Humic nanoparticles for remediation of Cd- contaminated soils

Extraneous humic substances could alter the dynamics of Cd in soils. An insoluble humic acid, produced from a leonardite, was used in laboratory experiment as an adsorbent to immobilize Cd in a silt-loam soil near a smelting plant and a Cd-spiked and aged sandy-loam soil, whereas a soluble peat-derived potassium humate was employed as a washing agent to mobilize Cd in, and remove it out of, the contaminated soils. Addition of 2% humic acid could reduce CaCl_2 extractable Cd in a soil (0.103 mg·L~(-1)) by 19.7%. This immobilization effect was greater in sandy-loam soil than in silt-loam soil. Similarly, Cd removed from the contaminated soils increased with washing agent dosage. A single washing at 10 g·L~(-1) of potassium humate removed up to 38.1% of the total Cd in soils. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis indicated the formation of Cd-carboxyl complex. This study suggests that Cd-contaminated soils can be remediated by humic substances through either an immobilization or mobilization process. The key to the success is to select humic substances with a suitable solubility: water insoluble humic acid for Cd immobilization and water soluble potassium humate for effective removal of Cd out of soils

Nutritional components,textural properties,and in vitro starch hydrolysis of steamed hulless barley bread

青稞是我国藏区的主要农作物,富含beta-葡聚糖、黄酮、生育酚等多种生理活性成分.通过比较分析青稞全麦粉和小麦粉的粉质和糊化特性差异,研制青稞全麦粉占面粉含量60%的高青稞含量的青稞全麦馒头粉,并对青稞全麦馒头的营养、感官、质构以及体外淀粉水解等方面的特性进行评价.结果显示:(1)青稞全麦粉吸水率、弱化度显著高于小麦粉,面团形成时间、稳定时间以及粉质质量指数显著低于小麦粉,通过添加谷朊粉,青稞全麦馒头粉的粉质特性得到了改善,其面团形成时间和稳定时间延长,弱化度降低,粉质质量指数增加;青稞全麦粉比小麦粉更易糊化,峰值粘度、崩解值和回生值增加,混粉后青稞全麦馒头粉的低谷粘度与小麦粉差异显著,其他参数无显著差异;(2)青稞全麦馒头的蛋白质和beta-葡聚糖含量都显著高于小麦馒头,其中beta-葡聚糖含量为2.33%-2.78%,是小麦馒头的10倍;(3)青稞全麦馒头感官品质显著低于小麦馒头,但仍具有较好的整体接受度;(4)与小麦馒头比较,青稞全麦馒头的硬度、胶着性、咀嚼度等指标显著增加,而粘附性、回复性等指标则显著降低;(5)青稞全麦馒头的抗性淀粉(RS)含量显著高于小麦馒头,而极易消化淀粉(VRDS)、易消化淀粉(RDS)、血糖生成指数(GI)均显著低于小麦馒头.本研究表明,青稞全麦馒头不仅具有独特的口感和香味,而且比小麦馒头具有更高的营养价值,尤其是低GI值,可缓解餐后血糖指数的升高,更利于人们对血糖的控制,因而青稞可以作为一种优质的主要原料用于馒头加工

Preparation and Electrocatalystic Performance of Ir/C Catalyst for Ammonia Oxidation

利用乙醇-水二元体系制备含质量分数为30%Ir的碳载Ir(Ir/C)催化剂.X射线衍射(XRD)谱和电化学测试分别表明,该催化剂Ir粒子的平均粒径约为2.2 nm.在NaC lO4电解液中,Ir/C催化剂对氨氧化的电催化活性与纯Ir催化剂的相似,但稳定性有明显增加.同时,NH3氧化的电流密度与NH3浓度呈现良好的线性关系,有望在定电位电解型NH3传感器中得到应用.The Ir/C catalyst with 30%(by mass) Ir was prepared in the CH3CH2OH and H2O binary system.The X-ray diffraction(XRD) data showed that the average sizes of the Ir particles in the Ir/C catalyst was about 2.2 nm.The results of the electrochemical measurements indicated that the electrocatalytic activity of the Ir/C catalyst for the ammonia oxidation in the neutral NaClO4 solution was similar to the Ir catalyst,while electrocatalytic stability was much better than that of the Ir catalyst.Furthermore,the peak current density of the ammonia oxidation at the Ir/C catalyst electrode showed a good linear relationship with the ammonia concentration,illustrating that the Ir/C catalyst would have a good application prospect in the potential fixed electrolytic type ammonia sensor.作者联系地址：南京师范大学化学与环境科学学院;咸阳市咸阳师范学院化学系;中国科学院长春应用化学研究所;Author's Address: 1.College of Chemistry and Environmental Science,Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210097,China,2.Department of Chemistry,Xianyang Normal University,Xianyang 712000,Shan-xi,China,3.Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022,Chin

Aripiprazole versus other atypical antipsychotics for schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: In most western industrialised countries, second generation (atypical) antipsychotics are recommended as first line drug treatments for people with schizophrenia. In this review we specifically examine how the efficacy and tolerability of one such agent - aripiprazole - differs from that of other comparable second generation antipsychotics. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of aripiprazole compared with other atypical antipsychotics for people with schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like psychoses. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (November 2011), inspected references of all identified studies for further trials, and contacted relevant pharmaceutical companies, drug approval agencies and authors of trials for additional information. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all randomised clinical trials (RCTs) comparing aripiprazole (oral) with oral and parenteral forms of amisulpride, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, sertindole, ziprasidone or zotepine for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like psychoses. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We extracted data independently. For dichotomous data we calculated risk ratios (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) on an intention-to-treat basis based on a random-effects model. Where possible, we calculated illustrative comparative risks for primary outcomes. For continuous data, we calculated mean differences (MD), again based on a random-effects model. We assessed risk of bias for each included study. MAIN RESULTS: We included 12 trials involving 6389 patients. Aripiprazole was compared to olanzapine, risperidone and ziprasidone. All trials were sponsored by an interested drug manufacturer. The overall number of participants leaving studies early was 30% to 40%, limiting validity (no differences between groups).When compared with olanzapine no differences were apparent for global state (no clinically important change: n = 703, 1 RCT, RR short-term 1.00 95% CI 0.81 to 1.22; n = 317, 1 RCT, RR medium-term 1.08 95% CI 0.95 to 1.22) but mental state tended to favour olanzapine (n = 1360, 3 RCTs, MD total Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) 4.68 95% CI 2.21 to 7.16). There was no significant difference in extrapyramidal symptoms (n = 529, 2 RCTs, RR 0.99 95% CI 0.62 to 1.59) but fewer in the aripiprazole group had increased cholesterol levels (n = 223, 1 RCT, RR 0.32 95% CI 0.19 to 0.54) or weight gain of 7% or more of total body weight (n = 1095, 3 RCTs, RR 0.39 95% CI 0.28 to 0.54).When compared with risperidone, aripiprazole showed no advantage in terms of global state (n = 384, 2 RCTs, RR no important improvement 1.14 95% CI 0.81 to 1.60) or mental state (n = 372, 2 RCTs, MD total PANSS 1.50 95% CI -2.96 to 5.96).One study compared aripiprazole with ziprasidone (n = 247) and both the groups reported similar change in the global state (n = 247, 1 RCT, MD average change in Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) score -0.03 95% CI -0.28 to 0.22) and mental state (n = 247, 1 RCT, MD change PANSS -3.00 95% CI -7.29 to 1.29).When compared with any one of several new generation antipsychotic drugs the aripiprazole group showed improvement in global state in energy (n = 523, 1 RCT, RR 0.69 95% CI 0.56 to 0.84), mood (n = 523, 1 RCT, RR 0.77 95% CI 0.65 to 0.92), negative symptoms (n = 523, 1 RCT, RR 0.82 95% CI 0.68 to 0.99), somnolence (n = 523, 1 RCT, RR 0.80 95% CI 0.69 to 0.93) and weight gain (n = 523, 1 RCT, RR 0.84 95% CI 0.76 to 0.94). Significantly more people given aripiprazole reported symptoms of nausea (n = 2881, 3 RCTs, RR 3.13 95% CI 2.12 to 4.61) but weight gain (7% or more of total body weight) was less common in people allocated aripiprazole (n = 330, 1 RCT, RR 0.35 95% CI 0.19 to 0.64). Aripiprazole may have value in aggression but data are limited. This will be the focus of another review. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Information on all comparisons are of limited quality, are incomplete and problematic to apply clinically. Aripiprazole is an antipsychotic drug with a variant but not absent adverse effect profile. Long-term data are sparse and there is considerable scope for another update of this review as new data emerges from the many Chinese studies as well as from ongoing larger, independent pragmatic trials

JUNO Sensitivity on Proton Decay p→νˉK+p\to \bar\nu K^+ Searches

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a large liquid scintillator detector designed to explore many topics in fundamental physics. In this paper, the potential on searching for proton decay in $p\to \bar\nu K^+$ mode with JUNO is investigated.The kaon and its decay particles feature a clear three-fold coincidence signature that results in a high efficiency for identification. Moreover, the excellent energy resolution of JUNO permits to suppress the sizable background caused by other delayed signals. Based on these advantages, the detection efficiency for the proton decay via $p\to \bar\nu K^+$ is 36.9% with a background level of 0.2 events after 10 years of data taking. The estimated sensitivity based on 200 kton-years exposure is $9.6 \times 10^{33}$ years, competitive with the current best limits on the proton lifetime in this channel