In the dairy industry, traditional heat treatments are known for their high water and energy consumption, and more economically and environmentally friendly solutions are being sought. Infrared (IR) technology offers advantages in energy efficiency and environmental sustainability; however, its effectiveness in milk processing, particularly in pathogen inactivation, remains relatively unexplored. In this study, homogenized raw milk was subjected to IR treatment, and its impact on Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Enterobacteriaceae was assessed. Results indicate that IR treatment effectively reduces the microbial load, achieving levels of inactivation comparable to conventional pasteurization methods (around 6 Log10 CFU/mL). Moreover, the treatment maintains milk pH levels, suggesting minimal alteration to its composition. Further research is needed to explore the full extent of IR treatment on milk sanitation efficacy, deeply exploring IR technology to fully assess its applicability and integration into dairy processing practices. Despite regulatory challenges, the Wir System Milk shows promise as a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative for raw milk treatment.

Listeria monocytogenes is a serious pathogen and can exacerbate harmful effects through the formation of biofilm. Inhibition of or reduction in L. monocytogenes biofilm is a promising strategy to control L. monocytogenes in the food industry. In our previous study, it was found that plantaricin Q7 produced by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Q7 could inhibit and reduce L. monocytogenes biofilm, but the specific mechanism remains unclear. In this study, the inhibitive and reduced activity of plantaricin Q7 on L. monocytogenes biofilm was investigated by metabolomics. The results showed that plantaricin Q7 inhibited the synthesis of L. monocytogenes biofilm mainly through purine metabolism and glycerol phospholipid metabolism, and the key differential metabolites included acetylcholine and hypoxanthine with a decrease in abundance from 5.80 to 4.85. In addition, plantaricin Q7 reduced the formed L. monocytogenes biofilm by purine metabolism and arginine biosynthesis, and the main differential metabolites were N-acetylglutamate and D-ribose-1-phosphate with a decrease in abundance from 6.21 to 4.73. It was the first report that purine metabolism and amino acid metabolism were the common metabolic pathway for plantaricin Q7 to inhibit and reduce L. monocytogenes biofilm, which could be potential targets to control L. monocytogenes biofilm. A putative metabolic pathway for L. monocytogenes biofilm inhibition and reduction by plantaricin Q7 was proposed. These findings provided a novel strategy to control L. monocytogenes biofilm in food processing.

Fish species are commonly used as experimental models in the laboratory. DNA is routinely collected from these animals to permit identification of their genotype. The current standard procedure to sample DNA is fin clipping, which involves anaesthetising individuals and removing a portion of the caudal fin. While fin clipping reliably generates good quality DNA samples for downstream applications, there is evidence that it can alter health and welfare, and impact the fish\'s behaviour. This in turn can result in greater variation in the data collected. In a recent study we adapted a skin swabbing protocol to collect DNA from small-bodied fish, including sticklebacks and zebrafish, without the use of analgesics, anaesthetics or sharp instruments. A rayon-tipped swab was used to collect mucus from the flank of the fish, which was then used for DNA extraction. We subsequently demonstrated that compared to fin clipping, skin swabbing triggered fewer changes in stress axis activation and behaviour. We also found that gene expression and behaviour data collected from swabbed fish were less variable than similar data collected from fish that had been fin clipped. This potentially allows smaller sample sizes in experimental groups to be used after skin swabbing, thereby reducing animal use. Here we provide a detailed protocol explaining how to collect DNA samples from small laboratory fish using skin swabs.

A new and efficient Cu(II)-containing mesoporous nanocatalytic system was synthesized by direct immobilization of copper metal powder on the Fe3O4@EDTA nanocomposite. The as-prepared Fe3O4@EDTA@Cu(II) nanocomposite was then characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, SEM-based EDX and elemental mapping, XPS, TGA, VSM, and also BET and BJH analyses. The resulting Fe3O4@EDTA@Cu(II) mesoporous nanocomposite exhibited satisfactory catalytic activity towards the reduction and one-pot reductive acetylation of nitroarenes and also N-acetylation of arylamines in water at 60 °C. Notably, the applied Cu(II)-containing nanocatalyst was efficiently recovered from the reaction mixture using an external magnetic field and could be reused successfully for five cycles. The protocol developed in this study offers several advantages in terms of mild reaction conditions, simple workflows, using water as a green solvent, and easy recovery and catalyst reuse, making it more ecologically and economically attractive.

OBJECTIVE: Deep learning-based image enhancement has significant potential in the field of ultrasound image processing, as it can accurately model complicated nonlinear artifacts and noise, such as ultrasonic speckle patterns. However, training deep learning networks to acquire reference images that are clean and free of noise presents significant challenges. This study introduces an unsupervised deep learning framework, termed speckle-to-speckle (S2S), designed for speckle and noise suppression. This framework can complete its training without the need for clean (speckle-free) reference images.
METHODS: The proposed network leverages statistical reasoning for the mutual training of two in vivo images, each with distinct speckle patterns and noise. It then infers speckle- and noise-free images without needing clean reference images. This approach significantly reduces the time, cost, and effort experts need to invest in annotating reference images manually.
RESULTS: The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed approach outperformed existing techniques in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, structural similarity index, edge preservation index, and processing time (up to 86 times faster). It also performed excellently on images obtained from ultrasound scanners other than the ones used in this work.
CONCLUSIONS: S2S demonstrates the potential of employing an unsupervised learning-based technique in medical imaging applications, where acquiring a ground truth reference is challenging.

