Discriminació i caracterització de xocolates negres mitjançant l’anàlisi de polifenols per HPLC-UV i HPLC-FLD

Treballs Finals de Grau de Química, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Any: 2021, Tutors: Javier Saurina Purroy, Sònia Sentellas MinguillónThe popularity of chocolate has increased greatly in recent years not only because it is considered a delicatessen, but also because the high polyphenolic content of cocoa provides to chocolate some interesting health properties, mainly antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic activities. However, cocoa production has been involved in polemics, as the obtention of this praised food has been related to slavery, biodiversity loss, and deforestation. In order to ensure consumers that the products they buy are environmentally and socially responsible, the development of reliable chocolate authentication methods is required. The aim of this work is to classify and characterize chocolate samples based on their geographical origin, cocoa variety and cocoa content by analysing their polyphenolic composition using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV (HPLC-UV) and fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). The chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 reversed phase column with an elution gradient using water 0.1 % in formic acid and acetonitrile as the mobile phases. The chromatographic data of 42 chocolate samples from 4 different bean varieties (Criollo, Forastero, Nacional and Trinitario) and 3 different geographical origins (Africa, America and Asia) were analysed using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares – discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The obtained score plots were used to achieve the classification and discrimination of the chocolates depending on their variety, origin and cocoa conten

A pirataria marítima e sua caracterização como ameaça: presença, tipo, armas, violência e navios atacados entre 1991 e 2019

Maritime piracy is a threat to maritime trade whose contemporary version has been legally addressed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) and coercively by the UN and EU. The present article analyzes maritime piracy from the Copenhagen School’s theoretical perspective and its application to the International Chamber of Commerce’s annual reports on piracy, whose information ranges from 1991 to 2019. This analysis indicates two increase periods, characterized by presence, type, arms, violence, and ships under attack.la piratería marítima es una amenaza para el comercio marítimo cuya versión contemporánea ha sido abordada legalmente por la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar (CDM) y la Organización Marítima Internacional (OMI) y coercitivamente por la ONU y la UE. El presente artículo analiza la piratería marítima desde la perspectiva teórica de la Escuela de Copenhague y su aplicación a los informes anuales de la Cámara de Comercio Internacional sobre la piratería, cuya información oscila entre 1991 y 2019. El análisis indica dos períodos de aumento, caracterizados por presencia, tipo, armas, violencia y barcos atacados.A pirataria marítima é uma ameaça para o comércio marítimo cuja versão contemporânea vem sendo abordada legalmente pela United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea e pela Organização Marítima Internacional, e coercitivamente pela Organização das Nações Unidas e pela União Europeia. Neste artigo, é analisada a pirataria marítima a partir da perspectiva teórica da Escola de Copenhague e sua aplicação nos relatórios anuais da Câmara de Comércio Internacional sobre a Pirataria, com infor- mações de 1991 a 2019. A análise indica dois períodos de aumento, caracterizados por presença, tipo, armas, violência e navios atacados

Impersonal efficiency and the dangers of a fully automated securities exchange

This report identifies impersonal efficiency as a driver of market automation during the past four decades, and speculates about the future problems it might pose. The ideology of impersonal efficiency is rooted in a mistrust of financial intermediaries such as floor brokers and specialists. Impersonal efficiency has guided the development of market automation towards transparency and impersonality, at the expense of human trading floors. The result has been an erosion of the informal norms and human judgment that characterize less anonymous markets. We call impersonal efficiency an ideology because we do not think that impersonal markets are always superior to markets built on social ties. This report traces the historical origins of this ideology, considers the problems it has already created in the recent Flash Crash of 2010, and asks what potential risks it might pose in the future