Extreme events related to climate change are increasing in intensity, frequency, and duration worldwide. Europe is identified as a heatwave hotspot, with trends three-to-four time faster than the ...northern mid-latitudes; effects of heatwaves are combined in urban contexts with the heat island phenomenon, making cities critical for climate risk prevention and management. Land surface temperature represents an essential parameter for assessing the intensity of thermal impact on urban ecosystems and on public health. This parameter is widely used to map and assess urban heat islands in light to support climate-resilient adaptation planning. The general aim of this study is to assess urban heat island intensity, during a significant heatwave, in a critical heat-related risk region in Southern Italy (Salento). Specific objectives are 1) assessing climate change trends for heat-related extremes (hot days and heatwaves), 2) calculating urban heat islands intensity at regional and urban scale, 3) assessing spatial relationships among thermal intensity and urban characteristics (soil sealing and surface albedo). Identification of heatwaves is based on climatological data and statistical analyses; spatial thermal analyses and correlations are based on Landsat-8 imagery while land cover data are derived from ortho-photos. Climate analyses show a notable increase of the maximum annual temperature of 0.5°C per decade, with an increase of eight hot days per decade. Spatial analyses on thermal impact highlight that urban heat island intensity is much lower within cities and towns than in rural areas, showing a “reverse effect” compared to the typical microclimatic characteristics of urban contexts. In fact, thermal intensity in the city of Lecce ranges from −11°C to 5.6°C. Also, by NDVI analyses, we found that permeable surfaces were 2°C higher than impermeable surfaces, with statistically significant differences. Results from albedo analysis suggest that the characteristics of building material in historical sectors of cities may play a crucial role in this “reverse effect” of urban heat islands. Further studies are required to better investigate the contribution of different factors in this context.
Patients with adrenal incidentalomas (AI) may experience detrimental consequences due to a minimal cortisol excess sustained by adrenal adenoma. SNPs of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) ...modulate individual sensitivity to glucocorticoids and may interfere with the clinical presentation.
To compare the frequency of N363S, ER22/23EK and BclI SNPs in patients with AI with the general population and to evaluate whether these SNPs are linked to consequences of cortisol excess.
Multicentric, retrospective analysis of patients referred from 2010 to 2014 to 4 centers (Orbassano, Milano, Messina Italy and Zagreb Croatia).
411 patients with AI; 153 males and 258 females and 186 from blood donors.
All patients and controls were genotyped for BclI, N363S and ER22/23EK and SNPs frequency was associated with clinical and hormonal features.
SNP frequency was: SNP frequency was: N363S 5.4% (MAF 0.027), BclI 54.7% (MAF 0.328), ER22/23EK 4.4% (MAF 0.022), without any significant difference between patients and controls. N363S was more frequent in hypertensive patients (p = 0.03) and was associated with hypertension (p = 0.015) in patients with suppressed cortisol after the 1-mg DST.
Our results demonstrate that SNPs of the glucocorticoid receptor gene do not play a pathogenetic role for AI. The impact of any single SNP on the phenotypic expression of minimal cortisol excess is limited and their analysis does not provide additional data that may be exploited for patient management.
The aim of this study was to investigate the sources of variation of milk fatty acids (FA) routinely predicted by mid-infrared spectroscopy in Holstein-Friesian (HF), Brown Swiss (BS), Simmental (SI) ...and Alpine Grey (AG) cattle breeds. A linear mixed model was used to analyse the data which included 153,801 individual milk samples from 14,301 cows. Fixed effects included in the model were breed, month of sampling, year of sampling, stage of lactation, parity and first order interactions between them, and random effects were herd nested within breed, cow nested within breed and the residual error. Milk of AG cows exhibited the lowest content of saturated FA and the greatest content of unsaturated FA, whereas milk of BS had an opposite pattern. Holstein-Friesian and SI were intermediate between AG and BS breeds for all the FA except for total C18:1, which was the greatest in HF. Saturated FA, C14:0 and C16:0 increased from calving until 120 days in milk, whereas unsaturated FA and C18:1 decreased. First parity cows produced milk with lower concentration of de novo FA than multiparous animals. The greatest content of unsaturated FA and C18:1 was observed in summer, whereas saturated FA, C14:0, C16:0 and C18:0 decreased in summer and increased in winter. The differences in milk FA profile among breeds are useful for genetic selection and for feeding strategies.
The mitigation of urban heat islands (UHIs) is crucial for promoting the sustainable development of urban areas. Geographic information systems (GISs) together with satellite-derived data are ...powerful tools for investigating the spatiotemporal distribution of UHIs. Depending on the availability of data and the geographic scale of the analysis, different methodologies can be adopted. Here, we show a complete open source GIS-based methodology based on satellite-driven data for investigating and mapping the impact of the UHI on the heat-related elderly risk (HERI) in the Functional Urban Area of Padua. Thermal anomalies in the territory were mapped by modelling satellite data from Sentinel-3. After a socio-demographic analysis, the HERI was mapped according to five levels of risk. The highest vulnerability levels were localised within the urban area and in three municipalities near Padua, which represent about 20% of the entire territory investigated. In these municipalities, a percentage of elderly people over 20%, a thermal anomaly over 2.4 °C, and a HERI over 0.65 were found. Based on these outputs, it is possible to define nature-based solutions for reducing the UHI phenomenon and promote a sustainable development of cities. Stakeholders can use the results of these investigations to define climate and environmental policies.
The present study aimed to evaluate analytical performances of radial immunodiffusion (RID) technique for the quantification of milk lactoferrin (LF), and to investigate the main sources of variation ...of LF concentration in individual milk samples of Holstein Friesian (HF, n = 1516) and Simmental (SI, n = 230) cows. Repeatability (RSD
r
) and reproducibility (RSD
R
) of RID method were assessed as relative standard deviation of 15 measurements within the same day and 45 measurements across 3 d, respectively. Sources of variation of milk LF were investigated through a mixed linear model which included the fixed effects of classes of stage of lactation and parity (and their interaction), cow breed, udder health status (UHS, based on somatic cell count and differential somatic cell count), and the random effects of the herd-test day nested within breed and the residual. Method performances were satisfactory in terms of repeatability (RSD
r
< 9%) and reproducibility (RSD
R
< 8%), suggesting that the RID can be considered as a consistent cow-side test for the quantification of milk LF. Milk LF was positively associated with somatic cell score (r = 0.40) and negatively with lactose content (r = −0.33). Lower concentration of LF was observed in milk of 'healthy' and 'susceptible' cows (13.03 and 12.87 mg/dL, respectively) compared to 'mastitic' and 'chronic' cows (17.91 and 17.33 mg/dL, respectively). In this light, milk LF has the potential to be a useful biomarker to detect early mastitis. Further research is advisable to deepen the association between milk LF content and observed clinical mastitis.
Highlights
Radial immunodiffusion method for milk lactoferrin quantification is repeatable and reproducible.
Somatic cell count is positively associated with milk lactoferrin content.
Milk lactoferrin is less concentrated in milk of healthy and susceptible than potentially mastitic and chronic cows.
Plant feed additives (PFA) such as essential oils, extracts, and by-products from plant processing can be included in poultry diets. A total of 39 peer-reviewed articles were selected from the ...literature published in the last 20 years (2000-2020) comparing PFA antioxidant effects with synthetic antioxidant vitamins (mainly vitamin E) in poultry nutrition. The PFA can be used as an effective nutritional strategy to face poultry's oxidative stress with positive impact also on their productivity and efficiency. They can partially or completely replace antioxidant synthetic vitamins (the latter administered at doses between 150 and 500 mg/kg) in animal diets, sometimes affecting important physiological functions or expressing synergistic effect with the synthetic antioxidants. It is crucial to take into consideration the issues related to the absorption and the metabolism of these additives and their interaction with gut microbiota. However, some form- and dose-dependent negative effects on growth performances are observed.
The Murciano-Granadina (MG) goat breed was introduced in 2016 in northern Italy and it has become the third most widespread breed after Saanen (SA) and Alpine (AL). The study aimed to compare milk ...yield and composition of MG with SA and AL reared under the same farming system. A total of 11,682 milk test-day records from 1947 goats reared in 7 single- and 7 multi-breeds herds were evaluated. All breeds included out off-season kiddings: MG is a permanent polyestric breed whereas specific strategies are commonly adopted to induce oestrus across the year in SA and AL. The mixed model included breed, parity, stage of lactation, kidding season and first-order interactions as fixed effects; goat, herd-test-date and residual were random effects. All the effects were significant in explaining the variability of the traits (p < 0.01). The MG yielded 0.93 and 0.50 kg/d less milk (p≤0.05) than SA and AL, respectively, and showed the greatest fat, protein, casein and lactose content and the lowest SCS (p≤0.05). Oppositely to SA, the fat-to-protein ratio (F/P) of MG was always ≥1.00 regardless of lactation stage, parity and kidding season. In conclusion, MG can yield high-quality milk despite being less productive than SA and AL. Moreover, this recently introduced breed, whose reproductive behaviour is less sensitive to season compared to SA and AL, performs efficiently under the Veneto region farming system and can be a genetic resource of interest for the current Italian context.
Highlights
Milk composition differed among all three breeds: Murciano-Granadina (MG) milk had the greatest lactose and fat content and the lowest SCS.
MG goats milk was characterised by greater protein and casein content than Saanen (SA) and was similar to Alpine (AL).
The fat-to-protein ratio (F/P) was always >1.00 in MG, while in SA was usually <1.00.
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of chemical composition, coagulation properties, pH, and titratable acidity (TA, SH°/50 ml) of vat milk on Grana Padano cheese yield (CY) under field ...conditions. Twelve cheese-making sessions were carried out from February to December 2009 in a dairy cooperative of Grana Padano Consortium (Italy), for a total of 96 vats of milk processed. For each vat, samples of raw milk were collected and analysed for quality traits (fat, protein, and casein contents), pH, TA, and milk coagulation properties (MCP), measured as rennet coagulation time (RCT, min), curd-firming time (k₂₀, min), and curd firmness (a₃₀, mm). Cheese yield was expressed as kilograms of cheese per 100 kg milk transformed, and was measured after 2 d of drainage. Fat, protein, and casein contents were positively and strongly correlated with CY (coefficients of correlation, r = 0·72, 0·88, and 0·84, respectively; P < 0·001). Coagulation properties were moderately and significantly (P < 0·001) related to CY: milk that coagulated earlier and had stronger a₃₀ was associated to greater CY. Cheese yield was analysed with a model that accounted for fixed effects of cheese-making day, fat and protein content, TA, and a₃₀. Significance was found for all the effects (P < 0·05). Milk characterised by high values of a₃₀ resulted in higher CY than milk with low values of a₃₀, indicating that MCP could be used as indicators of cheese-making efficiency. Future research should investigate the relationships between MCP and quality of cheese, and explore the feasibility of including MCP in multiple component milk pricing system for Grana Padano cheese production.
MicroRNAs, highly-conserved small RNAs, act as key regulators of many biological functions in both plants and animals by post-transcriptionally regulating gene expression through interactions with ...their target mRNAs. The microRNA research is a dynamic field, in which new and unconventional aspects are emerging alongside well-established roles in development and stress adaptation. A recent hypothesis states that miRNAs can be transferred from one species to another and potentially target genes across distant species. Here, we propose to look into the
-kingdom potential of miRNAs as a tool to bridge conserved pathways between plant and human cells. To this aim, a novel multi-faceted bioinformatic analysis pipeline was developed, enabling the investigation of common biological processes and genes targeted in plant and human transcriptome by a set of publicly available
miRNAs. Multiple datasets, including miRNA, gene, transcript and protein sequences, expression profiles and genetic interactions, were used. Three different strategies were employed, namely a network-based pipeline, an alignment-based pipeline, and a
network reconstruction approach, to study functional modules and to evaluate gene/protein similarities among miRNA targets. The results were compared in order to find common features, e.g., microRNAs targeting similar processes. Biological processes like exocytosis and response to viruses were common denominators in the investigated species. Since the involvement of miRNAs in the regulation of DNA damage response (DDR)-associated pathways is barely explored, especially in the plant kingdom, a special attention is given to this aspect. Hereby, miRNAs predicted to target genes involved in DNA repair, recombination and replication, chromatin remodeling, cell cycle and cell death were identified in both plants and humans, paving the way for future interdisciplinary advancements.
Urban Green Spaces (UGS) contribute to the sustainable development of the urban ecosystem, positively impacting quality of life and providing ecosystem services and social benefits to inhabitants. ...For urban planning, mapping and quantification of UGS become crucial. So far, the contribution of private green spaces to ecosystem services in urban areas has yet to be studied. At the same time, in many Italian cities, they represent a considerable part of the urban green cover. This study utilises a methodological approach and provides insights into the contribution of urban public and private green spaces by the consideration of a case study area in Northeast Italy. To achieve this goal, the main steps were: (i) NDVI extraction from very high-resolution (20 cm) orthophotos, (ii) classification of property status and (iii) analysis of the degree of the greenness of land cover units. From our results, the total amount of the green spaces is 5.70 km2, of which 72.1% (4.11 km2) is private, and 28.9% (1.59 km2) is public. As for the land cover, three NDVI classes were identified, highlighting different degrees of homogeneity in NDVI reflectance response within each urban land cover unit. These results will support the planning of new green areas in the post-epidemic National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
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