........................................................................................................................2 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................3 THE NATIONAL MAIZE ECONOMY.............................................................................4 GUATEMALA’S AGRICULTURE AND MAIN MAIZE PRODUC...

BACKGROUND Current professional guidelines recommend a maximum hang time for reprocessed duodenoscopes of 5-14 days. We sought to study the association between hang time and risk of duodenoscope contamination. METHODS We analyzed cultures of the elevator mechanism and working channel collected in a highly standardized fashion just before duodenoscope use. Hang time was calculated as the time ...

This paper presents the results of theoretical analyses conducted to investigate potential of various particle removal techniques. The purpose is to limit the extent of cross contamination caused by the small particles generated through in situ handling and processing of the simulated Martian rock. Since the same hardware would be used to process several rocks, the cross contamination is define...

In the present work the results of a survey conducted in Sardinia Region on Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) contamination in milk of small ruminants from 2005 to 2013 are reported. A total of 517 sheep and 88 goat milk samples from bulk tank, tank trucks and silo tank milk were collected. Analyses were performed by the Regional Farmers Association laboratory using high-performance liquid chromatography fol...

Methods Following a standardized physical exam using sterile gloves and a sterile stethoscope, bacterial contamination of the following regions were assessed using contact plates: stethoscope diaphragm, stethoscope tube, fingertips, thenar region, hypothenar region and back of physician’s dominant hand. Total aerobic colony count (ACC) were determined on digital photographs using a counting tool.

INTRODUCTION Food-borne infections and intoxications remain one of the most important public health issues globally, both in developing and in developed countries. Numbers of reported outbreaks of food-borne diseases and diseased people are constantly growing. For instance, a total of 320,000 of cases of food-borne diseases, caused by only 6 most prevalent bacterial pathogens (non-typhoidal Sal...

A fast and simple modified QuEChERS extraction method was developed for determination of Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in 137 traditional (Sangak), semi-industrial (Sangak) and industrial bread samples using spiked calibration curves by GC/MS. Sample preparation includes extraction of BaP into acetone followed by cleanup with dispersive solid phase extraction. The limit of detection and limit of quantif...

Mycotoxins contaminate both raw agricultural commodities and processed food. As the world food exporter, Thailand has to be aware of food safety. Both international and local publications of major mycotoxins contamination of food in Thailand published from 20002010 were reviewed. A wide range of contamination levels were found. In Thailand, regulatory limit has been set only for aflatoxins. Glo...

The problems related to groundwater contamination by Iron and Fluoride are common and serious all over the world, especially in developing countries. Excess amounts of these contaminants have created health problems. For this reason, the maximum permissible limit for iron given by WHO and BIS is 1 mg/l, however 0.3 mg/l is the desirable limit. For fluoride, the maximum permissible limit is 1.5 ...

Male-specific coliphages are often used as indicators of contamination by enteric viruses. These phages can be detected in water samples by plaque assays and by polymerase chain reaction. In this study, the M13 coliphage was used to develop a real-time PCR assay for the detection of male-specific DNA coliphages. The real-time PCR was found to have a reaction efficiency of 1.45 and detection lim...