Food safety in collective catering: Knowledge, attitudes and correct application of GHP/GMP knowledge among foodservice workers

Food safety critically reliant on the behaviors adopted by foodservice personnel, involved in various stages of meal preparation, from the supply of raw food materials until its distribution to the consumer. The purpose of this work was to collect information on the level of knowledge on food safety, the correct application of the Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and the attitudes of the operators involved in collective catering. The survey was conducted among 15 social catering companies in Apulia (Italy) using a modified Sharif and Al-Malki (2010) anonymous questionnaire intended to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the food handlers. The results highlight the need to improve both knowledge and practices regarding food hygiene and safety in order to minimize the risk of transmitting foodborne diseases. More careful planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of training programs for foodservice workers is required, taking into consideration the provisions of European food laws

OP0082-PARE THE EFFECT COVID-19 HAS ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH RHEUMATIC DISEASES. FROM DATA TO INTERVENTIONS.

Background:Covid-19 has had an important impact on the mental health conditions of over 5 million Italians suffering from one of the over 150 rheumatic diseases. In order to understand the psychological impact of the Covid-19 emergency and the restrictions imposed to counter it, the Italian National Association of People with Rheumatic and Rare Diseases – APMARR APS launched the research "Living with a rheumatic pathology".Objectives:Gather data directly from Italian patients about the impact of the COVID-19 and consequent restrictions on their mental health and feelings; evaluate the most effective intervention to be implemented to face the pandemic by Patients organization.Methods:A qualitative-quantitative survey was carried out through a questionnaire administered throughout the national territory to a sample of N = 1,001 people. The people invited to complete the questionnaire were women (55,9%) and men (44,1%), aged 18-85 years (age 18-41=26,7%; age 42-65=64%; age >65=9,3%) with at least one rheumatic pathology. The questionnaire was made up of 39 questions, of which 29 were closed and 10 were open. For the administration of the questionnaires, the CAWI (Computer Aided Web Interview) methodology of on-line survey was used. The 1,001 interviews were carried out from 7 to 14 August 2020.Results:More than 4 out of 10 people (total sample 44.2%; male 60%, female 35,7%; age 18-41=39,1%; age 42-65=45,9%; age >65 = 50%) declared that the emergency period has somehow caused a worsening of their health condition. People declared that the deterioration of their health is due to the emergency period for the following reasons: 1) Psychological: such as stress and anxiety: "Too much stress and anxiety made the symptoms worse."; "The stress of the quarantine affected my problem"; "Insomnia. Nervousness. General ailments. Depression. Strong stress" 2) Inability to perform physiotherapy and motor activities due to the lockdown 3) Postponement of examinations, visits and checks 4) remote working, in some cases described as harmful for people's mental and physical health: "Due to Covid19 I had to do remote working and I worked even 12 hours a day including holidays to the detriment of my family life".Furthermore, from January 31, 2020 a significant increase emerged in communication problems with rheumatology specialist compared to the period before the emergency due to Covid-19. The sharp increase may be due to the situation of severe psychological stress to which also the doctors were subjected in the emergency phase: people could not find the comfort of being empathically listened to.Conclusion:The research shows that the most frequent symptoms among people with rheumatic diseases were depression and high levels of anxiety due to strong emotional stress. Psychological malaise caused direct effects in worsening the symptoms of rheumatic disease as well as other related effects, for example, insomnia. The forced isolation due to the lockdown has made people lack the social support that is fundamental for the psychological well-being especially for those suffering from some chronic pathology. Starting from the data collected, APMARR promptly activated a completely free psychological support service with 6 professional psychologists, two of them specialized in emergency psychology. The service is accessible online and is still going on for all who are not able to overcome the anxiety and fear related to the pandemic and its evolution. Thousands of accesses to the service have been measured to date.References:S Mingolla1, A Celano1, M Santopietro2[1]NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE WITH RHEUMATIC AND RARE DISEASES - APMARR APS[2]WeResearch. Ricerche di marketingDisclosure of Interests:None declare

