Analyst Performance with Aflatoxin Methods as Determined from AOCS Smalley Check Sample Program: Short-Term and Long-Term Views

1984 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
John D Mckinney

Abstract The International Smalley Aflatoxin Check Sample Program of the American Oil Chemists' Society has offered check sample series for aflatoxins in peanut meal, cottonseed meal, and corn meal since 1976, and an aflatoxin M in raw milk series since 1980. This paper provides the computed mean of all analysts' results and between-laboratory precision for each of the samples in each of the check sample series distributed in 1980–81 and 1981–82. In addition, a comparison is made of the relative measurement and analytical accuracy of those analysts who have participated in the peanut meal series for at least 4 years and in the cottonseed and corn meal series since their inception (6 years). For this comparison, each analyst's result for each sample was calculated as a percent of the mean for all analysts for that sample; these values were then averaged for each analyst over all the meal samples in all the series for each meal type in which the analyst had participated, to obtain an overall measure of analytical accuracy. A similar calculation was made using the reported results for the defined solution of anatoxins included in each series, to obtain an overall measure of measurement accuracy. An evaluation of the meal series results for the past 2 seasons shows an overall within-laboratory precision in the range reported for the collaborative studies by which the methods were validated; the between-laboratory precision, although improved over past years, is still far from the collaborative study range. The precision data for the aflatoxin solution included in each series indicate this bias could be related, in large part, to the reference standards used. The extended period evaluation of analysts' performance shows no apparent correlation between measurement and analytical accuracy except for a general positive trend for those analysts using the BF method for anatoxins in peanut meal. A comparison of the accuracy of the BF and CB methods for aflatoxins in peanut meal shows no significant difference between results by the 2 methods on the basis of the extended period evaluation, in contrast to the generally higher results for the CB method in the past 2 seasons' evaluation. The scatter in the average analysts' analytical accuracy is essentially the same, regardless of the method used.

1980 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 1057-1066
Author(s):  
Marlin D Friesen ◽  
Ernest A Walker ◽  
Marcel Castegnaro

Abstract Three aflatoxin-contaminated samples, raw peanut meal, finished peanut butter, and white corn meal, were analyzed by 139 laboratories in 34 countries. Sufficient data were obtained to permit a statistical comparison of the performance of laboratories using the BF, CB, and Pons methods and those using high performance liquid chromatography for quantification. A raw peanut meal sample showed no significant differences among means for laboratories using the four methods, and a white corn meal sample showed only one such significant difference; however, a finished peanut butter sample containing less than 10 μg total aflatoxins/kg showed 10 significant differences among means for laboratories using the 4 methods considered


1982 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 855-863
Author(s):  
Marlin D Friesen ◽  
Liliane Garren

Abstract Three aflatoxin-contaminated samples (raw peanut meal, deoiled peanut meal, and yellow corn meal) were analyzed by 121 laboratories in 31 countries. Sufficient data were obtained to permit a statistical comparison of the performance of laboratories using the BF, CB, and EEC methods and those using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for quantitation. No significant differences were found between means for laboratories using these 4 methods for the analysis of raw peanut meal or yellow corn meal. However, for deoiled peanut meal, means were significantly different for laboratories using the BF method compared with the CB or EEC methods for B1 and B2, and for laboratories using the CB method compared with HPLC methods for G2.


1997 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 806-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T Knight ◽  
Melissa C Newman ◽  
M Joseph Benzinger ◽  
Karen L Neufang ◽  
James R Agin ◽  
...  

Abstract A collaborative study was performed involving 18 laboratories and 6 food types to compare 3M Petrifilm yeast and mold count plates with the method described in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Bacteriological Analytical Manual. Four species of mold and 2 species of yeast were used to inoculate the following foods: hot dogs, corn meal, ketchup, orange juice, yogurt, and cake mix. Each collaborator received 15 samples of each food type: 5 low-level inoculations, 5 high- level inoculations, and 5 uninoculated samples. There was no significant difference between the means of the 2 methods for any product or inoculation level. The Petrifilm yeast and mold count plate method for enumeration of yeasts and molds in foods has been adopted first action by AOAC INTERNATIONAL.


1981 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 939-949
Author(s):  
John D Mckinney

Abstract The American Oil Chemists’ Society Smalley Check Sample Program offers ongoing check sample series for determination of aflatoxins in peanut meal, cottonseed meal, and corn meal. Laboratories participating in this program represent a worldwide cross section of industry, regulatory, and commercial laboratories. Each annual series presently consists of 7 samples including a solution of an unknown mixture of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 for direct spotting and quantitation. Participant analyses of the solution of aflatoxins resulted in coefficients of variation generally higher than those of any sample. Comparison of 4 years of results for analysts using BF and CB methods of analysis for peanut meal samples with aflatoxin B1 levels ranging from 2 to 56 ng/g resulted in higher aflatoxin B1 results for the CB method. The number of participants reporting results by HPLC methods is small; however, their results compare closely with those using TLC methods.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Banasik ◽  
Dariusz Jemielniak ◽  
Wojciech P?dzich

BACKGROUND There have been mixed results of the studies checking whether prayers do actually extend the life duration of the people prayed for. Most studies on the topic included a small number of prayers and most of them focused on people already struggling with a medical condition. Intercessory prayer’s influence on health is of scholarly interest, yet it is unclear if its effect may be dependent on the number of prayers for a named individual received per annum. OBJECTIVE We sought to examine if there is a noticeable increased longevity effect of intercessory prayer for a named individual’s well-being, if he receives a very high number of prayers per annum for an extended period. METHODS We retrieved and conducted a statistical analysis of the data about the length of life for 857 Roman Catholic bishops, 500 Catholic priests, and 3038 male academics from the US, France, Italy, Poland, Brazil, and Mexico. We obtained information for these individuals who died between 1988 and 2018 from Wikidata, and conducted an observational cohort study. Bishops were chosen for the study, as they receive millions of individual prayers for well being, according to conservative estimates. RESULTS There was a main effect for occupation F(2, 4391) = 4.07, p = .017, ηp 2 = .002, with pairwise comparisons indicating significant differences between the mean life duration of bishops (M=30489) and of priests (M=29894), but none between the academic teachers (M=30147) and either of the other groups. A comparison analysis between bishops from the largest and the smallest dioceses showed no significant difference t(67.31)=1.61, p = .11. Our main outcome measure is covariance of the mean length of life in each of the categories: bishops, priests, academic teachers, controlled for nationality. CONCLUSIONS The first analysis proved that bishops live longer than priests, but due to a marginal effect size this result should be treated with caution. No difference was found between the mean length of life of bishops from the largest and the smallest dioceses. We found no difference between bishops and male academics. These results show that the impact of intercessory prayers on longevity is not observable.


Author(s):  
Diane Orentlicher

The span of an international tribunal’s local impact is not the same as its operational life, as Germany’s evolved relationship with Nuremberg highlights. Recognizing that the ICTY’s impact in Bosnia and Serbia will continue to evolve after the Tribunal ends its work, this chapter considers the Tribunal’s future impact, focusing in particular on its potential to stimulate a future reckoning with Serbia’s wartime past. While recognizing myriad differences between post-Milošević Serbia and postwar Germany, this chapter explores factors behind the latter’s eventual emergence as a “model penitent” long after German society rejected the moral message the Allies hoped Nuremberg would impart. It suggests that, after an extended period of “transitional denial,” Nuremberg may have contributed to Germany’s far-reaching reckoning with the past through a process of delayed norm diffusion.


2021 ◽  
pp. 030573562098729
Author(s):  
Rebecca R Johnston ◽  
Gina M Childers

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of musical pantophagy, classical music consumption, and initial receptivity to select musical examples on changes in preference rating resulting from a program of repeated exposure. Participants included undergraduate students enrolled in a section of music appreciation at a large Southeastern university ( n = 67). Data were collected using a research designed preference rating measure (PRM) administered during a 5-week period within which there were eight test measures. Participants were divided into quartiles. Pre- to post-test measures resulted in a general positive trend for all participants. Comparisons of Q1 (lowest pantophagy) and Q3 (highest pantophagy) on PRMs 1–8 yielded no differences between groups, and PRM 8 was significantly different from PRM 1 for both groups. The same comparisons for Q1 (non-Classical music consumption) indicated significant difference with large effect size and for Q1 (lowest initial receptivity) indicated significant difference. Results suggest that regardless of musical pantophagy, repetition is an effective means by which to increase affective response to music, and that students who do not currently consume formal art music and who have low initial receptivity may report greater increases in affective response to music over time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 923.3-923
Author(s):  
S. Boussaid ◽  
M. Mrabet ◽  
S. Jemmali ◽  
H. Sahli ◽  
H. Ajlani ◽  
...  

