Removal of chlorinated pesticide contamination by soil washing with sole water

Chlorinated pesticide soil contamination still affects large territories due to past extensive use, poor solubility in water and scarce biodegradability of these agro-chemicals. In particular, this is noticeable for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethanes and their derivatives, globally referred as DDX contaminants. Presently, containment or immobilisation is a dominant approach to limit contamination, and remediation has been tried mainly at laboratory scale with contradictory results. Soil washing has been reported as a possible remediation treatment, although environmental effects of employed synthetic co-solvents or surfactants remain unclear. A soil washing treatment with sole water has been set up at laboratory scale, obtaining promising results on a contaminated soil with DDX level of 5050 mg/kg

Flexible Structure of a Thermally Stable Hybrid Aluminosilicate Built with Only the Three-Ring Unit

Organic–inorganic aluminosilicate hybrids are an attractive new class of materials that add organic functionalities to conventional properties of solid inorganic catalysts. ECS-17, a novel crystalline hybrid, was synthesized using 1,4-bis-(triethoxysilyl)-benzene as the sole silicon source. Its structure was solved by direct methods starting from high-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction data and is composed of inorganic layers, characterized by 10 rings, held together by phenylene rings. ECS-17 is the first aluminosilicate built from only the three-ring secondary building unit. This new material shows intriguing reversible collapsibility upon dehydration/rehydration. Mild thermal treatment under vacuum causes its crystalline structure to collapse due to facile elimination of the water molecules around the cations. Successive exposure to ambient atmospheric moisture gives back the hydrated crystalline form. ECS-17 shows remarkably high thermal stability for a hybrid, being stable up to 450 °C under vacuum and breaking down at 350 °C in air. Structural, thermal, and optical properties were examined by X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance, and ultraviolet–visible-near-infrared reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopies

The role of boric acid in the synthesis of Eni Carbon Silicates

The influence of H3BO3 on the crystallization of hybrid organic–inorganic aluminosilicates denoted as Eni Carbon Silicates (ECS's) was investigated. Syntheses were carried out at 100 °C under different experimental conditions, using bridged silsesquioxanes of general formula (EtO)3Si–R–Si(OEt)3 (R = –C6H4– (BTEB), –C10H6– (BTEN) and –C6H4–C6H4– (BTEBP)), in the presence of equimolar concentrations of NaAlO2 and H3BO3. The study, involving the synthesis of three different but structurally related phases (ECS-14 from BTEB, ECS-13 here described for the first time from BTEN, and ECS-5 from BTEBP), confirmed a catalytic role for H3BO3 which in general increased the crystallization rate and improved the product quality in terms of amount of crystallized phase (crystallinity), size of the crystallites and phase purity, while it was weakly incorporated in trace amounts in the framework of ECS's

Flexible Structure of a Thermally Stable Hybrid Aluminosilicate Built with Only the Three-Ring Unit

Organic–inorganic aluminosilicate hybrids are an attractive new class of materials that add organic functionalities to conventional properties of solid inorganic catalysts. ECS-17, a novel crystalline hybrid, was synthesized using 1,4-bis-(triethoxysilyl)-benzene as the sole silicon source. Its structure was solved by direct methods starting from high-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction data and is composed of inorganic layers, characterized by 10 rings, held together by phenylene rings. ECS-17 is the first aluminosilicate built from only the three-ring secondary building unit. This new material shows intriguing reversible collapsibility upon dehydration/rehydration. Mild thermal treatment under vacuum causes its crystalline structure to collapse due to facile elimination of the water molecules around the cations. Successive exposure to ambient atmospheric moisture gives back the hydrated crystalline form. ECS-17 shows remarkably high thermal stability for a hybrid, being stable up to 450 °C under vacuum and breaking down at 350 °C in air. Structural, thermal, and optical properties were examined by X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance, and ultraviolet–visible-near-infrared reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopies

Association of maternal hypertension and chorioamnionitis with preterm outcomes

OBJECTIVES: We compared the relative effect of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and chorioamnionitis on adverse neonatal outcomes in very preterm neonates, and studied whether gestational age (GA) modulates these effects. METHODS: A cohort of neonates 23 to 30 weeks' GA, born in 2008 to 2011 in 82 hospitals adhering to the Italian Neonatal Network, was analyzed. Infants born from mothers who had hypertensive disorders (N = 2096) were compared with those born after chorioamnionitis (N = 1510). Statistical analysis employed logistic models, adjusting for GA, hospital, and potential confounders. RESULTS: Overall mortality was higher after hypertension than after chorioamnionitis (odds ratio [OR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.80), but this relationship changed across GA weeks; the OR for hypertension was highest at low GA, whereas from 28 weeks' GA onward, mortality was higher for chorioamnionitis. For other outcomes, the relative risks were constant across GA; infants born after hypertension had an increased risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.68-2.88) and severe retinopathy of prematurity (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.02-2.15), whereas there was a lower risk for early-onset sepsis (OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.19-0.34), severe intraventricular hemorrhage (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.48-0.88), periventricular leukomalacia (OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.48-1.01), and surgical necrotizing enterocolitis or gastrointestinal perforation (OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.31-0.72). CONCLUSIONS: Mortality and other adverse outcomes in very preterm infants depend on antecedents of preterm birth. Hypertension and chorioamnionitis are associated with different patterns of outcomes; for mortality, the effect changes across GA weeks. Copyright \uc2\ua9 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics