Characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from infant faeces as potential probiotic starter cultures for fermented sausages

Food Microbiology
Volume 38, April 2014, Pages 303–311
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2013.07.015

Highlights

• Lactobacillus gasseri and Enterococcus faecalis were the main species in infant faeces.
• RAPD-PCR discriminated 60 profiles out of 109 LAB isolates.
• Six of 109 LAB isolated from infants were qualified as potential probiotics.
• Selected lactobacilli were assayed as starter cultures in model sausages.
• Three of the selected strains were effective meat starter cultures.

Abstract

A total of 109 lactic acid bacteria isolated from infant faeces were identified by partial 16S rRNA, cpn60 and/or pheS sequencing. Lactobacillus was the most prevalent genus, representing 48% of the isolates followed by Enterococcus (38%). Lactobacillus gasseri (21%) and Enterococcus faecalis (38%) were the main species detected. A further selection of potential probiotic starter cultures for fermented sausages focused on Lactobacillus as the most technologically relevant genus in this type of product. Lactobacilli strains were evaluated for their ability to grow in vitro in the processing conditions of fermented sausages and for their functional and safety properties, including antagonistic activity against foodborne pathogens, survival from gastrointestinal tract conditions (acidity, bile and pancreatin), tyramine production, antibiotic susceptibility and aggregation capacity. The best strains according to the results obtained were Lactobacillus casei/paracasei CTC1677, L. casei/paracasei CTC1678, Lactobacillus rhamnosus CTC1679, L. gasseri CTC1700, L. gasseri CTC1704, Lactobacillus fermentum CTC1693. Those strains were further assayed as starter cultures in model sausages. L. casei/paracasei CTC1677, L. casei/paracasei CTC1678 and L. rhamnosus CTC1679 were able to lead the fermentation and dominate (levels ca. 10^8 CFU/g) the endogenous lactic acid bacteria, confirming their suitability as probiotic starter cultures.

Keywords

Fermented sausages; Lactic acid bacteria; Lactobacillus; RAPD-PCR; Probiotics

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740002013001548

Effect of Beer Marinades on Formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Charcoal-Grilled Pork

J. Agric. Food Chem., 2014, 62 (12), pp 2638–2643
DOI: 10.1021/jf404966w
Published In Issue March 26, 2014

Olga Viegas †‡, Iria Yebra-Pimentel §, Elena Martínez-Carballo §, Jesus Simal-Gandara §, and Isabel M. P. L. V. O. Ferreira *†

† REQUIMTE, Laboratório de Bromatologia e Hidrologia, Departamento de Ciências Quı́micas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, 4051-401 Porto, Portugal
‡ Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
§ Nutrition and Bromatology Group, Analytical and Food Chemistry Department, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain

Abstract

The effect of marinating meat with Pilsner beer, nonalcoholic Pilsner beer, and Black beer (coded respectively PB, P0B, and BB) on the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in charcoal-grilled pork was evaluated and compared with the formation of these compounds in unmarinated meat. Antiradical activity of marinades (DPPH assay) was assayed. BB exhibited the strongest scavenging activity (68.0%), followed by P0B (36.5%) and PB (29.5%). Control and marinated meat samples contained the eight PAHs named PAH8 by the EFSA and classified as suitable indicators for carcinogenic potency of PAHs in food. BB showed the highest inhibitory effect in the formation of PAH8 (53%), followed by P0B (25%) and PB (13%). The inhibitory effect of beer marinades on PAH8 increased with the increase of their radical-scavenging activity. BB marinade was the most efficient on reduction of PAH formation, providing a proper mitigation strategy.

