The antioxidant capacity of complex mixtures by kinetic analysis of crocin bleaching inhibition

The capability of a compound or of a mixture of compounds to quench peroxyl radicals was measured by analyzing the kinetics of the competition of a parallel reaction where peroxyl radicals bleach the carotenoid crocin. This kinetic approach, originally described for the analysis of antioxidants reacting with hydroxyl radicals in water, was modified by both decreasing the polarity of the solvent, thus allowing the analysis of lipophilic compounds, and by substituting a source of peroxyl radicals for the hydroxyl radical generating system. Single compounds as well as complex mixtures were analyzed by kinetic data processing. Overall antioxidant capacity, relative to that of α-tocopherol or of its soluble analog Trolox C, was calculated. As examples of the use of this test, the antioxidant capacities of a crude rosemary extract, Maillard reaction products, and virgin olive oils were measured.     

Kinetic Theories of Geodesic Acoustic Modes: Radial Structure,Linear Excitation by Energetic Particles and Nonlinear Saturation

Geodesic Acoustic Modes (GAMs) are oscillating zonal mode structures unique to toroidal plasmas and are capable of regulating microscopic turbulence and associated transports. In this paper, we investigate three important aspects of GAM dynamics: (1) GAM continuous spectrum and its mode conversion to kinetic GAM (KGAM); (2) linear excitation of energetic particle induced GAM (EGAM) and its coupling to the GAM continuum, and (3) nonlinear saturation of EGAM via wave particle trapping. The analogy between the GAM-EGAM dynamics and the well known beam-plasma instability is also discussed.     

Joint optimization of a flow-shop group scheduling with sequence dependent set-up times and skilled workforce assignment

Flow-shop sequence-dependent group scheduling (FSDGS) problem has been extensively investigated in the literature also due to many manufacturers who implemented the concept of group technology to reduce set-up costs, lead times, work-in-process inventory costs, and material handling costs. On the other hand, skilled workforce assignment (SWA) to machines of a given shop floor may represent a key issue for enhancing the performance of a manufacturing system. As the body of literature addressing the group scheduling problems ignored up to now the effect of human factor on the performance of serial manufacturing systems, the present paper moves in that direction. In particular, an M-machine flow-shop group scheduling problem with sequence-dependent set-up times integrated with the worker allocation issue has been studied with reference to the makespan minimization objective. First, a Mixed Integer Linear Programming model of the proposed problem is reported. Then, a well-known benchmark arisen from the literature is adopted to carry out an extensive comparison campaign among three properly developed metaheuristics based on a genetic algorithm framework. Once the best procedure among those tested is selected, it is compared with an effective optimization procedure recently proposed in the field of FSDGS problems, being this latter properly adapted to run the SWA issue. Finally, a further analysis dealing with the trade-off between manpower cost and makespan improvement is proposed.     

Probing thermomechanics at the nanoscale: impulsively excited pseudosurface acoustic waves in hypersonic phononic crystals

High-frequency surface acoustic waves can be generated by ultrafast laser excitation of nanoscale patterned surfaces. Here we study this phenomenon in the hypersonic frequency limit. By modeling the thermomechanics from first-principles, we calculate the system's initial heat-driven impulsive response and follow its time evolution. A scheme is introduced to quantitatively access frequencies and lifetimes of the composite system's excited eigenmodes. A spectral decomposition of the calculated response on the eigemodes of the system reveals asymmetric resonances that result from the coupling between surface and bulk acoustic modes. This finding allows evaluation of impulsively excited pseudosurface acoustic wave frequencies and lifetimes and expands our understanding of the scattering of surface waves in mesoscale metamaterials. The model is successfully benchmarked against time-resolved optical diffraction measurements performed on one-dimensional and two-dimensional surface phononic crystals, probed using light at extreme ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths.     

