scholarly journals Aflatoxins: History, Significant Milestones, Recent Data on their Toxicity and Ways to Mitigation

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 399
Author(s):  
Darina Pickova ◽  
Vladimir Ostry ◽  
Jakub Toman ◽  
Frantisek Malir

In the early 1960s the discovery of aflatoxins began when a total of 100,000 turkey poults died by hitherto unknown turkey “X” disease in England. The disease was associated with Brazilian groundnut meal affected by Aspergillus flavus. The toxin was named Aspergillus flavus toxin—aflatoxin. From the point of view of agriculture, aflatoxins show the utmost importance. Until now, a total of 20 aflatoxins have been described, with B1, B2, G1, and G2 aflatoxins being the most significant. Contamination by aflatoxins is a global health problem. Aflatoxins pose acutely toxic, teratogenic, immunosuppressive, carcinogenic, and teratogenic effects. Besides food insecurity and human health, aflatoxins affect humanity at different levels, such as social, economical, and political. Great emphasis is placed on aflatoxin mitigation using biocontrol methods. Thus, this review is focused on aflatoxins in terms of historical development, the principal milestones of aflatoxin research, and recent data on their toxicity and different ways of mitigation.

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Masoodi Marjan

Abstract The aim of this study is to furnish a reliable theoretical overview on metacognitive awareness. This research is carried out to (1) familiarize the researchers with the definition, components and sub-components of metacognitive awareness (2) discuss a brief outline of metacognitive awareness along with its origin and essence from the point of view of its historical development (3) link metacognitive awareness to a number of other constructs, including motivation (4) illustrate the features of self-regulated students and their recruited metacognitive strategies and (5) briefly examine the major challenges in the implementation of metacognitive awareness. In conclusion, this research reveals that the analysis of metacognitive awareness and its components gives rise to a new notion of auto-noetic (self) knowledge of learners through planning, monitoring and reflectively evaluating task performance, and creates higher levels of self-efficacy which provides students with different educational contexts in which they are able to have more self-confidence, get more positive feedback both from an instructor and classmates and cultivate in learners more self-regulatory characteristics that enable them to learn autonomously, be completely equipped with motivation and be welcoming to challenges. The study provides benefits to both learners and educators. Learners can receive guidance on how to foster metacognitive awareness for being more competent learners. Furthermore, it provides meaningful insights for curriculum developers to provide metacognitive awareness-based curricula.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2656
Author(s):  
Alberto Fogagnolo ◽  
Federica Montanaro ◽  
Lou’i Al-Husinat ◽  
Cecilia Turrini ◽  
Michela Rauseo ◽  
...  

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is still necessary in many surgical procedures; nonetheless, intraoperative MV is not free from harmful effects. Protective ventilation strategies, which include the combination of low tidal volume and adequate positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) levels, are usually adopted to minimize the ventilation-induced lung injury and to avoid post-operative pulmonary complications (PPCs). Even so, volutrauma and atelectrauma may co-exist at different levels of tidal volume and PEEP, and therefore, the physiological response to the MV settings should be monitored in each patient. A personalized perioperative approach is gaining relevance in the field of intraoperative MV; in particular, many efforts have been made to individualize PEEP, giving more emphasis on physiological and functional status to the whole body. In this review, we summarized the latest findings about the optimization of PEEP and intraoperative MV in different surgical settings. Starting from a physiological point of view, we described how to approach the individualized MV and monitor the effects of MV on lung function.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6752
Author(s):  
Idiano D’Adamo ◽  
Rocío González-Sánchez ◽  
Maria Sonia Medina-Salgado ◽  
Davide Settembre-Blundo

The pandemic has changed the citizens’ behavior, inducing them to avoid any real contact. This has given an incredible impulse to e-commerce; however, the complexity of the topic has not yet been adequately explored in the literature. To fill this gap, this study has a twofold purpose: (1) to investigate how European countries comparatively perform in e-commerce, and (2) to describe what are the most important challenges for the further expansion of e-commerce. To this end, we adopted a hybrid methodology based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and a Likert scale survey. The first method allows to us rank the e-commerce performance of different European countries, while the second one looks at the problems and barriers that characterize online shopping. The results of the study show that European countries have different sensitivities to the issue of cyber-security, and among them it is possible to identify three groups with different levels of attention to the critical issues of e-commerce. The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark belong to the group of countries most responsive to e-commerce. This request is part of a broader framework of transition toward sustainable development, i.e., a reliable digital environment where citizens and businesses can exercise their rights and freedoms in complete security. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, this paper adds a new baseline to the literature on the state of the art of e-commerce in Europe that addresses the effects of the pandemic. From a managerial point of view, decision makers can find in the results of this analysis a support for the setting of business strategies for the expansion of firms in certain markets and guidance for public authorities when defining regulatory policies for e-commerce.


