Sorghum used to fodder production in dry farming

In Italy water deficient increase forward to cultivate resistant crops for forage production. In the present research it has been studied the opportunity of using 2 varieties of sorghum: the "Sweet Creek", used as green forage and for silage and the "True", with thinner stalks, used as hay. The fodder production and the dhurrin content during the vegetative phase of the 2 varieties were recorded. Production and chemical characteristics of green and preserved fodders (hay and silage) were determined; moreover the nutritive value and the in vitro digestibility of DM were measured. Results confirm the good adaptation of the sorghum to the water limited conditions as those ones in which the test has been carried out; green and preserved fodders yield were high, however during the hay harvest problems due to the different drying dynamics of leaves and stalks were found. The dhurrin content of these two varieties, even in the young phase, allows the use for grazing of the regrown, which have good bunching

The Ljapunov-Schmidt reduction for some critical problems

This is a survey about the application of the Ljapunov-Schmidt reduction for some critical problems

Sign-changing tower of bubbles for a sinh-Poisson equation with asymmetric exponents

Motivated by the statistical mechanics description of stationary 2D-turbulence, for a sinh-Poisson type equation with asymmetric nonlinearity, we construct a concentrating solution sequence in the form of a tower of singular Liouville bubbles, each of which has a different degeneracy exponent. The asymmetry parameter $\gamma\in(0,1]$ corresponds to the ratio between the intensity of the negatively rotating vortices and the intensity of the positively rotating vortices. Our solutions correspond to a superposition of highly concentrated vortex configurations of alternating orientation; they extend in a nontrivial way some known results for $\gamma=1$. Thus, by analyzing the case $\gamma\neq1$ we emphasize specific properties of the physically relevant parameter $\gamma$ in the vortex concentration phenomena

Olive oil calcium soaps and rumen protected methionine in the diet of lactating ewes: effect on milk quality

Eight Massese ewes were fed 4 diets with alfalfa hay as the forage (73% on the DM basis): 1) control diet (C); 2) diet C supplemented with olive oil calcium soaps, 50 g/d (L); 3) diet C supplemented with protected methionine, 5 g/d (M) or 4) plus both soaps and methionine (ML); the experimenthal design was a 4x4 Latin square with 2 replicates per diet. During the experimental periods, lasting one week each, the ewes were milked twice daily (8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.). Milk yield was not affected by diet quality, but milk fat percentage and 6.5% fat corrected milk yield were higher in diets L, M and ML with respect to diet C (P<0.05). Milk protein content was depressed and blood urea increased following the Ca soap diet alone or with protected methionine. Diet M worsened (P lesser than 0.05) Rennet clotting time (r) and curd firmness after 30 minutes (A30). Saturated fatty acids C10:0, C12:0, C14:0 and C16:0 were depressed in milk fat with the Ca soap supple- mented diet, some of them significantly. C18:1 increased (P lesser than 0.05) with diet L only, whereas the association of Ca salts and methionine in diet ML significantly affected the linoleic acid and CLA content. It is concluded that the use of olive oil fatty acids as a protected fat source seems to improve the milk fatty acid char- acteristics towards a safer pattern, but the presence of this type of Ca salts in the diet appears to worsen the metabol- ic utilisation of amino acids

Don't forget the jumper's knee in the young sportsman: evaluation of patellar tendinopathy with a high frequency ultrasound probe.

8Patellar tendinopathy, or Jumper's knee, is a painful knee condition caused by inflammation of the patella tendon. This condition is most frequently observed in subjects who play sports that require repetitive regular jumping. Jumper's knee is frequently misdiagnosed as a minor injury and many athletes, like our patient, keep on training and competing and either tend to ignore the injury or attempt to treat it themselves. However, jumper's knee is a serious condition that requires a correct and timely diagnosis, which often necessitates ultrasound investigation in order to start the most appropriate treatment.openopenRuaro B; Cutolo M; Alessandri E; Zaottini F; Picasso R; Pistoia F; Ferrari G; Martinoli C.Ruaro, B; Cutolo, M; Alessandri, E; Zaottini, F; Picasso, R; Pistoia, F; Ferrari, G; Martinoli, C

The combined use of VIGl@ct (R) (bioMerieux) and fluorescent amplified length fragment polymorphisms in the investigation of potential outbreaks

Even with good surveillance programmes, hospital-acquired infections (HAls) are not always recognized and this may lead to an outbreak. In order to reduce this risk, we propose a model for prompt detection of HAls, based on the use of a real-time epidemiological information system called VIGI@ct (R) (bioMerieux, Las Balmas, France) and on the rapid confirmation or exclusion of the genetic relationship among pathogens using fluorescent amplified length fragment polymorphism (f-AFLP) microbial fingerprinting. We present the results of one year's experience with the system, which identified a total, of 306 suspicious HAls. Of these, 281 (92%) were 'confirmed' by clinical evidence, 16 (5%) were considered to be simple colonization and the tatter nine (3%) were archived as 'not answered' because of the absence of the physician's cooperation. There were seven suspected outbreaks; of these, f-AFLP analysis confirmed the clonal relationship among the isolates in four cases: outbreak 1 (four isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa), outbreak 2 (three Escherichia coli isolates), outbreak 6 (two Candida parapsilosis isolates) and outbreak 7 (30 ESPL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae). Based on our results, we conclude that the combination of VIGI@ct (R) and f-AFLP is useful in the rapid assessment of an outbreak due to Gram-positive or Gramnegative bacteria and yeasts. (C) 2007 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Unusual MRI findings in an immunocompetent patient with EBV encephalitis: a case report

BACKGROUND: It is well-known that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can affect the central nervous system (CNS). CASE PRESENTATION: Herein the authors report unusual timely Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain scan findings in an immunocompetent patient with EBV encephalitis. Diffusion weighted MRI sequence performed during the acute phase of the disease was normal, whereas the Fast Relaxation Fast Spin Echo T2 image showed diffuse signal intensity changes in white matter. The enhancement pattern suggested an inflammatory response restricted to the brain microcirculation. Acyclovir and corticosteroid therapy was administered. After three weeks, all signal intensities returned to normal and the patient showed clinical recovery. CONCLUSION: This report demonstrates that EBV in an immunocompetent adult can present with diffuse, reversible brain white matter involvement in the acute phase of mononucleosis. Moreover, our case suggests that a negative DWI sequence is associated with a favorable improvement in severe EBV CNS infection. More extensive studies are needed to assess what other instrumental data can help to distinguish viral lesions from other causes in the acute phase of diseas