Research Publications (Food Safety)

Functional (meta) genomics allows the high-throughput identification of functional genes in a premise-free way. However, it is still difficult to perform Sanger sequencing for high GC DNA templates, which hinders the functional genomic exploration of a high GC genomic library. Here, we developed a procedure to resolve this problem by coupling the Sanger and PacBio sequencing strategies.

by Julia Maier, Salma Elmenofi, Alexander Taschauer, Martina Anton, Haider Sami, Manfred Ogris

Identification of the nucleotide sequences encoding antibiotic resistance elements and determination of their association with antibiotic resistance are critical to improve surveillance and monitor trends in antibiotic resistance. Current methods to study antibiotic resistance in various environments rely on extensive deep sequencing or laborious culturing of fastidious organisms, both of which are heavily time-consuming operations.

The antifungal susceptibility tests used in clinical laboratories have several limitations. We developed a new test, SensiFONG, based on the detection of chitin levels after exposure to antifungal drugs. The optimal culture conditions were 30°C for 6 h for yeast strains and 26°C for 16 h for molds. The strains were exposed to a range of echinocandin or azole concentrations. Chitin was stained with calcofluor white.

Understanding the mechanism(s) underpinning drug resistance could lead to novel treatments to reverse the increased tolerance of a pathogen. In this study, paromomycin (PMM) resistance (PMMr) was induced in three Nepalese clinical strains of Leishmania donovani with different inherent susceptibilities to antimony (Sb) drugs by stepwise exposure of promastigotes to PMM.

Author(s): Hsinjung Chen, Bo-Kang Liou, Fan-Jhen Dai, Pei-Ting Chuang, Chin-Shuh Chen

Li can find itself a wide range of applications since it's the lightest metal. However, Li detection by microscopy‐based techniques is problematic because of the highly susceptible nature during electron beam irradiation. ToF‐SIMS is a versatile technique to detect Li but the detection of light materials is also problematic due to the large ion contaminated zone and low sputtering yield.

Carcass waste recycling exerts an important influence on preventing epidemic diseases, improving the ecological environment, and promoting sustainable development of the livestock industry although it has rarely aroused widespread attention throughout the world.

The use of accelerated carbonation technology in combination with a granulation process was employed to produce aggregates from a variety of industrial wastes, which included municipal solid waste incineration fly ash and air pollution control residue, oil shale ash, cement kiln dust, and quarry fines that have been produced in Estonia.

Pigs are used as a model of human obesity, both for metabolic characterization and for evaluation of pharmacological interventions. Over a period of 7 years, acute death or clinical signs requiring immediate euthanasia were observed in 12 obese Göttingen minipigs (GMs) included in different pharmacological studies. The GM were fed ad libitum on normal chow-diet and the unscheduled deaths occurred in animals treated with drug candidates as well as in untreated animals.

Background:Food and Drug Administration–approved daptomycin dosing uses actual body weight, despite limited dosing information for obese patients. Studies report alterations in daptomycin pharmacokinetics and creatine phosphokinase elevations associated with higher weight-based doses required for obese patients.

Background:Data on the effectiveness of definitive oral (PO) antibiotics for BSIs in preparation for discharge from hospital are lacking, particularly for Gram-positive bacterial BSIs (GP-BSI). The objective of this study was to determine rates of treatment failure based on bioavailability of PO antimicrobial agents used for GP-BSI.Methods:This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study of adult inpatients admitted to an academic medical center over a three-year period.

Background:Acute pancreatitis (AP) is associated with risks of morbidity and mortality.

Central nervous system (CNS)-targeted products are an important category of pediatric pharmaceuticals. In view of the significant postnatal maturation of the CNS, juvenile animal studies (JAS) are performed to support pediatric development of these new medicines. In this project, the design and results of juvenile toxicity studies from 15 drug compounds for the treatment of neurologic or psychiatric conditions were analyzed.

A number of studies have shown that early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with abnormal brain glucose metabolism before cognitive decline, which may be the key pathological change of asymptomatic AD. The pathogenesis of AD in traditional Chinese medicine is kidney deficiency and turbid phlegm. Based on this, GAPT (a mixture of herbal extracts) was made to invigorate kidney Yang and eliminate phlegm.

Author(s): Yunkun Li, Puzhen Xia, Jiayu Wu, Anqi Huang, Guixian Bu, Fengyan Meng, Fanli Kong, Xiaohan Cao, Xingfa Han, Guozhi Yu, Xiaofu Pan, Shiyong Yang, Xianyin Zeng, Xiaogang Du

Author(s): Mathieu Weil, Fabienne Remize, Noel Durand, Pascaline Alter, Mathilde Hoarau, Jean Christophe Meile

Author(s): Lingzhi Li, Miaomiao Gao, Tianyu Lu, Dan Gu

Author(s): Randal S. Stahl, Bledar Bisha, Sebabrata Mahapatra, Jeffrey C. Chandler

Author(s): Y. Ben-Fadhel, B. Maherani, J. Manus, S. Salmieri, M. Lacroix

A study was conducted to examine the prevalence of brucellosis (in animal farms) in the vicinity of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. A total of 170 milk samples were collected randomly from several farmhouses. The collected milk samples were initially screened by a Brucella selective medium. The bacterial isolates grown on the selective medium were subjected to biochemical identification for further confirmation of Brucella species.