Indoor formation of airborne particles during pre-fermentation grape processing was assessed by particle counting using laser particle sizers. Particle numbers of four different aerodynamic size classes (0.3 to 0.5 microm, 0.5 to 1 microm, 1 to 5 microm, and >5 microm) were determined during unloading of harvest containers and subsequent grape stemming and crushing. Regarding these size classes, composition before grape handling was determined as 87.9%, 10.4%, 1.7%, and 0.1%, respectively, whereas the composition changed during grape handling to 50.4%, 15.2%, 33.0%, and 1.5%, respectively. Airborne bacteria and fungi originating from grape processing were collected by impactor and liquid impinger samplers. Grape handling resulted in a sixfold increase in total (biological and non-biological) airborne particles. The generation of bacterial and fungal aerosols was associated mostly with particles of aerodynamic diameters>5 microm (mainly 7 to 11 microm) as determined by flow cytometry. This fraction was increased 150fold in relation to background levels before grape crushing. Maximum concentrations of culturable bacteria reached 485,000 colony forming units (cfu/m3), whereas 146,000 cfu of fungi and yeasts were detected per cubic meter of air. Culturable Gram-negative bacteria occurred only in small numbers (180 cfu/m3). In relation to the total number of airborne particles emitted, culturable microorganisms comprised 0.1% to 0.2%. As soon as grape crushing was stopped, particle concentrations decreased rapidly either due to passive settling or due to air currents in the occupational indoor environment reaching background levels.
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Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc
December 2024
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos str., 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Electronic address:
Novel (N-arylamino)phenothiazinium dyes containing meta-substituted-arylamine auxochrome units were successfully obtained by applying a sonochemical protocol designed for a more efficient energy usage in the preparation of methylene blue (MB) analogues. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the spatial arrangement in aggregated crystalline state of (N-(meta-bromoaryl)amino)phenothiazinium dye with minor variances induced by the nature of the halogenide counterion (iodide or chloride). The optical UV-vis properties of the novel (N-arylamino)phenothiazinium dyes were comparable to those of the parent MB, with the longest wavelength absorption maxima situated in the visible range (640-680 nm), large molar extinction coefficients (log ε = 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntioxidants (Basel)
March 2024
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
Physiol Res
March 2024
Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic. and Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), one of the key enzymes of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), plays an important role in SARS-CoV-2 infection by functioning as a virus receptor. Angiotensin peptides Ang I and Ang II, the substrates of ACE2, can modulate the binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein to the ACE2 receptor. In the present work, we found that co incubation of HEK-ACE2 and Vero E6 cells with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike pseudovirus (PVP) resulted in stimulation of the virus entry at low and high micromolar concentrations of Ang I and Ang II, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Inorg Biochem
February 2024
College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. Electronic address:
Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) is regulated by phosphorylation in vivo, yet the underlying biochemical mechanisms remain unclear, primarily due to difficulty in obtaining milligram quantities of phosphorylated nNOS protein; detailed spectroscopic and rapid kinetics investigations require purified protein samples at a concentration in the range of hundreds microM. Moreover, the functional diversity of the nNOS isoform is linked to its splice variants. Also of note is that determination of protein phosphorylation stoichiometry remains as a challenge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Steroid Biochem Mol Biol
September 2023
Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address:
Hormone-dependent cancers such as breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers account for more than 35% of all cancers in women. Worldwide, these cancers occur in more than 2.7 million women/year and account for 22% of cancer-related deaths/year.
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