Assessment of the software Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) for fire simulation in train convoyes

Con la presente tesi si è affrontata la modellazione di incendi all'interno di gallerie ferroviarie al duplice fine di ottenere informazioni relative alla dinamica degli incendi e contemporaneamente valutare FDS quale strumento di simulazione ed analisiope

Corporate Social Responsibility To-Come: A Derridean Interruption of Transparency

This study investigated the relation between rhetorics of transparency and organizational action. Digging into CSR literature from a philosophy of communication perspective, this project seeks to determine if corporate social responsibility delivers on the promises it makes of a better world. Drawing on the work of Jacques Derrida, the research first lays out his often overlooked contribution to the philosophy of communication, and then moves towards possible applications in deconstructing the perceived benefits of CSR, particularly in its transparent nature. By looking at organizational life from the Triple Bottom Line, this dissertation peels back the underlying rhetoric of planet, people, profit to discover an ethical project with gaps, fissures, and inconsistencies, in need of a future-oriented version that lives up to this challenge CSR sets out for itself in such precarious times

Study and development of new functional foods containing cereals

The aim of this PhD thesis was the development of staple foods enriched with compounds, which have an important impact on the nutritional and physiological aspects. Selection of ingredients with high content of dietary fibre (inulin, \u3b2-glucans and resistant starch) has been performed to formulate functional foods. In particular, the effect of the ingredients on dough rheological properties, final products quality and on glycaemic response was evaluated in order to identify optimum formulation and manufacturing process conditions for high quality functional foods. In particular, the inclusion of inulin (short and long-chain: GR and HPX respectively) in extruded snack, at levels from 2% to 7%, lowered dough consistency due to a reduction in water absorption. Large differences in elastic properties of samples were observed between 25 and 95 \ub0C due to incompatibility between inulin and starch and different kinetics of starch gelatinization; however, inulin GR had a greater effect than HPX. Short-chain inulin increased product expansion and hardness compared with the reference, while 7% of HPX decreased these parameters. Short-chain inulin lowered the extent of non-enzymatic browning. Snacks made with 5% inulin HPX can be used to enhance the fibre content without impacting negatively on product quality. A level of 8% of the two types of inulin and \u3b2-glucan (Barley Balance) were added to a gluten-starch model system, which represented semolina for pasta production. Dietary fibre ingredients were added individually and in combination. In general, when added individually, inulin lowered dough consistency, while \u3b2-glucan increased this parameter compared to control (without fibre). Moreover, the differences in elastic properties and kinetics of starch gelatinization suggested that short-chain inulin weakens dough structure, while Barley Balance increases elastic effective interactions. However, when dietary fibres were coupled, dough characteristics resulted similar to the gluten-starch model (control); the results suggested that a combination of inulin and Barley Balance allowed to obtain a dough suitable for functional pasta production. A method for predicting the glycaemic content of pasta was developed. With this purpose, a series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of different sample preparation steps, prior to the in vitro starch digestion process, on the predictive in vitro glycaemic response of durum wheat pasta (control) and enriched with fibre (pea flour). The evaluation of the different methods of sample preparation illustrated that the maceration of pasta samples prior to starch digestion significantly increased the extent of starch degradation and hence the area under the curve (AUC) of reducing sugar released during the digestion process. Mastication of the samples prior to in vitro assessment increased the initial reducing sugar content of samples but yielded the lowest recorded AUC for all samples. The results indicate that the choice of the preparation step used prior to in vitro starch digestion procedures can significantly affect the predictive glycaemic response - AUC values of samples, and hence manipulate differences attributed to product composition or structure. This may have an impact in terms of choosing the most appropriate method of glycaemic analysis for the food industry. Based on the results obtained from the study of the gluten-starch model system and from the development of in vitro starch digestion analysis, pasta samples were made by replacing 15% of durum wheat semolina with inulin HPX, inulin GR, Glucagel, psyllium and oat material (added individually and in combinations). The cooking, textural, colour characteristics and predicted glycaemic response of the pastas were evaluated and compared to control sample containing exclusively durum wheat semolina. Generally, material addition to the durum wheat pasta increased the cooking losses, swelling index and water absorption, whilst reduced firmness and resistance to uniaxial extension of pastas. Raw spaghetti samples resulted significantly darker (L*) and more redness (a*) than raw control pasta. In the cooked pasta, all inulin enriched pasta samples were brighter than semolina pasta. Pasta containing 15% semolina of oat flour showed the best performance (except for the colour) compared to the other experimental pasta samples, but was significantly different to control durum wheat sample. Moreover, the inclusion of inulin GR had a less deteriorating effect when added in combination with oat flour. This illustrates that some fibre rich sources may act better in combinations than separately. In general, all enriched dietary fibre pasta sample showed a significant decrease in reducing sugars released and standardised AUC values compared to control pasta. However, this study showed that the combination of dietary fibres in pasta formulation led to an antagonistic effect on the predicted glycaemic response. The last product took in consideration in this research project was gluten free pasta, which was prepared substituting rice flour (reference) with 10, 15 and 20% of resistant starch type II (RS). Farinograph test registered no changes in water absorption at any level of substitution. The presence of fibre caused an increase in optimum cooking time and firmness parameters and a decrease in stickiness and cooking loss values; however, no significant differences among all levels of substitution (10-20%) could be appreciated. The loss of resistant starch content (31%) in raw gluten-free pasta suggested that processing conditions could be a critical point for resistant starch stability. Rhelogical on doughs obtained from all raw pastas showed different G' slopes for fibre-enriched samples compared with the reference, ascribable to some modifications in resistant starch granules during pasta cooking. This observation was confirmed by polarized light microscopy analysis performed on RS granules during heating process conditions. Based on these results, pasta samples made with 20% of RS can be considered as a food product source of dietary fibre

ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THE INSIDE OUT: A CASE STUDY OF ISOLATION ANDAUTONOMY

The working theory of internal accountability has emerged as an alternative model for thinkingabout educational accountability. Internal accountability is defined by three layers of interaction:1) individuals' sense of responsibility; 2) shared norms and expectations among individuals in anorganization; and 3) the capacity of the organization to direct and support instructional practice(Ablemann & Elmore, 1999). Understanding how a school moves along a continuum from weakto strong internal accountability is an area where more research is needed. This study contributesto the understanding of how internal accountability develops by exploring the influence ofteacher isolation and autonomy on the development of internal accountability, with a focus onmoving from an atomistic "default" position to a second tier, characterized by shared norms andexpectations among individuals in an organization. The capacity of schools to engage in acollective response to mandated external accountability requirements may be a determiningfactor in whether schools are able to improve student achievement in a substantive and longlasting way.In this single case study conducted in a western Pennsylvania elementary school, a survey ofteachers' perspectives was conducted to assess internal accountability. Individual interviewswere utilized to obtain rich descriptions of participants' experience and perspectives related tothemes of isolation and autonomy. This study highlights the role of autonomy in thedevelopment of strong internal accountability

The SIALON Project: Report on HIV Prevalence and Risk Behaviour Among MSM in Six European Cities

Data from 23 European countries show that the annual number of HIV diagnoses in men who have sex with men (MSM) increased by 86% between 2000 and 2006. This paper reports the main preliminary results of a bio-behavioural survey in MSM with a specific focus on HIV prevalence and use of United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) indicators in six cities in Southern and Eastern Europe. Time-location sampling (TLS) was used. A total number of 2,356 questionnaires and 2,241 oral fluid samples were collected (invalid samples 4.1%). The data show different socio-demographic patterns across countries regarding age, level of education, living conditions, living area and self-identity. Southern European cities had the highest percentage of people who had tested for HIV and collected the result. More than 50% of respondents in the sample from Barcelona reported having used a condom last time they had anal sex (57.2%), whilst in all other cities this proportion was below 50%. The cities with the highest HIV prevalence in MSM were Barcelona (17.0%) and Verona (11.8%) whilst lower percentages were reported in Bratislava (6.1%), Bucharest (4.6%), Ljubljana (5.1%) and Prague (2.6%). The low prevalence in Eastern European cities is encouraging. However, with the level of high-risk sexual behaviour documented and the lower frequency of HIV test seeking behaviour, there is a clear risk of an increase in HIV transmission

