Physicochemical properties and microbiology of dry-cured loins obtained by partial sodium replacement with potassium,calcium and magnesium

The partial replacement of sodium chloride by other chloride salts has been proposed as a possible strategy to reduce the sodium content of cured meat products.     

Perception of traditional food products in six European regions using free word association

A total of 721 consumers were interviewed in order to obtain and compare consumer-driven associations to the word “Traditional”, in a food context, in six European regions. Participants, who were individually interviewed, had to state the first words that came into their mind when the word “Traditional” was verbally presented. Frequencies of occurrence of associations were obtained and analysed by means of simple correspondence analysis. The different word associations obtained were classified in 55 classes and then grouped in ten principal dimensions by triangulation. In general, southern European regions tended to associate the concept of “Traditional” more frequently with broad concepts such as heritage, culture or history. Central and Nordic European regions tended to focus mainly on practical issues such as convenience, health or appropriateness. As a final outcome of the analyses, a consensus conceptual map of traditional food products was obtained. The empirical findings of this qualitative exploratory free word association test provide valuable insights for product positioning, innovation and new developments in the traditional food market.     

Identification of multibody vehicle models for crash analysis using an optimization methodology

This work proposes an optimization methodology for the identification of realistic multibody vehicle models, based on the plastic hinge approach, for crash analysis. The identification of the design variables and the objective function and constraints are of extreme importance for the success of the optimization. The characteristics of the plastic hinges are used as design variables while the objective functions are formulated with measures of the difference between the dynamic response of the model and a reference response. The sequential application of genetic and gradient-based optimization methods is used to solve the optimization problem constituting a systematic approach to the automatic identification of vehicle multibody models. The methodology is demonstrated with the identification of the multibody model of a large family car for side and front crash. The vehicle model is developed in the MADYMO multibody code which is linked with the optimization algorithms implemented in the Matlab Optimization Toolbox.     

Chemical composition of rainwater at a coastal town on the southwest of Europe: what changes in 20 years?

Rainwater was collected at the Portuguese west coast between September 2008 and September 2009, and analysed for pH, conductivity, and Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, and NH₄⁺ concentrations. Results of rainwater chemical composition were compared with those obtained at the same site between 1986 and 1989. In both collection periods rainwater was predominantly (≈ 80%) associated to oceanic air masses. The rainwater concentration of H⁺ was in the same range as twenty years ago. A clear decrease of non sea salt sulphate (NSS-SO₄²⁻) was observed in 2008-2009 relatively to 1986-1989, not only in samples with origin in central and northern Europe, but also in samples from Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean. This decrease indicates that SO₂ emissions were reduced, which may be due to a lower content of sulphur in oil by-products. A decrease was also observed in NH₄⁺ concentration in 2008-2009. On the contrary an increase of NO₃⁻ concentration was observed for samples of all origins in 2008-2009 relatively to 1986-1989, which was particularly high (more than 3 fold) for samples with origin in Atlantic Ocean, suggesting the incorporation of this ion by rainout at the sampling site. The contribution of local sources is indeed suggested by the moderate negative correlation of NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻ and NSS-SO₄²⁻ with rainwater volume. The high increase of NO₃⁻ concentration can be attributed to the increase of local vehicular and industrial emissions in the sampling area.     

Analysis of Fire Hazard in Campsite Areas

The most common location for campsites is in forested or arborous areas. Given the regular use of combustible material by campers and the frequent use of campfires to cook, campsites become areas with a high propensity for the occurrence of fires. Moreover, fires occurring close to campsites can cause evacuations, disturbing their regular activities and jeopardizing tourism and likewise economic activities. While some campsites have tents and caravans within a secure distance of each other, many other campsites have the tents and caravans very concentrated in a limited area, making it much easier for fire to spread from a tent to the next. Despite the occurrence of several of these events, the associated risk is currently not well studied or documented. The work presented in this paper was performed within the Portuguese research project FireCamp, whose main purpose was the analysis and documentation of the fire risk in campsites. Several topics were addressed and some of them will be presented within this paper, specifically: (1) understanding of the mechanisms associated to burning tents; (2) analysis of the combustibility of typical accessories used in campsites such as tents, sleeping bags or camping mattresses; (3) characterization of a campsite fuel cover and its surroundings via image analysis taken by unmanned aerial vehicles; and (4) modeling of fire spread in campsites. A pilot study was carried out between 2011 and 2014 in the Campsite of Côja, in Arganil—Coimbra—Portugal. Taking into consideration that external fires frequently threaten these sites, complementary to the analysis of the fuel distribution inside the campsite, the land use analysis in the surrounding area is also of great interest. Thus, a fuel map of the Campsite of Côja was produced based on a high-resolution map of the area obtained by aerial photography produced by drones. Based on this fuel map, a stochastic model was set up to predict the fire spread in the covered area. The results obtained in this pilot study are hereby presented. Additionally, several laboratory tests were carried out in order to analyze the high calorific values (HCV) and the time to ignition (TTI) of the materials of typical camping accessories. The values of HCV found are in the range of 22.45–45.45 MJ kg^?1 and the values of TTI found are in the range of 118–224 s. These values show a high propensity for these materials to spread fire. Real tents with and without typical accessories inside (e.g., sleeping bags) were burnt in controlled environment in order to determine the mass loss decay, the increase of temperature and the convective airflows produced. Due to the convective flow inside the tent, these parameters were not considered as valid but these tests were important to understand the mechanisms associated to the burning of tents and the risk associated. The presence of combustible material inside a tent was found to be of high importance in order to sustain the combustion.     

碎裂的城市塞维利亚 对1992年世博后的思考

位于欧洲南部中等规模的城市塞维利亚曾分别在1929年与1992年举办过两次重要的国际性博览会,博览会不仅塑造了当下的城市形状,且通过加强通信设施与基础建设转变了城市与整个区域的关系。作为城市发展的捷径,这些大事件能加快发展并有机会通过连贯统一的提案重塑城市,避免长期通用的总体规划带来一系列问题。塞维利亚面对一条需要恢复水体环境的河流,并将成为新的城市节点。然而经过20年,世博会场址仍然与城市其他部分相隔离。该区域城市功能的设置缺失居住和商业,使其置于深度破碎的境地;被包裹的簇团必然将城市区域撕裂开来。这里是碎裂的城市。