79 research outputs found

    A food photograph series for identifying portion sizes of culturally specific dishes in rural areas with high incidence of oesophageal cancer

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    Rural areas of the Eastern Cape (EC) Province, South Africa have a high incidence of squamous cell oesophageal cancer (OC) and exposure to mycotoxin fumonisin has been associated with increased OC risk. However, to assess exposure to fumonisin in Xhosas—having maize as a staple food—it is necessary to determine the amount of maize consumed per day. A maize-specific food frequency questionnaire (M-FFQ) has recently been developed. This study developed a food photograph (FP) series to improve portion size estimation of maize dishes. Two sets of photographs were developed to be used alongside the validated M-FFQ. The photographs were designed to assist quantification of intakes (portion size photographs) and to facilitate estimation of maize amounts in various combined dishes (ratio photographs) using data from 24 h recalls (n = 159), dishing-up sessions (n = 35), focus group discussions (FGD) (n = 56) and published literature. Five villages in two rural isiXhosa-speaking areas of the EC Province, known to have a high incidence of OC, were randomly selected. Women between the ages of 18–55 years were recruited by snowball sampling and invited to participate. The FP series comprised three portion size photographs (S, M, L) of 21 maize dishes and three ratio photographs of nine combined maize-based dishes. A culturally specific FP series was designed to improve portion size estimation when reporting dietary intake using a newly developed M-FFQ

    Hypofractionated image-guided radiotherapy for the treatment of acoustic neuromas: A dosimetrically acceptable alternative to stereotactic radiosurgery in a resource-constrained environment

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    Purpose: Treatment options for acoustic neuromas (ANs) are limited in low- and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to investigate whether hypofractionated image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) is a clinically acceptable treatment option for departments where no other radiosurgery options are available. Methods and materials: Fifteen dynamic conformal arc plans that had been clinically utilised were evaluated against the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) radiosurgery criteria and published indices. Analysis involved evaluating critical structure doses and the volume of normal tissue receiving 12 and 10 Gy single fraction equivalent dose (V12Eq and V10Eq). Results: Overall, there was only one RTOG protocol deviation in the whole patient group, where quality of coverage was compromised in order to achieve brainstem tolerance. Conformity indices were within clinically acceptable limits (CIPaddick ≄ 0.6) despite being inferior to the published Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZB) Gamma Knife and CyberKnife results (p < 0.0001). Homogeneity was superior to the Gamma Knife (p < 0.0001) and Novalis dynamic conformal arc (p = 0.0002) results. Gradient index results were inferior to all published techniques, but doses to the normal structures were well controlled with the exception of the cochlea. The V10Eq data showed increased sensitivity when compared with V12Eq. Conclusion: Dynamic arc IGRT allows for good coverage of AN lesions, but the dose fall-off is not as steep as that obtained with mainstream radiosurgery systems. Contouring and planning should include detailed critical structures analysis. For normal brain parenchyma analysis, V10Eq is a superior risk indicator when compared to V12Eq for this technique. Dynamic arc IGRT offers a dosimetrically acceptable treatment alternative for patients without serviceable hearing, in departments where there are no mainstream radiosurgery treatment options available

    Detoxification of the fumonisin mycotoxins in maize : an enzymatic approach

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    CITATION: Alberts, J., et al. 2019. Detoxification of the fumonisin mycotoxins in maize : an enzymatic approach. Toxins, 11(9):523, doi:10.3390/toxins11090523.The original publication is available at https://www.mdpi.comEnzymatic detoxification has become a promising approach for control of mycotoxins postharvest in grains through modification of chemical structures determining their toxicity. In the present study fumonisin esterase FumD (EC 3.1.1.87) (FUMzymeÂź; BIOMIN, Tulln, Austria), hydrolysing fumonisin (FB) mycotoxins by de-esterification, was utilised to develop an enzymatic reduction method in a maize kernel enzyme incubation mixture. Efficacy of the FumD FB reduction method in “low” and “high” FB contaminated home-grown maize was compared by monitoring FB1 hydrolysis to the hydrolysed FB1 (HFB1) product utilising a validated LC-MS/MS analytical method. The method was further evaluated in terms of enzyme activity and treatment duration by assessing enzyme kinetic parameters and the relative distribution of HFB1 between maize kernels and the residual aqueous environment. FumD treatments resulted in significant reduction (≄80%) in “low” (≄1000 U/L, p < 0.05) and “high” (100 U/L, p < 0.05; ≄1000 U/L, p < 0.0001) FB contaminated maize after 1 h respectively, with an approximate 1:1 ”mol conversion ratio of FB1 into the formation of HFB1. Enzyme kinetic parameters indicated that, depending on the activity of FumD utilised, a significantly (p < 0.05) higher FB1 conversion rate was noticed in “high” FB contaminated maize. The FumD FB reduction method in maize could find application in commercial maize-based practices as well as in communities utilising home-grown maize as a main dietary staple and known to be exposed above the tolerable daily intake levels.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/11/9/523Publisher's versio

