Energy balance of five fodder cropping systems in the irrigated lowlands of Northern Italy

Extensification has recently become an important option in Western European agriculture, driven both by economic considerations (product surpluses together with the fact that developed countries cropping systems have been heavily relying on fossil energy) and growing public concern on the possible adverse effects of intensive farming on the environment and human health. The adoption of rational fodder crop rotations, with the rediscovery of the beneficial effect of the meadow, is viewed as a possible mean to reduce the impact of farming systems in the lowlands of northern Italy, characterised by highly intensive cropping and animal husbandry. For this reason our study examines the effects of crop rotation on the energy balance during 1985-2007 period in a long-term crop rotation trial in Northern Italy comparing five fodder crop systems, different in the degree of crop intensification and for the presence or absence of the meadow: a 1-year continuous cereal double cropping (R1); a 3-year rotation (R3); a 6-year rotation (R6); a permanent meadow (PM); and a continuous grain maize cropping (CM). Each rotation was subjected to two input treatments, defined as high (mostly used in lowlands of northern Italy) and low (input reduction of ca. 30%) respectively, in terms of nutrient levels, herbicide doses, and soil tillage methods. The crop rotations exerted a marked influence on the energy balance. The most efficient rotations in terms of net energy production energy efficiency have been characterized by reduced length and presence of maize and catch-crops

Use of water in the Iberoamérican dry lands: hydro-environmental and socioeconomic efficiency indicators

Uso del agua en tierras secas de Iberoamérica: indicadores de eficiencia hidro-ambiental y socio-económica. Las tierras secas comprenden una superficie sustancial de Iberoamérica (25% de América Latina y el Caribe, o más de la mitad del estado español). En este contexto, Brasil posee una porción significativa de los recursos hídricos superficiales y subterráneos. Sin embargo, en su territorio se encuentran áreas semi-áridas, con extrema escasez hídrica, que comprenden 1300 municipios (cerca del 25% del total de municipios del país), distribuidos en 9 estados, en los que viven más de 22,5 millones de habitantes. Estos se encuentran afectados directa o indirectamente por una situación de severa escasez de recursos hídricos agravada por cambios climáticos, consecuencia del calentamiento global. Resulta importante conocer el acervo de tecnologías tradicionales y no tradicionales para captar, almacenar, y utilizar el agua, adaptadas a las diferentes situaciones socio-económicas e hidro-ambientales, así como indicadores del uso eficiente del agua, validados y homologados como herramienta estratégica de gestión en políticas y programas de seguridad hídrica. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo conocer el estado de nuestro conocimiento sobre dichos indicadores y discutir el caso del semi-árido brasileño en el contexto de las tierras secas de Iberoamérica, y del Plan Nacional de Recursos Hídricos del Estado de Bahía.The dry lands cover  expressive  surface  of  Iberoamerican  (25%  of  Latin  American  and  Caribbean  and  more  than  half  of  the  Spanish  territory).  In  this context, Brazil is a country that possesses significant volume of the world superficial and underground water resources. However, more than 1300 municipal districts (about 25% of the total of municipal districts of the country), distributed in 9 states are directly or indirectly affected  by  extreme  shortage  of  water  resources  which  has  been  worsened  by  the  climatic  changes,  as  a  consequence  of  the  global warming.  More  than  22.5  million  inhabitants  live  in  the  semi-arid areas of Brazil. It is important to scrutiny all traditional and not traditional technologies  for  reception,  storage  and  use  of  the  water,  adapted  for  different  socioeconomic  and  hydro-environmental  situations  and approve and validate indicators of water use efficiency, as a management strategic tool for water security politics and programs. This work aimed to understand the state of the art on indicators and to discuss the Brazilian case of the semi-arid in the context of the Iberoamerican dry lands, based on the National Plan of Water Resources and on the State of Bahia Plan for Water Resource Management.Fil: Carneiro, A. P.. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya; EspañaFil: da Silva, H. P.. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Abraham, Elena Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Morató, J.. No especifíca;Fil: Subirana, A.. Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya; EspañaFil: Tomasoni, M.. Universidade Federal da Bahia; Brasi

Thymic Dendritic Cells Express Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase and Generate Nitric Oxide in Response to Self- and Alloantigens

