The human body has an elaborate system for managing and regulating the amount of key trace metals circulating in blood and stored in cells. Nutrient metals from our diet are incorporated into blood if blood levels are depleted, transported into cells if cellular levels are inadequate, or excreted if blood and cell levels are sufficient or overloaded. When this system fails to function properly,...

Recent studies of plasmon surface wave (PSW) propagation in short-period perfectly conducting gratings have shown formation of stop-band that are not linked to the interaction between two (counter) propagating surface waves. We study the properties of this stop-band in real metals. While for both perfectly conducting and real metals the propagation constant of PSW grows with the groove height, ...

The separation and recovery of rare earth metals from fluorescence material waste was investigated by using solvent extraction with 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester in kerosene. Extraction equilibrium expressions were established for the trivalent metals (La, Ce, Eu, Tb, Y and Al) and divalent metals (Ca, Sr and Ba) for both single and multi components systems. The process s...

In conjunction with John Donat and David Burdige at Old Dominion University, we are studying the influence of metal speciation and metal/metal interactions on the particulate cycling and removal of pollutant metals (Zn and Cd) in the Elizabeth River and Hampton Roads Estuaries, home of the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet. We are especially interested in the role of metal uptake by plankton as well as in ...

Transition metals are essential for health, forming integral components of proteins involved in all aspects of biological function. However, in excess these metals are potentially toxic, and to maintain metal homeostasis organisms must tightly coordinate metal acquisition and excretion. The diet is the main source for essential metals, but in aquatic organisms an alternative uptake route is ava...

Hyperaccumulation is an unusual plant response to metaliferous soils. Such soils like those derived from ultramafic rocks, have elevated concentrations of heavy metals, mainly Ni, Cr, Zn and Cd. Most plants growing on these soils exclude metals from their shoots as excessive accumulation of heavy metals is toxic to the majority of plants. However, about 2% of plants growing on metaliferous soil...

Nearly all metals, with the exception of gold and platinum, will corrode in an oxidising environment forming compounds such as oxides, hydroxides and sulphides. The degradation of metals by corrosion is a universal reaction, caused by the simple fact that the oxide of a metal has a much lower energy than the metal itself. Hence there is a strong driving force for the oxidation of metals. For ex...

The aim of this study is to analysis the performance of Robinia pseudoascacia (black locust tree) to accumulation some of heavy metals and compared with the concentration of these metals in falling dust Yazd highway green belt. In order to an experiment was conducted as factorial based on completely randomized design with four replications.The results showed that the concentration of, ...

Textures in the hexagonal metals have attracted significant interest over the years because of the use of some hexagonal metals and alloys, e.g. Zircaloy cladding for nuclear reactor fuels, Ti alloys for aerospace and aircraft industry, and Mg alloys for automobile and computer, communication and consumer electronic (3C) appliances. From a mechanistic point of view, hexagonal metals are differe...

Disposal of metal finishing wastes is one of the most critical industrial waste problems in the United States today. Recent legislation greatly restricts the discharge of most heavy metals to watercourses and future discharge regulations may further restrict their release to the environment. Furthermore, interest in developing possible methods for reclaiming metals from plating waste streams is...