The Frizzled receptor and Dishevelled effector regulate mitotic spindle orientation in both vertebrates and invertebrates, but how Dishevelled orients the mitotic spindle is unknown. Using the Drosophila S2 cell "induced polarity" system, we find that Dishevelled cortical polarity is sufficient to orient the spindle and that Dishevelled's DEP domain mediates this function. This domain binds a C...

Red mud is a highly alkaline (pH >12) waste product from bauxite ore processing. The red mud spill at Ajka, Hungary, in 2010 released 1 million m(3) of caustic red mud into the surrounding area with devastating results. Aerobic and anaerobic batch experiments and solid phase extraction techniques were used to assess the impact of red mud addition on the mobility of Cu and Ni in soils from near ...

Submarine mud volcanoes are important sources of methane to the water column. However, the temporal variability of their mud and methane emissions is unknown. Methane emissions were previously proposed to result from a dynamic equilibrium between upward migration and consumption at the seabed by methane-consuming microbes. Here we show non-steady-state situations of vigorous mud movement that a...

Eleven onshore mud volcanoes in the southern region of Trinidad have been studied as analog habitats for possible microbial life on Mars. The profiles of the 11 mud volcanoes are presented in terms of their physical, chemical, mineralogical, and soil properties. The mud volcanoes sampled all emitted methane gas consistently at 3% volume. The average pH for the mud volcanic soil was 7.98. The av...

[1] Mud volcanoes sometimes respond to earthquakes, but the mechanisms by which earthquakes trigger changes in ongoing eruptions or initiate new eruptions are not completely understood. We measured gas discharge at a field of mud volcanoes near the Salton Sea, southern California, before and after the 4 April 2010 El Mayor‐Cucapah earthquake and observed an increase in gas flux immediately foll...

Coastal reclamation has been carried out along the coastal areas near Shenzhen, China in a large scale since 1980s by dumping fill materials over the marine mud at the sea bottom. Usually the area to be reclaimed is drained first and some of the mud is airdried for a few weeks before it is buried by fill. After reclamation, the terrestrial groundwater, which is relatively acidic and with high d...

Optimization of drilling fluid parameters such as mud weight, salt concentration, and temperature is essential to alleviate instability problems during drilling through shale sections. The selection of suitable mud parameters can benefit from analyses that consider significant instability processes involved in shale-drilling–fluid interactions. This paper describes the development of analytical...

Erosion and deposition of bottom sediments reflect a continual, dynamic adjustment between the fluid forces applied to a sediment bed and the condition of the bed itself. Erosion of fine and mixed sediment beds depends on their composition, their vertical structure, their disturbance/recovery history, and the biota that inhabit them. This paper presents a new onedimensional (1D), multi-layer se...

To determine potential risk for bird-to-human transmission during influenza A virus (H5N1) outbreaks among backyard poultry in rural Cambodia, we collected environmental specimens. Viral RNA was detected in 27 (35%) of 77 specimens of mud, pond water, water plants, and soil swabs. Our results underscore the need for regular disinfection of poultry areas.

In response to confirmed cases of H5N1 infection in humans or poultry, we conducted investigations in households of index case’s and in the surrounding vicinity. Environmental specimens such as mud, pond water, aquatic plants and animals, poultry carcasses, faeces, soil and dust were collected in 6 households from 3 Cambodian provinces between April 2007 and February 2010. Two techniques to con...