Author(s):  
B. T. Yessingeldinov ◽  
N. K. Ashirbaye ◽  
T. Y. Smirnova

A differentiated approach to teaching is one of the necessary conditions for humanization in education and plays a crucial role in the development of abilities, skills, and cognition of students. The teaching of Mathematics has extensive global experience of differentiated instruction. Differentiation was considered from the point of view of in- depth study of Mathematics in high school, the provision of assignments of different levels of complexity, resources, the pace of learning by students, individualization and personalization of teaching, etc. Modern pedagogy in the context of the humanization of teaching considers differentiation through orientation to the student, his needs and abilities to achieve the learning goals by all students in the classroom. There are three main principles for applying differentiation: acceleration, complication, and deepening. This article provides the literature review on differentiation in the classroom, its principles. An example of the application of the principles of differentiation in the lesson, examples of assignments in the process of formative assessment, and the results of the study are provided in the article.


Studia BAS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (65) ◽  
pp. 55-75
Author(s):  
Joanna Śmiechowicz

The article focuses on the fiscal efficiency of local taxes which in Poland are levies on wealth, i.e., real estate tax, means of transport tax, agricultural tax and forestry tax. The author discusses the determinants of fiscal efficiency of local taxes. Special attention is given to the analysis and assessment of fiscal importance of these taxes for municipalities and cities with powiat status, and to the role of public revenues for local government budgets. The author also compares fiscal efficiency of local taxes from the point of view of various types of their recipients and different levels of local government in Poland.


Khatulistiwa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Bassem Mohammad Ismail

Many modern concepts of financial control and its types that are now adopted have already existed in the Islamic state from Prophet Muhammad message through the Rashidun Caliphs and then the Umayyad and Abbasid through establishing Baitul Mal. This article try to investigate the concept of financial control and types in Islam and the historical development of financial control in Islam. Also clarify the principles of financial control in Islam. The research based on the descriptive approach through the use of scientific studies which dealt with the subject of research, in addition to the historical approach through the use of historical evidence in the way enhancing the opinions presented by the research in the rooting of its themes from the Islamic point of view. This paper give an attention to the behavioral principle and self-control of individuals when working in different areas of life in general and financial in particular, as they have direct causes of increased efficiency and effectiveness financial control system.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izabela Pietrusiewicz ◽  
Agnieszka Cupak ◽  
Andrzej Wałęga ◽  
Bogusław Michalec

Abstract The paper presents the results of using two models: a conceptual model of Wackermann and a NRCS-UH synthetic unit hydrograph, for flow calculation in uncontrolled catchment of the Słonka, Poland. These models were chosen because of simplicity of models’ parameters evaluation, what is important from engineering calculation point of view. Flows with the probability of exceed amounting to 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 50% and for different levels of the catchment moisture were evaluated. The flood waves generated in the Wackermann model were characterized by a short duration (over 2 hours), shorter concentration time (about 1 hour), and by about 70% higher peak flow values than those generated using the NRCS-UH method. A common feature of both methods were higher values of peak flows for the third level of the catchment moisture, as compared to the second level. It is also worth noticing that in both methods no flood wave was generated for the probabilities of 10, 20 and 50% and for the second level of the catchment moisture. It was assumed that hydrographs made with use Wackermann model better describe flood wave in mountain river, which Słonka is.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (25) ◽  
pp. 64-70
Author(s):  
Valentin N. Stepanov ◽  
◽  
Yuliya N. Varfolomeeva ◽  

This article considers description as a functional and semantic type of speech from the point of view of the receptive-pragmatic paradigm of research. The authors turn to pragmatic syntax in order to reconstruct the receptive space of the speech subject, their cognitive sphere based on pragmatically (connotatively) «charged» signs and to actualize the implicitly expressed meaning of the statement with their help. The methodological basis of the study is the referential analysis, which helps to reconstruct a set of initial situations (referential space), and contextual analysis, through which the pragmatic information and personal meanings belonging to the cognitive sphere of the speech subject (receptive space) are explicated. Special attention is paid to the triadic opposition «figure – micro-context – referential space» – «background – macro-context – receptive space». The conceptual triad «figure – micro-context – referential space» is related to the material world and its representations in the text, and in this respect belongs to the conceptual field of semantic syntax. On the contrary, the conceptual triad «background – macro-context – receptive space» enables to reconstruct the cognitive sphere of the speech subject and its representation in speech, in particular, the attitude of the speech subject to what they see, feel and think, how their ideas about the original (referent) situation develop, and refer to the material sphere and conceptual field of pragmatic syntax. This triadic opposition helps to consider the subjective navigation of the text as a modification of its subjective perspective. Subjective text navigation represents implicit (not clearly expressed) ways of orientation in the cognitive sphere of the speech subject and is designed to direct the reader's attention, their perception of different levels of explicitly and implicitly expressed meanings through pragmatic localizers of the speech subject's discourse intention.


Author(s):  
M. Elboujdaini ◽  
R. W. Revie ◽  
M. Attard

A comparison was made between four strength levels of pipeline steels (X-70, X80, X-100 and the X-120) from the point of view of their susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement under cathodic protection. The main aim was to determine whether the development of higher strength materials led to greater susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement. This was achieved by straining at 2×10−6 s−1 after cathodic charging in a simulated dilute groundwater solution (NS4) containing 5% CO2/95% N2 (pH approximately 6.7). The results showed quantitatively the loss of ductility after charging, and the loss of ductility increases with strength level of the steel. All four steels exhibited a loss of ductility at overprotected charging potential and an increasing amount of brittleness on the fracture surface. Ductility in solution was measured under four different levels of cathodic protection, ranging from no cathodic protection to 500 mV of overprotection with respect to the usually accepted criterion of −850 mV vs. Cu/CuSO4 reference electrode. Experiments were carried out by straining during cathodic polarization in a simulated dilute ground water solution (NS-4 solution). Strain rates used were 2×10−6 s−1. After failure, the fracture surfaces were characterized by examination using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Under cathodic protection, all four steels showed loss of ductility and features of brittle fracture. The loss of ductility under cathodic polarization was larger the greater the strength of the steel and the more active (i.e., more negative) the applied potential. The Ductility Reduction Index (DRI) was defined to quantify the reduction in ductility.


1989 ◽  
Vol 155 (S5) ◽  
pp. 37-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hinderk M. Emrich

Hypotheses as to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia can be discussed at different levels of a possible manifestation of the causative factor: the macroscopic-morphological, the microscopic-morphological, and the molecular. Some abnormalities have been observed on all of them: e.g. increased ventricular-brain ratios in CT, hypofrontality in SPECT and in glucographic PET-scans, and other macromorphological abnormalities (for reviews cf. Bogerts 1984; Mundt, 1986; Bogerts et al, 1987), gliosis on a microscopic level (Stevens, 1982), and an increased dopamine-binding in in vivo receptor studies (PET as well as in post-mortem studies; Cazzullo, 1988). However, the diversity and variability of these findings point to the view that rather than there being a single distinct pathogenetic factor responsible for the pathogenesis of schizophrenic psychoses, a constitutional disposition exists, which can be described as a functional dysequilibrium within the human brain. From this point of view, schizophrenia would not appear as an inherited disorder of metabolism, but as a weakness of a neurobiological ‘system’, i.e. as an interactional disorder of a complex of networks, in which the interaction between different substructures is labile in such a way that under special conditions (e.g. ‘stress’), a decompensation (functional breakdown) results. In this sense, ‘vulnerability’ to schizophrenia may be interpreted as a consequence of a constitutional deficiency of the brain which results in an inability to stabilise, under specially challenging conditions, the interaction between different substructures of the human brain. Before this ‘functional dysequilibrium-hypothesis’ (which is a special form of a constitutional structural deficiency-hypothesis) is discussed, and before the question is raised as to which are the relevant dysequilibrated components, some indication will be given as to why such an hypothesis appears plausible.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document