scholarly journals Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in Different Types of Cheese Offered for Sale in Italy

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 540
Author(s):  
Alberto Altafini ◽  
Paola Roncada ◽  
Alessandro Guerrini ◽  
Gaetan Minkoumba Sonfack ◽  
Giorgio Fedrizzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Ochratoxin A ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Surrounding Area ◽  
Limit Of Quantification ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Scientific Opinion ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Hard Cheese

The detection of Ochratoxin A (OTA) in the milk of ruminants occurs infrequently and at low levels, but its occurrence may be higher in dairy products such as cheese. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of OTA in cheeses purchased in the metropolitan city of Bologna (Italy) and the surrounding area. For the analysis, a LC-MS/MS method with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 1 µg/kg was used. OTA was detected in seven out of 51 samples of grated hard cheese (concentration range 1.3–22.4 µg/kg), while it was not found in the 33 cheeses of other types which were also analysed. These data show a low risk of OTA contamination for almost all types of cheese analysed. To improve the safety of cheese marketed in grated form, more regulations on cheese rind, which is the part most susceptible to OTA-producing moulds, should be implemented or, alternatively, producers should consider not using the rind as row material for grated cheese. It would be interesting to continue these investigations particularly on grated hard cheeses to have more data to update the risk assessment of OTA in cheese, as also suggested by EFSA in its 2020 scientific opinion on OTA.

scholarly journals Ochratoxin A in Beers Marketed in Portugal: Occurrence and Human Risk Assessment

Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana J. G. Silva ◽  
Ana C. Teixeira ◽  
André M. P. T. Pereira ◽  
Angelina Pena ◽  
Celeste M. Lino
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Ochratoxin A ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
Limit Of Quantification ◽  
Analytical Methodology ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Weekly Intake ◽  
Human Risk ◽  
Tolerable Weekly Intake

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is produced by fungi present in several agricultural products with much relevance to food safety. Since this mycotoxin is widely found in cereals, beer has a potential contamination risk. Therefore, it was deemed essential to quantify, for the first time, the levels of OTA in beer, a cereal-based product that is marketed in Portugal, as well as to calculate the human estimated weekly intake (EWI) and risk assessment. A total of 85 samples were analyzed through immunoaffinity clean-up, followed by liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection (LC-FD). This analytical methodology allowed a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.43 µg/L. The results showed that 10.6% were contaminated at levels ranging between <LOQ and 11.25 µg/L, with an average of 3.14 ± 4.09 µg/L. Samples of industrial production presented lower incidence and contamination levels than homemade and craft beers. On what concerns human risk, the calculated EWI was significantly lower than the tolerable weekly intake (TWI). However, in the worst case scenario, based on a high concentration, the rate EWI/TWI was 138.01%.

scholarly journals The presence of acrylamide in various type of food products from the Serbian market

2021 ◽  
Vol 854 (1) ◽  
pp. 012045
Author(s):  
V Koricanac ◽  
S Jankovic ◽  
D Vranic ◽  
I Stankovic ◽  
D Nikolic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Maillard Reaction ◽  
Reducing Sugars ◽  
Limit Of Detection ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Bakery Products ◽  
Limit Of Quantification ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Moisture Conditions

Abstract Acrylamide forms when some foods are prepared at temperatures usually above 120°C and in low moisture conditions, due to a Maillard reaction between certain amino acids, such as asparagine, and reducing sugars. Acrylamide is carcinogenic to experimental mice and rats, neurotoxic and probably also carcinogenic and genotoxic for humans. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of acrylamide in various groups of food products in which its formation is expected to occur during the production process. In the period December 2017 to March 2021, 529 samples of different types of food products were tested. Samples were collected from the Serbian market. Most of the tested foods, almost half of them (44%), were various types of biscuits. The presence of acrylamide was determined using LC-MS/MS accredited method, with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 50 µg kg-1and a limit of detection (LOD) of 25 µg kg-1. All samples from the snack product and waffle product groups contained acrylamide. Acrylamide was detected in almost all (98.98%) fine bakery products and biscuits (90.43%). In contrast, only 15.38% of bakery products contained acrylamide. Most of the tested foods contained acrylamide, 83.74% of them.

