RESUMO
Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are one of the most promising green technologies to emerge in recent years given their combination of environmentally friendly credentials and useful functionalities. Considering the continued search for new DES - especially those that exemplify the aforementioned characteristics, we report the preparation of DES based on natural analogues of l-ascorbic acid for the first time. The onset of eutectic melting occurred at temperatures far below the melting point of the individual components and resulted in the generation of glass forming fluids with glass transition temperatures, viscosities and flow behavior that are comparable to similar systems. This work expands the current array of DES that can be produced using naturally occurring components, which given their potential to be bio-derived, interesting physicochemical properties (e. g. propensity to supercool and vitrify) and apparent antibacterial nature, may provide utility within a range of applications.
RESUMO
We describe how a novel thermosensitive escape behaviour in Drosophila larvae can be used to teach neurobiology principles to both undergraduates and school children. The assays are inexpensive, robust and reliably accurate employing apparatus readily available in most science classrooms. The use of Drosophila avoids the employment of vertebrate models and the ethical and expense issues that this entails. We use this practical to effectively teach the principals of calibration and neural sensory responses to post-16-year-old students and undergraduate students.
