This study investigated the tolerance of plants to vanadium (Ⅴ). The hydroponic method was employed to evaluate the absorption, transport, content, and subcellular distribution of vanadium in the polysaccharide fraction of corn seedlings cell wall under different concentrations of vanadium stress. Results showed that (a) vanadium was mainly concentrated in the roots of the corn seedlings, and only trace amounts were transported to the leaves; (b) in terms of its subcellular distribution, vanadium was mainly enriched in cell wall regions followed by soluble fraction; (c) the content of vanadium in polysaccharide fraction was highest in alkali-soluble pectin, followed by chelated pectin (P  less then  0.05). BACKGROUND Neuropsychological impairments found in recently detoxified patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) can limit the benefit of psychosocial treatments and increase the risk of relapse. These neuropsychological deficits are reversible with abstinence. The aim of this retrospective clinical study was to investigate whether a short-term stay as inpatients in a convalescent home enables neuropsychological deficits observed in recently detoxified AUD patients to recover and even performance to return to normal. METHODS Neuropsychological data were collected in 84 AUD patients. Five neuropsychological components were assessed before and after a three-week stay in a convalescent home offering multidisciplinary support. Baseline and follow-up performance were compared in the entire group of patients and in subgroups defined by the nature and intensity of the therapy (OCCASIONAL occasional occupational and physical therapy; INTENSIVE intensive occupational and physical therapy and neuropsychological training). RESULTS In the entire group of patients, neuropsychological performance significantly improved between baseline and follow-up for all 5 components and even returned to a normal level for 4 of them. The ratio of patients with impaired performance was significantly lower at follow-up than baseline examination for 3 components in the INTENSIVE group only. CONCLUSION Recently detoxified AUD patients with cognitive deficits benefit from a short-term stay in an environment ensuring sobriety and healthy nutrition. Cognitive recovery may be enhanced by intensive care including neuropsychological training. Alcohol programs could be postponed in patients with cognitive deficits in order to offer psychosocial treatment when patients are cognitively able to benefit from it. On January 1, 2018 the city of Seattle, WA, implemented a 1.75-cent per ounce (oz) Sweetened Beverage Tax (SBT) on sugar-sweetened beverages with at least 40 calories per 12 oz. This study drew on universal product code-level store scanner data and used a pre-post intervention-comparison site difference-in-differences (DID) study design to assess the impact of the SBT on taxed beverage prices in Seattle, the volume sold of taxed beverages in Seattle and in its 2-mile border area (cross-border shopping), and the volume sold of untaxed beverages (substitution) relative to changes in its comparison site of Portland, OR. The DID results showed that, on average, in the first year post-tax implementation, prices of taxed beverages rose by 1.03 cents per oz (p less then 0.001) corresponding to a 59% tax pass-through rate. Volume sold of taxed beverages fell, on average, by 22% (p less then 0.001) in the first year following the implementation of the tax. Volume sold of taxed beverages fell to a greater extent for family- versus individual-size beverages (31% versus 10%) and fell to a greater extent for soda (29%) compared to all other beverage types. Moderate substitution to untaxed beverages was found – volume sold of untaxed beverages increased by 4% (p less then 0.05). The results revealed no significant increases in the overall volume sold of taxed beverages in the 2-mile border area of Seattle relative to its comparison site suggesting that tax avoidance in the form of cross-border shopping did not dampen the impact of the tax. Public health taxes on less healthy food and beverage products have been shown to be effective in various settings. However, it is unclear if observed reductions in the quantity of taxed products purchased is a result of price increases due to the tax or the accompanying messaging and if the effects are influenced by the level of support for such taxes within the population. 941 adults residing in Singapore were randomized and asked to shop in one of four versions of a fully functional on-line experimental grocery store 1) no tax control; 2) implicit tax showing only post-tax prices (i.e., 20 % higher than control prices) on high-in-calorie products; 3) fake tax showing pre-tax prices and a label falsely indicating that the price includes a 20 % tax on high-in-calorie products; and 4) explicit tax showing the same label as in 3) and an actual 20 % price increase applied to the high-in-calorie products. The proportion of high-in-calorie products purchased was 14 % in the control arm. We were unable to reject the null hypothesis of no effect in the implicit tax arm compared to control (0.08, 95 % CI -3.31 to 1.77) or in the fake tax arm compared to the control (2.59, 95 % CI -5.04 to 0.00) but observed a statistically significant 3.35 percentage point decrease (95 % CI -6.01 to -0.5) in the explicit tax arm compared to control. We were unable to reject the null hypothesis of no effect in any of the outcomes related to diet quality. Individuals who support the tax showed greater responsiveness to the explicit and fake taxes compared to those who do not (price elasticities of demand of -1.38 and -0.51 respectively). Results suggest that reductions in the proportions of high-in-calorie products purchased may be largely attributable to explicit messaging rather than to price increases. JAK pathway However, even when effective, policymakers should recognize that changes in purchasing patterns may not improve diet quality and that results may not generalize to other areas where levels of support differ. Fresh leafy greens like lettuce can be consumed raw and are susceptible to foodborne pathogens if they become contaminated. Recently, the number of reported pathogenic foodborne outbreaks related to leafy greens has increased. Therefore, it is important to try to alleviate the human health burden associated with these outbreaks. Processing of fresh-cut lettuce, including washing, is a step in the supply chain that needs to be well controlled to avoid cross-contamination. Current measures to control the quality of lettuce during washing include the use of chemicals like chlorine; however, questions regarding the safety of chlorine have prompted research for alternative solutions with peracetic acid (PAA). This study evaluates the effectiveness of a PAA (c.a. 75 mg/L) solution on the reduction of a commensal E. coli strain during the washing of fresh-cut lettuce. Experiments were performed at the laboratory scale and validated at the industrial scale. We observed that the use of PAA was not adversely affected by the organic load in the water.