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Golden Rice with β-carotene in the grain helps to address the problem of vitamin A deficiency. Prior to commercialize Golden Rice, several performance and regulatory checkpoints must be achieved. We report results of marker assisted backcross breeding of the GR2E trait into three popular rice varieties followed by a series of confined field tests of event GR2E introgression lines to assess their agronomic performance and carotenoid expression. Results from confined tests in the Philippines and Bangladesh have shown that GR2E introgression lines matched the performance of the recurrent parents for agronomic and yield performance, and the key components of grain quality. Moreover, no differences were observed in terms of pest and disease reaction. The best performing lines identified in each genetic background had significant amounts of carotenoids in the milled grains. These lines can supply 30–50% of the estimated average requirements of vitamin A.

Epidemiological studies consistently report associations between circulating concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and increased type 2 diabetes risk. Measures of pollutant concentrations in pancreas are limited; given the role of the endocrine pancreas in diabetes pathogenesis, this is an important gap in the literature. Additionally, no studies have correlated pollutant concentrations with direct measures of human beta cell function. We measure concentrations from 3 pollutant classes—dioxins/furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, and organochlorine pesticides—in pancreas and peripancreatic adipose tissue biopsies obtained from 31 human organ donors. We show that pollutants are consistently detected in human pancreas, and for some analytes, at higher concentrations than in adipose. We next assess correlations between pollutant concentrations and systemic indicators of diabetes risk (body mass index, age, and haemoglobin A1c) and direct measures of beta cell function in isolated islets from the same 31 donors. Pancreas polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides positively correlate with body mass index, age and basal insulin secretion but negatively correlate with stimulation index (ratio of insulin secretion under high glucose / low glucose conditions). Pancreas dioxins/furans positively correlate with fatty acid- and amino acid-stimulated insulin secretion. These data indicate that lipophilic pollutants accumulate in human pancreas and positively correlate with surrogate markers of diabetes risk. Measures of persistent organic pollutant concentrations in human pancreas remain limited; additionally, no studies have correlated pollutant concentrations with direct measures of beta cell function in humans. Here the authors show that lipophilic pollutants—including dioxins/furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, and organochlorine pesticides— accumulate in human pancreas and positively correlate with markers of beta cell dysfunction.

Purpose The purpose of this study is threefold. The first is to conduct a comprehensive examination of the various board attributes to corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in the Chinese technology industry. The second is to investigate the impact of ownership and board attributes on CSR. The third is to examine the moderating effect of media reporting on the relationship between CSR and company financial performance. Design/methodology/approach All A-share listed Chinese companies during the years 2011–2019 with 1,573 firm-year observations have been investigated for this study. The data are analysed by CSR metrics in the form of environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores using an ordinary least squares regression analysis and fixed effect regression models. Findings The results of this longitudinal study reveal that; no matter whether the companies are state-own or non-state-own, there is a significant positive effect of board independence, monetary incentives, director’s age and board size on the CSR disclosure of the Chinese technology industry. Also, the results support the importance of CSR performance in promoting the corporate financial performance (CFP) of the technology sector. Specifically, media reporting has a positive impact on the CSR reporting of both state-own and non-state-own technological companies in China. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study based on the ESG metrics for analysing the CSR and firm performance relationship conducted in the unique setting of the state-own and non-state-own technological companies in China. The study is an attempt to fill the gap in the extant literature, which has a scarce number of studies focused on the influence of media reporting on the relationship between CSR performance and CFP. This paper not only updates the existing understanding of CSR performance by board attributes and company ownership but also explains the significance of media reporting in enhancing the CSR performance of the Chinese technology industry.

Highly-polluted surface waters are increasingly used for irrigation in different agricultural settings because they have high nutrient content and are readily available. However, studies showed that they are reservoirs for the emergence and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this study, the resistance of 212 Escherichia coli isolates from irrigation water, soil, and vegetables in selected urban farms in Metro Manila, Philippines was evaluated. Results showed that antibiotic resistance was more prevalent in water (67.3%) compared to soil (56.4%) and vegetable (61.5%) isolates. Resistance to tetracycline was the highest among water (45.6%) and vegetable (42.3%) isolates while ampicillin resistance was the highest among soil isolates (33.3%). Multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates were also observed and they were more prevalent in water (25.3%) compared to soil (2.8%) and vegetable (8.4%) isolates. Interestingly, there are patterns of antibiotic resistance that were common to isolates from different samples. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase production (ESBL) was also investigated and genes were observed to be present in 13 isolates. This provides circumstantial evidence that highly-polluted surface waters harbor antibiotic-resistant and MDR E. coli that may be potentially transferred to primary production environments during their application for irrigation purposes.

