1,721,168 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Composition and evolution of ruminal fluid microbiota changes when cattle are moved from a permanent valley-farm to a temporary highland farm
No full textIntroduction: Ruminal microbiota consists in an extremely biodiverse environment, which includes bacteria, archaea, fungi and protozoa. Microbial populations contribute to the health and productivity of ruminants, and shifts when dairy cow changes diet. To this end, we investigated shifts in the ruminal bacterial and fungal communities in two groups of cows, one remaining in the permanent valley farm and the other moving to a summer highland farm. Materials and methods: Twelve healthy Brown-Swiss cows were selected from a permanent valley-farm located in Trentino (Northern East Italy). In summer 2017, 6 of the 12 cows were moved to the temporary summer farm (1,860 m altitude) for three months. The remaining cows stayed in the permanent farm over the entire duration of the study. A total of 60 ruminal fluid samples were collected monthly by using an esophageal probe, processed for microbiological analysis, extracted for genomic DNA, amplified using archaeal and fungal specific primers, sequenced on a MiSeq Illumina platform and analyzed using QIIME 2.0. Results: Ruminal fluid from cows moved to the temporary alpine farm showed increased microbial counts compared to samples collected from the permanent farm over the summer. Illumina data also showed significant changes of microbial and fungal relative abundance in alpine samples: Fibrobacter, Lachnospiraceae, Veillonellaceae and Tenericutes significantly changed among bacteria; Neocallimastigaceae, Didymosphaeriaceae, Dothideomycetes, Podospora, Filobasidium, Vishniacozyma, Basidiomycota, Aspergillus and Wallemia significantly changed among fungi. Both microbiological counts and metagenomics data at the end of summer (after transhumance) regressed to values registered at the beginning of summer (before transhumance), confirming the hypothesis that alpine pasture strongly influences the microbiota composition of ruminal liquid. Conclusions: This is the first study aiming to analyze the microbial evolution of ruminal fluid before, during, and after summer transhumance, and in particular to compare the microbiota of two groups of cows maintained over summer in the permanent farm or in a temporary highland farm, respectively. This research provides a broad picture of microbial populations residing the ruminal fluid of dairy cows reared in the permanent farm or in a temporary alpine farm, demonstrating the influence of diet, in particular of alpine pasture, on the microbial composition
Aspetti microbiologici del latte crudo mantenuto a diverse temperature per la produzione di Grana Trentino
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Postural rehabilitation through Kinect-based biofeedback
No full textThe evolution of technology generates a wide number of devices, which can be useful for different applications. Microsoft-KinectTM is one of these devices and in this study we used its features in order to project and develop solutions for postural rehabilitation. Particularly, we developed a system capable to record biomechanical data and return an audio-visual biofeedback regarding the correct/incorrect body position during rehabilitation treatments. This solution clears the way for cheap and easy manner to improve postural rehabilitation: it ensures good control during rehabilitation exercises and movement's analysis and it increases patients' motivation concerning their psychophysical recovery and progress. © 2013 IEEE
Alpine herbs affect rumen in vitro degradability and methane emissions
No full textGrazing ruminants intake variable amounts of medicinal plants when fed on mountain pasture. These plants contain secondary metabolites (tannins, phenols, essential oils, saponins) that have shown an inhibitory effect on rumen methanogenesis. Few studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of Alpine herbs on rumen fermentations, and their potential use as feed to mitigate rumen methane emissions. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of 6 Alpine herbs on rumen fermentations and methane (CH4) emissions.
Six Alpine herbs (Alchemilla vulgaris L., Sanguisorba officinalis L., Tanacetum vulgare L., Cicerbita alpina L. Wallr., Galium odoratum L. Scop., Sisymbrium officinale L. Scop.) and a grass hay (control) were incubated using an in vitro automated system in 3 consecutive runs, in 3 replicates and using as inoculum the rumen fluid of 3 dairy cows, for a total of 189 batch fermentations and 27 blanks. The kinetic of gas production (GP) was measured and, after 24h, samples of liquid and of gas were collected from each bottle. A mixed model was implemented in R to evaluate the fixed effects of 7 treatments on dry matter degradability (DMd), volatile fatty acid (VFA), GP at 24h (mL/g DM) and gas composition (H2, CO2 and CH4). CH4 was expressed as proportion of gas produced (% v/v), per g of DM incubated (mL/g DM) and per g of DMd, and was also computed from VFA profile. Orthogonal contrasts (P<0.05) were built for all the traits investigated, comparing the effect of each Alpine herb to the control test.
The Alpine herbs showed a lower DMd than the grass hay (P<0.001) and produced a lower amount of VFA (P<0.001) and of GP (P<0.001) but, when data were expressed as g of DMd, no differences were observed among herbs and grass hay. All the tested herbs changed the VFA profile increasing the acetic acid proportions and reducing those of propionic and butyric acid (P<0.001), increasing the CH4 emission computed from VFA. Some herbs slightly reduced (P<0.01) the proportions (% v/v) and the amounts (mL/g DM) of CH4 emitted compared to grass hay. However, when data were expressed per g of DMd, no differences were observed between substrates.
In conclusion, the tested Alpine herbs showed a lower degradability than the grass hay and it was related to the higher fibre and lignin content. These herbs also showed a lower emission of CH4 than predicted from the VFA profile suggesting a potential role of plant secondary metabolites in the modulation of fermentations
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