Development and test of a new fuzzy-QFD approach for characterizing customers rating of extra virgin olive oil

This paper presents the development of an innovative fuzzy-QFD based methodology for characterizing customer rating of food products. The method has been tested on different samples of extra virgin olive oil to verify its suitability.The results demonstrated the effectiveness of such multi-criterion technique not only for the design and development of new products that meet customers’ requirements, but also for testing the quality of existing ones.The main innovation of the method, consists in the application of the fuzzy logic to address the issue, common in many decisional techniques, of dealing with data deriving from subjective verbally expressed evaluations that cannot be treated with mathematical models.The objective of this work was to test the combined assessment technique based on quality function deployment and fuzzy logic method for determining which characteristics of extra virgin olive oil influence most of the acceptance of the consumers toward the product. The relationship between consumer expectations, defined by a market survey, and main attributes of the examined products were assessed by means of the House of Quality (HOQ). The results obtained allowed to classify the quality of different brands of olive oil with respect to customer preferences.     

Current and Forward‐Looking Approaches to Technological and Nutritional Improvements of Gluten‐Free Bread with Legume Flours: A Critical Review

The gluten‐free market currently offers a range of products which can be safely consumed by patients affected by celiac disease. Nevertheless, challenges for optimal formulation remain on the way in terms of appreciable texture, flavor, and adequate nutritional characteristics. Within that framework, legumes have recently attracted attention among scientists as structure‐ and texture‐forming agents, as source of nutrients and bioactive compounds, and as a low‐glycemic‐index ingredient. This work aims at providing an updated and comprehensive overview of the advantages and disadvantages in the use of legumes in gluten‐free breadmaking. It also shows how legumes can contribute to tackling the main technological, nutritional, and organoleptic challenges. From this critical analysis, it emerged that viscoelastic properties of gluten‐free bread batter can be enhanced by the use of carob germ, chickpea, lupin, and soybean. Gluten‐free bread organoleptic acceptability can be improved by incorporating leguminous flours, such as carob, chickpea, lupin, and soybean. Moreover, a better nutritional quality of gluten‐free bread can be obtained by the addition of chickpea and soybean. Gaps and needs in the use of legumes in gluten‐free breadmaking emerged and were gathered together to have a sound basis for future studies. The technological and nutritional potential of sourdough should be more extensively exploited. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo studies should be prompted to understand the health benefits of bread formulated with legumes. A holistic approach, interfacing food science, nutrition, and health might help to have, on the market, products with improved sensory properties and nutritional profile.     

Dominance and influence of selected Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains on the analytical profile of craft beer refermentation

This study investigated the influence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains inoculated at the refermentation phase on the analytical profile of craft beer. After preliminary screening of 33 S. cerevisiae strains, four were selected and used in bottle refermentation trials. To attribute the flavour profile of the refermented beers to the inoculated strains, molecular characterization was carried out using a mini‐satellite protocol of amplification with inter‐δ primers. Fingerprinting analysis of 500 isolates showed that all of the inoculated strains used in the bottle refermentation dominated the process. The main analytical characters across the bottle refermentation trials were similar, while there were distinctive and significant variations in the volatile compounds. In particular, when compared with the starter strain used as control, the bottle refermentation trials using the DBVPG 2170, DBVPG 2187 and L951 S. cerevisiae strains showed significantly higher levels of the volatile compounds that are responsible for fruity and flowery aromas (i.e. isoamyl acetate, ethyl octanoate, ethyl dodecanoate phenyl ethyl acetate, β‐phenyl ethanol). This study indicates that the proper refermentation process results in the dominance of the selected starter strain, which produces fermentation compounds that show a specific analytical profile and give the craft beer its distinctive bioflavour. Copyright © 2014 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

A continuous-state Markov model for age- and state-dependent degradation processes

In order to approximate the unknown transition probability densities of a state-dependent, possibly inhomogeneous, Markov degradation model, a continuous-state discrete-time Markov model is proposed, which is based on the use of the Pearson’s family of distributions for approximating the true transition density. Unlike the alternative approach based on Markov chain approximation, the proposed one has the decisive advantage of dramatically reducing the computing time of the estimation procedure, thus allowing a age- and state-dependent model to be potentially applied also in more complex experimental frameworks, e.g., in presence of random effects. Hence, the proposed model is used to analyse, on the basis of real data from the literature, two different degradation phenomena, namely: the wear of some cutting tools and the crack growth of metallic specimens.     

