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Importance: Campylobacter is a leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States due to consumption of contaminated or mishandled food products, often associated with chicken meat. Campylobacter is common in the microbiota of avian and mammalian gut; however, acquisition of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factors (VFs) may result in strains that pose significant threat to public health. Although there are studies investigating the genetic diversity of Campylobacter strains isolated from post-harvest chicken samples, there are limited data on the genome characteristics of isolates recovered from preharvest broiler production. Here, we show that Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli differ in their carriage of antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors may also differ in their ability to persist in litter during consecutive grow-out of broiler flocks. We found that presence/absence of virulence factors needed for evasion of host defense mechanisms and gut colonization played an integral role in differentiating Campylobacter strains., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Most of the dyes are toxic and non-biodegradable in textile industry wastewaters. Therefore, removal of textile dye using agriculture waste becomes crucial for the environment. This can be accomplished by the biosorption process which is the passive uptake of pollutants by agricultural waste. In this study, Response Surface Methodology (RSM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) were used to obtain optimum conditions for Methylene Blue (MB) removal using sugarcane bagasse and peanut hulls as low-cost agricultural waste. The experimental design was carried out to study the effect of temperature, pH, biosorbent amount and dye concentration. The maximum MB dye removal considering the effect of total dissolved solids from aqueous solutions of 74.49% and 67.99% by sugarcane bagasse and peanut hulls, respectively. The models specify that they could predict biosorption with high accuracy having R -value above 0.9. Statistical studies for RSM, ANFIS and ANN models were compared. Further, the models were optimized for maximum dye removal was at 1.21 g of biosorbent, pH 5.24, 31.24 mg/L MB concentration, 22.29°C of dye solution using sugarcane bagasse and at 1.37 g of biosorbent, pH 5.77, 36.7 mg/L MB concentration, 26.8°C of dye solution using peanut hulls. Additionally, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectral analysis was also carried out to confirm the biosorption.2 -value above 0.9. Statistical studies for RSM, ANFIS and ANN models were compared. Further, the models were optimized for maximum dye removal was at 1.21 g of biosorbent, pH 5.24, 31.24 mg/L MB concentration, 22.29°C of dye solution using sugarcane bagasse and at 1.37 g of biosorbent, pH 5.77, 36.7 mg/L MB concentration, 26.8°C of dye solution using peanut hulls. Additionally, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectral analysis was also carried out to confirm the biosorption.

A novel multiwall carbon nanotube/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (MWCNT/PET) composite electrode was developed for the determination of 5,7-dihydroxychromone and luteolin in peanut hulls in combination with capillary electrophoresis (CE). The electrode was fabricated by packing a mixture of MWCNTs and melted PET in a piece of fused-silica capillary under heat. Because of the simple composition of the phenolic constituents in peanut hulls, they were used to demonstrate the performance of the fabricated electrode. The results indicated that 5,7-dihydroxychromone and luteolin were well separated within 12 min in a 40 cm long capillary at a separation voltage of 12 kV using a 50mM borate buffer (pH 9.2). The MWCNT-based electrode exhibited significantly lower detection potentials, enhanced signal-to-noise characteristics, and higher resistance to surface fouling compared to graphite/PET composite electrode. It showed long-term stability and reproducibility with a relative standard deviation of 2.6% for the peak current (n = 15). The relation between peak current and analyte concentration was linear over about three orders of magnitude. The proposed method has been applied to determine the two bioactive constituents in real samples., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)