The p-nitrophenyl phosphomonoesterase assay (pNPPase) is commonly used to measure cell-wall-associated and extracellular phosphatase activity of soil fungi. pNPPases are usually assayed in the context of fungal nutrition, where inorganic P supply might be enhanced by the mineralisation of monoester organic P sources in the soil. The importance of the assay to the P nutrition of soil fungi is co...

The California Site Mitigation Decision Tree Manual, 1985, was developed by the California Department of Health Services to provide a detailed technical basis for managing uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The Decision Tree describes a process that relies on criteria, Applied Action Levels (AALs) to evaluate and, if necessary, mitigate the impact of uncontrolled hazardous waste sites on the p...

Statements of and advocacy for interculturalism always seems to begin with a critique of multiculturalism and aspire to offer a new and alternative paradigm of diversity and citizenship. With particular reference to a recent publication, which marks the current state of the art debate between the two 'isms', I suggest that the critique is often not based on an engagement with multiculturalist a...

Environmental monitoring is a significant driver for wireless sensor communication. Its potential to provide dynamic real-time data about monitored variable will enable to measure properties that have not previously been observable. A low cost consumer version soil moisture monitoring system was built using a gypsum block to take moisture readings, a peripheral interface controller (PIC) with a...

Petroleum contamination of soil is a serious problem throughout the oil producer countries. Vegetation may play an important role in the biodegradation of toxic organic chemicals in soil. For petroleum compounds, the presence of rhizosphere micro flora may accelerate biodegradation of the contaminants. In a greenhouse study, petroleum contaminated soil were treated using phytoremediation . ...

The Colombian Association of Psychiatry continues to work in different areas (professional and scientific issues) with the aim of improving the profession for its members. As you will have noted, from the scientific standpoint, the journal, as a means of communicating the knowledge base generated by mental health professionals, both national and international, strives for continued improvement ...

The theme of this year’s Peer Review Week is transparency. During the last few decades, I believe that a lack of transparency in the review process has degraded the field of scientific publishing. Authors were frequently left confused and angry when conflicting reviews lead to a rejection or when their paper received an obscure rejection and was not reviewed at all. Some journals still use the ...

The traditional model for human-robot interaction is at the level of user-interface. For example, given a robot structure (say Robonaut a relatively complex many DOF humantorso style robot) how should the robot be commanded by the human? We propose that for planetary exploration on the scale of Martian or Lunar habitation, a fixed robot/architecture will not be versatile enough for the variety ...