0000000000258491
AUTHOR
Alfio Spina
showing 10 related works from this author
Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries
2023
Background: Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods: This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, r…
Quality Characteristics of Wholemeal Flour and Bread from Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum L subsp. durum Desf.) after Field Treatment with Plant Water…
2016
The use of selected plant water extracts to control pests and weeds is gaining growing attention in organic and sustainable agriculture, but the effects that such extracts may exert on the quality aspects of durum wheat are still unexplored. In 2014, 5 plant water extracts (Artemisia arborescens, Euphorbia characias, Rhus coriaria, Thymus vulgaris, Lantana camara) were prepared and distributed on durum wheat cv Valbelice to evaluate their potential herbicidal effects. After crop harvesting, the major physicochemical and technological parameters of wholemeal flours obtained from each treatment were measured and compared with those from chemical weeding and untreated controls. A baking test w…
Almond by-products: Extraction and characterization of phenolic compounds and evaluation of their potential use in composite dough with wheat flour
2018
Blanched skins and blanching water, by-products of almond processing, were evaluated as potential ingredients of bakery products. The research included three phases: i) optimization of skin drying; ii) optimization of quali-quantitative determination of phenolic compounds, by comparing three extracting protocols; iii) assessment of the impact of by-products on the rheology of composite meals with wheat flour. Besides being less time-consuming, drying at 60 °C for 30 min lowered effectively skin moisture (7.86 g/100 g) and kept better odor notes (leafy and rancid odor scored 6.1 and 0.2, respectively), as well as higher content of phenolics (813.89 µg/g, with the most effective extracting me…
Development of Durum Wheat Breads Low in Sodium Using a Natural Low-Sodium Sea Salt
2020
Durum wheat is widespread in the Mediterranean area, mainly in southern Italy, where traditional durum wheat breadmaking is consolidated. Bread is often prepared by adding a lot of salt to the dough. However, evidence suggests that excessive salt in a diet is a disease risk factor. The aim of this work is to study the effect of a natural low-sodium sea salt (Saltwell®
Use of Plant Water Extracts for Weed Control in Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum L. Subsp. durum Desf.)
2020
The use of plant water extracts to control weeds is gaining attention in environmentally-friendly agriculture, but the study of the effect that such extracts may exert on the yield of durum wheat is still unexplored. In 2014 and 2016, the herbicidal potential of several plant water extracts was field tested on durum wheat (cv Valbelice). In 2014, extracts obtained from Artemisia arborescens, Rhus coriaria, Lantana camara, Thymus vulgaris, and Euphorbia characias were used, whereas in 2016 only A. arborescens and R. coriaria were tested as &ldquo
Physico-chemical properties and sensory profile of durum wheat Dittaino PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) bread and quality of re-milled semolina…
2018
To help future quality checks, we characterized the physico-chemical and sensory properties of Dittaino bread, a sourdough-based durum wheat bread recently awarded with Protected Designation of Origin mark, along with the quality features of re-milled semolina used for its production. Semolina was checked for Falling Number (533–644 s), protein content (12.0–12.3 g/100 g d.m.), gluten content (9.7–10.5 g/100 g d.m.), yellow index (18.0–21.0), water absorption (59.3–62.3 g/100 g), farinograph dough stability (171–327 s), softening index (46–66 B.U.), alveograph W (193 × 10−4–223 × 10−4 J) and P/L (2.2–2.7). Accordingly, bread crumb was yellow, moderately hard (16.4–27.1 N) and chewy (88.2–10…
Elective surgery system strengthening: development, measurement, and validation of the surgical preparedness index across 1632 hospitals in 119 count…
2022
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: The 2015 Lancet Commission on global surgery identified surgery and anaesthesia as indispensable parts of holistic health-care systems. However, COVID-19 exposed the fragility of planned surgical services around the world, which have also been neglected in pandemic recovery planning. This study aimed to develop and validate a novel index to support local elective surgical system strengthening and address growing backlogs. Methods: First, we performed an international consultation through a four-stage consensus process to develop a multidomain index for hospital-level assess…
Effects of innovative and conventional sanitizing treatments on the reduction of Saccharomycopsis fibuligera defects on industrial durum wheat bread
2016
Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Hyphopichia burtonii and Saccharomycopsis fibuligera are spoilage yeasts causing chalk mold defects on sliced bread packaged under modified atmosphere. The first objective of this study, carried out in a bread-making company for two consecutive years, was to genetically identify yeasts isolated from spoiled sliced bread in Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) and to determine the dominant species among identified strains. The second objective was to evaluate the effects of hydrogen peroxide and silver solution 12% (HPS) treatment in the leavening cells and cooling chambers, in comparison with the conventional Ortho-Phenylphenol (OPP) fumigating treatment, on the inc…
A novel alpha-amylase-lipase formulation as anti-staling agent in durum wheat bread
2016
The aim of this work has been to evaluate the anti-staling effect exerted by a novel α-amylase-lipase enzyme formulation on durum wheat bread, in comparison with four different commercial amylase preparations and with control without added enzymes. Bread-making trials were carried out at industrial level. Sliced bread, packed under modified atmosphere, was analyzed for texture profile, moisture content, and water activity during 90 days. Crumb sections were submitted to environmental scanning electron microscopy at the end of the storage period. The α-amylase-lipase enzyme preparation showed synergistic interactions in preventing staling. In particular, bread added of these two enzymes in m…
SARS-CoV-2 infection and venous thromboembolism after surgery: an international prospective cohort study
2021
SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with an increased rate of venous thromboembolism in critically ill patients. Since surgical patients are already at higher risk of venous thromboembolism than general populations, this study aimed to determine if patients with peri-operative or prior SARS-CoV-2 were at further increased risk of venous thromboembolism. We conducted a planned sub-study and analysis from an international, multicentre, prospective cohort study of elective and emergency patients undergoing surgery during October 2020. Patients from all surgical specialties were included. The primary outcome measure was venous thromboembolism (pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis) within 30 da…