Lamb meat quality and intramuscular fatty acid composition as affected by concentrates including different legume seeds

The aim of the experiment was to study the effect of concentrates including legume seeds (Vicia faba var. minor or Pisum sativum) on lamb performances and on meat quality, with an emphasis on intramuscular fatty acid composition. Thirty lambs (14.5 ± 3.45 kg live weight) were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments: PEA group (concentrate including 400 g/kg of peas); FB group (concentrate including 380 g/kg of faba bean); SBM group (concentrate including 180 g/kg of soybean meal). Growth and slaughter performances were not affected by treatments as well as physical and proximate chemical meat characteristics. FB and SBM meat showed higher (P<0.001) vaccenic acid levels compared to PEA meat. Oleic acid was higher (P<0.05) in PEA meat compared to SBM meat while its level in FB meat was similar to counterparts. Linoleic acid levels tended to increase (P<0.10) in SBM lambs compared to PEA animals. PEA group showed higher (P<0.001) α-linolenic acid proportions compared to FB and SBM groups and a tendentially higher (P<0.10) eicosapentaenoic acid content compared to SBM meat. As a result, total n-3 fatty acids were higher (P<0.05) in PEA meat compared to SBM one while the proportions in FB meat were at intermediate level. These findings accounted for a lower and more favourable (P<0.001) n-6/n-3 ratio in PEA group compared to counterparts. Peas based-concentrate seemed to be more effective than faba bean- or soybean meal-included concentrates to improve the acidic profile of meat leading to higher α-linolenic acid levels and a lower n-6/n-3 ratio

Identifikasi Kearifan Lokal di Sungai Musi Provinsi Sumatera Selatan sebagai Sumber Belajar IPA SMP/MTs

This research was a descripttive research that aimed to identify the local wisdom that can be used as learning resource of science in junior high school. The subjects of this research were 10 teachers by using purpossive sampling and 421 students by using clustered sampling. The data collection technique was used triangulation, analyzed by descriptively. The results showed that local wisdom can be used as learning source that were non-standart measurement, classification of typical fishes and plants, river management (Grade VII), typical dance movements analyzed in motion system, natural additive, analysis the concept of waves on the musical instrument of Gambus and Sahilin guitar (Grade VIII), the utilization of typical fish and durian in conventional biotechnology and the way in treating swamplands (Grade IX). In conclusion, there were 18 local wisdom can be used as a learning resource science in junior high school.  Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif yang bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi kearifan lokal yang dapat digunakan sebagai sumber belajar IPA. Subyek penelitian yaitu 10 guru dengan menggunakan purpossive sampling dan 421 siswa dengan clustered sampling. Teknik pengumpulan data dengan menggunakan triangulasi yang dianalisis secara deskriptif. Hasil penelitian diperoleh kearifan lokal yang dapat dijadikan sumber belajar yaitu, pengukuran tidak baku, klasifikasi ikan dan tumbuhan khas, pengelolaan sungai Musi (Kelas VII), ragam gerak tarian yang dianalisis dalam sistem gerak, penggunaan zat aditif alami, analisis konsep gelombang pada alat musik gambus dan gitar sahilin (Kelas VIII), pemanfaatan ikan khas dan buah durian dalam bioteknologi konvensional dan cara dalam mengolah tanah rawa (Kelas IX). Kesimpulannya, terdapat sebanyak 18 kearifan lokal yang sesuai untuk dijadikan sumber belajar IPA SMP. Kata kunci: IPA, kearifan lokal, sumber belajar

Different patterns of cortical excitability in major depression and vascular depression: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study

BACKGROUND: Clinical and functional studies consider major depression (MD) and vascular depression (VD) as different neurobiological processes. Hypoexcitability of the left frontal cortex to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is frequently reported in MD, whereas little is known about the effects of TMS in VD. Thus, we aimed to assess and compare motor cortex excitability in patients with VD and MD. METHODS: Eleven VD patients, 11 recurrent drug-resistant MD patients, and 11 healthy controls underwent clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging evaluations in addition to bilateral resting motor threshold, cortical silent period, and paired-pulse TMS curves of intracortical excitability. All patients continued on psychotropic drugs, which were unchanged throughout the study. RESULTS: Scores on one of the tests evaluating frontal lobe abilities (Stroop Color-Word interference test) were worse in patients compared with controls. The resting motor threshold in patients with MD was significantly higher in the left hemisphere compared with the right (p < 0.05), and compared with the VD patients and controls. The cortical silent period was bilaterally prolonged in MD patients compared with VD patients and controls, with a statistically significant difference in the left hemisphere (p < 0.01). No differences were observed in the paired-pulse curves between patients and controls. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed distinctive patterns of motor cortex excitability between late-onset depression with subcortical vascular disease and early-onset recurrent drug resistant MD. The data provide a TMS model of the different processes underlying VD and MD. Additionally, our results support the “Vascular depression hypothesis” at the neurophysiological level, and confirm the inter-hemispheric asymmetry to TMS in patients with MD. We were unable to support previous findings of impaired intracortical inhibitory mechanisms to TMS in patients with MD, although a drug-induced effect on our results cannot be excluded. This study may aid the understanding of the pathogenetic differences underlying the clinical spectrum of depressive disorders

Update on intensive motor training in spinocerebellar ataxia: time to move a step forward?:

Some evidence suggests that high-intensity motor training slows down the severity of spinocerebellar ataxia. However, whether all patients might benefit from these activities, and by which activity, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We provide an update on the effect and limitations of different training programmes in patients with spinocerebellar ataxias. Overall, data converge of the finding that intensive training is still based either on conventional rehabilitation protocols or whole-body controlled videogames ("exergames"). Notwithstanding the limitations, short-term improvement is observed, which tends to be lost once the training is stopped. Exergames and virtual reality can ameliorate balance, coordination, and walking abilities, whereas the efficacy of adapted physical activity, gym, and postural exercises depends on the disease duration and severity. In conclusion, although a disease-modifying effect has not been demonstrated, constant, individually tailored, high-intensity motor training might be effective in patients with degenerative ataxia, even in those with severe disease. These approaches may enhance the remaining cerebellar circuitries or plastically induce compensatory networks. Further research is required to identify predictors of training success, such as the type and severity of ataxia and the level of residual functioning

PEMBERDAYAAN MELALUI PELATIHAN PEMASARAN PRODUK UMKM OMAH JENANG BLITAR DI MASA PANDEMI COVID-19

Desa UMKM Rejowinangun ialah salah satu desa di Kecamatan Kademangan Kabupaten Blitar yang terdapat berbagai macam usaha mikro&nbsp; kecil dan menengah. Salah satunya adalah Omah Jenang Blitar yang memproduksi berbagai jenis jenang ketan khas Blitar secara mandiri. Namun, semenjak mewabahnya COVID-19 di Indonesia pendapatan mereka mengalami penurunan karena adanya berbagai kebijakan selama pandemi, seperti&nbsp; penerapan PSBB oleh pemerintah setempat yang menyebabkan berkurangnya jumlah pengunjung Omah Jenang Blitar sebagai pusat oleh-oleh dan wisata edukasi. Adanya permasalahan tersebut memerlukan sebuah strategi agar produk UMKM tetap laku di pasaran meskipun terhambat pandemi COVID-19. Sehingga strategi pemasaran produk UMKM perlu digencarkan. Metode yang dilakukan yaitu dengan pemetaan media sosial, sosialisasi, praktik fotografi produk UMKM, evaluasi kegiatan, monitoring dan pemasaran. Program pengabdian bertujuan untuk memberikan solusi mengenai strategi pemasaran yang dapat memulihkan perekonomian masyarakat. Hasilnya UMKM Omah Jenang semakin dikenal masyarakat luas sehingga produk yang ada semakin laku di pasaran

A comprehensive review of transcranial magnetic stimulation in secondary dementia

Although primary degenerative diseases are the main cause of dementia, a non-negligible proportion of patients is affected by a secondary and potentially treatable cognitive disorder. Therefore, diagnostic tools able to early identify and monitor them and to predict the response to treatment are needed. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive neurophysiological technique capable of evaluating in vivo and in "real time" the motor areas, the cortico-spinal tract, and the neurotransmission pathways in several neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including cognitive impairment and dementia. While consistent evidence has been accumulated for Alzheimer's disease, other degenerative cognitive disorders, and vascular dementia, to date a comprehensive review of TMS studies available in other secondary dementias is lacking. These conditions include, among others, normal-pressure hydrocephalus, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease and other immunologically mediated diseases, as well as a number of inflammatory, infective, metabolic, toxic, nutritional, endocrine, sleep-related, and rare genetic disorders. Overall, we observed that, while in degenerative dementia neurophysiological alterations might mirror specific, and possibly primary, neuropathological changes (and hence be used as early biomarkers), this pathogenic link appears to be weaker for most secondary forms of dementia, in which neurotransmitter dysfunction is more likely related to a systemic or diffuse neural damage. In these cases, therefore, an effort toward the understanding of pathological mechanisms of cognitive impairment should be made, also by investigating the relationship between functional alterations of brain circuits and the specific mechanisms of neuronal damage triggered by the causative disease. Neurophysiologically, although no distinctive TMS pattern can be identified that might be used to predict the occurrence or progression of cognitive decline in a specific condition, some TMS-associated measures of cortical function and plasticity (such as the short-latency afferent inhibition, the short-interval intracortical inhibition, and the cortical silent period) might add useful information in most of secondary dementia, especially in combination with suggestive clinical features and other diagnostic tests. The possibility to detect dysfunctional cortical circuits, to monitor the disease course, to probe the response to treatment, and to design novel neuromodulatory interventions in secondary dementia still represents a gap in the literature that needs to be explored

The PON “Reti e mobilità” and the objectives of Sustainability: the role of the Environmental Monitoring Plan.

