Fluorosis and arsenicosis： An update

Endemic fluorosis, caused by excess fluoride in water, is widespread in the arid and semiarid tracts of India. This disorder is of recent origin and developed due to certain faulty water management practices. After Eager reported ‘dental mottling＇ among emigrants from Pozzuli in Italy in 1901, several such reports came from all over the world. From 3 works published independently from Pennsylvania, Arizona and South Africa in 1931, it was known that this disorder is caused by drinking water containing over 1 mg/L fluoride during formation of permanent teeth among children.‘Skeletal fluorosis/Osteofluorosis＇, affecting bones and joints among adults was reported by Moeller and Gudjonsson in 1932 due to accumulation of fluoride in hard tissues by drinking water with over 7 mg/L fluoride for several years. In course of time fluorosis has been reported in over 22 countries from all over the world. Fluorosis spreads now among 67 million people in the entire arid and semiarid tracts of India. The work of National Institute of Nutrition of India at Hyderabad in 1977 revealed the spread of endemic ‘genu valgum＇ （knock-knee） crippling lower limbs right from childhood in association with fluorosis in most parts of India. Although preliminary work revealed that genu valgum is caused by drinking waters poor in calcium and rich in molybdenum, efforts these disorders by supplying low-fluoride water should be taken up to know its exact cause to the communities could not so eradicate The governmental efforts to eradicate the problem.     

Low-temperature thermodynamic properties of disordered zeolites of the natrolite group

 The heat capacity of paranatrolite and tetranatrolite with a disordered distribution of Al and Si atoms has been measured in the temperature range of 6–309 K using the adiabatic calorimetry technique. The composition of the samples is represented with the formula (Na_1.90K_0.22Ca_0.06)[Al_2.24Si_2.76O₁₀]·nH₂O, where n=3.10 for paranatrolite and n=2.31 for tetranatrolite. For both zeolites, thermodynamic functions (vibrational entropy, enthalpy, and free energy function) have been calculated. At T=298.15 K, the values of the heat capacity and entropy are 425.1 ± 0.8 and 419.1 ±0.8 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for paranatrolite and 381.0 ± 0.7 and 383.2 ± 0.7 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for tetranatrolite. Thermodynamic functions for tetranatrolite and paranatrolite with compositions corrected for the amount of extraframework cations and water molecules have also been calculated. The calculation for tetranatrolite with two water molecules and two extraframework cations per formula yields: C _p (298.15)=359.1 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹, S(298.15) −S(0)=362.8 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹. Comparing these values with the literature data for the (Al,Si)-ordered natrolite, we can conclude that the order in tetrahedral atoms does not affect the heat capacity. The analysis of derivatives dC/dT for natrolite, paranatrolite, and tetranatrolite has indicated that the water- cations subsystem within the highly hydrated zeolite may become unstable at temperatures above 200 K. Received: 30 July 2001 / Accepted: 15 November 2001     

最大熵原理与地震频度-震级关系

地震是一种随机事件 ,它的发生具有极大的不确定性 ,因而可以用熵来进行描述。地震以最无序的方式在各地发生 ,意味着地震熵达到了极大值。古登堡 (Gutenberg)和里克特 (Richter)根据资料和经验得出的地震频度 -震级关系式实际上是在给定的约束条件下 ,当地震熵取极大值时得到的一种负指数分布。文中从最大熵原理得出了同一形式的地震频度 -震级关系 ,使它的来源从理论上得到了解释     

健脾柔肝息风汤对抽动障碍模型大鼠行为学及多巴胺受体mRNA表达的影响

目的：探讨健脾柔肝息风汤对抽动障碍模型大鼠运动性抽动的调节机制,为临床治疗抽动障碍提供实验依据。方法：将60只SD大鼠随机分为空白组,模型组,氟哌啶醇组,健脾柔肝息风汤低、中、高剂量组,每组各10只,除空白组外各组大鼠连续7 d腹腔注射亚氨基二丙腈（IDPN）造模,造模成功后连续灌胃6周,灌胃后第1、3、6周分别观察大鼠的行为学改变,采用RT-PCR法检测大鼠脑组织DRD1 mRNA、DRD2 mRNA含量。结果：灌胃6周后,与模型组比较,健脾柔肝息风汤中、高剂量组及氟哌啶醇组在运动行为评分、刻板行为评分及DRD1 mRNA含量方面均有所下降（P<0.05）;而健脾柔肝息风汤低、中、高剂量组及氟哌啶醇组在DRD2 mRNA含量方面有所下降（P<0.05）。结论：健脾柔肝息风汤可通过降低TD模型大鼠脑组织多巴胺DRD1 mRNA、DRD2 mRNA的含量,而改善TD模型大鼠运动性抽动行为。     

Late Quaternary chironomid community structure shaped by rate and magnitude of climate change

Much is known about how climate change impacts ecosystem richness and turnover, but we have less understanding of its influence on ecosystem structures. Here, we use ecological metrics (beta diversity, compositional disorder and network skewness) to quantify the community structural responses of temperature-sensitive chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) during the Late Glacial (14 700–11 700 cal a bp ) and Holocene (11 700 cal a bp to present). Analyses demonstrate high turnover (beta diversity) of chironomid composition across both epochs; however, structural metrics stayed relatively intact. Compositional disorder and skewness show greatest structural change in the Younger Dryas, following the rapid, high-magnitude climate change at the Bølling–Allerød to Younger Dryas transition. There were fewer climate-related structural changes across the early to mid–late Holocene, where climate change was more gradual and lower in magnitude. The reduced impact on structural metrics could be due to greater functional resilience provided by the wider chironomid community, or to the replacement of same functional-type taxa in the network structure. These results provide insight into how future rapid climate change may alter chironomid communities and could suggest that while turnover may remain high under a rapidly warming climate, community structural dynamics retain some resilience.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Co2Al4Si5O18 and Mn2Al4Si5O18 cordierite

The crystal structures, lattice dynamics and magnetic properties of synthetic Co-cordierite, Co₂Al₄Si₅O₁₈, and Mn-cordierite, Mn₂Al₄Si₅O₁₈ have been studied by neutron powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and magnetisation measurements. Due to different synthesis conditions, the Co-cordierite used here crystallised in the hexagonal α-cordierite structure with a disordered Si/Al distribution in the framework, while for the Mn-cordierite the orthorhombic β-structure has been determined. The experimentally determined paramagnetic moments, _exp (Mn) = 5.47(6) _B and _exp (Co) = 3.88(4) _B , are in good agreement with theoretical predictions for octahedrally coordinated Mn²⁺ and Co²⁺, respectively. In both compounds there is no magnetic long-range order down to at least 1.5 K. However, the onset of an anti-ferromagnetic short-range correlation of magnetic moments along [001] has been observed for Mn-cordierite by magnetisation and neutron diffraction measurements. This short-range magnetic correlation becomes evident from diffuse scattering observed at 2 K. The diffuse scattering has been interpreted in terms of a Blech-Averbach function. Received: 30 June 1998 / Revised, accepted: 3 March 1999     

青金石中有序结构畴与无序结构畴交生的畴结构新类型

在黝方石、蓝方石的青金石等富含（ＳＯ４）＾２－的方钠石族矿物的有序结构中,常见有沿着一个或几个方向的结构调制,并还常伴随出现反相畴、双晶畴等畴结构。通过透射电镜研究,作者在产于俄罗斯南贝加尔的青金石中,观察了到了一种由尺度都很小（长径约在１０ｎｍ以内）的有序结构畴与无序结构畴相互交生的畴结构新类型。其畴界弈曲而不规则,但相邻畴的晶格都是相互连续而完全共格的。这种畴结构是由无序青金石在其有序化过程的     

多晶冰蠕变机制的研究进展

与绝大多数材料遵循基于位错攀移的指数蠕变机制不同,多晶冰遵循基于位错滑移的指数蠕变机制,这种机制引起了冰川学家极大的兴趣.以前人的研究为基础,综述了冰中质子无序及质子点缺陷的形成过程,质子点缺陷对位错滑移影响的微观机理,以及多晶冰蠕变的微观机制.研究表明:冰晶体中的氢原子(质子)无序使得位错在滑移过程中形成质子点缺陷(D、L、H₃O⁺和OH^-缺陷),从而降低了位错的滑移速率.质子点缺陷的形成需要氢原子(质子)跃迁,其激活能大于水分子自扩散所需的激活能.同时,多晶冰的蠕变激活能与质子跃迁的激活能相当,而大于水分子自扩散所需的激活能,因此多晶冰的蠕变控制机制是位错滑移,而不是位错攀移.     

Octahedral cation ordering in olivine at high temperature. I: in situ neutron single-crystal diffraction studies on natural mantle olivines (Fa12 and Fa10)

Crystallographic determinations on natural olivine single crystals of mantle composition and origin, carried out by in situ neutron diffraction at high temperature, show that the octahedrally co-ordinated Fe²⁺ and Mg cations undergo two successive trends of cation ordering with increasing temperature. An initial slight preference of Fe²⁺ for site M1, up to a temperature of about 850?°C, is followed by a reverse-ordering reaction with a site preference exchange between the two cations. The cross-over between the two regimes of ordering, corresponding to a situation of complete disorder, occurs at about 900?°C. Above this temperature Fe²⁺ progressively and strongly segregates into site M2 up to 1300?°C, the practical limit of the experimental setup utilized in the experiments. Care was taken to ensure that no chemical changes occurred in the crystals (i.e. oxidation), as testified by Mössbauer spectroscopy determinations carried out before and after the heat treatment. The cation-ordering behaviour is reflected in temperature-dependent changes of geometrical and atomic displacement parameters occurring in the octahedral sites M1 and M2. A thermodynamical explanation of this behaviour is proposed in terms of a prevailing vibrational contribution to entropy.     

Structural relation of hydrous ringwoodite to hydrous wadsleyite

The sequential displacement mechanism based on the oxygen-lattice cubic closest packing (c.c.p.) in the < 2 0 1 > direction was proposed in this study. All displacements of cations are within the OT and the O layers with the length of displacement vector being around 1.7 or 2.9 Å, contrary to displacement of around 5.0 Å for models proposed previously. The difference in atomic arrangement between hydrous wadsleyite and hydrous ringwoodite is small. The atomic arrangement of the O layer of hydrous wadsleyite is essentially the same as that of hydrous ringwoodite when Mg vacancies preferentially exist in the O layer. The partial occupancies of normally vacant tetrahedral sites reported in the hydrous-β and hydrous-γ structures may possibly be caused by the existence of Mg vacancies at the octahedral sites through phase transition from hydrous-β to hydrous-γ or from hydrous-γ to hydrous-β phases.