Natural zeolite (chabazite/phillipsite) dietary supplementation influences faecal microbiota and oxidant status of working dogs

We evaluated whether chabazite/phillipsite dietary supplementation might affect the faecal microbiota, oxidant and antioxidant status of working dogs at rest undergone to a trial test. Forty English Setter dogs were involved in two replicate trials. At each replicate, dogs were divided into two homogeneous groups (10 dogs/group). During a period of 28 days, diet was supplemented (Z group) or not supplemented (C group) with chabazite/phillipsite at the dose of 5 g/head/day. On day 29, dogs were subjected to a trial test. Faecal characteristics were assessed at 0 and 29 days (within two hours from the end of the trial test). Faecal consistency was not affected by dietary supplementation (p > .05). On day 29, Lactobacillus spp. and Enterococcus spp. counts were higher and Enterobacteriaceae were lower in Z than in C group (p  .05). Our results suggest that chabazite/phillipsite dietary supplementation, improves the intestinal microbiota ecosystem and may counteract the oxidative damage caused by physical stress in hunting dogs at the beginning of the working season

The Application of Electrospun Titania Nanofibers in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Titania nanofibers were fabricated using the industrial Nanospider (TM) technology. The preparative protocol was optimized by screening various precursor materials to get pure anatase nanofibers. Composite films were prepared by mixing a commercial paste of nanocrystalline anatase particles with the electrospun nanofibers, which were shortened by milling. The composite films were sensitized by Ru-bipyridine dye (coded C106) and the solar conversion efficiency was tested in a dye-sensitized solar cell filled with iodide-based electrolyte solution (coded Z960). The solar conversion efficiency of a solar cell with the optimized composite electrode (eta = 7.53% at AM 1.5 irradiation) outperforms that of a solar cell with pure nanoparticle film (eta = 5.44%). Still larger improvement was found for lower light intensities. At 10% sun illumination, the best composite electrode showed eta = 7.04%, referenced to that of pure nanoparticle film (eta = 4.69%). There are non-monotonic relations between the film's surface area, dye sorption capacity and solar performance of nanofiber-containing composite films, but the beneficial effect of the nanofiber morphology for enhancement of the solar efficiency has been demonstrated