Prediction of chemical composition and peroxide value in unground pet foods by near-infrared spectroscopy

The massive development of the pet food industry in recent years has lead to the formulation of hundreds of canine and feline complete extruded foods with the objective of meeting both the needs of the animals and numerous demands from pet owners. In the meantime, highly variable raw material compositions and the industry's new production techniques oblige manufacturers to monitor all phases of the extrusion process closely in order to ensure the targeted composition and quality of the products. This study aimed at evaluating the potential of infrared technology (visible and near-infrared spectrophotometer; 570-1842 nm) in predicting the chemical composition and peroxide value (PV) of unground commercial extruded dog foods. Six hundred and forty-nine commercial extruded dog foods were collected. For each product, an unground aliquot was analysed by infrared instrument while a second aliquot was sent to a laboratory for proximate analysis and PV quantification. The wide range of extruded dog food typologies included in the study was responsible for the wide variability observed within each nutritional trait, especially crude fibre and ash. The mean value of the 208 pet foods sampled for PV quantification was 17.49 mEq O2/kg fat (min 2.2 and max 94.10 mEq O2/kg fat). The coefficients of determination in cross-validation of NIRS prediction models were 0.77, 0.97, 0.83, 0.86, 0.78 and 0.94 for moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) respectively. PV prediction was less precise, as demonstrated by the coefficient of determination in cross-validation (0.66). The results demonstrated the potential of NIRS in predicting chemical composition in unground samples, with lower accuracy for moisture and ash, while PV prediction models suggest use for screening purposes only

Usability assessment of an intraoperative planning software

Usability is a crucial aspect of medical device safety. The brand-new European Regulation requires the manufacturer to assess the usability of the new medical devices. In this study, we evaluate the usability of a new medical device intended to assist the intraoperative planning with the visualization of 3d patient-specific organ models. The usability study started from the early stage of the device design and iterated through an early formative, completed with desk-based activities, late formative, completed with a focus group, and summative phase, that comprised a user test, and questionnaire filling. The identified usability issues are mitigated, the safety of the device user interface is confirmed and the training contents are defined and confirmed. Additional information regarding the user experience is collected and analyzed to identify further improvements of the device

Red mark syndrome: Is the aquaculture water microbiome a keystone for understanding the disease aetiology?

Aquaculture significantly contributes to the growing demand for food worldwide. However, diseases associated with intensive aquaculture conditions, especially the skin related syndromes, may have significant implications on fish health and industry. In farmed rainbow trout, red mark syndrome (RMS), which consists of multiple skin lesions, currently lacks recognized aetiological agents, and increased efforts are needed to elucidate the onset of these conditions. Most of the past studies were focused on analyzing skin lesions, but no study focused on water, a medium constantly interacting with fish. Indeed, water tanks are environmental niches colonized by microbial communities, which may be implicated in the onset of the disease. Here, we present the results of water and sediment microbiome analyses performed in an RMS-affected aquaculture facility, bringing new knowledge about the environmental microbiomes harbored under these conditions. On the whole, no significant differences in the bacterial community structure were reported in RMS-affected tanks compared to the RMS-free ones. However, we highlighted significant differences in microbiome composition when analyzing different samples source (i.e., water and sediments). Looking at the finer scale, we measured significant changes in the relative abundances of specific taxa in RMS-affected tanks, especially when analyzing water samples. Our results provide worthwhile insight into a mostly uncharacterized ecological scenario, aiding future studies on the aquaculture built environment for disease prevention and monitoring

Wind generated rogue waves in an annular wave flume

We investigate experimentally the statistical properties of a wind-generated wave field and the spontaneous formation of rogue waves in an annular flume. Unlike many experiments on rogue waves, where waves are mechanically generated, here the wave field is forced naturally by wind as it is in the ocean. What is unique about the present experiment is that the annular geometry of the tank makes waves propagating circularly in an {\it unlimited-fetch} condition. Within this peculiar framework, we discuss the temporal evolution of the statistical properties of the surface elevation. We show that rogue waves and heavy-tail statistics may develop naturally during the growth of the waves just before the wave height reaches a stationary condition. Our results shed new light on the formation of rogue waves in a natural environment

Polyclonal serum-free light chains elevation in HIV-infected patients.

We investigated the association between polyclonal serum-free light chains and prognostic biomarkers routinely used in the setting of HIV infection. For this purpose serum samples of 182 HIV-infected patients from the Italian Cohort of Antiretroviral Naive Patients foundation cohort were analysed. We found that polyclonal serum free light chains above the upper normal limit are strongly correlated in HIV-infected patients with advancing age, shorter time of undetectable HIV viremia, higher viral load and with lower CD4 cell count at sample

Start of SPIDER operation towards ITER neutral beams

Heating Neutral Beam (HNB) Injectors will constitute the main plasma heating and current drive tool both in ITER and JT60-SA, which are the next major experimental steps for demonstrating nuclear fusion as viable energy source. In ITER, in order to achieve the required thermonuclear fusion power gain Q=10 for short pulse operation and Q=5 for long pulse operation (up to 3600s), two HNB injectors will be needed [1], each delivering a total power of about 16.5 MW into the magnetically-confined plasma, by means of neutral hydrogen or deuterium particles having a specific energy of about 1 MeV. Since only negatively charged particles can be efficiently neutralized at such energy, the ITER HNB injectors [2] will be based on negative ions, generated by caesium-catalysed surface conversion of atoms in a radio-frequency driven plasma source. A negative deuterium ion current of more than 40 A will be extracted, accelerated and focused in a multi-aperture, multi-stage electrostatic accelerator, having 1280 apertures (~ 14 mm diam.) and 5 acceleration stages (~200 kV each) [3]. After passing through a narrow gas-cell neutralizer, the residual ions will be deflected and discarded, whereas the neutralized particles will continue their trajectory through a duct into the tokamak vessels to deliver the required heating power to the ITER plasma for a pulse duration of about 3600 s. Although the operating principles and the implementation of the most critical parts of the injector have been tested in different experiments, the ITER NBI requirements have never been simultaneously attained. In order to reduce the risks and to optimize the design and operating procedures of the HNB for ITER, a dedicated Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) [4] has been promoted by the ITER Organization with the contribution of the European Union\u2019s Joint Undertaking for ITER and of the Italian Government, with the participation of the Japanese and Indian Domestic Agencies (JADA and INDA) and of several European laboratories, such as IPP-Garching, KIT-Karlsruhe, CCFE-Culham, CEA-Cadarache. The NBTF, nicknamed PRIMA, has been set up at Consorzio RFX in Padova, Italy [5]. The planned experiments will verify continuous HNB operation for one hour, under stringent requirements for beam divergence (< 7 mrad) and aiming (within 2 mrad). To study and optimise HNB performances, the NBTF includes two experiments: MITICA, full-scale NBI prototype with 1 MeV particle energy and SPIDER, with 100 keV particle energy and 40 A current, aiming at testing and optimizing the full-scale ion source. SPIDER will focus on source uniformity, negative ion current density and beam optics. In June 2018 the experimental operation of SPIDER has started

A cluster randomised control trial to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Italian medicines use review (I-MUR) for asthma patients

Background The economic burden of asthma, which relates to the degree of control, is €5 billion annually in Italy. Pharmacists could help improve asthma control, reducing this burden. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Medicines Use Reviews provided by community pharmacists in asthma. Methods This cluster randomised, multi-centre, controlled trial in adult patients with asthma was conducted in 15 of the 20 regions of Italy between September 2014 and July 2015. After stratification by region, community pharmacists were randomly allocated to group A (trained in and delivered the intervention at baseline) or B (training and delivery 3 months later), using computerised random number generation in blocks of 10. Each recruited up to five patients, with both groups followed for 9 months. The intervention consisted of a systematic, structured face-to-face consultation with a pharmacist, covering asthma symptoms, medicines used, attitude towards medicines and adherence, recording pharmacist-identified pharmaceutical care issues (PCIs). The primary outcome was asthma control, assessed using the Asthma-Control-Test (ACT) score (ACT ≥ 20 represents good control). Secondary outcomes were: number of active ingredients, adherence, cost-effectiveness compared with usual care. Although blinding was not possible for either pharmacists or patients, assessment of outcomes was conducted by researchers blind to group allocation. Results Numbers of pharmacists and patients enrolled were 283 (A = 136; B = 147) and 1263 (A = 600; B = 663), numbers completing were 201 (A = 97; B = 104) and 816 (A = 400; B = 416), respectively. Patients were similar in age and gender and 56.13% (458/816) had poor/partial asthma control. Pharmacists identified 1256 PCIs (mean 1.54/patient), mostly need for education, monitoring and potentially ineffective therapy. Median ACT score at baseline differed between groups (A = 19, B = 18; p < 0.01). Odds ratio for improved asthma control was 1.76 (95% CI 1.33–2.33) and number needed to treat 10 (95% CI 6–28). Number of active ingredients reduced by 7.9% post-intervention (p < 0.01). Adherence improved by 35.4% 3 months post-intervention and 40.0% at 6 months (p < 0.01). The probability of the intervention being more cost-effective than usual care was 100% at 9 months. Conclusions This community pharmacist-based intervention demonstrated both effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. It has since been implemented as the first community pharmacy cognitive service in Italy