Sorted circles emerge as self-organized patterns from a laterally uniform active layer that becomes laterally sorted as frost heave deforms the interface between a stone layer and an underlying soil layer. In a three-dimensional, cellular model of the active layer, cyclic freezing and thawing drives transport of stone and soil particles by (1) addition of ice particles representing soil expansi...

OBJECTIVE An Asian dust storm (ADS) contains airborne particles that affect conditions such as asthma, but the mechanism of exacerbation is unclear. The objective of this study was to compare immune adjuvant effects and airway inflammation induced by airborne particles collected on ADS days and the original ADS soil (CJ-1 soil) in asthma model mice. METHODS Airborne particles were collected o...

(Received: November 27, 2010; Accepted: February 9, 2011) Abstract: The effect of pig iron slag particles on soil physico-chemical, biological and certain soil enzyme properties was studied. Contamination of iron slag particles altered physico-chemical, biological and enzyme properties of soil. While soil pH increased slightly, electrical conductivity, carbon, potassium and phosphorus contents ...

A laboratory study has been carried out on two soil layers (H[X] and H[Y]) located above a groundwater table in Yaounde, Cameroon (Central Africa). The main purpose of this study was to assess the retention potential or sorption kinetics of Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp. on these soil layers. For both soil layers, bacterial sorption on soil particles occurred rapidly during the first 30 mi...

The effect of pig iron slag particles on soil physico-chemical, biological and certain soil enzyme properties was studied. Contamination of iron slag particles altered physico-chemical, biological and enzyme properties of soil. While soil pH increased slightly, electrical conductivity, carbon, potassium and phosphorus contents increased significantly in polluted soil. Contamination of soil with...

How animals sense, process, and use magnetic information remains elusive. In insects, magnetic particles are candidates for a magnetic sensor. Recent studies suggest that the ant Pachycondyla marginata incorporates ironcontaining particles from soil. We used leaf-cutter ants Atta colombica to test whether soil contact is necessary for developing a functional magnetic compass. A. colombica is th...

Manure-borne bacteria can be transported in runoff as free cells, cells attached to soil particles, and cells attached to manure particles. The objectives of this work were to compare the attachment of fecal coliforms (FC) to different soils and soil fractions and to assess the effect of bovine manure on FC attachment to soil and soil fractions. Three sand fractions of different sizes, the silt...

Rhizobial cells attached or unattached to soil particles were estimated. Nonsterile soils into which antibiotic-resistant mutants of Bradyrhizobium japonicum had been introduced were fractionated by a centrifugation technique into two fractions: A, which contained mainly rhizobial cells attached to soil particles, and F, which contained mainly rhizobial cells unattached to them. Rhizobial count...