Biodegradable Chitosan-g-Poly(methacrylamide) Microspheres for Controlled Release of Hypertensive Drug

Chitosan-g-poly(methacrylamide) (CS-g-PMAAm) was synthesized by redox polymerization. The synthesized graft copolymers were used to prepare microspheres (MS) by water/oil (W/O) emulsion technique and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (GA). Developed microspheres were encapsulated using enalapril maleate (ENAM) as a model drug (hypertension) and characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The physico-chemical properties of the microspheres were studied by calculating drug entrapment efficiency, and drug release kinetics. % of encapsulation efficiency (% EE) increased with increase in drug loading and methacrylamide (MAAm) content. The minimum % EE (65.2 ± 1.6) was observed in case of microsphere containing 40 % MAAm, 5 % ENAM and 10 mL glutaraldehyde. The release profiles indicate that formulation containing highest (10 mL) crosslinking agent microspheres has the slow release.     

不同桩芯微型桩抗弯承载力试验研究∗

为研究不同桩芯微型桩在隧道洞口不良地质边坡中的治理效果,拟对钢筋-混凝土、工字钢-混凝土、钢管-钢筋-混凝土、钢管-工字钢-混凝土微型桩开展抗弯极限承载力试验。研究表明,工字钢-混凝土微型桩相比钢筋-混凝土微型桩极限抗弯承载力不仅大幅度提升,其抵抗位移变形的能力也有所增加。钢筋-混凝土微型桩和工字钢-混凝土微型桩桩径由140 mm变化到203 mm,韧性分别提高25%、50%,抗弯承载力分别提高89%、91%。钢管微型桩的韧度、极限抗弯承载力都明显强于裸露混凝土桩,即使变形已非常显著,仍能继续受力。钢管-钢筋-混凝土微型桩、钢管-工字钢-混凝土微型桩桩径由140 mm变化到203 mm,抗弯承载力分别提高近256%、265%。     

Impact of river overflowing on trace element contamination of volcanic soils in south Italy: part II. Soil biological and biochemical properties in relation to trace element speciation

The effect of heavy metal contamination on biological and biochemical properties of Italian volcanic soils was evaluated in a multidisciplinary study, involving pedoenvironmental, micromorphological, physical, chemical, biological and biochemical analyses. Soils affected by recurring river overflowing, with Cr(III)-contaminated water and sediments, and a non-flooded control soil were analysed for microbial biomass, total and active fungal mycelium, enzyme activities (i.e., FDA hydrolase, dehydrogenase, beta-glucosidase, urease, arylsulphatase, acid phosphatase) and bacterial diversity (DGGE characterisation). Biological and biochemical data were related with both total and selected fractions of Cr and Cu (the latter deriving from agricultural chemical products) as well as with total and extractable organic C. The growth and activity of soil microbial community were influenced by soil organic C content rather than Cu or Cr contents. In fact, positive correlations between all studied parameters and organic C content were found. On the contrary, negative correlations were observed only between total fungal mycelium, dehydrogenase, arylsulphatase and acid phosphatase activities and only one Cr fraction (the soluble, exchangeable and carbonate bound). However, total Cr content negatively affected the eubacterial diversity but it did not determine changes in soil activity, probably because of the redundancy of functions within species of soil microbial community. On the other hand, expressing biological and biochemical parameters per unit of total organic C, Cu pollution negatively influenced microbial biomass, fungal mycelium and several enzyme activities, confirming soil organic matter is able to mask the negative effects of Cu on microbial community.     

Flux-based assessment at a manufacturing site contaminated with trichloroethylene

Groundwater and contaminant fluxes were measured, using the passive flux meter (PFM) technique, in wells along a longitudinal transect passing approximately through the centerline of a trichloroethylene (TCE) plume at a former manufacturing plant located in the Midwestern US. Two distinct zones of hydraulic conductivity were identified from the measured groundwater fluxes; a 6-m-thick upper zone ( approximately 7 m to 13 m below the ground surface or bgs) with a geometric mean Darcy flux (q(0)) of 2 cm/day, and a lower zone ( approximately 13 m to 16.5m bgs) with a q(0) approximately 15 cm/day; this important hydrogeologic feature significantly impacts any remediation technology used at the site. The flux-averaged TCE concentrations estimated from the PFM results compared well with existing groundwater monitoring data. It was estimated that at least 800 kg of TCE was present in the source zone. The TCE mass discharge across the source control plane (85 m x 38 m) was used to estimate the "source strength" ( approximately 365 g/day), while mass discharges across multiple down-gradient control planes were used to estimate the plume-averaged, TCE degradation rate constant (0.52 year(-1)). This is close to the rate estimated using the conventional centerline approach (0.78 year(-1)). The mass discharge approach provides a more robust and representative estimate than the centerline approach since the latter uses only data from wells along the plume centerline while the former uses all wells in the plume.     

洪湖沼泽土及涝洼水稻土水生作物开发研究

简要介绍了洪湖湖区的生态环境，阐述了湖周沼泽土和涝洼水稻土的性质及其开发利用现状。还报导了作者在该湖湖周进行水生作物开发利用研究的结果