Visible-Light-Reactive Single-Chain Nanoparticles.

We introduce a single-chain nanoparticle (SCNP) system capable of catalyzing the photooxidation of nonpolar alkenes up to three times more efficiently than an equivalent small-molecule photosensitizer at an identical concentration. Specifically, we construct a polymer chain constituted of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate and glycidyl methacrylate which we compact via multifunctional thiol-epoxide ligation and functionalize with Rose Bengal (RB) in a one pot reaction, affording SCNPs with a hydrophilic shell and hydrophobic photocatalytic regions. Photooxidation of the internal alkene in oleic acid proceeds under green light.

Amphiphilic Graft Copolymers for Time-Delayed Release of Hydrophobic Fragrances.

When a controlled or retarded release of perfumes is required such as in cosmetics or cleaning products, polymers can be applied as encapsulation agents. With regard to such applications, we investigated two amphiphilic graft copolymers featuring a polydehydroalanine (PDha) backbone and different hydrophobic side chains. Hereby, grafting of aliphatic octyl side chains (PDha--EOct) enabled the adsorption of the aliphatic fragrance tetrahydrolinalool with moderate loads, whereas benzyl side chains (PDha--BGE) allowed taking up aromatic fragrances, for example, amylsalicylate- with exceptionally high loads of up to 8 g g.

Incongruent molecular and morphological variation in the crab spider (Araneae, Thomisidae) in Europe.

Establishing species boundaries is one of the challenges taxonomists around the world have been tackling for centuries. The relation between intraspecific and interspecific variability is still under discussion and in many taxa it remains understudied. Here the hypothesis of single versus multiple species of the crab spider (Fabricius) is tested.

Sequence-defined positioning of amine and amide residues to control catechol driven wet adhesion.

Catechol and amine residues, both abundantly present in mussel adhesion proteins, are known to act cooperatively by displacing hydration barriers before binding to mineral surfaces. In spite of synthetic efforts toward mussel-inspired adhesives, the effect of positioning of the involved functional groups along a polymer chain is not well understood. By using sequence-defined oligomers grafted to soft hydrogel particles as adhesion probes, we study the effect of catechol-amine spacing, as well as positioning relative to the oligomer terminus.

In Vitro Biotransformation Assays Using Liver S9 Fractions and Hepatocytes from Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): Overcoming Challenges with Difficult to Test Fragrance Chemicals.

In vitro metabolic stability assays using rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) isolated hepatocytes (RT-HEP) or hepatic S9 fractions (RT-S9) were introduced to provide biotransformation rate data for the assessment of chemical bioaccumulation in fish. The present study explored the suitability of the RT-HEP and RT-S9 assays for difficult test chemicals, and the in vitro-based predictions were compared to in silico-based predictions and in vivo-measured bioconcentration factors (BCFs). The results show that volatile or reactive chemicals can be tested with minor modifications of the in vitro protocols.

ABC transporters in gills of rainbow trout ().

Fish gills are a structurally and functionally complex organ at the interface between the organism and the aquatic environment. Gill functions include the transfer of organic molecules, both natural ones and xenobiotic compounds. Whether the branchial exchange of organic molecules involves active transporters is currently not known.

Comparative study of cytotoxicity by platinum nanoparticles and ions in vitro systems based on fish cell lines.

Emission of platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) especially from vehicle exhaust catalysts and pharmaceutics cause an increase in concentrations of this metal in aquatic environments. In this study, small (4-9 nm) uncoated and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) coated Pt NPs were synthetized and their dispersion in different exposure media were evaluated. Pt NP uptake in two established fish cell lines were investigated and comparative in vitro cytotoxicity of Pt NPs and ions were assessed.

How not to delimit taxa: a critique on a recently proposed "pragmatic classification" of jumping spiders (Arthropoda: Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae).

Modern taxonomy and systematics profit from an invaluable tool that has been developed in the course of more than a century by intense discussions and negotiations of generations of zoologists and palaeontologists: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999, 2012). The main goal of the Code is "to promote stability and universality in the scientific names of animals and to ensure that the name of each taxon is unique and distinct" (Melville 1995, ICZN 1999: 2). The provisions of the Code are generally accepted and thoroughly applied by the scientific community.

In vitro or not in vitro: a short journey through a long history.

The aim of ecotoxicology is to study toxic effects on constituents of ecosystems, with the protection goal being populations and communities rather than individual organisms. In this ecosystem perspective, the use of in vitro methodologies measuring cellular and subcellular endpoints at a first glance appears to be odd. Nevertheless, more recently in vitro approaches gained momentum in ecotoxicology.

Immune-Specific Expression and Estrogenic Regulation of the Four Estrogen Receptor Isoforms in Female Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Genomic actions of estrogens in vertebrates are exerted via two intracellular estrogen receptor (ER) subtypes, ERα and ERβ, which show cell- and tissue-specific expression profiles. Mammalian immune cells express ERs and are responsive to estrogens. More recently, evidence became available that ERs are also present in the immune organs and cells of teleost fish, suggesting that the immunomodulatory function of estrogens has been conserved throughout vertebrate evolution.

Hydrogel Microparticles as Sensors for Specific Adhesion: Case Studies on Antibody Detection and Soil Release Polymers.

Adhesive processes in aqueous media play a crucial role in nature and are important for many technological processes. However, direct quantification of adhesion still requires expensive instrumentation while their sample throughput is rather small. Here we present a fast, and easily applicable method on quantifying adhesion energy in water based on interferometric measurement of polymer microgel contact areas with functionalized glass slides and evaluation via the Johnson⁻Kendall⁻Roberts (JKR) model.