Sensible: IP‐layer dynamic bandwidth management for DVB‐RCS network subdomains

Broadband communication via satellite systems finds applications in several contexts where other technologies are not available or economically not convenient. Examples are remote areas, disaster struck areas, or vessels/ships. The scarce availability and the high cost of the bandwidth impose to improve flexibility in bandwidth management and dynamic allocation, especially on the shared return link. Typically, this capability is available only to the satellite operator (SO). An innovative dynamic bandwidth management of satellite capacity for the return link has been developed and prototyped as an Internet protocol‐based solution. This solution allows small operators renting bandwidth from the satellite operator and providing services to final customers, managing the permanently assigned resources in a flexible and efficient way. The scope of the paper is to illustrate this technique to achieve the dynamic bandwidth management for a subgroup of satellite terminals (subdomain) by using a centralized controller and distributed software with IP shaping capabilities, without interacting with the satellite operator. This approach has been applied in particular to a satellite maritime ship owner, which is thus able to dynamically distribute capacity among satellite terminals installed onboard of its ship fleet as required, as a network operator. The presented results are the outputs of simulations performed with the NS2 simulator and tests by using real hardware. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heparin induces an accumulation of atherogenic lipoproteins during hemodialysis in normolipidemic end‐stage renal disease patients

Dyslipidemias may account for the excess of cardiovascular mortality in end‐stage renal disease (ESRD). Lipoprotein studies in ESRD patients are usually relative to prehemodialysis samples even if significative changes may occur after dialysis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of ESRD on triglyceride‐rich lipoproteins (TRL) subpopulations distribution and acute change following hemodialytic procedures, including the relative contribution of heparin administration. We selected a group of normolipidemic male middle‐aged ESRD patients free of any concomitant disease affecting lipoprotein remnant metabolism compared with controls. We separated TRL subfractions according to density and apoE content and evaluated the changes of these particles after hemodialytic procedures with or without heparin. ESRD subjects had higher TRL subfractions, with the exception of apoE‐rich particles, lower high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) largest subclasses, and a smaller low‐density lipoprotein peak particle size than controls. After a hemodialytic standard procedure with heparin, we demonstrated a significant reduction of triglyceride, an increase of HDL‐cholesterol levels, and a raise of small very‐low‐density lipoprotein, intermediate‐density lipoproteins (IDL), apoE‐rich particles, and non‐HDL‐cholesterol levels. When hemodialysis was performed without heparin, no significant changes were observed. In the absence of concomitant hyperlipidemic triggers, ESRD patients show significant lipoprotein abnormalities before dialysis, but without any increased remnant particles concentrations. We speculate that hemodialysis, in particular heparin administration during this procedure, leads to a massive atherogenic TRLs production because of the acute stimulation of the dysfunctional lipolytic system not followed by an efficient removal, determining a recurrent lipoprotein remnant accumulation.     

An ambient intelligence approach for learning in smart robotic environments

Smart robotic environments combine traditional (ambient) sensing devices and mobile robots. This combination extends the type of applications that can be considered, reduces their complexity, and enhances the individual values of the devices involved by enabling new services that cannot be performed by a single device. To reduce the amount of preparation and preprogramming required for their deployment in real‐world applications, it is important to make these systems self‐adapting. The solution presented in this paper is based upon a type of compositional adaptation where (possibly multiple) plans of actions are created through planning and involve the activation of pre‐existing capabilities. All the devices in the smart environment participate in a pervasive learning infrastructure, which is exploited to recognize which plans of actions are most suited to the current situation. The system is evaluated in experiments run in a real domestic environment, showing its ability to proactively and smoothly adapt to subtle changes in the environment and in the habits and preferences of their user(s), in presence of appropriately defined performance measuring functions.