Quality evaluation of re-milled durum wheat semolinas used for bread-making in Southern Italy

Re-milled durum wheat semolinas from Altamura, Laterza and Matera (Southern Italy), currently used in the production of traditional breads, were tested for quality. The re-milled semolinas exhibited variable technological quality, and different bread-making techniques were observed. Alveograph P/L ranged from 0.34 to 2.50 with W values from 71×10^–4 to 176×10^–4 J. The higher values were found in samples from Laterza, which gave breads with the lowest specific volumes, due to its excessive gluten tenacity. The P/L values were correlated to SDS sedimentation height; dry gluten was correlated to both wet gluten content and protein content, and was negatively correlated to P/L. Bread protein content was correlated to the protein content of the starting material and bread specific volumes were negatively correlated to alveographic P/L values. Significant differences were found between breads from different points of origin (attributable to differences in the bread-making processes), in terms of the level of total titratable acidity and the yellow pigment content of the crumb.This revised version was published online October 2004. The errors concern the seventh column in Table 2, all the numbers need to be amended.     

Using soft computing to define standards of care in glaucoma monitoring

A fuzzy knowledge base encapsulating core expert rules for glaucoma follow up is developed and subsequently refined into a standard of care by reconciling several expert opinions. The Learning from Examples (LFE) [1] technique is used in addition to expert interviews to generate fuzzy rules from numerical data, and soft competition defines a fuzzy consensus metrics for the expert opinions. Web-based extension of this system into a comprehensive set of e-Health services for the glaucoma community enables, besides wide accessibility of the expert knowledge, continuous improvement of the core rule set (standard of care) with the perspectives of several experts.This work is funded under Collaborative Health Research Project Grant by the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of TransferTech GmbH Germany(www.Transfertech.de) with their soft computing software suite as well as their valuable insights in solving the implementation challenges we are faced with constantly.     

Stated preference in the valuation of interurban road safety

In Chile, as in most less-developed nations, if life savings are valued at all the human capital approach is used in a rather non-consistent fashion. As part of a 5-year research project on the value of transport externalities, a stated preference (SP) experiment was carried out in order to assess the value of a statistical life for Chilean interurban motorways. Interviewees had to choose among different routes for a hypothetical trip, based on the following attributes: travel time, toll charge and level of risk. The results of our experiment show that people were sensitive to the risk variable, thus "stating" a preference for safer routes. Several models were estimated with linear and non-linear utility specifications, and also incorporating the effects of socio-economic variables in a novel and interesting fashion. We were able to estimate subjective values of time consistent with previous values obtained in the country and reasonably looking values (in comparison to Chilean prices and foreign experience) of a statistical life. The paper discusses the experimental design, data collection and analysis, with emphasis on the role of lexicographic individuals that are a feature of SP studies that has not been carefully explored in the literature. We also present our modelling results and compare our derived values (of time and of a statistical life) with values found previously and/or elsewhere.     

Factors affecting calving interval in Italian Holstein-Friesian heifers

Effect of rump conformation on calving interval of 520 Italian Holstein Friesian heifers was evaluated with simultaneous adjustment for herd, year of birth, calving month, age at first parturition, and milk production. All factors, except age at first parturition, were important sources of variation. Heifers with narrow rumps at the pins had the longest calving interval. There were significant differences among the herds. Cows born between 1979 and 1981 had shorter calving intervals, probably resulting from a national plan against bovine infertility initiated in 1981. Cows calving in July had better reproductive performance. There was positive relationship between milk production and calving interval.     

Materialization of fragmented views in multidimensional databases

The most effective technique to enhance performances of multidimensional databases consists in materializing redundant aggregates called views. In the classical approach to materialization, each view includes all and only the measures of the cube it aggregates. In this paper we investigate the benefits of materializing views in vertical fragments, aimed at minimizing the workload response time. We formalize the fragmentation problem as a 0–1 integer linear programming problem, which is then solved by means of a standard integer programming solver to determine the optimal fragmentation for a given workload. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of fragmentation by presenting a large set of experimental results based on the TPC-H benchmark.     

Free Radicals in the Maillard Reaction

This article reviews the study of free radical intermediates in the Maillard reaction from a historical perspective. Early observation of free radicals in biological systems led other workers to discover similar radicals in non-enzymic Maillard processes such as those observed in foods. Emphasis is placed on a discussion of the chemistry of radical species detected in Maillard systems and their possible relevance to food flavor and color.     

A frequency-domain transient stability criterion for normalcontingencies

In a previous paper, a simple frequency-domain stability criterion was proposed for networks near the stability limit subjected to a 3-phase fault with no loss of line. The criterion can be summarized as follows: if a system is stable, the phase angle of the Fourier transform of a network's transient voltage response exhibits a clockwise polar plot behaviour at all buses (i.e. for increasing frequency); if the system is unstable, it exhibits a counter-clockwise behaviour in at least one location. Though these results are of interest, the criterion would be of greater practical use in mechanizing dynamic security analysis if it could be extended to the types of contingencies actually used in security analysis, namely “normal contingencies”. Normal contingencies are commonly defined as the loss of any element in a power system, either spontaneously or preceded by a fault, and such changes in topology impact post-contingency steady-state voltages in addition to their transient behaviour. The paper shows how such cases can be treated, thereby extending the applicable range of the criterion to normal contingencies     

Assessment of overt behavior and childhood depression among psychiatrically disturbed children.

Examined the relation of direct observations of overt behavior to depression among 62 child psychiatric inpatients (aged 8–13 yrs). Childhood depression was assessed by self-report and interview measures administered separately to Ss and their mothers. DSM-III diagnoses were also obtained from direct interviews and were supplemented with clinical information. Direct observations of Ss were obtained during free-time periods over several days. Multiple behaviors were observed and coded into 1 of 3 categories: social activity (e.g., talking with others and playing games), solitary behavior (e.g., working alone on a task and playing alone), and affect-related expression (e.g., smiling and frowning). Results show that depressed Ss (n?=?21) engaged in significantly less social activity and exhibited less affect-related expression than nondepressed peers (n?=?41). Moderate stability in performance was observed over a 4-wk test–retest interval. Overt behavioral measures were consistently related to parent-completed but not to S-completed measures of depression. Findings suggest that depressive symptoms are reflected in diverse behaviors in everyday life. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptually inspired HDR images tone mapping with color correction

In this article we present a novel tone mapping operator (TMO) for high dynamic range (HDR) images. Starting from an algorithm for low dynamic range image enhancement and color correction called ACE (automatic color enhancement), we keep its differential and local behavior, introducing new features to correctly handle the high variation of HDR images. In particular, we add a nonlinear local regulator able to automatically tune the algorithm parameters on image variations. In this way, the algorithm behavior changes according to local variations. Moreover, a key setting feature has been added to control the output appearance; it automatically proposes an appropriate key value for the final spatial invariant display mapping. The proposed method performs the spatial variant filtering using only one parameter, that tunes output detail visibility versus overall contrast. We propose a default setting, that guarantees a good solution in most cases. Test, results, and comparison are presented. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 17, 285–294, 2007     

Management of Acute Lung Injury: Palmitoylethanolamide as a New Approach

Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are common and devastating clinical disorders with high mortality and no specific therapy. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is usually used intratracheally to induce ALI in mice. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of an ultramicronized preparation of palmitoylethanolamide (um-PEA) in mice subjected to LPS-induced ALI. Histopathological analysis reveals that um-PEA reduced alteration in lung after LPS intratracheal administration. Besides, um-PEA decreased wet/dry weight ratio and myeloperoxidase, a marker of neutrophils infiltration, macrophages and total immune cells number and mast cells degranulation in lung. Moreover, um-PEA could also decrease cytokines release of interleukin (IL)-6, interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-18. Furthermore, um-PEA significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor, alpha (IκBα) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) activation in ALI, and at the same time decreased extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38/MAPK) expression, that was increased after LPS administration. Our study suggested that um-PEA contrasted LPS-induced ALI, exerting its potential role as an adjuvant anti-inflammatory therapeutic for treating lung injury, maybe also by p38/NF-κB pathway.