Lamellar and «club-shaped» corpuscular nerve endings in human gingival mucosa. A light and electron microscopic study

A study on the presence of corpuscular nerve endings in human gingival mucosa was performed using both light and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) techniques. Both round and oval lamellar corpuscles were detected by light microscopy. They were located either subepithelially, close to the basement membrane, or within the papillae, deeply invaginated into the overlying epithelium. TEM techniques showed convoluted structures with unmyelinated fibre arborizations leading to an afferent fibre supported by the so called lamellar cells. The presence of blood vessels, collagenous fibrils, desmosome-like junctions, cytoplasmic organelles, as well as the similarity with some previously described mechanoreceptors, suggested the role of such corpuscular nerve endings in transmitting a nervous impulse induced by mechanical stimulation. Other simpler structures were also observed and named «club-shaped» corpuscles: they could support the more complex ones in responding to the strengths and the movements directly influencing the gingival mucosa.La présence de terminaisons nerveuses corpusculaires dans la muqueuse gingivale humaine a été observée tant en microscopie optique qu’en microscopie électronique à transmission. En microscopie optique on a remarqué des corpuscules lamellaires ronds et ovalaires, qui étaient localisés tant au dessous de l’épithélium, tout près de la membrane basale, qu’au dedans des papilles, profondément insérés dans l’épithélium.En microscopie électronique on a observé des structures convolutées pourvues d’arborisations de fibres nerveuses sans myéline qui vont se réunir dans une fibre afférente supportée par des cellules dites lamellaires. La présence de vaisseaux, de fibrilles collagènes, de jonctions telles que desmoses, d’inclusions cytoplasmiques autant que la ressemblance avec quelques mécanorécepteurs décrits en littérature, suggérait un rôle de ces terminaisons nerveuses corpusculaires en envoyant un impulse nerveux induit par une stimulation mécanique. On a aussi observé des corpuscules plus simples appelés «club-shaped» qui pourraient supporter les plus complexes dans la réponse aux forces et aux mouvements qui influencent directement la muqueuse gingivale

Effect of maize, rumen-protected fat and whey permeate on energy utilisation and milk fat composition in lactating goats

The efficiency of utilisation of diets with different proportions of energy sources (starch, fat, lactose) was studied with three pairs of lactating Saanen goats; the animals were fed, in a Latin square design, 3 silage-based diets containing (on DM basis) the following energy sources: 32% maize meal (diet M); 4.7% rumen-protected fat (Megalac®) and 23.5% maize meal (diet F); 9.8% milk whey permeate powder and 22.3% maize meal (diet W). During each of the three experimental periods, 8 days of total collection balance trials were conducted during which goats were allocated for 72 h (three 24 h cycles) in open circuit respiration chambers to determine methane and heat production and, hence, the energy balance. Diet F, in comparison with diets M and W, significantly increased the milk fat content (4.13 vs 3.11 and 3.14%, P<0.001) and the 4%-FCM yield (3367 vs 2927 and 3055 g/d, P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively), while no relevant changes were observed for milk protein content and yield. Energy digestibility was equal in diets F and W. Megalac® did not decrease fibre digestibility. The partition of the gross energy intake (EI) differed significantly between diets: diet M had lower DE (72.4 vs 74.3 and 74.3%; P<0.01) and ME (62.1 vs 64.7 and 63.5%; P<0.05) in comparison with diets F and W, respectively. Energy lost as methane was not significantly decreased by the inclusion of rumen- protected fat in the diet, although a trend for a reduction of methanogenesis was observed. Heat production deter- mined by treatment F was lower in comparison with the other treatments. This difference was almost significant (P=0.056) when expressed as a percentage of the ME. Milk energy output increased significantly (+12%, P<0.001) by including fat in the diet, as compared with treatments M and W: 21.4 vs 19.1 and 19.0% of the EI. The net ener- gy content of the protected fat was 27.94 MJ NEl/kg DM (+340% vs maize meal); its kl value resulted 0.77. The corresponding values for whey permeate were 7.76 MJ NEl/kg DM (-5% vs maize meal) and 0.50, respectively. Summarizing, the efficiency of energy utilization in diet M was significantly lower in comparison with the other two diets in terms of digestibility and metabolisability, while its NEl content was similar to that of diet W. On the other hand, diet F had a significantly higher ME (P<0.01) and NEl (P<0.05) as compared to the other two diets. Diet F greatly influenced the fatty acid composition of the milk fat with less short (-30%) and medium (-33%) chain fatty acids and more (+18%) long chain fatty acids. In conclusion, whey permeate and even more Megalac® can be suc- cessfully used as feed ingredients in the diet of highly productive lactating goats, but the economical convenience of their utilisation must be evaluated based on the market values of feedstuffs

Milk quality and milking practices in dairy goat farms in Lombardy

Aim of this work was to study the relationship between goat milk quality and milking management practices. The study was conducted on 148 dairy goat farms in Lombardy (Italy), with particular focus on milk somatic cell count (SCC) and milk fat/protein reversion syndrome. Direct interviews to the farmers were collected. Monthly bulk milk analyses in 1 year (fat, protein, casein and lactose percentages, somatic cell and standard plate count) were used for quality evaluation of goat milk. Individual milk production was on average 1.26 \ub1 0.44 kg/d, collected during 1.94 \ub1 0.18 milkings a day. Average number of dairy goats was 74.3 \ub1 95.8; most of farms reared Alpine goats (38%), 36.5% Saanen, 16.3% Alpine and Saanen, and 9.2% local breeds. Milk quality was quite good (3.52 \ub1 0.73% fat, 3.40 \ub1 0.46% protein, 2.62 \ub1 0.40% casein). Milking was performed on bedded area in 13.8% of farms, inside the barn in 53.6% and in a separate milking room in 32.6%. A multiple correspondence analysis was performed and high correlations were found (the first two dimensions explained 31.5% of variance) among farms characterized by local breeds, small size (70 dairy goats), presence of official milk recording, milking inside the barn (but out of bedded area) or in a separate room, udder cleaning before milking, forestripping, teat post-dipping and use of gloves by milkers. A second multiple correspondence analysis was performed and high correlations were found among farms characterized by local breeds, low milk fat (70 dairy goats), high milk fat content, no milk fat/protein reversion syndrome and milk delivered to dairies, probably due to a special care in ration formulation and attention to milk quality. The study demonstrates the importance of milking and farming strategies to improve goat milk quality

Management practices and milk quality in dairy goat farms in Northern Italy

A large-scale survey was conducted on 173 dairy goat farms in Northern Italy to provide an updated view on farm management practices and to investigate relations among management factors, herd traits and milk yield and quality with particular focus on milk somatic cell count (SCC) and milk fat/protein reversion syndrome. Monthly individual milk analyses (fat, protein and lactose percentages, SCC) and bulk tank milk analyses (fat, protein and lactose percentages, standard plate count (SPC), urea and casein) from 91 farms out of the 173 farms were collected for a year. Farming systems showed wide variability and were characterised by the coexistence of intensive farms adopting advanced technologies and extensive traditional ones. Average milk production was 1.25\u2009kg/milking with high variability, significantly influenced by days in milk, month of kidding, herd size and parity. Out-of-season breeding was predicted to cause a slight reduction of milk production. The reversion syndrome between milk fat and protein contents affected more than half of samples. It worsened after 100 d of lactation and occurred earlier during lactation when kidding was in the late season (April\u2013June) compared to kidding in the first months of the year. The defect was associated with high SCC in milk. The yearly average milk SCC was 5.8 log10 cells/mL; it was higher at the end of lactation and in goats kidding in the late season. A negative relationship between SCC and milk yield was found with an estimated loss of 0.23\u2009kg per milking for each additional point of log10 SCC

Carbon footprint of PDO cheeses: Grana Padano and Gorgonzola

The aim of the study was to evaluate the carbon footprint of two PDO Italian cheeses: Grana Padano and Gorgonzola. Grana Padano is a hard long ripening cheese, composed by 65% of dry matter, consisting of 38% protein and 24% fat. Gorgonzola cheese, instead, is a blue soft cheese with a short ripening period composed by 58.6% of dry matter (28.7% fat and 21.4% protein). The productive process of Grana Padano was studied at a cheese factory that in 2015 processed 86,165,255 L of milk, producing 183,611 cheese wheels, with an average yield of 7.6%. For Gorgonzola, a cheese factory was studied; in 2015, it processed 12,542,552 L of milk, producing 126,910 Gorgonzola wheels with an average cheese yield of 12.5%. The Carbon footprint was quantified using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, carried out through a \u201ccradle to cheese factory gate\u201d point of view. All data considered were referred to 2015 and the functional unit was 1 kg of cheese. Gas emissions of milk production, at farm level, were calculated using IPCC (2009) and EEA (2009) equations, then impact categories were evaluated using IPCC (2007) method. Both economic and dry matter allocations were applied. Assuming the economic allocation and considering the whole productive process, Global Warming Potential (GWP) was 16.9 kg CO2 eq. per kg of Grana Padano, higher than GWP of Gorgonzola that resulted 10.7 kg CO2 eq. Using the DM allocation, the unitary GWP resulted 10.3 kg CO2 eq. for Grana Padano and 6.0 kg CO2 eq. for Gorgonzola. These different values are mainly due to the lower cheese yield of Grana Padano in comparison to Gorgonzola, which implies a higher unitary value of environmental impact. The milk production at farm was the most important contribute of the GWP using an economic allocation at cheese factory (excluding ripening and packaging): 95.6% for Grana Padano and 90.3% for Gorgonzola. The phase of milk processing slightly contributed to GWP of both cheese but some differences were observed: a higher use of cleaning products (0.54% vs 0.02% of GWP) for the sanitization of the plant and use of electricity, principally for air conditioning of cheese factory (5.79% vs 1.64% of GWP) for Gorgonzola and Grana Padano processing respectively. The outcomes of this study highlight how, due to the multiple products produced at the dairy plants, the choice of the allocation method deeply affects of the environmental burdens of cheeses

