Research Publications (Food Safety)

by Tsuyoshi Sekizuka, Shigekazu Iguchi, Takashi Umeyama, Yuba Inamine, Koichi Makimura, Makoto Kuroda, Yoshitsugu Miyazaki, Ken Kikuchi

Author(s): Yen Ee Tan, Jocelyn Qi-Min Teo, Nurdyana Binte Abdul Rahman, Oon Tek Ng, Marimuthu Kalisvar, Ai Ling Tan, Tse Hsien Koh, Rick Twee Hee Ong

The achievement of long lasting, safe treatments for food allergy is dependent on the understanding of the immunological basis of food allergy. Accurate diagnosis is essential for management. In recent years, data from oral food challenges have revealed that routine allergy testing is poor at predicting clinical allergy for tree nuts, almonds in particular.

Background Armed conflict in Nigeria resulted in more than 2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). IDPs live in poor conditions lacking basic resources with variable provision across different locations. This audit aimed to determine the health-related resources available to IDPs in camp-like settings in Nigeria and whether these met international standards.

by Mizuki Tanaka, Shiori Hasegawa, Satoshi Nakao, Kazuyo Shimada, Ririka Mukai, Kiyoka Matsumoto, Mitsuhiro Nakamura

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) strains belonging to the Orthohepevirus genus are divided into four species (A–D). HEV strains included in the Orthohepevirus A species infect humans and several other mammals. Among them, the HEV‐3 and HEV‐4 genotypes are zoonotic and infect both humans and animals, of which, pigs and wild boar are the main reservoirs. Viruses belonging to the Orthohepevirus C species (HEV‐C) have been considered to infect rats of different species and carnivores.

In this study, we have developed a method to assess adenosine 5ʹ‐triphosphate by adsorptive extraction using surface adenosine 5'‐triphosphate‐imprinted polymer over polystyrene nanoparticles (412 ± 16 nm) for selective recognition/separation from urine.

A kind of molecularly imprinted polymers modified with biocompatible medium were prepared by suspension polymerization. The obtained hybrid materials were used as the adsorbents for the solid‐phase extraction of aflatoxins B1 in real samples. A structural analog of the target, 6‐methyl‐4‐phenylchroman‐2‐one was used as the pseudo‐template, owing to their lower toxicity and cheaper price compared with aflatoxins B1, and methacrylic acid and glycidyl methacrylate were used as the co‐monomers.

In this study, a binary mixture in dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction was used for the preconcentration and determination of selected pesticides, pharmaceutical and hormone by GC–MS. A Box–Behnken experimental design was used to optimize the amounts of binary mixture, dispersive solvent and salt. The optimum parameters obtained were dichloromethane/1,2-dichloroethane binary mixture (200 µL), ethanol (2.0 mL) and potassium nitrate (1.0 g).

A hydroponic experiment was carried out to study the accumulation characteristics of copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) combined pollution in three ornamental plants. The results showed that these tested ornamental plants had higher tolerance to Cu–Pb combined pollution and could effectively accumulate the heavy metals. The Cu and Pb concentrations were higher in the roots of the ornamental plants than that in the shoots. For Panax notoginseng (P.

To maintain self-sufficiency in rice production and national food security, the Chinese government strongly supports research that aims at increasing the productivity of rice cultivation. Rice with genetic material from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt rice) is transgenic rice that can reduce lepidopteran pest damage and the use of insecticides. It was developed in the 1990s and earned biosafety certificates in 2009.

Detoxification of the highly toxic cadmium element is essential for the survival of living organisms. Pseudomonas putida CadR, a MerR family transcriptional regulator, has been reported to exhibit an ultraspecific response to the cadmium ion. Our crystallographic and spectroscopic studies reveal that the extra cadmium selectivity of CadR is mediated...

by Jin Ling, Hong Wang, Gaomin Li, Zhen Feng, Yufei Song, Peng Wang, Hong Shao, Hu Zhou, Gang Chen

Background

Author(s): Sofia Griselda Cuggino, Isabel Bascón Villegas, Francisco Rincón, Alejandra Pérez Agostini, Guiomar Posada-Izquierdo, Javier Marugán, Cristina Pablos Carro, Fernando Pérez-Rodríguez

Author(s): Zhibin Liu, Zhiyao Wang, Jinyuan Sun, Li Ni

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Seafood processing generates significant amounts of solid and liquid waste in the environment. These represent a potential source of high‐value biomolecules for food, pharmaceutic and cosmetic applications. There are very few studies on the valorization of wastewaters compared to solid by‐products. However, cooking waters are characterized by a high organic polluting load, which could contain valuable molecules such as proteins, pigments and flavor compounds.

The development and implementation of rapid molecular diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB) drug-susceptibility testing is critical to inform treatment of patients and to prevent the emergence and spread of resistance. Optimal trial planning for existing tests and those in development will be critical to rapidly gather the evidence necessary to inform World Health Organization review and to support potential policy recommendations.

Objectives

To examine the relevance of co-resistance to amoxicillin and tetracycline as an indicator of multidrug resistance (MDR) in animal health.

Methods

During infection, bacterial pathogens successfully sense, respond and adapt to a myriad of harsh environments presented by the mammalian host. This exquisite level of adaptation requires a robust modulation of their physiological and metabolic features. Additionally, virulence determinants, which include host invasion, colonization and survival despite the host's immune responses and antimicrobial therapy, must be optimally orchestrated by the pathogen at all times during infection.

Bactrocera minax (Enderlein) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is an oligophagous insect pest that damages citrus fruit, especially in China. Due to larvae living within a highly septic environment, a wide variety of microorganisms exist in the larval gut of B. minax. However, a systematic study of the intestinal microbiota of this harmful insect pest is still lacking. Here, we comprehensively investigated the larval gut microbiota of B.

A laboratory-based study testing 9 Listeria innocua strains independently and a cocktail of 11 Listeria monocytogenes strains was carried out. The aim was to identify suitable L. innocua strain(s) to model L. monocytogenes in inactivation experiments.

Cost of foodborne illness (CoFI) estimates provide estimates of the overall impact of foodborne illnesses, including hospitalizations, long-term complications, and deaths. CoFI estimates are needed in countries that require cost–benefit analysis as part of the process of adopting new regulations, as is the case in the United States. Monetary estimates of the impact of disease also provide a meaningful way of communicating with the public about the impact of foodborne disease.

by Eric T. Sumrall, Yang Shen, Anja P. Keller, Jeanine Rismondo, Maria Pavlou, Marcel R. Eugster, Samy Boulos, Olivier Disson, Pierre Thouvenot, Samuel Kilcher, Bernd Wollscheid, Didier Cabanes, Marc Lecuit, Angelika Gründling, Martin J. Loessner