    Table 3: The results of fixed effects ANCOVA regression means model with parameters estimated starting at zero providing intercepts and slopes with standard errors (SE) for reference (RF), moderately oiled (MD), and heavily oiled (HV) shoreline marsh sites in northern Barataria Bay, LA.

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    Salt marshes in northern Barataria Bay, Louisiana, USA were oiled, sometimes heavily, in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Previous studies indicate that fiddler crabs (in the genus Uca) and the salt marsh periwinkle (Littoraria irrorata) were negatively impacted in the short term by the spill. Here, we detail longer-term effects and recovery from moderate and heavy oiling over a 3-year span, beginning 30 months after the spill. Although neither fiddler crab burrow density nor diameter differed between oiled and reference sites when combined across all sampling events, these traits differed among some individual sampling periods consistent with a pattern of lingering oiling impacts. Periwinkle density, however, increased in all oiling categories and shell-length groups during our sampling period, and periwinkle densities were consistently highest at moderately oiled sites where Spartina alterniflora aboveground biomass was highest. Periwinkle shell length linearly increased from a mean of 16.5 to 19.2 mm over the study period at reference sites. In contrast, shell lengths at moderately oiled and heavily oiled sites increased through month 48 after the spill, but then decreased. This decrease was associated with a decline in the relative abundance of large adults (shell length 21–26 mm) at oiled sites which was likely caused by chronic hydrocarbon toxicity or oil-induced effects on habitat quality or food resources. Overall, the recovery of S. alterniflora facilitated the recovery of fiddler crabs and periwinkles. However, our long-term record not only indicates that variation in periwinkle mean shell length and length-frequency distributions are sensitive indicators of the health and recovery of the marsh, but agrees with synoptic studies of vegetation and infaunal communities that full recovery of heavily oiled sites will take longer than 66 months

    A risk assessment of automated treatment planning and recommendations for clinical deployment

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    CITATION: Kisling, K. et al. 2019. A risk assessment of automated treatment planning and recommendations for clinical deployment. Medical Physics, 46(6): 2567-2574. doi:10.1002/mp.13552The original publication is available at https://aapm.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/24734209Purpose: To assess the risk of failure of a recently developed automated treatment planning tool, the radiation planning assistant (RPA), and to determine the reduction in these risks with implementation of a quality assurance (QA) program specifically designed for the RPA. Methods: We used failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to assess the risk of the RPA. The steps involved in the workflow of planning a four-field box treatment of cervical cancer with the RPA were identified. Then, the potential failure modes at each step and their causes were identified and scored according to their likelihood of occurrence, severity, and likelihood of going undetected. Additionally, the impact of the components of the QA program on the detectability of the failure modes was assessed. The QA program was designed to supplement a clinic's standard QA processes and consisted of three components: (a) automatic, independent verification of the results of automated planning; (b) automatic comparison of treatment parameters to expected values; and (c) guided manual checks of the treatment plan. A risk priority number (RPN) was calculated for each potential failure mode with and without use of the QA program. Results: In the RPA automated treatment planning workflow, we identified 68 potential failure modes with 113 causes. The average RPN was 91 without the QA program and 68 with the QA program (maximum RPNs were 504 and 315, respectively). The reduction in RPN was due to an improvement in the likelihood of detecting failures, resulting in lower detectability scores. The top-ranked failure modes included incorrect identification of the marked isocenter, inappropriate beam aperture definition, incorrect entry of the prescription into the RPA plan directive, and lack of a comprehensive plan review by the physician. Conclusions: Using FMEA, we assessed the risks in the clinical deployment of an automated treatment planning workflow and showed that a specialized QA program for the RPA, which included automatic QA techniques, improved the detectability of failures, reducing this risk. However, some residual risks persisted, which were similar to those found in manual treatment planning, and human error remained a major cause of potential failures. Through the risk analysis process, we identified three key aspects of safe deployment of automated planning: (a) user training on potential failure modes; (b) comprehensive manual plan review by physicians and physicists; and (c) automated QA of the treatment plan.https://aapm.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mp.13552Publisher’s versio

