In vivo longitudinal study of rodent skeletal muscle atrophy using ultrasonography

Muscle atrophy is a widespread ill condition occurring in many diseases, which can reduce quality of life and increase morbidity and mortality. We developed a new method using non-invasive ultrasonography to measure soleus and gastrocnemius lateralis muscle atrophy in the hindlimb-unloaded rat, a well-Accepted model of muscle disuse. Soleus and gastrocnemius volumes were calculated using the conventional truncated-cone method and a newly-designed sinusoidal method. For Soleus muscle, the ultrasonographic volume determined in vivo with either method was linearly correlated to the volume determined ex-vivo from excised muscles as muscle weight-To-density ratio. For both soleus and gastrocnemius muscles, a strong linear correlation was obtained between the ultrasonographic volume and the muscle fiber cross-sectional area determined ex-vivo on muscle cryosections. Thus ultrasonography allowed the longitudinal in vivo evaluation of muscle atrophy progression during hindlimb unloading. This study validates ultrasonography as a powerful method for the evaluation of rodent muscle atrophy in vivo, which would prove useful in disease models and therapeutic trials

What is the future for agroforestry in Italy?

The successful promotion of agroforestry in Italy depends on both a recognition of tradition and the opportunities for innovation. In Italy, agroforestry has traditionally been a key component of landscape management. Complex systems, based on the integration among crops–livestock–fruit/forest trees, provided a wide variety of products (e.g. food, feed, fibers, fuelwood and timber) and other ecosystem services (e.g. soil erosion control and biodiversity preservation). Silvopastoral systems have been used for centuries and are still managed in marginal areas. The integration of fruits trees (in primis olive trees) with crops and grazing was widely practiced and is still profitable. Coltura promiscua was historically developed integrating fruit and forest trees and particularly multifunctional trees (e.g. Juglans regia L. and Prunus avium L.) to support vines and intercrops. Building on recent research, projects have also focused on innovation in agroforestry. The adoption of shade tolerant forage species and crops has been studied in silvopastoral and olive systems. Silvopastoral systems can significantly offset the greenhouse gas emissions produced by livestock and shield grazing animals from “heat waves”. Integration of fast growing timber trees (like Populus) in arable systems can help reverse the decline in plantation forestry in Italy. Finally, the constraints imposed by the EU agricultural policy, especially the prevalent provisions for monocrops severely limiting the introduction of innovative agroforestry approaches, are discussed. New political measures and certification actions are strongly required

Imballaggi alimentari: I requisiti di legge per i materiali destinati al contatto alimentare.

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Impact evaluation of innovative and sustainable extraction technologies in olive oil quality

Olive oil production in Italy boasts a thousand years old tradition and represents one of the most interesting field of Italian agriculture. Nowadays the olive oil extraction is carried out with technological industrial processes (continuous or discontinuous), even though the quality and the quantity of the obtained oil are still to be optimized, producing a significant economic loss for the oil sector. A possibility for trying to solve the problem could be the exploitation of biotechnology in olive oil industry, considering also eco-sustainability and lower environmental impact of the enzymes used. The aim of this work is to present the state-of-the-art about the application of natural enzymatic complexes in olive oil industry, referring also to the evaluation of analytical parameters related to extra virgin olive oil quality and authenticity

Comparison of two extraction methods (homogenization and MSPD) for analysis of bioactive amines in tomato products by liquid chromatography

Most amines in foods originate from corresponding amino acid which have undergone decarboxylation by putrefactive bacteria or lactic acid bacteria. When formed by microbial enzymatic decarboxylation of amino acids they are called “biogenic” and have detrimental effects on health. Many techniques have been developed for extraction and/or clean-up of bioactive amines in foods, icluding acidic or organic extraction as well as solid phase extraction. This study deals with the comparison of two different exctraction methods applied to tomato-based products very popular in italian alimentary habits. In particular, homogenization and matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) have been compared for quantitative determination of 8 non-volatile (putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, tyramine, tryptamine, serotonine, spermidine and spermine) bioactive amines in commercial samples. In both cases perchloric acid has been used for analytes extraction. The influence of different parameters have been evaluated. More precisely: 1. Homogenization: perchloric acid concentration (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 N); 2. MSPD: perchloric acid concentration (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 N) and final elution volume (5, 10, 15 and 20 ml). After a derivatization process with dansyl-chloride, samples were analyzed for amines quantitative determination on a C18-RP-HPLC-UV system, water/acetonitrile gradient and detected by UV absorption at l=254 nm with a total run time of 30 minutes. Method performances were tested and good results for linearity, repeatability and recoveries were obtained for all the 8 amines analyzed. Results have shown that putrescine is the most abundant amine, followed by tyramine, spermidine and tryptamine

Baseline Trace Metals Concentration in Monodonta turbinata Throughout Pontine Islands Archipelago, Italy

With the aim to assess the gastropod mollusk Monodonta turbinata as biomonitor of trace metal pollution in seawater of a central Tyrrhenian ecosystem (Pontine Islands archipelago, Italy), one hundred individuals were collected in five strategic locations in two sampling campaigns during 2011 and 2012. Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were measured in the mollusks and in seawater samples (soluble fraction) collected in the same sites in order to obtain the respective concentration factors (CFs). Two-way ANOVA was applied to verify the presence of site and time effects. Then, the significant time effect due to the two sampling campaigns was eliminated by defining six new variables (one for each metal) and applied multivariate statistics in order to obtain more reliable results. Subsequently, the levels of metal contamination of Pontine Islands were compared with the naturality concentration ranges (control charts) previously established for the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy; Conti et al. in Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:3640–3651, 2015). Monodonta resulted to be a very good accumulator of Cd (CF = 2100) and good accumulator of Cr (CF = 1570), Pb (CF = 1000) and Zn (CF = 1160). Levels of Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn in Monodonta from 2011 to 2012 decreased in the range from -22.8 of Pb to -41.9% of Cd in Ponza Frontone, Ponza Cala Fonte and Ponza harbor sites; on the contrary, Cr and Cu showed an increase of 3.4 and 63.7%, respectively, in the same sites from 2011 to 2012. A not univocal trend ofmetal bioaccumulation patterns between the two sampling campaigns (2011–2012) in the selected sites was observed. No one site resulted to be evidently more contaminated than another (i.e., Ponza harbor site as expected). In general, the metal levels in these marine areas are low and within the previously established baseline ranges for Tyrrhenian Sea (control charts). The results here reported can be used as a reference baseline levels for comparison with other marine geographical areas