Bone Mass and Bone Quality Are Altered by Hypoactivity in the Chicken

International audience

Economic development and Environmental quality: The environmental Kuznets curve for water pollution

The main aim of this study was to analyze evidence of an environmental Kuznets curve for water pollution in the developing and developed countries. The study was conducted based on a panel data set of 54 countries – that were categorized into six groups of “developed countries”, “developing countries”, “developed countries with low income”, “developed countries with high income” and “coastal countries”- between the years 1995 to 2006. The results do not confirm the inverted U-shape of EKC curve for the developed countries with low income. Based on the estimated turning points and the average GDP per capita, the study revealed at which point of the EKC the countries are. Furthermore, impacts of capital-and-labor ratio as well as trade openness are drawn by estimating different models for the EKC. The magnitude role of each explanatory variable on BOD was calculated by estimating the associated elasticity.

Argo quality control manual for dissolved oxygen concentration

This document is the Argo quality control manual for Dissolved oxygen concentration. It describes two levels of quality control: • The first level is the real-time system that performs a set of agreed automatic checks. • Adjustment in real-time can also be performed and the real-time system can evaluate quality flags for adjusted fields • The second level is the delayed-mode quality control system.

Copernicus In Situ TAC, Real Time Quality Control for WAVES

In April 2017, CMEMS plans to launch the WAVES NRT products. This document is focused in the automatic RTQC of the collected wave data. The validation procedure includes the delayed mode quality control of the data and will be specified in another guideline. To perform any kind of quality control to wave data, first it’s necessary to know the nature of the measurements and the analysis performed to those measurements to obtain the wave parameters. For that reason next chapter is dedicated to show the usual wave analysis and the different parameters and estimators obtained.

Effects of different intensity of early leaf removal on vegetative and productive activity and grape quality (cv. Nero d'Avola, Vitis vinifera)

Mestrado Vinifera Euromaster - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - UL

Tuberculosis epidemiology in islands: insularity, hosts and trade

Because of their relative simplicity and the barriers to gene flow, islands are ideal systems to study the distribution of biodiversity. However, the knowledge that can be extracted from this peculiar ecosystem regarding epidemiology of economically relevant diseases has not been widely addressed. We used information available in the scientific literature for 10 old world islands or archipelagos and original data on Sicily to gain new insights into the epidemiology of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC). We explored three nonexclusive working hypotheses on the processes modulating bovine tuberculosis (bTB) herd prevalence in cattle and MTC strain diversity: insularity, hosts and trade. Results suggest that bTB herd prevalence was positively correlated with island size, the presence of wild hosts, and the number of imported cattle, but neither with isolation nor with cattle density. MTC strain diversity was positively related with cattle bTB prevalence, presence of wild hosts and the number of imported cattle, but not with island size, isolation, and cattle density. The three most common spoligotype patterns coincided between Sicily and mainland Italy. However in Sicily, these common patterns showed a clearer dominance than on the Italian mainland, and seven of 19 patterns (37%) found in Sicily had not been reported from continental Italy. Strain patterns were not spatially clustered in Sicily. We were able to infer several aspects of MTC epidemiology and control in islands and thus in fragmented host and pathogen populations. Our results point out the relevance of the intensity of the cattle commercial networks in the epidemiology of MTC, and suggest that eradication will prove more difficult with increasing size of the island and its environmental complexity, mainly in terms of the diversity of suitable domestic and wild MTC hosts.

The water-food nexus and the role of demand management

With the global population projected to reach 9 billion in 2050, demand for food is expected to increase by over 50% in 2030 and 70% in 2050 (UN-Water, 2013). Already agriculture is the largest user of water with irrigation accounting for nearly 70% of all freshwater withdrawals (UN-Water, 2016).

Trophic food web and ecosystem attributes of a water reservoir of the Ria Formosa (south Portugal)

Using a top-down modelling approach, a balanced trophic food web model of a water reservoir of the Ria Formosa lagoonal system was constructed. Few adjustments of input data were necessary to run the model since most of the parameters were estimated at the study site and the characteristics of the water reservoir allowed a high degree of control and precision in terms of sampling and data collection. Trophic levels of the 14 compartments included in the model varied between 1.0 for primary producers and detritus to 3.4 for carnivorous fish and the 14 groups were aggregated in a food chain with six trophic levels. The water reservoir has a detritus based food chain, with the majority of the biomass concentrated in the first two levels, the producers level and the herbivore/detritivore level (97.6%). The transfer efficiencies were low, and decreased with increasing level number, varying between 6.0 and 0.2%. The degree of "ecosystem maturity" was difficult to establish, but several parameters indicate that it could be high. The water reservoir studied, which has similar environmental and ecological characteristics as the Ria Formosa lagoon. is near its carrying capacity. (C) 2004, Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ethical Perspectives on Big Data in Agri-food: Ownership and Governance for Safety

Big data are reshaping the way we interact with technology, thus fostering new applications to increase the safety-assessment of foods. An extraordinary amount of information is analysed using machine learning approaches aimed at detecting the existence or predicting the likelihood of future risks. Food business operators have to share the results of these analyses when applying to place on the market regulated products, whereas agri-food safety agencies (including the European Food Safety Authority) are exploring new avenues to increase the accuracy of their evaluations by processing Big data. Such an informational endowment brings with it opportunities and risks correlated to the extraction of meaningful inferences from data. However, conflicting interests and tensions among the involved entities - the industry, food safety agencies, and consumers - hinder the finding of shared methods to steer the processing of Big data in a sound, transparent and trustworthy way. A recent reform in the EU sectoral legislation, the lack of trust and the presence of a considerable number of stakeholders highlight the need of ethical contributions aimed at steering the development and the deployment of Big data applications. Moreover, Artificial Intelligence guidelines and charters published by European Union institutions and Member States have to be discussed in light of applied contexts, including the one at stake. This thesis aims to contribute to these goals by discussing what principles should be put forward when processing Big data in the context of agri-food safety-risk assessment. The research focuses on two interviewed topics - data ownership and data governance - by evaluating how the regulatory framework addresses the challenges raised by Big data analysis in these domains. The outcome of the project is a tentative Roadmap aimed to identify the principles to be observed when processing Big data in this domain and their possible implementations.

Shelf Life Assessment of Fresh Poultry Meat Packaged in Novel Bionanocomposite of Chitosan Incorporated with ZnO nanoparticles synthesized using food industry by-products

Nel settore alimentare viene utilizzata un’elevata quantità di materie plastiche per conservare i prodotti e facilitarne la distribuzione. L’utilizzo di questi polimeri ha un costo ambientale piuttosto elevato, per questo trovare surrogati ecosostenibili diventa sempre più importante. In questa tesi abbiamo testato l’efficacia del confezionamento di un prodotto altamente deperibile, quale carne di pollo, con un biofilm a base di chitosano. Il chitosano è polisaccaride largamente presente in natura, dotato di caratteristiche chimico-fisiche che permettono l’ottenimento di un film con proprietà meccaniche e di barriera simili ai polimeri tradizionali, oltre a possedere attività antibatterica. Abbiamo realizzato film contenenti chitosano e altri biocomposti, quali montmorillonite, nanoparticelle di ossido di zinco e olio essenziale di rosmarino, per un totale di 6 film con diversa composizione. Tramite analisi microbiologiche e chimico-fisiche abbiamo confrontato l’efficacia dei diversi film prodotti rispetto ad un controllo (carne conservata in un contenitore asettico). Le analisi sono state svolte in doppio, a 0, 3, 7, 10, 15 giorni di conservazione ad una temperatura di 4°C. In diversi film abbiamo ottenuto una riduzione significativa rispetto al controllo (p<0,05) della conta totale dei microrganismi mesofili aerobici (TMAM) e delle Enterobacteriaceae. La rilevazione del pH e dell’acidità titolabile ha fornito risultati in linea a quelli microbiologici. I campioni nel biofilm hanno spesso subito una variazione significativa (p<0,05) dell’umidità rispetto al controllo, a causa dell’elevata permeabilità al vapore acqueo. L’analisi dei TBARS non ha spesso riportato differenze significative rispetto al controllo (p>0,05), e quando presenti, è perché il campione era più ossidato del controllo (p<0,05). Invece, è stato ottenuto un miglioramento significativo (p<0,05) dello Hue angle tra i film e il controllo. I risultati ottenuti forniscono le basi per studi aggiuntivi.

Metabolomics to investigate the effects of treatments on food and of food consumption on health

Metabolomics has established itself as a discipline that can offer a unique point of view on how a technological treatment could impact on the charactersitics of a food. Even more, the same analytical platforms necessary for the purpose can also effectively unravel intricate interactions between such food and human health upon consumption. This PhD thesis investigates the application of metabolomics in understanding the impact of technological treatments on food and their subsequent effects on human health, utilizing 1H-NMR as the analytical platform. The study involves the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure a fast and stable preparation of seafood samples, incorporating novel algorithms to enhance the accuracy of metabolome profiles. To gain insight on how metabolomics can allow exploring the effects of a technological treatment on a food, we performed three sets of experiments to investigate the application of metabolomics in studying the impact of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment on seafood metabolome during storage. The first experiment employs untargeted metabolomic analysis on chill-stored rose shrimp, revealing significant post-HHP treatment metabolic alterations and mechanisms. The investigation is extended to grey mullet in the second experiment, utilizing both untargeted and targeted metabolomic analyses to account for matrix-related effects. The third experiment assesses the targeted metabolome of striped prawns, showing that HHP significantly influences metabolic pathways, positively impacting freshness and taste through alterations in related metabolites. Shifting focus to the effects of food on humans, the study explores the impact of multistrain probiotics on cirrhosis patients using 1H-NMR. The platform reveals notable alterations in glutamine/glutamate metabolism, enhancing the patients' ammonia detoxification capacity. This research underscores the potential of metabolomics in uncovering intricate interactions between technological treatments, food, and human health, providing valuable insights for both the food industry and healthcare interventions.

Modeling and Model Predictive Control of an Industrial Hydraulic System

This thesis aims to illustrate the construction of a mathematical model of a hydraulic system, oriented to the design of a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm. The modeling procedure starts with the basic formulation of a piston-servovalve system. The latter is a complex non linear system with some unknown and not measurable effects that constitute a challenging problem for the modeling procedure. The first level of approximation for system parameters is obtained basing on datasheet informations, provided workbench tests and other data from the company. Then, to validate and refine the model, open-loop simulations have been made for data matching with the characteristics obtained from real acquisitions. The final developed set of ODEs captures all the main peculiarities of the system despite some characteristics due to highly varying and unknown hydraulic effects, like the unmodeled resistive elements of the pipes. After an accurate analysis, since the model presents many internal complexities, a simplified version is presented. The latter is used to linearize and discretize correctly the non linear model. Basing on that, a MPC algorithm for reference tracking with linear constraints is implemented. The results obtained show the potential of MPC in this kind of industrial applications, thus a high quality tracking performances while satisfying state and input constraints. The increased robustness and flexibility are evident with respect to the standard control techniques, such as PID controllers, adopted for these systems. The simulations for model validation and the controlled system have been carried out in a Python code environment.

Pain Threshold And Sleep Quality In Women With Endometriosis.

Pain is a common complaint in women with endometriosis and can be influenced by many variables, including sleep disorders; however, no data are available on the sleep quality of women with endometriosis or on the correlation between sleep quality and pain. The 510 volunteers included in this study were divided into two groups: 257 women with a laparoscopic and histopathological diagnosis of endometriosis and 253 women with no history of endometriosis and no endometriosis-related symptoms. The volunteers answered two questionnaires: the Post-Sleep Inventory to evaluate sleep quality and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire to assess their level of physical activity. Pain was evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and women were also submitted to a physical examination, during which their pain threshold was assessed at 20 different body sites. Sleep quality was significantly poorer in women with endometriosis compared to women without the disease. The pain threshold was significantly lower in the greater trochanter and abdomen in women with endometriosis when compared to women without the disease; however, there was no difference in VAS pain score between the groups. The higher the VAS pain score, the lower the Post-Sleep Inventory score. Additionally, there was a significant positive correlation between the pain threshold at some body sites and sleep quality. Sleep quality was poorer and the pain threshold at certain body sites was lower in the group of women with endometriosis.

Effect of Food Restriction and Intense Physical Training on Estrous Cyclicity and Plasma Leptin Concentrations in Rats

Intense physical training and dietary energy restriction have been associated with consequences such as nutritional amenorrhea. We investigated the effects of intense physical training, food restriction or the combination of both strategies on estrous cyclicity in female rats, and the relationship between leptin ad these effects. Twenty-seven female Wistar rats were distributed into four groups: SF: sedentary, fed ad libitum; SR: sedentary subjected to 50% food restriction (based on the food intake of their fed counterparts); TF: trained (physical training on a motor treadmill with a gradual increase in speed and time), fed ad libitum; TR; trained with 50% food restriction. We analysed estrous cyclicity, plasma leptin and estradiol as well as chemical composition of the carcass, body weight variation. and weight of ovaries and perirenal adipose tissue. Data demonstrate that physical training alone was not responsible for significant modifications in either carcass chemical composition or reproductive function. Food restriction reduced leptin levels in all animals and interrupted the estrous cyclicity in some animals, but only the combination of food restriction and physical training was capable of interrupting the estrous cyclicity in all animals. Leptin was not directly related to estrous cyclicity. From our findings, it may be concluded that there is an additive or synergistic effect of energy intake restriction and energy expenditure by intense physical training on estrous cyclicity. Leptin appears to be one among others factors related to estrous cycle, but it probably acts indirectly.

High gravity batch and continuous processes for beer production: Evaluation of fermentation performance and beer quality

This study deals with two innovative brewing processes, high gravity batch and complete continuous beer fermentation systems. The results show a significant influence of the variables such as concentration and temperature on the yield factor of the substrate into ethanol and consequently on the productivity of the high gravity batch process. The technological feasibility of continuous production of beer based on yeast immobilization on cheap alternative carriers was also demonstrated. The influence of process parameters on fermentation performance and quality of the obtained beers was studied by sensorial analysis. No significant difference in the degree of acceptance between the obtained products and some traditional market brands was found. (c) 2008 Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences.