Effect of Lead Contamination on Soil Microbial Activity Measured by Microcalorimetry

Microcalorimetry was used to investigate the microbial activity in three types of soil (orchard soil, crop soil, forest soil) in Wuhan, China, and to evaluate the influence of different concentrations of lead (Pb²⁺) on soil microbial activity. The experimental results revealed that due to different physical and chemical characteristics of the soils, soil microbial activity in three soil samples were in a descending sequence: orchards soil, crops soil, forest soil. Six levels of Pb viz. 0, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 μg·g⁻¹ were applied in these soils, and the results showed that an increase of the amount of Pb²⁺ is associated with a decrease in microbial activity in the soils due to the toxic effect of Pb²⁺. In order to gain further insight of the sequential change of microorganisms, determination of colony forming units (CFU) was performed to provide a negative linear correlation between the heat effect and the respective number of microorganisms in the system.     

Preparation and up-conversion luminescence of hollow La2O3:Ln (Ln = Yb/Er, Yb/Ho) microspheres

Hollow La(2)O(3):Ln (Ln = Yb/Er, Yb/Ho) microspheres with up-conversion (UC) luminescence properties were successfully synthesized via a facile sacrificial template method by employing carbon spheres as hard templates followed by a subsequent heating process. The structure, morphology, formation process, and fluorescent properties are well investigated by various techniques. The results indicate that the hollow La(2)O(3):Ln microspheres can be well indexed to the hexagonal La(2)O(3) phase. The hollow La(2)O(3):Ln microspheres with uniform diameter of about 270 nm maintain the spherical morphology and good dispersion of the carbon spheres template. The shell of the hollow microspheres consists of numerous nanocrystals with the thickness of approximately 40 nm. Moreover, the possible formation mechanism of evolution from the carbon spheres to the amorphous precursor and to the final hollow La(2)O(3):Ln microspheres has also been proposed. The Yb/Er and Yb/Ho codoped La(2)O(3) hollow spheres exhibit bright up-conversion luminescence with different colors derived from different activators under the 980 nm NIR laser excitation. Furthermore, the doping concentration of the Yb(3+) is optimized under fixed concentration of Er(3+)/Ho(3+). This material may find potential applications in drug delivery, hydrogen and Li ion storage, and luminescent displays based on the uniform hollow structure, dimension, and UC luminescence properties.     

Photoinduced electron transfer and fluorophore motion as a probe of the conformational dynamics of membrane proteins: application to the influenza a M2 proton channel

The structure and function of the influenza A M2 proton channel have been the subject of intensive investigations in recent years because of their critical role in the life cycle of the influenza virus. Using a truncated version of the M2 proton channel (i.e., M2TM) as a model, here we show that fluctuations in the fluorescence intensity of a dye reporter that arise from both fluorescence quenching via the mechanism of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) by an adjacent tryptophan (Trp) residue and local motions of the dye molecule can be used to probe the conformational dynamics of membrane proteins. Specifically, we find that the dynamics of the conformational transition between the N-terminal open and C-terminal open states of the M2TM channel occur on a timescale of about 500 μs and that the binding of either amantadine or rimantadine does not inhibit the pH-induced structural equilibrium of the channel. These results are consistent with the direct occluding mechanism of inhibition which suggests that the antiviral drugs act by sterically occluding the channel pore.     

Uniform hollow Lu2O3:Ln (Ln = Eu3+, Tb3+) spheres: facile synthesis and luminescent properties

Uniform hollow Lu(2)O(3):Ln (Ln = Eu(3+), Tb(3+)) phosphors have been successfully prepared via a urea-assisted homogeneous precipitation method using carbon spheres as templates, followed by a subsequent calcination process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra, kinetic decays, quantum yields (QY), and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra were employed to characterize the samples. The results show that hollow Lu(2)O(3):Ln spheres can be indexed to cubic Gd(2)O(3) phase with high purity. The as-prepared hollow Lu(2)O(3):Ln phosphors are confirmed to be uniform in shape and size with diameter of about 300 nm and shell thickness of approximate 20 nm. The possible formation mechanism of evolution from the carbon spheres to the amorphous precursor and to the final hollow Lu(2)O(3):Ln microspheres has been proposed. Upon ultraviolet (UV) and low-voltage electron beams excitation, the hollow Lu(2)O(3):Ln (Ln = Eu(3+), Tb(3+)) spheres exhibit bright red (Eu(3+), (5)D(0)-(7)F(2)) and green (Tb(3+), (5)D(4)-(7)F(5)) luminescence, which may find potential applications in the fields of color display and biomedicine.     

