Nutritional and Functional Properties of Two Dried Brown Seaweeds Sirophysalis trinodis and Polycladia myrica

Sirophysalis trinodis and Polycladia myrica, two brown seaweeds present on the southeast coast of Iran, were evaluated for their nutritional and functional properties after drying. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of crude polysaccharides revealed the characteristic absorption bands of phenol, O–H, C–H, C–O–S, C–O, C=O, C–H groups, and β-glycosidic linkages from cellulose, with the sulfate contents estimated as 4.89 ± 0.11% and 6.96 ± 0.05% of SO₄^?2. Results of nutritional profiles revealed all of the essential amino acids, especially methionine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, threonine, valine, phenyl alanine, and arginine. In addition, important fatty acids such as linolenic acid, palmitic acid, and oleic acid were found in high amounts. The other nutritional components present in high amounts were proline and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, and zinc. The antibacterial activity was weak, but the result of antioxidant activities (hydroxyl and superoxide radicals scavenging and ferrous-ion chelating ability) of crude polysaccharides was considerable. In general, the findings of this study recommend that S. trinodis and P. myrica dried seaweeds have a potent nutritional value and might be used as a valuable source of nutrient supplements for humans and animals.     

Treatment of Cotton by β-Cyclodextrin/Triclosan Inclusion Complex and Factors Affecting Antimicrobial Properties

The efficacy of antimicrobial treatment of cotton fabrics depends on various parameters of the coating process, such as the chemical nature and concentration of the antimicrobial agent, the composition of the crosslinking formulation, and the curing temperature. The inclusion complex of triclosan with β-cyclodextrin (βCD) was synthesized and characterized by FTIR, XRD, NMR, Raman, SEM, and TGA. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of the complex against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus were compared to those of its precursor. A multifactorial study included an evaluation of the effects of triclosan complexation with β-cyclodextrin, a comparison between the glyoxal and tetracarboxylic acid as crosslinkers, an investigation of the effect of crosslinker and catalyst concentrations, and a comparison of curing at 120°C and 180°C. The cotton was characterized by FTIR-ATR, the micrographs of treated samples were obtained by SEM and the weight add-on was calculated. The bactericidal properties were determined according to AATCC-147. The correlation between the coating process parameters and the antimicrobial efficacy was determined. The optimal combination leading to the highest weight add-on and the antimicrobial coating that was most durable to multiple detergent washes at an elevated temperature was the use of complexed triclosan grafted onto the cotton in the presence of tetracarboxylic acid, followed by curing at 180°C. The curing temperatures were 120°C (P=0.002) and 180°C (P=0.008), catalysts were 1 % and 2 % aluminium sulfate and sodium hypophosphite (P<0.001), and the crosslinkers were 5 % and 10 % glyoxal and butanetetracarboxylic acid (P<0.001); these parameters significantly enhanced the antimicrobial properties of the treated fabrics. The study showed that βCD did not have antimicrobial activity, while the βCD/triclosan-treated textile exhibited potential antimicrobial properties. Overall, the bactericidal activity of fabrics can be enhanced by using βCD/triclosan with 10 % butanetetracarboxylic acid as a cross-linker and 5 % sodium hypophosphite as a catalyst at a curing temperature of 180°C.     

Influence of Hydrophobicity of Acetylated Nanocellulose on the Mechanical Performance of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) Composites

Novel acetylation process by substitution of acetic anhydride substitution with hydroxyl groups on nanocellulose (NCC) has been explored to increase its dispersion and interaction in nitrile butadiene (NBR) matrix. The crystallinity index was increased after modification when compared to unmodified NCC, but no significant different with increases of treatment time from 1 hour to 3 hours treatments proven by X-ray diffraction (XRD) results. The Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) showed the existent of acetyl groups on surface of the NCC after treatment by existent of the peak 1736 cm^-1 that attributed to carbonyl groups some peaks were observed at 1430, 1361 and 1248 cm^-1 and confirmed on the acetylation process. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) also show the present of acetyl groups by existent of the signal of proton methyl group at 1.90 ppm and new peaks at 5.42, 4.70 and 4.34 ppm, for all ACN samples. The thermal results by thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the acetylated NCCs were 10 % more thermally stable. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) results showed that no significant changes were observed due to the acetylation process. The results also showed well distributed of individual NCC after acetylation, this improvement was primarily attributed to uniform dispersion of the ACN-NCC and less aggregated occurred. Due to its hydrophobic characteristics, highly crystalline and nano size, ACN-NCC brought a significant improvement up to 25 % on the mechanical properties of nitrile butadiene (NBR) rubber composites.     

Transparent Polycaprolactam Electrospun Nanofibers Doped with 1,10-phenanthroline Optical Sensor for Colorimetric Determination of Iron (II) and Vitamin C

A novel optical chemical sensor based on a transparent electrospun nanofibrous scaffold, composed of polycaprolactam (PA6) and 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen), deposited on a glass slide and impregnated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was coupled with UV-vis spectrophotometry and used for colorimetric determination of ferrous ion (Fe²⁺) and ascorbic acid (AA). The electrospun nanofibers were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. The main factors affecting performance of the optical sensor (PA6-Phen/PVA@glass) including Phen dosage, pH of sample solution, electrospinning time, polymer solution flowrate, electrospinning voltage, and PVA amount were investigated and the related optimum values were obtained. The analytical merits of the sensor for quantitative determination of Fe²⁺ and ascorbic acid was evaluated. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for Fe²⁺ were 1 and 3 μg mL^-1, respectively. The linear dynamic range (LDR) was 3–150 μg mL^-1 with the determination coefficient (R²) of 0.991. The relative standard deviation (RSD %, n=3) for a solution of 60 μg mL^-1 was 5.4 %. For determination of AA, LOD and LOQ were obtained equal to 0.5 and 2 μg mL^-1, respectively. The linear dynamic range was in the 2–200 μg mL^-1 range with a R2 of 0.994. The RSD % at 100 μg mL^-1, n=3) was equal to 7.0 %. The sensor was applied successfully to the detection of Fe(II) and AA in real water samples and aspirin tablets.     

Photooxidation Properties of Photosensitizer/Direct Dye Patterned Polyester/Cotton Fabrics

Towards the goal of developing anti-infective textiles based on a photodynamic inactivation mechanism, here we present the design, dyeing procedure, characterization, substrate photooxidation studies, and antibacterial efficacy of methylene blue-dyed polyester fabrics, termed MB-polyester. Dye-uptake and apparent K/S (absorption and scattering coefficient) values as a function of MB concentration % (o.w.f) were determined, and were found to correlate. Photooxidation studies employing the model substrate 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene (1,5-DHN) revealed that the MB-polyester fabrics were able to generate singlet oxygen in an illumination time-dependent manner. Antibacterial efficacy was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC-29213), with our best results achieving a 99.89 % (~3 log units) reduction in Colony-Forming Units (CFU)/mL after only 30 min illumination (Xenon lamp, 3500 mW/cm², 420–780 nm). On the basis of these results with MB-polyester, we subsequently designed patterned dual-dyed polyester/cotton fabrics, wherein an alternating pattern of MBdyed polyester was combined with direct dyes-dyed cotton, and showed that their ability to sensitize singlet oxygen (¹O²) in the photooxidation reaction of 1,5-DHN was maintained. Taken together, these findings suggest that MB is a suitable photosensitizer (PS) against S. aureus for the practical development of low-cost polyester-based antimicrobial textiles, and can potentially be used in the production of diverse form-patterned textiles that possess a photodynamic antimicrobial inactivation mechanism.     

Utilization of Site-Specific Recombination in Biopharmaceutical Production

Mammalian expression systems, due to their capacity in post-translational modification, are preferred systems for biopharmaceutical protein production. Several recombinant protein systems have been introduced to the market, most of which are under clinical development. In spite of significant improvements such as cell line engineering, introducing novel expression methods, gene silencing and process development, expression level is unpredictable and unstable because of the random location of integration in the genome. Site-specific recombination techniques are capable of producing stable and high producer clonal cells; therefore, they are gaining more importance in the biopharmaceutical production. Site-specific recombination methods increase the recombinant protein production by specifically inserting a vector at a locus with specific expression trait. The present review focused on the latest developments in site-specific recombination techniques, their specific features and comparisons.     

Growth enhancement of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by passive immunization against somatostatin-14

Juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were passively immunized by intraperitoneal immunization against somatostatin-14 (SS-14) using an antibody originating from egg-laying chicken (Gallus domesticus). Fish were immunized weekly (0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 days) with chicken egg yolk-derived immunoglobulin (IgY) against SS-14 (1:25 IgY, 5 mg mL^?1), and growth performance, feed utilization as well as plasma concentrations and mRNA levels of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) were compared to the control group that received placebo immunization with PBS. Passive immunization significantly increased weight gain of treated fish (67.7 ± 7.4 g) compared to the control group (40.1 ± 2.0 g) after 35 days (p < 0.05). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly improved in the immunized fish (0.7 ± 0.08) compared to control group (1.2 ± 0.06) (p < 0.05). The concentrations of GH and IGF-I in the blood plasma showed no significant differences between the fish treated with anti-SS-14 and those of control during the treatment (p > 0.05). In both groups, GH levels decreased over the 35 days of the experiment (p < 0.05). However, IGF-I level during the period of treatment remained unchanged in both control and immunized fish with the anti-SS-14. Similarly, no changes were observed in pituitary GH and liver IGF-I mRNA levels between treatment and control at each sampling time (p > 0.05). There was no indication of a cumulative, long-lasting effect of repeated immunization on GH or IGF-I plasma concentrations or mRNA expression. The present study shows that a passive immunization of rainbow trout against SS-14 using a chicken egg yolk-derived SS-14 antibody could increase growth rate and improved FCR.     

Analysis of genetic diversity and population structure of confectionery sunflower (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Helianthus annuus</Emphasis> L.) native to Iran

Genetic diversity within and among 50 populations of confectionery sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) collected from different geographical areas of Iran was evaluated by using microsatellite and retrotransposon markers. The number of alleles (Na) in SSR loci ranged from 2 to 3 with an average of 2.1. The polymorphic bands in retrotransposon markers ranged from 7 in locus CR-UR1 to 15 in locus CR-816 with a mean value of 11.33. Herarchical clustering of individuals (50 × 5 = 250) by neighbor joining method in DARwin5 software subdivided them into three groups. Using Bayesian method in the software pakage of Structure, the studied individuals were subdivided into two sub-populations. Principal coordinate analysis revelaed that the two first components explaine 7.86 and 6.16% of the total variance, respectively. Analysis of molecular variance revealed a higher level of genetic variation within (70%) than between (30%) populations. High molecular variation among individuals within population possibly is due to high allogamy nature of the sunflower plant. Low genetic variation observed between populations could be considered as a consequence of genetic equilibrium that has occurred over the long period of cultivation of confectionery sunflower in this area as well as seed exchange among regions. The traditional assumption that selecting genotypes of different geographical origin will maximize the diversity available to a breeding project does not hold in confectionery sunflower.