Functionality of Inorganic Nanostructured Materials onto Wool Fabric

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared through chemical reduction method and characterized by UV-Vis absorption spectra to examine its formation with different AgNO3 and sodium borohydride concentrations and by transmission electron microscope (TEM) to evaluate its particle size and size distribution. The wool fabric was first treated separately with AgNPs and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) and then dyed with C.I. Acid Orange 74 (AO74). The dye uptake of pre-treated wool fabric with nanoparticles was compared to conventional dyeing of wool. The existence of AgNPs and TiO2NPs on wool fabric during acid dyeing increases the dye uptake up to 27 and 39%, respectively. The dyeing kinetic of wool fabric was positively affected by treating with AgNPs and TiO2NPs. Also, the activation energy of AO74 diffusion was calculated before and after NPs-treatment that confirms the physicsorption dyeing process. The NPs-treatment leads to produce a wool fabric with excellent antibacterial and photocatalytic properties for TiO2NPs-treated wool fabric and very good antibacterial and good photocatalytic properties for AgNPs-treated wool fabric. In addition, NPs-treatment has no adverse effects on fastness properties of the functionalized dyed wool fabric. Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, Titanium dioxide nanoparticles, Wool, Acid dyeing

Stress induced polarization of immune-neuroendocrine phenotypes in Gallus gallus

Immune-neuroendocrine phenotypes (INPs) stand for population subgroups differing in immune-neuroendocrine interactions. While mammalian INPs have been characterized thoroughly in rats and humans, avian INPs were only recently described in Coturnix coturnix (quail). To assess the scope of this biological phenomenon, herein we characterized INPs in Gallus gallus (a domestic hen strain submitted to a very long history of strong selective breeding pressure) and evaluated whether a social chronic stress challenge modulates the individuals’ interplay affecting the INP subsets and distribution. Evaluating plasmatic basal corticosterone, interferon-γ and interleukin-4 concentrations, innate/acquired leukocyte ratio, PHA-P skin-swelling and induced antibody responses, two opposite INP profiles were found: LEWIS-like (15% of the population) and FISCHER-like (16%) hens. After chronic stress, an increment of about 12% in each polarized INP frequency was found at expenses of a reduction in the number of birds with intermediate responses. Results show that polarized INPs are also a phenomenon occurring in hens. The observed inter-individual variation suggest that, even after a considerable selection process, the population is still well prepared to deal with a variety of immune-neuroendocrine challenges. Stress promoted disruptive effects, leading to a more balanced INPs distribution, which represents a new substrate for challenging situations.Fil: Nazar, Franco Nicolas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Estevez, Inma. Centro de Investigación. Neiker - Tecnalia; EspañaFil: Correa, Silvia Graciela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Marin, Raul Hector. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentin

Transcriptomic profiles of muscle, heart, and spleen in reaction to circadian heat stress in Ethiopian highland and lowland male chicken

Temperature stress impacts both welfare and productivity of livestock. Global warming is expected to increase the impact, especially in tropical areas. We investigated the biological mechanisms regulated by temperature stress due to the circadian temperature cycle in temperature adapted and non-adapted chicken under tropical conditions. We studied transcriptome profiles of heart, breast muscle, and spleen tissues of Ethiopian lowland chicken adapted to high circadian temperatures and non-adapted Ethiopian highland chicken under lowland conditions at three points during the day: morning, noon, and evening. Functional annotations and network analyses of genes differentially expressed among the time points of the day indicate major differences in the reactions of the tissues to increasing and decreasing temperatures, and also the two chickens lines differ. However, epigenetic changes of chromatin methylation and histone (de)acetylation seemed to be central regulatory mechanisms in all tissues in both chicken lines. Finally, all tissues showed differentially expressed genes between morning and evening times indicating biological mechanisms that need to change during the night to reach morning levels again the next day.</p

Metal complexes of triazine - Schiff bases: Spectroscopic and thermodynamic studies of complexation of some divalent metal ions with 3-(a-acetylethylidenehydrazino)-5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazine

Metal complexes of some divalent metal ions (Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) with 3-(a-acetylethylidenehydrazino)-5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazine (AHDT) as a Schiff-base have been investigated potentiometrically and spectrophotometrically and found to have the stoichiometric formulae 1:1 and 1:2 (M:L). The formation constants of the proton-ligand and metal-ligand complexes have been determined potentiometrically at different temperatures (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50°C) at an ionic strength of 0.1 M KNO3 in 75% (v/v) dioxane-water solution. The standard thermodynamic parameters, viz. DG°, DH°, and DS°, for the proton-ligand and the stepwise metal-ligand complexes have been evaluated