What predicts good relationships with parents in adolescence and partners in adult life: Findings from the 1958 British birth cohort.

This study drew on data from the National Child Development Study to explore the role of father involvement and mother involvement at age 7 in father-child and mother-child relations at age 16, and the role of closeness to father and closeness to mother at age 16 in quality of relationship with partner at age 33. Closeness to mother was associated with closeness to father, intact family structure and academic motivation, and closeness to father with closeness to mother, early father involvement, less emotional and behavioral problems in adolescence, male gender and academic motivation. Closeness to father at age 16 was more strongly related to level of father involvement at age 7 for daughters than for sons and to closeness to mother for sons than for daughters. Marital adjustment at age 33 was related to good relationships with siblings, mother, and father at age 16; less current psychological distress; female gender; and educational attainment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Airborne particles and microorganisms in a dental clinic: Variability of indoor concentrations,impact of dental procedures,and personal exposure during everyday practice

This study presents for the first time comprehensive measurements of the particle number size distribution (10 nm to 10 μm) together with next-generation sequencing analysis of airborne bacteria inside a dental clinic. A substantial enrichment of the indoor environment with new particles in all size classes was identified by both activities to background and indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios. Grinding and drilling were the principal dental activities to produce new particles in the air, closely followed by polishing. Illumina MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA of bioaerosol collected indoors revealed the presence of 86 bacterial genera, 26 of them previously characterized as potential human pathogens. Bacterial species richness and concentration determined both by qPCR, and culture-dependent analysis were significantly higher in the treatment room. Bacterial load of the treatment room impacted in the nearby waiting room where no dental procedures took place. I/O ratio of bacterial concentration in the treatment room followed the fluctuation of I/O ratio of airborne particles in the biology-relevant size classes of 1–2.5, 2.5–5, and 5–10 μm. Exposure analysis revealed increased inhaled number of particles and microorganisms during dental procedures. These findings provide a detailed insight on airborne particles of both biotic and abiotic origin in a dental clinic.     

A mathematical model of subpopulation kinetics for the deconvolution of leukaemia heterogeneity

Acute myeloid leukaemia is characterized by marked inter- and intra-patient heterogeneity, the identification of which is critical for the design of personalized treatments. Heterogeneity of leukaemic cells is determined by mutations which ultimately affect the cell cycle. We have developed and validated a biologically relevant, mathematical model of the cell cycle based on unique cell-cycle signatures, defined by duration of cell-cycle phases and cyclin profiles as determined by flow cytometry, for three leukaemia cell lines. The model was discretized for the different phases in their respective progress variables (cyclins and DNA), resulting in a set of time-dependent ordinary differential equations. Cell-cycle phase distribution and cyclin concentration profiles were validated against population chase experiments. Heterogeneity was simulated in culture by combining the three cell lines in a blinded experimental set-up. Based on individual kinetics, the model was capable of identifying and quantifying cellular heterogeneity. When supplying the initial conditions only, the model predicted future cell population dynamics and estimated the previous heterogeneous composition of cells. Identification of heterogeneous leukaemia clones at diagnosis and post-treatment using such a mathematical platform has the potential to predict multiple future outcomes in response to induction and consolidation chemotherapy as well as relapse kinetics.     

Design requirements, student perception indicators and validation metrics for intelligent exploratory learning environments

The new forms of interaction afforded by innovative technology and open-ended environments provide promising opportunities for exploratory learning. Exploratory environments, however, require appropriate support to lead to meaningful learning outcomes. This paper focuses on the design and validation of intelligent exploratory environments. The goal is twofold: requirements that guide the operationalisation of pedagogical strategies to computer-based support and methodology for the validation of the system. As designers, we need to understand what kind of interaction is conducive to learning and aligned with the theoretical principles behind exploratory learning. We summarise this in the form of three requirements—rare interruption of interaction, co-location of feedback and support towards specific goals. Additionally, developing intelligent systems requires many resources and a long time to build. To facilitate their evaluation, we define three indicators— helpfulness, repetitiveness and comprehension—of students’ perception of the intelligent system and three metrics—relevance, coverage, and scope—which allow the identification of design or implementation problems at various phases of the development. The paper provides a case study with a mathematical microworld that demonstrates how the three requirements are taken into account in the design of the user-facing components of the system and outline the methodology for formative validation of the intelligent support.     

Bridging the HASM: An OWL ontology for modeling the information pathways in haptic interfaces software

Haptics technology has received enormous attention to enhance human computer interaction. The last decade has witnessed a rapid progress in haptic application software development due to the fact that the underlying technology has become mature and has opened up novel research areas. In an attempt to organize the path between cause and effect we envision a need for a standard for haptic application software modeling. In order for the software to better enhance the tactile information sensation, flow and perception and also make interaction between humans and haptics more efficient and natural, we need a formal representation of the haptics domain. This article proposes the use of HASM, a haptic applications software modeling ontology to formally model the haptics domain in order to be used during the specifications and design phases of developing software applications for haptic interfaces. The presented ontology captures the existing knowledge in haptics domain, using OWL, and defines the pathways that the haptic information follows between the human and the machine haptic system, using SWRL rules. The haptic ontology that has been developed will be used as a basis to design effective user interfaces and assist the development of software modeling for haptic devices. A case study is demonstrating how this haptic ontology can be used to design a software model that analyzes the perception of a haptic property of an object by interacting with a haptic device.     

The role of the Hellenic Food Safety Authority in Greece—Implementation strategies

During the last 15 years, a series of food scares and crises (BSE, dioxin, foot and mouth disease) have seriously undermined public confidence in food producers and operators and their capacity to produce safe food. As a result, food safety has become a top priority of the European legislative authorities and systems of national food control have been tightened up and have included the establishment of the European Food Safety Authority. In Greece a law creating the Hellenic Food Safety Authority has been approved. The main objectives of this Authority are to promote the food security to consumers and inform them of any changes or any development in the food and health sector.

The paper reviews the general structure of the current food control system in Greece. It describes the structure and the mission of the Hellenic Food Safety Authority and explains the strategy to carry out inspections and the analysis of the preliminary results of such inspections. Details are also given of the personnel training and certification and accreditation standards to be met by the Authority by the end of 2004.     

Risk assessment of biological hazards in the European Union

International, community and national food safety law and any subsequent decision-making practices aim to be based on risk analysis--a process consisting of risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. With the appointment of the European Food Safety Authority as an independent scientific point of reference in risk assessment, there is a clear functional separation between risk assessment and risk management in the European Union food safety context. When a food safety question on microbiological hazards is to be answered--which is under the remit of the EFSA's Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ)--extensive dialogue and interactions covering the clarity of the question, the acceptability of the deadline and the availability of all necessary information take place with both the risk managers who ask the question and the stakeholders. During the first mandate of the BIOHAZ Panel (2003-2006), the scientific opinions were mainly based on qualitative and in some cases semi-quantitative microbiological risk assessment. In the second mandate of the BIOHAZ Panel, and as a first step towards developing a European approach on Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment (QMRA), EFSA is preparing to carry out a QMRA on Salmonella in pigs, at European level through a consortium of European institutes.     

Shelf‐life extension of vacuum‐packaged sea bream (Sparus aurata) fillets by combined γ‐irradiation and refrigeration: microbiological,chemical and sensory changes

