Applications of gas chromatography for air and food quality assessment, and for monitoring health-related biomarkers.

Gas chromatography has been applied in a wide range of fields: from environmental analysis to culture heritage sector, from biochemical field to food analysis, because of its high versatility and its availability in many laboratories. In this work, gas chromatography (GC) coupled to flame ionization detector (FID) or mass-spectrometry (MS) was exploited in various sectors related to food chemistry, demonstrating its high performance and versatility. In the first study, GC-MS has been exploited for the assessment of the efficiency of kitchen hoods filters, and to monitor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) development in different cooking systems and foods, thus contributing to assess air quality in indoor environments. In particular, a new method involving the sampling of the air during a cooking process by a polyethylene terephthalate (PET, Nalophan) bag and the subsequent analysis by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and GC-MS, was applied for the first time to the study of VOCs developed in different cooking systems (deep-frying of French fries, grilling of a hamburger, boiling of cauliflower and heating of sunflower oil). The same method was applied for the efficiency test of odor filters used in domestic kitchen hoods and also to develop and validate an alternative method to the one proposed by current legislation EN IEC 61591. The second study exploited again a new SPME-GC-MS, but in a different field: the study of food shelf-life. The first objective was the study of the efficiency of a new biopackaging (BP), based on biopolymers, to preserve the quality of organic chicken meat under modified atmosphere (MAP) in comparison with a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material, during storage at 2°C. The second purpose regarded the comparison of the shelf-life of organic and traditional chicken meat (of the same species) in a cellophane packaging under aerobic conditions at 2°C. The results were promising and this study contributed to encourage the use of new biodegradable materials and the consumption of sustainable and organic products. In chapter 3, the presented study applied GC-FID, for the valorisation of food products and by- products, by analysing a bioactive compound, squalene, in vegetable oils and apple by-products (seeds and peels), after developing and validating a new, rapid and simple analytical method. Squalene has been demonstrated to have several beneficial properties; in the present study, its content in different extra virgin olive oils and olive oils were investigated. Squalene was also monitored during the refining process of different vegetable oils: olive, soybean, grapeseed, sunflower, sunflower with high oleic content and maize oils, in order to evaluate possible losses during the process. The proposed method was applied also to the study of squalene in two apple by-products (peels and seeds) to evaluate their possible exploitation in food, cosmetical or pharmaceutical fields. In the future, the method could be exploited in the study of squalene in many different food matrices, reducing time, solvents and costs respect other analytical methods present in literature. In the study presented in the last chapter, GC was exploited for a different purpose again. The aim was the determination of analytes, short chain free fatty acids (SCFAs), in biological samples as faeces and fermentation fluids, where their measurement gives an indication of the effect of a special diet or environmental condition, where higher content is in general associated with positive effects. A new GC-FID method was developed and exploited in two different projects in collaboration with the School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Camerino for the determination and quantification of eight SCFAs (acetic, propionic, i-butyric, butyric, i-valeric, valeric, i-caproic and caproic acids) in different biological samples (rat, mice and human faeces and in fermentation fluids samples). Indeed, in the last decades SCFAs were recognized for their beneficial effects on the host health status and their analysis contributed to the to investigate for instance the effect of diet supplementation in the people health or to study the adaptation of gut microbiota during geographical, habits and diet changes. These works represent some examples of the possible exploitation of gas chromatography in food chemistry and in close fields. Important information and analytical tools have been obtained, that contributed to assess the quality of a food, or air quality, or the effect of a diet, or environmental conditions, on the overall health status of an individual

Estrategias de participación democrática en el siglo XXI : (Argentina)

El concepto de ciudadanía es un concepto histórico y dinámico cuyo contenido ha variado a lo largo de las distintas épocas. Hay consenso en definir ciudadanía como un conjunto de derechos y responsabilidades de las personas en el marco de una comunidad determinada. La ciudadanía política incluye los derechos políticos, entre ellos el derecho al sufragio y a la participación política en carácter de elector o de dirigente. La ciudadanía social dota a los sujetos del derecho a un nivel adecuado de educación, de salud, de trabajo, de vivienda y de seguridad social. A diferencia de otro tipo de derechos, los derechos políticos consistentes en poder votar y poder ser elegido para cargos públicos tienen una extensión limitada: no todas las personas que forman parte de una comunidad son titulares de estos derechos. Para ser sujeto titular de esos derechos políticos se deben reunir algunas condiciones que varían según los países pero que, en la actualidad y en general, se vinculan con la capacidad de discernimiento y la nacionalidad. Educar para la ciudadanía es proveer herramientas conceptuales para que los y las adolescentes comprendan las distintas dimensiones del “ser ciudadano". Y es también proporcionar herramientas procedimentales para que estén en condiciones de ejercer plenamente su ciudadanía a través de la participación

Molecular and phenotypic features of <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> pv. <i>actinidiae</i> isolated during recent epidemics of bacterial canker on yellow kiwifruit (<i>Actinidia chinensis</i>) in central Italy

Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) was identified as the causal agent of severe epidemics of bacterial canker on Actinidia chinensis (yellow kiwifruit) in central Italy occurring during 2008–9. A total of 101 strains were obtained from infected leaves, twigs, branches and trunks of cvs Hort16A, Jin Tao and CK3. Outbreaks were also found on A. deliciosa cv. Hayward. A representative set of 21 strains were compared with other Psa strains isolated from previous outbreaks in Japan and Italy as well as with P. s. pv. syringae strains obtained from A. chinensis and with strains of genomospecies 8. Repetitive‐sequence PCR (rep‐PCR) typing using BOX and ERIC primer sets revealed that all Psa strains obtained during 2008–9 showed the same fingerprinting profile. This profile, however, was different from those of strains previously isolated in Japan and Italy. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of gapA, gltA, gyrB and rpoD revealed a higher genetic variability among the strains than rep‐PCR, with some of them showing the same sequence pattern although isolated from different areas, cultivars and years. None of the recently obtained strains possessed genes coding for phaseolotoxin or coronatine, and all had an effector protein, namely hopA1, differentiating them from the strains causing past outbreaks in Japan and Italy. All isolates were inhibited in vitro by copper‐based compounds, antibiotics, geraniol, citronellol and by a chitin‐based organic compound. The recent epidemics found in central Italy on yellow kiwifruit appear to have been caused by a different Psa population than those previously recorded in Japan, South Korea and Italy

Molecular characterization of <i>Erwinia amylovora</i> strains from different host plants through RFLP analysis and sequencing of <i>hrp</i>N and <i>dsp</i>A/E genes

A total of 73 Erwinia amylovora strains obtained from 13 Maloideae host species and from Rubus spp., and isolated from different geographic areas, were assessed using RFLP and DNA sequencing analysis of the 3′hrpN gene and/or of a fragment of 1341 bp of the dspA/E region. An Erwinia pyrifoliae strain, used as outgroup, was checked in the same way. For the three strains isolated from Rubus spp. and for one strain from Amelanchier sp., RFLP analysis of the hrpN gene using the RsaI enzyme yielded a PCR product 60 bp smaller than that of all the other strains. Sequence analysis of the gene revealed this was due to the absence of a 60 bp fragment in the noncoding region downstream of the gene. The strain PD 2915, isolated from Amelanchier sp. grown in Canada, showed five same‐sense substitutions and one missense substitution at position 868 of the hrpN gene, converting aspartic acid into asparagine. Also, restriction analysis of a fragment of 613 bp of the dspA/E region with CfoI revealed an RFLP pattern suitable for differentiating the E. amylovora strains isolated from Rubus spp. and Amelanchier sp. from all the others. In the dspA/E coding region, the four strains showed 13–14 missense point mutations, in some cases yielding drastic amino acid substitutions. In addition, partial sequencing of the dspA/E region of PD 2915 from Amelanchier sp. indicated a higher similarity to E. amylovora strains isolated from Rubus spp. than towards strains from other Maloideae hosts. The E. pyrifoliae strain showed 23 single nucleotide substitutions along the hrpN gene and 88% of nucleotide identity with E. amylovora strains in the portion of dspA/E region. Artificial inoculations on immature pear fruits and young shoots of Maloideae and Ruboideae showed a restricted pathogenicity for the strains from Rubus and Amelanchier, with the latter inciting blight symptoms only on Amelanchier

Training lessicale nella Dislessia e Disortografia Evolutiva : analisi dell’efficacia di 2 nuovi trattamenti per il potenziamento della letto-scrittura

L’articolo presenta l’analisi di efficacia di due nuovi trattamenti di tipo lessicale per la Disortografia e la Dislessia Evolutiva. I programmi di potenziamento proposti, sono costituiti da un insieme di brani estratti da libri per la scuola primaria di primo grado ed ordinati rispettando principalmente la loro complessità sintattico-grammaticale (Indice di Gulpease).Lo studio ha coinvolto 53 soggetti frequentanti dal terzo anno della scuola primaria al secondo anno della scuola secondaria di primo grado con diagnosi di Disturbo Specifico dell’Apprendimento (dislessia e/o disortografia). La ricerca mostra un significativo miglioramento delle abilità sottoposte a training (lettura e/o scrittura) alle prove di valutazione utilizzate: lettura e/o scrittura di parole, non parole e testo

Orthology-Based Estimate of the Contribution of Horizontal Gene Transfer from Distantly Related Bacteria to the Intraspecific Diversity and Differentiation of Xylella fastidiosa

Xylella fastidiosa is a xylem-limited bacterium phylogenetically related to the xanthomonads, with an unusually large and diversified range of plant hosts. To ascertain the origin of its peculiarities, its pan-genome was scanned to identify the genes that are not coherent with its phylogenetic position within the order Xanthomonadales. The results of the analysis revealed that a large fraction of the genes of the Xylella pan-genome have no ortholog or close paralog in the order Xanthomonadales. For a significant part of the genes, the closest homologue was found in bacteria belonging to distantly related taxonomic groups, most frequently in the Betaproteobacteria. Other species, such as Xanthomonas vasicola and Xanthomonas albilineans which were investigated for comparison, did not show a similar genetic contribution from distant branches of the prokaryotic tree of life. This finding indicates that the process of acquisition of DNA from the environment is still a relevant component of Xylella fastidiosa evolution. Although the ability of Xylella fastidiosa strains to recombine among themselves is well known, the results of the pan-genome analyses stressed the additional relevance of environmental DNA in shaping their genomes, with potential consequences on their phytopathological features

Evaluation of delirium screening tools in geriatric medical inpatients: a diagnostic test accuracy study

Introduction: screening all unscheduled older adults for delirium is recommended in national guidelines, but there is no consensus on how to perform initial assessment. Aim: to evaluate the test accuracy of five brief cognitive assessment tools for delirium diagnosis in routine clinical practice. Methods: a consecutive cohort of non-elective, elderly care (older than 65 years) hospital inpatients admitted to a geriatric medical assessment unit of an urban teaching hospital. Reference assessments were clinical diagnosis of delirium performed by elderly care physicians. Routine screening tests were: Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT-10, AMT-4), 4 A's Test (4AT), brief Confusion Assessment Method (bCAM), months of the year backwards (MOTYB) and informant Single Question in Delirium (SQiD). Results: we assessed 500 patients, mean age 83 years (range = 66−101). Clinical diagnoses were: 93 of 500 (18.6%) definite delirium, 104 of 500 (20.8%) possible delirium and 277 of 500 (55.4%) no delirium; 266 of 500 (53.2%) were identified as definite or possible dementia. For diagnosis of definite delirium, AMT-4 (cut-point &lt; 3/4) had a sensitivity of 92.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 84.8–97.3), with a specificity of 53.7% (95% CI: 48.1–59.2); AMT-10 (&lt;4/10), MOTYB (&lt;4/12) and SQiD showed similar performance. bCAM had a sensitivity of 70.3% (95% CI: 58.5–80.3) with a specificity of 91.4% (95% CI: 87.7–94.3). 4AT (&gt;4/12) had a sensitivity of 86.7% (95% CI: 77.5–93.2) and specificity of 69.5% (95% CI: 64.4–74.3). Conclusions: short screening tools such as AMT-4 or MOTYB have good sensitivity for definite delirium, but poor specificity; these tools may be reasonable as a first stage in assessment for delirium. The 4AT is feasible and appears to perform well with good sensitivity and reasonable specificity

Oxidative damage and cell-programmed death induced in Zea mays L. by allelochemical stress

The allelochemical stress on Zea mays was analyzed by using walnut husk washing waters (WHWW), a by-product of Juglans regia post-harvest process, which possesses strong allelopathic potential and phytotoxic effects. Oxidative damage and cell-programmed death were induced by WHWW in roots of maize seedlings. Treatment induced ROS burst, with excess of H2O2 content. Enzymatic activities of catalase were strongly increased during the first hours of exposure. The excess in malonildialdehyde following exposure to WHWW confirmed that oxidative stress severely damaged maize roots. Membrane alteration caused a decrease in NADPH oxidase activity along with DNA damage as confirmed by DNA laddering. The DNA instability was also assessed through sequence-related amplified polymorphism assay, thus suggesting the danger of walnut processing by-product and focusing the attention on the necessity of an efficient treatment of WHWW

A general model of dioxin contamination in breast milk: results from a study on 94 women from the Caserta and Naples areas in Italy.

BackgroundThe Caserta and Naples areas in Campania Region experience heavy environmental contamination due to illegal waste disposal and burns, thus representing a valuable setting to develop a general model of human contamination with dioxins (PCDDs-PCDFs) and dioxin-like-PCBs (dl-PCBs).Methods94 breastfeeding women (aged 19-32 years; mean age 27.9 ± 3.0) were recruited to determine concentrations of PCDDs-PCDFs and dl-PCBs in their milk. Individual milk samples were collected and analyzed according to standard international procedures. A generalized linear model was used to test potential predictors of pollutant concentration in breast milk: age, exposure to waste fires, cigarette smoking, diet, and residence in high/low risk area (defined at high/low environmental pressure by a specific 2007 WHO report). A Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis was carried out by taking into account PCDDs-PCDFs and dl-PCBs as endogenous variables and age, waste fires, risk area and smoking as exogenous variables.ResultsAll milk samples were contaminated by PCDDs-PCDFs (8.6 pg WHO-TEQ/98g fat ± 2.7; range 3.8-19) and dl-PCBs (8.0 pg WHO-TEQ/98g fat ± 3.7; range 2.5-24), with their concentrations being associated with age and exposure to waste fires (p &lt; 0.01). Exposure to fires resulted in larger increases of dioxins concentrations in people living in low risk areas than those from high risk areas (p &lt; 0.01).ConclusionsA diffuse human exposure to persistent organic pollutants was observed in the Caserta and Naples areas. Dioxins concentration in women living in areas classified at low environmental pressure in 2007 WHO report was significantly influenced by exposure to burns

Convergent evolution of phytopathogenic pseudomonads onto hazelnut

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