The goblin spider genus Ischnothyreus (Araneae, Oonopidae) in Java and Sumatra.

The genus Ischnothyreus Simon, 1893 from Java and Sumatra is revised with the description of seven new species from Java (I. baltenspergerae sp. nov.

DNA barcode data accurately assign higher spider taxa.

The use of unique DNA sequences as a method for taxonomic identification is no longer fundamentally controversial, even though debate continues on the best markers, methods, and technology to use. Although both existing databanks such as GenBank and BOLD, as well as reference taxonomies, are imperfect, in best case scenarios "barcodes" (whether single or multiple, organelle or nuclear, loci) clearly are an increasingly fast and inexpensive method of identification, especially as compared to manual identification of unknowns by increasingly rare expert taxonomists. Because most species on Earth are undescribed, a complete reference database at the species level is impractical in the near term.

Combining morphology, DNA sequences, and morphometrics: revising closely related species in the orb-weaving spider genus Araniella (Araneae, Araneidae).

The integration of independent data sets could solve problems in both traditional and DNA-based taxonomy. The aim of this study is to investigate the power of CO1 sequences and of morphometrics to distinguish closely related species in the spider genus Araniella. We put special emphasis on the species pair A.

ABC transporters and xenobiotic defense systems in early life stages of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Embryos of oviparous fish, in contrast to (ovo) viviparous species, develop in the aquatic environment, and therefore need solute transport systems at their body surfaces for maintaining internal homeostasis and defending against potentially harmful substances. We hypothesized that solute transporters undergo changes in tissue distribution from the embryo to the larval stage. We therefore studied the mRNA profiles of eight ABC transporters (abcb1a, abcb1b, abcc1, abcc2, abcc3, abcc4, abcc5, abcg2) and three solute carriers (oatp1d, putative oatp2 putative, mate1) in different body regions (head, yolk sac epithelium, abdominal viscera, skin/muscles) of developing rainbow trout.

Corrigendum: Targeting a portion of central European spider diversity for permanent preservation.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.1.

An Investigation of the Complexity of Maillard Reaction Product Profiles from the Thermal Reaction of Amino Acids with Sucrose Using High Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

Thermal treatment of food changes its chemical composition drastically with the formation of "so-called" Maillard reaction products, being responsible for the sensory properties of food, along with detrimental and beneficial health effects. In this contribution, we will describe the reactivity of several amino acids, including arginine, lysine, aspartic acid, tyrosine, serine and cysteine, with carbohydrates. The analytical strategy employed involves high and ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry followed by chemometric-type data analysis.

The new Southeast Asian goblin spider genus Aposphragisma (Araneae, Oonopidae): diversity and phylogeny.

The new genus Aposphragisma (Araneae, Oonopidae, Oonopinae) comprising the new species A. baltenspergerae, A. borgulai, A.

The evolution of host associations in the parasitic wasp genus Ichneumon (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): convergent adaptations to host pupation sites.

Background: The diversification of organisms with a parasitic lifestyle is often tightly linked to the evolution of their host associations. If a tight host association exists, closely related species tend to attack closely related hosts; host associations are less stable if associations are determined by more plastic traits like parasitoid searching and oviposition behaviour. The pupal-parasitoids of the genus Ichneumon attack a variety of macrolepidopteran hosts.

Targeting a portion of central European spider diversity for permanent preservation.

Given the limited success of past and current conservation efforts, an alternative approach is to preserve tissues and genomes of targeted organisms in cryobanks to make them accessible for future generations. Our pilot preservation project aimed to obtain, expertly identify, and permanently preserve a quarter of the known spider species diversity shared between Slovenia and Switzerland, estimated at 275 species. We here report on the faunistic part of this project, which resulted in 324 species (227 in Slovenia, 143 in Switzerland) for which identification was reasonably established.

Aromatic aldols and 1,5-diketones as optimized fragrance photocages.

Aromatic aldols and 1,5-diketones with abstractable γ-hydrogen atoms are highly photoactive cage molecules for the release of fragrance carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and Michael ketones, respectively). Aldols 3a-d are easily accessible by Mukaiyama addition and are cleaved to form the substrates with high quantum yields under solar radiation. By tuning the properties of the chromophores, a series of δ-damascone cages 5 were developed that can be used for selective and fast (5a,e) or slow (5b,d) release of fragrances under air and solar irradiation.

The adaptive potential of a survival artist: characterization of the in vitro interactions of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites with di-cationic compounds in human fibroblast cell cultures.

The impact of di-cationic pentamidine-analogues against Toxoplama gondii (Rh- and Me49-background) was investigated. The 72 h-growth assays showed that the arylimidamide DB750 inhibited the proliferation of tachyzoites of T. gondii Rh and T.

Experimental treatment of Neospora caninum-infected mice with the arylimidamide DB750 and the thiazolide nitazoxanide.

The cationic arylimidamide DB750 and the thiazolide nitazoxanide had been shown earlier to be effective against Neospora caninum tachyzoites in vitro with an IC(50) of 160nM and 4.23μM, respectively. In this study, we have investigated the effects of DB750 and nitazoxanide treatments of experimentally infected Balb/c mice, by applying the drugs either through the oral or the intraperitoneal route.

In vitro efficacy of dicationic compounds and mefloquine enantiomers against Echinococcus multilocularis metacestodes.

The current chemotherapy of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is based on benzimidazoles such as albendazole and has been shown to be parasitostatic rather than parasiticidal, requiring lifelong duration. Thus, new and more efficient treatment options are urgently needed. By employing a recently validated assay based on the release of functional phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) from dying parasites, the activities of 26 dicationic compounds and of the (+)- and (-)-erythro-enantiomers of mefloquine were investigated.