Salmonella enterica Control in Stick Carrots Through Incorporation of Coriander Seeds Essential Oil in Sustainable Washing Treatments

Chemical disinfectants represent one of the commonly used practice in minimally processed vegetables food-chain. However, the scarce safety and sustainability of these agents force food industry to move toward more sustainable “green washing solutions.” Among the latter, while the application of plant derivates for the control of several pathogens is already well-known, the potential anti-Salmonella activity of Coriandrum sativum seeds derivates is still unexplored and was therefore investigated in this study. In detail, Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimal Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of different coriander seed derivates (i.e., essential oil, hydrosol, and ethanolic extract) were determined by broth dilution against six Salmonella enterica strains isolated from fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Only the essential oil (EO) was effective in vitro with strain-dependent results. In addition, when mixed in co-culture, the strains were more sensitive to the essential oil treatment. Chemical investigations allowed to define (s)-(+)-linalool as major compound in the essential oil, and to underline interesting phenolic content with correlated antioxidant capacity. A cocktail of three strains of different serovars was selected and employed for a preliminary in situ trial on stick carrots. The obtained results allowed to establish that the application of coriander seed EO at concentrations of 5 μL mL−1 was able to reduce and contain the growth of the Salmonella cocktail up to 24 h at 10°C. Good sensory evaluation results were obtained by applying this EO concentration as washing treatment, especially in terms of color parameter. Further studies should be undertaken to emphasize the upstream activity, improving the formulation or exploiting a combined effect with other sanitizers or treatments (e.g., physical treatments). The present study contributes to the knowledge on coriander derivates activity against Salmonella spp. and on the potential application as sustainable washing treatment in removing this pathogen from fresh cut carrots

Conceptual design of superferric magnets for PS2

We analyze feasibility and cost of a superferric magnet design for the PS2. Specifically, we provide the conceptual design of dipole and quadrupoles, including considerations on cryogenics and powering. The magnets have warm iron yoke, and cryostated superconducting coils embedded in the magnet, which reduces AC loss at cryogenic temperature. The superconductor has large Operating margin to endure beam loss and operating loads over a long period of time. Although conservative, and without any critical dependence on novel technology developments, this superconducting option appears to be attractive as a low-power alternative to the normal-conducting magnets that are the present baseline for the PS2 design. In addition it provides flexibility in the selection of flat-top duration at no additional cost. This study is the conclusion of the conceptual design work started within the scope of the CARE HHH-AMT activities, following inputs from the workshops ECOMAG and LUMI-06, and finally spurred by the recent discussions on the opportunity of an R&D for the PS2 magnets

The IASI Water Deficit Index to Monitor Vegetation Stress and Early Drying in Summer Heatwaves: An Application to Southern Italy

The boreal hemisphere has been experiencing increasing extreme hot and dry conditions over the past few decades, consistent with anthropogenic climate change. The continental extension of this phenomenon calls for tools and techniques capable of monitoring the global to regional scales. In this context, satellite data can satisfy the need for global coverage. The main objective we have addressed in the present paper is the capability of infrared satellite observations to monitor the vegetation stress due to increasing drought and heatwaves in summer. We have designed and implemented a new water deficit index (wdi) that exploits satellite observations in the infrared to retrieve humidity, air temperature, and surface temperature simultaneously. These three parameters are combined to provide the water deficit index. The index has been developed based on the Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Interferometer or IASI, which covers the infrared spectral range 645 to 2760 cm−1 with a sampling of 0.25 cm−1. The index has been used to study the 2017 heatwave, which hit continental Europe from May to October. In particular, we have examined southern Italy, where Mediterranean forests suffer from climate change. We have computed the index’s time series and show that it can be used to indicate the atmospheric background conditions associated with meteorological drought. We have also found a good agreement with soil moisture, which suggests that the persistence of an anomalously high water deficit index was an essential driver of the rapid development and evolution of the exceptionally severe 2017 droughts

GPS Monitoring at Vesuvio, Campi Flegrei Caldera and Ischia Island (Southern Italy)

