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This paper explores the use of escape room puzzles and instructional scaffolding in teaching novice learners about basic music theory. This study used the notion of epistemic frames in games as the basis for its experiment, combined with the use of technology-based scaffolding. We examined how effective it is to engage and motivate novice learners when they are made to mimic the role of an expert in music and solve problems using their knowledge and skills in the subject. We found positive responses from participants’ attitudes toward music theory and the ability to retain knowledge of the subject, as well as evidence which proves that games can have significant effects on motivation in the learning process.

Rotavirus (RV) is among the most common vaccine-preventable diseases in children under five years of age. Despite the severity of rotavirus pathology in early childhood, rotavirus vaccination for children admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), who are often born preterm and with various previous illnesses, is not performed. This multicenter, 3-year project aims to evaluate the safety of RV vaccine administration within the six main neonatal intensive care units of the Sicilian Region to preterm infants. Methods: Monovalent live attenuated anti-RV vaccination (RV1) was administered from April 2018 to December 2019 to preterm infants with gestational age ≥ 28 weeks. Vaccine administrations were performed in both inpatient and outpatient hospital settings as a post-discharge follow-up (NICU setting) starting at 6 weeks of age according to the official immunization schedule. Any adverse events (expected, unexpected, and serious) were monitored from vaccine administration up to 14 days (first assessment) and 28 days (second assessment) after each of the two scheduled vaccine doses. Results: At the end of December 2019, 449 preterm infants were vaccinated with both doses of rotavirus vaccine within the six participating Sicilian NICUs. Mean gestational age in weeks was 33.1 (±3.8 SD) and the first dose of RV vaccine was administered at 55 days (±12.9 SD) on average. The mean weight at the first dose was 3388 (SD ± 903) grams. Only 0.6% and 0.2% of infants reported abdominal colic and fever above 38.5 °C in the 14 days after the first dose, respectively. Overall, 1.9% EAEs were observed at 14 days and 0.4% at 28 days after the first/second dose administration. Conclusions: Data obtained from this study confirm the safety of the monovalent rotavirus vaccine even in preterm infants with gestational age ≥ 28 weeks, presenting an opportunity to improve the vaccination offer both in Sicily and in Italy by protecting the most fragile infants who are more at risk of contracting severe rotavirus gastroenteritis and nosocomial RV infection.

Pineapple waste silage (PAS) is an abundant agro-industrial by-product characterized by its high fiber content posing a high potential feed value as roughage for ruminants. Studies on its supplementation with proteolytic enzyme (PE) will help extend its utilization as an alternative nutritive feed source for cattle nutrition. Thus, this study aimed to determine the in vitro nutrient degradability and fermentation characteristics of fiber-rich but low-protein PAS supplemented with different levels of PE. Seven treatments were evaluated in this study: PAS without PE and PAS1 to PAS6, which corresponds to incremental levels of PAS supplementation as follows: 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 1%, 2%, and 4%. The nutrient disappearance, nutrient effective degradability, and fermentation characteristics such as total gas production, ammonia-nitrogen, and pH values were evaluated in vitro. PAS without added PE showed a comparably good nutritive value (dry matter: 94.30%, neutral detergent fiber: 63.66%, acid detergent fiber: 34.78%) to that of commonly used corn silage in South Korea. With the supplementation of PE in PAS, the PE increased the effective degradability of different nutrients such as dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP). The effect of PE supplementation on the degradation of nutrients was consistent with improvements in in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics. Supplementing PAS with PE increased the total gas production and decreased the pH values, which are characteristics of heightened fiber degradation and fermentation. The ammonia-N concentration of the in vitro-incubated PAS was moderated by the addition of PE, which is likely due to the decrease in pH or in vitro acidosis and has shown a synergistic protease activity effect on nutrient degradation. Overall, supplementing PAS with PE increased the effective degradability of DM, NDF, ADF, OM, and CP, with the most dramatic effects observed in PAS3 and PAS6 (0.3% and 4%, respectively).

It is known that the transmission of different foodborne viruses can occur either via discharge of contaminated water close to the production environment or via close contact with animal feces. Cranberries are intimately associated with water throughout their production cycle, and blueberries grow close to the ground which could lead to contact with wildlife. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of human norovirus (HuNoV GI and GII), hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) in two berries produced commercially in Canada. The detection of HuNoV and HAV on RTE cranberries and of HEV on wild blueberries was evaluated using the ISO method 15216-1:2017. Only 3 of 234 cranberry samples tested positive for HuNoV GI (3.6, 7.4, 5.3 genome copies/g, respectively) and all were negative for HuNoV GII and HAV. PMA pre-treatment and sequencing confirmed the absence of potential intact HuNoV GI particles on cranberries. None of the 150 blueberry samples tested positive for HEV. Overall, the prevalence of foodborne viruses in RTE cranberries and wild blueberries harvested in Canada is low, making these products relatively safe for consumers.

Serious games have to meet certain characteristics relating to gameplay and educational content to be effective as educational tools. There are some models that evaluate these aspects, but they usually lack a good balance between both ludic and learning requirements, and provide no guide for the design of new games. This study develops the Gaming Educational Balanced (GEB) Model which addresses these two limitations. GEB is based on the Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics framework and the Four Pillars of Educational Games theory. This model defines a metric to evaluate serious games, which can also be followed to guide their subsequent development. This rubric is tested with three indie serious games developed using different genres to raise awareness of mental illnesses. This evaluation revealed two main issues: the three games returned good results for gameplay, but the application of educational content was deficient, due in all likelihood to the lack of expert educators participating in their development. A statistical and machine learning validation of the results is also performed to ensure that the GEB metric features are clearly explained and the players are able to evaluate them correctly. These results underline the usefulness of the new metric tool for identifying game design strengths and weaknesses. Future works will apply this metric to more serious games to further test its effectiveness and to guide the design of new serious games.

In recent years, immunotherapy has become a powerful therapeutic option against multiple malignancies. The unique capacity of natural killer (NK) cells to attack cancer cells without antigen specificity makes them an optimal immunotherapeutic tool for targeting tumors. Several approaches are currently being pursued to maximize the anti-tumor properties of NK cells in the clinic, including the development of NK cell expansion protocols for adoptive transfer, the establishment of a favorable microenvironment for NK cell activity, the redirection of NK cell activity against tumor cells, and the blockage of inhibitory mechanisms that constrain NK cell function. We here summarize the recent strategies in NK cell-based immunotherapies and discuss the requirement to further optimize these approaches for enhancement of the clinical outcome of NK cell-based immunotherapy targeting tumors.

Cattle are less active than humans. Hence, it was hypothesized in this study that transmitting acceleration signals at a 1 min sampling interval to reduce storage load has the potential to improve the performance of motion sensors without affecting the precision of behavior classification. The behavior classification performance in terms of precision, sensitivity, and the F1-score of the 1 min serial datasets segmented in 3, 4, and 5 min window sizes based on nine algorithms were determined. The collar-fitted triaxial accelerometer sensor was attached on the right side of the neck of the two fattening Korean steers (age: 20 months) and the steers were observed for 6 h on day one, 10 h on day two, and 7 h on day three. The acceleration signals and visual observations were time synchronized and analyzed based on the objectives. The resting behavior was most correctly classified using the combination of a 4 min window size and the long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithm which resulted in 89% high precision, 81% high sensitivity, and 85% high F1-score. High classification performance (79% precision, 88% sensitivity, and 83% F1-score) was also obtained in classifying the eating behavior using the same classification method (4 min window size and an LSTM algorithm). The most poorly classified behavior was the active behavior. This study showed that the collar-fitted triaxial sensor measuring 1 min serial signals could be used as a tool for detecting the resting and eating behaviors of cattle in high precision by segmenting the acceleration signals in a 4 min window size and by using the LSTM classification algorithm.

