Editorial

n/

ASSESSMENT OF THE TOTAL SOLIDS AND FAT CONTENTS IN WHOLE LIQUID EGG PRODUCTS BY ELECTRICAL AND THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY MEASUREMENTS

The total solids and fat contents of nine whole liquid egg products were assessed by means of electrical and thermal conductivity measurements. Linear correlations between conductivity values and total solids and fat contents were obtained with R2 values up to 0.995 and 0.990 and maximum errors of predic- 46 TABLE 6 - Linear regression models for the total solids (TS, %) and fat (FC, %) contents estimation from electrical (Ec, mS/cm) and thermal (Tc, W/mK) conductivity measurements. SE: Standard Error. Linear regression equation R2 p-level SE (%) TS=-6.857*Ec+65.373 0.995 0.000 0.27 FC=-4.993*Ec+40.070 0.985 0.000 0.33 TS=-172.967*Tc+109.605 0.992 0.000 0.33 FC=-126.449*Tc+72.521 0.990 0.000 0.27 tion up to 0.41% and 0.42%, respectively. The electrical conductivity of the albumen, yolk and egg mixtures linearly increased with temperature; at 20°C, temperature coefficients of 2.1%/°C, 2.1%/°C and 1.9 %/°C were respectively calculated. On the contrary, the thermal conductivity of the analysed products did not appear to be substantially influenced by the temperature of the liquid

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF PHYSICAL SYSTEMS IN AGRI-FOOD ENGINEERING

In agri-food engineering many complex problems arise in plant and process design. Specifically the designer has to deal with fluid dynamics, thermal or mechanical problems, often characterized by physics coupling, non-linearity, irregular geometry, anisotropy and in definitive rather high complexity. In recent years, the ever growing availability of computational power at low cost, made these problems more often approached with numerical simulation techniques. Mainly in terms of finite elements and finite volumes. In this paper the fundamentals of numerical methods are briefly recalled and a discussion about their possibility of application in the food and agricultural engineering is developed

Numerical models of mass transfer during ripening and storage of salami

Ripening, in the dry sausages manufacturing process, has an influence over the main physical, chemical and microbiological transformations that take place inside these products and that define the final organoleptic properties of dry sausages. A number of study about the influence of ripening conditions on the main chemical and microbiological characteristics of dry sausages is available today. All these studies indicate that the final quality and safety standards achieved by the sausage manufacturing process can be considered to be strictly dependent from the specific ripening conditions. The water diffusion inside a seasoned sausage is surely an aspect of primary importance with regard to the quality of final product. As a consequence the aim of this research was to develop two parametric numerical models, concerning the moisture diffusion physics, describing salami ripening and storage. Mass transfer equations inside the sausage volume were numerically solved using a finite element technique. A first model describes diffusion phenomena occurring inside the salami and the exchange phenomena involving the surface of the product and the environment. After the ripening, the salami are stored in waterproof packaging, consequently an additional model able to describe also the evaporation and condensation phenomena occurring between the salami surface and the air in the package, was developed. The moisture equilibrium between salami surface and conservation atmosphere is mainly ruled by the temperature changes during storage. Both models allow to analyze the history of the moisture content inside the salami and are parametrised on product size and maturation/storage conditions. The models were experimentally validated, comparing the numerical outputs of the simulations with experimental data, showing a good agreement

Theoretical and experimental study on mechanical characterisation of a water drop impact on a solid surface

The drop impact phenomenon can be used to study many agricultural aspects related to the rainfall, runoff and irrigation, such as the stability of aggregated and the detachment of fine particles. The aim of this study was to study experimentally and numerically the water drop impact on a solid wall. In a first phase a simple experimental apparatus and basic theoretical concepts were used to investigate the influence of the drop speed on the impact pressure. In the second section, a finite element model able to reproduce the complex phenomenon observed in the experimental phase, was developed. The pressure values obtained by experimental measurement are similar to those calculated on the base of the energy conservation principle (average percentage difference of 15.6%). Numerical model was useful to obtain important information on pressure profile inside the drop and the impact pressure during the splash, at present hard to achieve experimentally. The model was used to estimate also an almost realistic dynamic behaviour of the spreading drop

Screening of grated cheese authenticity by nir spectroscopy

Parmigiano–Reggiano (PR) cheese is one of the oldest traditional cheeses produced in Europe, and it is still one of the most valuable Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheeses of Italy. The denomination of origin is extended to the grated cheese when manufactured exclusively from whole Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese wheels that respond to the production standard. The grated cheese must be matured for a period of at least 12 months and characterized by a rind content not over 18%. In this investigation the potential of near infrared spectroscopy (NIR), coupled to different statistical methods, were used to estimate the authenticity of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese PDO. Cheese samples were classified as: compliance PR, competitors, non-compliance PR (defected PR), and PR with rind content greater then 18%. NIR spectra were obtained using a spectrophotometer Vector 22/N (Bruker Optics, Milan, Italy) in the diffuse reflectance mode. Instrument was equipped with a rotating integrating sphere. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted for an explorative spectra analysis, while the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were used to classify spectra, according to different cheese categories. Subsequently the rind percentage and month of ripening were estimated by a Partial Least Squares regression (PLS). Score plots of the PCA show a clear separation between compliance PR samples and the rest of the sample was observed. Competitors samples and the defected PR samples were grouped together. The classification performance for all sample classes, obtained by ANN analysis, was higher of 90%, in test set validation. Rind content and month of ripening were predicted by PLS a with a determination coefficient greater then 0.95 (test set). These results showed that the method can be suitable for a fast screening of grated cheese authenticity

