Anti-HSV Activity of Metallic Nanoparticles Functionalized with Sulfonates vs. Polyphenols

Metallic nanoparticles exhibit broad-spectrum activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The antiviral activity of nanoparticles results from the multivalent interactions of nanoparticles with viral surface components, which result from the nanometer size of the material and the presence of functional compounds adsorbed on the nanomaterial surface. A critical step in the virus infection process is docking and entry of the virus into the host cell. This stage of the infection can be influenced by functional nanomaterials that exhibit high affinity to the virus surface and hence can disrupt the infection process. The affinity of the virus to the nanomaterial surface can be tuned by the specific surface functionalization of the nanomaterial. The main purpose of this work was to determine the influence of the ligand type present on nanomaterial on the antiviral properties against herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2. We investigated the metallic nanoparticles (gold and silver) with different sizes (5 nm and 30 nm), coated either with polyphenol (tannic acid) or sulfonates (ligands with terminated sulfonate groups). We found that the antiviral activity of nano-conjugates depends significantly on the ligand type present on the nanoparticle surface.     

The Influence of Prenatal Fumonisin Exposure on Bone Properties,as well as OPG and RANKL Expression and Immunolocalization,in Newborn Offspring Is Sex and Dose Dependent

The current study examined the effects of exposure of pregnant dams to fumonisins (FBs; FB1 and FB2), from the seventh day of pregnancy to parturition, on offspring bone metabolism and properties. The rats were randomly divided into three groups intoxicated with FBs at either 0, 60, or 90 mg/kg b.w. Body weight and bone length were affected by fumonisin exposure, irrespective of sex or dose, while the negative and harmful effects of maternal FBs’ exposure on bone mechanical resistance were sex and dose dependent. The immunolocalization of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Β ligand (RANKL), in bone and articular cartilage, indicated that the observed bone effects resulted from the FB-induced alterations in bone metabolism, which were confirmed by the changes observed in the Western blot expression of OPG and RANKL. It was concluded that the negative effects of prenatal FB exposure on the general growth and morphometry of the offspring bones, as a result of the altered expression of proteins responsible for bone metabolism, were dose and sex dependent.     

Structure of Co-2 × 2 nanoislands grown on Ag/Ge(111)-√3 × √3 surface studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

ABSTRACT: We have found that Co-2 × 2 islands grown on an Ag/Ge(111)-√3 × √3 surface have hcp structure with the (11-20) orientation. The island evolution involves transformation of the unit cell shape from parallelogram into rectangular, which is accompanied by the island shape transformation from hexagonal into stripe-like. Identified are two crystallographic directions for the island growth, the pseudo-[0001] and the pseudo-[1-100]. We have observed the occurrence of a lateral shift between the topmost and the underlying bilayers in the case of the island growth along the pseudo-[0001] direction. In contrast, the topmost and the underlying bilayers are unshifted for the growth along the pseudo-[1-100] direction.     

Lithium ion transport of solid electrolytes based on PEO/CF3SO3Li and aluminum carboxylate

A homogeneous, composite polymer electrolyte (PE) containing poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), CF₃SO₃Li and 33 wt.% of aluminum carboxylate [RC(O)OAlEt₂]₂ with an oligooxyethylene group R = CH₂CH₂C(O)O(CH₂CH₂O)_nCH₃ (n = 7) (AlCarb7), characterized by low glass transition temperature T_g = −51.4 °C was prepared. The interaction of aluminum carboxylate with various lithium salts was characterized on the basis of ²⁷Al NMR spectroscopy in CDCl₃ solutions. The bulk conductivity of solid PE with AlCarb7 is of the order of 10⁻⁵ S cm⁻¹ at 60 °C and 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ at 90 °C. Electrochemical tests of Li|PE|Li cells showed a decrease in the R_SEI with temperature, stabilizing at about 10 Ω cm⁻². The lithium ion transference numbers determined by ac–dc polarization experiments range from 0.7 to 0.9. ⁷Li, ¹⁹F and ¹H NMR spectra, the relaxation time and diffusion data were obtained. The calculated lithium transference number t₊ at 50 °C is equal to 0.995, which suggests practically complete immobilization of the triflate salt anions. In the range of high temperatures (130–180 °C) t₊ is equal 0.35–0.39. The dependence of t₊ on temperature should probably be connected with the partial dissociation of the aluminum carboxylate and lithium salt complex.     

Responses in the hypothalamic monoaminergic system activity in ewes to beta-endorphin, CRF and their antagonists

This article reviews data concerning the action of opioidergic and monoaminergic system on LHRH secretion. Generally, in anestrous ewes beta-endorphin and/or corticoliberin significantly change extracellular concentrations of monoamine metabolites in the MBH-ME, but in estrous ewes both beta-endorphin and CRF alters also dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin levels. Responses of catecholaminergic and serotoninergic system in the MBH-ME to naloxone or CRF-antagonist depend, to a large degree, on the phase of reproduction. In anestrous ewes subjected to stressful stimuli an opiate receptor blocker, naloxone, and CRF-antagonist attenuate the stress - induced activity of catecholaminergic and serotoninergic system in the MBH-ME; in non-stressed animals they suppress only serotoninergic system activity in this structure. No clear explanation can be offered now for either differences in response of catecholaminergic and serotoninergic system in the MBH to beta-endorphin and CRF in various periods of reproduction or for differences in the responses of these systems to CRF antagonist and naloxone in non-stressed and stressed ewes. It has been suggested that the responses in monoaminergic system activity are highly dependent upon the physiological state of the animal and that beta-endorphin and corticoliberin may indirectly modulate LHRH and other hypothalamic hormone secretion by monoaminergic systems.     

Manifestations of strain-relaxation in the structure of nano-sized Co-2 × 2 islands grown on Ag/Ge(111)-√3 × √3 surface

We have examined strain-relaxation of Co-2 × 2 islands grown on the Ag/Ge(111)-√3 × √3 surface by analyzing scanning tunneling microscopy images. We have found that the Co-2 × 2 islands commonly adopt a more compact arrangement as compared to that of the Ge(111) substrate, however they differ in a degree of an atomic compactness. We have not found a distinct relation between strain-relaxation and the island height. Three groups of islands have been identified upon analyzing a correspondence between strain-relaxation and the island size: (i) small islands (not bigger than 80 nm²) with a high atomic compactness, displaying fixed inter-row distances, (ii) small islands with unfixed distances between atomic rows, and (iii) big islands (bigger than 80 nm²) with fixed inter-row distances, but with a less compact atomic arrangement compared to that of the first two groups. We propose a model to account for the relation between the relaxation and the island size.     

Reinvestigation of the alkali-metal-induced Ge(111)3 × 1 reconstruction on the basis of boundary structure observations

We have investigated the surface atomic structure of boundary area of Li- and Na-induced Ge(1 1 1)3×1 reconstruction using scanning tunneling microscope. On Li/Ge(1 1 1)3×1, the 3×1 phase was found to be terminated with a single row in the filled-state image and with dimer-like features in the empty-state image. The images of both interior and boundary of the Li/Ge(1 1 1)3×1 surface are compatible with the honeycomb-chain-channel (HCC) model, which has substrate atoms with double bonds and is well established as the structure of AM/Si(1 1 1)3×1 surfaces. In contrast, termination with zigzag double rows at the domain boundary edges was observed in the filled-state images of the Na/Ge(1 1 1)3×1 phase, which is not reconcilable with the HCC structure. The filled-state STM feature of the boundary region of the Na/Ge(1 1 1)3×1 phase supports a structural model not having Ge=Ge double bonds, which was proposed to interpret its empty-state images. The trend of bondings between atoms in the surface layer of the AM-induced 3×1 reconstruction of Si and Ge is discussed in terms of electronegativity differences.     

Decomposition of nonionic surfactant in a labyrinth flow photoreactor with immobilized TiO2 bed

The photocatalytic oxidation of nonionic surfactant polyoxyethylene nonyl phenyl ether (Rokafenol N9) in water in the labyrinth flow reactor with immobilized catalyst bed was investigated. Tytanpol A11 titanium dioxide supplied by Chemical Factory “Police” S.A. (Poland) was used as a photocatalyst. The influence of various factors, including reaction mixture flow rate, initial surfactant concentration and time of the process performance on the photodegradation of model compound were examined. It was found that the effect of the initial surfactant concentration on the effectiveness of Rokafenol N9 removal was practically negligible in the range of the investigation, whereas the reaction mixture flow rate has a significant effect on the effectiveness of Rokafenol N9 decomposition. The highest surfactant photodegradation (92%) was obtained at the solution flow rate equal to 11.98 dm³/h and the lowest (86%) at 1.64 dm³/h. The apparent rate constant k was linearly dependent on the reaction mixture flow rate. Extension of the reaction time from 5 to 60 h did not result in a complete mineralization of Rokafenol N9 to CO₂ and water.     

Fourier Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy Combined with Principal Component Analysis and Artificial Neural Networks for the Study of the Effect of β-Hydroxy-β-Methylbutyrate (HMB) Supplementation on Articular Cartilage

The potential of Fourier Transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR microspectroscopy) and multivariate analyses were applied for the classification of the frequency ranges responsible for the distribution changes of the main components of articular cartilage (AC) that occur during dietary β-hydroxy-β-methyl butyrate (HMB) supplementation. The FTIR imaging analysis of histological AC sections originating from 35-day old male piglets showed the change in the collagen and proteoglycan contents of the HMB-supplemented group compared to the control. The relative amount of collagen content in the superficial zone increased by more than 23% and in the middle zone by about 17%, while no changes in the deep zone were observed compared to the control group. Considering proteoglycans content, a significant increase was registered in the middle and deep zones, respectively; 62% and 52% compared to the control. AFM nanoindentation measurements collected from animals administered with HMB displayed an increase in AC tissue stiffness by detecting a higher value of Young’s modulus in all investigated AC zones. We demonstrated that principal component analysis and artificial neural networks could be trained with spectral information to distinguish AC histological sections and the group under study accurately. This work may support the use and effectiveness of FTIR imaging combined with multivariate analyses as a quantitative alternative to traditional collagenous tissue-related histology.     

Biological activation of carbon filters

To prepare biological activated carbon (BAC), raw surface water was circulated through granular activated carbon (GAC) beds. Biological activity of carbon filters was initiated after about 6 months of filter operation and was confirmed by two methods: measurement of the amount of biomass attached to the carbon and by the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) test. The effect of carbon pre-washing on WG-12 carbon properties was also studied. For this purpose, the nitrogen adsorption isotherms at 77K and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectra analyses were performed. Moreover, iodine number, decolorizing power and adsorption properties of carbon in relation to phenol were studied. Analysis of the results revealed that after WG-12 carbon pre-washing its BET surface increased a little, the pH value of the carbon water extract decreased from 11.0 to 9.4, decolorizing power remained at the same level, and the iodine number and phenol adsorption rate increased. In preliminary studies of the ozonation-biofiltration process, a model phenol solution with concentration of approximately 10mg/l was applied. During the ozonation process a dose of 1.64 mg O(3)/mg TOC (total organic carbon) was employed and the contact time was 5 min. Four empty bed contact times (EBCTs) in the range of 2.4-24.0 min were used in the biofiltration experiment. The effectiveness of purification was measured by the following parameters: chemical oxygen demand (COD(Mn)), TOC, phenol concentration and UV(254)-absorbance. The parameters were found to decrease with EBCT.