a.r. karimi

Military service is one of the important steps before entering the working life for many young men in Iran, who usually have many worries about it. Some of the concerns are related to the complaints that other soldiers have about this period. Therefore, this study was to find out the causes of mental weakness of service soldiers.

This study was conducted with a qualitative method and thematic analysis method (Clark and Bravan, 2006) in the year 1400-1401 in Isfahan city and in order to answer the question that the causes of mental weakness of conscript soldiers are. The statistical population was all conscript soldiers of Isfahan city, from whom 13 soldiers were selected based on the entry and exit criteria and were interviewed by targeted sampling method. The research tool was semi-structured interview.

The collected data were analyzed with the help of thematic analysis. The results showed four main categories: intrapersonal weaknesses (external sources of happiness, high expectations, negative motivation, low self-esteem), family component (causes related to one of the parents and causes related to family conditions), interpersonal causes (weakness communication skills, weakness in managing communication problems) 3) environmental causes (perception of military personnel's weakness in establishing authoritative communication, perception of the environment's indifference to the current needs of soldiers).

According to the results, it can be said that a large part of the causes of mental weakness is related to their life history, which can be managed well in the beginning days of military service with the help of increasing skills and awareness. and helped their mental enrichment.

Nowadays cement is one of the most common material for construction projects, due to its long time usage it has been handy for engineers. Cement has a lot of deleterious effects on environment from production process to cement itself. So looking for a substitution material is vital for future generation, this research evaluated the effect of zeolite and sawdust ash (SDA) replacement with cement separately and simultaneously. There are some variation parameters: the amount of zeolite and sawdust ash and curing time for each sample. Overall 57 samples were made the amount of cement is 4% by weight of base soil and 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 percent sawdust ash replaced by cement and 0, 10, 30, 50, 70 percent of zeolite replaced by cement. The curing times are 7, 14, 28 days. According to results by replacement 0.5% sawdust ash with cement the amount of optimum moisture will increased and in higher amounts of sawdust ash it will decrease. Also dry density will decreased. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test data shows that optimum amount of zeolite and sawdust ash replacement with cement are 10% and 0.5% respectively. These optimum amounts make compressive strength increased 250.46 and 245.01 percent respectively compared with base soil and 73.9 and 87.42 percent respectively compared with stabilized sandy soil with 4% cement only.

 The type of management operations and land use systems are the key parameters affecting the soil quality and sustainable land use. The exploitation systems by efficient use of soil and water recourse can decrease productions costs and increase the yield as well as conserve the natural resources. However, farmers and stakeholders need to be aware that through their management practices, they affect soil quality and, with the short-term goal of production and greater profitability, lead to soil degradation. They can both use the land economically and improve and maintain soil quality by balancing production inputs and refining their management approaches. There are different management systems of productivity in agricultural lands in Neyshabour plain in northeastern Iran. In addition to the water and soil limitations in the study area, the prevalence of the smallholder system and the unwillingness of farmers to integrate smallholder, has further increased the destruction of soils in the study area. The objective of this study was to assess the changes in soil quality index in surface soil and profile (0-100 cm) and calculate the correlation between soil quality index and alfalfa and rapeseed yield in rangeland and agricultural areas managed by smallholders, total owners, and Binalood Company in the study area.

 A total of 21 soil profiles were described in the total owner, smallholder and Binalood company management system and sampled from the alfalfa and rapeseed lands. Questionnaires were prepared with the help of farmers and experts in the study area based on Analytic Hierarchical analysis (AHP) method. The physical and chemical characteristics of the soil samples were determined. The important soil characteristics affecting plant growth were determined by interviewing farmers and experts study area. Soil quality index in the minimum data set (MDS) was calculated by two methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and expert opinion (EO), by additive and weighted methods in surface soil and profile. To achieve a single value for each soil properties in the soil profile, two methods of weighted mean and weighted factor were used. To evaluate the accuracy of the assessment, the correlation between soil quality index and alfalfa and rapeseed yield was investigated of the various management system.

The results showed that the highest additive and weighted soil quality index at both surface and soil profile in both PCA and EO methods were in rangeland. It was due to lack of cultivation and maintaining organic matter comparing to agricultural land. The total owner management system due to its economic power and the use of appropriate and scientific methods comparing to smallholder management system, showed the highest additive and weighted soil quality index. In all management system, the EO-calculated weight index by weighted factor method had the highest value due to assigning the suitable weight for soil characteristics. The correlation analyses soil quality indices with canola and alfalfa indicated that the EO soil quality calculated by weighted factor for the soil profile were more correlated than surface soil in total owner system and the Binalood company. Weight coefficient method due to the application of different weights to each layer based on their importance, showed a higher soil quality index in both EO and PCA sets than the weighted average method. The reason for better EO performance probably is that the PCA is a reducing the dimensions, meanwhile, the minimum data selection in the EO method is based on regional experts which are familiar with cause-and-effect relationship of the soil properties. Due to the relatively good correlation of the yield of the studied products, with the soil quality index, an appropriate management needs to maintain and improve soil quality, especially in the smallholder system, as well as meeting the nutritional needs of these products.

