Childhood diet in relation to Sámi and Norwegian ethnicity in northern and mid-Norway--the SAMINOR study

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this work was to identify dietary patterns in the past using cluster analysis of reported diet in childhood, and to assess predictors for dietary patterns in relation to ethnicity in the population in the Sámi core areas in Norway. The Sámis are an indigenous population living in the border areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. DESIGN: Population-based, cross-sectional study, using self-administered questionnaires. A food-frequency questionnaire covering selected food items eaten in childhood was used. The questionnaire also provided data on ethnicity. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: This study was based on data collected from 7614 subjects participating in The Population Based Study of Health and Living Conditions in Areas with a Mixed Sámi and Norwegian Population (the SAMINOR study) who grew up in the SAMINOR geographical areas, i.e. areas with mixed Sámi and Norwegian populations in Norway. RESULTS: Four dietary clusters were identified: a reindeer meat cluster; a cluster with high intakes of fish, traditional fish products and mutton, in addition to food sources from the local environment; a Westernised food cluster with high intakes of meat balls and sausages; and a cluster with a high intake of fish, but not any other foods in the questionnaire. The cluster distribution differed by ethnicity, but the effect of ethnicity on diet differed by coastal and inland residence. CONCLUSION: Our study has shown that data gathered through the limited questionnaire could be used to group the study sample into different dietary clusters, which we believe will be useful for further research on relationships between diet in childhood and health in the Sámi core areas in Norway.     

Does the diet of the Balearic population, a Mediterranean-type diet, ensure compliance with nutritional objectives for the Spanish population?

OBJECTIVES: To assess the dietary habits of Balearic Islands' consumers who are successful in meeting current nutritional recommendations, to find clues for the development of future food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) that would be relevant to this population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional nutritional survey carried out in the Balearic Islands between 1999 and 2000. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Dietary habits were assessed by means of 24-hour recall (two non-consecutive days: warm and cold season) and a food-frequency questionnaire in a random sample (n=1200, aged 16-65 years) living in private households. Differences in percentage of compliers with the intermediate nutritional objectives for the Spanish population and differences in food consumption patterns between genders and between high (above the upper quartile of intake) and low (below the lower quartile of intake) consumers of fat, saturated fatty acids (SFA), fibre, and fruit and vegetables were analysed. RESULTS: Gender differences were observed in nutrient and energy intakes, as well as in attainment of the recommendations. Less than 25% of the population reached the intermediate nutritional recommendations for iodine, fruit, carbohydrates, SFA, fibre and vegetables. Low fat/SFA and high fruit and vegetables/fibre consumers kept a diet in line with the traditional Balearic diet and prevailing dietary pyramids, which ensured better compliance with the nutritional goals. CONCLUSIONS: The intermediate nutritional objectives for the Spanish population could be achieved through maintenance of the traditional Balearic diet, a Mediterranean-type diet in the Balearic population. Therefore, this dietary model could be used to develop FBDG relevant to this population.     

Up-regulated desaturase and elongase gene expression promoted accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) but not long-chain PUFA in Lates calcarifer, a tropical euryhaline fish, fed a stearidonic acid- and γ-linoleic acid-enriched diet

The limited activity of Δ6 fatty acid desaturase (FAD6) on α-linolenic (ALA, 18:3n-3) and linoleic (LA, 18:2n-6) acids in marine fish alters the long-chain (≥C(20)) polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) concentration in fish muscle and liver when vegetable oils replace fish oil (FO) in aquafeeds. Echium oil (EO), rich in stearidonic acid (SDA, 18:4n-3) and γ-linoleic acid (GLA, 18:3n-6), may enhance the biosynthesis of n-3 and n-6 LC-PUFA by bypassing the rate-limiting FAD6 step. Nutritional and environmental modulation of the mechanisms in LC-PUFA biosynthesis was examined in barramundi, Lates calcarifer , a tropical euryhaline fish. Juveniles were maintained in either freshwater or seawater and fed different dietary LC-PUFA precursors present in EO or rapeseed oil (RO) and compared with FO. After 8 weeks, growth of fish fed EO was slower compared to the FO and RO treatments. Irrespective of salinity, expression of the FAD6 and elongase was up-regulated in fish fed EO and RO diets, but did not lead to significant accumulation of LC-PUFA in the neutral lipid of fish tissues as occurred in the FO treatment. However, significant concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6), but not docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), appeared in liver and, to a lesser extent, in muscle of fish fed EO with marked increases in the phospholipid fraction. Fish in the EO treatment had higher EPA and ARA in their liver phospholipids than fish fed FO. Endogenous conversion of dietary precursors into neutral lipid LC-PUFA appears to be limited by factors other than the initial rate-limiting step. In contrast, phospholipid LC-PUFA had higher biosynthesis, or selective retention, in barramundi fed EO rather than RO.     

Study on Soil and Pine-Seedling Zn and Mn and Predicting-Model Design

Soils were collected from 2-year (2-y) and 3-year (3-y) old red-pine seedling plots in two tree nurseries, Hayward in the north and Wilson in the southwestern part of Wisconsin State respectively, and equilibrated with 0.01 M Ca(NO₃)₂ for soil solution Zn and Mn (solu-Zn and Mn), and with 0.01 M Ca(NO₃)2+0.005 M EDTA for soil adsorbed Zn and Mn (ad-Zn and Mn). Buffering capacity of soil Zn and Mn (b-Zn and Mn) was obtained from the ratio of ad-Zn and Mn to the solu-Zn and Mn. The concerned traces in pine seedling needles (ndls), stems(sts) and roots (rts) were simultaneously measured.     

Mycorrhizal colonization and nutrition of wheat and sweet corn grown in manure‐treated and untreated topsoil and subsoil

Dry bean yields (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were raised to similar levels as the topsoil by manure application to eroded or leveled Portneuf silt loam soil (coarse‐silty mixed mesic Durixerollic Calciorthid). Only soil organic matter and zinc (Zn) content of leaf tissue were correlated with improved yields. Manure application increased mycorrhizal colonization and Zn uptake in pot experiments with dry bean which would explain the increased yields in the field. A field study was conducted to see if similar effects of manure and mycorrhizal colonization could be observed in field grown spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and sweet corn (Zea mays L.). This study was conducted on existing experiments established in the spring of 1991 at the USDA‐ARS farm in Kimberly, Idaho, to study crop rotation/organic matter amendment treatments on exposed subsoils and focused on mycorrhizal colonization as related to topsoils and subsoils treated with conventional fertilizer (untreated) or dairy manure. Mycorrhizal root colonization was higher with untreated than with manure‐treated wheat and sweet corn. Root colonization was also higher in subsoil than in topsoil for wheat, but there were no differences between soils for sweet corn. Shoot Zn and manganese (Mn) concentrations generally increased with increased root colonization for both species (except between soils with corn Mn contents). Wheat shoot potassium (K) concentration was increased by manure application, but the affect declined with time, was the opposite of colonization and was not observed with sweet com. Phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), and copper (Cu) concentrations either were not influenced or were erratically affected by mycorrhizal colonization. Yields of wheat were highest for manure‐treated subsoil and topsoil compared to untreated soils. Mycorrhizal colonization was different between conventional and manure‐treated soils and between topsoil and subsoil and these differences increased Zn and Mn uptake, but they did not explain the improvement in wheat yields obtained with manure application.     

Detection and quantification of apple adulteration in diluted and sulfited strawberry and raspberry purées using visible and near-infrared spectroscopy

Adulteration of sulfited strawberry and raspberry purées by apple is a commercial problem. Strawberry (n = 31) and raspberry (n = 30) purées were prepared from Irish-grown fruit and adulterated at levels of 10-75% w/w using cooking apples. Visible and near-infrared transflectance spectra were recorded using a 0.1 mm sample thickness. Classification and quantification models were developed using raw and scatter-corrected and/or derivatized spectral data. Classification as pure strawberry or raspberry was attempted using soft independent modeling of class analogy. The best models used spectral data in the wavelength ranges 400-1098 nm (strawberry) and 750-1098 nm (raspberry) and produced total correct classification rates of 75% (strawberry) and 95% (raspberry). Quantification of apple content was performed using partial least-squares regression. Lowest predictive errors obtained were 11.3% (raspberry) and 9.0% (strawberry). These results were obtained using spectral data in the wavelength ranges 400-1880 and 1100-1880 nm, respectively. These results suggest minimum detection levels of apple in soft fruit purées of approximately 25 and 20% w/w for raspberry and strawberry, respectively.     

Speciation and biochemical transformations of sulfur and copper in rice rhizosphere and bulk soil—XANES evidence of sulfur and copper associations

Purpose  

Contamination of heavy metals in soil and its subsequent accumulation along the food chain is a potential risk to human health. Cu speciation in soil–plant system, particularly on the availability to plant roots, has obtained great attention. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) provides information about the bonding of Cu soil components at the molecular scale. In paddy soils, changes of redox conditions led to microbially mediated sulfur transformation, thus affecting heavy metal behavior. The objective of this work was to investigate how sulfur transformation in a paddy soil affected Cu biogeochemical processes.     

Dissolution and Fractionation of Calcium—Bound and Iron—and Aluminum—Bound Humus in Soils

This paper deals with the development of a sequential extraction method to separate the Ca-bound and Fe-and Al-bound humus from soils.First,comparative analyses were carried out on dissolution of synthetic organo-mineral complexes by different extractants,i.e.0.1M Na4P2O7,0.1M NaOH 0.1M Na4P2O7 mixture,0.1M NaOH,0.5M (NaPO3)6 and 0.5M neutral Na2SO4.Among the five extractants,0.1M NaOH 0.1M Na4P2O7 mixture was the most efficient in extracting humus from various complexes.0.5M Na2SO4 had a better specificity to Ca than 0.5M (NaPO3)6,by only extracting Ca-bound humus without destorying Fe-and Al-bound organo-mineral complexes.Then sequential extractions first with 0.5M Na2SO4 and then with 0.1M NaOH 0.1M Na4P2O7 mixture were applied to a series of soil samples with different degrees of base saturation.The cations were dominated by Ca in the 0.5M Na2SO4 extract and by Al in the 0.1M NaOH 0.1M Na4P2O7 mixture.The sequential extraction method can efficiently separate or isolate Ca-bound and Fe-and Al-bound humus from each other.     

Fruit set and yield of Pepino Dulce response to nitrate‐nitrogen and salinity levels and thinning of side branches and trusses 1

Three pepino dulce (Solanum muricatum Ait.) selections were fertigated with nitrate‐nitrogen at 3, 6, or 12 mmol/L, and 0,3, or 6 dS/m chloride ions. Plants treated with nitrate‐nitrogen at 6 mmol/L bore heavier yields of larger fruit than those at 3 mmol/L. Further increase in nitrate‐nitrogen application to 12 mmol/L did not result in yield increase. Salt decreased yield in all cases. Heavy fruit set was recorded in plants trimmed to two main shoots, and thinning to three sets per truss resulted in even fruit distribution between trusses.