Keywords:

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; meat; beer marinades; antiradical activity; food chemistry

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf404966w

Half Full or Empty: Cues That Lead Wine Drinkers to Unintentionally Overpour

Substance Use & Misuse
February 2014, Vol. 49, No. 3 , Pages 295-302
doi:10.3109/10826084.2013.832327

Doug Walker [1], Laura Smarandescu [1] and Brian Wansink [2]

1 Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA
2 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA

What might unknowingly bias the amount of wine a person serves themselves? Wine is often self-poured in various settings (e.g., at home, restaurants, receptions, parties). Building on research involving visual illusions and haptic cues, an exploratory field study finds that environmental factors (e.g., glass shape, pouring position, wine color) affect how much wine is poured in different scenarios. When individuals overpoured, they were generally accurate in post hoc perceptions of the relative extent to which the environmental cues affected their pouring. Increasing awareness of pouring biases is a step toward limiting alcohol intake for improved health outcomes and preventing alcohol-related problems.

Keywords
overpouring, overconsuming, environmental cues, wine

http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/10826084.2013.832327

The Creation of the World’s First Peanut Butter and Jellyfish

Drum and Croaker
vol. 45, January 2014, pp. 14-18

P. Zelda Montoya and Barrett L. Christie

The Dallas Zoo and Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park
650 S. RL Thornton Freeway
Dallas, Texas 75203

“Man cannot live by bread alone, he must have peanut butter”
-Bill Cosby

The science and art of aquaculture has advanced tremendously in the past few decades. Nowhere is this more evident than in the production of the most delicate of invertebrates, now commonplace at zoos and aquaria worldwide. The aquarium maintenance and culture of zooplankton, especially gelatinous zooplankton, has always been notoriously challenging (Baker, 1963), but great strides have been made in the husbandry of these delicate animals in recent decades (see Caughlan, 1984; Norton, 1993; Gershwin-Nelson and Schaadt, 1995; Raskoff et. al. 2003; Widmer, 2008; and AZA, 2013).

[...]

It has been increasingly evident in recent years that the use of many fish or shrimp-based protein sources in aquaculture is a wholly unsustainable practice (Naylor et. al., 2000, Naylor et. al., 2009) which begs the need for novel solutions.

That having been said, we would love to claim  we  conducted this trial with noble purpose, but the truth is that we just wanted to make peanut butter and jellyfish simply to see if it could be done. Whether or not it  should  be done is a question no doubt to be debated by philosophers for the ages (or at least by some aquarists over beers). We herein report on what we believe to be the first known unholy amalgamation of America’s favorite lunchtime treat and live cnidarians. The success of our trial group of  Aurelia on this experimental diet was surprising, and we hope this ridiculous experiment illustrates that unconventional approaches in husbandry are at the very least, worth trying once.

[...]

In closing, moon jellies have seen a storied past. They have delighted children at aquaria worldwide, captivated researchers with their elegant simplicity and functionality, and even traveled into space (Spangenberg, 1994); but we feel that becoming one with peanut butter helps them fulfill their ultimate destiny as a species – to become peanut butter and jellyfish!

Acknowledgements:

The authors wish to thank Julia Davis Chandler, who introduced America to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in 1901. Thanks to Mr. Peanut are of course in order, as well as our undying gratitude to that dancing banana on the internet. Yes dancing banana, it is indeed peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time. Finally, we  wish to thank Harold Burnett Reese, without whom the world would have been a darker, more inhospitable place.

http://www.columbuszoo.org/drumcroaker/pdf/2014.pdf

The effect of the color red on consuming food does not depend on achromatic (Michelson) contrast and extends to rubbing cream on the skin

Appetite
Volume 71, 1 December 2013, Pages 307–313
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.08.012

Nicola Bruno, Margherita Martani, Claudia Corsini, Claudio Oleari

Dipartimento di Neuroscienze
Unità di Psicologia
Università di Parma
Borgo Carissimi 10
43100 Parma
Italy

Highlights

• We replicate the effect of the color red on food consumption in a different setting.
• We show that a similar effect can be observed for the consumption of moisturizing cream.
• We make a conceptual distinction between achromatic (luminance) and chromatic (color per se) contrast.
• We show that these effects are not due to achromatic contrast.

