An update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on systemic insecticides. Part 2: impacts on organisms and ecosystems

New information on the lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on organisms is presented in this review, complementing the previous WIA in 2015. The high toxicity of these systemic insecticides to invertebrates has been confirmed and expanded to include more species and compounds. Most of the recent research has focused on bees and the sublethal and ecological impacts these insecticides have on pollinators. Toxic effects on other invertebrate taxa also covered predatory and parasitoid natural enemies and aquatic arthropods. Little, while not much new information has been gathered on soil organisms. The impact on marine coastal ecosystems is still largely uncharted. The chronic lethality of neonicotinoids to insects and crustaceans, and the strengthened evidence that these chemicals also impair the immune system and reproduction, highlights the dangers of this particular insecticidal classneonicotinoids and fipronil. , withContinued large scale – mostly prophylactic – use of these persistent organochlorine pesticides has the potential to greatly decreasecompletely eliminate populations of arthropods in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Sublethal effects on fish, reptiles, frogs, birds and mammals are also reported, showing a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity of these insecticides in vertebrates, and their deleterious impacts on growth, reproduction and neurobehaviour of most of the species tested. This review concludes with a summary of impacts on the ecosystem services and functioning, particularly on pollination, soil biota and aquatic invertebrate communities, thus reinforcing the previous WIA conclusions (van der Sluijs et al. 2015)

Analysis of Chestnut Cellular Tissue during Osmotic Dehydration, Air Drying, and Rehydration Processes

The analysis of changes in microstructure is very important in order to understand heat and mass transfer processes in biological systems and to evaluate physical properties and the quality of fresh and processed food materials. In this study, chestnut (Castanea sativa M.) samples were submitted to several processes such as osmotic dehydration by immersion in sucrose solution (60% w/w) at 25 degrees C, drying with hot air at 65 degrees C, and rehydration by contact with water at 25 degrees C. The surface cellular tissue of fresh and processed chestnut at different moisture contents was characterized by optical microscopy by means of size (surface area, perimeter, Feret's diameter) and shape (roundness, compactness, and elongation) parameters. The results indicated that during the osmotic dehydration the changes in microstructure can be considered practically negligible and during drying the size of chestnut cells decreased and shape parameters changed (decreasing roundness and compactness and increasing elongation). Finally, during rehydration the cells recovered their size by swelling rapidly (30min is enough to recover the size of the cells of fresh tissue), achieving at longer times greater sizes than those measured in the fresh chestnut; nevertheless, the shape parameters are not completely recovered (lower compactness and roundness values).The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia of Spain and FEDER (CTQ 2007-62009/PPQ).Moreira, R.; Chenlo, F.; Chaguri, L.; Mayor López, L. (2011). Analysis of Chestnut Cellular Tissue during Osmotic Dehydration, Air Drying, and Rehydration Processes. Drying Technology. 29(1):10-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2010.482709S101829

Different tools to trace geographic origin and seasonality of croaker (Micropogonias furnieri).

The aim of this study was to use proximate chemical composition, amcro and trace elements, fatty acid profile and stable isotopes as traceability tools to assess geographic origin and seasonality of croaker (Micropogonias furnieri).2015Autoria: FABÍOLA HELENA [i.e. DOS SANTOS] FOGAÇA