Research Publications (Food Safety)

Author(s): Chunhao Gu, Brianne A. Gates, Andrew J. Margenot

by Eurídice Martínez Steele, Neha Khandpur, Maria Laura da Costa Louzada, Carlos Augusto Monteiro

Author(s): Rili Hao, Xinyu Song, Feng Li, Xintong Tan, Dongxiao Sun-Waterhouse, Dapeng Li

Author(s): Guilherme Deomedesse Minari, Luciana Maria Saran, Milena Tavares Lima Constancio, Rafael Correia da Silva, David Luciano Rosalen, Wanderley José de Melo, Lúcia Maria Carareto Alves

Author(s): Xiaoshan Huang, Hongliang Zhao, Chengyan Wang, Xinfang Zhang

Author(s): Rong Liu, Xin Luo, Shu Shu, Jiannan Ding, Guangsheng Zhang, Zhenyu Wang, Hua Zou, Yun Zhang

Hydrogels were synthesized by a copolymerization reaction of nanofibrillated cellulose (CNF) with acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AM) and N,N-methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBA) as a cross-linker and their absorption performance as a function of composition was determined. Hydrogels with 4% by weight CNF had swelling of about 250 g/g and with 7% CNF about 200 g/g for water.

Heavy metals (HMs) are an indispensable part of industrial and agricultural development. As the cradle of China's industry and an important province for agricultural production, Jilin Province has been concerned about the pollution of HMs in the local environment and grains.

The spread of antibiotic resistance has been associated with consumption of food contaminated with pathogenic and non-pathogenic resistant bacteria. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli isolates ( E. coli ) from local and imported retail raw chicken meat in Qatar. A total of 270 whole chicken carcasses locally-produced (chilled) and imported (chilled and frozen) were obtained from three different hypermarket stores in Qatar.

Total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations were measured in hair of 98 Chinese university students to study their levels of Hg exposure and influencing factors. The results showed that Hg exposure for university students was at a low level with concentrations lower than the USEPA recommended reference level (1 µg/g) across all hair samples.

Globally, heavy metal (HM) pollution of soil is a serious problem that can lead to long-term toxic effects on soil. In this milieu, the present study investigated the eco-toxicological effects of three trace elements, e.g., cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb), on enzyme activities and microbial function and structural diversity in phaeozem and red soil samples.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental endocrine disruptor and a risk factor for prostate cancer. The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is proposed to be a prostate cancer suppressor in some recent researches. However, the potential role and mechanism of CFTR in BPA-induced prostate cancer cells has not been well identified. In this study, BPA decreased the viability of human normal prostate RWPE-1 cells detected with a CCK-8 kit.

Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae pose significant treatment and infection prevention challenges. Escherichia coli sequence type (ST) 131 associated with the blaCTX-M-15 gene has been the dominant lineage of ESBL-producing E. coli in the US and worldwide. In this study, our objective was to determine the β-lactamase profile, means of dissemination, prevalence, and the clonal identity of ESBL-producing E. coli in our region of Western New York.

Lead (Pb) is a toxic metal that can accumulate in the body and negatively impact human health. In this study, we prepared a highly sensitive and specific monoclonal antibody, 2C3, that can recognize Pb(II) with an IC50 and linear range of 0.5 ng/mL and 0.08–1.86 ng/mL, respectively. Additionally, based on this antibody we developed a fluorescent test strip, which can be used for both qualitative and quantitative detection of Pb(II) in brown rice with a detection range of 4.67–47.8 ng/mL.

The present study focuses on the simultaneous analysis of metallic species and radionuclide data from January 2009 to December 2011 in the dust deposited on filters in Málaga (Spain). Some metallic elements (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni) and radionuclides (7Be and 210Pb) have been determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy and gamma spectrometry, respectively.

Peptide sequencing is critical to the quality control of peptide drugs and functional studies of active peptides. A combination of peptidase digestion and mass spectrometry technology is common for peptide sequencing. However, such methods often cannot obtain the complete sequence of a peptide due to insufficient amino acid sequence information. Here, we developed a method of generating full peptide ladders and comparing their MS2 spectral similarities.

Cholesterol is a major carbon source for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) during infection, and cholesterol utilization plays a significant role in persistence and virulence within host macrophages. Elucidating the mechanism by which cholesterol is degraded may permit the identification of new therapeutic targets. Here, we characterized EchA19 (Rv3516), an enoyl-CoA hydratase involved in cholesterol side-chain catabolism.

Phytoremediation is an ecologically and economically feasible technique to remove heavy metal from soil. The aim of the study was to examine cadmium (Cd) toxicity and phytoremediation aptitude of Brassica juncea. In the present study, plants survived when exposed to different levels of Cd (0, 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg soil) and accumulated a large amount of Cd in its root and shoot.

Babesia ovis is a tick‐transmitted protozoan haemoparasite causing ovine babesiosis in sheep and goats leading to considerable economic loss in Turkey and neighbouring countries. There are no vaccines available, therapeutic drugs leave toxic residues in meat and milk, and tick vector control entails environmental risks.

Previous studies proved that heavy metals could increase the risk of disease by acting on the gut microbiota. Meanwhile, gut microbiota played important roles in detoxifying heavy metals. However, the response of gut microbiota to heavy metals and which microbes dominated this detoxification processes are still unclear.

Author(s): Sufang Fan, Junmei Ma, Meirong Cao, Juan Wang, Leilei Zhang, Yan Zhang, Qiang Li, Jia Chen

Author(s): Pei Cao, Huai-ning Zhong, Kai Qiu, Dan Li, Gang Wu, Hai-xia Sui, Yan Song

In this study, a magnetic montmorillonite composite (MMC) was prepared by a coprecipitation method, evaluated as sorbent for Cd(II) ions and characterized by IR spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, VSM, and zeta potential measurement. The adsorption potential of MMC was tested in both batch and continuous modes at different initial pH levels, sorbent dosages, contact times, ionic strengths, flow rates, and bed depths.

Author(s): Meng Xiu, Xianyu Wang, Lidia Morawska, David Pass, Andrew Beecroft, Jochen F. Mueller, Phong Thai