La fase preliminar en la fusión transfronteriza intracomunitaria con intervención de una sociedad cotizada

Este trabajo tiene por objeto analizar la fase preliminar de la fusión transfronteriza intracomunitaria, cuando interviene en ella una sociedad cotizada, alguna de las sociedades participantes es española y la fusión no tiene por finalidad la constitución de una sociedad europea. Se trata de un estudio acotado a las primeras negociaciones y pactos previos que concluyen con la redacción del proyecto de fusión que será el eje central del procedimiento. Por ello, analizaremos la trascendencia que tiene esta fase dentro del proceso de fusión, así como las partes legitimadas para conducir las negociaciones. Partes que acomodarán su actuación a una serie principios y compromisos para no frustrar estos tratos preliminares y salvaguardar el interés de la fusión. Además, y dado que interviene una sociedad con valores admitidos a negociación en un mercado secundario regulado de la Unión Europea, habrá que ponderar el interés general público en la plena transparencia (full disclosure) con la salvaguarda de los intereses privados de los emisores en mantener secretos los términos de la operación. Finalmente, se abordarán las posibles consecuencias derivadas de la inobservancia de las normas que rigen esta materia.<br /

Vending machines: Food safety and quality assessment focused on food handlers and the variables involved in the industry

“NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Food Control. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Food Control, 56, (October 2015)] DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.01.052 " - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095671351500184X"The purpose of this paper was to analyse the quality and safety parameters of food products sold in vending machines. A hygienic-sanitary assessment was conducted on 338 vending machines located on the island of Gran Canaria. Hygiene Assessment System (HAS) surveys, food handler examinations and microbiological (processed food and water) and physicochemical (water) controls were applied, permitting evaluation through the identification of the main risks and/or hazards of the hygienic-sanitary quality of the products sold in vending machines. Despite the positive results obtained from the HAS surveys applied to all the vending machines, achieving a total mean score of 87.6 ± 7.5 out of 100, the microbiological analysis showed that 5.7% of the 105 food samples were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, while Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were below the legally permitted limits. The lack of vehicles able to transport perishable food at correct temperatures (<8 °C) and the fact that some refrigerated vending machines were not at an ideal cooling temperature may have contributed to these values. The assessment tools used in this study revealed hygienic deficiencies in the transportation and microbiological quality of the products, despite the favourable results obtained in the HAS surveys and food handler examinations, indicating that this relationship should be the subject of further study to improve its usefulness in the field of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points.

Identification of the risk factors associated with cheese production to implement the hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) system on cheese farms

© 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"The purpose of this paper was to evaluate, by statistical analyses, risk factors on cheese farms that can influence the microbial contamination of their products. Various assessment tools, such as cheese production questionnaires, food handlers’ knowledge testing, and hygiene assessment system surveys, were used on 39 cheese farms on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. The microbiological status of 773 raw milk and cheese samples from the cheese farms was assessed by enumerating total viable counts and 4 pathogens: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. The results revealed that the highest contamination by Staph. aureus (4.39%, >105 cfu/ mL) was found in milk, and the highest contamination by E. coli (5.18%, >103 cfu/mL) was found in cheese. Very few samples (0.52%) were contaminated by L. monocytogenes or Salmonella spp. The factors associated with any tested microorganism were “handling,” “knowledge,” and “type of milk.” Subsequently, multidimensional logistic analysis for contamination by E. coli showed an independent association for factors “cleaning and disinfection test” and “type of milk.” The probability of total aerobic contamination of milk increased with lower hygiene assessment system survey scores. These results emphasize the need to apply and maintain good hygiene practices, and to study risk factors to prevent contamination and bacterial growth. Further research is required in other areas with different cheese farm types to reinforce the validity of these results.

Contribution to Risk Analysis of a Standard Brewery: Application of a Hygiene Assessment System Survey

"Beer is a food product with a high consumption in Gran Canaria and the brewery industry is also present in this island. In order to carry out this study, it was designed a survey to assist in the assessment of risks from the facilities and infrastructures of the brewery, the raw materials used in the beer production and the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) plan.An initial assessment of various aspects of the industry has been conducted at the beginning of hygienic-sanitary counselling and a second assessment on the effects could manifest such counselling. It was observed that there was an increase score in most of points tested following the guidance in the interval of time between the both assessments.

Microbial Growth Models in Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus Aurata) Stored in Ice

"This study analyzes microbiological changes in whole, ungutted farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) stored for an 18-day period in ice using traditional methods for mesophilic aerobic bacteria, psychrotrophic, Pseudomonas spp., Aeromonas spp., Shewanella putrefaciens, Enterobacteriaceae, sulphide-reducing Clostridium (Clostridia), and Photobacterium phosphoreum in muscle, skin, and gills, evaluating their seasonal differentiation. Two different statistical models were used to analyze microbiological growth. Simultaneously, physicochemical parameters such as the temperature, pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD5), total dissolved solids, salinity, ammonia nitrogen, and total phosphorus content of growing waters were analyzed. The results showed that by the end of the storage time, specific spoilage bacteria (SSB) such as Pseudomonas spp., Aeromonas spp. and S. putrefaciens as H2S-producing bacteria were dominant in sea bream harvested in temperate water in the Canary Islands. Muscle tissue had least contamination, followed by skin and gills. The values of the analyzed seawater parameters were constant during the four seasons, except that the temperature showed a small difference between winter and summer. Seasonal effects were observed among the fish analyzed, suggesting that the lower levels of contamination detected in winter may have been due to the slight difference observed in water temperature in that season.

