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From Environment to Hive: Plasticizer and Bisphenols Contamination in Algerian Honeys
No full textPhthalates (PAEs), non-phthalate plasticizers (NPPs) and bisphenols (BPs) were monitored by fully validated GC-MS and HPLC-MS/MS protocols in honeys from diverse Algerian coastal and non-coastal areas. Experimental results showed that no honey was free of these compounds. A higher PAE contamination was evident in coastal honeys, while NPPs were more abundant in non-coastal samples. The revealed PAEs were: dimethyl phthalate (DMP, 28.12–277.14 μg/kg), diethyl phthalate (DEP, 18.20–404.70 μg/kg), dibutyl phthalate (DBP, 29.58–889.71 μg/kg) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP, 20.66–523.16 μg/kg), while bis(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate (DEHT, 8.95–206.12 μg/kg) and diethyl adipate (DEA, 10.36–97.51 μg/kg) were the NPPs determined. The EU—not Algeria—classifies DBP and DEHP as very high concern substances. Nonetheless, these PAEs were the most abundant and frequently detected contaminants. Even certain honeys showed DEHP outliers compared to the range provided above (1256.53 μg/kg). Coastal and non-coastal honeys were contaminated by bisphenol A (BPA, 2.64–12.73 μg/kg), thus, raising compliance concerns for export in the EU. In fact, the assessment of dietary exposure and toxicological risk
derived from the consumption of these honeys highlighted that, while the exposure to plasticizers was within the safety limits, the exposure to BPA raised toxicological concern. Hopefully, these findings will support the constant monitoring of beekeeping activities and products and encourage the adoption of good practices with a view to guide the advancement of the sector and better safeguard consumers
Parental reflective functioning as a buffer against stress and despair: Effects on child behavioral and social outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorder
No full textBackground: This study explored the relationships between parental stress, despair, reflective functioning, and externalising/socialisation outcomes in autistic children. Objective: The study aimed to examine whether parental reflective functioning (PRF), specifically certainty and curiosity about the child's mental states, buffers the effects of parental stress and despair on children's externalising problems and socialisation. Methods: A sample of 88 Italian parents of autistic preschoolers (n = 42) and school-age children (n = 46) (n = 76 males) completed standardised parent-reported questionnaires assessing parental stress, despair, reflective functioning, and child behavioural outcomes. Correlational analyses and structural equation modelling (SEM) were conducted to test the hypothesised relationships. Results: Parental stress and despair were positively associated with children's externalising problems and negatively associated with socialisation. PRF showed differential indirect associations with child outcomes: certainty about the child's mental states showed an indirect association with the link between parental despair and children's externalizing problems, whereas curiosity about the child's mental states mediated the relationship between parental stress and children's socialisation, promoting better social outcomes despite stress. No significant associations emerged for internalising problems. Conclusion: These findings highlight the protective role of parental reflective functioning in ASD. While certainty about the child's mental states may help mitigate the impact of parental despair on externalising behaviours, curiosity fosters better socialisation even in stressful conditions. Interventions aimed at enhancing PRF, particularly promoting curiosity and certainty, are associated with more adaptive child outcomes. Future research should explore how targeted interventions can be integrated to support families of children with ASD
A Quasi-Optimization Problem for a Family of Functions
No full textIn this paper, we deal with an optimization problem: finding a common maximum point for a family of objective functions on a set-valued map. We reformulate this problem in terms of a suitable variational problem to establish the existence of a solution. In this variational approach, the notion of quasiconcave family is of central importance. Finally, we apply our study to the Kantian equilibrium
Inclusion of polyphenol-rich olive cake in beef cattle diets: effects on meat quality and nutritional traits
No full textThis study involved 45 finishing Limousin young bulls (initial BW 350 ± 15 kg; aged 250 ± 20 days) reared under commercial conditions and randomly assigned for 250 days to three dietary treatments: a control diet without olive cake (CTR), and diets including partially destoned dried olive cake at 10% (OC10) or 15% (OC15) of dry matter. The effects of the dietary inclusion of partially destoned dried olive cake (DOC) on the physicochemical
properties, intramuscular fatty acid composition, nutritional lipid indices, and antioxidant profile of the Longissimus dorsi muscle were evaluated. Meat pH was measured at 45 min, 24 h, and 7 days of aging. Instrumental color, proximate composition, fatty acid profile, lipid nutritional indices, total phenolic content (TPC), individual polyphenols, and antioxidant capacity were determined. Data were analyzed by ANOVA using PROC GLIMMIX in SAS, with orthogonal contrasts to evaluate linear and quadratic responses to olive cake inclusion. Treatments did not affect post mortem pH, and color differences observed at 24 h were not present after 7 days of aging. Crude protein content was lower in OC-fed groups, while total lipid content tended to increase; sodium chloride concentration was higher in OC15 meat. Olive cake supplementation reduced hypercholesterolemic saturated fatty acids and increased stearic, oleic, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, including α-linolenic acid, EPA, and DPA, improving PUFA/SFA and UFA/SFA ratios and reducing atherogenic and thrombogenic indices. Despite a higher peroxidability index, OC groups showed greater muscle TPC and antioxidant capacity, the presence of detectable hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol suggests a possible contribution of dietary olive phenolics or their metabolites, although the exact mechanisms underlying their appearance in muscle tissue remain to be fully elucidated. Overall, partially destoned DOC can be included up to 15% of the finishing diet to improve beef nutritional and functional quality within sustainable circular systems
On Degenerate Nonlocal Carrier’s Problems
No full textThe aim of this thesis is to present some original results of
existence, nonexistence and multiplicity of solutions for a class of
nonlocal degenerate Carrier's problems
\begin{equation}\label{problemabstract}
\left \{\begin{array}{cl}
-a\left(\displaystyle\int_{\Omega}u^{q}dx\right)\Delta_{p} u =
f(u) & \textrm{in}\ \Omega,\\
u>0 & \textrm{in} \ \Omega,\\
u=0 & \textrm{on}\ \partial\Omega,
\end{array}
\right.
\end{equation}
where is a bounded domain in , and are continuous functions fulfilling some additional conditions, and . The main issue of this class of problems lies in the loss of variational structure.
This feature forces us to gain our results thought new techniques.
In particular, we provide some general results for existence and multiplicity of positive solutions for the nonlocal elliptic problem \eqref{problemabstract}
where the degenerate weight function could be
sign-changing with a known number of positive bumps.
Our results will be extended to problems of type \eqref{problemabstract} driven by non-homogeneous operators as -Laplacian and Double Phase operator and for problems with -dependence on the reaction term.
A careful analysis will show that similar results can be provided also for Neumann problems. Moreover, some nonexistence results permit us to enrich the scenario.
The main approach is based on the following steps:
\begin{itemize}
\item[•]first we freeze the nonlocal term in the positive bumps
of the weight degenerate function and we obtain a variational
elliptic problem;
\item[•]then, we provide, through sub-super solutions methods
and variational tools, the existence of at least one positive solution
of the frozen problem;
\item[•]next, when it is the case, we provide the uniqueness of the
solution for the frozen
problem or in any case, the existence of the
unique smallest solution in a suitable interval;
\item[•]finally, we build a one-dimensional
fixed point problem that allows us to provide
the existence of at least two fixed points.
In particular, each fixed point
of this map will be a positive solution of our original problem \eqref{problemabstract}.
\end{itemize}
We emphasize that, in the first part of this work, we obtain our results by imposing a monotonicity assumption involving the reaction term, i.e.,
we assume that the map
is strictly decreasing in a suitable interval. This hypothesis, exploiting a D\'iaz-Sa\'a-type argument, permits us to obtain the uniqueness of solution of our problem with frozen nonlocal term.
In the second part, we are able to remove this monotonicity constrain. This new challenge require a deeper analysis and the introduction of a suitable set-valued map, in order to provide the existence of the unique smallest solution in an appropriate interval.
In both cases a sophisticated combination of sub-super solutions methods, variational tools and fixed point theory allows us to come back to the solutions of our original problem
E-Health & Innovation to Overcome Barriers in Neuromuscular Diseases. Report from the 3rd eNMD Congress: Pisa, Italy, 29-30 October 2021: Remote Monitoring: New Solutions for New Avenues in Neuromuscular Disorders
No full textNeuromuscular diseases (NMDs), in their phenotypic heterogeneity, share quite invariably common issues that involve
several clinical and socio-economical aspects, needing a deep critical analysis to develop better management strategies.
From diagnosis to treatment and follow-up, the development of technological solutions can improve the detection of sev-
eral critical aspects related to the diseases, addressing both the met and unmet needs of clinicians and patients. Among
several aspects of the digital transformation of health and care, this congress expands what has been learned from pre-
vious congresses editions on applicability and usefulness of technological solutions in NMDs. In particular the focus on
new solutions for remote monitoring provide valuable insights to increase disease-specific knowledge and trigger prompt
decision-making. In doing that, several perspectives from different areas of expertise were shared and discussed, pointing out strengths and weaknesses on the current state of the art on topic, suggesting new research lines to advance technol-
ogy in this specific clinical field
Wild biomass perennial grasses show tolerance to dry conditions in a Mediterranean climate
No full textThe productivity of biomass perennial grasses (BPGs) in the marginal areas of the Mediterranean is mainly limited by water scarcity. To address this constraint, this study investigated the impact of different irrigation levels on the morphological and productive traits of seven BPG genotypes belonging to Arundo donax L., Saccharum spontaneum, and Miscanthus hybrids, adopting a split-plot experimental design under the Mediterranean climatic conditions of Sicily (Italy) during a three-year experiment. Results showed that water availability significantly affects biomass yield, particularly during early crop development, with all genotypes benefiting from irrigation through increased stem and leaf biomass. However, notable differences emerged among species: while Arundo donax and Saccharum spontaneum exhibited strong drought tolerance, maintaining stable aboveground biomass and stem density without irrigation, Miscanthus × giganteus was more susceptible to water stress, showing marked biomass declines under rainfed conditions. Conversely, Miscanthus hybrids GNT3 and GNT43, bred for drought tolerance, outperformed S. spontaneum under rainfed environments and achieved biomass yields comparable to A. donax when irrigated. Notably, despite biomass reduction under drought conditions, the chemical composition of the biomass (lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ash) remained stable, indicating that biomass quality was not adversely affected by water stress. These findings confirm the role of effective water management and genotype selection for optimizing biomass yield and resource efficiency, providing valuable insights for enhancing crop productivity in Mediterranean and other semi-arid regions. The evaluated species represent promising candidates for cultivation under water scarcity due to their high water use efficiency and tolerance to water stress
Sull’espressione avere pelo (o peli) sullo (o nello) stomaco e altre analoghe
No full textSi illustra la trafila etimologica e gli slittamenti semantici di espressioni idiomatiche italiane con la parola pelo: avere pelo sullo stomaco, avere peli sulla lingua e analoghe
Pascal D’Angelo’s Literary Itinerary: Poetry and Poetic Models in Son of Italy
No full textFrom a strictly biographical point of view, the element that emerges from the novel is Pascal D’Angelo’s conviction of being primarily a poet who narrates his story as a making of himself as a poet in the English language. In this sense, this article intends to demonstrate
the importance of the British romantic tradition in the formation of Pascal D’Angelo. In particular, his poetic production is greatly inspired by the poets of the second generation of English Romanticism who most struck his sensitivity, namely, P.B. Shelley (especially “Prometheus
Unbound”) and John Keats whose “Endymion” he greatly admired. Indeed, from the poetical works of Shelley and Keats, D’Angelo drew the diction that he adopted to express his personal
experience first as an Italian emigrant and then as the author of Son of Italy