GPS/GSM collars monitoring of red deer in the Tosco-Emiliano Apennine Mountains

Nine red deer hinds were captured in the Nature Reserve of Acquerino-Cantagallo in the Apennine mountains and fitted with GPS/GSM collars to monitor spatial movement and habitat use. Preliminary results of interfix distances in the first 48 hours after capture showed highly variable distances immediately after release and a decreasing during the following day. Possible effects of capture were evaluated

Field bean (Vicia faba var. minor) as a protein feed for growing lambs with and without protected lysine and methionine supplementation

Thirty-two Appenninica lambs were submitted to a growth trial from day 60 to day 110 of age (on average) and the com- position of gains was estimated by means of the comparative slaughter technique. Sixteen different diets, based on wheat straw as the forage and on field bean (Vicia faba var. minor) as the sole protein feed, were tested both by means of ANOVA and of response surface analysis, a multiple regression method designed to study additive and interaction effects. This study thus examined the combined effect of 4 levels of dietary CP (13, 15, 18, 20% DM) and 4 levels of rumen protected lysine and methionine, replacing 4 levels of field bean CP (0, 1, 2, 3 percent units), upon intakes, gains, digestibility and retentions of nutrients within gains. The animals had rather high gains (250 g/d on average) and retention efficiencies both of feed nitrogen and energy. Dietary CP levels higher than 18% and amino acid supplementation appeared of no use in improving the lambs’ performance. It is concluded that field bean may represent a valid alternative to soy bean as a pro- tein feed for growing ruminants in the so-called “organic” animal production where transgenic soy is banned

Assessment of Grasslands Improvements for Faunistic Purposes in a Mountain Area of Central Italy

Restoration of grassland habitats useful for wildlife is an intervention often carried out in various marginal environments (such as some mountainous areas) where agriculture and grassland management have undergone deep changes in recent decades. To assess some of these interventions, a study was conducted in an Apennine reserve in Central Italy, where some grassland areas recovered through different techniques were identified, represented by shrub clearing followed by sowing of a forage mixture and shrub clearing alone, which were compared with natural areas on which no interventions were carried out. Several parameters related to the botanical composition and quality of the recovered pastoral resources were analysed. In addition, in three different experimental sites, further in-depth investigations were carried out to assess the actual animal frequentation and the impact of the intake of the wild animals present (mainly red deer) on the occurring vegetation. Results highlighted the importance of recovery interventions in these situations, the success of mechanical treatments (even if represented by clearing shrubs alone), and the real appreciation for the recovered areas by wildlife, whose utilisation on different vegetal species could be assessed, highlighting a diverse feeding behaviour for some taxa, compared to domestic animals

Meat from wild ungulates: ensuring quality and hygiene of an increasing resource

Wild ungulate populations are increasing in Europe and Italy, with a consequent increase in culling rates and availability of their meats. Objectives of this review were to evaluate the trends of availability of meat from wild ungulates in Italy, to review the present knowledge on nutritional properties, sensorial characteristics, and hygiene problems of wild ungulate meat and to examine the critical steps that influence their hygiene and quality. Wild ungulate meat in Italy derives mainly from wild boar, roe deer and red deer and its availability has been increasing in the last decade. Total consumption of wild ungulate meat is low (0.1-0.3 kg per capita/year), but in some regions rises to significant levels, especially for hunters’ families (1.0-4.0 kg per capita/year). Wild ungulate meats generally have a low fat content, although with a certain variability associated with gender, hunting season, age and physiological conditions, and a favourable fatty acid composition. In general, they are darker, less tender and characterised by a more intense and peculiar flavour than meats from domestic ruminants. However, these properties also show a great inter- and intra-specific variability. Risks for the consumer associated with contaminants (heavy metals, radionuclides, organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls) and zoonoses are considered to be low. Critical steps from shooting in the field to the final marketing should be considered to ensure hygiene and quality of meats. Future research should focus on the variability of hunting modes, accuracy of shooting, field dressing and carcass processing, in order to understand how these practices influence the final microbiological and sensorial quality of wild ungulate meats

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia elicits metastasis formation in mice by promoting proliferation of disseminated tumor cells

ABSTRACTChemotherapy is the standard of care for most malignancies. Its tumor debulking effect in adjuvant or neoadjuvant settings is unquestionable, although secondary effects have been reported that paradoxically promote metastasis. Chemotherapy affects the hematopoietic precursors leading to myelosuppression, with neutropenia being the main hematological toxicity induced by cytotoxic therapy. We used renal and lung murine tumor models metastatic to the lung to study chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) in the metastatic process. Cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin, two myelosuppressive drugs, but not cisplatin, increased the burden of artificial metastases to the lung, by reducing neutrophils. This effect was recapitulated by treatment with anti-Ly6G, the selective antibody-mediated neutrophil depletion that unleashed the formation of lung metastases in both artificial and spontaneous metastasis settings. The increased cancer dissemination was reversed by granulocyte-colony stimulating factor-mediated boosting of neutrophils in combination with chemotherapy. CIN affected the early metastatic colonization of the lung, quite likely promoting the proliferation of tumor cells extravasated into the lung at 24–72 hours. CIN did not affect the late events of the metastatic process, with established metastasis to the lung, nor was there any effect on the release of cancer cells from the primary, whose growth was, in fact, somewhat inhibited. This work suggests a role of neutrophils associated to a common cancer treatment side effect and claims a deep dive into the relationship between chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and metastasis