Biominerals, especially molluscan shells, generally contain unusually acidic proteins. These proteins are believed to function in crystal nucleation and inhibition. We previously identified an unusually acidic protein Aspein from the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata. Here we show that Aspein can control the CaCO(3) polymorph (calcite/aragonite) in vitro. While aragonite is preferentially formed in ...

a finite element analysis is presented for sloshing and impulsive motion of liquid-filled conical tanks during lateral anti-symmetric excitation. the performed analyses led to the development of a number of charts which can be used to identify the natural frequency, the mode shapes of conical tanks for both fundamental and the cos(θ)-modes of vibration. conical tank geometry was described with ...

the root pulling force as well as the amount of transferred soil have not been reported quantitatively for various sugar beet types. this study was designed to measure the amounts of transferred soil from farm and estimate the root pulling force among sugar beets populations with different root shapes at harvest time. the experiment was conducted as a split plot with a randomized complete block...