Multinuclear complex formation between Ca(II) and gluconate ions in hyperalkaline solutions.

Alkaline solutions containing polyhydroxy carboxylates and Ca(II) are typical in cementitious radioactive waste repositories. Gluconate (Gluc(-)) is a structural and functional representative of these sugar carboxylates. In the current study, the structure and equilibria of complexes forming in such strongly alkaline solutions containing Ca(2+) and gluconate have been studied.

Overgrowth of the indigenous gut microbiome and irritable bowel syndrome.

Culture-independent molecular techniques have demonstrated that the majority of the gut microbiota is uncultivable. Application of these molecular techniques to more accurately identify the indigenous gut microbiome has moved with great pace over recent years, leading to a substantial increase in understanding of gut microbial communities in both health and a number of disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Use of culture-independent molecular techniques already employed to characterise faecal and, to a lesser extent, colonic mucosal microbial populations in IBS, without reliance on insensitive, traditional microbiological culture techniques, has the potential to more accurately determine microbial composition in the small intestine of patients with this disorder, at least that occurring proximally and within reach of sampling.

Kinetic pathway of palladium nanoparticle sulfidation process at high temperatures.

A significant issue related to Palladium (Pd) based catalysts is that sulfur-containing species, such as alkanethiols, can form a PdSx underlayer on nanoparticle surface and subsequently poison the catalysts. Understanding the exact reaction pathway, the degree of sulfidation, the chemical stoichiometry, and the temperature dependence of this process is critically important. Combining energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments at the S K-, Pd K-, and L2,3-edges, we show the kinetic pathway of Pd nanoparticle sulfidation process with the addition of excess amount of octadecanethiol at different temperatures, up to 250 °C.