RNA sequencing-based whole-transcriptome analysis of friesian cattle fed with grape pomace-supplemented diet

Grape pomace (GPO), the main by-product of the wine making process, is a rich source of polyphenols with potent antioxidant properties. Recently, GPO has emerged as a potential feed additive in livestock nutrition, with several reports describing its beneficial effects on animals’ overall health status or production traits. However, little is known about it from a molecular biology standpoint. In the present study, we report the first RNA sequencing-based whole-transcriptome profiling of Friesian calves fed with a GPO-supplemented diet. We identified 367 differentially expressed genes (p < 0.05) in the GPO-supplemented calves (n = 5), when compared with unsupplemented control group (n = 5). The pathway analysis showed that ‘cholesterol lipid biosynthesis’ was the most negatively-enriched (p < 0.001) pathway in the GPO-supplemented animals. In specific terms, five important genes coding for cholesterol biosynthesis enzymes, namely the Farnesyl-diphosphate Farnesyltransferase 1 (FDFT-1), Squalene Epoxidase (SQLE), NAD(P)-dependent Steroid Dehydrogenase-like (NSDHL), Methylsterol Monooxygenase (MSMO)-1, and Sterol-C5-desaturase (SC5D), two major transcription factors (the Sterol Regulatory Element-binding Transcription Factor 1 and 2), as well as the Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor (LDLR), were all downregulated following GPO supplementation. Such an effect was mirrored by a reduction of blood cholesterol levels (p = 0.07) and a lowered (p < 0.001) Malondialdehyde (lipid oxidation marker) level in carcasses. We provide evidence on the effects of GPO-supplemented diets on the whole-transcriptome signature in veal calves, which mainly reflects an antioxidant activity

Whole blood transcriptome analysis in ewes fed with hemp seed supplemented diet

the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa L.) has a long tradition of being used for many di erent purposes such as industry, medicine and nutrition. In particular, because hemp seed (HS) is rich in oil protein and considerable amounts of dietary ber, vitamins and minerals that are particularly suitable also for animal nutrition. Di erent studies have evaluated HS on qualitative and quantitative properties of livestock products but as of today, nobody has investigated the molecular pathway behind HS supplementation in farm animals. Thus, in this study, we will report the rst RNA sequencing of the whole-blood transcriptome of ewes fed either with a controlled diet (CTR, n = 5) or with a diet supplemented with 5% of hemp seed (HSG, n = 5). Applying a false discovery rate (FDR) &lt;0.05 and a log2FC either higher than 0.5 or lower than −0.5, we identi ed 314 di erentially regulated genes in the HS-supplemented group compared to the CTR group. Several genes encoding for di erent subunits belonging to the complex I, II, III, IV and ATP-synthase were up-regulated making oxidative phosphorylation (FDR: 3.05e-19) and thermogenesis (FDR: 2.17e-16) the highest up-regulated pathways in our study. Moreover, we found up-regulation in di erent genes involved in lactose biosyntheses such as GALK1 and PGM1 and, as a result, we observed a statistically higher lactose percentage in the HSG group (p &lt; 0.05). These results indicate that HS supplementation positively a ects the energy production pathway in lactating ewes conferring them also more resistance to adverse climatic conditions such as low temperature. Finally, the higher milk lactose content makes the derived dairy products more pro table

Innovative Vibrating Hydraulic Dredge for Striped Venus (Chamelea gallina) Fishing

Special issue Evaluation of New Technological Solutions in Agriculture.-- 16 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables, supplementary materials https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/agriengineering4010001/s1.-- Data Availability Statement: Not applicableThis work proposes the experimentation of an innovative hydraulic dredge for clam fishing (Chamelea gallina) in the Adriatic Sea (Italy). This innovative gear aimed at increasing the selectivity of the typical hydraulic dredge used currently, while at the same reducing the impact on benthos through the conception, installation, and experimentation of innovative technological solutions, consisting mainly of a vibrating bottom panel on the dredge and a “warning device” on the dredge mouth. Comparative experiments of the traditional vs. the modified gear, employing two boats fishing in parallel on the northern coast of Abruzzi (Adriatic Sea) and contrasting the catch with both paired comparisons and through modelling, showed that the innovative hydraulic dredge retains fewer undersize clams while yielding similar amounts of commercial product, moreover of higher quality; at the same time, it takes on board less discard, and catches significantly less vagile fauna. In short, the innovative gear is gaining five times over a list of six parameters considered as positive and/or advantageous for the clam fishery. The results allow proposals of potential improvements to clam-fishing instruments to make the selection processes more effective while promoting a lower impacting fishery, which is essential for clam managementThis work has been funded by the Italian Ministry for Policies regarding Food, Agriculture and Forestry (MiPAAF), within the framework of the measure 1.39 of the program FEAMP 2014 2020With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)Peer reviewe

La gestione dei servizi dell'Unione dei Comuni della Valdera per il triennio 2016-18

L’Unione dei Comuni è la forma associativa tra Comuni maggiormente favorita dall’ordinamento. Sia la normativa nazionale che quella regionale le attribuiscono alcuni vantaggi rispetto ad altre soluzioni di integrazione amministrativa, tra cui l’esenzione dal Patto di Stabilità interno, la concessione di più elevati contributi per i servizi e le funzioni svolte in forma associata, minori restrizioni allo sviluppo di nuove attività. Il presente lavoro si propone di offrire una panoramica sulla forma associativa scelta dai Comuni della Valdera, analizzandone struttura, gestione e controllo. Nel primo capitolo viene analizzata la struttura adottata dall’Unione Valdera, nelle finalità che si propone e nella composizione dei suoi organi, mentre nel secondo capitolo vengono esposti i servizi che l’Unione offre ai cittadini ed alle imprese che fanno parte del territorio della Valdera. Nel terzo capitolo vengono esposti gli indirizzi ed obiettivi del Documento unico di programmazione (DUP) per il triennio 2016 - 2018 con i relativi indicatori,confrontando per il 2016 i dati attesi degli indicatori con quelli rilevati. Nel quarto capitolo, infine, viene illustrato il parere al bilancio di previsione 2017- 2019, per fornire una presentazione del controllo svolto da parte dell’Organo di revisione

Monoclonal antibodies produced against Trypanosoma equiperdum and Trypanosoma evansi recognize both species

Los tripanosomas africanos T. equiperdum y T. evansi son dos especies patógenas del caballo con una amplia distribución en los países en áreas tropicales y subtropicales de África, Asia y parte de Europa para los primeros y en África, Asia y América para los segundos. Estas especies son los agentes etiológicos de la Dourina o Morbo Coital Maligno y de la Surra o Derrengadura respectivamente, están morfológica y antigénicamente relacionadas. Sólo es posible diferenciar las dos especies por la sintomatología clínica y el mecanismo de transmisión de la infección, la cual es por vía coital la primera y por picadura de insectos hematófagos la segunda. Se prepararon hibridomas secretantes de anticuerpos monoclonales contra T. equiperdum y T. evansi. Se usó como antígenos hidrolizados totales de ambas especies y se inocularon intraperitonealmente en ratones hembras Balb/c, sin adjuvante. De la preparación de los hibridomas se clonaron y subclonaron siete hibridomas positivos para cada una de las especies de tripanosomas en estudio. Los anticuerpos monoclonales derivados de los hibridomas para ambas especies mostraron tener relativamente bajos títulos, (1:80), ser de la clase IgM, tener una alta reactividad cruzada con antígenos de ambas especies y ser incapaces de reaccionar frente antígenos separados por electroforesis en geles de poliacrilamida en condiciones desnaturantes. Mostraron una adecuada capacidad de reacción frente antígenos acoplados a placas de microtitulación en ensayos de ELISA. Nuestros resultados demuestran y reafirman que ambas especies son antigénicamente semejantes, probablemente relacionada con la estructura de la parte glicosídica de las proteínas variables de superficie. Estos anticuerpos monoclonales pueden ser útiles como herramientas para la identificación y detección de estas especies de tripanosomas donde ambas especies no se encuentran en infecciones mixtas (Europa del Este y América).82 - 93BimestralThe African trypanosomes T. equiperdum and T. evansi are two pathogenic species in horses with a wide distribution in countries in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Asia and part of Europe in the first case and in Africa, Asia and America for the second. These species are the etiological agents of Dourine and Surra or Derrengadera respectively; both are morphologically and antigenically related. It is only possible to differentiate both species by the clinical symptoms and the mechanism of transmission of the infection, which is through coitus for T. equiperdum and by insect bites by hematophagous flies for T. evansi. Secreting hybrids of monoclonal antibodies were prepared against T. equiperdum and T. evansi. They were used a total hydrolyzed antigens for both species and injected in female Balb/c mice intraperitoneally without adjuvant. The hybridomas were cloned and subcloned and seven positive hybridomas were obtained for each trypanosome species. The monoclonal antibodies for both species proved to have relatively low titles (1:80); to be of the IgM class and to have a high cross reactivity with antigens of both species. They were unable to react against separated antigens in western blotting. They reacted appropriately against antigens in ELISA. Our results demonstrate that both species are antigenically very similar, probably due to the structure of the glycosidic moiety of the VSG. These monoclonal antibodies can be useful as tools for the identification and detection of these Trypanosoma species where they do not occur in mixed infections (East Europe and America)

Heterogeneous models for an early discrimination between sepsis and non-infective SIRS in medical ward patients: a pilot study

The objective of the study was to determine the accuracy of phospholipase A2 group II (PLA2-II), interferon-gamma-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), and procalcitonin (PCT) plasma levels in early ruling in/out of sepsis among systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) patients. Biomarker levels were determined in 80 SIRS patients during the first 4 h of admission to the medical ward. The final diagnosis of sepsis or non-infective SIRS was issued according to good clinical practice. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for sepsis diagnosis were assessed. The optimal biomarker combinations with clinical variables were investigated by logistic regression and decision tree (CART). PLA2-II, IP-10 and PCT, but not Ang-2, were significantly higher in septic (n = 60) than in non-infective SIRS (n = 20) patients (P 64 0.001, 0.027, and 0.002, respectively). PLA2-II PPV and NPV were 88 and 86 %, respectively. The corresponding figures were 100 and 31 % for IP-10, and 93 and 35 % for PCT. Binary logistic regression model had 100 % PPV and NPV, while manual and software-generated CART reached an overall accuracy of 95 and 98 %, respectively, both with 100 % NPV. PLA2-II and IP-10 associated with clinical variables in regression or decision tree heterogeneous models may be valuable biomarkers for sepsis diagnosis in SIRS patients admitted to medical ward (MW). Further studies are needed to introduce them into clinical practice

Aging of Self-Assembled Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystal Superlattices: Effects on Photoluminescence and Energy Transfer

Excitonic coupling, electronic coupling, and cooperative interactions in self-assembled lead halide perovskite nanocrystals were reported to give rise to a red-shifted collective emission peak with accelerated dynamics. Here we report that similar spectroscopic features could appear as a result of the nanocrystal reactivity within the self-assembled superlattices. This is demonstrated by studying CsPbBr3 nanocrystal superlattices over time with room-temperature and cryogenic micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microscopy. It is shown that a gradual contraction of the superlattices and subsequent coalescence of the nanocrystals occurs over several days of keeping such structures under vacuum. As a result, a narrow, low-energy emission peak is observed at 4 K with a concomitant shortening of the photoluminescence lifetime due to the energy transfer between nanocrystals. When exposed to air, self-assembled CsPbBr3 nanocrystals develop bulk-like CsPbBr3 particles on top of the superlattices. At 4 K, these particles produce a distribution of narrow, low-energy emission peaks with short lifetimes and excitation fluence-dependent, oscillatory decays. Overall, the aging of CsPbBr3 nanocrystal assemblies dramatically alters their emission properties and that should not be overlooked when studying collective optoelectronic phenomena nor confused with superfluorescence effects

Aging of Self-Assembled Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystal Superlattices: Effects on Photoluminescence and Energy Transfer.

Excitonic coupling, electronic coupling, and cooperative interactions in self-assembled lead halide perovskite nanocrystals were reported to give rise to a red-shifted collective emission peak with accelerated dynamics. Here we report that similar spectroscopic features could appear as a result of the nanocrystal reactivity within the self-assembled superlattices. This is demonstrated by studying CsPbBr3 nanocrystal superlattices over time with room-temperature and cryogenic micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microscopy. It is shown that a gradual contraction of the superlattices and subsequent coalescence of the nanocrystals occurs over several days of keeping such structures under vacuum. As a result, a narrow, low-energy emission peak is observed at 4 K with a concomitant shortening of the photoluminescence lifetime due to the energy transfer between nanocrystals. When exposed to air, self-assembled CsPbBr3 nanocrystals develop bulk-like CsPbBr3 particles on top of the superlattices. At 4 K, these particles produce a distribution of narrow, low-energy emission peaks with short lifetimes and excitation fluence-dependent, oscillatory decays. Overall, the aging of CsPbBr3 nanocrystal assemblies dramatically alters their emission properties and that should not be overlooked when studying collective optoelectronic phenomena nor confused with superfluorescence effects