PathOrganic – Risks and Recommendations Regarding Human Pathogens in Organic Vegetable Production Chains

PathOrganic assesses risks associated with the consumption of fresh and minimally processed vegetables due to the prevalence of bacterial human pathogens in plant produce. The project evaluates whether organic production poses a risk on food safety, taking into consideration sources of pathogen transmission (e.g. animal manure). The project also explores whether organic versus conventional production practices may reduce the risk of pathogen manifestation. In Europe, vegetable-linked outbreaks are not well investigated. A conceptual model together with novel sampling strategies and specifically adjusted methods provides the basis for large-scale surveys of organically grown plant produce in five European countries. Critical control points are determined and evaluated and factors contributing to a food safety problem are analyzed in greenhouse and field experiments. The project aims at developing a quantitative risk assessment model and at formulating recommendations for improving food safety in organic vegetable production

Final report "PathOrganic. Risks and Recommendations Regarding Human Pathogens in Organic Vegetable Production Chains"

PathOrganic assesses risks associated with the consumption of fresh and minimally processed vegetables due to the prevalence of bacterial human pathogens (e.g. Salmonella enterica, pathogenic E. coli, Campylobacter spp., Listeria monocytogenes) in organically grown plant produce. The project aims at evaluating whether organic production poses a risk on food safety and addresses the food chain by taking into consideration potential sources of pathogen transmission (e.g. animal manure). In addition, it evaluates whether organic production may reduce the risk of pathogen manifestation. From a European perspective, vegetable-linked outbreaks are not well investigated. Within the PathOrganic project, surveys of organically grown vegetables are carried out in five European countries, and regionally different environmental and management factors are taken into consideration for performing risk assessment. In order to carry out a meaningful survey and to choose appropriate experimental plans, a model for pathogen transfer to selected plants is built in work package 1 (WP 1) to describe relevant food chains. Based on this model sampling strategies and methodological adjustments are made. A questionnaire is set up to describe current management practices (WP 1). WP 2 of the project is dedicated to surveying the presence of food pathogens in organic plant produce. As a major part of the project, field surveys of organic farming systems are performed and vegetable plants are sampled in five European countries. The analysis of relevant parameters is done by the respective partners with the appropriate expertise. “Risk crops” and “risk factors” are identified and specific production procedures shall be investigated, leading to the determination of critical control points (CCPs). Factors suggesting a problem concerning food safety are subjected to more detailed analysis in WP3 by performing specifically targeted greenhouse and field experiments. These experiments allow analyzing critical environmental and management factors and at the same time enable to re-assess the critical control points. Finally, based on the results obtained in the previous WPs, in WP 4 recommendations will be provided for improving procedures which secure consumer-oriented food safety and the quality of certified organic vegetable food chains. Thus, project results shall enable producers and other stakeholders to prevent and better control plant produce-associated outbreaks

Spiral 2D T2-Weighted TSE Brain MR Imaging: Initial Clinical Experience

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Spiral MR imaging may enable improved image quality and higher scan speeds than Cartesian trajectories. We sought to compare a novel spiral 2D T2-weighted TSE sequence with a conventional Cartesian and an artifact-robust, non-Cartesian sequence named MultiVane for routine clinical brain MR imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-one patients were scanned with all 3 sequences (Cartesian, 4 minutes 14 seconds; MultiVane, 2 minutes 49 seconds; spiral, 2 minutes 12 seconds) on a standard clinical 1.5T MR scanner. Three readers described the presence and location of abnormalities and lesions and graded images qualitatively in terms of overall image quality, the presence of motion and pulsation artifacts, gray-white matter differentiation, lesion conspicuity, and subjective preference. Image quality was objectivized by measuring the SNR and the coefficients of variation for CSF, GM, and WM. RESULTS: Spiral achieved a scan time reduction of 51.9% and 21.9% compared with Cartesian and MultiVane, respectively. The number and location of lesions were identical among all sequences. As for the qualitative analysis, interreader agreement was high (Krippendorff α > .75). Spiral and MultiVane both outperformed the Cartesian sequence in terms of overall image quality, the presence of motion artifacts, and subjective preference (P  .15). Spiral and MultiVane outperformed the Cartesian sequence in coefficient of variation WM and SNR (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Spiral 2D T2WI TSE is feasible for routine structural brain MR imaging and offers high-quality, artifact-robust brain imaging in short scan times

Single shot zonal oblique multislice SE-EPI diffusion-weighted imaging with low to ultra-high b-values for the differentiation of benign and malignant vertebral spinal fractures

PURPOSE: To investigate the diagnostic yield of low to ultra-high b-values for the differentiation of benign from malignant vertebral fractures using a state-of-the-art single-shot zonal-oblique-multislice spin-echo echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging sequence (SShot ZOOM SE-EPI DWI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 66 patients (34 malignant, 32 benign) were examined on 1.5 T MR scanners. ADC maps were generated from b-values of 0,400; 0,1000 and 0,2000s/mm(2). ROIs were placed into the fracture of interest on ADC maps and trace images and into adjacent normal vertebral bodies on trace images. The ADC of fractures and the Signal-Intensity-Ratio (SIR) of fractures relative to normal vertebral bodies on trace images were considered quantitative metrics. The appearance of the fracture of interest was graded qualitatively as iso-, hypo-, or hyperintense relative to normal vertebrae. RESULTS: ADC achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.785/0.698/0.592 for b = 0,400/0,1000/0,2000s/mm(2) ADC maps respectively. SIR achieved an AUC of 0.841/0.919/0.917 for b = 400/1000/2000s/mm(2) trace images respectively. In qualitative analyses, only b = 2000s/mm(2) trace images were diagnostically valuable (sensitivity:1, specificity:0.794). Machine learning models incorporating all qualitative and quantitative metrics achieved an AUC of 0.95/0.98/0.98 for b-values of 400/1000/2000s/mm(2) respectively. The model incorporating only qualitative metrics from b = 2000s/mm(2) achieved an AUC of 0.97. CONCLUSION: By using quantitative and qualitative metrics from SShot ZOOM SE-EPI DWI, benign and malignant vertebral fractures can be differentiated with high diagnostic accuracy. Importantly qualitative analysis of ultra-high b-value images may suffice for differentiation as well

Preserving Madagascar’s Natural Heritage: The Importance of Keeping the Islands’s Fossils in the Public Domain

Article argues for the development of adequate repositories and support infrastructure in Madagascar to safeguard and display the country’s vertebrate fossil collections; doing so would ensure the preservation and appreciation of Madagascar’s rich natural heritage for future generations of scientists and Malagasy citizens alike