Eliminación de DBP en aceite de onagra mediante arcilla activada modificada por chitosán y CTAB

The pollution of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in edible oils is a serious problem. In the current study, we attempt to remove dibutyl phthalate ester (DBP) from evening primrose oil (EPO) with modified activated clay. The activated clay, commonly used for de-coloration in the oil refining process, was modified by chitosan and hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The modifications were characterized by SEM, XRD, and FT-IR. We further tested the DBP adsorption capacity of CTAB/chitosan-clay and found that the removal rate was 27.56% which was 3.24 times higher than with pristine activated clay. In addition, the CTAB/chitosan-clay composite treatment had no significant effect on the quality of evening primrose oil. In summary, the CTAB/chitosan-clay composite has a stronger DBP adsorption capacity and can be used as a new adsorbent for removing DBP during the de-coloration process of evening primrose oil.La contaminación por ésteres de ácido ftálico (PAEs) en los aceites comestibles es un problema grave. En el presente estudio, intentamos eliminar el éster de ftalato de dibutilo (DBP) del aceite de onagra (EPO) con arcilla activada modificada. La arcilla activada, comúnmente utilizada en la decoloración en el proceso de refinación de los aceites, fue modificada con chitosán y bromuro de hexadecil trimetil amonio (CTAB). Las modificaciones se caracterizaron mediante SEM, XRD y FT-IR. Además, probamos la capacidad de adsorción de DBP de CTAB / chitosán-arcilla y descubrimos que la tasa de eliminación era del 27,56%, que era 3,24 veces mayor que la arcilla activada pura. Además, el tratamiento compuesto de CTAB/chitosán-arcilla no tuvo un efecto significativo sobre la calidad del aceite de onagra. En resumen, el compuesto CTAB/chitosán-arcilla tiene una capacidad de adsorción de DBP más fuerte y se puede utilizar como un nuevo adsorbente para eliminar DBP durante el proceso de decoloración del aceite de onagra

A dynamic nomenclature proposal for SARS-CoV-2 lineages to assist genomic epidemiology

The ongoing pandemic spread of a new human coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which is associated with severe pneumonia/disease (COVID-19), has resulted in the generation of tens of thousands of virus genome sequences. The rate of genome generation is unprecedented, yet there is currently no coherent nor accepted scheme for naming the expanding phylogenetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we present a rational and dynamic virus nomenclature that uses a phylogenetic framework to identify those lineages that contribute most to active spread. Our system is made tractable by constraining the number and depth of hierarchical lineage labels and by flagging and delabelling virus lineages that become unobserved and hence are probably inactive. By focusing on active virus lineages and those spreading to new locations, this nomenclature will assist in tracking and understanding the patterns and determinants of the global spread of SARS-CoV-2

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression among bereaved and non-bereaved survivors following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

Many studies have suggested that unexpected death of a loved one is an important risk factor of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among disaster survivors, but few have examined the magnitude of psychiatric morbidities among bereaved survivors. This study examined the prevalence rates of clinically significant PTSD and depressive symptoms and their associated risk factors among Chinese adult survivors following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Two hundred and fifty-one bereaved adults were compared with 1474 non-bereaved adult survivors. The estimated rates of PTSD and depressive symptoms were 65.6% and 64.8% for those who lost first-degree family members, 34.1% and 45.5% for those who lost second-degree relatives, and 27.1% and 37.5% for non-bereaved survivors respectively. Loss of a child was a significant predictor of psychopathological symptoms. The results suggested that effective and sustainable mental health services were required, especially for bereaved single-child parents. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.postprin

Monotone and fast computation of Euler’s constant

Abstract We construct sequences of finite sums ( l ˜ n ) n ≥ 0 $(\tilde{l}_{n})_{n\geq 0}$ and ( u ˜ n ) n ≥ 0 $(\tilde{u}_{n})_{n\geq 0}$ converging increasingly and decreasingly, respectively, to the Euler-Mascheroni constant γ at the geometric rate 1/2. Such sequences are easy to compute and satisfy complete monotonicity-type properties. As a consequence, we obtain an infinite product representation for 2 γ $2^{\gamma }$ converging in a monotone and fast way at the same time. We use a probabilistic approach based on a differentiation formula for the gamma process

Evidence for a narrow |S|=1 baryon state at a mass of 1528 MeV in quasi-real photoproduction

