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Objective: Measure and characterize the fruit and vegetable waste generated during a working day in a commercial juice and fruit cocktail establishment in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico, for four weeks. Design/methodology/approach: The total amount of fruit waste generated during a working day in a commercial juice and smoothie establishment in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico, was collected Monday through Saturday for four weeks in September and October 2019. Waste was weighted and separated daily into the different types of fruit. We then analyzed their dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), and ash (Ash) content. The experimental design was completely randomized. Results: The amount of fruit and vegetable waste was constant during the four collection weeks; the total amount of waste collected was 465 kg; orange peel was the most abundant waste (75%). The moisture content ranged from 75 to 94% based on the type of fruit. The CP concentration ranged from 4.33 to 6.95%, except for the papaya peel, which had a CP content of 11.55%. Limitations/implications: An alternative to avoid landfilling this type of organic waste is to subject it to a silage-making process; this would reduce negative environmental impacts, generate value-added products, and reduce the pressure on natural resources. Findings/conclusions: The amount of fruit and vegetable waste produced every week was constant for four weeks. Although their dry matter content is low, these wastes, mixed with cereal straw and subjected to a silage-making process, can result in value-added products, and avoid landfilling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The global inequity in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines underscores the urgent need for innovative and cost-effective vaccine technologies to address access disparities and implement local manufacturing capabilities. This is essential for achieving and sustaining widespread immunity, and for ensuring timely protection of vulnerable populations during future booster campaigns in lower- middle income countries (LMICs)., Methods: To address this need, we conducted a phase II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the locally manufactured AVX/COVID-12 "Patria" (AVX) vaccine as a booster dose. The vaccine was administered either intramuscularly (IM) or intranasally (IN) to participants who had previously completed a vaccination regimen for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using adenoviral vector, inactivated virus, or mRNA-based vaccines. Participants with initial anti-spike IgG titers below 1,200 U/mL were included, allowing us to observe the booster effect induced by vaccination., Results: Both IM and IN immunization with AVX were found to be safe and well-tolerated. The vaccine induced a significant (>2.5-fold) increase in neutralizing antibodies against the ancestral Wuhan strain and variants of concern (VOCs), including Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron (BA.2 and BA.5). This immune response was further supported by increased cellular production of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), demonstrating a robust and multifaceted immune reaction., Conclusions: The administration of AVX as a booster dose, whether through IM or IN routes, was safe and well-tolerated. The vaccine extended immune responses not only against the ancestral Wuhan-1 strain but also against various VOCs. Its ability to enhance preexisting immune responses suggests a potential contribution to expanding and sustaining herd immunity within the population., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Laboratorios Avimex S.A. de C.V. reports financial support was provided by Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencia y Tecnología. México. Bernardo Lozano-Dubernard reports financial support was provided by Laboratorios Avimex S.A. de C.V. P.P., F.K., and A.G.-S. has patent #62/994,252 pending to Mount Sinai. P.P., F.K., and A.G.-S. has patent #63/018,457 pending to Mount Sinai. P.P., F.K., and A.G.-S. has patent #63/020,503 pending to Mount Sinai. P.P., F.K., and A.G.-S. has patent #63/024,436 pending to Mount Sinai. P.P., F.K., and A.G.-S. has patent #63/251,020 pending to Mount Sinai. M.T., D.S.-M., C.L.-M., H.E.C.-C., F.C.-P., G.P.D.L., and B.L.-D. has patent #PCT/IB2022/058886. MX/a/2021/011439 pending to Avimex S.A. de C.V. The vaccine candidate administered in this study was developed by faculty members at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai including P.P., F.K., and A.G.-S. Mount Sinai is seeking to commercialize this vaccine; therefore, the institution and its faculty inventors could benefit financially. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has filed patent applications relating to SARS-849 CoV-2 serological assays (USA Provisional Application Numbers: 62/994,252, 63/018,457, 63/020,503, and 63/024,436) and NDV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines (USA Provisional Application Number: 63/251,020) which list F.K. as co-inventor. A.G.-S. and P.P. are co-inventors in the NDV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine patent application. Patent applications were submitted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai has spun out a company, Kantaro, to market serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 and another company, CastleVax, to commercialize SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. F.K., P.P., and A.G.-S. serve on the scientific advisory board of CastleVax and are listed as co-founders of the company. F.K. has consulted for Merck, Seqirus, Curevac, and Pfizer, and is currently consulting for Gritstone, Third Rock Ventures, GSK, and Avimex. The F.K. laboratory has been collaborating with Pfizer on animal models of SARS-CoV-2. C.L.-M. has consulted for AstraZeneca. The A.G.-S. laboratory has received research support from GSK, Pfizer, Senhwa Biosciences, Kenall Manufacturing, Blade Therapeutics, Avimex, Johnson & Johnson, Dynavax, 7Hills Pharma, Pharmamar, ImmunityBio, Accurius, Nanocomposix, Hexamer, N-fold LLC, Model Medicines, Atea Pharma, Applied Biological Laboratories, and Merck. A.G.-S. has consulting agreements for the following companies involving cash and/or stock: Amovir, Vivaldi Biosciences, Contrafect, 7Hills Pharma, Avimex, Pagoda, Accurius, Esperovax, Farmak, Applied Biological Laboratories, Pharmamar, CureLab Oncology, CureLab Veterinary, Synairgen, Paratus, Pfizer, and Prosetta. A.G.-S. has been an invited speaker in meeting events organized by Seqirus, Janssen, Abbott, and AstraZeneca. PP has a consulting agreement with Avimex. Members of Avimex developed the live vaccine used in this study. Avimex filed patent applications with Mount Sinai and CONAHCYT. M.T., D.S.-M., C.L.-M., H.E.C.-C., F.C.-P., G.P.D.L., and B.L.-D. are named as inventors on at least one of those patent applications. The clinical study was entirely performed in Mexico, and Mount Sinai had no role in it. The rest of the participants are employees of their corresponding institutions and declare no competing interests. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)