The biogeochemical composition of 2 spatially separate surface gap layers on a single Antarctic sea ice floe during early austral summer was predominantly controlled by the growth of diatoms and, especially, Phaeocystis. These algal communities in and near the gap layers imposed large geochemical changes in the chemical and isotopic composition of the gap waters, typical of intense autotrophic ...

In aquatic ecosystems, carbon (C) availability strongly influences nitrogen (N) dynamics. One manifestation of this linkage is the importance in the dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), which can serve as both a C and an N source, yet our knowledge of how specific properties of DOM influence N dynamics are limited. To empirically examine the impact of labile ...

Natural floodplains play an essential role in the processing and decomposition of organic matter and in the self-purification ability of rivers, largely due to the activity of bacteria. Knowledge about the composition of bacterial communities and its impact on organic-matter cycling is crucial for the understanding of ecological processes in river-floodplain systems. Particle-associated and fre...

Inorganic particulate matter in foods and drugs is discussed from the standpoint of determination by optical microscopy, source, and regulatory significance. Some particulate matter may be generated as extraneous material and traced to specific operational practices during processing and production with excessive levels associated with deficiencies in good manufacturing practices. Other particl...

The origin and the nature of particulate matter which is found in the earth's atmosphere, and which is measured to evaluate air pollution, are discussed. The importance of defining particulate matter in terms of its physical structure and its chemical composition is emphasized. Attention is drawn to the surface activity of particulate matter and it is shown that, because of its micropore fine s...

14 The removal of the trace inorganic contaminants boron (B(OH)4 ), fluoride (F ) and nitrate (NO3 ) 15 from synthetic aqueous solutions containing organic matter using electrodialysis was investigated. 16 The transport of the contaminants through the ion-exchange membranes was evaluated in relation 17 to hydrated ionic radius, whereby a positive correlation was found in absence of organic matt...

Ocean productivity largely refers to the production of organic matter by “phytoplankton,” plants suspended in the ocean, most of which are single-celled. Phytoplankton are “photoautotrophs,” harvesting light to convert inorganic to organic carbon, and they supply this organic carbon to diverse “heterotrophs,” organisms that obtain their energy solely from the respiration of organic matter. Open...

We consider the case of a peculiar complex behavior in open boson systems sufficiently away from equilibrium, having relevance in the functioning of information-processing biological and condensed matter systems. This is the so-called Fröhlich–Bose–Einstein condensation, a self-organizing-synergetic dissipative structure, a phenomenon apparently working in biological processes and present in se...