Loggerhead sea turtle (
C. caretta
) is the official European bioindicator of marine litter in the Mediterranean Sea. In 2019, 8 sea turtles, out of 28 specimens loggerhead on the Adriatic coast of ...Molise, were subjected to necropsy. The intestinal contents were collected and the microplastics until 0.45 μm were extracted. Qualitative and quantitative assessments were performed by stereomicroscope observation and spectroscopic analyses (attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR and Raman microspectroscopy, RMS). Moreover, the analytical quantification of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), para phthalic acid (PTA) and bisphenol A (BPA) in fat and liver tissues was performed by LC-MS/MS. Microparticles ranging from 0.45 μm to 1 mm were found in all turtles, for a total of 623, while plastic litter greater than 1 mm were found only in 4 specimens (ranging from 0.03 to 0.11 g). Nineteen different polymers and 10 pigments, including polyester (100% of animals), high-density polyethylene (50%) and polypropylene (50%) were identified. BPA, PTA and PET were detected in fat and liver tissues of all animals, while PC was found only in 50%. A major prevalence was registered in the abdominal fat tissue, although only PC compounds were significantly higher in abdominal tissue (
p
< 0.05), except for free PTA with liver tissue being the most contaminated (
p
< 0.05). Microplastics and additives surely impact the health status of turtles that showed gastrointestinal impairment and an important level of contamination in tissues.
Graphical abstract
The study aims to evaluate the presence of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fishery products, shellfish, meat products and spices (n = 140). Benzoapyrene (BaP) was detected in the mean ...concentration of 0.11 µg/kg in mussels to 4.85 µg/kg in spices. However, none of the samples exceeded the maximal BaP and ? PAH4 limit, set out under the European legislation, although high values determined in some food, especially dried herbs and spices, pointed towards a heavy contamination and the necessity for systematic controls. The study showed that processed food samples contained significantly higher (p<0.05) PAH levels in comparison to food coming from environmental sources.
This paper investigates the qualitative changes (physical, biochemical, microbiological and sensory) in anchovy fillets during the maturation, in a marinade made from fresh lemon juice and olive oil ...with the addition of acetic acid. Marination was carried out at 4°C and it required 7 days until sensory acceptability of the product was achieved. At marination end point, a pH value of 4.2, a w of 0.85 and NaCl content of 4% were measured for the products. Volatile and non-volatile amines were extracted from the marinated anchovy fillets, and the detected concentration implies that the accumulation of these components during processing was weak ( <14 mg TVB-N/100g, <0.5 mg TMA/100 g, <30 mg biogenic amines/kg). The lemon juice showed good preservative effect, it reduced the bacterial count in the products, while the addition of 0.5% acetic acid improved the sensory attributes of the product.
We present a multiwavelength study of a newly discovered compact group (CG), SDSS J0959+1259, based data from XMM–Newton, Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Calar Alto optical imager BUSCA. With ...a maximum velocity offset of 500 km s−1, a mean redshift of 0.035, and a mean spatial extension of 480 kpc, this CG is exceptional in having the highest concentration of nuclear activity in the local Universe, established with a sensitivity limit L
X
> 4 × 1040 erg s−1 in 2–10 keV band and R-band magnitude M
R
< −19. The group is composed of two type-2 Seyferts, one type-1 Seyfert, two LINERs and three star-forming galaxies. Given the high X-ray luminosity of LINERs which reaches ∼1041 erg s−1, it is likely that they are also accretion driven, bringing the number of active nuclei in this group to five out of eight (AGN fraction of 60 per cent). The distorted shape of one member of the CG suggests that strong interactions are taking place among its galaxies through tidal forces. Therefore, this system represents a case study for physical mechanisms that trigger nuclear activity and star formation in CGs.
