Iodine and thyroid hormones (TH) transport in the placenta are essential for fetal growth and development, but there is little research focus on the human placenta. The research aimed to investigate iodine and TH transport mechanisms in the human placenta. The placenta was collected from sixty healthy pregnant women. Urinary iodine concentration (UIC), serum iodine concentration (SIC), placenta iodine storage (PIS) and the concentration of serum and placenta TH were examined. Five pregnant women were selected as insufficient intake (II), adequate intake (AI) and above requirements intake (ARI) groups. Localisation/expression of placental sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) and Pendrin were also studied. Results showed that PIS positively correlated with the UIC (R = 0·58, P < 0·001) and SIC (R = 0·55, P < 0·001), and PIS was higher in the ARI group than that in the AI group (P = 0·017). NIS in the ARI group was higher than that in the AI group on the maternal side of the placenta (P < 0·05). NIS in the II group was higher than that in the AI group on the fetal side (P < 0·05). In the II group, NIS on the fetal side was higher than on the maternal side (P < 0·05). Pendrin was higher in the II group than in the AI group on the maternal side (P < 0·05). Free triiodothyronine (r = 0·44, P = 0·0067) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (r = 0·75, P < 0·001) between maternal and fetal side is positively correlated. This study suggests that maternal iodine intake changes the expression of NIS and Pendrin, thereby affecting PIS. Serum TH levels were not correlated with placental TH levels.

Iodine intake and excretion vary widely; however, these variations remain a large source of geometric uncertainty. The present study aims to analyse variations in iodine intake and excretion and provide implications for sampling in studies of individuals or populations. Twenty-four healthy women volunteers were recruited for a 12-d sampling period during the 4-week experiment. The duplicate-portion technique was used to measure iodine intake, while 24-h urine was collected to estimate iodine excretion. The mean intra-individual variations in iodine intake, 24-h UIE (24-h urinary iodine excretion) and 24-h UIC (24-h urinary iodine concentration) were 63, 48 and 55 %, respectively, while the inter-individual variations for these parameters were 14, 24 and 32 %, respectively. For 95 % confidence, approximately 500 diet samples or 24-h urine samples should be taken from an individual to estimate their iodine intake or iodine status at a precision range of ±5%. Obtaining a precision range of ±5% in a population would require twenty-five diet samples or 150 24-h urine samples. The intra-individual variations in iodine intake and excretion were higher than the inter-individual variations, which indicates the need for more samples in a study on individual participants.

A series of double-perovskite LaAMnNiO6 (A = La, Pr, Sm) catalysts with mesoporous morphology was prepared by a sol–gel method and further applied into photothermal synergistic degradation of gaseous toluene. Transmission electron microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller characterizations confirmed that double-perovskite LaAMnNiO6 (A = La, Pr, Sm) had obvious mesoporous structure, which can provide a larger specific surface area and further enhancing the reactivity of catalyst. UV-vis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization illustrated that LaSmMnNiO6 possessed higher adsorption oxygen content and light absorption capacity, which contribute to the occurrence of catalytic oxidation in the Mars–van Krevelen redox cycle mechanism. A group of active tests showed that the double-perovskite LaSmMnNiO6 catalyst had a lower reaction initiation temperature (starting reaction at 75 °C) and a lower activity temperature of optimal reaction (more than 90% at 255 °C). Moreover, the research on reaction kinetics of the catalyst demonstrated that LaAMnNiO6 (A = La, Pr, Sm) had lower activation energy and thus exhibited better catalytic activity. The results of the study indicate that the double-perovskite LaAMnNiO6 (A = La, Pr, Sm) has broad application prospects in the field of volatile organic pollutant degradation.

There is a dearth of data on the iodine balance studies of Chinese population. In the present study, we aimed to explore the appropriate recommended nutrient intake (RNI) of iodine based on healthy Chinese women. A 4-week study was conducted in twenty-five Chinese euthyroid women. Uniform diets with different iodine contents were provided in two different periods, in which non-iodised salt was given in the first 3 weeks, followed by 1 week of iodised salt administration. The total iodine intake from diet, water and air as well as the total iodine excretion through urine, faeces and respiration were monitored and determined. The sweat iodine loss was also considered. Moreover, the regression curve model was established between the 24 h iodine intake and 24 h iodine excretion. The 24 h iodine intake in the two periods was 194·8 (sd 62·9) and 487·1 (sd 177·3) μg/d, respectively. The 24 h iodine excretion was 130·9 (sd 39·5) and 265·4 (sd 71·8) μg/d, respectively. Both 24 h iodine intake and 24 h iodine excretion of the two periods were significantly different (all P<0·05). The iodised salt contributed approximately 62·7 % of the total daily iodine intake. Moreover, 92·3 % (277/300) of samples were in positive balance, while twenty-three cases were in negative balance. Our data show that the estimated average requirement for iodine was 110·5 μg/d. Therefore, the RNI for iodine to non-pregnant, non-lactating Chinese women was 154·7 μg/d.

The clean and ordered surfaces of CdZnTe (111)B grown by the Bridgman method were obtained by Ar ion bombardment and thermal annealing in situ in an ultrahigh vacuum. The surface atomic structures of CdZnTe (111)B after annealing at different temperature were observed by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). The valence band and work function of CdZnTe (111)B surfaces were determined by synchrotron radiation photoemission spectroscopy. The order of CdZnTe (111)B after annealing at 350 °C will worsen, and the (111)B-(2 × 2) local reconstruction will be formed. The work function of CdZnTe (111)B after annealing at 350 °C is 0.8 eV higher than that of CdZnTe (111)B-(1 × 1), and the local reconstruction may be induced by Te adatoms on top of the ideal truncation.

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectra were measured to characterize the In-doped cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe, or CZT) crystals along the growth direction in the range of 10 to 60 K. High-resistivity CZT samples with 1.2 ppm In dopant at the tip and low-resistivity samples with 60 ppm In dopant at the heel have been assessed. The PL intensity quenching of D0X were fitted with two activation energies for high-resistivity CZT sample and only one activation energy for low-resistivity sample, respectively, suggesting different recombination mechanisms. The C-line was observed in the PL spectra of low-resistivity CZT sample and considered to the results of the isoelectronic complexes, InCd–VCd–InCd, while in high-resistivity CZT sample, shallow donor accepted pair (DAP) transition was identified, and thought to be related to InCd–VCd. The A-center in PL spectra was observed in low-resistivity CZT sample, which is indicative of more cadmium vacancies. It turns out that indium in low-resistivity CZT sample has not been doped as efficiently as in high-resistivity CZT sample because of the self-compensation.

CdZnTe:In single crystals were annealed in CdZn vapors through a method involving a high-temperature step and a low-temperature step in sequence. The effects of annealing on the properties of CdZnTe:In were characterized with photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The neutral acceptor bound exciton (A0, X) peak, which was on the right shoulder of the neutral donor bound exciton (D0, X) peak, disappeared after annealing. A fine donor-acceptor pair structure and its longitudinal optical phonon replicas were clear before annealing. However, both of them became undistinguishable in the PL spectrum of annealed CdZnTe:In. The two phenomena imply that the annealing treatment can remove the impurities from CdZnTe:In wafers effectively. In addition, the intensity of Dcomplex band fell remarkably after annealing, which confirmed that Cd vacancies were well-compensated in the annealing treatment.