Effects of parity and type of kidding on the quantitative and qualitative milk characteristics of "Rossa Mediterranea" goats

AbstractThe "Rossa Mediterranea " goat, also called "Derivata di Siria " has become much more widespread in Sicily over the last ten years. It is a goat characterised by its robustness and ability ..

Morphological traits of the "Pantesco" donkey

The Pantelleria donkey is mentioned in prestigious zootechnical texts and treatises of the late 19th and early 20th century Authors such as Chiari, Mascheroni, Dechambre and others. In ancient times, when the Arab colonial extension in the Mediterranean reached its peak, a number of donkeys was transferred to the isle of Pantelleria southwest from Sicily. They served as draft animals and means of locomotion. In this environment scarcely suitable for the breeding of farm animals, considering the geo-morphological conditions of the island one of the most precious and valued donkey races of the Mediterranean basin has its origins: the Pantelleria donkey. Unfortunately, during World War II, Pantelleria was transferred in one of the most important theatres of war in the Mediterranean and the few remaining subjects of the race, once highly esteemed and frequently exported, were almost extirpated. Since then, various efforts have been made to recover the "Pantesco" donkey, but only in 1989 the Regional Forest Administration launched a project to reconstitute this particular population. Owing to comprehensive and accurate research, three males and six females with a percentage of 80 to 90% of "Pantesco" blood could be recovered. The aim of this recovery plan was to prevent the loss of a genotype of great historical and biological value in Sicily no less than in other European and Asian regions. Currently the "Pantesco" donkey population finally registered at the general index of equine races and populations consists of 51 subjects. The objective of our study was to determine the morphological type of this donkey population in order to provide useful data for its ethnic identification. The most significant morphometric traits of the thirty "Pantesco" donkeys examined (15 brood-mares, 13 stallions and 2 colts; those born after 2004 -15 subjects were excluded from measurements ) were measured in an erect position, using Lydtin's stick, calliper and flexible meter, and the most significant morphometric indices were calculated in order to provide for a reliable identification of the morphological type. The data obtained mean values ± sd (withers height:123.35±4.28cm; rump height: 129.43±4.43cm; chest height: 51.88±3.38cm; chest breadth: 28.61±6.66cm; body length: 124.82±8.86cm; lateral conformation body index :99.12±4.71; longitudinal thoracic section index: 41.65±2.42; body proportion index: 84.58±3.79; thorax height index: 42.05±2.07; pelvic index: 27.82±4.16; head length index: 42,28±1.53 and dactylo-thoracic index: 11.28±0.85 ), suggest that the "Pantesco" population can be assigned to the dolichomorphic type

Protoplanetary Disk Masses in the Young NGC 2024 Cluster

We present the results from a Submillimeter Array survey of the 887 micron continuum emission from the protoplanetary disks around 95 young stars in the young cluster NGC 2024. Emission was detected from 22 infrared sources, with flux densities from ~5 to 330 mJy; upper limits (at 3sigma) for the other 73 sources range from 3 to 24 mJy. For standard assumptions, the corresponding disk masses range from ~0.003 to 0.2Msolar, with upper limits at 0.002--0.01Msolar. The NGC 2024 sample has a slightly more populated tail at the high end of its disk mass distribution compared to other clusters, but without more information on the nature of the sample hosts it remains unclear if this difference is statistically significant or a superficial selection effect. Unlike in the Orion Trapezium, there is no evidence for a disk mass dependence on the (projected) separation from the massive star IRS2b in the NGC 2024 cluster. We suggest that this is due to either the cluster youth or a comparatively weaker photoionizing radiation field.Comment: ApJ, in pres

ALMA Observations of the Orion Proplyds

We present ALMA observations of protoplanetary disks ("proplyds") in the Orion Nebula Cluster. We imaged 5 individual fields at 856um containing 22 HST-identified proplyds and detected 21 of them. Eight of those disks were detected for the first time at submillimeter wavelengths, including the most prominent, well-known proplyd in the entire Orion Nebula, 114-426. Thermal dust emission in excess of any free-free component was measured in all but one of the detected disks, and ranged between 1-163 mJy, with resulting disk masses of 0.3-79 Mjup. An additional 26 stars with no prior evidence of associated disks in HST observations were also imaged within the 5 fields, but only 2 were detected. The disk mass upper limits for the undetected targets, which include OB stars, theta1Ori C and theta1Ori F, range from 0.1-0.6 Mjup. Combining these ALMA data with previous SMA observations, we find a lack of massive (>3 Mjup) disks in the extreme-UV dominated region of Orion, within 0.03 pc of O-star theta1Ori C. At larger separations from theta1Ori C, in the far-UV dominated region, there is a wide range of disk masses, similar to what is found in low-mass star forming regions. Taken together, these results suggest that a rapid dissipation of disk masses likely inhibits potential planet formation in the extreme-UV dominated regions of OB associations, but leaves disks in the far-UV dominated regions relatively unaffected.Comment: ApJ, in pres

ALMA Observations of Asymmetric Molecular Gas Emission from a Protoplanetary Disk in the Orion Nebula

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of molecular line emission from d216-0939, one of the largest and most massive protoplanetary disks in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). We model the spectrally resolved HCO$^+$ (4--3), CO (3--2), and HCN (4--3) lines observed at 0\farcs5 resolution to fit the temperature and density structure of the disk. We also weakly detect and spectrally resolve the CS (7--6) line but do not model it. The abundances we derive for CO and HCO$^+$ are generally consistent with expected values from chemical modeling of protoplanetary disks, while the HCN abundance is higher than expected. We dynamically measure the mass of the central star to be $2.17\pm0.07\,M_\odot$ which is inconsistent with the previously determined spectral type of K5. We also report the detection of a spatially unresolved high-velocity blue-shifted excess emission feature with a measurable positional offset from the central star, consistent with a Keplerian orbit at $60\pm20\,\mathrm{au}$. Using the integrated flux of the feature in HCO$^+$ (4--3), we estimate the total H$_2$ gas mass of this feature to be at least $1.8-8\,M_\mathrm{Jupiter}$, depending on the assumed temperature. The feature is due to a local temperature and/or density enhancement consistent with either a hydrodynamic vortex or the expected signature of the envelope of a forming protoplanet within the disk.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A

HUWE1 controls MCL1 stability to unleash AMBRA1-induced mitophagy

Receptor-mediated mitophagy is a crucial process involved in mitochondria quality control. AMBRA1 is a mitophagy receptor for the selective removal of damaged mitochondria in mammalian cells. A critical unresolved issue is how AMBRA1-mediated mitophagy is controlled in response to cellular stress. Here, we investigated the role of BCL2-family proteins on AMBRA1-dependent mitophagy and showed that MCL1 delays AMBRA1-dependent mitophagy. Indeed, MCL1 overexpression is sufficient to inhibit recruitment to mitochondria of the E3 Ubiquitin ligase HUWE1, a crucial dynamic partner of AMBRA1, upon AMBRA1-mediated mitophagy induction. In addition, we found that during mitophagy induced by AMBRA1, MCL1 levels decreased but were sustained by inhibition of the GSK-3β kinase, which delayed AMBRA1-mediated mitophagy. Also, we showed that MCL1 was phosphorylated by GSK-3β at a conserved GSK-3 phosphorylation site (S159) during AMBRA1-mediated mitophagy and that this event was accompanied by HUWE1-dependent MCL1 degradation. Altogether, our results demonstrate that MCL1 stability is regulated by the kinase GSK-3β and the E3 ubiquitin ligase HUWE1 in regulating AMBRA1-mediated mitophagy. Our work thus defines MCL1 as an upstream stress-sensitive protein, functional in AMBRA1-mediated mitophagy

Correction to: HUWE1 controls MCL1 stability to unleash AMBRA1-induced mitophagy

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

Bugs for atopy: the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG strategy for food allergy prevention and treatment in children

Food allergy (FA) is a major health issue for children living in Western countries. At this time the only proven treatment for FA is elimination of offender antigen from the diet. It is becoming clear that the development of gut microbiota exerts a profound influence on immune system maturation and tolerance acquisition. Increasing evidence suggests that perturbations in gut microbiota composition of infants are implicated in the pathogenesis of FA. These findings have unveiled new strategies to prevent and treat FA using probiotics bacteria or bacterial substance to limit T-helper (Th)/Th2 bias, which changes during the disease course. Selected probiotics administered during infancy may have a role in the prevention and treatment of FA. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) is the most studied probiotic in this field. Administration of LGG in early life have a role in FA prevention. Preliminary evidence shows that LGG accelerates oral tolerance acquisition in cow's milk allergic infants. We are understanding the mechanisms elicited by LGG and metabolites in influencing food allergen sensitization. A deeper definition of these mechanisms is opening the way to new immunotherapeutics for children affected by FA that can efficiently limit the disease burden