The challenge of the present comprehensive toxicological study was to evaluate water, mechanical and thermal processing factors (PFs) of twenty four pesticides (acetamiprid, alpha‑cypermethrin, ...azoxystrobin, boscalid, bupyrimate, chlorpyrifos, chlorothalonil, cyprodinil, deltamethrin, difenoconazole, fenazaquin, fenhexamid, fludioxonil, folpet, iprodione, lambda‑cyhlothrin, metalaxyl, pirymicarb, propargite, pyraclostrobin, tetraconazole, tiophanate methyl, thiram, trifloxystrobin) in different fruit and vegetables and estimate health risk for adults and children. The water (PF = 0,09–0,94), mechanical (PF = 0,13–0,32) and thermal (PF = 0,02–0,57) technology significantly or completely reduced concentrations of twenty one active substances in broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries and black currants. Pyrethroid insecticides (alpha‑cypermethrin, deltamethrin and lambda‑cyhalothrin) exhibited PF above one in berries influenced by high temperatures. Comprehensive processing factor database technology/pesticide/matrix (over 160 PFs) for 24 pesticides in selected fruit and vegetable species after different processing treatments was created. This paper for the first time compares health risk assessments of acute and chronic of two subpopulations of adults and the most critical group of small children using two mathematical models, without (I) and with including (II) calculated PF values. More realistic estimation of the dietary intakes of the pesticides was achieved using PFs. The hazard quotients (HQs) estimated from chronic and acute dietary exposure (Model l) were above 20% and after intake correction (Model II) were reduced to HQs = 11.5% after water, 3% mechanical and 9.5% thermal treatment.
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•Comprehensive processing factor (PF) database was created.•We determined over 160 PFs of pesticides in selected fruits and vegetables.•Toxicological human risk with and without including PFs was assessed.•More realistic dietary intakes for adults and children were achieved.
The identification of the PD-1 receptor by Tasuku Honjo and CTLA-4 by James Ellison marked the beginning of the study of new regulatory pathways activating the immune response. The term “immune ...checkpoints” was introduced to denote the system of inhibitory mechanisms that include these proteins. The review presents the literature data on the molecular characteristics of the membrane protein PD-1 (programmed cell death 1 receptor) and its role in the regulation of immunity. We consider the PD-1 pathways used of by tumor cells to escape the immune response. The discovery of immune checkpoints made it possible to develop a new type of targeting therapy for cancer. The review presents the results of clinical trials of drugs that block the interaction between the PD-1 and its ligands in various types of cancer. These drugs include nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and avelumab. Studies of these drugs efficacy in patients with various types of cancer localization were conducted within the CheckMate, KEYNOTE and JAVELIN Solid Tumor programs, with some research being in progress. We analyze the results of studying the clinical efficacy of the drugs in patients with melanoma, lung cancer, renal cell cancer, colorectal cancer, classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Merkel carcinoma and stomach cancer. Both positive and inconclusive results in the treatment of patients are noted. These data made it possible to identify promising directions for the use of the drugs in certain localizations of the malignant process, as well as to determine the dose and time of their use to obtain an objective positive response to treatment.
To determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of
and
spp. in animal feed samples collected between 2018 and 2021 in Colombia.
This was a laboratory-based cross-sectional study using ...routine data from the program for inspection, surveillance, and control of animal feed at the Colombian Agriculture Institute. Samples of animal feed for swine, poultry, canine, feline, leporine, piscine, and equine species were processed for detection of
and
spp. using enrichment and selective culture methods. Isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using an automated microdilution method.
Of 1 748 animal feed samples analyzed, 83 (4.7%) were positive for
and 66 (3.8%) for
spp. The presence of
and
spp. was highest in feed for poultry (6.4% and 5.5%) and swine (6.1% and 4.3%). Antimicrobial resistance testing was performed in 27 (33%)
isolates and 26 (39%)
isolates. Among
, resistance was most frequently observed to ampicillin (44.5%) followed by cefazolin (33.3%), ciprofloxacin (29.6%), ampicillin/sulbactam (26%), and ceftriaxone (11.1%). The highest resistance levels in
spp. isolates were against cefazolin (7.7%) and piperacillin/tazobactam (7.7%).
