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In the article, the increase of environmental and epidemiological problems in parallel with the decrease of hydrocarbon fuel reserves, as well as the constant increase in the price of traditional energy resources in recent years, the increasing demand for renewable energy sources in the world, the increase in the demand for fuel mixtures, and the problems of updating the methods of their preparation, and the main fuels the fact that the application of bioethanol addition technology has led to an increase in the amount of water, it is dedicated to the solutions to accelerate the corrosion of metal. In addition, the article is devoted to determining the amount of bioethanol added to diesel fuel, mixing time and temperature depending on the parameters of density and viscosity in the formation of a mixture of diesel and bioethanol fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses molecular changes in the working mixture based on the composition of the biofuel blend. Theoretical calculations on the variations in heat release rates and fuel particle velocities reveal differing increases in heat utilization efficiency across various flow sections during atomization at different time intervals. The movement conditions of particles within the combustion chamber vary, particularly in fuels with multicomponent mixtures. Notably, a significant number of droplets (up to 20 million) of varying sizes are observed. Under these circumstances, abrupt spraying speeds are not recommended as they lead to fuel accumulation around the burner, hindering the combustion process. Furthermore, the article introduces analytical relationships aimed at promoting turbulence in flows of diverse fuels within the combustion chamber through the intensive mixing and throttling of fuel mixtures with varying compositions.

The article summarizes the characteristics of the use of labor resources in agriculture by the head of the farm, determining the level of use of resources, efficient use of labor resources, shortening the seasonal working period of labor resources in agriculture, creating an employment environment, prospects for the use of labor resources in agriculture, organization of small enterprises for the industrial surplus production of agricultural products, organization of storage rooms for agricultural products, indicators reflecting the general state of labor productivity are presented. , as well as conclusions on the effective use of labor productivity and comparison of the economic potential of farmers and peasants, conclusions on the main factor of the production process, reproduction of the labor force regardless of the ownership of the economy in agricultural production.

The article discusses a method for planting seeds in stony soil and a device for its implementation. It has been established that the quality of seed placement in the soil significantly depends on the quality of formation of the earthy soil layer at a depth of seed placement. A method is proposed for planting seeds in stony soil, which includes cutting off the upper layer of stony soil with its simultaneous separation, formation of stony and fine-grained layers from it and laying them alternately on top of each other, forming grooves, laying seeds on its bottom and falling asleep seeds with soil. In contrast, the depth of cut of the upper layer of stony soil is taken equal to the sum of the depth of seeding and the maximum size of stones. To implement the method, a proposed device includes a frame, a ploughshare mounted on it, and a separating grid made of several parallel wire elements, sowing machines, disc coulters, and fenders. The economic efficiency of the proposed technical solution is associated with maintaining the period of the emergence of seedlings and, accordingly, increasing the yield of crops, as well as increasing the productivity of sowing machines.

The study aims to substantiate the parameters and operating mode of the oil purification device from oxidation products to improve the efficiency of the use of lubricants. The methods of mathematical analysis and mathematical statistics, comparative comparison, generalization, and testing methods of agricultural machinery are used in the research process. It is established that engine oils are intensively polluted by oxidation products during processing, thereby accelerating the friction process due to the overload of tractor engines. During the performance of agricultural work in the oil composition, the content of oxidation products in the form of carbon, carbon dioxide, and asphalt products increases by 1.2%. Analytical coupling dependences for the process of cleaning motor oils from oxidizing products are obtained, and the dependence of the cleaning efficiency on the device parameters is established. The developed device consists of a container for collecting oils, a steam generator, a container for a sump mixer, a separate container for pure and sedimentary oils, and a vessel for re-collecting acetone. An installation has been developed to implement the technology of collecting and renewing oils in the conditions of the farm. In this case, the amount of contamination and the composition of oils is determined, and the operating mode of the device is selected for their resumption.

Existing plows do not provide high-quality tillage between rows of orchards and vineyards. The purpose of the study is to develop and justify the parameters of the plow for cultivating the soil between rows of gardens to tractors of class 0.9 kN. A design scheme of a single-body plow for smooth, rowless plowing of garden aisles has been developed. The proposed plow consists of a movable and fixed frame, a disc knife, a screw body with a hostage. The research uses the laws of agricultural mechanics, mathematical statistics, and methods of strain measurement. The technology of cultivating the soil between rows of gardens with a single-body plow for smooth plowing is justified. To implement the proposed technology, the position of the plow body changes relative to the tractor during operation. It is established that when equipping a plow with a movable and fixed frame and performing a body width of 45-52. 5 cm, the required plowing quality is achieved with the lowest energy consumption.

Amylopectin (AP)-only (APBS), normal (NBS), and amylose (AM) only (AOBS) barley starches were selected here to investigate catalysis pattern of maltogenic α-amylase (MA) on hydrolyzing AP and AM granular starches. MA shortened starch side chains with degree of polymerization (DP) 11-30. MA-treated APBS exhibited porous granular structures and dramatically increased degree of branching (DB, 17-20 %), and reduced ordered degrees, suggesting high hydrolysis and transglycosylation activities of MA. MA-treated NBS showed less pronounced porous structures and slightly increased DB (2-4 %), indicating high hydrolysis but low transglycosylation activities. AOBS displayed minimal changes in DB (0.2-0.3 %) and starch structures, implying low hydrolysis and transglycosylation activities. Therefore, MA preferred to attack the AP molecules with abundant glucan substrates with DP 11-30, while AM restricted MA activity likely by creating ineffective binding sites and undergoing rapid reorganization. These findings deepened the understanding of the mechanisms of MA in modifying granular starches with varying AM content., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (chol) subfractions are risk biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). A reference analysis, ultracentrifugation (UC), is laborious and may be replaced with a rapid prediction using proton NMR spectra of human blood plasma. However, the quality and uniqueness of these prediction models of biologically related subfractions remains unknown. This study, using two independent cohorts (n = 277), investigates the inter-correlations between LDL cholesterol in the main fraction and five subfractions, as well as the independence of their NMR-based prediction models. The results reveal that the prediction models utilize both shared and unique spectral information from the NMR spectra to determine concentrations of LDL subfractions. Analysis of variance contributions for prediction and causality assessments demonstrate that the NMR spectra contain unique predictive information for the LDL1chol, LDL2chol, and LDL5chol subfractions. In contrast, the spectral signatures for LDL3chol and LDL4chol are either insufficient or confounded. Our findings indicate that these five CVD biomarkers represent two independent clusters, reflecting their biosynthetic pathways, and confirm the presence of causal relationships between certain LDL chol subfractions. This highlights the importance of employing caution when interpreting the concentrations of specific LDL subfractions as standalone biomarkers for CVD risk., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background & Aims: Human milk is the optimal diet for very preterm infants (VPIs), but it requires nutrient fortification to support growth. Bovine colostrum (BC), rich in intact proteins and bioactive components, could serve as a novel fortifier with potential benefits to VPIs gut health. To evaluate a possible effect of feeding BC on intestinal metabolism, the gut microbiota, and their interaction, we studied the fecal metabolome of VPIs in the first month of life, as compared with a conventional fortifier (CF, based on infant formula ingredients)., Methods: Fecal samples were collected from VPIs recruited to the FortiColos trial (NCT03537365, BC, n = 107; CF, n = 112) before (FT0) and one (FT1) or two (FT2) weeks after start of fortification and analyzed using 1 H NMR spectroscopy. Abundances of metabolites were compared between BC versus CF groups. Further, temporal changes in metabolite levels after start of fortification, as well as correlations with specific gut bacterial genera were explored., Results: Infants in the BC group had higher levels of fecal acetoacetate, choline, methanol, uracil, creatine, creatinine, lysine and a lower leucine at both FT1 and FT2, relative to the CF group. Asparagine, tryptophan and phenylalanine levels were higher, and butyrate was lower in the BC group at FT1. At FT2, higher fecal succinate and lower isoleucine were found in the BC group. In addition, eight metabolites (asparagine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, lysine, creatinine, acetoacetate, methanol and uracil) had fortification-specific changes over time. Positive correlations were found between succinate and unclassified Enterobacteriaceae, butyrate and Clostridium, uracil and Staphylococcus, while negative correlation were found between uracil and unclassified Enterobacteriaceae members., Conclusion: Our study shows distinct fecal metabolome profiles in VPIs in the first weeks after fortification with BC versus CF. The fortification- and time-specific gut metabolite changes suggest that fortifiers influence luminal nutrient metabolism and microbiota activity in VPIs. Fortifier type for human milk affected gut health of VPIs via altered gut metabolite levels, interacting with microbiota in VPIs., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The University of Copenhagen holds a patent on the use of colostrum for human infants (PCT/DK2013/050184). Biofiber Damino A/S is given options to license this patent. P.T.S. is listed as the sole inventor but has declined any share of potential revenue arising from commercial exploitation of such a patent. P.T.S. did not take part in any clinical work in the units involved in this study. Other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The intake of trans-fatty acids (TFA) is strongly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in blood. This review explores the critical factors influencing TFA formation during industrial vegetable oil processing and home cooking practices, particularly deep-frying. While hydrogenation, a major source of TFA, has been largely eliminated in developed countries, it remains unregulated in many developing countries, posing significant health risks. Temperature emerged as a critical factor increasing TFA levels during hydrogenation and frying, while linoleic and linolenic acids being highly prone to trans-isomerization. In home cooking, studies also indicate that, apart from frying temperature and time, additional factors such food composition (proteins, carbohydrates, and antioxidants) and frying vessel material type significantly impact TFA formation within the food matrix. This review highlights the urgent need for regulatory measures and awareness to minimize TFA exposure from industrially produced and home cooked foods, reducing associated health risks., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Cow milk contains essential nutrients for humans, and its bulk composition is usually analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The higher sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy can augment the extractible qualitative and quantitative information from milk to nearly 60 compounds, enabling us to monitor the health of cows and milk quality. Proton ( 1 H) NMR spectroscopy produces complex spectra that require expert knowledge for identifying and quantifying metabolites. Therefore, an efficient and reproducible methodology is required to transform complex milk 1 H NMR spectra into annotated and quantified milk metabolome data. In this study, standard operating procedures for screening the milk metabolome using 1 H NMR spectra are developed. A chemical shift library of 63 milk metabolites was established and implemented in the open-access Signature Mapping (SigMa) software. SigMa is a spectral analysis tool that transforms 1 H NMR spectra into a quantitative metabolite table. The applicability of the proposed methodology to whole milk, skim milk, and ultrafiltered milk is demonstrated, and the method is tested on ultrafiltered colostrum samples from dairy cows ( n = 88) to evaluate whether metabolic changes in colostrum may reflect the metabolic status of cows.

Lactose powder production from whey permeate generates various side-streams. Molecular profiling of these side-streams and lactose powder can help to detect minor compounds affecting lactose crystallization, lactose powder properties and document the composition of the underutilized side-streams. In this study, whey permeate, lactose powder and intermediate streams from trial lactose productions were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H NMR) spectroscopy. In total, 110 compounds were identified and 49 were quantified. Linking the molecular profiles to in-process steps revealed differential compositional attenuation by the unit operations. Small molecules (e.g. methanol) and a few larger molecules (e.g. fatty acids) permeated reverse osmosis membrane, while twenty-three compounds (e.g. hydroxypyruvic acid, malonic acid, gluconic acid and ribonic acid) co-crystallized with lactose and ended up in lactose power. These results help to better understand and control lactose powder production and highlights possibilities to develop new food ingredients., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: The skeletal muscle mass decreases with age and the responsiveness of aging muscles' protein synthesis rate (MPS) to protein intake seems to deteriorate., Objective: This study investigated the impact of 12 months of protein supplementation with or without physical exercise training on the basal and postprandial MPS and the skeletal muscle metabolome of healthy older Danes (> 65 years, 29 females/37 males)., Methods: Subjects were randomized to follow one of five intervention groups: (1) carbohydrate, (2) collagen protein, (3) whey protein, (4) home-based light resistance training with whey protein, and (5) center-based heavy-load resistance training with whey protein. Before and after the intervention, a tracer infusion trial was conducted to measure basal and postprandial MPS in response to intake of a cocktail consisting of 20 g whey hydrolysate + 10 g glucose. In addition, the skeletal muscle metabolome was measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) at basal state and 4 h after the intake of the cocktail., Results: One year of daily protein or carbohydrate supplementation did not alter the basal and protein-stimulated postprandial muscle protein synthesis rate or the muscle metabolome of healthy older Danes. Basal MPS (%/h) at baseline for all subjects were 0.0034 ± 0,011 (mean ± SD). In contrast to previous studies, no difference was observed in basal MPS between males and females (p = 0.75). With the developed untargeted GC-MS methodology, it was possible to detect and tentatively annotate > 70 metabolites from the human skeletal muscle samples., Conclusion: One year of protein supplementation in comparison to an isocaloric-control supplement seems to affect neither the MPS at basal or postprandial state nor the skeletal muscle metabolome., Clinical Trial Registry: Number: NCT02115698, clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02115698., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background and Aim: Results from randomized controlled trials indicate that no single diet performs better than other for all people living with obesity. Regardless of the diet plan, there is always large inter-individual variability in weight changes, with some individuals losing weight and some not losing or even gaining weight. This raises the possibility that, for different individuals, the optimal diet for successful weight loss may differ. The current study utilized machine learning to build a predictive model for successful weight loss in subjects with overweight or obesity on a New Nordic Diet (NND)., Methods: Ninety-one subjects consumed an NND ad libitum for 26 weeks. Based on their weight loss, individuals were classified as responders (weight loss ≥5%, n  = 46) or non-responders (weight loss <2%, n  = 24). We used clinical baseline data combined with baseline urine and plasma untargeted metabolomics data from two different analytical platforms, resulting in a data set including 2,766 features, and employed symbolic regression (QLattice) to develop a predictive model for weight loss success., Results: There were no differences in clinical parameters at baseline between responders and non-responders, except age (47 ± 13 vs. 39 ± 11 years, respectively, p  = 0.009). The final predictive model for weight loss contained adipic acid and argininic acid from urine (both metabolites were found at lower levels in responders) and generalized from the training (AUC 0.88) to the test set (AUC 0.81). Responders were also able to maintain a weight loss of 4.3% in a 12 month follow-up period., Conclusion: We identified a model containing two metabolites that were able to predict the likelihood of achieving a clinically significant weight loss on an ad libitum NND. This work demonstrates that models based on an untargeted multi-platform metabolomics approach can be used to optimize precision dietary treatment for obesity., Competing Interests: VS-L and SD are employed at Abzu, developers of the QLattice®. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Pigsborg, Stentoft-Larsen, Demharter, Aldubayan, Trimigno, Khakimov, Engelsen, Astrup, Hjorth, Dragsted and Magkos.)