The combined effect of γ‐irradiation and refrigeration on the shelf‐life of vacuum‐packaged sea bream (Sparus aurata) fillets was studied by monitoring the microbiological, chemical and sensory changes of non‐irradiated and irradiated fish samples using low‐dose irradiation doses of 1 and 3 kGy. Fish species such as sea bream and sea bass are very popular in the Mediterranean countries due to their high quality characteristics, and their preservation is a constant challenge given their extreme perishability. Irradiation (3 kGy) dramatically reduced populations of bacteria, namely, total viable counts (3 vs 7 log cfu g^?1) for the non‐irradiated samples, Pseudomonas spp (<2 vs 7.6 log cfu g^?1), H₂S‐producing bacteria typical of Shewanella putrefaciens (<2 vs 5.9 log cfu g^?1), Enterobacteriaceae (<2 vs 6.0 log cfu g^?1) and lactic acid bacteria (<2 vs 3.5 log cfu g^?1) after 10 days of storage. The effect was more pronounced at the higher dose (3 kGy). Lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and H₂S‐producing bacteria typical of Shewanella putrefaciens showed higher sensitivity to γ‐radiation than did the rest of the microbial species. Of the chemical indicators of spoilage, Trimethylamine (TMA) values of non‐irradiated sea bream increased very slowly, whereas for irradiated samples significantly lower values were obtained reaching a final value of 7.9 and 6.3 mg N per 100 g muscle at 1 and 3 kGy respectively (day 42). Total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB‐N) values increased slowly attaining a value of 67.3 mg N per 100 g for non‐irradiated sea bream during refrigerated storage, whereas for irradiated fish, lower values of 52.8 and 43.1 mg N per 100 g muscle were recorded (day 42). Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values for irradiated sea bream samples were higher than respective non‐irradiated fish and increased slowly until day 21 of storage, reaching final values of 1.1 (non‐irradiated), 2.0 (1 kGy) and 2.2 mg malonaldehyde kg^?1 muscle (3 kGy), respectively (day 42). Sensory evaluation showed a good correlation with bacterial populations. On the basis of overall acceptability scores (sensory evaluation) a shelf‐life of 28 days (3 kGy) was obtained for vacuum‐packaged sea bream, compared with a shelf‐life of 9–10 days for the non‐irradiated sample. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Combined effect of oregano essential oil and modified atmosphere packaging on shelf-life extension of fresh chicken breast meat, stored at 4 degrees C

The combined effect of oregano essential oil (0.1% and 1% w/w) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) (30% CO2/70% N2 and 70% CO2/30% N2) on shelf-life extension of fresh chicken meat stored at 4 degrees C was investigated. The parameters that were monitored were: microbiological (TVC, Pseudomonas spp., lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeasts, Brochothrix thermosphacta and Enterobacteriaceae), physico-chemical (pH, TBA, color) and sensory (odor and taste) attributes. Microbial populations were reduced by 1-5 log cfu/g for a given sampling day, with the more pronounced effect being achieved by the combination of MAP and oregano essential oil. TBA values for all treatments remained lower than 1 mg malondialdehyde (MDA) kg(-1) throughout the 25-day storage period. pH values varied between 6.4 (day 0) and 5.9 (day 25). The values of the color parameters L*, a* and b* were not considerably affected by oregano oil or by MAP. Finally, sensory analysis showed that oregano oil at a concentration of 1% imparted a very strong taste to the product for which reason these lots of samples were not scored. On the basis of sensory evaluation a shelf-life extension of breast chicken meat by ca. 3-4 days for samples containing 0.1% oregano oil, 2-3 days for samples under MAP and 5-6 days for samples under MAP containing 0.1% of oregano oil was attained. Thus oregano oil and MAP exhibited an additive preservation effect.     

Worldwide market screening of saffron volatile composition

BACKGROUND: Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most valuable spices and nowadays its main use is as a foodstuff. Numerous papers have been published on saffron aroma and its volatile content, but nothing has been written about the aroma quality of samples available on the market to consumers. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare 418 commercial samples of saffron belonging to different ISO categories. Ultrasound‐assisted extraction (USAE) with an organic solvent and dynamic headspace desorption (DHD) followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry were used to screen for saffron volatile composition. RESULTS: For both methods the saffron aromatic profile was characterised by spicy aromatic notes due to safranal, the most abundant volatile component, by a floral contribution attributable to isophorone and 2,2,6‐trimethyl‐1,4‐cyclohexanedione, together with citrus and spicy notes from 4‐ketoisophorone and 2‐hydroxy‐4,4,6‐trimethyl‐2,5‐cyclohexadien‐1‐one respectively. CONCLUSION: USAE allowed the detection of a greater number of compounds, whereas DHD was faster and a smaller amount of saffron was required. Compared with the USAE method, the DHD method defined the samples as having a spicier and more floral aromatic contribution, thus corroborating that the extraction method considerably changes the aromatic fingerprint of saffron samples. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry