Synthesis and characterization of poly(methyl methacrylate) star polymers

Star-branched poly(methyl methacrylate)s (PMMA) were synthesized by linking ‘living’ arms (produced by anionic polymerzation) with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate. Stars having arm molecular weights of 10000 and 40000 and between 4.9 and 18.7 branches were produced. The polymers were characterized using light scattering, size exclusion chromatography, and viscometry. It was found that well-defined PMMA stars were obtained only at the higher (40000) arm molecular weight. The stars prepared using the lower molecular weight (c. 10000) arms contained very high molecular weight gel components.     

Getting worse: Psychotherapy or no treatment—the jury should still be out.

It has been contended that patients receiving psychotherapy show significantly higher rates of deterioration than similar patients who receive no treatment. It has further been suggested that psychotherapy causes harm to some of those receiving it. These concerns are widely circulated and are likely to influence decision making at this critical time for the mental health professions. Relevant studies are reviewed with particular attention to characteristics of design. It is concluded that few studies allow for meaningful comparisons between experimental and control groups. In studies permitting such comparisons, there is no significant evidence of greater deterioration among the experimental groups. Alternative hypotheses consistent with these conclusions are presented, each with different implications for reducing the incidence of deterioration. The need for more and better research is underscored. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis of high molecular weight near-monodisperse poly(4-methylstyrene) by anionic polymerization

Summary The synthesis of high molecular weight near-monodisperse poly(4-methylstyrene) is described. The polymerizations were conducted using sec-butyllithium as initiator and benzene as solvent. Chain transfer involving the p-methyl group is effectively prevented by the combination of low polymerization temperature (0°C) and limited (<60%) conversion.     

In vivo evaluation of the effects of continuous exercise on skeletal muscle triglycerides in trained humans

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS) and imaging (MRI) were used to investigate the effects of a bout of moderate prolonged exercise on intra (IMCL)- and extramyocellular lipid (EMCL) utilization in the soleus, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius muscles of five trained human subjects. MRI and ¹H MRS measurements were obtained before and after a 90 min run on a calibrated treadmill at a velocity corresponding to 64±1.5% of each subjects' maximal rate of oxygen consumption. There were significant decreases in IMCL following exercise in the tibialis (pre: 22.37±4.33 vs. post: 15.16±3.25 mmol/kg dry wt; P<0.01) and soleus (pre: 36.93±1.45 vs. post: 29.85 ±2.44 mmol/kg dry wt; P<0.01) muscles. There was also a decrease in the gastrocnemius muscle, although this did not reach the level of significance (pre: 33.78±5.35 vs. post: 28.48±5.44 mmol/kg dry weight; P<0.10). No significant changes were observed in EMCL or subcutaneous fat. In conclusion, this study showed that IMCL were significantly utilized in the tibialis and soleus muscles of aerobically endurance-trained humans. The absence of significant utilization of IMCL in the gastrocnemius may reflect differences in fiber type and/or intensity of contraction for each muscle group.     

Preferential loss of visceral fat following aerobic exercise, measured by magnetic resonance imaging

The aim of this study was to use whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) together with biochemical and anthropometric measurements to study the influence of regular moderate exercise with no dietary intervention on adipose tissue distribution in nonobese healthy women. We found significant decreases in both total (28.86±2.24 vs. 27.00±2.27 liters, P<0.05) and regional fat depots (visceral fat: 1.68±0.21 vs. 1.26±0.18 liters, P<0.01) using whole-body MRI despite no significant change in body weight, body mass index, or the waist-to-hip ratio. Interestingly, no changes in body fat content were found using anthropometry or impedance. There was a significant increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (1.58 ±0.06 vs. 1.66±0.08 mmol/L P<0.02) following exercise although there were no changes in other blood lipids such as triglycerides. In summary, moderate aerobic exercise over a period of 6 mon resulted in a preferential loss in visceral fat in nonobese healthy women, and this may help to explain some of the health benefits associated with regular and moderate physical activity.     

Synthesis and characterization of Ag/TiO2-B nanosquares with high photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

Square-like B doped TiO₂ nanocrystals were first synthesized by a mild solvothermal method with H₃BO₄ and titanium isopropoxide as the precursors, and isopropyl alcohol as reaction medium. Then, Ag nanoparticles were deposited on TiO₂-B nanosquares by photo-deposition. The as-synthesized products have been investigated by photocatalytic reaction test and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). The results showed that boron was successfully doped into TiO₂ nanosquares under solvothermal condition. The obtained Ag/TiO₂-B composite showed high efficiency in degradation of acid orange II under visible light irradiation. The high photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the synergistic effect of B doping and the plasmon photocatalysis role of the deposited silver nanoparticles over TiO₂.     

Simultaneous removal of organic contaminants and heavy metals from kaolin using an upward electrokinetic soil remediation process

Kaolins contaminated with heavy metals, Cu and Pb, and organic compounds, p-xylene and phenanthrene, were treated with an upward electrokinetic soil remediation (UESR) process. The effects of current density, cathode chamber flushing fluid, treatment duration, reactor size, and the type of contaminants under the vertical non-uniform electric field of UESR on the simultaneous removal of the heavy metals and organic contaminants were studied. The removal efficiencies of p-xylene and phenanthrene were higher in the experiments with cells of smaller diameter or larger height, and with distilled water flow in the cathode chamber. The removal efficiency of Cu and Pb were higher in the experiments with smaller diameter or shorter height cells and 0.01M HNO(3) solution as cathode chamber flow. In spite of different conditions for removal of heavy metals and organics, it is possible to use the upward electrokinetic soil remediation process for their simultaneous removal. Thus, in the experiments with duration of 6 days removal efficiencies of phenanthrene, p-xylene, Cu and Pb were 67%, 93%, 62% and 35%, respectively. The experiment demonstrated the feasibility of simultaneous removal of organic contaminants and heavy metals from kaolin using the upward electrokinetic soil remediation process.     

Effects of restricted diffusion in a biological phantom: a q-space diffusion MRI study of asparagus stems at a 3T clinical scanner

Introduction The aim of this work was to study the effects of restricted diffusion in a biological phantom consisting of green asparagus stems using q-space MRI at a clinical scanner. Method Measurements of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the displacement distribution were performed with varied diffusion time (T _d). The accuracy of the measurements was investigated with respect to the degree of violation of the short gradient pulse (SGP) condition, partial volume effects and a FWHM-based tensor model. Results The measurements showed a reasonably constant FWHM perpendicular to the capillaries in the vascular bundles and an increased FWHM parallel with the bundles when the T _d was increased. A 15% decrease in FWHM perpendicular to the bundles was observed when the diffusion encoding duration was prolonged from 24 to 74 ms, owing to the violation of the SGP condition. For a population of different confinement sizes, simulations indicated that the FWHM reflects the smaller sizes rather then the mean size of the confinements. Conclusion A new method allowing tensor analysis of FWHM was derived and yielded accurate results. In conclusion, we found it possible to measure the effects of restricted diffusion with q-space MRI using a clinical MRI scanner.     

水热合成Bi2WO6/ZnO异质结型光催化剂及其光催化性能

在不同温度下(120～220℃),利用水热法制备了含1wt%、2wt%、4wt%和8wt%Bi2WO6的异质结型Bi2WO6/ZnO复合光催化剂,采用X射线粉末衍射(XRD)、扫描电镜(SEM)、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)、紫外可见漫反射(UV-Vis)吸收光谱及光致发光光谱(PL)等系列手段对所制备的光催化剂进行了表征,并以紫外光(365nm)为光源,酸性橙II为降解对象,进行光催化活性测试,考察了不同Bi2WO6复合量及不同水热温度对ZnO光催化剂反应活性的影响.研究表明,异质结型Bi2WO6/ZnO复合光催化剂的光催化活性明显优于纯ZnO和Bi2WO6.当复合4wt%Bi2WO6水热处理温度为150℃时,所制备的复合光催化剂的光催化活性最佳,为纯ZnO的2.6倍.活性提高的主要原因是形成的Bi2WO6/ZnO异质结能显著降低光生电子和空穴对的复合几率,并改善了异质结型Bi2WO6/ZnO复合光催化剂的表面性能.