Method for stakeholder identification in interorganizational environments

Stakeholders are the first emerging challenge in any software project. Their identification is a critical task for success. Nevertheless, many authors consider them as a default product of a non-explained identification process. Several aspects must be considered when the project is carried out in environments where multiple organizations interact. These complex contexts demand extremely hard efforts. Stakeholders must be identified taking into account their attributes (types, roles), which must be extended and defined for these environments. In general, there are no methodologies that allow performing this task in a systematic way for the development of interorganizational information systems. The paper proposes a method for carrying out stakeholder identification considering the diverse dimensions involved in interorganizational environments: organizational, interorganizational and external. It allows the systematic specification of all the people, groups and organizations whose interests and needs can affect or are affected by the interorganizational system. Also diverse stakeholders’ attributes such as types, roles, influence and interest are defined, analyzed, and included in the method. They are all important in later stages of any software project.     

Monogenic Autoinflammatory Diseases: State of the Art and Future Perspectives

Systemic autoinflammatory diseases are a heterogeneous family of disorders characterized by a dysregulation of the innate immune system, in which sterile inflammation primarily develops through antigen-independent hyperactivation of immune pathways. In most cases, they have a strong genetic background, with mutations in single genes involved in inflammation. Therefore, they can derive from different pathogenic mechanisms at any level, such as dysregulated inflammasome-mediated production of cytokines, intracellular stress, defective regulatory pathways, altered protein folding, enhanced NF-kappaB signalling, ubiquitination disorders, interferon pathway upregulation and complement activation. Since the discover of pathogenic mutations of the pyrin-encoding gene MEFV in Familial Mediterranean Fever, more than 50 monogenic autoinflammatory diseases have been discovered thanks to the advances in genetic sequencing: the advent of new genetic analysis techniques and the discovery of genes involved in autoinflammatory diseases have allowed a better understanding of the underlying innate immunologic pathways and pathogenetic mechanisms, thus opening new perspectives in targeted therapies. Moreover, this field of research has become of great interest, since more than a hundred clinical trials for autoinflammatory diseases are currently active or recently concluded, allowing us to hope for considerable acquisitions for the next few years. General paediatricians need to be aware of the importance of this group of diseases and they should consider autoinflammatory diseases in patients with clinical hallmarks, in order to guide further examinations and refer the patient to a specialist rheumatologist. Here we resume the pathogenesis, clinical aspects and diagnosis of the most important autoinflammatory diseases in children.     

Unity-Gain Amplifier With Theoretically Zero Gain Error

This paper presents a unity-gain amplifier architecture, which, unlike already known solutions, provides a theoretically zero gain error without requiring an infinitely large loop gain. The architecture is based on two amplifiers nested in a feedback configuration, which allows a straightforward complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) implementation. Performances are analytically evaluated and compared to those of the traditional solution under similar design settings. Simulations using a 0.35-mum CMOS process are found to be in agreement with theory, and Monte Carlo simulations have also shown the robustness of the proposed approach against process tolerances.     

Effects of milk high pressure homogenization on biogenic amine accumulation during ripening of ovine and bovine Italian cheeses

The aim of this work was to evaluate the biogenic amine (BA) content during the ripening of both bovine and ovine cheeses obtained using milk subjected to a homogenization treatment at 100 MPa before cheese-making. The data obtained were compared with those from cheeses produced by the same milks without any treatment or thermized. The results showed that both microbial ecology and BA concentrations of cheeses during ripening were significantly influenced by the type of milk used for cheese-making and by the treatment applied to the raw materials. In particular, the microbial counts found in Caciotta indicated that the high pressure homogenization (HPH) of milk significantly reduced the presence of the yeasts, Micrococcaceae and lactobacilli at the end of ripening. On the other hand, the HPH treatment of milk favoured the proliferation of yeasts in ovine cheese. Moreover, the ovine cheeses were characterized by a remarkably higher accumulation of BA than bovine cheeses. However, the HPH treatment of milk was able to drastically reduce the biogenic amine concentrations in both cheese typologies at the end of ripening.     

