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Exploring transcriptomic signatures in sudden unexplained death (SUD) cases
Full text linkBackground Molecular autopsy in sudden unexplained death (SUD) has successfully identified pathogenic variants in cardiovascular genes in a substantial proportion of cases, contributing to prevention strategies in family members. However, many SUD cases remain genetically unresolved, prompting investigations into other omics technologies to better understand the pathogenic mechanisms leading to a sudden death event. In this study, whole transcriptome sequencing was performed on heart samples from 43 SUD cases and 17 heart-healthy controls, with the aim to identify disease-specific transcriptome signatures in sudden unexplained death. Results PCA based on the top 500 genes with the highest variance among the samples showed no clear separation between SUD and controls or among the three SUD subgroups. DESeq2 identified 1,676 differentially expressed genes between SUD and controls with significantly upregulated genes involved in biological processes such as angiogenesis, blood vessel development, vasculogenesis and cell adhesion. Pathway analysis of the differentially expressed genes showed that most were downregulated and involved in amide/peptide biosynthesis and fatty acid metabolism. Additional analysis of SUD subgroups revealed unique gene expression patterns and highlighted differentially expressed genes within each subgroup. Conclusion Gene expression analysis of SUD heart tissue is a promising approach to identify cardiac disease-related pathways to further understand the pathological mechanisms leading to a sudden death event. However, due to the heterogeneity of the SUD cases and the unclear phenotype, further studies in larger cohorts are needed.publishedVersio
The Roles of Plasticity and Selection in Rapid Phenotypic Changes at the Pacific Oyster Invasion Front in Europe
Full text linkInvasive species present significant management challenges worldwide due to their ability to rapidly adapt to novel environments. The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, a globally distributed invasive species, arrived in western Sweden in 2006 but has not yet colonised the low salinity waters of the Baltic Sea, presumably because low salinities act as a barrier to reproduction. We used classic mating designs to investigate fertilisation rates and heritability of embryonal salinity tolerance (in 8‰–33‰) in oysters from three locations with different invasion history and salinity (established, 33‰; past invasion front, 23.5‰; and present invasion front, 16‰). We found that fertilisation rates at lower salinities increased with proximity to the range front, with a pronounced heritable component. We then used whole-genome sequencing of oysters from the present invasion front to identify genomic regions showing stronger deviations from Mendelian inheritance in larval full-sib families reared in low salinity compared to controls. These regions contained coding sequences for Histones and ribosomal DNA, with the paternal genotype explaining a significant proportion of the deviation, suggesting the involvement of sperm in modulation of low-salinity tolerance at fertilisation and early development. Furthermore, we found no evidence of recent bottlenecks along the invasion front. We conclude that the Pacific oyster has developed low-salinity tolerant reproductive phenotypes at the present invasion front through acclimation and natural selection. Given the strong heritability for tolerance to low-salinities at fertilisation, the species likely has the potential to adapt further to low-salinity conditions and may invade the Baltic Sea.publishedVersio
Risk assessment of bovine tuberculosis introduction and establishment in Norway
Full text linkVKM has assessed the risk of introduction and spread of bovine tuberculosis in Norway and cannot rule out that the disease still exists in Norway. There is a low risk of the disease being reintroduced with imported cattle, but the import of llamas and alpacas poses a greater risk. If the disease were to establish in Norway, there is a high risk of spread both among domestic animals and to wildlife. These are the main conclusions The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) has made in a risk assessment commissioned by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Background Following the outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in 2022, VKM was asked to investigate the risk of introduction as well as the risk of spread and establishment of the disease in Norway. The disease primarily affects cattle, but other animals and humans can also be affected. Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic disease that is difficult to diagnose. Therefore, it may take months or years before infected animals are detected. This makes it challenging to eradicate the disease. Conclusions With today's very limited import, VKM concludes it is unlikely that bovine tuberculosis will be introduced to Norway with cattle. Since neighboring countries Sweden and Finland are free from the disease, migration of wildlife will not pose a risk of introduction. However, as the source of the 2022 outbreak has not been identified, it cannot be determined if the disease is still present in Norway. “Alpacas and llamas pose a greater risk. These species are particularly susceptible to the disease, and animals have been imported to Norway, also from countries where the bacterium is common in the cattle population. It is therefore likely that the bacterium could be introduced to Norway with these species if imports continue”, says Eystein Skjerve, Scientific leader of the project team. There is significant trade and transportation of live animals (cattle, alpacas, and llamas) within Norway. If bovine tuberculosis were to establish here, such movements would pose a significant risk of spreading the bacterium. Furthermore, manure from infected herds could pose a risk of spreading to livestock and wild animals. Additionally, contact between livestock and wild animals, such as badgers, wild boars, and various deer species, could lead to the spread of the disease to the wild population. If bovine tuberculosis is established in Norway, a control and eradication strategy would require considerable time and resources. If the disease is introduced to-, and established in wild animal populations, experience from other countries indicates that it will be very challenging to eradicate the disease. “The risk of transmission of bovine tuberculosis to humans is generally low. Veterinarians, farmers, and slaughterhouse workers have an increased risk of infection. If the disease is established in Norway, the greatest risk of transmission to humans is through the consumption of both unpasteurised milk and dairy products”, Skjerve says. Risk-Reducing Measures VKM was also asked to identify several measures that could reduce the risk of introduction and establishment of bovine tuberculosis in Norway: Avoid importing animals from countries and regions where bovine tuberculosis is present in livestock. Avoid importing roughage to Norway from countries and regions with bovine tuberculosis. Increase testing requirements for the trade and movement of alpacas and llamas inside Norway. In the event of an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis, reduce contact between livestock and wild animals and routinely test wild animals (badgers, wild boars, and deer species). (...)Risk assessment of bovine tuberculosis introduction and establishment in NorwayacceptedVersio
Valideringsrapport - Analyse av tryptofan ved bruk av Waters ACQUITY UPLC/ Waters AccQ•Tag Ultra etter basisk hydrolyse
Full text linkDet ble validert en metode for analyse av tryptofan ved bruk av Waters ACQUITY UPLC/Waters AccQ•Tag Ultra etter basisk hydrolyse (BIOLAB A132 Tryptofan). Følgende parametere ble validert: Selektivitet, linearitet, presisjon, riktighet, måleområde og robusthet. I tillegg ble metodens totale måleusikkerhet beregnet. Valideringen viste at metoden er egnet for formålet, og at ytelsen er som forventet.Valideringsrapport - Analyse av tryptofan ved bruk av Waters ACQUITY UPLC/ Waters AccQ•Tag Ultra etter basisk hydrolysepublishedVersio
Consumer perceptions of sustainability towards ingredients, packaging, labelling, and storage conditions in milk, burger products, and plant-based alternatives: A study in Sweden and Italy
Full text linkSustainability increasingly shapes consumer attitudes and purchasing decisions, but perceptions of what constitutes sustainability vary. This study, conducted in Sweden and Italy in 2022 with 600 respondents, examined sustainability in a multidimensional manner (across social, environmental, economic, and health dimensions) for burgers and milk. Using the Sustainability Dimensions Perception Scale (SDPS) and a Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) analysis, the research found that the food ingredient’s origin (animal vs. plant) was the most important characteristic for defining a sustainable product, particularly for burgers. Plant-based options were associated with higher perceptions of social, environmental, and health dimensions in both dairy and burger categories. Packaging, labelling and storage conditions were generally perceived to be less important for sustainability perception, and associations with different sustainability dimensions depended on the specific product category (i.e. milk or burger). In addition, five consumer segments were identified in the dairy and burger categories: “Animal-based food”, “Local label”, “Label importance”, “Plant-based food”, and “Cardboard container”, each reflecting diverse priorities in sustainability. As a result, this study addressed the general sustainable attitudes and product-specific attitudes, building on a multidimensional framework. This study offered valuable insights for understanding consumer preferences and developing strategies to guide them toward more sustainable choices.publishedVersio
Understanding the Impact of Drying on the Optical Properties of Cured Muscle Tissue: A Case Study of Dried Salt-Cured Cod
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The effect of conventional and ohmic heating aspasteurization methods on the mechanical and rheologicalproperties of edible whey-based films
Full text linkEdible film-forming solutions typically undergo thermal treatment to ensure microbial safety before being applied to food products. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of two different heating methods—conventional heating (CH) and ohmic heating (OH)—on the physical, chemical, and microbiological properties of liquid acid whey permeate (AWP) and liquid acid whey protein concentrate (AWPC) edible films. Composition of edible film-forming solutions consisted of AWPC, sunflower oil, sugar beet pectin, and glycerol, whereas AWP-based films were produced with sugar beet pectin and glycerol. The following parameters were tested to assess the effect of heating treatments on the film-forming solutions: rheology, contact angle [CA] and microbial counts and mechanical properties (tensile strength [TS] and elongation at break [EB]), water vapor permeability [WVP], moisture content [MC], solubility (Sol), and thickness with optical properties of produced edible films. In addition, film surface was investigated by scanning electron microscopy [SEM]. Microbiological analysis of the untreated film-forming solutions revealed that the AWPC-based solution had a higher initial load of lactic acid bacteria (3.96 log10 CFU/mL) (p < 0.05). Both heating treatments successfully reduced microbial counts to below detection limits in both film-forming solutions. Additionally, OH treatment resulted in lower CA values in both solutions (p < 0.05). OH also led to an increase in TS for AWP-based edible films (p < 0.05) and significantly reduced the thickness of both AWP and AWPC films, while reducing the Sol of AWP-based films and increasing the Sol of AWPC-based films (p < 0.05). The study highlights the effectiveness of the two pasteurization methods and offers insights into improving whey-based edible films.publishedVersio
Large-scale phenotypic and genomic analysis of Listeria monocytogenes reveals diversity in the sensitivity to quaternary ammonium compounds but not to peracetic acid
Full text linkListeria monocytogenes presents a significant concern for the food industry due to its ability to persist in the food processing environment. One of the factors contributing to its persistence is decreased sensitivity to disinfectants. Our objective was to assess the diversity of L. monocytogenes sensitivity to food industry disinfectants by testing the response of 1,671 L. monocytogenes isolates to quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) and 414 isolates to peracetic acid (PAA) using broth microdilution and growth curve analysis assays, respectively, and to categorize the isolates into sensitive and tolerant. A high phenotype-genotype concordance (95%) regarding tolerance to QACs was obtained by screening the genomes for the presence of QAC tolerance-associated genes bcrABC, emrE, emrC, and qacH. Based on this high concordance, we assessed the QAC genes’ dissemination among publicly available L. monocytogenes genomes (n = 39,196). Overall, QAC genes were found in 23% and 28% of the L. monocytogenes collection in this study and in the global data set, respectively. bcrABC and qacH were the most prevalent genes, with bcrABC being the most detected QAC gene in the USA, while qacH dominated in Europe. No significant differences (P > 0.05) in the PAA tolerance were detected among isolates belonging to different lineages, serogroups, clonal complexes, or isolation sources, highlighting limited variation in the L. monocytogenes sensitivity to this disinfectant. The present work represents the largest testing of L. monocytogenes sensitivity to important food industry disinfectants at the phenotypic and genomic level, revealing diversity in the tolerance to QACs while all isolates showed similar sensitivity to PAA.publishedVersio
Assessing transcriptomic signatures of aging: Testing an mRNA marker panel for forensic age estimation of blood samples
Full text linkEstimating the age of an unknown perpetrator can be a valuable tool in narrowing down a group of suspects. Research efforts to estimate the age of a stain donor have mainly focused on epigenetic modifications, but there is evidence that RNA expression patterns, i.e. the composition of the transcriptome, change with increasing age, which could be a promising molecular alternative for age prediction. In a previous study, we identified a total of 508 mRNA markers with age related expression from two blood whole transcriptome sequencing data sets, using differential expression analysis with DESeq2 and marker selection with lasso regression. For this study, the selected markers from both approaches were combined into an RNA-specific targeted MPS assay for the Ion Torrent platform and evaluated with 100 EDTA blood samples from healthy donors (aged between 23 and 73 years). We compared three different normalization methods for the obtained sequencing data and investigated the performance of various regression techniques for age prediction. The model based on elastic net regression and dSVA-normalized data exhibited the most robust performance, achieving an MAE of 9.29 years and a correlation of 0.57 between the chronological and predicted age. Although the use of a targeted approach instead of RNA-Seq offers several advantages in a forensic setting, we observed a considerable amount of unwanted variation in the targeted sequencing data. We conclude that it is challenging to detect distinct signals associated with chronological age.publishedVersio
Quality parameters and storage stability of the Norwegian red sea cucumber (Parastichopus tremulus)
Full text linkQuality parameters and storage stability were evaluated through biochemical, textural, and microbial analyses of the Norwegian red sea cucumber Parastichopus tremulus at two different storage temperatures (0 °C and 4 °C) over 17 days. During storage, the pH decreased from 7 to 6.3, the texture became softer decreasing from 47.3 to 0.3 N, while K-value increased from 4 to 52 %, microbial counts increased from 2 to 8 log cfu/g and formation of volatiles increased. After storage for 7 days at 0 °C and 5 days at 4 °C, the microbial counts exceeded the acceptability for consumption (7 log cfu/g). Microorganisms such as Flavobacterium and Psychrobacter were the main specific spoilage organisms contributing to the deterioration. Prolonged storage favored the Polaribacter and Marinomonas proliferation regardless of storage temperatures. The free amino acid concentration increased from 24 to 86 mg/100 g at both storage temperatures, probably resulting from the autolysis degradation. The pH decrease could be attributed to the production and dissolution of volatile compounds during storage. Odor-active compounds such as aldehydes (decanal, 2,4-decadienal, nonanal), ketones (1-octen-3-one, 1-penten-3-one), alcohols (1-octen-3-ol, 2-heptanol), aromatics (p-cresol and phenol), indoles (indole) and sulfides (dimethyl disulfide and trisulfide) showed increasing levels with storage time, with the highest levels found in the samples stored at 4 °C. This is the first study that demonstrate the quality changes on molecular and microbial level occurring during cold storage of sea cucumber P. tremulus. These results can be used for evaluating the shelf-life limiting factors of such species.publishedVersio