Automation of a modular method (EN 1528) for analysis of GC-amenable pesticides in food of animal origin.

Current manual multi-methods for analysis of pesticides are limited due to their complexity and scope of pesticides, high demand for time and solvent or unsuitability for broad types of food of animal origin. The following research presents a novel automated sample preparation and purification method for various food matrices of animal origin, including milk, raw milk, dairy products, cheese, eggs, fish, fish products, and offal. The Ultra-Turrax® Tube Drive System enables quick fat extraction using a solvent mixture of cyclohexane/ethyl acetate/acetonitrile.

Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals for the Management of Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Postmenopausal Women.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in women and risk of development is greatly increased following menopause. Menopause occurs over several years and is associated with hormonal changes, including a reduction in estradiol and an increase in follicle-stimulating hormone. This hormonal shift may result in an increased risk of developing abdominal adiposity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, vascular dysfunction, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), and metabolic syndrome (MetS).

The phytochemical composition and unexplored potential of Australian native plants for application in physical activity-related muscle recovery and inflammation: a literature review.

Native plants are adaptable in various environmental conditions in part through the production of unique phytochemicals which may have beneficial effects on human health. Native Australian fruits contain higher phytochemical and antioxidant levels than most Western fruits, suggesting potential for greater health benefits arising from their consumption. These beneficial effects, in turn, may be mediated by the inhibition of inflammatory pathways as well as oxidative stress the regulation of reactive oxygen (ROS) and/or nitrogen (RNS) species levels.

Heart rate variability to track autonomic nervous system health in young children: Effects of physical activity and cardiometabolic risk factors.

Evidence for a key role of dysregulated autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in maladaptive stress response/recovery and non-communicable disease development is extensive. Monitoring ANS activity via regular heart rate variability (HRV) measurement is growing in popularity in adult populations given that low HRV has been associated with ANS dysregulation, poor stress response/reactivity, increased cardiometabolic disease risk and early mortality. Although cardiometabolic disease may originate in early life, regular HRV measurement for assessing ANS activity in childhood populations, especially those consisting of children < 6 years of age, remains largely unpractised.

Extreme temperature fluctuations in laboratory models of the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation.

Using two laboratory-scale conceptual fluid dynamic models of the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation we investigate the statistical properties of pointwise temperature signals obtained in long experiment runs. We explore how the average "equator-to-pole" temperature contrast influences the range and the jump distribution of extreme temperature fluctuations, the ratio of the frequencies of rapid cooling and warming events, and the persistence of "weather" in the set-ups. We find simple combinations of the control parameters-temperature gradient, rotation rate and geometric dimensions-which appear to determine certain scaling properties of these statistics, shedding light on the underlying dynamics of the Rossby wave-related elements of the mid-latitude weather variability.

Olive Oil as a Transport Medium for Bioactive Molecules of Plants?-An In Situ Study.

(1) Caries and erosions still remain a challenge for preventive dentistry. Certain plant extracts have shown beneficial effects in preventive dentistry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial, anti-adherent and erosion-protective properties of ellagic acid (EA) as a polyphenolic agent.

Parental exposure to ocean acidification impacts gamete production and physiology but not offspring performance in Nematostella vectensis.

Ocean acidification (OA) resulting from anthropogenic CO2 emissions is impairing the reproduction of marine organisms. While parental exposure to OA can protect offspring via carryover effects, this phenomenon is poorly understood in many marine invertebrate taxa. Here, we examined how parental exposure to acidified (pH 7.

Barbecue conditions affect contents of oxygenated and non-oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in meat and non-meat patties.

The contents of eight oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs; anthracene-9,10-dione, benzo[]anthracene-7,12-dione, 11-benzo[]fluorene-11-one, 6H-benzo[]pyren-6-one, 7H-benzo[]anthracene-7-one, 9,10-dihydro-8H-benzo[]pyren-7-one, fluoren-9-one, and naphthacene-5,12-dione) and six PAHs (anthracene, fluorene, and PAH4) were investigated in barbecued meat and non-meat patties. The patties were prepared with ten setups (six replicates, each) of barbecue conditions defined by grill type, grate height, heating medium, and barbecue time. The highest median contents were observed with a disposable grill (OPAHs: 46.

The effectiveness of traditional vs. velocity-based strength training on explosive and maximal strength performance: A network meta-analysis.

This network meta-analysis aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of different velocity-based (VBT) and traditional 1RM-based resistance training (TRT) interventions on strength and power indices in healthy participants. The research was conducted until December 2021 using the online electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, PsycNet, and SPORTDiscus for studies with the following inclusion criteria: 1) controlled VBT trials, 2) strength and/or jump and/or sprint parameters as outcomes (c), participants aged between 18 and 40 years, and 4) peer-reviewed and published in English. Standardized mean differences (SMD) using a random effects models were calculated.

Antarctic Peninsula warming triggers enhanced basal melt rates throughout West Antarctica.

The observed acceleration of ice shelf basal melt rates throughout West Antarctica could destabilize continental ice sheets and markedly increase global sea level. Explanations for decadal-scale melt intensification have focused on processes local to shelf seas surrounding the ice shelves. A suite of process-based model experiments, guided by CMIP6 forcing scenarios, show that freshwater forcing from the Antarctic Peninsula, propagated between marginal seas by a coastal boundary current, causes enhanced melting throughout West Antarctica.

Cascading effects of habitat loss on ectoparasite-associated bacterial microbiomes.

Suitable habitat fragment size, isolation, and distance from a source are important variables influencing community composition of plants and animals, but the role of these environmental factors in determining composition and variation of host-associated microbial communities is poorly known. In parasite-associated microbial communities, it is hypothesized that evolution and ecology of an arthropod parasite will influence its microbiome more than broader environmental factors, but this hypothesis has not been extensively tested. To examine the influence of the broader environment on the parasite microbiome, we applied high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of 16S rRNA to characterize the microbiome of 222 obligate ectoparasitic bat flies (Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) collected from 155 bats (representing six species) from ten habitat fragments in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Simultaneous Mass Spectrometric Detection of Proteins of Ten Oilseed Species in Meat Products.

Food fraud is a common issue in the modern food industry. The undeclared use of foreign proteins in meat products is a major concern in this context. Oilseeds are ideal for this purpose due to their high protein content and since huge amounts of oil meal are obtained as a by-product of oil production.

Microbiomes mediate host-parasite interactions.

Parasitic and parasitoid organisms, including nematodes, trematodes, flies, ticks and wasps, rely on chemical cues to locate a host. In previous research, these cues were assumed to originate directly from the host, but in some cases it appears that the microbiome is responsible for emitting volatile organic compounds that can attract or repel parasites (Chavez et al., 2021; Takken & Verhulst, 2013).

Relationship between heart rate variability and body mass index: A cross-sectional study of preschool children.

Reduced heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with overweight and obesity in adults. However, little is known about this relationship in early childhood. We investigated the relationship between resting vagally-mediated HRV and body mass index (BMI) in Australian preschool children.

A Faithful Gut: Core Features of Gastrointestinal Microbiota of Long-Distance Migratory Bats Remain Stable despite Dietary Shifts Driving Differences in Specific Bacterial Taxa.

Migratory animals live in a world of constant change. Animals undergo many physiological changes preparing themselves for the migration. Although this field has been studied extensively over the last decades, we know relatively little about the seasonal changes that occur in the microbial communities that these animals carry in their guts.

Molecular mechanisms of sperm motility are conserved in an early-branching metazoan.

Efficient and targeted sperm motility is essential for animal reproductive success. Sperm from mammals and echinoderms utilize a highly conserved signaling mechanism in which sperm motility is stimulated by pH-dependent activation of the cAMP-producing enzyme soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC). However, the presence of this pathway in early-branching metazoans has remained unexplored.

ROR and RYK extracellular region structures suggest that receptor tyrosine kinases have distinct WNT-recognition modes.

WNTs play key roles in development and disease, signaling through Frizzled (FZD) seven-pass transmembrane receptors and numerous co-receptors including ROR and RYK family receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). We describe crystal structures and WNT-binding characteristics of extracellular regions from the Drosophila ROR and RYK orthologs Nrk (neurospecific receptor tyrosine kinase) and Derailed-2 (Drl-2), which bind WNTs though a FZD-related cysteine-rich domain (CRD) and WNT-inhibitory factor (WIF) domain respectively. Our crystal structures suggest that neither Nrk nor Drl-2 can accommodate the acyl chain typically attached to WNTs.

Cornflower Honey as a Model for Authentication of Unifloral Honey Using Classical Methods Combined with Plant-Based Marker Substances Such as Lumichrome.

According to legislation, unifloral honeys are characterized by their organoleptic, physicochemical, and microscopic properties. Melissopalynology is the established method for identifying the pollen taken up with the floral nectar by forager bees and is used for authentication of the nectar sources in honey. For cornflower honey (), the pollen input does not correlate with the nectar input, because the nectar is produced both in floral and in extrafloral nectaries.

Heart rate variability improves in 3-5-year-old children following a 6-month physical activity-based intervention: the Active Early Learning (AEL) cluster randomised controlled trial.

Heart rate variability (HRV) measurement provides non-invasive assessment of autonomic stability and cardiometabolic disease risk. Insufficient physical activity in early childhood may contribute to negative cardiometabolic health. The Active Early Learning (AEL) study was a 6-month randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of a physical activity-based program incorporating movement within the daily curriculum of preschool children.

A sensitive GC-HRMS method for the simultaneous determination of parent and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in barbecued meat and meat substitutes.

A sensitive GC-HRMS method was developed to analyze six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH; anthracene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, chrysene, and fluorene) and eight oxygenated PAHs (OPAH; anthracene-9,10-dione, benzo[a]anthracene-7,12-dione, 7H-benz[de]anthracene-7-one, 11H-benzo[b]fluorene-11-one, 6H-benzo[cd]pyren-6-one, 9,10-dihydro-8H-benzo[a]pyren-7-one, fluoren-9-one, and naphthacene-5,12-dione) in barbecued meat and meat substitutes. After optimization of the conditions of the sample preparation, consisting of accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and solid-phase extraction (SPE), high recoveries (PAH 72-109%; OPAH 74-106%) were obtained. The linear regression of the matrix calibration resulted in high correlation coefficients (0.

Preventive Applications of Polyphenols in Dentistry-A Review.

Polyphenols are natural substances that have been shown to provide various health benefits. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic effects have been described. At the same time, they inhibit the actions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

A UHPLC-MS/MS Method for the Detection of Meat Substitution by Nine Legume Species in Emulsion-Type Sausages.

Meat substitution by legume proteins in various types of meat products is a common practice. A reliable detection and quantification of these additives is required to control food specifications, especially regarding food fraud. Consequently, a UHPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous detection of alfalfa (), broad bean (), chickpea (), lentil (), lupine ( and ), pea (), peanut (), and soy () proteins in meat products was developed.

Disentangling interactions among mercury, immunity and infection in a Neotropical bat community.

1. Contaminants such as mercury are pervasive and can have immunosuppressive effects on wildlife. Impaired immunity could be important for forecasting pathogen spillover, as many land-use changes that generate mercury contamination also bring wildlife into close contact with humans and domestic animals.

Differentiation of Honeydew Honeys from Blossom Honeys and According to Their Botanical Origin by Electrical Conductivity and Phenolic and Sugar Spectra.

Honeydew honey, due to its higher antibacterial and antioxidant activity in comparison to blossom honeys, is in high demand and of interest to consumers. Although a differentiation of blossom honeys from honeydew honeys by way of electrical conductivity is given in many cases, criteria for a differentiation of individual honeydew honeys, such as spruce, fir, and pine, however did not exist. For this reason, 93 authentic honeydew honeys and 63 non-honeydew honeys [35 blossom and 28 nectar-honeydew (mixed)] from 13 different botanical origins were collected within the framework of the current study, and their electrical conductivity and phenolic and sugar profiles were investigated.

Effect of fragaria vesca, hamamelis and tormentil on the initial bacterial colonization in situ.

Objective: The presentin situ study aims to examine the influence of the polyphenolic tea drugs fragaria vesca, hamamelis and tormentil on the initial oral bioadhesion.

Design: Initial biofilm formation was performed on bovine enamel slabs which were carried intraorally by 12 subjects. After 1 min of intraoral pellicle formation, the subjects rinsed with fragaria vesca, tormentil (0.