Adenovirus and Norovirus Contaminants in Commercially Distributed Shellfish

Shellfish complying with European Regulations based on quantification of fecal bacterial indicators (FIB) are introduced into markets; however, information on viruses, more stable than FIB, is not available in the literature. To assess the presence of noroviruses (NoVs) GI and GII and human adenoviruses (HAdV) in domestic and imported mussels and clams (n = 151) their presence was analyzed during winter seasons (2004–2008) in north-west Spanish markets through a routine surveillance system. All samples tested negative for NoV GI and 13 % were positive for NoV GII. The role of HAdV as viral indicator was evaluated in 20 negative and 10 positive NoV GII samples showing an estimated sensitivity and specificity of HAdV to predict the presence of NoV GII of 100 and 74 % (cut-off 0.5). The levels of HAdV and NoVs and the efficiency of decontamination in shellfish depuration plants (SDP) were evaluated analyzing pre- and post-depurated mussels collected in May–June 2010 from three different SDP. There were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence and quantification of HAdV between pre- and post-depurated shellfish and between seawater entering and leaving the depuration systems. Moreover, infectious HAdV were detected in depurated mussels. These results confirm previous studies showing that current controls and depuration treatments limiting the number of FIB do not guarantee the absence of viruses in shellfish.     

Growth of non-English-language literature on biodiversity conservation

English is widely recognized as the language of science, and English-language publications (ELPs) are rapidly increasing. It is often assumed that the number of non-ELPs is decreasing. This assumption contributes to the underuse of non-ELPs in conservation science, practice, and policy, especially at the international level. However, the number of conservation articles published in different languages is poorly documented. Using local and international search systems, we searched for scientific articles on biodiversity conservation published from 1980 to 2018 in English and 15 non-English languages. We compared the growth rate in publications across languages. In 12 of the 15 non-English languages, published conservation articles significantly increased every year over the past 39 years, at a rate similar to English-language articles. The other three languages showed contrasting results, depending on the search system. Since the 1990s, conservation science articles in most languages increased exponentially. The variation in the number of non-English-language articles identified among the search systems differed markedly (e.g., for simplified Chinese, 11,148 articles returned with local search system and 803 with Scopus). Google Scholar and local literature search systems returned the most articles for 11 and 4 non-English languages, respectively. However, the proportion of peer-reviewed conservation articles published in non-English languages was highest in Scopus, followed by Web of Science and local search systems, and lowest in Google Scholar. About 20% of the sampled non-English-language articles provided no title or abstract in English; thus, in theory, they were undiscoverable with English keywords. Possible reasons for this include language barriers and the need to disseminate research in countries where English is not widely spoken. Given the known biases in statistical methods and study characteristics between English- and non-English-language studies, non-English-language articles will continue to play an important role in improving the understanding of biodiversity and its conservation.     

Enhancing the visible-light photoactivity of silica-supported TiO2 for the photocatalytic treatment of pharmaceuticals in water

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Catalyst samples based on SiO2-supported TiO2 were prepared with the incorporation of Ag (metal), S (nonmetal), and ZnO@S (semiconductor and...     

Annealing Effect on Pla/Eva Blends Performance

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - PLA has aroused industrial and scientific interest in recent years, mainly due to its biodegradable character. However, PLA is brittle and displays low...