Proposal and validation of new indexes to evaluate maize silage fermentative quality in lab-scale ensiling conditions through the use of a receiver operating characteristic analysis

In the context of dairy cow feeding, it is increasingly important to know the quality of the maize silage used in the ration and therefore, it appears to be crucial optimizing the techniques necessary to assess it. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether some reference indexes, like the Flieg-Zimmer's (FZS), the German agricultural society's (DLG) and Vanbelle's scores, could properly estimate the quality of fermentations of maize silage made in a lab-scale ensiling system, and to calculate and validate new quality indexes suitable for lab-scale fermentations. The experimental dataset was obtained by analysing through near-infrared spectroscopy 522 samples of whole maize crop ensiled immediately after the harvest, using the vacuum-packing technique. The six (I1 \u2013 I6) new indexes were calculated on the basis of chemical and physical parameters as: pH, organic acids, ethanol, etc. All the indexes were tested for normality with the Shapiro\u2013Wilk test. In order to define the accuracy with which the new indexes ranked the maize silage on the basis of its fermentation quality, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed, using the FZS as gold standard test and dichotomizing the FZS in two levels according to a cut-off (FZS 360 g/kg) dry matter (DM). In the lab-scale silages the new indexes were normally distributed, whereas the reference indexes were not. The new indexes showed values of AUC ranging between 0.76 and 0.89, with the I5 index showing the best combination of sensitivity (0.87) and specificity (0.77) in discriminating between good and poor quality silage. The cut-off of the new indexes ranged between 45.0 and 57.4 points. The lab-scale silages were all excellent, no matter the category of DM. However, while FZS and DLG did not differ among the 3 categories, I1 \u2013 I6 were significantly higher in silages with low DM (P < 0.001). Silages with low DM had the highest concentrations of lactic acid (56.4 g/kg DM, P < 0.001), ammonia (61.4 g/kg DM, P < 0.001) and butyric acid (0.62 g/kg DM, P < 0.001) as well. Data confirmed that the new proposed indexes are promising in describing the fermentation quality of maize silage in lab-scale conditions

Approcci alla sintesi di nuovi bioconiugati per il targeting attivo di fenilpirrolochinolinoni, potenti agenti antiproliferativi

Sintesi di derivati fenilpirrolochinolinonici potenti agenti antiproliferativi impiegati come molecole farmacologicamente attive in un sistema di drug delivery. Il lavoro è concentrato sulla sintesi e coniugazione del linker peptidico catepsina b sensibile per la coniugazione ad un direzionante. Sono stati eseguiti saggi preliminari per valutare la stabilità del coniugato farmaco linker

Effect of different ventilation systems on beef cattle during the early fattening period

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the ventila tion system on the environment and the performance of beef cattle during the early fattening period. It was conducted on one group (n\ubc106) of young Charolais bulls from the first of August to the 9th of October. Animals were raised in a roofed, loose housing facility with straw bedding. The day after their arrival bulls (429 \ub1 24 kg) were grouped according to weight in 10 pens. Five pens were equipped with 2 ceiling fans (CF), whereas the other 5 had 2 horizontal fans (HF). The pens with different ventilation were separated by an empty pen with a windbreak. The trial lasted 70 days and it was divided into 3 periods. In the first and in the third periods all the fans were in operation, whereas in the second period they were switched off to see the effect of the ventila tion on the animals and on the environment. In order to measure the average daily weight gain (ADG) and the effect of ventilation on the cleanliness of animals, at the beginning and at the end of the trial the animals were weighed and evaluated for their body surface covered in manure: from 1 (75%). The temperature-humidity index (THI) was continuously measured in CF and HF pens and outside the facility. Each pen was periodically checked for the dry matter of the bedding (DMB). Data on ADG were subjected to ANOVA using the ventilation system as a fixed effect, whereas cleanliness data were subjected to the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test. Data on THI and on DMB were subjected to ANOVA using the combined effect of period and ventilation system. Period significantly affected THI (74.4 vs 75.2 vs 65.5, p<.001) that was the lowest in period 3, whereas THI was not significantly different between CF and HF. CF maintained a higher DMB (30.6 vs 45.1% ww; p<.001 and 22.2 vs 31.3% ww; p\ubc.002) in periods 1 and 3, respectively. Bulls raised with the CF ventilation system not only remained cleaner, increasing their degree of dirtiness of only 1.16 points compared to 3 points of the others (p<.001), but they showed also a significantly higher ADG (1.20 vs 1.36 kg/day; p\ubc.039) compared to animals raised with HF. These results indicate that CF help to improve the environmental conditions and the animal performance in hot weather conditions com pared to the horizontal ventilation systems, and that the THI is not always an appropriate index to predict the effect of temperature and humidity on animal heat stress

Metodo di controllo della risposta da parte di animali da reddito alla somministrazione di una razione alimentare

Il presente trovato si riferisce ad un metodo (10) di controllo della risposta da parte di animali da reddito alla somministrazione di una razione alimentare, che si caratterizza per il fatto di comprendere le seguenti operazioni: - stabilire lungo un fronte di mangiatoia (11) due vicine serie di punti di campionamento (12, 13), una prima serie di punti di campionamento (12) raggiunti o raggiungibili da un animale, ed una seconda serie di punti di campionamento (13) non raggiunti o non raggiungibili da un animale, - per ciascuna di tali serie di punti di campionamento (12, 13) effettuare, su una razione distribuita, campionamenti ripetuti su gruppi (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21) di affiancati punti di campionamento, primi gruppi (14, 15, 16, 17) appartenenti a detta prima serie (12), e secondi gruppi (18, 19, 20, 21) appartenenti a detta seconda serie (13), - per ciascuna rilevazione in ciascun punto di campionamento, si rilevano i seguenti parametri: a) almeno un parametro relativo alla percentuale di alimento trattenuto o passante da un setaccio; b) lunghezza media geometrica della fibra contenuta nella razione; c) contenuto in proteina greggia; d) contenuto in Neutral Detergent Fiber, e) contenuto in Amido

Antamanide Analogs as Potential Inhibitors of Tyrosinase

The tyrosinase enzyme, which catalyzes the hydroxylation of monophenols and the oxidation of o-diphenols, is typically involved in the synthesis of the dark product melanin starting from the amino acid tyrosine. Contributing to the browning of plant and fruit tissues and to the hyperpigmentation of the skin, leading to melasma or age spots, the research of possible tyrosinase inhibitors has attracted much interest in agri-food, cosmetic, and medicinal industries. In this study, we analyzed the capability of antamanide, a mushroom bioactive cyclic decapeptide, and some of its glycine derivatives, compared to that of pseudostellarin A, a known tyrosinase inhibitor, to hinder tyrosinase activity by using a spectrophotometric method. Additionally, computational docking studies were performed in order to elucidate the interactions occurring with the tyrosinase catalytic site. Our results show that antamanide did not exert any inhibitory activity. On the contrary, the three glycine derivatives AG9, AG6, and AOG9, which differ from each other by the position of a glycine that substitutes phenylalanine in the parent molecule, improving water solubility and flexibility, showed tyrosinase inhibition by spectrophotometric assays. Analytical data were confirmed by computational studies