In the present study, we investigated the effects of different degree of sulfonation (DS) on the performance of the poly (vinyl butyral)/sulfonated polyethersulfone (PVB/SPES) blend membranes. The compatibility of the PVB/SPES blending system was characterized by shear viscosity and Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection, respectively. Results stated that all PVB/SPES blending systems were partially compatible. Contact angle, equilibrium water content, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements were carried out to investigate the hydrophilicity of the PVB/SPES blend membranes. With increasing DS, the blend membranes became more hydrophilic. The pure water flux of the blend membranes increased with DS, while the rejection decreased due to microstructures of the PVB/SPES membranes. The mechanical properties of the PVB/SPES blend membranes increased slightly with DS. Fouling resistances of blend membranes evaluated by bovine serum albumin solution filtration revealed the PVB/SPES blend membranes with DS = 27% exhibited the superior antifouling properties.

European Community regulations on chemicals promote alternative methods to test substances presenting potential risks for the environment. In the present work, cultured atrial cells isolated from oyster (Crassostrea gigas) were used as an experimental model to investigate the toxicity of tributyltin (TBT) after short-time exposure at concentrations representative of those that can be measured in seawater, marine sediments and/or bivalves bioaccumulating this pollutant. In vitro and in vivo assays produce values of the same order of magnitude for both animal/cell survival and heart/cardiomyocyte beating rate. The survival rate of whole animals decreased from 10-6 M TBT after 3 days. For cultured cells, the viability, evaluated using 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, significantly decreased after two days of treatment with 10-6 M TBT, and after six days with 10-10 M TBT. The percentage of apoptotic cells, quantified by flow cytometry and YO-PRO®-1 iodide, a nucleic acid stain that only permeates cells that are beginning to undergo apoptosis, increased significantly in these cases. Moreover, intracellular concentration of Ca++ had increased after 10 min of exposition to 10-6 M, and could be associated with apoptotic processes. As patch clamp experiments showed that Ca++ conductance was decreased, intracellular calcium increase could mainly be due to a release from internal stores. The decreases in beating rhythm could be explained by the decrease in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production revealed by 31 P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and confirmed by the increase of the KATP channel conductance. The related hyperpolarization and the disturbances of the energetic metabolism were clearly related to the loss of the atrial cell contractility and viability.

Ethylacetate extract of the gorgonian coral Suberogorgia reticulata was obtained and its effects on the larval settlement by acorn barnacle Balanus (=Amphibalanus) reticulatus and pearl oyster Pinctada martensii and spore germination of green algae Ulva linza and U. lactuca and red alga Gracilaria tenuistipitata was assessed in this study. Results showed that no larval settlement or spore germination occurred at the dose of 100 μg cm−2. Both larval settlement and spore germination were significantly inhibited by the extract at doses of 1 μg cm−2 for B. reticulatus, 0.1 μg cm−2 for U. linza and U. lactuca, and 0.01 μg cm−2 for P. martensii and G. tenuistipitata. It could be concluded that the gorgonian coral S. reticulata may produce bioactive substances with a broad spectrum of activity against a range of marine sessile organisms including macroalgae and invertebrates.

The antifouling activity of a series of hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and aqueous extracts from 11 species of marine sessile organisms collected from the south-east coast of China was investigated. Settlement inhibition of cyprid larvae of the barnacle Balanus albicostatus was used to evaluate their antifouling efficacy. Screening of the 44 extracts showed antifouling activity in 90.9% of the hexane extracts followed by 90.9% of the ethyl acetate, 72.7% of the ethanol and 36.4% of the aqueous extracts. The hexane extracts of Tubularia mesembryanthemum, Notarcus leachii cirrosus and Styela canopus, the ethyl acetate extracts of Bugula neritina and N. leachii cirrosus, and the ethanol extracts of B. neritina and Anthopleura sp. were the most active in inhibiting the settlement of B. albicostatus, with EC50 values all below 50 μg/ml. At least one of the four extracts of each tested species exhibited antifouling activity, suggesting that all 11 marine sessile organisms contained antifouling substances and they may have evolved chemical defences against biofouling on their surfaces.