Electrical impedance spectroscopy for the characterization of skin barrier in atopic dermatitis.

Background: Allergic disorders such as atopic dermatitis (AD) are strongly associated with an impairment of the epithelial barrier, in which tight junctions and/or filaggrin expression can be defective. Skin barrier assessment shows potential to be clinically useful for prediction of disease development, improved and earlier diagnosis, lesion follow-up, and therapy evaluation. This study aimed to establish a method to directly assess the in vivo status of epithelial barrier using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).

Phenol biodegradation by fungal cells immobilized in sol-gel hybrids.

The capability of cells of the fungus Aspergillus awamori, either free or immobilized in hybrid sol-gel material cells, for phenol biodegradation was demonstrated. Phenol was present in the reaction mixture as the sole carbon and energy source, and its decomposition was followed in repeated batch degradation experiments. Atomic force microscopy provided information on the development of self-organizing structures in the materials synthesized by the sol-gel method.

Simultaneous copper, cobalt and phenol removal from aqueous solutions by alternating biosorption and biodegradation.

A strategy for removal of heavy metals and phenol from wastewaters is proposed. It involves consecutive cation biosorption by fungi, phenol biodegradation by the yeast association Candida sp. 2326 + Candida sp.

Biosorption of copper(II) and cadmium(II) from aqueous solutions by free and immobilized biomass of Aspergillus niger.

This study investigates the ability of Aspergillus niger resting cells entrapped into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) network to remove Cu(II) and Cd(II) from single ions solutions. The performance of free and immobilized biosorbent was evaluated by equilibrium and kinetic studies. The PVA-immobilized fungal biosorbent removed Cu(II) and Cd(II) rapidly and efficiently with maximum metal removal capacities of 34.

Cd (II) stress response during the growth of Aspergillus niger B 77.

Aims: To investigate the relationship between growth, heavy metal ions uptake and participation of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the protection of Aspergillus niger B 77 against cadmium stress.

Methods And Results: The stress response of the model fungal strain, under conditions of a wide range of Cd (II) ion concentrations, was investigated by determining the biomass formation, protein biosynthesis, SOD and CAT activities and heavy metal uptake in growing cells. Exposure to heavy metal ions induced an increase in protein content, heavy metal uptake and SOD activity, and a heavy decrease in CAT activity.