1,867 research outputs found
Staley, Roberta
No full textcurrentAcademic Biography
BA (University of Calgary)
Diploma Journalism (Grant MacEwan)
MA Liberal Studies (Simon Fraser University)
Roberta Staley is an author, a magazine editor and writer, and a documentary filmmaker who has reported from such places as Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, El Salvador, Haiti, Colombia, Cambodia, South Africa, Israel, and New Zealand. She currently edits Enterprise magazine, and is a contributor to BC Business, the South China Morning Post Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Trek, the Canadian Chemical News, Corporate Knights, and Sculpture, among others. She is also a columnist for Just for Canadian Doctors/Dentists magazines. Roberta has published her first book, titled Voice of rebellion : how Mozhdah Jamalzadah brought hope to Afghanistan. It is a biography of Afghan-Canadian human rights activist Mozhdah Jamalzadah
Studio comparativo di differenti tecniche di micro e nano-incapsulamento per la stabilizzazione dell’estratto di Hibiscus sabdariffa
No full textSustainable Development of Biodegradable Antimicrobial Electrospun Membranes for Active Food Packaging and Economic Analysis
No full textElectrospinning is a much-explored technique in the membrane fabrication field, particularly in active food packaging. Despite the widespread use of this technique, there remains a significant gap in the literature regarding the actual economic evaluation of the viability of biomaterials compared to traditional plastics. This study seeks to fill this gap by developing electrospun, vanillin-loaded zein membranes to evaluate their efficacy in terms of antimicrobial activity, biodegradability, and economic viability. From a sustainability perspective, the newly developed membranes show an impressive ability to inhibit yeast growth by 75%, with complete degradation observed in only 7 days. This underscores their potential to mitigate environmental impact and promote environmentally friendly packaging solutions to reduce both plastic waste and food loss while maintaining safety and quality. However, the economic sustainability of these membranes is still an open challenge. It becomes clear that the main bottleneck does not lie in the innovative production technology, but rather in the prices of raw materials, particularly natural additives. This underscores the need for supportive measures from institutions to incentivize the transition to sustainable packaging alternatives and the importance of the full circularity concept. This work shows that achieving the European goal of zero plastic waste requires concrete efforts
Potential Use of PLA-Based Films Loaded with Antioxidant Agents from Spent Coffee Grounds for Preservation of Refrigerated Foods
No full textThe aim of this work concerned the production of an active food packaging suitable for refrigerated foods. Polylactic-acid-based films were produced by optimizing the solvent casting technique and testing different loadings of extracts obtained from spent coffee grounds. Indeed, an extract obtained by high-pressure and -temperature extraction (HPTE) and a further purified extract by liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) were separately used as active agents, and the effects on packaging features and active compounds migration were analyzed. The selected active agents showed antioxidant and lipid peroxidation inhibition effects on food simulants (peroxide values of 9.2 ÷ 12.0 meqO2/kg extra virgin olive oil), demonstrating the possibility of enhancing food shelf life. In addition, significant effects on the packaging structure due to the presence of the extract were observed, since it can enhance gas barrier properties of the polymer (O2 permeability of 1.6 ÷ 1.3 × 10−9 cm2/s) and confer better processability. In general, the HPTE extract exhibited better performances than the further purified extract, which was due to the presence of a complex pool of antioxidants and the browning effect on the film but a limited loading capacity on the polymer (840 μg caffeine/g PLA), while higher loading capabilities were enabled using LLE extract
Improvement of Natural Polymeric Films Properties by Blend Formulation for Sustainable Active Food Packaging
No full textActive packaging manufactured with biopolymers extracted from agri-food waste is one of the most innovative and eco-sustainable strategies for maintaining food quality. However, biopolymers often present poor performances, which hinders their competitiveness compared with plastics. This work focused on developing and optimizing a natural polymeric blend produced by solvent casting based on zein and chitosan to improve the pure biopolymers’ properties. The best results were obtained by blending zein and chitosan in a 1:2 weight ratio. The films were characterized in terms of morphology, mechanical and oxygen barrier properties, thermal stability, transparency and wettability. The blend production allowed us to obtain lower brittleness and lower stiffness materials compared with pure polymer films, with oxygen permeability values two orders of magnitude lower than pure zein, better optical properties with respect to pure chitosan and good thermal stability. The wettability properties of the blend did not result in being altered with respect to the single polymer, which was found to have hydrophilic behavior, highlighting the strong influence of glycerol used as a plasticizer. The results suggested that the polymer blending strategy is a viable and cost-effective method for producing packaging materials as alternatives to plastics
Postface. Pour une esthétique hétéronome et plurielle
No full textBy discussing the essays collected in the volume, Roberta Dreon's paper focuses on the reasons that justify the very idea of a pragmatist aesthetic. This is done by considering that the association between the traditional, contemplative, disinterested, and anti-instrumental conception of aesthetic experience seems to preclude the possibility of characterizing it in practical or pragmatic terms.
