Mesoporous silica functionalized with a 2-hydroxy-naphthyl moiety has been synthesized and characterized by standard techniques like powder X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption/desorption studies, transmission electron microscopy and spectral studies like FT-IR, UV-visible, fluorescence and 13C and 29Si solid state NMR. The functionalized silica material showed significant enhancement in its emissi...

Palm shell obtained from coastal part of southern India was studied for the removal for the adsorption of Hg (II) ions. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out as a function of pH, concentration of Hg (II) ions, time, temperature and adsorbent dose. Maximum removal was seen in the range pH 4.0pH 7.0. The palm shell powder used as adsorbent was characterized for its surface area, SEM, PXRD...

Enzymes that employ transition metals as co-factors are housed in a wide variety of intracellular locations or are exported to the extracellular milieu. A key question then arises: how are specific metal co-factors transported to diverse locations and subsequently sorted into the correct metalloenzymes? The mechanisms by which these tasks are accomplished are just now being unraveled. A new fam...

Seed priming with vitamins is an efficient method for increasing seedlings growth and productivity under stressful conditions. This study aimed to investigate the priming of broad bean (Vicia faba L.) seeds using 100 mg L ascorbic acid and nicotinamide and to study their interactions on growth and some physiological parameters of plant under salt stress (150 mM NaCl) for 4 weeks. Salinity treat...

The chemical characteristics of ambient particulate matters in urban and rural areas of Hong Kong were determined in this study. A monitoring program starting from November 2000 to February 2001 (winter) and June 2001 to August 2001 (summer) for PM10 and PM2.5 was performed at three monitoring stations in Hong Kong. Twenty-four-hour PM10 and PM2.5 samples were collected once every 6 days at two...

A one-pot synthesis of extremely stable, water-soluble Cu quantum clusters (QCs) capped with a model protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA), is reported. From matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry, we assign the clusters to be composed of Cu(5) and Cu(13) cores. The QCs also show luminescence properties having excitation and emission maxima at 325...

Effects of fifteen particulate objects, fourteen metals and one non-metal on cell viability of osteoblast-like cells were studied in vitro, to determine whether an adverse effect on cells could be induced by the particulate ferm or soluble ions. The Al, Ti, Zr, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, and Fe particulates depressed cell viability at higher particulate concentrations, but their extracts yielded no effect...

One of the main challenges for one phase anaerobic digestion processes is the high concentration of NH4 and PO4 ions in the digested sludge supernatant. This project focuses on enhancing the removal of nutrients during the anaerobic digestion process through fixing both NH4 and PO4 ions in the form of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate, MAP, MgNH4PO4.6H2O) within the anaerobic sludge. Batch...

The type and amount of organic matter present in industrially contaminated soils will influence the risk they pose. Previous studies have shown the importance of humic and fulvic acids (FAs) (important components of soil organic matter) in increasing the solubility of toxic metals but were not carried out using toxic metal levels and the pH range typical of industrially contaminated soils. This...

Production of ammonia is difficult to find among the various studies of amino acid metabolism in protozoa. Several studies suggest that catabolism of arginine to ammonium is important for the growth of trichomonads. Trichomonads are amitochondriate zooflagellates that thrive under microaerophilic and anaerobic conditions. The authors were able to detect accumulation of ammonium ions and ammonia...