Data coding tools for color-coded vector nanolithography

We propose and demonstrate the ability and efficiency of using a universal file format for a nanolithography pattern. A problem faced by the physicists working in the field of nanolithography is a lack of a flexible pattern design software (possibly open–source) that could be applied in combination with a broad range of commercial scanning probe microscope (SPM) systems. The current nanolithography software packages are device–specific and not portable. Therefore, it is impossible to make a lithography pattern and share it with fellow physicists working on a networked sub-system. In this paper we describe the software designed to read and interpret a nanolithography pattern stored in a Windows Metafile (WMF) standard graphic format and next to draw it on a substrate using an SPM tip. The nanolithography parameters like height, velocity, feedback force, etc. are coded in the color of the WMF onto the RGB channels of the image establishing a distinct relation between a graphical feature (color) and the used nanolithography scheme (voltage, height, etc.). The concept enables preparation of complex patterns using any standard graphic software and aids an intuitive recognition of the mode and parameters set for a pattern. The advantages of using a WMF over other approaches and the universal scope of the software are discussed

Psyllium husk gel to reinforce structure of gluten-free pasta?

Gluten-free pasta is a technological challenge. The effect of Psyllium particle size, processing temperature and gel concentration on the quality of rice-based pasta was investigated. The rheological properties, i.e. maturation kinetics and mechanical spectra, of the Psyllium gels were studied and optimal conditions were set: 160–315 μm particle size, 4 g/100 g Psyllium husk concentration thermally processed at 40 ºC. Cooking quality parameters, texture properties, nutritional composition, antioxidants and digestibility of pasta were determined. Consequently, the use of Psyllium husk in gluten-free pasta showed good overall properties. Moreover, the pregelatinization step of rice flour can be eliminated, resulting in a final gluten-free pasta formulation with Psyllium gel and rice flour (50/50) with high digestibilityinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Physicochemical and textural quality attributes of gluten-free bread formulated with guar gum

The objective of this study was to assess the combined effect of guar gum (GG) and water content (WC) on the rheological properties of batter, and the physicochemical and textural properties of bread. Batches of gluten-free bread used a base formulation of rice (50%), maize (30%) and quinoa flour (20%), with different levels of GG (2.5, 3.0 or 3.5%) and water (90, 100 or 110%) in a full factorial design. Higher GG doses (p<0.001) tended to produce batters of lower stickiness, work of adhesion and cohesive strength; yet, of higher firmness, consistency, cohesiveness and viscosity index. These batters yielded loaves of lower (p<0.001) specific volume and baking loss; and crumbs of lower (p<0.001) aw, pH, mean cell area, void fraction, mean cell aspect ratio; and higher (p<0.001) hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, resilience, mean cell density, cell size uniformity and mean cell compactness. The sticker and less consistent batters produced with higher WC rendered larger bread loaves of softer and more cohesive and springy/resilient crumbs with greater mean cell size and void fraction. Gluten-free loaves of good appearance in terms of higher specific volume, lower crumb hardness, higher crumb springiness, and open grain visual texture were obtained in formulations with 110% WC and GG doses between 2.5 and 3.0%.Eng. Encina-Zelada acknowledges the financial aid provided by the Peruvian National Programme of Scholarships and Student Loans (PRONABEC) in the mode of PhD grants (Presidente de la República-183308). The authors are grateful to Eng. Andrea Oliveira from Prodipani, Portugal, for her kind advice and providing breadmaking ingredients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio