A new coronavirus known as SARS‐CoV‐2 emerged in Wuhan in 2019 and spread rapidly to the rest of the world causing the pandemic disease named coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID‐19). Little ...information is known about the impact this virus can cause upon domestic and stray animals. The potential impact of SARS‐CoV‐2 has become of great interest in cats due to transmission among domestic cats and the severe phenotypes described recently in a domestic cat. In this context, there is a public health warning that needs to be investigated in relation with the epidemiological role of this virus in stray cats. Consequently, in order to know the impact of the possible transmission chain, blood samples were obtained from 114 stray cats in the city of Zaragoza (Spain) and tested for SARS‐CoV‐2 and other selected pathogens susceptible to immunosuppression including Toxoplasma gondii, Leishmania infantum, feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) from January to October 2020. Four cats (3.51%), based on enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike antigen, were seroreactive to SARS‐CoV‐2. T. gondii, L. infantum, FeLV and FIV seroprevalence was 12.28%, 16.67%, 4.39% and 19.30%, respectively. Among seropositive cats to SARS‐CoV‐2, three cats were also seropositive to other pathogens including antibodies detected against T. gondii and FIV (n = 1); T. gondii (n = 1); and FIV and L. infantum (n = 1). The subjects giving positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 were captured in urban areas of the city in different months: January 2020 (2/4), February 2020 (1/4) and July 2020 (1/4). This study revealed, for the first time, the exposure of stray cats to SARS‐CoV‐2 in Spain and the existence of concomitant infections with other pathogens including T. gondii, L. infantum and FIV, suggesting that immunosuppressed animals might be especially susceptible to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection.
•The VOCs produced by B. amyloliquefaciens BUZ-14 and I3 have antifungal activity.•The production of VOCs is influenced by the nutrients in the medium.•Diacetyl, benzaldehyde and isoamyl alcohol were ...the most active.•Diacetyl controls the grey mould in grapes at only 0.02 mL L−1.•The phytotoxicity is fruit and VOC dose-dependent.
It is known that Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), among several other mechanisms, are responsible for the antagonistic activity produced by microorganisms. In this work the volatilome of three biocontrol Bacillus velezensis strains (BUZ-14, I3 and I5) was tested in vitro and on fruit against Botrytis cinerea, Monilinia fructicola, M. laxa, Penicillium italicum, P. digitatum and P. expansum. In vitro, pathogens growth was significantly inhibited, in particular M. laxa, M. fructicola and P. italicum (66, 72 and 80 %, respectively) by BUZ-14 and B. cinerea (100 %) by I3 and I5, compared to the control. In vivo tests also showed significant inhibitions since volatile metabolites of I3 reduced grey mould in grapes by 50 % and those of BUZ-14 decreased brown rot severity in apricots, especially by M. fructicola, from 60 to 4 mm. VOCs were identified by solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) and the antifungal activity of some of them was tested both in vitro and in vivo against the fungal pathogens. The main volatiles identified ranged from 12 to 15 compounds including 2-nonanone, 2-undecanone, 2-heptanone, 1-butanol, acetoin, benzaldehyde, butyl formate, diacetyl, nonane, or pyrazine, among others. Benzaldehyde and diacetyl obtained the lowest minimum inhibitory concentrations in vitro, ranging from 0.005 to 0.125 mL L−1 depending on the pathogen tested. Moreover, diacetyl was able to control grey mould caused by B. cinerea in table grapes with only 0.02 mL L−1 and to reduce blue rot in mandarins at the same dose up to 60 %. In this study, diacetyl and benzaldehyde have been identified as promising compounds to apply in active packaging during the postharvest commercialization of fruit. However, prior to the application, it is crucial to determine not only the active dose but also the phytotoxic, since some fruit species such as apples and apricots have proven to be highly sensitive.
•Truffle aroma can be transfer passively into food matrices.•36 odorants were detected using gas chromatography-olfactometry.•After 24 h DMDS, 2,3-pentanodione, 3-methyl-1-butanol were capture by ...matrices.•No more than 4 days is recommended to truffle aromatization time.
Nowadays black truffles are so highly valued that truffled products are available in supermarkets whereas fresh truffle is mainly used in the restaurants. It is known that truffle aroma can change because heat treatments, but there is no scientific evidence about what molecules are transferred, in which concentration, and how much time is needed to aromatize products with truffle. In this study, four different fat-based food products (milk, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil and egg’s yolk), were used to study black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) aroma transference for 14 days. Gas chromatography and olfactometry results showed different volatile organic compounds profile depending on the matrix used. After 24 h, some key truffle aromatic compounds were detected in all the food matrices. Among them, grape seed oil was the most aromatized product probably because of its odorless properties. According to our results, dimethyl disulphide, 3-methyl-1-butanol and 1-octen-3-one odorants showed the highest aromatization power.
Neutrophils are expanded and abundant in cancer-bearing hosts. Under the influence of CXCR1 and CXCR2 chemokine receptor agonists and other chemotactic factors produced by tumors, neutrophils, and ...granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) from cancer patients extrude their neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). In our hands, CXCR1 and CXCR2 agonists proved to be the major mediators of cancer-promoted NETosis. NETs wrap and coat tumor cells and shield them from cytotoxicity, as mediated by CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, by obstructing contact between immune cells and the surrounding target cells. Tumor cells protected from cytotoxicity by NETs underlie successful cancer metastases in mice and the immunotherapeutic synergy of protein arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) inhibitors, which curtail NETosis with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Intravital microscopy provides evidence of neutrophil NETs interfering cytolytic cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and NK cell contacts with tumor cells.
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•Tumor-secreted CXCR1 and CXCR2 ligands induce extrusion of NETs•NETs protect tumor cells from CTL and NK cytotoxicity in 3D cultures•Inhibition of NETosis sensitizes tumors to PD-1+CTLA-4 dual checkpoint blockade•NETs impair contact of immune cytotoxic cells with tumor cells in living mice
Extrusion of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) constitutes an adhesive mechanism employed by polymorphonuclear leukocytes in microbial defense and plays a role in cancer metastasis. Teijeira et al. show that intratumoral NETs protect malignant cells against cytotoxic attacks of the immune system, such as those elicited by checkpoint-based immunotherapy.
•SPS regulatory convergence reduces but not outweigh SPS trade costs in dairy trade.•Trade frictions remain even after harmonisation to EU SPS standards.•Convergence to EU SPS rules only reduce trade ...costs to highly competitive exporters.•Experience reduces trade costs but not as much as regulatory convergence.
With its influence on the world stage, the EU’s Farm to Fork initiative seeks to extend sustainable and fair food production practises globally, in part, by encouraging convergence with EU food standards (i.e., sanitary and phytosanitary measures-SPS). Harmonisation clauses have been found empirically to encourage trade, but no quantifiable estimates exist on the trade effects of SPS regulatory convergence. This paper examines this issue for the dairy industry, a highly regulated sector with significant sustainability concerns attached. Furthermore, the cost-saving effects arising from closer regulations and ‘experience’ (i.e., accumulated years of foreign trade track-record), are compared. Employing a 3-year interval panel starting in 2010, a structural gravity equation that includes domestic trade is estimated with a flexible empirical approach that evinces asymmetric trade impacts for specific bilateral trade routes. Results indicate a trade depressing effect for SPS measures, estimated as a global average 10.4% Ad-valorem Equivalent (AVE). Moreover, at the global level, converging regulatory frameworks generate larger trade gains than experience, where a 1% rise in regulatory convergence is equivalent to 5 years of positive trade and a 14% reduction of the AVE. The reduction of trade frictions prompted by harmonisation and experience does not, however, outweigh SPS trade costs. Exporters to the EU face a higher SPS AVE than that faced by the EU (10.1% vs 9.3%). On average, exporters to the EU also benefit from a 9% saving due to experience, although cost savings from regulatory convergence are only reported for larger exporters to the EU, whose consolidated position in EU markets also grants them even greater than average benefits from years of accumulated experience.
•The impact of healthy diets to 2050 is examined within a global simulation model.•The baseline exposes regional ‘pressure points’ for virtual commodity consumption.•Diet change drives global falls ...(rises) in agricultural land and GHGs (water) consumption.•Sub-Saharan Africa benefits from a "rebound¨ effect due to cheaper meat and dairy prices.•The healthy diet switch requires an increase in per capita expenditure world wide.
The importance of healthy diets is woven into the fabric of the Sustainable Development Goals, although there is no clear metric to define it. Employing a simulation model (MAGNET), this study examines the sustainability implications arising from the adoption of recommended daily nutrition requirements inspired by the ‘Lancet’ reference diet. To measure sustainability, changes in ‘virtual’ requirements and associated tier footprints for irrigation (blue) water, agricultural land and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are calculated. Assuming business-as-usual food consumption trends, between 2015 and 2050 blue water, agricultural land and emissions rise 34%, 9% and 44%, respectively, whilst corresponding increases in Sub-Saharan Africa are much higher. By 2050, the switch to the reference diet decreases agricultural land use by -8% and emissions by -9%. Global blue water and cropland requirements increase by 5%, whilst significant concomitant savings in permanent pastureland (-21%) are expected. By region, the diet switch drives rising blue water consumption in Oceania and the EU and agricultural land savings in Latin America and Oceania, accompanied by cropland increases in the EU and North Africa. The reference diet generates substantial reductions in GHG emissions, particularly in Latin America. Interestingly, Sub-Saharan Africa which abstains from the reference diet due to affordability considerations, benefits from a ‘rebound’ effect from falling meat and dairy prices. Finally, the diet shift could result in marginal per capita food expenditure rises arising from demand driven fish price, particularly in more vulnerable world regions. This estimate does not capture, however, second-round economic growth effects arising from increased labour productivity and reduced public health expenditures.
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