Physico-Chemical Traits of Raw and Cooked Fillets of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) from Different Strains and Farms

Fillets and cooking yields, water holding capacity, textural properties, colour, proximate composition, collagen and fatty acids of five strains (IT1, IT2, IT3, USA, UK) of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, reared in three farms (F1, F2, F3), were measured before and after cooking. Physico-chemical parameters of the strains greatly differed both in raw and cooked state. IT2 and USA recorded the highest yields. IT2 distinguished from the other strains, showing lowest values of hardness, chewiness, gumminess and springiness. It also had brighter and less pigmented flesh with low fat, mainly in the raw state. USA strain showed the most valuable traits in terms of texture and colour, and had higher fat and collagen content in flesh. The physico-chemical profile of each strain was differently modified by cooking. USA strain maintained a positive texture and colour profile after cooking and its quality was the best

Macronutrient and fatty acid profiles of meagre (Argyrosomus regius) fillets as influenced by harvesting time and boiling

The effect of harvesting time and cooking on water, protein, lipid, ash and fatty acid content of farmed meagre was assessed. Significant differences in nutrient content of raw fillets were detected in relation to harvesting time. Cooking by boiling induced loss of some macronutrients, mainly lipids and some fatty acids. Retention of total lipids, C18:2n-6 and C18:3n-3 decreased significantly with harvesting time, while C20:5n-3 (EPA) and C22:6n-3 (DHA) were retained in the same quantity. DHA retention was higher than that of the other FAs considered, at all harvesting times. The changes detected did not diminish the nutritional value of the fish. Despite losses induced by cooking and the low fat content, typical of this species, 100 g of fillet ensured an intake of EPA plus DHA more than double the recommended daily intake (250 mg day–1), at all harvesting times. The ability to preserve nutrients is an essential requirement for quality maintenance and suggests the possibility of heat-processing fillets. </p

Tools to Tie: Flower Characteristics, VOC Emission Profile, and Glandular Trichomes of Two Mexican Salvia Species to Attract Bees

A plant can combine physical and chemical tools to interact with other organisms. Some are designed for pollinator attraction (i.e., colors and volatile organic compounds-VOCs); others can act to discourage herbivores (i.e., non-glandular trichomes). Few studies fully address available tools in a single species; notwithstanding, this information can be pivotal in understanding new interactions out of the home range. We characterized flower traits, emission profiles of constitutive compounds from flowers and leaves, micro-morphology of the glandular trichomes, and listed flower visitors of two Mexican bird-pollinated Salvia species (S. blepharophylla and S. greggii), growing in an Italian botanical garden. Flowers were highly variable in their morphometric characteristics. In both species, four trichome morphotypes with similar histochemistry and distribution were documented for leaves and flowers except the calyx abaxial side. The vegetative emission profiles were qualitatively more complex than the floral ones; however, common compounds occurring in high relative percentages were β-caryophyllene and germacrene D. Floral bouquets were dominated by limonene and β-pinene in S. greggii and by 1,8-cineole in S. blepharophylla. Two potential (non-bird) pollinators were especially abundant: small bees belonging to the genus Lasioglossum and large bees belonging to the species Xylocopa violacea. Our study highlights the plasticity of these plants, as well as tools that can be conveniently used to establish novel interactions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Production and characterization of wheat lines silenced in alpha amylase/trypsin inhibitor genes involved in adverse reactions to wheat

Although wheat is the most consumed crop worldwide, it is also the main factor triggering different adverse reactions, among which celiac disease, true allergies and Non Celiac Wheat Sensitivity (NCWS). Among allergies, the so called \u201cbaker\u2019s asthma\u201d, is the most common professional asthma in Europe and is caused mainly by proteins present in the soluble fraction, especially alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitors (ATI). Recent findings indicate in this class of proteins also the main factor triggering NCWS, that at present affects people with a frequency around 1:80, higher than celiac disease (1:100), but this is still a matter of debate. On this basis, we have produced RNAi wheat plants (both durum and bread wheat) in which different ATI genes have been silenced, to be used as a proof of concept, in order to test if they have a minor impact on adverse reactions, by using in vitro tests. We have silenced CM3, CM16 and 0.28 genes and have now available several lines in T4 generation. ELISA tests and immunoblotting analysis, by using a monoclonal antibody against ATI proteins, have shown that RNAi silenced wheat kernels present a lower amount of ATI proteins. Moreover, we are characterizing these lines in relation to respiratory allergies. Protein extracts from silenced plants are being tested by using human sera of allergic patients in order to verify if a lower amount of immunogenic polypeptides is recognized in comparison to wild type untransformed plants. If this is the case, the realization of new wheat genotypes expressing a lower amount of ATI proteins can be a realistic target to be reached by classical breeding procedures