This is the first study from Colombia reporting on the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of
and
spp. in animal feed samples. Its results establish a baseline over a wide geographical distribution in Colombia. It highlights the need to integrate antimicrobial resistance surveillance in animal feed due to the emergence of resistant bacteria in this important stage of the supply chain.
Recently, a functional named quasi-area functional was proposed in 14 to approximate the area functional in the Plateau-Bézier problem. The quasi-area functional is constructed by a balanced sum ...among the quasi-harmonic functional, Dirichlet functional and a functional which measures isothermality. It improves greatly the approximation efficiency of existing methods. Therefore in this paper, based on the quasi-area functional, we introduce two methods to study the triangular Plateau-Bézier problem. On the one hand, we minimize directly the functional among all the triangular Bézier surfaces with prescribed border determined by the exterior control points. On the other hand, we compute and analyze the Euler-Lagrange equation of the quasi-area functional. Both methods are illustrated by some representative examples to show the effectiveness.
The purpose of this paper was to evaluate, by statistical analyses, risk factors on cheese farms that can influence the microbial contamination of their products. Various assessment tools, such as ...cheese production questionnaires, food handlers’ knowledge testing, and hygiene assessment system surveys, were used on 39 cheese farms on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. The microbiological status of 773 raw milk and cheese samples from the cheese farms was assessed by enumerating total viable counts and 4 pathogens: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. The results revealed that the highest contamination by Staph. aureus (4.39%, >105cfu/mL) was found in milk, and the highest contamination by E. coli (5.18%, >103cfu/mL) was found in cheese. Very few samples (0.52%) were contaminated by L. monocytogenes or Salmonella spp. The factors associated with any tested microorganism were “handling,” “knowledge,” and “type of milk.” Subsequently, multidimensional logistic analysis for contamination by E. coli showed an independent association for factors “cleaning and disinfection test” and “type of milk.” The probability of total aerobic contamination of milk increased with lower hygiene assessment system survey scores. These results emphasize the need to apply and maintain good hygiene practices, and to study risk factors to prevent contamination and bacterial growth. Further research is required in other areas with different cheese farm types to reinforce the validity of these results.
The small-scale spatial variability in dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) and water-air CO2 flux dynamics were investigated within first-order catchments of the upper Blue Mountains Plateau (New South ...Wales, Australia). Water samples were collected at 81 locations during winter and summer over two consecutive years across seven aquatic ecosystem types: wetland, impoundment, lake, tributary stream, mainstem, escarpment complex, and urban-aquatic interface. Dissolved CO2 ranged from 15 to 880 μM (94 to 4760%Sat), and dissolved O2 from 0 to 350 μM (0 to 101%Sat). CO2 supersaturation was typically highest in wetlands and vegetated impoundments of the upper plateau, and decreased downstream approaching atmospheric equilibrium at the escarpment waterfalls. Gas transfer velocities ranged from 0.18 m d−1 in lentic waters to 292 m d−1 at the bottom of waterfalls due to bubble-mediated transfer. The first- and second-order streams represented only 4.8% of the total open water area yet contributed to 61% of the total water-air CO2 outgassing. The lake, escarpment and mainstem group systems had narrow diel and seasonal CO2 concentration variability, while wetlands and vegetated impoundments had the widest ranges. Our high resolution spatio-temporal sampling was essential to identifying CO2 outgassing hotspots in these geomorphically diverse catchments. Overall, >95% of excess dissolved CO2 traversing the upper Blue Mountains Plateau was outgassed to the atmosphere.
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•High small-scale variability in dissolved CO2 concentrations and fluxes.•Diel and seasonal variability in CO2 increases with degree of saturation.•Water-air CO2 flux rates 5-fold higher for lotic than lentic waters.•>95% of fluvial CO2 traversing second order mainstem outgassed to atmosphere.
Re-wilding and similar initiatives have resulted in an increase in wildlife suitable for human consumption in Europe. However, game meat production and consumption present several challenges, ...including infectious diseases which pose risks to livestock, processers, and consumers. This review provides insights into the infectious diseases and toxic contaminants associated with game meat. The effect of killing method on the meat quality is also discussed and means of improving the meat quality of game meat is elucidated. The use of different food safety systems that could be applied to provide safe meat is reported. The importance of collaborative multi-sector approaches is emphasized, to generate and distribute knowledge and implement One Health strategies that ensure the safe, traceable, sustainable, and professional development of commercial game meat supply chains.
