<p>  </p> <p>The prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes has increased worldwide over the last decades. Sugar-sweetened beverages are especially problematic in the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Although the proportion of Americans consuming SSB regularly has been steadily declining, added sugar intake still remains above recommendations by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and World Health Organization. However, alternatives to SSB exist on the market. For many years, the primary alternatives to SSB were low-calorie sweetened beverages, with sweetness replacers such as aspartame or sucralose. In recent years, options that are less sweet or unsweetened (instead of alternatively sweetened) have become increasingly available. These less-sweet beverages are available in similar packaging and at similar cost as SSB. Thus, these less-sweet beverages may be ideal options to reduce added sugar in the diet. However, few studies have tested switching consumers from SSB to less-sweet beverages (rather than low-calorie sweetened beverages or plain water), and thus the acceptability and implications of this dietary change are minimally documented. In this work, we tested less sweet soda-like beverages and unsweetened sparkling waters for potential to replace SSB. First, we showed that small reductions in sweetness in cola-flavored sodas are noticeable to individuals, meaning that any switch from SSB to less-sweet options will likely need to be overt to the consumer. Next, we conducted a 12-week intervention with adolescents, which showed that replacing SSBs with unsweetened sparkling waters leads to increased liking of less-sweet sodas and shifts in the ideal level of sweetness towards lower sugar concentrations. Building on these results, our final study shows that even just 2 weeks is enough time to induce these changes in acceptance of less sweetness in sodas, if a consumer prefers the higher concentrations of sugar at the beginning of the intervention (a “sweet liker”). Future studies are needed to evaluate how replacing SSB with less sweet options, leading to shifts in sweetness preference, might influence overall diet and risks for diet-related chronic diseases.</p>

<p>Insekticidi novije generacije, neonikotinoidi, odlikuju se specifičnim načinom &nbsp;delovanja na&nbsp;nervni sistem insekata. Radi dobijanja &scaron;to brže i kvalitetnije informacije o izloženosti životne sredine&nbsp;ovim insekticidima i količinama njihovih ostataka u hrani potrebno je raspolagati odgovarajućim&nbsp;instrumentalnim metodama za njihovo određivanje. Razvijene su i optimizovane analitičke metode&nbsp;zasnovane na tečnoj hromatografiji za određivanje sedam odabranih neonikotinoida (dinotefurana,&nbsp;nitenpirama, tiametoksama, klotianidina, imidakloprida, acetamiprida &nbsp;i tiakloprida) u medu i likeru od&nbsp;meda. Ispitivana je mogućnost određivanja klotianidina pomoću tečne hromatografije visoke efikasnosti&nbsp;sa detektrorom od niza dioda (HPLC-DAD) primenom kombinacije tečno-tečne i ekstrakcije na čvrstoj&nbsp;fazi iz uzoraka meda. Na osnovu preliminarnih rezultata može se zaključiti da kori&scaron;ćenje &nbsp;faznih-čvrsto&nbsp;kolona u kombinaciji sa tečno-tečnom ekstrakcijom dihlormetanom rezultira prihvatljivim prinosom&nbsp;klotianidina u uzorcima meda pri koncentraciji od oko 0,5 &micro;g g^-1&nbsp;klotianidina. Radi dobijanja većih&nbsp;prinosa odabrana je disperzna tečno-tečna mikroekstrakcija (DLLME) kao tehnika pripreme uzoraka&nbsp;meda. Testirana je upotreba acetonitrila kao disperznog sredstva. Pored hloroforma, kori&scaron;ćen je i&nbsp;dihlormetan kao drugo ekstrakciono sredstvo, kako bi se &nbsp;uporedila efikasnost ekstrakcije. Zabeleženi su&nbsp;prinosi klotianidina od 69,7 i 68,3% &nbsp;u zavisnosti da li je kori&scaron;ćen hloroform, odnosno DHM kao rastvor&nbsp;za ekstrakciju. Može se zaključiti da je prinos ekstrakcije bio povoljniji pri odnosu 0,5 mL ACN i 2,0&nbsp;mL DHM. Prinosi su se kretali od 68,4% do 92,1%, &scaron;to je ukazalo da su parametri DLLME ekstrakcije optimalni. Kako bi se detaljnije ispitali ključni parametri DLLME tehnike, kori&scaron;ćena je metodologija povr&scaron;ine odziva (RSM), kao i detekcija na osetljivijem kuplovanom masenom detektoru (MS/MS). Optimizovani su HPLC-MS/MS &nbsp;parametri kako bi se obezbedilo zadovoljavajuće hromatografsko &nbsp;razdvajanje i niske granice detekcije (GD, 0,5&ndash;1,0 &mu;g kg^-1) i određivanja (GO, 1,0&ndash;2,5 &mu;g kg^-1) ispitivanih neonikotinoida u medu. Upotrebom centralno kompozitnog dizajna konstruisani su kvadratni modeli ispitivanih faktora: zapremine ekstrakcionog (DHM, 1,0&ndash;3,0 mL) i disperznog (ACN, 0,0&ndash;1,0 mL) sredstva, izračunati statistički parametri i optimizovan proces DLLME upotrebom <em>Derringer</em>-ove funkcije poželjnih odgovora. Upotrebom MMC i SC krivih u opsegu GO&ndash;100,0 &mu;g kg^-1&nbsp;ispitan je uticaj matriksa pri čemu zaključeno je da je najveći uticaj matriksa bio na odziv analitičkog signala nitenpirama, dinotefurana i klotianidina. Ispitani su prinosi odabranih neonikotinoida (R, 74,3&ndash;113,9%), kao i preciznost metode u uslovima ponovljivosti (RSD, 2,74&ndash; 11,8%) i intermedijerne reproduktivnosti (RSD, 6,64&ndash;16,2%). Brza (retenciona vremena 1,5&ndash;9,9 min) i osetljiva metoda, koja tro&scaron;i malu količinu rastvarača, primenjena je za ispitivanje 15 realnih uzoraka meda različitog cvetnog porekla. Rezultati su pokazali da ispitivani med nije sadržao ostatke ispitivanih neonikotinoida u koncentracijama iznad GD. Dalje istraživanje je bilo usmereno ka&nbsp; razvijanju i optimizaciji HPLC-DAD analitičke metode upotrebom DLLME i QuEChERS tehnika za &nbsp;pripremu uzoraka za određivanje 7 neonikotinoida u uzorcima meda. U ovom delu istraživanja optimizovani su i hromatografski parametri, upotrebom RSM sa Box-Behnken-ovim dizajnom i Derringer-ovom funkcijom poželjnih odgovora. Od &nbsp;ispitivanih neonikotinoida dinotefuran i imidakloprid su bili u najvećoj meri izloženi uticaju matriksa, bez obzira na proceduru pripreme uzoraka. Može se istaći da je uticaj matriksa na analitički signal dinotefurana bio izraženiji u slučaju MS/MS, apostrofirajući manju robusnost ove metode određivanja. Prinosi neonikotinoida su &nbsp;bili (R, 73,1&ndash;118,3%), preciznost u uslovima ponovljivosti (RSD, 3,28&ndash;10,40%) i intermedijerne reproduktivnosti (RSD, 6,45&ndash;17,70%), a granice detekcije (GD, 1,5&ndash;2,5 &micro;g kg^-1) i određivanja (GO, 5,0&ndash;10,0 &micro;g kg^-1). Metoda je primenjena za ispitivanje 7 neonikotinoida u 104 uzorkameda različitog cvetnog porekla sa &nbsp;teritorije Autonomne Pokrajine Vojvodine. Detektovano je prisustvo tiakloprida, imidakloprida i tiametoksama u količinama koje su bile ispod MDK RS i EU. Analizirani su uzorci likera od meda - medice. Upoređivane su dve tehnike pripreme uzoraka, DLLME i QuEChERS i primenjeni optimizovani hromatografski &nbsp;uslovi i MS/MS parametri. U slučaju nitenpirama, dinotefurana i tiametoksama uticaj matriksa bio je najizraženiji. Metoda je validovana određivanjem prinosa neonikotinoida (R, 69,2&ndash;113,4%), preciznosti u uslovima ponovljivosti (RSD, 3,21&ndash;12,81%) i intermedijerne reproduktivnosti (RSD, 9,11&ndash;16,63%), kao i granice detekcije (GD, 0,5&ndash;2,5 &micro;g kg^-1) i određivanja (GO, 1,0&ndash;10,0 &micro;g kg^-1). Analizom 10 komercijalno dostupnih likera od meda otkriveno je&nbsp;prisustvo klotianidina i tiakloprida, evčzokinot&scaron; z&nbsp; na neophodnost daljeg kontrolisanja ovog proizvoda na&nbsp;prisustvo neonikotinoida. Ispitana je mogućnost uklanjanja odabranih neonikotinoida (dinotefurana,&nbsp;klotianidina i tiakloprida) iz vodene sredine (reke Dunav). Ispitivanje efikasnosti 6 različitih vrsta&nbsp;uklanjanja odabranih neonikotinoida (u prisustvu prirodne insolacije u laboratorijskim uslovima, sa&nbsp;dodatkom H2O2, sa dodatkom MWCNT, sa dodatkom MWCN+H&nbsp;₂O₂, sa dodatkom Fe-MWCNT, sa dodatkom Fe-MWCNT+H₂O₂) vr&scaron;eno je upotrebom prethodno razvijene HPLC-MS/MS metode. Krive uklanjanja odabranih neonikotinoida, pokazale su da tokom 60 minuta pri prirodnoj insolaciji&nbsp; u laboratorijskim uslovima koncentracija smanjenje oko 25%. Analitički signal dinotefurana dobijen u prisustvu H₂O_2&nbsp;pod istim uslovima ukazuje na uklanjanje ciljnog analita od oko 40%, tiakloprida od oko 70%, a klotianidina u potpunosti. Testirana je adsorpcija ciljnog analita na vi&scaron;ezidnim ugljeničnim nanocevima (MWCNT). Ovim postupkom može da se ukloni oko 30% dinotefurana, oko 50% klotianidina i 60% tiakloprida. U kombinaciji sa H₂O_2&nbsp;, MWCNT pokazuju bolju sposobnost uklanjanja za 15&ndash;50% u zavisnosti od ispitivanog neonikotinoida. Upotreba Fe-MWCNT i njihova kombinacija sa H₂O₂ otvorila je mogućnost za dalja &nbsp;ispitivanja mehanizma uklanjanja. Ustanovljeno je nastajanje intermedijera kojima odgovaraju m/z od 117,5 i 140,6 u slučaju razgradnje dinotefurana u sistemima sa H₂O₂, MWCNT+H₂O₂, Fe-MWCNT+H₂O_2&nbsp;i klotianidina u sistemu Fe-MWCNT+H₂O₂.</p> / <p>Neonicotinoid insecticides, as one of the fastest growing new generation of insecticides, have&nbsp;contributed to a significant reduction of toxicity for the environment; therefore, monitoring and&nbsp;determination of trace levels of the neonicotinoids in honey are necessary and demands highly efficient,&nbsp;selective and sensitive analytical techniques. The objective of the present work was to develop a rapid,&nbsp;sensitive, optimized and accurate analytical method based on liquid chromatography for determining&nbsp;seven neonicotinoid insecticides, dinotefuran, nitenpyram, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, imidacloprid,&nbsp;acetamiprid and thiacloprid in honey and honey liqueur samples. The possibility for determination of&nbsp;clothianidin in honey samples was investigated by HPLC with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD).&nbsp;Based on preliminary results, it can be concluded that the use of a solid-phase column in combination&nbsp;with a liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane results in an acceptable recovery of clothianidin in&nbsp;the samples with a clothianidin concentration of about 0.5 &micro;g g^-1. After obtaining low recovery of&nbsp;clothianidin, dispersed liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) was selected as a technique for the&nbsp;preparation of honey samples.. The adequacy of acetonitrile as a dispersing agent was investigated.&nbsp;Besides the chloroform, a dichloromethane was used as a second extracting agent , in order to compare&nbsp;the relative efficiency of the extraction solvents. It can be concluded that the extraction recovery (68.4&ndash;92.1%) was more favorable with the use of 0.5 mL ACN and 2.0 mL DHM. Furthermore, LC-MS/MS&nbsp;parameters were optimized to unequivocally provide good chromatographic separation, low detection&nbsp;(LOD, 0.5&ndash;1.0 &mu;g L^&minus;1) and quantification (LOQ, 1.0&ndash;2.5 &mu;g L^&minus;1) limits for acetamiprid, clothianidin,&nbsp;thiamethoxam, imidacloprid, dinotefuran, thiacloprid and nitenpyram in honey samples. Using different&nbsp;<br />types (chloroform, dichloromethane) and volumes of extraction (1.0&ndash;3.0 mL) and dispersive&nbsp;(acetonitrile; 0.0&ndash;1.0 mL) solvent and by mathematical modeling it was possible to establish the optimal&nbsp;sample preparation procedure. Matrix-matched calibration and blank honey sample spiked in the&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 12px;">concentration range of LOQ&ndash;100.0 &mu;g kg</span>^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">&minus;1&nbsp;</span>}<span style="font-size: 12px;">were used to compensate the matrix effect and to fulfill the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">requirements of SANCO/12495/2011 for the accuracy (R 74.3&ndash;113.9%) and precision (expressed in&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">terms of repeatability (RSD 2.74&ndash;11.8%) and within-laboratory reproducibility (RSDs &nbsp;6.64&ndash;16.2%)) of&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">the proposed method. The rapid (retention times 1.5&ndash;9.9 min), sensitive and low solvent consumption&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">procedure described in this work provides reliable, simultaneous, and quantitative method applicable for&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">the routine laboratory analysis of seven neonicotinoid residues in 15 real honey samples. Neonicotinoid &nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">residues were not detected in any of the investigated samples. The objective of next study was to&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">develop and optimize HPLC-DAD analytical method with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">(DLLME) and QuEChERS sample preparation procedures for the simultaneously analysis of seven&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">neonicotinoids in honey samples. The liquid chromatographic conditions were optimized by response&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">surface methodology with <em>Box-Behnken</em> design and the global <em>Derringer</em>&acute;s desirability. The optimized&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">method was &nbsp;validated to fulfill the requirements of SANCO/12495/2011 standard for both sample&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">pretreatment procedures providing results for accuracy (R, 73.1&ndash;118.3%), repeatability (RSD, 3.28&ndash;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">10.40%) and within-laboratory reproducibility (RSD, 6.45&ndash;17.70%), limits of detection (LOD, 1.5&ndash;2.5&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">g&micro; kg</span>^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">-1</span>}<span style="font-size: 12px;">) and quantification (LOQ, 5.0&ndash;10.0 &micro;g kg</span>^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">-1</span>}<span style="font-size: 12px;">). For the first time, more than 100 honey samples&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">collected from all 7 counties of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina were analyzed. The presence of&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">thiacloprid, imidacloprid and thiametoxam was discovered in a small number of samples. The objective&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">of next study was to develop an optimized LC-MS/MS analytical method with DLLME and QuEChERS&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">procedures for analysis of 7 neonicotinoids in honey liqueur. The method was validated to fulfill the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">requirements of SANCO/12495/2011 for both sample pretreatment procedures providing results for&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">accuracy (R, 69.2&ndash;113.4% for DLLME; 71.8&ndash;94.9% for QuEChERS), precision (RSD expressed in&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">terms of repeatability (3.21&ndash;10.20% for DLLME; 4.19&ndash;12.81% for QuEChERS) and within-laboratory&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">reproducibility (9.11&ndash;16.63% for DLLME; 11.32&ndash;16.40% for QuEChERS)), limits of detection (LOD,&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">0.5&ndash;1.5 g&micro; L</span>^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">-1&nbsp;</span>}<span style="font-size: 12px;">for DLLME; 1.0&ndash;2.5 g&micro; L</span>^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">-1&nbsp;</span>}<span style="font-size: 12px;">for QuEChERS) and quantification (LOQ, 1.0&ndash;5.0 g&micro; L</span>^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">-1&nbsp;</span>}<span style="font-size: 12px;">for&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">DLLME; 2.5&ndash;10.0 &micro;g L</span>^{<span style="font-size: 12px;">-1&nbsp;</span>}<span style="font-size: 12px;">for QuEChERS). Analysis of real honey liqueur samples obtained from local&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">markets showed the presence of clothianidin or thiacloprid in four of the analyzed samples, therefore&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">implicating the necessity of ongoing control of this type of traditional product. &nbsp;Removal of selected&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">neonicitinoid insecticides - dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiacloprid using MWCNT and H</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">₂O_2&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">from&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">Danube water matrix was investigated. &nbsp;Efficiency of different systems for neonicotinoids removal&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">(under natural insolation in laboratory, with H</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">₂O₂, with MWCNT, with MWCNT+ H</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">₂O₂, with Fe-MWCNT, with Fe-MWCNT+H₂O₂) was evaluated with developed LC-MS/MS method. Analysis of&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">degradation rates revealed loss of 25% of the initial neonicotinoid concentration under natural insolation in&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">the laboratory conditions during 60 min. Addition of chemical agent H₂O_2&nbsp;promoted loss of 40% of the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">initial dinotefuran, 70% of thiacloprid concentration and total removal of clothianidin under same&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">conditions. With the addition &nbsp;of MWCNT concentration of dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiacloprid&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">decayed for 30, 50 and 60%, respectively. Iron modification of MWCNT in combination with H</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">₂O_2&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">increased the removal rate of selected neonicotinoid for 15&ndash;50%. Presence of intermediates was&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">discovered in systems of dinotefuran with H₂O₂, MWCNT+H</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">₂O₂, e-MWCNT+H₂O_2&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">and of&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">clothianidin in systems with Fe-MWCNT+H₂O_2&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">with m/z of 117,5 and 140,6.&nbsp;</span></p>