Determination of 24 primary aromatic amines in aqueous food simulants by combining solid phase extraction and salting-out assisted liquid?liquid extraction with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Carcinogenic primary aromatic amines (PAAs) can be released from improperly manufactured food packaging materials. The limit for the sum of PAAs is set to 10 ?gkg- 1 in Commission Regulation No. 10/2011 (FCM Regulation). However, a lower individual limit, 2 ?gkg- 1 has been recently introduced for the carcinogenic PAAs in Commission Regulation No. 2020/1245. As the majority of the previously published methods are no longer compliant with the current regulation, a UHPLC-MS/MS method was developed to enable food packaging compliance testing for PAAs not only from 3% (w/v) acetic acid, but also from 10% (v/v) ethanol food simulant. Since the latest amendment of the FCM Regulation refers to the list of the 22 restricted PAAs of EU Regulation No. 1907/2006, these PAAs were selected as target compounds along with aniline and p-toluidine, the most common impurities of azo colorants and isocyanates. An enrichment factor of 20 could be achieved combining solid phase extraction with salting-out assisted liquid?liquid extraction. The method was successfully validated and applied on real samples. Limit of quantitation (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) values were 0.15 ?gL-1 and 0.05 ?gL-1 for both food simulants, respectively; except for 2,4-diaminotoluene, aniline and 4,4?-oxydianiline. However, even these compounds had lower LOD values than the new individual limit of 2 ?gkg- 1. Cumulative LOD values for both food simulants (1.6 ?gL-1 and 1.5 ?gL-1 for 3% (w/v) acetic acid and 10% (v/v) ethanol, respectively) were lower than the 10 ?gkg- 1 specified in the FCM Regulation. Accuracy values were between 70 and 118% for both food simulants for the majority of PAAs. Both within-day and between-day precision values were below 20%. This method proved to be suitable for daily routine analysis enabling compliance testing of food packaging materials according to the latest regulations. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of plastic kitchenware samples

Trans-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of prostate cancer identifies new susceptibility loci and informs genetic risk prediction.

Prostate cancer is a highly heritable disease with large disparities in incidence rates across ancestry populations. We conducted a multiancestry meta-analysis of prostate cancer genome-wide association studies (107,247 cases and 127,006 controls) and identified 86 new genetic risk variants independently associated with prostate cancer risk, bringing the total to 269 known risk variants. The top genetic risk score (GRS) decile was associated with odds ratios that ranged from 5.06 (95% confidence interval (CI), 4.84-5.29) for men of European ancestry to 3.74 (95% CI, 3.36-4.17) for men of African ancestry. Men of African ancestry were estimated to have a mean GRS that was 2.18-times higher (95% CI, 2.14-2.22), and men of East Asian ancestry 0.73-times lower (95% CI, 0.71-0.76), than men of European ancestry. These findings support the role of germline variation contributing to population differences in prostate cancer risk, with the GRS offering an approach for personalized risk prediction

Association between Obesity and Overweight and Cardiorespiratory and Muscle Performance in Adolescents

The high prevalence of obesity in childhood and adolescence has major public health consequences, since it is associated with various chronic diseases in the short- and long-term. The goal of our study was to examine the possible association between obesity and overweight and cardiorespiratory and muscle performance during a 4-year follow up period in adolescents. The body mass index (BMI) and physical performance of adolescents (360 girls and 348 boys) between 14–18 years of age was measured twice a year, and the possible correlation between overweight and obesity and cardiorespiratory and muscle performances were investigated. Our results revealed that cardiorespiratory performance increased significantly in boys during the 4 years (p < 0.001), but the aerobic performance of girls only showed seasonal fluctuation. Muscle performance significantly increased both in boys and girls (p < 0.001). Inverse association between obesity and cardiorespiratory and muscle performance was proved. Overweight was also inversely correlated with cardiorespiratory performance, but it demonstrated no correlation with muscle strength. Avoiding increased BMI and decreased physical fitness is essential for adolescents’ health to prevent short- and long-term adverse effects

Examination of Self-Esteem, Body Image, Eating Attitudes and Cardiorespiratory Performance in Adolescents

Self-esteem, body image and eating attitudes are important characteristics regarding adolescent mental health. In our present work, we aimed to investigate these psychological items in adolescent boys and girls examining gender differences and correlations with the BMI-for-age and cardiorespiratory performance. 374 students (209 girls with an average age of 16.4 ± 1.08 years, and 165 boys with an average age of 16.5 ± 1.03 years) underwent investigation using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, EAT-26 and BAT questionnaires. The BMI-for-age was calculated with BMI growth charts and the cardiorespiratory performance was measured with the 20 m shuttle run test. Our results showed that adolescent girls scored lower self-esteem and higher values for BAT and each scale of eating behaviors, such as uncontrolled eating, cognitive restraints and emotional eating compared to boys despite the fact, that obesity and overweight were more common among boys. No significant correlation was found between BMI and psychological test results in either boys or girls, however, subjective body shape and gender predicted self-esteem and BAT scores and the cognitive restraints in the eating attitudes. Uncontrolled and emotional eating were primarily influenced by gender, in which BMI played only a weaker role. Cardiorespiratory performance was positively associated with self-esteem and body image among boys, and it had a negative correlation regarding BMI in both genders

The Presence of a Novel Type of Surface Polysaccharide in \u3cem\u3eRhizobium meliloti\u3c/em\u3e Requires a New Fatty Acid Synthase-like Gene Cluster Involved in Symbiotic Nodule Development

Bacterial exopolysaccharide (EPS) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecules have been shown to play important roles in plant‐bacterium interactions. Here we have demonstrated that the fix‐23 loci, which compensate for exo mutations during symbiotic nodule development, are involved in the production of a novel polysaccharide that is rich in 3‐deoxy‐D manno‐2‐octulosonic acid (Kdo) but is not the classical LPS. This molecule is likely to be a surface antigen since antiserum to whole Rhizobium meliloti cells reacts strongly with it, and since mutations in fix‐23 result in an inability to produce this polysaccharide and to bind bacteriophage 16‐3. It is likely that this Kdo‐rich polysaccharide is analogous to certain Escherichia coli K‐antigens which are anchored to the membrane via a phospholipid moiety. DNA sequence analysis of one gene cluster of this region revealed that the predicted protein products of six genes exhibit a high degree of homology and similar organization to those of the rat fatty acid synthase multifunctional enzyme domains