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Category: food – Page 5

Geographical Expansion of Avian Metapneumovirus Subtype B: First Detection and Molecular Characterization of Avian Metapneumovirus Subtype B in US Poultry

Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV), classified within the Pneumoviridae family, wreaks havoc on poultry health. It typically causes upper respiratory tract and reproductive tract infections, mainly in turkeys, chickens, and ducks. Four subtypes of AMPV (A, B, C, D) and two unclassified subtypes have been identified, of which subtypes A and B are widely distributed across the world. In January 2024, an outbreak of severe respiratory disease occurred on turkey and chicken farms across different states in the US. Metagenomics sequencing of selected tissue and swab samples confirmed the presence of aMPV subtype B. Subsequently, all samples were screened using an aMPV subtype A and B multiplex real-time RT-PCR kit. Of the 221 farms, 124 (56%) were found to be positive for aMPV-B. All samples were negative for subtype A.

Fungal secrets of a sunken ship: Advanced decay found throughout USS Cairo despite past wood preservation efforts

University of Minnesota researchers studied the microbial degradation of the USS Cairo, one of the first ironclad and steam-powered gunboats used in the United States Civil War. Studies of microbial degradation of historic woods are essential to help protect and preserve important cultural artifacts.

Built in 1861, the ship hit a torpedo and sank in December 1862 and was recovered about 100 years later from the Yazoo River. It has been on display at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi. Although the ship has a canopy cover, it is exposed to environmental elements.

“Continued degradation of this historic Civil War ship is causing serious concerns for its long-term preservation. To determine the appropriate conservation efforts, it is essential to understand the current condition of the wood and the microorganisms causing the degradation,” said lead author Robert Blanchette, a professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.

A tiny chip that can help us see deeper into space

A new imaging system could help us see deeper into the universe than ever before. The same powerful technology could also help us analyze the chemical makeup of everyday materials such as food and medicines much faster and with greater accuracy than current methods.

In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers from Tsinghua University in China have introduced a tiny device called RAFAEL (Reconfigurable, Adaptive, FAst and Efficient Lithium-niobate spectro-imager) that uses advanced photonics to capture light in exceptional detail with high speed.

RAFAEL is designed to dramatically improve spectroscopy, the technique used to study the and chemical composition of matter. It is used for everything from mapping to checking for contaminants in water and diagnosing diseases, and it works by breaking down the light that comes from an object and analyzing the different colors (wavelengths). While incredibly powerful, traditional spectrometers often face a trade-off: To get very fine detail you have to block much of the light. Or if you let in a lot of light, you lose resolution or sensitivity.

Laser method can detect chemical weapons and bacteria in seconds

Researchers at Umeå University and the Swedish Defense Research Agency, FOI, have developed new laser methods that can quickly detect chemical weapons and harmful bacteria directly on site—without the need to send samples to a laboratory.

Hazardous chemicals can appear in many forms. They can be pollutants in waterways, pesticides in our food, or synthetic substances designed to cause harm—such as narcotics or . To reduce the risk of these substances entering our bodies, it is crucial to be able to detect them quickly and reliably.

A new doctoral thesis from Umeå University shows how can be used to do just that.

A hidden “backup heater” that helps burn fat and boost metabolism

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered a new way that brown fat, a type of fat that burns energy, can boost the body’s metabolism. This process allows cells to consume more fuel and generate heat, improving overall metabolic health. Conducted in mice, the research points to new possibilities for using brown fat to address metabolic conditions such as insulin resistance and obesity.

The findings were published Sept. 17 in Nature.

Brown fat is unique because it turns energy (calories) from food into heat. Unlike white fat, which stores energy, or muscle, which uses it immediately, brown fat helps keep the body warm in cold environments. Exposure to cold can increase the amount of brown fat, and scientists have long suggested that activating it could support weight loss by increasing calorie burning.

The Impact of Physicochemical Conditions on Lactic Acid Bacteria Survival in Food Products

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), due to their many advantageous features, have been utilized in food manufacturing for centuries. Spontaneous fermentation, in which LAB play a fundamental role, is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. LAB survival and viability in various food products are of great importance. During technological processes, external physicochemical stressors appear often in combinations. To ensure the survival of LAB, adjustment of optimal physicochemical conditions should be considered. LAB strains should be carefully selected for particular food matrices and the technological processes involved. The LAB’s robustness to different environmental stressors includes different defense mechanisms against stress, including the phenomenon of adaptation, and cross-protection.

Preventing overhydration: Study uncovers a neural circuit that prompts mice to stop drinking

Identifying the neural mechanisms that support the regulation of vital physiological processes, such as drinking, eating and sleeping, is a long-standing goal within the neuroscience research community. As the disruption of these processes can severely impact people’s health and everyday functioning, uncovering their neural and biological underpinnings is of the utmost importance.

New insights gathered by neuroscientists could ultimately inform the development of more effective interventions designed to regulate vital physiological processes. Thirst and hunger are known to be regulated by homeostatic processes, biological processes that allow the body to maintain internal stability.

Yet behavior can also be anticipatory, which means that animals and humans often adjust their actions (i.e., stop drinking) before the concentration of substances in the blood changes in response to drinking water. The mechanisms through which the brain predicts when it is the right time to stop drinking remain poorly understood.

Six billion tonnes a second: Rogue planet found growing at record rate

Astronomers have identified an enormous ‘growth spurt’ in a so-called rogue planet. Unlike the planets in our Solar System, these objects do not orbit stars, free-floating on their own instead. The new observations, made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), reveal that this free-floating planet is eating up gas and dust from its surroundings at a rate of six billion tonnes a second. This is the strongest growth rate ever recorded for a rogue planet, or a planet of any kind, providing valuable insights into how they form and grow.

“People may think of planets as quiet and stable worlds, but with this discovery we see that planetary-mass objects freely floating in space can be exciting places,” says Víctor Almendros-Abad, an astronomer at the Astronomical Observatory of Palermo, National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Italy and lead author of the new study.

The newly studied object, which has a mass five to 10 times the mass of Jupiter, is located about 620 light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. Officially named Cha 1107–7626, this rogue planet is still forming and is fed by a surrounding disc of gas and dust. This material constantly falls onto the free-floating planet, a process known as accretion. However, the team led by Almendros-Abad has now found that the rate at which the young planet is accreting is not steady.

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