1,720,957 research outputs found
Development of a Generalised Equilibrium Modified Atmosphere Model and its Application to the Taleggio Cheese
Full text linkThe food metabolic processes influence the gas composition of packaged products: by finely tuning the gas fluxes through the packaging, the aerobic and anaerobic respiration processes can be efficiently exploited to regulate the equilibrium gas concentrations. In this work, we present a generalised model able to predict the evolution of gases in micro-perforated equilibrium MAP, with a detailed evaluation of fluxes through the perforations by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics. It was found that the Sherwood number for the studied micro-perforations is 0.715 and it was confirmed via experiments on packaging with oxygendepleted atmospheres. The kinetic model was experimentally validated on a smear short-ripened soft cheese (Taleggio) whose complex surface microbiota confer to the product a non-trivial respiration behaviour. Cheese slices were packed with three different micro-perforated solutions (one 120 μm diameter hole, two 90 μm diameter holes, and five 90 μm diameter holes) achieving three different equilibrium gas compositions with good model predictions. The model was applied to literature data with success, thus the model can be deemed general and applicable to many different systems
Development of acid-free chitosan films in food coating applications: Provolone cheese as a case study
Full text linkChitosan has been extensively explored in food coatings. Still, its practical application is largely hampered by its conventional wet processing in acetic acid, whose residuals negatively impact food quality and safety. Here, we propose a new method to formulate chitosan coatings for food applications by avoiding organic acid processing and validate them on a cheese model. The procedure entails modifying a previously reported process based on HCl chitosan treatment and neutralising the resulting gel. The obtained chitosan is solubilised in water using carbonic acid that forms in situ by dissolving carbon dioxide gas. The reversibility of water carbonation allows for easy removal of carbonic acid residues, resulting in acid-free chitosan films and coatings. The performance of the coating was tested against state-of-the-art chitosan-based and polymeric coatings. We preliminarily characterised the films' properties (water stability, barrier, and optical properties). Then, we assessed the performance of the coating on Provolone cheese as a food model (mass transfer and texture profiles over 14 days). The work demonstrated the advantage of the proposed approach in solving some main issues of food quality and safety, paving the way for an effective application of chitosan in future food contact applications
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
Grease resistant and water-resistant coating solutions for paper-based food packaging materials
Full text linkLAUREA MAGISTRALEI materiali a base carta stanno aumentando la loro importanza nell'industria degli imballaggi. La carta ha grandi proprietà come riciclabilità e facilità d'uso e può essere accoppiata con biomolecole, plastiche e bioplastiche per essere più efficiente.
Nuove soluzioni di imballaggio a base di carta sono state progettate per migliorare la resistenza al grasso e all'acqua del materiale di base. In genere, la migliore strategia consiste nell'accoppiare carta o cartone con un altro materiale come rivestimento o film.
In questo lavoro diversi materiali, vale a dire chitosano e alginato di sodio, acido poli(L)lattico (PLLA) e zeina, sono stati utilizzati per migliorare le proprietà barriera della carta. Il chitosano e l'alginato di sodio sono stati selezionati per migliorare la resistenza al grasso, PLLA per prevenire la penetrazione dell'acqua e Zein come biopolimero per ottenere resistenze sia all'olio che all'acqua. Dopo la preparazione, le soluzioni selezionate sono state depositate mediante tecnica di rod coating su campioni di carta.
I campioni preparati sono stati poi caratterizzati da test standard per valutarne le prestazioni in termini di resistenza al grasso, resistenza all'acqua e barriera all'ossigeno e al vapore acqueo.
I risultati mostrano che queste soluzioni rispondono correttamente contro la penetrazione dell'olio e la penetrazione dell'acqua. Le soluzioni sviluppate in questo lavoro hanno l'obiettivo di essere completamente riciclabili e spingere il mercato attraverso la sostenibilità.
Le nuove tendenze nell'industria alimentare chiariscono che lo sviluppo di questo tipo di materiali può aiutare a prevenire lo spreco di cibo e materiali.Paper-based materials are increasing their importance in the packaging industry. Paper possesses great properties such as recyclability and ease of usage, moreover, can be coupled with biomolecules, plastics, and bioplastics to realize more versatile packaging solutions.
New paper-based packaging solutions have been designed to improve the grease and water resistances of the base material. Typically, the best strategy consists in coupling paper or cardboard with another material as a coating or film.
In this work different materials, namely Chitosan, and Sodium Alginate, Poly(L)Lactic Acid (PLLA), and Zein, have been used to improve the barrier properties of paper. Chitosan and Sodium Alginate were selected to enhance the grease resistance, PLLA to prevent water penetration, and Zein as biopolymer to achieve both oil and water resistances. After the preparation, the selected solutions have been deposited by mean of rod coating technique on paper samples.
The prepared specimens were then characterized by standard tests to evaluate their performances in terms of grease resistance, water resistance, and barrier against oxygen and water vapor.
Results show that these solutions respond properly against oil penetration and water penetration. Solutions developed in this work have the aim of being fully recyclable and push the market through sustainability. New trends in the food industry make clear that the development of this kind of materials can helps in preventing food and materials waste
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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