Microbiological evolution of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) in Canary Islands during ice storage

The final publication is available at Springer.This study analyses the microbiological changes with traditional methods for total mesophilic aerobic, psychrotrophic, Aeromonas sp., Pseudomonas sp., Shewanella putrefaciens, Enterobacteriaceae, sulfide-reducers Clostridium and Photobacterium phosphoreum in muscle, skin and gills of whole ungutted gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) stored in ice during 18 days. The muscle tissue showed the minor grade of contamination, followed by the skin and the gills, with statistic significance (p < 0.001). The most prominent microorganisms in the different tissues and at the end of the storage were Pseudomonas sp. (7.76, 10.11 and 10.40 log CFU/g), Aeromonas sp. (7.49, 8.24 and 9.02 log CFU/g) and S. putrefaciens. (8.05, 7.49 and 8.05 log CFU/g) in sea bream harvested in the temperate water of the Canary Islands. The results obtained from this study can contribute to the improvement of microbiological knowledge of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) by determining the evolution of microorganisms responsible for spoilage and their counts in different tissues such as muscle, skin, and gills during iced storage

Degree of implementation and satisfaction in food companies with the International Food Standards (IFS) and British Retail Consortium (BRC) certifications on the Canary Islands

The aim of this study was to assess the degree of the implementation and satisfaction of quality certificates in agrifood industries using structured interviews based on International Food Standards (IFS) and British Retail Consortium (BRC), which have become most relevant in the food industry due to growing consumer demands, and, given the emergence of several food crises, quality assurance schemes have become increasingly popular in agrifood businesses. Questionnaires were sent to fifty-seven companies. Two structured questionnaires were divided into five parts with nineteen and fifteen questions, respectively. All the companies were interviewed by an electronic questionnaire sent by email, but companies were first called by telephone to inform them about the study. Interviews started with a question about the number of employees in the company, followed by another question about the kind of certificate that the company held. At the time this research was conducted on the Canary Islands, nineteen companies had IFS and twenty did not, but had other certificates. Eighteen companies did not answer the questionnaire. The representative survey results clearly demonstrated that the overall evaluation of IFS/BRC was positive. Food manufacturers generally perceived the IFS as a useful instrument for assuring product safety. The companies without IFS were satisfied with their certification and, although their perception of IFS was positive, they thought it was very expensive and it was better to continue with the certificate they had

La pedagogía de género para el fortalecimiento de los procesos de producción e interpretación de textos

El propósito principal de la investigación es analizar la manera como la pedagogía de género puede contribuir al fortalecimiento de los procesos de producción e interpretación de textos en los estudiantes de Aceleración del aprendizaje de la Institución Educativa Distrital La Libertad y 4° grado del Colegio Distrital María Auxiliadora de la ciudad de Barranquilla. En el aspecto metodológico, el Estudio de caso se enmarca en el Paradigma Cualitativo y presenta un Diseño de investigación – acción. Las fases a través de las cuales se llevó a cabo la indagación fueron: Diagnóstico, Elaboración de la propuesta, Implementación y Evaluación. En la fase de Diagnóstico se analizaron datos recopilados a través de técnicas e instrumentos. Durante la Elaboración de la propuesta se diseñaron actividades fundamentadas en la teoría de la Pedagogía de género. En la fase de Implementación se desarrollaron estas actividades en los contextos mencionados. Estos encuentros fueron filmados, transcritos y analizados en la fase de Evaluación, a partir de tres grandes Macrocategorías: Metodología, Interacción, Ambiente de aula. De esta investigación se concluye que la Pedagogía de género como conjunto de estrategias cognitivas, pedagógicas y metodológicas contribuye al fortalecimiento de los procesos de interpretación y producción. Por su parte, en el ámbito académico, la Pedagogía de género es factible de implementar, pues todos los géneros tienen un patrón o estructura que es susceptible de enseñar y de aprender. Es también, una alternativa posible de acercamiento a los géneros y a la criticidad, haciendo uso del lenguaje como herramienta de poder

Studying the compliance of the labelling in different types of farm fresh eggs for human consumption marketed in Gran Canaria (Spain) – An egg labelling proposition for those produced in Canary Islands

A literature review of the European and Spanish legislation has been made related to the labelling and packaging of eggs for human consumption to identify if there are any deficiencies in the current regulations, and to verify the compliance of the information given by the labelling in the marketed eggs in Gran Canaria (Spain). To this end, eighteen eggs labels were collected directly from commercial establishments in a way that ensured representation of all different production systems (furnished cages, deep litter, free-range and organic), as well as the hen and quail species. The study showed a high fulfilment of the mandatory parameters in hen eggs, with a few flaws in the storage recommendations and the egg classification of some of the free-range eggs. Likewise, many of the optional parameters were met in all the production systems noted. In quail eggs, important deficiencies were found regarding the mandatory information showed in their labels; these were unjustified omissions from a legal point of view. Finally, a proposal for implementing a labelling guide for the fresh eggs produced and marketed in Canary Islands is made that fulfils the current legislation and the specific needs in the marketing of these products

Spectral BRDF-based determination of proper measurement geometries to characterize color shift of special effect coatings

A reduced set of measurement geometries allows the spectral reflectance of special effect coatings to be predicted for any other geometry. A physical model based on flake-related parameters has been used to determine nonredundant measurement geometries for the complete description of the spectral bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). The analysis of experimental spectral BRDF was carried out by means of principal component analysis. From this analysis, a set of nine measurement geometries was proposed to characterize special effect coatings. It was shown that, for two different special effect coatings, these geometries provide a good prediction of their complete color shift.The authors are grateful to “Plan Nacional de Física” for funding this work (FIS2010-19756-E), to CSIC’s JAE Program, and the “European Social Fund” for awarding us a research trainee. This study was also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the grant DPI2011-30090-C02-02 and the European Union