Advances in research on the use of biochar in soil for remediation: a review

Purpose: Soil contamination mainly from human activities remains a major environmental problem in the contemporary world. Significant work has been undertaken to position biochar as a readily-available material useful for the management of contaminants in various environmental media notably soil. Here, we review the increasing research on the use of biochar in soil for the remediation of some organic and inorganic contaminants.  Materials and methods: Bibliometric analysis was carried out within the past 10 years to determine the increasing trend in research related to biochar in soil for contaminant remediation. Five exemplar contaminants were reviewed in both laboratory and field-based studies. These included two inorganic (i.e., As and Pb) and three organic classes (i.e., sulfamethoxazole, atrazine, and PAHs). The contaminants were selected based on bibliometric data and as representatives of their various contaminant classes. For example, As and Pb are potentially toxic elements (anionic and cationic, respectively), while sulfamethoxazole, atrazine, and PAHs represent antibiotics, herbicides, and hydrocarbons, respectively.  Results and discussion: The interaction between biochar and contaminants in soil is largely driven by biochar precursor material and pyrolysis temperature as well as some characteristics of the contaminants such as octanol-water partition coefficient (KOW) and polarity. The structural and chemical characteristics of biochar in turn determine the major sorption mechanisms and define biochar’s suitability for contaminant sorption. Based on the reviewed literature, a soil treatment plan is suggested to guide the application of biochar in various soil types (paddy soils, brownfield, and mine soils) at different pH levels (4–5.5) and contaminant concentrations ( 50 mg kg−1).  Conclusions: Research on biochar has grown over the years with significant focus on its properties, and how these affect biochar’s ability to immobilize organic and inorganic contaminants in soil. Few of these studies have been field-based. More studies with greater focus on field-based soil remediation are therefore required to fully understand the behavior of biochar under natural circumstances. Other recommendations are made aimed at stimulating future research in areas where significant knowledge gaps exist

Multivariate optimization and validation of a CZE method for the analysis of pridinol mesylate and meloxicam in tablets

A capillary zone electrophoresis method for the simultaneous determination of pridinol mesylate (PRI) and meloxicam (MEL) employing epinastine hydrochloride and piroxicam as internal standards, was developed and optimized employing experimental design and response surface methodologies. The separation was optimally achieved in less than 2 min at 30 kV in an uncoated fused-silica capillary (41.4 cm × 75 μm I.D.), employing an 18 mmol L-1 sodium phosphate buffer solution (pH 5.90) at 25 °C. Samples were injected in hydrodynamic mode (50 mbar, 5 s) and the analytes were spectrophotometrically detected at 200 nm. Method robustness was demonstrated by ANOVA of determinations performed under conditions slightly different from the optimum. The method was validated regarding separation selectivity (peak purity factors > 0.99), linearity and range (PRI = 17.6-31.4 mg L-1; MEL = 66.5-122.5 mg L-1), accuracy (PRI = 100.2-101.9%; MEL = 98.9-100.7%) and precision. The RSD values obtained were ≥1.3% for injection repeatability and ≥1.9% for intra-day precision. The limits of detection (1.0 and 0.9 mg L-1) and quantification (3.3 and 16.5 mg L-1) of PRI and MEL, respectively, were also determined. The method was successfully applied to the determination of both drugs in three brands of tablet formulations. No statistically significant differences were observed when these results were compared with those of a RP-HPLC method.Fil: Vignaduzzo, Silvana Edit. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Vera Candioti, Luciana. National University Of The Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Castellano, Patricia Margarita. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Goicoechea, Hector Casimiro. Universidad Nacional del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Kaufman, Teodoro Saul. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentin

Pharmacological profile of astemizole-derived compounds at the histamine H1 and H4 receptor - H1/H4 receptor selectivity

Astemizole, a H1R antagonist shows high affinity to the histamine H1 receptor but only a moderate affinity to the histamine H4 receptor. This study aims to modify the astemizole to keep high affinity to the histamine H1 receptor and to increase affinity to the histamine H4 receptor. Therefore, 13 astemizole-derived compounds and astemizole-JNJ7777120-derived hybrid compounds were synthesized and pharmacologically characterized at the histamine H1 and H4 receptors. The new compounds show affinity to the histamine H1 receptor in the pK i range from 5.3 to 8.8, whereas the affinity of these compounds to the histamine H4 receptor was surprisingly rather low (pK i from 4.4 to 5.6). Three representative compounds were docked into the histamine H1 receptor and molecular dynamic studies were performed to explain the binding mode and the experimental results on a molecular level. Furthermore, taking into account the binding mode of compounds with high affinity to the histamine H4 receptor, a H1/H4-pharmacophore hypothesis was developed