Abstract

Recent literature suggests that individuals may consume less food when this is served on red plates. We explored this intriguing effect in three experiments. Independent groups of participants were presented with constant amounts of popcorns, chocolate chips, or moisturizing cream, on red, blue, or white plates. They were asked to sample the foods (by tasting them) or the cream (by rubbing it on the hand and forearm) as they wished and to complete mock “sensory analysis” questionnaires. Results confirmed that red plates reduce taste-related consumption and extended this effect to the touch-related consumption of moisturizing cream. Suggesting that the effect was not due to a decrease in the consciously experienced appeal of products on red plates, overall appreciation of the foods or cream did not differ according to plate color. After careful photometric measures of the materials used for each food-plate pairing, we determined that food and cream consumption was not predicted by Michelson (achromatic) contrast. Although the origin of the intriguing effect of the color red on consumption remains unclear, our results may prove useful to future potential explanations.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566631300370X

Why does a beer bottle foam up after a sudden impact on its mouth?

Bulletin of the American Physical Society
66th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics
Volume 58, Number 18
Sunday, November 24, 2013, 9:05 AM–9:18 AM

Javier Rodriguez-Rodriguez
Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain

Almudena Casado-Chacon
Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain

Daniel Fuster
CNRS (UMR 7190), Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Institut Jean le Rond d'Alembert, France

A sudden vertical impact on the mouth of a beer bottle generates a compression wave that propagates through the glass towards the bottom. When this wave reaches the base of the bottle, it is transmitted to the liquid as an expansion wave that travels to free surface, where it bounces back as a compression wave. This train of expansion-compression waves drives the forced cavitation of existing air pockets, leading to their violent collapse. A cloud of very small daughter bubbles are generated upon these collapses, that expand much faster than their mothers due to their smaller size. These rapidly growing bubble clusters effectively act as buoyancy sources, what leads to the formation of bubble-laden plumes whose void fraction increases quickly by several orders of magnitude, eventually turning most of the beverage into foam. In this talk, we will analyze quantitatively these processes in order to explain the extremely high efficiency of the degasification process that occurs in the bottle within the few seconds that follow the impact.

This work has been supported by Spanish Ministries of Science and of Economy and Competitiveness through grants: DPI2008-06369 and DPI2011-28356-C03-02.

http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2013.DFD.A11.6

Too Impatient to Smell the Roses - Exposure to Fast Food Impedes Happiness

Social Psychological and Personality Science
November 14, 2013
doi: 10.1177/1948550613511498

Julian House, Sanford E. DeVoe, Chen-Bo Zhong

Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, 105 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S3E6

Abstract

We tested whether exposure to the ultimate symbols of an impatience culture—fast food—undermines people’s ability to experience happiness from savoring pleasurable experiences. Study 1 found that the concentration of fast-food restaurants in individuals’ neighborhoods predicted their tendencies to savor. Study 2 revealed that exposure to fast-food primes impeded participants’ ability to derive happiness from pictures of natural beauty. Study 3 showed that priming fast food undermined positive emotional responses to a beautiful melody by inducing greater impatience, measured by both subjective perception of time passage and self-reports of impatience experienced during the music. Together, these studies show that as pervasive symbols of impatience, fast food can inhibit savoring, producing negative consequences for how we experience pleasurable events.

http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/11/13/1948550613511498.abstract

Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Tool for Pork Pie Development

Foods 2013, 2(3), 393-400
Published: 28 August 2013
doi:10.3390/foods2030393

Adam P. Gaunt, Robert H. Morris and Michael I. Newton

School of Science & Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK

Abstract

The traditional British pork pie consists of roughly chopped pork cooked in a hot water pastry crust. Due to shrinkage of the meat during cooking, the gap formed around the meat is usually sealed using a gelatin based jelly to exclude air and thus help to preserve the pie. The properties of the jelly are such that it will ingress into the pastry crust causing undesirable softening. The jelly is traditionally produced by simmering pig trotters with seasoning for several hours. In this work we demonstrate the potential of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a tool for investigating the conditions required for producing jellies with different properties and present two examples of this use. Firstly we demonstrate that MRI can determine the ability of water to diffuse through the jelly which is critical in minimizing the amount of moisture moving from the jelly to the crust. Secondly, the impact of jelly temperature on the penetration length into the crust is investigated. These examples highlight the power of MRI as a tool for food assessment.

http://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/2/3/393

Eating dogfood: Examining the relative roles of reason and emotion

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
Volume 92, August 2013, Pages 202–213
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2013.06.004

William Schulze [a], Annemie Maertens [b], Brian Wansink [c]

[a] Kenneth L. Robinson Professor of Agricultural Economics at Cornell University, United States
[b] Posvar Hall 3204, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States
[c] John Dyson Professor of Consumer Behavior at Cornell University, United States

Highlights

• We study stigma in a laboratory setting by eliciting willingness-to-pay from participants for a chicken sandwich and ice cream.
• We provide information about the sandwich (healthy ingredients, but made for dogs) and ice cream (artificial ingredients, but fat free).
• We put a subset of the participants under cognitive load.
• The order in which the information is provided matters and participants who are not under cognitive load deliberate the health benefits.
• These results point to an underlying dual process model.

Abstract

Psychologists have described the working of the human brain as a combination of two systems – a dual process model. One system is intuitive and automatic (System 1) and the other is reflective and rational (System 2). To determine what insights this model has for stigma – such as fears of food contamination – we elicited the willingness-to-pay for two foods: a sandwich made of dog food and fat-free ice cream. We find critical evidence of a dual process decision making process in which the absence of cognitive load allows the participants to deliberate over the health benefits of either food. In addition, in the case of the sandwich, there is an emotional component in which the positive emotion of surprise can partially offset the negative emotion of disgust. This has notable implications for addressing food safety fears related to contamination as well as the food neophobia related to unfamiliar foods, processing, or preparation.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016726811300156X

‘Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder’: People who think they are drunk also think they are attractive

British Journal of Psychology
Volume 104, Issue 2, pages 225–234, May 2013
DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8295.2012.02114.x

Laurent Bègue [1,*], Brad J. Bushman [2,3], Oulmann Zerhouni [1], Baptiste Subra [4] and Medhi Ourabah [5]

[1] University of Grenoble 2, LIP, 1251, Av. Centrale, BP47, 38040 Grenoble, France
[2] The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
[3] VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
[4] University of Paris Descartes, France
[5] University of Paris 8, Saint-Denis, France

This research examines the role of alcohol consumption on self-perceived attractiveness. Study 1, carried out in a barroom (N= 19), showed that the more alcoholic drinks customers consumed, the more attractive they thought they were. In Study 2, 94 non-student participants in a bogus taste-test study were given either an alcoholic beverage (target BAL [blood alcohol level]= 0.10 g/100 ml) or a non-alcoholic beverage, with half of each group believing they had consumed alcohol and half believing they had not (balanced placebo design). After consuming beverages, they delivered a speech and rated how attractive, bright, original, and funny they thought they were. The speeches were videotaped and rated by 22 independent judges. Results showed that participants who thought they had consumed alcohol gave themselves more positive self-evaluations. However, ratings from independent judges showed that this boost in self-evaluation was unrelated to actual performance.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8295.2012.02114.x/abstract

Walking with coffee: Why does it spill?

Phys. Rev. E 85, 046117
volume 85, issue 4, pages 046117
Published 26 April 2012
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.85.046117

H. C. Mayer and R. Krechetnikov

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

Abstract

In our busy lives, almost all of us have to walk with a cup of coffee. While often we spill the drink, this familiar phenomenon has never been explored systematically. Here we report on the results of an experimental study of the conditions under which coffee spills for various walking speeds and initial liquid levels in the cup. These observations are analyzed from the dynamical systems and fluid mechanics viewpoints as well as with the help of a model developed here. Particularities of the common cup sizes, the coffee properties, and the biomechanics of walking proved to be responsible for the spilling phenomenon. The studied problem represents an example of the interplay between the complex motion of a cup, due to the biomechanics of a walking individual, and the low-viscosity-liquid dynamics in it.

http://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.85.046117

When backyard fun turns to trauma: risk assessment of blunt ballistic impact trauma due to potato cannons

International Journal of Legal Medicine
January 2012, Volume 126, Issue 1, pp 13-18
Cover Date 2012-01-01
DOI 10.1007/s00414-011-0552-y

Matthias Frank (1,2), Oliver Jobski (3), Britta Bockholdt (4), Rico Grossjohann (1), Dirk Stengel (1,2), Axel Ekkernkamp (1,2), Peter Hinz (2)

1. Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, Sauerbruchstrasse, 17475, Greifswald, Germany
2. Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery, Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin, Berlin, Germany
3. Landeskriminalamt (LKA) Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rampe, Germany
4. Department of Legal Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Abstract

Although potato cannons are an area of great interest among internet users, they are almost completely unknown in the medical community. These simple ballistic devices are made from plastic plumbing pipes and are powered with propellant gas from aerosol cans. By combustion of the gas–oxygen mixture, a high pressure is produced which propels the potato chunks through the barrel. It is the aim of this study to investigate the hazardous potential of these shooting devices. Test shots were performed using three illegally manufactured potato cannons that were confiscated by police authorities. Velocity, impulse, kinetic energy, and energy density were calculated. The risk of head and chest injuries was investigated by using Sturdivan's Blunt Criterion (BC), an energy based five parametric trauma model assessing the vulnerability to blunt weapons, projectile impacts, and behind-body-armor exposures. The probability of lethality due to blunt impact trauma to the chest was assessed using Sturdivan's lethality model. For potential head impacts, all test shots far exceeded the critical BC (head) value which corresponds to a 50% risk of skull fracture. The risk of injury with regard to chest impacts was similar. All but two test shots far exceeded the critical BC (chest) value corresponding to a 50% risk of sustaining a thoracic skeletal injury of Abbreviated Injury Scale 2 or 3. The probability of a lethal injury due to blunt chest impact was as high as 20%. To conclude, this work demonstrates that potato cannons should be considered dangerous weapons rather than as toys used by adventurous adolescents.

Ethical standards

Ethical approval was not required for this experimental investigation.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00414-011-0552-y

Augmented gustation using electricity

AH '11 Proceedings of the 2nd Augmented Human International Conference
March 12th 2011DP-A5
Article No. 34
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1959826.1959860

Hiromi Nakamura
Meiji University, Higashi-mita, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, Japan

Homei Miyashita
Meiji University/JST, CREST, Higashi-mita, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, Japan

In this paper, we propose a method to augment gustation and increase the number of perceptible tastes. Electric taste is the sensation elicited upon stimulating the tongue with electric current. We used this phenomenon to convey information that humans cannot perceive with their tongue. Our method involves changing the taste of foods and drinks by using electric taste. First, we propose a system to drink beverages using straws that are connected to an electric circuit. Second, we propose a system to eat foods using a fork or chopsticks connected to an electric circuit. Finally, we discuss augmented gustation using various sensors.

http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1959826.1959860

Odor and taste perception at normal and low atmospheric pressure in a simulated aircraft cabin

Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit
March 2011, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp 95-109
Cover Date 2011-03-01
DOI 10.1007/s00003-010-0630-y

Andrea Burdack-Freitag, Dino Bullinger, Florian Mayer, Klaus Breuer

Fraunhofer Institut für Bauphysik
Fraunhoferstraße 10
83626, Valley
Germany

Abstract

During flights, reduced odor and taste perception is reported. Passengers tend to prefer spicier meals than on the ground. The conditions on board were simulated at the Fraunhofer flight test facility in Holzkirchen, Germany, consisting of a front fuselage of an Airbus A310-200 in a huge metal tube in which all relevant parameters can be adjusted (humidity, temperature, pressure). Flight tests were carried out at low atmospheric pressure corresponding to cabin conditions on board at cruising altitude and were repeated at normal atmospheric pressure corresponding to ground conditions. All other parameters were kept constant. Under these conditions, test persons smelled and tasted food-safe flavorants to evaluate the mean odor and taste thresholds and tasted different flavored food. Even tomato juice and various wines were tasted for odor and taste qualities, intensities and individual preferences. At low pressure conditions, higher taste and odor thresholds of flavorants were generally observed with few exceptions. Salt, sugar, glutamate and most odorant thresholds increased clearly. Organic acids and some bitter tastants showed no change. Transferred to complete meals, more salt, sugar and herbs were necessary on board to serve meals that tasted similar to the way they did on the ground. Sour ingredients had to be reduced. The odor and taste spectrum of the beverages investigated changed in various ways. Light and fresh flavors decreased, whereas intensive flavors persisted.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00003-010-0630-y

Are full or empty beer bottles sturdier and does their fracture-threshold suffice to break the human skull?

Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Volume 16, Issue 3, April 2009, Pages 138–142

Stephan A. Bolliger, MD (Senior Forensic Pathologist), Steffen Ross, MD (Radiologist), Lars Oesterhelweg, MD (Forensic Pathologist), Michael J. Thali, MD (Professor, Director, Forensic Pathologist), Beat P. Kneubuehl, PhD (Physicist)

Centre for Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, IRM, Buehlstrasse 20, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland

Abstract

Beer bottles are often used in physical disputes. If the bottles break, they may give rise to sharp trauma. However, if the bottles remain intact, they may cause blunt injuries. In order to investigate whether full or empty standard half-litre beer bottles are sturdier and if the necessary breaking energy surpasses the minimum fracture-threshold of the human skull, we tested the fracture properties of such beer bottles in a drop-tower.

Full bottles broke at 30 J impact energy, empty bottles at 40 J. These breaking energies surpass the minimum fracture-threshold of the human neurocranium. Beer bottles may therefore fracture the human skull and therefore serve as dangerous instruments in a physical dispute.

Keywords

Breaking energy threshold; Beer bottles; Blunt head trauma

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X08001728

Effects of cocaine on honey bee dance behaviour

J Exp Biol
Jan 15, 2009; 212(2): 163–168
doi:  10.1242/jeb.025361

Andrew B. Barron [1,2,*], Ryszard Maleszka [1], Paul G. Helliwell [1] and Gene E. Robinson [2]

[1] ARC Centre for Molecular Genetics of Development, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
[2] Department of Entomology and Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

* Author for correspondence at present address: Centre for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia

Summary

The role of cocaine as an addictive drug of abuse in human society is hard to reconcile with its ecological role as a natural insecticide and plant-protective compound, preventing herbivory of coca plants (Erythroxylum spp.). This paradox is often explained by proposing a fundamental difference in mammalian and invertebrate responses to cocaine, but here we show effects of cocaine on honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) that parallel human responses. Forager honey bees perform symbolic dances to advertise the location and value of floral resources to their nest mates. Treatment with a low dose of cocaine increased the likelihood and rate of bees dancing after foraging but did not otherwise increase locomotor activity. This is consistent with cocaine causing forager bees to overestimate the value of the floral resources they collected. Further, cessation of chronic cocaine treatment caused a withdrawal-like response. These similarities likely occur because in both insects and mammals the biogenic amine neuromodulator systems disrupted by cocaine perform similar roles as modulators of reward and motor systems. Given these analogous responses to cocaine in insects and mammals, we propose an alternative solution to the paradox of cocaine reinforcement. Ecologically, cocaine is an effective plant defence compound via disruption of herbivore motor control but, because the neurochemical systems targeted by cocaine also modulate reward processing, the reinforcing properties of cocaine occur as a `side effect'.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2720998/

Infants of mothers with persistent nipple pain exert strong sucking vacuums

Acta Paediatrica
Volume 97, Issue 9, pages 1205–1209, September 2008

Holly L McClellan [1], DT Geddes [1], JC Kent [1], CP Garbin [1], LR Mitoulas [2] and PE Hartmann [1]

[1]  School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, M310, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia, 6009
[2] Medela AG, Medical Technology, Lättichstrasse 4b, Baar, Switzerland

Abstract

Aim: The objective of this study was to determine whether infants of mothers experiencing persistent nipple pain exerted very strong intraoral vacuums during a breastfeed.

Methods: Thirty mothers experiencing persistent pain during breastfeeding (Pain group; infants aged 49.4 ± 35.5 days) were compared to 30 successfully breastfeeding mothers (Control group; infants aged 55.0 ± 22.7 days). Infant intraoral vacuums were measured via a small milk-filled tube taped alongside the nipple and connected to a pressure transducer. Milk intake was measured using the test weigh method.

Results: Infants in the Pain group applied significantly stronger baseline (−90.8 ± 54.5 vs. −56.4 ± 31.4 mmHg, p = 0.004), peak (−214.3 ± 60.5 vs. 163.2 ± 62.4 mmHg, p = 0.002) and pause vacuums (−104.8 ± 67.9 vs. −45.8 ± 30.3 mmHg, p < 0.001). Despite similar active sucking times (377.5 ± 175.2 vs. 349.4 ± 184.0 sec, p = 0.554) the mean milk intake was significantly lower for infants of mothers with nipple pain (41.6 ± 31.3 vs. 70.7 ± 30.7 g, p = 0.001).

Conclusion: Infants of breastfeeding mothers experiencing persistent nipple pain applied significantly higher vacuum to the breast during breastfeeding despite assistance with positioning and attachment from a lactation consultant. Further investigation into the cause of the abnormally high vacuums is essential to develop successful interventions for these mother–infant dyads.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.00882.x/abstract

Novel Production Method for Plant Polyphenol from Livestock Excrement Using Subcritical Water Reaction [sic]

International Journal of Chemical Engineering
Volume 2008 (2008), Article ID 603957, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2008/603957

Mayu Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Futamura, Kouki Fujioka, and Kenji Yamamoto

Department of Medical Ecology and Informatics, Research Institute, International Medical Center of Japan, Toyama 1-21-1, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan

Received 8 February 2008; Accepted 14 May 2008

Academic Editor: Ram B. Gupta

Copyright © 2008 Mayu Yamamoto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Plant polyphenol, including vanillin, is often used as the intermediate materials [sic] of the [sic] medicines and vanilla flavoring. In agriculture generally vanillin is produced from vanilla plant and in industry from lignin of disposed wood pulp. We have recently developed a method for the production of plant polyphenol with the excrement as a natural resource of lignin [sick], of the herbivorous animals, by using the [sic] subcritical water. The method for using the [sic] subcritical water is superior to that of the [sic] supercritical water because in the latter complete decomposition occurs. We have successfully produced the vanillin, protocatechuic acid, vanillic acid, and syringic acid in products [sic]. Our method is simpler and more efficient not only because it requires the shorter treatment time but also because it releases less amount [sic] of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Livestock excrement in Japan alone has been attained up to 40 000 tons per year, which recently has been one of the national major excrement management problems [sic]. Almost all farms are located close to residential areas in Japan, which enhances the hazard of water and soil pollution by the bad smell and by the onset of the potential infectious diseases. Therefore, we have to develop the method of disposing the excrement efficiently and safely.

[...]

The excrement of herbivorous animals, including cattle, goats, and horses (University of Miyazaki) and a carnivorous animal, tigers [sic] (Ueno Zoological Gardens, Tokyo, Japan), was used in our study. One-gram excrement and 4 mL were taken into the reactor, a stainless tube (SUS316) with the capacity of 5 mL. Then the reactor was heated up to the temperatures (and pressures) of 100°C, 150°C (0.6 MPa), 200°C (1.5 MPa), 250°C (3.9 MPa), and 300°C (8.3 MPa) each in the batch system. After treated for 60 minutes, the reactor was cooled down.

[...]

We have shown here in Figure 1(b) an HPLC profile of the products in the solution, which smells like coffee and cocoa powder, obtained from the cattle excrement at 200°C reaction.

[...]

Furthermore, the suitability, as food, of the excrement products obtained in our method is now being tested on animals [SICK! SICK! SICK!].

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijce/2008/603957/

Sword swallowing and its side effects

BMJ 2006;333:1285
Published 21 December 2006
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39027.676690.55

Brian Witcombe, consultant radiologist [1], Dan Meyer, executive director [2]

[1] Department of Radiology, Gloucestershire Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucester GL1 3NN
[2] Sword Swallowers' Association International, 3729 Belle Oaks Drive, Antioch, Tennessee 37013, USA

Objective

To evaluate information on the practice and associated ill effects of sword swallowing.

Design

Letters sent to sword swallowers requesting information on technique and complications.

Setting

Membership lists of the Sword Swallowers' Association International.

Participants

110 sword swallowers from 16 countries.

Results

We had information from 46 sword swallowers. Major complications are more likely when the swallower is distracted or swallows multiple or unusual swords or when previous injury is present. Perforations mainly involve the oesophagus and usually have a good prognosis. Sore throats are common, particularly while the skill is being learnt or when performances are too frequent. Major gastrointestinal bleeding sometimes occurs, and occasional chest pains tend to be treated without medical advice. Sword swallowers without healthcare coverage expose themselves to financial as well as physical risk.

Conclusions

Sword swallowers run a higher risk of injury when they are distracted or adding embellishments to their performance, but injured performers have a better prognosis than patients who suffer iatrogenic perforation.

http://www.bmj.com/content/333/7582/1285

Do We Learn from Our Mistakes? An Examination of the Impact of Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences on College Students’ Drinking Patterns and Perceptions

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
March 2006 : Volume 67, Issue 2: 269-276

Kimberly A. Mallett, Christine M. Lee, Clayton Neighbors, Mary E. Larimer, Rob Turrisi

Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, 204 East Calder Way, Suite 208, State College, Pennsylvania 16801

Christine M. Lee, Clayton Neighbors, and Mary E. Larimer are with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Rob Turrisi is with the Department of Biobehavioral Health and Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Objective

Little research has examined antecedents of specific drinking consequences (vomiting, regretted sex, hangover, blackouts) among college students. This research examined how students’ experiences of past consequences relate to their beliefs of experiencing similar consequences in the future and how these beliefs relate to current drinking patterns.

Method

Self-reported past drinking behavior and resulting consequences associated with specific occasions were assessed among 303 (66% women) college students. Students also estimated number of drinks associated with risk of experiencing future similar consequences.

Results

Paired-samples t tests indicated that students significantly overestimated the number of drinks it would take to vomit, have unwanted sexual experiences, experience hangovers, and black out in comparison with the actual self-reported number of drinks consumed the last time identical consequences were experienced. In addition, a series of multiple-regression analyses revealed that greater misperceptions between the perceived and actual number of drinks associated with each type of consequence were consistently associated with heavier drinking.

Conclusions

Results suggest that heavier-drinking students do not learn from their mistakes but instead overestimate the amount of alcohol they can consume without experiencing negative consequences. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of augmenting brief interventions aimed at heavy-drinking college students.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2443639/