ABSTRACT
Fowl-dropping apatite (Ca10-z[PO4]6-z[OH]2-z) synthesized from carbonized, incinerated fowl droppings contains PO4 and OH groups that are partially substituted by CO32- ions. It shows stronger ion conductivity than commercially available hydroxyapatite in a wide range of temperatures from 23°C to 800°C. Fowl-dropping apatite readily adsorbs NO2 and SO2 gases and, without re-releasing these gases, slowly decomposes them at room temperature under sunlight via ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) irradiation. A limited amount of minerals and organics contained in fowl droppings causes light-induced activities in fowl-dropping apatite with a crystal structure that has a developed c face; this initiates excitation-induced atomic transfer on the solid surface derived from PO4 exposed on the c face, which then advances the decomposition reaction.
Subject(s)
Air Pollutants/analysis , Animal Husbandry/methods , Apatites/chemical synthesis , Environmental Restoration and Remediation/methods , Feces/chemistry , Nitric Oxide/analysis , Sulfur Dioxide/analysis , Air Pollution, Indoor/analysis , Animals , Chickens , SunlightABSTRACT
A flow-injection system was developed for the determination of ethanol with an immobilized enzyme-reactor column. This system, which consisted of hand-made reactor columns packed with alcohol oxidase and horseradish peroxidase immobilized onto chitosan beads, and a fluorometric detector, was applied to the determination of ethanol in liquor samples. Under the recommended conditions, the ethanol, which was present in the pretreated samples, was converted to hydrogen peroxide when it was passed through the immobilized alcohol oxidase (AOD) column with 0.1 mol/dm3 phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). A sample can be analyzed with this system in <10 min. The calibration curve for ethanol was linear from 2.0 to 0.1 mg/dm3. The determination limit, which was defined by the difference between the sample peak and blank peak, was estimated to be 50 microg/dm3 for ethanol. Interferences from some substances present in actual liquor samples decreased the analytical response and activity of the immobilized AOD-reactor column, but they were removed by dilution and pretreatment with an octyldecylsilane cartridge.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Oxidoreductases/chemistry , Alcoholic Beverages/analysis , Ethanol/analysis , Peroxidase/chemistry , Chitin/analogs & derivatives , Chitosan , Enzymes, Immobilized , Flow Injection Analysis , Hydrogen-Ion Concentration , Indicators and Reagents , Spectrometry, Fluorescence , Spectrophotometry, UltravioletABSTRACT
Prick test and radioallergosorbent test to extracts of larval and adult midges, Tokunagayusurika akamusi (Tokunaga) were done in randomly selected asthmatic patients in the metropolitan area of Tokyo, Japan. Thirty-eight percent of 303 asthmatic patients were prick-test positive to either larval or adult midges, and 32.4% of 105 asthmatic patients were positive to either extracts by RAST, while only one out of 20 normal individuals was positive to RAST. These positive rates in the asthmatic patients were the second to the positive rates of prick test and RAST using mite antigen. Antigens from midges seem to be the second important allergens in the metropolitan area of Tokyo.