Quota Women Are Threatening to Men

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klea Faniko ◽  
Till Burckhardt ◽  
Oriane Sarrasin ◽  
Fabio Lorenzi-Cioldi ◽  
Siri Øyslebø Sørensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Women In Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Two studies carried out among Albanian public-sector employees examined the impact of different types of affirmative action policies (AAPs) on (counter)stereotypical perceptions of women in decision-making positions. Study 1 (N = 178) revealed that participants – especially women – perceived women in decision-making positions as more masculine (i.e., agentic) than feminine (i.e., communal). Study 2 (N = 239) showed that different types of AA had different effects on the attribution of gender stereotypes to AAP beneficiaries: Women benefiting from a quota policy were perceived as being more communal than agentic, while those benefiting from weak preferential treatment were perceived as being more agentic than communal. Furthermore, we examined how the belief that AAPs threaten men’s access to decision-making positions influenced the attribution of these traits to AAP beneficiaries. The results showed that men who reported high levels of perceived threat, as compared to men who reported low levels of perceived threat, attributed more communal than agentic traits to the beneficiaries of quotas. These findings suggest that AAPs may have created a backlash against its beneficiaries by emphasizing gender-stereotypical or counterstereotypical traits. Thus, the framing of AAPs, for instance, as a matter of enhancing organizational performance, in the process of policy making and implementation, may be a crucial tool to countering potential backlash.

Types of refractive errors and methods for their diagnosis

2020 ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
Olga Lemzyakova
Keyword(s):  
Optical System ◽  
Contact Lenses ◽  
Vision Impairment ◽  
Refractive Errors ◽  
Vision Correction ◽  
Light Rays ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Degrees Of Severity ◽  
The Brain

Refraction of the eye means its ability to bend (refract) light in its own optical system. In a normal state, which is called emmetropia, light rays passing through the optical system of the eye focus on the retina, from where the impulse is transmitted to the visual cortex of the brain and is analyzed there. A person sees equally well both in the distance and near in this situation. However, very often, refractive errors develop as a result of various types of influences. Myopia, or short-sightedness, occurs when the light rays are focused in front of the retina as a result of passing through the optical system of the eye. In this case, a person will clearly distinguish close objects and have difficulties in seeing distant objects. On the opposite side is development of farsightedness (hypermetropia), in which the focusing of light rays occurs behind the retina — such a person sees distant objects clearly, but outlines of closer objects are out of focus. Near vision impairment in old age is a natural process called presbyopia, it develops due to the lens thickening. Both myopia and hypermetropia can have different degrees of severity. The variant, when different refractive errors are observed in different eyes, is called anisometropia. In the same case, if different types of refraction are observed in the same eye, it is astigmatism, and most often it is a congenital pathology. Almost all of the above mentioned refractive errors require correction with spectacles or use of contact lenses. Recently, people are increasingly resorting to the methods of surgical vision correction.

Profiles of Citizenship Orientations Among Youth

Young ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 110330882110086
Author(s):  
Iana Tzankova ◽  
Gabriele Prati ◽  
Elvira Cicognani
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Adolescents And Young Adults ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Late Adolescents ◽  
Institutional Politics ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Political Activist ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Citizenship Orientations

Prior studies revealed that low levels of youth political activity are not necessarily indicative of complete disengagement from societal affairs but could be accompanied by interest and latent involvement stemming from a standby or monitorial attitude. However, no prior study has investigated patterns of citizenship orientations including both manifest and latent engagement defined by one’s position towards institutional politics, according to different forms of participation. A questionnaire was filled out by 1,732 late adolescents and young adults in Italy (15–30 years old, M = 19.73, 60.7% female). Cluster analysis identified six profiles of citizenship orientations across different types of participatory activities (political, activist, political online and civic): active trustful, active distrustful, standby trustful, standby distrustful, unengaged trustful and unengaged distrustful. The results showed that each level of engagement—active, standby and unengaged—could be further differentiated between trustful and distrustful based on their attitude towards institutions and the electoral process.