One of the main challenges in the adoption of artificial intelligence-based tools, such as integrated decision support systems, is the complexities of their application. This study aimed to define the relevant parameters that can be used as indicators for real-time detection of heat stress and subclinical mastitis in dairy cows. Moreover, this study aimed to demonstrate the use of a developed data-mining hub as an artificial intelligence-based tool that integrates the defined relevant information (parameters or traits) in accurately identifying the condition of the cow. A comprehensive theoretical framework of the data-mining hub is demonstrated, the selection of the parameters that were used for the data-mining hub is listed, and the relevance of the traits is discussed. The practical application of the data-mining hub has shown that using 21 parameters instead of 13 and 8 parameters resulted in a high overall accuracy of detecting heat stress and subclinical mastitis in dairy cows with a high precision effect reflecting a low percentage of misclassifying the conditions of the dairy cows. This study has developed an innovative approach in which combined information from different independent data was used to accurately detect the health and wellness status of the dairy cows. It can also be implied that an artificial intelligence-based tool such as the proposed theoretical data-mining hub of dairy cows could maximize the use of continuously generated and underutilized data in farms, thus ultimately simplifying repetitive and difficult decision-making tasks in dairy farming.

In times of increasing awareness of limited resources, companies are becoming especially interested in criticality assessments. Based on the existing approaches of ESSENZ (integrated method to assess resource efficiency) and SCARCE (approach is to enhance the assessment of critical resource use at the country level), a method called CS-ESSENZ (company-specific ESSENZ) has been developed to measure the company-specific aspects of criticality and social impact in supply chains for abiotic resources. These comprise 20 categories and corresponding indicators, based on 19 ESSENZ and 25 SCARCE categories. Eleven of these indicators were modified, four were newly developed (e.g., economic importance), and the last five were applied as they are in ESSENZ or SCARCE. CS-ESSENZ was tested using the case study of a smartphone, demonstrating the method’s applicability as well as generating additional information on company-specific improvement potential. The results for supply risk showed that 29 out of 58 ESSENZ hotspots showed high, and 12 showed medium, improvement potential from the company perspective. CS-ESSENZ enables companies to obtain specific information on criticality and social aspects in their supply chains and points out areas for improvement, e.g., with respect to purchasing strategies for cobalt.

Glyoxalase 1 (Glo1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the detoxification of methylglyoxal (MGO) into D-lactate. MGO is a major precursor of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), and both are associated with development of age-related diseases. Since genetic variation in GLO1 may alter the expression and/or the activity of Glo1, we examined the association of nine SNPs in GLO1 with Glo1 expression and markers of MGO stress (MGO in fasting plasma and after an oral glucose tolerance test, D-lactate in fasting plasma and urine, and MGO-derived AGEs CEL and MG-H1 in fasting plasma and urine). We used data of the Cohort on Diabetes and Atherosclerosis Maastricht (CODAM, n = 546, 60 ± 7 y, 25% type 2 diabetes). Outcomes were compared across genotypes using linear regression, adjusted for age, sex, and glucose metabolism status. We found that SNP4 (rs13199033) was associated with Glo1 expression (AA as reference, standardized beta AT = −0.29, p = 0.02 and TT = −0.39, p = 0.3). Similarly, SNP13 (rs3799703) was associated with Glo1 expression (GG as reference, standardized beta AG = 0.17, p = 0.14 and AA = 0.36, p = 0.005). After correction for multiple testing these associations were not significant. For the other SNPs, we observed no consistent associations over the different genotypes. Thus, polymorphisms of GLO1 were not associated with Glo1 expression or markers of MGO stress, suggesting that these SNPs are not functional, although activity/expression might be altered in other tissues.

The amaranth plants showed high potential feed value as forage for ruminants. An in-depth study of this plant, particularly in cattle, will help extend its utilization as an alternative protein and fiber feed source in cattle feeding. In this study, the nutrient compositions of three different species of amaranth, Amaranthus caudatus L., Amaranthus cruentus L., and Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.—two varieties for each species, A.ca 74, A.ca 91, A.cu 62, A.cu 66, A. hy 30, and A. hy 48—were evaluated. The in vitro technique was used to evaluate the fermentation characteristics such as total gas production, total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration, pH, and ammonia concentration of the rumen fluid. Moreover, the effective degradabilities of dry matter (EDDM) and crude protein (EDCP) of the amaranth forages were determined through in situ bag technique. The amaranth forages: A. caudatus, A. cruentus, and A. hypochondriacus showed better nutritive value than the locally produced forages in Chungcheong province of Korea. The CP of the amaranth ranged from 11.95% to 14.19%, and the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents ranged from 45.53% to 70.88% and 34.17% to 49.83%, respectively. Among the amaranth varieties, A. hypochondriacus 48 showed the most excellent ruminant feed nutrient quality (CP, 14.19%; NDF, 45.53%; and ADF, 34.17%). The effective degradabilities of dry matter (EDDM; 33–56%) and crude protein EDCP (27–59%) of the amaranth were lower compared to other studies, which could be due to the maturity stage at which the forages were harvested. Nonetheless, A. hypochondriacus 48 showed the highest EDDM (56.73%) and EDCP (59.09%). The different amaranth species did not differ greatly in terms of total VFA concentration or molar proportions, total gas production, or ammonia-N concentration. The high nutrient composition, and highly effective degradability of dry matter and crude protein, coupled with the favorable fermentation characteristics, suggest that the amaranth forages showed good to excellent feed quality for cattle.

The construction industry is faced with many challenges, among which is waste management. Aside from the fact that wastage contributes to time and cost overrun, it also has environmental implications in the form of pollution. However, the industry has the capacity to effectively manage waste, from generation to disposal. All stages of the management process are important, but scholars and governments have provided the final step, being disposal, unabated attention in order to ensure effective management. Potential waste disposal methods, including incineration, burning, landfilling, recycling, reuse, open dumping, pyrolysis, and shredding have emerged from the literature around the globe. Despite various waste minimisation and sustainable disposal options that are available, construction material waste is still increasing in Nigeria, while disposal remains a major issue for firms and government. Therefore, this study assesses disposal methods among construction firms to determine whether there is a relationship between their practices towards waste disposal. The research followed a concurrent triangulation design in a cross sectional survey, while data were collected via a convergent parallel mixed methods. The quantitative phase employed a structured questionnaire to collect data from 243 building construction firms, while the qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 65 professionals from 10 on-going construction projects in Lagos, Nigeria. The research revealed that landfilling is the most common method of waste disposal, which is closely followed by reuse as backfill and recycling. In addition, the study revealed no association between company’s ownership statuses, age, project specialisation, and disposal methods, except company’s size. In conclusion, the study establishes the need for regulatory policies, such as site waste management plan (SWMP), pay as you throw (PAYT), and landfill ban, which would minimise material waste and divert them from landfills. Recycling and reuse are recommended as sustainable approaches for waste disposal.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—a large group of organic compounds—are extremely hazardous to human health. In this study, the 198 samples from six groups of daily food products in the Hanoi metropolitan area were collected and prepared by the QuEChERS sample treatment technique. The detection and identification of PAHs were obtained by gas chromatography⁻tandem mass spectrometry (GC⁻MS/MS) determination. The results demonstrated that the recovery of PAH compounds ranged approximately between 71% and 110% when the solvent evaporation condition was optimized using the nitrogen gas at a low temperature (1 °C). The in-house method was validated in terms of linearity, extractive condition, repeatability, recovery, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). The ranges of average PAH levels were 9.3⁻9.6 µg/kg (for instant noodles), 0.22⁻2.48 µg/kg (for cakes) 0.91⁻4.83 µg/kg (dried vegetables), 5.14⁻23.32 µg/kg (teas), 4.82⁻24.35 µg/kg (coffees), and 1.43⁻25.2 µg/kg (grilled meats). The results indicated that the total concentrations of residual PAHs and benzo(a)pyrene in the instant noodles and grilled meat samples surpassed the maximum limits tolerated by the European Commission (35 µg/kg and 5 µg/kg, respectively) in many investigated samples.

A novel method was developed for the sensitive, cheap and fast quantitation of 10 phthalates in non-alcoholic beverages by liquid⁻liquid extraction (LLE) combined with gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The best results were obtained when n-hexane was used as extraction solvent. A central composite design (CCD) was applied to select the most appreciated operating condition. The method performance was evaluated according to the SANTE/11945/2015 guidelines and was linear in the 0.1 to 200 µg/L range for 10 phthalate compounds, with r2 > 0.996 and individual residuals r), within-laboratory reproducibility (RSDwr), and the trueness range were from 2.7 to 9.1%, from 3.4 to 14.3% and from 91.5 to 118.1%, respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) was between 0.5 to 1.0 ng/L and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) was between 1.5 to 3.0 ng/L for all 10 compounds. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of non-alcoholic beverages.

The primary hepatic leiomyosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor arising from the smooth muscle cells in the hepatic vessels, bile ducts, and ligamentum teres. It is considered a subtype of hepatic sarcomas. We report awkward 18 F-FDG PET-CT findings of a primary hepatic leiomyosarcoma masquerading as a benign hepatic tumor, which were confirmed by histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations in a 78-year-old woman.

This retrospective study investigated the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease, focusing on obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) presence and long-term cardiovascular outcomes in individuals undergoing invasive coronary angiography (ICA). Analyzing data from 9530 patients categorized by health insurance type (medical aid beneficiaries (MABs) as the low SES group; national health insurance beneficiaries (NHIBs) as the high SES group), this research explores the relationship between SES and outcomes. Despite a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, the MAB group exhibited similar rates of obstructive CAD compared to the NHIB group. However, over a median 3.5-year follow-up, the MAB group experienced a higher incidence of composite cardiovascular events, including cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, and ischemic stroke, compared with the NHIB group (20.2% vs. 16.2%, p < 0.001). Multivariable Cox regression analysis, adjusting for potential confounders, revealed independently worse clinical outcomes for the MAB group (adjusted odds ratio 1.28; 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.54; p = 0.006). Despite comparable CAD rates, this study underscores the fact that individuals with low SES encounter an elevated risk of composite cardiovascular events, emphasizing the association between socioeconomic disadvantage and heightened susceptibility to cardiovascular disease, even among those already at high risk.

Background: Individuals of low socioeconomic status (SES) often exhibit increased cardiovascular risk factors and a worse prognosis. We conducted this study to ascertain whether brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), a straightforward and reliable measure of arterial stiffness, can hold prognostic value for people with low SES., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a total of 1266 subjects (mean age 64.6 ± 11.6 years; 47.2% female) without documented cardiovascular disease who had undergone baPWV measurement. The subjects included 633 National Health Insurance Beneficiaries (NHIB) and 633 Medical Aid Beneficiaries (MAB), matched for major clinical features through a 1:1 propensity score matching method. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), such as death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal ischemic stroke, coronary revascularization, and heart failure necessitating admission, were assessed during the clinical follow-up., Results: During a median follow-up period of 4.2 years (interquartile range, 2.2-5.7 years), there were 77 MACE cases (6.1%). In multivariable Cox regression analyses, baPWV was identified as a significant predictor of MACE in both groups, regardless of the use of three different baPWV criteria (median value, Asian consensus recommendation, and cut-off value obtained by receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve analysis). In both groups, the baPWV value obtained using ROC curve analysis emerged as the best predictor of MACE. This predictive value was stronger in the NHIB group (hazard ratio, 5.80; 95% confidence interval, 2.30-14.65; p < 0.001) than in the MAB group (hazard ratio, 3.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.57-6.92; p = 0.002)., Conclusions: baPWV was associated with future MACE incidence in both NHIB and MAB groups. Since baPWV is simple and cost-effective to measure, it could be efficiently used as a risk stratification tool for individuals with low SES.

Background The prognostic value of estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV) has been infrequently explored in high-risk patient groups. Our study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of ePWV among patients undergoing a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with a drug-eluting stent (DES). Methods A total of 4119 consecutive subjects who underwent a PCI with a DES (mean age, 67.1 ± 11.6 years and 33.1% were female) were retrospectively analyzed. ePWV was calculated based on the patient's age and mean blood pressure. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, and ischemic stroke, were evaluated. Results During a median follow-up duration of 3.51 years (interquartile range, 1.35-6.37 years), there were 746 MACEs (18.1%). A multivariable analysis showed that a higher ePWV was associated with a higher MACE incidence (middle tertile vs. the lowest tertile: hazard ratio [HR], 2.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.81-3.42; p < 0.001; the highest tertile vs. the lowest tertile: HR, 6.18; 95% CI, 4.33-8.80; p < 0.001) The inclusion of ePWV data significantly increased the global chi-square values when added to the clinical information (from 96 to 128; p < 0.001). Conclusion ePWV demonstrated a significant association with MACEs in patients who underwent DES implantation. Given its relative simplicity to calculate, ePWV could potentially serve as a valuable instrument for stratifying cardiovascular risks within this high-risk patient population.

Congenital uterine anomalies (CUA) may influence reproductive performance, resulting in adverse pregnancy associated complications. This study aimed to assess the association of CUA subtypes with reproductive, obstetric, and perinatal outcomes. We performed a systematic search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane libraries for studies comparing pregnancy outcomes between women with CUA and those with a normal uterus. The random effects model was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Women with CUA had a lower rate of live births (OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.33-0.69), and a higher rate of first trimester miscarriage (OR, 1.79; 95% CI 1.34-2.4), second trimester miscarriage (OR 2.92; 95% CI 1.35-6.32), preterm birth (OR 2.98; 95% CI 2.43-3.65), malpresentation (OR 9.1; 95% CI 5.88-14.08), cesarean section (OR 2.87; 95% CI 1.56-5.26), and placental abruption (OR 3.12; 95% CI 1.58-6.18). Women with canalization defects appear to have the poorest reproductive performance during early pregnancy. However, unification defects were associated with obstetric and neonatal outcomes throughout the course of pregnancy. It may be beneficial for clinicians to advise on potential complications that may be increased depending on the type and severity of CUA.

Background: Both C-reactive protein (CRP) and arterial stiffness are associated with the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study was performed to investigate whether a combination of these two measurements could improve cardiovascular risk stratification., Methods: A total of 6572 consecutive subjects (mean age, 60.8 ± 11.8 years; female, 44.2%) who underwent both high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) measurement within 1 week were retrospectively analyzed. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including cardiovascular death, acute myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, and stroke were assessed during the clinical follow-up., Results: During a mean follow-up period of 3.75 years (interquartile range, 1.78-5.31 years), there were 182 cases of MACE (2.8%). The elevated baPWV (≥1505 cm/s) (hazard ratio (HR), 4.21; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.73-6.48; p < 0.001) and hs-CRP (≥3 mg/L) (HR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.12-2.21; p < 0.001) levels were associated with MACE even after controlling for potential confounders. The combination of baPWV and hs-CRP further stratified the subjects' risk (subjects with low baPWV and hs-CRP vs. subjects with high baPWV and hs-CRP; HR, 7.08; 95% CI, 3.76-13.30; p < 0.001). Adding baPWV information to clinical factors and hs-CRP had an incremental prognostic value (global Chi-square score, from 126 to 167, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: The combination of hs-CRP and baPWV provided a better prediction of future CVD than either one by itself. Taking these two simple measurements simultaneously is clinically useful in cardiovascular risk stratification.

An insect's innate immune system is the front line of defense against many invading microorganisms. One of the important components of this defense system is antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Papiliocin is a well-studied antimicrobial peptide (AMP) isolated from the swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus , and it was previously reported to be effective against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and fungi, particularly in drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Hence, we aimed to identify novel AMPs from Papilio xuthus using its transcriptome. We immunized the swallowtail butterfly with Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans , and the total RNA was isolated. De novo transcriptome assembly and functional annotations were conducted, and AMPs were predicted using an in-silico pipeline. The obtained 344,804,442 raw reads were then pre-processed to retrieve 312,509,806 (90.6%) total clean reads. A total of 38,272 unigenes were assembled with the average length of 1010 bp. Differential gene expression analysis identified 584 and 1409 upregulated and downregulated genes, respectively. The physicochemical, aggregation, and allergen propensity were used as filtration criteria. A total of 248 peptides were predicted using our in-house pipeline and the known AMPs were removed, resulting in 193 novel peptides. Finally, seven peptides were tested in vitro and three peptides (Px 5, 6, and 7) showed stronger antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria and yeast. All the tested peptides were non-allergens. The identified novel AMPs may serve as potential candidates for future antimicrobial studies.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-a large group of organic compounds-are extremely hazardous to human health. In this study, the 198 samples from six groups of daily food products in the Hanoi metropolitan area were collected and prepared by the QuEChERS sample treatment technique. The detection and identification of PAHs were obtained by gas chromatography⁻tandem mass spectrometry (GC⁻MS/MS) determination. The results demonstrated that the recovery of PAH compounds ranged approximately between 71% and 110% when the solvent evaporation condition was optimized using the nitrogen gas at a low temperature (1 °C). The in-house method was validated in terms of linearity, extractive condition, repeatability, recovery, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). The ranges of average PAH levels were 9.3⁻9.6 µg/kg (for instant noodles), 0.22⁻2.48 µg/kg (for cakes) 0.91⁻4.83 µg/kg (dried vegetables), 5.14⁻23.32 µg/kg (teas), 4.82⁻24.35 µg/kg (coffees), and 1.43⁻25.2 µg/kg (grilled meats). The results indicated that the total concentrations of residual PAHs and benzo(a)pyrene in the instant noodles and grilled meat samples surpassed the maximum limits tolerated by the European Commission (35 µg/kg and 5 µg/kg, respectively) in many investigated samples.

Antimicrobial use (AMU) in animal production is a key contributor to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide. As consumption of animal protein and associated animal production is forecast to increase markedly over coming years in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), accurate monitoring of AMU has become imperative. We summarized data from 89 scientific studies reporting AMU data in animal production published in English since 1998, identified through the 'ISI Web of Knowledge' search engine. The aims were as follows: (a) to describe methodologies and metrics used to quantify AMU; (b) to summarize qualitative (on-farm prevalence of use) and quantitative (amounts of antimicrobial active principle) data, in order to identify food animal species at the highest risk of AMU; and (c) to highlight data gaps from LMICs. Only 17/89 (19.1%) studies were conducted in LMICs. Sixty (67.3%) reported quantitative data use, with 'daily doses per animal-time' being the most common metric. AMU was greatest in chickens (138 doses/1000 animal-days [inter quartile range (IQR) 91.1⁻438.3]), followed by swine (40.2 [IQR 8.5⁻120.4]), and dairy cattle (10.0 [IQR 5.5⁻13.6]). However, per kg of meat produced, AMU was highest in swine, followed by chickens and cattle. Our review highlights a large deficit of data from LMICs, and provides a reference for comparison with further surveillance and research initiatives aiming to reduce AMU in animal production globally.