Microbiological and chemical profiles of dairy farm red smear cheese made from pasteurized and un-pasteurized milk

A red-smear soft cheese was produced four times during a year at an organic dairy farm using pasteurized and un-pasteurized milk, respectively, from the same milking. A commercial starter culture was added. The cheeses were characterized microbiologically and chemically in order to study how heat treatment and season affected their characteristics during cheese making and ripening. Large variations between the different lots of cheeses characterized the production. However, the cheeses made from un-pasteurized milk generally had a higher lactic acid bacteria count except in cases, where the pasteurized milk was recontaminated or if acidification failure took place. Delays in acidification caused a more pronounced increase in numbers of E.coli, Enterobacteriaceae and staphylococci, as well as an increase in the plasmin and plasminogen-derived activities. A number of pre-milking and process steps were identified as important for the microbiological contamination and development in the cheeses

Relative sit-to-stand power: aging trajectories, functionally relevant cut-off points, and normative data in a large European cohort

Background: A validated, standardized, and feasible test to assess muscle power in older adults has recently been reported: the sit-to-stand (STS) muscle power test. This investigation aimed to assess the relationship between relative STS power and age and to provide normative data, cut-off points, and minimal clinically important differences (MCID) for STS power measures in older women and men. Methods: A total of 9320 older adults (6161 women and 3159 men) aged 60–103 years and 586 young and middle-aged adults (318 women and 268 men) aged 20–60 years were included in this cross-sectional study. Relative (normalized to body mass), allometric (normalized to height squared), and specific (normalized to legs muscle mass) muscle power values were assessed by the 30 s STS power test. Body composition was evaluated by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and bioelectrical impedance analysis, and legs skeletal muscle index (SMI; normalized to height squared) was calculated. Habitual and maximal gait speed, timed up-and-go test, and 6 min walking distance were collected as physical performance measures, and participants were classified into two groups: well-functioning and mobility-limited older adults. Results: Relative STS power was found to decrease between 30–50 years (-0.05 W·kg-1·year-1; P > 0.05), 50–80 years (-0.10 to -0.13 W·kg-1·year-1; P < 0.001), and above 80 years (-0.07 to -0.08 W·kg-1·year-1; P < 0.001). A total of 1129 older women (18%) and 510 older men (16%) presented mobility limitations. Mobility-limited older adults were older and exhibited lower relative, allometric, and specific power; higher body mass index (BMI) and legs SMI (both only in women); and lower legs SMI (only in men) than their well-functioning counterparts (all P < 0.05). Normative data and cut-off points for relative, allometric, and specific STS power and for BMI and legs SMI were reported. Low relative STS power occurred below 2.1 W·kg-1 in women (area under the curve, AUC, [95% confidence interval, CI] = 0.85 [0.84–0.87]) and below 2.6 W·kg-1 in men (AUC [95% CI] = 0.89 [0.87–0.91]). The age-adjusted odds ratios [95% CI] for mobility limitations in older women and men with low relative STS power were 10.6 [9.0–12.6] and 14.1 [10.9–18.2], respectively. MCID values for relative STS power were 0.33 W·kg-1 in women and 0.42 W·kg-1 in men. Conclusions: Relative STS power decreased significantly after the age of 50 years and was negatively and strongly associated with mobility limitations. Our study provides normative data, functionally relevant cut-off points, and MCID values for STS power for their use in daily clinical practice. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Disorders

Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and blood pressure in pregnancy among 1436 women from the Odense Child Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies of association between exposure to poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and gestational hypertension (GH) and preeclampsia (PE) have shown conflicting results, but most dichotomized outcome and did not study continuous blood pressure (BP) changes. OBJECTIVES: To study the association between PFAS exposure in early pregnancy and maternal BP trajectories in pregnancy, gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. METHODS: 1436 women were enrolled in the Odense Child Cohort in early pregnancy and had a serum sample drawn, from which perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) were measured using LC-MS/MS. Repeated BP measurements through pregnancy and information on PE were obtained from hospital files. Adjusted linear mixed models were used to investigate association between PFAS exposure and BP trajectory. Associations between PFAS and PE and GH were assessed by Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: All women had measurable concentrations of PFAS. In all of many comparisons higher PFAS exposure (apart from PFHxS) was associated with higher systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures, although not all were significant, which is unlikely to be due to chance. After adjustment, each doubling in PFOS or PFOA exposure was associated with 0.47 mmHg (95% CI: -0.13; 1.08) and 0.36 mmHg (-0.19; 0.92) higher SBP; and 0.58 mmHg (0.13; 1.04) and 0.37 mmHg (-0.05; 0.79) higher DBP. No clear associations between PFAS exposure and PE or GH were found. DISCUSSION: The magnitude of the association between PFAS exposure and BP might appear small, statistically non-significant and the possible clinical importance low. However, at a population level this may slightly shift the distribution of BP towards an increased incidence of GH. If BP increases in pregnancy, it may have long-term impact on health not only of the pregnant woman but also of her offspring

Paraxial propagation of a quantum charge in a random magnetic field

The paraxial (parabolic) theory of a near forward scattering of a quantum charged particle by a static magnetic field is presented. From the paraxial solution to the Aharonov-Bohm scattering problem the transverse transfered momentum (the Lorentz force) is found. Multiple magnetic scattering is considered for two models: (i) Gaussian $\delta$ -correlated random magnetic field; (ii) a random array of the Aharonov-Bohm magnetic flux line. The paraxial gauge-invariant two-particle Green function averaged with respect to the random field is found by an exact evaluation of the Feynman integral. It is shown that in spite of the anomalous character of the forward scattering, the transport properties can be described by the Boltzmann equation. The Landau quantization in the field of the Aharonov-Bohm lines is discussed.Comment: Figures and references added. Many typos corrected. RevTex, 25 pages, 9 figure

Gaussian Tunneling Model of c-Axis Twist Josephson Junctions

We calculate the critical current density $J^J_c$ for c-axis Josephson tunneling between identical high temperature superconductors twisted an angle $\phi_0$ about the c-axis. We model the tunneling matrix element squared as a Gaussian in the change of wavevector q parallel to the junction, $<|t({\bf q})|^2>\propto\exp(-{\bf q}^2a^2/2\pi^2\sigma^2)$. The $J^J_c(\phi_0)/J^J_c(0)$ obtained for the s- and extended-s-wave order parameters (OP's) are consistent with the Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ data of Li {\it et al.}, but only for strongly incoherent tunneling, $\sigma^2\ge0.25$. A $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave OP is always inconsistent with the data. In addition, we show that the apparent conventional sum rule violation observed by Basov et al. might be understandable in terms of incoherent c-axis tunneling, provided that the OP is not $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Lorentz breaking Effective Field Theory and observational tests

Analogue models of gravity have provided an experimentally realizable test field for our ideas on quantum field theory in curved spacetimes but they have also inspired the investigation of possible departures from exact Lorentz invariance at microscopic scales. In this role they have joined, and sometime anticipated, several quantum gravity models characterized by Lorentz breaking phenomenology. A crucial difference between these speculations and other ones associated to quantum gravity scenarios, is the possibility to carry out observational and experimental tests which have nowadays led to a broad range of constraints on departures from Lorentz invariance. We shall review here the effective field theory approach to Lorentz breaking in the matter sector, present the constraints provided by the available observations and finally discuss the implications of the persisting uncertainty on the composition of the ultra high energy cosmic rays for the constraints on the higher order, analogue gravity inspired, Lorentz violations.Comment: 47 pages, 4 figures. Lecture Notes for the IX SIGRAV School on "Analogue Gravity", Como (Italy), May 2011. V.3. Typo corrected, references adde

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results