Potential Effect of CD271 on Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Proliferation and Differentiation

The Low-Affinity Nerve Growth Factor Receptor (LNGFR), also known as CD271, is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily. The CD271 cell surface marker defines a subset of multipotential mesenchymal stromal cells and may be used to isolate and enrich cells derived from bone marrow aspirate. In this study, we compare the proliferative and differentiation potentials of CD271⁺ and CD271⁻ mesenchymal stromal cells. Mesenchymal stromal cells were isolated from bone marrow aspirate and adipose tissue by plastic adherence and positive selection. The proliferation and differentiation potentials of CD271⁺ and CD271⁻ mesenchymal stromal cells were assessed by inducing osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic in vitro differentiation. Compared to CD271⁺, CD271⁻ mesenchymal stromal cells showed a lower proliferation rate and a decreased ability to give rise to osteocytes, adipocytes and chondrocytes. Furthermore, we observed that CD271⁺ mesenchymal stromal cells isolated from adipose tissue displayed a higher efficiency of proliferation and trilineage differentiation compared to CD271⁺ mesenchymal stromal cells isolated from bone marrow samples, although the CD271 expression levels were comparable. In conclusion, these data show that both the presence of CD271 antigen and the source of mesenchymal stromal cells represent important factors in determining the ability of the cells to proliferate and differentiate.     

Principal component analysis for the identification of pollution sources in mussel survey by trace metals

Summary Principal component analysis has been applied to analyze the correlation matrix obtained from a 8 × 43 data matrix. The 8 trace metals are Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Ph, which are contained in the soft part of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck). Mussels were sampled from two sites in the Gulf of Trieste. In both samples, 76–78% of the total variance is explained by the four principal components. The orthogonally rotated factor matrix indicates that Co and Ni are bonded to the first principal component and Cd and Pb to the first (site 2) or second principal component (site 1). The origin of trace metals in the soft part of mussels from the Gulf of Trieste is discussed.

---

Analyse der Hauptkomponenten zur Identifizierung der Verunreinigungsursachen von Muscheln über die Spurenmetalle

Zusammenfassung Die Analyse der Hauptkomponenten wurde auf die Korrelationsmatrix, die aus der 8 × 43-Datenmatrix hervorgeht, angewandt. Diese 8 Spurenmetalle sind Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Pb, die im Fleisch der Miesmuscheln (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck) gefunden worden sind. Die Miesmuscheln stammen aus zwei Gegenden des Golfes von Triest. Vier Hauptkomponenten erklären 76–78 % der totalen Varianz der beiden Stichproben. Die orthogonale-rotierte Faktorenmatrix zeigt, daß Co und Ni an die erste Hauptkomponente und Cd und Pb an die erste (Lage 2) oder an die zweite Hauptkomponente (Lage 1) gebunden sind. Die Herkunft der Spurenmetalle im Muschelfleisch aus dem Golf von Triest wird diskutiert.

---

---

L. Felician is the author of the statistical analysis for site 1 as a part of his thesis in Commodity Science, Faculty of Economics, University of Trieste- L. Gabrielli Favretto is the author of the statistical analysis of the data for site 2. All authors contributed to the rest of the paper     

Development of composites based on recycled polyethylene/sugarcane bagasse fibers

In this work, sugarcane bagasse fibers were used as filler in composites having recycled high‐density polyethylene (PEr) as matrix. Because of the poor interaction between fibers surface and the PEr, the surface of bagasse was chemically modified. This modification consists of washing with water at 80°C, a mercerization process using sodium hydroxide and acetylation reaction with acetic anhydride. The chemical modification was characterized by Fourier transform infrared–horizontal attenuated total reflectance (FTIR‐HATR) and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies (NMR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The composites were prepared from modified and unmodified fibers into PEr matrix, containing 5, 10, and 20% (w/w) of fiber. The samples were processed by extrusion and molds were prepared by injection process in order to perform mechanical tests. These materials were analyzed by SEM, TGA, and the water uptake was evaluated. Also, their mechanical properties were analyzed. Morphological analysis indicated that the chemical modification of sugarcane bagasse increased the compatibility between matrix and reinforcement. Tensile, flexural, and impact tests showed that the mechanical properties of the composite were improved compared to PEr due to the presence of the fibers. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:768–774, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Role of surface-inoculated Debaryomyces hansenii and Yarrowia lipolytica strains in dried fermented sausage manufacture. Part 2: Evaluation of their effects on sensory quality and biogenic amine content

The aim was to study the effects of Debaryomyces hansenii and Yarrowia lipolytica strains, used with lactic acid starter cultures (Lactobacillus plantarum), in the manufacture of dried fermented sausages in order to understand their effects on volatile profile, biogenic amine content and sensory properties. The experimental data showed that every yeast strain produced a specific profile of volatile metabolic products. The yeasts also gave sausages with distinctive sensory properties. The degree of mincing also influenced these properties, but none of these factors had significant influence upon the accumulation of biogenic amines.