The author argues that this is achieved on the one hand by a rethinking of the very notion of the "aesthetic" found in the philosophies of James and Dewey. This allows for supporting the idea that artistic practices are grounded in ordinary experience, and particularly in their aesthetic-qualitative aspects. On the other hand, the author argues that Dewey's aesthetics was convincingly pragmatist to the extent that it lucidly focused on the consequences of the autonomist conception of art and proposed a continuist, meliorist, and pluralist alternative capable of providing effective contributions to democratic and inclusive development
È possibile una teoria della razionalità? Il contributo di Hilary Putnam
No full textSecondo Putnam argomentare sulla natura della razionalità è l’attività per eccellenza dei filosofi. Sulla traccia di Putnam, l’autore esamina le principali teorie della razionalità presenti nel pensiero contemporaneo. Tali concezioni hanno il difetto di essere unilaterali, mentre la nozione di razionalità si rivela complessa, quindi una teoria della razionalità è possibile, benché non possa essere definitiva. In seguito l’autore cerca di individuare le caratteristiche fondamentali che competono alla razionalità, in opposizione tanto alla concezione positivista quanto al relativismo.According to Putnam, arguing about the nature of rationality is the typical task of philosophers. Following Putnam, in this paper the author examines the main theories of rationality to be found in contemporary thought. Whereas such views betray their own one-sidedness, the idea of rationality is very complicated. As a consequence, a theory of rationality is possible, but cannot be definitive. Furthermore, the author tries to highlight the chief features pertaining to rationality, opposing positivsm as well as relativism
Oil-in-water nanoemulsions loaded with lycopene extracts encapsulated by spray drying: Formulation, characterization and optimization
No full textLycopene is very susceptible to degradation once released from the protective chromoplast environment. In this study, oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsions coupled with spray drying technology were applied for the encapsulation and stabilization of lycopene extracted from tomato waste. Tomato extract was obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction. Nanoemulsions were prepared by a high-speed rotor stator using isopropyl myristate as the oil phase and Pluronic F-127 as the emulsifier for the aqueous external phase. The effect of emulsification process parameters was investigated. Spray drying of the produced emulsions was attempted to obtain a stabilized dry powder after the addition of a coating agent. The effect of different coating agents (maltodextrin, inulin, gum arabic, pectin, whey and polyvinylpyrrolidone), drying temperature (120–170 °C), and feed flow rate (3–9 ml·min−1) on the obtained particles was evaluated. Results revealed that the emulsion formulation of 20/80 (O/W) with 1.5% (mass fraction) of Pluronic F-127 as stabilizer in the aqueous phase resulted in a stable nanoemulsion with droplet sizes in the range of 259–276 nm with a unimodal and sharp size distribution. The extract in the nanoemulsion was well protected at room temperature with a degradation rate of lycopene of about 50% during a month of storage time. The most stable emulsions were then processed by spray drying to obtain a dry powder. Spray drying was particularly successful when using maltodextrin as a coating agent, obtaining dried spherical particles with mean diameters of 4.87±0.17 μm with a smooth surface. The possibility of dissolving the spray dried powder in order to repristinate. The original emulsion was also successfully verified
First person - Roberta Besio
No full textFirst Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM), helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Roberta Besio is first author on 'Cellular stress due to impairment of collagen prolyl hydroxylation complex is rescued by the chaperone 4-phenylbutyrate', published in DMM. Roberta is a postdoc in the lab of Antonella Fortino at University of Pavia, Italy, investigating collagen and genetic diseases of the connective tissue
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