In Situ One-Pot Synthesis of C-Decorated and Cl-Doped Sea-Urchin-like Rutile Titanium Dioxide with Highly Efficient Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) that offers high light-harvesting capacity and efficient charge separation holds great promise in photocatalysis. In this work, an in situ one-pot hydrothermal synthesis was explored to prepare a C-decorated and Cl-doped sea-urchin-like rutile TiO2 (Cl-TiO2/C). The growth of sea-urchin-like 3D hierarchical nanostructures was governed by a mechanism of nucleation and nuclei growth-dissolution-recrystallization growth from time-dependent morphology evolution. The crystal morphology and the content of Cl and C could be controlled by the volume ratio of HCl to TBOT. Systematic studies indicated that the 0.4Cl-TiO2/C sample (the volume ratio of HCl to TBOT was 0.4) exhibited the highest visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B, with kinetic rate constant (k) of 0.0221 min-1, being 6.5 and 3.75 times higher than that of TiO2 and Cl-TiO2. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the high charge separation and transfer efficiency induced by Cl-doping and C decoration and the excellent light-harvesting capacity caused by its sea-urchin-like nanostructure. Moreover, the 0.4Cl-TiO2/C sample exhibited good reusability and excellent structural stability for five cycles. This facile one-pot approach provides new insight for the preparation of a TiO2-based photocatalyst with excellent photocatalytic performance for potential application in practical wastewater treatment.

Detection of Aß oligomers based on magnetic-field-assisted separation of aptamer-functionalized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles and BaYF5:Yb,Er nanoparticles as upconversion fluorescence labels.

A sensitive and stable bioassay for the detection of Aß oligomer (Aßo), a potentially promising candidate biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis, was developed using Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as the recognition and concentration elements and BaYF5:Yb,Er upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) as highly sensitive labels, conjugated with the Aßo aptamer (DNA1) and the complementary oligonucleotide of the Aßo aptamer (DNA2), respectively. The DNA1 hybridized with DNA2 to form the duplex structure on the surface of the MNPs/UCNPs nanocomposites probe. When the target Aßo was introduced, the aptamer DNA1 preferentially bound with Aßo and caused the dissociation of some complementary DNA2, liberating some UCNP-labeled complementary DNA2 and leading to a decreased upconversion fluorescent intensity on the surface of MNPs. The decreased fluorescence intensity of UCNPs was related to the concentration of Aßo in the range of 0.2-15nM with a detection limit of 36 pM. The developed method then was successfully applied to measure Aßo in artificial cerebrospinal fluid. Benefiting from the magnetic separation and concentration effect of MNPs, the high sensitivity of UCNPs, as well as the selectivity and stability of the aptamer, the present strategy offered valuable information related to early diagnosis of AD process.

Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Reserpine Adsorption onto Strong Acidic Cationic Exchange Fiber.

The kinetics and thermodynamics of the adsorption process of reserpine adsorbed onto the strong acidic cationic exchange fiber (SACEF) were studied by batch adsorption experiments. The adsorption capacity strongly depended on pH values, and the optimum reserpine adsorption onto the SACEF occurred at pH = 5 of reserpine solution. With the increase of temperature and initial concentration, the adsorption capacity increased. The equilibrium was attained within 20 mins. The adsorption process could be better described by the pseudo-second-order model and the Freundlich isotherm model. The calculated activation energy Ea was 4.35 kJ/mol. And the thermodynamic parameters were: 4.97<ΔH<7.44 kJ/mol, -15.29<ΔG<-11.87 kJ/mol and 41.97<ΔS<47.35 J/mol·K. The thermodynamic parameters demonstrated that the adsorption was an endothermic, spontaneous and feasible process of physisorption within the temperature range between 283 K and 323 K and the initial concentration range between 100 mg/L and 300 mg/L. All the results showed that the SACEF had a good adsorption performance for the adsorption of reserpine from alcoholic solution.

The NQO1 rs1800566 polymorphism and risk of bladder cancer: evidence from 6,169 subjects.