    Validation of an automated contouring and treatment planning tool for pediatric craniospinal radiation therapy

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    PurposeTreatment planning for craniospinal irradiation (CSI) is complex and time-consuming, especially for resource-constrained centers. To alleviate demanding workflows, we successfully automated the pediatric CSI planning pipeline in previous work. In this work, we validated our CSI autosegmentation and autoplanning tool on a large dataset from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.MethodsSixty-three CSI patient CT scans were involved in the study. Pre-planning scripts were used to automatically verify anatomical compatibility with the autoplanning tool. The autoplanning pipeline generated 15 contours and a composite CSI treatment plan for each of the compatible test patients (n=51). Plan quality was evaluated quantitatively with target coverage and dose to normal tissue metrics and qualitatively with physician review, using a 5-point Likert scale. Three pediatric radiation oncologists from 3 institutions reviewed and scored 15 contours and a corresponding composite CSI plan for the final 51 test patients. One patient was scored by 3 physicians, resulting in 53 plans scored total.ResultsThe algorithm automatically detected 12 incompatible patients due to insufficient junction spacing or head tilt and removed them from the study. Of the 795 autosegmented contours reviewed, 97% were scored as clinically acceptable, with 92% requiring no edits. Of the 53 plans scored, all 51 brain dose distributions were scored as clinically acceptable. For the spine dose distributions, 92%, 100%, and 68% of single, extended, and multiple-field cases, respectively, were scored as clinically acceptable. In all cases (major or minor edits), the physicians noted that they would rather edit the autoplan than create a new plan.ConclusionsWe successfully validated an autoplanning pipeline on 51 patients from another institution, indicating that our algorithm is robust in its adjustment to differing patient populations. We automatically generated 15 contours and a comprehensive CSI treatment plan for each patient without physician intervention, indicating the potential for increased treatment planning efficiency and global access to high-quality radiation therapy

