Agarose-silver particles films: Effect of calcium ascorbate in nanoparticles synthesis and film properties.

New nanoparticles containing biomaterials are emerging as versatile active platforms in a great number of applications, for example, as skin substitutes and therapeutic media. The present study describes the preparation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) embedded in agarose films and the impact of calcium ascorbate in the formation of ANPs as well as in the final properties of the films. Colloidal AgNPs were synthetized by two chemical reduction routes: (i) applying calcium ascorbate and NaBH and (ii) applying only NaBH.

Synthesis, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of some 5-arylidene-4-thioxo-thiazolidine-2-ones.

Several 5-arylidene-4-thioxo-thiazolidine-2-ones (3a-n) were synthesized and evaluated as antimicrobial agents against representative strains, including multidrug-resistant strains of clinical isolates. Also, the antiproliferative activity was evaluated against two human carcinoma cell lines (NCI-H292 and HEp-2). The compounds containing the 5-arylidene subunit presented greater antimicrobial activities against Gram positive bacteria, including the multidrug-resistant clinical isolates, than the 4-thioxo-thiazolidine-2-one.