out from the mulch. However, the levels of most of water quality parameters decreased in the following time period during the post-construction phase. The study found 76% volume reduction of stormwater runoff following the installation of rain gardens at one of studied sites. Statistical analysis is essential on collected data because of the encountered high variability of measured flows resulted from low flow conditions in studied sewers.

Repetitive administration of cultured human CD34+cells improve adenine-induced kidney injury in mice

BACKGROUND There is no established treatment to impede the progression or restore kidney function in human chronic kidney disease(CKD).AIM To examine the efficacy of cultured human CD34+cells with enhanced proliferating potential in kidney injury in mice.METHODS Human umbilical cord blood(UCB)-derived CD34+cells were incubated for one week in vasculogenic conditioning medium.Vasculogenic culture significantly increased the number of CD34+cells and their ability to form endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming units.Adenineinduced tubulointerstitial injury of the kidney was induced in immunodeficient non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency mice,and cultured human UCB-CD34+cells were administered at a dose of 1×106/mouse on days 7,14,and 21 after the start of adenine diet.RESULTS Repetitive administration of cultured UCB-CD34+cells significantly improved the time-course of kidney dysfunction in the cell therapy group compared with that in the control group.Both interstitial fibrosis and tubular damage were significantly reduced in the cell therapy group compared with those in the control group(P<0.01).Microvasculature integrity was significantly preserved(P<0.01)and macrophage infiltration into kidney tissue was dramatically decreased in the cell therapy group compared with those in the control group(P<0.001).CONCLUSION Early intervention using human cultured CD34+cells significantly improved the progression of tubulointerstitial kidney injury.Repetitive administration of cultured human UCB-CD34+cells significantly improved tubulointerstitial damage in adenine-induced kidney injury in mice via vasculoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects.