effect of dietary inclusion of flaxseed on milk yield and composition of dairy cows

The aim of the experiment was to study the effects of flaxseed inclusion on milk yield (MY), milk fat and protein contents and milk fatty acids (FA) composition in dairy cows diets. Eight Italian Friesian primiparous cows were divided into two homogeneous groups and fed a control diet (based on corn silage, fescue hay and a concentrate) or the same diet having 0.9 Kg DM concentrate replaced by coarsely grounded flaxseed for a 21 d experimental period. The groups were inverted in respect to the dietary treatments in a subsequent experimental period according to a change-over design. The flaxseed inclusion (4-5% DM) had a positive effect on dry matter intake (DMI, 22.2 vs. 21.3Kg/d) and significantly (P<0.01) increased the MY (26.9 vs. 26.1Kg/d) and milk fat corrected yield (FCM, 27.7 vs. 26.7Kg/d). Milk fat and protein percentages (4.18 and 3.46%, respectively on average) were not affected by flaxseed treatment. Results also indicated a significant (P<0.01) reduction of saturated fatty acid/unsaturated fatty acid ratio (SFA/UFA) and an increase of n-3/n-6FA, monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Moreover a higher proportion of total C18:1 and conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLA) was also observed for treated group

Wnt/CTNNB1 signal transduction pathway inhibits the expression of ZFP36 in squamous cell carcinoma, by inducing transcriptional repressors SNAI1, SLUG and TWIST

The Wnt/CTNNB1 pathway is often deregulated in epithelial tumors. The ZFP36 gene, encoding the mRNA binding protein Tristetraprolin (TTP), is downregulated in several cancers, where it has been described to behave as a tumor suppressor. By this report, we show that Wnt/CTNNB1 pathway is constitutively activated, and ZFP36 expression is downregulated in Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) cell lines compared to normal keratinocytes. Moreover, we suggest that the decrease of ZFP36 expression might depend on the activity of transcriptional repressors SNAI1, SLUG and TWIST, whose expression is induced by Wnt/CTNNB1, highlighting a potential regulatory mechanism underlying ZFP36 downregulation in epithelial cancers

Effect of dietary inclusion of flaxseed on milk yield and composition of dairy cows

The aim of the experiment was to study the effects of flaxseed inclusion on milk yield (MY), milk fat and protein contents and milk fatty acids (FA) composition in dairy cows diets. Eight Italian Friesian primiparous cows were divided into two homogeneous groups and fed a control diet (based on corn silage, fescue hay and a concentrate) or the same diet having 0.9 Kg DM concentrate replaced by coarsely grounded flaxseed for a 21 d experimental period. The groups were inverted in respect to the dietary treatments in a subsequent experimental period according to a change-over design. The flaxseed inclusion (4-5% DM) had a positive effect on dry matter intake (DMI, 22.2 vs. 21.3Kg/d) and significantly (P<0.01) increased the MY (26.9 vs. 26.1Kg/d) and milk fat corrected yield (FCM, 27.7 vs. 26.7Kg/d). Milk fat and protein percentages (4.18 and 3.46%, respectively on average) were not affected by flaxseed treatment. Results also indicated a significant (P<0.01) reduction of saturated fatty acid/unsaturated fatty acid ratio (SFA/UFA) and an increase of n-3/n-6FA, monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Moreover a higher proportion of total C18:1 and conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLA) was also observed for treated group

Nell’Italia di mezzo: rigenerazione e valorizzazione dei territori della produzione

Fuori dalle aree interne e dai capoluoghi delle città metropolitane è possibile osservare territori che hanno avuto una rapida e spesso incontrollata crescita: per lo sviluppo di buona parte della manifattura italiana, o di profili industriali di stampo fordista legati all’azione statale e di agricolture intensive. Uno sviluppo delle attività economiche che ha generato una contenuta ma spesso costante crescita della popolazione fuori dall’orizzonte delle grandi città, quasi per nulla regolato nel suo profilo urbanistico-ambientale, né tanto meno inquadrato all’interno di una qualche esplicita visione di trasformazione territoriale. Per questa Italia né area metropolitana né area interna, di margine metropolitano o “di mezzo” la proposta operativa avanzata da questo contributo è quella di: a) procedere alla individuazione di 30 ambiti sovracomunali esemplari (con un massimo di 3 per Regione), non necessariamente distrettuali, che presentino un doppio ordine di criticità: una più propriamente economico-sociale e una più propriamente ambientale-urbanistico-territoriale; b) delineare possibili azioni sugli spazi della produzione, dalle aree industriali dei distretti manifatturieri, agli ambiti dell’allevamento intensivo, alle coltivazioni in serra e delle agricolture intensive e specializzate, dal forte impatto ambientale

