Viscosity of egg white from hens of different strains fed with commercial and natural additives

Yolk color and egg white (albumen) cleanliness and viscosity are important parameters by which consumers judge the quality of eggs. This study aimed to investigate changes in albumen viscosity during storage of eggs for up to 36 days from two different commercial laying hen strains (Carijo Barbada and Isa Brown) fed a diet containing annatto (1.5 and 2.0%) or a synthetic additive without synthetic colorants (control). Analyses of humidity, albumen height, pH, viscosity, foam formation, and stability were carried out on eggs. Carijo Barbada strain had smaller albumen, lower humidity and higher egg white viscosity than Isa Brown strain; however, with storage, viscosity lowered significantly on both strains. Initially, the addition of 2.0% of annatto or a synthetic additive increased viscosity in both strains, but with storage only the control maintained longer viscosity. Lower viscosity did not change foam density and stability.

Cessation of physical exercise changes metabolism and modifies the adipocyte cellularity of the periepididymal white adipose tissue in rats

All of the adaptations acquired through physical training are reversible with inactivity. Although significant reductions in maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) can be observed within 2 to 4 wk of detraining, the consequences of detraining on the physiology of adipose tissue are poorly known. Our aim was therefore to investigate the effects of discontinuing training (physical detraining) on the metabolism and adipocyte cellularity of rat periepididymal (PE) adipose tissue. Male Wistar rats, aged 6 wk, were divided into three groups and studied for 12 wk under the following conditions: 1) trained (T) throughout the period; 2) detrained (D), trained during the first 8 wk and detrained during the remaining 4 wk; and 3) age-matched sedentary (S). Training consisted of treadmill running sessions (1 h/day, 5 days/wk, 50–60%VO2max). The PE adipocyte size analysis revealed significant differences between the groups. The adipocyte cross-sectional area (in µm2) was significantly larger in D than in the T and S groups (3,474 ± 68.8; 1,945.7 ± 45.6; 2,492.4 ± 49.08, respectively, P < 0.05). Compared with T, the isolated adipose cells (of the D rats) showed a 48% increase in the ability to perform lipogenesis (both basal and maximally insulin-stimulated) and isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis. No changes were observed with respect to unstimulated lipolysis. A 15% reduction in the proportion of apoptotic adipocytes was observed in groups T and D compared with group S. The gene expression levels of adiponectin and PPAR-gamma were upregulated by factors of 3 and 2 in D vs. S, respectively. PREF-1 gene expression was 3-fold higher in T vs. S. From these results, we hypothesize that adipogenesis was stimulated in group D and accompanied by significant adipocyte hypertrophy and an increase in the lipogenic capacity of the adipocytes. The occurrence of apoptotic nuclei in PE fat cells was reduced in the D and T rats; these results raise the possibility that the adipose tissue changes after detraining are obesogenic.

Palmitoleic acid (n-7) increases white adipocyte lipolysis and lipase content in a PPARα-dependent manner

We investigated whether palmitoleic acid, a fatty acid that enhances whole body glucose disposal and suppresses hepatic steatosis, modulates triacylglycerol (TAG) metabolism in adipocytes. For this, both differentiated 3T3-L1 cells treated with either palmitoleic acid (16:1n7, 200 μM) or palmitic acid (16:0, 200 μM) for 24 h and primary adipocytes from wild-type or PPARα-deficient mice treated with 16:1n7 (300 mg•kg(-1)•day(-1)) or oleic acid (18:1n9, 300 mg•kg(-1)•day(-1)) by gavage for 10 days were evaluated for lipolysis, TAG, and glycerol 3-phosphate synthesis and gene and protein expression profile. Treatment of differentiated 3T3-L1 cells with 16:1n7, but not 16:0, increased basal and isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis, mRNA levels of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) and protein content of ATGL and pSer(660)-HSL. Such increase in lipolysis induced by 16:1n7, which can be prevented by pharmacological inhibition of PPARα, was associated with higher rates of PPARα binding to DNA. In contrast to lipolysis, both 16:1n7 and 16:0 increased fatty acid incorporation into TAG and glycerol 3-phosphate synthesis from glucose without affecting glyceroneogenesis and glycerokinase expression. Corroborating in vitro findings, treatment of wild-type but not PPARα-deficient mice with 16:1n7 increased primary adipocyte basal and stimulated lipolysis and ATGL and HSL mRNA levels. In contrast to lipolysis, however, 16:1n7 treatment increased fatty acid incorporation into TAG and glycerol 3-phosphate synthesis from glucose in both wild-type and PPARα-deficient mice. In conclusion, palmitoleic acid increases adipocyte lipolysis and lipases by a mechanism that requires a functional PPARα

Genetic characterisation and global comparison of ancient Mediterranean Great White Sharks population (Carcharodon carcharias, L.1758)

This study poses as its objective the genetic characterization of the ancient population of the Great White shark, Carcharodon carcharias, L.1758, present in the Mediterranean Sea. Using historical evidence, for the most part buccal arches but also whole, stuffed examples from various national museums, research institutes and private collections, a dataset of 18 examples coming from the Mediterranean Sea has been created, in order to increase the informations regarding this species in the Mediterranean. The importance of the Mediterranean provenance derives from the fact that a genetic characterization of this species' population does not exist, and this creates gaps in the knowledge of this species in the Mediterranean. The genetic characterization of the individuals will initially take place by the extraction of the ancient DNA and the analysis of the variations in the sequence markers of the mitochondrial DNA. This approach has allowed the genetic comparison between ancient populations of the Mediterranean and contemporary populations of the same geographical area. In addition, the genetic characterization of the population of white sharks of the Mediterranean, has allowed a genetic comparison with populations from global "hot spots", using published sequences in online databases (NCBI, GenBank). Analyzing the variability of the dataset, both in terms space and time, I assessed the evolutionary relationships of the Mediterranean population of Great Whites with the global populations (Australia/New Zealand, South Africa, Pacific USA, West Atlantic), and the temporal trend of the Mediterranean population variability. This method based on the sequencing of two portions of mitochondrial DNA genes, markers showed us how the population of Great White Sharks in the Mediterranean, is genetically more similar to the populations of the Australia Pacific ocean, American Pacific Ocean, rather than the population of South Africa, and showing also how the population of South Africa is abnormally distant from all other clusters. Interestingly, these results are inconsistent with the results from tagging of this species. In addition, there is evidence of differences between the ancient population of the Mediterranean with the modern one. This differentiation between the ancient and modern population of white shark can be the result of events impacting on this species occurred over the last two centuries.

Approccio combinato geo-location database e sensing per individuare i livelli di potenza trasmissibili da white space device

La Cognitive Radio è un dispositivo in grado di reagire ai cambiamenti dell’ambiente radio in cui opera, modificando autonomamente e dinamicamente i propri parametri funzionali tra cui la frequenza, la potenza di trasmissione e la modulazione. Il principio di base di questi dispositivi è l’accesso dinamico alle risorse radio potenzialmente non utilizzate, con cui utenti non in possesso di licenze possono sfruttare le frequenze che in un determinato spazio temporale non vengono usate, preoccupandosi di non interferire con gli utenti che hanno privilegi su quella parte di spettro. Devono quindi essere individuati i cosiddetti “spectrum holes” o “white spaces”, parti di spettro assegnate ma non utilizzate, dai quali prendono il nome i dispositivi.Uno dei modi per individuare gli “Spectrum holes” per una Cognitive Radio consiste nel cercare di captare il segnale destinato agli utenti primari; questa tecnica è nota con il nome di Spectrum Sensing e consente di ottenere essenzialmente una misura all’interno del canale considerato al fine di determinare la presenza o meno di un servizio protetto. La tecnica di sensing impiegata da un WSD che opera autonomamente non è però molto efficiente in quanto non garantisce una buona protezione ai ricevitori DTT che usano lo stesso canale sul quale il WSD intende trasmettere.A livello europeo la soluzione che è stata ritenuta più affidabile per evitare le interferenze sui ricevitori DTT è rappresentata dall’uso di un geo-location database che opera in collaborazione con il dispositivo cognitivo.Lo scopo di questa tesi è quello di presentare un algoritmo che permette di combinare i due approcci di geo-location database e Sensing per definire i livelli di potenza trasmissibile da un WSD.

Konsekutivdolmetschen und Notation

Die Dissertation "Konsekutivdolmetschen und Notation" (Andres 2002) ist eine experimentelle Studie. Mit Hilfe einer von den Germersheimer Technikern konzipierten Spezialkamera wurde die Notizennahme von insgesamt 28 ProbandInnen, denen über Video die Fernsehansprache des französischen Staatspräsidenten zum Jahreswechsel 1996/1997 eingespielt wurde, gefilmt. Das Besondere an diesen Filmaufnahmen der Notizen war die mitlaufende Zeitschaltuhr. Damit konnte der zeitliche Abstand (Décalage) zur Originalrede gemessen werden. In der Verschriftung wurden die Originalrede, die Notizen und die Wiedergabe in ihrem temporalen Verlauf aufgezeichnet. Auch nonverbale Elemente wurden durch in Klammern hinter die jeweilige Äußerung gesetzte Anmerkungen integriert. Die Leistungen der ProbandInnen wurden von drei Dozentinnen bewertet. Die Auswertung der empirischen Daten erfolgte unter den Aspekten Effizienz und Knappheit, Quantität und Auswahl, Informationsstrukturierung, Décalage, Wissen und Erfahrung, Text als kommunikatives Ganzes. Auswertung der Dolmetschleistungen: Konsekutivdolmetschen ist eine komplexe Gesamtoperation, die sich aus zahlreichen miteinander vernetzten Teilen zusammensetzt. Faktoren wie Übung, Erfahrung, Wissen, das Verfügen über Sachkenntnis und Problemlösestrategien, spielen in diesem Prozess eine erhebliche Rolle. Daher ist es sinnvoll, im didaktischen Ansatz Einzeloperationen aus der Gesamtoperation herauszulösen und für Einzelbereiche die Fähigkeit zum Problemlösen zu trainieren. Die Grundvoraussetzung ist Verstehen, so dass vor allem Verstehenstechniken zu vermitteln sind. Insgesamt geht es darum, den Lernprozess so zu gestalten, dass Studierenden Strategien vermittelt werden, die es ihnen ermöglichen, defizitäre Daten der Textoberfläche durch differenzierte Erwartungsstrukturen zu ergänzen und zu lernen, Sinn zu konstruieren. In Bezug auf die Notation lassen die in der Untersuchung enthaltenen Daten den Schluss zu, dass es bei der Notation nicht um Fragen wie zielsprachliches oder ausgangssprachliches Notieren oder die Anzahl von Symbolen geht, sondern darum zu vermitteln, dass: (1) ein deutlich geschriebenes Notationssystem mit automatisierten Abkürzungsregeln und einem eindeutigen Stamm an Symbolen Zeitersparnis bewirkt, die für andere Operationen genutzt werden kann; (2) Verben und Tempusangaben für die Rekonstruktion des Gesagten ein wesentlicher Faktor sind; (3) Informationsgewichtung und -strukturierung in den Notizen die Verstehensoperationen intensivieren und die Textproduktion erleichtern; (4) Segmentierung und räumliche Anordnung in den Notizen das Zuordnen erleichtern und die Sprachproduktion positiv beeinflussen; (5) die Notation von Verknüpfungsmitteln ein wesentliches Element für die Herstellung von Kohäsion ist; (6) das Décalage in Abhängigkeit vom Faktor Verstehen Schwankungen unterworfen ist und sein darf; (7) jede Person das für sie individuelle Décalage herausfinden muss; (8) ein anhaltendes Décalage von mehr als 7 Sekunden zu Defiziten im Verstehens- oder im Notationsprozess führt; (9) diskontinuierliches Notieren zur Informationsstrukturierung oder -vervollständigung hilfreich sein kann; (10) rhetorische Merkmale in der Textproduktion leichter berücksichtigt werden, wenn diese in den Notizen markiert sind.rnSchließlich haben die Beobachtungen gezeigt, wie hilfreich für die Studierenden eine intensive Auseinandersetzung mit der Notation ist, wie wichtig ein trainiertes, verlässliches, effizientes Notationssystem als eine Teiloperation ist, die den Verstehensprozess stützt und damit entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Qualität der zielsprachlichen Umsetzung nimmt.

