Effect of somatic cell count on Prato cheese composition

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of 2 levels of somatic cell counts (SCC) in raw milk on Prato cheese composition, protein and fat recovery, cheese yield, and ripening. A 2 x 6 factorial design with 3 replications was performed in this study: 2 levels of SCC and 6 levels of storage time. Initially, 2 groups of dairy cows were selected to obtain low ( 600,000 cells/mL) SCC in milks that were used to manufacture 2 vats of cheese: 1) low SCC and 2) high SCC. Milk, whey, and cheese compositions were evaluated; clotting time was measured; and cheese yield, protein recovery, and fat recovery were calculated. The cheeses were evaluated after 5, 12, 19, 26, 33, and 40 d of ripening according to pH, moisture, pH 4.6 soluble nitrogen, 12% trichloroacetic acid soluble nitrogen as a percentage of total nitrogen, and firmness. High-SCC milk presented significantly higher total protein and nonprotein nitrogen and lower true protein and casein concentrations than did low-SCC milk, indicating an increased whey protein content and a higher level of proteolysis. Although the pH of the milk was not affected by the somatic cell level, the cheese obtained from high-SCC milk presented significantly higher pH values during manufacture and a higher clotting time. No significant differences in cheese yield and protein recovery were observed for these levels of milk somatic cells. The cheese from high-SCC milk was higher in moisture and had a higher level of proteolysis during ripening, which could compromise the typical sensory quality of the product.90263063

SIMULATION OF AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS COLLABORATING IN INDUSTRIAL PLANTS FOR MULTIPLE TASKS

The autonomous systems are continuously extending their application fields and current advances in sensors and controls are enabling the possibility to operate also inside buildings and industrial plants. These new capabilities introduce challenges to be addressed in order to carry out new tasks and missions. This paper proposes advances in Modeling, interoperable Simulation and Serious Games devoted to support researches supporting autonomous system operations within Industrial Facilities

Differential expression of a new isoform of DLG2 in renal oncocytoma

BACKGROUND: Renal oncocytoma, a benign tumour of the kidney, may pose a differential diagnostic problem due to overlapping phenotype with chromophobe renal cell carcinoma or other types of renal cell tumours. Therefore, identification of molecular markers would be of great value for molecular diagnostics of this tumour type. METHODS: In the current study we applied various techniques, including Affymetrix microarray hybridization and semiquantitative RT-PCR, to identify genes expressed differentially in renal oncocytomas. Subsequently, we used RACE and Northern blot hybridization to characterize the potential candidates for molecular diagnosis. RESULTS: We have identified new isoform of DLG2 gene, which contains 3'-end exons of the known DLG2 gene along with the hypothetical gene FLJ37266. The new isoform is specifically upregulated in renal oncocytoma, whereas the known DLG2 gene is downregulated in this type of kidney tumour. CONCLUSION: The new isoform of DLG2 is the promising candidate gene for molecular differential diagnostics of renal oncocytoma

High-resolution DNA copy number and gene expression analyses distinguish chromophobe renal cell carcinomas and renal oncocytomas

Contains fulltext : 80487.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of benign renal oncocytomas (RO) and chromophobe renal cell carcinomas (RCC) based on their morphology remains uncertain in several cases. METHODS: We have applied Affymetrix GeneChip Mapping 250 K NspI high-density oligoarrays to identify small genomic alterations, which may occur beyond the specific losses of entire chromosomes, and also Affymetrix GeneChip HG-U133 Plus2.0 oligoarrays for gene expression profiling. RESULTS: By analysing of DNA extracted from 30 chRCCs and 42 ROs, we have confirmed the high specificity of monosomies of chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 10, 13, 17 and 21 in 70-93% of the chRCCs, while ROs displayed loss of chromosome 1 and 14 in 24% and 5% of the cases, respectively. We demonstrated that chromosomal gene expression biases might correlate with chromosomal abnormalities found in chromophobe RCCs and ROs. The vast majority genes downregulated in chromophobe RCC were mapped to chromosomes 2, 6, 10, 13 and 17. However, most of the genes overexpressed in chromophobe RCCs were located to chromosomes without any copy number changes indicating a transcriptional regulation as a main event. CONCLUSION: The SNP-array analysis failed to detect recurrent small deletions, which may mark loci of genes involved in the tumor development. However, we have identified loss of chromosome 2, 10, 13, 17 and 21 as discriminating alteration between chromophobe RCCs and ROs. Therefore, detection of these chromosomal changes can be used for the accurate diagnosis in routine histology

The nonlinear effect of somatic cell count on milk composition, coagulation properties, curd firmness modeling, cheese yield, and curd nutrient recovery

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between somatic cell count (SCC) in milk and several milk technological traits at the individual cow level. In particular, we determined the effects of very low to very high SCC on traits related to (1) milk yield and composition; (2) coagulation properties, including the traditional milk coagulation properties (MCP) and the new curd firming model parameters; and (3) cheese yield and recovery of milk nutrients in the curd (or loss in the whey). Milk samples from 1,271 Brown Swiss cows from 85 herds were used. Nine coagulation traits were measured: 3 traditional MCP [rennet coagulation time (RCT, min), curd firming rate (k20, min), and curd firmness after 30 min (a30, mm)] and 6 new curd firming and syneresis traits [potential asymptotic curd firmness at infinite time (CFP, mm), curd firming instant rate constant (kCF, % 7 min-1), syneresis instant rate constant (kSR, % 7 min-1), rennet coagulation time estimated using the equation (RCTeq, min), maximum curd firmness achieved within 45 min (CFmax, mm), and time at achievement of CFmax (tmax, min)]. The observed cheese-making traits included 3 cheese yield traits (%CYCURD, %CYSOLIDS, and %CYWATER, which represented the weights of curd, total solids, and water, respectively, as a percentage of the weight of the processed milk) and 4 nutrient recoveries in the curd (RECFAT, RECPROTEIN, RECSOLIDS, and RECENERGY, which each represented the percentage ratio between the nutrient in the curd and milk). Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model with the fixed effects of days in milk, parity, and somatic cell score (SCS), and the random effect of herd-date. Somatic cell score had strong influences on casein number and lactose, and also affected pH; these were traits characterized by a quadratic pattern of the data. The results also showed a negative linear relationship between SCS and milk yield. Somatic cell score influenced almost all of the tested coagulation traits (both traditional and modeled), with the exceptions of k20, CFP, and kSR. Gelation was delayed when the SCS decreased (slightly) and when it increased (strongly) with respect to a value of 2, as confirmed by the quadratic patterns observed for both RCT and RCTeq. The SCS effect on a30 showed a quadratic pattern almost opposite to that observed for RCT. With respect to the CFt parameters, kCF decreased linearly as SCS increased, resulting in a linear decrease of CFmax and a quadratic pattern for tmax. Milk SCS attained significance for %CYCURD, %CYWATER, and RECPROTEIN. As the SCS increased beyond 3, we observed a progressive quadratic decrease of the water retained in the curd (%CYWATER), which caused a parallel decrease in %CYCURD. With respect to RECPROTEIN, the negative effect of SCS was almost linear. Recovery of fat and (consequently) RECENERGY was characterized by a more evident quadratic trend, with the most favorable values associated with an intermediate SCS. Together, our results confirmed that high SCS has a negative effect on milk composition and technological traits, highlighting the nonlinear trends of some traits across the different classes of SCS. Moreover, we report that a very low SCS has a negative effect on some technological traits of mil

Ecological barriers mediate spatiotemporal shifts of bird communities at a continental scale

This study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant P2BEP3_195232) and by the Academy of Finland (project 323527 and project 329251).Species' range shifts and local extinctions caused by climate change lead to community composition changes. At large spatial scales, ecological barriers, such as biome boundaries, coastlines, and elevation, can influence a community's ability to shift in response to climate change. Yet, ecological barriers are rarely considered in climate change studies, potentially hindering predictions of biodiversity shifts. We used data from two consecutive European breeding bird atlases to calculate the geographic distance and direction between communities in the 1980s and their compositional best match in the 2010s and modeled their response to barriers. The ecological barriers affected both the distance and direction of bird community composition shifts, with coastlines and elevation having the strongest influence. Our results underscore the relevance of combining ecological barriers and community shift projections for identifying the forces hindering community adjustments under global change. Notably, due to (macro)ecological barriers, communities are not able to track their climatic niches, which may lead to drastic changes, and potential losses, in community compositions in the future.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Recent smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19 among individuals with recent respiratory symptoms

In a preregistered, cross-sectional study we investigated whether olfactory loss is a reliable predictor of COVID-19 using a crowdsourced questionnaire in 23 languages to assess symptoms in individuals self-reporting recent respiratory illness. We quantified changes in chemosensory abilities during the course of the respiratory illness using 0-100 visual analog scales (VAS) for participants reporting a positive (C19+; n=4148) or negative (C19-; n=546) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome. Logistic regression models identified univariate and multivariate predictors of COVID-19 status and post-COVID-19 olfactory recovery. Both C19+ and C19- groups exhibited smell loss, but it was significantly larger in C19+ participants (mean±SD, C19+: -82.5±27.2 points; C19-: -59.8±37.7). Smell loss during illness was the best predictor of COVID-19 in both univariate and multivariate models (ROC AUC=0.72). Additional variables provide negligible model improvement. VAS ratings of smell loss were more predictive than binary chemosensory yes/no-questions or other cardinal symptoms (e.g., fever). Olfactory recovery within 40 days of respiratory symptom onset was reported for ~50% of participants and was best predicted by time since respiratory symptom onset. We find that quantified smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19 amongst those with symptoms of respiratory illness. To aid clinicians and contact tracers in identifying individuals with a high likelihood of having COVID-19, we propose a novel 0-10 scale to screen for recent olfactory loss, the ODoR-19. We find that numeric ratings ≤2 indicate high odds of symptomatic COVID-19 (4<10). Once independently validated, this tool could be deployed when viral lab tests are impractical or unavailable