A calibrated model of local food system of Hawaii: What are the economic implications of the state's food goals and policies?

We develop a fully calibrated positive mathematical programming model for Hawaii's local food systems—which captures the production and the consumer sides of the market. Then we use the model to assess two proposed policies—a general excise tax (GET) exemption on locally produced foods, and an investment in agricultural infrastructure. For the GET exemption case, our results indicate an economic gain of $118 per $100 cost. On the other hand, an investment in 1,200 acres of land injected to support local production may generate an economic gain of up to $357 per $100 annual cost of the investment. However, these estimates should be considered preliminary, and thus viewed with caution. Although the model is used to capture Hawaii's local food systems, we believe that our model is generalizable and can be adopted by other economies to assess their respective food localization policies. Recommendations for Resource Managers

• Local food policies need to be based on quantitative terms instead of mere armchair speculation because often their potential outcomes may vary significantly.

• The current modeling framework demonstrates the potential of using positive mathematical programming (PMP) in capturing the intricacies of local food systems. However, this exploratory exercise should be viewed as preliminary in nature and the ensuing results were taken with caution because many important factors such as labor availability may have been left out.

• Thus, further model refinements are necessary to better capture the complexities of local food systems such as farm heterogeneity, availability of farm labor, water availability, and interisland transportation of farm products in the case of Hawaii.

     

Coexistence and harvesting control policy in a food chain model with mutual defense of prey

A model is proposed to understand the dynamics in a food chain (one predator‐two prey). Unlike many approaches, we consider mutualism (for defense against predators) between the two groups of prey. We investigate the conditions for coexistence and exclusion. Unlike Elettreby's (2009) results, we show that prey can coexist in the absence of predators (as expected since there is no competition between prey). We also show the existence of Hopf bifurcation and limit cycle in the model, and numerically present bifurcation diagrams in terms of mutualism and harvesting. When the harvest is practiced for profit making, we provide the threshold effort value that determines the profitability of the harvest. We show that there is zero profit when the constant effort is applied. Below (resp. above) , there will always be gain (resp. loss). In the case of gain, we provide the optimal effort and optimal steady states that produce maximum profit and ensure coexistence. Recommendations for resource managers As a result of our investigation, we bring the following to the attention of management:

• 1. In the absence of predators, different groups of prey can coexist if they mutually help each other (no competition among them).
• 2. There is a maximal effort to invest in order to gain profit from the harvest. Above , the investment will result in a loss.
• 3. In the case of profit from harvest, policy makers should recommend the optimal effort to be applied and the optimal stock to harvest. This will guarantee maximum profit while ensuring sustainability of all species.

     

中国进口食品安全风险评估的统计学方法

近年来,随着对外贸易的快速发展和人民生活水平的不断提高,我国已经成为食品进口大国。运用科学的方法优化检验资源配置,强化对进口食品安全的风险管理,是一个关系到人民福社的重大问题。国际上通行的做法是对不同种类的食品和检测项目的潜在风险进行评估,并根据评估结果制定有针对性的监督抽检计划,使得更多的检验资源可以投入到对高风险产品和项目的监管中去。我国在这方面的管理实践才刚刚起步,急需建立一套符合我国食品进口自身特点和管理需求的风险评价模型和相应的估计方法。本文借鉴了其它国家的相关做法,并结合我国进口食品的管理需求和历史检测数据的特点,制定了一套完整的风险评价和估计方法。     

Trichothecenes in Food and Feed,Relevance to Human and Animal Health and Methods of Detection: A Systematic Review

Trichothecene mycotoxins are sesquiterpenoid compounds primarily produced by fungi in taxonomical genera such as Fusarium, Myrothecium, Stachybotrys, Trichothecium, and others, under specific climatic conditions on a worldwide basis. Fusarium mold is a major plant pathogen and produces a number of trichothecene mycotoxins including deoxynivalenol (or vomitoxin), nivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, and T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin. Monogastrics are sensitive to vomitoxin, while poultry and ruminants appear to be less sensitive to some trichothecenes through microbial metabolism of trichothecenes in the gastrointestinal tract. Trichothecene mycotoxins occur worldwide however both total concentrations and the particular mix of toxins present vary with environmental conditions. Proper agricultural practices such as avoiding late harvests, removing overwintered stubble from fields, and avoiding a corn/wheat rotation that favors Fusarium growth in residue can reduce trichothecene contamination of grains. Due to the vague nature of toxic effects attributed to low concentrations of trichothecenes, a solid link between low level exposure and a specific trichothecene is difficult to establish. Multiple factors, such as nutrition, management, and environmental conditions impact animal health and need to be evaluated with the knowledge of the mycotoxin and concentrations known to cause adverse health effects. Future research evaluating the impact of low-level exposure on livestock may clarify the potential impact on immunity. Trichothecenes are rapidly excreted from animals, and residues in edible tissues, milk, or eggs are likely negligible. In chronic exposures to trichothecenes, once the contaminated feed is removed and exposure stopped, animals generally have an excellent prognosis for recovery. This review shows the occurrence of trichothecenes in food and feed in 2011–2020 and their toxic effects and provides a summary of the discussions on the potential public health concerns specifically related to trichothecenes residues in foods associated with the exposure of farm animals to mycotoxin-contaminated feeds and impact to human health. Moreover, the article discusses the methods of their detection.     

Postbiotics,Metabolic Signaling,and Cancer

Postbiotics are health-promoting microbial metabolites delivered as a functional food or a food supplement. They either directly influence signaling pathways of the body or indirectly manipulate metabolism and the composition of intestinal microflora. Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide and even though the prognosis of patients is improving, it is still poor in the substantial part of the cases. The preventable nature of cancer and the importance of a complex multi-level approach in anticancer therapy motivate the search for novel avenues of establishing the anticancer environment in the human body. This review summarizes the principal findings demonstrating the usefulness of both natural and synthetic sources of postbotics in the prevention and therapy of cancer. Specifically, the effects of crude cell-free supernatants, the short-chain fatty acid butyrate, lactic acid, hydrogen sulfide, and β-glucans are described. Contradictory roles of postbiotics in healthy and tumor tissues are highlighted. In conclusion, the application of postbiotics is an efficient complementary strategy to combat cancer.     

Rapid quantitative analysis of etoricoxib in human plasma by UPLC‐MS/MS and application to a pharmacokinetic study in Chinese healthy volunteers

A selective and sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for simultaneous determination of etoricoxib in human plasma. Chromatography was performed on an Acquity UPLC HSS T3 column (1.8 μm, 50 × 2.1 mm), with a flow rate of 0.600 mL/min, using a gradient elution with acetonitrile and water which contained 2 mm ammonium acetate as the mobile phase. Detection was carried out on Triple QuadTM 5500 mass spectrometer under positive‐ion multiple reaction monitoring mode. The respective mass transitions used for quantification of etoricoxib and etoricoxib‐d3 were m/z 359.0 → 280.1 and m/z 362.0 → 280.2. Calibration curves were linear over the concentration range of 5–5000 ng/mL. The validated method was applied in the pharmacokinetic study of etoricoxib in Chinese healthy volunteers under fed and fasted conditions. After a single oral dose of 120 mg, the main pharmacokinetic parameters of etoricoxib in fasted and fed groups were respectively as follows: peak concentration, 2364.78 ± 538.01 and 1874.55 ± 367.90 ng/mL; area under the concentration–time curve from 0 to 120 h, 44,605.53 ± 15,266.66 and 43,516.33 ± 12,425.91 ng h/mL; time to peak concentration, 2.00 and 2.50 h; and half‐life, 24.08 ± 10.06 and 23.64± 6.72 h. High‐fat food significantly reduced the peak concentration of etoricoxib (p = 0.001) but had no effect on the area under the concentration–time curve.     

食品药品检验机构仪器设备计量信息的标准化管理

建立食品药品检验机构仪器设备计量的信息化规范管理方法。总结了传统人工计量管理的弊端,提出计量信息化管理的流程,将计量信息化管理分为计量计划申报、计量应急申报、计量信息登记、计量结果确认4个步骤,详细介绍了4个步骤中信息管理的主要内容及注意事项。建立食品药品检验机构仪器设备计量信息化管理的标准化规程,可以为仪器设备计量信息的动态监管提供支持。     

Territorial origin of olive oil: representing georeferenced maps of olive oils by NMR profiling

ABSTRACT Proton NMR profiling is nowadays a consolidated technique for the identification of geographical origin of food samples. The common approach consists in correlating NMR spectra of food samples to their territorial origin by multivariate classification statistical algorithms. In the present work, we illustrate an alternative perspective to exploit territorial information, contained in the NMR spectra, which is based on the implementation of a geographic information system (GIS). Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra are used to build a GIS map permitting the identification of territorial regions having strong similarities in the chemical content of the produced food (terroir units). These terroir units can, in turn, be used as input for labeling samples to be analyzed by traditional classification methods. In this work, we describe the methods and the algorithms that permit to produce GIS maps from NMR profiles and apply the described method to the analysis of the geographical distribution of olive oils in an Italian region. In particular, we analyzed by ¹H NMR up to 98 georeferenced olive oil samples produced in the Abruzzo Italian region. By using the first principal component of the NMR variables selected according to the Moran test, we produced a GIS map, in which we identified two regions incidentally corresponding to the provinces of Teramo and Pescara. We then labeled the samples according to the province of provenience and built an LDA model that provides a classification ability up to 99% . A comparison between the variables selected in the geostatistics and classification steps is finally performed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.