Iron(III) (oxyhydr)oxides can represent the dominant microbial electron acceptors under anoxic conditions in many aquatic environments, which makes understanding the mechanisms and processes regulating their dissolution and transformation particularly important. In a previous laboratory-based study, it has been shown that 0.05 mM thiosulfate can reduce 6 mM ferrihydrite indirectly via enzymatic...

Biotite is a common constituent of silicate bedrock. Its weathering releases plant nutrients and consumes atmospheric CO2. Because of its stoichiometric relationship with its transformational weathering product and sensitivity to botanical activity, calculating biotite weathering rates using watershed mass-balance methods has proven challenging. At Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory the coupling of ...

Mineral dust-induced gene (mdig) had been linked to the development of human lung cancers associated with environmental exposure to mineral dust, tobacco smoke or other carcinogens. In the present studies, we demonstrated that the overexpression of mdig in A549 adenocarcinomic human alveolar type II epithelial cells decreases the heterochromatin conformation of the cells and de-represses the tr...

Rhodochrosite (MnCO3) is a model mineral representing carbonate aerosol particles containing redox-active elements that can influence particle surface reconstruction in humid air, thereby affecting the heterogeneous transformation of important atmospheric constituents such as nitric oxides, sulfur dioxides, and organic acids. Using in situ atomic force microscopy, we show that the surface recon...

Due to the measurement problems encountered in mineral processes, observers are appropriate ingredients of advanced model based control algorithm. The measurement problem can be solved by designing nonlinear observer. This paper discusses the way in which a state observer may be designed to control a special class of nonlinear systems. Focus is put on the pertinent applicability of the scope of...

Nigeria had relied solely on her oil wealth at the expense of all other naturally endowed agricultural and enormous mineral resources that abound every landscape of the country. The worldwide economic melt-down that was experienced by the third quarter of 2008 in the United States of America coupled with the slide in foreign earning from crude oil export revenue at the international market, lea...

The crystal structure of metarossite, ideally CaV2O6·2H2O [chemical name: calcium divanadium(V) hexa-oxide dihydrate], was first determined using precession photographs, with fixed isotropic displacement parameters and without locating the positions of the H atoms, leading to a reliability factor R = 0.11 [Kelsey & Barnes (1960 ▸). Can. Mineral.6, 448-466]. This communication reports a structur...

Life and element cycling on Earth is directly related to electron transfer (or redox) reactions. An understanding of biogeochemical redox processes is crucial for predicting and protecting environmental health and can provide new opportunities for engineered remediation strategies. Energy can be released and stored by means of redox reactions via the oxidation of labile organic carbon or inorga...

A physico-chemical process has been developed to transform and enhance lignocellulosic waste in liquid humic extracts: humic-like substances (HLS). The aim of this study was to determine the effects of HLS on plant physiology in order to consider their agricultural use as organic fertilizers. The effects of HLS were evaluated on maize seed germination, and their impact on growth, development an...

Mycorrhizal fungi interconnect two different kinds of environments, namely the plant roots with the surrounding soil. This widespread coexistence of plants and fungi has important consequences for plant mineral nutrition, water acquisition, carbon allocation, tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses and interplant competition. Yet some current research indicates a number of important roles to b...