•Expanding wildlife populations present challenges and opportunities for game meat.•Safety concerns are one of the greatest challenges to address for game meat.•One Health approach to synchronise and integrate best practices is necessary.•Game meat marketing should focus on health, traceability, and sustainability.•Multi-sector approaches are crucial for the professionalism of the supply chain.
Norovirus (NoV) detection in food and water is mainly carried out by quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR). The inability to differentiate between infectious and inactivated viruses and the resulting ...overestimation of viral targets is considered a major disadvantage of RT-qPCR. Initially, conventional photoactivatable dyes (i.e. propidium monoazide, PMA and ethidium monoazide, EMA) and newly developed ones (i.e. PMAxx and PEMAX) were evaluated for the discrimination between infectious and thermally inactivated NoV genogroup I (GI) and II (GII) suspensions. Results showed that PMAxx was the best photoactivatable dye to assess NoV infectivity. This procedure was further optimized in artificially inoculated lettuce. Pretreatment with 50μM PMAxx and 0.5% Triton X-100 (Triton) for 10min reduced the signal of thermally inactivated NoV by ca. 1.8 logs for both genogroups in lettuce concentrates. Additionally, this pretreatment reduced the signal of thermally inactivated NoV GI between 1.4 and 1.9 logs in spinach and romaine and lamb's lettuces and by >2 logs for NoV GII in romaine and lamb's lettuce samples. Moreover this pretreatment was satisfactorily applied to naturally-contaminated water samples with NoV GI and GII. Based on the obtained results this pretreatment has the potential to be integrated in routine diagnoses to improve the interpretation of positive NoV results obtained by RT-qPCR.
•Viability RT-qPCR was evaluated to discriminate thermally inactivated NoV.•PMAxx combined with Triton was the best pretreatment to assess NoV infectivity.•Pretreatment satisfactorily performed when applied to naturally-contaminated water.•Pretreatment can be easily incorporated to the ISO 15216.
Although there is growing interest in safeguarding the Tree of Life to preserve the human benefits that are directly provided by biodiversity, their evolutionary distribution remains unknown, which ...has hampered our understanding of the potential of phylodiversity indicators to evince them. Here, I drew on a global review of plant benefits and comprehensive phylogenetic information to breakdown their evolutionary distribution and thereby show why the commonly used Phylogenetic Diversity and Evolutionary Distinctiveness indicators can unequivocally help to preserve these natural services. Beneficial species clumped within phylogenetically overdispersed genera and closely related species often contributed very few and redundant benefits, suggesting that multiple plant lineages are required to maintain a wide variety of services. Yet, a reduced number of species stood out as multi-beneficial and evolutionarily distinct plants relative to both the entire phylogeny and the subset of beneficial species, and they collectively contributed a higher-than-expected number of records for most types of benefits. In addition to providing a clear mechanistic understanding for the recently proved success of Phylogenetic Diversity in capturing plant benefits, these findings stress the decisive role that conservation programmes aimed at protecting evolutionarily distinct taxa will play in safeguarding the beneficial potential of biodiversity for the future.
Disrupting the spread of clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is one of the key components for the success of the One Health strategy. While waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) ...represent a final control point for daily discharges of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) to the aquatic environment, a decentralized upstream monitoring of wastewater feeds of selected urban drainage areas for blaCTX-M32, blaCTX-M15, blaOXA48, blaCMY-2, mecA, blaNDM-1, blaKPC3, vanA, and mcr-1 representing clinically relevant ARGs has been performed. Besides hospitals, also retirement homes were found to be responsible for high levels of ARG discharges compared to housing area sewer systems. The monitoring combines qPCR-based quantifications, flow volume-based analyses, and multiple antibiotic resistance analyses of isolates. As result of the study, local actions at identified critical control points could help to prevent contaminations of larger volumes of wastewaters. This strategy will support a more cost-effective treatment compared to central actions at WWTPs, only. A polluter-pays principle should be applied by this monitoring strategy.
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•Determination of ARG load of an urban sewer system with different catchment areas•Monitoring over 1 year identified critical control points for ARG dissemination.•A selection of 5 out of 9 ARGs enabled comprehensive ARG burden.•Flow volume-based analysis indicates benefit of decentralized/on-site interventions.•Cultivation of MDR bacteria supports qPCR findings.
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