A preliminary study in Wistar rats with enniatin : A contaminated feed

A 28-day repeated dose preliminary assay, using enniatin A naturally contaminated feed through microbial fermentation by a Fusarium tricinctum strain, was carried out employing two months-old female Wistar rats as in vivo experimental model. In order to simulate a physiological test of a toxic compound naturally produced by fungi, five treated animals were fed during twenty-eight days with fermented feed. As control group, five rats were fed with standard feed. At the 28th day, blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis and the gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys were removed from each rat for enniatin A detection and quantitation. Digesta were collected from stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon. Enniatin A present in organs and in biological fluids was analyzed by liquid chromatography-diode array detector (LC-DAD) and confirmed by LC-mass spectrometry linear ion trap (MS-LIT); also several serum biochemical parameters and a histological analysis of the duodenal tract were performed. No adverse effects were found in any treated rat at the enniatin A concentration (20.91 mg/kg bw/day) tested during the 28-day experiment. Enniatin A quantitation in biological fluids ranged from 1.50 to 9.00 mg/kg, whereas in the gastrointestinal organs the enniatin A concentration ranged from 2.50 to 23.00 mg/kg. The high enniatin A concentration found in jejunum liquid and tissue points to them as an absorption area. Finally, two enniatin A degradation products were identified in duodenum, jejunum and colon content, probably produced by gut microflora

Synthesis of Natural and Unnatural Cyclooligomeric Depsipeptides Enabled by Flow Chemistry.

Flow chemistry has been successfully integrated into the synthesis of a series of cyclooligomeric depsipeptides of three different ring sizes including the natural products beauvericin (1 a), bassianolide (2 b) and enniatin C (1 b). A reliable flow chemistry protocol was established for the coupling and macrocyclisation to form challenging N-methylated amides. This flexible approach has allowed the rapid synthesis of both natural and unnatural depsipeptides in high yields, enabling further exploration of their promising biological activity.The authors gratefully acknowledge the EPSRC for financial support (grants EP/K009494/1 and EP/K039520/1).  This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.20150445

Preparation of Mesoporous and/or Macroporous SnO2-Based Powders and Their Gas-Sensing Properties as Thick Film Sensors

Mesoporous and/or macroporous SnO2-based powders have been prepared and their gas-sensing properties as thick film sensors towards H2 and NO2 have been investigated. The mesopores and macropores of various SnO2-based powders were controlled by self-assembly of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate and polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) microspheres (ca. 800 nm in diameter), respectively. The introduction of mesopores and macropores into SnO2-based sensors increased their sensor resistance in air significantly. The additions of SiO2 and Sb2O5 into mesoporous and/or macroporous SnO2 were found to improve the sensing properties of the sensors. The addition of SiO2 into mesoporous and/or macroporous SnO2 was found to increase the sensor resistance in air, whereas doping of Sb2O5 into mesoporous and/or macroporous SnO2 was found to markedly reduce the sensor resistance in air, and to increase the response to 1,000 ppm H2 as well as 1 ppm NO2 in air. Among all the sensors tested, meso-macroporous SnO2 added with 1 wt% SiO2 and 5 wt% Sb2O5, which were prepared with the above two templates simultaneously, exhibited the largest H2 and NO2 responses

Deposition of transparent, hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane - nanocrystalline TiO2 hybrid films on glass substrate

Transparent, hydrophobic hybrid films were deposited on glass substrate from solution containing hydroxyl-terminatedpolydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and TiO2 sol by using a dip coating method. The effects of the film heat-treatment temperatureand PDMS/TiO2 component on surface properties of the hybrid films were investigated by water drop contact angle measurement,and by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses. Surface morphology of the hybrid film changed from smooth surface containing tiny spikes to rougher surface containing large protrusions during heattreatmenttemperatures of 60 - 300°C and became smooth surface containing very fine spikes at 500°C, corresponding to a change hydrophobicity behavior from contact angle measurement. The suitable condition for preparation of hydrophobic coating from this current recipe was at the PDMS/TiO2 volume ratio of 1.00 - 2.33 and heat-treatment temperature of 60°C. All the films were transparent regardless of post heat-treatment temperature. However, the films containing higher content of PDMS were slightly more transparent