Purpose of this research was evaluation of organic matter unstability (ripening) of Histosols of south-west Shahrekord, using humusunstability indices, including ratios of humic acid (HA) to fulvic acid (FA), sum of organic material types, soluble in alkali (AE=FA+HA) to humin fraction (HUM) and also ratio of optical density at 465 (E4) tooptical density at 665 nanometer (E6) of organic matter and its components. The studied area has cool and semi-arid climate. Some of the soils formed in the studied area are Histosols. Five soil profiles were described down to depth of 2 m and soil samples were collected from their different horizons. Chemical fractionation of organic matter to fulvic acid, humic acid and humin was done and the content of each of these three components and the amounts of E4 and E6 were measured. In all of the soil profiles, variations of the fulvicacid, humic acid and humin contents are similar to variations of organic matter contents. More than 94 percent of the soil organic matter has changed to humus. Increase of HA/FA with increase of soil depth indicates highdegree of polymerization and humification (stability) of organic matter in underlying layers and higher rate of humic material decomposition (unstability) in surface layers. Lower rate of humic material decomposition inunderlying layers is due to increase of clay content with increase of soil depth and adsorption of humin by clay particles. E4/E6 of the whole soil also decreased regularly from soil surface towards soil depth. This decrease is another evidence for increase of organic matter stability. Highest organic matter unstability was observed in the profile 5. This profile contains hemic but the others have sapric organic material.

Background: Cervical ripening is one of the main stages of initiation labor. Acupressure in Chinese medicine is considered as an invasive technique, which through reliving oxytocin ripens the cervix. Acupoint Sanyinjiao (SP6) was selected in this study because it is the acupoint selected in gynecology and it is easy for women to locate and apply pressure without medical assistance.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of acupressure on cervical ripening.Patients and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 150 primigravida with term pregnancy who had referred to Deziani hospital in Gorgan were chosen and divided to three groups: in the first group acupressure was done by the researcher while in the second groups this was performed by the mother her self, and the third group served as a control and only received routine care. For both intervention groups the pressure was applied on Sp6 for about 20 minutes during one to five days. Elements were checked from cervical ripening at 48 and 96 hours after intervention and at the time of hospitalization. The tools for gathering information included demographic characteristics and midwifery history questionnaire, daily records and follow up forms. Content validity was used for validity of tools. Reliability of the observation check-list and physical examination was confirmed by inter-rater scores (inter observer), and daily records by test-re-test. Data was analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-squared tests (P£0.05).Results: There was a significant difference between mothers’ educations in the three groups. Most of the mothers (59.5%) in the researcher-performed acupressure group had secondary education. Cervical ripening was significantly different between the three groups after 48 hours (P£0.05), yet there was no significant difference after 96 hours and at the time of admission. Mean Bishop score was enhanced after 48 hours in the researcher-performed acupressure group (P£0.021) and the self-performed acupressure group (P£0.007) in comparison to the control group.Conclusions: The results showed that acupressure is a safe technique and leads to cervical ripening. Thus, regarding the desired results that were achieved when mothers applied acupressure themselves, it could be suggested that it is beneficial for mothers to be trained to apply this method at home.