Cold Food Research Articles

Universality of Torpor Expression in Bats.

AbstractAlthough heterothermy is employed by species at a global level within the order of Chiroptera (bats), the possibility of torpor being expressed in bat species inhabiting warmer climate zones has been explored only in the past couple decades. Recent studies suggest that the benefit of expressing torpor is not limited to saving energy during cold exposure or food shortage but may be just as important for saving water during heat waves. Thus, even if the physiological challenges faced by bats may depend on the habitat they live in, species expressing torpor should be found in any climate zone where employing torpor may yield benefits and increase their survival probability. Here, we summarize available data on torpor metabolic rates and daily skin temperature patterns of bats across climate zones, emphasizing similarities found in the data. We also present data that we have collected from a southern subtropical species (Nyctophilus bifax) and a northern subarctic species (Plecotus auritus) to illustrate specific examples of torpor expressions in two bat species living in highly different environments. Our findings highlight that torpor metabolic rates and skin temperature patterns of bats outside of the hibernation season can be universal across vastly different habitats, although arid environments indicate potential divergence in mean minimum torpor metabolic rates compared with measurements of populations inhabiting other climate zones.

The perspectives of traditional and modern medicine on the nature of hot and cold foods

A better understanding of traditional medicine requires a more accurate comprehension of the philosophy and culture in which traditional medicine is rooted. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the effects of foods on human health are inseparable from temperament, mind, body, and environmental factors. The links between these components may not be explained clearly in modern medicine [1]. This article aims to review perspective of traditional and modern medicine on the nature of hot-cold food, to explain more clear the concepts of traditional medicine in this subject, subsequently to promote its global applicability.

Cold Chain Food and COVID-19 Transmission Risk: From the Perspective of Consumption and Trade

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), political and academic circles have focused significant attention on stopping the chain of COVID-19 transmission. In particular outbreaks related to cold chain food (CCF) have been reported, and there remains a possibility that CCF can be a carrier. Based on CCF consumption and trade matrix data, here, the “source” of COVID-19 transmission through CCF was analyzed using a complex network analysis method, informing the construction of a risk assessment model reflecting internal and external transmission dynamics. The model included the COVID-19 risk index, CCF consumption level, urbanization level, CCF trade quantity, and others. The risk level of COVID-19 transmission by CCF and the dominant risk types were analyzed at national and global scales as well as at the community level. The results were as follows. (1) The global CCF trade network is typically dominated by six core countries in six main communities, such as Indonesia, Argentina, Ukraine, Netherlands, and the USA. These locations are one of the highest sources of risk for COVID-19 transmission. (2) The risk of COVID-19 transmission by CCF in specific trade communities is higher than the global average, with the Netherlands–Germany community being at the highest level. There are eight European countries (i.e., Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Britain, Italy, and Poland) and three American countries (namely the USA, Mexico, and Brazil) facing a very high level of COVID-19 transmission risk by CCF. (3) Of the countries, 62% are dominated by internal diffusion and 23% by external input risk. The countries with high comprehensive transmission risk mainly experience risks from external inputs. This study provides methods for tracing the source of virus transmission and provides a policy reference for preventing the chain of COVID-19 transmission by CCF and maintaining the security of the global food supply chain.

Possible changes in trade-off strategy in female lizards (Eremias argus) during hibernation following exposure to chlorantraniliprole: Impact on the HPG axis and the energy mobilization

Hibernation is a short-term survival strategy for ectotherms to cope with cold weather and food shortages. The energy sources stored before hibernation are used not only in the winter, but also in preparation for reproduction. Reproductive physiology and behavior are primarily regulated by the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis. In this study, we examined endocrine hormone changes in the HPG axis of female lizards (Eremias argus) after chlorantraniliprole insecticide (CAP) exposure during hibernation. The levels of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and progesterone were significantly decreased and the level of testosterone (T) was significantly increased after 135d experiment. This study verified the possible endocrine disrupting effects of CAP. More energy material consumption was observed in CAP treated group. Female E. argus preferred to invest energy to present survival when exposed to CAP, rather than to reserve material for following reproductive activity.

The Psychrotrophic Pseudomonas lundensis, a Non-aeruginosa Pseudomonad, Has a Type III Secretion System of the Ysc Family, Which Is Transcriptionally Active at 37°C.

ABSTRACTThe type III secretion system (T3SS) is a needle-like structure found in Gram-negative pathogens that directly delivers virulence factors like toxins and effector molecules into eukaryotic cells. The T3SS is classified into different families according to the type of effector and host. Of these, the Ysc family T3SS, found in Yersinia species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, confers high virulence to bacteria against eukaryotic hosts. Here, we present the first identification and transcriptional analyses of a Ysc T3SS in a non-aeruginosa Pseudomonas species, Pseudomonas lundensis, an environmental psychrotrophic bacterium and important agent of frozen food spoilage. We have identified and sequenced isolates of P. lundensis from three very distinct ecological niches (Antarctic temporary meltwater pond, U.S. supermarket 1% pasteurized milk, and cystic fibrosis lungs) and compared these to previously reported food spoilage isolates in Europe. In this paper, we show that strains of P. lundensis isolated from these diverse environments with ambient temperatures ranging from below freezing to 37°C all possess a Ysc family T3SS secretion system and a T3S effector, ExoU. Using in vitro and in vivo transcriptomics, we show that the T3SS in P. lundensis is transcriptionally active, is expressed more highly at mammalian body temperature (37°C) than 4°C, and has even higher expression levels when colonizing a host environment (mouse intestine). Thus, this Ysc T3SS-expressing psychrotrophic Pseudomonad has an even greater range of growth niches than previously appreciated, including diseased human airways.

Sustainable marketing innovation and consumption: Evidence from cold chain food online retail

As reports on the gap between consumer awareness and behaviors in sustainable consumption increase, the effects of sustainable marketing innovation services on alleviating this gap are attracting more and more attention. This study integrates innovation diffusion theory, perceived value theory, and planned behavior theory to study the impact of online retail food cold chain recyclable express package marketing innovation. Specifically, it explores the antecedents, consequences, and mediating factors of sustainable marketing innovation in guiding consumers to participate in express packaging recycling. Survey data were obtained from 581 individuals in the area of Seoul, South Korea, and they were analyzed using structural equation modeling. This study found that the five innovation diffusion characteristics of sustainable marketing innovation services (comparative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability) each have a significant impact on consumers' participation in express packaging recycling. In addition, consumer's perceived value and satisfaction are effective mediators for promoting consumers' participation in express package recycling. This study enriches the literature on enterprise sustainable marketing innovation services using a theory-driven approach and provides practical insights into the effectiveness of using a marketing innovation service to achieve cleaner production for enterprises.

An Optimal Method for Supply Chain Logistics Management Based on Neural Network

From raw material storage through final product distribution, a cold supply chain is a technique in which all activities are managed by temperature. The expansion in the number of imported meat and other comparable commodities, as well as exported seafood has boosted the performance of cold chain logistics service providers. On the basis of the standard basic-pursuit (BP) neural network, a rough BP particle swarm optimization (PSO) neural network model is constructed by combining rough set and particle swarm algorithms to aid cold chain food production enterprises in quickly picking the best cold chain logistics service providers. To reduce duplicate information in the original data and make the input index more compact, the model employs rough set. Instead of using gradient descent to train the weights of the neural network, particle swarm optimization is utilized to ensure that the output results are not readily caught in local minima and that the network’s generalization capacity is improved. Finally, an example is presented to demonstrate the model’s validity and viability. The findings reveal that the model’s prediction error is 40.94 percent lower than the BP neural network model, and the prediction result is more accurate and dependable, providing a new technique for cold chain food production companies to swiftly pick the best cold chain logistics service provider.

Evaluation of the consequences of menopause on women with respect to salivary flow rate, gustatory function, and pH

Context: Saliva is considered a predictive gateway to the body. Alterations in salivary secretion can be assessed quantitatively and/or qualitatively. Thus, estimation of salivary components may give insight to the general health of an individual and be considered the mirror of the body's health. The health needs of women vary mainly due to hormonal fluctuations occurring throughout the woman's life. Hence, the “menstruation cycle and menopause” may affect the metabolism of periodontal tissue including swollen salivary glands, bright red swollen gums, or bleeding gums or might cause alterations in the flow rate of saliva, its pH, as well as taste function. Due to menopause, there are unique hormonal changes in women and they are more receptive to salivary alterations, such as sensitivity to hot and cold food, altered taste, burning sensation, and reduced flow rate of saliva that lead to xerostomia and atrophic gingivitis also. Aim: This research project is designed for the evaluation of “salivary flow rate,” gustatory perception, and “pH” of resting saliva in premenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal women. Subjects and Methods: The evaluation of salivary flow rate, gustatory perception, and salivary pH was carried out in a total of 105 women, each 35 from, the premenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal categories. Results: The present study observed significant alterations of reduced salivary flow rate, reduced sweet intensity, and pH in postmenopausal women than the menstruating women. Conclusion: Menopause is followed by a variety of alterations, few of which occur in the mouth. The use of salivary flow rate, gustatory perception, and pH is helpful to identify the risks linked with menopause.

Mammalian hibernation ~ the survival strategy for harsh seasonswith cold and little food by hypometabolism and hypothermia

Mammalian hibernation ~ the survival strategy for harsh seasonswith cold and little food by hypometabolism and hypothermia

A Novel Time-Aware Food Recommender-System Based on Deep Learning and Graph Clustering

Food recommender-systems are considered an effective tool to help users adjust their eating habits and achieve a healthier diet. This paper aims to develop a new hybrid food recommender-system to overcome the shortcomings of previous systems, such as ignoring food ingredients, time factor, cold start users, cold start food items and community aspects. The proposed method involves two phases: food content-based recommendation and user-based recommendation. Graph clustering is used in the first phase, and a deep-learning based approach is used in the second phase to cluster both users and food items. Besides a holistic-like approach is employed to account for time and user-community related issues in a way that improves the quality of the recommendation provided to the user. We compared our model with a set of state-of-the-art recommender-systems using five distinct performance metrics: Precision, Recall, F1, AUC and NDCG. Experiments using dataset extracted from "Allrecipes.com" demonstrated that the developed food recommender-system performed best.

Cold chain and food loss in the Vietnamese food chain

Food loss is a severe problem in Vietnam, especially since the covid-19 epidemic grew more serious in Vietnam at the start of 2020, generating supply chain disruptions. Food loss is becoming increasingly problematic. Shippers turn to cold-chain to minimize food loss during a pandemic, resulting in an increase in demand for cold storage and cold transport. However, no study has been conducted in Vietnam to assess the overall scenario of food loss and the cold-chain of the food supply chain. This article will discuss the state of the cold-chain in Vietnam, as well as the present state of food loss in the food chain.

Selection criteria for planning cold food chain traceability technology enabling industry 4.0

Failure to deliver safe and high-quality food not only causes costly food crises and foodborne illnesses, but also impairs consumer confidence and the performance of cold food chains. Industry 4.0 transformation in food traceability systems i.e., the transition from manual paper-based record keeping to automatic identification and sensor technologies, holds the potential to enable improved data transmission and self-monitoring to reduce food quality issues. Selection of these technologies to meet a specific need requires a measurement on how they perform across a range of criteria. An overview of traceability technology performance rating for criteria enabling industry 4.0 in cold food chain is absent in the literature. This article presents a summary of the traceability technology criteria relevant to cold food chain industry 4.0 transformation through iterative literature review and expert validation. The selection criteria are then combined into a quantitative technology performance matrix that can help users to determine which technology is the most beneficial for a given supply chain scenario.

A Study on Food Service Marketing with Reference to Moodabidri and Karkala

Food service industries are those business, institutions and companies responsible for any meal prepared outside the home. This industry includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations and many other formats. The Indian food industry is under huge growth, increasing its contributions to world food trade every year. In India the food sector has emerged as a high growth and high profit sector due to its immense potential for value addition particularly with food industry. The marketing strategies of food service industry is their high quality food, quick delivery and good service. The online food ordering business in India is witnessing exponential growth and has a promising growth because of its good marketing strategies and management. The hotels and restaurants in rural areas have more demand because of supplies of fresh and affordable foods with quality. But access to food may be limited by financial constraints or other factors such as transportation challenges. Otherwise even rural food servicing retailers have their own strategies like taste, affordable price and they are able to manage some extent. Food service managers are responsible for daily operations of restaurants and other establishment that prepare and serve food. In recent days even catering food service business is also growing. It might be owned by single owner or in the form of partnership. Their marketing strategy is providing hot or cold food to client at a remote location. The main aim of our study is to know how food service industry maintain the quality of food with affordable price.

Traditional postpartum customs in modern urban Chinese women and its association with dietary quality

Background & aimsTraditional Chinese customs practicing in postpartum yield mixed results on maternal health. The objectives of this study are 1) to depict the postpartum customs in Chinese lactating women in varied areas and 2) to explore its effects on dietary intake. MethodThis study is part of the “YI” study; data of 974 lactating women from ten cities of China were used. Food intake frequencies in the past month were assessed with the Food Frequency Questionnaire. The 24-h dietary recall was used to estimate nutrient intake and assess dietary diversity. Participants were also required to report in detail those traditional customs which they had practiced in postpartum, and word clouds were drawn according to the report frequencies of certain customs. ResultsIn total, 49.9% of women practiced certain traditional customs in postpartum. A total of 159 customs were recorded, including 130 dietary customs. The most frequently reported customs included “avoid eating cold food” (n = 164), “no spicy food” (n = 121) and “avoiding food influencing breast milk secretion” (n = 42). The dietary diversity was not associated with practicing postpartum customs; however, women with customs had significantly higher intake frequencies of potato and yam, seaweed, fruits, livestock meat and other dairy products, yet a lower intake frequency of dark green vegetables. For nutrient intake, women who practicing certain practices were observed to have a significantly higher intake of energy, protein, carbohydrate, niacin, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium. ConclusionsTraditional postpartum customs are still common in Chinese women and associated with dietary intake.

The ICCEE Toolbox. A Holistic Instrument Supporting Energy Efficiency of Cold Food and Beverage Supply Chains

Abstract Cold supply chains of food and beverage sectors represent one of the main drivers of the EU total final energy consumption. Within this context, food quality losses, changes in temperature regimes, energy use, environmental burdens, and the economic viability of energy efficiency measures are essential aspects to consider for improving cold supply chains’ overall sustainability. This paper presents a dedicated toolbox, developed within the Horizon 2020 project ICCEE, for supporting decision-making and actors to assess energy efficiency path within a specific type of food cold-supply (i.e., meat, fish, milk and cheese products, fruits, and vegetables). More in specific the toolbox offers support for decision-makers to understand and minimize the specific energy consumption, to decrease the overall environmental impact even including non-energy benefit evaluation many times underestimated. The six separated tools merged within a unique toolbox consider different methodological approaches such as: assessment of the whole energy requirements in stock and flows considering the storage impact, the logistics and quality losses over time, implementation of Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle costs within the environmental and financial assessment of energy efficiency measures, based on a benchmarking approach. Finally, a specific approach implementing Multi Criteria Analysis was developed on selected key performance indicators such as specific and cumulated energy consumptions, quality losses and environmental burdens (i.e., global warming potential and water scarcity). The latest version of the ICCEE toolbox is available as free downloadable package on the ICCEE website.

Replacement of Two Failed Indirect Restorations with Direct Bonded Restorations Using Minimally Invasive Strategy

Deciding on what treatment (repair or replacement) to provide for a failed indirect restoration can be challenging. Notably, the strength of the residual tooth structure could be improved after replacing the failed indirect restoration using a minimally invasive strategy. Objective: To describe the use of a minimally invasive strategy for the successful clinical replacement of two failed indirect metal restorations with direct composite restorations and the attainment of bonded restoration. Case Report: Case 1. A 52-year-old male patient came to the dental hospital complaining of discomfort when drinking cold beverages and food impaction on the proximal area of the upper left first molar. Case 2. A 45-year-old female patient complained about her debonded metal onlay and secondary caries in the upper right second molar. Both of these indirect restoration failures were treated with direct resin composite restoration. Both patients were highly satisfied with the results. Conclusion: This report presents the benefits of adopting a minimally invasive strategy approach for replacing failed indirect restorations (inlays and onlays) with direct-bonded composite restorations. Minimally invasive direct restorations are designed to maximize the preservation of tooth structure, thereby ensuring a long-term bonded restoration and leaving future options open when a failure occurs.

Muscles in Winter: The Epigenetics of Metabolic Arrest.

The winter months are challenging for many animal species, which often enter a state of dormancy or hypometabolism to “wait out” the cold weather, food scarcity, reduced daylight, and restricted mobility that can characterize the season. To survive, many species use metabolic rate depression (MRD) to suppress nonessential metabolic processes, conserving energy and limiting tissue atrophy particularly of skeletal and cardiac muscles. Mammalian hibernation is the best recognized example of winter MRD, but some turtle species spend the winter unable to breathe air and use MRD to survive with little or no oxygen (hypoxia/anoxia), and various frogs endure the freezing of about two-thirds of their total body water as extracellular ice. These winter survival strategies are highly effective, but create physiological and metabolic challenges that require specific biochemical adaptive strategies. Gene-related processes as well as epigenetic processes can lower the risk of atrophy during prolonged inactivity and limited nutrient stores, and DNA modifications, mRNA storage, and microRNA action are enacted to maintain and preserve muscle. This review article focuses on epigenetic controls on muscle metabolism that regulate MRD to avoid muscle atrophy and support winter survival in model species of hibernating mammals, anoxia-tolerant turtles and freeze-tolerant frogs. Such research may lead to human applications including muscle-wasting disorders such as sarcopenia, or other conditions of limited mobility.

Food texture experiences across age groups in 4- to 36-month-old children in the United States.

The question of what to feed becomes a new challenge as an infant reaches the transition to complementary foods. Limited information is available that provides a texture progression map for complementary food introduction. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the relationship between age and food texture experiences (FTE) in young children aged 4-36 months in the United States. A parent-reported survey was fielded with 328 children categorized into five age groups (AGs): 4-8 months (AG1), 9-12 months (AG2), 13-18 months (AG3), 19-24 months (AG4), and 25-36 months (AG5). The present study analyzed four questions focused on FTE, with statistical analyses including probit and logit models, and analysis of variance. Results showed that all 16 food textures were tried at least once (>50%) by AG3. The question answered by participants, "How well does your child manage a specific texture," showed that significant differences existed among AGs for the management of 10 food textures (including chewy, hard, soft), whereas teething alone had no effect. The most refused textures by the children were AG1-crispy (27%), AG2-leafy (23%), AG3-leafy (40%), AG4-tough meat (52%), and AG5-leafy (51%). With increasing AG, the refusal probability of nine food textures, including chewy, leafy, and rubbery, also increased (p< .05). The refusal probability of cold food temperatures decreased with increasing age (p< .05). This study observed FTE in children across AGs and provides useful information to parents and practitioners as they introduce food textures into children's diets.

3D Printed In Vitro Dentin Model to Investigate Occlusive Agents against Tooth Sensitivity.

Tooth sensitivity is a painful and very common problem. Often stimulated by consuming hot, cold, sweet, or acidic foods, it is associated with exposed dentin microtubules that are open to dental pulp. One common treatment for tooth hypersensitivity is the application of occlusive particles to block dentin microtubules. The primary methodology currently used to test the penetration and occlusion of particles into dentin pores relies upon dentin discs cut from extracted bovine/human teeth. However, this method is limited due to low accessibility to the raw material. Thus, there is a need for an in vitro dentin model to characterize the effectiveness of occlusive agents. Three-dimensional printing technologies have emerged that make the printing of dentin-like structures possible. This study sought to develop and print a biomaterial ink that mimicked the natural composition and structure of dentin tubules. A formulation of type I collagen (Col), nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (HAp), and alginate (Alg) was found to be suitable for the 3D printing of scaffolds. The performance of the 3D printed dentin model was compared to the natural dentin disk by image analysis via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), both pre- and post-treatment with occlusive microparticles, to evaluate the degree of dentinal tubule occlusion. The cytocompatibility of printed scaffolds was also confirmed in vitro. This is a promising biomaterial system for the 3D printing of dentin mimics.

High prevalence of food taboos and dietary restrictions in lactating mothers from coastal districts of a south Indian state: a hospital based study

Background: Adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation is pivotal for wellbeing of newborn infants. However, presence of traditional beliefs and taboos associated with food intake during pregnancy and lactation could interfere with nutritional needs of growing infants resulting in a variety of nutritional disorders. Our objective was to study the prevalence of dietary restrictions and food taboos practiced by lactating women from five costal districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.Methods:It was a descriptive and observational study, conducted between November 2020 to January 2021 at the Children’s Heart Institute, Andhra Hospitals, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. The study was conducted on mothers attending the out-patient clinic of pediatric cardiology department using convenient sampling technique. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data.Results: A total of 161 mothers have participated in the survey and, almost all of them (99.3%) have restricted one or more food item during lactation. Age of the mother, level of education and socio-economic status have no bearing on the prevalence of food restrictions and food taboos. Most commonly restricted food items include sweets, fruits, leafy vegetables, yogurt, some pulses, eggs and nuts. The concept of hot and cold food items is highly prevalent in the study population and lactating mothers have no knowledge of the nutritive value of the foods avoided/restricted.Conclusions:Food restrictions and taboos associated with food intake during post-partum period are widespread in our study population. Improving girl child education and campaigning through print and digital media are important tools in fighting against harmful traditional practices interfering with adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.