111,850 research outputs found
Bovine beta casein polymorphism and environmental sustainability of cheese production: The case of Grana Padano PDO and mozzarella cheese
No full textSeveral genetic variants of II-casein have been identified but A1 and A2 are the most common. Bovine II-casein variants may play an important role on cheese yield and quality, besides milk production and composition, and, thereby, affect environmental sustainability of cheese production processes. The aim of the study was to investigate the possible effect on environmental sustainability of cheese production, related to bovine II-casein polymorphism. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed, considering Grana Padano PDO and mozzarella cheese, made with either A1A1, A1A2 or A2A2 II-casein milk and using economic and dry matter allocation methods for cheese and co-products. Additionally to characterization, normalization and weighting (endpoints method), were also performed. Results on the environmental impact of 1 kg of pack-aged cheese showed that, among the II-casein genetic variants, A1A1 seemed to be the most impactful, only due to the lower individual daily milk production of cows belonging to A1A1 group, compared to the cows belonging to A1A2 and A2A2 groups, i.e. 29.6, 37.1 and 34.6 kg of fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM) day cow-1, respec-tively. Allocation method strongly affected the impacts per kg of cheese product and, consequently, of co -products. The normalization allowed to understand the relative importance of different impact categories and the result obtained indicated that the notable impact categories of the cheese industry were natural land transformation, aquatic eutrophication and terrestrial acidification. Results of the weighting highlighted that greater damage was given to the ecosystem quality, followed by human health and, finally, resource scarcity. Overall, biggest dif-ferences were detected for the two cheeses, rather than for the II-casein genetic variants and the differences in environmental sustainability of cheese made with A1A1, A1A2 and A2A2 milk were mainly due to the different cow milk production, rather than cheese yield. Therefore considering only the technological properties useful for cheese making the selection of milk with A2A2 II-casein may be not so convenient. Normalization and weighting results allow to identify the most impactful categories and so can help decision-makers to determine where to prioritize efforts aimed at reducing cheese environmental impact
author-bios-SRD-19-0063.R1 – Supplemental material for The Network Structure of Police Misconduct
No full textSupplemental material, author-bios-SRD-19-0063.R1 for The Network Structure of Police Misconduct by George Wood, Daria Roithmayr and Andrew V. Papachristos in Socius</p
Structural equation modeling for unraveling the multivariate genomic architecture of milk proteins in dairy cattle
No full textThe aims of this study were to investigate potential functional relationships among milk protein fractions in dairy cattle and to carry out a structural equation model (SEM) GWAS to provide a decomposition of total SNP effects into direct effects and effects mediated by traits that are upstream in a phenotypic network. To achieve these aims, we first fitted a mixed Bayesian multitrait genomic model to infer the genomic correlations among 6 milk nitrogen fractions [4 caseins (CN), namely κ-, β-, αS1-, and αS2-CN, and 2 whey proteins, namely β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) and α-lactalbumin (α-LA)], in a population of 989 Italian Brown Swiss cows. Animals were genotyped with the Illumina BovineSNP50 Bead Chip v.2 (Illumina Inc.). A Bayesian network approach using the max-min hill-climbing (MMHC) algorithm was implemented to model the dependencies or independence among traits. Strong and negative genomic correlations were found between β-CN and αS1-CN (−0.706) and between β-CN and κ-CN (−0.735). The application of the MMHC algorithm revealed that κ-CN and β-CN seemed to directly or indirectly influence all other milk protein fractions. By integrating multitrait model GWAS and SEM-GWAS, we identified a total of 127 significant SNP for κ-CN, 89 SNP for β-CN, 30 SNP for αS1-CN, and 14 SNP for αS2-CN (mostly shared among CN and located on Bos taurus autosome 6) and 15 SNP for β-LG (mostly located on Bos taurus autosome 11), whereas no SNP passed the significance threshold for α-LA. For the significant SNP, we assessed and quantified the contribution of direct and indirect paths to total marker effect. Pathway analyses confirmed that common regulatory mechanisms (e.g., energy metabolism and hormonal and neural signals) are involved in the control of milk protein synthesis and metabolism. The information acquired might be leveraged for setting up optimal management and selection strategies aimed at improving milk quality and technological characteristics in dairy cattle
1H NMR metabolic profile to discriminate pasture based alpine asiago PDO cheeses
No full textThe study was carried out in an alpine area of North-Eastern Italy to assess the reliability of proton nuclear magnetic resonance 1H NMR to fingerprint and discriminate Asiago PDO cheeses processed in the same dairy plant from upland pasture-based milk or from upland hay-based milk. Six experimental types of Asiago cheese were made from raw milk considering 2 cows’ feeding systems (pasture- vs. hay-based milk) and 3 ripening times (2 months, Pressato vs. 4 months, Allevo_4 vs. 6 months, Allevo_6). Samples (n = 55) were submitted to chemical analysis and to 1HNMRcoupled with multivariate canonical discriminant analysis. Choline, 2,3-butanediol, lysine, tyrosine, and some signals of sugar-like compounds were suggested as the main water-soluble metabolites useful to discriminate cheese according to cows’ feeding system. A wider pool of polar biomarkers explained the variation due to ripening time. The validation procedure based on a predictive set suggested that 1H NMR based metabolomics was an effective fingerprinting tool to identify pasture-based cheese samples with the shortest ripening period (Pressato). The classification to the actual feeding system of more aged cheese samples was less accurate likely due to their chemical and biochemical changes induced by a prolonged maturation process
Digital corporate identity congruence analises: highlighting critical issues and untapped opportunities. A focus on Italian SMEs of the dairy industry
No full textFirms often signal their identities through their digital footprints. The context chosen for this research is the Italian dairy industry, which is fragmented with many product-oriented smaller farms. Corporate identity congruence (CIC) refers to the fit between several corporate identity meanings. These meanings are signaled to stakeholders by multiple vehicles, some of which are digital in nature. Digital signal analyses could reveal misalignment between offline and online communication. The research design involves multiple studies: phenomenological interviews on 7 case studies, using NVIVO to analyze transcripts and other documents; nutritional and chemometric analysis on dairy products; corporate identity congruence meaning based analysis, with a particular focus on digital communication. Misalignments discovered between what companies do, who they are, and what they say (offline and online) are discussed as critical issues. This digital CIC analysis strives to highlight new opportunities for companies that want to evolve their digital corporate identit
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Changes in the milk and fecal microbiota in Holstein cows with subclinical intramammary infection
No full textUnderstanding the relationship between microbial community alterations and disease can provide valuable insights for improving diagnostics, prevention, and treatment strategies. This study used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to investigate and compare microbial diversity in the milk and feces of Holstein cows with subclinical mastitis caused by Streptococcus agalactiae and Prototheca spp. with that of healthy cows. A bacteriological screening identified 50 Holstein cows reared in a commercial dairy farm and classified into 3 experimental groups: (1) animals negative at the bacteriological examination with no history of subclinical mastitis (HLTH; n = 16), (2) animals positive at the bacteriological examination for either Streptococcus agalactiae (STRP; n = 22) or Prototheca spp. (PRTH; n = 12). The milk microbiota showed significant pathogen-specific alterations, with increased Firmicutes in STRP cows (55.6%) and Cyanobacteria in PRTH cows (17.3%), compared with healthy cows (39.2% and 0.7%, respectively). Alpha diversity (observed amplicon sequence variants, Shannon, and evenness indices) was significantly lower in infected cows, confirming a microbial imbalance. Beta diversity analysis (PERMANOVA) revealed significant differences in microbial composition between healthy and infected cows, but no significant differences in fecal microbiota composition. Differential abundance analysis identified Streptococcus (log2fold change [FC] = 7.3) as the most enriched taxon in STRP cows and Cyanobacteria (log2FC = 8.9) as the most enriched in PRTH cows in milk matrix, while Macrococcus caseolyticus was significantly reduced in both infected groups (log2FC = −4.5). These findings suggest that subclinical mastitis leads to significant shifts in the milk microbiota but does not alter the fecal microbiome, supporting a localized rather than systemic microbial response. This study provides novel insights into the microbial dynamics of subclinical mastitis and potential biomarkers for disease monitorin
Variations on the Author
No full text“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Pyrrolizidine alkaloid concentrations in local Italian and retail honeys of different origin: A scenario of human exposure
No full textA validated method in liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was applied to assess the contamination profile of 17 pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxide metabolites (PAs/PANOs) in 775 honey samples of different origins, including from local beekeepers (579, LB), large retail and online stores (Italian (LRI) and foreign (LRF) products). Fifty-five percent of the honey samples contained the 17 monitored compounds at below the limit of quantification. The LB samples were characterised by a total mean concentration of PAs/PANOs at 6.7 and 3.3 times lower than those of the LRF and LRI samples, respectively. The PA echimidine characterised mainly honey samples from the large retail stores (75.8 % and 72.5 % of LRI- and LRF-contaminated samples, respectively). The LB samples showed a senecionine-type contamination profile, providing beekeepers clues to the plants responsible for contamination. The results highlighted that the consumption of the local honey samples analysed does not represent a double risk for human health compared to the consumption of products from large retail stores. Careful attention must be paid to honey imported from areas where lycopsamine-type and senecionine-type PAs/PANOs-producing plants are invasive. A machine learning approach could predict the origin of the sample given its contaminant profile at an accuracy of 0.74, which is useful for detecting fraud in the declared honey origin
The analysis of nutritional profile and communication strategy of intensive and extensive dairy chain products in the North-East of Italy
No full textThe aim of this study was to analyse the nutritional value of dairy products obtained by two dairy chains of North-East Italy and evaluate their market communication. One farm is located in the lowland and the dairy cows are mainly fed by permanent grass and alfalfa hay; the other is located in highland and the dairy cows have a diet based on hay (permanent meadow), except during summer, when they are fed on an alpine seasonal pasture plus a small amount of concentrate. Results about the nutritional value of these products highlight that, during the summer season, the analysis of the lipid fraction of the mountain (grazing pasture) dairy products shows a significant higher amount of fat-soluble vitamins as well as a richer profile in beneficial fatty acids such as conjugated of linoleic acid (CLA) and branched-FA, than the samples from the lowland dairy chain. However, it was observed that, during winter, the dairy lipid nutritional value was comparable between the two productive systems. Considering the quite relevant reduction of milk production of dairy cows during the alpine sojourn and the increase of the cost per milk unit, an adequate communication is necessary to improve the costumers perception regarding the mountain dairy products. For this reason the communication of these products has been analyzed through their brand signaling vehicles, in order to understand the overall messages sent to the market. Results highlight similarities and differences between product brands, and underline that some communication efforts (what is said or promised to the market) are not aligned with the real benefits included in the product (what products are really offering in terms of nutritional value). As such, this study suggests that in some cases there are important untapped marketing opportunities that effective communication strategies may help to cover
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