Antibacterial activity and chemical characterization of almond ( L.) peel extract.

In this study, almond skin of L. variety Casteltermini was characterised for its chemical composition and for the inhibitory activity towards food associated microorganisms belonging to pathogenic ( Enteritidis, , and ), spoilage ( and ) and useful ( and ) groups. The -hexane extract of skin, investigated by GC-MS, evidenced linoleic, palmitic, and oleic acids as the main abundant compounds.

In-Depth Investigation of the Safety of Wooden Shelves Used for Traditional Cheese Ripening.

The main goal of this research was to characterize the bacterial diversity of the wooden boards used for aging traditional Sicilian cheeses and to evaluate whether pathogenic bacteria are associated with these surfaces. Eighteen cheese dairy factories producing three traditional cheese typologies (PDO Pecorino Siciliano, PDO Piacentinu Ennese, and Caciocavallo Palermitano) were selected within the region of Sicily. The wooden shelf surfaces were sampled by a destructive method to detach wood splinters as well as by a nondestructive brushing to collect microbial cells.

Performance study and influence of radiation emission energy and soil contamination level on γ-radiation shielding of stabilised/solidified radionuclide-polluted soils.

This work focuses on the stabilisation/solidification (S/S) of radionuclide-polluted soils at different (232)Th levels using Portland cement alone and with barite aggregates. The potential of S/S was assessed applying a full testing protocol and calculating γ-radiation shielding (γRS) index, that included the measurement of soil radioactivity before and after the S/S as a function of the emission energy and soil contamination level. The results indicate that setting processes are strongly dependent on the contaminant concentration, and for contamination level higher than 5%, setting time values longer than 72 h.