Food safety management system performance in the lamb chain

This study describes a performance measurement of implemented food safety management system (FSMS) along the lamb chain using an FSMS-diagnostic instrument (FSMS-DI) and a Microbiological Assessment Scheme (MAS). Three slaughterhouses, 1 processing plant and 5 butcher shops were evaluated. All the actors along the lamb chain achieved a moderate risky contextual situation, operating in a basic-average FSMS, which was not enough to obtain a good food safety output. Different suggestions are advised for each actor along the lamb chain for improvements towards higher FSMS activity levels or lower risk levels in context characteristics. The combined assessment is a useful tool to identify the possible causes of poor food safety performance in the lamb chain using few sampling locations, saving time and money.     

用于连铸漏钢坯壳的三维厚度检测技术

利用激光扫描仪精确检测漏钢发生后坯壳的厚度。坯壳厚度的变化与结晶器热监测数据有关。详细的三维厚度扫描证实结晶器里可能发生坯壳厚度局部变化。结合结晶器热监测数据,厚度变化的根本原因被确认。以DSP高速薄板连铸机的两个漏钢实例为例,讨论了漏钢坯壳。第一次漏钢与宽边的大型夹杂物有关。第二次漏钢发生在窄边,与局部坯壳变薄和错误的锥度设定有关。这两种情况中,漏钢都与坯壳厚度的局部减少有关。结晶器相应位置的坯壳温度降低,说明钢水和结晶器铜板之间产生气隙或绝缘层。用CON1D计算,证实了绝缘层的存在。应用CON1D有助于更好地理解导致这类漏钢产生的原因或行为。     

High-Temperature Mechanical Behavior and Fracture Analysis of a Low-Carbon Steel Related to Cracking

Cracking in continuously cast steel slabs has been one of the main problems in casting for decades. In recent years, the use of computational models has led to a significant improvement in caster performance and product quality. However, these models require accurate thermomechanical properties as input data, which are either unreliable or nonexistent for many alloys of commercial interest. A major reason for this lack of reliable data is that high-temperature mechanical properties are difficult to measure. Several methods have been developed to assess the material strength during solidification, especially for light alloys. The tensile strength during solidification of a low carbon aluminum-killed (LCAK; obtained from Tata Steel Mainland Europe cast at the DSP plant in IJmuiden, the Netherlands) has been studied by a technique for high-temperature tensile testing, which was developed at Sumitomo Metal Industries in Japan. The experimental technique enables a sample to melt and solidify without a crucible, making possible the accurate measurement of load over a small solidification temperature range. In the current study, the tensile test results are analyzed and the characteristic zero-ductility and zero-strength temperatures are determined for this particular LCAK steel grade. The fracture surfaces are investigated following tensile testing, which provides an invaluable insight into the fracture mechanism and a better understanding with respect to the behavior of the steel during solidification. The role of minor alloying elements, like sulfur, in hot cracking susceptibility is also discussed.     

Microbial performance of food safety management systems implemented in the lamb production chain

The actual microbial status of the lamb production chain at three slaughterhouses, one processing plant, and five butcher shops selling whole or cut lamb carcasses to consumers was assessed with a previously developed microbial assessment scheme. All studied establishments had a food safety management system (FSMS) that was implemented according to legislative requirements. Microbial safety level profiles were constructed for each establishment and provided clear indications of which pathogens, hygiene indicators, or utility parameters required attention to improve the performance of the microbiological control protocols of the implemented FSMS. The highest contamination was found in the slaughterhouses in samples taken from the meat products (aerobic mesophilic plate counts [AMPs] of 3.40 to 6.63 log CFU/cm(2) and Enterobacteriaceae counts of 1.00 to 4.62 log CFU/cm(2)), contact surfaces (AMPs of 2.44 to 8.92 log CFU/cm(2)), and operators' hands and/or gloves (AMPs of 2.84 to 8.09 log CFU/cm(2)), especially after hide removal and evisceration. The microbial assessment scheme is a useful tool for providing insight into the actual microbiological results achieved with an FSMS implemented in establishments at various stages along the lamb production chain.     

Migration of bisphenol A from polycarbonate baby bottles purchased in the Spanish market by liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection

During the last decade the safety of bisphenol A (BPA) monomer in polycarbonate baby bottles has drawn the attention of both the public and the scientific community. This paper presents the results of BPA migration from polycarbonate baby bottles bought in the Spanish market, into simulant B (3% acetic acid), 50% ethanol and into real food (reconstituted infant formula). Furthermore, it was also the objective of this study to assess the suitability of 50% ethanol as a simulant for infant formula. BPA was analysed by a multi-analyte liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection and mass spectrometry confirmation. The method was in-house validated and accredited by the national accreditation body. The validation results for this analyte in the previous mentioned matrices were: LOD = 0.004-0.007 mg kg(-1); LOQ (validated) = 0.03 mg kg(-1); RSD% = 3.4-5.8; and recovery = 106.6-118.2%. A collection of 72 different baby bottle samples from 12 different brands were analysed. Baby bottle material was identified by FTIR. The migration test conditions used were those recommended for baby bottles in the Guidelines on testing conditions for articles in contact with foodstuffs (with a focus on kitchenware), prepared by the European network of laboratories for food-contact materials. In most of the migration assays the results were below the LOD. In four of the commercial brands there was detectable migration into the simulant 50% ethanol and BPA was detected in only two samples of infant formula (0.01 mg kg(-1)). Migration results obtained were in compliance with European Union regulations.     

Heparin Modulates the Mitogenic Activity of Fibroblast Growth Factor by Inducing Dimerization of its Receptor. A 3D View by Using NMR

In vitro mitogenesis assays have shown that sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs; heparin and heparan sulfate) cause an enhancement of the mitogenic activity of fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). Herein, we report that the simultaneous presence of FGF and the GAG is not an essential requisite for this event to take place. Indeed, preincubation with heparin (just before FGF addition) of cells lacking heparan sulfate produced an enhancing effect equivalent to that observed when the GAG and the protein are simultaneously added. A first structural characterization of this effect by analytical ultracentrifugation of a soluble preparation of the heparin‐binding domain of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) and a low molecular weight (3 kDa) heparin showed that the GAG induces dimerization of FGFR2. To derive a high resolution structural picture of this molecular recognition process, the interactions of a soluble heparin‐binding domain of FGFR2 with two different homogeneous, synthetic, and mitogenically active sulfated GAGs were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy. These studies, assisted by docking protocols and molecular dynamics simulations, have demonstrated that the interactions of these GAGs with the soluble heparin‐binding domain of FGFR induces formation of an FGFR dimer; its architecture is equivalent to that in one of the two distinct crystallographic structures of FGFR in complex with both heparin and FGF1. This preformation of the FGFR dimer (with similar topology to that of the signaling complex) should favor incorporation of the FGF component to form the final assemblage of the signaling complex, without major entropy penalty. This cascade of events is probably at the heart of the observed activating effect of heparin in FGF‐driven mitogenesis.     

Constitutive Modeling and Activation Energy Maps for a Continuously Cast Hyperperitectic Steel

An appropriate experimental scheme and an accurate constitutive model are the two key factors that determine the success or failure of the constitutive equations used to simulate hot deformation behavior during the continuous casting process. In this study, according to the characteristics of the thin-slab continuous casting process, the experimental scheme on hot tensile tests is designed and validated by the analysis of fracture surfaces. Isothermal hot tensile tests were performed on a Gleeble 1500 thermomechanical simulator at four different temperatures (1173 K, 1273 K, 1373 K, and 1473 K) and four different strain rates (10⁻³, 10⁻², 10⁻¹, and 1 s⁻¹). Based on the flow stress obtained from the tensile tests, the Arrhenius-type constitutive equation was established. It is shown that the simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data. To further understand the constitutive behavior, activation energy maps were also developed in this study. Through a brief analysis of the activation energy map, directions for future work were surmised.

     

A local discontinuous Galerkin method for a doubly nonlinear diffusion equation arising in shallow water modeling

In this paper, we study a local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) method to approximate solutions of a doubly nonlinear diffusion equation, known in the literature as the diffusive wave approximation of the shallow water equations (DSW). This equation arises in shallow water flow models when special assumptions are used to simplify the shallow water equations and contains as particular cases: the Porous Medium equation and the parabolic p-Laplacian. Continuous in time a priori error estimates are established between the approximate solutions obtained using the proposed LDG method and weak solutions to the DSW equation under physically consistent assumptions. The results of numerical experiments in 2D are presented to verify the numerical accuracy of the method, and to show the qualitative properties of water flow captured by the DSW equation, when used as a model to simulate an idealized dam break problem with vegetation.     

A Multiscale-Based Approach to Understand Dendrite Deflection in Continuously Cast Steel Slab Samples

Dendrite bending angle measurements were conducted along two different directions on four steel slab samples collected from a conventional caster. The primary dendrites growing at the slab surface showed a transition in their growth direction as the distance from the surface increased. Numerical fluid flow simulation showed changes in the flow directions that might have caused the change in the growth direction. The bending angle measurements were also correlated with the casting process parameters. Thereafter, a multiscale approach was adopted to predict the dendrite deflection angles by correlating the macro-scale flow profile with the micro-scale bending angle formulation and subsequently corroborated with the industrial scale measurements.

     

A Unified Mechanism for the Formation of Oscillation Marks

Oscillation marks (OMs) are regular, transverse indentations formed on the surface of continuously cast (CC) steel products. OMs are widely considered defects because these are associated with segregation and transverse cracking. A variety of mechanisms for their formation has been proposed (e.g., overflow, folding, and meniscus freezing), whereas different mark types have also been described (e.g., folded, hooks, and depressions). The current work uses numerical modeling to formulate a unified theory for the onset of OMs. The initial formation mechanism is demonstrated to be caused by fluctuations in the metal and slag flow near the meniscus, which in turn causes thermal fluctuations and successive thickening and thinning of the shell, matching the thermal fluctuations observed experimentally in a mold simulator. This multiphysics modeling of the transient shell growth and explicit prediction of OMs morphology was possible for the first time through a model for heat transfer, fluid flow, and solidification coupled with mold oscillation, including the slag phase. Strategies for reducing OMs in the industrial practice fit with the proposed mechanism. Furthermore, the model provides quantitative results regarding the influence of slag infiltration on shell solidification and OM morphology. Control of the precise moment when infiltration occurs during the cycle could lead to enhanced mold powder consumption and decreased OM depth, thereby reducing the probability for transverse cracking and related casting problems.