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International audience; Mosquito control is implemented when arboviruses are detected in patients or in field-collected mosquitoes. However, mass screening of mosquitoes is usually laborious and expensive, requiring specialized expertise and equipment. Detection of virus in mosquito saliva using honey-impregnated filter papers seems to be a promising method as it is non-destructive and allows monitoring the viral excretion dynamics over time from the same mosquito. Here we test the use of filter papers to detect chikungunya virus in mosquito saliva in laboratory conditions, before proposing this method in large-scale mosquito surveillance programs. We found that 0.9 cm 2 cards impregnated with a 50% honey solution could replace the forced salivation technique as they offered a viral RNA detection until 7 days after oral infection of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes with CHIKV.

A prospective, randomised, 6-month feeding trial was performed in 28 adult cats with International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) stage 1 and 2 chronic kidney disease (CKD). All cats were assigned to either a control food: Royal Canin Renal Support A Feline, dry or a test food: Hill's Prescription Diet k/d Feline with chicken, dry. Food intake was recorded daily; body weight weekly; and serum, urine, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and body condition assessments were performed at 0, 1, 3 and 6 months. Twenty cats (9 control, 11 test group) completed the study according to protocol. Cats consuming control food had significant loss of body weight (n=14; mean, -13.0 per cent, P

Prior research demonstrates significant inaccuracy when repeatedly measuring the same amount of dry dog food using a dry-food measuring cup, bringing into question the accuracy of measuring devices. This study aimed to determine dog owners’ accuracy when measuring different volumes of dry dog food using different types of measuring devices. One hundred dog owners, randomly assigned one of three measuring devices (a one-cup dry-food measuring cup, a two-cup graduated-liquid measuring cup or a two-cup commercial food scoop), were asked to measure ¼, ½ and 1 cup of dry dog food. Accuracy was assessed with an electronic gram scale by comparing measured volumes with the correct weight in grams. Individual accuracy ranged from −47.83% to 152.17% across devices and volumes. Measuring accuracy was found to be associated with the volume of food measured (p

Before organizing mixed-mode data collection for the self-administered questionnaire of the Belgian Health Interview Survey, measurement effects between the paper-and-pencil and the web-based questionnaire were evaluated. A two-period cross-over study was organized with a sample of 149 employees of two Belgian research institutes (age range 22-62 years, 72% female). Measurement agreement was assessed for a diverse range of health indicators related to general health, mental and psychosocial health, health behaviors and prevention with kappa coefficients and intraclass correlation (ICC). The quality of the data collected by both modes was evaluated by quantifying the missing, 'don't know' and inconsistent values and data entry mistakes. Good to very good agreement was found for all categorical indicators with kappa coefficients superior to 0.60, except for two mental and psychosocial health indicators namely the presence of a sleeping disorder and of a depressive disorder (kappa≥0.50). For the continuous indicators high to acceptable agreement was observed with ICC superior to 0.70. Inconsistent answers and data-entry mistakes were only occurring in the paper-and-pencil mode. There were no less missing values in the web-based mode compared to the paper-and-pencil mode. The study supports the idea that web-based modes provide, in general, equal responses to paper-and-pencil modes. However, health indicators based upon factual and objective items tend to have higher measurement agreement than indicators requiring an assessment of personal subjective feelings. A web-based mode greatly facilitates the data-entry process and guides the completing of a questionnaire. However, item non-response was not positively affected. ispartof: PLOS ONE vol:13 issue:5 ispartof: location:United States status: published

One of the main challenges in food contact materials research is to prove that the presence of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) is not a safety issue. Migration extracts may contain many unknown substances present at low concentrations. It is difficult and time-consuming to identify all these potential NIAS and concurrently to assess their health risk upon exposure, whereas the health relevance at low exposure levels might not even be an issue. This paper describes a scientifically based, but pragmatic safety assessment approach for unknown substances present at low exposure levels in food contact matrices. This complex mixture safety assessment strategy (CoMSAS) enables one to distinguish toxicologically relevant from toxicologically less relevant substances, when related to their respective levels of exposure, and allows one to focus on the substances of potential health concern. In particular, substances for which exposure will be below certain thresholds may be considered not of health relevance in case specific classes of substances are excluded. This can reduce the amount of work needed for identification, characterisation and evaluation of unknown substances at low concentration. The CoMSAS approach is presented in this paper using a safety assessment of unknown NIAS that may migrate from three carton samples. © 2014 Taylor & Francis. Chemicals/CAS: aflatoxin, 1402-68-2; aflatoxin B1, 1162-65-8; aflatoxin B2, 7220-81-7; aflatoxin G1, 1165-39-5; aflatoxin G2, 7241-98-7; aflatoxin M1, 6795-23-9; ergocornine, 564-36-3; ergocristine, 511-08-0; ergocryptine, 511-09-1; ergometrine, 60-79-7; ergotamine, 113-15-5, 52949-35-6; ether, 60-29-7; fumonisin B1, 116355-83-0; HT 2 toxin, 26934-87-2; nivalenol, 23282-20-4; ochratoxin, 303-47-9, 37203-43-3; T 2 toxin, 21259-20-1; vomitoxin, 51481-10-8; zearalenone, 17924-92-4

An experimental study was carried out to establish whether the draft EEC method for the determination of the global migration of constituents from plastics packaging materials into fatty food stimulants could be applied to all plastics, including lacquers and laminates. Some difficulties were encountered in the use of the EEC method for melamine, for hotmelt-coated packaging materials and for laminates containing one or more layers of materials sensitive to moisture, such as paper, cardboard or regenerated cellulose film. Chemicals/CAS: cellulose, 61991-22-8, 68073-05-2, 9004-34-6; melamine, 108-78-1, 25778-04-5; Dietary Fats; Plastics

An experimental study was carried out to establish whether the draft EEC method for the determination of the global migration of constituents from plastics packaging materials into fatty food stimulants could be applied to all plastics, including lacquers and laminates. Some difficulties were encountered in the use of the EEC method for melamine, for hotmelt-coated packaging materials and for laminates containing one or more layers of materials sensitive to moisture, such as paper, cardboard or regenerated cellulose film. Chemicals/CAS: cellulose, 61991-22-8, 68073-05-2, 9004-34-6; melamine, 108-78-1, 25778-04-5; Dietary Fats; Plastics