Most data dealing with the biopreservative activity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are focused on their antibacterial effects. Food spoilage by mould and the occurrence of their mycotoxins constitute ...a potential health hazard. Development of biological control should help improve the safety of products by controlling mycotoxin contamination. Data have actually shown that many LAB can inhibit mould growth and that some of them have the potential to interact with mycotoxins.
This review summarizes these findings and demonstrates that LAB are promising biological agents for food safety.
Marine food-reliant subsistence systems such as those in the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) were not thought to exist in Europe until the much later Mesolithic. Whether this apparent lag reflects ...taphonomic biases or behavioral distinctions between archaic and modern humans remains much debated. Figueira Brava cave, in the Arrábida range (Portugal), provides an exceptionally well preserved record of Neandertal coastal resource exploitation on a comparable scale to the MSA and dated to ~86 to 106 thousand years ago. The breadth of the subsistence base-pine nuts, marine invertebrates, fish, marine birds and mammals, tortoises, waterfowl, and hoofed game-exceeds that of regional early Holocene sites. Fisher-hunter-gatherer economies are not the preserve of anatomically modern people; by the Last Interglacial, they were in place across the Old World in the appropriate settings.
The growing interest in anaerobic digestion has led to an increase in the production of digestate that can be re-used. This work evaluates the possibility of using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to ...valorize biogas digestate, maize residue and alfalfa. The solid fraction of two digestates originating from two different biogas plants was used. Different diets (mixed or single substrates) were developed using digestate, maize residue and alfalfa. In addition, thermal hydrolysis as well as enzymatic hydrolysis were performed on the agricultural crops to break down fibers into reducing sugars, before being fed to BSFL. Chemical analysis of the substrates and a performance analysis were conducted. Application of the pretreatment on the agricultural crops improved larval growth on maize residue and alfalfa. Although larvae reached higher mass gain on pretreated maize residue and alfalfa than on non-pretreated crops, once these agricultural crops were mixed with digestate, performance decreased. Indeed, larval growth on digestate-based diets was very poor compared to the standard diet, with the average individual larval weight reared on digestate 1 and digestate 2 being 14.6 ± 2.54 mg and 46.43 ± 6.68 mg, respectively. A significant difference (p = 0.0018) was found between length gain of the two digestates, indicating that certain digestates lead to different BSFL yield. According to the results of this study, BSFL treatment of digestate was not efficient and further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms preventing digestate from being effectively converted into larval biomass.
Graphical Abstract
The structural basis for the development of congestive heart failure (CHF) is a maladaptive myocardial remodeling process which occurs secondarily to post-myocardial infarction (MI), hypertensive ...hypertrophy, or cardiomyopathy. Both cellular and extracellular factors are involved in the remodeling process and it is the combined action of these factors giving rise to changes in myocardial structure which eventually affects function. One component in this remodeling process is a family of extracellular matrix degrading enzymes, the matrix metalloproteinases or MMPs. Many bioactive molecules such as cytokines/chemokines, bioactive peptides, and neurohormones which are operative in CHF likely contribute to the induction of MMPs. For example, a specific cassette of transcription factors is likely induced with extracellular stimuli in the context of CHF which in turn induces MMPs and contributes to the maladaptive remodeling process. This review will briefly discuss the biology of the MMP family, but will more importantly identify how biological factors active in CHF result in the modulation of the MMP family. Understanding how upstream molecules are involved in MMP regulation/dysregulation may provide an avenue to develop important therapeutic interventions.
Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the reproducibility of a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed in a French population, and its validity against four 24-h dietary recalls (24-HRs). Methods: ...A total of 57 adults (aged 18-63), 17 adolescents (aged 14-18) and 20 children (aged 10-14) completed four 24-HRs (one per season) and two FFQs over a 1-year interval. Reproducibility of the FFQ was estimated by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The validity of FFQ was assessed by comparison with the four 24-HRs. Results: For most nutrients, the first FFQ measurements gave higher mean values than the second FFQ. The ICCs for nutrients ranged from 0.39 for total protein to 0.83 for alcohol. The ICCs were higher for food items consumed daily such as milk (0.80) or sugars and confectionery (0.65), and lower for rarely eaten food such as inner organs (0.11). Nutrient intakes as assessed by FFQs were higher than those from the 24-HRs, except for alcohol. The de-attenuated Pearson's correlation coefficient for nutrients varied from 0.25 (dietary fiber) to 0.90 (alcohol), but the adjustment for energy did not improve these coefficients. When nutrient intakes were categorized into quintiles, FFQ and 24-HRs produced agreement rates (same or adjacent quintile) between 55% (for PUFA) and 95% (for alcohol), while misclassification to an extreme quintile was rare (<5%). Conclusion: The FFQ developed for the FLVS II Study can be used to classify adults or adolescents according to their nutrients and food intakes over a 1-year period.
A potential mechanism for left ventricular (LV) remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) is activation of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). This study examined the effects of MMP inhibition ...(MMPi) on regional LV geometry and MMP levels after MI.
