Consequences of differences in pricing systems between regions on economic values and revenues of a national dairy cattle breeding scheme in Italy

Profit equations were used to determine the relative importance of different mil yield traits, with and without product limitations. Economic value were calculated for three different Italian payment systems: the “average” payment system emplyed by Unalat [Unalat, 1995. Accordo interprofessionale per la determinazione del prezzo del latte per il periodo dal 174/1994 al 31/3/1995. Roma, Italy. P.10 (personal correspondence).], payment system in areas of Parmesan cheeseproduction, and the payment system that is used in deriving the current economic weights. The Parmesan payment system resulted in the highest marginal value of milk with average composition in situations without herd output limitation. With aherd output limitation considering milk yield and fat content, marginal value decreased by 47 to 52%. The economic value of fat relative to that of protein ranged from -0.031 to 0.135 without herd output limitation and -0.432 to -0.020 with herd output limitation. The relative economic value of carries ranged from -0.012 to 0.07 without and -0.020 to 0.042 with herd output resctriction. The sensitivity analysis revealed taht the average herd yield levels for fat, and especially protein, are the main factors influencing the relative economic values. Losses, which occured from and economic repsonse of a breeding scheme due to changes in pricing systems ranged from 4.2 to 16.7%, whereas with the herd output limitation losses up tp 57.0% were found. Losses in economic response to selection indicated that there is potential for diversification of the breeding goal. The benefits of diversification at the population level have to be balanced against the costs of running a larger selection programme in deciding on a longer-term selection policy

CHANGE OF GENETIC PARAMETERS FOR NATIONAL EVALUATIONS OF ITALIAN HOLSTEIN AND EFFECT ON INTERNATIONAL PROOFS

PROCEEDINGS OF THE OPEN SESSIO

Modelling muscularity and body condition score curves of Italian Simmental in Emilia-Romagna dairy herds

Italian Simmental cattle is a dual-purpose breed whose breeding program included both production traits as well as body conformation (e.g., body size or muscularity) and functional characteristics. Selection for body conformation traits, in particular muscularity, must be seen not only for productive reason (associated to the dual-purpose attitude), but also as a functional trait. Several studies have reported a positive relationship between muscle coverage and fertility. The aim of the present study was to model the variation of muscularity and BCS curves across lactation of Italian Simmental dairy cows in Emilia Romagna dairy herds. Data were collected from 2656 Italian Simmental dairy cows from 324 dairy herds located in Emilia Romagna region, Northern Italy. Cows involved in the study were linear classified between the 2002/2003 to 2019/2020 dairy seasons. Muscularity and BCS curves were generated for each animal using random regression model by fitting different orders of Legendre polynomial on the fixed effect of days-in-milk and on the cow random effect. Moreover, age at linear scoring and herd-year of classification were fitted as fixed and random effects, respectively. The absolute muscularity growth rate (AMGR) was calculated as (Mux-Muy)/(tx-ty), where Mux and Mux are the corresponding predicted Muscularity at DIM x and y, and tx ty are the respective cow age. The relative muscularity growth rate was calculated as ln(Mux)-ln(Muy)/(tx-ty). Models with the lowest Akaike information criterion were those fitting a fixed cubic Legendre polynomial and a random linear polynomial. Results of absolute muscularity rate depicts a period of lowest muscularity across lactation corresponding to lactation peak, when animals have strong nutrients requirements; after this period, on average, cow’s muscularity recovered up to pre-lactation levels. The results regarding the relative muscularity rate variations of muscularity reported periods of lower muscularity between 82 to 271 days. This moment correspond with the period when foetal growth increase. Result reported in the current research indicate that random regression using Legendre polynomials can be effectively employed to predict muscularity and body condition score of dairy cows

Buccal mucosa cells as in vivo model to evaluate gefitinib activity in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of pretreatment and posttreatment expression in buccal mucosa cells of signal transduction proteins activated by epidermal growth factor receptor, including phosphorylated epidermal growth factor receptor (p-EGFR), phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-MAPK), and phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT), in predicting gefitinib activity in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients. Expression of the same proteins was also assessed on corresponding tissue samples for comparison. Moreover, EGFR gene mutations and copy number were analyzed. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Protein expression was evaluated by standard immunocytochemistry in buccal smears, obtained by scraping immediately before and after 2 weeks of gefitinib treatment, and in the available archival tumor specimens. EGFR gene mutations were evaluated by direct sequencing and gene copy number was determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Data were correlated with gefitinib toxicity and objective response. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients with pretreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer were enrolled and nine of these patients (15%) showed an objective response to gefitinib (including two complete responses). Toxicity (P = 0.025) and baseline p-AKT expression in buccal mucosa cells (P = 0.061) showed a potential predictive role. On the contrary, the probability of achieving an objective response was not affected by pretreatment expression of EGFR, p-EGFR, and p-MAPK, either in buccal mucosa or in tumor tissue. Responders showed a nonstatistically significant trend toward a more pronounced reduction in the expression of p-EGFR, p-MAPK, and p-AKT after gefitinib treatment. Among responders, five of six (83%) tumors showed EGFR gene mutation, whereas none of the tumors from patients with stable or progressive disease did (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Epithelial cells obtained from buccal mucosa may be used to assess the pharmacodynamic effect of EGFR-targeted agents, and pretreatment p-AKT expression may be a possible predictive biomarker of in vivo gefitinib activit