Substrate quality and spontaneous revegetation of extracted peatland: case study of an abandoned Polish mountain bog

If peatland is left without any restoration treatments after mechanical peat extraction ceases, the process of secondary transformation of peat continues. The resulting changes in peat properties severely impede the recovery of vegetation on cutover peatland. The aim of this study was to assess how secondary transformation of peat affects spontaneous revegetation, and the relative importance of different factors in controlling the re-establishment of raised bog species on previously cutover peat surfaces. The study was conducted on two sectors of a raised bog in southern Poland where peat extraction ended either 20 or 30 years ago. Where the residual peat layer was thin (~ 40 cm or less) and the water table often dropped into the mineral substratum, the development of vascular plants (including trees) was favoured, and this further promoted the secondary transformation of peat. In such locations the vegetation tended towards a pine and birch community. Revegetation by Sphagnum and other raised bog species (Eriophorum vaginatum, Vaccinium uliginosum, Ledum palustre, Oxycoccus palustris) was associated with thicker residual peat and higher water table level which, in turn, were strongly correlated with hydrophysical properties of the soil. A species - environmental factor redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that any single factor (of those considered) was not important in determining the revegetation pattern, because of their intercorrelations. However, water table level appeared to be the most important abiotic factor in determining the degree of soil aeration and, consequently, the stage of secondary transformation attained by the peat

Structure and registry of the silica bilayer film on Ru(0001) as viewed by LEED and DFT

Silica bilayers are stable on various metal substrates, including Ru(0001) that is used for the present study. In a systematic attempt to elucidate the detailed structure of the silica bilayer film and its registry to the metal substrate, we performed a low energy electron diffraction (I/V-LEED) study. The experimental work is accompanied by detailed calculations on the stability, orientation and dynamic properties of the bilayer at room temperature. It was determined, that the film shows a certain structural diversity within the unit cell of the metal substrate, which depends on the oxygen content at the metal-bilayer interface. In connection with the experimental I/V-LEED study, it became apparent, that a high-quality structure determination is only possible if several structural motifs are taken into account by superimposing bilayer structures with varying registry to the oxygen covered substrate. This result is conceptually in line with the recently observed statistical registry in layered 2D-compound materials

The Old Ball Game: Organization of Nineteenth Century Professional Base Ball Clubs

The first professional base ball clubs came in two varieties: stock clubs, which paid their players fixed wages, and player cooperatives, in which players shared the proceeds after expenses. We argue that stock clubs were formed with players of known ability, while co-ops were formed with players of unknown ability. Although residual claimancy served to screen out players of inferior ability in co-ops, the process was imperfect due to the team production problem. Based on this argument, we suggest that co-ops functioned as an early minor league system where untried players could seek to prove themselves and eventually move up to wage teams. Empirical analysis of data on player performance and experience in early professional base ball provides support for the theory

Polimeryzacja kondensacyjna monomerów AB₂ – modelowanie i weryfikacja modeli polireakcji prowadzonej w temperaturze pokojowej

Statistical and kinetic methods to model step polymerization of AB2 type of monomers (A and B stand for functional groups) are briefly reviewed and the relationships linking conversion or reaction time with averages of polymerization degree are derived for systems fulfilling the Flory-Stockmayer assumptions, i.e., for those with no reactivity changes of functional groups and absence of intramolecular linking. Results of kinetic studies are also presented for polymerization of 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid, aided with N,N'-diisopropylcarbodiimide, carried out at room temperature in NMR test tubes. For reaction carried out in dimethylsulphoxide, the relationship between conversion and time is well described by the simplest kinetic model. It was stated that in the case of reaction carried out in dimethylformamide the reactivity of the second amino group in the monomeric units seems to be ten times lower than that of the first one.Przedstawiono krótki przegląd statystycznych i kinetycznych metod modelowania stopniowej polimeryzacji monomerów typu AB2 (A i B reprezentują grupy funkcyjne). Wyprowadzono relacje łączące stopień przereagowania ze średnimi stopniami polimeryzacji dla układów reagujących zgodnie z założeniami Flory'ego i Stockmayera, tj. bez zmian w reaktywnościach grup funkcyjnych oraz nieobecności wiązań wewnątrzcząsteczkowych. Przedstawiono wyniki badań kinetycznych przebiegu polimeryzacji kwasu 3,5-diaminobenzoesowego wspomaganej N,N'-diizopropylokarbodiimidem, którą prowadzono w temperaturze pokojowej w probówkach NMR. Kinetykę badanej reakcji, prowadzonej w dimetylosulfotlenku, dobrze opisuje najprostszy model kinetyczny polikondensacji. Stwierdzono, że w przypadku reakcji prowadzonej w dimetyloformamidzie, reaktywność drugiej grupy aminowej w jednostkach monomerycznych jest dziesięciokrotnie mniejsza, niż reaktywność pierwszej z tych grup

The Old Ball Game: Organization of Nineteenth Century Professional Base Ball Clubs

The first professional base ball clubs came in two varieties: stock clubs, which paid their players fixed wages, and player cooperatives, in which players shared the proceeds after expenses. We argue that stock clubs were formed with players of known ability, while co-ops were formed with players of unknown ability. Although residual claimancy served to screen out players of inferior ability in co-ops, the process was imperfect due to the team production problem. Based on this argument, we suggest that co-ops functioned as an early minor league system where untried players could seek to prove themselves and eventually move up to wage teams. Empirical analysis of data on player performance and experience in early professional base ball provides support for the theory.

Substitution of calcium by strontium within selected calcium phosphates

Sr incorporation in the molecules of amorphous calcium phosphate, apatitic tricalcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite, octacalcium phosphate and dicalcium phosphate dihydrate was investigated. The concentration of Sr ranged from 225 to 1010 μ g / g, i.e. it overlapped with the physiological range of Sr concentrations in human bone. The leading experimental technique was extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) at the Sr K edge. Results of these studies demonstrated the following: (1) Sr incorporation in the calcium phosphates is compound-dependent, (2) the coordination of incorporated Sr atoms in the Ca-P molecules is similar to that of Ca atoms, but interatomic distances are ≈0.015 nm larger, (3) in apatitic tricalcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite and octacalcium phosphate lattices Sr atoms may occupy selected Ca sites, which was not the case for dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, (4) in the apatite lattice Sr atoms are coordinated by 6 PO$_4$ tetrahedrals and (5) EXAFS spectra at the K edge of the incorporated Sr may be used to distinguish the structures of amorphous calcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate dihydrate as well as apatite and its derivatives (apatitic tricalcium phosphate, octacalcium phosphate)