Removal of Pesticide Residues from Okra Vegetable through Traditional Processing

Demand for vegetables in Pakistan is constantly increasing to feed growing population. Pakistan is the second largest producer of okra and in Sindh okra is produced throughout the year. Okra crop is attacked by variety of insect pests and commercial okra production relies heavily on the pesticides belonging to organochlorine, organophosphate, carbamate, pyrethroid and neo-nicotinoid groups for pest control. Moreover, growers do not observe safety interval for okra harvest. Hence the okra sold in Pakistani markets is highly contaminated with pesticide residues. Aim of this research study was to determine the extent of pesticide residue decontamination in okra vegetable through traditional processing. Okra crop was sprayed with bifenthrin, profenofos and endosulfan, and different processing were applied on okra such as washing, detergent washing, sun-drying and cooking, etc. Bifenthrin, profenofos and endosulfan pesticide residues were extracted from okra by solvent partitioning and cleaned up through Florisil column using organic solvents for elusion as described by EPA and FDA procedures. Cleaned up residues were analyzed through GC-µECD. The results revealed that endosulfan levels were reduced to MRL by detergent washing (from 2.01 ppm in unwashed samples to 1.03ppm). Profenofos residues (3.21ppm) were reduced to MRL (2.0ppm) by detergent washing and by combination of plain water washing and frying. Bifenthrin MRL is very low (0.04ppm) and only combination of detergent washing and frying reduced residues from 0.311 ppm to 0.042 ppm

Removal of Pesticide Residues from Okra Vegetable through Traditional Processing

The study has been designed to determine the extent of pesticide residues removal from okra through household processing. For this, okra crop was grown on university farm and application of pesticides were carried out at recommended dosage. After 24 hours, the okra was harvested, labeled and brought to the laboratory of Institute of Food Sciences and Technology, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam for their analyses and further processing such as washing, detergent washing, sun-drying and cooking, etc. being practiced at various households. Pesticide residues were extracted from okra by solvent partitioning and cleaned by C18 cartridges/activated charcoal by using acetonitrile for elution and then cleaned up residues were analyzed through HPLC-UV. The analysis of data revealed that imidacloprid is highly effective against pests at low dosages and its residues in processed as well as unprocessed okra samples were within MRLs (0.5ppm). Imidacloprid residues 0.31 ppm in unwashed okra was reduced to 0.082 ppm by detergent washing (73% removal). Emamectin benzoate residues were high in unwashed okra (0.51 ppm as against MRLs of 0.2ppm), however, its residues were reduced to MRLs by detergent washing and subsequent processing by frying, thermal dehydration or sun-drying of detergent washed okra

Doing well or doing good? Extrinsic and intrinsic CSR in Switzerland

Arguably, within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) the intrinsic motive is more significant than the extrinsic because the former induces a stronger involvement. Others showed that a behaviour attributed to extrinsic motives is mostly perceived as dishonest and misleading. This highlights how important the underlying motivation is for the perception, and thus, design and effectiveness of CSR frameworks. This study discusses these divergent motives with two focus groups: together with seven owner-managers of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) and seven managers of large companies. The results show that CSR implementation in Swiss SMEs is related more strongly to moral commitment than to profit-maximisation. Accordingly, small business CSR emerges from the nexus of mission and value-set and the sociological tradition of the stewardship concept. This contrasts the extrinsically motivated approach of the large companies under research. In sum, this study showed that CSR is meaningful and justifiable even if it is not profitable in the first place

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)