Background:Tuberculosis (TB) is no longer a disease limited to developing nations and is still a major cause of significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. It can affect the different parts of the spine.Objectives:The aim of this study was to determine the preferred spinal location of TB.Methods:We conduct a retrospective and descriptive study in a single rheumatology department. Data were collected from observations of patients hospitalized in the past 20 years (2000-2020) who have been diagnosed with tuberculous spondylodiscitis (TS).Results:Fifty-two patients were included (37F/15M). Their mean age was 55.21 years ± 17.79 [19-91]. TS was more frequently unifocal (75%) than multifocal (25%). Lumbar spine involvement was the most common (57.7%) and more frequent in women (63.3%) but with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.2). Other localizations were described such as: dorso-lumbar (21.2%), dorsal (15.4%), lumbosacral (3.8%) and cervical (1.9%). Lumbar pain was present in 34 patients (65.4%) and 29 patients (55.8%) suffered from segmental lumbar stiffness. Imaging was contributive by showing the vertebral location using standard X-rays, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Disc pinch, erosion of vertebral plateaus and vertebral collapse were the major signs (82.7%, 65.4% and 67.3%, respectively).Conclusion:TS is a rare but serious clinical condition which may lead to severe deformity and early or late neurological complications. Spinal involvement is often unifocal and mostly diagnosed with lumbar pain or stiffness. Multifocal forms, touching several parts of the spine, however remain rare. Our findings remain consistent with those of the literature.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2021 ◽  
pp. 019459982098713
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Silver ◽  
Marco Mascarella ◽  
George Tali ◽  
Rickul Varshney ◽  
Marc A. Tewfik ◽  
...  

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of evidence of rhinology and rhinologic skull base surgery (RSBS) research and its evolution over the past decade. Study Design Review article. Setting We reviewed articles from 2007 to 2019 in 4 leading peer-reviewed otolaryngology journals and 3 rhinology-specific journals. Methods The articles were reviewed and levels of evidence were assigned using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine 2011 guidelines. High quality was defined as level of evidence 1 or 2. Results In total, 1835 articles were reviewed in this study spanning a 13-year period. Overall, the absolute number of RSBS publications increased significantly 22.6% per year, from 108 articles in 2007 to 481 in 2019 ( P < .001; 95% CI, 7.9-37.2). In 2007, only 13 articles, or 15%, were high quality, and this grew to 146 articles, or 39%, in 2019. A 14.0% per year exponential increase in the number of high-quality publications was found to be statistically significant ( P < .001; 95% CI, 7.2, 20.7). Overall, high-quality publications represented just 25.8% of RSBS articles overall. There was no significant difference in quality between rhinology-specific journals and general otolaryngology journals (χ2 = 3.1, P = .077). Conclusion The number of overall publications and of high-quality RSBS publications has significantly increased over the past decade. However, the proportion of high-quality studies continues to represent a minority of total RSBS research.


ORL ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Jingjing Liu ◽  
Tengfang Chen ◽  
Zhenggang Lv ◽  
Dezhong Wu

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> In China, nasal cannula oxygen therapy is typically humidified. However, it is difficult to decide whether to suspend nasal cannula oxygen inhalation after the nosebleed has temporarily stopped. Therefore, we conducted a preliminary investigation on whether the use of humidified nasal cannulas in our hospital increases the incidence of epistaxis. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We conducted a survey of 176,058 inpatients in our hospital and other city branches of our hospital over the past 3 years and obtained information concerning their use of humidified nasal cannulas for oxygen inhalation, nonhumidified nasal cannulas, anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs, and oxygen inhalation flow rates. This information was compared with the data collected at consultation for epistaxis during these 3 years. <b><i>Results:</i></b> No significant difference was found between inpatients with humidified nasal cannulas and those without nasal cannula oxygen therapy in the incidence of consultations due to epistaxis (χ<sup>2</sup> = 1.007, <i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05). The same trend was observed among hospitalized patients using anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs (χ<sup>2</sup> = 2.082, <i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05). Among the patients with an inhaled oxygen flow rate ≥5 L/min, the incidence of ear-nose-throat (ENT) consultations due to epistaxis was 0. No statistically significant difference was found between inpatients with a humidified oxygen inhalation flow rate &#x3c;5 L/min and those without nasal cannula oxygen therapy in the incidence of ENT consultations due to epistaxis (χ<sup>2</sup> = 0.838, <i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05). A statistically significant difference was observed in the incidence of ENT consultations due to epistaxis between the low-flow nonhumidified nasal cannula and nonnasal cannula oxygen inhalation groups (χ<sup>2</sup> = 18.428, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). The same trend was observed between the 2 groups of low-flow humidified and low-flow nonhumidified nasal cannula oxygen inhalation (χ<sup>2</sup> = 26.194, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> Neither high-flow humidified nasal cannula oxygen inhalation nor low-flow humidified nasal cannula oxygen inhalation will increase the incidence of recurrent or serious epistaxis complications; the same trend was observed for patients who use anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs. Humidification during low-flow nasal cannula oxygen inhalation can prevent severe and repeated epistaxis to a certain extent.


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