Soil, grain and water chemistry and human selenium imbalances in Enshi district, Hubei Province, China

Many elements which are essential to human and other animal health in small doses can be toxic if ingested in excess. Selenium (Se), a naturally occurring metalloid element is found in all natural materials on earth including rocks, soils, waters, air, plant and animal tissues. Since the early 1930’s, it has been recognised that Se toxicity causes hoof disorders and hair loss in livestock. Se was also identified as an essential trace element to humans and other animals in the late 1950’s. It forms a vital constituent of the biologically important enzyme glutathione peroxidase which acts as an anti-oxidant preventing cell degeneration. Se deficiency has been implicated in the aetiology of several diseases including cancer, muscular dystrophy, muscular sclerosis and cystic fibrosis. Se can be assimilated in humans through several pathways including food, drinking water and inhalation of Se-bearing particles from the atmosphere. In the majority of situations, food is the most important source of Se, as levels in water are very low. The narrow range between deficiency levels (<40 pg per day) and toxic levels in susceptible people (> 900 pg per day) makes it necessary to carefully control the amount of Se in the diet. In China, Se deficiency has been linked to an endemic degenerative heart disease known as Keshan Disease (KD) and an endemic osteoarthropathy which causes deformity of affected joints, known as Kaschin-Beck Disease. These diseases occur in a geographic belt stretching from Heilongjiang Province in north-east China to Yunnan Province in the south-west. In the period between 1959 and 1970, peak KD incidence rates exceeded 40 per 100 000 (approximately 8500 cases per annum) with 1400 - 3000 deaths recorded each year. Incidence rates have since fallen to less than 5 per 100 000 with approximately 1000 new cases reported annually (Levander, 1986). Se toxicity (selenosis) resulting in hair and nail loss and disorders of the nervous system in the human population, has also been recorded in Enshi District, Hubei Province and in Ziyang County, Shanxi Province. China possesses one of the best epidemiological databases in the world on Se-related diseases which has been used in conjunction with geochemical data to demonstrate a significant geochemical control on human Se exposure. However, the precise geographical areas at risk and the geochemical controls on selenium availability have yet to be established

Production of Theta(1540) and Xi Pentaquark States in Proton-Proton Interactions

The production of strange pentaquark states (e.g. Theta baryons and Xi^-- states) in hadronic interactions within a Gribov-Regge approach is explored. In this approach the Theta^+(1540) and the Xi Pentaquark are produced by disintegration of remnants formed by the exchange of pomerons between the two protons. We predict the rapidity and transverse momentum distributions as well as the 4 pi multiplicity of the Theta^+, Xi^--, Xi^-, Xi^0 and Xi^+ for sqrt{s} = 17 GeV (SPS) and 200 GeV (RHIC). For both energies more than 10^{-3} Theta^+ and more than 10^{-5} Xi per pp event should be observed by the present experiments.Comment: Predictions for Xi Pentaquarks added. Phys. Lett. B in prin

Hydrodynamic Limit of the Boltzmann Equation with Contact Discontinuities

The hydrodynamic limit for the Boltzmann equation is studied in the case when the limit system, that is, the system of Euler equations contains contact discontinuities. When suitable initial data is chosen to avoid the initial layer, we prove that there exists a unique solution to the Boltzmann equation globally in time for any given Knudsen number. And this family of solutions converge to the local Maxwellian defined by the contact discontinuity of the Euler equations uniformly away from the discontinuity as the Knudsen number $\varepsilon$ tends to zero. The proof is obtained by an appropriately chosen scaling and the energy method through the micro-macro decomposition.Comment: 34 pages. submitte

Production of Pentaquark States in pp Collisions within the Microcanonical Ensemble

The microcanonical statistical approach is applied to study the production of pentaquark states in pp collisions. We predict the average multiplicity and average transverse momentum of Theta^{+}(1540) and Xi(1860) and their antiparticles at different energies.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Delocalization and spin-wave dynamics in ferromagnetic chains with long-range correlated random exchange

We study the one-dimensional quantum Heisenberg ferromagnet with exchange couplings exhibiting long-range correlated disorder with power spectrum proportional to $1/k^{\alpha}$, where $k$ is the wave-vector of the modulations on the random coupling landscape. By using renormalization group, integration of the equations of motion and exact diagonalization, we compute the spin-wave localization length and the mean-square displacement of the wave-packet. We find that, associated with the emergence of extended spin-waves in the low-energy region for $\alpha > 1$, the wave-packet mean-square displacement changes from a long-time super-diffusive behavior for $\alpha <1$ to a long-time ballistic behavior for $\alpha > 1$. At the vicinity of $\alpha =1$, the mobility edge separating the extended and localized phases is shown to scale with the degree of correlation as $E_c\propto (\alpha -1)^{1/3}$.Comment: PRB to appea

Ferrihidrita ferrimagnética: una historia de serendipia y radiación de sincrotón

II Encuentro sobre nanociencia y nanotecnología de investigadores y tecnólogos de la Universidad de Córdoba. NANOUC

Pt/CeO2 as Catalyst for Non-Oxidative Coupling of Methane:Oxidative Regeneration

Direct non-oxidative coupling is a promising route for methane upgrading, yet its commercialization is hindered by the lack of efficient catalysts. Pt/CeO2 catalysts with isolated Pt species have attracted increasing interest in recent years. Herein, we studied the catalytic role and evolution of isolated Pt centers on CeO2 prepared by flame spray pyrolysis under the harsh reaction conditions of non-oxidative methane coupling. During the reaction at 800 °C, the isolated Pt sites sinter leading to a loss of the ethylene and ethane yield. The agglomerated Pt can be redispersed by using an in situ regeneration strategy in oxygen. We found that isolated Pt centers are only able to activate methane at the initial reaction stage, and the CePt5 alloy acts as the active phase in the prolonged reaction