OBJECTIVE: The NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) rs1800566 polymorphism, leading to proline- toserine amino-acid and enzyme activity changes, has been implicated in bladder cancer risk, but individually published studies showed inconsistent results. We therefore here conducted a meta-analysis to summarize the possible association. METHODS: A systematic literature search up to August 27, 2012 was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE and Wanfang databases, and the references of retrieved articles were screened. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were analyzed for homozygote contrast (TT vs. CC), additive model (T vs. C), dominant model (TT+CT vs. CC), and recessive model (TT vs. CC+CT) to assess the association using fixed- or random-effect models. RESULTS: We identified 12 case-control studies including 3,041 cases and 3,128 controls for the present meta-analysis. Significant association between NQO1 rs1800566 genetic polymorphism and risk of bladder cancer was observed in the additive model (OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.01-1.30, p = 0.030). Moreover, in the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity, significant associations were observed in Asians (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.08-1.47, p = 0.003 for T vs. C; OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.21-2.32, p = 0.002 for TT vs. CC; OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.13-1.98, p = 0.005 for TT vs. CT+CC) but not in Caucasians. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that NQO1 rs1800566 genetic polymorphism may contribute to bladder cancer development, especially in Asians.

[Study on the relations between overweight, obesity, blood pressures, serum lipids and glucose in schoolchildren of Shijiazhunag].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clustering character of overweight and obesity with multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors such as blood pressure, serum lipids and glucose, and to provide evidence for intervention in childhood. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 913 children aged 7-13 years in urban area of Shijiazhuang. Measurements included height, weight, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and fasting serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and serum glucose (GLU). RESULTS: Overall prevalence rate of overweight and obesity was 29.24% (boys: 34.98% vs. girls: 24.23%). When compared with normal children, children with overweight or obesity had significantly higher levels of SBP, DBP, TC, TG but low HDL-C. The prevalence rates of high SBP, DBP, TC, TG, GLU and low HDL-C in overweight and obese children were higher than in normal children. After adjusted for gender and age, the odds ratios of overweight and obese children for high SBP, DBP, TC, TG, GLU and low HDL-C were 6.77, 3.22, 2.55, 6.42, 3.85 and 2.94 (95% CI: 4.15-11.04, 1.38-7.49, 1.59-4.11, 3.46-11.92, 1.69-8.78 and 1.83-4.73), respectively. Odds ratios of overweight and obese children holding any one, two or three of the selected six risk factors appeared to be 2.74, 13.15 and 15.33 (95% CI : 1.92-3.92, 6.69-25.87 and 4.17-56.39), respectively. CONCLUSION: Childhood overweight and obesity increased the clustering of children's risk factors on cardiovascular diseases, as well as increasing the risk of children acquiring multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors. Controlling overweight and obesity would help early prevention on children from getting cardiovascular diseases.

[Extraction and determination of volatile constituents in leaves of Eucalyptus citriodora].

The volatile constituents in leaves of Eucalyptus citriodora, including oil fraction and water-soluble fraction, were extracted and determined. Oil fraction of volatile components was obtained through steam distillation. Ether was used as the solvent to extract the water-soluble fraction of volatile compounds from the liquid left after steam distillation in order to know the quantity and constituents of volatile compounds dissolved in the water phase. The oil yield in the oil fraction was 1.36%, and the oil yield in the water-soluble fraction was 0.48% (both on fresh weight basis). Both oil fraction and water-soluble fraction were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The results showed that 37 compounds (97.36%) in the oil fraction and 10 compounds (82.05%) in the water-soluble fraction were identified. There were 12 hydrocarbon compounds and 25 oxygenated compounds identified in oil fraction. The major constituents in oil fraction were citronellal (57.00%), followed by citronellol (15.89%) and citronellyl acetate (15.33%). Alcohols dominated the compounds in water-soluble fraction. cis-p-Menthane-3, 8-diol (53.43%) and trans-p-menthane-3, 8-diol (16. 48%) were found to be the major compounds, which have the activity to repel insects. It is concluded that the comprehensive utilization value of leaves of Eucalyptus citriodora was enhanced owing to the extraction of water-soluble volatile components.