Oxidation processes of Longissimus dorsi from pigs supplemented with linseed oil and antioxidants

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of pig fodder supplementation on lipid oxidation of Longissimus dorsi (L. dorsi ) after frozen storage at -20 °C ± 1 °C for nine months. Fodder additives included 3% linseed oil (L1) or 3% linseed oil and antioxidants containing 100 mg vitamin E/kg and 1 mg organic selenium/kg (L2). The oxidation processes were evaluated by measuring thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and analyses of a profile of volatile organic compounds (VOC). The VOC were determined using an electronic nose based on ultra-fast gas chromatography. The level of TBARS for diets was 1.88 ± 0.52 to 2.30 ± 1.10 mg malondialdehyde/kg of meat. The results indicated that the diet of pigs from L1 and L2 groups had no impact on the TBARS value of L. dorsi pork frozen for nine months. On the other hand, aldehydes, which are regarded as compounds characteristic of oxidation processes, were identified in all samples. Volatile aldehydes contributed approximately 10%, 12%, and 15% of total detected volatiles for L2, L1, and the control group, respectively. Moreover, the data showed that propanal and benzeneacetaldehyde were at the same level, regardless of the animal’s diet, which is in accordance with the TBARS level. These volatile aldehydes resulted from the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and may be considered indicators of lipid oxidation for meat enriched with PUFAs. The results show that supplementation of the pigs’ diet with linseed oil (L1 group), which is a source of PUFAs, is recommended for meat intended for long-term freezing storage. However, supplementation with antioxidants is unnecessary, because it has no effect on lipid oxidation of L. dorsi pork after long-term freezing storage.Keywords: Animal’s diet, frozen storage, lipid oxidation, volatile organic compound

Assessment of Non-Cereal Products Gluten Cross-Contamination Exposure Risk in a Polish Female Population of Patients Diagnosed with Coeliac Disease

Background/Objectives: Following gluten-free diet is challenging, due to risk of gluten cross-contamination. The study aimed to assess the non-cereal products gluten cross-contamination exposure risk in patients with coeliac disease. Methods: The study was conducted in a population of 699 Polish female members of the Polish Coeliac Society purchasing gluten-free products on-line (445 patients, 254 relatives). Participants were asked about frequency of buying and availability of gluten-free alternatives of non-cereal products characterized by the gluten cross-contamination risk (‘hidden’ gluten sources). Results: The most frequently bought non-cereal gluten-free alternatives of the ‘hidden’ gluten sources were baking powders, spices, side dishes, ice cream, chocolate and chocolate products, snack bars and candies. The caregivers often declared buying ‘often’ gluten-free baking powder, snack bars, chocolate and chocolate products, candies, ice cream, as well as often declared problems with the availability of gluten-free spices, chocolate and chocolate products, while patients often declared buying ‘often’ gluten-free beer, as well as often declared problems with its availability. The older respondents often declared buying ‘often’ gluten-free baking powder, while younger respondents often declared buying ‘often’ gluten-free chocolate and chocolate products, as well as often declared problems with the availability of gluten-free instant soups, and beer. The respondents living in small towns/villages often declared problems with the availability of gluten-free powder sauces. The respondents not purchasing in hypermarkets often declared buying ‘often’ gluten-free baking powder, spices, candies. The respondents who most often purchased gluten-free products often declared problems with the availability of gluten-free side dishes, chocolate and chocolate products. Conclusions: The majority of patients diagnosed with coeliac disease do not buy a number of gluten-free alternatives of the ‘hidden’ gluten sources, so they may be prone to gluten exposure, due to non-cereal products’ gluten cross-contamination risk

Opinionated texts in social media: A proposal for evaluative judgement methodology

The paper reports on a pilot study devoted to the analysis of opinions expressed by Facebook discussants related to the immigration crisis in Europe. Opinions were conceptualised as the subjective expression of evaluation. The data were investigated in line with an original, tripartite typology consisting of 46 criteria of evaluative language coming from distinct scholarly traditions: media studies, linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. Generally speaking, the proposed templates proved effective when mapped onto social media data; however, as there is a partial overlap of some of the categories used in the pilot study, the number of categories needs to be reduced in the subsequent investigation. The secondary objective of this paper is to present computational tools employed in the study, which, as the study shows, can enrich research methodology in communication studies, and these comprise the “R” package used for data visualisation and lexical and sentence-based embeddings based on LLM.Niniejszy artykuł stanowi raport z badania pilotażowego poświęconego analizie opinii wyrażanych przez dyskutantów na Facebooku na temat kryzysu imigracyjnego w Europie. Opinie rozumiane są w tym badaniu jako subiektywne wyrażanie oceny. Dane zostały przeanalizowane według zaproponowanej trójczłonowej typologii składającą się z 46 kryteriów języka oceniającego. Kryteria te pochodzą z różnych tradycji naukowych: medioznawstwa, językoznawstwa i krytycznej analizy dyskursu. Zaproponowane szablony okazały się skuteczne w odniesieniu do danych z mediów społecznościowych; jednakże, ze względu na częściowe nakładanie się niektórych kategorii użytych w badaniu pilotażowym, w dalszych badaniach liczba kategorii musi zostać zmniejszona. Drugim celem tego artykułu jest przedstawienie narzędzi komputerowych użytych w niniejszej analizie. Jak wskazuje zaprezentowana analiza narzędzia te mogą wzbogacić metodologię badań w dziedzinie komunikacji. Zastosowane narzędzia to pakiet „R” używany do wizualizacji danych, biblioteki Python oraz osadzenia (embeddings) leksykalne i zdaniowe oparte na LLM.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Heart rate variability (HRV) and muscular system activity (EMG) in cases of crash threat during simulated driving of a passenger car

Objectives: The aim of the study was to verify whether simultaneous responses from the muscular and circulatory system occur in the driver's body under simulated conditions of a crash threat. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in a passenger car driving simulator. The crash was included in the driving test scenario developed in an urban setting. In the group of 22 young male subjects, two physiological signals - ECG and EMG were continuously recorded. The length of the RR interval in the ECG signal was assessed. A HRV analysis was performed in the time and frequency domains for 1-minute record segments at rest (seated position), during undisturbed driving as well as during and several minutes after the crash. For the left and right side muscles: m. trapezius (TR) and m. flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS), the EMG signal amplitude was determined. The percentage of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) was compared during driving and during the crash. Results: As for the ECG signal, it was found that in most of the drivers changes occurred in the parameter values reflecting HRV in the time domain. Significant changes were noted in the mean length of RR intervals (mRR). As for the EMG signal, the changes in the amplitude concerned the signal recorded from the FDS muscle. The changes in ECG and EMG were simultaneous in half of the cases. Conclusion: Such parameters as mRR (ECG signal) and FDS-L amplitude (EMG signal) were the responses to accident risk. Under simulated conditions, responses from the circulatory and musculoskeletal systems are not always simultaneous. The results indicate that a more complete driver's response to a crash in road traffic is obtained based on parallel recording of two physiological signals (ECG and EMG)

Dissemination of extensively drug-resistant NDM-producing Providencia stuartii in Europe linked to patients transferred from Ukraine, March 2022 to March 2023

BackgroundThe war in Ukraine led to migration of Ukrainian people. Early 2022, several European national surveillance systems detected multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria related to Ukrainian patients.AimTo investigate the genomic epidemiology of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM)-producing Providencia stuartii from Ukrainian patients among European countries.MethodsWhole-genome sequencing of 66 isolates sampled in 2022-2023 in 10 European countries enabled whole-genome multilocus sequence typing (wgMLST), identification of resistance genes, replicons, and plasmid reconstructions. Five blaNDM-1-carrying-P. stuartii isolates underwent antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Transferability to Escherichia coli of a blaNDM-1-carrying plasmid from a patient strain was assessed. Epidemiological characteristics of patients with NDM-producing P. stuartii were gathered by questionnaire.ResultswgMLST of the 66 isolates revealed two genetic clusters unrelated to Ukraine and three linked to Ukrainian patients. Of these three, two comprised blaNDM-1-carrying-P. stuartii and the third blaNDM-5-carrying-P. stuartii. The blaNDM-1 clusters (PstCluster-001, n = 22 isolates; PstCluster-002, n = 8 isolates) comprised strains from seven and four countries, respectively. The blaNDM-5 cluster (PstCluster-003) included 13 isolates from six countries. PstCluster-001 and PstCluster-002 isolates carried an MDR plasmid harbouring blaNDM-1,blaOXA-10, blaCMY-16, rmtC and armA, which was transferrable in vitro and, for some Ukrainian patients, shared by other Enterobacterales. AST revealed PstCluster-001 isolates to be extensively drug-resistant (XDR), but susceptible to cefiderocol and aztreonam-avibactam. Patients with data on age (n = 41) were 19-74 years old; of 49 with information on sex, 38 were male.ConclusionXDR P. stuartii were introduced into European countries, requiring increased awareness and precautions when treating patients from conflict-affected areas.</p

Dissemination of extensively drug-resistant NDM-producing Providencia stuartii in Europe linked to patients transferred from Ukraine, March 2022 to March 2023

BackgroundThe war in Ukraine led to migration of Ukrainian people. Early 2022, several European national surveillance systems detected multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria related to Ukrainian patients.AimTo investigate the genomic epidemiology of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM)-producing Providencia stuartii from Ukrainian patients among European countries.MethodsWhole-genome sequencing of 66 isolates sampled in 2022-2023 in 10 European countries enabled whole-genome multilocus sequence typing (wgMLST), identification of resistance genes, replicons, and plasmid reconstructions. Five blaNDM-1-carrying-P. stuartii isolates underwent antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Transferability to Escherichia coli of a blaNDM-1-carrying plasmid from a patient strain was assessed. Epidemiological characteristics of patients with NDM-producing P. stuartii were gathered by questionnaire.ResultswgMLST of the 66 isolates revealed two genetic clusters unrelated to Ukraine and three linked to Ukrainian patients. Of these three, two comprised blaNDM-1-carrying-P. stuartii and the third blaNDM-5-carrying-P. stuartii. The blaNDM-1 clusters (PstCluster-001, n = 22 isolates; PstCluster-002, n = 8 isolates) comprised strains from seven and four countries, respectively. The blaNDM-5 cluster (PstCluster-003) included 13 isolates from six countries. PstCluster-001 and PstCluster-002 isolates carried an MDR plasmid harbouring blaNDM-1,blaOXA-10, blaCMY-16, rmtC and armA, which was transferrable in vitro and, for some Ukrainian patients, shared by other Enterobacterales. AST revealed PstCluster-001 isolates to be extensively drug-resistant (XDR), but susceptible to cefiderocol and aztreonam-avibactam. Patients with data on age (n = 41) were 19-74 years old; of 49 with information on sex, 38 were male.ConclusionXDR P. stuartii were introduced into European countries, requiring increased awareness and precautions when treating patients from conflict-affected areas.</p

Analysis of beef topside RGB components of colour after thermal treatment executed in the steam-convection oven, on the basis of fresh meat colour

