BACKGROUND Outdoor air pollution, given its demonstrated negative effects on the respiratory system, is a growing public health concern worldwide, particularly in urban cities. Human exposure to pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides, combustion-related particulate matter and oxides of sulfur is responsible for significant cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality in both adults and children. ...

The commercialization of lithium-sulfur batteries is hindered by low cycle stability and low efficiency, which are induced by sulfur active material loss and polysulfide shuttle reaction through dissolution into electrolyte. In this study, sulfur-impregnated disordered carbon nanotubes are synthesized as cathode material for the lithium-sulfur battery. The obtained sulfur-carbon tube cathodes d...

Sulfur compounds in intermediate valence states, for example elemental sulfur, thiosulfate, and tetrathionate, are important players in the biogeochemical sulfur cycle. However, key understanding about the pathways of oxidation involving mixed-valance state sulfur species is still missing. Here we report the sulfur and oxygen isotope fractionation effects during the oxidation of tetrathionate (...

It is currently assumed that the assimilation of sulfur into reduced forms occurs predominantly in the leaves of plants. However, developing seeds have a strong requirement for sulfur amino acids for storage protein synthesis. We have assessed the capacity of developing seeds of narrow-leaf lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) for sulfur assimilation. Cotyledons of developing lupin seeds were able to ...

Rhodococcus sp. strain ECRD-1 was evaluated for its ability to desulfurize a 232 to 343 degrees C middle-distillate (diesel range) fraction of Oregon basin (OB) crude oil. OB oil was provided as the sole source of sulfur in batch cultures, and the extent of desulfurization and the chemical fate of the residual sulfur in the oil after treatment were determined. Gas chromatography (GC), flame ion...

Traditionally, sulfur responses have been limited to coarse textured or other soils low in organic matter that have little potential for sulfur mineralization. In the past, the burning of fossil fuels has contributed a significant amount of sulfur through deposition in rain. Also, many phosphorus fertilizers contained sulfur as impurities, which lessened the need for the application of sulfur t...

Sulfur is a promising cathode material for lithium-sulfur batteries because of its high theoretical capacity (1,675 mA h g(-1)); however, its low electrical conductivity and the instability of sulfur-based electrodes limit its practical application. Here we report a facile in situ method for preparing three-dimensional porous graphitic carbon composites containing sulfur nanoparticles (3D S@PGC...

The sulfur nutrition of microorganisms has been studied by many investigators. Early workers were interested essentially in sulfur compounds used by organisms as sulfur sources. Recent efforts have been directed toward the determination of mechanisms involved in the utilization of sulfur compounds. Results of investigations by Horowitz (1947), Lampen et al. (1947), Teas et al. (1948), Binkley a...

Multiple sulfur isotope measurements of sulfur compounds associated with dissimilatory sulfate reduction, elemental sulfur disproportionation and sulfite disproportionation indicate that different types of metabolic processes impart different multiple isotope signatures. An established network for sulfate reduction was used previously to explain the multiple isotope variability. Here, we revisi...

application of sulfur as a means of lowering soil ph (even if at micro sites) is one way to increase the availability of insoluble nutrients/ effectiveness of elemental sulfur in lowering soil ph depends on the activity of sulfur oxidizing bacteria especially, thiobacillus genus/ to evaluate the possibility of partially substituting sulfur along thiobacillus inoculum for phosphorus and micronut...