    Obesity promotes fumonisin B1 hepatotoxicity

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    Obesity, which is a worldwide public health issue, is associated with chronic inflammation that contribute to long-term complications, including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. We hypothesized that obesity may also influence the sensitivity to food contaminants, such as fumonisin B1 (FB1), a mycotoxin produced mainly by the Fusarium verticillioides. FB1, a common contaminant of corn, is the most abundant and best characterized member of the fumonisins family. We investigated whether diet-induced obesity could modulate the sensitivity to oral FB1 exposure, with emphasis on gut health and hepatotoxicity. Thus, metabolic effects of FB1 were assessed in obese and non-obese male C57BL/6J mice. Mice received a high-fat diet (HFD) or normal chow diet (CHOW) for 15 weeks. Then, during the last three weeks, mice were exposed to these diets in combination or not with FB1 (10 mg/kg body weight/day) through drinking water. As expected, HFD feeding induced significant body weight gain, increased fasting glycemia, and hepatic steatosis. Combined exposure to HFD and FB1 resulted in body weight loss and a decrease in fasting blood glucose level. This co-exposition also induces gut dysbiosis, an increase in plasma FB1 level, a decrease in liver weight and hepatic steatosis. Moreover, plasma transaminase levels were significantly increased and associated with liver inflammation in HFD/FB1-treated mice. Liver gene expression analysis revealed that the combined exposure to HFD and FB1 was associated with reduced expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and increased expression of immune response and cell cycle-associated genes. These results suggest that, in the context of obesity, FB1 exposure promotes gut dysbiosis and severe liver inflammation. To our knowledge, this study provides the first example of obesity-induced hepatitis in response to a food contaminant.L.D. PhD was supported by the INRAE Animal Health department. This work was also supported by grants from the French National Research Agency (ANR) Fumolip (ANR-16-CE21-0003) and the Hepatomics FEDER program of RĂ©gion Occitanie. We thank Prof Wentzel C. Gelderblom for generously providing the FB1 and for his interest and support in our project. B.C. laboratory is supported by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. ERC-2018-StG- 804135), a Chaire d'Excellence from IdEx UniversitĂ© de Paris - ANR-18-IDEX-0001, an Innovator Award from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, an ANR grant EMULBIONT ANR-21-CE15-0042-01 and the national program “Microbiote” from INSERM. We thank Anexplo (Genotoul, Toulouse) for their excellent work on plasma biochemistry. Neutral Lipids MS and NMR experiments were performed with instruments in the Metatoul-AXIOM platform. Sphingolipid MS analysis were performed with instruments in the RUBAM platform. The FB1 plasma levels were determined using an UPLC-MS/MS instrument part of the Ghent University MSsmall expertise centre for advanced mass spectrometry analysis of small organic molecules. We thank Elodie Rousseau-BacquiĂ© and all members of the EZOP staff for their assistance in the animal facility. We are very grateful to Talal al Saati for histology analyses and review, and we thank all members of the US006/CREFRE staff at the histology facility and the Genom'IC platforms (INSERM U1016, Paris, France) for their expertise.Peer reviewe

    Altered lipid metabolism as a possible mechanism in fumonisin-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in rats and investigations into risk assessment in humans