Prevalence of Anisakis spp. and Hysterothylacium spp. larvae in teleosts and cephalopods sampled from waters off Sardinia

A study was carried out on the presence of Anisakis and Hysterothylacium larvae in fish and cephalopods caught in Sardinian waters. A total of 369 specimens of 24 different species of teleosts and 5 species of cephalopods were collected from different fishing areas of Sardinia. Larvae were detected and isolated by both visual inspection and enzymatic digestion. These methods allowed Anisakis type I and type II third-stage larvae and Hysterothylacium third- and fourth-stage larvae to be detected. The prevalence, mean intensity, and mean abundance were calculated. The results obtained showed the highest prevalence of Anisakidae in Zeus faber (100%) and of Anisakis in Micromesistius poutassou (87.5%). The highest prevalence of Anisakis type I larvae was in M. poutassou (81.2%), and that of Anisakis type II larvae was in Todarodes sagittatus (20%). The highest values for prevalence, mean intensity, and mean abundance for Hysterothylacium were found in Z. faber. These prevalences and the mean intensity and abundance were higher than those reported by different authors in other Mediterranean areas. This may be because the enzymatic digestive method used in this research resulted in higher recovery levels. The data suggest that Sardinia may be a high-risk area for zoonotic diseases and that measures such as information campaigns, aimed at both sanitary service personnel and consumers, should be employed to limit the spread of such zoonosis.     

The photoinduced charge transfer mechanism in aligned and unaligned carbon nanotubes

Using time-resolved reflectivity measurements on unaligned and aligned bundled single-wall carbon nanotubes with a pump energy of 1.55 eV, quasi-resonant with the second Van Hove singularity of semiconducting tubes, a positive sign of the transient reflectivity is detected in unaligned nanotubes. In contrast a negative sign is detected in aligned nanotubes. This discovery addresses a long-standing question showing that in unaligned nanotubes the stronger intertube interactions favor the formation of short-lived free charge carriers in semiconducting tubes. A detailed analysis of the transient reflectivity spectral response shows that the free carriers in the photo-excited state of semiconducting tubes move towards metallic tubes in about 400 fs.     

Peer review research assessment: a sensitivity analysis of performance rankings to the share of research product evaluated

In national research assessment exercises that take the peer review approach, research organizations are evaluated on the basis of a subset of their scientific production. The dimension of the subset varies from nation to nation but is typically set as a proportional function of the number of researchers employed at each research organization. However, scientific fertility varies from discipline to discipline, meaning that the representativeness of such a subset also varies according to discipline. The rankings resulting from the assessments could be quite sensitive to the size of the share of articles selected for evaluation. The current work examines this issue, developing empirical evidence of variations in ranking due changes in the dimension of the subset of products evaluated. The field of observation is represented by the scientific production from the hard sciences of the entire Italian university system, from 2001 to 2003.     

Superior Cerebellar Atrophy: An Imaging Clue to Diagnose ITPR1-Related Disorders

The inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor type 1 (ITPR1) gene encodes an InsP₃-gated calcium channel that modulates intracellular Ca²⁺ release and is particularly expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells. Pathogenic variants in the ITPR1 gene are associated with different types of autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia: SCA15 (adult onset), SCA29 (early-onset), and Gillespie syndrome. Cerebellar atrophy/hypoplasia is invariably detected, but a recognizable neuroradiological pattern has not been identified yet. With the aim of describing ITPR1-related neuroimaging findings, the brain MRI of 14 patients with ITPR1 variants (11 SCA29, 1 SCA15, and 2 Gillespie) were reviewed by expert neuroradiologists. To further evaluate the role of superior vermian and hemispheric cerebellar atrophy as a clue for the diagnosis of ITPR1-related conditions, the ITPR1 gene was sequenced in 5 patients with similar MRI pattern, detecting pathogenic variants in 4 of them. Considering the whole cohort, a distinctive neuroradiological pattern consisting in superior vermian and hemispheric cerebellar atrophy was identified in 83% patients with causative ITPR1 variants, suggesting this MRI finding could represent a hallmark for ITPR1-related disorders.