In pigs instrumented with radiopaque markers to measure regional myocardial geometry, MI was created by ligating the obtuse marginals of the circumflex artery. In the first study, pigs were randomized to MMPi (n=7; PD166793, 20 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) or MI only (n=7) at 5 days after MI, and measurements were performed at 2 weeks. Regional MI areas were equivalent at randomization and were increased in the MI-only group at 2 weeks after MI compared with the MMPi group. In the second study, pigs randomized to MMPi (n=9) or MI only (n=8) were serially followed up for 8 weeks. At 8 weeks after MI, LV end-diastolic dimension was lower with MMPi than in the MI-only group (4.7+/-0.1 versus 5.1+/-0.1 cm, P<0.05). Regional MI area was reduced with MMPi at 8 weeks after MI (1.3+/-0.1 versus 1.7+/-0.1 cm2, P<0.05). MMPi reduced ex vivo MMP proteolytic activity. In the MI region, membrane-type MMP levels were normalized and levels of the endogenous tissue inhibitor of MMPs (TIMP-1) were increased compared with normal levels with MMPi. These effects were not observed in the MI-only group.
MMPi attenuated the degree of post-MI LV dilation and expansion of the infarct during the late phase of MI healing. In addition, exogenous MMPi caused region-specific modulation of certain MMP and TIMP species.
A revised version of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) was developed in an obese population, but its applicability to the general population was not assessed. We aimed to define the ...relationship between eating behavior and reported food intake. This was a cross-sectional study of 529 middle-aged adults and 358 teenagers and young adults recruited on a geographical basis. The TFEQ-R18 measures 3 aspects of eating behavior: cognitive restraint (CR), uncontrolled eating (UE), and emotional eating. Reported food intake was calculated from a food frequency questionnaire. Girls who scored higher on restrained eating had a lower energy intake than the other girls (9164 kJ vs. 13,163 kJ, P < 0.001). In adult men, energy intake increased with UE (9663 kJ vs. 11,029 kJ in the lower and higher UE tertiles, respectively, P < 0.05). When specific food groups were analyzed, higher CR was positively associated in adults with healthy food groups like green vegetables OR = 1.92 (0.68–2.44) and negatively associated with French fries OR = 0.35 (0.22–0.57) and sugar OR = 0.38 (0.23–0.61). Energy-dense foods, such as fat, were positively associated with UE OR = 2.28 (1.46–3.57) for dietary fat. Finally, emotional eaters had a higher snacking food intake. In teenagers and young adults, most associations were seen with CR. Converse to observations in adults, teenagers and young adults who exhibited a high cognitive restraint reported consumption of fewer energy-dense foods rather than more “healthy foods.” The TFEQ-R18 was therefore able to distinguish among different eating patterns in our sample of a French general population.
Background Operating rooms (ORs) are resource-intense and costly hospital units. Maximizing OR efficiency is essential to maintaining an economically viable institution. OR efficiency projects often ...focus on a limited number of ORs or cases. Efforts across an entire OR suite have not been reported. Lean and Six Sigma methodologies were developed in the manufacturing industry to increase efficiency by eliminating non−value-added steps. We applied Lean and Six Sigma methodologies across an entire surgical suite to improve efficiency. Study Design A multidisciplinary surgical process improvement team constructed a value stream map of the entire surgical process from the decision for surgery to discharge. Each process step was analyzed in 3 domains, ie, personnel, information processed, and time. Multidisciplinary teams addressed 5 work streams to increase value at each step: minimizing volume variation; streamlining the preoperative process; reducing nonoperative time; eliminating redundant information; and promoting employee engagement. Process improvements were implemented sequentially in surgical specialties. Key performance metrics were collected before and after implementation. Results Across 3 surgical specialties, process redesign resulted in substantial improvements in on-time starts and reduction in number of cases past 5 pm . Substantial gains were achieved in nonoperative time, staff overtime, and ORs saved. These changes resulted in substantial increases in margin/OR/day. Conclusions Use of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies increased OR efficiency and financial performance across an entire operating suite. Process mapping, leadership support, staff engagement, and sharing performance metrics are keys to enhancing OR efficiency. The performance gains were substantial, sustainable, positive financially, and transferrable to other specialties.
A set of fecal indicator bacteria and alternative markers were tested for their use to identify priority sectors of two urban watersheds in the Greater Montreal region with unintended household ...sewage connections to storm drainage systems. Analyses were performed for thermotolerant (fecal) coliforms (FC), Escherichia coli, human-specific Bacteroidales (HF183) and mitochondrial DNA (Hmt) markers, carbamazepine (CBZ), caffeine (CAF), theophylline (THEO) and acetaminophen (ACE). A high incidence of human fecal contamination was observed, illustrating the need for a method to appropriately prioritize sectors for the rehabilitation of sewer cross-connections. Concentrations of alternative markers were not significantly different between the residential and industrial/commercial/institutional (ICI) sectors. However, median E. coli concentrations were higher in the residential as compared to ICI sectors (p < 0.05). Hmt marker, CAF, and THEO were well correlated to E. coli in the ICI sector (r > 0.61, p < 0.05). Considering all sites, only CAF and THEO were correlated to E. coli (r > 0.59, p < 0.05), possibly as a result of higher E. coli inputs from other sources such as domestic animals or fauna in the residential sector. Thresholds were determined to relate alternative markers to E. coli for use in an index for prioritizing sectors with sewer cross-connections. HF183, Hmt, CAF, THEO, and ACE were identified as suitable markers for identifying sewer cross-connections and are more reliable than E. coli alone, most importantly in residential sectors.
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•Genetic markers and wastewater micropollutants (WWMPs) were compared as sewage tracers.•WWMP and genetic marker concentrations varied over several orders of magnitude.•Caffeine was the marker most frequently associated with high E. coli concentrations.•Caffeine is a useful tracer for identifying unintended sewer cross-connections.
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