The Neapolitan volcanic area is located in the southern part of the Campanian plain and includes three active volcanoes (Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei Caldera and Ischia Island). This area shows different dynamical behaviours. Campi Flegrei caldera represents one well known and peculiar example of ground deformations (bradyseism), with periods of intense uplift during the 1969-72 and 1982-84, followed by subsidence phase with some episodic mini-uplifts superimposed. Contrary, Vesuvius is a substantially stable volcano, with small and localized subsidence mainly in the crater zone. Ischia Island has been characterized by subsidence in the S and NW sectors of the island. The presence of these three volcanoes in a dense populated area, makes ground deformation detection a crucial point in the risk mitigation. Ground deformation is an important volcanic precursor, because linked to magma overpressure and migration, thus, continuous monitoring and modelling is one of the main instruments to attempt for a short time forecast of eruptive activity. Since several years, the INGV – Osservatorio Vesuviano installed a permanent GPS network (NeVoCGPS), constituted of 27 stations, in the Neapolitan volcanic area with a configuration that guarantees a continuous and fast 3D information about the dynamics of the area. All the GPS stations are managed by remote control, the data are daily downloaded automatically. After an automatic quality control procedure, the data processing is performed by the Bernese Processing Engine (BPE) of the Bernese GPS software v. 5.0. In this work, the entire chain of data acquisition and processing is described and some results obtained in last years are presented

Fast cycled superconducting magnets for the upgrade of the LHC injector complex

An upgrade of the LHC injection chain, and especially the sequence of PS and SPS, up to an extraction energy of 1 TeV, is one of the steps considered to improve the performance of the whole LHC accelerator complex. The magnets for this upgrade require central magnetic field from 2 T (for a PS upgrade) to 4.5 T (for an SPS upgrade), and field ramp rate ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 T/s. In this paper we discuss under which conditions superconducting magnets are attractive in this range of operating field and field ramp-rate, and we list the outstanding issues to be adddressed by a dedicated R&D

Somma Vesuvius volcano: ground deformations from CGPS observations (2001-2012)

This paper is a contribution to the evaluation of ground deformations at Somma-Vesuvius volcano by means GPS measurements from 2001 to 2012. In this study we use a dataset from nine continuous GPS stations of the Neapolitan Volcanoes Continuous GPS network (NeVoCGPS), which covers the Neapolitan volcanic area, and is operated by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. The GPS data processing is performed by the Bernese software v. 5.0. The results of the data processing show that the dynamics of the Somma-Vesuvio volcano, between 2001 and 2012, is characterized by a general subsidence, with maximum values on the Gran Cono at BKNO (−11.7 ± 0.65 mm/year) and BKE1 (−4.92 ± 0.36 mm/year) stations. The subsidence decrease from the crater down to the coast and the horizontal displacements are concentrated in Gran Cono area, the youngest part of the volcano. The parameters of the principal strain components indicate that Somma-Vesuvius is affected by a predominant contraction phase, which is concentrated in the areas with the greatest altitudes

