Effect of different processing methods on the nutritional characteristics and tannin content of fababean seed (Vicia faba minor)

In the last years, because of their high protein content, the demand of legume seeds is significantly increased. In the centre and southern Italy fababean (Vicia faba minor) can play an important role as alternative protein source in ruminant nutrition. In this trial has been studied the effect of different treatments (flaking, cooking, dehulling, germination) on the in vitro digestibility and tannin content of fababean seeds. The in vitro OM and NDF digestibility of seeds were significantly (P<0.05) improved by dehulling and flaking. The in vitro OM digestibility of dehulled fababean (99.27%) showed higher values (P<0.05) than the other treated seeds as well as in vitro NDF digestibility (90.33%, P<0.05). Germination of fababean reduces the in vitro digestibility of OM and NDF. Cooking in water was more effective in reducing tannins than other treatments. Compared to the untreated the cooked has significantly (P<0.05) reduced the tannin content over 55% (2.71 g/kgDM vs. 6.10 g/kgDM). Germinated fababean did not affect the tannin content of seeds. The results from this trial suggest that thermal treatments applied to fababean seeds in order to reduce the tannins must be evaluated according to the cost/benefits ratio because this factors in seeds is low (<10 g/kgDM)

Effect of different breed on Ragusano cheese quality

Specific objectives: Ragusano PDO cheese is a traditional dairy product of Sicily, the aim of the study was to characterised parameters of milk and Ragusano PDO cheese in different breeds. Experimental methods: The research was carried out in two farms in province of Ragusa, samples of Bruna (BR) and Modicana (MD) milk were taken during winter and stored prior to analysis. Chemical composition (dry matter, fat, protein, ash, casein, NNC) and lactodinamographic parameters of milk were determined. Ragusano PDO cheese was obtained after ripening period (four months) and chemical analysis (dry matter, ash, ether extract, crude protein) were carried out. Statistical analysis. Chemical and technological parameters of milk, chemical composition of cheese were examined by one-way ANOVA. When significant effects were found (P≤0.05), differences were determined using t-student. Data analyses were performed using JMP software of SAS (SAS Instit., NC, USA). Results and conclusions: The moisture of milk was higher in BR than MD (87.19% vs. 86.20%), although the ash content was greater in MD (0.82% vs. 0.76%). Crude fat showed a higher result in BR as the casein content (3.61% vs. 3.12%) and the casein/crude protein ratio (85.01% vs. 80.86%). Non-casein nitrogen was higher for MD than BR (0.74% vs. 0.64%), while crude protein didn't show differences between the breeds. The technological parameters of milk showed differences for k20 and a30 parameters. The rennet clotting time (r) didn't show significant difference for the breeds (13:30 min vs. 15:15 min). Curd firmness (k20) evidenced a longer period for BR than MD (06:15 min vs. 02:55 min), although final curd firmness 30 min after rennet addition (a30) was found higher in MD (28.96 mm vs. 21.74 mm). The chemical composition of cheese showed differences in dry matter and ash content. BR showed higher moisture level than MD (34.09 % vs. 32.59 %) while the ash level were higher in MD breed (5.95 % vs. 5.28 %). The difference of dry matter and ash level of the breeds can be assessed to the effect of seasoning, instead no correlation were found for protein and fat. It's know how MD has lower productive performance than BR, although in this trial the quality parameters of milk and cheese of autochthonous breed, as Modicana, is comparable with Bruna. Moreover samples of cheese didn't show differences for fat and protein content; for these reasons MD seems to be more carefully to be chosen for the production of Ragusano PDO cheese.chosen for the production of Ragusano PDO cheese

Environmental impact caused by wild ungulates in protected areas

Protected areas play a crucial role for conservation of natural habilats and ecosystems. Protecting biodiversity means maintaining in good condition ecological processes in order to ensure a good state of harmony between natural resources and environmental conservation. It is known that one of the major threats of the Conservation is the presence of alien or invasive species, especial/y if they are introduced in protected areas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) writes in the list of the 100 invasive species the wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) and the goat (Capra hircus L.). These ungulates represent a serious threat for natural ecosystems because they are able to alter natural habilats reducing biodiversity. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate some aspects connected with environmental relationships mainly between flora and fauna in protected areas, focusing on wild boars and feral goats. Secondly, it is analysed "Human dimension" aspect caused by presence and damage of wild animals finked to damage to crops and to dry stone wall supporting the typical cultivated terraces. To reach our goal we use as a case study the Portofino Natural Park in North-West Italy, because it houses one of the largest biodiversity concentration in the Mediterranean area. In this protected area the wild boar is the most invasive between the two studied animai species, because of soil damages that influence hydro-geological balance of territory. Finally, this species can quickly increase its population for the high prolificacy and low biological and predator mortality

