A stage-structured model to predict the effect of temperature and salinity on glass eel Anguilla anguilla pigmentation development

The pigmentation development process of glass eels Anguilla anguilla from stage V-B to VIA3 was modelled by gamma cumulative functions. These functions varied with respect to the factors temperature and salinity whose effects were adjusted by beta functions. Temperature was shown to accelerate pigmentation, while salinity acted as a secondary factor slowing down the pigmentation. The model fits the development of 15 samples kept at various temperatures and salinities in the Vilaine River, as well as samples monitored at other dates and places in Europe. It allows the prediction of the duration of estuarine residency for glass eels, in winter and spring, in the Atlantic estuaries

Building consensus on water use assessment of livestock production systems and supply chains: outcome and recommendations from the FAO LEAP partnership.

The FAO Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership organised a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to develop reference guidelines on water footprinting for livestock production systems and supply chains. The mandate of the TAG was to i) provide recommendations to monitor the environmental performance of feed and livestock supply chains over time so that progress towards improvement targets can be measured, ii) be applicable for feed and water demand of small ruminants, poultry, large ruminants and pig supply chains, iii) build on, and go beyond, the existing FAO LEAP guidelines and iv) pursue alignment with relevant international standards, specifically ISO 14040 (2006)/ISO 14044 (2006), and ISO 14046 (2014). The recommended guidelines on livestock water use address both impact assessment (water scarcity footprint as defined by ISO 14046, 2014) and water productivity (water use efficiency). While most aspects of livestock water use assessment have been proposed or discussed independently elsewhere, the TAG reviewed and connected these concepts and information in relation with each other and made recommendations towards comprehensive assessment of water use in livestock production systems and supply chains. The approaches to assess the quantity of water used for livestock systems are addressed and the specific assessment methods for water productivity and water scarcity are recommended. Water productivity assessment is further advanced by its quantification and reporting with fractions of green and blue water consumed. This allows the assessment of the environmental performance related to water use of a livestock-related system by assessing potential environmental impacts of anthropogenic water consumption (only ?blue water?); as well as the assessment of overall water productivity of the system (including ?green? and ?blue water? consumption). A consistent combination of water productivity and water scarcity footprint metrics provides a complete picture both in terms of potential productivity improvements of the water consumption as well as minimizing potential environmental impacts related to water scarcity. This process resulted for the first time in an international consensus on water use assessment, including both the life-cycle assessment community with the water scarcity footprint and the water management community with water productivity metrics. Despite the main focus on feed and livestock production systems, the outcomes of this LEAP TAG are also applicable to many other agriculture sectors

Impact of dairy effluent management in the grey water footprint.

The aims of this study were to assess the grey water footprint in South America dairy systems and analyzed the impact of effluent characteristics and environmental legislation on water footprint value. Grey water footprint quantifies freshwater pollution by the amount of water needed to re-dilute polluted freshwater back to an accepted national threshold value. Water footprints were determined collecting primary data in 61 farms of Argentina (Buenos Aires and Santa Fe provinces) and 20 dairies in Chile. The study considerate total phosphorus in the effluent and the production system as a no-point source of pollution. Phosphorus effluent concentration varied from 0.005 kg m3 to 0.686 kg m3 between farms. Chile had the highest phosphorus concentrations and Buenos Aires region the lowest, which could be related mainly to effluent management practices. Grey water footprint varied from 0.59 L of water kg-1 to 1.77 L of water kg-1 of milk. The maximum value of grey water footprint was observed with dairy slurry with the highest value to phosphorus concentration. Grey water footprint of dairy production will be less per unit of milk as milk production increases. It was observed in the results. The concentration of the element in the effluent, the element used to calculate grey water and the environmental law has a significant impact on footprint values.Comissão organizadora: Marcelo Bortoli, Julio Cesar Pascale Palhares, Caio Inácio de Teves, Valéria Reginatto Spiller, Ariel A. Szogi, Marina Celant De Prá, Ricardo L. R. Steinmetz , Andre Cestonaro do Amaral

