Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus are cutaneous pathogens that have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics. We sought to determine if chitosan, a polymer of deacetylated chitin, could be used as a potential treatment against these bacteria. We found that higher molecular weight chitosan had superior antimicrobial properties compared to lower molecular weights, and that this activity occurred in a pH dependent manner. Electron and fluorescence microscopy revealed that chitosan forms aggregates and binds to the surface of bacteria, causing shrinkage of the bacterial membrane from the cell wall. Of special relevance, clinical isolates of P. acnes were vulnerable to chitosan, which could be combined with benzoyl peroxide for additive antibacterial effect. Chitosan also demonstrated significantly less cytotoxicity to monocytes than benzoyl peroxide. Overall, chitosan demonstrates many promising qualities for treatment of cutaneous pathogens.

In the present study, an environmentally benign, efficient, and solvent-free procedure was developed for the synthesis of 1,2-azidoalcohols by the regioselective ring opening of some epoxides with sodium azide (NaN 3 ) in the presence of an acetic acid functionalized imidazolium salt [Cmmim]BF 4 or [Cmmim]Br as a green and Brønsted acidic ionic liquid (BAIL) catalyst under mild and neutral reaction conditions at 60 C. The remarkable features of this procedure are excellent regioselectivity, simple work-up procedure, high yields of products, short reaction times, and ease of recyclability of ionic liquids.

High surface area and redox activity are indispensable characteristics for a material to be considered as an electrode material in pseudocapacitors.

Zataria multiflora essential oil (ZEO) is a natural complex of compounds with a high apoptotic potential against breast cancer cells and minor toxicity toward normal cells; however, similar to many essential oils, ZEO utilization in pharmaceutical industries has limitations due to its labile and sensitive ingredients. Nanoemulsification based on natural polymers is one approach to overcome this issue. In this study, an apple pectin-ZEO nanoemulsion (AP-ZEONE) was prepared and its morphology, FTIR spectra, and physical properties were characterized. Furthermore, it was shown that AP-ZEONE substantially suppresses the viability of MDA-MB-231, T47D, and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. AP-ZEONE significantly induced apoptotic morphological alterations and DNA fragmentation as confirmed by fluorescent staining and TUNEL assay. Moreover, AP-ZEONE induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells by loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) associated with the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), G2/M cell cycle arrest, and DNA strand breakage as flow cytometry, DNA oxidation, and comet assay analysis revealed, respectively. Spectroscopic and computational studies also confirmed that AP-ZEONE interacts with genomic DNA in a minor groove/partial intercalation binding mode. This study demonstrated the successful inhibitory effect of AP-ZEONE on metastatic breast cancer cells, which may be beneficial in the therapy process.

Excess sludge in municipal plants normally contains high amounts of organic compounds (chemical oxygen demand [COD] of about 60,000 mg/L) and is capable of producing biogas. Anaerobic digestion is one of current methods to produce biogas. Municipal treatment plants' excess sludge contains high amounts of microbial cells with robust walls which inhibit microorganisms' access to the cells' organic content. This decreases biogas production efficiency as well as prolongs the time of anaerobic digestion process. In this study, a combination of the low‐temperature pretreatment techniques was used to increase biogas production efficiency in Isfahan South treatment plant. Through the mentioned techniques, which involve chemical, alkaline, microwave, and mechanical pretreatments, the cells' external structure is decomposed, and microorganisms' access to organic content is facilitated. All the experiments were carried out in two stages. The results of the first stage show that the highest amount of biogas efficiency is 365 mL/g COD for the sample under alkaline pretreatment by NaOH at 20 °C and pH = 12. The results of the second stage demonstrate that the highest rates of biogas production efficiency are obtained in samples under chemical pretreatment by KOH on secondary sludge at an ambient temperature (22 °C), and under 2400 H2O2 oxidation, respectively. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13072, 2019