Soil amendments altered arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in cadmium-contaminated vegetable fields.

Soil amendments, including various types of fertilizers, are often used to control the uptake of heavy metals such as cadmium in cropping fields. The influence of these amendments on other members of the agroecosystem, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), remains less well investigated. Here, we established an experiment with the application of woody peat organic fertilizer and phosphate rock powder to examine its effects on AMF communities in two cadmium-contaminated vegetable crop fields (cucumber and pepper).

Cell concentration, viability and culture composition of airborne bacteria during a dust event in Beijing.

Airborne bacteria were measured when a dust storm passed Beijing in spring 2012 with a focus on cell concentration, viability and TSA- and R2A-cultured strain composition. The concentration varied at an order of 10cells/m with dust loading (demonstrated with PM) and they had a very close correlation (R=0.91, p<0.

[VUV spectral properties of MO-Y2O3-B2O3 : Re (M = Mg, Sr; Re = Eu, Tb)].

Eu and Tb doped 17MO-7.88Y2O3-75B2O3 samples were prepared by the solid state reaction. VUV excitation properties and luminescence properties under VUV excitation were studied.

[Luminescence properties of Ba2MgSi2O7 : RE].

In the present paper, alkaline earth silicates Ba2MgSi2O7 : RE were prepared under a reducing atmosphere by solid-state reaction. Under UV light excitation, Ce3+ doped pyrosilicates phosphors emit efficient bluish violet light. The emission spectra of Eu2+ doped pyrosilicates phosphors showed that Eu2+ ions could occupy two types of sites in Ba2MgSi2O7 host.