Fighting fraudulent and deceptive practices in the agri-food chain

This Technical Report presents challenges, opportunities and good practice examples in relation to the implementation of Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Competent authorities of the Member States are required to not only detect violations of the rules governing the agri-food chain but also to identify possible intentional violations of those rules, perpetrated through fraudulent or deceptive practices by operators for the purpose of gaining an undue advantage. The purpose of this technical report therefore is to promote the uniform interpretation and application of the provisions of Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.JRC.F.4 - Food Integrit

Pre-formulation and delivery strategies for the development of bacteriocins as next generation antibiotics

peer-reviewedBacteriocins, a class of antimicrobial peptide produced by bacteria, may offer a potential alternative to traditional antibiotics, an important step towards mitigating the ever increasing antimicrobial resistance crisis. They are active against a range of clinically relevant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Bacteriocins have been discussed in the literature for over a century. Although they are used as preservatives in food, no medicine based on their antimicrobial activity exists on the market today. In order to formulate them into clinical antibiotics, pre-formulation studies on their biophysical and physicochemical properties that will influence their activity in vivo and their stability during manufacture must be elucidated. Thermal, pH and enzymatic stability of bacteriocins are commonly studied and regularly reported in the literature. Solubility, permeability and aggregation properties on the other hand are less frequently reported for many bacteriocins, which may contribute to their poor clinical progression. Promising cytotoxicity studies report that bacteriocins exhibit few cytotoxic effects on a variety of mammalian cell lines, at active concentrations. This review highlights the lack of quantitative data and in many cases even qualitative data, on bacteriocins’ solubility, stability, aggregation, permeability and cytotoxicity. The formulation strategies that have been explored to date, proposed routes of administration, trends in in vitro/in vivo behaviour and efforts in clinical development are discussed. The future promise of bacteriocins as a new generation of antibiotics may require tailored local delivery strategies to fulfil their potential as a force to combat antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections

Scaling laws for density correlations and fluctuations in multiparticle dynamics

Experimental data are presented on particle correlations and fluctuations in various high-energy multiparticle collisions, with special emphasis on evidence for scaling-law evolution in small phase-space domains. The notions of intermittency and fractality as related to the above findings are described. Phenomenological and theoretical work on the subject is reviewed.Comment: 139 pages, LATEX, 67 figures (hard copies on request from [email protected]