Separation, quantification and characterisation of the pigment produced by Paecilomyces lilacinus TD16.

Fungal pigments are important natural products with a wide range of applications. In this study, the purple-red pigment produced by the fungus Paecilomyces lilacinus TD16 (TD16 pigment) was separated with acidulated ethyl acetate and purified by silica gel column chromatography. Results of UV-visible spectrum and HPLC analyses showed that TD16 pigment is a new polyketide pigment with three absorption peaks at 228, 272 and 527 nm and a retention time of 11.4665 min distinct from those of other Paecilomyces-sourced pigments. Results of kinetic analysis and antimicrobial activity assay showed that TD16 pigment is a non-growth-associated secondary products with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity on both bacteria and fungi and thus of potential application in industry.[Formula: see text].

A lightweight low-cost and multipollutant sensor package for aerial observations of air pollutants in atmospheric boundary layer.

A lightweight low-cost multipollutant sensor package is particularly portable to aerial measurements and field campaign due to its light weight (2.0 kg), compact size (L × W × H, 22 × 15 × 10 cm), and low energy-consumption (20 Wa). The sensor system consists of electrochemical sensors measuring O3, NO2, NO, SO2, CO, an optical counting (OPC) particulate matter (PM) sensor for PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10, a miniature photoionization detector (PID) for total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), and metrological sensors for air temperature, relative humidity (RH) and air pressure. All sensor signals were collected and transferred by a data acquirement (DAQ) logger. The sensor data were saved in a microcomputer and transmitted wireless by a GSM/GPS module. All sensors and the accessories were integrated and installed in a thermal insulation foam package, of which temperature was stable at 25 °C to avoid the temperature effect. A silicone desiccant tube was connected to the inlet of air sample to minimize the RH influence. The sensor performances were compared with on-ground reference instruments for a 21-day field campaign and commercial portable instruments from Thermal Scientific and Vaisala in aerial observations. All gas sensors and PM sensor showed good correlations with the reference instruments with R2 varying from 0.81 to 0.93 and slope from 0.89 to 1.35. The O3 sensor performed best with R2 = 0.93 and slope = 1.02. In aerial measurements PM and O3 sensors obtained similar vertical profiles of PM and O3 with those obtained by commercial Thermal PTR PM monitor and Vaisala O3 sounding sensor, respectively. The sensor package was successfully deployed to observe the vertical profiles of air pollutants on a tethered balloon and to exactly locate exhaust sources in an industrial park with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Our sensor package was substantiated to be a reliable and accurate device for aerial measurements of air pollutants in atmospheric boundary layer (ABL).