FACTORS AFFECTING THE SOIL MICROBIAL QUALITY MEASUREMENTS OF BIOMASS QUOTIENT AND RESPIRATION QUOTIENT

The soil microbial biomass quotient (expressed as a percentage of the total soil organic carbon) and the specific rate of carbon-dioxide production by soil microbes (respiration quotient) are often used as indicators of stress on soil microbial populations. A low biomass quotient or a high respiration quotient is considered to be an indication of stress from, for example, toxicity from metals in sewage sludge applied to soils. These metabolic quotients are affected by a wide variety of other factors such as the biodegradability of soil organic-carbon amendments, plant inputs of organic carbon into soils, natural variations in microbial population sizes with depth, and in the rhizosphere of plants. These variations could be sufficiently large to make interpretation of changes in biomass quotient and respiration quotient, as a response to stress, problematical.     

Factors influencing learning through play in ICT settings

Using a mixed method approach of questionnaires, observations and field notes, the authors have studied a number of settings during the past two years which have focussed on the development of ICT capability through play. Some of these have involved children identified as disaffected or disadvantaged, whilst others have involved initial teacher education students. In this paper, we consider some of the results obtained from the most recent of these settings, relate these to those obtained from the other settings, and explore further a number of inter-related issues which have arisen from the analysis. We particularly focus on the effect of learners’ self-esteem and self-efficacy; the influence of gender-related characteristics; the role of interaction between learners during activity; and the value of reflection.     

Alkylated ureas: mineralization and evaluation as N sources

An incubation experiment was conducted for 11 weeks to study the mineralization of ten alkylated ureas and urea in soil. Six of the alkylated ureas viz. methylurea(MU), 1,3-dimethylurea(1,3DMU), 1,1-dimethylurea(1,1DMU), ethylurea(EU), 1,3-diethylurea(1,3DEU) and butylurea(BU) and urea mineralized during the experiment. Urea mineralized immediately, while alkylated ureas mineralized after an incubation period ranging from less than a week to four weeks (delay period of mineralization). The delay period increased in the following sequence MU < 1,3DMU < EU < BU < 1,1DMU < 1,3DEU, but after the delay period was over the compounds mineralized almost as rapidly as urea. The delay period varied according to the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl group and their position with respect to each other on the molecule. It appeared to be specific for each compound and was apparently not influenced by the presence of urea or other alkylated ureas. This character can be used to develop mixture of various alkylated ureas to obtain N mineralization at the desired time. Rapid evolution of CO₂ and N₂O was observed during the mineralization of urea as well as alkylated ureas. Increase in soil pH was also observed during this period. The simultaneous ocurrence of these events suggested the formation of urea as an intermediate during the mieralization of alkylated ureas. None of the alkylated ureas showed adverse affect on emergence of wheat seedlings and except DEU and BU at high concentration no other alkylated urea showed any adverse effect on initial growth of wheat seedlings.     

基于微生物菌种资源库的图像智能检索系统研究*

在建设微生物菌种资源平台的基础上, 设计开发微生物菌种资源数据库管理系统,实现基于内容的Web图像智能检索系统.该检索系统采用B/S体系架构,可根据微生物菌种文本信息或图像的形状、纹理和颜色特征进行检索,有效提高了微生物菌种图像信息搜索的查准率、查全率和查找速度.     

A Degeneration Gradient of Poplar Trees Contributes to the Taxonomic,Functional, and Resistome Diversity of Bacterial Communities in Rhizosphere Soils

Bacterial communities associated with roots influence the health and nutrition of the host plant. However, the microbiome discrepancy are not well understood under different healthy conditions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that rhizosphere soil microbial diversity and function varies along a degeneration gradient of poplar, with a focus on plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) and antibiotic resistance genes. Comprehensive metagenomic analysis including taxonomic investigation, functional detection, and ARG (antibiotics resistance genes) annotation revealed that available potassium (AK) was correlated with microbial diversity and function. We proposed several microbes, Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas, Mesorhizobium, Nocardioides, Variovorax, Gemmatimonadetes, Rhizobacter, Pedosphaera, Candidatus Solibacter, Acidobacterium, and Phenylobacterium, as candidates to reflect the soil fertility and the plant health. The highest abundance of multidrug resistance genes and the four mainly microbial resistance mechanisms (antibiotic efflux, antibiotic target protection, antibiotic target alteration, and antibiotic target replacement) in healthy poplar rhizosphere, corroborated the relationship between soil fertility and microbial activity. This result suggested that healthy rhizosphere soil harbored microbes with a higher capacity and had more complex microbial interaction network to promote plant growing and reduce intracellular levels of antibiotics. Our findings suggested a correlation between the plant degeneration gradient and bacterial communities, and provided insight into the role of high-turnover microbial communities as well as potential PGPB as real-time indicators of forestry soil quality, and demonstrated the inner interaction contributed by the bacterial communities.     

