The carbonaceous Murchison chondrite is one of the most studied meteorites. It is considered to be an astrobiology standard for detection of extraterrestrial organic matter. Considerable work has been done to resolve the elemental composition of this meteorite. Raman spectroscopy is a very suitable technique for non-destructive rapid in situ analyses to establish the spatial distribution of car...

The extractability of uranium (U) from synthetic uranium-hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) coprecipitates has been shown to decrease as a function of mineral ripening, consistent with the hypothesis that the ripening process will decrease uranium lability. To evaluate this process, three HFO suspensions were coprecipitated with uranyl (UO2(2+)) and maintained at pH 7.0 +/- 0.1. Uranyl was added to the...

We have studied optical properties (in optic and petrographic microscopy) of mineral particles (diameter > 1 μm) deposited on the surface of a small (≈ 1.4 mm height, 610 μm wide) sticky tape triangle corresponding to the Face area of the Turin Shroud (TS). All these particles were studied by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and their elemental compositions were analysed by X-ray microfluor...

The accurate calculation of clay mineral formulae from chemical analyses is important because the identity of the mineral as well as its exchange properties can be readily determined from its formula (Jackson 1969). Unfortunately, many mathematical steps, all fraught with possible errors, are required to carefully convert the data from either an oxide or metal basis to the structural formula. F...

BACKGROUND Exposure to mineral fibers is of substantial relevance to human health. A key event in exposure is the interaction with inflammatory cells and the subsequent generation of pro-inflammatory factors. Mast cells (MCs) have been shown to interact with titanium oxide (TiO₂) and asbestos fibers. In this study, we compared the response of rat peritoneal MCs challenged with the asbestos croc...

Polyethylene is widely used as a packing material for different purposes of human life. Accumulation of polyethylene in the environment may cause ecological threat. To prevent the accumulation of polyethylene in the environment, a total of seven actinomycetes were isolated from Koringa Mangrove sediments, near Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. These isolates were able to grow on mineral salts medium co...

Bones serve several mechanical functions, including acoustic amplification in the middle ear, shielding vital organs from trauma, and serving as levers for muscles to contract against. Bone is a multiphase material made up of a tough collagenous matrix intermingled with rigid mineral crystals. The mineral gives bone its stiffness. Without sufficient mineralization, bones will plastically deform...

Rates of reduction of Fe(III) oxyhydroxides by the bacterium Shewanella putrefaciens were measured as a function of the bacterial density and the Fe(III) substrate concentration. The results show that an earlier reported positive correlation between the solubility products (Kso) and the maximum cell-specific reduction rates (vmax) of predominantly poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxyhydroxides also a...

Various nanoscale semiconducting superlattices have been generated by direct templating in a lyotropic organic liquid crystal. These include superlattices of CdS, CdSe, and ZnS, templated in a liquid crystal formed by oligoethylene oxide oleyl ether amphiphiles and water. The semiconductor growth process copied the symmetry and characteristic dimensions of the original mesophase by avoiding gro...

Exposure to mineral dusts is associated with the development of chronic airflow obstruction, probably mediated in part by dust-induced fibrosis of the small airways. To investigate the mechanism of fibrosis, we exposed rat tracheal explants to amosite asbestos, iron oxide, or titanium dioxide. Explants were then maintained in air organ culture, and the expression of genes encoding for various m...