Modello di Hull-White discreto

In questa tesi è stato trattato il tema dei derivati sui tassi di interesse e approfondito il modello stocastico discreto di Hull-White.

Cooperative Cognitive Wireless Networks over TV White and Gray Spaces

Wireless networks rapidly became a fundamental pillar of everyday activities. Whether at work or elsewhere, people often benefits from always-on connections. This trend is likely to increase, and hence actual technologies struggle to cope with the increase in traffic demand. To this end, Cognitive Wireless Networks have been studied. These networks aim at a better utilization of the spectrum, by understanding the environment in which they operate, and adapt accordingly. In particular recently national regulators opened up consultations on the opportunistic use of the TV bands, which became partially free due to the digital TV switch over. In this work, we focus on the indoor use of of TVWS. Interesting use cases like smart metering and WiFI like connectivity arise, and are studied and compared against state of the art technology. New measurements for TVWS networks will be presented and evaluated, and fundamental characteristics of the signal derived. Then, building on that, a new model of spectrum sharing, which takes into account also the height from the terrain, is presented and evaluated in a real scenario. The principal limits and performance of TVWS operated networks will be studied for two main use cases, namely Machine to Machine communication and for wireless sensor networks, particularly for the smart grid scenario. The outcome is that TVWS are certainly interesting to be studied and deployed, in particular when used as an additional offload for other wireless technologies. Seeing TVWS as the only wireless technology on a device is harder to be seen: the uncertainity in channel availability is the major drawback of opportunistic networks, since depending on the primary network channel allocation might lead in having no channels available for communication. TVWS can be effectively exploited as offloading solutions, and most of the contributions presented in this work proceed in this direction.

Potential effect of marine traffic on white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) distribution and behaviour in Faxaflói Bay, southwest Iceland

Faxaflói bay is a short, wide and shallow bay situated in the southwest of Iceland. Although hosting a rather high level of marine traffic, this area is inhabited by many different species of cetaceans, among which the white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), found here all year-round. This study aimed to evaluate the potential effect of increasing marine traffic on white-beaked dolphins distribution and behaviour, and to determine whether or not a variation in sighting frequencies have occurred throughout years (2008 – 2014). Data on sightings and on behaviour, as well as photographic one, has been collected daily taking advantage of the whale-watching company “Elding” operating in the bay. Results have confirmed the importance of this area for white-beaked dolphins, which have shown a certain level of site fidelity. Despite the high level of marine traffic, this dolphin appears to tolerate the presence of boats: no differences in encounter durations and locations over the study years have occurred, even though with increasing number of vessels, an increase in avoidance strategies has been displayed. Furthermore, seasonal differences in probabilities of sightings, with respect to the time of the day, have been found, leading to suggest the existence of a daily cycle of their movements and activities within the bay. This study has also described a major decline in sighting rates throughout years raising concern about white-beaked dolphin conservation status in Icelandic waters. It is therefore highly recommended a new dedicated survey to be conducted in order to document the current population estimate, to better investigate on the energetic costs that chronic exposure to disturbances may cause, and to plan a more suitable conservation strategy for white-beaked dolphin around Iceland.

"The White Road" di Neil Gaiman: una proposta di traduzione

L'obiettivo del presente elaborato è di fornire una proposta di traduzione dall'inglese all'italiano del poema "The White Road" di Neil Gaiman, pubblicato in Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears (1995) e in Smoke and Mirrors (1998). L'elaborato è articolato in: una breve presentazione dell’autore, con accento sui temi ricorrenti presenti nelle sue opere; una descrizione del testo scelto, sia in termini di struttura che di contenuti e riferimenti culturali; la proposta di traduzione con testo originale a fronte; un’analisi dei problemi traduttivi riscontrati con le relative soluzioni adottate.