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Introduction in 2017–2019 of the new EU legislation on official controls in food production allowed use of computer vision systems (CVSs) as complementary tools in meat inspection of bovines, pigs and poultry. A systematic literature review was performed to identify and analyse relevant articles reporting on the performances of CVSs used in abattoirs for ante- and post-mortem veterinary inspection and meat safety assurance, including systems for detecting carcass/organ contamination and lesions. In this review, 62 articles were identified and analysed. There were 35 articles reporting on CVS performance in the detection of carcass/organ lesions and 27 in the detection of carcass contamination. CVSs for broiler chicken, pig and bovine meat safety assurance were reported in 53, 5 and 4 articles, respectively. Not all developed CVSs were validated, and only three articles reported results from real-time evaluation of CVS performance in an abattoir vs performance of the official veterinarian. Most of the reported CVS performance measures (i.e., sensitivity and specificity) were >80%. A high specificity in detecting lesions and carcass contamination (i.e., a low number of false positives) is of importance for the food business operator in order to minimise food waste, whereas a high sensitivity (i.e., a low number of false negatives) is required for production of wholesome and safe meat. At present, the existing CVSs developed for overall meat safety assurance of broiler chicken carcasses and organs demonstrate very high sensitivities but suboptimal specificities, indicating the need for further CVS development and optimisation.

The traditional meat safety system has significantly contributed to public health protection throughout the last century. However, it has been recognised that this system suffers many flaws – the main being its limited ability to control the currently most important meat-borne hazards. The European Food Safety Authority evaluated meat inspection in the public health context, prioritised meat-borne hazards and proposed a generic framework for a new, risk-based meat safety assurance system. The proposed system aims to combine a range of preventive and control measures, applied at farms and abattoirs and integrated longitudinally, where official meat inspection is incorporated with producers' food safety management systems into a coherent whole. The modernisation process has recently started as a direct result of changes to relevant legislation in the European Union. Many challenges have been experienced while many opportunities are foreseen. More focus on targeted and risk-based inspection along the supply chain as well as use of new technologies may be a cost-effective and feasible way forward. Practical implementation of the system is expected to be a slow and careful process followed by thorough development, fine-tuning, and testing of practical feasibility and general impacts. Further progress that will lead to the full implementation is dependent on intensive research to fill knowledge gaps, enhance education and training and foster close collaboration of all the new system's stakeholders.

Diplura is a group of entognathous hexapods, often considered a sister group to insects. They play an important role in recycling organic matter in soil and subterranean terrestrial ecosystems. The Campodeidae is the most diverse family, divided into four subfamilies. The subfamily Plusiocampinae has a subterranean life-style with many species distributed in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The incertae sedis tachycampoids (“lignée Tachycampoïde”) is a group within the family Campodeidae that share with the Plusiocampinae a strong preference for subterranean habitats and several morphological characters, such as slender body shape, elongated appendages, considerable increment in the number of antennomeres and cercal articles, and complexity of sensorial structures. The present monograph provides a taxonomic revision of the subfamily Plusiocampinae and the genera belonging to the tachycampoid lineage from Europe and the Mediterranean region. It comprises detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations together with data on the habitats and distributions of 87 species, 10 subspecies and 11 affinis forms. Seven new species are described among those, namely: Plusiocampa (Plusiocampa) apollo Sendra, Giachino & Vailati sp. nov., P. (P.) chiosensis Sendra & Gasparo sp. nov., P. (P.) dublanskii Sendra & Turbanov sp. nov., P. (P.) hoffmanni Sendra & Paragamian sp. nov., P. (P.) rhea Sendra sp. nov., P. (P.) ternovensis Sendra & Borko sp. nov. and P. (Venetocampa) ferrani Sendra & Delić sp. nov.

We describe a new anthroleucosomatid millipede, Heterocaucaseuma deprofundum sp. nov., found in the second and third deepest caves of our planet, Krubera-Voronja and Sarma, in Abkhazia, western Caucasus. A brief discussion on its taxonomy and relationships within the Caucaseuma complex and genus Heterocaucaseuma is provided, together with new faunistic records on other three species of Heterocaucaseuma. Notes on the distribution and troglomorphy of the genus Heterocaucaseuma are added. Ecological information and data on the subterranean community of the Krubera-Voronja Cave are updated. We also discuss the vertical distribution of the new species in caves and the presence of an ectoparasitic fungi of the order Laboulbeniales. This new species is currently the world's deepest-occurring millipede, also representing one of the largest known chordeumatidans.

Cave animals live under highly constant ecological conditions and in permanent darkness, and many evolutionary adaptations of cave-dwellers have been triggered by their specific environment. A similar "cave effect" leading to pronounced chemical interactions under such conditions may be assumed, but the chemoecology of troglobionts is mostly unknown. We investigated the defensive chemistry of a largely cave-dwelling julid group, the controversial tribe "Typhloiulini", and we included some cave-dwelling and some endogean representatives. While chemical defense in juliform diplopods is known to be highly uniform, and mainly based on methyl- and methoxy-substituted benzoquinones, the defensive secretions of typhloiulines contained ethyl-benzoquinones and related compounds. Interestingly, ethyl-benzoquinones were found in some, but not all cave-dwelling typhloiulines, and some non-cave dwellers also contained these compounds. On the other hand, ethyl-benzoquinones were not detected in troglobiont nor in endogean typhloiuline outgroups. In order to explain the taxonomic pattern of ethyl-benzoquinone occurrence, and to unravel whether a cave-effect triggered ethyl-benzoquinone evolution, we classed the "Typhloiulini" investigated here within a phylogenetic framework of julid taxa, and traced the evolutionary history of ethyl-benzoquinones in typhloiulines in relation to cave-dwelling. The results indicated a cave-independent evolution of ethyl-substituted benzoquinones, indicating the absence of a "cave effect" on the secretions of troglobiont Typhloiulini. Ethyl-benzoquinones probably evolved early in an epi- or endogean ancestor of a clade including several, but not all Typhloiulus (basically comprising a taxonomic entity known as "Typhloiulus sensu stricto") and Serboiulus. Ethyl-benzoquinones are proposed as novel and valuable chemical characters for julid systematics.

Three adult cave-dwelling ground beetle species were induced to discharge secretions of their pygidial glands into vials. Dichloromethane extraction was used to obtain the secretions. In total, 42 compounds were identified by GC/MS analysis. Pheggomisetes ninae contained 32 glandular compounds, Laemostenus (Pristonychus) punctatus 13, whereas Duvalius (Paraduvalius) milutini had nine compounds. Caproic, oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids were present in the samples of all analyzed species. Undecane was predominant in the extract of L. punctatus. Palmitic acid was the major component in the secretion of D. milutini. Finally, the most abundant compounds in P. ninae secretion were heptacosene and nonacosadienes. Herein, we present the first data on the identification of pygidial gland secretion components in both troglophilous and troglobite cave-dwelling ground beetles. Some compounds are reported for the first time in the secretions of ground beetles and other higher or lower taxa. The adaptation to underground life has not led to a reduction or changes in the chemical defense mechanism in the analyzed troglophilous and troglobitic Platyninae and Trechinae taxa.

Two new species, one each of the previously monotypic genera Cibiniulus Verhoeff, 1927, and Thassoblaniulus Mauriès, 1985, are described from caves in Slovakia and Albania, respectively: C. slovacus Antić, Mock & Enghoff, sp. n. and T. radjai Antić & Enghoff sp. n. Brief discussions on relationships with congeners and on the taxonomic position of the genera Cibiniulus and Thassoblaniulus within Blaniulidae are presented, as well as a distribution map for both genera