Bayesian functional emulation of CO2 emissions on future climate change scenarios

We propose a statistical emulator for a climate-economy deterministic integrated assessmentmodel ensemble, based on a functional regression framework. Inference on the unknown parameters is carried out through a mixed effects hierarchical model using a fully Bayesian framework with a prior distribution on the vector of all parameters. We also suggest an autoregressive parameterization of the covariance matrix of the error, with matching marginal prior. In this way, we allow for a functional framework for the discretized output of the simulators that allows their time continuous evaluation

Integrare il digitale nella scuola italiana. Nuovi bisogni di formazione

This paper aims to describe the complex process of the introduction of digital training practices in the primary and secondary Italian schools, one year after the beginning of the worldwide health emergency, process that has highlighted new training needs. The topics have been examined in order to investigate the real possibilities of working with digital teaching and they led to a selection of practices tested by a working group of primary school teachers, engaged in a first phase to reestablish contact with their pupils during the March 2020 lockdown and, later, to optimize and introduce them in the school system, in a conscious and meaningful way. These practices, are in fact, useful for encouraging digital teaching practices: the digital performance, in this perspective, can be considered as a strategic extension able to give meaning and value to the student's work.Scopo del contributo è di ripercorrere il complesso processo di assestamento delle pratiche formative digitali nella scuola italiana del primo ciclo, a distanza di un anno dall’inizio dell’emergenza sanitaria mondiale che ha fatto emergere nuovi bisogni di formazione. La disamina degli argomenti trattati, condotta per valutare quali possibilità reali e proficue ci siano di lavorare con la didattica digitale integrata, ha portato ad una selezione di pratiche sperimentate da un gruppo di lavoro di insegnanti della scuola primaria, impegnati in una prima fase a ristabilire il contatto con i loro alunni durante il lockdown del marzo 2020 e, in seconda istanza, ad ottimizzare tali pratiche per incardinarle in modo consapevole e significativo all’interno del percorso scolastico. Si rileva infatti la loro utilità per incentivare l’utilizzo della didattica digitale integrata: la prestazione digitale, in questa prospettiva, si configura come estensione strategica capace di dare significato e valore al lavoro dello studente

Effects of Chickpea in Substitution of Soybean Meal on Milk Production, Blood Profile and Reproductive Response of Primiparous Buffaloes in Early Lactation

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the use of chickpea meal in substitution of soybean meal on plasma metabolites, reproductive response, milk yield and composition and milk coagulation traits of primiparous buffaloes in early lactation. Eighteen primiparous buffaloes were blocked by age, body weight and days in milk and equally allotted to two experimental groups from 10 to 100 days of lactation. The experimental diets consisted of the same forage integrated with two different isonitrogenous and isoenergetic concentrates containing either 210 g/kg of soybean meal or 371 g/kg chickpea. The use of chickpea meal had no negative effects on dry matter intake (p = 0.69), body condition score (p = 0.33) and milk yield (p = 0.15). Neither milk composition nor blood metabolites were influenced by dietary treatments (p > 0.05), but an increment of urea concentrations in milk (p 0.05) of the dietary treatment was highlighted on milk coagulation traits as well as buffalo reproductive responses. We concluded that soybean meal can be replaced by chickpea meal in the diet for primiparous dairy buffaloes in the early lactation period without impairing their productive and reproductive performance

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION OF FENNEL AND DILL BY INTERCROPPING

Intercropping is claimed to be one of the most significant cropping techniques in sustainable agriculture, and much research and many reviews attribute to its utilization a number of environmental benefits, from promoting land biodiversity to diversifying agricultural outcome. In this sense, intercropping is thought to be a useful means of minimizing the risks of agricultural production in many environments, including those typical of under-developed or marginal areas. In order to validate this hypothesis in a representative area of the semiarid Mediterranean environment, we evaluated the possibility of growing dill and fennel, both belonging to the family Apiaceae, in temporary intercropping. Our trial was performed in Sicily in 2000–01 and 2001–02; in the first year, fennel and dill were cultivated in a mixture using a substitution scheme, whereas in 2001–02 we evaluated the bio-agronomical and chemical features of fennel alone. The biological efficiency of the intercropping system was evaluated by using the Land Equivalent Ratio and the Competitive Ratio, and an estimate of the interaction effects of both crops was performed by analyzing the major vegetative and yield traits of plants, along with the chemical profile of volatiles of the fruits. Both in grain yield and in biomass yield, the most efficient cropping system was the intercropping ratio with a higher proportion of fennel, in which the competitive ratio values calculated for dill reached 1.90 for grain and 2.59 for biomass. Our results also indicate that the presence of dill exerted a clear stabilizing effect on fennel seed yield of the following year: whereas no difference in fennel seed yield was detected from one year to the following on the previously intercropped plots, in the repeated pure stand a 50% yield reduction was recorded. In the trial environment, the technique showed a good potential to improve the efficiency of resource utilization; further long-term experiments will be necessary in order to demonstrate the application of such a technique to other medicinal and aromatic plant mixtures

Preliminary study on kinetics of pyroglutamic acid formation in fermented milk

Pyroglutamic acid (pGlu) influences the aromatic and sensory properties of foods and has several benefits for human health. The presence and kinetics of pGlu formation in fermented milk samples were investigated from a chemical point of view. Plain yoghurt, kefir and other probiotic fermented milk products available on the market were analysed to quantify lactic acid and pGlu. The pGlu concentrations in fermented milks ranged from 51.65 to 277.37 mg 100 g-1 dry matter. Laboratory- scale fermented milk was produced, and samples were taken at different times of fermentation and storage to construct the kinetics curve. At the beginning of the fermentation process, pGlu was already present in UHT milk (188.69 mg 100 g-1 dry matter) used to elaborate fermented milk, and its content increased not only during fermentation but during storage as well, reaching up to 403.56 mg 100 g-1 dry matter after 30 days

Late-Developing Supernumerary Premolars: Analysis of Different Therapeutic Approaches

This case series describes the different potential approaches to late-developing supernumerary premolars (LDSP). LDSP are supernumerary teeth (ST) formed after the eruption of the permanent dentition; usually they develop in the premolar region of the upper and lower jaw. The choice to extract or to monitor the LDSP depends on many factors and has to be carefully planned due to the several risks that either the monitoring or the extraction could provoke. These four cases of LDSP showed different treatment plan alternatives derived from a scrupulous assessment of the clinical and radiographic information