Substantial removal of four pesticide residues in three fruits with ozone microbubbles.

Developing a straightforward method to remove pesticide residues from fruits is essential for food safety. In this study, ozone microbubble treatment was performed on three fruits (strawberry, cherry, and apricot) to remove four pesticide residues (emamectin benzoate, azoxystrobin, boscalid, and difenoconazole) while comparing removal efficiency. The concentration of hydroxyl radicals in different washing orientations was homogeneous at a concentration ranging between 8.9 and 10.2 µmol·L-1. Under long washing time (18 min), strawberry, cherry, and apricot obtained higher removal rates of 51 %∼65 %, 51 %∼59 % and 24 %∼70 %, respectively. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle (CA) revealed that apricot has better hydrophobicity, leading to a higher pesticide removal of 45 âˆ¼ 84 % with less water and more vigorous washing. Notably, vitamin C content in fruits remain largely unchanged following ozone microbubble treatment. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of ozone microbubble treatment as pollution-free method for enhancing food safety by removing pesticide residues on fruits.

Evaluation of PAX1/ST6GALNAC5 methylation as a triage test for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer.

Aim: To identify DNA methylation markers for triage in a cohort of human papillomavirus-positive (HPV+) women. Methods: The methylation markers were identified and evaluated for the detection of cervical high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) or cervical cancer (collectively referred to as 'HSIL+') in HPV+ women (n = 692). Results: Combined PAX1/ST6GALNAC5 methylation testing yielded HSIL+ sensitivity of 0.838 and 0.818, with a specificity of 0.827 and 0.810, in the training and test sets, respectively. For cervical cancer, the specificity and sensitivity were 0.969 and 1.000 in the training set and 0.967 and 0.875 in the test set. Moreover, the combined marker methylation test (0.86; 77/90) was more sensitive than the cytology (0.31; 28/90) for HSIL+. Conclusion: The combined PAX1/ST6GALNAC5 marker may have clinical application for detecting HSIL+ in HPV+ women undergoing screening.

Accelerated removal of five pesticide residues in three vegetables with ozone microbubbles.

A simple and effective approach to remove pesticide residues on vegetables is necessary for food safety. Ozone microbubbles treatment as an eco-friendly washing technique was investigated for three vegetables (celery, pakchoi and cowpea) collected from the field applied with five pesticides. The removal rates of five pesticide residues on cowpea by ozone microbubbles treatment were 15 %-47 % higher than that by ozone macrobubbles. Moreover, compared with the other four systemic pesticides, emamectin benzoate had a preferable removal rate (65 %-94 %) as a non-systemic pesticide with high water solubility. Through Mass Spectrometry (MS), the double-bonded structure of emamectin benzoate made it more possible to be removed chemically, carrying a degradation rate of 88 % at 25 min in water. Additionally, cowpea showed low removal (28 %-65 %) owing to its stomata and rough surface with SEM. Conclusively, this study demonstrated the potential of the ozone microbubble treatment on pesticide residues removal to enhance food safety.