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Phyllosilicate is a sheet of silicate tetrahedra bound by basal oxygens. A phyllosilicate excitable automaton is a regular network of finite state machines, which mimics structure of a silicate sheet. A node of the silicate sheet is an automaton, which takes resting, excited and refractory states, and updates its state in discrete time depending on a sum of excited states of its three (silicon automata) or six (oxygen automata) closest neighbors. Oscillator is a localized compact configuration of nonquiescent states which undergoes finite growth and modification but returns to its original state in a finite number of steps. We show that phyllosilicate excitable automata exhibit waves and oscillating localizations (oscillators) dynamics. Basic types of oscillators are classified and characterized.

Phyllosilicate is a sheet of silicate tetrahedra bound by basal oxygens. A phyllosilicate automaton is a regular network of finite state machines, which mimics the structure of phyllosilicate. A node of a binary state phyllosilicate automaton takes states 0 and 1. A node updates its state in discrete time depending on a sum of states of its three (silicon nodes) or six (oxygen nodes) closest neighbors. We phenomenologically select the main types of patterns generated by phyllosilicate automata based on their shape: convex and concave hulls, almost circularly growing patterns, octagonal patterns, and those with dendritic growth; and, the patterns' interior: disordered, solid, labyrinthine. We also present the rules exhibiting traveling localizations.

Calcium phosphate and silicate-modified gold surfaces have potential applications in orthopedic and dental reconstruction, especially when combined with bone cement or dental resins. The aim of this study was to evaluate the formation of a Si–Na–Ca–P glass system nanoshell on functionalized gold nanoparticles. Stable gold nanoparticle suspensions were prepared by controlled reduction of HAuCl₄ using the sodium citrate method to obtain a nanogold-mercaptopropyltrimethyloxysilane (MPTS)–silicate–tetraethylothosilicate (TEOS)-capped particle solution. The nanoshells were formed when directly reacted with a 10^-4 M calcium phosphate ion solution. The median nanoparticle diameter was observed to be 15 nm. The MPTS–silicate–TEOS–functionalized nanoshell more effectively formed a glass shell as compared with a nonsilicate nanoshell. The changes in the surface morphology and composition were observed by a scanning transmission electron microscope equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. As seen using EDS, the nanoshell was in a glass phase with CaO-poor layers.

${}^{29}$Si Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) can measure the molecular structure of silicate in oilfield reinjection water. However, noise in ${}^{29}$Si NMR spectra (NMRS) affects the determination of silicate molecular structure type. To solve this problem, a new peak fitting method (Two-step Greedy-Singular Spectrum Analysis-Gaussian Fitting Method, TSG-SSA-GFM) is proposed in this paper. This method first uses TSG to determine the embedding dimension, then uses SSA to determine the characteristic peak position. Finally, GFM is used to calculate the molar ratio of characteristic peaks. The results show that TSG can quickly determine the embedding dimension and reduce computation by at least 50% vs. the global ergodic method. The mean deviation of characteristic peak positions determined by SSA is 0.07 ppm, while Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) cannot determine characteristic peaks of ${}^{29}$Si NMRS containing overlapping peak. The average $R$-squared of Gaussian fitting of ${}^{29}$Si NMRS is 98.4% while Lorentzian is 90.6%. Therefore, this study provides an important method for quantitative analysis of ${}^{29}$Si NMRS.

Silicate garnet phosphors (Lu${}_{0.95-x}$Ce${}_{0.05}{)}_2$Ca${}_{1+2x}$Mg₂Si₃O${}_{12}$ with $x=0$, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 were prepared by high-temperature solid-state reaction in a reducing atmosphere. The crystal structure, photoluminescence and luminescence of the phosphors were investigated. The optimum excitation peak wavelength of the phosphors ranged from 450nm to 490nm, matching the emission spectra of a blue light-emitting diode chip. The phosphors emit orange-red light after excitation that can be tuned from 589nm to 597nm by changing the concentration of calcium ions. In addition, their emission made them suitable for use in warm-white LEDs with a high-color rendering index.

In this work, first-principles calculations of Sr₃MgSi₂O₈ with Eu${}^{2+}$, Ca${}^{2+}$ and Ba${}^{2+}$ dopants have been performed. These results reveal that the Eu${}^{2+}$ ions prefer to substitute the Sr${}^{2+}$ in 8f site. In addition, Ca${}^{2+}$ and Ba${}^{2+}$ have been introduced into the crystal structure to generate complex cation environments in Sr₃MgSi₂O₈. Through the analysis of the crystal structure and electronic band structure, it can be found that the lattice size, band gap value along with the density of states of Sr₃MgSi₂O₈ could be changed and the coordination environments around the Eu${}^{2+}$ could be modulated through the Ca${}^{2+}$ or Ba${}^{2+}$ substituting for Sr${}^{2+}$. The Ca${}^{2+}$ doping would induce decreased crystal structure and band gap value between the VB and CB. Meanwhile, the Ba${}^{2+}$ doping would induce enlarged crystal structure and band gap value between the VB and CB. Especially, the bond length range of Eu${}^{2+}$ and O${}^{2-}$ could be expanded through the doping of Ca${}^{2+}$ or Ba${}^{2+}$. In summary, it can be concluded that the doped Ca${}^{2+}$ and Ba${}^{2+}$ in Sr₃MgSi₂O₈ could successfully modulate the coordination environment around the Eu${}^{2+}$ and thus lead to multiple light emissions of Eu${}^{2+}$.

Climate change and water scarcity may badly affect existing rice production system in Bangladesh. With a view to sustain rice productivity and mitigate yield scaled CH₄ emission in the changing climatic conditions, a pot experiment was conducted under different soil water contents, biochar and silicate amendments with inorganic fertilization (NPKS). In this regard, 12 treatments combinations of biochar, silicate and NPKS fertilizer along with continuous standing water (CSW), soil saturation water content and field capacity (100% and 50%) moisture levels were arranged into rice planted potted soils. Gas samples were collected from rice planted pots through Closed Chamber technique and analyzed by Gas Chromatograph. This study revealed that seasonal CH₄ emissions were suppressed through integrated biochar and silicate amendments with NPKS fertilizer (50–75% of the recommended doze), while increased rice yield significantly at different soil water contents. Biochar and silicate amendments with NPKS fertilizer (50% of the recommended doze) increased rice grain yield by 10.9%, 18.1%, 13.0% and 14.2%, while decreased seasonal CH₄ emissions by 22.8%, 20.9%, 23.3% and 24.3% at continuous standing water level (CSW) (T9), at saturated soil water content (T10), at 100% field capacity soil water content (T11) and at 50% field capacity soil water content (T12), respectively. Soil porosity, soil redox status, SOC and free iron oxide contents were improved with biochar and silicate amendments. Furthermore, rice root oxidation activity (ROA) was found more dominant in water stress condition compared to flooded and saturated soil water contents, which ultimately reduced seasonal CH₄ emissions as well as yield scaled CH₄ emission. Conclusively, soil amendments with biochar and silicate fertilizer may be a rational practice to reduce the demand for inorganic fertilization and mitigate CH₄ emissions during rice cultivation under water stress drought conditions.

Water uptake and nutritious mineral utilisation via roots from the soil are the critical requirements for terrestrial plants that have evolved as the major host organisms on the grove of Earth, autotrophically nourishing animals, fungi and many other heterotrophic organisms and continuing to play a crucial role in forming the landscapes of the planet’s biosphere. Minerals taken up from the ground return to the earth via food chains and biome networks through the actions of consumers and decomposers. Through the cyclic usage of inorganic and organic resources, plants and their associates sustain and develop as whole communities. In this chapter, based on such a co-association, or co-evolution, concept, the important interactions between autotrophic plants and the coordinative or competitional fungi and microbes are discussed and emphasised, especially in relation to plant stresses caused by excess levels of Li⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions in land environments.

Li and Ni are gathering more attention, as well as cobalt (Co), because of their importance as very useful elements in industrial activities and sustainable energy for people in the future; however, their use is also accompanied by the incidental threat and concern about their possible increases through release and contamination into land and other environments. Li belongs to the group of relatively abundant alkaline metals (light metals), and Ni is one of the rare and micro-elementary heavy metals. Although their differential and unique impacts on plants and fungi are known, their combinational effects are not well known, so it will be necessary to address the increasing risks in the near future. In this chapter, the existing evidence will be substantiated with details about their bindings and localisations with different bioligands and polymers in the cells of plants or fungi. Taken together, we discuss the importance of complex binding and detoxification systems in plants and the symbiotic associates under combined stresses caused by the two metals as well as others.