Future humanities

Future Humanities highlights the rise and convergence of new and critical humanities by publishing trans‐ and interdisciplinary research focused on diverse subjects and methodologies. These include, but are not limited to, philosophy, cultural and historical studies, religious studies, linguistics and semiotics, literature, and the arts as they intersect with various fields of study such as digital transformation and artificial intelligence, health ethics and biomedical technologies, climate change and biodiversity, and new media and communication. Special attention is given to the public dimension of these intersections and to the role that today's intellectuals play in their creation and development

Genetic reduction of antinutrients in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seed, increases nutrients and in vitro iron bioavailability without depressing main agronomic traits

In common bean, lectins, phytic acid, polyphenols and tannins exert major antinutritional effects when grains are consumed as a staple food. Reduced iron and zinc absorption, low protein digestibility and high toxicity at the intestinal level are the causes of their antinutritional effect. To improve grain nutritional characteristics, the “low phytic acid” (lpa) trait recently obtained in bean and carried by the bean mutant lpa-280-10, was introgressed into different lectin-free (lf) lines, a few of which were white-seeded. The “white seed coat” (wsc) trait is correlated with a reduced amount of tannins and polyphenols in bean seed, and thus higher Fe bioavailability. Lf + lpa bean lines producing colored and white seeds, were developed. Three of these lines were submitted to a first field performance test carried out in two Italian locations, and two of them to biochemical analyses that evaluated fourteen nutritional parameters. Seedling emergence and grain yield of lf + lpa beans were statistically comparable to those of wild type cultivars, confirming the absence of major agronomic defects associated with the lpa trait. The presence of the three genetic traits lf, lpa and wsc in the same genetic background leads to a significant increase of the content of important nutrients such as crude proteins, total zinc, free phosphorus, and, in part, total iron. Iron bioavailability (as measured in vitro via a Caco-2 cell model) in lf + lpa brown and black seeds, was not significantly different from that surveyed in the wild type colored parents, while, it was on average twelve times higher in lf + lpa white bean seeds. Up to now, the white-seeded lf + lpa beans seem thus to be the only materials having really improved nutritional qualities

Growth performance and quality traits of siberian sturgeon (A. baerii) juveniles fed diets including Nannochloropsis gaditana and Scenedesmus almeriensis microalgae meal

The demand for aquafeed grown exponentially in the last decade and is expected to increase further in the coming years (FAO 2018). The wild fish used for the fish meal and oil, currently used in feed formulated for carnivorous species, will be used in human consumption and less available for aquaculture. Among the potential ingredients of future use in aquafeed, microalgae represent a promising matrix, as characterized by nutritional, nutraceuticals and immunostimulant properties ( Camacho-Rodr\uedguez et al., 2017) . However the high production cost is a limiting factor for their use. The development of a microalgae-based biorefinery, able to use some by-products and agro-industrial waste to produce biomass would enable to limit the disposal costs sustained by the companies and to lower the production costs of the microalgae. The present research was undertaken to evaluate effect on growth response and fillet quality traits of sturgeon ( A. baerii) fed with two microalgae freeze-dried biomass Nannochloropsis gaditana and Scenedesmus almeriensis grown in Sinthetic Medium (SM) or in diluted Pig Manure (PM) and included in partial substitution of dietary fish meal and oil. Materials and methods Four complete diets were formulated to be grossly iso-proteic and iso-lipidic . A control diet (C ) was prepared using a blend of conventional animal and vegetal protein sources. The test diets coined respectively N. gaditana grown o n Synthetic Medium (NSM ), N. gaditana growno in pig manure (NPM), S. almeriensis grown on Synthetic Medium (SSM) and S. almeriensis grown on Pig Manure (SPM) were prepared by replacing the 10% of protein and lipid supplied by the blend of conventional protein and lipid-rich ingredients with microalgae . All the ingredients are mixed and pelleted by a cold extrusion process (70\ub0C). Each diet were randomly assigned to tank and tested in triplicate according to a monofactorial design. Microalgae dried biomass and diets were analized microbiologically and verified for nutritional quality. To carried out the feeding trials 240 j uvenile A. baerii ( average 12.8\ub10.3g each ) were randomly allocated among 15 circular tanks (16 fish/tank) in RAS system under controlled rearing conditions (temperature, 19\ub0C, DO 9.6 mg/L, artificial daylenght, 12h). Diets were offered in two daily meals with a fixed feed ratio (3 % body mass) over 6 weeks and each group were weighted every week under moderate anaesthesia. At the end of the trial, survival rate (%), Final Body Weight (FBW), Specific Growth Rate (SGR), Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), Feed Intake (FI), were evaluated. Furthermore, nine fish per feed treatment were analized to determine the biometric indeces , fillet proximate composition and oxidation parameters (SOD, CAT, GPX, 8-isoprostanes). Data were subjected to ANOVA and differences tested by the Tukey's test (P < 0.05). Results The macronutrient composition of the dried micoalgae biomass are reported in Table I. Microbiological analysis of microalgae biomass showed no difference in TBC (Total Bacterial Count) among the different thesis (average 5.9\ub10. 07 log CFU/g). E. coli were found below the detection limits of the method (< 2 log CFU/g) in N. gaditana grown on P M and S. almeriensis grown in both SM and PM, while its value was 3log CFU/g in N.gaditana grown on SM. Enterobacteriaceae resulted respectively 2.7 and 2.0 log CFU/g in N. gaditana and S. almeriensis grown on SM and under detection limits of the method (< 2 log CFU/g) in N. gaditana and S. almeriensis grown on PM . Salmonella resulted absent in all the microagae biomass. All the diets used in feeding trial resulted similar for their proximate, fatty acid composition and microbiological quality (data not reported). Dietary treatments significantly affected FBW that resulted sim ilar in the groups C (44.2g), NSM (44.7g) e NPM (43.9g), while it was significantly lower (P<0.05) in the SSM (40.8g) and SPM (40.5g) groups. However, did not result in significant changes in survival rate, SGR, FCR and of the biometric index (K), nor fillet composition. Also oxidation parameters (SOD, CAT, GPX, 8-isoprostanes) of fillet were not significantly affected by dietary treatments (P>0.05). Discussion and Conclusion Very few data are available on the use of microalgae biomass in acipenserids diet . Spirulina meal integrated with plant oils was found to be a good alternative to replace fish oil in white ( A. transmontanus) and siberian ( A. baerii ) sturgeon diet (Palmegiano et al., 2008; 2002) . The data observed in this study confirm the potential use of the microalgae N. gaditana and S. almeriensis in the siberian sturgeon diet, in fact all the experimental diets tested, both based on microalgae grown o n SM and o n PM ensure a balanced and complete level of the nutrient s, suitable for the gr owth of sturgeon juveniles and nutritional quality of the fillet , analogous to the control group fed with a fish meal/oil-based diet . Moreover the use of agrozootenic by-products, such as pig manure, for the growth of microalgae, appears to be a good alternative to common fertilizers, to reduce production costs. Acknowledgments This work has received funding from the European Union HORIZON 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the Grant Agreement No. 727874 (project SABANA)

Adenocarcinoma del duodeno: case report e considerazioni cliniche

Background: Duodenal tumors are rare neoplasms with nonspecific symptoms mimicking benign patologies. There aren’t many large study to determine the prognostic factors and survival of these tumors. Case report: We report a case of a 71 years old man, who was admitted to our observation with a duodenal ulceration that reveled being a duodenal adenocarcinoma. Discussion: These lesions are characteried by a vague symptomatology like weight loss, abdominal pain, jaundice and anemia. The diagnosys is often delayed because of these nonspecific clinical signs. The most frequent location is the second portion of the duodenum. Curative surgery is the gold standard of treatment with an improving survival. Pancreaticoduodenectomy and its variants is the intervention of choice, reserving duodenal segmentectmy only for distal tumors. The role of lymph node metastases is debated and not cleared. There aren’t sure prognostic factors regarding respectability and out come. Global survival at 3 and 5 years showed be better than those of other peripapillary tumors. Conclusions: The absence of randomized clinical trials and the relative rarity of these lesions preclude the compilation of guide line for therapeutic procedure

Stadiazione laparoscopica. Quale ruolo?

Background: Staging laparoscopy may be usefull avoiding unnecessary laparotomy in patints with advanced cancer. Methods: In the last 16 months diagnostic laparoscopy was performed in 8 patients. There were no major complications, no mortality and no trocar site metastasis were observed. Discussion: Staging laparoscopy has a great role in case of advanced pancreatic cancer to reduce the diagnosis of unresectable disease made by unnecessary laparotomy. Laparoscopic exploration can be proposed for advanced gastric cancer that can be associated with an high incidence of peritoneal involvement. Laparoscopy is also usefull to evaluate candidates for cytoreduction of peritoneal carcinomatosis and hypertermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy or evaluating advanced stage of ovarian cancer

Plant Biostimulants in Sustainable Potato Production: an Overview

In modern agriculture, the reduction of environmental impact, ensuring both high and stable yield and high quality, is a primary goal. To avoid an excessive use of external inputs, without compromising crop performance, the increase of soil nutrient availability and nutrient use efficiency is fundamental in a sustainable potato production. In this framework, the use of plant biostimulants, such as humic substances, seaweed and microalgal extracts, hydrolysed proteins and amino acids and microorganisms, could give a great help to farmers. Due to the agronomic importance and the keen interest in these substances, the aim of this review was to survey and summarise the outputs derived from scientific published studies on the combination of potato and plant biostimulants. In the literature, several in vitro, growth chamber, glasshouse and field experiments were reported. Field experiments were conducted in different environmental conditions, using different genotypes, and all the applied plant biostimulants showed beneficial effects on both productive and qualitative potato parameters. Seaweed extract and humic substances could also reduce the normal dose of fertiliser without reducing yield. Among quality features, tuber size, contents of protein, vitamin C, starch and phenols are the principal parameters influenced by plant biostimulants. Weaknesses related to the use of plant biostimulants were shown and were related to different effectiveness of products due to their origin, production process and microbial species. In addition, product/strain-genotype interactions have been shown. Environmental factor, agricultural practice and timing of treatment can influence the effectiveness of both microbial and non-microbial plant biostimulants

Plant Biostimulants in Sustainable Potato Production: an Overview

In modern agriculture, the reduction of environmental impact, ensuring both high and stable yield and high quality, is a primary goal. To avoid an excessive use of external inputs, without compromising crop performance, the increase of soil nutrient availability and nutrient use efficiency is fundamental in a sustainable potato production. In this framework, the use of plant biostimulants, such as humic substances, seaweed and microalgal extracts, hydrolysed proteins and amino acids and microorganisms, could give a great help to farmers. Due to the agronomic importance and the keen interest in these substances, the aim of this review was to survey and summarise the outputs derived from scientific published studies on the combination of potato and plant biostimulants. In the literature, several in vitro, growth chamber, glasshouse and field experiments were reported. Field experiments were conducted in different environmental conditions, using different genotypes, and all the applied plant biostimulants showed beneficial effects on both productive and qualitative potato parameters. Seaweed extract and humic substances could also reduce the normal dose of fertiliser without reducing yield. Among quality features, tuber size, contents of protein, vitamin C, starch and phenols are the principal parameters influenced by plant biostimulants. Weaknesses related to the use of plant biostimulants were shown and were related to different effectiveness of products due to their origin, production process and microbial species. In addition, product/strain-genotype interactions have been shown. Environmental factor, agricultural practice and timing of treatment can influence the effectiveness of both microbial and non-microbial plant biostimulants

Eccrine hidrocystoma of external ear canal

Hidrocystomas, eccrine or apocrine, are rare ductal cystic benign lesions of sweat gland. They are mainly found on the head and neck region. These uncommon cystic lesions are extremely rare in external ear. We describe the second case in English literature of an eccrine hidrocystoma inside the external auditory canal and discuss its origin