Meat consumption: Trends and quality matters

peer-reviewedThis paper uses quality theory to identify opportunities for the meat sector that are consistent with trends in meat consumption. Meat consumption has increased and is likely to continue into the future. Growth is largely driven by white meats, with poultry in particular of increasing importance globally. The influence of factors such as income and price is likely decline over time so that other factors, such as quality, will become more important. Quality is complex and consumers' quality expectations may not align with experienced quality due to misconception of certain intrinsic cues. Establishing relevant and effective cues, based on extrinsic and credence attributes, could offer advantage on the marketplace. The use of extrinsic cues can help convey quality characteristics for eating quality, but also for more abstract attributes that reflect individual consumer concerns e.g. health/nutrition, and collective concerns, e.g. sustainability. However, attributes are not of equal value to all consumers. Thus consumer segmentation and production differentiation is needed.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Irish Department of Agriculture Food and Marine for funding through their Stimulus Fund for the project entitled “Genetic selection for improved milk and meat product quality in dairy, beef and sheep”: project reference no: 11/SF/311

Inhibition of tyrosine kinase activity decreases expression of surfactant protein A in a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line independent of epidermal growth factor receptor

AbstractEpidermal growth factor (EGF) enhances fetal lung development in vivo and in vitro. Ligand binding to the EGF receptor stimulates an intrinsic receptor tyrosine kinase initiating a signal transduction cascade. We hypothesized that blocking EGF receptor function with tyrosine kinase inhibitors would decrease the expression of surfactant protein A in human pulmonary epithelial cells. Human pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells (NCI-H441) were exposed to genistein (a broad range inhibitor of tyrosine kinases) and tyrphostin AG1478 (a specific inhibitor of EGF receptor tyrosine kinase). Genistein significantly decreased surfactant protein A (SP-A) and SP-A mRNA levels in H441 cells without affecting cell viability. The inhibitory effect of genistein on SP-A content was reversible. In contrast, tyrphostin AG1478 had no effect on SP-A levels despite a greater inhibitory effect than genistein on EGF receptor tyrosine autophosphorylation. Furthermore, treatment of H441 cells with exogenous EGF did not increase SP-A content or mRNA levels beyond baseline. We conclude that inhibition of tyrosine kinase activity other than the EGF receptor decreases the expression of surfactant protein A at a pretranslational level in human pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells. These results suggest the importance of tyrosine kinases in modulating human SP-A synthesis

Transcriptome Analyses in BV2 Microglial Cells Following Treatment with Amino-Terminal Fragments of Apolipoprotein E

Despite the fact that harboring the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) allele represents the single greatest risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the exact mechanism by which ApoE4 contributes to disease progression remains unknown. Recently, we demonstrated that a 151 amino-terminal fragment of ApoE4 (nApoE41–151) localizes within the nucleus of microglia in the human AD brain and traffics to the nucleus causing toxicity in BV2 microglia cells. In the present study, we examined in detail what genes may be affected following treatment by nApoE41–151. Transcriptome analyses in BV2 microglial cells following sublethal treatment with nApoE41–151 revealed the upregulation of almost 4,000 genes, with 20 of these genes upregulated 182- to 715-fold compared to untreated control cells. The majority of these 20 genes play a role in the immune response and polarization toward microglial M1 activation. As a control, an identical nApoE31–151 fragment that differed by a single amino acid at position 112 (Cys→Arg) was tested and produced a similar albeit lower level of upregulation of an identical set of genes. In this manner, enriched pathways upregulated by nApoE31–151 and nApoE41–151 following exogenous treatment included Toll receptor signaling, chemokine/cytokine signaling and apoptosis signaling. There were unique genes differentially expressed by at least two-fold for either fragment. For nApoE31–151, these included 16 times as many genes, many of which are involved in physiological functions within microglia. For nApoE41–151, on the other hand the number genes uniquely upregulated was significantly lower, with many of the top upregulated genes having unknown functions. Taken together, our results suggest that while nApoE31–151 may serve a more physiological role in microglia, nApoE41–151 may activate genes that contribute to disease inflammation associated with AD. These data support the hypothesis that the link between harboring the APOE4 allele and dementia risk could be enhanced inflammation through activation of microglia

First documented occurrences of Cladonia krogiana and C. rangiformis in north America

Funding Information: We thank Scott LaGreca for providing a photograph of the specimen of C. rangiformis at BM that was reportedly collected on Bermuda; Bruce Allen and the late Ronald Pursell for allowing us to cite their collections of Homalothecium sericeum from Newfoundland; Zdeněk Palice for enabling us to compare his collection of C. krogiana from the Czech Republic with material from Canada and Norway; Nathalie Djan-Chékar (Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador) for co-organizing the 2007 Tuckerman Workshop; and Irwin Brodo, James Lendemer, and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on the manuscript. Permission to collect lichens in Fundy National Park and New River Beach Provincial Park (NRBPP) was approved by Renee Wissink (Parks Canada) and Martin MacMullin (NB Department of Tourism, Heritage, and Culture). Fieldwork in NRBPP and follow-up studies were supported in part by the New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund and the New Brunswick Environmental Trust Fund. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved.– Cladonia krogiana, previously known only from Norway and the Czech Republic, is reported here for North America from two localities near the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. It occurs there on open, rocky banks of clear, free-flowing rivers, habitats similar to those in which it has been found in Norway. We also document the occurrence of C. rangiformis in North America, based on collections from two localities on the southwest coast of Conception Bay, on the Avalon Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It is possibly an accidental, but naturalized, introduction in this area, where European settlement began in the early 1600s. A molecular phylogenetic analysis confirmed the identity of one of the Newfoundland specimens. The IGS rDNA haplotype to which it belongs is the same as the most widely distributed haplotype of C. rangiformis in Europe and Macaronesia. Previous reports of C. rangiformis for continental North America are based on misidentifications. A 19th century collection reportedly made on the island of Bermuda, while correctly identified, is of uncertain provenance.Peer reviewe

Human Metapneumovirus, Peru

We retrospectively studied 420 pharyngeal swab specimens collected from Peruvian and Argentinean patients with influenzalike illness in 2002 and 2003 for evidence of human metapneumovirus (HMPV). Twelve specimens (2.3%) were positive by multiple assays. Six specimens yielded HMPV isolates. Four of the 6 isolates were of the uncommon B1 genotype

The Palomar/Keck Adaptive Optics Survey of Young Solar Analogs: Evidence for a Universal Companion Mass Function

We present results from an adaptive optics survey for substellar and stellar companions to Sun-like stars. The survey targeted 266 F5-K5 stars in the 3Myr to 3Gyr age range with distances of 10-190pc. Results from the survey include the discovery of two brown dwarf companions (HD49197B and HD203030B), 24 new stellar binaries, and a triple system. We infer that the frequency of 0.012-0.072Msun brown dwarfs in 28-1590AU orbits around young solar analogs is 3.2% (+3.1%,-2.7%; 2sigma limits). The result demonstrates that the deficiency of substellar companions at wide orbital separations from Sun-like stars is less pronounced than in the radial velocity "brown dwarf desert." We infer that the mass distribution of companions in 28-1590AU orbits around solar-mass stars follows a continuous dN/dM_2 ~ M_2^(-0.4) relation over the 0.01-1.0Msun secondary mass range. While this functional form is similar to that for <0.1Msun isolated objects, over the entire 0.01-1.0Msun range the mass functions of companions and of isolated objects differ significantly. Based on this conclusion and on similar results from other direct imaging and radial velocity companion surveys in the literature, we argue that the companion mass function follows the same universal form over the entire range between 0-1590AU in orbital semi-major axis and 0.01-20Msun in companion mass. In this context, the relative dearth of substellar versus stellar secondaries at all orbital separations arises naturally from the inferred form of the companion mass function.Comment: Final version accepted by ApJ Supplements. 50 pages, including 12 tables + 16 figures. Version with full tables available at http://www.astro.sunysb.edu/metchev/PUBLICATIONS/cmf.pd

Spatial distribution and temporal evolution of crustal melt distribution beneath the East Pacific Rise at 9°–10°N inferred from 3-D seafloor compliance modeling

Determining the melt distribution in oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges is critical to understanding how magma is transported and emplaced in the crust. Seafloor compliance—deformation under ocean wave forcing—is primarily sensitive to regions of low shear velocity in the crust, making it a useful tool to probe melt distribution. Analysis of compliance data collected at East Pacific Rise between 9° and 10°N through 3-D numerical modeling reveals strong along-axis variations in the lower crustal shear velocities, as well as temporal variation of crustal shear velocity near 9°48′N between measurements spanning 8 years. Compliance measured across the rise axis at 9°48′N and 9°33′N suggest a deep crustal low-velocity zone beneath the ridge axis, with a low Vs/Vp ratio consistent with melt in low aspect ratio cracks or sills. Changes in compliance measured at 9°48′N between years 1999 and 2007 suggest that the melt fraction in the axial crust decreased during this interval, perhaps following the 2005–2006 seafloor eruption. This temporal variability provides direct evidence for short-term variations of the magmatic system at a fast spreading ridge

Expressions 1989

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/expressions/1011/thumbnail.jp

Nurses' experiences of recruitment and migration from developing countries: a phenomenological approach

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens