Effect of pedoclimatic conditions on physico-chemical characteristics, hygienic-sanitary quality and coagulation properties of milk for Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

The aim of this study was to compare the quality of milk produced in different pedoclimatic zones (hill and plain) des-tined to the production of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The study was carried out on 4,996 herd milk samples (1,464 from 53 herds located in hill areas and 3,532 from 97 herds located in the plains) collected in the province of Reggio Emi-lia. The following parameters were determined for each milk sample: fat, protein, titratable acidity, total bacterial count, somatic cells, coliforms bacteria, Clostridia spores and rennet coagulation properties. Milk produced by hill herds was characterized by higher fat content (3.51 vs 3.47 g/100g; P≤0.05) and lower total bacterial count (58,242 vs 66,833 CFU/mL; P≤0.001), somatic cells (285,369 vs 309,660 cells/mL; P≤0.01) and coliforms bacteria (1,198 vs 1,334 CFU/mL; P≤0.001) compared to milk produced in plain herds. Moreover, milk produced in hill herds showed a lower per-cent of samples with anomalous coagulation attitude (0.13 vs 0.68%; P≤0.05) and a lower rate of samples contaminated by Clostridia spores (16.05 vs 19.71%; P≤0.01) than milk produced in plain herds

The PRIAMO study: background, methods and recruitment

PRIAMO (PaRkinson And non Motor symptOms) is an epidemiology study aimed to assess the prevalence and incidence of non-motor symptoms (NMS) in patients with parkinsonism. PRIAMO consists of two phases: (1) a transversal assessment of the prevalence of NMS and (2) a longitudinal observation with two follow-up visits at 12 and 24 months to establish the incidence of NMS. A secondary aim of PRIAMO is to study the relationship between NMS and quality of life. Patients with parkinsonism have been evaluated in 59 Neurology Centres widely distributed throughout Italy. PRIAMO has analysed a total of 1307 patients (out of 1325 initially enrolled). We expect that PRIAMO will substantially help to quantify the burden of NMS in patients with parkinsonism