Pillared clays (PILCs) are interesting materials mostly due to their high basal spacing and surface area, which make them suitable for adsorption and catalysis applications, for example. However, the production of these materials on industrial scale is dependent on research about what parameters influence the process. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate what parameters influence th...

ruffling is a practice through which the mycelia containing casing soil will be thoroughly mixed. to evaluate the effects of ruffling of different casing soils in button mushroom production, an experiment was conducted comprised of three levels of ruffling; no ruffling, deep ruffling vs. superficial scratch and eight different types of casing soils, namely: holland peat (c1), north peat (c2), s...

Cholinesterase (ChE) activity in birds is subject to interspecific and intraspecific species variations. Factors that influence enzyme activity have to be taken into account in order to obtain an accurate estimation of cholinesterase inhibition due to pesticide exposure in wild birds. This study evaluates variation of plasma cholinesterase activity in clay-colored robin (Turdus grayi) in relati...

759 Soil water content (θ, m3 m−3) is a basic hydrologic parameter that affects groundwater recharge, surface water fl ow, transpiration, and carbon fi xation. Electronic monitoring of θ facilitates the study of those processes by providing detailed temporal data. Most instruments currently in use measure soil dielectric permittivity, directly or indirectly, and then calculate θ with an equatio...

A class of heterogeneous catalysts based on commercial bentonite from natural origin, containing at least 80 wt% of montmorillonite clay, was designed to transform selectively and under mild conditions toxic organosulfur and organophosphorus chemical warfare agents into non-noxious products with a reduced impact on health and environment. The bentonite from the natural origin was modified by in...

Clay mineral studies in the U.S.S.R., mainly since 1960, are summarized. Electron diffraction techniques especially have been developed and used extensively. Methods have been developed for simultaneous recording of DTA curves and other properties. Polytypism of phyllosilicates has been studied intensively by Zvyagin and others. Mucfi new information on the structure and morphology of halloysit...

Isolated patches of white clay occurring in the terminal moraine of Long Island, Staten fsland, and southern New Jersey have been mentioned in a number of geologic descriptions. Such an occurrence was recently encountered during excavation for a building site and samples were submitted to the mineralogical laboratory of Columbia University for identification by Messrs. Schoonmaker and Kirkman. ...

B. B. Basak, Sharmistha Pal and S. C. Datta* Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India Present address: Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Research, Boriavi, Anand 387 310, India Present address: Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Research Centre, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh 160 01...

The Soil Series It is frequently possible to encounter, in a very limited area, almost the whole range of every soil property: from soil reaction values of pH 3.5 to pH 9.0, from structureless to very strongly structured, from sands to clays, from impermeable to excessively permeable materials etc. It has been one of the main objectives of the pedologist to classify this seemingly incomprehensi...

Clays have been used in southern Africa as photoprotectants by the indigenous people. Typically, two types of clay are used: one white in colour and the other red. In this work, the two clays were identified and characterized, and their in vitro SPF values measured. The clays afford a low SPF but offer broad-spectrum protection. No cutaneous side effects from the use of these clays are known. F...