Nell’Italia di mezzo: rigenerazione e valorizzazione dei territori della produzione

Fuori dalle aree interne e dai capoluoghi delle città metropolitane, ai margini di quest’ultime e, soprattutto, nei territori periurbani e a urbanizzazione diffusa, nelle campagne urbanizzate e attorno alle città medie, è possibile osservare oggi numerosi ambiti territoriali “intermedi” che sono contraddistinti da fragilità (Lanzani, 2020) dovute a traiettorie evolutive simili. In molte situazioni si è avuta, dapprima, una significativa (rapida e spesso incontrollata) crescita per lo sviluppo di buona parte della manifattura italiana, sia essa quella dei distretti della piccola e media impresa del Made in Italy o, anche, seppur in misura minore e specialmente nel Mezzogiorno, quella di profili industriali di stampo fordista legati all’azione statale e di agricolture intensive (dall’allevamento alle attività in serra, a produzioni molto specializzate, ad esempio di vigneto). Uno sviluppo delle attività economiche, a volte congiunto, a volte autonomo rispetto ai processi di urbanizzazione, che ha generato una contenuta ma spesso costante crescita della popolazione fuori dall’orizzonte delle grandi città

Gli ultimi spazi aperti della città diffusa. Prospettive di tutela e strategie infrastrutturali per i territori non urbanizzati della regione pedemontana lombarda

Il contributo propone una riflessione sul ruolo strategico che oggi viene rivestito dai residui spazi non edificati nell’estesa urbanizzazione Pedemontana lombarda, con una attenzione particolare alla situazione della Brianza centrale. Tali “radure” di spazio aperto devono essere preservati non soltanto per garantire a questi territori livelli minimi di abitabilità in relazione alle fondamentali esperienze di naturalità e ruralità (ormai molto ridotte in verità, ma non per questo meno preziose e necessarie), ma anche e soprattutto poiché elementi necessari al funzionamento di un ciclo ecologico ed idrogeologico che interessa l’intera regione urbana milanese e che in questi ultimi areali di natura ha una delle principali (se non uniche) occasioni di stabilizzazione e miglioramento

Alemtuzumab Plus Cyclosporine Treatment of the Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia in an Adult Bowel Transplant

An adult male underwent a bowel transplant for tufting enteropathy, receiving alemtuzumab, tacrolimus, and steroids as immunosuppressants. Five years later, he developed an autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), anti-IgG positive, with reduced reticulocyte count, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia with antiplatelet antibodies. After an unsuccessful initial treatment with high dose steroids, reduction in tacrolimus dose, and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), a bone marrow biopsy revealed absence of erythroid maturation with precursor hyperplasia. The patient was switched to sirolimus and received four doses of rituximab plus two courses of plasmapheresis, which decreased his transfusion requirements. After a febrile episode one month later, the AIHA relapsed with corresponding decreases in platelet and leukocyte count: cyclosporine A (CsA) was started with a second course of rituximab and IVIG without response, even though repeat bone marrow biopsy did not reveal morphology correlated to an acquired pure red cell aplasia (APRCA). Considering the similarity in his clinical and laboratory findings to APRCA, alemtuzumab was added (three doses over a week) with CsA followed by steroids. The patient was eventually discharged transfusion-independent, with increasing hemoglobin (Hb) levels and normal platelet and leukocyte count. One year later he is still disease-free with functioning graft

The Dark Side of Urban Informality in the Global North: Housing Illegality and Organized Crime in Northern Italy

This article deals with housing illegality/informality in Italy, where it represents an established aspect of urban development. It presents a case study focused on Desio, a town close to Milan in northern Italy. Here housing illegality occurs by virtue of the well-established presence of a mafia-type criminal organization (the ‘Ndrangheta). Three examples of illegal construction in Desio are analysed, forming the basis for a discussion on the distinctive features of illegal house-building in Italy. In particular, institutional incentives encouraging illegal housing are investigated, with reference to both formal institutions (e.g. planning laws, rules preventing unauthorized housing and building amnesties) and informal institutions (e.g. organized crime). The case of illegal housing in Italy contributes significantly to the wider international debate on urban informality, highlighting the critical need for research along avenues as yet only partially explored (e.g. informal housing in Western countries and the role of criminal activities and actors in the spread of informality) and challenging some common assumptions such as the geographical dualism (‘global North’ versus ‘global South’) which, implicitly, results from the international literature