No abstract

The role of maternal colostrum to infant development has been extensively studied and presented. Among the main factors which contribute to breast milk composition are maternal diet, age and body mass index, parity, duration of pregnancy and stage of lactation. This study aims to investigate the potential impact of several factors including demographic (i.e. maternal age and nationality) on the colostrum fatty acid profile. Colostrum was collected the third day postpartum in a Greek maternity hospital. Certain lipid quality indices and fatty acid ratios were estimated and results were statistically processed. The main identified fatty acids were palmitic (C16:0), oleic (C18:1ω-9), and linoleic (C18:2ω-6) acids. Among fatty acids, saturated fatty acids predominated (47.61%), followed by monounsaturated fatty acids (39.26%), while polyunsaturated fatty acids had the lowest proportion (13.13%). Values of lipid quality indices were within the reported in the literature ranges. Maternal body mass index, nationality, age, mode of delivery, gender and fetal weight percentile were studied in respect to their potential influence on the fatty acid profile of colostrum fat. Results suggest that colostrum fatty acid profile was mainly dependent on maternal nationality and age rather than mode of delivery and maternal BMI. Regarding the effect of maternal nationality, significant differences were found for saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Of the most interesting findings is that colostrum fat from older (≥35 years) mothers had less saturated fat and more appropriate LQIs values. Finally, a reversed correlation was observed between the customized centile of the infants and the colostrum fat content.

Information on fatty acid (FA) profile is critical for the production and promotion of sheep milk and derivative dairy products. The presence of the essential ω-3 and ω-6 FA in milk fat as well as other less common FA, like linoleic acid isomers, has gained an increasing interest due to the consumer demand for a healthy diet. This research assesses the FA profile and estimates the lipid quality indices (ratio between hypocholesterolaemic and hypercholesterolaemic fatty acids, peroxidisability index, atherogenic index, and thrombogenic index) of raw milk and cream fat from two indigenous Greek sheep breeds (Karagouniko and Chios) at different lactation stages. Raw milk and cream fat presented a favorable ω-6/ω-3 ratio below 4:1. Atherogenic and thrombogenic indices of all studied milk fat fluctuated in sufficiently low levels (<3). The FA profile and lipid quality indices in both raw milk and cream samples differed significantly depending more on the lactation stage compared to the breed type. Raw milk fat from late lactation had more beneficial fatty acid profile compared to early and middle lactation stages. Differences among breeds were highlighted when raw milk and cream samples were compared within the same lactation stage. Raw milk and cream fat from Karagouniko breed were characterised by higher ω-3 proportion, lower ω-6/ω-3 ratio and lower thrombogenic index value compared to those from Chios breed.

The present study aimed at identifying the acoustic pattern of vocalizations, produced by 7- to 11-month-old infants, that were interpreted by their mothers as expressing emotions or communicative functions. Participants were 6 healthy, first-born English infants, 3 boys and 3 girls, and their mothers. The acoustic analysis of the vocalizations was performed using a pattern recognition (PR) software system. A PR system not only calculates signal features, it also automatically detects patterns in the arrangement of such features. The following results were obtained: (a) the PR system distinguished vocalizations interpreted as emotions from vocalizations interpreted as communicative functions with an overall accuracy of 87.34%; (b) the classification accuracy of the PR system for vocalizations that convey emotions was 85.4% and for vocalizations that convey communicative functions was 89.5%; and (c) compared to vocalizations that express emotions, vocalizations that express communicative functions were shorter, displayed lower fundamental frequency values, and had greater overall intensity. These findings suggest that in the second half of the first year, infants possess a vocal repertoire that contributes to regulating cooperative interaction with their mothers, which is considered one of the major prerequisites for language acquisition.

The implementation of fast and nondestructive methods in meat products and colds cuts have become increasingly important to evaluate their quality in relation to different factors such as origin, type of processing, freshness, adulteration, and authenticity. In this study, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), colorimetric, and image-analysis methods were implemented to characterize and classify ham cold cuts in terms of meat type, processing, and shelf life during refrigerated storage. Two types of commercial hams (made from pork and turkey) and three types of processing (boiled, smoked, and roasted) were selected. By using the most appropriate color parameters, a*, h, and C*, as well as the textural features’ angular second moment, long-running emphasis, and standard deviation of image intensity from the hams’ images, high-classification values for the different ham samples were achieved. The FT-IR analysis revealed the presence of absorbance bands of proteins, triglycerides, fatty acids, and carbohydrates with different intensities according to meat type and processing. Refrigeration storage caused significant alterations of color parameters and a partial degradation of triglycerides and proteins. Moreover, the image-analysis findings indicated that storage period caused significant degradation of ham images relating to local linearity, and structural and textural continuum.