Il  PON Reti e mobilità 2007-2013 (PON) è stato approvato dalla Commissione Europea con decisione C(2007)6318 del 7 dicembre 2007.La strategia del Programma, rivolto alle Regioni “Obiettivo Convergenza” (Campania, Calabria, Sicilia, Puglia) si  concretizza con interventi tesi a sviluppare l’intermodalità, a migliorare la mobilità e l’accessibilità anche per controllare e attenuare i fenomeni di congestione e a garantire la riduzione degli impatti ambientali delle infrastrutture di trasporto, in particolare in termini di riduzione delle emissioni di sostanze inquinanti attraverso il miglioramento complessivo della qualità e dell’efficienza del sistema dei trasporti con specifico riferimento alle merci.Appare dunque evidente come il PON Reti e mobilità tenga fortemente in conto i principi di sostenibilità affermati a livello europeo, non ultimi, quelli sottesi nel Libro Bianco dei Trasporti pubblicato nel 2011 dalla Commissione Europea. A conferma di una strategia complessiva del Programma improntata sulla sostenibilità ambientale, il PON Reti e mobilità destina oltre il 70% delle risorse programmate (cfr. Decreto dell’Autorità di Gestione del 28 luglio 2011) alla realizzazione di interventi relativi a modalità di trasporto sostenibili così come individuate a livello europeo (ferrovie, porti, trasporti multimodali e sistemi di trasporto intelligente).Il PON Reti e mobilità è stato sottoposto a procedura di VAS in accordo a quanto previsto dalla Direttiva 2001/42/CE del 27 giugno 2001, recepita in Italia con D. Lgs 152/2006 “Norme in materia ambientale”, successivamente modificato con D. Lgs 4/2008 e D. Lgs 128/2010.Nel Rapporto Ambientale della VAS del PON grande attenzione è dedicata all’attività di monitoraggio, come dimostra la previsione di  “adeguate misure per il monitoraggio ambientale, anche al fine di apportare eventuali misure correttive nella fase di attuazione”. Un primo e rilevante passaggio in tal senso è rappresentato dall’elaborazione del Piano di Monitoraggio Ambientale (PMA), che costituisce il principale documento di riferimento per la successiva implementazione delle attività di monitoraggio.In questo articolo, a valle della presentazione del Programma e dell’indicazione degli obiettivi di sostenibilità ambientale che si intendono perseguire attraverso l’attuazione degli interventi finanziati, verrà dunque illustrato il PMA, adottato dal Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti (Autorità di Gestione del PON) nel  febbraio 2011 che si pone nel panorama italiano come esperienza pilota nel campo del monitoraggio soprattutto dal punto di vista metodologico.The National Operative Program (PON) “Reti e mobilità” has been approved by European Commission on the 7th of December 2007.The strategic  approach of the PON, exclusively devoted to the  so-called “convergence regions” of Italy (Campania, Calabria, Sicilia, Puglia), aims to:1.    improve the modal balance by an economic, social and environmental perspective;2.    develop the inter-modality in order to move towards the integration of convergence area into the network of the European transport system;3.    improve the mobility and the accessibility, also to reduce the traffic congestion;4.    increase the efficiency related to security standards, to management techniques and to the quality of transportation services in the sector of freight; 5.    guarantee the reduction of environmental impacts through a global improvement of the efficiency of the transport systems.In such a way it is clear that the PON “Reti e mobilità”  takes greatly into account the Sustainability principles recognized at European scale as attested by the budget, namely over the 70% of the entire fund, associated with low-impacts infrastructures (railways and harbors). The PON has been submitted to the SEA procedure, following what the 2001/42/CE Directive establishes.The Environmental Report of PON devotes  great attention to the monitoring activity as shown by the reported recommendation about the need for adequate measures for the environmental monitoring, also in order to apply corrective measures during the implementation of the program. By this point of view, a first and important step has been the elaboration of the “Environmental Monitoring Plan”  (EMP) that represents the main methodological  document for the following implementation of the monitoring activity.This paper, after a brief presentation of the program and of the objectives of Sustainability that the Programs aims to pursue through the realization of specific projects, is devoted to introduce the Environmental Monitoring Plan of the PON that has been approved by the Ministry of the Infrastructures and Transport -in charge as Management Authority of the PON- in February 2011. In detail, the PMA represents the tool through which, the Management Authority, that has specific responsibilities and functions in terms of monitoring and environmental assessment of the program, controls the significant impacts on the environment caused by the implementation of the PON and verify the level of achievement of the established objectives of environmental sustainability. The structure of EMP is based on three main aspects:1)  the adoption of the results of other interesting experiences carried out by experts institutions on the topic;2)  an approach favoring the creation of an “integrated” monitoring system with  the others Operative Programs activated at regional scale;3)  the implementation of a cooperation and shared process with all the directly-involved actors