 Soil quality assessment in this study indicated that calculation of the soil quality index only considering the surface soil properties may not provide complete information for the farmers and land managers. Then inclusion of both surface and profile soil properties with farmers' knowledge and study area experts are essential for sustainable soil management. On the other hand, the differences in the management system also affected the soil quality index. Although the smallholder management system due to low input, especially chemical fertilizers, water and agricultural implements, had a high potential concerning environmental issues, but in terms of production, total owner and Binalood company management systems because of their high economic strength had the higher soil quality index. The farmers and stakeholders of the total owner management systems should be considered despite the proper management, however due to high inputs of fertilizer and water, especially in the Binalood company, the production may not be sustainable. Therefore, for further studies, calculating the water consumption in the desired management systems is recommended.

Oak (Quercus spp.) forest cover is one of the most important living ecosystems in the western region of Iran and the Kermanshah Province. One of the important managerial needs of this cover is the water requirement of the oak plant. Currently, determining the amount of water required by the oak plant is one of the main priorities of the country's natural resources sector. Among the practical methods for estimating the evapotranspiration of vegetation (water requirement) at different levels are remote sensing techniques. In this study, in order to determine the rate of evapotranspiration of forest cover in the Robat Mahidasht region in the Kermanshah Province, the SEBAL algorithm and four images of Landsat 5 in the period of June, July, and august of 2010 were used. Then, using Sentinel satellite images, the forest areas of the Robat-Mahidasht region were extracted and matched with the calculated evapotranspiration map. Based on the obtained results, the average rate of 24-hour evapotranspiration of forest cover in the desired time period has varied between 3.4 to 5.09 mm. The correlation coefficient between the estimation of evapotranspiration by SEBAL and lysimetric measurement in Mahidasht region was about 0.9967 and the absolute difference between them was about 0.53 mm per day, which indicates an error of less than 10%. The estimation of SEBAL algorithm is acceptable. Remote sensing technique and the SEBAL algorithm can be used in the compression classification and even the health of forests if there is a suitable sequence of images and with the help of satellite data of other sensors such as Sentinelimages.

Large areas of Iran are located in arid and semi-arid climatic regions and their soils are naturally subjected to erosion and degradation. Be aware of how management practices and topographic features influence soil organic carbon and aggregate stability is a very important issue from the land management point of view. In this study, four different land use management sites (preserved pasture, grazing pasture, overgrazing pasture and rain fed lands) positioned in the hill slopes of Sisab experimental station (Bojnourd) were considered. In each site, soil samples from 0-15 cm of summit, backslope and toeslope in north and south-facing slopes were sampled. Soil samples were analyzed by using standard methods. The results showed that sand content in south-facing slopes was higher compare to north facing slopes, while silt content, soil organic carbon and mean weight diameter (MWD) were higher in north-facing slopes compared to south facing slopes. The maximum soil organic carbon and MWD were observed in the toeslope of north-facing slope while the minimum were monitored in backslope of south-facing slopes. The results also showed that sand content increased to 41 and 39% in overgrazing and grazing pastures respectively compared to preserved pasture and clay content decreased by 6%. Soil organic carbon decreased from 9.6 (g kg-1) in preserved pasture to 6.4, 8.2 and 9.1 (g kg-1) in cultivated land, overgrazing and grazing pastures, respectively. MWD decreased by 55, 35 and 17 percent in rain fed, overgrazing pasture and grazing pasture compared with preserved pasture, respectively. Despite the strong correlation between MWD and soil organic carbon (R2=0.81) in all sites, the aggregate stability in north-facing slopes was mainly influenced by organic carbon while the role of calcium carbonate was notable in south-facing slopes.

Considering the importance of soil in supplying food for the increasing human population, knowledge of soil quality, including physical, chemical, biological and mineralogical properties are important. Spatial variability of soil properties is related to environmental factors such as climate, slope position, topography, slope gradient, elevation, parent material and vegetation. Topography variability and soil formation cause the significant differences in soil characteristics in a hillslope. The main objective of the present study was to assess some physical, chemical and biological indicators of soil quality in a loess hillslope of Toshan area in Golestan Province, Northen Iran. Therefore 135 samples were collected at random systematic method (0-20 cm depth) at three aspects and four slope positions. Soil texture, bulk density, organic carbon (OC), electrical conductivity, pH, microbial respiration rate, calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE) and mean weight diameter (MWD) of aggregates were measured for studying soil quality, including physical, chemical and biological. The results indicated that the lower slope positions had the highest amounts of clay, OC, MWD and the lowest CCE and soils in north-east aspect had higher OC compared to other aspects. Therefore, it is concluded that most soil properties are dependant largely on slope position and aspect that could have a long-term influence on soil development and evolution. Among the soil properties, OC is a suitable indicator for assessing the effects of slope position and aspect on soil quality in the studied area.