Quantitative risk assessment for aflatoxin M1 associated with the consumption of milk and traditional dairy products in Argentina

A quantitative risk assessment for exposure to aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) related to the consumption of milk and traditional dairy products of Argentina was developed. The frequency and concentration of AFM1 was modelled at various stages through the milk processes, considering Argentinean practices. Concentration of AFM1 (0.046 μg/l, 95%CI = 0.002?0.264 μg/l) in raw milk was estimated. The AFM1 concentration in milk was sensitive to the carry-over rate (r = 0.80), and milk yield in the first third of lactation during the spring?summer season (r = 0.11). AFB1 levels in silage (r = 0.22), pasture during the spring?summer season (r = 0.11), concentrate (r = 0.08), and cotton seed (r = 0.05) were the factors most correlated with AFM1 concentrations. Although the results showed that MoE values for the mean and median exposure to AFM1 were 1) for exposure to AFM1 for infants, toddlers, and other children were 45%, 49.1%, and 40.6%, respectively. Under this scenario, the most susceptible population at risk was children < 10 years old; therefore, it is necessary to establish measures to prevent contamination of AFM1 in milk and milk products.Fil: Costamagna, D.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigacion de la Cadena Lactea. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela. Instituto de Investigacion de la Cadena Lactea.; ArgentinaFil: Gaggiotti, M.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigacion de la Cadena Lactea. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela. Instituto de Investigacion de la Cadena Lactea.; ArgentinaFil: Signorini Porchietto, Marcelo Lisandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigacion de la Cadena Lactea. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela. Instituto de Investigacion de la Cadena Lactea.; Argentin

Developing a Prognostic Model for Traumatic Brain Injury—A Missed Opportunity?

Peter Andrews and Neil Young discuss the implications of a study involving the development and validation of new prognostic models for traumatic brain injury

Permeation of Ternary Mixture Containing H2S, CO2 and CH4 in Aquivion® Perfluorosulfonic Acid (PFSA) Ionomer Membranes

Aquivion (R) E87-12S Perfluorosulfonated acid ionomer material (PFSA) has been studied as a membrane technology for natural gas sweetening from CO2 , H2S due to its interesting chemical and mechanical stability and good separation performance for polar compounds in humid environments. In the present work, permeation of the H2S/CO2/CH4 ternary mixture in this short-side PFSA chain was investigated at pressures up to 10 bar, temperatures up to 50 degrees C, and in a range of relative humidity (RH) from 20% to 90%. The results obtain confirm the strong dependence of Aquivion (R) on water activity and temperature, and its ability to separate gases based on their water solubility without substantial differences between pure and mixed gas experiments. Indeed, even when tested in ternary mixture, the permeation behavior remains similar to that observed for pure components and binary mixtures. In particular, the permeability of H2S is higher than that of CO(2 )and methane CH4, reaching values of 500 Barrer at 50 degrees C and 80% RH, against 450 and 23 Barrer for the other two gases respectively. Additionally, when tested at higher pressures of up to 10 bar under humid conditions, the membrane properties remained largely unchanged, thus confirming the overall stability and durability of Aquivion (R) E87-12S in acid environments

The relevance of sperm morphology in male infertility

This brief report concerns the role of human sperm morphology assessment in different fields of male infertility: basic research, genetics, assisted reproduction technologies, oxidative stress. One of the best methods in studying sperm morphology is transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that enables defining the concept of sperm pathology and classifying alterations in non-systematic and systematic. Non-systematic sperm defects affect head and tail in variable ratio, whereas the rare systematic defects are characterized by a particular anomaly that marks most sperm of an ejaculate. TEM analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization represent outstanding methods in the study of sperm morphology and cytogenetic in patients with altered karyotype characterizing their semen quality before intracytoplasmic sperm injection. In recent years, the genetic investigations on systematic sperm defects, made extraordinary progress identifying candidate genes whose mutations induce morphological sperm anomalies. The question if sperm morphology has an impact on assisted fertilization outcome is debated. Nowadays, oxidative stress represents one of the most important causes of altered sperm morphology and function and can be analyzed from two points of view: 1) spermatozoa with cytoplasmic residue produce reactive oxygen species, 2) the pathologies with inflammatory/oxidative stress background cause morphological alterations. Finally, sperm morphology is also considered an important endpoint in in vitro experiments where toxic substances, drugs, antioxidants are tested. We think that the field of sperm morphology is far from being exhausted and needs other research. This parameter can be still considered a valuable indicator of sperm dysfunction both in basic and clinical research

Accidentes laborales en veterinarios rurales

El ejercicio de la Veterinaria está asociado a numerosos riesgos ocupacionales. Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron estimar la frecuencia de veterinarios rurales que tuvieron accidentes laborales (AL), describir tipo de lesión y elementos involucrados, factores asociados y ausencia laboral. Se desarrolló un censo en veterinarios rurales (N= 741) que asistieron a reuniones obligatorias de capacitación continua. La tasa de respuesta a un cuestionario estructurado anónimo fue del 75.8% (n= 562). El análisis de los datos incluyó: χ2, t de Student, correlación de Pearson y regresión logística. El 97,1% había sufrido accidentes durante el ejercicio profesional, el 59,6% había requerido atención médica y el 81,4% padecía alguna dolencia derivada de su trabajo. El 52,1% tuvo al menos un día de ausencia laboral debido a accidentes de trabajo (37,9 ± 51,7 días). Sexo, edad y antigüedad profesional estuvieron significativamente asociados con la ocurrencia de AL in labore. en el análisis bivariante, pero no en el multivariante, probablemente debido al muy bajo número de entrevistados que no sufrieron AL. Algunas características de los profesionales, unida a la especial naturaleza de los pacientes, la existencia de instalaciones inapropiadas para ejercer la práctica clínica en condiciones de campo y la necesidad de trasladarse en vehículos automotores para entrar en contacto con los pacientes pueden contribuir para que esta profesión tenga un alto riesgo laboral

The Use of Antimalarial Drugs against Viral Infection

In recent decades, drugs used to treat malaria infection have been shown to be beneficial for many other diseases, including viral infections. In particular, they have received special attention due to the lack of effective antiviral drugs against new emerging viruses (i.e., HIV, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, Ebola virus, etc.) or against classic infections due to drug-resistant viral strains (i.e., human cytomegalovirus). Here, we reviewed the in vitro/in vivo and clinical studies conducted to evaluate the antiviral activities of four classes of antimalarial drugs: Artemisinin derivatives, aryl-aminoalcohols, aminoquinolines, and antimicrobial drugs

Circuit training during physical education classes to prepare cadets for military academies tests: Analysis of an educational project

Background: The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of an eight-week physical education program based on circuit training to better improve the overall physical and military-specific performance compared to a conventional physical education program in military high school students. Methods: Sixty-four students were enrolled in this study and randomly assigned to an experimental (EG, circuit training) or a control group (CG, traditional physical education program). Immediately before and after the eight-week training period, participants were tested on strength and endurance performance, circuit training tests, and military tests. Moreover, the acquisition of the educational objectives and the pleasantness of the experimental intervention were tested using a qualitative approach. Results: Despite the higher workload in EG than CG during the training period, the effect of the experimental intervention compared to the control was only possibly to likely positive for a few strength and endurance performances and circuit training tests, respectively. A trivial effect was shown in the military tests. On the contrary, the high percentage of motivation (76%), understanding (78%) and collaboration (86%) showed by the students suggests the achievement of acquisition of the educational objectives and a fair pleasantness of the lessons. Conclusions: A lack of clear and marked effect of the experimental intervention could be ascribed to an insufficient exposure time to the training and a high subjective overall workload encountered in military high school students

Avaliação in vitro da atividade anti-leishmania da ivermectina e dipropionato de imidocarb sobre Leishmania braziliensis e Leishmania infantum

Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Iara José de Messias-Reason.Coorientador: Prof. Dr. Fabiano Borges Figueiredo e Dr. Gustavo GonçalvesDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina Interna e Ciências da Saúde. Defesa : Curitiba, 20/12/2022Inclui referências: p.58-62Resumo: As leishmanioses compõem um grupo de doenças tropicais infecciosas, endêmicas e prioritárias globalmente. Frente à indisponibilidade vacinal, baixa disponibilidade, alto custo e toxicidade de fármacos, o uso de drogas comercializadas para tratamento de outras doenças, que não àquelas tradicionalmente propostas pelo fabricante, é desejável. Neste contexto destacam-se os fármacos Ivermectina (IVM) e Dipropionato de Imidocarb (DPI), cuja potencial atividade anti-leishmania pode ser investigada. O objetivo geral é avaliar a atividade anti-leishmania dos fármacos veterinários IVM e DPI. Os materiais e métodos compreendem experimentação in vitro, realizada por meio de teste de viabilidade das promastigotas (obtido pelo teste MTT) e amastigotas (obtido por leitura no equipamento Operetta®) de L. braziliensis e L. infantum frente aos fármacos, teste de citotoxicidade das linhagens celulares VERO e THP-1 frente aos fármacos. Para as formas amastigotas foi empregada a linhagem THP-1 como células hospedeiras. A curva de crescimento das promastigotas de L. braziliensis e L. infantum frente aos fármacos IVM e DPI foi realizada ao longo de oito dias consecutivos. Os resultados foram analisados com auxílio de testes estatísticos; p<0,05 representou diferença estatística significativa entre o teste e o grupo controle. A análise da viabilidade da IVM frente à promastigota de L. braziliensis e de L. infantum apresentou diferença estatística em todas as concentrações. A viabilidade do DPI frente à promastigota de L. braziliensis apresentou diferença estatística entre as concentrações de 100 e 1,23 ug/mL; e entre 100 a 3,7 ug/mL frente à promastigota de L. infantum. Quanto à citotoxicidade da IVM frente às células VERO, houve diferença em todas as concentrações; quanto ao DPI houve diferença estatística apenas na concentração de 333,33ug/mL. No teste de citotoxicidade da IVM frente às células THP-1 houve diferença estatística nas duas maiores concentrações, 100 e 33,33ug/mL; para DPI a análise mostrou não haver diferença nas diversas concentrações. Na análise da viabilidade das amastigotas de L. braziliensis com IVM, não houve diferença entre as concentrações testadas, diferentemente dos testes com amastigotas de L. infantum, em que houve diferença estatística das concentrações mais altas, 17 e 3,4ug/mL. Na viabilidade das amastigotas de L. braziliensis com DPI, houve diferença estatística nas concentrações 25, 5 e 1ug/mL; para amastigotas de L. infantum houve diferença nas concentrações de 25 e 5 ug/mL. A IVM foi eficaz contra os parasitos, porém tóxica contra as células; o DPI foi eficaz contra os parasitos e apresentou baixa toxicidade para as células. Conclui-se que o reposicionamento de DPI para o tratamento de leishmanioses causadas por L. braziliensis e L. infantum é promissor considerando a atividade anti-leishmania com baixa toxicidade demonstrada in vitro. Resultado esse inédito e promissor para futuros ensaios in vivo.Abstract: Leishmaniases make up a group of infectious, endemic and priority tropical diseases globally. Faced with vaccine unavailability, low availability, high cost and drug toxicity, the use of drugs marketed for the treatment of other diseases, other than those traditionally proposed by the manufacturer, is desirable. In this context, the drugs Ivermectin (IVM) and Imidocarb Dipropionate (DPI) stand out, whose potential anti-leishmania activity can be investigated. The general objective is to evaluate the anti-leishmanial activity of the veterinary drugs IVM and DPI. The materials and methods include in vitro experimentation, carried out by means of a viability test of promastigotes (obtained by the MTT test) and amastigotes (obtained by reading in the Operetta® equipment) of L. braziliensis and L. infantum against drugs, cytotoxicity test of VERO and THP-1 cell lines against drugs. For amastigotes, the THP-1 cell line was used as host cells. The growth curve of L. braziliensis and L. infantum promastigotes against the drugs IVM and DPI was carried out over eight consecutive days. The results were analyzed with the aid of statistical tests; p<0.05 represented a statistically significant difference between the test and the control group. The viability analysis of IVM against the promastigotes of L. braziliensis and L. infantum showed statistical difference in all concentrations. The viability of DPI against the promastigote of L. braziliensis showed statistical difference between the concentrations of 100 and 1.23 ug/mL; and between 100 and 3.7 ug/mL against the promastigotes of L. infantum. As for the cytotoxicity of IVM against VERO cells, there was difference in all concentrations; as for the DPI, there was a statistical difference only in the concentration of 333.33ug/mL. In the IVM cytotoxicity test against THP-1 cells, there was a statistical difference in the two highest concentrations, 100 and 33.33ug/mL; for DPI the analysis showed no difference in the different concentrations. In the viability analysis of L. braziliensis amastigotes with IVM, there was no difference between the tested concentrations, unlike the tests with L. infantum amastigotes, in which there was a statistical difference in the highest concentrations, 17 and 3.4ug/mL. In the viability of L. braziliensis amastigotes with DPI, there was statistical difference in the concentrations 25, 5 and 1ug/mL; for amastigotes of L. infantum there was a difference in the concentrations of 25 and 5 ug/mL. IVM was effective against parasites, but toxic against cells; DPI was effective against parasites and showed low toxicity to cells. It is concluded that the repositioning of DPI for the treatment of leishmaniasis caused by L. braziliensis and L. infantum is promising considering the anti-leishmanial activity with low toxicity demonstrated in vitro. This unprecedented and promising result for future in vivo tests