An insight into the dairy chain of a Protected Designation of Origin cheese: The case study of Asiago cheese.

The Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) label of the European Union safeguards and guarantees top-quality traditional agri-food products that must be manufactured in a specific region according to traditional production methods. Production specifications of PDO cheeses are often focused on the cheese-making process and lack information on the dairy farming system that is upstream of the chain. This case study aimed to analyze and cluster the dairy farms that supply milk to the chain of Asiago, an internationally known PDO cheese of northeastern Italy. A large survey involving all of the cheese factories of the Asiago PDO chain was made in 2017. Each cheese factory submitted a questionnaire to its supplying dairy farmers concerning (1) farm facilities and herd management and (2) feeding program of lactating cows. Results from 517 farms were processed; there were 67 ± 27% (mean ± standard deviation) respondents per cheese factory. Four clusters of dairy farms were identified by hierarchical clustering analysis. Cluster 1 (8% of the surveyed farms) and cluster 2 (22%) are small in size and low in yield, representing the traditional milk production system; farms are mainly located on mountains or hills and have autochthonous dual-purpose breeds mostly housed in tiestall barns. By rearing cattle of endangered breeds and feeding cows primarily with forages produced on-farm together with the use of pasture, these clusters, and especially cluster 1, have shown to provide essential ecosystem services for landscape and biodiversity preservation in the alpine areas. Clusters 3 and 4 (34 and 36% of the surveyed farms, respectively) gather medium-scale farms mainly located in the lowland that operate according to modern management and housing systems and rear high-producing dairy cows. These cows are mainly fed total mixed rations based on corn silage, but the dietary forage:concentrate ratio is kept relatively high, as farmers are more interested in producing high-quality milk for cheese-making than pushing for yield. Regardless of the cluster allocation, a considerable cow longevity, which is a recognized "iceberg indicator" of cattle well-being, was highlighted. This study showed that different farming systems may lay behind a single PDO cheese. The knowledge of their characteristics is important to reinforce the PDO production specifications as well as to distinguish and protect niche products that come from specific groups of farms that provide essential ecosystem services

A survey on sensor systems used in Italian dairy farms and comparison between performances of similar herds equipped or not equipped with sensors

Sensor systems (SS) were developed over the last few decades to help dairy farmers manage their herds. Such systems can provide both data and alerts to several productive, behavioral, and physiological indicators on individual cows. Currently, there is still a lack of knowledge on both the proportion of dairy farms that invested in SS and type of SS installed. Additionally, it is still unclear whether the performances of herds equipped with SS differ from those of similar herds managed without any technological aid. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to provide an insight into SS spread among Italian dairy farms and (2) to analyze the performances of similar herds equipped or not equipped with SS. To reach the former goal, a large survey was carried out on 964 dairy farms in the northeast of Italy. Farmers were interviewed by the technicians of the regional breeders association to collect information on the type of SS installed on farms and the main parameters recorded. Overall, 42% of the surveyed farms had at least 1 SS, and most of them (72%) reared more than 50 cows. Sensors for measuring individual cow milk yield were the most prevalent type installed (39% of the surveyed farms), whereas only 15% of farms had SS for estrus detection. More sophisticated parameters, such as rumination, were automatically monitored in less than 5% of the farms. To reach the latter goal of the study, a subset of 100 Holstein dairy farms with similar characteristics was selected: half of them were equipped with SS for monitoring at least individual milk yield and estrus, and the other half were managed without any SS. Average herd productive and reproductive data from official test days over 3 yr were analyzed. The outcomes of the comparison showed that farms with SS had higher mature-equivalent milk production. Further clustering analysis of the same 100 farms partitioned them into 3 clusters based on herd productive and reproductive data. Results of the Chi-squared test showed that the proportion of farms equipped with SS was greater in the cluster with the best performance (e.g., higher milk yield and shorter calving interval). However, the presence of a few farms equipped with SS in the least productive cluster for the same parameters pointed out that although the installation of SS may support farmers in time- and labor-saving or in data recording, it is not a guarantee of better herd performance

The relationship of 3′UTR HLA-G14-bp insertion/deletion and +3142 C/G polymorphisms and soluble HLA-G expression with gynecological cancers: An updated meta-analysis

Objectives: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is implicated in several cancers and is considered to be an immune checkpoint regulator. We determined the association between polymorphisms in the 3' untranslated region of HLA-G and soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) expression with gynecological cancers (GCs).Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the association between HLA-G14-bp insertion (I)/deletion (D) and +3142C/G polymorphism in GC and to evaluate sHLA-G expressionResults: We revealed a significant association between the +3142C/G polymorphism and invasive cervical cancer (ICC) based on the allelic model G versus C (odds ratio [OR] = 0.738, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.563-0.966, p = 0.027), dominant GG+GC versus CC (OR = 0.584, 95% CI = 0.395-0.862, p = 0.007), and codominant GG versus CC (OR = 0.527, 95% CI = 0.312-0.891, p = 0.017) models, suggesting that the G allele and GG genotype are protective against ICC. In gynecological precancerous patients with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, we found that the 14-bp I/D under the codominant DD versus DI model (OR = 0.492, 95% CI = 0.241-1.004, p = 0.051) was of borderline signifi- cance. Soluble HLA-G levels were significantly higher in patients compared with healthy controls (standardized mean differences [SMD] = 1.434, 95% CI = 0.442-2.526, p = 0.005). Stratification by cancer type revealed that the sHLA-G levels were significantly increased in cervical cancer (SMD = 4.889, 95% CI = 0.468-9.310, p = 0.030) and in subjects of Asian ethnicity (SMD = 4.889, 95% CI = 0.467-9.309, p = 0.030).Conclusions: HLA-G14-bp I/D and +3142 C/G polymorphisms are associated with GC and HPV-associated cervical cancer. In addition, we found significantly increased sHLA-G levels in cancer patients. These results provide a basis for further studies in diagnostics and immunotherapy of GC

Short communication: An association analysis between one missense polymorphism at the SREBF1 gene and milk yield and composition traits in goats

Sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 (SREBF1) regulates the expression of genes involved in the biosynthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol. Herewith, we have sequenced the near-complete coding region and part of the 3?UTR of the goat SREBF1 gene. In doing so, we have detected a missense c.353CT polymorphism causing a proline to leucine substitution at position 118 (P118L). An association analysis with milk composition traits recorded in MurcianoGranadina goats only revealed a statistical tendency linking SREBF1 genotype and milk omega-3 fatty acid content. The lack of significant associations suggests that the P118L substitution does not involve a functional change.Le facteur de transcription de´nomme´ Sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 (SREBF1) re´gule l’expression des ge`nes implique´s dans la biosynthe`se des acides gras et du choleste´rol. Dans cette e´tude, nous avons se´quence´ la quasi-totalite´ de la re´gion codante et une partie du la re´gion 3?UTR du ge`ne SREBF1 de la che`vre. Ce travail, nous a permis d’identifier un polymorphisme non-synonyme c.353CT causant la substitution d’une Proline en Leucine a` la position 118. L’e´tude d’association avec la composition du lait enregistre´e en che`vres Murciano-Granadina, a re´ve´le´ seulement une tendance statistique reliant SREBF1 ge´notype et l’acide gras ome´ga-3 du lait. L’absence d’associations significatives sugge`re que la substitution P118L n’implique pas un changement fonctionnel

Associations between pig adiponectin (ADIPOQ) genotype and serum lipid levels are modulated by age-specific modifiers

The adiponectin (ADIPOQ) locus is a positional and functional candidate gene for 2 porcine chromosome 13 (SSC13) QTL influencing cholesterol (CHOL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) concentrations in 190-d-old pigs. By sequencing 2.37 kb of the pig ADIPOQ cDNA, we have identified 1 c.*1512G > T 3′ untranslated region polymorphism that has been genotyped in a Duroc pig commercial population with records for serum lipid levels at 45 and 190 d of age. Statistical analysis of the data have revealed significant associations between the ADIPOQ genotype and CHOL (P = 0.0040) and LDL (P = 0.0011) concentrations at 190 d but not at 45 d. In family 3, most of the SSC13 QTL effects on LDL levels at 190 d were explained by the ADIPOQ genotype. We also found an association with triglyceride levels at 45 d (P = 0.0060) but not at 190 d. Measurement of allelic mRNA imbalance demonstrated that the G and T alleles are expressed at very similar levels at muscle and fat tissues, indicating that the c.*1512G > T polymorphism does not affect transcript abundance. As a whole, results obtained in the current work as well as previous data gathered in humans and pigs provide[AU: please confirm change] evidence that the magnitude of associations between blood lipid phenotypes and candidate loci genotypes may vary depending on the age of the individual, therefore suggesting the existence of dynamic genotype × environment interactions changing on a temporal scaleThis work has been funded by grants AGL2007-66707-C02, AGL2010- 22208-C02-01, and AGL2010-22208-C02-02 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) and CSD 2007-00036 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Consolider Ingenio 2010 Program). The authors are indebted to Selección Batallé S.A. for providing the animal material and for their cooperation in the experimental protocol. D. Gallardo and C. Melo were funded with fellowships from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Instituto Agronómico Mediterráneo, respectively. A. Zidi received a contractual grant under the framework of CSD 2007-0003

Databases of L-shell X-ray intensity ratios for various elements after photon excitation

In this study, a comprehensive dataset of X-ray emission intensity ratios has been compiled, including I L β / I L α , I L γ / I L α , I Ll / I L α , I L γ / I L β , I Ll / I L γ , I Ll / I L β , I L γ 5 / I L α , I L γ 44 ′ / I L α , I L η / I L α , and I L γ 1 / I L α , extracted from literature spanning the years 1971 to 2023, and encompassing 83 research papers. Over this timeframe, a total of 2600 values were collected, comprising some 678 values for I L β / I L α , 696 values for I L γ / I L α , 617 values for I Ll / I L α , along with 132, 132, 89, 60, 70, 71, and 55 data points for I L γ / I L β , I Ll / I L γ , I Ll / I L β , I L γ 5 / I L α , I L γ 44 ′ / I L α , I L η / I L α , and I L γ 1 / I L α , respectively. The reported values are presented with precision up to three to four decimal places, accompanied by their associated uncertainties. Additionally, the tables include calculated weighted averages ( I L i / I L j ) W , uncertainty values ( ε I S D , ε E S D ), combined standard deviations ( z I S D , z E S D ), and average z-scores ( z ¯ I S D , z ¯ E S D ) for these intensity ratios. The data encompasses elements ranging from 39Y to 94Pu when excited by photon bombardment. The assessment of how these experimental data values are distributed according to atomic number indicates extensive coverage across most elements. However, a few isolated instances were identified where either no data or fewer than two data values were available

The rhesus protein RhCG: a new perspective in ammonium transport and distal urinary acidification

Urinary acidification is a complex process requiring the coordinated action of enzymes and transport proteins and resulting in the removal of acid and the regeneration of bicarbonate. Proton secretion is mediated by luminal H(+)-ATPases and requires the parallel movement of NH(3), and its protonation to NH(4)(+), to provide sufficient buffering. It has been long assumed that ammonia secretion is a passive process occurring by means of simple diffusion driven by the urinary trapping of ammonium. However, new data indicate that mammalian cells possess specific membrane proteins from the family of rhesus proteins involved in ammonia/μm permeability. Rhesus proteins were first identified in yeast and later also in plants, algae, and mammals. In rodents, RhBG and RhCG are expressed in the collecting duct, whereas in humans only RhCG was detected. Their expression increases with maturation of the kidney and accelerates after birth in parallel with other acid-base transport proteins. Deletion of RhBG in mice had no effect on renal ammonium excretion, whereas RhCG deficiency reduces renal ammonium secretion strongly, causes metabolic acidosis in acid-challenged mice, and impairs restoration of normal acid-base status. Microperfusion experiments or functional reconstitution in liposomes demonstrates that ammonia is the most likely substrate of RhCG. Similarly, crystal structures of human RhCG and the homologous bacterial AmtB protein suggest that these proteins may form gas channels.Kidney International advance online publication, 6 October 2010; doi:10.1038/ki.2010.386