微生物法处理含硫工业废气

指出了含硫工业废气传统处理方法的缺陷 ,介绍了微生物处理方法的优势所在 ;对微生物菌种的共同特征以及无机硫和有机硫脱除时菌种的选择依据进行了讨论 ,并对微生物法脱硫的机理进行了分析 ;评述了国内外生物滤池法、生物滴滤池法和生物吸收法等生物膜法脱硫的工艺及其工业化应用。指出了微生物法脱硫技术有待深入研究的问题、发展趋势和应用前景。     

Antimicrobial protection of cotton and cotton/polyester fabrics by radiation and thermal treatments. I. Effect of ZnO formulation on the mechanical and dyeing properties

Cotton and cotton/polyester fabrics were treated against microbial attack by applying a formulation based essentially on ZnO under high‐energy radiation and thermal curing. To achieve the homogeneity and the reactivity of the treating formulation, a binder (Impron MTP) and a dispersing agent (Setamol WS) were used with ZnO. The antimicrobial property of the fabrics was evaluated, in terms of mechanical properties, by a soil burial test. Moreover, the effect of antimicrobial finishing on the dyeing properties in terms of color strength was investigated. It was found that the best composition that affords the best antimicrobial protection to cotton fabrics contains 2% ZnO, 2% binder, and 1% dispersing agents. For the cotton/polyester blend, the best results were achieved at the same conditions except the ZnO was 1%. It was found that the treatment under the effect of electron‐beam irradiation is better than that of gamma irradiation and thermal curing. The results showed that when the finishing process was carried out before dyeing with a reactive dye, it affects the color strength rather than performing the finishing after the dyeing process. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 1129–1137, 2003     

生物絮凝剂及其在水处理中的应用进展

介绍了微生物絮凝剂的种类、特点、絮凝机理和近几年来国内在不同废水处理中的应用情况，并对它的研究及应用前景做出展望。     

Guidelines for facilitating the development of learning communities in online courses

Online learning has grown exponentially in recent years; however, dropout problem remains challenging for some online programmes. The dropout problem can be attributed to a number of reasons, with a lack of interaction between learners and the instructor constituting one of the main reasons. The lack of interaction also leads to learners' feeling of isolation. Learning communities can provide learners with an environment conducive to increased interactions and alleviate their feeling of isolation. Unfortunately, there are no clear rules that instructors can follow to help learners create learning communities. In this paper, we propose guidelines for online instructors to facilitate the development of learning communities in online courses. We first review the definition of a learning community, importance of a learning community and factors affecting the development of a learning community. Afterwards, based on a review of the existing guidelines and other relevant literature, we propose guidelines for facilitating the development of learning communities in online courses.     

Potential of microbial growth control in water hydraulic systems by UV‐irradiation and filtration

Water hydraulic systems use water as a pressure medium and, thus, do not pose such adverse environmental impacts as oil hydraulics. Microbial deterioration of the pressure medium and biofouling of the surfaces restrict the applicability of the water‐based technology. The potential of microbial growth control by UV‐irradiation and filtration was studied in a pilot‐scale water hydraulic system. The UV‐irradiation (25 m Ws cm^?2) of the pressure medium reduced the total viable counts of bacteria by 1–2 log₁₀ cfu cm^?3, whereas the total microbial cell numbers and the numbers of surface‐attached microorganisms remained unaffected. Prefiltration (1.2 µm, absolute) of the pressure medium decreased the total microbial cell number in the water phase and retarded the attachment of bacteria. The filtration during the operation (2 µm, absolute) decreased the total numbers of microbial cells and the total viable counts in the pressure medium, and microbial attachment on the surfaces. Microbial attachment was not prevented by filtration. The microbial water quality obtained by pre‐ and on‐line filtration of the pressure medium was sufficient to ensure the long‐term operation of the water hydraulic system assuming that clean work practices are complied with in assembly and during the operation. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry