BENESSERE ANIMALE E QUALITA' DEI PRODOTTI: RUOLO DI STRATEGIE NUTRIZIONALI INNOVATIVE

Una corretta nutrizione degli animali d\u2019allevamento permette di ottenere un adeguato livello produttivo e di benessere delle specie allevate, assicurando nel contempo il raggiungimento di ottimali caratteristiche qualitative dei prodotti derivati, in modo da garantire al consumatore alimenti che soddisfino i requisiti richiesti di sicurezza e salubrit\ue0 e presentino un adeguato valore nutrizionale. In questo contesto, l\u2019applicazione di strategie nutrizionali, inclusa l\u2019aggiunta di additivi, utilizzati per migliorare le caratteristiche nutrizionali dei mangimi, pu\uf2 svolgere un ruolo determinante nella moderna zootecnia e costituisce uno dei temi principali del quadro normativo dell\u2019Unione Europea. Nel presente elaborato sono presentati quattro studi in vivo che valutano gli effetti della dieta sulle performance quanti qualitative di polli da carne e suini; in particolare si sono considerati alcuni interventi quali l\u2019impiego di emulsionanti, di un estratto polpe di oliva ad elevato tenore di polifenoli e di un probiotico nell\u2019intero ciclo produttivo del pollo da carne, mentre per quanto riguarda la specie suina, l\u2019integrazione dell\u2019estratto polpe di oliva ad elevato tenore di polifenoli ha riguardato il periodo compreso tra la fine della gestazione e lo svezzamento dei suinetti, considerati due dei momenti pi\uf9 delicati dell\u2019allevamento di questa specie. La prima prova sperimentale prevedeva l\u2019integrazione di un emulsionante sintetico a 1200 pulcini ROSS 308, equamente suddivisi in maschi e femmine e suddivisi in 4 gruppi costituiti da 12 recinti e 25 animali ciascuno. E\u2019 stato utilizzato un disegno sperimentale multifattoriale 2x2 che permette di confrontare il trattamento alimentare (C vs T) e il sesso. L\u2019additivo \ue8 stato somministrato in dosi di 1g/kg dal giorno 0 al giorno 12, 0,75g/kg dal giorno 12 al giorno 22 e di 0,5g/kg dal giorno 22 al termine della prova (37 giorni per le femmine e 44 per i maschi). Durante lo svolgimento della prova sono stati valutati i principali parametri produttivi (PV, IMPG, FI e ICA), mentre in fase di macellazione sono stati prelevati campioni di sangue, di tessuto epatico e del contenuto cecale per le successive analisi; \ue8 stato inoltre prelevato il petto per la determinazione della resa della carcassa e della qualit\ue0 della carne. I risultati hanno mostrato che la supplementazione con emulsionante ha aumentato il peso vivo al giorno 12 (P=0.02), l\u2019incremento ponderale nel primo periodo (0-12 giorni; P=0.06) e la resa alla macellazione (P=0.02). Relativamente alla qualit\ue0 della carne, il gruppo trattato ha mostrato un significativo incremento dell\u2019indice b* (P<0.01) e una riduzione delle perdite in cottura (P=0.03). Il trattamento con l\u2019emulsionante ha aumentato il contenuto plasmatico di colesterolo, HDL e LDL rispetto al gruppo controllo (P<0.01; P=0.02; P<0.01, rispettivamente), mentre non sono state osservate differenze significative sulla flora microbica intestinale. A partire da campioni epatici, \ue8 stata valutata l\u2019espressione dei geni Apo A-I e Apo B, direttamente coinvolti con il metabolismo lipidico ed \ue8 stata riscontrata una significativa up regolazione (P=0.0056) del gene Apo B nelle femmine trattate. In conclusione, sebbene il sesso e l\u2019et\ue0 degli animali rappresentino importanti variabili da considerare, l\u2019integrazione dell\u2019emulsionante nell'alimentazione di polli da carne \ue8 in grado di apportare interessanti modifiche sui parametri di crescita, sul metabolismo lipidico, nonch\ue9 sull'espressione di alcuni geni coinvolti. La seconda prova sperimentale ha valutato gli effetti della somministrazione di un estratto polpe di oliva ad elevato tenore di polifenoli sulle performance di 720 pulcini ROSS 308 di sesso femmina. Gli animali sono stati suddivisi in quattro gruppi sperimentali, costituiti da 12 recinti e 20 soggetti ciascuno, e alimentati con 200 I.U./kg di vitamina E (T1), 1 e 5gr/kg di Ethifenol (T2 e T3, rispettivamente), titolato a 25mg/g di polifenoli totali. Durante lo svolgimento della prova sono stati valutati i principali parametri produttivi (PV, IMPG, FI e ICA), in fase di macellazione sono stati prelevati campioni di sangue, di tessuto epatico e del contenuto cecale per le successive analisi, inoltre \ue8 stato prelevato il petto per la determinazione della resa della carcassa e della qualit\ue0 della carne. I risultati relativi ai parametri produttivi e alle analisi microbiologiche del cieco non hanno mostrato differenze significative tra i gruppi sperimentali. Al contrario, l\u2019integrazione dell\u2019additivo ha modificato il parametro b*(giallo) della pelle degli animali (P=0.003). A partire da campioni di tessuto epatico prelevati \ue8 stata effettuata l\u2019estrazione e la quantificazione dei polifenoli totali e la valutazione di alcuni geni coinvolti nel metabolismo lipidico (PPAR\uf061, ATGL, ACACA, CPT-1, ACOX e FASN). Sebbene in assenza di significativit\ue0 statistica (P>0.05), la concentrazione di composti fenolici presenti nel fegato rispecchia il livello crescente di integrazione; in aggiunta, \ue8 stata osservata una modificazione non significativa dell\u2019espressione dei geni sopra riportati. In conclusione, la somministrazione dell\u2019additivo oggetto della prova ha apportato dei lievi benefici, che tuttavia appaiono interessanti considerando il breve ciclo produttivo dei polli da carne. La terza prova sperimentale ha previsto l\u2019integrazione dell\u2019estratto di polpe di oliva, oggetto della precedente prova, a 18 scrofe pluripare (fase 1), omogenee per et\ue0 e ordine di parto, suddivise in due gruppi sperimentali di 9 soggetti ciascuno (controllo = C e trattato = T), per un periodo di circa 40 giorni (da circa due settimane prima della data prevista del parto al termine della lattazione). Il gruppo T ha ricevuto una dieta basale (C) addizionata con l\u2019estratto di oliva in quantit\ue0 di 1,25kg/ton. Al termine della lattazione (25d), tutti i suinetti nati (n=180) sono stati suddivisi in 4 gruppi sperimentali costituiti da 45 soggetti e 9 repliche ciascuno (fase 2), per una durata di 42 giorni. I suinetti appartenenti al gruppo Ctr-Ctr, provenivano da madri C e non hanno ricevuto l\u2019estratto, il gruppo CtrT, proveniva da scrofe controllo, ma ha ricevuto l\u2019additivo; il gruppo T-Ctr nato da madri T non ha ricevuto l\u2019integrazione, infine i soggetti appartenenti al gruppo T-T, nati da scrofe trattate, hanno ricevuto l\u2019estratto di oliva. La fase 2 \ue8 stata suddivisa in due periodi (prestarter 0-14d e starter 1542d) e le diete degli animali T sono state integrate con 5,0 e 2,5kg/ton di estratto di oliva, rispettivamente nel primo e nel secondo periodo. Durante la fase 1, sono stati raccolti dati relativi alla condizione corporea e ai parametri riproduttivi delle scrofe, nonch\ue9 campioni di colostro, per determinare la concentrazione totale di polifenoli e la capacit\ue0 antiossidante dello stesso. Durante lo svolgimento della fase 2 sono stati invece valutati i principali parametri produttivi dei suinetti (PV, IMPG, FI e ICA). I risultati relativi alla fase 1 non hanno mostrato differenze significative in seguito all'integrazione dell\u2019estratto; tuttavia i parametri produttivi e riproduttivi del gruppo T sono risultati superiori. Per quanto riguarda le analisi del colostro, il potere antiossidante delle scrofe trattate era statisticamente pi\uf9 elevato (P=0.05) rispetto al gruppo C, sebbene la concentrazione di polifenoli totali non ha riportato variazioni significative tra i due gruppi (P>0.05). La fase 2 ha presentato dei risultati pi\uf9 interessanti; il gruppo T-Ctr ha mostrato un maggiore peso vivo al giorno 42 (P=0.03) e un maggior IMPG nel secondo periodo (14-42d) e come media complessiva (0-42d) (P=0.03 e P=0.05, rispettivamente) rispetto al gruppo Ctr-T. Inoltre, l\u2019indice di conversione alimentare (ICA), la resa alimentare e la resa alla trasformazione del gruppo T-Ctr hanno riportato valori statisticamente significativi (P\uf0a30.01) rispetto agli altri gruppi sperimentali. In conclusione, l\u2019integrazione dell\u2019estratto oggetto della prova ha mostrato i migliori risultati sulle performance dei suinetti, sottolineando l\u2019importanza del latte materno come veicolo di sostanze funzionali e suggerendo possibili effetti benefici del composto d\u2019interesse sulle condizioni generali di salute degli animali; tuttavia l\u2019impiego di estratti vegetali in alimentazione animale presenta un quadro molto complesso, caratterizzato dalla presenza e dall\u2019interazione di molti fattori differenti. La quarta prova sperimentale ha valutato gli effetti della somministrazione di un probiotico costituito da Lactobacillus farmaciminis e L. rhamnosus sulle performance produttive di 960 pulcini ROSS 308 di sesso maschile per una durata di 48 giorni. Gli animali sono stati suddivisi in 4 gruppi sperimentali, costituiti da 12 recinti e 20 soggetti ciascuno; i 3 gruppi trattati (T1, T2 e T3) erano alimentati con una dieta base (CTR) integrata con 600, 400 e 200g/ton di probiotico, rispettivamente. Durante lo svolgimento della prova sono stati valutati i principali parametri produttivi (PV, IMPG, FI e ICA); mentre in fase di macellazione \ue8 stato prelevato il petto per la determinazione della resa della carcassa. I risultati relativi alle performance di crescita non hanno evidenziato differenze significative per i parametri analizzati, inoltre, non \ue8 stata osservata alcuna differenza statistica per quanto riguarda i rilievi alla macellazione, resa e peso del petto (P>0.05). Per concludere, la somministrazione del probiotico oggetto della prova non ha modificato i parametri considerati, tuttavia non sono da escludere possibili effetti dell\u2019additivo sulla modulazione della flora microbica intestinale e sulle propriet\ue0 qualitative delle carni. In tal senso, saranno necessari ulteriori e pi\uf9 approfonditi studi per analizzare le conseguenze sul metabolismo generale di animali a rapida crescita. Analizzando i risultati ottenuti nelle prove sperimentali, \ue8 possibile affermare che l\u2019integrazione di sostanze ad azione benefica nell\u2019alimentazione degli animali da reddito \ue8 in grado non solo di modificare in maniera significativa i principali parametri di crescita degli stessi e la qualit\ue0 dei prodotti destinati al consumatore, ma anche di migliorare le condizioni generali di benessere e influenzare positivamente l\u2019equilibrio intestinale degli stessi.Optimal animal nutrition allows adequate productive performance and correct welfare conditions of livestock species; moreover, it ensures animal\u2019s products with high-quality characteristics that meet safety and security requirements for the consumers and guarantees a suitable nutritional value. In this context, the application of nutritional strategies, including the supplementation of additives, used to improve feed nutrition, may play a significant role in livestock production; it also represents an important issue in the regulatory framework of the European Union. In this paper, four in vivo trials are presented to evaluate the dietary effects on the quali-quantitative performance of broiler chickens and pigs. In particular, the use of synthetic emulsifiers, a polyphenols-enriched olive pulp extract and a probiotic was considered in the whole production cycle of broiler chicken. Whereas, the polyphenol-enriched olive pulp extract was added in the diet of sows and piglets to investigate the positive effects of this supplementation in two critical moments of the productive system of this species: the peripartum of the sows and the weaning of piglets. In the first experimental trial, a total of 1200 one-day-old ROSS 308 broiler chicks were assigned to four experimental groups consisting of 15 pens with 25 birds per pen. A 2 72 factorial design was applied to compare the different dietary treatments [control diet (CTR) or diet supplemented with AVI-MUL TOP (AMT) at 1g/kg from d 0 to 12, 0.75g/kg from d 12 to 22 and 0.5g/kg from d 22 to 44] and gender. Growth performance (BW, ADG, FI and FCR) were determined on days 0, 12, 22, 37 and 44 for males. One female chick (day 37) and one male chick (day 44) from each pen were chosen on BW basis and slaughtered to collect blood, liver samples and caecum content and to determine the dressing and breast muscle percentages. AMT supplementation increased BW on day 12 (P=0.02), ADG from day 0 to 12 (P<0.05), ADFI from day 12 to 22 (P=0.06). Moreover AMT supplementation reduced FCR from days 0 to 44 (P<0.05) in males. Dietary AMT significantly increased the b* index (yellowness) (P<0.01) and reduced cooking loss (P=0.03). The emulsifier also increased plasma cholesterol, HDL and LDL content compared to the control (P<0.01, P=0.02, P<0.01, respectively), while no significant differences were observed on intestinal microbial flora among treatments. The expression of Apo A-I and Apo B lipid metabolism related genes was evaluated from the liver samples and a significant up regulation (P=0.0056) of the Apo B gene was found in AMT females chicks. In conclusion, the supplementation of AMT may have a beneficial effect on the growth performance, lipid metabolism and meat quality of broiler chicks. The second experimental trial evaluated the dietary effects of a polyphenol-enriched olive pulp extract on 720 one-day old ROSS 308 female chicks, equally assigned to four experimental groups consisting of 12 pens and 20 animals each. The dietary treatments were control diets (CTR) or diet supplemented with 200 IU/kg of vitamin E (T1), 1 and 5 g/kg of Ethifenol (T2 and T3, respectively). The substance in exam had a total polyphenols concentration of 25mg/g. Growth performance (BW, ADG, FI and FCR) were determined on days 0, 10, 20 and 35. At the end of the trial, one female chick was chosen from each pen on BW basis and slaughtered to collect blood, liver samples and caecum content and to determine the dressing and breast muscle percentages. The supplementation of the olive pulp extract did not show any significant differences (P>0.05) on the growth parameters and caecum microbiological analysis among the groups; while the dietary supplementation significantly improved the b* index (yellowness) of animal skin (P=0.003). The extraction and quantification of total polyphenols and the expression of some lipid metabolism related genes (PPAR\u3b1, ATGL, ACACA, CPT-1, ACOX and FASN) were performed from hepatic samples. The hepatic concentration of phenolic compounds did not show any statistical differences (P>0.05) among the groups, although it reflects the supplementation level. No statistical differences were also found in the gene expression. In conclusion, the olive pulp extract showed minor benefits on the growth performances, which however appear interesting considering the short production cycle of these animals. The third experimental trial was divided into two phases to investigated the effects of the polyphenolsenriched olive pulp extract supplementation on the performance of sows and piglets. During phase 1, 18 multiparous sows, homogeneous by age and birth order, were assigned to two experimental groups of 9 animals each. The dietary treatment were control diet (C) or diet supplemented with 1.25kg/ton of olive pulp extract (T). The compound of interest was added to the diet for a period of about 40 days (from two weeks before the expected date of birth to the end of lactation). Body condition and reproductive parameters were analyzed and colostrum samples were collected to determine the total polyphenols concentration and the antioxidant activity. In phase 2, 180 newborn piglets, homogeneous by body weight, were assigned to four experimental groups consisting of 45 animals and 9 replicates each. The Ctr-Ctr piglets were born from control sows and did not receive the extract, the Ctr-T group was composed by control sow\u2019s piglets who received the compound; the T-Ctr piglets group was born from treated sows and they did not receive the olive pulp extract and the T-T group was composed by treated sow\u2019s piglets who received the extract. Phase 2 was divided into two periods (prestarter from d 0 to 14 and starter from d 15 to 42) and dietary treatments were control diet (Ctr) and diet supplemented with 5.0 and 2.5kg/ton of olive pulp extract (T) in the first and second period, respectively. Growth performance (BW, ADG, FI and FCR) were determined on days 0, 14 and 42. The supplementation did not show any significant differences (P>0.05) in phase 1; however, it was observed that the body condition and reproductive parameters of the treated animals were higher than the control group. The antioxidant activity of T sows was statistically higher (P=0.05), although the total polyphenol concentrations did not show significant variations (P>0.05) between the two groups. In phase 2, the T-Ctr group showed higher body weight at day 42 (P=0.03) and higher ADG during the second period (14-42d) and overall (0-42d) (P=0.03 and P=0.05, respectively) compared to the other groups. Moreover, FCR, carcass yield and transformation yield of the T-Ctr group were statistically significant (P 640.01) compared to the other experimental groups. In conclusion, the supplementation of the compound of interest showed the best results on the piglets\u2019 performance, underlining the importance of milk as a vehicle of functional substances and suggesting possible beneficial effects on the general health conditions. In the fourth experimental trial, a total of 960 one-day-old ROSS 308 male broiler chicks were assigned to four experimental groups consisting of 12 pens with 20 animals per pen.The dietary treatments were control diet (CTR) and diet supplemented with 600, 400 and 200g/t of METALACT (T1, T2 and T3, respectively). The probiotic additive was composed by a mixture of Lactobacillus pharmacimis and L. rhamnosus and supplemented for a period of 48 days. Growth performance (BW, ADG, FI and FCR) were determined on days 0, 11, 22 and 48. At the end of the trial, one chick from each pen was chosen on BW basis and slaughtered to determine the dressing and breast muscle percentages. The METALACT supplementation did not showed any significant differences (P>0.05) on the growth parameters investigated. In conclusion, the probiotic did not modify the growth performance, but it is not possible to exclude possible beneficial effects on modulation of the microbial intestinal flora and on the qualitative properties of the meat. The overall results showed that the dietary supplementation of beneficial substances is not only able to significantly modify the animal\u2019s growth performance and the quality of the products, but it is also able to improve the general welfare conditions and the intestinal balance of the livestock species

Advanced 3D modeling versus Building Information Modeling: the case study of Palazzo Ettoreo in Sacile (Italy)

This paper presents an experience of 3D modeling starting from laser scanning data and following two alternative approaches: the first one, called \u201cAdvanced 3D modeling\u201d, based on an original meshing algorithm, while the second make use of Revit BIM software. The case study in Palace Ettoreo in Sacile (Pordenone, Italy), constructed in Renaissance Venetian style in the 16th century: it has a trapezoid plan and is developed on three floors, with the ground one endowing a portico on two fa\ue7ades. The palace has been surveyed by two terrestrial laser scanners: a Riegl Z420i for 5 external scans and a FARO Photon 120 for 53 internal scans; also a topographic surveying of 270 targets have been carried out. The final TLS cloud has 1,4 billions of points. The Advanced 3D modeling has produced a \u201csmart\u201d mesh, allowing also to model the elements with deformations (out of plumb, bulges and troughs). Moreover, this model drastically reduce the stored data: the whole palace is modeled by 111.496 polygons only. The modeling with Revit follows the classical flowchart where the principal architectonical elements are gradually composed: this HBIM process has required a strong manual work in exploiting the available parametric objects and/or in the definition of new objects. Comparing the two models with respect the points cloud, both have evidenced advantages and limitations: therefore, the best solution is a process involving their combination. At the beginning, the Advanced 3D modeling is performed onto the points cloud, so well exploiting the segmentation tools and the smart meshing of the surfaces preserving any geometrical irregularity. Such obtained model allows metrical and morphological evaluation on the various structural and architectonical elements. Afterwards, this very light model becomes the entry data for the modeling in BIM environment, where also the shape of irregular elements are so imported

Analgesia and/or anaesthesia during piglet castration&#8211;part I: efficacy of farm protocols in pain management

Pain alleviation associated with surgical castration of piglets is a debated welfare issue. The present study compares the effect of different protocols involving analgesia and/or anaesthesia or sedation suitable under field conditions, with the aim to alleviate pain due to castration in piglets. A randomised within-litter design, with 50 replicates, compared 7 treatments applied 10 min before castration: HAND: positive control, handling only; CTRL: negative control, physiological saline, i.m.; MEL: meloxicam, i.m.; AZA: azaperone, i.m.; PROC: local anaesthesia with procaine and adrenaline, subcutaneously; AZA-MEL: joint administration of azaperone and meloxicam; PROC-MEL: procaine and meloxicam. Efficacy of pain relief was assessed during a 180 min period after castration by serum cortisol and glycaemia, algometry and behaviour. CTRL, AZA, PROC and AZA-MEL piglets showed an increase in cortisol concentration 60 min after castration compared to HAND. Both groups with azaperone (AZA and AZA-MEL) developed concentrations even higher than CTRL (p .05). CRTL and PROC piglets reacted to the algometer at an average lower pressure than HAND (p =.03), differently to the other treatments that showed similar skin sensitivity to HAND (p >.05). No differences in glycaemia and behaviour were observed among treatments. The results suggest that using meloxicam alone might offer a promising option in reducing the expression of pain-related parameters in piglets after surgical castration, however, it appears more efficient when used alone than in association with the anaesthetic agents tested. Procaine administered alone and azaperone seems unsuited to the purpose considered.HIGHLIGHTS Meloxicam used alone is suggested for reducing the expression of pain-related parameters in piglets after surgical castration; When a protocol using procaine is used on the farm during piglets castration, the association with meloxicam reduces some pain-related indicators; Procaine administered alone and azaperone seems unsuited to manage pain after surgical castration of piglets

Multivariate statistical process monitoring using classical multidimensional scaling

A new Multivariate Statistical Process Monitoring (MSPM) system, which comprises of three main frameworks, is proposed where the system utilizes Classical Multidimensional Scaling (CMDS) as the main multivariate data compression technique instead of using the linearbased Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The conventional method which usually applies variance-covariance or correlation measure in developing the multivariate scores is found to be inappropriately used especially in modelling nonlinear processes, where a high number of principal components will be typically required. Alternatively, the proposed method utilizes the inter-dissimilarity scales in describing the relationships among the monitored variables instead of variance-covariance measure for the multivariate scores development. However, the scores are plotted in terms of variable structure, thus providing different formulation of statistics for monitoring. Nonetheless, the proposed statistics still correspond to the conceptual objective of Hotelling’s T2 and Squared Prediction Errors (SPE). The first framework corresponds to the original CMDS framework, whereas the second utilizes Procrustes Analysis (PA) functions which is analogous to the concept of loading factors in PCA for score projection. Lastly, the final framework employs dynamic mechanism of PA functions as an alternative for enhancing the procedures of the second approach. A simulated system of Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor with Recycle (CSTRwR) has been chosen for the demonstration and the fault detection results were comparatively analyzed to the outcomes of PCA on the grounds of false alarm rates, total number of detected cases and also total number of fastest detection cases. The last two performance factors are obtained through fault detection time. The overall outcomes show that the three CMDS-based systems give almost comparable performances to the linear PCA based monitoring systemwhen dealing the abrupt fault events, whereas the new systems have demonstrated significant improvement over the conventional method in detecting incipient fault cases. More importantly, this monitoring accomplishment can be efficiently executed based on lower compressed dimensional space compared to the PCA technique, thus providing much simpler solution. All of these evidences verified that the proposed approaches are successfully developed conceptually as well as practically for monitoring while complying fundamentally with the principles and technical steps of the conventional MSPM system.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Identification and rejection of scattered neutrons in AGATA

Gamma rays and neutrons, emitted following spontaneous fission of 252Cf, were measured in an AGATA experiment performed at INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro in Italy. The setup consisted of four AGATA triple cluster detectors (12 36-fold segmented high-purity germanium crystals), placed at a distance of 50 cm from the source, and 16 HELENA BaF2 detectors. The aim of the experiment was to study the interaction of neutrons in the segmented high-purity germanium detectors of AGATA and to investigate the possibility to discriminate neutrons and gamma rays with the gamma-ray tracking technique. The BaF2 detectors were used for a time-of-flight measurement, which gave an independent discrimination of neutrons and gamma rays and which was used to optimise the gamma-ray tracking-based neutron rejection methods. It was found that standard gamma-ray tracking, without any additional neutron rejection features, eliminates effectively most of the interaction points due to recoiling Ge nuclei after elastic scattering of neutrons. Standard tracking rejects also a significant amount of the events due to inelastic scattering of neutrons in the germanium crystals. Further enhancements of the neutron rejection was obtained by setting conditions on the following quantities, which were evaluated for each event by the tracking algorithm: energy of the first and second interaction point, difference in the calculated incoming direction of the gamma ray, figure-of-merit value. The experimental results of tracking with neutron rejection agree rather well with Geant4 simulations

Early diagnosis of Gorlin-Goltz syndrome: case report

The Gorlin-Goltz syndrome, also known as nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS), is an infrequent multisystemic disease inherited in a dominant autosomal way, which shows a high level of penetrance and variable expressiveness. It is characterized by keratocystic odontogenic tumors (KCOT) in the jaw, multiple basal cell nevi carcinomas and skeletal abnormities. This syndrome may be diagnosed early by a dentist by routine radiographic exams in the first decade of life, since the KCOTs are usually one of the first manifestations of the syndrome. This article paper reports the case of a patient, a 10-year-old boy with NBCCS, emphasizing its clinical and radiographic manifestations. This study highlights the importance of health professionals in the early diagnosis of NBCCS and in a preventive multidisciplinary approach to provide a better prognosis for the patient

Pair neutron transfer in Ni 60 + Sn 116 probed via γ -particle coincidences

D. Montanari et al. ; 6 págs.; 5 figs.; 1 tab.We performed a γ-particle coincidence experiment for the Ni60+Sn116 system to investigate whether the population of the two-neutron pickup channel leading to Ni62 is mainly concentrated in the ground-state transition, as has been found in a previous work [D. Montanari et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 052501 (2014)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.113.052501]. The experiment has been performed by employing the PRISMA magnetic spectrometer coupled to the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) demonstrator. The strength distribution of excited states corresponding to the inelastic, one- and two-neutron transfer channels has been extracted. We found that in the two-neutron transfer channel the strength to excited states corresponds to a fraction (less than 24%) of the total, consistent with the previously obtained results that the 2n channel is dominated by the ground-state to ground-state transition. ©2016 American Physical SocietyThis work was partly supported by the EU FP7/2007-2013 under Grant No. 262010-ENSAR and by the Croatian Science Foundation under Project No. 7194. A.G. was partially supported by MINECO and Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, under Grants No. FPA2014-57196-C5 and No. PROMETEOII/2014/019 and the EU under the FEDER program.Peer Reviewe

Concern-driven integrated approaches to nanomaterial testing and assessment - report of the NanoSafety Cluster Working Group

Abstract Bringing together topic-related European Union (EU)-funded projects, the so-called "NanoSafety Cluster" aims at identifying key areas for further research on risk assessment procedures for nanomaterials (NM). The outcome of NanoSafety Cluster Working Group 10, this commentary presents a vision for concern-driven integrated approaches for the (eco-)toxicological testing and assessment (IATA) of NM. Such approaches should start out by determining concerns, i.e., specific information needs for a given NM based on realistic exposure scenarios. Recognised concerns can be addressed in a set of tiers using standardised protocols for NM preparation and testing. Tier 1 includes determining physico-chemical properties, non-testing (e.g., structure-activity relationships) and evaluating existing data. In tier 2, a limited set of in vitro and in vivo tests are performed that can either indicate that the risk of the specific concern is sufficiently known or indicate the need for further testing, including details for such testing. Ecotoxicological testing begins with representative test organisms followed by complex test systems. After each tier, it is evaluated whether the information gained permits assessing the safety of the NM so that further testing can be waived. By effectively exploiting all available information, IATA allow accelerating the risk assessment process and reducing testing costs and animal use (in line with the 3Rs principle implemented in EU Directive 2010/63/EU). Combining material properties, exposure, biokinetics and hazard data, information gained with IATA can be used to recognise groups of NM based upon similar modes of action. Grouping of substances in return should form integral part of the IATA themselves