Evaluation of extra-virgin olive oils shelf life using an electronic tongue-chemometric approach

Physicochemical quality parameters, olfactory and gustatoryretronasal positive sensations of extra-virgin olive oils vary during storage leading to a decrease in the overall quality. Olive oil quality decline may prevent the compliance of olive oil quality with labeling and significantly reduce shelf life, resulting in important economic losses and negatively condition the consumer confidence. The feasibility of applying an electronic tongue to assess olive oils usual commercial light storage conditions and storage time was evaluated and compared with the discrimination potential of physicochemical or positive olfactory/gustatory sensorial parameters. Linear discriminant models, based on subsets of 58 electronic tongue sensor signals, selected by the meta-heuristic simulated annealing variable selection algorithm, allowed the correct classification of olive oils according to the light exposition conditions and/or storage time (sensitivities and specificities for leave-one-out cross-validation: 8296 %). The predictive performance of the E-tongue approach was further evaluated using an external independent dataset selected using the KennardStone algorithm and, in general, better classification rates (sensitivities and specificities for external dataset: 67100 %) were obtained compared to those achieved using physicochemical or sensorial data. So, the work carried out is a proof-of-principle that the proposed electrochemical device could be a practical and versatile tool for, in a single and fast electrochemical assay, successfully discriminate olive oils with different storage times and/or exposed to different light conditions.The authors acknowledge the financial support from the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, from Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984—Associate Laboratory LSRELCM funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI)—and by national funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and under the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit. Nuno Rodrigues thanks FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE for the Ph.D. Grant (SFRH/BD/104038/2014).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New Isomers in the Full Seniority Scheme of Neutron-Rich Lead Isotopes: The Role of Effective Three-Body Forces

The neutron-rich lead isotopes, up to Pb-216, have been studied for the first time, exploiting the fragmentation of a primary uranium beam at the FRS-RISING setup at GSI. The observed isomeric states exhibit electromagnetic transition strengths which deviate from state-of-the-art shell-model calculations. It is shown that their complete description demands the introduction of effective three-body interactions and two-body transition operators in the conventional neutron valence space beyond Pb-208.INFN, ItalyINFN, ItalyMICINN, Spain [AIC10-D-000568]MICINN, SpainGeneralitat Valenciana, SpainGeneralitat Valenciana, Spain [FPA2008-06419, PROMETEO/2010/101]UK STFCUK STFCAWE plcAWE plcDFGDFG [EXC 153

A Randomised Control Trial Comparing Lifestyle Groups, Individual Counselling and Written Information in the Management of Weight and Health Outcomes over 12 Months

Objective: To investigate the effect of an 8 week group based cognitive behaviour therapy intervention on change in weight and other weight related variables, change in physical activity and change in health and well being compared to individualised dietetic treatment or giving information only Design: A randomised control trial with an 8-week intervention period – two intervention groups, a group based cognitive behaviour therapy intervention, Fat Booters Inc – (FBI) and individualised dietetic treatment (IDT) and control group receiving an information booklet only (BO). Intervention for 8 weeks with monthly follow-up to 6 months and further follow-up at 12 months, conducted in real practice setting. Subjects: A total of 176 adults with body mass index (BMI) > 27kg/m2, mean (+/-SD) age 48+/-13 years, mean BMI 34+/-5.5 kg/m2. Main Outcome Measures: Weight, percent body fat, waist circumference, physical activity, health status, self-efficacy and satisfaction with life were measured at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months. Results: A statistically significant difference between groups was observed for weight change over time (p = 0.05). The change in weight (mean ± se) for the FBI group was significantly greater than the BO group at 6 and 12 months (-2.8 ± 0.7 compared to –1.0 ± 0.6 kg, p<0.05 and –2.9 ± 0.9 compared to +0.5 ± 0.9 kg, p<0.005, respectively). Change in weight in the IDT group did not differ from the FBI group at any time point. For all groups, waist circumference was significantly less than baseline at all time points (p<0.001). Significant differences in self-efficacy were observed over time (p=0.02), with both intervention groups having greater self-efficacy than the BO group. Significant drop-outs occurred over time for all three groups. Conclusions: A cognitive behaviour based intervention was more effective than providing information alone and as effective as intensive individualised dietetic intervention in weight loss and improvements in self-efficacy. The FBI group was more cost effective to conduct in a real practice setting