In forest ecosystems, ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi play a central role in the breakdownof soil organicmatter (SOM).Competitionbetween these two fungal guilds has long been hypothesized to lead to suppression of decomposition rates, a phenomenon known as the ‘Gadgil effect’. In this review, we examine the documentation, generality, and potential mechanisms involved in the ‘Gadgil effec...

We report a significant advance in space robotics design based on innovation of 3D composite structures and piezoelectric actuation. The essence of this work is development of a new all-composite robotic manipulator utilizing rotary ultrasonic motors (USM). “MarsArmII“ is 40% lighter than a prior “MarsArmI” JPL design based in more massive, bulky hybrid metal-composite, joint-link system archit...

Diffusive gradient in thin-films (DGT) technology was used to monitor bio-available metals and the tool was developed for risk-based pollution assessment and liability apportionment in the Witwatersrand Goldfields, South Africa, where there is widespread mine-related pollution. DGT technology is a passive sampling technique whereby metal species are selectively diffused from polluted water thro...

Abstract Triggering mechanisms and causative processes of deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSD) in Alpine high mountain areas include, among others, post-glacial de-buttressing, earthquake-induced ground shaking, or co-seismic surface faulting. Distinguishing between climatic tectonically driven factors is challenging since faults fracture systems can play both an active and/or p...

Power-modulated (pulsed) plasmas have demonstrated several advantages compared to continuous wave (CW) plasmas. Specifically, pulsed plasmas can result in a higher etching rate, better uniformity, and less structural, electrical or radiation (e.g. vacuum ultraviolet) damage. Pulsed plasmas can also ameliorate unwanted artefacts in etched micro-features such as notching, bowing, micro-trenching ...

The potential capacity of soil to sequester carbon in response to global warming is strongly regulated by the ratio of rhizosphere respiration to respiration by soil microbial decomposers, because of their different temperature sensitivities. To quantify relative contributions of rhizosphere respiration to total soil respiration as influenced by forest stand development, we conducted a trenchin...

In situ reactive barriers have been constructed by a variety of means and with a range of reactive materials. Zero valent iron reactive permeable barriers have been installed to remediate chlorinated solvent contaminated groundwater by abiotic degradation of the halogenated volatile organic compounds into harmless daughter products. Alternative reactive materials are used for precipitation, sor...

Visualization can be of significant value in improving the verification, validation, and communication of discrete-event simulation models of construction operations, which in turn can make the models more credible and thus useful in operations planning. The presented work extends the state-of-the-art of visualizing simulation models of construction operations in three-dimensions. The writers p...

How the colonization of terrestrial environments by early land plants over 400 Ma influenced rock weathering, the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and phosphorus, and climate in the Palaeozoic is uncertain. Here we show experimentally that mineral weathering by liverworts—an extant lineage of early land plants—partnering arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, like those in 410 Ma-old early land pla...

Pseudoexfoliation syndrome is a common clinically important systemic condition characterized by the pathological production and accumulation of an abnormal fibrillar extracellular material in many intraocular and extraocular tissues. Many studies have shown that pseudoexfoliation syndrome patients with higher rates of intraoperative complications during cataract surgery compared to the patients...