Use of Protective Lactic Acid Bacteria Adjunct Cultures to Decrease the Incidence of Gas Defects in Cheddar Cheese

Gas production in cheese making is becoming increasingly prevalent in the dairy industry. This gas is produced by microbes that are naturally found in the cheese, and when they metabolize sugar or other sources of energy, they can produce gas. This gas causes slits and cracks in the cheese, which causes the cheese to be worth less and causes issues during slicing and shredding. There are many microbes that cause unwanted gas in cheese, this research focuses on four know gas producers and five other protective microbes that use the same energy sources or have the ability to inhibit the gas producers in some way. Each protective microbe was challenged with all four of the gas producing microbes. The BUILD Dairy program of the Western Dairy Center granted the funding, so that this research could take place. This funding was used to support graduate students as well as for laboratory and manufacturing expenses. The Information that this study yielded data about how the use of protective adjunct cultures can be used to reduce gas production caused by gas producing microbes has been presented at national dairy and cheese industry conferences

Physical and Chemical Properties of Utah and Idaho Honeys

Even though honey is one of the oldest known sweets, there is a general lack of knowledge concerning its chemical and physical properties. This is particularly true of those honeys produced in the intermountain region. Beekeepers of this region have long felt that their product was sweeter than those honeys produced in other sections of the country. This, of course, implies that honey produced in the intermountain area is higher in sugar concentration and lower in percent moisture. The present study was made in order to supply some data concerning honeys of this area

Associations between Financial Avoidance, Emotional Distress, and Relationship Conflict Frequency in Emerging Adults in College

Some research shows that college students are not aware of their financial situation and even avoid engaging with their finances. Research has yet to investigate how this financial avoidance is associated with emotional and relational health for college students in romantic relationships. As such, the purpose of this study was to identify the associations between financial avoidance and conflict frequency. Emotional distress was included as a possible mediator of the association. Results revealed that for both men and women, higher financial avoidance was indirectly associated with increased conflict frequency with their partner through increased emotional distress. A direct association was found for men. These results are important as they may give insight into increased mental health issues and relational distress in college students. Implications for practice are discussed

Clinical validity assessment of a breast cancer risk model combining genetic and clinical information

_Background:_ The extent to which common genetic variation can assist in breast cancer (BCa) risk assessment is unclear. We assessed the addition of risk information from a panel of BCa-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on risk stratification offered by the Gail Model.

_Methods:_ We selected 7 validated SNPs from the literature and genotyped them among white women in a nested case-control study within the Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Trial. To model SNP risk, previously published odds ratios were combined multiplicatively. To produce a combined clinical/genetic risk, Gail Model risk estimates were multiplied by combined SNP odds ratios. We assessed classification performance using reclassification tables and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. 

_Results:_ The SNP risk score was well calibrated and nearly independent of Gail risk, and the combined predictor was more predictive than either Gail risk or SNP risk alone. In ROC curve analysis, the combined score had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.594 compared to 0.557 for Gail risk alone. For reclassification with 5-year risk thresholds at 1.5% and 2%, the net reclassification index (NRI) was 0.085 (Z = 4.3, P = 1.0×10^-5^). Focusing on women with Gail 5-year risk of 1.5-2% results in an NRI of 0.195 (Z = 3.8, P = 8.6×10^−5^).

_Conclusions:_ Combining clinical risk factors and validated common genetic risk factors results in improvement in classification of BCa risks in white, postmenopausal women. This may have implications for informing primary prevention and/or screening strategies. Future research should assess the clinical utility of such strategies.
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