Influence of licorice root feeding on chemical-nutritional quality of cow milk and stracciata cheese, an italian traditional fresh dairy product

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary licorice root supplementation on chemical and nutritional characteristics of cow milk and Stracciata cheese. Licorice did not influence milk and Stracciata fat content but induced modifications in fatty acid profile. Both in milk and Stracciata, a decrease in saturated fatty acids was detected and in cheeses an increase of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids was observed. Stracciata obtained from the experimental group showed an improved oxidative stability after six days of ripening, a finding partly justifiable by the well-known richness of antioxidant compounds in the licorice root. The volatile profile of Stracciata was also affected by dietary licorice intake, with an increase in esters and a reduction of aldehydes and ketones. These results suggest a positive role of licorice in modifying chemical and physical properties of cow cheeses, reducing lipid oxidation and inducing changes in color and flavor with a presumable improvement in consumer acceptability

Non-thermal inactivation of listeria spp. In a typical dry-fermented sausage : “Bergamasco” salami

Aim of the present study was the evaluation of the growth potential of Listeria spp. inoculated in the typical North Italian dry fermented sausage "Bergamasco" salami during its production. As it was necessary to carry out the challenge test in the production line of the industry, according to the guidelines of the European Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes, a non-pathogenic "surrogate" microorganism was used: for the inoculum, two strains of Listeria innocua (1 ATCC, 1 strain isolated from a similar substrate) were used. The inoculation of the samples occurred during grinding and mixing of the sausage mass, before the filling. To avoid cross-contamination, the control samples were produced before the contaminated ones. After the dripping, salamis were subjected to the normal production process (drying and maturation in five steps at specific temperatures and humidity rates). The inoculated products were subjected to the enumeration of Listeria spp. at T0 (day of inoculation) and at T4 (post-drying), and every 10 days during curing (T10, T20, T30, T40, T50, T60, T70, T80 and T90), as this salami is generally sold as whole piece with varying levels of curing (from T20 to T90). Since the product may be cut in half and vacuumpacked, at each of the times starting from T20, half salami was vacuum-packed and stored for 30 days at 12\ub0C, at the end of the which Listeria spp. enumeration was performed again. At all times and for each type of samples of each of the three batches, the enumeration of the natural microflora (Total Viable Count, lactic acid bacteria, Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacteriaceae) and the determination of water activity and pH were performed on control samples. The product was characterized by a high concentration of microflora (8-8.5 Log UFC/g), consisting mainly of lactic acid bacteria, added to the mixture at the beginning of the production process. The pH showed a decrease over time, expected for this type of products, due to the development of lactic acid bacteria (final pH: 5.42-5.55). The water activity reached values able to inhibit the development of Listeria spp. (final aw: 0.826-0.863). Listeria counts in the tested batches of "Bergamasco" salami showed the absence of significant growth in the product with a reduction of loads if compared to T0, between -0.59 and -1.04 Log CFU/g. Even in the samples subjected to vacuum packaging and storage at 12\ub0C, the absence of significant increase of lactic acid bacteria in the product was highlighted with further decrease of bacterial loads (-0.70/-0.79 Log CFU/g if compared to T20). Considering the worst case scenario (thus the batch with the highest growth potential), in the products stored in the curing room at 14-16\ub0C, at humidity of 80% and in the samples stored at 12\ub0C and vacuum packaged, the threshold indicated by the EURL Lm guidelines (+0.5 Log CFU/g) for the growth of Listeria spp. was not reached, allowing to classify "Bergamasco" salami in the category 1.3 of the EC Reg. 2073/2005 as "Ready-to-eat food unable to support the growth of Listeria monocytogenes"

An electronic solution for the direct connection of a three-phase induction generator to a single-phase feeder

This paper proposes a solution for the direct connection of a three-phase induction generator to a single-phase feeder. This high power quality system is intended to be used in micro-hydro power plants applications with control of the water flow. It is employed to maintain the speed of the induction generator greater than its synchronous value. The difference between the generated power and the power consumed by the local load flows through the single-phase feeder. The power flow control is provided by a three-phase PWM inverter that additionally guarantees the local power quality. A system with good power quality must have sinusoidal and constant amplitude voltages, fixed frequency operation, balanced induction generator voltages and currents, harmonics and reactive power compensation. The paper describes the inverter control strategy, presents design criteria of the controllers, and shows experimental results

Matching conducted EMI to international standards

In this paper, the authors present a methodology that allows them to accommodate the conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated by power factor correctors to international standards in the design step. EMI filter design considerations and EMI predictive procedures are presented. The predictive procedures are based in a family of curves that allows to determine the conducted EMI, generated for the basic PFC converters (boost, buck-boost, Zeta, Sepic, Cuk, and buck converters). Using these curves, one can determine the amplitude of the first harmonic in dB/μV in accordance with the CISPR 16 standard. Therefore, with this information, it is possible to design EMI filter

Evaluation of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for the detection of listeria monocytogenes in dairy food

Objective of the present study was to test the performances of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based method for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes, with particular focus on the dairy products. The specificity of the method was evaluated on 42 different Listeria spp. strains from collections, food and environmental samples. 100% (32 of 32) of the L. monocytogenes strains were correctly recognised, and none of other 10 Listeria spp. strains was misidentified. The sensitivity was evaluated on four L. monocytogenes strains from different sources. The instrument was able to detect 10-400 CFU/mL. The ability to detect low initial numbers of L. monocytogenes (0.3- 0.7 Log CFU/g) was also evaluated, in duplicate, in pasteurised milk (whole and skimmed) and dairy samples (fresh ricotta, crescenza, mascarpone, mozzarella, cottage cheese, cream cheese, taleggio, gorgonzola). The analysis was performed after 18, 24 and 48 h of incubation, and was coupled with the count of L. monocytogenes in the broth. Microbial loads were insufficient to achieve a positive result after 18 and 24 h in most of the samples; after 48 h, all the products, except taleggio and one gorgonzola sample, were identified as positive; the sensitivity of the method when applied to contaminated dairy foods was about 5 Log CFU/g. The LAMP method tested can be considered a very useful tool, as it is a costeffective and easy-functioning method. The preliminary data obtained should be confirmed with a validation process taking into account different food typologies

Study Of Candidate Genes For Dyslexia In Brazilian Individuals.

Dyslexia or reading disability (RD) is the most common childhood learning disorder and a significantly heritable trait. Many recent studies have investigated the genetic basis of dyslexia, and several candidate genes have been proposed. Among these, DCDC2 and KIAA0319 have emerged as the strongest candidate genes for dyslexia; however studies have not provided uniformly supportive results. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of proposed candidate genes to the molecular etiology of dyslexia in a Brazilian sample. Large deletions and duplications in the candidate genes DCDC2, KIAA0319, and ROBO1 were investigated in 51 dyslexic subjects. Furthermore, a family-based association study was performed to investigate whether associations observed in other populations with variants in the DCDC2 and KIAA0319 genes were reproducible in Brazilian dyslexic individuals. Our analysis did not detect any deletions or duplications in the genes studied, and we found no evidence that the allelic variants in the two candidate genes were significantly associated with RD in our sample. Our data do not support a role of the DCDC2/KIAA0319 locus in influencing dyslexia as a categorical trait. Given the genetic complexity of dyslexia, it is plausible that both genes contribute to an increased risk, but the relative influence of these 2 genes on RD varies in different study samples, and/or depends on analytical approaches.125356-6

Análisis de actividades sobre estadística descriptiva en libros de educación media: ¿Qué se pretende que los estudiantes aprendan?

En el presente trabajo se realizó un relevamiento de las actividades sobre estadística descriptiva en libros de texto de matemáticas comúnmente utilizados en la educación media en Argentina. El análisis contempló aspectos relacionados con la exigencia cognitiva, la interrelación de conceptos y el contexto de las actividades. Se detectó una gran cantidad de actividades repetitivas, meramente procedimentales y de baja exigencia cognitiva. En el 75% de las actividades el contexto de la consigna fue trivial. Se concluye que los libros de texto de mayor uso abordan los temas de estadística descriptiva desde un punto de vista procedimental, fallando en el objetivo de transmitirles a los estudiantes la importancia del conocimiento estadístico para el manejo de información en la vida diaria