Extended ageing time and temperature effects on quality of sub-primal cuts of boxed beef

[EN]Most of the information indicating ageing improves tenderness has been collected on the loin and rib-eye muscles over relatively short ageing times, assuming that all muscles will react similarly. In the present study, the effect of extended ageing times on instrumental texture (56 d) and sensory characteristics (42 d) of six different beef sub-primals [striploin (SL), inside round (IR), outside round (OR), eye of round (ER), blade eye (BE) and chuck tender (CT)] was studied. The effects of two ageing temperatures (1and 58C) were also compared. In general, ageing increased tenderness (P<0.05) of SL, BE, ER and CT sub-primals, although BE shear force increased after 42 d of ageing. On the other hand, ageing had no effect on IR tenderness (P<0.05) and resulted in a decrease in tenderness of OR (P<0.05) until day 35, with a later increase after 42 d of ageing. Increasing ageing temperature (58C) had limited effect on tenderness, but ageing time and temperature increases led to lower flavour and higher off-flavour intensity (P<0.05) of the studied sub-primals. These results suggest that cutspecific maximum ageing times and rigid adherence to temperature maximums would be of benefit to optimize postslaughter processes and meat quality

Multirating decision model validation: the relevance of the quality of the securitization issues

Rating enables the information asymmetry existing in the issuer-investor relationship to be reduced, particularly for issues with a high degree of complexity, as is the case of securitizations. However, there may be a serious conflict of interest between the issuer’s choice and remuneration of the agency and the credit rating awarded, resulting in lower quality and information power of the published rating. In this paper, we propose an explicative model of the number of ratings requested, by analyzing the relevance of the number of ratings to measure the reliability, where multirating is shown to be associated to the quality, size, liquidity and the degree of information asymmetry relating to the issue. Thus, we consider that the regulatory changes that foster the widespread publication of simultaneous ratings could help to alleviate the problem of rating model arbitrage and the crisis of confidence in credit ratings in general and in the securitization issues, in particular.

The impacts of leadership in the quality of municipal public services: case study of a portuguese municipal council

[EN]The present research work, based on some of the components of the Common Assessment Framework, sets to analyse the influence held by leadership in specific factors that constitute the organisational climate, and also the impact that these factors have on the quality of municipal public services. For the purposes of this study, we propose Likert’s exploitative autocratic and participative leadership styles to explain the genesis, structure and workflow. As far as the organisational climate is concerned, the variables used are motivation, satisfaction, empowerment, conflict and stress. The main conclusions that arose was that a participative leader confers higher relevance to the quality of service, through motivation, satisfaction, empowerment and human resources positive results, than an exploitative autocratic leader. Performed contributions are based on the empiric research hereby presented, and new research guidelines are proposed. The research methodology used was qualitative, based on the case study.

Design of tailored strategies for preservation and re-use of information about heritage

[EN] This paper is an outcome of the following dissertation:

Analysis and Use of Information and Communication Tools in Economics of Climate Change

16 p.

A New Method for Feedback on the Quality of Chest Compressions during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves through the use of CPR feedback devices. Most feedback devices integrate the acceleration twice to estimate compression depth. However, they use additional sensors or processing techniques to compensate for large displacement drifts caused by integration. This study introduces an accelerometer-based method that avoids integration by using spectral techniques on short duration acceleration intervals. We used a manikin placed on a hard surface, a sternal triaxial accelerometer, and a photoelectric distance sensor (gold standard). Twenty volunteers provided 60 s of continuous compressions to test various rates (80-140 min(-1)), depths (3-5 cm), and accelerometer misalignment conditions. A total of 320 records with 35312 compressions were analysed. The global root-mean-square errors in rate and depth were below 1.5 min(-1) and 2 mm for analysis intervals between 2 and 5 s. For 3 s analysis intervals the 95% levels of agreement between the method and the gold standard were within -1.64-1.67 min(-1) and -1.69-1.72 mm, respectively. Accurate feedback on chest compression rate and depth is feasible applying spectral techniques to the acceleration. The method avoids additional techniques to compensate for the integration displacement drift, improving accuracy, and simplifying current accelerometer-based devices.

Feedback systems for the quality of chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation

167 p.