Fresh beef tumbling at different post-mortem times to improve tenderness and proteolytic features of M. longissimus lumborum

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of tumbling at different post-mortem times on the proteolytic features and quality attributes of beef loins (M. longissimus lumborum). Loins (n = 12) were cut into 4 sections and assigned to tumbling at 1, 6 or 11 days post-mortem or non-tumbled control. Upon tumbling, additional ageing was applied to a common post-mortem time of 16 days. In general, tumbling had no considerable impacts on water-holding ability of samples. Tumbling resulted in an immediate decrease in shear force values (WBSF) of beef samples. Tumbling at 1 day post-mortem with no ageing had similar WBSF compared to the non-tumbled controls at 16 days (P > 0.05). With ageing, tumbling increased amounts of protein degradation, myofibrillar fragmentation and calpain-1 autolysis of samples. These results suggest that early post-mortem tumbling coupled with ageing can synergistically impact the tenderness development of beef loins and shorten the necessary ageing period.     

Butyrate and Propionate Restore the Cytokine and House Dust Mite Compromised Barrier Function of Human Bronchial Airway Epithelial Cells

Barrier dysfunction of airway epithelium contributes to the development of allergies, airway hyper-responsiveness and immunological respiratory diseases. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) enhance and restore the barrier function of the intestinal epithelium. This study investigated whether acetate, propionate and butyrate enhance the integrity of bronchial epithelial cells. Differentiating human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE) grown on transwells were exposed to butyrate, propionate and acetate while trans-epithelial electrical resistance was monitored over time. Restorative effects of SCFA were investigated by subsequent incubation of cells with IL-4, IL-13 or house dust mite extract and SCFA. SCFA effects on IL-4-induced cytokine production and the expression of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signalling pathways were investigated by ELISA and Western blot assays. Propionate and butyrate enhanced the barrier function of differentiating 16HBE cells and induced complete recovery of the barrier function after exposure to the above-mentioned stimuli. Butyrate decreased IL-4-induced IL-6 production. IL-4 decreased ZO-1 protein expression and induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) and c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) in 16HBE cells, both of which could be restored by SCFA. SCFA showed prophylactic and restorative effects on airway epithelial barrier function, which might be induced by increased ZO-1 expression.     

Seasonal movements of muskellunge in the St. Clair – Detroit River System: Implications for multi-jurisdictional fisheries management

The St. Clair-Detroit River System contains a world-class Great Lakes muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) fishery that has avoided the declines observed in many Great Lakes muskellunge populations. Muskellunge are an upper trophic level predator, and therefore a naturally low-density species. Limited fishery-independent data exist on which to base management decisions. To remedy this, we initiated an acoustic telemetry study in May of 2016, in collaboration with the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System. Our objective was to describe patterns of movement of muskellunge in this large and open system to better understand their spatial ecology. We acoustically tagged 133 muskellunge in the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair, and movements of 58 fish that passed our data quality control screens were analyzed. We utilized mixed modelling to assess the effects of sex, length, release location, and season on daily movement rates. We found that movement rates only differed among seasons, with highest movement rates occurring in the fall and lowest movement rates in the winter. Muskellunge tagged at different locations exhibited distinct residency patterns, and fish frequently crossed jurisdictional and waterbody boundaries. Ultimately our study highlights the scope and patterns of muskellunge movement in a large, unimpounded system and demonstrates that management of these fish would benefit from consideration of their full distribution covering multiple management jurisdictions.     

What are the potential strategies to achieve potentially more healthful meat products?

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the consumption of meat and processed meat, and their relationship with a healthy diet. This review provides an overview of the potential strategies, which can be used to provide the implications for producing healthy, wholesome and consistently high-quality meat products. Genetic selection, nutrition and feeding management, and gene manipulation techniques have been used as the main strategies to induce beneficial changes in meat and meat composition. Besides, the incorporation of ingredients that play a technological role and are potentially health-enhancing, such as fibre, fat substitutes, natural antioxidants and the reduction of sodium and nitrites, has a high potential in the development of healthier meat products. In this review, we have observed that many strategies have been successfully used to obtain products with low fat, reduced sodium and nitrite content, low cholesterol and absence of synthetic antioxidants. Another point to be highlighted is that some of these strategies also allow obtaining products with positive health effects that can be potential alternatives to improve consumer acceptance.     

Comparative examination of adhesive and cohesive properties of fluorinated coatings on stone/tile surfaces

A NanoScratch methodology was used to evaluate the relative adhesive and cohesive strength of fluorinated poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) and fluorinated phosphate coatings on stone and tile surfaces. In general, all coatings showed ability to bind to the stone and tile surfaces, and polymer-based coatings expressed stronger adhesion compared to a small-molecule fluorinated phosphate coating. Also, anionic fluorinated polymers containing methacrylic acid (MAA) residues in the ammonium carboxylate form adhered more strongly compared to corresponding acidic polymer counterparts. In addition, anionic fluorinated polymers, shown to adhere more strongly to granite than marble, possibly due to strong Lewis acid-base interaction between carboxylate and aluminosilicates. Conversely, the fluorinated polymers, bearing the MAA side-chains in their free-acid form, bound more strongly to marble via possible Brønsted acid-base interactions between carboxylic acid and calcium carbonate. Lastly, in most cases, comparable fracture thresholds were observed for the same coating material on different substrates. This was expected since fracture threshold is a measure of the mechanical strength of the coating material, independent of the substrate difference.     

Fine-spray (water mist) protection of shipboard engine rooms

Twenty-three fire tests were conducted to determine the ability of current fine-spray (water mist) technologies to extinguish fires specified in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) fire test procedure for engine rooms greater than 3000 m³. The tests were conducted using nozzle installed at a 5 m height and 1·5 m spacing in a large test facility (2800 m² area and 18 m height). Two types of nozzles were tested: a low pressure nozzle operating between 1·2 and 1·5 MPa with flow per nozzle between 12·0 and 13·41/m and a multi-nozzle high-pressure prototype consisting of seven nozzles operating at 6·9 MPa flowing at 5·3 1/m per prototype. These nozzles were selected because they had been shown to extinguish IMO fire tests in enclosures with a protected area of 83 m² and a ceiling height of 4·5 m. The fire tests selected from the IMO procedure included 6 MW diesel spray fires on top of the IMO engine mock-up, a shielded 6 MW diesel spray fire adjacent to the mock-up, a 1 MW shielded diesel spray fire adjacent to the mock-up, and a wood crib within a 2 m² pan filled with heptane. In tests in which no additional enclosure surrounded the nozzles other than the test facility, fires were not significantly affected by the water mist using either nozzle. To further investigate mist-system capabilities, a ceiling was then placed directly over the nozzles at a 5 m height covering an area of 188 m². Using 90 high-pressure prototype nozzles, the test fires were not extinguished. A 940 m³ enclosure was then formed by dropping tarpaulins to the floor from the ceiling. A 4 m² vent was placed in the wall. With the 90 high-pressure prototype nozzles, the 6 MW spray fire on top of the mock-up was extinguished. When the 6 MW fire was shielded beside the mock-up, the fire was not extinguished. With the vent closed, the 6 MW shielded spray fire was extinguished. Under the same test conditions, a 1 MW shielded diesel spray fire and a 0·1 m² heptane pool fire were not extinguished. The fire test results indicated that protection of engine rooms with volumes of about 1000 m³ is possible by optimizing current fine-spray technology while significantly larger volumes will require improved discharge characteristics.