Measuring the magnetic axis alignment during solenoids working

A method for monitoring the misalignment of the magnetic axis in solenoids is proposed. This method requires only a few measurements of the magnetic field at fixed positions inside the magnet aperture, and thus overcomes the main drawback of sturdy moving mechanics of other Hall sensor-based methods. Conversely to state-of-the-art axis determination, the proposed method can be applied also during magnet operations, when the axis region and almost the whole remaining magnet aperture are not accessible. Moreover, only a few measurements of the magnetic field at fixed positions inside the magnet aperture are required: thus a slow process such as the mapping of the whole aperture of a magnet by means of moving stages is not necessary. The mathematical formulation of the method is explained, and a case study on a model of a multi–layer solenoid is presented. For this case study, the uncertainty is assessed and the optimal placement of the Hall transducers is derived

Regulación epigenética del IFN-y en tuberculosis

M. tuberculosis (Mtb) es el principal asesino microbiológico en el mundo. Las modificaciones epigenéticas son claves en la plasticidad del sistema inmune y como mediadores entre el ambiente y los fenotipos celulares. El IFN-v, media la respuesta protectiva frente a Mtb, pero se desconocen los mecanismos epigenéticos que regularían su activación y mediarían la susceptibilidad a la tuberculosis.Área: Ciencias Biológicas, Ambiente y Salud

Metagenetic and Volatilomic Approaches to Elucidate the Effect of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Starter Cultures on Sicilian Table Olives

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of selected Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains on both microbiota composition and volatile organic compound profile of Sicilian table olives. Two mixed cultures, named O1 and O2, were set up for pilot-plan scale fermentations at 5% of NaCl. Uninoculated table olives at 5 and 8% (C5 and C8) of salt were used as control. The fermentation process was monitored until 80 days through a dual approach, which included both classical microbiological and 16S amplicon-based sequencing and volatilomics analyses. Compared with control samples (C5 and C8), experimental samples, inoculated with starter cultures (O1 and O2), exhibited a faster acidification with a more pronounced drop in pH. Metagenetics data revealed significant differences of microbiota composition among samples, highlighting the dominance of lactobacilli in both experimental samples; a high occurrence of Enterobacter genus only in control samples with 5% of NaCl; and the presence of Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Klebsiella, and Raoultella genera only in control samples with 8% of NaCl. Furthermore, microbiota composition dynamics, through the fermentation process, significantly affected the volatile organic compounds of the final products, whereas no compounds involved in off-odors metabolites were detected in all samples investigated. In conclusion, the addition of the proposed starter cultures and the use of low concentrations of sodium chloride positively affected the microbiota and volatile organic compounds, ensuring the microbiological safety and the pleasant flavors of the final product

Vulnerability analysis of satellite-based synchronized smart grids monitoring systems

The large-scale deployment of wide-area monitoring systems could play a strategic role in supporting the evolution of traditional power systems toward smarter and self-healing grids. The correct operation of these synchronized monitoring systems requires a common and accurate timing reference usually provided by a satellite-based global positioning system. Although these satellites signals provide timing accuracy that easily exceeds the needs of the power industry, they are extremely vulnerable to radio frequency interference. Consequently, a comprehensive analysis aimed at identifying their potential vulnerabilities is of paramount importance for correct and safe wide-area monitoring system operation. Armed with such a vision, this article presents and discusses the results of an experimental analysis aimed at characterizing the vulnerability of global positioning system based wide-area monitoring systems to external interferences. The article outlines the potential strategies that could be adopted to protect global positioning system receivers from external cyber-attacks and proposes decentralized defense strategies based on self-organizing sensor networks aimed at assuring correct time synchronization in the presence of external attacks

Construction and Performance of a Micro-Pattern Stereo Detector with Two Gas Electron Multipliers

The construction of a micro-pattern gas detector of dimensions 40x10 cm**2 is described. Two gas electron multiplier foils (GEM) provide the internal amplification stages. A two-layer readout structure was used, manufactured in the same technology as the GEM foils. The strips of each layer cross at an effective crossing angle of 6.7 degrees and have a 406 um pitch. The performance of the detector has been evaluated in a muon beam at CERN using a silicon telescope as reference system. The position resolutions of two orthogonal coordinates are measured to be 50 um and 1 mm, respectively. The muon detection efficiency for two-dimensional space points reaches 96%.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figure