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ABSTRACT: Ripening is the most crucial process step in cheese manufacturing and constitutes multiple biochemical alterations that describe the final cheese quality and its perceived sensory attributes. The assessment of the cheese-ripening process is challenging and requires the effective analysis of a multitude of biochemical changes occurring during the process. This study monitored the biochemical and sensory attribute changes of paraffin wax-covered long-ripening hard cheeses (n = 79) during ripening by collecting samples at different stages of ripening. Near-infrared hyperspectral (NIR-HS) imaging, together with free amino acid, chemical composition, and sensory attributes, was studied to monitor the biochemical changes during the ripening process. Orthogonal projection-based multivariate calibration methods were used to characterize ripening-related and orthogonal components as well as the distribution map of chemical components. The results approve the NIR-HS imaging as a rapid tool for monitoring cheese maturity during ripening. Moreover, the pixelwise evaluation of images shows the homogeneity of cheese maturation at different stages of ripening. Among the chemical compositions, fat content and moisture are the most important variables correlating to NIR-HS images during the ripening process.

A new quality control (QC) test sample for gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was created and analysed to test the comparability and repeatability of chemical forensics results within the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)–designated laboratories. The QC test sample was designed in collaboration between four laboratories and consists of 27 compounds which evaluate the performance of GC–MS instruments. This solution was analysed with GC–MS(EI) in 11 laboratories, seven of which were OPCW designated. The participating laboratories analysed the sample multiple times on consecutive days, as well as after the analysis of a set of complex matrix samples. Retention times, retention indices, peak areas, peak tailing values, signal-to-noise ratios, and isotope ratios were extracted from the GC–MS data, and statistical multivariate analyses with principal component analysis and Hotelling's T2-tests were conducted. The results from these analyses indicate that differences between GC–MS analyses by multiple laboratories were not statistically significant at the 5% level, as the approximate p-value for the null hypothesis of “no differences between the runs” was 0.69. However, similar data processing methods and data normalisation are essential for enabling the reliable comparison of chemical fingerprints between laboratories. A composition for the QC sample and criteria for acceptable GC–MS performance for chemical forensics are proposed. The composition and criteria differ from the currently used chemical weapons verification analysis QC sample by e.g. broadening the range for retention index calculations by addition of new alkane compounds, including new chemicals with concentrations close to the limit of detection (10–100 ng/ml), and including compounds with higher polarity to emulate real-life forensic samples. The proposed criteria include monitoring of retention indices, isotope ratios, peak tailing, signal-to-noise ratios, peak height, mass spectra, and sensitivity of the instrument. The new compounds and criteria will be the subject of future confidence building exercises to validate their relevancy on a large scale.

This article addresses issues of mobility and place-making among CEE-born young people who migrated from Poland and Romania to Sweden as children (up to the age of 18). Previous research on intra-EU mobility in other destinations posits this group as 1.5-generation migrants who, due to their mobility at a formative age, experience duality and in-betweenness – with specific effects on their social and familial lives. Inspired by this research, our article examines how mobility to Sweden at a young age (re)shapes young peoples’ connection to and meaning-making of places post-migration. Drawing on two-step qualitative interviews with 18 adolescents and young adults from Poland and Romania, as well as on drawings and photographs as part of the visual materials produced by the participants, the article makes two contributions. First, it integrates the scholarship on children and youth mobility, translocalism and place-making but also deepens these conceptualisations by underlining the role of memories and feelings in young people’s place-making processes. Second, the article suggests that visual methodology is a valuable tool with which to capture the embodied and the material practices of translocal place-making over time. Our findings reveal that most of these young people continue to strongly associate with places from their childhood and country of origin. For some, these places symbolise ongoing transnational practices of visits and daily communication while, for others, these are imaginary places of safety and a right place to be. The findings also highlight the importance of memories and feelings in creating transnational connectivity between the countries of origin and Sweden, as well as in developing coping strategies against the social exclusion and misrecognition which some young people may experience in their new living spaces.

The maturation of a traditional Swedish long-ripened cheese has shown increasing variation in recent years and the ripening time is now generally longer than in the past. While the cheese is reliant on non-starter lactic acid bacteria for the development of its characteristic flavour, we hypothesised that the observed changes could be due to variations in the microbiota composition and number of bacteria in the raw milk used for production of the cheese. To evaluate associations between microbiota in the raw milk and the resulting cheese, three clusters of commercial farms were created to increase variation in the microbiota of dairy silo milk used for cheese production. Cheese production was performed in three periods over one year. Within each period, milk from the three farm clusters was collected separately and transported to the cheese production facility. Following pasteurisation, the milk was processed into the granular-eyed cheese and matured at a dedicated cheese-ripening facility. For each cheese batch, farm bulk and dairy silo milk samples, a starter culture, early process samples and cheese samples from different stages of maturation (7–20 months) were collected and their microbiota characterised using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. The microbiota in the farm bulk milk differed significantly between periods and clusters. Differences in microbiota in dairy silo milk were observed between periods, but not between farm clusters, while the cheese microbiota differed between periods and clusters. The top 13 amplicon sequence variants were dominant in early process samples and the resulting cheese, making up at least 93.3% of the relative abundance (RA). Lactococcus was the dominant genus in the early process samples and, together with Leuconostoc, also dominated in the cheese samples. Contradicting expectations, the RA of the aroma-producing genus Lactobacillus was low in cheese during ripening and there was an unexpected dominance of starter lactic acid bacteria even at the later stages of cheese ripening. To identify factors behind the recent variations in ripening time of this cheese, future studies should address the effects of process variables and the dairy environment.

ABSTRACT: In this study, we investigated the variation in the microbial community present in bulk tank milk samples and the potential effect of different farm management factors. Bulk tank milk samples were collected repeatedly over one year from 42 farms located in northern Sweden. Total and thermoresistant bacteria counts and 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon sequencing were used to characterize microbial community composition. The microbial community was in general heterogeneous both within and between different farms and the community composition in the bulk tank milk was commonly dominated by Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Streptococcus, unclassified Peptostreptococcaceae, and Staphylococcus. Principal component analysis including farm factor variables and microbial taxa data revealed that the microbial community in milk was affected by type of milking system. Milk from farms using an automatic (robot) milking system (AMS) and loose housing showed different microbial community composition compared with milk from tiestall farms. A discriminant analysis model revealed that this difference was dependent on several microbial taxa. Among farms using an automatic milking system, there were further differences in the microbial community composition depending on the brand of the milking robot used. On tiestall farms, routines for teat preparation and cleaning of the milking equipment affected the microbial community composition in milk. Total bacteria count (TBC) in milk differed between the farm types, and TBC were higher on AMS than tiestall farms (log 4.05 vs. log 3.79 TBC/mL for AMS and tiestalls, respectively). Among tiestall farms, milk from farms using a chemical agent in connection to teat preparation and a more frequent use of acid to clean the milking equipment had lower TBC in milk, than milk from farms using water for teat preparation and a less frequent use of acid to clean the milking equipment (log 3.68 vs. 4.02 TBC/mL). There were no significant differences in the number of thermoresistant bacteria between farm types. The evaluated factors explained only a small proportion of total variation in the microbiota data, however, despite this, the study highlights the effect of routines associated with teat preparation and cleaning of the milking equipment on raw milk microbiota, irrespective of type of milking system used.

Abstract Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have in recent years evolved as a source of biomarkers for disease diagnosis and therapeutic follow up. sEV samples derived from multicellular organisms exhibit a high heterogeneous repertoire of vesicles which current methods based on ensemble measurements cannot capture. In this work we present droplet barcode sequencing for protein analysis (DBS‐Pro) to profile surface proteins on individual sEVs, facilitating identification of sEV‐subtypes within and between samples. The method allows for analysis of multiple proteins through use of DNA barcoded affinity reagents and sequencing as readout. High throughput single vesicle profiling is enabled through compartmentalization of individual sEVs in emulsion droplets followed by droplet barcoding through PCR. In this proof‐of‐concept study we demonstrate that DBS‐Pro allows for analysis of single sEVs, with a mixing rate below 2%. A total of over 120,000 individual sEVs obtained from a NSCLC cell line and from malignant pleural effusion (MPE) fluid of NSCLC patients have been analyzed based on their surface proteins. We also show that the method enables single vesicle surface protein profiling and by extension characterization of sEV‐subtypes, which is essential to identify the cellular origin of vesicles in heterogenous samples.

