Prioritization of mycotoxins for risk management action based on both public health risk and mitigation efficacy

There is a large and progressively growing number of mycotoxins with new potential concerns and implications on consumer protection. The classical approach to risk management is to deal with each emerging hazard individually, leading to both overload and lack of coherence in terms of an overall riskbased approach. The development of mitigation strategies should prioritize mycotoxins that regularly occur at undesirable levels in commonly consumed commodities, wherein both the toxicological profiles and effectiveness of mitigation are understood with a reasonable degree of certainty. The ultimate goal of mycotoxin mitigation is to prevent adverse health effects caused by foodborne exposure to mycotoxins, while preserving nutritional and organoleptic quality of food. The International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe) Food Contaminants Task Force is firmly committed to contributing to the understanding of the issues of mycotoxins affecting the different points of the food chain. This presentation will illustrate a recent new activity that is devoted to establishing a framework for the prioritization of mycotoxins found in food following a risk-based approach (decision tree). Based on the evidence and scale of risk to consumers, and the potential for risk mitigation, the framework will enable the differentiation between mycotoxins where risk management action is both warranted and likely to be effective based on available evidence. Through case-studies, this framework will also highlight potential knowledge gaps. The proposed activity is therefore devoted to delineating the right path for scaling and prioritizing mycotoxins in terms of risk-ranking and consequent mitigation opportunities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inhibitor of cysteine protease and mortality of Diaphorina citri.

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is considered an important pest of citrus by its ability to transmit the HLB disease. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of protease inhibitors for the control of this insect. The tests were performed with Murraya paniculata plants. The following aqueous solutions were applied: (1) distilled water (control), (2) Triton X-100 (0.1 m L-1) and (3) cysteine proteinase inhibitor E-64 (0.05 mg mL-1) and Triton X -100 (0.1 mL L-1). Four treatments were performed: solutions (1), (2) and (3) were applied four days before the release of the insects on the plants and for the last treatment, solution (3) was applied immediately before the insects release. The solutions were applied to the stem of the plant, 20 mL per plant. Were used five plants per treatment. Ten adults of D. citri were released on each plant after four hours of starvation. Each plant was maintained in a cage and mortality was observed for five days. The data was analyzed by Tukey test (p>0.05). There was no significant difference in mortality of insects among the treatments. Enzymatic analysis showed that there is enzymatic activity of cysteine p roteases in the D. citri midgut, thus, the low mortality after ingestion of this compound may indicate the need to adapt the bioassay method

Copy number variants prioritization after array-CGH analysis - a cohort of 1000 patients

Array-based comparative genomic hybridization has been assumed to be the first genetic test offered to detect genomic imbalances in patients with unexplained intellectual disability with or without dysmorphisms, multiple congenital anomalies, learning difficulties and autism spectrum disorders. Our study contributes to the genotype/phenotype correlation with the delineation of laboratory criteria which help to classify the different copy number variants (CNVs) detected. We clustered our findings into five classes ranging from an imbalance detected in a microdeletion/duplication syndrome region (class I) to imbalances that had previously been reported in normal subjects in the Database of Genomic Variants (DGV) and thus considered common variants (class IV).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Antifungal activity of a novel chromene dimer

The activity on Aspergillus spp. growth and on ochratoxin A production of two novel chromene dimers (3) was evaluated. The results of the bioassays indicate that the chromene dimer 3a inhibited mycelia growth by approximately 50% (EC50) at 140.1 μmol L−1 for A. niger, 384.2 μmol L−1 for A. carbonarius, 69.1 μmol L−1 for A. alliaceus and 559.1 μmol L−1 for A. ochraceus. When applied at concentrations of 2 mmol L−1, 3a totally inhibited the growth of all Aspergillus spp. tested. Furthermore, ochratoxin A production by A. alliaceus was reduced by about 94% with a 200 μmol L−1 solution of this compound. A moderate inhibitory effect was observed for the analogous structure 3b on ochratoxin A production but not in mycelia growth. No inhibition was registered for compounds 2a and 2b, used as synthetic precursors of the dimeric species 3.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - SFRH/BD/ 11228/2002

Influência do ácido naftaleno acético e luminosidade no alongamento in vitro de orquídea.

Objetivou-se avaliar o uso de diferentes concentrações de ácido naftaleno-acético (ANA) e intensidades luminosas no alongamento in vitro de plântulas de híbridas de orquídeas oriundas do cruzamento entre Cattleya walkeriana 12 x Cattleya walkeriana "Lobo mau"

Deterrência alimentar e redução no ganho de peso de lagartas provocadas por extrato de Vernonanthura montevidensis (Spreng.).

Este trabalho avaliou em laboratório a ação de extratos de folhas de Vernonanthura montevidensis (Spreng.) H.Rob. (Asteraceae), popularmente chamada de vassoura-rosa, sobre lagartas de Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), conhecida como lagarta-da-soja e considerada um dos principais desfolhadores dessa cultura. Lagartas de A. gemmatalis foram submetidas a testes sem chance de escolha, sendo alimentadas com folhas de soja contendo extrato da planta a 14% em quatro diferentes solventes (hexano, diclorometano, metanol e água), todos comparados com a devida solução testemunha, composta de solvente e água. As lagartas com aproximadamente sete dias de idade foram pesadas, individualizadas em placas de Petri e deixadas em jejum por duas horas antes do início do bioensaio. O extrato foi oferecido às lagartas sobre folhas de soja previamente higienizadas, secas à sombra e submetidas ao medidor de área foliar. As folhas foram mergulhadas nas soluções contendo o extrato por 20 segundos. Após a secagem, cada folha foi oferecida a uma lagarta acondicionada em placa de Petri, havendo 15 repetições por tratamento. O bioensaio foi conduzido em ambiente controlado a 27 ± 1°C, 70% de umidade e fotoperíodo de 12h:12h (Luz:Escuro). Após 24 horas, as folhas foram retiradas e novamente submetidas ao medidor de área, as lagartas foram novamente pesadas e transferidas para os copos contendo dieta própria para o inseto. As lagartas ainda foram pesadas ao terceiro e sétimo dia da montagem do experimento. Foi avaliada a redução no ganho de peso das lagartas e a área foliar consumida (cm2) pelas lagartas, sendo que as médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey. As lagartas consumiram menor área de folhas com o extrato em água e diclorometano, entretanto, foi o extrato em hexano que causou a maior redução da porcentagem do ganho de peso