Sugar Kelp (Saccharina latissima) Seaweed Added to a Growing-Finishing Lamb Diet Has a Positive Effect on Quality Traits and on Mineral Content of Meat.

Supplementing ruminants' diet with seaweed has shown positive effect on meat quality and micronutrients important for human health. The objective of the present study was to investigate the use of Saccharina latissima in a lamb diet to improve the eating quality and nutritional value of meat. Six-month-old female Norwegian White lambs (n = 24) were fed, 35 days pre-slaughter, three different diets: a control (CON) and two seaweed diets (SW); supplemented with either 2.5% (SW1) or 5% (SW2). The quality properties of longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) and semimembranosus with adductor (SM+ADD) muscles were examined. The dietary inclusion of seaweed reduced cooking loss and shear force of lamb meat, although the effect was not significant at both supplementation levels. SW1 fed lambs showed a significantly (p < 0.05) improved meat color stability and antioxidant potential. Seaweed also reduced lipid oxidation (TBARS) and the warm-over flavor in SM+ADD compared to the CON lamb. Seaweed fed lambs showed an increased content of selenium and iodine in LTL, thereby fulfilling the requirements for the label "source of nutrient" and "significant source of nutrient", respectively. An increased arsenic content in LTL was, however, also observed with seaweed inclusion (to 1.54 and 3.09 µg/100 g in SW1 and SW2 group, respectively). While relevant positive effects were found in meat using seaweed in lamb feed, some optimization of this feed approach will be desirable.

Correction: Grabez et al. Seaweed Inclusion in Finishing Lamb Diet Promotes Changes in Micronutrient Content and Flavour-Related Compounds of Raw Meat and Dry-Cured Leg (Fenalår). Foods 2022, 11, 1043.

"Alemayehu Kidane" was not included as an author in the original publication [...].

Seaweed Inclusion in Finishing Lamb Diet Promotes Changes in Micronutrient Content and Flavour-Related Compounds of Raw Meat and Dry-Cured Leg (Fenalår).

Innovative feeding strategies tend to improve the quality properties of raw material and dry-cured products. In the present study, Norwegian White female lambs (n = 24) were finished during 35 days on three different diets: control (CD), control supplemented with seaweed (5% DM) (SD), and pasture (PD). The quality of raw meat (Semimembranosus + Adductor) and deboned dry-cured lamb leg (fenalår; n = 24) was studied. The heme, SFA, MUFA, and PUFA content in raw meat was not affected with finishing diet. The SD significantly increased the selenium, iodine, and arsenic content in raw meat and in the dry-cured leg the iodine and arsenic. The dry-cured leg from SD-lamb had the highest amount of iodine with 130 µg I/100 g which corresponds to 60% of Adequate Intake. Aldehydes, ketones, and esters in raw meat and dry-cured lamb leg were significantly affected by finishing diet; CD showed increased esters in raw meat and aldehydes in the dry-cured leg compared to SD and PD. The significantly higher content of simple sugars, mannose being the most dominant, was found in the dry-cured leg from SD-lamb compared to CD and PD. Finishing diets had no effect on the taste profile of dry-cured lamb leg. This study showed the potential of seaweed in iodine biofortification of lamb meat and dry-cured products. Iodine-rich meat products should reduce iodine-deficiency among humans.

Overexpression of Neuron-Derived Orphan Receptor 1 (NOR-1) Rescues Cardiomyocytes from Cell Death and Improves Viability after Doxorubicin Induced Stress.

Following myocardial infarction, reperfusion injury (RI) is commonly observed due to the excessive formation of, e.g., reactive oxygen species (ROS). Doxorubicin (DOX), a widely used anti-cancer drug, is also known to cause cardiotoxicity due to excessive ROS production. Exercise training has been shown to protect the heart against both RI- and DOX-induced cardiotoxicity, but the exact mechanism is still unknown. Neuron-derived orphan receptor 1 (NOR-1) is an important exercise-responsive protein in the skeletal muscle which has also been reported to facilitate cellular survival during hypoxia. Therefore, we hypothesized that NOR-1 could protect cardiomyocytes (CMs) against cellular stress induced by DOX. We also hypothesized that NOR-1 is involved in preparing the CMs against a stress situation during nonstimulated conditions by increasing cell viability. To determine the protective effect of NOR-1 in CMs stressed with DOX challenge, we overexpressed NOR-1 in AC16 human CMs treated with 5 µM DOX for 12 h or the respective vehicle control, followed by performing Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), and caspase-3 activity assays to measure cell death, cell viability, and apoptosis, respectively. In addition, Western blotting analysis was performed to determine the expression of key proteins involved in cardioprotection. We demonstrated that NOR-1 overexpression decreased cell death (p < 0.105) and apoptosis (p < 0.01) while increasing cell viability (p < 0.05) in DOX-treated CMs. We also observed that NOR-1 overexpression increased phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) (p < 0.01) and protein expression levels of B cell lymphoma extra-large (Bcl-xL) (p < 0.01). We did not detect any significant changes in phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt), glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) or expression levels of superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) and cyclin D1. Furthermore, we demonstrated that NOR-1 overexpression increased the cell viability (p < 0.0001) of CMs during nonstimulated conditions without affecting cell death or apoptosis. Our findings indicate that NOR-1 could serve as a potential cardioprotective protein in response to Doxorubicin-induced cellular stress.

Low-dose CT of postoperative pelvic fractures: a comparison with radiography.

BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) is superior to conventional radiography (CR) for assessing internal fixation of pelvic fractures, but with a higher radiation exposure. Low-dose CT (LDCT) could possibly have a sufficient diagnostic accuracy but with a lower radiation dose. PURPOSE: To compare postoperative diagnostic accuracy of LDCT and CR after open reduction and internal fixation of pelvic fracture. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients were examined with LDCT and CR 0-9 days after surgery. The examinations were reviewed by two musculoskeletal radiologists. Hardware, degree of fracture reduction, image quality, and reviewing time were assessed, and effective radiation dose was calculated. Inter-reader agreement was calculated. RESULTS: LDCT was significantly better than CR in determining whether hardware positioning was assessable ( P < 0.001). Acetabular congruence was assessable in all fractured patients with LDCT. In 12 of the 32 assessments with CR of patients with an acetabular fracture, joint congruence was not assessable due to overlapping hardware ( P = 0.001). Image quality was significantly higher for LDCT. Median time to review was 240 s for LDCT compared to 180 s for CR. Effective dose was 0.79 mSv for LDCT compared to 0.32 mSv for CR ( P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: LDCT is more reliable than CR in assessing hardware position and fracture reduction. Joint congruency is sometimes not possible to assess with CR, due to overlapping hardware. The image quality is higher, but also the effective dose, with LDCT than with CR.

Pig feeds rich in rapeseed products and organic selenium increased omega-3 fatty acids and selenium in pork meat and backfat.

The concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and selenium (Se) is generally too low in the Western diet. But as the nutrient composition of pork meat and adipose tissue is influenced by the feed given to the animals, the product can be changed to support nutrient demands. Half (297/594) the pigs were given a feed concentrate based on low-glucosinolate rapeseed products (RS), while the other half was fed a traditional concentrate (Contr): The RS feed had an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of 3.6:1, and the Contr feed had a ratio of 8.9:1, and both feeds were supplemented with 0.4 mg Se/kg (organic Se: inorganic Se, 1:1). There was a small difference in growth rate, but no differences in feed conversion ratio, lean meat percentage, carcass value, and margin per pig for the two groups. There were no differences in meat quality between the two groups, but there were differences in technological fat quality. The RS pigs contained about 2 times more alpha-linolenic acid in the backfat and 41% more in the meat (M. longissimus dorsi) compared to the controls. The concentration of EPA, DPA, and DHA were 42% and 20% higher in backfat and meat of the RS pigs compared to the control pigs respectively. The ratio between omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids were 4.7 in the meat and 4.0 in the backfat in the RS pigs, and the corresponding values were 6.6 and 8.0 in the control pigs. The selenium content was 0.3 mg/kg meat in both groups. The study showed that a portion of the present pig meat (175 g) provided the daily recommended intake of Se for men and women and about 1/6 of proposed reference intake of omega-3 LCPUFA (250 mg/day) to reduce the risk of CVD thereby providing a meat that is somewhat healthier for the consumer.

Primary and secondary battery consumption trends in Sweden 1996-2013: method development and detailed accounting by battery type.

In this article, a new method based on Material Flow Accounting is proposed to study detailed material flows in battery consumption that can be replicated for other countries. The method uses regularly available statistics on import, industrial production and export of batteries and battery-containing electric and electronic equipment (EEE). To promote method use by other scholars with no access to such data, several empirically results and their trends over time, for different types of batteries occurrence among the EEE types are provided. The information provided by the method can be used to: identify drivers of battery consumption; study the dynamic behavior of battery flows - due to technology development, policies, consumers behavior and infrastructures. The method is exemplified by the study of battery flows in Sweden for years 1996-2013. The batteries were accounted, both in units and weight, as primary and secondary batteries; loose and integrated; by electrochemical composition and share of battery use between different types of EEE. Results show that, despite a fivefold increase in the consumption of rechargeable batteries, they account for only about 14% of total use of portable batteries. Recent increase in digital convergence has resulted in a sharp decline in the consumption of primary batteries, which has now stabilized at a fairly low level. Conversely, the consumption of integrated batteries has increased sharply. In 2013, 61% of the total weight of batteries sold in Sweden was collected, and for the particular case of alkaline manganese dioxide batteries, the value achieved 74%.

Quality of life after operative fixation of displaced acetabular fractures.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine quality of life (QoL) changes over time after internal fixation of acetabular fractures. DESIGN: This pertains to a prospective cohort study, which was single centered. SETTING: The study was conducted at the University Hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred thirty-six patients (108 men, 28 women), age 17-83 years operated for an acetabular fracture during 2004-2008 were prospectively included and followed up for 2 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: QoL was evaluated via Short Form-36 (SF-36) and Life Satisfaction-11 at 6, 12, and 24 months. Radiographs were evaluated according to Matta at 2 years. RESULTS: The most frequent fracture types were posterior wall (n31), associated anterior-posterior hemitransverse (n34), and associated both column (n29). One hundred twenty-nine patients could be assessed at 2 years, 4 did not respond, and 3 had died. The patients scored lower than norms in all 8 SF-36 domains with improvement over time for Physical Function (P < 0.0001) and Role Physical (P < 0.0001). The patients with postop reduction 0-1 mm scored better (P < 0.001-0.039) in 7 domains, all except vitality (P = 0.07), when compared with patients with residual displacement of ≥2 mm. Life satisfaction did not change with time and showed lower scores than normative in 9 of 11 items. Nineteen patients had undergone total hip replacement, and the strongest predictor was acetabular or femoral head impaction. CONCLUSIONS: QoL in surgically treated patients with displaced acetabular fracture keeps improving in physical SF-36 domains over a 2-year period although still lower than norms, and anatomical reduction results in better QoL outcome in most dimensions. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Health-related quality of life and life satisfaction in patients following surgically treated pelvic ring fractures. A prospective observational study with two years follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Pelvic ring fractures caused by high-energy trauma are severe injuries with well described radiological and clinical outcomes, whereas description from the patient's perspective is less well documented. The purpose of this study was to investigate patient-reported outcome following surgical treatment of pelvic fractures using quality of life instruments. METHODS: All 54 patients (28 male/26 female, ages 16-68) with pelvic fractures referred to our institution for surgical treatment 2003-2005 were prospectively included. The most common trauma was motor vehicle accident (44%). Additional injuries were seen in 74% and in 31% the ISS was >or=16. There were 31 B and 23 C type fractures. Patients were followed for two years using two validated questionnaires, SF-36 and LiSat-11, the latter an instrument consisting of 11 questions for evaluation of satisfaction with different aspects of life. RESULTS: 45 patients could be followed according to the study protocol for two years while 2 were untraceable and 1 died from unrelated causes. Of 6 nonresponders, 5 were unable due to psychiatric disorder. At two years pelvic fracture patients scored lower than the reference population in both physical and mental domains (SF-36). Highest mean score, 68, was in the domain Social Function (norm 89) while lowest mean score, 38, was in the domain Role Physical (norm 86). The mean score closest to the normative was for general health with 61 for patients and 78 for the normative group. In LiSat-11 pelvic fracture patients scored lower than the reference population in all areas. Satisfaction with life as a whole was 31% compared with 60% in the normative group. CONCLUSIONS: Two years after surgical treatment of pelvic ring fractures, patients reported substantially lower quality of life for both physical and mental domains, when compared with a reference population, even when radiological and clinical outcomes were considered favourable.

