Quality traits of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and valorization of the product through sous vide technologies

The application of sous vide technology was investigated to extend the shelf-life and give added value to the Mediterranean mussels cultivated in the North Adriatic Sea. Mussels exhibited marked seasonal variation in terms of nutritional and technological attitudes to processing. Sous vide packaging resulted able to extend the shelf-life of live mussels and the sous vide cook and chill ensured the microbiological quality and preserved the qualitative attributes of the mussels as assessed by chemical and sensory analysi

Proposta di un protocollo pratico per la valutazione dell'indice di condizione nei mitili (M. galloprovincialis)

The indices for the yields evaluation, as well as condition index (CI), that relate the amount of the meat with shell weight are widely used both for scientific research both for shellfish farming management, representing the main tools for the evaluation of merchantable traits in bivalve mollusks. CI values changes are due to a variety of factors, including mainly food availability and physiological status but also animal health and water temperature and salinity. Different methods are used to calculate IC value. in the mussels. The present study is intended to present a simple protocol for the CI mussels (M. galloprovincialis) evaluation able to mediate scientific rigor needs with the management needs in order to adopt an uniform procedure

Effects of feed restriction and re-feeding on body condition, plasma metabolites and intestinal brush border enzyme activity in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

Recovery of body weight and condition as a consequence of liberal feeding after periods of fasting or feed shortage, is a well-known phenomenon in salmonid fish species. To what extent the adoption of culture protocols, alternating liberal feeding to severe feed restriction to exploit compensatory growth, could be a challenge in terms of metabolic adaptation and welfare, still remains questionable. In this context, the present study was aimed at evaluating some physiological responses of rainbow trout subjected to 3 weeks fasting or restricted feed ration and re-feeding over the following 2 weeks. Ninety-nine trout (body weight 109.1 \ub1 3.5 g) were randomly distributed among 3 tanks (0.5 m3) each supplied with 8 L min-1 of well water at a temperature of 12.7\ub10.1\ub0C. Fish groups were subjected to one of the following treatments: C, continuous feeding with a commercial trout diet at 1% body weight over 5 weeks; R, restricted ration (30% of C ration) over 3 weeks followed by 2 weeks feeding to visual satiety; F, fasting over 3 weeks followed by 2 weeks feeding to visual satiety. Three fish per group were euthanized at time 0 and after 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14 days during the re-feeding period and sampled for viscera, liver and mesenteric fat to calculate carcass yield, visceral organ or tissue weight and somatic indices. Blood and gut samples were also collected and analysed for plasma metabolites (glucose, lipid and protein levels) and the activity of intestinal brush border membrane (BBM) enzymes (disaccarases, alkaline phosphatase, \u3b3-glutamil transaminase) in different sections (pyloric caeca, foregut, hindgut). In comparison to the control group, i.e. continuously fed fish, a feed restriction or fasting over 3 weeks resulted in significantly reduced body and visceral to body weight ratio and in diminished activity of the intestinal BBM enzymes. Among plasma metabolites, only cholesterol was reduced. During the re-feeding period, liver and viscera weight increased more rapidly in groups R and F than in group C, resulting in significantly higher organ to body scores. The pattern of the activity of the intestinal BBM enzymes varied among the different tracts in a specific manner, but no differences were observed among treatments after 2 weeks of re-feeding. In conclusion, a period of 14 days of liberal feeding seems to be able to restore the metabolic status in rainbow trout previously subjected to fasting or restricted feed ration over 3 weeks

Sous vide cook-chill mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis): Evaluation of chemical, microbiological and sensory quality during chilled storage (3 °C)

Abstract The changes in the chemical, physical, microbiological and sensory qualities of sous vide cooked processed mussels in comparison with conventional cooked mussels (90°C-10 min) were monitored during chilled storage (3.0 ± 1 °C). The sous vide cook and chill method at 85 °C for 10 min with or without salt brine resulted in being able to preserve the quality of mussels and extend their shelf-life to 21 storage days. Moreover, with the addition of brine a shelf-life extension of up to 30 days was possible, in comparison to mussels subjected to conventional cooking. The use of brine, other then facilitating packaging procedures preventing micro ruptures, showed a positive effect on moisture content (81.4 vs 73.5%), TVB-N (10.4 vs 16.7 mg N/100 g), reduced bacterial growth and sensory attributes, such as meat turgidity of mussels. Mussels processed by " sous vide cook and chill" method, marketed at refrigerated conditions, may be a promising addition to "ready to eat" and "ready to cook" food products with an extended shelf-life and high versatility as requested by the changes in consumer habits

Compensatory growth following long term multi-phase cyclic feeding in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Compensatory growth (CG) during recovery from feed deprivation is a well-known phenomenon in fish, making the practice of cyclic feed restriction-refeeding a possible tool for aquaculturists to optimize growth performance. While earlier studies in this direction focused on relatively short single feed restriction-refeeding protocols, the present trial was designed to evaluate the impact of different repeated cyclic feeding schemes on the zootechnical response of rainbow trout (O. mykiss) over a complete growing phase up to the commercial size. Three hundred trout (body weight 72\ub16 g) were randomly distributed among 12 tanks, each of 0.5 m3 capacity and supplied with 8 L min-1 of well water at a temperature of 12.7\ub10.8\ub0C. Triplicated groups of fish were subjected over 27 weeks to one of the following treatments: C, control, continuous feeding to visual satiety 6 days a week; T1, cyclic feeding regularly alternating 1 week starvation (S) and 3 weeks refeeding (F) (1S+3F); T2, cyclic feeding consisting in 3 consecutive phases: 1S+3F, 2S+6F, and 3S+12F; T3, where a feed restriction (70% of the satiety level observed in the previous week) was applied instead of starvation with the same schedule as T2. The same trout feed (45% crude protein, 28% crude lipid) was used throughout the trial. At the end of the trial the different cyclic feeding protocols resulted in the same zootechnical outcome (P>0.05). A nearly complete convergence of body mass was evident as no significant differences were found among treatments in individual weight (543\ub128g), specific growth rate (1.06\ub10.03%), feed conversion ratio (0.84\ub10.03) and protein efficiency ratio (2.64\ub10.12) despite a lower feed consumption in treatments T1, T2 and T3 relative to controls (357 vs. 390 g fish-1, P<0.05). All protocols imposing fasting or feed restriction resulted in CG at the end of each re-feeding phase. Hyperphagia was a major cause of CG. Both phenomena were emphasized with treatment T3 after recovering from the last 3-week fasting period, when they were associated to a marked improvement of feed conversion ratio relative to controls (0.75 vs. 0.85, P<0.05). The results obtained so far suggest repeated cyclic feeding as a reliable practice in trout farming, provided fasting or feed restriction periods are followed by refeeding phases of suitable length to allow recovery of body mass. This could result in improved profitability and environmental sustainability

Microalgae from Biorefinery as Potential Protein Source for Siberian Sturgeon (A. baerii) Aquafeed

The demand for aquafeed is expected to increase in the coming years and new ingredients will be needed to compensate for the low fish meal and oil availability. Microalgae represent a promising matrix for the future aquafeed formulation, however, the high production cost hinders its application. The use of microalgae from biorefinery would reduce the disposal costs for microalgae production. The present study aimed to (i) verify the growth of microalgae on digestate coming from pig farming and (ii) evaluate their potential valorization as dietary ingredient in aquafeed according to a Circular Bioeconomy approach. For these purposes, a microalgae biomass was produced on an outdoor raceway reactor supplied with digestate and used for partial replacement (10% of the diet) in aquafeed for Siberian sturgeon fingerlings (Acipenser baerii). The results obtained confirm the feasibility for growing microalgae on digestate with satisfactory productivity (6.2 gDM m−2 d−1), nutrient removal efficiency and Chemical Oxygen Demand reduction; moreover, the feeding trial carried out showed similar results between experimental and control groups (p > 0.05), in term of growth performance, somatic indices, fillet nutritional composition and intestinal functionality, to indicate that microalgae from biorefinery could be used as protein source in Siberian sturgeon aquafeed

Causes of death in women with breast cancer: a risks and rates study on a population-based cohort

IntroductionThe increasing survival of patients with breast cancer has prompted the assessment of mortality due to all causes of death in these patients. We estimated the absolute risks of death from different causes, useful for health-care planning and clinical prediction, as well as cause-specific hazards, useful for hypothesis generation on etiology and risk factors.Materials and methodsUsing data from population-based cancer registries we performed a retrospective study on a cohort of women diagnosed with primary breast cancer. We carried out a competing-cause analysis computing cumulative incidence functions (CIFs) and cause-specific hazards (CSHs) in the whole cohort, separately by age, stage and registry area.ResultsThe study cohort comprised 12,742 women followed up for six years. Breast cancer showed the highest CIF, 13.71%, and cardiovascular disease was the second leading cause of death with a CIF of 3.60%. The contribution of breast cancer deaths to the CIF for all causes varied widely by age class: 89.25% in women diagnosed at age &lt;50 years, 72.94% in women diagnosed at age 50–69 and 48.25% in women diagnosed at age ≥70. Greater CIF variations were observed according to stage: the contribution of causes other than breast cancer to CIF for all causes was 73.4% in women with stage I disease, 42.9% in stage II–III and only 13.2% in stage IV. CSH computation revealed temporal variations: in women diagnosed at age ≥70 the CSH for breast cancer was equaled by that for cardiovascular disease and “other diseases” in the sixth year following diagnosis, and an early peak for breast cancer was identified in the first year following diagnosis. Among women aged 50–69 we identified an early peak for breast cancer followed by a further peak near the second year of follow-up. Comparison by geographic area highlighted conspicuous variations: the highest CIF for cardiovascular disease was more than 70% higher than the lowest, while for breast cancer the highest CIF doubled the lowest.ConclusionThe integrated interpretation of absolute risks and hazards suggests the need for multidisciplinary surveillance and prevention using community-based, holistic and well-coordinated survivorship care models

First detection of X-ray polarization from the accreting neutron star 4U 1820-303

This paper reports the first detection of polarization in the X-rays for atoll-source 4U 1820-303, obtained with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) at 99.999% confidence level (CL). Simultaneous polarimetric measurements were also performed in the radio with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The IXPE observations of 4U 1820-303 were coordinated with Swift-XRT, NICER, and NuSTAR aiming to obtain an accurate X-ray spectral model covering a broad energy interval. The source shows a significant polarization above 4 keV, with a polarization degree of 2.0(0.5)% and a polarization angle of -55(7) deg in the 4-7 keV energy range, and a polarization degree of 10(2)% and a polarization angle of -67(7) deg in the 7-8 keV energy bin. This polarization also shows a clear energy trend with polarization degree increasing with energy and a hint for a position-angle change of about 90 deg at 96% CL around 4 keV. The spectro-polarimetric fit indicates that the accretion disk is polarized orthogonally to the hard spectral component, which is presumably produced in the boundary/spreading layer. We do not detect linear polarization from the radio counterpart, with a 99.97% upper limit of 50% at 7.25 GHz

Measuring collective action intention toward gender equality across cultures

Collective action is a powerful tool for social change and is fundamental to women and girls’ empowerment on a societal level. Collective action towards gender equality could be understood as intentional and conscious civic behaviors focused on social transformation, questioning power relations, and promoting gender equality through collective efforts. Various instruments to measure collective action intentions have been developed, but to our knowledge none of the published measures were subject to invariance testing. We introduce the gender equality collective action intention (GECAI) scale and examine its psychometric isomorphism and measurement invariance, using data from 60 countries (N = 31,686). Our findings indicate that partial scalar measurement invariance of the GECAI scale permits conditional comparisons of latent mean GECAI scores across countries. Moreover, this metric psychometric isomorphism of the GECAI means we can interpret scores at the country-level (i.e., as a group attribute) conceptually similar to individual attributes. Therefore, our findings add to the growing body of literature on gender based collective action by introducing a methodologically sound tool to measure collective action intentions towards gender equality across cultures

Measuring collective action intention toward gender equality across cultures

Collective action is a powerful tool for social change and is fundamental to women and girls’ empowerment on a societal level. Collective action towards gender equality could be understood as intentional and conscious civic behaviors focused on social transformation, questioning power relations, and promoting gender equality through collective efforts. Various instruments to measure collective action intentions have been developed, but to our knowledge none of the published measures were subject to invariance testing. We introduce the gender equality collective action intention (GECAI) scale and examine its psychometric isomorphism and measurement invariance, using data from 60 countries (N = 31,686). Our findings indicate that partial scalar measurement invariance of the GECAI scale permits conditional comparisons of latent mean GECAI scores across countries. Moreover, this metric psychometric isomorphism of the GECAI means we can interpret scores at the country-level (i.e., as a group attribute) conceptually similar to individual attributes. Therefore, our findings add to the growing body of literature on gender based collective action by introducing a methodologically sound tool to measure collective action intentions towards gender equality across cultures.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio