Assessment of Immune Response and Efficacy of Essential Oils Application on Controlling Necrotic Enteritis Induced by Clostridium perfringens in Broiler Chickens

Necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens is one of the most important enteric diseases in poultry. The antibacterial activity of two different essential oil (EO) blends against C. perfringens was investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, the immunological response to EO treatment was assessed. In the in vitro study, the antibacterial activity of EO formulas and commonly used antibiotics was evaluated against C. perfringens using disk diffusion assay, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay, and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assay. In the in vivo study, NE experimental infection was performed on 440 Ross broiler chicks at 19 days of age for 4 continuous days. The chicks were treated with either EOs or amoxicillin at 22 days of age for 5 continuous days. One day after the end of treatment, the birds’ performance was evaluated by calculating the feed conversion ratio. Serum samples from 120 birds were collected to measure the levels of IL-1β, IFN-γ, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-17. After that, all birds were slaughtered, and their small intestines were subjected to gross and histopathological evaluation. In addition, bacterial counts in the small intestines were evaluated. In the in vitro study, EOs showed higher antimicrobial activities in comparison with antibiotics against C. perfringens. In the in vivo study, birds treated with EOs showed a significant decrease in bacterial counts, a significant decrease in intestinal lesions, and a significant improvement in performance compared with untreated birds (p < 0.05). Moreover, treating birds with EOs directed the immune system toward an anti-inflammatory pathway. None of the treated birds died due to NE compared with the 10% mortality rate in untreated birds. In conclusion, EOs might be an effective and safe alternative to antibiotics in the treatment of chicken NE.     

胶凝对氧化钡改性的氧化铝热稳定性的作用

比较了γ－Ａｌ２Ｏ３和胶凝预处理的拟薄水铝石经Ｂａ改性前后在１１５０℃高温下的热稳定性。ＢＥＴ表面积、孔径颁布和ＸＲＤ表征结果表明,胶凝处理降低了氧化铝的孔径并加速了高温烧结。Ｂａ的引入抑制了上述两种氧化铝向ａ相的转变,同时与ＢａＯ发生高温固相反应形成钡的六铝酸盐,但拟薄水铝石的胶凝处理削弱了Ｂａ的高温稳定作用。结果显示,γ－Ａｌ２Ｏ３经Ｂａ的改性不抑制了ａ－Ａｌ２Ｏ３的生成,而且还抑制了γ－Ａｌ     

Synthesis and evaluation of a pseudocyclic tristhiourea-based anion host

A novel methodology for the evaluation of receptor arrangement in structurally flexible anion chemosensors was developed and applied to map the binding site of a new pseudocyclic tristhiourea chemosensor (6). The syntheses of 6 and related macrocyclic chemosensor 10 (a model of the folded monomeric structure of 6) are reported. Both chemosensors were evaluated by titration with a variety of structurally different anions in CH3Cl and DMSO, showing a common preference for F-, CH3CO2-, and H2PO4-. However, within this group of anions, the binding patterns of the chemosensors differed, indicating dissimilarity in the arrangement of the binding sites of 6 and 10.     

Breakable Hybrid Organosilica Nanocapsules for Protein Delivery

The direct delivery of specific proteins to live cells promises a tremendous impact for biological and medical applications, from therapeutics to genetic engineering. However, the process mostly involves tedious techniques and often requires extensive alteration of the protein itself. Herein we report a straightforward approach to encapsulate native proteins by using breakable organosilica matrices that disintegrate upon exposure to a chemical stimulus. The biomolecule‐containing capsules were tested for the intracellular delivery of highly cytotoxic proteins into C6 glioma cells. We demonstrate that the shell is broken, the release of the active proteins occurs, and therefore our hybrid architecture is a promising strategy to deliver fragile biomacromolecules into living organisms.     

Ionic miscibility enhancement via microion elimination in sulfonated polystyrene/poly(ethyl-acrylate-co-4-vinyl pyridine) ionomer blends

Miscibility enhancement of ionomer/ionomer and ionomer/polymeric acid systems is studied on the polymer pairs of poly(styrene-co-tetramethyl ammonium styrenesulfonate)/poly(ethyl acrylate-co-N-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium iodide) and poly(styrene-co-styrenesulfonic acid)/poly(ethyl acrylate-co-N-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium iodide). NMR and dynamic mechanical results show that in these blends direct macroion–macroion interaction can be achieved with the elimination of microcounterions from the polymer chains. Ion-ion attraction leads to a miscibility enhancement comparable to that of the previously reported proton transfer blends; a miscible blend is obtained with ca. 5 mol% of ions in the polymers.     

Multiple vesicular morphologies from block copolymers in solution

It has been found that asymmetric, amphiphilic diblock copolymers can form a wide range of vesicle architectures in solution. These include small uniform vesicles, large polydisperse vesicles, entrapped vesicles, hollow concentric vesicles, onions, and vesicles with hollow tubes in the walls. The experimental conditions required for preparation and the proposed mechanisms for the formation of each type of structure are discussed.     

A sustainable one-pot synthesis of cinnamyl acetate in triacetin

A sustainable one-pot synthesis of cinnamyl acetate from cinnamaldehyde is demonstrated for the first time using immobilized Baker’s yeast and free or immobilized acid as catalysts and triacetin as solvent. Employing the immobilized yeast and Amberlyst-36 allowed full conversion and 91% selectivity for cinnamyl acetate after 96 h at room temperature, and both the catalysts and triacetin were successfully recycled.     

Assessment of the integrity of poly(caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) micelles under biological conditions: a fluorogenic-based approach

The integrity of block copolymer micelles is important for their effectiveness and successful delivery of the incorporated drugs. Here we evaluate the integrity of poly(caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) micelles in media of varying chemical complexity and in cells by using fluorogenic micelles. Fluorogenic dye fluorescein-5-carbonyl azide diacetate was covalently attached to the micelle-core-forming part of the block copolymer, poly(caprolactone). The fluorescence was not detectable unless the poly(caprolactone)21-b-poly(ethylene oxide)45 micelles were destroyed and the fluorogenic dye was activated by deesterification. The fluorescence of the activated dye from destroyed micelles was easily detectable in various media and in cells. Micelles were stable in simple media such as phosphate-buffered saline but disassembled to varying extents with increasing chemical complexity of the media and addition of serum. The integrity of the internalized micelles within the cells showed a time-dependent decrease but remained largely preserved (80%) after 20 h of incubation with cells. A proof of principle was also demonstrated in vivo in mice. The fluorogenic approach to micelle integrity assessment presented herein should lend itself to other block copolymer micelles and assessments of their integrity in complex biological systems in vitro and in vivo.     

Norm closed operator ideals in Lorentz sequence spaces

In this paper, we study the structure of closed algebraic ideals in the algebra of operators acting on a Lorentz sequence space.