Lightsticks cause adverse effects on behavior and mortality of marine mysids Promysis atlantica

Lightsticks baits are discharged into the ocean after their use in longline fishing. The traditional Brazilian community of Costa dos Coqueiros, Bahia, uses lightsticks as a medicine for rheumatism, vitiligo, and mycoses. It may affect marine life when its content leak into the ocean. This study assessed the toxicity identification and evaluation (TIE) of lightsticks constituents on marine mysids Promysis atlantica. The internal solution was dissolved in seawater with ethanol. The lethal concentration of the contaminant that causes mortality in 50% of the exposed population (LC50) after 3h was 0.001%, demonstrating that lightstick is exceptionally toxic because low concentrations cause mortality to mysids P. atlantica. Due to lightsticks' high toxicity, the TIE baseline was 0.005% SSE (stock solution ethanol), and the selected endpoints were behavior and lethality. The sample submitted to aeration presented a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in toxicity (0.005% SSE) because the volatile compounds caused the toxic effect. The sodium thiosulfate treatment induced an insignificant decrease in toxicity. Thus, a new assay was conducted considering aeration and sodium thiosulfate. This combination reduced lightstick toxicity compared to the baseline lightstick, suggesting that volatile compounds and oxidants were responsible for toxicity; even in low concentrations, lightstick can promote significant behavior changes and deleterious effects. It is recommended to create new mechanisms to inspect fishing vessels, thus avoiding the improper disposal of attractors at sea and common garbage.

Mushroom Toxicity Recognition Based on Multigrained Cascade Forest

Due to the tastiness of mushroom, this edible fungus often appears in people’s daily meals. Nevertheless, there are still various mushroom species that have not been identified. Thus, the automatic identification of mushroom toxicity is of great value. A number of methods are commonly employed to recognize mushroom toxicity, such as folk experience, chemical testing, animal experiments, and fungal classification, all of which cannot produce quick, accurate results and have a complicated cycle. To solve these problems, in this paper, we proposed an automatic toxicity identification method based on visual features. The proposed method regards toxicity identification as a binary classification problem. First, intuitive and easily accessible appearance data, such as the cap shape and color of mushrooms, were taken as features. Second, the missing data in any of the features were handled in two ways. Finally, three pattern-recognition methods, including logistic regression, support vector machine, and multigrained cascade forest, were used to construct 3 different toxicity classifiers for mushrooms. Compared with the logistic regression and support vector machine classifiers, the multigrained cascade forest classifier had better performance with an accuracy of approximately 98%, enhancing the possibility of preventing food poisoning. These classifiers can recognize the toxicity of mushrooms—even that of some unknown species—according to their appearance features and important social and application value.

A Multidisciplinary Toxicity Team for Cancer Immunotherapy–Related Adverse Events

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) may cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Methods to obtain real-time multidisciplinary input for irAEs that require subspecialist care are unknown. This study aimed to determine whether a virtual multidisciplinary immune-related toxicity (IR-tox) team of oncology and medicine subspecialists would be feasible to implement, be used by oncology providers, and identify patients for whom multidisciplinary input is sought. Patients and Methods: Patients treated with ICIs and referred to the IR-tox team in August 2017 through March 2018 were identified. Feasibility was defined as receipt of electronic referrals and provision of recommendations within 24 hours of referral. Use was defined as the proportion of referring providers who used the team’s recommendations, which was determined through a postpilot survey. Demographics and tumor, treatment, and referral data were collected. Patient features and irAE associations were analyzed. Results: The IR-tox team was found to be feasible and used: 117 referrals from 102 patients were received in 8 months, all providers received recommendations within 24 hours, 100% of surveyed providers used the recommendations, and 74% changed patient management based on IR-tox team recommendations. Referrals were for suspected irAEs (n=106; 91%) and suitability to treat with ICIs (n=11; 10%). In referred patients, median age was 64 years, 54% were men, 13% had prior autoimmunity, and 46% received ICI combinations versus monotherapy (54%). The most commonly referred toxicities were pneumonitis (23%), arthritis (16%), and dermatitis (15%); 15% of patients had multisystem toxicities. Multiple referrals were more common in those treated with combination ICIs (odds ratio [OR], 6.0; P=.035) or with multisystem toxicities (OR, 8.1; P=.005). The IR-tox team provided a new multidisciplinary forum to assist providers in diagnosing and managing complex irAEs. This model identifies educational and service needs, and patients with irAEs for whom multidisciplinary care is most sought. Conclusions: A virtual multidisciplinary toxicity team for irAEs was a feasible and used service, and facilitated toxicity identification and management.