Risk assessment of waterborne protozoa: current status and future trends

Parasitology ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 117 (7) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. GIBSON ◽  
C. N. HAAS ◽  
J. B. ROSE
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Microbial Risk Assessment ◽  
Microbial Risk ◽  
Chemical Risk Assessment ◽  
Low Levels

Throughout the past decade much research has been directed towards identifying the occurrence, epidemiology, and risks associated with waterborne protozoa. While outbreaks are continually documented, sporadic cases of disease associated with exposure to low levels of waterborne protozoa are of increasing concern. Current methodologies may not be sensitive enough to define these low levels of disease. However, risk assessment methods may be utilised to address these low level contamination events. The purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to microbial risk assessment for waterborne protozoa. Risk assessment is a useful tool for evaluating relative risks and can be used for development of policies to decrease risks. Numerous studies have been published on risk assessment methods for pathogenic protozoa including Cryptosporidium and Giardia. One common notion prevails: microbial risk assessment presents interesting complications to the traditional chemical risk assessment paradigm. Single microbial exposures (non-threshold) are capable of causing symptomatic illness unlike traditional chemical exposures, which require a threshold to be reached. Due to the lack of efficient recovery and detection methods for protozoa, we may be underestimating the occurrence, concentration and distribution of these pathogenic micro-organisms. To better utilize the tool of microbial risk assessment for risk management practices, future research should focus in the area of exposure assessment.

P1-303: Low levels of sRAGE plasma concentration in different types of dementia

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. S185-S185
Author(s):  
Livia Bernardi ◽  
Raffaele Maletta ◽  
Carmine Tomaino ◽  
Enzo Emanuele ◽  
Angela D'Angelo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Concentration ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Low Levels

scholarly journals Predicting the potential distribution of the vase tunicate Ciona intestinalis in Canadian waters: informing a risk assessment

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 788-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Therriault ◽  
Leif-Matthias Herborg
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Potential Distribution ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Ciona Intestinalis ◽  
Environmental Niche ◽  
Environmental Models ◽  
Introduced Range ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Almost All

Abstract Therriault, T. W., and Herborg, L-M. 2008. Predicting the potential distribution of the vase tunicate Ciona intestinalis in Canadian waters: informing a risk assessment. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 788–794. A crucial step in characterizing the potential risk posed by non-native species is determining whether a potential invader can establish in the introduced range and what its potential distribution could be. To this end, various environmental models ranging from simple to complex have been applied to predict the potential distribution of an invader, with varying levels of success. Recently, in marine waters, tunicates have received much attention, largely because of their negative impacts on shellfish aquaculture. One of these species is the vase tunicate Ciona intestinalis, which recently has had a negative impact on aquaculture operations in Atlantic Canada and could pose a risk in Pacific Canada. To inform the risk assessment of this species, we evaluated two different types of environmental model. Simple models based on reported temperature or salinity tolerances were relatively uninformative, because almost all waters were deemed suitable. In contrast, a more complex genetic algorithm for rule-set prediction (GARP) environmental niche model, based on documented Canadian occurrence points, provided informative projections of the potential distribution in Canadian waters. In addition to informing risk assessments, these predictions can be used to focus monitoring activities, particularly towards vectors that could transport C. intestinalis to these favourable environments.

Determination of Ochratoxin A in Feed by Immunoaffinity Cleanup and Liquid Chromatography

2013 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Ding ◽  
Ziyou Mi ◽  
Yali Hou ◽  
Yigang He ◽  
Jianhua Xie
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Detection Limit ◽  
Ochratoxin A ◽  
Cyanogen Bromide ◽  
Polyclonal Antibodies ◽  
Immunoaffinity Column ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Sepharose 4B ◽  
Feed Samples

Abstract A method using LC was developed for determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) in feeds. The extracted samples were cleaned up by an immunoaffinity column prepared by covalently coupling polyclonal antibodies against OTA to cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose 4B. The eluates were determined by LC with fluorescence detection. Recoveries of OTA from fortified samples of 1–10 μg/kg levels ranged from 84.3 to 90.0%, with CVs of 3.3–7.8%. The detection limit was 0.045 μg/kg based on an S/N of 3:1. A total of 65 feed samples were screened for OTA with the proposed method. The results showed that only nine samples were contaminated with OTAs at low levels. The presented method was successfully applied to quantify OTAs in real feed samples.

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