Introduction: The present study investigates whether supplementation with pectin-type polysaccharides has potential to improve aging-associated dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. The influence of different types of pectins on the gut microbiota composition and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) profiles of elderly was compared to younger adults., Methods: Pectins studied included a pectin polysaccharide (PEC), a partially hydrolyzed pectin (PPH), and a pectin oligosaccharide (POS). Additionally, inulin was used as a reference prebiotic substrate. Individual fecal samples were collected from healthy elderly volunteers (70-75 years) and younger adults (30-35 years). In vitro fermentations were performed using the CoMiniGut model with controlled temperature and pH. Samples were withdrawn at baseline and after 24 h fermentation for measurement of SCFAs production and microbiota composition by 16S rRNA gene sequencing., Results and Discussion: The results showed that fermentations with PEC and PPH resulted in a specific stimulation of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii regardless of the age groups . Collinsella aerofaciens became a dominating species in the young adult group with fermentations of all three pectins, which was not observed in the elderly group. No significant differences in SCFAs production were found among the pectins, indicating a high level of functional redundancy. Pectins boosted various bacterial groups differently from the reference prebiotic substrate (inulin). We also found inulin had reduced butyrogenic and bifidogenic effects in the elderly group compared to the younger adult group. In conclusion, the in vitro modulating effects of pectins on elderly gut microbiota showed potential of using pectins to improve age-related dysbiosis., Competing Interests: FG, NP, FR, and SP are employees of CP Kelco Inc., a producer of commercial pectin. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Gu, Larsen, Pascale, Petersen, Khakimov, Respondek and Jespersen.)

Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Scope: The New Nordic Diet (NND) has been shown to promote weight loss and lower blood pressure amongst obese people. This study investigates blood plasma metabolite and lipoprotein biomarkers differentiating subjects who followed Average Danish Diet (ADD) or NND. The study also evaluates how the individual response to the diet is reflected in the metabolic differences between NND subjects who lost or maintained their pre-intervention weight., Methods: Centrally obese Danes (BMI >25) followed NND (90 subjects) or ADD (56 subjects) for 6 months. Fasting blood plasma samples, collected at three time-points during the intervention, were screened for metabolites and lipoproteins (LPs) using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In total, 154 metabolites and 65 lipoproteins were analysed., Results: The NND showed a relatively small but significant effect on the plasma metabolome and lipoprotein profiles, with explained variations ranging from 0.6% for lipoproteins to 4.8% for metabolites. A total of 38 metabolites and 11 lipoproteins were found to be affected by the NND. The primary biomarkers differentiating the two diets were found to be HDL-1 cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1, phospholipids, and ketone bodies (3-hydroxybutyric acid, acetone, and acetoacetic acid). The increased levels of ketone bodies detected in the NND group inversely associated with the decrease in diastolic blood pressure of the NND subjects. The study also showed that body weight loss among the NND subjects was weakly associated with plasma levels of citrate., Conclusion: The main plasma metabolites associated with NND were acetate, methanol and 3-hydroxybutyrate. The metabolic changes associated with the NND-driven weight loss are mostly pronounced in energy and lipid metabolism., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Trimigno, Khakimov, Rasmussen, Dragsted, Larsen, Astrup and Engelsen.)

