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Increased numbers of patients with chronic conditions use nutraceuticals or food-based therapeutics. However, to date, there is no global consensus on the regulatory processes for nutraceuticals. With the increased use, issues of quality and safety have also arisen. This review summarises the current regulations held for nutraceuticals in the USA, European and Australian jurisdictions using regulatory authority sites and databases. The efficacy and safety concerns, product development, gaps in regulation and challenges in ensuring product authenticity are also summarised. The data highlight the complexity that the globalisation of nutraceuticals brings with respect to challenges in regulation and associated claims regarding efficacy and safety. The development of an effective system with integrity is needed to increase vertical collaboration between consumers, healthcare practitioners, and government agencies and the development of international risk assessment criteria and botanical compendia. This will help in greater transparency and improved trust in the process and products. Emerging technologies could play a role in improving systems engineering by information sharing and leveraging the strengths of different countries. In conclusion, nutraceuticals have been poorly regulated leading to spurious claims based on little or no real evidence. This makes it difficult to separate meaningful results from poor data. More stringent regulation and an effective system of integrity are required to ensure efficacy and safety and enable the adequate monitoring and increase consumer and healthcare professionals’ confidence. Full article

Applying georadar (GPR) technology for detecting underground utilities is an important element of the comprehensive assessment of the location and ground infrastructure status. These works are usually connected with the conducted investment processes or serialised inventory of underground fittings. The detection of infrastructure is also crucial in implementing the BIM technology, 3D cadastre, and planned network modernization works. GPR detection accuracy depends on the type of equipment used, the selected detection method, and external factors. The multitude of techniques used for localizing underground utilities and constantly growing accuracy demands resulting from the fact that it is often necessary to detect infrastructure under challenging conditions of dense urban development leads to the need to improve the existing technologies. The factor that motivated us to start research on assessing the precision and accuracy of ground penetrating radar detection was the need to ensure the appropriate accuracy, precision, and reliability of detecting underground utilities versus different methods and analyses. The results of the multi-variant GPR were subjected to statistical testing. Various analyses were also conducted, depending on the detection method and on the current soil parameters using a unique sensor probe. When planning detection routes, we took into account regular, established grids and tracked the trajectory of movement of the equipment using GNSS receivers (internal and external ones). Moreover, a specialist probe was used to evaluate the potential influence of the changing soil conditions on the obtained detection results. Our tests were conducted in a developed area for ten months. The results confirmed a strong correlation between the obtained accuracy and the measurement method used, while the correlation with the other factors discussed here was significantly weaker. Full article