Accurate control of groundwater pH is of critical importance for in situ biological treatment of chlorinated solvents. This study evaluated a novel approach for buffering subsurface pH that relies on the use of silicate minerals as a long-term source of alkalinity. A screening methodology based on thermodynamic considerations and numerical simulations was developed to rank silicate minerals acc...

Understanding dynamic conditions in the Solar Nebula is the key to prediction of the material to be found in comets. We suggest that a dynamic, large-scale circulation pattern brings processed dust and gas from the inner nebula back out into the region of cometesimal formation-extending possibly hundreds of astronomical units (AU) from the sun-and that the composition of comets is determined by...

Transparent ceramics are important for scientific and industrial applications because of the superior optical and mechanical properties. It has been suggested that optical transparency and mechanical strength are substantially enhanced if transparent ceramics with nano-crystals are available. However, synthesis of the highly transparent nano-crystalline ceramics has been difficult using convent...

The purpose of this study was: to determine whether polishing standardized proximal root surfaces with dental floss, Superfloss, wood and plastic interdental cleaners, using a polishing paste, produces any significant change on root surface roughness; and to determine the effectiveness of different number of strokes in polishing. 80 tooth specimens were prepared, 10 in each of 8 sample groups. ...

The title compound, [-Si(C(12)H(9))(2)OSi(CH(3))(2)O-](2), was obtained unintentionally as the product of an attempted crystallization of caesium bis-(biphenyl-2,2'-di-yl)fluoro-silicate from dimethyl-formamide. In the crystal, the mol-ecule is located on an inversion center and the siloxane ring adopts a twist-chair conformation with the two dimethyl-substituted Si atoms lying 0.7081 (5) Å out...

Determination of silicate concentration in seawater without addition of liquid reagents was the key prerequisite for developing an autonomous in situ electrochemical silicate sensor (Lacombe et al., 2007) [11]. The present challenge is to address the issue of calibrationless determination. To achieve such an objective, we chose chronoamperometry performed successively on planar microelectrode (...

The performances of cementitious materials as well as the efficiency of construction are adversely affected at high temperatures. Previous studies have already demonstrated that ultra-fine (alccofine) material accelerates the hydration of cement particles and subsequently improves the mechanical and durability properties of the concrete at normal temperature. Moreover, at higher temperatures th...

Soils of the tropics and sub-tropics are typically acid and depleted of soluble sources of silicon (Si) due to weathering and leaching associated with high rainfall and temperatures. Together with intensive cropping, this leads to marginal or deficient plant Si levels in Si-accumulating crops such as rice and sugarcane. Although such deficiencies can be corrected with exogenous application of S...

Glass polyalkenoate cements (GPCs) have potential for skeletal cementation. Unfortunately, commercial GPCs all contain, and subsequently release, aluminum ions, which have been implicated in degenerative brain disease. The purpose of this research was to create a series of aluminum-free GPCs constructed from silicate (SiO₂), calcium (CaO), zinc (ZnO) and sodium (Na₂O)-containing glasses mixed w...