Silencing of ATI genes involved in adverse reactions to wheat by RNAi and CRISPR-Cas9 technologies

Although wheat is consumed worldwide as a staple food, it can give rise to different adverse reactions, some of which have not been deeply characterized. They are caused mainly by wheat proteins, both gluten and non-gluten proteins. Structural and metabolic proteins, like \u3b1amylase/trypsin inhibitors (ATI) are involved in the onset of wheat allergies (bakers\u2019 asthma) and probably non-coeliac wheat sensitivity (NCWS). The ATI are encoded by a multigene family dispersed over several. Notably, WTAI-CM3 and WTAI-CM16 subunits are involved in the onset of bakers\u2019 asthma and are likely to contribute to NCWS. In this study we report the RNAi silencing of WTAI-CM3, WTAI-CM16 and WMAI-0.28 genes in the bread wheat cultivar Bobwhite and the CRISPR/Cas9 mediated gene knockout of WTAI-CM3 and WTAI-CM16 in the durum wheat cultivar Svevo. We have obtained different RNAi transgenic lines showing an effective decrease in the expression in the targeted genes. These lines do not show differences in terms of yield, but have unintended effects on the accumulation of the high molecular weight glutenin subunits which play a crucial role in the technological performances of wheat flour. Furthermore, the editing of WTAI-CM3 and WTAI-CM16 genes was obtained through a CRISPR-Cas9 multiplexing strategy in the Italian durum wheat cultivar Svevo with a marker-free approach. The regeneration of plants without selection agents allowed T0 homozygous mutant plants to be obtained without the integration in the wheat genome of CRISPR/Cas9 vectors, demonstrating the capability of CRISPR technology to produce wheat lines in a reduced time compared to conventional breeding approaches. The possibility to develop new wheat genotypes accumulating a lower amount of proteins effectively involved in such pathologies, not only offers the possibility to use them as a basis for the creation of wheat varieties with a lower impact on adverse reactions, but also to test if these proteins are actually implicated in those pathologies for which the triggering factor has yet to be established

Wheat ati cm3, cm16 and 0.28 allergens produced in pichia pastoris display a different eliciting potential in food allergy to wheat

International audienceAlthough wheat is a staple food for most of the human population, some of its components trigger adverse reactions. Among wheat components, the alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitors (ATI) are important triggers of several allergies and activators of innate immunity. ATI are a group of exogenous protease inhibitors and include several polypeptides. The three ATI polypeptides named CM3, CM16 and 0.28 are considered major allergens, and might also play a role in other common wheat-related pathologies, such as Non Celiac Wheat Sensitivity and even Celiac Disease. On this basis, we pointed to obtain high amounts of them in purity and to evaluate their allergenicity potential. We thus isolated the mRNA corresponding to the three ATI genes CM3, CM16 and 0.28 from 28 days post-anthesis wheat kernels and the corresponding cDNAs were used for heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris. The three purified proteins were tested in degranulation assay against human sera of patients with food allergy to wheat. A large range of degranulation values was observed for each protein according to the sera tested. All of the three purified proteins CM3, CM16 and 0.28 were active as allergens because they were able to induce basophils degranulation on wheat allergic patients' sera, with the highest values of beta-hexosaminidase release observed for CM3 protein

Early and stable difficulties of everyday executive functions predict autism symptoms and emotional/behavioral problems in preschool age children with autism: a 2-year longitudinal study

IntroductionLongitudinal studies of autistic children show that autism symptoms and emotional/behavioral problems vary and change over time. However, the factors that affect this variability remain far from certain and very little is known about what take place in the preschool period and the role of executive functions (EF).MethodsHere, we test the influence of stable difficulties in everyday executive functioning (EEF) during early childhood across 2 years on autistic symptoms and emotional and behavioral problems. Twenty-nine autistic children (24 males and 5 females) were assessed twice within the space of 2 years. At baseline (M = 29 months, SD =5.6 months), participants were assessed for EEF, cognitive development, autistic symptoms, and emotional/behavioral problems. At follow-up, we repeated the same assessment except for cognitive development.ResultsThe group with stable difficulties (across 2 years) in EEF during early childhood showed a worsening in the severity of autistic symptoms and emotional and behavioral problems compared with children without EEF difficulties (p &lt; 0.05), and these effects cannot be attributable to cognitive development.DiscussionOur results suggest that early and stable EEF plays the role of a modifier by interacting with the core domains of autism, in particular with the social affect domain (SA CSS), influencing social cognition and exacerbating or lessening symptom expression and emotional behavioral problems. These short-term longitudinal and preliminary findings underscore the importance of EEF as necessary target for early intervention in children with autism