BACKGROUND: A coracoid process fracture combined with an acromioclavicular (AC) joint dislocation is an uncommon injury that typically causes significant pain and limits shoulder movement. Open reduction and internal fixation have been the traditional treatment approach. However, arthroscopic techniques are emerging as a promising alternative for managing these injuries.
METHODS: A 35-year-old woman presented with right shoulder pain following an accidental fall. Imaging studies revealed a coracoid process fracture along with an AC joint dislocation. The fracture was classified as an Eyres Type IIIA, which warranted surgical intervention. Our team performed arthroscopic coracoid fracture reduction and internal fixation surgery, as well as AC joint dislocation repair using Kirschner wires. Six months after surgery, the patient demonstrated a satisfactory functional outcome with complete bone healing.
CONCLUSIONS: This case report highlights the potential of arthroscopic reduction and fixation as a novel treatment option for fractures of the coracoid base.

BACKGROUND: Total talus dislocation without ankle (malleoli) fracture is a very rare injury with prevalence of only 0.06% of all dislocations and only 2% of talar injuries, and are usually associated with common complications such as infection, avascular necrosis, and posttraumatic arthritis. The treatment usually involves debridement, reduction, stabilization of the ankle joint, and primary or secondary closure of the wound.
METHODS: We present the case of a 40-year-old South Asian woman who was involved in an accident. She was rushed to our hospital, whereby subsequent examination revealed an open total talus dislocation with the talus being exposed in its entirety from a contaminated wound in the medial side. Furthermore, radiograph confirmed total talus dislocation without concomitant malleoli fracture. She was immediately taken to the operating theater whereby debridement and immediate reduction was performed under anesthesia, and the ankle was stabilized with external fixator for about 6 weeks. She is now able to bear weight on the affected ankle with minimal tolerable pain and has normal range of motion of the ankle.
CONCLUSIONS: Open total talus dislocation without concomitant malleoli fracture is a rare injury. Reduction of the talus in combination with complete wound debridement potentially successfully avoids infection, provides early revascularization preventing avascular necrosis, and preserves the normal ankle anatomy.

UNASSIGNED: In LMICs, the nonoperative management of posterior elbow dislocation associated with radial head fracture is still a therapeutic option with favorable outcomes.
UNASSIGNED: Elbow dislocation associated with radial head fracture is a rare lesion. The occurrence of such a lesion requires high energy trauma. The restoration of joint and radial head fracture that allows early mobilization is the best guarantee of a good functional outcome. We report a case of posterior elbow dislocation associated with radial head fracture managed by closed reduction and 1 week cast immobilization in neutral prono-supination and 90°flexion followed by early mobilization was performed favorable functional outcome was obtained after 12 weeks. We review the different pattern of elbow dislocation and question the need of open reduction and internal fixation for displaced radial head fractures.

BACKGROUND: This study examines how significant is the changes in child stunting in Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA). Then, it investigates factors that contributed to the reduction in child stunting in those countries. For each country, we distinguish the contribution of compositional effects and structural effect.
METHODS: This paper uses data from Demographic and Health Surveys of 12 sub-Saharan African countries conducted between 2000 and 2020. The z-test to compare two independent proportions was used to assess changes in child stunting and explanatory variables over the period. Recentred influence function (RIF) decomposition method was used to decompose changes in stunting over the year in each country, and to determine the contribution of each variable to the changes.
RESULTS: The prevalence of child stunting declines significantly in 11 countries over the year. The decline varies from 6.8% in Cameroun to 19% in Mali. The average year of education of the child\'s mother and father, and the proportion of households with access to an improved drinking water source have contributed to the reduction in child stunting. This result was found in all the countries. Improvements in living standards, child vaccination, antenatal care attendance, delivery to health care centres, maternal education, improved drinking water sources, and improved sanitation make the largest contribution to the composition component, hence reducing child stunting.
CONCLUSIONS: This study sheds light on what has contributed to the achieved improvement in child nutritional status and suggests how to possibly accelerate the reduction in undernutrition in countries that lag.

Recent advances in the development of reductive reactions of nitroarenes using organomagnesium-, organozinc-, and single electron transfer reagents is discussed within this review. The review is divided into the following sections: IntroductionOrganomagnesium-mediated reductive reactionsOrganozinc- and zinc-mediated reductive reactionsIodine-catalyzed redox cyclizationsTitanium(III)-mediated reductive cyclizationsSulfur-mediated reductive reactionsAlkoxide-mediated reductive reactions4,4\'-Bipyridine-mediated reductive reactionsVisible light-driven reductive amination reactionsElectrochemical reductive reactionsConclusion.