Novel Insights into Biarticular Muscle Actions Gained from High-Density Electromyogram

Biarticular muscles have traditionally been considered to exhibit homogeneous neuromuscular activation. The regional activation of biarticular muscles, as revealed from high-density surface electromyograms, seems however to discredit this notion. We thus hypothesize the regional activation of biarticular muscles may contribute to different actions about the joints they span. We then discuss the mechanistic basis and methodological implications underpinning our hypothesis

A multi-risk methodology for the assessment of climate change impacts in coastal zones

Climate change threatens coastal areas, posing significant risks to natural and human systems, including coastal erosion and inundation. This paper presents a multi-risk approach integrating multiple climate-related hazards and exposure and vulnerability factors across different spatial units and temporal scales. The multi-hazard assessment employs an influence matrix to analyze the relationships among hazards (sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and storm surge) and their disjoint probability. The multi-vulnerability considers the susceptibility of the exposed receptors (wetlands, beaches, and urban areas) to different hazards based on multiple indicators (dunes, shoreline evolution, and urbanization rate). The methodology was applied in the North Adriatic coast, producing a ranking of multi-hazard risks by means of GIS maps and statistics. The results highlight that the higher multi-hazard score (meaning presence of all investigated hazards) is near the coastline while multi-vulnerability is relatively high in the whole case study, especially for beaches, wetlands, protected areas, and river mouths. The overall multi-risk score presents a trend similar to multi-hazard and shows that beaches is the receptor most affected by multiple risks (60% of surface in the higher multi-risk classes). Risk statistics were developed for coastal municipalities and local stakeholders to support the setting of adaptation priorities and coastal zone management plans

Application of a non-targeted approach by Flash Gas Chromatography-E-nose to discriminate the geographical origin of virgin olive oils

One of the fraudulent practices often applied in the olive oil sector concerns the mislabelling of the geographical origin of the products. In order to ensure that consumers are not mislead, the European Union issued a regulation concerning the definition of specific rules for the indication of geographical origin in the label (EU Reg. 29/2012). Beyond the compulsory traceability, the application of specific analytical techniques could be a useful tool to verify the conformity between the product and the information reported on the label. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Flash Gas Chromatography-E-Nose, an instrument that combines functionality of electronic nose and ultra-fast GC, for the evaluation of the geographical origin of virgin olive oils (VOOs). For this purpose, more than 150 VOOs, different for their geographical origin (from single EU countries, such as Spain, Italy and Greece, and from single extra-EU countries, such as Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco) were collected and analyzed. Subsequently, a chemometric elaboration applied, with a non-targeted approach, to the chromatographic traces was realized. This permitted to build a model able to satisfactorily discriminate samples according to their geographical origin. This work is developed in the context of the project OLEUM \u201cAdvanced solutions for assuring authenticity and quality of olive oil at global scale\u201d, funded by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 Programme (2014\u20132020, GA no. 635690). The information expressed in this abstract reflects the authors\u2019 views; the EC is not liable for the information contained therein

Storage time of nut spreads using flash gas chromatography E-nose combined with multivariate data analysis

The quality assessment, in terms of lipid oxidative status, of food products stored in the long-term is of great importance, especially those with a high lipid content. Specifically, companies working in this sector need feasible, simple, and fast techniques that are suitable for quality or process control. Herein, a fingerprinting approach, based on headspace analysis carried out by flash gas chromatography electronic nose (FGC E-nose) and multivariate data analysis was applied to pistachio and gianduja spreads. These samples, differently packaged, were stored in climatic chambers at 40 °C for 180 days and their headspace fraction was analyzed periodically for a total of 15 sampling times. Principal component analysis showed a clear separation according to the packaging type for both pistachio and gianduja samples. Partial least squares regression models were developed to predict the storage time considering the aggregated data (R2 up to 0.985, RMSEP = 6.16 days) or separately (R2 up to 0.989, RMSEP = 5.71 days). Based on the obtained residual prediction deviation (RPD from 4.4 to 8.5 in prediction), the models can be considered suitable for use in quality control in an industrial environment

Children preferences of coloured fresh cheese prepared during an educational laboratory

Choices among young consumers are mainly driven by food preferences; in particular, a connection between appearance and acceptance of food has been highlighted, together with a general lack of knowledge of food processing. For these reasons, educational activities are important to increase scientific knowledge and awareness. The cheese-making educational laboratory described herein involved children, adolescents, and their parents/teachers in the preparation of fresh and naturally-coloured cheeses. At the end of the activity, both the colour preference and possible relation between preference and colour of cheese prepared were investigated administering a short questionnaire

Characterization of virgin olive oils obtained from minor Tunisian varieties for their valorization

Several compositional parameters (fatty acids, tocopherols, polar phenols and volatiles) in virgin olive oils from varieties located at the center of Tunisia, namely Baldi, Chemchali, Neb Jmel, Tounsi and Besbessi from Gafsa and Chemchali and Sehli cultivated in Sidi Bouzid, were studied. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study focusing on the chemical composition of virgin olive oils (VOO) from Sidi Bouzid. Significant differences were found between varieties from Sidi Bouzid and Gafsa in monounsaturated saturated fatty acid levels, some volatile compounds and γ-tocopherol amounts. Notably, Tounsi and Baldi VOOs showed the highest six carbon atoms alcohol contents, whereas Neb Jmel VOO revealed the highest aldehyde six carbon atoms content. Fatty acid composition, as well as tocopherol content, showed differences among different VOO. Principal component analysis and hierarchical component analysis on polar phenols, fatty acids, tocopherols and volatiles data evidenced a good discrimination among oils from the different investigated varieties

Agronomic and Environmental Benefits of Cover Crops in Northern Italy

Cover crops have a number of benefits (reduction of nitrate leaching and of soil erosion, control of weed seed bank, increase of soil organic matter and increase of cash crop yield), but these were seldom quantified in cropping systems of Northern Italy. This experiment aimed to quantify some of these effects, by comparing cover crop species and their management techniques

Understanding regional activation of thoraco-lumbar muscles in chronic low back pain and its relationship to clinically relevant domains

Background: Altered regional activation of the lumbar extensors has been previously observed in individuals with low back pain (LBP) performing high-effort and fatiguing tasks. It is currently unknown whether similar alterations can be observed during low-effort functional tasks. Similarly, previous studies did not investigate whether side differences in regional activation are present in individuals with LBP. Finally, there is limited evidence of whether the extent of the alteration of regional activation is associated with clinical factors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether individuals with LBP exhibit asymmetric regional activation of the thoraco-lumbar extensor muscles during functional tasks, and if the extent of neuromuscular control alteration is associated with clinical and psychosocial outcome domains. Methods: 21 participants with and 21 without LBP performed five functional tasks (gait, sit-to-stand, forward trunk flexion, shoulder flexion and anterior pelvic tilt). The spatial distribution of activation of the thoraco-lumbar extensor muscles was assessed bilaterally using high-density electromyography. For each side, the distribution of electromyographic (EMG) amplitude was characterized in terms of intensity, location and size. Indices of asymmetry were calculated from these features and comparisons between groups and tasks were performed using ANOVA. The features that significantly differed between groups were correlated with self-reported measures of pain intensity and other outcome domains. Results: Indices of asymmetry did not differ between participants with and without LBP (p > 0.11). The cranio-caudal location of the activation differed between tasks (p < 0.05), but not between groups (p = 0.64). Participants with LBP showed reduced EMG amplitude during anterior pelvic tilt and loading response phase during gait (both p < 0.05). Pearson correlation revealed that greater pain intensity was associated with lower EMG amplitude for both tasks (R<-0.5, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Despite clear differences between tasks, individuals with and without LBP exhibited similar distributions of EMG amplitude during low-effort functional activities, both within and between sides. However, individuals with LBP demonstrated lower activation of the thoraco-lumbar muscles during gait and anterior pelvic tilt, especially those reporting higher pain intensity. These results have implications in the development or refinement of assessment and intervention strategies focusing on motor control in patients with chronic LBP

Design and in-house validation of a portable system for the determination of free acidity in virgin olive oil

Nutritional and healthy values are well known properties of virgin olive oil (VOO). The product quality, in terms of belonging to a specific quality grade (extra virgin, virgin, lampante), is defined by a set of chemical-physical and sensory measurements. According to the official regulation of the European Union (EU Reg. 1348/2013)the free acidity is the first parameter that has to be determined by analysts; it gives information about the quality of the olives used to produce the VOO as well as the hydrolytic state of VOO just produced and stored. The official procedure is based on an acid-base titration that needs to be carried out in a chemical laboratory. In this paper a portable battery-operated electronic system to measure olive oil free acidity is presented: the system can be used for quick \u201cin situ\u201d tests in a production environment (olive oil mills or packaging centers)by people without particular training. The working principle of the system is based on the creation of an emulsion between oil and a hydroalcoholic solution: the free acidity is estimated on the value of the emulsion electrical conductance. The proposed system has been calibrated and in-house validated showing good results in terms of limit of detection and quantification, precision and accuracy. Moreover, a good correlation (R 2adj = 0.97)with free acidity data obtained applying the official method on 30 olive oil samples belonging to different commercial categories (extra virgin, virgin and lampante olive oil)has been evidenced

Simulating International Shipments of Vegetable Oils: Focus on Quality Changes

This investigation evaluated the quality changes of commercial vegetable oils after different simulated shipments. In particular, the oils were placed in containers with or without thermal insulation and subjected to two simulated shipments, from Italy to Los Angeles and to Quebec. The temperature profiles were monitored to simulate the real shipments conditions in laboratory through properly developed climate chambers. Different quality parameters were evaluated before and after the simulations, showing a high degree of oxidation for samples shipped to Los Angeles in standard containers. In this study, the thermal insulation container was effective in protecting samples from potential oxidative damage during simulated shipping.The authors would like to thank Enhancement of the Palestinian University System (E- PLUS) for PhD scholarship grants financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Directorate General for Cooperation and Development (coordinated by the University of Pavia)