Influenza di diversi pre-trattamenti sulle cinetiche di disidratazione di olive

In this paper, the drying behaviour of three olive cultivars (Olea europea sativa Hoffm. and Link), was studied. In particular, the influence of different pre-treatments on dehydration kinetics was investigated. Olives were calibrated and subjected to several preliminary treatments, in order to break the peel, before being dehydrated. Dehydration was carried out at 60°C with constant flow rate and humidity. Fruits were placed on trays according to a completely randomised design. Dehydration kinetics were computed by weighing fruits during dehydration. Results show that the dehydration rate was drastically increased by piercing the fruit cuticle, while the others systems did not give appreciable beneficial effects. Dried olives were appreciated by panellists. In questo lavoro è stata studiata la risposta alla disidratazione di tre varietà di olive (Olea europea sativa Hoffm. and Link). In particolare, si è verificata l’influenza di diversi pre-trattamenti sulle cinetiche di disidratazione. Le olive, dopo la calibratura, sono state sottoposte a diversi pre-trattamenti, nell’intento di creare delle microlesioni superficiali, poi disidratate in un armadio con aria a flusso ed umidità costanti alla temperatura di 60°C, disponendo i frutti delle tesi secondo un piano completamente randomizzato. Ad intervalli prestabiliti durante la disidratazione sono stati effettuati dei prelievi di frutti, al fine di determinarne le cinetiche. I risultati mostrano che la tecnica della scarificatura superficiale ha incrementato la velocità di disidratazione, mentre gli altri trattamenti non hanno dato risultati degni di nota. I frutti disidratati sono stati giudicati favorevolmente dagli assaggiatori

Evoluzione dei principali acidi organici in salamoie di olive da mensa preparate al naturale

In this study, the changes in organic acids and ethanol on brines of naturally fermented green olives “Nocellara del Belice” cv have been monitored. The olives were processed with acidified to pH 4 or not brines. Results clearly indicate that the fermentation was carried out by yeasts. We detected three organic acids and ethanol, which were in significantly higher amounts in the acidified brines, with respect to control ones. Both acids and ethanol increased significantly during the fermentation. Nel presente studio è stato monitorato, tramite analisi HPLC, il profilo degli acidi organici e dell’etanolo, oltre che le variazioni di tutti gli altri parametri chimico-fisici, durante la fermentazione al naturale di olive verdi della varietà “Nocellara del Belice”. Il piano sperimentale prevedeva una tesi acidificata a pH 4 ed una tesi di controllo. I risultati ottenuti evidenziano una fermentazione condotta da lieviti. Sono stati riscontrati tre acidi organici (citrico, acetico e malico) e l’alcol etilico, in concentrazioni significativamente superiori nella tesi acidificata. Tali composti hanno mostrato una tendenza all’incremento durante la fermentazione

Valorizzazione tecnologica di cultivar locali di susine

Italian prune consumption is almost entirely satisfied by imported product, due mainly to lack of proper cultivars. A research has been carried out on five plums cultivars in order to check their adaptability to drying. Process was made with a pilot plant. Results showed that mild drying temperature led to slow drying kinetics, although a de-waxing treatment reduced drying time. Sensorial assessment was excellent, although two cultivars were judged negatively for their brown peel colour. II consumo italiano di prugne e soddisfatto quasi esclusivamente da prodotto importato, a causa, principalmente, della mancanza di varietà idonee. L'impulso per una valorizzazione delle risorse genetiche locali ha stimolato una sperimentazione mirata a verificare l'attitudine di cinque varietà del germoplasma italiane all'essiccazione, utilizzando un impianto pilota a flusso tangenziale. I risultati mostrano che le basse temperature adottate portano a durate di processo elevate, sebbene un pretrattamento di deceratura riduca drasticamente i tempi. Il giudizio sensoriale è stato eccellente, tranne che nel caso di due varietà, in quanto i frutti essiccati avevano un colore non conforme agli standard richiesti

Influenza dei parametri di processo sulla composizione fenolica e sulla capacità antiossidante delle prugne durante lo stoccaggio

Changes in phenolic content, antioxidtmt capacity and ascorbic acid in prunes dried at 85° and 60°C, during eight months of storage at 20°C, were studied. Results obtained showed a significant decrease for ascorbic acid and phenolic content in both prune samples during storage. Antioxidant capacity underwent a significant decrease at fourth month of storage in both prunes while it increased, up to reach and go over the initial value, at the eight month of storage. Lo studio ha riguardato l'evoluzione dei composti fenolici e dell'attività antiossidante durante la conservazione, di una varietà di susino europeo, la President, sottoposta a due diverse temperature di disidratazione. Sui frutti appena essiccati e durante 10 stoccaggio alla temperatura di 20°C sono stati analizzati i composti fenolici (catechine, acidi idrossicinnamici, antociani e flavonoli), l'acido ascorbico e la capacità antiossidante. I risultati ottenuti hanno evidenziato, per i campioni sottoposti alle due diverse temperature, un decremento significativo sia dell'acido ascorbico sia dei polifenoli totali, soprattutto a carico del campione a 60°C, durante lo stoccaggio. La capacità antiossidante, in entrambi i casi, ha subito una diminuzione ai 4 mesi di conservazione per poi aumentare portandosi ad un livello uguale o addirittura superiore al valore iniziale dopo 8 mesi di conservazione

Management of transient loss of consciousness of suspected syncopal cause, after the initial evaluation in the Emergency Department

The recommendations enclosed in the present document have been developed by a group of experts appointed by the Gruppo Multidisciplinare per lo Studio della Sincope (Multidisciplinary Group for the Study of Syncope; GIMSI) and Academy of Emergency Medicine and Care (AcEMC). The aim is to define the diagnostic pathway and the management of patients referred to the Emergency Department (ED) for transient loss of consciousness of suspected syncopal cause, which is still unexplained after the initial evaluation. The risk stratification enables the physician to admit, discharge or monitor shortly the patient in the intensive short-stay Syncope Observation Unit (SOU). There are three risk levels of life-threatening events or serious complications (low, moderate, high). Low risk patients can be discharged, while high risk ones should be monitored and treated properly in case of worsening. Moderate risk patients should undergo clinical and instrumental monitoring in SOU, inside the ED. In all these three cases, patients can be subsequently referred to the Syncope Unit for further diagnostic investigations

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Search for heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery