A survey on the occurrence of ochratoxin A in feeds and sera collected in conventional and organic poultry farms in Northern Italy

A survey has been conducted on conventional and organic poultry farms located in northern Italy in order to investigate the occurrence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in feeds and sera in 2006. Ten poultry farms were monitored by taking 20 samples of feed and 94 samples of blood. OTA was assessed through immunoaffinity column purification and HPLC analysis. For in-house validation, recovery experiments, carried out on the spiked samples in the range of 1.0-10.0 μg OTA kg-1 and 0.3-3.0 ng OTA ml-1 for the feed and serum samples, respectively, led to overall recovery averages of 80.6% (RDS=7.3%, n=9) and 83.3% (RDS=3.1%, n=9), respectively. All the feed samples were contaminated by OTA with values ranging from 0.04 to 6.50 μg kg-1. Fiftythree percent of the sera samples were positive, with values ranging from 0.003- 0.165 ng ml-1. None of the feed samples was above the limits set by the European Union on OTA contamination in poultry feeds. No statistically significant differences in OTA contamination of feed or sera were observed either between the organic vs conventional group or between the laying hens vs broiler group

An etiological study of morphosyntactic and grammatical errors in the interlanguage of Brazilian learners of Spanish: an analysis of the category “verbs”

En este artículo nos proponemos presentar los errores etiológicos – inter e intralingüísticos – verificados en la interlengua de brasileños hablantes/aprendientes de Español. Más específicamente damos énfasis a las dificultades que estos hablantes tienen en el empleo de los verbos en español. En este estudio, identificamos los errores, los clasificamos, los describimos y explicamos sus posibles causas. Analizamos, para ello, las pruebas de producción escrita del examen de dominio de la lengua aplicado por universidades argentinas – el Certificado de Español: Lengua y Uso (CELU). Nos proponemos compartir los resultados obtenidos por medio de esta investigación y promover en el docente de lengua española para brasileños una reflexión acerca de las dificultades que este grupo meta tiene en el uso de los verbos en español, especialmente teniendo en cuenta la proximidad de las lenguas portuguesa y española, hecho que no siempre es un factor positivo en este proceso de aprendizaje. Esperamos, además, que dicha reflexión pueda llevar el docente a buscar estrategias didácticas que saquen provecho de los errores de estos alumnos para su aprendizaje del español.In this article we aim to present the etiological errors - inter and intralinguistic - found in the interlanguage of Brazilian speakers learning Spanish. More specifically, we emphasize the difficulties that these learners have in the use of verbs in Spanish. In this study, we identify, classify, describe and explain the errors and their possible causes. In order to achieve this goal, we analyze their written productions of the language proficiency test applied by Argentine universities - the Spanish Certificate: Language and Use (CELU). Our purpose isto share the results found through this research and to make the Spanish Language teacher of for Brazilians reflect on the difficulties that this target students has in the use of verbs in Spanish, especially taking into account the proximity of Portuguese and Spanish languages, which is not always a positive factor in this learning process. We also hope that this reflection can lead the teacher to seek didactic strategies that take advantage of their students’errors for the learning of the Spanish language.Fil: Cardoso, Ana Luisa. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes. Centro de Estudios del Español Como Lengua Extranjera; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto Rosario de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Educación. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto Rosario de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Educación; ArgentinaFil: Pozzo, María Isabel Rita. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes. Centro de Estudios del Español Como Lengua Extranjera; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto Rosario de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Educación. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto Rosario de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Educación; Argentin

The citrus flavanone naringenin produces cardioprotective effects in hearts from 1 year old rat, through activation of mitoBK channels

Background and Purpose: Incidence of cardiovascular disorders increases with age, because of a dramatic fall of endogenous self-defense mechanisms and increased vulnerability of myocardium. Conversely, the effectiveness of many cardioprotective drugs is blunted in hearts of 1 year old rat. The Citrus flavanone naringenin (NAR) was reported to promote cardioprotective effects against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, through the activation of mitochondrial large conductance calcium-activated potassium channel (mitoBK). These effects were observed in young adult rats, but no data are available about the possible cardioprotective effects of NAR in aged animals. Experimental Approach: This study aimed at evaluating the potential cardioprotective effects of NAR against I/R damage in 1 year old rats, and the possible involvement of mitoBK. Key Results: Naringenin protected the hearts of 1 year old rats in both ex vivo and in vivo I/R protocols. Noteworthy, these effects were antagonized by paxilline, a selective BK-blocker. The cardioprotective effects of NAR were also observed in senescent H9c2 cardiomyoblasts. In isolated mitochondria from hearts of 1 year old, NAR exhibited the typical profile of a mitoBK opener. Finally, Western Blot analysis confirmed a significant (albeit reduced) presence of BK-forming alpha and beta subunits, both in cardiac tissue of 1 year old rats and in senescent H9c2 cells. Conclusion and Implications: This is the first work reporting cardioprotective effects of NAR in 1 year old rats. Although further studies are needed to better understand the whole pathway involved in the NAR-mediated cardioprotection, these preliminary data represent a promising perspective for a rational nutraceutical use of NAR in aging

Antioxidant and Antisenescence Effects of Bergamot Juice

Aging is one of the main risk factor for the onset of cardiovascular diseases; one of the possible explanations could be linked to the age-associated overproduction of free radicals. This increase of oxidative stress can be overcome with a high intake of food antioxidants. In this context, a number of studies have been addressed to assess the antiaging potential of natural antioxidant compounds. Recently, it has been shown that the juice of bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso et Poiteau), a fruit mostly produced in the Ionian coastal areas of Southern Italy (Calabria), is a valuable source of health-promoting constituents with, among other, antioxidant properties. In order to investigate the potential antiaging effects of this Mediterranean natural antioxidant source, bergamot juices of three different cultivars ("fantastico," "femminello," and "castagnaro") were herein characterized by the mean of high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. Then, juices were investigated for the evaluation of total polyphenolic and flavonoid contents, cell-free model antioxidant activities, and in vitro antiaging properties on two different cellular models of induced myocardial senescence. The best performing juice was also assessed in vivo. The phytochemical profiles confirmed that juices were rich in flavonoids, both flavone and flavanone glycosides. In addition, two limonoid glycosides were also identified in all cultivars. Each cultivar showed different phenolic and flavonoid contents. In tube results showed the juice robust antioxidant activities that correlate with their phenolic and flavonoid contents. Moreover, for the first time, the ability of juice to counteract the chemical-induced senescence was here demonstrated in both cellular models. Lastly, the in vivo data obtained from mouse hearts evidenced an increase in transcription of genes involved in antiaging and antioxidant responses. The overall results suggest that bergamot juice exerts antioxidant and antisenescence effects, making it useful for nutraceutical purposes