1,720,981 research outputs found
The Indicators of Food Sustainability
No full textThe concept of food sustainability embodies an integrated model of food production and management, able to guarantee access to food resources for the entire world population without compromising the resources of the environment. Today, food and environmental sustainability are two essential objectives of development programs, considered crucial by plans such as the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development 2030 Agenda and the agri-food strategies of the European Union (EU) included in the European Green Deal and in the Recovery Plan/Next Generation EU. Sustainable nutrition means not only ensuring the food security of all people globally, but also promoting environmentally friendly solutions to reduce the ecological footprint and decrease the carbon footprint. In this chapter we will address this complex issue, to understand what food sustainability is, which are the consensus indicators to describe and quantify its achievement and what are the main initiatives taken by the different countries to pursue it. Finally, the case of “novel foods”, foods that do not have a story of consumption in EU countries but strongly pushed by the research and to improve dietary shift to more sustainable protein sources will be examined as exemplary case studies
Occurrence of Acrylamide in Italian Baked Products and Dietary Exposure Assessment
No full textAcrylamide (AA) is a neo-formed toxic compound that develops in foods during cooking at temperatures above 120 ◦C. AA shows in vivo neurotoxic and carcinogenic effects, and it is potentially carcinogenic for humans. Its occurrence is common in baked food, such as bread and similar products. This study set out to analyze bread and sweets from the Italian market to evaluate the effects of the benchmark thresholds set by EU Regulation 2017/2158 and to ascertain the exposure of the Italian population to AA, across three age groups, through the consumption of baked products, according to the margin of exposure (MOE) approach. Two hundred samples were tested, and the content of AA ranged from 31 to 454 μg/kg for bread and products thereof and from 204 to 400 μg/kg for the sweets category. The exposure data did not show any neurotoxic health concern, whereas the MOE related to the carcinogenic endpoint is well below the minimum safety value of 10,000
Effect of calpain/calpastatin system on meat quality of Italian Buffalo during post-mortem storage.
No full textEffect of calpain/calpastatin system on meat quality of Italian Buffalo during post-mortem storage.
No full textLevels of heavy metals in octopus (Octopus vulgaris) from south tyrrhenian: preliminary results.
No full textThe common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) is a voracious predator normally distributed on rocky, sandy and muddy
bottoms. It is characterized by fast growth rates and a short lifespan and known for its ability to accumulate high levels of
elements essential to metabolic functions and nonessential elements. In general, feeding is considered to be the primary
pathway for trace element bioaccumulation in cephalopods and second seawater. Although O. vulgaris is benthic, living in
direct contact with the substratum, which represents another possible pathway for trace element accumulation. The
objectives of the present study were to evaluate Cd, Pb and Hg levels in the muscle of octopus (Octopus vulgaris)
collected from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy and to assess the health risk related to human consumption.
Samples (n.12) of Octopus vulgaris were caught along the coast of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea between September and
December 2015. Organisms were stored in individual plastic bags and immediately frozen onboard in order to minimize
mobilization of metals between organs/tissues. Samples were kept at -25°C for a maximum of 2 weeks before dissection.
In the laboratory, arm and mantle was dissected excluding the skin. Weight, mantle length and sex were determined for
each individual and was subsequently homogenized by means of a laboratory mixer for metal analysis. Aliquots of each
sample were digested in ultrapure 65% HNO3 and H2O2 in a microwave digestion system. Pb, Cd and Hg concentrations
were determined by atomic absorption spectrometer (GF-AAS).
Cd and Hg concentrations were found very low in all samples of octopus muscles (Cd: 0.011±0.018 mg/kg w.w.; Hg:
0.017±0.040 mg/kg w.w.) and were below the legal limit for human consumption. The concentration of Pb was generally
high in samples of muscle (0.851±0.662 mg/kg w.w.) and all tested samples were above the maximum concentration level
(Reg CE 1881/2006) excluding this product to human consumption.
To establish possible human health implications related to consumption of octopus, the Pb estimate weekly intakes
(ISMEA, 2010) were subsequently compared with the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of 25 μg/kg of body
weight (EFSA, 2010).
Considering the level of Pb, the consumption of octopus muscle may increase Pb intake, but it would not contribute
significantly to the PTWI. In contrast, may reach high EWI values in the heavy consumer of octopus, when the other main
contributors to dietary Pb intake were included in the exposure assessment.
The preliminary results obtained in the current study showed the presence of Pb in all samples analyzed, underlying its
presence in the environment. Monitoring studies on heavy metals in Octopus vulgaris and other species of the marine
food chain in a greater number will provide more detailed information of the human exposure to Pb in this area
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
Myosin heavy chain isoforms, fatty acid composition, sensory evaluation and quality of cinta senese pig meat
Full text linkThe aims of this study were to examine the effects of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms on Cinta Senese meat and sensory quality. The research was carried out on 65 pigs and muscle samples characteristics such as MHC isoform, meat quality, fatty acid composition, and sensory were evaluated. The results demonstrated that MHC slow isoform content was significantly correlated with pH24h (r=0.25, P<0.05) and drip loss (r=-0.31, P<0.005), whereas the content of MHC isoforms was only weakly correlated with fatty acids. Sensory evaluation was done by a trained panel test and the results shown that the MHC fast/slow ratio was correlated with the juiciness (r=-0.32, P<0.005), off-flavor (r=0.33, P<0.01), and tenderness attributes (r=-0.42 to -0.46). We therefore conclude that the content of MHC isoforms can be one of the most important factors for examination of overall quality of Cinta Senese pigs
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