1,720,967 research outputs found
Evaluating remote post-mortem inspection in bovines: Challenges, limitations, and future potential in assessing post-mortem outcomes in cattle offal
Full text linkIn the European Union, effective meat inspection is crucial for safeguarding public health and animal welfare, particularly through post-mortem inspections, which act as the final barrier against zoonotic and animal diseases. This study explores the feasibility of using remote video transmission as a modern solution to enhance oversight in meat inspections. Furthermore, it aims to collect and analyze data from routine post-mortem veterinary inspections of bovine viscera, as there is still limited knowledge in this area. A comparative study involving the routine post-mortem inspection of bovine viscera from 2983 animals was conducted, with simultaneous evaluations performed by two veterinarians: one on-site and the other remotely via tablet. The findings of the present study revealed that 14.08 % of bovine viscera were free from lesions. The most common observations were lung-related issues, including pleurisy in the 79.89 % of animals, followed by pulmonary interstitial emphysema (16.26 %), and pneumonia (16.19 %). Cysts of Echinococcus and tuberculosis lesions were identified in 2.18 % and 0.10 % of the inspected animals, respectively. The on-site veterinarian recorded a total of 4479 findings, surpassing the number documented remotely; however, both veterinarians reported similar prevalences for most findings. These results can offer valuable insights for farmers and veterinarians, highlighting aspects that current surveillance systems may overlook. Ultimately, this study suggests that remote inspection holds promise as a supplementary approach to traditional methods, provided that standardized protocols and adequate inspection time are established
Mitochondrial Analysis of Sparidae Species to Detect a New DNA Barcoding Marker for Dentex gibbosus to Utilize against Fraud
No full text: Dentex gibbosus (Pink dentex) is a fish species of increasing economic interest in the Mediterranean Sea that is consumed both whole and processed. The growing value of this sparid in European markets is responsible for its substitution with fraudulent species. The distinctive morphologic feature of D. gibbosus is the conspicuous hump on the forehead in the older and larger specimens. However, the head is regularly convex in young individuals, requiring high skills and competencies for correct identification. Authentication becomes even more challenging in the case of prepared and processed products. Therefore, the molecular characterization of Pink dentex plays a crucial role in preventing commercial fraud with species substitution. This paper proposes a comparative mitogenome analysis between 19 sparid species of commercial interest as a tool to accurately design species-specific primers targeting a fragment of the NAD2 gene for the identification of D. gibbosus. We successfully detected Pink dentex DNA both using endpoint and real-time PCR. The findings showed the high specificity of the designed primers, demonstrating this a suitable, fast, and cost-effective method that could be used for the unambiguous identification of Pink dentex. This innovative approach for sparid authentication is expected to contribute to seafood traceability, public health assurance, integrity, and the credibility of the seafood industry
Microbiological, rheological and physical-chemical characteristics of bovine meat subjected to a prolonged ageing period
Full text linkhe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a long ageing period on the microbiological, rheological and physical-chemical characteristics of bovine beef. For the trial n. 3 Marchigiana bovine breed (live weight of 760 kg approximately), slaughtered at 34 months were chosen and the loin muscles were undergone to a prolonged ageing process. The analytical determinations performed were: pH and aw values, texture profile analysis, Warner-Bratzler shear force, colour (CIE L*a*b*), centesimal analysis, total bacterial count, Enterobacteriaceae, Listeria monocytogenes, yeasts and moulds. The results indicate that extended ageing has a negative effect on weight loss but, by the means of the standardization of dry aging parameters, reduce lipid oxidation and improve tendernes
Anisakis spp. Larvae in Deboned, in-Oil Fillets Made of Anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) and Sardines (Sardina pilchardus) Sold in EU Retailers
Full text linkSardina pilchardus and Engraulis encrasicolus are considered the principal target species for commercial fishing in Europe and are widely consumed as semipreserved products. Although they are considered shelf-stable products, if treatment is not correctly applied, their consumption may represent a public health risk in regard to anisakiasis and allergic reactions. Little is known about the prevalence of Anisakis spp. in ripened products. This study aimed to evaluate the presence of Anisakis spp. larvae in deboned, in-oil anchovy and sardine fillets marketed in the EU to assess the influence of processing techniques on the prevalence of larvae. Ninety semipreserved anchovy and sardine products deriving from the Mediterranean Sea or Atlantic Ocean were collected from different EU retailers and examined using chloropeptic digestion to evaluate the presence of larvae and identify them. Thirty nonviable Anisakid larvae—A. pegreffii (30%) and A. simplex (70%)—were found. The frequency of larvae was higher in anchovies (28.8%). The low frequency of parasites found proved that processing technologies can influence the presence of larvae in final products, but it is important that visual inspection is performed only by trained people. The sources of raw materials should be considered in the production flow chart
Role of Feeding and Novel Ripening System to Enhance the Quality and Production Sustainability of Curd Buffalo Cheeses
Full text linkThe buffalo dairy sector is extending its boundaries to include new buffalo cheese productions beyond mozzarella, overcoming some barriers that make cheeses expensive and unsustainable. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of both the inclusion of green feed in the diet of Italian Mediterranean buffaloes and an innovative ripening system on buffalo cheese quality, providing solutions capable of guaranteeing the production of nutritionally competitive and sustainable products. For this purpose, chemical, rheological, and microbiological analyses were carried out on cheeses. Buffaloes were fed with or without the inclusion of green forage. Their milk was used to produce dry ricotta and semi-hard cheeses, ripened according to both respective traditional (MT) and innovative methods (MI); these are based on automatic adjustments of climatic recipe guided by the continuous control of pH. Green feed enhances the nutritional profile of the final products (high content of MUFAs and PUFAs). As far as the ripening method is concerned, to our knowledge, this is the first study that tests aging chambers, commonly used for meat, for the maturing of buffalo cheeses. Results pointed out the MI validity also in this field of application, as it shortens the ripening period without negatively compromising any of desirable physicochemical properties and the safety and hygiene of the final products. Conclusively, this research highlights the benefits of diets rich in green forage on productions and provides support for the ripening optimization of buffalo semi-hard cheeses
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
- …
