Control of the growth of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris in industrialized orange juice using rosemary essential oil and nisin

The use of rosemary essential oil (RO) and its combination with nisin (RO+N) in preventing the multiplication of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris in orange juice was evaluated. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC) for RO were both 125 μg ml⁻¹ while RO+N displayed a synergistic effect. The use of RO and RO+N at concentrations of 1, 4 and 8× MIC in orange juice for 96 h was evaluated in terms of their sporicidal effectiveness. With regard to the action against A. acidoterrestris spores, RO at 8× MIC was sporostatic, whereas RO+N at 1× MIC was sporicidal. Morphological changes in the structure of the micro-organism after treatment were also observed by microscopy. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis showed that most cells were damaged or killed after treatment. In general, the antioxidant activity after addition of RO+N decreased with time. The results demonstrate that using the combination of RO and nisin can prevent the A. acidoterrestris growth in orange juice.     

A phylogenetic analysis of species in the Bufo crucifer group (Anura: Bufonidae), based on indolealkylamines and proteins from skin secretions

This research tested the utility of two classes of skin secretion compounds to the phylogeny of the Bufo crucifer group. Skin secretions from specimens of nine populations of B. crucifer group were obtained and submitted to qualitative analysis. We observed a clear difference in the composition of the skin secretion molecules obtained from the species of Bufo studied. Fifty-nine molecules, 16 indolealkylamines and 43 proteins, were used as characters, and 39 of these were parsimonious informative. The tree topology of the skin secretion combined data showed areas of congruence and conflict when compared to an mtDNA phylogeny of the B. crucifer group. We used the Templeton test to evaluate the heterogeneity between the skin secretion and mtDNA data. Although not recommended, we performed a combined analysis with the two partitions. The skin secretion characters from the species of Bufo studied have phylogenetic signal. These data are indicative, at least as a preliminary study, of the phylogenetic relationships among the B. crucifer group taxa.     

Multilocus and morphological analysis of south-eastern Iberian Wall lizards (Squamata,Podarcis)

The phylogenetic relationships among the wall lizards of the Podarcis hispanicus complex that inhabit the south-east (SE) of the Iberian Peninsula and other lineages of the complex remain unclear. In this study, four mitochondrial and two nuclear markers were used to study genetic relationships within this complex. The phylogenetic analyses based on mtDNA gene trees constructed with ML and BI, and a species tree using *BEAST support three divergent clades in this region: the Valencia, Galera and Albacete/Murcia lineages. These three lineages were also corroborated in species delimitation analyses based on mtDNA using bPTP, mPTP, GMYC, ABGD and BAPS. Bayesian inference species delimitation method (BPP) based on both nuclear data and a combined data set (mtDNA + nuclear) showed high posterior probabilities for these three SE lineages (≥0.94) and another Bayesian analysis (STACEY) based on combined data set recovered the same three groups in this region. Divergence time dating of the species tree provided an estimated divergence of the Galera lineage from the other SE group (Podarcis vaucheri, (Albacete/Murcia, Valencia)) at 12.48 Ma. During this period, the Betic–Rifian arc was isolated, which could have caused the isolation of the Galera form distributed to the south of the Betic Corridor. Although lizards from the Albacete/Murcia and Galera lineage are morphologically similar, they clearly represent distinct genetic lineages. The noteworthy separation of the Galera lineage enables us to conclude that this lineage must be considered as a new full species.     

RGD Surface Functionalization of the Hydrophilic Acrylic Intraocular Lens Material to Control Posterior Capsular Opacification

Posterior Capsular Opacification (PCO) is the capsule fibrosis developed on implanted IntraOcular Lens (IOL) by the de-differentiation of Lens Epithelial Cells (LECs) undergoing Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). Literature has shown that the incidence of PCO is multifactorial including the patient''s age or disease, surgical technique, and IOL design and material. Reports comparing hydrophilic and hydrophobic acrylic IOLs have shown that the former has more severe PCO. On the other hand, we have previously demonstrated that the adhesion of LECs is favored on hydrophobic compared to hydrophilic materials. By combining these two facts and contemporary knowledge in PCO development via the EMT pathway, we propose a biomimetically inspired strategy to promote LEC adhesion without de-differentiation to reduce the risk of PCO development. By surface grafting of a cell adhesion molecule (RGD peptide) onto the conventional hydrophilic acrylic IOL material, the surface-functionalized IOL can be used to reconstitute a capsule-LEC-IOL sandwich structure, which has been considered to prevent PCO formation in literature. Our results show that the innovative biomaterial improves LEC adhesion, while also exhibiting similar optical (light transmittance, optical bench) and mechanical (haptic compression force, IOL injection force) properties compared to the starting material. In addition, compared to the hydrophobic IOL material, our bioactive biomaterial exhibits similar abilities in LEC adhesion, morphology maintenance, and EMT biomarker expression, which is the crucial pathway to induce PCO. The in vitro assays suggest that this biomaterial has the potential to reduce the risk factor of PCO development.     

Thermopreferendum de l'Araignée socialeAgelena consociata Denis

Résumé Le présent article a pour but d'analyser les multiples facteurs pouvant perturber l'étude duthermopreferendum de l'Araignée socialeAgelena consociata Denis et d'exposer les résultats obtenus.Pour satisfaire lethigmotactisme très développé de ces Araignées, la boîte servant à cette étude est cloisonnée et sa hauteur est de 1 cm.Un abreuvoir placé dans chaque compartiment maintient une humidité saturante pour compenser le gradient hygrométrique résultant du gradient thermique.L'expérience doit durer plusieurs jours et ne commencer que 24 heures après l'introduction des Araignées: premièrement, parce que cela permet aux Araignées de recouvrir le fond de la boîte d'une nappe de soie, ce qui contribue à les rapprocher de leurs conditions naturelles; deuxièmement, parce que la phase d'activité de ces Araignées est nocturne. Or, il semble que c'est lors de cette phase que les animaux choisissent leurthermopreferendum.Il ne faut pas effectuer plus de trois relevés par jour, sans quoi les Araignées, très sensibles aux perturbations, ont tendance à se diriger vers l'extrémité froide.Lethermopreferendum desAgelena consociata se situe à 22°65±0,10 pour la température de l'air et à 22°89±0,12 par rapport à la température du sol.

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Summary This article aims at analysing the various causes which can disturb the study of thethermopreferendum of social SpidersAgelena consociata Denis and aims at explaining the achieved results.In order to satisfy the extremely developedthigmotactisme of these Spiders, the box used for that study has been partitioned off; its height is 1 cm.A small piece of wet cotton-wool placed into each partition maintains a saturated humidity to compensate the hygrometric gradient resulting from the thermic gradient.The experiment must go on during several days and must only begin a day after having put the Spiders into the box: first because the Spiders can cover the bottom with a cobweb, which contributes to create almost natural conditions; secondly because the period of activity of these Spiders takes place at night. As a fact it seems that it is during this period that the Spiders choose theirthermopreferendum.More than three readings a day must not be performed because otherwise the Spiders, wich are very sensitive to disturbances, are inclined to go towards the cold end of the box.Thethermopreferendum of theAgelena consociata takes place at 22°65 C±0,10 C as for the temperature of the air and at 22°89 C±0,12 C as for the temperature of the ground.