[Distribution Characteristics, Source Analysis and Potential Ecological Risk Assessment of Soil Heavy Metals in Typical River Source Areas of Northeastern Hunan Province].

Soil environmental quality in water source areas related to the residents' life, health and safety, has been the hotspot issues in science of ecological environment protection. A total of 87 surface soil samples were collected from typical river source areas in northeastern Hunan Province, using GIS technique and potential ecological risk assessment index to study the spatial distribution characteristics and Potential ecological risk of soil heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg and As), and the means of multivariate statistical analysis and positive definite matrix factor analysis models (PMF) were used to explain the possible sources and its contribution rates of heavy metals. The results show that:① The soil located in the typical river source area of northeastern Hunan Province was acidic, and the meant of ω(Cd), ω(Pb), ω(Cr), ω(Hg), and ω(As) in soil was 0.20, 41.07, 130.51, 0.29, and 11.63mg·kg-1, respectively. And except As, all of them had enrichment tendency. ② The comprehensive potential ecological risk of soil heavy metals was at a medium level, among which Cr, Pb and As were at a slight level of potential ecological risk, and Cd and Hg all reached a strong level of risk. ③ Cd and Pb of soil had significant homology, which were derived from agricultural activity, Cr and As of soil were affected by both domestic waste discharge and natural parent material, and Hg of soil was mainly derived from fossil combustion and transportation. ④ There were four pollution sources which included household waste discharge source, natural parent material source, Fossil burning and transportation sources, as well as sources of agricultural activities in typical river source area in northeastern Hunan Province, which contributed the rates of heavy metals were 21.36%, 35.92%, 19.30% and 23.42%, respectively, and the contribution rate of man-made sources was higher than that of natural sources. To sum up, this study has reference value for pollution prevention, ecological restoration and beautiful village construction in river source area of northeastern Hunan Province.

Influence of structural Al species on Cd(II) capture by iron muscovite nanoparticles.

The isomorphous substitution in the structure of phyllosilicate minerals plays an important role in regulating of surface chemical properties. In this work, iron muscovite nanoparticles with various Al species were successfully prepared to explore the structural Fe and Al species on the capture of Cd(II) from solutions. The synthesized nanocrystals have irregular shapes with diameters of 10-50 nm. The incorporation of Al(III) into the iron muscovite nanostructure has slight effect on the species of Fe and the crystal phase of the products. The degree of Al(III) substituting Si(IV) in the tetrahedral sheets of the minerals obviously increased with increasing of Al doping levels. For the samples with low Al doping levels (5% and 10%), the adsorption capacity of the iron muscovite nanoparticles for Cd(II) increased slightly. With increasing of Al doping ratio to 15%, the obtained iron muscovite nanoparticles exhibited a maximal uptake of 41.4 mg g-1 for Cd(II), which is about two times that of the undoped samples (22.8 mg g-1). The solution pH had a slight effect on the Cd (II) capture at a wide pH range from 4 to 8. The adsorption of Cd(II) is very fast and reached a steady state within 5 min. Desorption results showed that the binding strength between Cd(II) and iron muscovite nanoparticles was obviously enhanced by incorporation of Al at a high level. The ion exchange and surface complexation are principal mechanisms in the Cd(II) capture by the iron muscovite nanomaterials with various structural Al species.

[Profile of soil microbial biomass carbon in different types of subtropical paddy soils].

The soil microbial biomass carbon (C(mic)), one of the most active components of soil organic carbon (C(org)), is an effective indicator of soil quality. In the present study, five subtropical paddy soils developed from different parent materials were selected, and the distribution of C(mic) through the profiles was studied, as well as the relationship of C(mic) with C(org) and soil nutrients. The results showed that the contents of C(org) and C(mic) decreased markedly with increasing soil depth, ranging from 2.45 g x kg(-1) to 26.19 g x kg(-1) and from 4.55 mg x kg(-1) to 1 691.75 mg x kg(-1), respectively. They mainly concentrated in the surface layer (plough horizon and plough pan). The content of C(mic) varied significantly in paddy soils developed from different parent materials, with the highest one in yellow clayey soil, and the lowest ones in alluvial sandy soil and reddish yellow clayey soil. This was on the contrary to the distribution of C(org) in the surface paddy soils, since the reddish yellow clayey soil and alluvial sandy soil showed higher contents while other types of paddy soils exhibited similar contents of C(org). Notwithstanding, C(mic) was still controlled by the quantity of C(org) and positively correlated with C(org). The ratio of C(mic) to C(org)(C(mic)/C((org)) decreased with increasing soil depth and differed in the plough horizon between different paddy soils, with lower values in alluvial sandy soil (2.11%) and reddish yellow clayey soil (1.37%) but higher value in reddish yellow clayey soil I (8.24%). It indicated that the microbial substrate availability in alluvial sandy soil and reddish yellow clayey soil was lower than those in reddish yellow clayey soils. The content of C(mic) was significantly positively correlated with total nitrogen, alkali-hydrolyzable N and Olsen-P, but was irrelevant to available K. It is implied that the C(mic) was not only controlled by C(org), but also complicatedly interacted with soil nutrients in paddy soils.

Ethanolic extract and water-soluble polysaccharide from Chaenomeles speciosa fruit modulate lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW264.7 macrophage cells.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Chaenomeles speciosa fruits have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of diseases related to inflammatory reaction. This study aims to identify anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory components of Chaenomeles speciosa fruit and unravel their potential mechanisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethanolic extract and its n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions, as well as water-soluble polysaccharide, were prepared from dry fruits of Chaenomeles speciosa. The mouse macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells were induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and used as an inflammatory cell model. Production of nitric oxide in the cells was determined by the Griess assay, and cell viability was tested by the MTT method. Cellular apoptosis was evaluated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Relative quantification of inflammation-related genes was analyzed by real-time PCR. RESULTS: LPS-induced production of nitric oxide in RAW264.7 cells was significantly inhibited by the ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) at 200-800µg/ml, while Chaenomeles speciosa polysaccharide (CPS) promoted nitric oxide production at 250-750µg/ml either alone or in an additive fashion with LPS. Both EAF and CPS did not provoke noticeable cytotoxicity and apoptosis at the above effective concentrations. EAF significantly reduced LPS-induced upshift of iNOS mRNA level but showed no significant effect on the induction of IFN-γ and G-CSF, while CPS reduced the gene induction of TNF-α, IFN-γ and G-CSF by LPS. CONCLUSIONS: EAF was able to inhibit nitric oxide production by reducing LPS-induced upshift of iNOS mRNA level. CPS was an activator of nitric oxide production through cytokines such as TNF-α, IFN-γ and G-CSF. These results demonstrate the therapeutic effects of both ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Chaenomeles speciosa fruit, a traditional edible medicine used in health maintenance and disease treatment.

[Effects of primary processing on quality of cortex Magnolia officinalis].

In this paper, the changes of volatile oil and non-volatile ingredients in Cortex Magnolia Officinalis before and after primary processing were determined by an HPLC and a GC-MS method. The method is based on quantitative determination of three index ingredients, beta-eudesmol, honokiol and magnolol, and on qualitative fingerprinting analysis using HPLC and GC. Big differences were observed between processed and unprocessed samples according to their chromatographic fingerprinting data calculated by statistic software. Compared with unprocessed samples, the contents of honokiol and magnolol in processed samples increased, whereas the contents of beta-eudesmol and magnoloside A in processed samples decreased. Magnoloside A was isolated from this plant for the first time.

[Construction on ISSR fingerprint of Magnolia officinalis from Enshi in Hubei province].

OBJECTIVE: To establish the ISSR fingerprint of the cortex of Magnolia officinalis produced from Enshi. METHODS: Cultivar and habit identification was based on Inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR). RESULTS: Two ISSR primes could be used to construct the ISSR fingerprint of M. officinalis from Enshi. CONCLUSION: The ISSR marker is an effective method for the cultivar and habit identification of the cortex of M. officinralis.

Authentication of Panax ginseng from its adulterants by PCR-RFLP and ARMS.

As a widely used and expensive herbal medicine, Panax ginseng has many adulterants in the commercial market. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) based on 5S rDNA sequence analysis were applied to identify two common adulterants of P. ginseng. The sizes of 5S rRNA gene non-transcribed spacers (NTS) sequences in P. ginseng and its adulterants were determined, ranging from 143 to 424 bp. The PCR product of P. ginseng only could be digested among the tested specimens because of its specific SpeI restriction site found in the 5S rDNA sequence. In addition, P. ginseng was successfully identified from compound medicinal preparations and from the Single-Taste medicines. These results suggest that the methods are able to authenticate P. ginseng.

[Effects of tree ages and geographic area on quality of bark of Magnolia officinalis and M. officinalis var. biloba].

The effects of tree ages and geographic area on quality of bark of Magnolia officinalis (MO) and M. officinalis var. biloba (MOB) were studied. The volatile oils of samples extracted by a water stream distillation method were analyzed using a GC/MS method. The non-volatile ingredients of samples were determined by an HPLC method. Seven and twenty characteristic peaks were detected in the HPLC and GC fingerprint of MO, respectively, and the similar HPLC and GC fingerprint were showed in MOB. For samples collected in the same geographic area with different ages, the concentrations of active ingredients varied barely, whereas for those samples collected from different geographic area, differences on the concentrations of active ingredients were observed, for example, the concentrations of the amount of magnolol and honokiol in samples collected in Hubei province were higher than those collected in other areas. Big differences on the concentrations of active ingredients were found between MO and MOB, for MO, the ratio of honokiol/ magnolol was more than 0.7, whereas the ratio-was less than 0.7 in the case of MOB, and the concentrations of honokiol in MO were higher than those in MOB.

[Phenols in seedling cortex of Magnolia officinalis from Enshi].

OBJECTIVE: To study the phenols in Cortex of Magnolia officinalis of biernial seedings produced in Enshi, Hubei. METHODS: The content of magnolol and honokiol in cortexes were determined by HPLC. The chromatograms of 10 samples seedling cortexes were recorded and compared. RESULTS: The content of magnolol and honokiol in Cortex of Magnolia officinalis of the seedlings from Enshi was higher than other samples. There were ten characteristic absorption bands in the HPLC chromatograms, which differed from the cortex of adult trees. CONCLUSION: The results can be used to identify the quality of the seedlings for the breeding.