Evidence for a narrow baryon state is found in quasi-real photoproduction on a deuterium target through the decay channel p K^0_S --> p pi^+ pi^-. A peak is observed in the p K^0_S invariant mass spectrum at 1528 +/- 2.6 (stat) +/-2.1 (syst) MeV. Depending on the background model,the naive statistical significance of the peak is 4--6 standard deviations and its width may be somewhat larger than the experimental resolution of sigma=4.3 -- 6.2 MeV. This state may be interpreted as the predicted S=+1 exotic Theta^{+}(uuddbar(s)) pentaquark baryon. No signal for an hypothetical Theta^{++} baryon was observed in the pK^+ invariant mass distribution. The absence of such a signal indicates that an isotensor Theta is excluded and an isovector Theta is unlikely.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Double hadron leptoproduction in the nuclear medium

First measurement of double-hadron production in deep-inelastic scattering has been measured with the HERMES spectrometer at HERA using a 27.6 GeV positron beam with deuterium, nitrogen, krypton and xenon targets. The influence of the nuclear medium on the ratio of double-hadron to single-hadron yields has been investigated. Nuclear effects are clearly observed but with substantially smaller magnitude and reduced $A$-dependence compared to previously measured single-hadron multiplicity ratios. The data are in fair agreement with models based on partonic or pre-hadronic energy loss, while they seem to rule out a pure absorptive treatment of the final state interactions. Thus, the double-hadron ratio provides an additional tool for studying modifications of hadronization in nuclear matter

Development of a PNA Probe for Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Detection of Prorocentrum donghaiense

Prorocentrum donghaiense is a common but dominant harmful algal bloom (HAB) species, which is widely distributed along the China Sea coast. Development of methods for rapid and precise identification and quantification is prerequisite for early-stage warning and monitoring of blooms due to P. donghaiense. In this study, sequences representing the partial large subunit rDNA (D1–D2), small subunit rDNA and internal transcribed spacer region (ITS-1, 5.8S rDNA and ITS-2) of P. donghaiense were firstly obtained, and then seven candidate DNA probes were designed for performing fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) tests on P. donghaiense. Based on the fluorescent intensity of P. donghaiense cells labeled by the DNA probes, the probe DP0443A displayed the best hybridization performance. Therefore, a PNA probe (PP0443A) analogous to DP0443A was used in the further study. The cells labeled with the PNA probe displayed more intensive green fluorescence than that labeled with its DNA analog. The PNA probe was used to hybridize with thirteen microalgae belonging to five families, i.e., Dinophyceae, Prymnesiophyceae, Raphidophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Bacillariophyceae, and showed no visible cross-reaction. Finally, FISH with the probes PP0443A and DP0443A and light microscopy (LM) analysis aiming at enumerating P. donghaiense cells were performed on the field samples. Statistical comparisons of the cell densities (cells/L) of P. donghaiense in the natural samples determined by FISH and LM were performed using one-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple comparisons of the means. The P. donghaiense cell densities determined by LM and the PNA probe are remarkably higher than (p<0.05) that determined by the DNA probe, while no significant difference is observed between LM and the PNA probe. All results suggest that the PNA probe is more sensitive that its DNA analog, and therefore is promising for the monitoring of harmful algal blooms of P. donghaiense in the future

Accommodating individual travel history and unsampled diversity in Bayesian phylogeographic inference of SARS-CoV-2

Spatiotemporal bias in genome sampling can severely confound discrete trait phylogeographic inference. This has impeded our ability to accurately track the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the availability of unprecedented numbers of SARS-CoV-2 genomes. Here, we present an approach to integrate individual travel history data in Bayesian phylogeographic inference and apply it to the early spread of SARS-CoV-2. We demonstrate that including travel history data yields i) more realistic hypotheses of virus spread and ii) higher posterior predictive accuracy compared to including only sampling location. We further explore methods to ameliorate the impact of sampling bias by augmenting the phylogeographic analysis with lineages from undersampled locations. Our reconstructions reinforce specific transmission hypotheses suggested by the inclusion of travel history data, but also suggest alternative routes of virus migration that are plausible within the epidemiological context but are not apparent with current sampling efforts.status: publishe

Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay

The decay channel $\psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p})$ is studied using a sample of $1.06\times 10^8$ $\psi^\prime$ events collected by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is observed in the $p\bar{p}$ invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit with an $S$-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of $M=1861^{+6}_{-13} {\rm (stat)}^{+7}_{-26} {\rm (syst)} {\rm MeV/}c^2$ and a narrow width that is $\Gamma<38 {\rm MeV/}c^2$ at the 90% confidence level. These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388