Evaluation of concentration of heavy metals in animal rearing system

Animal manure is one of the diffusion routes of heavy metals and metalloids into the environment, where the soil can accumulate them. Heavy metals and metalloids can then be released into groundwater sources, be absorbed by crops, and enter the food chain with negative effects for human and animal health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of heavy metals and mineral nutrients from modern animal rearing systems in order to develop effective strategies to increase the sustainability. Samples of feed (n\ubc24: n\ubc16 from swine, n\ubc8 from cattle), faeces (n\ubc120: n\ubc80 from swine, n\ubc40 from cattle) and water (n\ubc8), were collected from eight typical intensive swine and cattle farms located in northern Italy. All samples were analysed for the humidity and the principal components. The samples were also dried, mineralised, and analysed by ICP-MS to detect the following elements: Na, Mg, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Cd, and Pb. The swine diets represented the highest amounts of Zn and Cu, with an average concentration for the finishing and weaning phases of Zn: 1737.9 \ub1 301.3; 821.7 \ub1 301.3; Cu: 133.8 \ub1 11.6; 160.1 \ub1 11.6 mg/kg as fed, respectively. The faecal content reflected the heavy metal composition from feed. The average content of cattle diets of Zn and Cu did not result higher than the maximum permitted levels. We observed that the swine manure represented the sources of Zn and Cu output into the environment. The Zn and Cu content should be monitored strictly in line with agroecology principles

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals from wastewater through a Typha latifolia and Thelypteris palustris phytoremediation system

Animal production is a source of heavy metals in livestock wastewater and also a key link in the food chain, with negative impacts on human and animal health. In intensive animal production systems, the most critical elements are zinc and copper. In order to development of innovative non-invasive strategies to reduce the environmental impact of livestock, this study assessed the ability of two plants, Typha latifolia and Thelypteris palustris, to bioaccumulate the heavy metals used in animal nutrition, from wastewater. Four mesocosms (width 2.0\u202fm, length 2.0\u202fm, 695\u202fL of water, 210\u202fkg of soil) were assembled outdoors at the Botanical Garden. Two of them were planted with T. latifolia (TL treated, n\u202f=\u202f30; TL control, n\u202f=\u202f30) and two with T. palustris (TP treated, n\u202f=\u202f60; TP control, n\u202f=\u202f60). In T0 a solution of a mineral additive premix (Zn 44.02\u202fmg/L; Cu 8.63\u202fmg/L) was dissolved in the treated mesocosms. At T0, d 15 (T1) and d 45 (T2) samples of roots, leaves, stems, soil and water were collected, dried, mineralized and analyzed using ICP-MS in order to obtain HMs content. We found that T. latifolia and T. palustris accumulate and translocate Zn, Cu from contaminated wastewater into plant tissues in a way that is directly related to the exposure time (T2 for Zn: 271.64\u202f\ub1\u202f17.70, 409.26\u202f\ub1\u202f17.70 for Cu: 47.54\u202f\ub1\u202f3.56, 105.58\u202f\ub1\u202f3.56\u202fmg/kg of DM, respectively). No visual toxicity signs were observed during the experimental period. This phytoremediation approach could be used as an eco-sustainable approach to counteract the output of heavy metals

Evaluation of leonardite as a feed additive on lipid metabolism and growth of weaned piglets

We evaluated the effects of leonardite supplementation, mainly composed of humic acids (HAs), as a functional feed additive in weaned piglets. One hundred and twenty piglets (Large Withe 7 Landrace) were weaned at 28\ub12 days, and randomly divided into two groups (6 pens per group, 10 piglets per pen). After one week of adaptation, for 40 days groups were fed a control diet (CTRL) and an HA enriched diet (0.25% of leonardite; HAG). Body weight (BW), average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured throughout the experimental period. On the last day of the trial four piglets per pen were randomly selected and the blood was collected to evaluate the serum metabolic profile and diamine oxidase content. Chemical analyses showed that leonardite was characterized by a high content of ash 23.27% (as-fed basis), polyphenolic content of 35.18\ub13.91 mg TAEq/g, and an antioxidant capacity of 73.31\ub18.22 \u3bcmol TroloxEq/g. The HAG group showed an increase in BW, ADG and ADFI (P<0.01) compared to the CTRL group during the experimental period. In terms of the serum metabolic profile, the HAG group showed a significant increase in total protein content (P<0.001), albumin (P<0.001), albumin/globulin ratio (P<0.01), phosphatase alkaline (P<0.01), calcium, phosphorus and magnesium (P<0.05) compared to the CTRL group. A modulation in the serum lipid profile was recorded. The HAG group showed a decrease in total triglycerides (P<0.05) with higher total cholesterol (P<0.05), however only high-density lipoprotein showed a significant increase (P<0.001) compared to the CTRL group. No significant differences in the amount of diamine oxidase were found between groups. In conclusion, leonardite inclusion in the diet at 0.25% was shown to have a positive effect on the serum lipid profile and animal growth. This thus suggests that leonardite can be considered as a new feed additive, which improves the health and performance of weaned piglets

Chd1 protects genome integrity at promoters to sustain hypertranscription in embryonic stem cells

Stem and progenitor cells undergo a global elevation of nascent transcription, or hyper- transcription, during key developmental transitions involving rapid cell proliferation. The chromatin remodeler Chd1 mediates hypertranscription in pluripotent cells but its mechanism of action remains poorly understood. Here we report a novel role for Chd1 in protecting genome integrity at promoter regions by preventing DNA double-stranded break (DSB) accumulation in ES cells. Chd1 interacts with several DNA repair factors including Atm, Parp1, Kap1 and Topoisomerase 2βand its absence leads to an accumulation of DSBs at Chd1-bound Pol II-transcribed genes and rDNA. Genes prone to DNA breaks in Chd1 KO ES cells are longer genes with GC-rich promoters, a more labile nucleosomal structure and roles in chromatin regulation, transcription and signaling. These results reveal a vulnerability of hypertranscribing stem cells to accumulation of endogenous DNA breaks, with important implications for developmental and cancer biology

Deformed General Relativity and Torsion

We argue that the natural framework for embedding the ideas of deformed, or doubly, special relativity (DSR) into a curved spacetime is a generalisation of Einstein-Cartan theory, considered by Stelle and West. Instead of interpreting the noncommuting "spacetime coordinates" of the Snyder algebra as endowing spacetime with a fundamentally noncommutative structure, we are led to consider a connection with torsion in this framework. This may lead to the usual ambiguities in minimal coupling. We note that observable violations of charge conservation induced by torsion should happen on a time scale of 10^3 s, which seems to rule out these modifications as a serious theory. Our considerations show, however, that the noncommutativity of translations in the Snyder algebra need not correspond to noncommutative spacetime in the usual sense.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure, revtex; expanded sections 3 and 4 for clarity, moved material to appendix B, corrected a few minor error

Oxaliplatin, fluorouracil and leucovorin for advanced biliary system adenocarcinomas: a prospective phase II trial

We studied the activity of combined oxaliplatin and fluorouracil-leucovorin in 16 consecutive patients with advanced biliary tract adenocarcinomas. The disease control rate (responses and stable disease) was 56% (95% confidence interval, 29–84%) and the median overall survival time was 9.5 months (range 0.9–26.8+). Therefore, this regimen might be active in biliary adenocarcinomas with further evaluation necessary

Prognostic impact of matched preoperative plasma and serum VEGF in patients with primary colorectal carcinoma

In serum, the major part of vascular endothelial growth factor derives from in vitro degranulation of granulocytes and platelets. Therefore, plasma may be preferred for vascular endothelial growth factor measurements. However, which specimen is the best predictor of survival is still debated. The present study analyzed the prognostic value of matched preoperative serum and plasma vascular endothelial growth factor concentrations in patients with colorectal cancer. To establish the reference range among healthy people, vascular endothelial growth factor was analyzed in 50 matched EDTA-plasma and serum samples from healthy blood donors. Preoperatively, in 524 patients with colorectal cancer, matched plasma and serum vascular endothelial growth factor concentrations were analyzed. In the colorectal cancer patients, the median plasma vascular endothelial growth factor concentration (44 pg ml−1) was significantly (P=0.01) higher than the median plasma vascular endothelial growth factor concentration (30 pg ml−1) in the healthy blood donors. In serum, no significant (P=0.30) difference in the median vascular endothelial growth factor concentration was found between colorectal cancer patients (268 pg ml−1) and healthy blood donors (220 pg ml−1). The preoperative vascular endothelial growth factor concentrations were dichotomized by the 95th percentile of the healthy blood donors (plasma=112 pg ml−1, serum=533 pg ml−1). In univariate survival analyses, both high plasma vascular endothelial growth factor (>112 pg ml−1) and high serum vascular endothelial growth factor (>533 pg ml−1) predicted a reduced survival. In multivariate survival analyses, high serum vascular endothelial growth factor (>533 pg ml−1) independently predicted a reduced survival (HR=1.65, P=0.015), while high plasma vascular endothelial growth factor (>112 pg ml−1) did not (HR=1.27, P=0.23). This study indicates that preoperative serum vascular endothelial growth factor apparently is a better predictor of overall survival than the preoperative plasma vascular endothelial growth factor