Suchergebnisse

The extensive use and release to the aquatic environment of silver nanoparticles (NPs) could lead to their incorporation into the food web. Brine shrimp larvae of 24 h showed low sensitivity to the exposure to PVP/PEI-coated Ag NPs (5 nm), with EC50 values at 24 h of 19.63 mg Ag L-1, but they significantly accumulated silver after 24 h of exposure to 100 μg L-1 of Ag NPs. Thus, to assess bioaccumulation and effects of silver transferred by the diet in zebrafish, brine shrimp larvae were exposed to 100 ng L-1 of Ag NPs as an environmentally relevant concentration or to 100 μg L-1 as a potentially effective concentration and used to feed zebrafish for 21 days. Autometallography revealed a dose- and time-dependent metal accumulation in the intestine and in the liver of zebrafish. Three-day feeding with brine shrimps exposed to 100 ng L-1 of Ag NPs was enough to impair fish health as reflected by the significant reduction of lysosomal membrane stability and the presence of vacuolization and necrosis in the liver. However, dietary exposure to 100 μg L-1 of Ag NPs for 3 days did not significantly alter gene transcription levels, neither in the liver nor in the intestine. After 21 days, biological processes such as lipid transport and localization, cellular response to chemical stimulus and response to xenobiotic stimulus were significantly altered in the liver. Overall, these results indicate an effective dietary transfer of silver and point out to liver as the main target organ for Ag NP toxicity in zebrafish after dietary exposure. ; MINECO (NanoSilverOmicsproject- MAT2012-39372) Basque Government (consolidated research groups IT810-13 and IT620-13; Saiotek S-PE13UN142) University of the Basque Country (UFIs 11/37 and 11/52).

Citation: Koppel, K., Higa, F., Godwin, S., Gutierrez, N., Shalimov, R., Cardinal, P., . . . Chambers, E. (2016). Food Leftover Practices among Consumers in Selected Countries in Europe, South and North America. Foods, 5(3), 14. doi:10.3390/foods5030066 ; Foodborne illnesses may be related to many food production factors with home practices of consumers playing an important role in food safety. Consumer behavior for handling food leftovers has been studied, however little work on comparisons among countries has been published. The objective of this study was to investigate home food leftover practices of people from North American, South American, and European countries. Surveys were conducted with approximately 100 or more consumers in Argentina, Colombia, the United States, Estonia, Italy, Russia, and Spain. The participants responded to questions related to the length of time different types of food leftovers; such as meat, fresh salads, or restaurant dishes would be kept refrigerated or would be left at room temperature before refrigeration. Researchers also investigated how consumers would determine if the food was still safe for consumption. Potentially risky behaviors were observed in all seven countries. For instance, 55.8% of Estonians, 25% of Russians and 25.8% of Argentinean participants left food out at room temperature for several hours before storing in the refrigerator. Furthermore, 25%-29% of Colombian, Estonian, and Spanish consumers would look, smell, and taste leftovers to determine its probable safety. Correct handling of leftovers is an important aspect of consumer food safety. Although the surveys cannot be representative of all consumers in each country, they do provide an initial overview of comparative practices for handling leftovers among different countries. This provides government and educators with information on potential universal and unique consumer food safety issues related to handling leftover foods among various countries.

BackgroundKnowledge of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) in untreated HIV‐infected patients is fundamental in the epidemiological surveillance programs, because it is associated with suboptimal virological outcome of first‐line HAART. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology of TDR in newly diagnosed Cuban patients.Methods250 HIV‐1‐infected patients diagnosed between 2009 and 2011 were included in the study. RNA was isolated from plasma and used as target to amplify the pol gen by RT‐nested PCR. PCR products were sequenced and the data generated used to determine the viral subtype by phylogenetic analyses. The TDR were detected by means of Stanford University calibrated population resistance tool, using the 2009 surveillance drug resistance mutations list.ResultsBaseline characteristic were as follows: 78.4% of the cases were males, mean age was 35.5 years, 66.3% of infections were acquired by homosexual transmission and the median viral load was 4.6 log. The 39.2% of the analyzed samples corresponded to the subtype B and 60.8% for non‐B genetic forms, with prevalence of CRF 19_cpx, CRF 20 BG and CRF 23 BG [1]. The overall prevalence of TDR increased in comparison with previous studies (19.2% versus 5.2%) [2]. The majority of mutations were seen within the group of nucleoside reverse transcriptase (NRTI) (8.5%) and non‐NRTI (9.7%). TDR was less common in the group of protease inhibitors (1.7%). The most common mutations were M184V and K103N for the NRTIs and NNRTIs, respectively. The prevalence of TDR in samples of the subtype G was significant (p = 0.005) in comparison with other genetic forms.ConclusionsThis study confirms an increase in the transmission of resistance‐associated mutations, which indicates the importance of maintaining a constant epidemiological surveillance of the TDR in newly diagnosed Cuban patients.