A Matter of Substance, March 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, May 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, June 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, July 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, August 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, September 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, October 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, November 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, December 2010.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, January 2011.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, February 2011.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

A Matter of Substance, March 2011.

A publication of the IDPH Division of Behavioral Health to find out what's happening with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment.

The use of total luminescence spectroscopy in the investigation of the effects of different rice management practices on humic substances of a planosol

In the Earth's carbon cycle, C stocks in the soil are higher than in vegetation and atmosphere. Maintaining and conserving organic C concentrations in the soil by specific management practices can improve soil fertility and productivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of agricultural management techniques and influence of water regime (flooded or drained) on the structure of humic substances by excitation/emission matrix fluorescence. Six samples of a Planosol (Planossolo by the Brazilian System of Soil Classification) were collected from a rice field. Humic substances (HS) were extracted from flooded and drained soil under different agricultural management techniques: conventional tillage, reduced tillage and grassland. Two peaks at a long emission wavelength were observed in the EEM spectra of HA whereas those of the corresponding FA contained a unique fluorophore at an intermediate excitation/emission wavelength pair (EEWP) value. The fluorescence intensity measured by total luminescence (FI TL) of HA was lower than that of the corresponding FA. A comparison of all samples (i.e., the HA values compared to each other) revealed only slight differences in the EEWP position, but the FI TL values were significantly different. In this soil, anoxic conditions and reduced tillage (little plowing) seem to favor a higher degree of humification of the soil organic matter compared with aerated conditions and conventional tillage.

Physical properties of a humic cambisol under tillage and cropping systems after twelve years

Soil is the basis underlying the food production chain and it is fundamental to improve and conserve its productive capacity. Imbalanced exploitation can degrade agricultural areas physical, chemical and biologically. The objective of this study was to evaluate some soil physical properties and their relation with organic carbon contents of a Humic Dystrudept under conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT), for 12 years in rotation (r) and succession (s) cropping systems. The experiment was carried out in Lages, SC (latitude 27 º 49 ' S and longitude 50 º 20 ' W, 937 m asl), using crop sequences of bean-fallow-maize-fallow-soybean in conventional tillage rotation; maize-fallow in conventional tillage succession; bean-oat-maize-turnip-soybean-vetch in no-tillage rotation; and maize-vetch in no-tillage succession. The experimental design was completely randomized with four replications. The soil samples were collected in the layers 0-2.5, 2.5-5, 5-10, and 10-20 cm. The following properties were analyzed: soil density, porosity, aggregate stability, degree of flocculation, water retention, infiltration, mechanical strength, and total organic carbon. Soil aggregation in the surface layer (0-5 cm) was better in the no-tillage than the conventional system, related to higher microporosity, organic carbon contents and water retention capacity, indicating that a periodical tillage of this soil is unnecessary. Infiltration was highest in no-tillage with crop succession.

Contribution of humic substances from different composts to the synthesis of humin in a tropical soil

The contribution of humic substances of different composts to the synthesis of humin in a tropical soil was evaluated. Increasing doses (0, 13, 26, 52, and 104 Mg ha-1) of five different composts consisting of agroinpowderrial residues were applied to a Red-Yellow Latosol. These composts were chemically characterized and 13C NMR determined and the quantity of the functional alkyl groups of humic acids applied to the soil as compost was estimated. Thirty days after application of the treatments, organic matter samples were collected for fractionation of humic acids (HA), fulvic acids (FA) and humin (HU), from which the ratios HA/FA and (HA + FA)/HU were calculated. The application of the composts based on castor cake resulted in the highest HU levels in the soil; alkyl groups of the HA fraction of the composts were predominant in the organic components added to the HU soil fraction.