Banat University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine

Myiasis is an infection of living vertebrates with fly larvae. The disease in humans is caused by parasites that are associated with an animal host. It may also affect patients with some degrees of immunodeficiency and involve different parts of the vertebrate body. This report is a case of nasopharyngeal myiasis in a 49-year-old shepherd who had referred to the emergency department of Tabriz in Iran, and the purpose of this report is to make physicians and nursing staff, who work in the treatment and care of patients, more notified of this ectoparasitic infection.

Magnesium is an essential mineral involved in more than 300 enzymatic reactions, including protein synthesis, neuromuscular function, and blood pressure regulation. Recent studies have highlighted the role of probiotics, beneficial microorganisms in the human gut, in enhancing mineral absorption. However, the interaction between magnesium and probiotic strains remains poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the capacity of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus ATCC 53,103 to uptake and internalize magnesium ions, using MgSO₄ as a supplementation source. The bacterium was cultivated in MRS medium with varying concentrations of MgSO₄ (0, 0.1444, 0.722, and 1.444 g/L) over seven days. Quantitative analysis revealed that at 0.722 g/L MgSO₄, intracellular magnesium accumulation peaked at 0.7 mg/dL by Day 3, representing a 7-fold increase compared to the control (0.1 mg/dL). Scanning and transmission electron microscopy indicated essential morphological changes, including ruffled cell surfaces and enhanced ribosomal visibility. These findings suggest that L. rhamnosus can internalize magnesium under enriched conditions, supporting its potential as a microbial carrier for nutribiotic applications. This work contributes to the growing field of mineral–microbe interactions and may inform the development of probiotic-based strategies to improve magnesium bioaccessibility in the human gut.

This study investigates how processing parameters, specifically roasting duration, steam pressure, and steam impregnation time, affect the proximate composition and physical properties of rice during the puffing gun expansion process. Experimental conditions varied Factor A (roasting duration: 12-16 min), Factor B (steam pressure: 10-14 atm), and Factor C (steam impregnation: 3-5 min) across eight treatment combinations, with controls set at A = 14 min, B = 12 atm, and C = 4 min. Results show that higher pressure and longer durations significantly increased crude fiber and protein levels compared to raw rice, while also altering moisture and ash contents. Optimal expansion ratios and desirable texture were achieved with prolonged roasting, lower steam pressure, and shorter impregnation times. Additionally, the redness value (a*) was notably sensitive to processing changes, demonstrating substantial shifts in product appearance. These findings provide practical insights for improving both the quality and nutritional characteristics of puffed rice, as well as informing process efficiency for food manufacturers.

Background: Vaccinium L. berries are rich sources of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, compounds proposed to modulate the human gut microbiota. Although numerous clinical studies investigated these effects, the evidence derived from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) remains fragmented, and no systematic synthesis has yet been conducted. Scope and approach: To evaluate the clinical evidence on how Vaccinium berries intake influences gut microbiota diversity and composition. In this regard, a comprehensive search was conducted to identify RCTs reporting microbiota outcomes following Vaccinium berries supplementation, with data extracted using a standardized protocol and risk of bias assessed using the Cochrane RoB 2 tool. Key findings and conclusions: Fourteen RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Interventions involved cranberry (n = 6), blueberry (n = 5), bilberry (n = 2), and a cranberry-lingonberry blend (n = 1), administered as solids (1.1-36 g/ day) or beverages (240-480 mL/day) for 5 days to 24 weeks. Across trials (some concerns to high risk of bias), alpha and beta-diversity rarely differed from controls. Compositional effects were modest and taxon-specific, with recurrent (though not consistently) enrichment of some taxa (e.g. Bifidobacterium spp., Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Anaerostipes, Lachnospira, Adlercreutzia), while many commonly targeted taxa remained stable. Overall, current evidence indicated that Vaccinium berries intake may selectively support a narrow subset of potentially beneficial taxa but does not consistently remodel global gut microbiota. Accordingly, future studies should be longer and methodologically more comprehensive, with detailed phytochemical characterization, population-specific analyses, and comprehensive profiling of bacterial and non-bacterial communities using integrated multi-omics approaches and metagenome-assembled genomes.

Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) fruits are increasingly recognized for their rich phytochemical composition and health-promoting properties, which position them as promising candidates for nutraceutical and functional food applications. This study aimed to optimize ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of phenolic compounds using a D-optimal design and to compare the phenolic profiles and bioactivities of ten Romanian genotypes (B351, F581, F2021, FXI1, M13, M16, MH41, MH51, SB3, and SB23). Optimal UAE conditions, 70