ABSTRACT Penicillium expansum, P. digitatum, and P. italicum acidify the ambient environments of apple and citrus fruit during decay development. They use two mechanisms for this: the production of organic acids, mainly citric and gluconic, and NH(4)(+) utilization associated with H(+) efflux. Exposure of P. expansum and P. digitatum hyphae to pH 5.0 increased their citric acid production, comp...

The role of nutrient availability in the decay of Typha latifolia and Cladium jamaicense litter and associated microbial responses were studied under controlled experimental conditions. The experimental setup consisted of three 14 m mesocosms: (i) an experimentally enriched (N&P) mesocosm containing organic soil, (ii) a mesocosm with organic soil but no external enrichment, and (iii) a mesocosm...

First-principles quantum mechanical calculations show that the exponential-decay law for any metastable state is only an approximation and predict an asymptotically algebraic contribution to the decay for sufficiently long times. In this Letter, we measure the luminescence decays of many dissolved organic materials after pulsed laser excitation over more than 20 lifetimes and obtain the first e...

Accelerated eutrophication of lakes is usually associated with excessive inflows of nutrients such as phosphates, nitrates and ammonium. The flow of nutrients into the lake can allow for rapid increase in algae. The alga is relatively short-lived, and the lake soon exhibits high concentration of dead organic matter which starts to decay. The decay process consumes dissolved oxygen in the lower ...

Flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) is involved in important metabolic reactions where the biological function is intrinsically related to changes in conformation. In the present work, FAD conformational changes were studied in solution and in gas phase by measuring the fluorescence decay time and ion-neutral collision cross sections (CCS, in a trapped ion mobility spectrometer, TIMS) as a functi...

During the processes of primary succession and soil development, large stocks of organic C with very long residence times accumulate in many soils. Soluble organic C adsorbed by soils may contribute to the stock of organic C accumulating during soil development. We determined whether the mineralization rate of water-soluble organic C and the insoluble residue from C-labelled leaf litter added t...

The intrinsic non-radiative decay (internal conversion) from the triplet excited state in phosphorescent dyes can be described by a multi-phonon emission process. Since non-radiative decay of triplet excitons can be a significant process in organic light-emitting diodes, a detailed understanding of this decay mechanism is important if the overall device efficiency is to be controlled. We compar...

Hybrid inorganic–organic solar cells typically combine a transition metal oxide and organic absorber to form the donor–acceptor pair. Here, we explore the use of a rare earth oxide to function as the inorganic component of a hybrid solar cell. Oxidized neodymium (Nd2O3) particles are combined with [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) to form the solar cell active layer. The short c...

Timber is a sustainable, economical, completely renewable, CO2-neutral organic material, which requires less energy to process than other construction materials. Wood is also a strong, aesthetically pleasing, and very durable material when properly maintained and used. However, under certain conditions of exposure or use — particularly when it becomes wet — wood may be rapidly decomposed due to...