Wi-Fi signal for soil moisture sensing.

Measuring soil moisture is essential in various scientific and engineering disciplines. Over recent decades, numerous technologies have been employed for in situ monitoring of soil moisture. Currently, dielectric-based sensors are the most popular measurement technology and provide acceptable accuracy for various measurement purposes.

Using modified Tessier sequential extraction to specify potentially toxic metals at a former sewage farm.

The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr and Ni mobility using modified Tessier sequential extraction procedure and to study the functional group changes affected by each extraction step using FTIR analysis in the soil of a former sewage farm sedimentation basin. Tessier extraction revealed element dependent fractionation of studied metals: Pb was mostly discovered in the residual fraction (77%) followed by Cr (53%), Cu (8%), and Zn (5%), while Ni was not extracted in this fraction. The organic matter-bound was the dominant species of Cu (77%).

Accumulation of airborne potentially toxic elements in Pinus sylvestris L. bark collected in three Central European medium-sized cities.

This study attempts to identify the influence of various aspects of human activities in three medium-sized Central European cities (Cottbus, Germany; Nitra, Slovakia and Słupsk, Poland) on air contamination. For comparison purposes, bark of Pinus sylvestris L. was collected from polluted and non-polluted urban areas.

Phytofiltration of chosen metals by aquarium liverwort (Monosoleum tenerum).

Aquatic bryophytes are widely used as indicators of water pollution with various substances, including metals. We present a first study concerning the feasibility of Monosoleum tenerum to remove potentially toxic metals Zn, Cu, Ni, Mn and Fe from water. The novel approach to study the bioaccumulation under controlled conditions and in vitro grown aquarium liverworts was applied.

Quick detection and quantification of iron-cyanide complexes using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

The continuous release of persistent iron-cyanide (Fe-CN) complexes from various industrial sources poses a high hazard to the environment and indicates the necessity to analyze a considerable amount of samples. Conventional flow injection analysis (FIA) is a time and cost consuming method for cyanide (CN) determination. Thus, a rapid and economic alternative needs to be developed to quantify the Fe-CN complexes.