Atmosphere bacteriology

Many coals contain elemental sulfur. It is clearly a ubiquitous constituent of bituminous coals that have been exposed to the atmosphere. In contrast, three pristine samples obtained from the Premium Sample Program at the Argonne National Laboratory are free of elemental sulfur within the detection limit of four sensitive analytical methods. Exposure of the pristine coals to the atmosphere leads to the production of elemental sulfur. These observations strongly suggest that sulfur is not a natural constituent of coal, but rather is produced after exposure to the atmosphere by chemical or bacteriological action. 

The notion that naturally occurring organic polysulfides in coal decompose to form elemental sulfur has also been tested in another way. Buchanan and his associates have shown that the 32S/34S ratios of the elemental sulfur and the pyrite in another Illinois Basin Coal Sample Program coal are similar and different from the 32S/34S ratio for the organic material in the same coal (Buchanan, D., private communication, 1989). This result infers that pyrite is the source of elemental sulfur. Thus, we conclude that oxidative chemical and bacteriological processes convert pyrite to elemental sulfur when pristine coals are exposed to the atmosphere. 

Assimilation of Atmospheric Nitrogen. — It is especially to the French scientists that agricultural bacteriology owes its... 

The study was carried out on fecal material from 5 treated patients (AD, BD, FC, GM, AC) (Table 1) and from 5 healthy subjects (controls) (AF, AG, GB, GV, FB). The bile acids treatment did not induce gastrointestinal side effects in any patients. The feces, within 2 h of collection, were placed in an anaerobic cabinet (N2 H2 C02 atmosphere, 85 10 5), subjected to bacteriological examination and to tests for biochemical activity on CDA and UDA[1]. The microbial groups examined were anaerobic bacteria, Bacteroidaceae, bifidobacteria, Clostridia, anaerobic cocci, lactobacilli, coliform bacteria, aerobic bacteria. Different media were used[2] and the characterization of isolated strains was performed taking into con-... 

The most widely used simulated service test for static atmospheric testing is described in ASTM G 50, Practice for Conducting Atmospheric Corrosion Tests on Metals. It is used to test coated sheet steels for a variety of outdoor applications. Test materials, which are in the form of flat test panels mounted in a test rack (Fig. 16), are subjected to the cyclic effects of the weather, geographical influences, and bacteriological factors that cannot be realistically duplicated in the laboratory. Test durations can last from several months up to many years. Some zinc-coated steel specimens have undergone testing for more than 30 years. 

Dumas, J. B. A., and J. B. Boussingault. 1841. Lecon sur la Statique Chimique des res organish. Paris Sorbonne. A century later Hutchinson noted that although in the absence of any bacteriological information, they inevitably made certain errors in interpretation, the cyclical character of the migration of the common non-metallic elements had never been demonstrated so lucidly and with such rhetorical skill. Hutchinson, G. E. 1944. A century of atmospheric biogeochemistry. American Scientist 32 129. 

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