Celem pracy była ocena możliwości predykcji barwy mięsa wołowego po obróbce cieplnej w piecu konwekcyjno-parowym. Materiał badawczy stanowiła wołowa zrazowa górna, którą poddano przed i po obróbce cieplnej ocenie składowych barwy w systemie RGB, przy wykorzystaniu komputerowej analizy obrazu. Po obróbce cieplnej poddano ocenie barwę tkanki mięśniowej na przekroju, jak również zbrązowionej powierzchni elementu. Stwierdzono, że składowa barwy R przed obróbką cieplną nie koreluje z tą składową barwy po obróbce cieplnej. W przypadku składowych G i B stwierdzono istotne lub bliskie istotności statystycznej zależności zarówno przy korelacji z barwą mięsa, jak i z jego zbrązowioną powierzchnią. Przed wdrożeniem na linii produkcyjnej predykcji barwy mięsa wołowego po obróbce cieplnej w oparciu o barwę surowego mięsa konieczne są dalsze badania z tego zakresu, jednak można stwierdzić, że powinien to być obiecujący kierunek badań.The aim of the presented research was to assess the possibilities of beef colour prediction, after thermal treatment executed in steam-convection oven. Beef topside was the applied model and the measurement of RGB components of colour was carried out using the computer image analysis system. The RGB components of colour were measured before thermal treatment and after thermal treatment - colour of meat and of browned surface of meat. It was observed, that R component of colour of beef topside was not correlated with R component of colour after thermal treatment. In case of G and B components of colour, significant or close to significance correlations were observed, in correlation both with colour of meat and with browned surface of meat. It was concluded, that before implementing prediction of beef topside colour after thermal treatment in steam-convection oven, on the basis of meat colour before thermal treatment, further researches are necessary, but it may be stated that it is a promising direction in researches

Associations between adult perception of body weight, diet, preparing meals and dietary patterns

Background. The links between dietary patterns, the perception of one’s body weight and diet as well preparing meals are poorly recognised in the literature. In order to develop effective nutritional education and focused interventions, more of such information is thereby required to improve the nation’s health. Objective. To identify dietary patterns based on declared food consumption rates and subject responses on whether dieting, perception of body weight and diet and preparing meals are linked to such dietary patterns. Material and methods. The survey was conducted in 2016 on 344 consumers chosen for age (20-65 years) and their consent for study participation. Rates of eating the foods selected were measured using a 7-point scale. Cluster analysis was used to identify three dietary patterns of behaviour: ‘potentially beneficial to health’, ‘potentially unfavourable for health; deficient’ and ‘potentially unfavourable for health; excessive’. The analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23.0. Results. There were significantly more subjects showing ‘potentially beneficial for health’ behaviour, normal body weight, those dieting (whether now or in the past) and those who evaluated their diet as being very good or good compared to other groups. They were also more involved in preparing their meals at home. Differences were found between the ‘unfavourable for health’ dietary patterns concerning subject’s involvement in meal preparation. The dietary pattern for ‘deficient’ behaviour found lower rates of those preparing their meals at home. Conclusions. The pattern of potentially beneficial dietary habits was linked to weight control through a slimming diet and greater involvement in the preparation of food for consumption. The results show the need to develop food choice skills rather than just transferring knowledge in the nutrition education process.Wprowadzenie. Związek między wzorami zachowań żywieniowych a postrzeganiem masy ciała i sposobu żywienia oraz zaangażowaniem w przygotowanie posiłków w domu nie został jeszcze dobrze rozpoznany. Jednocześnie wiedza na ten temat jest użyteczna w przygotowywaniu skutecznej edukacji żywieniowej i interwencji ukierunkowanych na poprawę zdrowia populacji. Cel. Wyodrębnienie wzorów zachowań żywieniowych na podstawie deklarowanej częstości spożywania wybranych grup żywności oraz odpowiedź na pytanie czy stosowanie diet odchudzających, samoocena masy ciała i sposobu żywienia oraz zaangażowanie w prace związane z przygotowaniem posiłków wykazuje związek z przynależnością do wzorów zachowań żywieniowych. Materiał i metody. Badanie ankietowe zostało przeprowadzone w 2016 roku wśród 344 konsumentów w wieku 20-65 lat. Dobór próby był celowy. Po spełnieniu kryterium wieku i wyrażeniu zgody na udział w badaniu osoba była włączana do badanej grupy. Częstotliwość spożywania wybranych produktów żywnościowych oceniano na 7-punktowych skalach. Na podstawie analizy skupień uwzględniającej częstość spożywania wybranych grup produktów żywnościowych wyodrębniono 3 wzory zachowań żywieniowych: „potencjalnie korzystne dla zdrowia”, „potencjalnie niekorzystne dla zdrowia – niedoborowe”; „potencjalnie niekorzystne dla zdrowia – nadmiarowe”. Do charakterystyki wyodrębnionych wzorów wykorzystano cechy socjo-demograficzne, deklaracje respondentów na temat stosowania diety odchudzającej, samoocenę masy ciała i sposobu żywienia oraz zaangażowanie w prace związane z przygotowaniem żywności do spożycia. Analizy wykonano z wykorzystaniem IBM SPSS Statistics, wersja 23.0. Wyniki. Wzór zachowań „potencjalnie korzystnych dla zdrowia”, w porównaniu z pozostałymi wzorami, reprezentowało istotnie więcej osób z masą ciała w normie, stosujących obecnie lub w przeszłości dietę odchudzającą, oceniających własny sposób żywienia jako bardzo dobry lub dobry oraz często przygotowujących posiłki w domu. W grupie osób z zachowaniami „potencjalnie niekorzystnymi dla zdrowia” stwierdzono zróżnicowanie po uwzględnieniu zaangażowania w prace związane z przygotowaniem posiłków. Wzór zachowań „niedoborowych” charakteryzował mniejszy odsetek osób często przygotowujących posiłki w domu. Wnioski. Wzór zachowań żywieniowych potencjalnie korzystnych dla zdrowia łączył się z kontrolą masy ciała poprzez stosowanie diety odchudzającej i większym zaangażowaniem w prace związane z przygotowaniem żywności do spożycia. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują na potrzebę rozwijania umiejętności związanych z wyborem żywności, a nie tylko transfer wiedzy w procesie edukacji żywieniowej

Analysis of parameters effect of low-temperature blanching process on texture characteristics of potatoes

Celem pracy było wyznaczenie najkorzystniejszych warunków procesu obróbki cieplnej (przebiegającej w dwóch etapach: etap wstępny - blanszowanie niskotemperaturowe i konwencjonalne, etap drugi - obróbka właściwa) ziemniaków Satina, warunkujących osiągnięcia korzystnych wartości wyróżników tekstury. Prezentowane wyniki przedstawiają zakres wpływu parametrów blanszowania niskotemperaturowego oraz wstępnego moczenia w 1% roztworze chlorku wapnia na wybrane wyróżniki tekstury mierzone instrumentalnie. Zakres wartości temperatur i czasu blanszowania niskotemperaturowego optymalizowany był w celu osiągnięcia korzystnych wartości wybranych wyróżników teksturalnych. Stwierdzono, iż ekspozycja na działanie 1% roztworu chlorku wapnia w czasie wstępnej obróbki cieplnej ziemniaków w temperaturze wynoszącej 50C może wpływać korzystnie na wyróżnik twardości nie wpływając negatywnie na pozostałe cechy teksturalne.The purpose of this study was to determine the most beneficial conditions for thermal treatment (low temperature blanching as a preliminary stage before conventional blanching treatment and proper thermal treatment) of Satina potatoes, conditioning to improve chosen texture properties. Presented results show the range of the impact of low temperature blanching and pre-soaking in 1%-solution of calcium chloride on chosen instrumental measurement of texture properties. The range of values of temperature and time of low temperature blanching was optimized to achieve the improvement of chosen texture properties. It was observed that exposure to 1%-solution of calcium chloride before the initial thermal treatment of potatoes at temperature of 50C may have a positive influence on improvement of hardness without adversely affecting other textural features