AREA VULCANICA NAPOLETANA: 10 ANNI DI OSSERVAZIONI GPS

L’area napoletana è una delle zone a più alto rischio vulcanico, per la presenza di tre strutture vulcaniche attive (il Somma-Vesuvio, la caldera dei Campi Flegrei e l’Isola d’Ischia) e per l’intensa urbanizzazione della zona. La concentrazione dei suddetti vulcani attivi in un’area molto urbanizzata rende fondamentale la presenza di un sistema di monitoraggio che registri i fenomeni connessi al processo vulcanico in atto e che dia informazioni utili per modellarne il comportamento. Tra i vari fenomeni che generalmente sono associati ai processi vulcanici, le deformazioni statiche giocano un ruolo importante per lo studio dei parametri delle sorgenti magmatiche e per la loro modellazione. Nell’area vulcanica napoletana è presente una estesa rete GPS (sia permanente che discreta) che negli ultimi 10 anni ha permesso di raccogliere una mole importante di dati e di avere informazioni circa la dinamica in atto. I dati raccolti in tale periodo, a causa dei rapidi sviluppi della tecnologia GPS, della strumentazione, delle metodologie di processamento, presentavano alcune disomogeneità nella qualità, nell’archiviazione e nell’elaborazione. Pertanto è stato necessario un notevole lavoro di verifica, correzione ed omogeneizzazione dal punto di vista qualitativo di tutti i dati disponibili. Successivamente si è potuto procedere al riprocessamento dei dati, utilizzando il software GPS Bernese v. 5.0, secondo i più recenti standard IGS. Questo lavoro ha permesso di creare un database accurato di tutti i dati GPS disponibili per l’intera area vulcanica napoletana e il conseguente miglioramento della qualità dei risultati ha fornito un utile contributo all’interpretazione dei movimenti del suolo avvenuti negli ultimi anni. In particolare, i nuovi dati ottenuti hanno permesso un’accurata descrizione dell’andamento temporale dei modesti fenomeni di sollevamento (mini-uplift) che hanno interessato la caldera flegrea negli ultimi anni

Conceptual Design of Superferric Magnets for PS2

We analyze feasibility and cost of a superferric magnet design for the PS2, the 50 GeV ring that should replace the PS in the CERN injector chain. Specifically, we provide the conceptual design of dipole and quadrupoles, including considerations on cryogenics and powering. The magnets have warm iron yoke, and cryostated superconducting coils embedded in the magnet, which reduces AC loss at cryogenic temperature. The superconductor has large operating margin to endure beam loss and operating loads over a long period of time. Although conservative, and without any critical dependence on novel technology developments, this superconducting option appears to be attractive as a low-power alternative to the normal-conducting magnets that are the present baseline for the PS2 design. In addition it provides flexibility in the selection of flat-top duration at no additional cost

Characterization of epidemiological distribution and outcome of COVID-19 in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: a nationwide retrospective multi-centre study during first wave in Italy

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to have a devastating impact across the world. A number of pre-existing common clinical conditions were reported to represent risk factors for more severe COVID-19 outcomes. Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) is a rare vascular heritable disorders, characterized by complications secondary to visceral Arterio-Venous Malformations. The impact of HHT, as well as for many Rare Diseases (RDs) on infection susceptibility profile and clinical adverse outcome risk is an unresolved issue. Objectives: The main objectives were: to assess the clinical features and outcomes of HHT patients infected with COVID-19; to compare the relative infection risk in these patients with the Italian general population throughout the first pandemic wave; to investigate the factors potentially associated with severe COVID-19 outcome in HHT patients, and the possible impact of COVID-19 infection on HHT-related symptoms/complications. Finally, we aimed to estimate how the lockdown-associated wearing of personal protective equipment/individual protection devices could affect HHT-related telangiectasia bleeding frequency. Methods: The study is a nation-wide questionnaire-based survey, with a multi-Center retrospective cross-sectional design, addressed to the whole Italian HHT population. COVID-19 cases, occurring throughout the first pandemic wave, were collected by a questionnaire-based semi-structured interview. Only the cases ascertained by laboratory confirmation (molecular/serological) were included for epidemiological estimates. Information concerning eventual SarS-Cov-2 infection, as well as regarding HHT-related manifestations and HHT-unrelated co-morbidities were collected by the questionnaire. Prevalence data were compared to Italian general population in the same period. Results: The survey disclosed 9/296 (3.04%) COVID-19 cases, 8/9 of them being resident in Lombardy, the main epidemic epicenter. Pneumonia was reported by 4/9 patients, which prompted hospital admission and intensive care management in 2 cases. No fatal outcome was recorded. After careful refinement of epidemiological analysis, the survey evidenced overlapping infection risk in HHT compared to general population. Conclusions: COVID-19 infection profile parallels geographical distribution of epidemic foci. COVID-19 in HHT patients can lead to highly variable clinical profile, likely overlapping with that of general population. The HHT disease does not seem to involve a different approach in terms of hospital admission and access to intensive care with respect to general population