Thymocytes maturing in the thymus undergo clonal deletion/apoptosis when they encounter self- or allo-Ags presented by dendritic cells (DCs). How this occurs is a matter of debate, but NO may play a role given its ability of inducing apoptosis of these cells. APC (a mixed population of macrophages (Mφ) and DCs) from rat thymus expressed high levels of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and produced large amounts of NO in basal conditions whereas iNOS expression and NO production were very low in thymocytes. Analysis by FACS and by double labeling of cytocentrifuged preparations showed that DCs and MΦ both express iNOS within APC. Analysis of a purified preparation of DCs confirmed that these cells express high levels of iNOS and produce large amounts of NO in basal conditions. The capacity of DCs to generate NO was enhanced by exposure to rat albumin, a self-protein, and required a fully expressed process of Ag internalization, processing, and presentation. Peptides derived from portions of class II MHC molecules up-regulate iNOS expression and NO production by DCs as well, both in self and allogeneic combinations, suggesting a role of NO in both self and acquired tolerance. We also found that NO induced apoptosis of rat double-positive thymocytes, the effect being more evident in anti-CD3-stimulated cells. Altogether, the present findings might suggest that DC-derived NO is at least one of the soluble factors regulating events, in the thymus, that follow recognition of self- and allo-Ags

The nature and evolution of Nova Cygni 2006

AIMS: Nova Cyg 2006 has been intensively observed throughout its full outburst. We investigate the energetics and evolution of the central source and of the expanding ejecta, their chemical abundances and ionization structure, and the formation of dust. METHOD: We recorded low, medium, and/or high-resolution spectra (calibrated into accurate absolute fluxes) on 39 nights, along with 2353 photometric UBVRcIc measures on 313 nights, and complemented them with IR data from the literature. RESULTS: The nova displayed initially the normal photometric and spectroscopic evolution of a fast nova of the FeII-type. Pre-maximum, principal, diffuse-enhanced, and Orion absorption systems developed in a normal way. After the initial outburst, the nova progressively slowed its fading pace until the decline reversed and a second maximum was reached (eight months later), accompanied by large spectroscopic changes. Following the rapid decline from second maximum, the nova finally entered the nebular phase and formed optically thin dust. We computed the amount of formed dust and performed a photo-ionization analysis of the emission-line spectrum during the nebular phase, which showed a strong enrichment of the ejecta in nitrogen and oxygen, and none in neon, in agreement with theoretical predictions for the estimated 1.0 Msun white dwarf in Nova Cyg 2006. The similarities with the poorly investigated V1493 Nova Aql 1999a are discussed.Comment: in press in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Relationship between the prevalence of Dibothriocephalus latus(Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) and the load of Escherichia coli: New findings in a neglected fish-borne parasitic zoonosis

The sub-Alpine lakes of Switzerland, Italy and France have long been reported as an endemic area of diphyllobothriosis, a parasitic zoonosis aused by Dibothriocephalus latus. With this study, we explored the hypothesis for a relationship between the prevalence of D. latus in Perca fluviatilis and the Escherichia coli load in lake water. To do this, we identified eleven sampling sites in three areas (north, centre and south) of Lake Iseo (north Italy) to determine E. coli load and the prevalence of D. latus in P. fluviatilis. Prevalence and 95% confidence interval (CI) of D. latus infestation ranged from 0% (95% CI: 0.71–0.0) in Sarnico (southern area) to 20% (95% CI: 33.0–11.2) in Pisogne (northern area). There were significant differences in prevalence be-tween the sites (χ2= 31.12; p- value= .0006) and in E. coli load (Kruskal–Wallis test; p- value= .0005). There was decreasing gradient of E. coli load and prevalence of D. latus infestation from north to south. A significant positive correlation (r= .881; p- value= .003) was found between E. coli load and prevalence of D. latus. Also, linear regression showed a significant relationship between E. coli load and prevalence of infestation (R2= .775). Our findings offer an explanation for the link between E. coliload in water and D. latus prevalence. The potential factors in this link are the ef-ficiency of the local wastewater treatment plant, the bathymetric profile of the lake and the life cycle of D. latus, which is mainly affected by light and water temperature.KEYWORDSItaly, Lake Iseo, Perca fluviatilis, prevalence of infestation, wastewater treatment plant, the bathymetric profile of the lake and the life cycle of D. latus, which is mainly affected by light and water temperature