The aflatox® project: Approaching the development of new generation, natural‐based compounds for the containment of the mycotoxigenic phytopathogen Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination

The control of the fungal contamination on crops is considered a priority by the sanitary authorities of an increasing number of countries, and this is also due to the fact that the geographic areas interested in mycotoxin outbreaks are widening. Among the different pre‐ and post‐harvest strategies that may be applied to prevent fungal and/or aflatoxin contamination, fungicides still play a prominent role; however, despite of countless efforts, to date the problem of food and feed contamination remains unsolved, since the essential factors that affect aflatoxins production are various and hardly to handle as a whole. In this scenario, the exploitation of bioactive natural sources to obtain new agents presenting novel mechanisms of action may represent a successful strategy to minimize, at the same time, aflatoxin contamination and the use of toxic pesticides. The Aflatox® Project was aimed at the development of new‐generation inhibitors of aflatoxigenic Aspergillus spp. proliferation and toxin production, through the modification of naturally occurring molecules: a panel of 177 compounds, belonging to the thiosemicarbazones class, have been synthesized and screened for their antifungal and anti‐aflatoxigenic potential. The most effective compounds, selected as the best candidates as aflatoxin containment agents, were also evaluated in terms of cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and epi‐genotoxicity to exclude potential harmful effect on the human health, the plants on which fungi grow and the whole ecosystem

A Novel Concept of Container House with Zero Energetic Consumption

This paper presents a novel concept of acclimatized container to increase people comfort in case of temporary housing. It is based on the ZEBRA concept (Zero Energy Building Renewable Addicted) concept studied by Università of Modena e Reggio Emilia. The original concept developed for industrial building has been extended to mobile metallic housing systems such as the containers transported by trucks which are used for troops and military command during field operations. This system does not require any external source of energy. It requires only the presence of a water well or drilling a hole to place inside a closed loop exchanger which is used to stabilize temperature of internal water which is used as a dynamic thermal barrier which maintains in the wellness conditions inside the mobile housing equipment. Energetic costs of this system are related only to the very reduced energy necessary for water pumping operations. It could be easily produced, together with necessary energy for light and instrumentation by a photovoltaic ceiling. The absence of fenestrations will be obviated by optic-fiber-based external light capturing and distributing, together with air ventilation system. This paper presents the energetic balance of this military field and building concept which can be used also to reduce the surplus of naval container in the harbors of all the occidental countries due to the necessity of the cargo ships to navigate with a high load. By these reasons the presented Zebra concept can be not only a zero energy consumption solution but also a very inexpensive solution for any temporary residential exigency such as temporary construction sites and military camps. Constructive details and container temporary housing design are provided

Bismuth complex of quinoline thiosemicarbazone restores carbapenem sensitivity in NDM-1-positive Klebsiella pneumoniae

Resistant bacteria represent an urgent worldwide threat. NDM-1-producing strains are rendering the last line antibiotics less effective. Six bismuth complexes of general formula BiLCl2, where L is a thiosemicarbazone bearing a quinoline moiety, have been synthesized and fully characterized, including their X-ray crystal structures. The synergistic relationship between the compounds and meropenem have been tested in a combination therapy in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (NTCT14331) carrying the NDM-1 gene. Quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde-N4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazone bismuth dichloride and carbapenem showed synergism in a dose dependent manner with negligible antibacterial activity when used in a monotherapy and could restore antibiotic sensitivity in the strain producing NDM-1 enzyme. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of meropenem lowered down 128 folds up to 2 μgmL−1, a concentration lower to the sensitivity level. The IC50 of the compound against A549 human lung carcinoma cells and HuDe human epithelial tissue was 46.96 ± 16.66 μM and 54.26 ± 9.89 μM respectively. The cytotoxicity against human cells was higher than the effective concentration needed for the synergistic effect in bacterial cells, indicating that a structural optimization of the compounds is needed

A novel multiwalled carbon nanotubes – cyclodextrin nanocomposite for the Solid-Phase Microextraction–Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in snow samples

Novel solid-phase microextraction coatings based on the use of multiwalled carbon nanotube-cyclodextrin (MWCNTs-CD) nanocomposites were developed for the determination of 16-priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at ultra-trace levels in snow samples. The performance of both β- and γ-CD was tested to increase the detection capabilities towards the heaviest and most lipophilic compounds, i.e., five- and six-rings PAHs. To facilitate the interactions of MWCNTs with CDs, an oxidation procedure using both HNO3 and H2O2 was applied, obtaining superior results using MWCNTs-H2O2-γ-CD fiber. Detection and quantitation limits below 0.7 and 2.3 ng/L, RSD lower than 21% and recovery rates in the 88(±2)–119.8(±0.4) % proved the reliability of the developed method for the determination of PAHs at ultra-trace levels. The complexation capability of the γ-CD was also demonstrated in solution by NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy studies and at solid state by XRD analysis. Finally, snow samples collected in the ski area of Dolomiti di Brenta were analyzed, showing a different distribution of the 16 priority PAHs, being naphthalene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene the only compounds detected in all the analyzed samples

T-cell response to structural and nonstructural hepatitis C virus antigens in persistent and self-limited hepatitis C virus infections

Twenty-nine patients with chronic hepatitis C and 15 asymptomatic hepatitis C virus antibody-positive subjects who clinically recovered from hepatitis C virus infection were studied for their peripheral blood lymphomononuclear cell proliferative response to hepatitis C virus structural and nonstructural antigens (core, envelope, nonstructural 4 and nonstructural 5) expressed in yeast as superoxide dismutase fusion proteins, in an initial attempt to define some of the features of the virus-specific immune response. Hepatitis C virus core was the most immunogenic antigen for human leukocyte antigen class II-restricted T cells in both groups of patients studied, and the proliferative response to it was the most vigorous and the most frequently expressed in comparison with the other antigens tested. The specificity of the results was supported by the lack of response to hepatitis C virus antigens by healthy uninfected controls and confirmed by recognition of recombinant core proteins of different origin (yeast and baculovirus) by polyclonal T-cell lines produced by T-cell stimulation with yeast-derived core. Each of the antigens tested was able to induce significant although variable levels of proliferative response, indicating that all can be immunogenic at the T-cell level. Significant proliferative responses to core, nonstructural 4 and nonstructural 5 antigens were more frequently detected in subjects who were able to eradicate infection than in patients with chronic hepatitis C, although the difference was statistically not significant. No difference was observed between the two groups of patients with respect to the response to the putative envelope antigens