An alternative allergen risk management approach

Protein components in food can trigger immune-mediated response in susceptible individuals. International law requires risk assessment to be undertaken by competent individuals to minimize food safety risk to consumers. Historically, allergen control legislation has been food focused and on the requirement for on pack labeling, and the need for formal food recalls in the event of misleading or inappropriate labeling. In order to develop a mechanism for decision makers when assessing allergenic risk from plant derived materials, the aim of this research was to consider a more holistic risk assessment method whereby rather than just using the food-based approach, an additive element in terms of considering the families of proteins is included. This approach reflects the need for food professionals to fully understand the role of proteins in triggering an allergic response to plant material and the health risk to individuals who show cross-reactivity to such proteins

European tourism policy: Its evolution and structure

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. This article reviews the procedural complexity of tourism policy-making by the European Commission leading up to the 2010 Communication. Initially, the European Commission had to present interventions affecting tourism as a community action or measure; intended to assist in the implementation of the Internal Market. Later, integration of the sustainable development principle into European Treaties established a framework for governance and a foundation for tourism policy, and the Lisbon Treaty in 2007 established a European policy that explicitly related to tourism, albeit a complementary competence in character. This article highlights a lack of leadership from the Member States throughout the process and contrasts this with the self-serving, driving force of the Commission in making tourism policy that focuses primarily on promotional actions. Consequently, the Commission has not created a robust, dynamic, flexible European model for tourism, designed in a way to best serve the needs of the Member States

Evaluation of a simplified approach in food safety management systems in the retail sector: A case study of butcheries in Flanders, Belgium and Lancashire, UK

The EFSA BIOHAZ panel published a scientific opinion proposing a new approach in food safety management, adapted to the needs of small retail businesses such as grocery, butcher, bakery, fishmonger and ice cream shops. The opinion is aiming at a more hands-on development and maintenance of their food safety management system, based on prerequisite programs and hazard analysis critical control point-principles. In this paper, the added value of the EFSA opinion is evaluated by comparing requirements with existing legislation and applied guidelines relevant for butchers, and to assess perceptions about introduced changes by this opinion for small independent butcheries in Flanders, Belgium and in North-West England, UK as a case study. Results show that the conditions for flexibilities, as stated in the EFSA opinion, could lead to difficulties in interpretation among Member States. Also, the hazard analysis approach applied in the two main UK guides to good practice appeared to be similar to the simplified approach proposed by EFSA. For Belgium, the main difference is that in the Belgian guide to good practice hazards are ranked and critical control points are identified for the preparation and selling of fresh meat, minced meat and meat preparations. The specification of prerequisite programs and related activities in the EFSA opinion can be an important step towards harmonization among EU Member States. Assessing the perceptions of ten UK and ten Belgian butchers revealed that the hazard analysis approach and the thirteen prerequisite requirements proposed by EFSA, are generally positively experienced by the butchers. However, the introduction of the proposal ‘Monthly microbiological tests’ to verify cleaning and disinfection activities is rejected by all the Belgian butchers and by the majority of the UK butchers. This proposal will not ease their job and the necessity of these tests should be reconsidere

Structure of the C-terminal domain of the Prokaryotic Sodium Channel Orthologue NsvBa

Crystallographic and electrophysiological studies have recently provided insight into the structure, function and drug binding of prokaryotic sodium channels. These channels exhibit significant sequence identities, especially in their transmembrane regions, with human voltage-gated sodium channels. However, rather than being single polypeptides with four homologous domains, they are tetramers of single domain polypeptides, with a C-terminal domain (CTD) composed of an inter-subunit four helix coiled-coil. The structures of the CTDs differ between orthologues. In NavBh and NavMs, the C-termini form a disordered region adjacent to the final transmembrane helix, followed by a coiled-coil region, as demonstrated by synchrotron radiation circular dichroism (SRCD) and double electron-electron resonance electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic measurements. In contrast, in the crystal structure of the NavAe orthologue, the entire C-terminus is comprised of a helical region followed by a coiled-coil. In this study we have examined the CTD of the NsvBa from Bacillus alcalophilus, which unlike other orthologues is predicted by different methods to have different types of structures: either a disordered adjacent to the transmembrane region, followed by a helical coiled-coil, or a fully helical CTD. To discriminate between the two possible structures we have used SRCD spectroscopy to experimentally determine the secondary structure of the C-terminus of this orthologue and used the results as the basis for modelling the transition between open and closed conformations of the channel

The power of propagation:when GAC is enough

Considerable effort in constraint programming has focused on the development of efficient propagators for individual constraints. In this paper, we consider the combined power of such propagators when applied to collections of more than one constraint. In particular we identify classes of constraint problems where such propagators can decide the existence of a solution on their own, without the need for any additional search. Sporadic examples of such classes have previously been identified, including classes based on restricting the structure of the problem, restricting the constraint types, and some hybrid examples. However, there has previously been no unifying approach which characterises all of these classes: structural, language-based and hybrid. In this paper we develop such a unifying approach and embed all the known classes into a common framework. We then use this framework to identify a further class of problems that can be solved by propagation alone

A mixed methods approach to evaluating community drug distributor performance in the control of neglected tropical diseases

BACKGROUND: Trusted literate, or semi-literate, community drug distributors (CDDs) are the primary implementers in integrated preventive chemotherapy (IPC) programmes for Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) control. The CDDs are responsible for safely distributing drugs and for galvanising communities to repeatedly, often over many years, receive annual treatment, create and update treatment registers, monitor for side-effects and compile treatment coverage reports. These individuals are 'volunteers' for the programmes and do not receive remuneration for their annual work commitment. METHODS: A mixed methods approach, which included pictorial diaries to prospectively record CDD use of time, structured interviews and focus group discussions, was used to triangulate data on how 58 CDDs allocated their time towards their routine family activities and to NTD Programme activities in Uganda. The opportunity costs of CDD time were valued, performance assessed by determining the relationship between time and programme coverage, and CDD motivation for participating in the programme was explored. RESULTS: Key findings showed approximately 2.5 working weeks (range 0.6-11.4 working weeks) were spent on NTD Programme activities per year. The amount of time on NTD control activities significantly increased between the one and three deliveries that were required within an IPC campaign. CDD time spent on NTD Programme activities significantly reduced time available for subsistence and income generating engagements. As CDDs took more time to complete NTD Programme activities, their treatment performance, in terms of validated coverage, significantly decreased. Motivation for the programme was reported as low and CDDs felt undervalued. CONCLUSIONS: CDDs contribute a considerable amount of opportunity cost to the overall economic cost of the NTD Programme in Uganda due to the commitment of their time. Nevertheless, programme coverage of at least 75 %, as required by the World Health Organisation, is not being achieved and vulnerable individuals may not have access to treatment as a consequence of sub-optimal performance by the CDDs due to workload and programmatic factors

Discovering the Phylodynamics of RNA Viruses

The advent of extremely high throughput DNA sequencing ensures that genomic data from microbial organisms can be acquired in unprecedented quantities and with remarkable rapidity. Although this genomic revolution will affect all microbes alike, our focus here is on RNA viruses, as the rapidity of their evolution, which is observable over the time scale of human observation, allows phylodynamic inferences to be made with great precision. In the foreseeable future it is likely that complete genome sequencing will become the standard method of viral characterization, providing the highest possible resolution for phylogenetic studies. The rapidity with which genome sequence data were generated from the ongoing epidemic of swine-origin H1N1 influenza A virus [1] is testament to the power of this technology

The Impact of HAART on the Respiratory Complications of HIV Infection: Longitudinal Trends in the MACS and WIHS Cohorts

Objective: To review the incidence of respiratory conditions and their effect on mortality in HIV-infected and uninfected individuals prior to and during the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Design: Two large observational cohorts of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected men (Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study [MACS]) and women (Women's Interagency HIV Study [WIHS]), followed since 1984 and 1994, respectively. Methods: Adjusted odds or hazards ratios for incident respiratory infections or non-infectious respiratory diagnoses, respectively, in HIV-infected compared to HIV-uninfected individuals in both the pre-HAART (MACS only) and HAART eras; and adjusted Cox proportional hazard ratios for mortality in HIV-infected persons with lung disease during the HAART era. Results: Compared to HIV-uninfected participants, HIV-infected individuals had more incident respiratory infections both pre-HAART (MACS, odds ratio [adjusted-OR], 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2-2.7; p<0.001) and after HAART availability (MACS, adjusted-OR, 1.5; 95%CI 1.3-1.7; p<0.001; WIHS adjusted-OR, 2.2; 95%CI 1.8-2.7; p<0.001). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was more common in MACS HIV-infected vs. HIV-uninfected participants pre-HAART (hazard ratio [adjusted-HR] 2.9; 95%CI, 1.02-8.4; p = 0.046). After HAART availability, non-infectious lung diseases were not significantly more common in HIV-infected participants in either MACS or WIHS participants. HIV-infected participants in the HAART era with respiratory infections had an increased risk of death compared to those without infections (MACS adjusted-HR, 1.5; 95%CI, 1.3-1.7; p<0.001; WIHS adjusted-HR, 1.9; 95%CI, 1.5-2.4; p<0.001). Conclusion: HIV infection remained a significant risk for infectious respiratory diseases after the introduction of HAART, and infectious respiratory diseases were associated with an increased risk of mortality. © 2013 Gingo et al

Caries associated with orthodontic care part 2: management

It is recognized that wearing an orthodontic appliance increases the caries risk of the individual. The prevalence of demineralization has been reported to be as high as 73%. When demineralization occurs a number of treatments exist: fluoride application, acid microabrasion, casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CCP-ACP), resin infiltration and self-assembling peptides. Of these, topical fluoride has the most evidence to support its use. CPD/Clinical Relevance: Demineralization is the most common complication of orthodontic care. The clinician should understand how to manage this when it occurs

The Diversity and Abundance of Small Arthropods in Onion, Allium cepa, Seed Crops, and their Potential Role in Pollination

Onion, Allium cepa L. (Asparagales: Amaryllidaceae), crop fields grown for seed production require arthropod pollination for adequate seed yield. Although many arthropod species visit A. cepa flowers, for most there is little information on their role as pollinators. Small flower visiting arthropods (body width < 3 mm) in particular are rarely assessed. A survey of eight flowering commercial A. cepa seed fields in the North and South Islands of New Zealand using window traps revealed that small arthropods were highly abundant among all except one field. Insects belonging to the orders Diptera and Thysanoptera were the most abundant and Hymenoptera, Collembola, Psocoptera, Hemiptera, and Coleoptera were also present. To test whether small arthropods might contribute to pollination, seed sets from umbels caged within 3 mm diameter mesh cages were compared with similarly caged, hand-pollinated umbels and uncaged umbels. Caged umbels that were not hand-pollinated set significantly fewer seeds (average eight seeds/umbel, n = 10) than caged hand-pollinated umbels (average 146 seeds/umbel) and uncaged umbels (average 481 seeds/umbel). Moreover, sticky traps placed on umbels within cages captured similar numbers of small arthropods as sticky traps placed on uncaged umbels, suggesting cages did not inhibit the movement of small arthropods to umbels. Therefore, despite the high abundance of small arthropods within fields, evidence to support their role as significant pollinators of commercial A. cepa seed crops was not found