We investigated the nutritional quality of commercially important farmed fish species: sea bream (Sparus aurata), sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), dentex (Dentex dentex), and turbot (Scophthalmus ...maximus). The omega-3 fatty acid content of dentex was twice as high as that of any other fish species, and its eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acid contents were 2-4 times higher. The recommended n-3/n-6 ratio was present in all the fish species, but the recommended polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio was not present in the turbot. All the fish species, except turbot, met the recommended atherogenic index, thrombogenic index, and ratio of hypocholesterolaemic to hypercholesterolaemic fatty acids, whereas the highest flesh lipid quality value was observed in the dentex. Keywords: nutritional quality, farmed fish, Adriatic Sea, basic chemical composition, mineral, fatty acid
The aim of this study was to investigate nutritive and sensorial quality of Istrian and Slavonian pork-meat dry-fermented sausages. Sensorial analysis resulted in statistically significant ...differences (p <0.05) between these products in 11 sensorial parameters analysed. Significantly higher protein content was determined in Istrian in comparison with Slavonian dry-fermented sausage, although the latter content significantly varied across the producing households. No significant differences in particular fatty acid esters and saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids were obtained. Although some of the nutritional quality indices failed to meet health recommendations, the obtained values are consistent with data published for pork meat products. Keywords: Croatian households, dry-fermented sausages, nutritive properties, sensory properties, traditional pork meat sausages
Observations of the Galactic Centre (GC) have accumulated a multitude of 'forensic' evidence indicating that several million years ago the centre of the Milky Way galaxy was teeming with star ...formation and accretion-powered activity - this paints a rather different picture from the GC as we understand it today. We examine a possibility that this epoch of activity could have been triggered by the infall of a satellite galaxy into the Milky Way which began at the redshift of z = 8 and ended a few million years ago with a merger of the Galactic supermassive black hole with an intermediate-mass black hole brought in by the inspiralling satellite.
Summary
The aim of this study was to determine and compare differences in physical, chemical and sensory post‐mortem changes between wild (W) and farmed (F) gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). ...Ungutted fish were stored in ice from harvesting up to 20 days and freshness indicators were analyzed at regular intervals. Proximate composition of the samples differed in lipid (W = 0.86 ± 0.12; F = 4.18 ± 0.16) and moisture content (W = 79.12 ± 0.48; F = 74.50 ± 0.82). Data from sensory evaluation were described using linear regression models. Sensory schemes for cooked and raw fish were found to be suitable in establishing specific attribute deterioration and shelf life duration (W = 14 days; F = 17 days). Changes in pH and dielectric properties were influenced by differences in lipid content, while changes in total volatile base nitrogen and trimethylamine showed high correlation with sensory assessment and storage time, but stayed below the acceptance limit for human consumption (W : 24.47 mg TVB‐N/100 g and 4.14 mg TMA‐N/100 g; F : 26.18 mg TVB‐N/100 g and 3.84 mg TMA‐N/100 g), and thus were not reliable indicators of quality changes during storage in ice. Deterioration of flesh lipids, assessed by thiobarbituric acid index, differed between the samples, but presented no serious problem during storage time. In order to determine the importance of individual results, all obtained data were submitted to principal component analysis. Variations in sensory, physical and chemical assessment were described by PC1 (storage time); variations in lipid and moisture content were described by PC2 (capture grounds). A clear separation of the investigated samples, according to the storage time and capture grounds, was observed.
Context. The merging of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is a direct consequence of our hierarchical picture of galaxy evolution. It is difficult to track the merging process of SMBHs during mergers ...of galaxies as SMBHs are naturally difficult to observe. Aims. We want to characterise and confirm the presence of two independent active galactic nuclei (AGN) separated by a few kiloparsec in seven strongly interacting galaxies previously selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) as Seyfert-Seyfert pairs based on emission-line ratio diagnostics. Methods. Optical slit spectra taken with MODS at the Large Binocular Telescope are presented to infer the detailed spatial distribution of optical emission lines, and their line ratios and AGN signatures with respect to the host galaxies, thereby quantifying the impact of beam smearing and large fibre apertures on the spectra captured by the SDSS. Results. We find that at most two of the seven targets actually retain a Seyfert-Seyfert dual AGN, whereas the others may be more likely powered by post-AGB stars in retired galaxies or through shocks in the ISM based on spatially resolved optical line diagnostics. The major cause of this discrepancy is a bias caused by the spillover of flux from the primary source in the secondary SDSS fibre which can be more than an order of magnitude at < 3″ separations. Previously reported extremely low X-ray–to–O III luminosity ratios may be explained by this misclassification, as can heavily obscured AGN for the primaries. We also find that the nuclei with younger stellar ages host the primary AGN. Conclusions. Studies of close dual AGN selected solely from fibre-based spectroscopy can create severe biases in the sample selection and interpretation of the results. Spatially resolved spectroscopy should ideally be used in the future to characterise such compact systems together with multi-wavelength follow-up observations.
We used a model of a relativistic accretion disk around a supermassive black hole (SMBH), based on ray-tracing method in the Kerr metric, to study the variations of the composite Fe Kα line emitted ...from two accretion disks around SMBHs in a binary system. We assumed that the orbit of such a binary is approximately Keplerian, and simulated the composite line shapes for different orbital elements, accretion disk parameters and mass ratios of the components. The obtained results show that, if observed in the spectra of some SMBH binaries during their different orbital phases, such composite Fe Kα line profiles could be used to constrain the orbits and several properties of such SMBH binaries.
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