Archaea are prominent members of the prokaryotic communities colonizing common forest mushrooms.

In this study, the abundance and composition of prokaryotic communities associated with the inner tissue of fruiting bodies of Suillus bovinus, Boletus pinophilus, Cantharellus cibarius, Agaricus arvensis, Lycoperdon perlatum, and Piptoporus betulinus were analyzed using culture-independent methods. Our findings indicate that archaea and bacteria colonize the internal tissues of all investigated specimens and that archaea are prominent members of the prokaryotic community. The ratio of archaeal 16S rRNA gene copy numbers to those of bacteria was >1 in the fruiting bodies of four out of six fungal species included in the study. The largest proportion of archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences belonged to thaumarchaeotal classes Terrestrial group, Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotic Group (MCG), and Thermoplasmata. Bacterial communities showed characteristic compositions in each fungal species. Bacterial classes Gammaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacilli, and Clostridia were prominent among communities in fruiting body tissues. Bacterial populations in each fungal species had different characteristics. The results of this study imply that fruiting body tissues are an important habitat for abundant and diverse populations of archaea and bacteria.

Natural decay process affects the abundance and community structure of Bacteria and Archaea in Picea abies logs.

Prokaryotes colonize decaying wood and contribute to the degradation process, but the dynamics of prokaryotic communities during wood decay is still poorly understood. We studied the abundance and community composition of Bacteria and Archaea inhabiting naturally decaying Picea abies logs and tested the hypothesis that the variations in archaeal and bacterial abundances and community composition are coupled with environmental parameters related to the decay process. The data set comprises >500 logs at different decay stages from five geographical locations in south and central Finland. The results show that Bacteria and Archaea are an integral and dynamic component of decaying wood biota. The abundances of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes increase as wood decay progresses. Changes in bacterial community composition are clearly linked to the loss of density of wood, while specific fungal-bacterial interactions may also affect the distribution of bacterial taxa in decaying wood. Thaumarchaeota were prominent members of the archaeal populations colonizing decaying wood, providing further evidence of the versatility and cosmopolitan nature of this phylum in the environment. The composition and dynamics of the prokaryotic community suggest that they are an active component of biota that are involved in processing substrates in decaying wood material.

Pollutant concentrations in placenta.

Unborn children are exposed to environmental pollutants via the placenta, and there is a causal relationship between maternal intake of pollutants and fetal exposure. Placental examination is an effective way for acquiring data for estimating fetal exposure. We analyzed the concentrations of 104 congeners of persistent organic pollutants, seven organotin compounds, five heavy metals, and methylmercury in 130 randomly selected placentas. Additionally, we examined similarities between pollutant concentrations by analyzing correlations between their placental concentrations. Our results yield new information for conducting contaminant risk assessments for the prenatal period. Out of the 117 individual persistent organic pollutants or metals assayed, 46 could be detected in more than half of the placentas. Moreover, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) was found in all placentas. The data indicates that fetal exposure to dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p'-DDE, and methylmercury depends on the mother's parity, and age. We also conclude that sources of the above four pollutants are similar but differ from the sources of polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

Dietary acrylamide exposure among Finnish adults and children: the potential effect of reduction measures.

A deterministic exposure assessment using the Nusser method that adjusts for within-subject variation and for nuisance effects among Finnish children and adults was carried out. The food consumption data covered 2038 adults (25-74 years old) and 1514 children of 1, 3 and 6 years of age, with the data on foods' acrylamide content obtained from published Finnish studies. We found that acrylamide exposure was highest among the 3-year-old children (median = 1.01 µg kg(-1) bw day(-1), 97.5th percentile = 1.95 µg kg(-1) bw day(-1)) and lowest among 65-74-year-old women (median = 0.31 µg kg(-1) bw day(-1), 97.5th percentile = 0.69 µg kg(-1) bw day(-1)). Among adults, the most important source of acrylamide exposure was coffee, followed by casseroles rich in starch, then rye bread. Among children, the most important sources were casseroles rich in starch and then biscuits and, finally, chips and other fried potatoes. Replacing lightly roasted coffee with dark-roasted, swapping sweet wheat buns for biscuits, and decreasing the acrylamide content of starch-based casseroles and rye bread by 50% would result in a 50% decrease in acrylamide exposure in adults. Among children, substituting boiled potatoes for chips and other friend potatoes and replacing biscuits with sweet wheat buns while lowering the acrylamide content of starch-based casseroles by 50% would lead to acrylamide exposure that is only half of the original exposure. In conclusions, dietary modifications could have a large impact in decreasing acrylamide exposure.

Diet and weight gain characteristics of pregnant women with gestational diabetes.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To determine if women with gestational diabetes (GD) modify their diet and nutrient intake in late pregnancy and gain more weight during pregnancy compared with women without GD. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Food and nutrient intake of 3613 pregnant women was studied using food frequency questionnaires from the Type I Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Nutrition Study. RESULTS: D was reported in 4.8% of the participating women (n=174). Women with GD gained less weight during pregnancy than those unaffected by GD (mean 9.4 vs 12.6 kg, P<0.001). Women with GD consumed more milk products (84 vs 76 g/MJ, P=0.002), cereal products (21 vs 18 g/MJ, P<0.001), vegetables (32 vs 22 g/MJ, P<0.001) and meat (16 vs 14 g/MJ, P<0.001) than unaffected women. The intake of protein (18 vs 16 percent of total daily energy intake, P<0.001) and dietary fibre (3.1 vs 2.4 g/MJ, P<0.001) was higher, whereas the intake of sugars (13.3 vs 15.0 g/MJ, P<0.001) and saturated fatty acids (3.49 vs 3.98 g/MJ, P<0.001) was lower among women with GD. The nutrient density of the diet was higher in women with GD with higher intakes of vitamins A and D, folate and iron. CONCLUSIONS: The late pregnancy diet of women with GD differed considerably from that of unaffected women. Women with GD had a higher body weight at the beginning of the pregnancy, but they gained less weight during pregnancy. These findings indicate that abnormal glucose tolerance during pregnancy encourages women to modify their dietary habits towards healthier food choices.

Dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of cancer among Finnish male smokers.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between dietary acrylamide intake and the risk of cancer among male smokers. METHODS: The study consisted of 27,111 male smokers, aged 50-69 years, without history of cancer. They were participants of the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study in Finland. The men completed a validated dietary questionnaire and a questionnaire on general background characteristics (including smoking habits) at baseline. Incident cases of cancer were identified through the national Finnish Cancer Registry. RESULTS: During an average 10.2 year follow-up, 1,703 lung cancers, 799 prostate cancers, 365 urothelial cancers, 316 colorectal cancers, 224 stomach cancers, 192 pancreatic cancers, 184 renal cell cancers, and 175 lymphomas were diagnosed. Dietary acrylamide intake was positively associated with the risk of lung cancer; relative risk (RR) in the highest versus the lowest quintile in the multivariable-adjusted model was 1.18 ((95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.38, p for trend 0.11). Other cancers were not associated with acrylamide intake. CONCLUSIONS: High acrylamide intake is associated with increased risk of lung cancer but not with other cancers in male smokers.

Cow's milk allergy in children: adherence to a therapeutic elimination diet and reintroduction of milk into the diet.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The basic treatment for cow's milk allergy (CMA) is the elimination of all cow's milk proteins (CMP) from the diet. This study aimed at characterizing the diet of children with a diagnosis of CMA, to assess the degree of adherence to the elimination diet and to evaluate the factors associated with the adherence and age of recovery. SUBJECTS/METHODS: From a birth cohort study, food records of 267 children diagnosed with CMA were studied to define how strictly the elimination diet was adhered to. Subsequent food records were studied to assess the age at reintroduction of milk products in the child's diet. RESULTS: The families adhered to the elimination diet of the child with extreme accuracy in 85% of the cases. Older and monosensitized children had more often small amounts of CMP in their diet, possibly because of the absence of nutritional information by a dietitian/nutritionist. Adherence to the diet was neither related to any other sociodemographic factor studied nor to the age at reintroduction of milk products into the diet. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic elimination diet of children diagnosed with CMA was well adhered to. Low intakes of vitamin D, calcium, and riboflavin are of concern in children who follow or have followed a cow's milk-free diet.

Accuracy in the estimation of food servings against the portions in food photographs.

OBJECTIVE: In diet surveys, quantitative underestimation of food consumption may be due to intentional misreporting or false portion-size reporting. Perception of food photographs used as aids for assessing the actual amounts may have an effect. This study was carried out to assess the validity of food photographs. DESIGN: A real-time test protocol where 52 presented food servings were compared against photographed portions with similar food items. SUBJECTS: Volunteers from the Rehabilitation Company Petrea (in Turku) were recruited, 161 adults participated, and for 146 subjects, complete data were collected. METHODS: The proportions of correct estimations and reporting errors, in weights and percentages, are presented by gender and food group. Food descriptors, portion-size options and subject characteristics were studied as potential determinants of accuracy in portion-size estimation. RESULTS: The total proportion of exactly correct estimations was 51% in men and 49% in women. The overall reporting error was -10 g in men and +1 g in women for the 52 food servings. Underreporting was typical for bread, spread and cold cuts and dishes in both genders. Over-reporting was typical for cereals in both genders and for snacks, vegetables and fruit in women. The estimation error was associated with the portion-size options but not associated with the energy density of food items, education or body mass index. CONCLUSIONS: Food portions in photographs seem to be a useful aid for the quantification of most food items. However, validation studies are needed to test the applicability of photographs for estimating current portions and for searching better tools in dietary surveys.

Description of heterotrophic bacteria occurring in paper mills and paper products.

AIMS: To isolate aerobic mesophilic bacilli and thermophilic bacteria from different paper mill samples and to evaluate their potential harmfulness. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 109 mesophilic and 68 thermophilic isolates were purified and characterized by automated ribotyping and partial 16S rDNA sequencing. The mesophilic isolates belonged to the genera Bacillus (13 taxa), Brevibacillus (three taxa) and Paenibacillus (five taxa). The thermophilic bacteria represented seven taxa of Bacillus, Geobacillus or Paenibacillus, four of proteobacteria and one of actinobacteria. The most frequently occurring bacteria were Bacillus cereus, B. licheniformis, Pseudoxanthomonas taiwanensis and bacteria closely related to Paenibacillus stellifer, P. turicensis or Leptothrix sp. One mill was contaminated throughout with bacteria of a novel mesophilic genus most closely related to Brevibacillus centrosporus and another with bacteria of a novel thermophilic genus most closely related to Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus. One B. cereus isolate producing haemolytic diarrhoeal enterotoxin was detected and all the tested B. licheniformis isolates produced a metabolite toxic to boar sperm cells. CONCLUSIONS: The bacilli and thermophilic bacteria isolated represent species which should not present occupational hazards in paper mill environments. The most harmful bacterium detected was B. licheniformis and potentially also B. cereus. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Knowledge of the microbial diversity in a paper mill provides a rational basis for development of an effective controlling programme. A database constructed from the fingerprints generated using automated ribotyping helps to identify and trace the contamination routes of bacteria occurring in paper mills.