Assessment of the Impact of Climate Extremes on the Groundwater of Eastern Croatia

This paper analyzes the groundwater in the deep Quaternary aquifer of Eastern Croatia. These waters are collected at the Vinogradi Pumping Station (Osijek, Croatia) for the needs of public water supply. This research aimed to assess the impact of climate extremes, namely, high air temperatures and low rainfall, on the quantity and quality of groundwater. On the basis of data from the Vinogradi Pumping Station in the period 1987–2015, three extremely warm and low-water years were singled out. For these three years, the following were analyzed: climate diagrams, groundwater levels (in the piezometers closest to and farthest from the pumping station), and the quality of the affected groundwater. The results of this research indicate that the reaction of aquifers to the analyzed extreme climatic conditions for the observed period was manifested in the variation of the amplitude of groundwater levels by a maximum of 4–5 m. Considering the total thickness of the affected layers (60–80 m), this variation is not a concern from the point of view of water supply. As for the quality of groundwater, it was found to be of constant quality in its composition and was not affected by climatic extremes.

Interlaboratory Comparison as a Source of Information for the Product Evaluation Process. Case Study of Ceramic Tiles Adhesives

In this study, the results obtained by 19 laboratories participating in 2 editions of the interlaboratory comparison (ILC) determining 2 properties of ceramic tiles adhesives (CTAs), i.e., initial tensile adhesion strength and tensile adhesion strength after water immersion following EN 12004, were analyzed. The results show that participating laboratories maintain a constant quality of their work. The use of z-score analysis, under ISO 13528, allows for classifying 89.5% to 100% of laboratories as satisfactory, depending on the measurement’s kind and edition. The remaining laboratories are classified as questionable. The investigation of the predominant mode of failure of the CTA’s samples tested in the two editions shows significant differences. From the perspective of laboratories, the goal of the ILC has been achieved. From the standpoint of a manufacturer who evaluates a product’s properties when placing it on the market, the results indicate the necessity of a particular treatment of the product evaluation process because the variability of the obtained results is significant. It increases the possibility of the product failing to meet the assessment criteria verified by the construction market supervision authorities. The manufacturer must consider all possible variations in the risk analysis, including the ILC results, to improve the assessment process of CTAs.

Evolution of the biochemical and microbiological characteristics of mountainous Kefalotyri cheese during ripening and storage

As artisanal cheeses are gaining recognition during the last years by consumers, efforts should be made to standardize their manufacture in order to produce safe products of high and constant quality, supporting the local economy and spreading them outside the region of origin. In this work, the biochemical and microbiological characteristics of Kefalotyri cheese produced during summer in the mountains of Pindos using an artisanal cheesemaking procedure were studied. Sheep raw cheese milk was used without starter culture addition for Kefalotyri cheese manufacture. At 90 days of ripening and storage (the date that hard cheese can be sold in the market), its moisture was 40.4%, fat 28.8%, salt 4.1% and proteins 23.3%. Butyric acid and 3methyl butanoic acid were the most abundant volatile compounds found in this cheese. Mesophilic lactic acid bacteria and cocci were dominated; high numbers of thermophilic lactic acid bacteria and cocci, enterococci and Enterobacteriaceae were also present and the microbiological data revealed a rather satisfactory hygienic sanitary condition of the cheeses.

Development and implementation of an online platform for curriculum mapping in medical education

Objectives Nowadays universities face ever-increasing demands on quality of education, which is crucial from perspective of future graduates. In face of the need of constant quality improvements of medical curricula, it is important to seek strategies for their efficient management. The general trend is to develop electronic support tools to streamline the curricular design, analysis and harmonization. Methods Based on the requirements we have identified by the needs analysis among curriculum designers, teachers and managers at five universities involved in the Building Curriculum Infrastructure in Medical Education (BCIME) project, and evidence published in literature on curriculum development, we have developed methodological guidelines on curriculum innovations and a software-based tools that help manage, map and analyse curricula in the medical and healthcare study fields. Results In this paper, we share our experiences with building and implementation of EDUportfolio, an online platform developed within our consortium and intended to facilitate harmonisation and optimisation of medical outcome-based curricula. Its functionalities and outputs were verified by pilot mapping of Anatomy curricula as taught at partner universities in five European countries. Conclusions The visualisation and the analysis of described curriculum data using natural language processing techniques revealed both the hidden relations between curriculum building blocks and a set of overlaps and gaps in curricula. In addition, we demonstrate both the usability of the platform in the context of the involved academic environments and the capability to map and compare curricula across different institutions and different countries.

Multi-Scale Light-Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy for Fast Whole Brain Imaging

Whole-brain imaging has become an increasingly important approach to investigate neural structures, such as somata distribution, dendritic morphology, and axonal projection patterns. Different structures require whole-brain imaging at different resolutions. Thus, it is highly desirable to perform whole-brain imaging at multiple scales. Imaging a complete mammalian brain at synaptic resolution is especially challenging, as it requires continuous imaging from days to weeks because of the large number of voxels to sample, and it is difficult to acquire a constant quality of imaging because of light scattering during in toto imaging. Here, we reveal that light-sheet microscopy has a unique advantage over wide-field microscopy in multi-scale imaging because of its decoupling of illumination and detection. Based on this observation, we have developed a multi-scale light-sheet microscope that combines tiling of light-sheet, automatic zooming, periodic sectioning, and tissue expansion to achieve a constant quality of brain-wide imaging from cellular (3 μm × 3 μm × 8 μm) to sub-micron (0.3 μm × 0.3 μm × 1 μm) spatial resolution rapidly (all within a few hours). We demonstrated the strength of the system by testing it using mouse brains prepared using different clearing approaches. We were able to track electrode tracks as well as axonal projections at sub-micron resolution to trace the full morphology of single medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons that have remarkable diversity in long-range projections.

Effect of Harvest Date on Mango (Mangifera Indica L. Cultivar Osteen) Fruit’s Qualitative Development, Shelf Life and Consumer Acceptance

The qualitative characteristics of mango fruits change throughout their development process and are also influenced by their duration. Harvesting at different times after the fruit set affects external and internal quality and the post-harvest behavior and management possibilities of the fruits. The objective of this study was to assess the evolution of the most important physicochemical and organoleptic parameters of cv. Osteen fruits concern the length of their stay on the plant and also to their post-harvest management. For this reason, fruits were harvested progressively in ten pickings. The study showed that mango fruits that are kept on the tree reach the best quality traits, corresponding to their physiological maturation. The length of the storage period needed to reach the consumption point varies greatly according to the harvesting moment and to the different environmental parameters, which also affect the organoleptic and physicochemical quality of the fruits. The number of days after full flowering were confirmed to be the primary information to consider when planning harvest with commercial use of the fruit, but interesting indications can be acquired through the definition of non-destructive (hardness, color) or destructive (dry matter) parameters. The data collected help improve mango fruit′s post-harvest management practices, to provide a product with constant quality and homogeneity to the consumer.

More Reliable Land Price Index: Is There a Slope Effect?

This paper focuses on the physical attributes of land that intrinsically limit land use and possibly affect land values. In particular, we investigate if the slope of a land does decrease its price and investigate the role of land slope in forming more reliable constant-quality land price indices and aggregate house price indices. We find that, while land slopes do decrease the land price per unit, they have a small effect on the quality-adjusted land price indices in selected neighborhoods in Auckland, New Zealand, where sloped terrain is common.

Is There a Slope Discount?

This paper focuses on the physical attributes of land that intrinsically limit land use and possibly affect land values. In particular, we investigate if the slope of a land does decrease its price and investigate the role of land slope in forming more reliable constant-quality land price indices and aggregate house price indices. We find that, while land slopes do decrease the land price per unit, they have a small effect on the quality-adjusted land price indices in selected neighborhoods in Auckland, New Zealand, where sloped terrain is common.

Development of Integrated Lean Six Sigma-Baldrige Framework for Manufacturing Waste Minimization: A Case of NAS Foods Plc

The aim of this study objective is to develop an integrated constant quality improvement model so as to minimize unwanted biscuit processing industry wastes. The method used was lean- six- sigma elements to define measure and improve unwanted process company wastes. In other word, Baldrige with six-sigma were created to define, measure and improve management perspectives. The tasks were integrated using both quantitative and qualitative analyzing tools implementing mixed strategies. The result was improved by using FMEA analysis was carried out at each stage of the existing process used to determine the failure of the process and to analyses and improve the production quality. The SPSS software was also used. In the finding section, the correlation and regression analysis has shown that there is strong relationship between each variance. There are different wastes that identified in six sigma (DMAIC) on NAS food Plc as a result; the value of waste ratio indicated is 36.7%. This show non-lean of the food industry is practiced. The defect of the company also calculated and defect per million are 67,308. This shows that the biscuit production has a production capability with a failure of 67,308 every 1000,000 productions it high failure rate. The contribution of the paper has indicated that there are limited studies were conducted so far to implement waste minimization tools like six-sigma, lean and MBNQA framework approach integration for food processing industry.