scholarly journals Qualitative Analysis of Traditional Italian Dishes: FTIR Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Durazzo ◽  
Johannes Kiefer ◽  
Massimo Lucarini ◽  
Emanuela Camilli ◽  
Stefania Marconi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Ftir Spectroscopy ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Spectroscopic Characterization ◽  
Cooking Methods ◽  
Food Research ◽  
The Individual

Italian cuisine and its traditional recipes experience an ever-increasing popularity around the world. The “Integrated Approach” is the key to modern food research and the innovative challenge for analyzing and modeling agro-food systems in their totality. The present study aims at applying and evaluating Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for the analysis of complex food matrices and food preparations. Nine traditional Italian recipes, including First courses, One-dish meals, Side courses, and Desserts, were selected and experimentally prepared. Prior to their analysis via FTIR spectroscopy, the samples were homogenized and lyophilized. The IR spectroscopic characterization and the assignment of the main bands was carried out. Numerous peaks, which correspond to functional groups and modes of vibration of the individual components, were highlighted. The spectra are affected by both the preparation procedures, the cooking methods, and the cooking time. The qualitative analysis of the major functional groups can serve as a basis for a discrimination of the products and the investigation of fraud. For this purpose, the FTIR spectra were evaluated using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Our results show how the utilization of vibrational spectroscopy combined with a well-established chemometric data analysis method represents a potentially powerful tool in research linked to the food sector and beyond. This study is a first step towards the development of new indicators of food quality.

Integrated Assessment on Profitability of the Chinese Aviation Industry

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
Zhi-yuan Li ◽  
Jacob Bender
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Assessment ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Gray Relational Analysis ◽  
Aviation Industry ◽  
Relational Analysis ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

AbstractWith the increasing economic development and gradual opening of China’s aviation market, the Chinese aviation industry is experiencing rapid growth and is facing some problems at the same time. Many scholars have assessed the profitability of the Chinese aviation industry using a single assessment approach. Both theory and methods in assessing the profitability of the airlines need to be developed and improved. This article presents a new integrated approach – a combination of factor analysis, principal component analysis, and gray relational analysis. Based on the theory of decision making and data mining, this more reasonable and effective model overcomes the one-sidedness and limitations of the individual methods and has significant impact in theory and practice.

scholarly journals Deciphering the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons using FTIR spectroscopy: application to a contaminated site

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (7) ◽  
pp. 1315-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingxing Yang ◽  
Zhendong Cao ◽  
Yue Zhang ◽  
Honghan Wu
Keyword(s):  
Ftir Spectroscopy ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Flow Path ◽  
Ftir Spectra ◽  
Aerobic Biodegradation ◽  
Contaminated Site ◽  
Monitoring Well ◽  
In Situ Investigation ◽  
Concentration Changes

Abstract The chemical composition of groundwater in a petroleum-contaminated site is determined by the present functional groups and these play a vital role in a feasibility remediation technique. Based on the in situ investigation of a contaminated shallow groundwater in an oilfield, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy associated with chemometric treatments, principal component analysis (PCA), and simple-to-use interactive self-modeling mixture analysis (SIMPLISMA), were used to decipher the biodegradation process by analyzing the conversion of functional groups. Environmental factors that can influence microbial metabolism were also evaluated for a comprehensive explanation. FTIR spectroscopy and PCA results showed that the contamination in the study area can be divided into three parts based on FTIR spectra: (1) regular contamination plume distribution and biodegradation level to fresh oil, (2) moderate biodegradation area, and (3) intensive biodegradation area. FTIR spectra further revealed the present functional groups as aliphatic, aromatic, and polar family compounds. SIMPLISMA was used to discuss the degree of biodegradation along the flow path quantitatively and qualitatively and elucidated that the aliphatic and aromatic compounds were mainly metabolized into polar compounds with nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen via microbes. During metabolism, microbial indices, such as the Shannon–Weaver, Simpson, and Pielou indices, indicated that microbial diversity did not greatly change; hence, hydrocarbons were constantly consumed to feed dominant microbes. Dissolved oxygen concentrations decreased from 4.58 ± 0.31 mg/L (in monitoring well Z1) to 3.21 ± 0.26 mg/L (in monitoring well Z16) and then became constant in the down-gradient area, demonstrating that aerobic biodegradation was the dominant process at the up-gradient plume. Results were in accordance with the oxidation index, which continuously increased from 0.028 ± 0.013 (in monitoring well Z1) to 0.669 ± 0.047 (in monitoring well Z10), showing that oxygen was consumed along the flow path. Similarly, concentration changes in Fe2+, Mn2+, and SO42− proved that the down-gradient area was in reduction condition.

Fulfilling the Right to Food for South Africa: Justice, Security, Sovereignty and the Politics of Malnutrition

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-152
Author(s):  
Busiso Helard Moyo ◽  
Anne Marie Thompson Thow
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Food Justice ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

Despite South Africa’s celebrated constitutional commitments that have expanded and deepened South Africa’s commitment to realise socio-economic rights, limited progress in implementing right to food policies stands to compromise the country’s developmental path. If not a deliberate policy choice, the persistence of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms is a deep policy failure.  Food system transformation in South Africa requires addressing wider issues of who controls the food supply, thus influencing the food chain and the food choices of the individual and communities. This paper examines three global rights-based paradigms – ‘food justice’, ‘food security’ and ‘food sovereignty’ – that inform activism on the right to food globally and their relevance to food system change in South Africa; for both fulfilling the right to food and addressing all forms of malnutrition. We conclude that the emerging concept of food sovereignty has important yet largely unexplored possibilities for democratically managing food systems for better health outcomes.

scholarly journals Opportunities and Challenges of Green-Lean: An Integrated System for Sustainable Construction

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammadsoroush Tafazzoli ◽  
Ehsan Mousavi ◽  
Sharareh Kermanshachi
Keyword(s):  
Cost Savings ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Waste Minimization ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Safety Improvement ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
Industry Professionals

Although the two concepts of lean and sustainable construction have been developed due to different incentives, and they do not pursue the same exact goals, there exists considerable commonality between them. This paper discusses the potentials for integrating the two approaches and their practices and how the resulting synergy from combining the two methods can potentially lead to higher levels of fulfilling the individual goals of each of them. Some limitations and challenges to implementing the integrated approach are also discussed. Based on a comprehensive review of existing papers related to sustainable and lean construction topics, the commonality between the two approaches is discussed and grouped in five categories of (1) cost savings, (2) waste minimization, (3) Jobsite safety improvement, (4) reduced energy consumption, and (5) customers’ satisfaction improvement. The challenges of this integration are similarly identified and discussed in the four main categories of (1) additional initial costs to the project, (2) difficulty of providing specialized expertise, (3) contractors’ unwillingness to adopt the additional requirements, and (4) challenges to establish a high level of teamwork. Industry professionals were then interviewed to rank the elements in each of the two categories of opportunities and challenges. The results of the study highlight how future research can pursue the development of a new Green-Lean approach by investing in the communalities and meeting the challenges of this integration.

scholarly journals Biodegradable and Compostable Shopping Bags under Investigation by FTIR Spectroscopy

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 621
Author(s):  
Silvana Alfei ◽  
Anna Maria Schito ◽  
Guendalina Zuccari
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Ftir Spectroscopy ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Poly Lactic Acid ◽  
Chemometric Methods ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Fresh Food ◽  
Extruded Films ◽  
Productive Process ◽  
Non Destructive

In the recent years, plastic-based shopping bags have become irregular and progressively replaced by compostable ones. To be marketed, these “new plastics” must possess suitable requirements verified by specific bodies, which grant the conformity mark, and the approved physicochemical properties are periodically verified. The fast, inexpensive, non-destructive, easy to use, and reproducible Fourier-Transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a technique routinely applied to perform analysis in various industrial sectors. To get reliable information from spectral data, chemometric methods, such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), are commonly suggested. In this context, PCA was herein performed on 4, 5, and 21 × 3251 matrices, collecting the FTIR data from regular and irregular shopping bags, including three freshly extruded films from the Italian industry MecPlast, to predict their compliance with legislation. The results allowed us to unequivocally achieve such information and to classify the bags as suitable for containing fresh food in bulk or only for transport. A self-validated linear model was developed capable to estimate, by acquiring a single FTIR spectrum if, after the productive process, the content of renewable poly-lactic-acid (PLA) in a new produced film respect the expectations. Surprisingly, our findings established that among the grocery bags available on the market, irregular plastic-based shopping bags continue to survive.

scholarly journals Farmers’ Perceptions of Commercial Insect-Based Feed for Sustainable Livestock Production in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5359
Author(s):  
Afrika Onguko Okello ◽  
Jonathan Makau Nzuma ◽  
David Jakinda Otieno ◽  
Michael Kidoido ◽  
Chrysantus Mbi Tanga
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Purchase Decisions ◽  
Wealth Status ◽  
Feed Formulation ◽  
Alternative Protein ◽  
Livestock Products ◽  
The Impact

The utilization of insect-based feeds (IBF) as an alternative protein source is increasingly gaining momentum worldwide owing to recent concerns over the impact of food systems on the environment. However, its large-scale adoption will depend on farmers’ acceptance of its key qualities. This study evaluates farmer’s perceptions of commercial IBF products and assesses the factors that would influence its adoption. It employs principal component analysis (PCA) to develop perception indices that are subsequently used in multiple regression analysis of survey data collected from a sample of 310 farmers. Over 90% of the farmers were ready and willing to use IBF. The PCA identified feed performance, social acceptability of the use of insects in feed formulation, feed versatility and marketability of livestock products reared on IBF as the key attributes that would inform farmers’ purchase decisions. Awareness of IBF attributes, group membership, off-farm income, wealth status and education significantly influenced farmers’ perceptions of IBF. Interventions such as experimental demonstrations that increase farmers’ technical knowledge on the productivity of livestock fed on IBF are crucial to reducing farmers’ uncertainties towards acceptability of IBF. Public partnerships with resource-endowed farmers and farmer groups are recommended to improve knowledge sharing on IBF.

Islamic Finance as a Vehicle to Promote Improved Intellectual Property Rights in the Gulf Cooperation Council

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-442
Author(s):  
Nadia Naim
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Intellectual Property Protection ◽  
Islamic Finance ◽  
Growth Sector ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to assess how Islamic finance can act as a vehicle to enhance the current intellectual property rights regime in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Islamic finance has developed within the constraints of sharia law and has been a growth sector for the GCC. This article will identify the main principles of Islamic finance that contribute to the success of Islamic finance, which can enhance intellectual property protection in the GCC. The main sharia-compliant areas to be considered are musharaka, mudaraba, murabaha, takaful, istisna, ijara, salam and sukuk. The article will outline the founding principles of Islamic finance, the governance of sharia boards, development of Islamic finance in the individual GCC states, different frameworks of sharia-compliant investment products and the impact of intellectual property rights on the varying Islamic finance investment tools. Furthermore, the article will discuss an integrated approach to intellectual property rights which learns lessons from the Islamic finance sector in relation to infrastructure, regulation and sharia compliance. The lessons learnt from Islamic finance will inform the overall framework of recommendations for an Islamic intellectual property model. The use of Islamic finance as a vehicle to promote better intellectual property rights in terms of defining a new intellectual property approach is novel. It is aimed at spearheading further research in this area, and it will form a part of the overall integrated approach proposals to intellectual property protection in the GCC and beyond.

scholarly journals An Integrated Approach to a Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) Indicator for the Food Production–Consumption Chain

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Erisman ◽  
Allison Leach ◽  
Albert Bleeker ◽  
Brooke Atwell ◽  
Lia Cattaneo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Chain ◽  
Nitrogen Use Efficiency ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Nitrogen Use ◽  
Use Efficiency

Reducing nitrogen pollution across the food chain requires the use of clear and comprehensive indicators to track and manage losses. The challenge is to derive an easy-to-use robust nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) indicator for entire food systems to help support policy development, monitor progress and inform consumers. Based on a comparison of four approaches to NUE (life cycle analysis, nitrogen footprint, nitrogen budget, and environmental impact assessment), we propose an indicator for broader application at the national scale: The whole food chain (NUEFC), which is defined as the ratio of the protein (expressed as nitrogen) available for human consumption to the (newly fixed and imported) nitrogen input to the food system. The NUEFC was calculated for a set of European countries between 1980 and 2011. A large variation in NUEFC was observed within countries in Europe, ranging from 10% in Ireland to 40% in Italy in 2008. The NUEFC can be used to identify factors that influence it (e.g., the share of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) in new nitrogen, the imported and exported products and the consumption), which can be used to propose potential improvements on the national scale.

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