Search

Objective: To identify any self-reported differences or attitudes towards certification, publication, or practice patterns between adult urology and paediatric general surgery-trained paediatric urology providers. There are no known published differences in clinical/operative/research outcomes in either group. Methods: An 18-item cross-sectional survey was compiled through the EAU Young Academic Urologists (YAU) office and disseminated to a trans-Atlantic convenience sample of current practising paediatric urologists. This was created using a mini-Delphi method to provide current semi-quantitative data relating to current opinions and attitudes of this cohort. Results: A total of 228 respondents completed the survey, with female respondents representing 37% and 34% for urology and paediatric general surgery, respectively. Nearly 90% overall respondents felt that a full 2-year paediatric fellowship program was very important and 94% endorsed a collaborative dedicated paediatric urology on call service, with 92% supporting the joint development of transitional care. Urology managed higher numbers of bedwetting (p = 0.04), bladder bowel dysfunction (p = 0.02), endourological procedures (p = 0.04), and robotics (p = 0.04). Paediatric general surgery managed higher numbers of laparoscopic reconstruction (p = 0.03), and posterior urethral valve ablation (p = 0.002). Conclusion: This study represents the first time that a cross-sectional cohort of paediatric urologists from different training backgrounds were compared to assess their productivity, practice patterns and attitudes. Paediatric urology is in a unique position to have two contributing specialities, with the ability to provide optimal transitional and lifelong care. We believe that there should be a strong emphasis on collaboration and to remove any historically-created barriers under policies of equity, diversity and inclusivity.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) usually emerges in adolescence when important changes occur in cognitive, emotional, and social processes. Mentalizing, alexithymia, and impulsiveness represent key dimensions for the understanding and interpretation of psychological difficulties in AN. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted adolescents with AN, showing a worsening of the disease. The main aims of the present paper are (1) to compare adolescents with AN before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) to explore the relationship between mentalizing, alexithymia, impulsiveness, and psychological difficulties related to eating disorders in adolescents with AN during the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred and ninety-six AN female adolescents (N = 94 before COVID-19; N = 102 during COVID-19) participated in this study. The results show that adolescents with AN during the COVID-19 pandemic had a more impaired functioning profile than the before COVID-19 group. Mentalizing, alexithymia, and impulsiveness had a predictive role on psychological difficulties related to eating disorders in adolescents with AN during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, our data reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has likely represented a stress condition that affects mental health; worsening the severity of adolescents with AN clinical condition. Lastly, predictive patterns suggest the existence of a link between difficulties in the ability to face the problems of the present time using effective strategies and the severity of psychological symptoms.

Objective: The objective of the study was to develop an automatic quantitative approach to identify infants with abnormal movements of the limbs at term equivalent age (TEA) compared with general movement assessment (GMA). Methods: GMA was performed at TEA by a trained operator in neonates with neurological risk. GMs were classified as normal (N) or abnormal (Ab), which included poor repertoire and cramped synchronized movements. The signals from four micro-accelerometers placed on all limbs were recorded for 10 min simultaneously. A global index (KC_index), quantifying the characteristics of individual limb movements and the coordination among the limbs, was obtained by adding normalized kurtosis of the distribution of the first principal component of the acceleration signals to the cross-correlation of the jerk for the upper and lower limbs. Results: Sixty-eight infants were studied. A KC_index cut-off of 201.5 (95% CI: 199.9–205.0) provided specificity = 0.86 and sensitivity = 0.88 in identifying infants with Ab movements. Conclusions: KC_index provides an automatic and quantitative measure that may allow the identification of infants who require further neurological evaluation.

In a context where the commercial and nutritional interest in insect chitin is always increasing, an accurate and precise method to quantify this biopolymer, especially in food/feed, is required. In addition, quantification of insect crude protein through nitrogen determination is normally overestimated due to the presence of chitin. In this work, for the first time, an RP-UPLC-ESI/MS method for the simultaneous quantification in insects of chitin, as glucosamine (GlcN), and protein, as total amino acids, is presented. The method is based on acid hydrolysis and derivatization of amino acids and GlcN with the AccQ Tag reagent. Method was optimized and validated in terms of linearity, LOD and LOQ, intraday and inter-day repeatability, and accuracy. A hydrolysed commercial chitin was selected as reference standard for calibration. The instrumental LOD and LOQ correspond respectively to a concentration of 0.00068 mM and 0.00204 mM. The intraday precision satisfied the Horwitz ratio. Data from inter-day precision showed the necessity to perform the analysis within 1 week utilizing standard calibration solutions freshly prepared. A matrix effect was observed, which suggested the necessity to use an internal calibration curve or to work in a particular concentration range of GlcN. The chitin and protein content in black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) and lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus) were found in agreement with results obtained by independent methods. The optimized method was also tested on two different commercial food supplements, suggesting its applicability on a wide range of matrices. This newly developed method proved to be simple, more accurate, and faster if compared to methods which separately analyse chitin and protein content.

Nowadays, the mass production of insects is promoted not only for their nutritional value, but also for their ability to convert agri-food by-products into high valuable derived products. In the present work, the potential production of carotenoid-rich larvae of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (BSFL), was evaluated by rearing them on different agri-food by-products. The carotenoid concentration in BSFL was highly correlated with the carotenoid content of the substrates (R=0.882). Among the different substrates, tomato and carrot by-products allowed to obtain BSFL with a total carotenoid content 230% higher than the amount detected in the BSFL grown in the control diet. Furthermore, the killing method played a key role in the preservation of the BSFL carotenoid content, with dry heating resulting in a significantly higher total carotenoid content compared to blanching and freezing. These results clearly support the valorisation of agri-food by-products for the production of BSFL naturally rich in carotenoids for specific feed and food purposes.

In the food and feed industry, protein extraction is commonly performed under acid or basic conditions, combined with heat, in order to increase the extraction yield. Under severe processing conditions, proteins may undergo molecular modifications. Here, the effects of heating (30, 60, 90 °C) at different pH values (2, 7, 9, 11, 13) were evaluated on commercial whey proteins, used as a simplified protein model. The main structure and chemical modifications concerning protein aggregation, hydrolysis, insolubilization, amino acid degradation and racemization were investigated in detail. Using in vitro static models, the degree of protein hydrolysis and the released peptides were determined after the digestive process. Accumulation of molecular modifications was mostly observed after basic pH and high temperatures treatments, together with a marked decrease and modification of the digestibility profile. Instead, protein digestibility increased in neutral and acidic conditions in a temperature-dependent manner, even if some modification in the structure occurs.

The current production of meat presents many disadvantages for the environment and much research focuses on alternative protein sources. Insects are novel protein sources highly valued for their nutritional and sustainable potential. However, many aspects concerning biological and nutritional properties of the insects after digestion, in comparison with other protein sources, are still overlooked. In this work, a comparative study on three different protein sources, namely almond, lean beef and insect Alphitobius diaperinus (lesser mealworm), was performed after in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion. An in-depth characterization of the chemical composition of the solubilized protein and lipid fractions of the digesta was performed by applying different analytical techniques, including chromatographic methods coupled to mass spectrometry and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Beef and insect were proven to be very similar in amino acid composition and protein solubilization after digestion, when considering the proper corrections for the chitin content. Lipid fraction from insects was solubilized during digestion as the one of almonds, but with a fastest kinetics. Thus, lesser mealworms are a good source of both lipids and highly nutritional proteins. Then, the amino acid composition of raw and digested protein fraction from the three sources was related to the PYY, ghrelin, GLP-1 and CCK release and rats’ food intake. The composition of amino acids in insect digesta was found to be related to specific effects on enterohormone release, and the modulation of food intake in rats.

Insects are considered a suitable alternative feed for livestock production and their use is nowadays regulated in the European Union by the European Commission Regulation No. 893/2017. Insects have the ability to grow on a different spectrum of substrates, which could be naturally contaminated by mycotoxins. In the present work, the mycotoxin uptake and/or excretion in two different insect species, Alphitobius diaperinus (Lesser Mealworm, LM) and Hermetia illucens (Black Soldier Fly, BSF), grown on naturally contaminated substrates, was evaluated. Among all the substrates of growth tested, the Fusarium toxins deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin 1 and 2 (FB1 and FB2) and zearalenone (ZEN) were found in those based on wheat and/or corn. No mycotoxins were detected in BSF larvae, while quantifiable amount of DON and FB1 were found in LM larvae, although in lower concentration than those detected in the growing substrates and in the residual fractions. Mass balance calculations indicated that BSF and LM metabolized mycotoxins in forms not yet known, accumulating them in their body or excreting in the faeces. Further studies are required in this direction due to the future employment of insects as feedstuff.

Although some centres have successfully integrated remote clinics into their paediatric urological practice, for many, remote clinics have developed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One UK-based institution has integrated remote clinics in their practice for over two years and has developed guidelines considering which conditions may be suitable for remote consultations. These guidelines have been appraised by the European Association of Urology Young Academic Urologists paediatric working group. Through practical experience and anticipated difficulties, we have discussed considerations that paediatric urology departments should ponder when integrating remote clinics into their practice as we move forward from the pandemic.

Insects have been proposed as new source of proteins to meet the growing demand connected to the increasing world population. In the EU the inclusion of insect proteins in feed and food is strictly regulated. Hence, analytical methods able to discriminate and identify different insect species in food and feed are a necessity. In this work, a peptidomic approach was applied to determine peptide biomarkers for two edible insect species: lesser mealworm and black soldier fly. Three species specific peptide biomarkers were identified using LC-MS/MS. The two insects were mixed with fish standard feed at different concentrations, to evaluate the feasibility of their use as markers in complex matrices. The detection of marker peptides was confirmed down to 1% insect amount. The data here reported constitutes the first proof of concept for the potential application of the peptide marker approach for the identification and quantification of insect ingredients.

Since 2018, insects have belonged the category of Novel Foods and the presence of allergens represents one of the main hazards connected to their consumption, also due to the potential cross-reactivity with Arthropoda pan-allergens. In the present work, the allergenicity assessment of black soldier fly and lesser mealworm was performed with a shotgun bottom-up proteomic approach combined with in-silico assessment, followed by IgG- and IgE-immunoblotting experiments. The peptides identified, filtered for their abundance and robustness, belonged mainly to muscle proteins, which represented the most abundant protein group. The relevant potential allergens were in-silico identified by sequence similarity to known allergens, and among them tropomyosin resulted the most abundant insect allergen. IgG-immunoblotting analysis with anti-Tropomyosin I antibodies and IgE-immunoblotting assay with serum from patient allergic to crustacean tropomyosin were performed in order to assess the immunoreactivity in both insects. The immunoassays were carried out also on protein hydrolysates extracted by treating insects with Protease from Bacillus licheniformis (1%, 60 °C, pH 7.5). While IgG-immunoblotting demonstrated the loss of immunoreactivity for both hydrolysates, IgE-immunoblotting showed a partial immunoreactivity preservation, also after hydrolysis, in the case of black soldier fly hydrolysate, and a total loss of immunoreactivity for lesser mealworm hydrolysate.

Protein hydrolysates from lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus, LM) were obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis with protease from Bacillus licheniformis. A preliminary test performed for five hours of hydrolysis generated an insect protein hydrolysate with 15% of degree of hydrolysis (DH), optimum solubility property and oil holding capacity, but emulsifying and foaming ability were completely impaired. In order to investigate the potential implication of DH on techno-functional properties, a set of protein hydrolysates with a different DH was obtained by sub-sampling at different time points during three hours of enzymatic hydrolysis process. An increase in DH% had positive effects on the solubility property and oil holding ability, while a reduced emulsifying ability was observed up to five hours of hydrolysis. These results demonstrated that the enzymatic hydrolysis, if performed under controlled conditions and not for a long period, represents a valid method to extract high quality protein from insects with tailored techno-functionality, in order to produce tailored ingredients for feed and food purpose.

Insect proteins have been proposed as a promising alternative for feed and food formulations. In the present work protease-assisted extraction was studied as a way to separate and extract proteins from two different insect species: Alphitobius diaperinus (AD) and Hermetia illucens (HI). The proteolytic activity of seven enzymes (papain, pancreatin, dispase I, pepsin, protease from Bacillus licheniformis, bromelain and trypsin) was evaluated determining the protein extraction yield, the degree of hydrolysis (DH) and the released free amino acids (FAA). Both insects represent an interesting source of proteins, not only for their amount (more than 40% on dry matter) but also for the nutritional value, with essential amino acid profile exceeding the requirements proposed for human nutrition. Enzyme-assisted protein extraction, performed at laboratory scale, gave for HI an average yield of extraction of 71±8% and for AD 67±6%. Hydrolysates produced from HI gave a DH% ranging between 3 to 18%, whereas hydrolysates produced from AD yielded a DH% between 7 to 23%. The protein hydrolysates were composed by peptides and FAA (which accounted for more than 30% of the extracted protein fraction), which were released according to their abundance in initial protein. A moderate correlation between the DH% and the total amount of FAA was found, except for AD hydrolysed with trypsin and HI with papain. Based on these results, the production of hydrolysates was preliminary scaled up in a proof-of-concept experiment, focusing on the most promising insect-enzyme combination. The final product resulted to be rich in protein (60% on dry matter). This work support enzymatic hydrolysis as an effective method to extract and isolate proteins from insects, with minimal sample preparation, tailoring their composition, preserving the nutritional quality, decreasing the risk of allergic reactions and making them more accessible for their future use as feed/food supplements.

Insects are being explored as novel protein sources in order to overcome the future food demands connected to world growing population. Insects for food/feed uses are currently slowly killed through freezing by most insect rearing companies, and typically, enzymatic browning takes place in the insect proteins fractions. However, very little is known about the influence of these enzymatic reactions on the protein physical, chemical, nutritional and technological properties. In this work a metabolomics and proteomic study was conducted on Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) prepupae, killed by two different methods: freezing (commonly used), and blanching (with the aim to inhibit the enzymatic activities). Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) metabolomics demonstrated that slow killing method by freezing, compared with blanching, elicits the activation of several enzymatic pathways, among them melanisation with tyrosine consumption, energetic metabolism and lipolysis. These metabolic changes have an impact also on protein nutritional quality, with a loss of cysteine and lysine, likely involved in the process of melanisation and enzymatic browning. A strong effect was also observed on protein extractability: proteins from prepupae killed by blanching were found to be more extractable in milder conditions by chemical methods, and more prone to enzymatic digestion (97% of proteins released in solution upon proteolysis) than proteins from prepupae killed by freezing. All these data indicate that killing by blanching inhibits the browning reaction and other enzymatic changes occurring during slow killing by freezing, increasing the extractability of proteins in aqueous solutions, avoiding essential amino acid loss, and improving enzymatic digestibility.