University of Udine

About: University of Udine is a education organization based out in Udine, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 6745 authors who have published 20530 publications receiving 669088 citations. The organization is also known as: Università degli Studi di Udine & Universita degli Studi di Udine.

Atmospheric pressure cold plasma (ACP) treatment of whey protein isolate model solution

Abstract: The interaction between atmospheric pressure cold plasma (ACP) and whey protein isolate (WPI) model solutions was investigated as a function of treatment time (from 1 to 60 min). The results showed an increase in yellow colour and a minor reduction in pH value, which was attributed to the reactions of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species of the plasma. Following ACP treatments for 15 min, mild oxidation occurred in the proteins. This was evident from an increase in carbonyl groups and the surface hydrophobicity, besides the reduction of free SH groups. The protein structure modifications revealed a certain degree of unfolding, as confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profiles, which improve foaming and emulsifying capacity. Upon extended treatment for 30 and 60 min, the changes were quite pronounced. Overall, the foaming and emulsifying capacity dramatically decreased; nevertheless the foam stability increased. Industrial relevance Among emerging non-thermal technologies, atmospheric pressure cold plasma (ACP) has gained enormous pace especially for its safety assurance and sustainability. Many studies and data regarding ACP inactivation of food-borne pathogens are already available in the literature. Most of them concern the decontamination by microorganisms in buffer or food matrices. However, ACP provides opportunities in several other applications. To this regard, the effects between ACP generated by a dielectric barrier discharge using air as gas and whey protein isolate (WPI) model solutions were evaluated. This study demonstrated that ACP can be successfully applied in order to selectively modify the protein structure and therefore, improve WPI functionality. This allows to use ACP-treated WPI as ingredient in different formulated food to express targeted functionality.

CEO turnover in insider-dominated boards: The Italian case

Abstract: We investigate CEO turnover in relationship to performance, ownership concentration and CEO ownership in a sample of 60 private companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchanges over the 9-year period 1988–1996 Concentrated ownership, family control, limited institutional investors activism, and lack of main bank monitoring make Italy a corporate governance environment dominated by insiders As a result, boards of directors are dominated by insiders and/or represent the interests of the controlling shareholders Our main finding is that CEO turnover is negatively related to firm performance also in this environment, but this relationship holds only if the controlling shareholder is not the CEO Our findings suggest that insiders with large stakes monitor and replace under-performing outside CEOs The paper offers positive empirical evidence that non-CEO controlling shareholders are a governance mechanism that provides a substitute for outside members on boards of directors in lowering agency costs When the CEO is an owner, however, we have all the negative aspects of insider-dominated boards

Prevalence of Bacterial Vaginosis and Vaginal Flora Changes in Peri- and Postmenopausal Women

Abstract: Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis and decrease in lactobacillus colonization in women 40 years old or older in relation to menopausal status by evaluation of Gram-stained smears. A total of 1,486 smears from Italian Caucasian women aged 40 to 79 years were examined. Women were classified as follows: fertile (regular cycles) (n = 328), perimenopausal (irregular cycles) (n = 237), and postmenopausal (n = 921), including 331 women on estroprogestinic hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The prevalences of bacterial vaginosis (assessed as a Nugent score of ≥7) in fertile (9.8%) and perimenopausal (11.0%) women were not statistically different, whereas the prevalence was significantly lower overall in postmenopausal women (6.0%) (P = 0.02). Specifically, 6.3% of postmenopausal women without HRT and 5.4% of postmenopausal women with HRT were positive for bacterial vaginosis. The Nugent score system was not adequate for evaluating the normal and intermediate vaginal flora in women over the age of 40 years. High numbers of peri- and postmenopausal women had no lactobacilli and no bacterial-vaginosis-associated microorganisms. This nonpathological absence of lactobacilli in women with a Nugent score of 4 was scored as 4∗, and this group was considered separately from the intermediate flora group. A score of 4∗ was obtained for 2.1% of fertile women, 11.4% of perimenopausal women, 44.1% of postmenopausal women without HRT, and 6.9% of postmenopausal women with HRT. The physiological reduction in lactobacillus colonization of the vagina in postmenopausal women does not cause an increase in bacterial-vaginosis prevalence. Reversion of lactobacillus flora to premenopausal levels due to HRT does not increase the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in postmenopausal women.

Probiotics for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis

Abstract: Background The dominance of lactobacilli in healthy vaginal microbiota and its depletion in bacterial vaginosis (BV) has given rise to the concept of oral or vaginal instillation of probiotic Lactobacillus strains for the management of this condition. Objectives To ascertain the efficacy of probiotics in the treatment of BV. Search methods We searched electronic databases irrespective of publication status or language. These included: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), the HIV/AIDS and STD Cochrane Review Groups' specialized registers, the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field's Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE (1966 to 2008), EMBASE (1980 to 2007), ISI science citation index (1955 to 2007), CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (1982 to 2007). We handsearched of specialty journals, conference proceedings and publications list on the website of the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (http://www.isapp.net/default.asp). For unpublished studies or ongoing trials, we contacted authors from relevant publications, nutraceutical companies and probiotic-related scientific associations. We searched electronic databases on ongoing clinical trials. Selection criteria Randomized controlled trials using probiotics for the treatment of women of any age diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis, regardless of diagnostic method used. The probiotic preparation could be single or "cocktail" of strains, any preparation type/dosage/route of administration. Studies comparing probiotics with placebo, probiotics used in conjunction with conventional antibiotics compared with placebo or probiotics alone compared with conventional antibiotics were eligible for inclusion. Data collection and analysis We screened titles and abstracts , obtained full reports of relevant trialsand independently appraised them for eligibility. A data extraction form was used to extract data from the four included studies. For dichotomous outcomes, odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were derived for each study using RevMan (versions 4.2 and 5). We did not perform meta-analysis due to significant differences in the probiotic preparations and trial methodologies. Main results Analysis suggests beneficial outcome of microbiological cure with the oral metronidazole/probiotic regimen (OR 0.09 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.26)) and the probiotic/estriol preparation (OR 0.02, (95% CI 0.00 to 0.47)). For the probiotic/estriol preparation, the OR and 95% CI for physician-reported resolution of symptoms was OR 0.04 (95% CI 0.00 to 0.56). Authors' conclusions The results do not provide sufficient evidence for or against recommending probiotics for the treatment of BV. The metronidazole/probiotic regimen and probiotic/estriol perparation appear promising but well-designed randomized controlled trials with standardized methodologies and larger patient size are needed.