Search for heavy neutral lepton production in K+ decays

A search for heavy neutral lepton production in K + decays using a data sample collected with a minimum bias trigger by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2015 is reported. Upper limits at the 10−7 to 10−6 level are established on the elements of the extended neutrino mixing matrix |Ue4| 2 and |Uμ4| 2 for heavy neutral lepton mass in the ranges 170–448 MeV/c2 and 250–373 MeV/c2, respectively. This improves on the previous limits from HNL production searches over the whole mass range considered for |Ue4|2 and above 300 MeV/c2 for |Uμ4|2

A regional audit system for stillbirth: A way to better understand the phenomenon

Background: Implementation of high-quality national audits for perinatal mortality are needed to improve the registration of all perinatal deaths and the identification of the causes of death. This study aims to evaluate the implementation of a Regional Audit System for Stillbirth in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy. Methods: For each stillbirth ( 65 22 weeks of gestation, 65 500 g) occurred between January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2016 (n = 332), the same diagnostic workup was performed and a clinical record with data about mother and stillborn was completed. Every case was discussed in a multidisciplinary local audit to assess both the cause of death (ReCoDe classification) and the quality of care. Data were reviewed by the Regional Audit Group. Stillbirth rates, causes of death and the quality of care were established for each case. Results: Total stillbirth rate was 3.09 per 1000 births (332/107,528). Late stillbirth rate was 2.3 per 1000 (251/107,087). Sixteen stillbirths were not registered by the Regional Birth Register. The most prevalent cause of death was placental disorder (33.3%), followed by fetal (17.6%), cord (14.2%) and maternal disorders (7.6%). Unexplained cases were 14%. Compared to local audits, the regional group attributed different causes of death in 17% of cases. At multivariate analysis, infections were associated with early stillbirths (OR 3.38, CI95% 1.62-7.03) and intrapartum cases (OR 6.64, CI95% 2.61-17.02). Placental disorders were related to growth restriction (OR 1.89, CI95% 1.06-3.36) and were more frequent before term (OR 1.86, CI95% 1.11-3.15). Stillbirths judged possibly/probably preventable with a different management (10.9%) occurred more frequently in non-Italian women and were mainly related to maternal disorders (OR 6.64, CI95% 2.61-17.02). Conclusions: Regional Audit System for Stillbirth improves the registration of stillbirth and allows to define the causes of death. Moreover, sub-optimal care was recognized, allowing to identify populations which could benefit from preventive measures

Refinement of the diagnostic approach for the identification of children and adolescents affected by familial hypercholesterolemia: Evidence from the LIPIGEN study

Background and aims: We aimed to describe the limitations of familiar hypercholesterolemia (FH) diagnosis in childhood based on the presence of the typical features of FH, such as physical sings of cholesterol accumulation and personal or family history of premature cardiovascular disease or hypercholesterolemia, comparing their prevalence in the adult and paediatric FH population, and to illustrate how additional information can lead to a more effective diagnosis of FH at a younger age.Methods: From the Italian LIPIGEN cohort, we selected 1188 (&gt;= 18 years) and 708 (&lt;18 years) genetically-confirmed heterozygous FH, with no missing personal FH features. The prevalence of personal and familial FH features was compared between the two groups. For a sub-group of the paediatric cohort (N = 374), data about premature coronary heart disease (CHD) in second-degree family members were also included in the evaluation.Results: The lower prevalence of typical FH features in children/adolescents vs adults was confirmed: the prevalence of tendon xanthoma was 2.1% vs 13.1%, and arcus cornealis was present in 1.6% vs 11.2% of the cohorts, respectively. No children presented clinical history of premature CHD or cerebral/peripheral vascular disease compared to 8.8% and 5.6% of adults, respectively. The prevalence of premature CHD in first-degree relatives was significantly higher in adults compared to children/adolescents (38.9% vs 19.7%). In the sub-cohort analysis, a premature CHD event in parents was reported in 63 out of 374 subjects (16.8%), but the percentage increased to 54.0% extending the evaluation also to second-degree relatives.Conclusions: In children, the typical FH features are clearly less informative than in adults. A more thorough data collection, adding information about second-degree relatives, could improve the diagnosis of FH at younger age