EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF); Scientific Opinion on Flavouring Group Evaluation 12, Revision 2 (FGE.12Rev2): Primary saturated or unsaturated alicyclic alcohol, aldehyde, acid, and esters from chemical group 7

The Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids of the European Food Safety Authority was requested to evaluate 10 flavouring substances in the Flavouring Group Evaluation 12 (FGE.12), including an additional substance in revision 3, using the Procedure in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1565/2000. This revision is made due to inclusion of one additional flavouring substance, 2,6,6-trimethylcyclohex-2-ene-1-carboxaldehyde [FL-no: 05.182]. None of the substances were considered to have genotoxic potential. The substances were evaluated through a stepwise approach (the Procedure) that integrates information on structure-activity relationships, intake from current uses, toxicological threshold of concern, and available data on metabolism and toxicity. The Panel concluded that all 10 substances [FL-no: 02.134, 02.186, 05.157, 05.182, 05.183, 05.198, 08.135, 09.342, 09.670 and 09.829] do not give rise to safety concerns at their levels of dietary intake, estimated on the basis of the MSDI approach. Besides the safety assessment of these flavouring substances, the specifications for the materials of commerce have also been considered. Specifications including complete purity criteria and identity for the materials of commerce have been provided for all 10 candidate substances

Perturbations of nuclear C*-algebras

Kadison and Kastler introduced a natural metric on the collection of all C*-subalgebras of the bounded operators on a separable Hilbert space. They conjectured that sufficiently close algebras are unitarily conjugate. We establish this conjecture when one algebra is separable and nuclear. We also consider one-sided versions of these notions, and we obtain embeddings from certain near inclusions involving separable nuclear C*-algebras. At the end of the paper we demonstrate how our methods lead to improved characterisations of some of the types of algebras that are of current interest in the classification programme.Comment: 45 page

'Test n Treat' (TnT): a cluster randomized feasibility trial of on-site rapid Chlamydia trachomatis tests and treatment in ethnically diverse, sexually active teenagers attending technical colleges.

Objectives We conducted a cluster-randomized feasibility trial of 90-minute Chlamydia trachomatis tests and same day on-site treatment (‘Test n Treat/TnT’) in six technical colleges in London, England, to assess TnT uptake rates; follow-up rates; prevalence of C. trachomatis at baseline and 7 months; time to treatment; acceptability of TnT. Methods Participants completed questionnaires and provided genitourinary samples at baseline and 7 months. Participants were informed that baseline samples would not be tested for 7 months and were advised to get screened independently. Colleges were randomly allocated 1:1 to intervention (TnT) or control (no TnT). One month and 4 months post recruitment, participants at intervention colleges were texted invitations for on-site free C. trachomatis tests. A purposive sample of students who did/did not attend for screening were interviewed (n = 26). Results Five hundred and nine sexually active students were recruited: median age 17.9 years, 47% male, 50% black ethnicity, 55% reporting two or more sexual partners in the previous year. TnT uptake was 13% (33/259; 95% CI 8.9–17.4%) at 1 month and 10% (26/259; 6.7–14.4%) at 4 months with overall C. trachomatis positivity 5.1% (3/59; 1.1–14.2%). Follow-up at 7 months was 62% (317/509) for questionnaires and 52% (264/509) for samples. C. trachomatis prevalence was 6.2% (31/503) at baseline and 6.1% (16/264) at 7 months. Median time from test to treatment was 15 h. Interviews suggested low test uptake was associated with not feeling at risk, perceptions of stigma, and little knowledge of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Conclusions Despite high C. trachomatis rates at baseline and follow-up, uptake of testing was low. Like many countries, England urgently needs better sex education, including making STI testing routine/normal. Trial registration ISRCTN5803879

The Impact of HAART on the Respiratory Complications of HIV Infection: Longitudinal Trends in the MACS and WIHS Cohorts

Objective: To review the incidence of respiratory conditions and their effect on mortality in HIV-infected and uninfected individuals prior to and during the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Design: Two large observational cohorts of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected men (Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study [MACS]) and women (Women's Interagency HIV Study [WIHS]), followed since 1984 and 1994, respectively. Methods: Adjusted odds or hazards ratios for incident respiratory infections or non-infectious respiratory diagnoses, respectively, in HIV-infected compared to HIV-uninfected individuals in both the pre-HAART (MACS only) and HAART eras; and adjusted Cox proportional hazard ratios for mortality in HIV-infected persons with lung disease during the HAART era. Results: Compared to HIV-uninfected participants, HIV-infected individuals had more incident respiratory infections both pre-HAART (MACS, odds ratio [adjusted-OR], 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2-2.7; p<0.001) and after HAART availability (MACS, adjusted-OR, 1.5; 95%CI 1.3-1.7; p<0.001; WIHS adjusted-OR, 2.2; 95%CI 1.8-2.7; p<0.001). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was more common in MACS HIV-infected vs. HIV-uninfected participants pre-HAART (hazard ratio [adjusted-HR] 2.9; 95%CI, 1.02-8.4; p = 0.046). After HAART availability, non-infectious lung diseases were not significantly more common in HIV-infected participants in either MACS or WIHS participants. HIV-infected participants in the HAART era with respiratory infections had an increased risk of death compared to those without infections (MACS adjusted-HR, 1.5; 95%CI, 1.3-1.7; p<0.001; WIHS adjusted-HR, 1.9; 95%CI, 1.5-2.4; p<0.001). Conclusion: HIV infection remained a significant risk for infectious respiratory diseases after the introduction of HAART, and infectious respiratory diseases were associated with an increased risk of mortality. © 2013 Gingo et al

Effect of concrete slats, three mat types and out-wintering pads on performance and welfare of finishing beef steers

peer-reviewedBackground The objective was to investigate the effect of placing mats on concrete slatted floors on performance, behaviour, hoof condition, dirt scores, physiological and immunological variables of beef steers, and to compare responses with animals on out-wintering pads. Continental crossbred beef steers [n = 360; mean (±SD) initial live weight 539 kg (42.2)] were blocked by breed and live weight and randomly assigned to one of five treatments; (1) Concrete slats alone, (2) Mat 1 (Natural Rubber structure) (Durapak Rubber Products), (3) Mat 2 (Natural rubber structure) (EasyFix), (4) Mat 3 (modified ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam structure) and (5) Out-wintering pads (OWP’s). Results Animals on the OWPs had a greater (P  0.05) as the other treatments. Animals on the OWPs had reduced lying percentage time compared with all the other treatments. Dry matter (DM) intake was greater for animals on the OWPs compared with all the other treatments. Carcass weight, kill out proportion, carcass fat score, carcass composition score, FCR and physiological responses were similar (P > 0.05) among treatments. No incidence of laminitis was observed among treatments. The number of hoof lesions was greater on all mat types (P < 0.05) compared with concrete slats and OWP treatments. Dirt scores were greater (P < 0.05) for animals on OWPs when measured on days 42, 84, 105, 126 and 150 compared with animals on slats. Conclusions Under the conditions adopted for the present study, there was no evidence to suggest that animals housed on bare concrete slats were disadvantaged in respect of animal welfare compared with animals housed on other floor types. It is concluded that the welfare of steers was not adversely affected by slats compared with different mat types or OWPs

Asymmetric triplex metallohelices with high and selective activity against cancer cells

Small cationic amphiphilic α-helical peptides are emerging as agents for the treatment of cancer and infection, but they are costly and display unfavourable pharmacokinetics. Helical coordination complexes may offer a three-dimensional scaffold for the synthesis of mimetic architectures. However, the high symmetry and modest functionality of current systems offer little scope to tailor the structure to interact with specific biomolecular targets, or to create libraries for phenotypic screens. Here, we report the highly stereoselective asymmetric self-assembly of very stable, functionalized metallohelices. Their anti-parallel head-to-head-to-tail ‘triplex’ strand arrangement creates an amphipathic functional topology akin to that of the active sub-units of, for example, host-defence peptides and ​p53. The metallohelices display high, structure-dependent toxicity to the human colon carcinoma cell-line HCT116 ​p53++, causing dramatic changes in the cell cycle without DNA damage. They have lower toxicity to human breast adenocarcinoma cells (MDA-MB-468) and, most remarkably, they show no significant toxicity to the bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. At a glanc

Efavirenz versus boosted atazanavir-containing regimens and immunologic, virologic, and clinical outcomes: A prospective study of HIV-positive individuals

OBJECTIVE: To compare regimens consisting of either ritonavir-boosted atazanavir or efavirenz and a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) backbone with respect to clinical, immunologic, and virologic outcomes. DESIGN: Prospective studies of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals in Europe and the United States included in the HIV-CAUSAL Collaboration. METHODS: HIV-positive, antiretroviral therapy-naive, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-free individuals were followed from the time they started an atazanavir or efavirenz regimen. We estimated an analog of the "intention-to-treat" effect for efavirenz versus atazanavir regimens on clinical, immunologic, and virologic outcomes with adjustment via inverse probability weighting for time-varying covariates. RESULTS: A total of 4301 individuals started an atazanavir regimen (83 deaths, 157 AIDS-defining illnesses or deaths) and 18,786 individuals started an efavirenz regimen (389 deaths, 825 AIDS-defining illnesses or deaths). During a median follow-up of 31 months, the hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.98 (0.77, 1.24) for death and 1.09 (0.91, 1.30) for AIDS-defining illness or death comparing efavirenz with atazanavir regimens. The 5-year survival difference was 0.1% (95% confidence interval: -0.7%, 0.8%) and the AIDS-free survival difference was -0.3% (-1.2%, 0.6%). After 12 months, the mean change in CD4 cell count was 20.8 (95% confidence interval: 13.9, 27.8) cells/mm lower and the risk of virologic failure was 20% (14%, 26%) lower in the efavirenz regimens. CONCLUSION: Our estimates are consistent with a smaller 12-month increase in CD4 cell count, and a smaller risk of virologic failure at 12 months for efavirenz compared with atazanavir regimens. No overall differences could be detected with respect to 5-year survival or AIDS-free survival

Erosion consequences on beach functions along the Maresme coast (NW Mediterranean, Spain)

A methodology to analyse the influence of erosion on beach functions at a regional scale is presented. The method considers erosion hazards at different timescales and assesses consequences by evaluating impacts on recreation and protection functions. To provide useful information to decision makers for managing these functions, hazard and consequences are integrated at the municipal level within a risk matrix. This methodology is applied at the Maresme, a 45-km sandy coast situated northward of Barcelona, which supports a strong urban and infrastructure development as well as an intensive beach recreational use. Obtained results indicate differentiated erosion implications along the region, depending on the management target considered. Thus, southern municipalities are more prone to erosion affecting the protection function of the beach and leisure use by the local population, whereas erosion will have a greater effect on foreign tourism in the northern municipalities. These results highlight the necessity to employ an articulated erosion risk assessment focusing on specific targets depending on the site in question. This methodology can help coastal managers to adopt tailored measures to manage erosion impacts towards specific goals, in a more efficient and sustainable manner