preliminary research on environmental impact of woodland grazing by pigs

6 castrate pigs about 30 kg live weight each entered in a fence into hilly woodland area. The pigs were bred until about 140 kg live weight. After 10 months of pasture breeding, the environmental damages (cover ground, plants and soil characteristics) by rooting and trampling were evaluated. The damages to cover ground and to shrubs and to physical structure (Fissures and Aggregate stability) caused hydro-geological instability with soil erosion and landslides. Removing surface layers of soil caused considerable loss of organic matter (Total Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen), microbial activity (Microbial ATP and breathing) and enzyme activity changes (Total β−glucosidase and Extra cellular β−glucosidase). Damages to native plants are different in relation to the root and the trunk kinds, and to the palatability of leaves and apexes which result inversely related whit the abundance of disagreeable substances content (ADL, Tannins, Resins, Latex)

History of migraine and volume of brain infarcts: The italian project on stroke at young age (IPSYS)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Migraine has been shown to increase cerebral excitability, promote rapid infarct expansion into tissue with perfusion deficits, and result in larger infarcts in animal models of focal cerebral ischemia. Whether these effects occur in humans has never been properly investigated. METHODS: In a series of consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke, enrolled in the setting of the Italian Project on Stroke at Young Age, we assessed acute as well as chronic infarct volumes by volumetric magnetic resonance imaging, and compared these among different subgroups identified by migraine status. RESULTS: A cohort of 591 patients (male, 53.8%; mean age, 37.5±6.4 years) qualified for the analysis. Migraineurs had larger acute infarcts than non-migraineurs (median, 5.9 cm3 [interquartile range (IQR), 1.4 to 15.5] vs. 2.6 cm3 [IQR, 0.8 to 10.1], P<0.001), and the largest volumes were observed in patients with migraine with aura (median, 9.0 cm3 [IQR, 3.4 to 16.6]). In a linear regression model, migraine was an independent predictor of increased log (acute infarct volumes) (median ratio [MR], 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22 to 2.20), an effect that was more prominent for migraine with aura (MR, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.88 to 4.54). CONCLUSION: s These findings reinforce the experimental observation of larger acute cerebral infarcts in migraineurs, extend animal data to human disease, and support the hypothesis of increased vulnerability to ischemic brain injury in people suffering migraine

Low in‑hospital mortality rate in patients with COVID‑19 receiving thromboprophylaxis: data from the multicentre observational START‑COVID Register

Abstract COVID-19 infection causes respiratory pathology with severe interstitial pneumonia and extra-pulmonary complications; in particular, it may predispose to thromboembolic disease. The current guidelines recommend the use of thromboprophylaxis in patients with COVID-19, however, the optimal heparin dosage treatment is not well-established. We conducted a multicentre, Italian, retrospective, observational study on COVID-19 patients admitted to ordinary wards, to describe clinical characteristic of patients at admission, bleeding and thrombotic events occurring during hospital stay. The strategies used for thromboprophylaxis and its role on patient outcome were, also, described. 1091 patients hospitalized were included in the START-COVID-19 Register. During hospital stay, 769 (70.7%) patients were treated with antithrombotic drugs: low molecular weight heparin (the great majority enoxaparin), fondaparinux, or unfractioned heparin. These patients were more frequently affected by comorbidities, such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation, previous thromboembolism, neurological disease,and cancer with respect to patients who did not receive thromboprophylaxis. During hospital stay, 1.2% patients had a major bleeding event. All patients were treated with antithrombotic drugs; 5.4%, had venous thromboembolism [30.5% deep vein thrombosis (DVT), 66.1% pulmonary embolism (PE), and 3.4% patients had DVT + PE]. In our cohort the mortality rate was 18.3%. Heparin use was independently associated with survival in patients aged ≥ 59 years at multivariable analysis. We confirmed the high mortality rate of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients in ordinary wards. Treatment with antithrombotic drugs is significantly associated with a reduction of mortality rates especially in patients older than 59 years

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages