Loose housing-nothing to lose? Exploring the on-farm profitability, risk and agricultural policy consequences associated with a tie-stall ban on dairy farms

Due to stricter animal welfare regulations, in Norway tie-stalls for dairy cows are banned from 2034 onwards. The aim of this paper is to explore the profitability, risk and agricultural policy consequences associated with the transition from tie-stalls to loose housing. Data on farm economics and investments were collected from farm enterprise budgets on 66 farms that have built new cowsheds in recent years in Vestland county. Vestland was chosen because on average it has the smallest dairy farms in Norway, with 45 percent of the herds having less than 20 cows. To analyze profitability and risk we used net present value and stochastic simulation. The findings show that irrespective of herd size, to continue farming with an upgraded tie-stall is more profitable than to invest in new loose housing. For farms with less than 30 cows, investment in new loose housing is on average not profitable and involves a high risk. Unless the Governmental investment grant is significantly increased, the tie-stall ban will have large consequences for farm structure and conflict several agricultural policy goals. Farmland in less favored districts may go out of production, making it more difficult to reach the policy goals of increasing food production, agriculture across the country, biodiversity and rural viability. Our findings are of interest to politicians in countries where one considers stricter animal welfare regulations, as well as planners and farmers who consider investing in new loose housing dairies

Malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal are formed during dynamic gastrointestinal in vitro digestion of cod liver oils.

Marine long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) are associated with reduced risk for inflammatory diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and rheumatoid arthritis. These fatty acids, however, are rapidly oxidized, generating highly reactive malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal (HHE) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE). These oxidation products may interact with DNA and proteins, thus possibly leading to impaired cell functions. Little is known about the formation of MDA, HHE and HNE in fish oil in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In this study, the effect of dynamic in vitro digestion of cod liver oil on the generation of MDA, HHE and HNE was evaluated using the TNO Gastro-Intestinal Model (tiny-TIM). Effects of pre-formed oxidation products, pre-emulsification of the oil, and addition of oxidants (EDTA and hemoglobin, Hb) on GI oxidation were evaluated. Formation of aldehydes occurred during GI digestion. However, only emulsified oil fortified with 11.5 μM Hb oxidized to a degree that overcame the dilution induced by gastric secretion, which caused increased aldehyde concentrations in gastric lumen up to 90 min. The maximum levels of aldehydes generated in this study were 24.5 μM MDA, 1.6 μM HHE and 0.07 μM HNE. Oils containing different amounts of pre-formed lipid oxidation products maintained the same oxidation ranking order during digestion, even though the relative changes were not directly proportional. Emulsification of the oil had an unclear effect in the gastric phase, but a pro-oxidative effect in the intestinal phase. In general, higher aldehyde levels were reached in the intestinal lumen than in the initial meal, demonstrating that GI digestion promotes oxidation. Hence, epithelial cells may be exposed to elevated amounts of reactive aldehydes for several hours after a meal containing fish oil

Formation of malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal (HHE) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) in fish and fish oil during dynamic gastrointestinal in vitro digestion

Marine lipids contain a high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), including the characteristic long chain (LC) n-3 PUFA. Upon peroxidation these lipids generate reactive products, such as malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal (HHE) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), which can form covalent adducts with biomolecules and thus are regarded as genotoxic and cytotoxic. PUFA peroxidation can occur both before and after ingestion. The aim of this study was to determine what levels of MDA, HHE and HNE can evolve in the gastric and intestinal lumen after ingesting meals containing fish or fish oil using a dynamic gastrointestinal (GI) model (TIM). The impact of the fish muscle matrix, lipid content, fish species, and oven baking on GI oxidation was evaluated. MDA and HHE concentrations in gastric lumen increased for all meals during digestion, with the highest level found with herring mince; similar to 25 mu M MDA and similar to 850 nM HHE. Aldehyde concentrations reached in intestinal lumen during digestion of fish containing meals were generally lower than in gastric lumen, while isolated herring oils (bulk and emulsified) generated higher MDA and HHE values in intestinal lumen compared to gastric lumen. Based on aldehyde levels in gastric lumen, meals containing herring lipids were ranked: raw herring (17% lipid) = baked herring (4% lipid) > raw herring (4% lipid) >> herring oil emulsion > herring oil. Herring developed higher concentrations of MDA and HHE during gastric digestion compared to salmon, which initially contained lower levels of oxidation products. Cooked salmon generated higher MDA concentrations during digestion than raw salmon. Low levels of HNE were observed during digestion of all test meals, in accordance with the low content of n-6 PUFA in fish lipids

Expressions of vitality affects and basic affects during art therapy and their meaning for inner change

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.The aim of this study was to describe the occurrence of vitality affects and basic affects and to shed light on their importance in terms of patients’ inner change through art therapy. In an earlier study, where 17 women were interviewed about inner change through art therapy, a secondary deductive content analysis of images and statements was performed exploring the presence of vitality affects and basic affects. Nine of the 17 interviews contained clear descriptions of vitality affects and basic affects in the intersubjective communication between the patient and the therapist; these affects were also mirrored in the patients’ painted images. Three cases are used to illustrate the result and how affects are related to inner change. These three cases differ from each other in that they describe vitality affects either; arising from the art therapist’s empathetic verbal or non-verbal response, from a particular experience in nature, or from the interpreted symbolic language of the image. The common denominator identified as uniting the three cases was the intersubjective communication with the therapist. This study indicates that image making in art therapy gives rise to vitality affects and basic affects that contribute to inner change. It also indicates the importance of having trust in both the method and the art therapist.publishedVersio

Demo-scale production of protein-rich fungal biomass from potato protein liquor for use as innovative food and feed products

Innovative food and feed products have recently attracted the attention of both producers and consumers. Filamentous fungi are important biomass producers with their high protein contents. In this study, fungal biomass production from edible potato protein liquor (PPL), generated during starch production processes, was investigated through different fungal strains (Rhizopus oryzae, R. oligosporus, R. delemar, Aspergillus oryzae and Neurospora intermedia). The effects of PPL concentration, incubation time, initial pH, and cultivation conditions (in shake flaks and different scale reactors) were examined to determine the amount of biomass and its crude protein level. It was determined that the fungal biomass produced by R. delemar in industrial scale contained 53% crude protein. For this strain, the amino acid and fatty acid profiles as well as metals (iron, manganese, copper, and zinc) of the produced biomass were also investigated to assess possible use as a food or feed source. The R. delemar fungal biomass can be a promising raw material for feed and food production, for example, considering its protein and fatty acid profiles with 41% essential amino acids and 33% polyunsaturated fatty acids

Production of fungal biomass from oat flour for the use as a nutritious food source

Fermentation can be a powerful tool for developing new sustainable foods with increased nutritional value and fermented microbial biomass derived from filamentous fungi is a promising example. This study investigates the nutritional profile of edible Aspergillus oryzae biomass produced under submerged fermentation (SmF) using oat flour as a substrate. The fermentation occurred in a 1m3 airlift bioreactor during 48 h at 35 \ub0C and the nutritional profile of the produced fungal biomass in terms of amino acids, fatty acids, minerals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn), vitamins (E, D2), and dietary fiber was compared to oat flour as well as pure fungal biomass grown on semi-synthetic medium. The total amount of amino acids increased from 11% per dry weight (dw) in oat flour to 23.5% dw in oat fungal biomass with an improved relative ratio of essential amino acids (0.37 to 0.42). An increase in dietary fibers, minerals (Fe, Zn, Cu), vitamin E, as well as vitamin D2 were also obtained in the oat fungal biomass compared to oat flour. Moreover, the short chain omega-3 α-linolenic acid (ALA) and omega-6 linoleic acid (LA) values increased from 0.6 to 8.4 and 21.7 to 68.4 (mg/g dry weight sample), respectively, in oat fungal biomass. The results indicate that fungal biomass grown on oat flour could have a potential application in the food industry as a nutritious source for a wide variety of products

Towards solidarity: working relations in personal assistance

This article explores personal assistance from the assistants' perspectives. Many assistants are satisfied with their work and the possibility to combine the work with other activities on a flexible basis. However, the structural framework of the personal assistance scheme creates risks for the workers who carry out the assistance. These risks are related to strong user control, intimate and personalized relations, part-time work, weakly formalized working conditions and few chances to gain qualifications for future employment opportunities. The gendered labour market is also a structural condition of the scheme. The article focuses on three theoretical working life discussions: flexibility, professionalization and co-determination (between service user and assistant). The article reveals the specific and inverted form these processes are transformed into by the personal assistance scheme and suggests that they create barriers for sustainable working conditions for the assistants as well as options for developing solidarity between service users and assistants

Formation of reactive aldehydes (MDA, HHE, HNE) during the digestion of cod liver oil: comparison of human and porcine in vitro digestion models

In this work, we investigated lipid oxidation of cod liver oil during gastrointestinal (GI) digestion using two types of in vitro digestion models. In the first type of model, we used human GI juices, while we used digestive enzymes and bile from porcine origin in the second type of model. Human and porcine models were matched with respect to factors important for lipolysis, using a standardized digestion protocol. The digests were analysed for reactive oxidation products: malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE), and 4-hydroxy-trans-2-hexenal (HHE) by liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (LC/APCI-MS), and for free fatty acids (FFA) obtained during the digestion by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The formation of the oxidation products MDA, HHE, and HNE was low during the gastric digestion, however, it increased during the duodenal digestion. The formation of the oxidation products reached higher levels when digestive juices of human origin were used (60 μM of MDA, 0.96 μM of HHE, and 1.6 μM of HNE) compared to when using enzymes and bile of porcine origin (9.8, and 0.36 μM of MDA; 0.16, and 0.026 μM of HHE; 0.23, and 0.005 μM of HNE, respectively, in porcine models I and II). In all models, FFA release was only detected during the intestinal step, and reached up to 31% of total fatty acids (FA). The findings in this work may be of importance when designing oxidation oriented lipid digestion studies

Closed life-cycle aquaculture of sea lettuce (Ulva fenestrata): performance and biochemical profile differ in early developmental stages

Sea lettuce (Ulva) aquaculture has increased the last decade due to high productivity, wide environmental tolerance, and interesting functional and nutritional properties of the crop. Research focus has mainly been on adult biomass production, but knowledge of performance and biochemical content of early developmental stages – which are the basis to any large-scale production - is still limited. The life-history of Ulva alternates between a diploid sporophytic life-stage and a haplontic gametophytic life-stage. Whereas the sporophyte give raise to recombinant gametophytes through zoids, gametophytes can give raise to parthenogenetically developing, clonal gametes in absence of a mating partner. This study shows that recombinant gametophytes have a faster ontogenetic development, higher growth rate, as well as higher protein, fatty acid, and pigment contents compared to clonal gametophytes of the crop Ulva fenestrata. Nutrient addition is required for a normal development, but temperature and swarmer density have relatively small effects on the hatchery success, relative growth rate and biochemical profile of the juvenile biomass. Our study reveals that the selection of the life-history-phase in novel sea lettuce crop strains could largely contribute to the emerging seaweed aquaculture sector

Podocalyxin-like protein expression in primary colorectal cancer and synchronous lymph node metastases

Aims: Previous studies have shown that membranous expression of podocalyxin-like protein (PODXL) is associated with poor prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we compared PODXL expression in primary CRC and synchronous lymph node metastases. We further analyzed whether its expression changed in rectal tumours after neoadjuvant radiation therapy. Methods and results: The studied cohort consists of 73 consecutive patients from the South-Swedish Colorectal Cancer Biobank. Immunohistochemical PODXL expression was examined on full-face sections from all primary tumours and all 140 available lymph node metastases from 31 cases. Membranous PODXL expression was denoted in 18/73 (24,7%) primary tumours, with a high concordance between primary and metastatic lesions. While all negative primary tumours had negative metastases, some PODXL positive primaries had a varying proportion of positive and negative metastatic lymph nodes. PODXL expression was also found to be mainly unaltered in pre- and post-irradiation surgically resected tumour specimens in rectal cancer patients (n=16). Conclusions: The findings in this study suggest that analysis of PODXL expression in the primary tumour is sufficient for its use as a prognostic and treatment predictive biomarker in CRC, also in patients with metastatic disease