Introduction: Uzbekistan is one of the countries with the highest number of diet-related chronic diseases, which is believed to be associated with high animal fat intake. Sheep meat is high in fats (~ 5% in muscle), including saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, and it contains nearly twice the higher amounts of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids compared to beef. Nevertheless, sheep meat is considered health promoting by the locals in Uzbekistan and it accounts for around 1/3 of red meat intake in the country., Objectives: The aim of this study was to apply a metabolomics approach to investigate if sheep meat intake frequency (SMIF) is associated with alterations in fasting blood plasma metabolites and lipoproteins in healthy Uzbek adults., Methods: The study included 263 subjects, 149 females and 114 males. For each subject a food intake questionnaire, including SMIF, was recorded and fasting blood plasma samples were collected for metabolomics. Blood plasma metabolites and lipoprotein concentrations were determined using 1 H NMR spectroscopy., Results and Conclusion: The results showed that SMIF was confounded by nationality, sex, body mass index (BMI), age, intake frequency of total meat and fish in ascending order (p < 0.01). Multivariate and univariate data analyses showed differences in the levels of plasma metabolites and lipoproteins with respect to SMIF. The effect of SMIF after statistical adjustment by nationality, sex, BMI, age, intake frequency of total meat and fish decreased but remained significant. Pyruvic acid, phenylalanine, ornithine, and acetic acid remained significantly lower in the high SMIF group, whereas choline, asparagine, and dimethylglycine showed an increasing trend. Levels of cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1, as well as low- and high-density lipoprotein subfractions all displayed a decreasing trend with increased SMIF although the difference were not significant after FDR correction., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The NPN compounds from dairy processing side-streams are a promising source for new products. In this study, the NPN profile of lactose production samples was screened using GC-MS and 1 H NMR spectroscopy. These analytical platforms allowed the identification of 35 NPN compounds including, amino acids and derivatives, amino alcohols, organic acids, and other classes. Quantification of the NPN compounds revealed their attenuation by unit operations during a trial lactose production. Urea, ammonia, glycerophosphocholine, creatine, creatinine, orotic acid and choline were the most dominant compounds. Mother liquor concentrate had the highest concentration of NPN, whereas lactose powder had substantial relative amounts of N-acetylglucosamine, phosphocholine and orotic acid. The NPN compounds added up to 57-99% of the total nitrogen, depending on the sample type. The highest nitrogen recovery was found for the reverse osmosis retentate, mother liquid concentrate, wash water and reverse osmosis permeate, whereas the lowest was found for lactose powder., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Corn bran is exceptionally rich in substituted glucuronoarabinoxylan polysaccharides, which are monoferuloylated and cross-linked by diferulic acid moieties. Here, we assessed the potential prebiotic activity of three enzymatically solubilized corn bran glucuronoarabinoxylans: medium feruloylated (FGAX-M), laccase cross-linked FGAX-M (FGAX-H), and alkali-treated FGAX-M devoid of feruloyl substitutions (FGAX-B). We examined the influence of these soluble FGAX samples on the gut microbiome composition and functionality during in vitro simulated colon fermentations, determined by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and assessment of short-chain fatty acid (SCFAs) production. All FGAX samples induced changes in the relative composition of the microbiota and the SCFA levels after 24 h of in vitro fermentation. The changes induced by FGAX-M and FGAX-H tended to be more profound and more similar to the changes induced by inulin than changes conferred by FGAX-B. The microbiota changes induced by FGAX-M and FGAX-H correlated with an increase in the relative abundance of Anaerostipes and with increased butyric acid production, while the changes induced by the FGAX-B sample were less compelling. The results imply that solubilized, substituted diferuloylated corn bran glucuronoarabinoxylans may be potential prebiotic candidates and that both single feruloylations and diferuloyl cross-links influence the prebiotic potential of these arabinoxylan compounds.

Non-invasive detection of unstable angina (UA) patients with different severity of coronary lesions remains challenging. This study aimed to identify plasma lipoproteins (LPs) that can be used as potential biomarkers for assessing the severity of coronary lesions, determined by the Gensini score (GS), in UA patients. We collected blood plasma from 67 inpatients with angiographically normal coronary arteries (NCA) and 230 UA patients, 155 of them with lowGS (GS ≤ 25.4) and 75 with highGS (GS > 25.4), and analyzed it using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to quantify 112 lipoprotein variables. In a logistic regression model adjusted for four well-known risk factors (age, sex, body mass index and use of lipid-lowering drugs), we tested the association between each lipoprotein and the risk of UA. Combined with the result of LASSO and PLS-DA models, ten of them were identified as important LPs. The discrimination with the addition of selected LPs was evaluated. Compared with the basic logistic model that includes four risk factors, the addition of these ten LPs concentrations did not significantly improve UA versus NCA discrimination. However, thirty-two selected LPs showed notable discrimination power in logistic regression modeling distinguishing highGS UA patients from NCA with a 14.9% increase of the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve. Among these LPs, plasma from highGS patients was enriched with LDL and VLDL subfractions, but lacked HDL subfractions. In summary, we conclude that blood plasma lipoproteins can be used as biomarkers to distinguish UA patients with severe coronary lesions from NCA patients.

