The seafood supply chain from a fraudulent perspective

Food fraud is an intentional act for economic gain. It poses a risk to food integrity, the economy, public health and consumers’ ethics. Seafood is one commodity which has endured extensive fraudulent activity owing to its increasing consumer demand, resource limitations, high value and complex supply chains. It is essential that these fraudulent opportunities are revealed, the risk is evaluated and countermeasures for mitigation are assigned. This can be achieved through mapping of the seafood supply chains and identifying the vulnerability analysis critical control points (VACCP), which can be exposed, infiltrated and exploited for fraudulent activity. This research systematically maps the seafood supply chain for three key commodities: finfish, shellfish and crustaceans in the United Kingdom. Each chain is comprised of multiple stakeholders across numerous countries producing a diverse range of products distributed globally. For each supply chain the prospect of fraud, with reference to species substitution, fishery substitution, illegal, unreported and unregulated substitution, species adulteration, chain of custody abuse, catch method fraud, undeclared product extension, modern day slavery and animal welfare, has been identified and evaluated. This mapping of the fraudulent opportunities within the supply chains provides a foundation to rank known and emerging risks and to develop a proactive mitigation plan which assigns control measures and responsibility where vulnerabilities exist. Further intelligence gathering and management of VACCPs of the seafood supply chains may deter currently unknown or unexposed fraudulent opportunities.     

Establishing Guidelines to Retain Viability of Probiotics During Spray Drying

We present the application of a model-based approach to map processing conditions suitable to spray dry probiotics with minimal viability loss. The approach combines the drying history and bacterial inactivation kinetics to predict the retention of viability after drying. The approach was used to systematically assess the influence of operational co-current spray drying conditions on residual viability. Moreover, two promising alternative drying strategies for probiotics were evaluated involving encapsulation in a hollow particle and using an “ideal-mixed” dryer system. Finally, a graph was constructed with the model to provide visual guidelines to optimize spray dying for probiotics in terms of viability and drying efficiency.     

Direct comparison of Eulerian–Eulerian and Eulerian–Lagrangian simulations for particle-laden vertical channel flow

Particle-laden flows in a vertical channel were simulated using an Eulerian–Eulerian, Anisotropic Gaussian (EE-AG) model. Two sets of cases varying the overall mass loading were done using particle sizes corresponding to either a large or small Stokes number. Primary and turbulent statistics were extracted from these results and compared with counterparts collected from Eulerian–Lagrangian (EL) simulations. The statistics collected from the small Stokes number particle cases correspond well between the two models, with the EE-AG model replicating the transition observed using the EL model from shear-induced turbulence to relaminarization to cluster-induced turbulence as the mass loading increased. The EE-AG model was able to capture the behavior of the EL simulations only at the largest particle concentrations using the large Stokes particles. This is due to the limitations involved with employing a particle-phase Eulerian model (as opposed to a Lagrangian representation) for a spatially intermittent system that has a low particle number concentration.     

Male-Dependent Promotion of Colitis in 129 Rag2−/− Mice Co-Infected with Helicobacter pylori and Helicobacter hepaticus

The prevalence of gastric Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection is ~50% of the world population. However, how Hp infection influences inflammatory bowel disease in humans is not fully defined. In this study, we examined whether co-infection with Hp influenced Helicobacter hepaticus (Hh)–induced intestinal pathology in Rag2^−/− mice. Rag2^−/− mice of both sexes were infected with Hh, of which a subgroup was followed by infection with Hp two weeks later. Co-infected males, but not females, had significantly higher total colitis index scores in the colon at both 10 and 21 weeks post-Hh infection (WPI) and developed more severe dysplasia at 21 WPI compared with mono-Hh males. There were no significant differences in colonization levels of gastric Hp and colonic Hh between sexes or time-points. In addition, mRNA levels of colonic Il-1β, Ifnγ, Tnfα, Il-17A, Il-17F, Il-18, and Il-23, which play important roles in the development and function of proinflammatory innate lymphoid cell groups 1 and 3, were significantly up-regulated in the dually infected males compared with mono-Hh males at 21 WPI. These data suggest that concomitant Hp infection enhances the inflammatory responses in the colon of-Hh-infected Rag2^−/− males, which results in more severe colitis and dysplasia.     

A Regionally Applicable Model for Estimating Flow Velocity at Ungauged River Sites in the UK

Measurements of flow velocity are often required for a broad range of issues surrounding water-resource management, and a velocity-estimation method is therefore desirable where extensive field data are unavailable. This paper presents the development of a model for estimating flow velocity using readily available catchment characteristics, and flow and channel geometry data. The velocity equations were calibrated using UK data, so that their application at any river site in the UK is attainable. The calibrated equation uses the mean flow and the dimensionless magnitude of the flow on the day in question to estimate the mean reach velocity for flows at any river site in the UK.     

Microwave-specific heating of crystalline species in nuclear waste glass

The microwave heating of a crystal-free and a partially trevorite-crystallized nuclear waste glass simulant was evaluated. Our results show that a 500-mg monolith of partially crystallized waste glass can be heated from room temperature to above 1600°C within 2 minutes using a single-mode, highly focused, 2.45-GHz microwave, operating at 300 W. Using X-ray diffraction measurements, we show that trevorite is no longer detectable after irradiation and thermal quenching. When a crystal-free analog of the same waste glass simulant composition was exposed to the same microwave radiation, it could not be heated above 450°C regardless of the heating time. The reduction in crystalline content achieved by selectively heating spinels in the presence of glass suggests that microwave-specific heating should be further explored as a technique for remediating crystal accumulation in a glass melt.     

Discovery of 5′′‐Chloro‐N‐[(5,6‐dimethoxypyridin‐2‐yl)methyl]‐2,2′:5′,3′′‐terpyridine‐3′‐carboxamide (MK‐1064): A Selective Orexin 2 Receptor Antagonist (2‐SORA) for the Treatment of Insomnia

The field of small‐molecule orexin antagonist research has evolved rapidly in the last 15 years from the discovery of the orexin peptides to clinical proof‐of‐concept for the treatment of insomnia. Clinical programs have focused on the development of antagonists that reversibly block the action of endogenous peptides at both the orexin 1 and orexin 2 receptors (OX₁R and OX₂R), termed dual orexin receptor antagonists (DORAs), affording late‐stage development candidates including Merck’s suvorexant (new drug application filed 2012). Full characterization of the pharmacology associated with antagonism of either OX₁R or OX₂R alone has been hampered by the dearth of suitable subtype‐selective, orally bioavailable ligands. Herein, we report the development of a selective orexin 2 antagonist (2‐SORA) series to afford a potent, orally bioavailable 2‐SORA ligand. Several challenging medicinal chemistry issues were identified and overcome during the development of these 2,5‐disubstituted nicotinamides, including reversible CYP inhibition, physiochemical properties, P‐glycoprotein efflux and bioactivation. This article highlights structural modifications the team utilized to drive compound design, as well as in vivo characterization of our 2‐SORA clinical candidate, 5′′‐chloro‐N‐[(5,6‐dimethoxypyridin‐2‐yl)methyl]‐2,2′:5′,3′′‐terpyridine‐3′‐carboxamide (MK‐1064), in mouse, rat, dog, and rhesus sleep models.     

Microstructural evolution in ultrafine-grained titanium processed by high-pressure torsion under different pressures

A grade 2 commercially pure (CP) titanium was processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) at pressures of 3.0 and 6.0 GPa in order to achieve improved strengths. The microhardness values for these Ti samples were plotted against the imposed strain, and the plots show that a higher saturation microhardness of 320 Hv is achieved for the sample processed at 6.0 GPa compared to a microhardness of 305 Hv when using a pressure of 3.0 GPa. The omega ω-phase has been reported in some earlier HPT investigations of pure titanium, but it was not detected in this investigation even after processing at 6.0 GPa. The absence of the ω-phase is attributed to the relatively high level of oxygen (0.25 wt%) in these CP titanium samples. The higher saturation hardness for the 6.0 GPa sample is consistent with the smaller average grain size of ~105 ± 12 nm compared with the measured grain size of ~130 ± 18 nm after processing with an imposed pressure of 3.0 GPa.