Prion interactions with soil may play an important role in the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) and scrapie. Prions are known to bind to a wide range of soil surfaces, but the effects of adsorption solution chemistry and long-term soil binding on prion fate and transmission risk are unknown. We investigated HY TME prion protein (PrP(Sc)) adsorption to soil minerals in aqueous solut...

Knowledge of soil hydraulic parameters for the van Genuchten function is important to characterize soil water movement for watershed management. Accurate and rapid prediction of soil water flow in heterogeneous gravel soil has become a hot topic in recent years. However, it is difficult to precisely estimate hydraulic parameters in a heterogeneous soil with rock fragments. In this study, the HY...

The mobility of phenanthrene (PHE) in soils depends on its sorption and is influenced by either the existing soil humus or exogenous humic substances. Exogenous humic acids (HAs) were added to soil to enhance the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) by 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 g kg(-1). PHE desorption of the treated soils was determined at two pH levels (3.0 and 6.0) and temperatures (15 and 25 degree...

The integration of bioventing (BV) and soil vapor extraction (SVE) appears to be an effective combination method for soil decontamination. This paper serves two main purposes: it evaluates the effects of soil water content (SWC) and air flow rate on SVE and it investigates the transition regime between BV and SVE for toluene removal from sandy soils. 96 hours after air injection, more than 97% ...

The long term effect of biochar application on soil microbial biomass is not well understood. We measured soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) in a field experiment during a winter wheat growing season after four consecutive years of no (CK), 4.5 (B4.5) and 9.0 t biochar ha(-1) yr(-1) (B9.0) applied. For comparison, a treatment with wheat straw residue incorporation (SR) was a...

Temporary B deficiency can be triggered by liming of acid soils because of increased B adsorption at higher soil pH. Plants respond directly to the activity of B in soil solution and only indirectly to B adsorbed on soil constituents. Because the range between deficient and toxic B concentration is relatively narrow, this poses difficulty in maintaining appropriate B levels in soil solution. Th...