Steatosis and inflammation have been common gut symptoms in Atlantic salmon fed plant rich diets. Choline has recently been identified as essential for salmon in seawater, and β -glucan and nucleotides are frequently used to prevent inflammation. The study is aimed at documenting whether increased fishmeal (FM) levels (8 levels from 0 to 40%) and supplementation (Suppl) with a mixture of choline (3.0 g/kg), β -glucan (0.5 g/kg), and nucleotides (0.5 g/kg) might reduce the symptoms. Salmon (186 g) were fed for 62 days in 16 saltwater tanks before samples were taken from 12 fish per tank for observation of biochemical, molecular, metabolome, and microbiome indicators of function and health. Steatosis but no inflammation was observed. Lipid digestibility increased and steatosis decreased with increasing FM levels and supplementation, seemingly related to choline level. Blood metabolites confirmed this picture. Genes in intestinal tissue affected by FM levels are mainly involved in metabolic and structural functions. Only a few are immune genes. The supplement reduced these FM effects. In gut digesta, increasing FM levels increased microbial richness and diversity, and changed the composition, but only for unsupplemented diets. An average choline requirement of 3.5 g/kg was indicated for Atlantic salmon at the present life stage and under the present condition., Competing Interests: None of the authors of this manuscript has any conflict of interest regarding the work presented in this manuscript., (Copyright © 2023 Åshild Krogdahl et al.)

In dogs, the use of probiotics for preventive or therapeutic purposes has become increasingly common, however the evidence for beneficial effects are often limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding a diet containing Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 on faecal quality, faecal short-chain fatty acid concentrations, serum concentrations of cholesterol, triglycerides, cobalamin and folate as well as faecal microbiome in adult dogs. Eleven healthy client owned dogs were enrolled in a randomized, double-blinded crossover study. All dogs were fed the same balanced diet with or without incorporation of Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 for 16 days each. Blood and faecal samples were collected at baseline and during the feeding trial and owners recorded daily faecal scores. An Enterococcus spp. ASV, likely representing E. faecium NCIMB 10415 was detected in the faecal microbiome of some dogs 18-19 days after withdrawal of oral supplementation. Inclusion of E. faecium decreased circulating cholesterol ( p = 0.008) compared to baseline. There were no differences in cholesterol concentrations between diets. Owners reported 0.6 ± 0.3) days less of loose stools compared to the control diet. Comparing to baseline, both diets significantly increased faecal concentration of acetate and butyrate, decreased serum cobalamin and increased faecal microbial diversity. Decreased serum cobalamin, and increased faecal acetate correlated with decreases in the Fusobacterium , Streptococcus , Blautia , and Peptoclostridium . Except for effects on circulating cholesterol and faecal score, effects were observed regardless of the addition of E. faecium . It is therefore likely that these effects can be contributed to dietary prebiotic effects on the faecal microbiome.

In this paper we show that metabolic engineering in Cucurbita pepo hairy roots can be used to both effectively increase and modify cucurbitacins. Cucurbitacins are highly-oxygenated triterpenoids originally described in the Cucurbitaceae family, but have since been found in 15 taxonomically distant plant families. Cucurbitacin B, D, E and I are the most widespread amongst the Cucurbitaceae and they have both important biological and pharmacological activities. In this study C. pepo hairy roots were used as a platform to boost production and alter the structures of the afore mentioned cucurbitacins by metabolic engineering to potentially provide new or more desirable bioactivities. We report that the ability to induce cucurbitacin biosynthesis by basic Helix-Loop-Helix transcription factors is partially conserved within the Cucurbitaceae and therefore can potentially be used as a biotechnological tool to increase cucurbitacins in several genera of this family. Additionally, overexpression of a novel acyltransferase from cucurbitacin producing Iberis amara generates a hitherto undescribed acetylation at the C3-hydroxyl group of the cucurbitadienol backbone. While overexpression of the cytochromes P450 CsCYP88L2 and McCYP88L7 from Cucumis sativus and Momordica charantia (respectively), results in accumulation of new spectral feature as revealed by High resolution liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy analysis; the m/z of the new peak supports it might be a cucurbitacin hydroxylated at the C19 position in C. pepo hairy roots. Finally, this paper is a case study of how hairy roots can be used to metabolically engineer and introduce novel modifications in metabolic pathways that have not been fully elucidated., Competing Interests: The authors declare that this study received funding from the Novo Nordic Foundation. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication., (Copyright © 2022 Almeida, Dong, Thorsen, Raadam, Khakimov, Carreno-Quintero, Kampranis and Bak.)