Status and Perspectives of the Mini-MegaTORTORA Wide-field Monitoring System with High Temporal Resolution

Here we briefly summarize our long-term experience of constructing and operating wide-field monitoring cameras with sub-second temporal resolution to look for optical components of GRBs, fast-moving satellites and meteors. The general hardware requirements for these systems are discussed, along with algorithms for real-time detection and classification of various kinds of short optical transients. We also give a status report on the next generation, the MegaTORTORA multi-objective and transforming monitoring system, whose 6-channel (Mini-MegaTORTORA-Spain) and 9-channel prototypes (Mini-MegaTORTORA-Kazan) we have been building at SAO RAS. This system combines a wide field of view with subsecond temporal resolution in monitoring regime, and is able, within fractions of a second, to reconfigure itself to follow-up mode, which has better sensitivity and simultaneously provides multi-color and polarimetric information on detected transients

Ocular surface analysis and automatic non-invasive assessment of tear film breakup location, extension and progression in patients with glaucoma

Background: Tear film stability is the key event in ocular surface diseases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate spatial and temporal progression of the tear film breakup using an automatic non-invasive device. Methods: Non-invasive tear breakup time (NITBUT) parameters, such as First NITBUT (F-NITBUT) and Average NITBUT (A-NITBUT), were evaluated in 132 glaucoma and 87 control eyes with the Keratograph 5 M device. Further analysis of this data was used to determine size, location and progression of tear film breakup with automatically identified breakup areas (BUA). The progression from First BUA (F-BUA) to total BUA (T-BUA) was expressed as Dry Area Growth Rate (DAGR). Differences between both groups were analysed using Student t-test for parametric data and Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric data. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between parametric variables and Spearman in the case of non-parametric variables. Results: F-NITBUT was 11.43 ± 7.83 s in the control group and 8.17 ± 5.73 in the glaucoma group (P = 0.010). A-NITBUT was 14.04 ± 7.21 and 11.82 ± 6.09 s in control and glaucoma groups, respectively (P = 0.028). F-BUA was higher in the glaucoma group than in the control group (2.73 and 2.28; P = 0.022) and was more frequently located at the centre of the cornea in the glaucoma group (P = 0.039). T-BUA was also higher in the glaucoma group than in the control group (13.24 and 9.76%; P = 0.012) and the DAGR was steeper in the glaucoma group than in the control group (34.38° and 27.15°; P = 0.009). Conclusions: Shorter NITBUT values and bigger, more central tear film breakup locations were observed in the glaucoma group than in the control group. The DAGR indicates that tear film rupture is bigger and increases faster in glaucomatous eyes than in normal eyes

The Rapidly Flaring Afterglow of the Very Bright and Energetic GRB 070125

We report on multi-wavelength observations, ranging from the X-ray to radio wave bands, of the IPN-localized gamma-ray burst GRB 070125. Spectroscopic observations reveal the presence of absorption lines due to O I, Si II, and C IV, implying a likely redshift of z = 1.547. The well-sampled light curves, in particular from 0.5 to 4 days after the burst, suggest a jet break at 3.7 days, corresponding to a jet opening angle of ~7.0 degrees, and implying an intrinsic GRB energy in the 1 - 10,000 keV band of around E = (6.3 - 6.9)x 10^(51) erg (based on the fluences measured by the gamma-ray detectors of the IPN network). GRB 070125 is among the brightest afterglows observed to date. The spectral energy distribution implies a host extinction of Av < 0.9 mag. Two rebrightening episodes are observed, one with excellent time coverage, showing an increase in flux of 56% in ~8000 seconds. The evolution of the afterglow light curve is achromatic at all times. Late-time observations of the afterglow do not show evidence for emission from an underlying host galaxy or supernova. Any host galaxy would be subluminous, consistent with current GRB host-galaxy samples. Evidence for strong Mg II absorption features is not found, which is perhaps surprising in view of the relatively high redshift of this burst and the high likelihood for such features along GRB-selected lines of sight.Comment: 50 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables Accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

Clinical Features, Cardiovascular Risk Profile, and Therapeutic Trajectories of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Candidate for Oral Semaglutide Therapy in the Italian Specialist Care

Introduction: This study aimed to address therapeutic inertia in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) by investigating the potential of early treatment with oral semaglutide. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2021 and April 2022 among specialists treating individuals with T2D. A scientific committee designed a data collection form covering demographics, cardiovascular risk, glucose control metrics, ongoing therapies, and physician judgments on treatment appropriateness. Participants completed anonymous patient questionnaires reflecting routine clinical encounters. The preferred therapeutic regimen for each patient was also identified. Results: The analysis was conducted on 4449 patients initiating oral semaglutide. The population had a relatively short disease duration (42%  60% of patients, and more often than sitagliptin or empagliflozin. Conclusion: The study supports the potential of early implementation of oral semaglutide as a strategy to overcome therapeutic inertia and enhance T2D management