Biological mineralization defined

In Figure 1 dashed squares refer to water bodies, while solid squares refer to solid matter (also containing some water). Plutonium may appear in any of these squares. The ratio of the concentration of plutonium in two adjacent squares is usually referred to as the concentration factor (CF usually from the water to the solid substance), the transfer coefficient (TC usually between two biological species), or the sorption ratio (or between minerals and water). To avoid ambiguity, we shall use the expression distribution coefficient (abbreviated Kd) with unit dimension (Pu amount per kg product divided by Pu amount per kg source). For the transfer of plutonium from A to B, Pu(A) ->- Pu(B), we define... 

Impressive, highly ordered centimetre-sized fibres are obtained whose synergistic growth mechanism based on the kinetic cross-coupling of a dynamical supramolecular self-assembly and a stabilizing silica mineralization may well be the basis of the synthetic paths used by Nature to obtain its materials with well-defined multiscale architectures in biological systems. 

Contaminants retained on colloid surfaces may be transported by flowing water through the vadose zone and reach the groundwater or be relocated on the land surface by runoff processes. Operationally defined as particles between 1 j,m and 1 nm in size, colloids in the subsurface may be of mineral, organic, or biological origin. 

The interaction of small mineral particles with microorganisms and biological cells is one of the most general ways of contact between living and inorganic substances in nature. The basic problem can be defined by calculating the... 

Inclusion complexes of amylose are rather well defined, and a consistent theory of such complexes is available that explains amylose complexes with iodine, fatty acids, alcohols, and other guest molecules.4,5 This subject is surveyed in this article because of the growing interest and importance of such complexes in pharmacology and in the food industry. It is probable that starch in its biological sources (tubers, granules) exists in the form of native complexes with proteins, lipids, mineral salts, and water. 

The pH of a system determines the reactions that define the concentration of many dissolved chemical species in water containing salts and minerals, supplied by weathering reactions, rain, runoff, and lixiviating processes. The pH is a key parameter for biological growth and for the sustainment of life for the different aquatic flora and fauna species. As discussed in Chapter 2 the contribution of the different species will affect the final pH and vice versa (i.e., the pH on its own often determines the form of the species present). That is why the distribution diagrams of chemical species are frequently defined as functions of pH (Section 2.1.2). In summary, the main environmental processes that affect the pH and the alkalinity of natural waters include ... 

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