Effects of Chickpea in Substitution of Soybean Meal on Milk Production, Blood Profile and Reproductive Response of Primiparous Buffaloes in Early Lactation

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the use of chickpea meal in substitution of soybean meal on plasma metabolites, reproductive response, milk yield and composition and milk coagulation traits of primiparous buffaloes in early lactation. Eighteen primiparous buffaloes were blocked by age, body weight and days in milk and equally allotted to two experimental groups from 10 to 100 days of lactation. The experimental diets consisted of the same forage integrated with two different isonitrogenous and isoenergetic concentrates containing either 210 g/kg of soybean meal or 371 g/kg chickpea. The use of chickpea meal had no negative effects on dry matter intake (p = 0.69), body condition score (p = 0.33) and milk yield (p = 0.15). Neither milk composition nor blood metabolites were influenced by dietary treatments (p > 0.05), but an increment of urea concentrations in milk (p 0.05) of the dietary treatment was highlighted on milk coagulation traits as well as buffalo reproductive responses. We concluded that soybean meal can be replaced by chickpea meal in the diet for primiparous dairy buffaloes in the early lactation period without impairing their productive and reproductive performance

Soil fertility comparison among organic and conventional managed citrus orchards in Sicily.

In recents years, organic farming is expanding in Southern Italy and in the Mediterranean area, due to interest of consumers and EU agricultural policies. Evaluation of organic farming system introduction on soil quality and fertility status should be taken into account in order to define medium-long term environmental and agricultural strategies, on both locol and national scale. Soil physical, chemical and biological parameters represent effective tools to evaluate soil quality and changes in soil fertility status, as a consequence of different agronomic management (i.e. organic vs coventional). The aim of this work was to compare soil fertility of conventional and organic managed citrus Orchards, using specific soil system descriptors. The research was carried out in a Mediterranean environment (Sicil Region, Southern Italy), on Navelina and Tarocco orchards. Soil characteristics were analysed in 54 farms under both organic and conventional management. Farms were selected to obtain similar pairs (27) in the same environmental conditions. Moreover, orchards pairs were homogeneous for age, cultivar and rootsock to reduce effects not linked to soil management. For each soil, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, mineral NO3-N and NH4-N were determined. In addition, in order to evaluate biological fertility of the considered soils, carbon mineralisation and nitrogen mineralisation in anaerobic conditions were studied. Soils' humic fraction was at least characterised qualitatively by isoelectric focusing technique,to obtain information on soil organic matter stability. Potenzially mineralisable carbon and cumulative mineralised carbon determined on 21 days experimental trials differed significantly in organic and conventional soils. Since this significance was detected also for cumulative mineralised carbon after 7 days, probably C-mineralisation represents the more reliable and prompter indicator to discriminate soil biological fertility with respect to the other tested ones. Moreover, it should be remarked that some parameters (as total nitrogen content, mineralised carbon after 1 days and the more humified organic matter fraction), even if not yet significantly different, revealed a strong tendency to increase in organic managed soils, attesting that the organic citrus orchards can be considered systems able to conserve energy and store nutrients more than the conventional ones

Management of Intra-abdominal Infections due to Carbapenemase-Producing Organisms.

The prevalence of bacterial resistance to carbapenem antibiotics continues to increase because of bacteria producing metallo-β-lactamases (MBL), called carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPO). Enterobacteriaceae, which can be a common cause of intra-abdominal infections (IAIs), have become carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). Updated international guidelines for the treatment of both IAIs and IAIs due to CRE have been published. Given the multifaceted nature of these infections, these recommendations have been jointly reviewed and endorsed by the Surgical Society and the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease. The aims of this review are to summarize the general and new generation of multimodal procedure to manage IAIs due to CRE and review the data available on the combination of interventions to reduce CRE. Future research should focus on the development of novel and safe antimicrobial therapies and the quantification of the incremental effect of infection control programmes and new methods to rapidly detect pathogens before patients enter the surgical settin

HIV-1 induces in vivo platelet activation by enhancing platelet NOX2 activity.

OBJECTIVES: HIV-1 patients show increased platelet activation, but the mechanisms involved are not completely clarified. We speculated that HIV-1 might induce in vivo platelet activation by enhancing platelet NOX2-related oxidative stress. METHODS: We measured soluble CD40 Ligand (sCD40L), a systemic marker of platelet activation, in 36 HIV-1 patients under effective combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and in 10 naïve HIV-1 subjects. As control, 20 healthy subjects (HS) were included. Platelet oxidative stress was measured by platelet NOX2-derived peptide (sNOX2-dp), p47(phox) translocation to platelet membrane and platelet prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α). RESULTS: sCD40L was increased both in HIV-1 naïve and cART patients compared to HS (p < 0.001). Platelet sNOX2-dp and 8-iso-PGF2α were significantly higher in HIV-1 naïve subjects compared to those on cART and to HS, and both were mutually correlated (R = 0.734, p < 0.001). A stepwise multivariable linear regression analysis showed that platelet sNOX2-dp (β: 0.803, p < 0.001), HIV-1 infection (β: 0.146, p = 0.014) and age (β: 0.166, p = 0.001) were independently associated to sCD40L levels. CONCLUSIONS: HIV-1 infection is associated with increased platelet oxidative stress, which was related to the activation of NOX2. The independent association between platelet NOX2 activation and plasma levels of sCD40L suggest that in vivo platelet activation may be dependent upon platelet oxidative stress

