Evolution of physicochemical, morphological and aromatic characteristics of Italian PDO dry-cured hams during processing

The aim of this work was to follow the evolution of physicochemical (dry matter, NaCl concentration, pH, water activity), morphological (image analysis) and aromatic (e-nose) characteristics of the three main Italian PDOs during processing, from slaughtering to end of ripening. Main phenomena distinguishing the PDOs are NaCl concentration increase, which is higher in Toscano than in Parma and San Daniele hams, starting from the salting phase. Water activity values decrease during processing, and the lowest values are detected in Toscano ham. Changes in morphological parameters (area, shape) and in color progressively occur during processing and are more pronounced in Toscano ham. A clear evolution of aroma of the three PDOs has been observed by e-nose, and the complexity of the aromatic profile of the ripened hams is clearly highlighted

Thermal characterization of intumescent fire retardant paints

Intumescent coatings are now the dominant passive fire protection materials used in industrial and commercial buildings. The coatings, which usually are composed of inorganic components contained in a polymer matrix, are inert at low temperatures and at higher temperatures, they expand and degrade to provide a charred layer of low conductivity materials. The charred layer, which acts as thermal barrier, will prevent heat transfer to underlying substrate. The thermal properties of intumescent paints are often unknown and difficult to be estimated since they vary significantly during the expansion process; for this reason the fire resistance validation of a commercial coatings is based on expensive, large-scale methods where each commercial coating-beam configuration has to be tested one by one. Adopting, instead, approaches based on a thermal modelling of the intumescent paint coating could provide an helpful tool to make easier the test procedure and to support the design of fire resistant structures as well. The present investigation is focused on the assessment of a methodology intended to the restoration of the equivalent thermal conductivity of the intumescent layer produced under the action of a cone calorimetric apparatus. The estimation procedure is based on the inverse heat conduction problem approach, where the temperature values measured at some locations inside the layer during the expansion process are used as input known data. The results point out that the equivalent thermal conductivity reached by the intumescent material at the end of the expansion process significantly depends on the temperature while the initial thickness of the paint does not seem to have much effect

Genome elimination during microsporogenesis in two pentaploid accessions of Brachiaria decumbens (Poaceae)

Polyploidy is a prominent and significant force in plant evolution, taking place since ancient times and continuing until today. Recent cytogenetic studies in the genus Brachiaria using germplasm collected from wild African savannas in the 1980s revealed that most species and accessions within species are polyploid. Diploid, tetraploid, and pentaploid accessions have been found. We found asynchronous meiosis during microsporogenesis, followed by genome elimination, in two pentaploid (2n = 5x = 45) accessions (D53 and D71) of a hardy, invasive pasture grass, introduced from Africa to Brazil, Brachiaria decumbens. In these accessions, chromosomes paired as 18 bivalents and nine univalents during diakinesis, suggesting that these accessions resulted from a recent event of natural hybridization. The lack of chromosome associations in the genomes suggests that these accessions resulted from hybridization between two genotypes that are not closely related, with low genome affinity and with different meiotic rhythms. This supposition is reinforced by the meiotic behavior of the nine univalents, which were always laggard in relation to the other chromosomes and eliminated as micronucleiin microspores. The behavior of these accessions, which have an odd level of ploidy and confirmed genome elimination, supports the general assumption that a polyploid accession can undergo a new event of polyploidization by natural hybridization (neopolyploidyzation). This evidence for natural hybridization in Brachiaria shows that this is a wild genus in an ongoing evolutionary process

Winemaking Byproducts as Source of Antioxidant Components : Consumers’ Acceptance and Expectations of Phenol-Enriched Plant-Based Food

One of the food industry\u2019s priorities is to recover byproducts and move towards more sustainable systems. Among wine-chain byproducts, unripe grapes represent a promising source of antioxidants. However, the development of new foods enriched using phenol-rich ingredients is challenging due to their sensory attributes. The aims of the present study were to (1) use phenol-rich extract from unripe grapes to enrich a model plant-based food (beetroot puree\u2014BP); (2) evaluate consumers\u2019 acceptance and expectations for the beetroot pur\ue9e samples. The effect of information about the sustainability and pro-health activity of value-added ingredients on consumers\u2019 responses was also investigated. Four beetroot purees with increasing concentrations of phenol extract (0\u20131.93 g/kg) added were evaluated by 101 participants in three tasting conditions (blind: only samples; expected: only information without tasting; real: both samples and information).Liking slightly decreased with increasing concentrations of phenol extract, even if all the samples were considered acceptable. The health and sustainability information increased the hedonic expectations, although it was not assimilated by all consumers involved. The development of new phenol-enriched foods using functional ingredients from unripe grapes is challenging. However, it is also promising, since all the samples were generally accepted by the consumers and they presented phenol levels that were stable over time and that could have positive health effects when consumed

an algorithm for initial fluxes of metabolic p systems

A central issue in systems biology is the study of efficient methods inferring fluxes of biological reactions by starting from experimental data. Among the different techniques proposed in the last years, the theory of Metabolic P systems, which is based on the Log-Gain principle, proved to be helpful for deducing biologi- cal fluxes from temporal series of observed dynamics. According to this approach, the algebraic systems provided by the Log-Gain principle determine the reaction fluxes underlying a system dynamics when initial fluxes are known. Here we propose a heuristic algorithm for estimating the initial fluxes, that is tested in two case studies

Design and implementation of a modulating test plant to assess the performance of innovative cross-flow heat recovery units for air conditioning system: Preliminary results

Nowadays global warming has increased consciousness of the dangers of energy wastefulness: in the last 50 years the temperature of the Earth's surface rose by approximately 1 °C. The building sector is responsible for a very high percentage of world carbon emissions and with the increasing of the request for comfort, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, buildings energy consumption is rapidly growing. Consequently, it appears fundamental the role played by the improvement of buildings energy performance within global policies of emissions reduction. In this context an increasing attention is given to the energy waste reduction in tertiary sector: bars, offices, restaurants, meetings, shops, school buildings, gyms and in general in the buildings in which the minimization of the energy dissipation is requested. The present study is part of the NANOFANCOIL project (POR-FESR 2014-2020): one of the objectives was the design and implementation of a modulating test plant to assess the performance of innovative cross-flow heat recovery units for air conditioning system. This experimental setup was mainly composed by two climatic chambers that enabled to simulate the environmental conditions of interest. The temperature could vary from -20°C to 0°C and from 10°C to 30°C for the cold and the hot chamber, respectively (i.e. the outdoor and the indoor environment). Moreover, the climatic chamber that simulates the indoor environment could be controlled also in terms of humidity thanks to a steam humidifier that guaranteed 5 kg/h of vapour. Preliminary results about the heat transfer behaviour of a cross-flow heat recovery unit (air-to-air) for controlled mechanical ventilation systems that employs mini-channels in order to increase performance and reduce size and costs are presented here

From food waste to eco-friendly functionalized polymer composites: Investigation of orange peels as active filler

: The development of eco-friendly polymer composites with multifunctional properties aligns with the goals of the circular economy agenda, which aims to minimize waste and promote the sustainable use of resources by closing the loop of product life cycles. Eco-friendly polymer composites play a crucial role in achieving these objectives. The present work focuses on the preparation of fully biobased blends obtained by melt mixing a bio-polyester, poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA), with orange peels up to 20 wt%, to yield active polymer composites. Orange peels, employed here as natural filler, are largely available from food wastes, they are rich in phenolic compounds and possess antioxidant activity as shown by the experimental tests carried out. The thermal stability of the formulated composites is almost unchanged by the filler addition, showing only a slight decrease of the crystallization temperatures and crystalline fraction within the composites. The mechanical properties of the compounds evidence an increase in the elastic modulus together with a decrease in the tensile strength, while the elongation at break remains almost constant. The incorporation of the natural filler enabled the integration of antioxidant and antibacterial properties, which were absent in the original pristine polymer