Sale In Italy Research Articles

A Word to the Wise Analyzing the Impact of Textual Strategies in Determining House Pricing

Some of the mechanisms through which house prices are determined to remain unclear. This work aims to shed some light on the subject by analyzing the impact of text structure and given keywords in the announcements of house sales over the internet. It seems that, especially in trade among private individuals, the marketing of the announcement can make the difference. By retrieving data regarding houses on sale in Italy, one of the countries in which the housing market is still overwhelmingly composed of deals between private individuals (and not a market shared by a few big companies), we derived via OLS and fractional response probit estimation the impact of the text structure and several keywords. Our results show that there is no mark-up due to verbs and punctuation, or transport- and tourism-related keywords, while an abundance of nouns and adjectives or keywords related to investment, panorama, and cultural heritage have a positive (or expected) impact on the price. This suggests that using many nouns and adjectives in writing a house sale announcement helps to sell the property at a higher price, and also that while the latter set of keywords play a role in determining house prices, announcements leveraging transport opportunities and touristic opportunities do not.

Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in Different Types of Cheese Offered for Sale in Italy.

The detection of Ochratoxin A (OTA) in the milk of ruminants occurs infrequently and at low levels, but its occurrence may be higher in dairy products such as cheese. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of OTA in cheeses purchased in the metropolitan city of Bologna (Italy) and the surrounding area. For the analysis, a LC-MS/MS method with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 1 µg/kg was used. OTA was detected in seven out of 51 samples of grated hard cheese (concentration range 1.3–22.4 µg/kg), while it was not found in the 33 cheeses of other types which were also analysed. These data show a low risk of OTA contamination for almost all types of cheese analysed. To improve the safety of cheese marketed in grated form, more regulations on cheese rind, which is the part most susceptible to OTA-producing moulds, should be implemented or, alternatively, producers should consider not using the rind as row material for grated cheese. It would be interesting to continue these investigations particularly on grated hard cheeses to have more data to update the risk assessment of OTA in cheese, as also suggested by EFSA in its 2020 scientific opinion on OTA.

Trace elements, 210Po and 210Pb in a selection of berries on commercial sale in Italy

The occurrence of 210Pb, 210Po, trace elements was assessed in a selection of berries on commercial sale in Italy. Data confirmed that berries might serve as an important source of essential elements. The 210Pb, 210Po concentrations found were higher than the reference values reported by UNSCEAR for roots and fruits in the world. There is no risk whatsoever from the intake of toxic elements as Al, As, Cd, Pb, Ni, Hg in berriberries analyzed; it is necessary, however, continuously monitored the levels of these elements to protect consumers against potential adverse health effects especially when consumed in large quantities.

Detection and prevalence of protozoan parasites in ready-to-eat packaged salads on sale in Italy

To investigate the prevalence of protozoan contamination by Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., Toxoplasma gondii and Cyclospora cayetanensis, in ‘ready to eat’ (RTE) salads on sale in Italy, 648 packages were purchased from industrial and local brands. Nine individual packages from each brand were collected per month, pooled and subjected to microscopy and molecular analyses. Microscopic examination of 864 slides detected Cryptosporidium spp. but also Blastocystis hominis and Dientamoeba fragilis. Molecular tools identified G. duodenalis assemblage A, Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium ubiquitum, T. gondii Type I and C. cayetanensis. B. hominis and D. fragilis were also molecularly confirmed. The overall prevalence of each protozoan species was 0.6% for G. duodenalis, 0.8% for T. gondii, 0.9% for Cryptosporidium spp., and 1.3% for C. cayetanensis, while prevalence for B. hominis was 0.5% and for D. fragilis 0.2%. Microscopy and/or molecular tools revealed that 4.2% of the samples were contaminated by at least one protozoan species, and 0.6% of samples presented contamination by two protozoan species, with a number of oocysts ranging from 62 to 554 per g of vegetable matter for T. gondii, and 46 to 1.580 for C. cayetanensis. This is Europe's first large-scale study on the presence of protozoans in packaged salads, and shows that RTE sanitation processes do not guarantee a product free from protozoans of fecal origin.

Listeria monocytogenes in Smoked Salmon and Other Smoked Fish at Retail in Italy: Frequency of Contamination and Strain Characterization in Products from Different Manufacturers

Seven hundred seventy-eight samples of packaged smoked fish (774 smoked salmon and 4 smoked swordfish) on sale in Italy, from 50 different manufacturers located in 12 European Union countries, were purchased from the Italian market between May and December 2011. The surface temperatures of the samples on sale ranged from 0 to 13°C (3.4 ± 1.5°C, mean ± SD). Six hundred eighty (87.4%) of 778 samples were stored at ≤4°C. One hundred fifty-seven samples (20.2%, 95% confidence interval 17.5 to 23.1%) were contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes , with 26 samples (3.3%, 95% confidence interval 2.3 to 4.8%) at levels >100 CFU/g. The maximum level of contamination was 1.3 ×106 CFU/g. The differences in the level of contamination of smoked fish between countries (χ2 = 91.54, P < 0.05) and manufacturers (χ2 = 193.22, P < 0.05) were significant. The frequency of detection for products from different manufacturing premises ranged from 0 to 76.9%. Serotyping by serological agglutination revealed that the main serotypes detected were 1/2a (65.3%) and 1/2b (22.4%). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis typing with restriction enzymes AscI and ApaI yielded 36 pulsotypes from 144 isolates, clustering into 17 groups. Eight main pulsotypes accounted for 70.8% of the isolates. Three of the main pulsotypes were exclusively from products of a single manufacturer. In general, products from the same manufacturer showed genetic homogeneity, with one strongly prevalent pulsotype. Different manufacturers usually showed very different levels of contamination of the final product, confirming the importance of the management of process hygiene for controlling L. monocytogenes contamination.

Occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in conventional and organic milk offered for sale in Italy.

In the present study, 58 samples of milk were analyzed for the presence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1). The samples were purchased during the period April-May 2013 in a random manner from local stores (supermarkets, small retail shops, small groceries, and specialized suppliers) located in the surrounding of Bologna (Italy). The commercial samples of milk were either organic (n=22) or conventional (n=36); fresh milk samples and UHT milk samples, whole milk samples, and partially skim milk samples were present in both the two considered categories. For the quantification of AFM1 in milk, the extraction-purification technique based on the use of immunoaffinity columns was adopted and analyses were performed using HPLC-FD. AFM1 was detected in 35 samples, 11 from organic production and 24 from conventional production. No statistically (P>0.05) significant differences were observed in the concentration of AFM1 in the two categories of product. The levels of contamination found in the positive samples ranged between 0.009 and 0.026ngmL-1. No sample exceeded the limit defined at community level for AFM1 in milk (0.05μgkg-1). This demonstrates the effectiveness of the checks before the placing on the market of these food products. Thus, the "aflatoxins" problem that characterized the summer of 2012 does not seem to have had effect on the contamination level of the considered milk samples.

II) Wood pellets for home heating can be considered environmentally friendly fuels? Heavy metals determination by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) in their ashes and the health risk assessment for the operators

The aim of the present study was to determine the concentrations of twelve potentially hazardous elements in wood pellet ashes obtained by the combustion of 13 pellet brands for sale in Italy, the impact of adding the ashes to soils and health risk of operator due to dust exposure. Samples were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry. The concentrations of heavy metals in ashes from stoves ranged from 0.41 to 7.2mgkg−1 for As, from 1.3 to 12mgkg−1 for Sb, from 1.8 to 12mgkg−1 for Zn, from 0.23 to 0.8mgkg−1 for Pb, from 0.18 to 2.8mgkg−1 for Ni, from 0.09 to 1.0mgkg−1 for Cd, from 0.46 to 3.4mgkg−1 for Cr, from 0.94 to 2.7mgkg−1 for V, from 2.2 to 11mgkg−1 for Cu, from 60 to 409mgkg−1 for Mn, from 83 to 432mgkg−1 for Fe and from 3484 to 15,484mgkg−1 for Al. The total concentrations for the 12 investigated elements, expressed as the sum of the concentrations (∑me), ranged from 3703mgkg−1 to 15,946mgkg−1 of dry weight with a mean of 8455mgkg−1. Considering all the metals, the results indicate that there are very low risks for operators regarding non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic elements contained in the wood pellet ashes produced during cleaning of pellet stoves in confined environments.

Total and “free” lipids in commercial infant formulas: Fatty acid composition and their stability to oxidation

The aim of this paper was to study the fatty acid composition of total and “free” lipids in powdered infant milks and to evaluate the fatty acid oxidation after package opening. In its first step the application of Principal Component Analysis and Design of Experiments has allowed to take a comprehensive picture of powdered infant formulas on sale in Italy on the basis of their labelled composition and to select a limited number of representative samples. Both total and “non encapsulated” or “free” lipids were considered and analysed and no significant differences were found between their fatty acids contents. The possible modification of the fatty acid composition in the “free” lipids caused by oxidation was also studied, simulating the domestic habits after opening. No significant changes were observed up to 30days even when formulas had an high content of unsaturated fatty acids and valuable Long Chain Polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Chinese Tuber aestivum sensu lato in Europe

Two specimens of Tuber aestivum sensu lato from China were found between T. aestivum ascomata for sale in Italy. The morphological features of these ascomata were intermediate between those of T. aestivum and Tuber mesentericum. The spores were roundish and smaller than those of T. mesentericum and T. aestivum. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the Chinese specimens are placed in a separate clade to T. aestivum and T. mesentericum. This, together with the supporting morphological differences, strongly suggests that the two Chinese truffles are a separate taxon.

The real maccoyii: identifying tuna sushi with DNA barcodes--contrasting characteristic attributes and genetic distances.

BackgroundThe use of DNA barcodes for the identification of described species is one of the least controversial and most promising applications of barcoding. There is no consensus, however, as to what constitutes an appropriate identification standard and most barcoding efforts simply attempt to pair a query sequence with reference sequences and deem identification successful if it falls within the bounds of some pre-established cutoffs using genetic distance. Since the Renaissance, however, most biological classification schemes have relied on the use of diagnostic characters to identify and place species.Methodology/Principal FindingsHere we developed a cytochrome c oxidase subunit I character-based key for the identification of all tuna species of the genus Thunnus, and compared its performance with distance-based measures for identification of 68 samples of tuna sushi purchased from 31 restaurants in Manhattan (New York City) and Denver, Colorado. Both the character-based key and GenBank BLAST successfully identified 100% of the tuna samples, while the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) as well as genetic distance thresholds, and neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree building performed poorly in terms of species identification. A piece of tuna sushi has the potential to be an endangered species, a fraud, or a health hazard. All three of these cases were uncovered in this study. Nineteen restaurant establishments were unable to clarify or misrepresented what species they sold. Five out of nine samples sold as a variant of “white tuna” were not albacore (T. alalunga), but escolar (Lepidocybium flavorunneum), a gempylid species banned for sale in Italy and Japan due to health concerns. Nineteen samples were northern bluefin tuna (T. thynnus) or the critically endangered southern bluefin tuna (T. maccoyii), though nine restaurants that sold these species did not state these species on their menus.Conclusions/SignificanceThe Convention on International Trade Endangered Species (CITES) requires that listed species must be identifiable in trade. This research fulfills this requirement for tuna, and supports the nomination of northern bluefin tuna for CITES listing in 2010.

Content of phytoestrogens in soy-based dietary supplements

Abstract The isoflavone content of 14 soy-based dietary supplements intended to help alleviate perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms on sale in Italy were analysed using HPLC with UV detection. The aim was to quantify soy isoflavones after hydrolysis as aglycones, which are the bioactive part of isoflavone molecules. In the examined products, the amounts of isoflavones were frequently expressed ambiguously, and none of the products stated whether the isoflavone content of the product was expressed as aglycones or as conjugates. Each product revealed a different aglycone concentration profile. These supplements have different “fingerprints”, probably due to different sources of raw materials and to methods used in processing and preparation of extracts. In more than half the supplements tested, the actual values contained were below those stated and below those expected to help alleviate perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms.

Real-time PCR and enzyme-linked fluorescent assay methods for detecting Shiga-toxin-producingEscherichia coliin mincemeat samples

This work aimed to compare real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the commercially available enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA) VIDAS ECOLI O157 for detecting Escherichia coli O157 in mincemeat. In addition, a PCR-based survey on Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in mincemeat collected in Italy is presented. Real-time PCR assays targeting the stx genes and a specific STEC O157 sequence (SILO157, a small inserted locus of STEC O157) were tested for their sensitivity on spiked mincemeat samples. After overnight enrichment, the presence of STEC cells could be clearly determined in the 25 g samples containing 10 bacterial cells, while the addition of five bacteria provided equivocal PCR results with Ct values very close to or above the threshold of 40. The PCR tests proved to be more sensitive than the ELFA-VIDAS ECOLI O157, whose detection level started from 50 bacterial cells/25 g of mincemeat. The occurrence of STEC in 106 mincemeat (bovine, veal) samples collected from September to November 2004 at five different points of sale in Italy (one point of sale in Arezzo, Tuscany, central Italy, two in Mantova, Lombardy, Northern Italy, and two in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, upper-central Italy) was less than 1%. Contamination by the main STEC O-serogroups representing a major public health concern, including O26, O91, O111, O145, and O157, was not detected. This survey indicates that STEC present in these samples are probably not associated with pathogenesis in humans.

The modern in Spain: architecture after 1948

The advances made by modern Spanish architecture from the 1940s, when it lay in silence and obscurity, to the 1990s, when it received worldwide acclaim, is a dramatic story, probably the most remarkable case of postwar architectural progress in Europe. This definitive critical study of postwar Spanish architecture looks at the works, projects, trends, landmarks, architects, and engineers of the period. It is both a descriptive history and a new critical evaluation by one of Spain's most important architectural critics and historians.* Not for sale in Italy, Spain, and Central and South America

Sterol oxidation in infant milk formulas and milk cereals.

7-Ketocholesterol and 7-ketositosterol were chosen as reliable markers of the oxidation of cholesterol and phytosterols in infant milk formulas and infant milk cereals. A reversed-phase HPLC method was developed to measure them simultaneously in infant formulas. This method was then tested on a wide range of infant milk formulas and milk cereals on sale in Italy whose lipid composition is representative of the most common commercial formulas. The analytical results revealed no significant differences in the extent of oxidation of cholesterol and sitosterol. As the level of 7-ketocholesterol often followed the cholesterol level, a cholesterol content similar to that of human milk produced amounts of cholesterol oxides with possible negative effects on infant health. In contrast, the low cholesterol content of milk cereals never produced amounts of cholesterol oxides high enough to cause concern. The contents of phytosterols and hence their oxides were always low.