Prevalence of Campylobacter and Salmonella in African food animals and meat: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Campylobacter and Salmonella, particularly non-typhoidal Salmonella, are important bacterial enteric pathogens of humans which are often carried asymptomatically in animal reservoirs. Bacterial foodborne infections, including those derived from meat, are associated with illness and death globally but the burden is disproportionately high in Africa. Commercial meat production is increasing and intensifying in many African countries, creating opportunities and threats for food safety. Methods: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched six databases for English language studies published through June 2016, that reported Campylobacter or Salmonella carriage or infection prevalence in food animals and contamination prevalence in food animal products from African countries. A random effects meta-analysis and multivariable logistic regression were used to estimate the species-specific prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter and assess relationships between sample type and region and the detection or isolation of either pathogen. Results: Seventy-three studies reporting Campylobacter and 187 studies reporting Salmonella across 27 African countries were represented. Adjusted prevalence calculations estimate Campylobacter detection in 37.7% (95% CI 31.6–44.3) of 11,828 poultry samples; 24.6% (95% CI 18.0–32.7) of 1975 pig samples; 17.8% (95% CI 12.6–24.5) of 2907 goat samples; 12.6% (95% CI 8.4–18.5) of 2382 sheep samples; and 12.3% (95% CI 9.5–15.8) of 6545 cattle samples. Salmonella were detected in 13.9% (95% CI 11.7–16.4) of 25,430 poultry samples; 13.1% (95% CI 9.3–18.3) of 5467 pig samples; 9.3% (95% CI 7.2–12.1) of 2988 camel samples; 5.3% (95% CI 4.0–6.8) of 72,292 cattle samples; 4.8% (95% CI 3.6–6.3) of 11,335 sheep samples; and 3.4% (95% CI 2.2–5.2) of 4904 goat samples. ‘External’ samples (e.g. hide, feathers) were significantly more likely to be contaminated by both pathogens than ‘gut’ (e.g. faeces, cloaca) while meat and organs were significantly less likely to be contaminated than gut samples. Conclusions: This study demonstrated widespread prevalence of Campylobacter species and Salmonella serovars in African food animals and meat, particularly in samples of poultry and pig origin. Source attribution studies could help ascertain which food animals are contributing to human campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis and direct potential food safety interventions

Adverse Outcome Pathways Associated with the Ingestion of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles—A Systematic Review

Funding Information: This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC), PTDC/SAU-PUB/29481/2017 and co-funded by UIDB/00009/2020 (Centre for Toxicogenomics and Human Health—ToxOmics (UIDP/00009/2020; UIDB/00009/2020), iMed.ULisboa (UIDB/04138/2020+UIDP/04138/2020), CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020+UIDB/50017/2020+LA/P/0094/2020), and BioISI (UID/MULTI/04046/2019). N.V. thanks the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Ensino Superior, for her PhD grant 2020.07168.BD. L.G. was supported by FCT Individual CEEC as a Principal Researcher Grant (CEECIND/03143/2017) and R.A. as an Assistant Researcher Grant (CEECIND/01570/2018). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) are widely used, and humans are exposed through food (E171), cosmetics (e.g., toothpaste), and pharmaceuticals. The oral and gastrointestinal (GIT) tract are the first contact sites, but it may be systemically distributed. However, a robust adverse outcome pathway (AOP) has not been developed upon GIT exposure to TiO2-NPs. The aim of this review was to provide an integrative analysis of the published data on cellular and molecular mechanisms triggered after the ingestion of TiO2-NPs, proposing plausible AOPs that may drive policy decisions. A systematic review according to Prisma Methodology was performed in three databases of peer-reviewed literature: Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science. A total of 787 records were identified, screened in title/abstract, being 185 used for data extraction. The main endpoints identified were oxidative stress, cytotoxicity/apoptosis/cell death, inflammation, cellular and systemic uptake, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. From the results, AOPs were proposed where colorectal cancer, liver injury, reproductive toxicity, cardiac and kidney damage, as well as hematological effects stand out as possible adverse outcomes. The recent transgenerational studies also point to concerns with regard to population effects. Overall, the findings further support a limitation of the use of TiO2-NPs in food, announced by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).publishersversionpublishe

Adverse Outcome Pathways Associated with the Ingestion of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles - A Systematic Review

This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights in Toxicity and Cytotoxicity of NanomaterialsReviewTitanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) are widely used, and humans are exposed through food (E171), cosmetics (e.g., toothpaste), and pharmaceuticals. The oral and gastrointestinal (GIT) tract are the first contact sites, but it may be systemically distributed. However, a robust adverse outcome pathway (AOP) has not been developed upon GIT exposure to TiO2-NPs. The aim of this review was to provide an integrative analysis of the published data on cellular and molecular mechanisms triggered after the ingestion of TiO2-NPs, proposing plausible AOPs that may drive policy decisions. A systematic review according to Prisma Methodology was performed in three databases of peer-reviewed literature: Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science. A total of 787 records were identified, screened in title/abstract, being 185 used for data extraction. The main endpoints identified were oxidative stress, cytotoxicity/apoptosis/cell death, inflammation, cellular and systemic uptake, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. From the results, AOPs were proposed where colorectal cancer, liver injury, reproductive toxicity, cardiac and kidney damage, as well as hematological effects stand out as possible adverse outcomes. The recent transgenerational studies also point to concerns with regard to population effects. Overall, the findings further support a limitation of the use of TiO2-NPs in food, announced by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC), PTDC/SAU-PUB/29481/2017 and co-funded by UIDB/00009/2020 (Centre for Toxicogenomics and Human Health—ToxOmics (UIDP/00009/2020; UIDB/00009/2020), iMed.ULisboa (UIDB/04138/2020+UIDP/04138/2020), CESAM (UIDP/50017/ 2020+UIDB/50017/2020+LA/P/0094/2020), and BioISI (UID/MULTI/04046/2019). N.V. thanks the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Ensino Superior, for her PhD grant 2020.07168.BD. L.G. was supported by FCT Individual CEEC as a Principal Researcher Grant (CEECIND/03143/2017) and R.A. as an Assistant Researcher Grant (CEECIND/01570/2018)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Acaricidal activity of tea tree and lemon oil nanoemulsions against Rhipicephalus annulatus

Tick infestation is a serious problem in many countries since it has an impact on the health of animals used for food production and pets, and frequently affects humans. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the acaricidal effects of nanoemulsions of essential oils o

Intellect study typological aspects

The investigation object was 81 Egyptian students (for 5 study years) - real, hidden and unreal sinisters, dexters and ambidexters. Our aim was to assess some cognitive abilities in them dependently on their asymmetry individual profile. We have used classical methodics for asymmetry individual profile assess ment; anamnesis (sinisters among close relatives, arms and hemispheres trau mas - for asymmetry individual profile assessment); tests compiled by H. J. Ey senck (for IQ assessment). We have investigated terms formation process: terms determining, terms comparison and difference, logic correlations finding out, subject imaginations classification (4th one is excessive), subjects free classification

Total electron content forecasting using artificial neural network

Space weather forecasting and its importance for the power and communication industry have inspired research related to TEC forecasting lately. Research has attempted to establish an empirical model approach for TEC prediction. In this paper, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been applied in total electron content using GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor (GISTM) data from UKM Station. The TEC prediction will be useful in improving the quality of current GNSS applications, such as in automobiles, road mapping, location-based advertising, personal navigation or logistics. Hence, a neural network model was designed with relevant features and customised parameters. Various types of input data and data representations from the ionospheric activity were used for the chosen network structure, which was a three-layer perceptron trained by feed forward back propagation method and tested on the chosen test data. We found that the optimum RMSE occurred with 10 nodes as the best NN for GISTM UKM station for the studied period with RMSE 1.3457 TECU. An analysis was made to compare the TEC from the measured TEC with neural network prediction and from IRI-corr model. The results showed that the NN model forecast the TEC values close to the measured TEC values with 9.96% of relative error. Thus, the forecasting of total electron content has the potential to be implemented successfully with larger data set from multi-centred environment

Genetic Resistance of Bovines to Theileriosis

ReviewDiseases caused by ticks have a high impact on the health, welfare, and productivity of livestock species. They are also an important cause of economic losses in farms worldwide. An example of such diseases is theileriosis, which can be controlled by drugs or vaccines, although these are not fully efficient. Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative and more sustainable and efficient complementary strategies. These may involve the identification and selection of animals more resistant to the disease. Several previous studies have identified significant differences in resistance between different breeds, with resistant breeds typically identified as those native to the region where they are being studied, and susceptible as those from exotic breeds. These studies have indicated that resistance traits are intrinsically related to the modulation of the immune response to infection. This review aims to systematize the general knowledge about theileriosis, emphasize resistance to this disease as a sustainable control strategy, and identify which traits of resistance to the disease are already known in cattleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Photothermal affects our live

The photothermal effect of solid was first discovered by Alexander Graham Bell in 1880 while its application on determining the type of gaseous was recognized in 1903. However the application on solid only began in 1973 after Parker discovered it accidently during the characterizing of gas with photoacoustic cell. Following this, the research activities on solid have exploded by its flexibility in photothermal detections and can be applied in various applications. Here the review on photothermal research activities on sample characterizing in UPM and others are presented. Also included are the future direction and challenges in photothermal research

Embracing new-generation 'omics' tools to improve drought tolerance in cereal and food-legume crops

Drought stress presents a considerable threat to the global crop production. As a dominant source of vegetarian diet, cereals and grain-legumes remain crucial to meeting the growing dietary demands worldwide. Therefore, breeding cultivars of these staple crops with enhanced drought tolerance stands to be one of the most sustainable solutions to enhance food production in changing climate. Given the context, a more focused survey of environment-defined germplasm sets is imperative to comprehend such adaptive traits. In parallel, uncovering the genetic architecture and the molecular networks that collectively contribute towards drought tolerance is urgently required through rationally combining large-scale genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data. Also, attention needs to be directed to reasonably quantify the epistatic as well as environmental influences, thereby warranting deployment of analyses like metaquantitative trait loci (QTL) that encompass multiple environments and diverse genetic backgrounds. Further, innovative techniques like genomic selection (GS) and genome wide association study (GWAS) would help to capture the quantitative variation underlying drought tolerance. Equally importantly, integration of physiological traits-based techniques with ever-evolving 'omics' technologies and the new-generation phenotyping platforms will be of immense importance in advancing our existing knowledge about the genetically-complex and poorly-understood phenomena, such as plant drought response, and a deeper understanding would likely to provide a great impetus to the progress of crop breeding for drought tolerance