Extremely acidic (pH < 3) and extremely alkaline (pH > 9) environments support a diversity of single-cell and to a lesser extent, multicellular eukaryotic life. This study compared alpha and beta diversity in eukaryotic communities from seven diverse aquatic environments with pH values ranging from 2 to 11 using massively-parallel pyrotag sequencing targeting the V9 hypervariable region of the ...

Geographic environment is a combination of natural and cultural environments under which humans survive. Virtual Geographic Environment (VGE) is a new multi-disciplinary initiative that links geosciences, geographic information sciences and information technologies. A VGE is a virtual representation of the natural world that enables a person to explore and interact with vast amounts of natural ...

Road networks are important for modelling the urban geographic environment. It is necessary to determine the spatial relationships of road intersections when using maps to help researchers conduct virtual urban geographic experiments (because a road intersection might occur as a connected cross or as an unconnected bridge overpass). Based on the concept of using different map layers to organize...

This paper describes the development of a variety of computer-based assessment opportunities, both formative and summative, that are available to a large first year biology class at The University of Sydney. These materials include: weekly quizzes; a mock exam; quiz sections in tutorials; and special self-assessment modules (SAMs). The weekly quiz is password protected and secure but the remain...

To effectively monitor microbial populations in acidic environments and bioleaching systems, a comprehensive 50-mer-based oligonucleotide microarray was developed based on most of the known genes associated with the acidophiles. This array contained 1,072 probes in which there were 571 related to 16S rRNA and 501 related to functional genes. The functional genes in the microarray were involved ...