Alkali metals and their alloys can be protected from spontaneous reaction with dry air by intercalation (with subsequent heating) into the pores of silica gel (SG) at loadings up to 40 wt %. The resulting loose, black powders are convenient materials for chemical reduction of organic compounds and the production of clean hydrogen. The problem addressed in this paper is the nature of the reducin...

Bed bugs, Cimex lectularius L., are one of the most difficult urban pests to control. Pest management professionals rely heavily on insecticide sprays and dusts to control bed bugs. Dust formulations are considered to provide longer residual control than sprays. However, there are no scientific data available on the comparative efficacy of the commonly used insecticide dusts. We evaluated the e...

Previous studies have shown that porous hydrated calcium silicate (PS) is very effective in decreasing cadmium (Cd) content in brown rice. However, it is unclear whether the PS influences cadmium transformation in soil. The present study examined the effect of PS on pH, cadmium transformation and cadmium solubility in Andosol and Alluvial soil, and also compared its effects with CaCO3, acidic p...

An affinity media for endotoxin removal based on silica gel was prepared by activation with silane coupling agent and subsequent conjugation with histidine (His) as a ligand. The influence of pore size and particle dimension of the silica gel and the grafting conditions such as reaction temperature and concentration of His in solution on the grafting yield of His were studied by means of IR, th...

A rapid solid phase method of oligonucleotide synthesis based on monomeric protected nucleosides has been developed.

We screened soil samples for CO(2)-requiring extreme oligotrophs similar to Rhodococcus erythropolis N9T-4, which can grow on a basal salt agar medium without an organic carbon source. From 387 soil samples, three isolates were obtained and identified as Streptomyces spp. by 16S rDNA analysis. The isolates required gaseous CO(2) for growth and grew on a basal salt medium solidified by silica ge...

The surface liquidity of a water droplet is eliminated by rubbing hydrophobic particles onto the droplet surface using a sol-gel silica coating with extremely weak binding force, which results in solid-like deformability of a liquid drop.