The monthly variation in raw dairy silo milk was investigated and related to the ripening time of the resulting cheese during an industrial cheese-making trial. Milk composition varied with month, fat and protein content being lowest in August (4.19 and 3.44 g/100 g, respectively). Casein micelle size was largest (192–200 nm) in December–February and smallest (80 nm) in August. In addition, SCC, total bacteria count, proteolytic activities, gel strength, and milk fatty acid composition were significantly varied with month. Overall sensory and texture scores of resulting cheese were mainly influenced by plasmin and plasminogen activity, indicating the importance of native proteolytic systems. Recently, concepts based on the differentiated use of milk in dairy products have been suggested. For the investigated cheese type, there might be little to gain from such an approach. The variation in the investigated quality characteristics of the dairy milk used for cheese making had little effect on cheese ripening in our study. In contrast to our hypothesis, we conclude that as long as the quality of the milk meets certain minimum criteria, there are only weak associations between cheese milk characteristics and the time required for the development of aroma and texture in the cheese. To find answers behind the observed variation in cheese ripening time, studies on the effects of process parameters are needed.

Research highlights the importance of supportive relations for young people leaving care. Foster carers give an important contribution to such support. However, there is less knowledge about foster carers' views about the relational contact after the young person has aged out of care. This article explores foster carers' perspectives building on interviews with foster carers from both Norway and Sweden about their views on relational continuity. Life course and network theory are used as theoretical lenses to understand the opportunities and challenges for further contact both with cares and extended foster family. Findings suggest that foster carers have a lifelong perspective, still the relationship can be uncertain and some result in breaks. Viewed from a life course perspective, the relationships can also be renewed, and foster carers and other members of the foster family seem to be important sources of support for young people with a care background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws from a broader research project Transnational childhoods, illuminating the agency and experiences of children and young people migrating from Poland and Romania to Sweden under the age of 18. Focusing on young people born in Poland and having social relationships post-migration as central theoretical component, the article explores the role that the Polish Catholic community in Sweden plays in the lives of young Polish migrants. It does so by grounding the analysis on 23 qualitative interviews, combined with network maps and life-lines, produced by the young Polish participants. The study identifies three important dimensions in the role of the Polish Catholic community. These are comprised of the community's role for young Poles' spiritual development and religious identity, for building new friendships and making sense of common migration and religious experiences, and guidance by specifically Polish Catholic priests in the young migrants' family relationships and in future life projects. The article concludes that while practicing religion and building significant social relationships within the Polish congregations the young migrants shape feelings of belonging and inclusion, however primarily within the limits of their own ethnic community. Further research is needed on the wider implications of primarily mono-ethnic relational practices for the young Poles' lives within the increasingly ethnically heterogeneous Swedish society.

Passenger cars contribute considerably to total emissions of greenhouse gasses. In this article, we develop scenarios for the Swedish passenger car fleet in 2030, achieving a 70% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as compared to 2010. The number of shared and electric cars, how they are combined, and levels of biofuel use differ between the scenarios. Transport volumes, car access, battery use, indirect emissions, and fleet development are evaluated and compared. Conclusions based on the scenarios include: Target-fulfillment requires a reduction in kilometers traveled by passenger cars. The reductions are 21%–47% per capita in six scenarios. Major changes to both removal rate and new car sales are needed, highlighting a policy challenge for the coming decade. Total battery capacity in the vehicle fleet increase from 1 GWh 2018 to 73–168 GWh in the six scenarios. This implies a need for careful consideration regarding resource scarcity and production capacity. A new metric, vehicle kilometers/(kWh*year), is developed and tested to explore efficiency in battery use. Reducing direct emissions through a high production of electric cars causes tensions in relation to the European Emissions Trading System due to the indirect emissions that arise. It is therefore important to consider indirect emissions in policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sharing of indoor space can improve space and energy efficiency. The drivers and barriers to space-sharing initiatives are investigated from the perspectives of building users and building sector practitioners, based on interviews and a workshop. The role of energy performance metrics in promoting space efficiency is further analysed through a literature review. From the users’ perspective, space sharing can be understood through the interplay between tangible aspects ('e.g.' concrete benefits derived from sharing), organisational aspects ('e.g.' common decision processes and conflict resolution) and social aspects ('e.g.' group identity and consensus on appropriate behaviours). From the perspective of architects and property owners, shareable spaces require features such as flexibility and multifunctionality. The design of such spaces is limited by regulatory issues ('e.g.' building regulations poorly accommodate shared facilities) and business-related issues. One such issue is that building performance metrics normalised based on floor area do not incentivise the efficient use of space. A review of complementary metrics is provided, covering parameters such as number of users, layout, time of use, 'etc'. Each metric serves a particular purpose; therefore, a set of complementary metrics can be used to support decisions at different phases of the building’s life cycle. 'Practice relevance' Improving space efficiency ('e.g.' by sharing indoor space) is a key strategy to meet simultaneously the future demand for facilities in cities and fulfil environmental objectives such as a reduction of climate change impact in the building sector. A clearer understanding of the specificities of space sharing is provided from the perspectives of building users and practitioners. This will assist practitioners to understand the needs of other stakeholders. Regulatory and business-related barriers to space-sharing initiatives are highlighted as a first step towards overcoming these barriers. Guidance is provided on complementary energy performance metrics appropriate for space efficiency. These metrics can be used to support various decisions during the different stages of a building’s life cycle.

Critical feminist theorists have pointed out how the idea of the singular, revolutionary Act tends to reinforce masculinist and colonialist imaginaries. In this essay, I argue for the need to elaborate other ways of revolting. Through a reading of Saidiya Hartman’s Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, I explore ways to consider the relationship between embodied acts of resistance and past bodies’ gestures, as a strategy to reformulate resistance away from the single Act, often enacted by an autonomous, male subject. In Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Hartman merges archival research with fictional storytelling, giving voice to young, black women in the United States in the early 20th century. I argue that, when reading Hartman’s text through feminist ontologies of interdependency, acts of revolt appear as collective gestures, re-appearing through time, rather than as singular events. thus, this reading of Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, demonstrates how we can rethink the singular Act of resistance.

This article draws attention to the relevance of young care leavers' exercise of agency as one possible key ingredient in overcoming barriers to engagement in work. Several previous studies show difficulties in entering adult life, both in relation to higher and further education as well as entrance into work life. The article analyses interviews with young adults from six countries, who have spent at least part of their childhood and youth in out‐of‐home care and the results indicate that the care leavers have the ability to make plans and set up goals for the future that they in many cases are able to achieve or at least are striving for over time. In many instances, they show a strong motivation, for example, to educate themselves pursuing their goals. To support this transition of young care leavers, it is important to listen to 'successful' cases such as the ones presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how opportunities for reducing the total use of office space can be identified, investigates how the benefits in terms of energy savings from space efficiency measures could be calculated, and gives a first estimate of such values. A simple method to measure office space use is presented and tested at two university departments, and very low space efficiency is found. A variety of reasons for the low space efficiency are identified via interviews with property managers and heads of the concerned departments. These include the fact that the incentives for using space efficiently are small for the decision-makers, and the costs in terms of time and trouble are perceived as high. This suggests that interesting results can be achieved without large efforts. Moreover, we present a proof of concept of how to estimate the amount of energy that can be saved by reducing space use. We find a rough estimate of the potential energy savings of 2 MWh/m2 in embodied primary energy intensity (assuming that more efficient use of space leads to a decrease in new construction) and 200 kWh/m2/year in final energy intensity. Those numbers should be useful as rough estimates when looking at opportunities for saving energy by using space more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the ultra-high temperature (UHT) process, milk is subject to temperatures above 135 °C for few seconds giving a product with a shelf-life of several months. The raw milk quality, UHT process and storage conditions affect the stability. In this study, the stability of UHT milk produced in an indirect system was evaluated by studying changes in taste, colour, fat separation, fat adhesion to the package, sedimentation, gelation, heat coagulation time, pH and ethanol stability during storage for up to one year at different temperatures. UHT milk stored at 4 and 20 °C had the longest shelf-life of 34–36 weeks, limited by sediment formation. Storage at 30 and 37 °C considerably decreased the shelf-life of UHT milk to 16–20 weeks, whereby changes in sediment formation, taste and colour were the limiting factors. Our results suggest that the changes observed at the different storage temperatures can be explained by different known mechanisms.

The maturation of a traditional Swedish long-ripened cheese has shown increasing variation in recent years and the ripening time is now generally longer than in the past. While the cheese is reliant on non-starter lactic acid bacteria for the development of its characteristic flavour, we hypothesised that the observed changes could be due to variations in the microbiota composition and number of bacteria in the raw milk used for production of the cheese. To evaluate associations between microbiota in the raw milk and the resulting cheese, three clusters of commercial farms were created to increase variation in the microbiota of dairy silo milk used for cheese production. Cheese production was performed in three periods over one year. Within each period, milk from the three farm clusters was collected separately and transported to the cheese production facility. Following pasteurisation, the milk was processed into the granular-eyed cheese and matured at a dedicated cheese-ripening facility. For each cheese batch, farm bulk and dairy silo milk samples, a starter culture, early process samples and cheese samples from different stages of maturation (7–20 months) were collected and their microbiota characterised using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. The microbiota in the farm bulk milk differed significantly between periods and clusters. Differences in microbiota in dairy silo milk were observed between periods, but not between farm clusters, while the cheese microbiota differed between periods and clusters. The top 13 amplicon sequence variants were dominant in early process samples and the resulting cheese, making up at least 93.3% of the relative abundance (RA). Lactococcus was the dominant genus in the early process samples and, together with Leuconostoc, also dominated in the cheese samples. Contradicting expectations, the RA of the aroma-producing genus Lactobacillus was low in cheese during ripening and there was an unexpected dominance of starter lactic acid bacteria even at the later stages of cheese ripening. To identify factors behind the recent variations in ripening time of this cheese, future studies should address the effects of process variables and the dairy environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To investigate the epiphytic microbiota in grass-clover herbage harvested at different sites and occasions and to explore the effect of different silage additives on the resulting silage microbiota. Methods and results Herbage was harvested from grass-clover leys at geographically distributed sites in a long-term field experiment in Sweden, in early and late season of two consecutive years. Different silages were made from the herbage using: (1) no additive, (2) acid-treatment, and (3) inoculation by starter culture. Herbages were analysed for botanical and chemical composition, and the resulting silages for products of fermentation. Bacterial DNA was extracted from herbage and silage samples, followed by sequencing using Illumina 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Herbage microbiota showed no clear correlation to site or harvesting time. Silage additives had a major effect on the ensiling process; inoculation resulted in well fermented silages comprising a homogenous microbiota dominated by the genera Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. A minor effect of harvest time was also observed, with generally a more diverse microbiota in second-harvest silages. Untreated silages showed a higher relative abundance (RA) from non-lactic acid bacteria compared to acid-treated silages. In most silages, only a few bacterial amplicon sequence variants contributed to most of the RA. Conclusions The epiphytic microbiota in grass-clover herbage were found to be random and not dependent on site. From a microbial point of view, the most predictable and preferable silage outcome was obtained by inoculation with a starter culture. Acid-treatment with formic- and propionic acid surprisingly resulted in a less preferable silage. Silage making without additives cannot be recommended based on our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]