Copper mining generates large quantities of waste, tailings, and acid outflows causing long-term environmental impacts and potential threats to human health. Valea Şesei is the largest tailing impoundment in Romania, created by flooding the valley (known as Valea Şesei) of the Metalliferous Mountains (a division of the Apuseni Mountains) with copper mining waste. The present study (i) estimated...

Data collected for 35 yr from a 1790-ha strip mine reclamation site in Fulton County, Illinois, where biosolids were applied from 1972 to 2004, were used to evaluate the impacts of long-term biosolids application on metal concentrations in groundwater. Groundwater samples were collected between 1972 and 2006 from wells installed in seven strip-mined fields treated with biosolids at cumulative l...

Plant-plant interaction studies in metalliferous systems have focused either on the role of facilitation or negative effects elemental allelopathy. However, no investigated both these same system, and their relationships with functional strategy nurse species, although this is crucial for ecological restoration polluted sites. We assessed two dominant apparent contrasting strategies, target spe...

Filtration as a method of stormwater treatment was investigated in a 3-year study. Equilibrium and kinetic studies of metals’ capture were performed initially on twelve media. The three best performing media: peat-sand mix, compost, and zeolite were then selected for in-depth study. Upflow filters did not clog as easily as downflow, and longer-term performance was better in the upflow column. M...

Experimental studies have observed Long Term synaptic Potentiation (LTP) when a presynaptic neuron fires shortly before a postsynaptic neuron, and Long Term Depression (LTD) when the presynaptic neuron fires shortly after, a phenomenon known as Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP). When a neuron is presented successively with discrete volleys of input spikes STDP has been shown to learn 'ea...

A new behavioral training approach has been found significantly to improve visual function; the results further attest to the high degree of plasticity in sensory systems.

Memory systems select from environmental stimuli those to encode permanently. Repeated stimuli separated by timed spaces without stimuli can initiate Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) and long-term memory (LTM) encoding. These processes occur in time scales of minutes, and have been demonstrated in many species. This study reports on using a specific timed pattern of three repeated stimuli separated...

BACKGROUND The age-related deterioration of physiological capacities such as muscle strength and balance is associated with increased dependence. Understanding the contribution of physical fitness components to functional performance facilitates the development of adequate exercise interventions aiming at preservation of function and independence of older people. The aim of the study was to inv...