The live bacterial load and microbiota composition of prepacked "ready-to-eat" leafy greens during household conditions, with special reference to E. coli.

Ready-to-eat (RTE) leafy greens are popular products that unfortunately have been associated with numerous foodborne illness outbreaks. Since the influence of consumer practices is essential for their quality and safety, the objective of this study was to analyze the microbiota of RTE products throughout shelf life during simulated household conditions. Products from different companies were analyzed in terms of plate counts, and resealed and unopened packages were compared. High bacterial loads were found, up to a total plate count of 9.6 log10 CFU/g, and Enterobacteriaceae plate counts up to 6.0 CFU/g on the expiration date. The effect of consumer practice varied, thus no conclusions regarding resealed or unopened bags could be drawn. The tested products contained opportunistic pathogens, such as Enterobacter homaechei, Hafnia paralvei and Pantoea agglomerans. Amplicon sequencing revealed that the relative abundance of major taxonomic groups changed during shelf life; Pseudomonadaceae and Xanthomonadaceae decreased, while Flavobacteriaceae and Marinomonadaceae inceased. Inoculation with E. coli CCUG 29300T showed that the relative abundance of Escherichia-Shigella was lower on rocket than on other tested leafy greens. Inoculation with E. coli strain 921 indicate growth at the beginning of shelf-life time, while E. coli 731 increases at the end, seemingly able to adapt to cold storage conditions. The high levels of live microorganisms, the detection of opportunistic pathogens, and the ability of E. coli strains to grow at refrigeration temperature raise concerns and indicate that the shelf life may be shortened to achieve a safer product. Due to variations between products, further studies are needed to define how long the shelf-life of these products should be, to ensure a safe product even at the end of the shelf-life period.

The electro-osmotic actuation of implantable insulin micropumps.

A study using an electro-osmotic cell suitable for actuating an implantable insulin micropump showed that controlled variable flow rates in the order of 0.2 mL/day are possible. The cell functioned continuously with low energy and power requirements and long service life. The principle of operation is compatible with achieving the very low flow rates necessary if highly concentrated insulin is to be used to avoid frequent insulin reservoir refilling. An electro-osmotic cell, Ag/AgCl/NaCl(aq)/cation exchange membrane/NaCl(aq)/AgCl/Ag, was connected to a constant current power supply which reversed the direction of the current every 10 mins causing a to-and-fro transport of fluid through the membrane. Flow rates of 0.15-0.60 microL/min were achieved with currents of 2.5-10 mA. At the low flow rate, energy consumption was 6.4 X 10(-2) J/microL and peak power requirement was less than 2.0 X 10(-4) W. Fluid was transported against a pressure gradient of 52 cm Hg. The cell contained a total electrolyte volume of less than 0.25 mL. The membrane showed no change in properties after 10,000 current reversals (69 days). To function as an actuator for an implantable insulin micropump, the electro-osmotic cell requires a switching and valving assembly; a suitable design for this is briefly considered.