基于密度泛函理论的SinCN团簇结构及稳定性的研究

利用密度泛函理论(DFT)中的B3LYP/6-311G*方法,对SinCN(n=2-6)团簇的几何结构、振动频率和基态能量等性质进行了研究,分别讨论了其基态和亚稳态结构的能量及自旋多重态。振动频率和振动强度被用来判断体系的稳定性。结果表明,随着Si原子数的增加,零点振动能、热容量和熵近似线性增长,其平均增幅分别为0.80 kcal/mol、5.20 cal/mol•K和12.72 cal/mol•K。n为偶数的SinCN团簇比m为奇数的更为稳定。     

Si2CmN团簇的结构及稳定性的密度泛函理论研究

用密度泛函理论(DFT)的B3LYP/6-311G*方法,对Si2CmN(m=2-10)团簇的几何构型、振动频率和基态能量等性质进行了研究,讨论了化学键的特征和热力学稳定性。振动频率和振动强度被用来判断体系的基态结构。结果表明,m=2-10的团簇为线性结构,随着m的增大,团簇的自旋多重度均为2,Si原子在C与N原子形成的线性链端部成键,团簇的基态能量近似线性增大。m为偶数的Si2CmN团簇比m为奇数的更为稳定。     

高压条件下酪氨酸在线荧光光谱研究

在Cu2+与酪氨酸摩尔浓度比为0至40范围内,考察了压力对酪氨酸荧光光谱的影响,结果表明:在无Cu2+情况下,压力对酪氨酸荧光强度具有增敏作用,压力越高,增敏效果越显著,当压力为60 MPa时,荧光强度增加了约9%.Cu2+对酪氨酸荧光有猝灭作用,Cu2+浓度越高,猝灭越强;在Cu2+存在的情况下,压力对酪氨酸荧光的影...     

Experimental demonstration of wakefield acceleration in a tunable dielectric loaded accelerating structure

We report on a collinear wakefield experiment using the first tunable dielectric loaded accelerating structure. By introducing an extra layer of nonlinear ferroelectric, which has a dielectric constant sensitive to temperature and dc bias, the frequency of a dielectric loaded accelerating structure can be tuned. During the experiment, the energy of a witness bunch at a fixed delay with respect to the drive beam was measured while the temperature of the structure was scanned over a 50?°C range. The energy change corresponded to a change of more than half of the nominal structure wavelength.     

A simple flow-injection chemiluminescence method for the determination of trace pentavalent vanadium in water samples

A simple method for rapid determination of trace pentavalent vanadium in natural water was presented by flow-injection chemiluminescence (CL). Through water injection, luminol and potassium permanganate were eluted from the anion exchange column to generate the CL, which was enhanced in the presence of V(V). Under the optimum conditions, the increased CL intensity was linear with V(V) concentration in the range from 0.1 to 100?ng?mL^?1. The limit of detection was 50?pg?mL^?1 (3σ) and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 2.24% (n?=?5) for a 1.0?ng?mL^?1?V(V). At a flow rate of 2.0?mL?min^?1, one cycle of analysis could be performed in 0.5?min with a RSD of less than 3.0%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of vanadium in natural water.     

Analysis of the traditional medicine YiGan San by the fragmentation patterns of cadambine indole alkaloids using HPLC coupled with high‐resolution MS

YiGan San (YGS) has long been used in traditional Japanese and Chinese folk medicine and serves as a potent and novel therapeutic agent to treat Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, a rapid and sensitive method based on HPLC coupled with diode‐array detection and quadrupole TOF MS (Q‐TOF‐MS) was designed to reveal the chemical constituents of YGS. Thirty‐six compounds were identified and assigned in YGS, including 14 alkaloids, nine γ‐lactones, six flavonoids, three triterpenoid saponinares, two small molecular organic acids, and two other types of compounds. In addition, the accurate fragment weight and MS/MS fragmentation reactions of a subtype indole alkaloid in Uncariae ramulus cum uncis were summarized for the first time to realize rapid identification without reference substances. For the first time, 11 major constituents were comprehensively quantified with a HPLC coupled with triple‐quadrupole MS method. A three‐section switch was used to realize such multicomponent identification. The contents of saikosaponin B₂ and isoliquiritin, which produce anti‐inflammatory and antidepressant‐like effects, were extremely different, up to 700 times, in two sources of YGS. The developed qualitative and quantitative method was proved to be precise, accurate, and reproducible.