1,748 research outputs found
Traceability to ensure food safety and consumer protection as typified by case studies of three meat processing plants
Ensuring food safety is a legal obligation of the manufacturer or of the entity that places the product on sale. Traceability is one of the tools that are used to ensure food safety. It allows the withdrawal of a dangerous or non-compliant product from the market and determines the source of a threat. The aim of the study was to compare the functioning and effectiveness of traceability systems in selected approved meat industry plants. The system functioning in a large meat processing plant, in which the circulation of documents was implemented in a computer system, was compared with two smaller ones, in which paper documentation was carried out, but supported by a computer system. In these plants, the traceability system was based on internal procedures. Properly developed traceability procedures and simulations support and enable response in a crisis. Computer systems streamline and facilitate the traceability process. However, the comparative analysis showed that the use of paper records allowed for efficient identification of the source of the threat. The possibility of performing product traceability was confirmed in these plants. Internal markings and codes and documentation flow, staff training, and awareness proved helpful
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A Data-informed Public Health Policy-Makers Platform
Hearing loss is a disease exhibiting a growing trend due to the number of factors, including but not limited to the mundane exposure to the noise and ever-increasing amount of older population. In the framework of a public health policymaking process, modeling of the hearing loss disease based on data is a key factor in alleviating the issues related to the disease issuing effective public health policies. First, the paper describes the steps of the data-driven policymaking process. Afterward, a scenario along with the part of the proposed platform, responsible for supporting policymaking are presented. With the aim of demonstrating the capabilities and usability of the platform for the policy-makers, some initial results of preliminary analytics are presented in a framework of a policy-making process. Ultimately, the utility of the approach is validated throughout the results of the survey which was presented to the health system policy-makers professionals involved in the policy development process in Croatia
Q-Value and Half-Lives for the Double-Beta-Decay Nuclide 110Pd
The 110Pd double-beta decay Q-value was measured with the Penning-trap mass
spectrometer ISOLTRAP to be Q = 2017.85(64) keV. This value shifted by 14 keV
compared to the literature value and is 17 times more precise, resulting in new
phase-space factors for the two-neutrino and neutrinoless decay modes. In
addition a new set of the relevant matrix elements has been calculated. The
expected half-life of the two-neutrino mode was reevaluated as 1.5(6) E20 yr.
With its high natural abundance, the new results reveal 110Pd to be an
excellent candidate for double-beta decay studies
Ground-State Electromagnetic Moments of Calcium Isotopes
High-resolution bunched-beam collinear laser spectroscopy was used to measure
the optical hyperfine spectra of the Ca isotopes. The ground state
magnetic moments of Ca and quadrupole moments of Ca were
measured for the first time, and the Ca ground state spin was
determined in a model-independent way. Our results provide a critical test of
modern nuclear theories based on shell-model calculations using
phenomenological as well as microscopic interactions. The results for the
neutron-rich isotopes are in excellent agreement with predictions using
interactions derived from chiral effective field theory including three-nucleon
forces, while lighter isotopes illustrate the presence of particle-hole
excitations of the Ca core in their ground state.Comment: Accepted as a Rapid Communication in Physical Review
Spins, Electromagnetic Moments, and Isomers of 107-129Cd
The neutron-rich isotopes of cadmium up to the N=82 shell closure have been
investigated by high-resolution laser spectroscopy. Deep-UV excitation at 214.5
nm and radioactive-beam bunching provided the required experimental
sensitivity. Long-lived isomers are observed in 127Cd and 129Cd for the first
time. One essential feature of the spherical shell model is unambiguously
confirmed by a linear increase of the 11/2- quadrupole moments. Remarkably,
this mechanism is found to act well beyond the h11/2 shell
Probing the N = 32 shell closure below the magic proton number Z = 20: Mass measurements of the exotic isotopes 52,53K
The recently confirmed neutron-shell closure at N = 32 has been investigated
for the first time below the magic proton number Z = 20 with mass measurements
of the exotic isotopes 52,53K, the latter being the shortest-lived nuclide
investigated at the online mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP. The resulting
two-neutron separation energies reveal a 3 MeV shell gap at N = 32, slightly
lower than for 52Ca, highlighting the doubly-magic nature of this nuclide.
Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Boguliubov and ab initio Gorkov-Green function calculations
are challenged by the new measurements but reproduce qualitatively the observed
shell effect.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Penning trap mass measurements on (99-109)$Cd with ISOLTRAP and implications on the rp process
Penning trap mass measurements on neutron-deficient Cd isotopes (99-109)Cd
have been performed with the ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer at ISOLDE/CERN, all
with relative mass uncertainties below 3*10^8. A new mass evaluation has been
performed. The mass of 99Cd has been determined for the first time which
extends the region of accurately known mass values towards the doubly magic
nucleus 100Sn. The implication of the results on the reaction path of the rp
process in stellar X-ray bursts is discussed. In particular, the uncertainty of
the abundance and the overproduction created by the rp-process for the mass A =
99 is demonstrated by reducing the uncertainty of the proton-separation energy
of 100In Sp(100In) by a factor of 2.5.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
Nuclear spins, magnetic moments and quadrupole moments of Cu isotopes from N = 28 to N = 46: probes for core polarization effects
Measurements of the ground-state nuclear spins, magnetic and quadrupole
moments of the copper isotopes from 61Cu up to 75Cu are reported. The
experiments were performed at the ISOLDE facility, using the technique of
collinear laser spectroscopy. The trend in the magnetic moments between the
N=28 and N=50 shell closures is reasonably reproduced by large-scale
shell-model calculations starting from a 56Ni core. The quadrupole moments
reveal a strong polarization of the underlying Ni core when the neutron shell
is opened, which is however strongly reduced at N=40 due to the parity change
between the and orbits. No enhanced core polarization is seen beyond
N=40. Deviations between measured and calculated moments are attributed to the
softness of the 56Ni core and weakening of the Z=28 and N=28 shell gaps.Comment: 13 pagers, 19 figures, accepted by Physical Review
Isomer shift and magnetic moment of the long-lived 1/2 isomer in Zn: signature of shape coexistence near Ni
Collinear laser spectroscopy has been performed on the Zn
isotope at ISOLDE-CERN. The existence of a long-lived isomer with a few hundred
milliseconds half-life was confirmed, and the nuclear spins and moments of the
ground and isomeric states in Zn as well as the isomer shift were
measured. From the observed hyperfine structures, spins and
are firmly assigned to the ground and isomeric states. The magnetic moment
(Zn) = 1.1866(10) , confirms the spin-parity
with a shell-model configuration, in excellent
agreement with the prediction from large scale shell-model theories. The
magnetic moment (Zn) = 1.0180(12) supports a
positive parity for the isomer, with a wave function dominated by a 2h-1p
neutron excitation across the shell gap. The large isomer shift
reveals an increase of the intruder isomer mean square charge radius with
respect to that of the ground state:
= +0.204(6) fm, providing first evidence of shape coexistence.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Accepeted by Phys. Rev. Lett. (2016
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