The role of size and protein shells in the toxicity to algal photosynthesis induced by ionic silver delivered from silver nanoparticles
Abstract Because of their biocide properties, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are present in numerous consumer products. The biocidal properties of AgNPs are due to both the interactions between AgNP and cell membranes and the release of dissolved silver (Ag+). Recent studies emphasized the role of different nanoparticle coatings in complexing and storing Ag+. In this study, the availability of dissolved silver in the presence of algae was assessed for three AgNPs with different silver contents (59%, 34% and 7% of total Ag), silver core sizes and casein shell thicknesses. The impact of ionic silver on the photosynthetic yield of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was used as a proxy to estimate the amo…
Travelling with Darwin and Humboldt. A Transdisciplinary Educational Experience
Aim. This research aims to confirm that transdisciplinary projects can be very adequate to develop content and competencies traditionally assigned to Sciences and Arts in higher education, exploring the possibilities of outdoor education.
 Methods. The subjects of the study were one hundred alumni of two different courses “Natural Sciences for Teachers” and “Literary Training for Teachers” at a Spanish university. An educational experience around the phenomenon of scientific travelers was developed, focusing on Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humboldt and the literary genres of travel journals and letters. The main activity contained three phases, including indoor and outdoor educatio…
Encapsulation of hydrophilic and lipophilized catechin into nanoparticles through emulsion electrospraying
In this work, we investigated the potential of emulsion electrospraying that contained bacterial cellulose and proteins for the encapsulation of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Specifically, two different catechins, hydrophilic (H-EGCG) or lipophilized (L-EGCG), were encapsulated either on the aqueous or the oily phase of the emulsions in order to compare the antioxidants’ stability. Emulsion properties in terms of stability, droplet size, bulk and interfacial viscosity were studied combined with the evaluation of the properties of the produced particles, namely the morphology and size of the particles, the encapsulation efficiency (EE) of catechin and the stability of the EGCG within the …