Immunotherapy with Bet v 1 derived contiguous overlapping peptides leads to long-term immunoregulatory responses

Background: Allergen-specific immunotherapy with whole pollen extract may induce anaphylaxis, is poorly standardized and of long duration.We thus designed a randomized, placebo-controlled phase I/II clinical trial in volunteers with birch pollen allergic rhinitis and asthma to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a novel immunotherapy based on contiguous overlapping peptides (COPs) derived from Bet v 1, the major birch pollen allergen. Methods: A mixture of three COPs (AllerT™, Anergis SA, Switzerland) spanning the whole Bet v 1 molecule was selected for its inability to bind IgE. Prior to the pollen season, AllerT (in Alum) was injected subcutaneously to 15 adult volunteers at D0 (57 g), D7, D14, D21 and D51 (95 g each). Control volunteers (n = 5) only received the adjuvant. Results: Overall AllerT was safe. No serious adverse events and no immediate allergic reactions were reported. AllerT induced a vigorous early Bet v 1 specific immune response marked by vaccine associated INF- and IL- 10 secretion. This contributed to a strong anti-Bet v 1-specific IgG4 enhancement. Moreover, 2 months after the second season post treatment (July 2010), serum Bet v 1 specific IgG4 response was still markedly increased as compared to pre-treatment values and to placebo whereas post seasonal Bet v 1 specific IgE titers were similar to baseline values. Conclusion: Our data indicate that immunotherapy with a mixture of three COPs derived from Bet v 1 (AllerT) was safe and immunogenic, and led to long-term immunological memory

Efficacy of 2 months of allergen-specific immunotherapy with Bet v 1-derived contiguous overlapping peptides in patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis: Results of a phase IIb study.

BACKGROUND: An immunotherapy formulation consisting of 3 contiguous overlapping peptides (COPs) derived from Bet v 1, the major birch pollen allergen, showed good clinical tolerability in a previous phase I/IIa clinical trial. OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of allergen-specific immunotherapy using 2 dose regimens of Bet v 1 COPs versus placebo in subjects with birch pollen-induced allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. METHODS: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIb clinical trial was performed to assess the efficacy of Bet v 1 COP immunotherapy during the 2013 birch pollen season. Before the season, Bet v 1 COPs (50 and 100 μg in aluminum hydroxide) or placebo (saline and aluminum hydroxide) were administered as 5 subcutaneous injections to 239 adults with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis to birch pollen. Bet v 1 COPs at 25 or 50 μg were administered on day 1, and 50 or 100 μg was administered on days 8, 15, 29, and 57, respectively. Patients were monitored for adverse events during the treatment period and assessed for combined rhinoconjunctivitis symptom and medication scores, as well as quality of life. RESULTS: Rhinoconjunctivitis symptom and medication scores improved in both Bet v 1 COP-treated groups, reaching statistical significance over placebo in the 50-μg group (least squares mean, -0.23; 26% improvement; P = .015). Both active groups showed significant improvement in quality of life and nighttime nasal symptom scores, supporting the primary end point findings. Bet v 1 COP injections were well tolerated, with a higher frequency of systemic adverse events in the 100-μg group. CONCLUSION: Two months of preseasonal immunotherapy with 3 COPs derived from Bet v 1 at a 50-μg dose showed promising efficacy, small risk for systemic reactions, and immunomodulatory changes in this single-season, dose-finding, phase IIb trial in patients allergic to birch pollen

Benefit of Bet v 1 contiguous overlapping peptide immunotherapy persists during first follow-up season.

A short course of 5 injection AIT with Bet v 1 Contiguous Overlapping Peptides was well tolerated and improved allergic rhinitis during the 2 <sup>nd</sup> pollen season after treatment. Long lasting efficacy was associated with a persistent allergen-specific IgG4 response