Inconsistent pathways of household waste.

The aim of this study was to provide policy-makers and waste management planners with information about how recycling programs affect the quantities of specific materials recycled and disposed of. Two questions were addressed: which factors influence household waste generation and pathways? and how reliable are official waste data? Household waste flows were studied in 35 Swedish municipalities, and a wide variation in the amount of waste per capita was observed. When evaluating the effect of different waste collection policies, it was found to be important to identify site-specific factors influencing waste generation. Eleven municipal variables were investigated in an attempt to explain the variation. The amount of household waste per resident was higher in populous municipalities and when net commuting was positive. Property-close collection of dry recyclables led to increased delivery of sorted metal, plastic and paper packaging. No difference was seen in the amount of separated recyclables per capita when weight-based billing for the collection of residual waste was applied, but the amount of residual waste was lower. Sixteen sources of error in official waste statistics were identified and the results of the study emphasize the importance of reliable waste generation and composition data to underpin waste management policies.

Comparison of muscle proteome profiles in pure breeds of Norwegian Landrace and Duroc at three different ages.

We have used proteomics as a tool to unravel the changes in protein composition between two pure pig breeds and three age groups. Forty two female pigs of Norwegian Landrace and Duroc breed slaughtered at 6, 9 and 12 months age were included in the study. Each of the breeds was raised in separate farms and was slaughtered at the same day in a commercial abattoir. A sample from the adductor muscle was collected approximately 45min postmortem. Proteome analyses of the water soluble proteins using 2D electrophoresis showed that of the 1125 analyzed protein spots, 94 and 41 proteins are changed in abundance according to breed and age, respectively. A total of 63 changed proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. The identified proteins were classified as structural proteins, metabolic proteins, stress/defense proteins and other proteins. This demonstrates a difference in metabolism and muscle composition between breeds and age groups and shows that proteomics is a useful tool to uncover the molecular basis for physiological differences in muscles between pig breeds and age groups.

Quality control of waste to incineration--waste composition analysis in Lidköping, Sweden.

In order to decrease environmental impacts in waste management the choice of treatment method must be based on the characteristics of the waste. Present sampling procedures do not provide statistically representative samples of solid waste and this provides difficulties in characterization. The objective of this study was to develop a procedure for waste component analysis and sampling of waste after collection and at plant level. A further objective was to characterize the waste delivered to an incineration plant for physical and chemical properties and to determine the amounts of delivered waste that could be classified as biofuels and fossil fuels. The proportions of recyclables and hazardous waste were also examined. Samples were taken randomly from waste trucks and divided by square implementation. Statistical analysis of the results showed that the number of sub-samples could be decreased with only a moderate increase in the confidence interval. This means that future waste composition analyses could be made more efficient and thereby less expensive. The analysis of the waste delivered to the Lidköping incineration plant (Central Sweden) showed that 66.4% of the household waste was composed of biofuels and 21.3% of non-renewable combustibles, of which 40.3% were recyclables. In addition, 11.6% of the household waste was non-combustible and 0.6% hazardous waste. The heat value for the biofuels was 18.0-19.7 MJ kg(-1) dry mass (DM) and for the fossil fuels 28.2-33.9 MJ kg(-1) DM. The industrial waste consisted of 35.9% biofuels, 62.0% fossil fuels, 1.6% non-combustible and 0.5% hazardous waste. The heat value was 19.5 MJ kg(-1) DM for the biofuels and 31.4 MJ kg(-1) DM for the fossil fuels.

Non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid: a new formulation for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a major component of human synovial fluid, providing the rheologic properties (elasticity and viscosity) that enable the synovial fluid to perform lubricating and shock-absorbing functions within the healthy joint. Over the last 2 decades, HA preparations have become established in intra-articular therapy of osteoarthritis (OA), particularly OA of the knee. Existing HA preparations, both cross-linked and non-cross-linked, are all administered by courses of multiple injections, and all have been associated with variable success rates. The clinical profile of an HA preparation is inextricably linked to the product's physicochemical properties. For example, the molecular structure of the HA affects the intra-articular residence time, which should in turn influence the duration of action post-injection. Non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid (NASHA) is a new-generation HA preparation, produced wholly from non-animal sources. NASHA is stabilized using a carefully controlled cross-linking process, which increases the intra-articular residence time from hours to weeks. This facilitates single-injection treatment for OA without affecting the biocompatibility of HA. This review evaluates the properties of NASHA, including the available clinical data, in the context of previously developed HA preparations.

Salt distribution in dry-cured ham measured by computed tomography and image analysis.

Forty-seven hams were scanned four times by computed tomography (CT) while being manufactured into dry-cured hams. An image-processing algorithm measured CT values in the lean part of the hams and provided line profiles reflecting the magnitude and spatial location of salt gradients. At the end of manufacturing, seven entire hams were dissected and the salt content of the lean part determined. Likewise, in the remaining 40 hams, the lean meat of the slices corresponding to the CT images was dissected, analyzed chemically for NaCl and compared to the CT value. The salt content of entire dry-cured hams correlated well (r(2)=0.94) to the CT value of a 10 mm section located at the center of femur bone, perpendicular to the length axis of the hams. In the same position, significant correlations between the CT values before (r(2)=0.71) and after (r(2)=0.80) the ageing period and actual chemical analysis of the same section were demonstrated. Line profiles illustrating the combined salt distribution and dehydration within a ham related to the physical characteristics of the ham as well as to the manufacturing process. These findings reveal that the effects of altered manufacturing practices can be followed non-invasively, while hams are still in production. Computed tomography combined with appropriate image analysis offers advantages as a non-invasive tool in both research and product development.

Use of recycling stations in Borlänge, Sweden--volume weights and attitudes.

This paper presents a study of recycling stations in the municipality of Borlänge, Sweden. The main objectives were to measure volume weights of recyclables, to facilitate future planning of collection intervals and bin/container volume, and to investigate the general attitudes among the public towards waste management in general and recycling stations in particular. Volume weights measured in bins/containers were: paper/newsprint: 297 kg/m3, glass packaging: 297 kg/m3, metal packaging: 81.7 kg/m3, paper packaging: 27.8 kg/m3, plastic packaging: 28.1 kg/m3. The recycling stations have been in use since 1994. Most visitors (90%) arrived by car but said the visit to the recycling station was not the main purpose of the trip. The results from the interviews indicated that the people who use the recycling stations have found ways to incorporate waste sorting into their everyday lives, with the help of information, design of the collection system and environmental concerns.