Commune agroecosystem analysis to support decision making for water allocation for fisheries and agriculture in the Tonle Sap wetland system

The Project on Commune Agroecosystem Analysis to Support Decision Making for Water Allocation for Fisheries and Agriculture in the Tonle Sap Wetland System was undertaken with the aim of improving fisheries considerations in the Commune Agroecosystem Analysis (CAEA) process undertaken in Cambodia, to facilitate better planning at the commune level. Under this project a number of changes were made to the CAEA tools and process and pilot tested in an adaptive, iterative manner in four communes – two that had conducted a CAEA previously and two that had not. Results and analyses indicated that the project had significantly strengthened the manner in which livelihoods, water resources and fisheries are now addressed by CAEA. The revised CAEA guidance manual has also shown potential for having wider uptake, and a number of tools have been used by several other projects within Cambodia

South African Menopause Society revised consensus position statement on menopausal hormone therapy

The South African Menopause Society (SAMS) consensus position statement on menopausal hormone therapy (HT) 2014 is a revision of the SAMS Council consensus statement on menopausal HT published in the SAMJ in May 2007. Information presented in the previous statement has been re-evaluated and new evidence has been incorporated. While the recommendations pertaining to HT remain similar to those in the previous statement, the 2014 revision includes a wider range of clinical benefits for HT, the inclusion of non-hormonal alternatives such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors for the management of vasomotor symptoms, and an appraisal of bioidentical hormones and complementary medicines used for treatment of menopausal symptoms. New preparations that are likely to be more commonly used in the future are also mentioned. The revised statement emphasises that commencing HT during the 'therapeutic window of opportunity' maximises the benefit-to-risk profile of therapy in symptomatic menopausal women

Virulence characteristics and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Shiga toxin-producing escherichia coli isolates from humans in South Africa : 2006–2013

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) isolates (N = 38) that were incriminated in human disease from 2006 to 2013 in South Africa were characterized by serotype, virulence-associated genes, antimicrobial resistance and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The isolates belonged to 11 O:H serotypes. STEC O26:H11 (24%) was the most frequent serotype associated with human disease, followed by O111:H8 (16%), O157:H7 (13%) and O117:H7 (13%). The majority of isolates were positive for key virulence-associated genes including stx1 (84%), eaeA (61%), ehxA (68.4%) and espP (55%), but lacked stx2 (29%), katP (42%), etpD (16%), saa (16%) and subA (3%). stx2 positive isolates carried stx2c (26%) and/or stx2d (26%) subtypes. All pathogenicity island encoded virulence marker genes were detected in all (100%) isolates except nleA (47%), nleC (84%) and nleD (76%). Multidrug resistance was observed in 89% of isolates. PFGE revealed 34 profiles with eight distinct clusters that shared 80% intra-serotype similarity, regardless of the year of isolation. In conclusion, STEC isolates that were implicated in human disease between 2006 and 2013 in South Africa were mainly non-O157 strains which possessed virulence genes and markers commonly associated with STEC strains that have been incriminated in mild to severe human disease worldwide. Improved STEC monitoring and surveillance programs are needed in South Africa to control and prevent STEC disease in humans.The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa: Thuthuka (TTK13062619943), Research Technology Fund (RTF14012762427), the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD Grants-2013-2015) and the South African Medical Research Council (Self-Initiated Research 2017-2019).https://www.mdpi.com/journal/toxinsam2019Paraclinical Science

Essential oils as antibacterial agents against food-borne pathogens: are they really as useful as they are claimed to be ?

Original articleMost studies evaluating the use of essential oils (EO) as antibacterial agents focus mainly on minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) rather than minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC). In this work, we compared MICs and MBCs of EO from condiment plants commonly used in Mediterranean Europe, namely Origanum vulgare, Salvia lavandulaefolia, Salvia officinalis, Salvia sclarea and Rosmarinus officinalis, aiming to evaluate their application as disinfecting agents in minimally processed produce. Outbreaks-related pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Yarrowia lipolytica were used. Results showed that all EO were able to reduce bacterial growth in all bacterial strains tested, particularly O. vulgare. However, fewer EO exhibited bactericidal activities, and were only effective against one or two bacterial strains, hence eliminating the possibility to use them as broad range disinfectants. Furthermore, the necessary concentrations were too high for food application. Hence, our work suggests the need to evaluate MBC rather than MIC and questions EO usefulness in controlling undesired microorganisms. Overall, and despite the large volume of data published on EO, results obtained were not very encouraging for a realistic application on produce and question the viability of EOs as disinfecting agents in foodinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Corelation between the sensorial perception and the instrumental analysis of the tackiness of silicone elastomers

International audienc

Correlation between the sensorial perception and the descriptive instrumental analysis of the tackines of silicone elastomers

9-14 septembreInternational audienc

Characterization and differentiation of gel-like elastomers and compact silicones in order to realize a sensorial rating

International audienceSensorial tests on silicones tackiness perception with naïve consumers show that the stickiness sensation can be disturbed by the sensation of finger penetration into the sample. Indeed a frequent report is that a non-expert people cannot perceive whether tackiness sensation is related to the material adhesion properties or whether it is related to the finger penetration. The samples are both elastomers silicones butsome are gel-like elastomers and others are compact silicones. We use an experimental device to realize indentation tests in order to try to differentiate mechanically the two silicones. The apparatus developed in the laboratory allows to characterize and to study the adhesion properties of materials. The analysis of the results should allow to investigate which parameter can influence the sensorial analysis of tackiness

Relation between fruit density and B-carotene content in ripe mango

P-carotene content is one of the main factors that determines the nutritional quality and orange color of ripe mango fruit. lt is known as the pro vitamin A. and it is generally the predominant carotenoid in ripe mango. Currently, fresh fruit sector demands a reliable non­ destructive indicator to better predict the nutritional quality of ripe mango, and especially in terms of P-carotene content. Fruit density has been applied in horticulture sector to predict dry matter or maturation stage of mango. lt would interesting to know if it can be a relevant non-destructive indicator of the carotenoid content in fruits Therefore. the aim of this study was to identify the relationship between mango density and P-carotene content at the ripe stage. Mangoes [cv. 'Kent'), from Ivory Coast. Peru, and Brazil were selected from a manga importer in France at a green mature stage [day 0J. Then, all mangoes were ripened at 18 °C and 80% of relative humidity. Color of ripe mango pulp and p-carotene contents were assessed 11 and 15 days after [day 0) corresponding to a ripe stage of consumption. Fruit density was significantly correlated to the pulp color and p-carotene contents of ripe mangoes, whatever the origin [p-value < 0.05). Mango fruits with a high density were characterized by high value of Chroma. lower value of Hue angle, and high contents in P-carot ene. P-carotene content was found in range of [92-307 µg1.00g.FM-1] for low density mango, and in range of [365-924 µg.100g.FM-1] for high density mango . So, fruit density, measured at the green-mature stage, could be a reliable indicator to predict the nutritional quality of mango fruit at the ripening stage, which is extremely useful for fresh fruit sector for grading or sorting mango fruit early in the supply chain