Uredbe Europske unije u svezi s mikotoksinima u hrani

Mycotoxins are fungal metabolites that are present in a large part of the world food supply and bear potential threat to food safety. The European Union has been working for several years now on the harmonization of some mycotoxin standards for foods based on toxicological evaluation by its Scientific Committee on Food (SCF). These standards will follow the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle and will be applied to aflatoxins in the first place followed by ochratoxin A, patulin, and several toxins from Fusarium spp. Detailed regulations (limits, methods of sampling, and analysis) for aflatoxins B, G, and M on the commodities at stake have been worked out. At the moment, a variety of interrelated approaches as to the intake and toxicity of ochratoxin A are being discussed to assess the hazards and to determine the associated risk of this toxin. The other toxins like patulin and the ones derived from Fusarium spp. such as zearalenon and fumonisins will be discussed in the years to come.Mikotoksini su potencijalno opasni gljivični metaboliti koji su prisutni u mnogim prehrambenim proizvodima. Europska unija već nekoliko godina radi na usklađivanju normi za mikotoksine u hrani koje se zasnivaju na toksikološkoj procjeni Znanstvenog odbora za hranu (engl. Scientific Committee on Food). Ove će norme slijediti načelo razumnog minimuma te će se odnositi prije svega na aflatoksine, okratoksin A, patulin i nekoliko drugih toksina iz vrsta Fusarium. Upravo se donose precizne uredbe (glede ograničenja, metoda uzorkovanja i analize) u svezi s aflatoksinima B, G i M. Trenutno se raspravlja o različitim međusobno povezanim pristupima unosu i toksičnosti okratoksina A kako bi se procijenila opasnost i rizici vezani za ovaj toksin. Tek slijedi rasprava o patulinu odnosno toksinima iz vrsta Fusarium kao što su zearalenon i fumonizini

Estudo de melhoramento do prado de aveia

Em 1985 a Escala Superior Agrária de Bragança começou, cem a colaboração do Parque Natural de Montesinho, um ensaio de fertilidade no Prado de Aveia . A sua localização é: + 0,5 km Deste de Gimonde, na concelho de Bragança, a uma altitude de 570 metros. O prado consta de duas partes secas e mais elevadas, dividido por uma parte húmida e mais baixa, cama se pede ver na figura 1. O lameira é submetido a um regime mista de ceifa e de pasto. A figura 2 mostra a divisão em talhões, esquematicamente, para a aplicação dos adubos nas várias concentrações. Os talh6es 1,3 e 6 não são adubados e fornecem assim uma comparação com a desenvolvimento natural da vegetação. O objectivo da ensaio de fertilidade é ver se é possível melhorar esse prado semi-natural, no qual até agora não foram aplicadas fertilizantes, em termos de produção e valor nutritivo

Flora e vegetação da bacia superior do rio Sabor no Parque Natural de Montesinho

O Parque Natural de Montesinho situado no N.E. de Portugal, englobando as serras de Montesinho e Coroa, visa fundamentalmente a protecçâo dos aspectos naturais existentes. Mas sem conhecer o meio natural será difícil tomar medidas de proteção. Depois da instalação do Parque, em 1979, só em 1985 foi passivei iniciar um estudo fitossociológico dentro da zona. Foi escolhida a bacia superior do Rio Sabor por abranger a Serra de Montesinho, a parte talvez mais impressionante do Parque, e também por existi r um estudo climatológico realizado na mesma zona (Gonçalves,1985

Environmental firms' better attitude towards nature in the context of corporate compliance

The recent publishing of the Criminal Code Reform, known as the Corporate Governance Code and by which companies are prosecuted for the crimes they have committed, is contributing towards improving the management of companies involved in using natural resources. This study explores the disposition of environmental companies towards respect for nature in the context of the new Spanish Criminal Code 1/2015. Over 916 companies, including 104 environmental companies, have been asked about their knowledge of the code and the consequences it has for them through a survey. The paper explores the influence of regulatory compliance, coercive enforcement and cooperative actions on environmental companies to develop better attitudes towards nature. Partial Least Squares (PLS) Path Modelling was used to build an interaction model among variables. The results of the research reveal how environmental companies are more inclined to developing organizational standards (Cooperative Environmental Protocols) and to improving compliance with environmental law (coercive regulation). The model has a moderate predictive effect, explaining 54.1% of environmental companies’ Better Attitude towards Nature. The findings may have important implications for environmental authorities when deterring environmental crimes

Preparation of amino-substituted indenes and 1,4-dihydronaphthalenes using a one-pot multireaction approach: total synthesis of oxybenzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids

Allylic trichloroacetimidates bearing a 2-vinyl or 2-allylaryl group have been designed as substrates for a one-pot, two-step multi-bond-forming process leading to the general preparation of aminoindenes and amino-substituted 1,4-dihydronaphthalenes. The synthetic utility of the privileged structures formed from this one-pot process was demonstrated with the total synthesis of four oxybenzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids, oxychelerythrine, oxysanguinarine, oxynitidine, and oxyavicine. An intramolecular biaryl Heck coupling reaction, catalyzed using the Hermann–Beller palladacycle was used to effect the key step during the synthesis of the natural products

Improvement of local budget filling

This chapter describes the biological removal of sulphur compounds from gas streams. First, an overview is given of the toxicity of sulphur compounds to animals and humans whereafter biological and industrial formation routes for (organic) sulphur compounds are given. Microbial degradation routes of volatile organic sulphur compounds under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions are presented. Finally, the most commonly applied processes for sulphur removal from gaseous streams are discussed and an overview is given of operating experiences for biological gas treatment systems. The chapter concludes with some remarks on future developments

Accumulation of an Antidepressant in Vesiculogenic Membranes of Yeast Cells Triggers Autophagy

Many antidepressants are cationic amphipaths, which spontaneously accumulate in natural or reconstituted membranes in the absence of their specific protein targets. However, the clinical relevance of cellular membrane accumulation by antidepressants in the human brain is unknown and hotly debated. Here we take a novel, evolutionarily informed approach to studying the effects of the selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline/Zoloft® on cell physiology in the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast), which lacks a serotonin transporter entirely. We biochemically and pharmacologically characterized cellular uptake and subcellular distribution of radiolabeled sertraline, and in parallel performed a quantitative ultrastructural analysis of organellar membrane homeostasis in untreated vs. sertraline-treated cells. These experiments have revealed that sertraline enters yeast cells and then reshapes vesiculogenic membranes by a complex process. Internalization of the neutral species proceeds by simple diffusion, is accelerated by proton motive forces generated by the vacuolar H+-ATPase, but is counteracted by energy-dependent xenobiotic efflux pumps. At equilibrium, a small fraction (10–15%) of reprotonated sertraline is soluble while the bulk (90–85%) partitions into organellar membranes by adsorption to interfacial anionic sites or by intercalation into the hydrophobic phase of the bilayer. Asymmetric accumulation of sertraline in vesiculogenic membranes leads to local membrane curvature stresses that trigger an adaptive autophagic response. In mutants with altered clathrin function, this adaptive response is associated with increased lipid droplet formation. Our data not only support the notion of a serotonin transporter-independent component of antidepressant function, but also enable a conceptual framework for characterizing the physiological states associated with chronic but not acute antidepressant administration in a model eukaryote