After the 2013 Mw 7.2 earthquake that occurred in Bohol, the shoreline specifically in Loon and Maribojoc was observed to shift seaward due to ground uplift. This study analyzes the post-earthquake shoreline movement, specifically a 12 km coastal strip in Loon and Maribojoc, and ground deformation of the West Bohol area through Sentinel-1 image processing techniques. From October 2014 to April 2018, the DSAS linear regression shoreline rates were − 4.36 m/yr in Loon and − 1.69 m/yr in Maribojoc, indicative of a landward movement of 91.4% and 88.8% of shoreline transects in Loon and Maribojoc, respectively. PSInSAR revealed varying rates of VLM in the study area from October 2014 to December 2018 such that Loon and Maribojoc exhibit a subsidence rate of − 2 to − 8 mm/yr. The correlation between the shoreline retreat and the land subsidence in the study area is 87%, indicating a possible elastic rebound after the earthquake. The portion of Tagbilaran City on its northern side exhibits land subsidence of − 2 to − 6 mm/yr while its southern side exhibits land uplift of 0–2 mm/yr. The relative sea level fall from TGSL measurements indicates an uplift in the location of the tide gauge in Tagbilaran City.

The authors report a case of hypernatremia in a patient with a history of dementia. This case highlights the challenges and scope of taking care of such patients. It also highlights the hardships in diagnosing and caring for patients with inadequate documentation of past diagnoses and treatments.

Despite the effectiveness of thermal inactivation processes, Escherichiacoli biofilms continue to be a persistent source of contamination in food processing environments. E. coli strains possessing the locus of heat resistance are a novel food safety threat and raises the question of whether these strains can also form biofilms. The objectives of this study were to determine biofilm formation in heat resistant E. coli isolates from clinical and environmental origins using an in-house, two-component apparatus and to characterize biofilm formation-associated genes in the isolates using whole genome sequencing. Optimal conditions for biofilm formation in each of the heat resistant isolates were determined by manipulating inoculum size, nutrient concentration, and temperature conditions. Biofilm formation in the heat resistant isolates was detected at temperatures of 24 °C and 37 °C but not at 4 °C. Furthermore, biofilm formation was observed in all environmental isolates but only one clinical isolate despite shared profiles in biofilm formation-associated genes encoded by the isolates from both sources. The circulation of heat resistant E. coli isolates with multi-stress tolerance capabilities in environments related to food processing signify that such strains may be a serious food safety and public health risk.

We describe the case of a diabetic patient who developed a severe invasive fungal infection due to Rhizopus species postoperatively after a dual heart/kidney transplantation with subsequent intensive immunosuppressive therapy. No improvement was noted with amphotericin B (deoxycholate) therapy, but salvage treatment with the new azole antifungal posaconazole (200 mg orally 4 times daily) resulted in dramatic clinical improvement as early as 1 week after the initiation of therapy that continued through 23 weeks of treatment, with marked clinical, mycological, and radiological improvements and no adverse events.

This study explores the feasibility of using closed-circuit television (CCTV) data and computer vision methods, particularly YOLO (You Only Look Once) and ByteTrack, for traffic flow monitoring in Pavia, Iloilo. Two 24-hour videos from opposing lanes of a major road section were processed using YOLOv8 for vehicle detection and ByteTrack for multi-object tracking, using image rectification through homography and known vehicle measurements to estimate vehicle counts, speed, volume, and density. The models achieved high performance metric scores, with mAP50 values of 0.91 (GT Mall) and 0.89 (Robinsons). Results of the traffic flow analysis showed expected patterns: (a) vehicle speeds decreased as traffic volume and density increased, and (b) peak volumes and densities occurred during commuting hours. The interaction with and effects of between illumination and occlusion were considered during data preparation, resulting in mean absolute error rates below 3% compared with manual vehicle counts. By generating per-frame logs of traffic flow, the study shows the potential of computer vision–based monitoring systems serving as a supplement for evidence-based policymaking and urban planning for congestion management, road safety, and infrastructure planning at a local scale.