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    Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Exposure to food contaminates such as mycotoxins have been associated with a variety of animal and human diseases worldwide. In South Africa, maize is the most To further refine risk assessment in the socio-demographic heterogeneous population of South Africa, the development and evaluation of a sensitive and interactive model the Mycotoxin Risk Assessment Model (MYCORAM) proofed to be more sensitive compared to the classical probable daily intake (PDI). The development of the MYCORAM was based on mycotoxin distribution during dry milling of maize in milling fractions intended for human consumption which was superimposed on the maize intake profiles of the South African population. Although dry milling, including a degerming step, is an effective way to reduce mycotoxins, risk and exposure assessment are influenced by maize dietary intakes, gender and ethnicity. This became evident when considering FB dietary exposure in rural maize subsistence farming communities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa confirmed the vulnerability of this subpopulation to risk of fumonisin exposure. Specific maximum tolerated maximum levels (MTL) to safeguard these communities fall outside the international regulatory processes and need to be urgently addressed. With the complex nature of cancer development in mind, integration of basic science and nutritional epidemiology will be important to contribute to our understanding of the adverse effects of FB and to define relevant risk assessment parameters. important commercial grain crop not just economically but also as a local food commodity both commercially and in subsistence rural farming communities. In order to control and manage mycotoxin contamination in food, evidence-based risk assessment is needed that includes mechanistic and human exposure studies. From this perspective the current study was conducted and aimed in further unravelling fumonisin B1 (FB1) mycotoxin induced hepatocarcinogenesis via the disruption of the lipid metabolism. The study also critically evaluates aspects of human risk assessment due to its relevance and importance to food safety known to impact on food security. This entails mycotoxin distribution during maize dry milling and the assessment of mycotoxin exposure in the South African population and vulnerable rural communities at risk. Fumonisin B1 affects the integrity of biological membranes by altering key lipid and fatty acid parameter in plasma, microsomal, mitochondrial and nuclear subcellular membrane fractions in rat liver. Changes in the major lipid constituents entailing an increase in cholesterol (CHOL) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) whilst sphingomyelin (SM) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) tended to decrease. Isolated plasma membrane lipid rafts, from rat primary hepatocytes exposed to FB1 augments the intricate effects exerted on the lipid metabolism regarding CHOL, SM and PE. The disruption of lipid and fatty acid constituents, such as arachidonic acid and ceramide, are likely to be key determinants affecting growth regulatory signaling pathways relevant to the critical balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis during cancer promotion. These changes provide further evidence that FB1 induce cancer promotion by differential inhibition and/or stimulation process whereby a few resistant “initiated” hepatocytes proliferate in an environment where the growth of normal cells is inhibited. A specific lipogenic phenotype is effected by FB1 which is closely associated with cancer development and considered to occur via an epigenetic-type of mechanism. These effects are not adequately addressed in defining risk assessment parameters.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die blootstelling aan voedsel-kontaminante soos mikotoksienes word wĂȘreldwyd met ‘n verskeidenheid van dierlike en menslike siektes geassosiseer. In Suid-Afrika word mielies as ‘n belangrike graanoes beskou, nie net vir die ekonomie nie maar ook as ‘n plaaslike voedselproduk beide kommersieel en vir bestaansboere in landelike gemeenskappe. Ten einde mikotoksien-kontaminasie van voedsel te kan beheer en bestuur, vereis bewys-gebaseerde risiko-evaluering wat insluit meganistiese en menslike blootstelling studies. Vanuit hierdie perspektief is die huidige studie uitgevoer en gemik op die verdere ontleding van die fumonisin B1 (FB1) mikotoksien geĂŻnduseerde lewer-karsinogenese deur die ontwrigting van die lipiedmetabolisme. Die studie ondersoek terselfdetyd aspekte van menslike risiko-evaluering ingevolge die relevansie en belangrikheid hiervan in voedselveiligheid wat ook ‘n impak op voedselsekerheid sal maak. Dit sluit in die verspreiding van mikotoksiene gedurende die droĂ«maalproses van mielies en mikotoksien blootstelling in Suid-Afrika asook onder kwesbare landelike gemeenskappe. Fumonisin B1 beĂŻnvloed die integriteit van biologiese membrane deur die modulasie van die belangrike lipied en vetsuur samestelling van plasma, mikrosomale, mitochondriale en kern subsellulĂȘre membraan-fraksies in rot lewer. Veranderinge in die belangrike lipiedbestanddele, insluitende ‘n verhoging in cholesterol (CHOL) en phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), terwyl sphingomyelin (SM) en phosphatidylcholine (PC) geneig was om te verlaag. GeĂŻsoleerde plasma membraan lipied vlotte (lipid rafts), vanaf primĂȘre rot hepatosiete blootgestel aan FB1, versterk die ingewikkelde gevolge wat uitgeoefen word op die lipiedmetabolisme insluitende die voorgestelde veranderings in CHOL, SM en PE vlakke. Die versteuring van lipiede en vetsure soos aragidoonsuur (arachidonic acid) en ceramied kan beskou word as belangrike determinante wat inmeng in groei-regulerende seinbane verwant aan die kritiese balans tussen selgroei en seldood. Die versteurings verskaf verdere bewyse dat FB1 kanker bevorder deur ‘n seleksie proses wat onderskeidelike die onderdrukking en\of die stimulasie van ‘n paar weerstandige of geneties veranderde hepatosiete laat vermeerder in ‘n omgewing waar die groei van normale selle geĂŻnhibeer word. Die spesifieke lipogeniese fenotipe wat FB1 versoorsaak hou ten nouste verband met kankerontwikkeling en die voorkoms van epigenetiese-soort meganismes word voorgestel. Hierdie oorsake word tans nie voldoende aangespreek tydens die bepaling van risiko-evaluerings limiete nie. Om risiko-bepaling verder te verbeter in die sosio-demografies heterogene populasie van Suid-Afrika, was die ontwikkeling en evalueering van ‘n sensitiewe en interaktiewe model, die “Mycotoxin Risk Assessment Model” (MYCORAM) meer doeltreffend vergeleke met die gewone waarskynlike daaglikse inname. Die ontwikkeling van die MYCORAM was gebaseer op die mikotoksien verspreiding tydens die droĂ«maalproses van mielies in fraksies wat vir menslike verbruik bedoel was tesame met mielie dieetinnames van die Suid-Afrikaanse populasie. Alhoewel, die droĂ«maalproses van mielies, insluitende die verwydering van die kiem doeltreffende maniere is om mikotoksienes te verminder, word risiko- en blootstellings evaluering beinvloed deur mielie dieetinnames, geslag en etnieseverbandskap. Hierdie was veral opmerklik gedurende blootstelling aan FB in die dieet van landelike mielie bestaansboer gemeenskappe in die Oos-Kaap van Suid- Afrika en bevestig hoe kwesbaar hierdie populasie is. Spesifieke maksimum toelaatbare vlakke om hierdie gemeenskappe te beskerm val buite die huidige internasionale regulatoriese prosesse en benodig dringende aandag. Met die ingewikkelde aard van kankerontwikkeling in gedagte, sal die integrasie van basiese wetenskappe en voedingsepidemiologie, ‘n belangrik bydrae lewer tot die kennis van die negatiewe eienskappe van FB om toepaslike risiko-evaluerings limiete te kan bepaal

    Mycotoxin health risk assessment modelling among maize-subsistence farmers living in Centane, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

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    Harmful mycotoxins such as fumonisin B (FB), deoxynivalenol (DON), and zearalenone (ZEA), produced by ubiquitous food-borne fungal species, are known to contaminate maize crops from subsistence farming areas in Centane, Eastern Cape Province (EC), South Africa. The daily consumption of home-grown maize in these areas has resulted in FB exposure of five to ten times above the recommended provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) of 2 ”g kg-1 body weight day-1 , as set by The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. From a public health perspective, not only can these mycotoxins cause various human diseases but also impact food security. For this purpose, mycotoxin risk assessment among maizesubsistence farmers is critical to ensure evidence-based risk management. Currently, in resources poor settings, a deterministic risk assessment approach remains the easiest and most accessible. This approach, based on epidemiological data, includes using a total mean mycotoxin level (”g kg-1 ) multiplied by the individual total mean dry/raw maize intake in g day-1 divided by body weight (kg) and expressed as a probable daily intake (PDI). The resultant PDI is thereafter compared to the relevant mycotoxin PMTDI to determine the risk. However, this type of assessment remains one-dimensional and can only quantify risk. To address this limitation, the current study was aimed at developing a mycotoxin risk assessment model that not only quantifies the risk of exposure to multi-mycotoxins (FB, DON, and ZEA) but it is also interactive. The new model was based on the Mycotoxin Risk Assessment Model (MYCORAM) that was originally developed for South African commercial maize consumers and referred to as the MYCORAM-II. The overall purpose of the MYCORAM-II is to assess the percentage of maize consumers above the relevant mycotoxins PMTDI. In the current study, a multiphase study design was used to develop and evaluate the model consisting of phase 1) dietary maize intake, body weight data collection, phase 2) the development of dietary dry maize intake per body weight categories, phases 3 and 4) mycotoxin levels data and the development of the MYCORAM-II, phase 5) evaluation of the MYCORAM-II using published mycotoxin levels in home-grown maize from Centane, and phase 6) to assess the appropriateness of the national maximum safety levels as set by the South African Department of Health for FB and DON in dry maize. The development of the model was limited to the availability of secondary data, its validity, and the type of data that has been collected and published from studies conducted over the past 10 years in rural maize-subsistence farming areas in EC, South Africa. Applying mycotoxin levels in home-grown maize from Centane to the MYCORAM-II indicated that for total FB between 80-90% of maize, consumers were above its PMTDI based on overall higher levels of FB. In comparison, DON and ZEA with their lower levels in home-grown maize resulted in a lower percentage of consumers above the respective PMTDIs. The MYCORAM-II also indicated that the South African national maximum safety levels will not protect subsistence maize consumers between (89% and 90% will be at risk). In addition, the MYCORAM-II indicated differential risk scenarios when using published data from African countries. Overall, the MYCORAM-II highlighted the distinct roles of FB levels in home-grown maize, the number of positive samples, and maize intake practices. Despite the limitation of the MYCORAM-II, its simplicity and interactive function render it useful to describe multi-mycotoxin exposure among subsistence maize farmers not only in Centane, EC, but also in Africa. Its application can also be expanded towards developing population-specific safety levels, facilitating decision-making during risk management, and the evaluation of appropriate public health interventions aimed at reducing mycotoxin exposure
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