Mediterranean Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Threatened by Dolphin MorbilliVirus

During 2011-2013, dolphin morbillivirus was molecularly identified in 4 stranded fin whales from the Mediterranean Sea. Nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein, and hemagglutinin gene sequences of the identified strain were highly homologous with those of a morbillivirus that caused a 2006-2007 epidemic in the Mediterranean. Dolphin morbillivirus represents a serious threat for fin whales

Day care cataract surgery in Central and Southern Italy: a multicentric survey

surgical techniques and costs are generally lower than those involved in ordinary hospitalization. Cataract surgery serves as a proxy indicator of the trend towards day surgery hospitalization in Italy and, therefore, of regional variability in health-care delivery and cost. The aim of this study was to update the diffusion of cataract day surgery through various surgical ophthalmological centers in central and southern Italy during 2005. Methods: A two-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used to draw a sample of Cataract Surgery Unit from Ophthalmic Units of central and southern Italy. A questionnaire was sent to 25 cataract surgery centers in nine health districts that represented the range of establishments (public, private, accredited or otherwise) in which cataract surgery is performed. Data were collected on numbers of procedures performed in 2005, hospital admission type, time from the onset of cataract day surgery, surgical procedure, and presence of other surgical centers. Results: The response rate was 42% (10 surveys), resulting in at least one completed questionnaire for each of these 9 districts. There is a positive trend towards day surgery hospitalization in all surgical centers. The percentage of patients treated as outpatients during 2005 varied from 50–60% (Avellino, Naples, Campobasso), to 80–90% (Rome, Bari), up to 90–100% (Catania, Palermo, Siracusa and Trapani), with an increasing trend in all the centers studied. Few differences were found in surgical procedures, and these were statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Our results confirm a positive trend towards day surgery in place of hospital inpatient admission for cataract surgery. This trend is expected to close the existing regional gap in Italy. Increased efficiency is an overriding need for the National Health Service in order to improve the rationalization of resources

E-PTFE (Gore-Tex) implant with or without low-dosage mitomycin-C as an adjuvant in penetrating glaucoma surgery: 2 year randomized clinical trial.

Purpose: To test the expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) as a new adjuvant in trabeculectomy. Methods: Consecutive glaucoma surgical inpatients were observed at the Department of Ophthalmology of Palermo University. Sixty patients (60 eyes)were randomly assigned to undergo trabeculectomy (T), trabeculectomy with mitomycin-C (TMMC), with ePTFE (TG) or with mitomycin-C and ePTFE (TGMMC). Postoperative visits were scheduled at 24 hr, 7 days, 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. Complete success and qualified success were assessed at two target intraocular pressure (IOP) levels – £21 and £17 mmHg – by Kaplan–Meier curves. Results: The postoperative IOP reduction was significant (P < 0.01) at the endpoint in all groups, with a mean IOP of 16.9 (±2.9), 16.2 (±2.7), 15.3 (±3.4) and 15.2 (±4.3) mmHg in T, TMMC, TG and TGMMC eyes, respectively. No intergroup difference was found at either IOP targets. The Kaplan–Meier curves relating to either the £21 mmHg or the £17 mmHg target IOP did not show significant intergroup differences for complete and qualified success rate. When ePTFE was used, a trend favouring the medium-term survival rate was noted. No adverse reaction to the ePTFE was present, and no membrane extrusion or conjuctival erosion were noted in any cases. Hypotony was significantly more frequent (P = 0.035) in groups without ePTFE. Moreover, the late MMC-related complications were more frequent when MMC was applied. Conclusion: Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene implant in trabeculectomy is well tolerated and could act as a filtration modulating device. Therefore, it is useful in reducing early hypotony-related complications and contributes to attaining medium-term IOP control that is comparable to the low-dosage MMC

Viral Encephalopathy and Retinopathy (VER) in Mediterranean wild and farmed fish species : the experience of the ‘Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale’ in Sicily

Betanodavirus infection is widespread in a broad spectrum of fish species worldwide. In Italy, it is responsible for outbreaks of Viral Encephalo-Retinopathy (VER) that causes mortality and economic losses in sea fish farming. The infection is also widespread in the wild and not only in managed systems, where there are generally no observed clinical manifestations.peer-reviewe

At the nexus of three kingdoms: the genome of the mycorrhizal fungus Gigaspora margarita provides insights into plant, endobacterial and fungal interactions.

As members of the plant microbiota, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, Glomeromycotina) symbiotically colonize plant roots. AMF also possess their own microbiota, hosting some uncultivable endobacteria. Ongoing research has revealed the genetics underlying plant responses to colonization by AMF, but the fungal side of the relationship remains in the dark. Here, we sequenced the genome of Gigaspora margarita, a member of the Gigasporaceae in an early diverging group of the Glomeromycotina. In contrast to other AMF, G. margarita may host distinct endobacterial populations and possesses the largest fungal genome so far annotated (773.104 Mbp), with more than 64% transposable elements. Other unique traits of the G. margarita genome include the expansion of genes for inorganic phosphate metabolism, the presence of genes for production of secondary metabolites and a considerable number of potential horizontal gene transfer events. The sequencing of G. margarita genome reveals the importance of its immune system, shedding light on the evolutionary pathways that allowed early diverging fungi to interact with both plants and bacteria