Improvements to dairy farms for environmental sustainability in Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano production systems

Grana Padano (GP) and Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) are the two most important Italian PDO cheeses. To improve the environmental sustainability of their production, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was completed on 84 dairy farms located in the province of Mantova (Northern Italy). In particular, 33 farms delivered milk for GP production, whereas 51 farms to dairies for PR production. In GP farms, maize silage represented 33.7% of total farmland and alfalfa represented 28.1%. While in PR farms, alfalfa represented 63.6% of total farmland. Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) and Dairy Efficiency (DE, calculated as kg of produced FPCM per kg of DM intake) were different in the two production system: FPCM was 30.2 +/- 4.32 kg/d in GP farms and 25.0 +/- 4.71 kg/d in PR farms; DE was 1.35 +/- 0.26 in GP farms, and 1.15 +/- 0.22 in PR farms. Mitigation strategies to improve both environmental and economic sustainability were suggested focussing on forage crop production, milk production, herd management and off-farm purchased feed. From the preliminary results, there is evidence that improvements are needed. Climate Change (kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM) and Land Use (kg Carbon deficit/kg FPCM) were similar (1.38 +/- 0.33 and 19.3 +/- 7.08 for GP system; 1.46 +/- 0.37 and 21.8 +/- 11.4 for PR system). The most efficient farms in terms of milk production and DE generally showed the best environmental and economic sustainability, while the others show worse outcomes, mainly due to poor DE, livestock-management issues, feed purchase and ration composition

Smart Dairy Farming: Innovative Solutions to Improve Herd Productivity

Among the most straining trends that farmers have to face there are: on one side, to guarantee welfare and adequate life conditions for animals and to reduce the environmental footprint, on the other side, to develop new strategies to improve farm management reducing costs. The current conditions and the expected developments of the dairy sector highlight a strong need for more efficient and sustainable farming systems. Studying heat stress, herd management and housing and animals\u2019 productive and reproductive performances is fundamental for the economic and environmental sustainability of the dairy chain. New and effective tools to cope with these challenges have been provided by Precision Livestock Farming (PLF), which is nowadays increasingly applied and makes possible to control quali-quantitative parameters related to production, health, behaviour, and real-time locomotion per animal. The research key challenge is to turn these data into knowledge to provide real-time support in farming optimisation. This research focuses specifically on different systems to collect, process and derive useful information from data on animal welfare and productivity. A multi-disciplinary approach has been adopted to generate a decision support system for farmers

Modelling the effect of context-specific greenhouse gas and nitrogen emission mitigation options in key European dairy farming systems

Understanding the environmental consequences associated with dairy cattle production systems is crucial for the implementation of targeted strategies for emission reduction. However, few studies have modelled the effect of tailored emission mitigation options across key European dairy production systems. Here, we assess the single and combined effect of six emission mitigation practises on selected case studies across Europe through the Sustainable and Integrated Management System for Dairy Production model. This semi-mechanistic model accounts for the interacting flows from a whole-farm perspective simulating the environmental losses in response to different management strategies and site-specific conditions. The results show how reducing the crude protein content of the purchased fraction of the diet was an adequate strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas and nitrogen emission intensity in all systems. Furthermore, implementing an anaerobic digestion plant reduced the greenhouse gas emissions in all tested case studies while increasing the nitrogen emissions intensity, particularly when slurry was applied using broadcast. Regarding the productivity increase, contrasting effects were observed amongst the case studies modelled. Moreover, shallow slurry injection effectively mitigated the intensity of nitrogen losses from the fields due to strong reductions in ammonia volatilisation. When substituting urea with ammonium nitrate as mineral fertiliser, site-specific conditions affected the mitigation potential observed, discouraging its application on sandy-loam soils. Rigid slurry covers effectively reduced the storage-related nitrogen emissions intensity while showing a minor effect on total greenhouse gas emission intensity. In addition, our results provide novel evidence regarding the advantages of cumulative implementation of adapted mitigation options to offset the negative trade-offs of single-option applications (i.e. slurry covers or anaerobic digestion and slurry injection). Through this study, we contribute to a better understanding of the effect of emission mitigation options across dairy production systems in Europe, thus facilitating the adoption of tailored and context-specific emission reduction strategies