From the point of view of biological toxicity the most toxic radionuclides are man-made 90Sr and 137Cs because the behavoir of both of them is similar to stable calcium and potassium in the body. Fish is the last part of the hydrosystem chain which accumulates pollutants. The aim of this ...

The occurrence, distribution, speciation, and biotransformation of arsenic in aquatic environment (marine and freshwater) have been studied extensively by several research groups during last couple of decades. However, most of those studies have been conducted in marine waters, and the results are available in a number of reviews. Speciation, bioaccumulation, ...

Transfer of aqueous methylmercury (MeHg) to primary consumers in aquatic foodwebs is poorly understood despite its importance for bioaccumulation of MeHg. We studied bioaccumulation of MeHg in simple aquatic food chains of two humic boreal streams in relation to streamwater chemistry, food web characteristics and dietary fatty acid (FA) biomarkers. ...

For the past several months, many of the media items about GM crops and foods have been-as usual- about regulation, politics and their consequences.  : Perhaps the most dramatic was the announcement by BASF, the world's largest chemical company and one of the major industrial concerns in Germany, that it ...

The benefits of bioluminescence for nonsymbiotic marine bacteria have not been elucidated fully. One of the most commonly cited explanations, proposed more than 30 y ago, is that bioluminescence augments the propagation and dispersal of bacteria by attracting fish to consume the luminous material. This hypothesis, based mostly on the ...

Various bacteria including food spoilage bacteria and pathogens can form biofilms on different food processing surfaces, leading to potential food contamination or spoilage. Therefore, the survival of foodborne pathogens (Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Cronobacter sakazakii) in different forms (adhered cells, biofilm producing in TSB, biofilm ...

The aim of this work was to investigate how production and freeze-drying conditions of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis INL1, a probiotic strain isolated from breast milk, affected its survival and resistance to simulated gastric digestion during storage in food matrices. The determination of the resistance of bifidobacteria to simulated gastric ...

Commercial literature on various probiotic products suggests that they can be taken before meals, during meals or after meals or even without meals. This has led to serious confusion for the industry and the consumer. The objective of our study was to examine the impact of the time of administration ...

Consumption of a diet consistent with dietary guidelines is believed to have a beneficial effect on the prevention of chronic diseases and the promotion of general health. This study was conducted to explore the relationship between adherence to the Korean Food Guidance System (KFGS), which was based on the 2010 ...

Many food-grade bacteria produce exopolysaccharides (EPS) that may modify the food texture or affect their survival rate during food processing. This is the case of O. oeni, a bacterial species who drives malolactic fermentation in wine. The five strains analyzed in the present study all display both isolated genes dedicated ...

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a significant human pathogen which has mostly foodborne and waterborne modes of transmission. Although capable of infecting several hosts, the main source of this bacterium is cattle. In humans, it mainly causes hemorrhagic colitis, bloody diarrhea, and hemolytic uremic syndrome. This bacterial pathogen is fairly resistant ...

In recent years, there has been a particular focus on the application of antimicrobial compounds produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as natural preservatives to control the growth of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria in food. Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides which can be added to foods in concentrated forms as food ...

Saliva is the medium that bathes the taste receptors in the oral cavity and in which aroma and taste compounds are released when food is eaten. Moreover saliva contains enzymes and molecules that can interact with food. To date, little research has been devoted to the intra- and inter-individual variabilities ...

Fermentation extracts from fungi isolated from vineyard ecosystems were tested for antimicrobial activities against a set of test microorganisms, including five food-borne pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus EP167, Acinetobacter baumannii (clinically isolated), Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, Escherichia coli O157:H7 (CECT 5947) and Candida albicans MY1055) and two probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum LCH17 and ...

Enterococci belong to the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and they are of importance in foods due to their involvement in food spoilage and fermentations, as well as their utilisation as probiotics in humans and slaughter animals. However, they are also important nosocomial pathogens that cause bacteraemia, endocarditis and other infections. ...

The ability to degrade ochratoxin A was studied in different bacteria with a well-known capacity to transform aromatic compounds. Strains belonging to Rhodococcus, Pseudomonas and Brevibacterium genera were grown in liquid synthetic culture medium containing ochratoxin A. Brevibacterium spp. strains showed 100% degradation of ochratoxin A. Ochratoxin  was detected ...

Lactic acid bacteria play important roles in various fermented foods in Asia. Besides being the main component in kimchi and other fermented foods, they are used to preserve edible food materials through fermentation of other raw-materials such as rice wine/beer, rice cakes, and fish by producing organic acids to control ...

Determining the influence of surface roughness on Escherichia coli O157 attachment to and detachment from stainless steel (SS) is important for controlling this foodborne pathogen. The aim of this study was to evaluate the interactions of six E. coli strains (four O157:H7, one O157:H12, and one O1:H7) with SS type ...

Aims:  To investigate the faecal microbiota of geriatric cats, as aging affects the nutrient digestibility and metabolic function of the feline intestine. Methods and results:  20 geriatric cats were randomly assigned to two groups that were fed different foods. Coriobacteriaceae, Clostridium cluster XIV, bifidobacteria, and lactic acid bacteria were the ...

Food safety and shelf-life are both important microbial concerns in relation to broiler meat production. Focus is mainly placed on the absence or control of potentially pathogenic microbes such as Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. but, from the commercial point of view, other spoilage bacteria also play a role as ...

Bacteria within the gastro-intestinal tract affect host function via production of short-chain fatty acids and synthesis of vitamins. Additionally, the commensal enteric bacteria modulate the immune system and provide protection from potentially pathogenic bacteria. Only recently heterogeneous bacterial biofilms were found to be associated with food particles within the intestinal ...

Food insufficiency is associated with medication non-adherence among people living with HIV/AIDS. The current study examines the relationship between hunger and medication adherence in a US urban and peri-urban sample of people living with HIV/AIDS. Men (N = 133) and women (N = 46) living with HIV/AIDS were recruited using snowball sampling and small ...

BACKGROUND: The systemic and pulmonary inflammatory response associated with pneumonectomy performed via minithoracotomy versus that after open posterolateral thoracotomy is uncertain. METHODS: Groups consisting of 7 randomly assigned mice underwent a) minithoracotomy (with 5-mm long incisions and sparing of the muscles) alone, b) posterolateral thoracotomy (with 20-mm long incisions) alone, ...

Propionibacterium freudenreichii ET-3 culture, a cell-free product of whey fermentation using P. freudenreichii ET-3 (7025), has been shown to promote the growth of Bifidobacteria through the action of 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (DHNA), and therefore, has potential use in the food and supplement industries. Although currently used as a food ingredient in ...

Aspiration pneumonia most often presents in surgical lung biopsies as a granulomatous pneumonia with acute inflammation, microabscesses, and a granulomatous reaction to food or other particulate matter. In this study of 10 patients with clinical aspiration in whom surgical lung biopsy was performed, 3 additional patterns of lung injury were ...

We examined habitat-specific bioaccumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic food webs by comparing concentrations in pelagic zooplankton to those in littoral macroinvertebrates from 52 mid-latitude lakes in North America. Invertebrate MeHg concentrations were primarily correlated with water pH, and after controlling for this influence, pelagic zooplankton had significantly higher MeHg ...

Salmonella enterica serotypes are invasive enteric pathogens spread through fecal contamination of food and water sources, and represent a constant public health threat around the world. The symptoms associated with salmonellosis and typhoid disease are largely due to the host response to invading Salmonella, and to the mechanisms these bacteria ...

Probiotic bacteria, according to the definition adopted by the World Health Organization in 2002, are live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit to the host. Recent studies show that the same probiotic strain produced and/or preserved under different storage conditions, may present different responses regarding ...

The purpose of this paper was to check if viable bacteria, in particular lactic acid bacteria (LAB), could be enriched from biopsies obtained from healthy gastroscopy patients. Gastric biopsies were obtained from 13 gastroscopy patients and subjected to an anaerobic or microaerophilic enrichment procedure utilizing the Portable Microbe Enrichment Unit ...

Although foods are considered enhancing factors for dental caries and periodontitis, laboratory researches indicate that several foods and beverages contain components endowed with antimicrobial and antiplaque activities. A low molecular mass (LMM) fraction of an aqueous mushroom extract has been found to exert these activities in in vitro experiments against ...

Food chain length (FCL) is a fundamental component of food web structure. Studies in a variety of ecosystems suggest that FCL is determined by energy supply, environmental stability, and/or ecosystem size, but the nature of the relationship between environmental stability and FCL, and the mechanism linking ecosystem size to FCL, ...

A bioenergy production and delivery system built around the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS) transportation corridor was assessed for its ability to mitigate energy security and climate change risks. The land area within 100 km of the GLSLS and associated railway lines was estimated to be capable of producing ...

Here, we present data that for the first time suggests that the effects of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on nutrient limitation extend into the food web. We used a novel and sensitive assay for an enzyme that is over-expressed in animals growing under dietary phosphorus (P) deficiency (alkaline phosphatase activity, ...

Adjacent food webs may be linked by cross-boundary subsidies: more-productive donor systems can subsidize consumers in less-productive neighboring recipient systems. Introduced species are known to have direct effects on organisms within invaded communities. However, few studies have addressed the indirect effects of nonnative species in donor systems on organisms in ...

We have evaluated the mercury and methylmercury transfers to and within the macroinvertebrate communities of a floodplain lake of the Beni River basin, Bolivia, during three hydrological seasons and in two habitats (open water and vegetation belt). Using the stable isotopes delta(13)C and delta(15)N, six trophic chains were identified during ...

Sea anemones in genera Adamsia, Calliactis and Paracalliactis (family Hormathiidae) engage in a mutualistic symbiosis with hermit crabs in which the anemone gains substrate and food in exchange for defending the crab. Some of the sea anemones also expand the living space of the crab by producing a carcinoecium, a ...

Total length, body mass and gut content mass of young-of-the-year (YOY) perch Perca fluviatilis, dace Leuciscus leuciscus and bleak Alburnus alburnus were recorded over the summer of 2006 at three littoral sites at Upper Lake Constance. In P. fluviatilis and L. leuciscus, gut content mass correlated positively with wave-induced energy ...

Single-spawning (semelparous) anadromous fishes are known to transport contaminants from marine to freshwater habitats, but little research has been conducted on contaminant biotransport by multiple-spawning (iteroparous) anadromous fishes. We examined the effect of iteroparous, anadromous Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) on mercury concentrations ([Hg]) in freshwater biota and compared [Hg] between ...

Concentrations of mercury (Hg) have increased slowly in landlocked Arctic char over a 10- to 15-year period in the Arctic. Fluxes of Hg to sediments also show increases in most Arctic lakes. Correlation of Hg with trophic level (TL) was used to investigate and compare biomagnification of Hg in food ...

Among-lake variation in mercury (Hg) concentrations in landlocked Arctic char was examined in 27 char populations from remote lakes across the Canadian Arctic. A total of 520 landlocked Arctic char were collected from 27 lakes, as well as sediments and surface water from a subset of lakes in 1999, 2002, ...

We assessed the influence of rock cavities, or pits, on the growth dynamics and behavior of the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. In a paired-designed, laboratory experiment, sea urchins were assigned to sandstone blocks that were either 'Flat' or had a 'Pit' drilled into the center. At the start, both ...

The stomach contents of 137 examples of Potamotrygon motoro caught in 3 locations (Muaná, Afuá and Lake Arari) on Marajó Island were analysed. The values of the Index of Relative Importance (IRI) and its respective percentage (%IRI) were calculated. The level of repletion 1 (1/4 full) was the most representative ...

Sedentary species face a trade-off between the benefits of exploiting food close to their homes and the cost of defending it. In aquatic systems, it has been suggested that some sedentary grazers can increase the range of circumstances under which they are at an advantage over mobile grazers by enhancing ...

This study has been conducted between years 2002-2008 in nearby Egirdir lake, which is acknowledged to be amongst the biggest fresh water lakes in Turkey. Within the scope of this study observations have been made on one of the cat species common in Turkey, Jungle Cat Felis chaus, its biology ...

Sea turtles have historically been an important food resource for many coastal inhabitants of Mexico. Today, the consumption of sea turtle meat and eggs continues in northwestern Mexico despite well-documented legal protection and market conditions providing easier access to other more reliable protein sources. Although there is growing evidence that ...

Chelonid corneal fibropapillomatosis has not previously been recorded in Australian waters. During 2008, 724 green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) were examined in Queensland, Australia at two sites, Moreton Bay (n=155) and Shoalwater Bay (n=569), during annual monitoring. In the same calendar year, 63 turtles were submitted from various sites in ...

Laboratory experiments were carried out over two different periods, with the aim of investigating and utilizing the induction to gonadal maturation of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. The final objective was to obtain viable gametes outside the period of natural spawning in the environment; which would allow the utilization of ...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are hydrophobic chemicals and can biomagnify in food chains. Little is known about the biomagnification of PBDEs in the Lake Michigan food web. Plankton, Diporeia, lake whitefish, lake trout, and Chinook salmon were collected from Lake Michigan in 2006 between April and August. Fish liver and muscle ...

Deep-sea benthic foraminifera, planktic foraminifer Globigerina bulloides and pteropods have been quantitatively analysed in 451 samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 716A, to understand both surface and deep-sea palaeoceanographic changes in the equatorial Indian Ocean basin during the late Quaternary (approximately 444-151 Kyrs). Benthic foraminifera were analysed from >125 ...

The diet and growth of two cyprinids, roach Rutilus rutilus and rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus, in the clay-turbid Kirkkojärvi basin in Lake Hiidenvesi (Finland) were studied. Young R. rutilus fed mainly on detritus, molluscs, chironomids and zooplankton, while older individuals consumed mostly detritus, molluscs and filamentous algae. In the food of ...