1,721,005 research outputs found
Effect of nitrogen fertilisation on chemical composition and rumen fermentation of different parts of plants of three corn hybrids
No full textThe experiment compared reductions in the level of N fertilisation of corn crop (i.e., no N fertilisation; 0-N, or 150. kg of N/ha; 150-N) with those currently adopted in the Po valley of North Italy (i.e., 300. kg of N/ha; 300-N) on chemical and nutritional characteristics of grain, stalks and leaves in corn hybrids selected for whole plant silage production (i.e., FAO 700 maturity). Grain composition and starch availability for digestion was examined at three stages of maturity of the kernels (i.e., 1/2 milk line, 1/2 milk line and black layer). One hybrid had a lower grain yield (15.2 versus 16.0-16.8. tonnes. DM/ha; P<0.05), while all hybrids were similar in whole plant yield. Levels of N fertilization of 150-N and 300-N resulted in similar yields of grain and whole plants, which were 17 and 33% higher, respectively (P<0.01) than 0-N plots. Hybrids were similar in chemical composition. Reduction of N fertilisation from 300-N to 0-N lowered (P<0.01) the crude protein content in grains, leaves and stalks (P<0.05 in apical part of stalks) and reduced the zein content in grains from 43 to 33. g/kg DM (P<0.01). Vitreousness of grains was not influenced by N fertilisation, while the highest (P<0.01) gas production was at the short incubation time of 2. h for grains with 300-N. Reduction of fertilisation levels (i.e., 150-N and 0-N versus 300-N) lowered (P<0.01) NDF degradation in the basal stalks (0.385 and 0.392 versus 0.412) and leaves (0.604 and 0.620 versus 0.622). Stage of maturity of grain did not interact with the N level of fertilization, and advanced maturity was associated with a marked increase (P<0.01) in zein content from 36 to 49. g/100. g CP and in grain vitreousness from 31 to 40. g/100. g endosperm and with a reduction of the gas production, which had the lowest values at 2 and 48. h (P<0.01) of incubation. Overall, reductions in N fertilisation of corn crop slightly lowered the crude protein content and fiber degradation of different part plants. In grains, the lowest N fertilisation (i.e., 0-N) reduced the zein contents and increased rumen fermentability
Repeatability and reproducibility of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System analytical determinations
No full textThe increasing use in Italy of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) led researchers of five Italianuniversities to carry out a collaborative study to evaluate the precision of the CNCPS chemical analysis and derivate fractions.Each laboratory conducted in duplicate the chemical analyses according to the Weende (dry matter; crude protein;ether extract; crude fibre; ash), Van Soest (neutral and acid detergent fibre, NDF and ADF; acid detergent lignin; ADL)and CNCPS (soluble proteins, SP; non-protein nitrogen, NPN; neutral and acid detergent insoluble protein, NDIP andADIP; starch, ST) schemes on the same five feeds (barley meal, wheat straw, maize silage, dried lucerne and fieldbeans). Anomalous analytical data were identified and corrected by the "box-plot" graphic tool before the calculation ofthe CNCPS protein (B 1, B 2, and B 3,) and carbohydrate (A, B 2 and C) fractions. Finally, repeatability (chemical analysis) andreproducibility (chemical analysis and fractions) were calculated and expressed as relative values (repeatability andreproducibility standard deviation as percentage of the corresponding mean, RSDr and RSDR, respectively). Chemicalanalyses of the Weende scheme, together with NDF, ADF and ST analyses, have satisfactory repeatability (0.3-6.2%) andreproducibility (0.3-11.2%) values. On the contrary the ADL, NPN, NDIP and ADIP analyses showed high variability, bothwithin and between laboratories (RSD r and RSD R between 20 and 45%). The SP analysis had an intermediate value ofprecision (RSD r=10.6%; RSDR=16.4%).Finally, since different combinations of several chemical analyses with scarce (ADL, NPN, NDIP, ADIP, SP) or average precision(e.g. NDF and starch) are used to calculate CNCPS fractions (excluding B 2 protein fraction), also the reproducibilitiesof these fractions are poor and range from 10 to 20%
Chemical composition and rumen degradability of three corn hybrids treated with insecticides against the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis)
No full textThis experiment determined the chemical composition, rumen degradability (aNDF in stalks and starch in kernels) and in vitro gas production of kernels from three corn hybrids treated (TT) or not treated (control, CTR) with insecticides against the European corn borer (ECB, Ostrinia nubilalis). Two whole-plant silage hybrids belonging to the FAO rating 600 and 700 maturity class (S600 and S700, respectively) and one selected for grain production (G600, FAO rating 600, Dekalb-Monsanto Agricoltura S.p.A., Lodi, Italy) were sown in two main plots (TT and CTR) of an experimental field. Two subsequent treatments of pyrethroids (25 and 1.2 g/ha of cyfluthrin and deltamethrin, respectively) were applied to the TT plots. The insecticide treatment reduced the number of damaged plants (4.5 broken plants/plot versus 0.3 broken plants/plot, P<0.01) and increased the total grain yield by 11% (13.8 t/ha versus 12.4 t/ha), while hybrids did not differ. ECB larvae which bored into the stalk tunnels modified the chemical composition of stalks and kernels. In stalks, total sugars content (i.e. glucose, fructose, sucrose) was about twice that in TT versus CTR plants (123 g/kg versus 60 g/kg DM, P<0.01), while aNDF content was higher in CTR stalks (765 versus 702 g/kg DM, P<0.01). DM degradability after 48 h of incubation of stalks was higher in TT than in CTR, both in vitro (0.360 versus 0.298, P<0.01) and in situ (0.370 versus 0.298, P<0.05), while there were no differences in aNDF degradability. Kernels from TT plots contained less DM (615 g/kg versus 651 g/kg, P<0.01) and more CP (84 g/kg and 78 g/kg DM, P<0.05) than those from CTR plots, while in situ rumen starch disappearance and in vitro gas production were similar. Corn hybrid selected for yield of grain (G600) differed from S600 and S700 due to a higher (P<0.01) content of aNDF, ADF and lignin(sa) in the stalks, and a higher starch content (696 g/kg versus 674 and 671 g/kg DM, P<0.01) and CP (87 g/kg versus 77 and 76 g/kg DM, P<0.05) in grain. The G600 hybrid produced stalks with a lower (P<0.01) aNDF rumen degradability than the S600 and S700. On field ECB insecticide treatment improved corn grain yield, reduced broken plants and increased stalk sugars content at harvesting, but did not change the rumen degradation of either stalks or grain
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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Le aflatossine nelle filiere agro-alimentari: dal feed al food
No full textAflatoxin are known to contaminate corn, cottonseed meal and other feeds. When these contaminated feeds are consumed by animals at high levels, adverse effects on health and performance of animals are observed. In addition humans could be exposed indirectly to aflatoxins by consumption of products of animal origin. The carry-over of aflatoxins from feed to food depends on many factors and not always is predictable. Therefore, feeds and rations must be regularly monitored, in particular when diets contain, in addition to the corn grain, other corn-based feeds (corn silage, corn ears silage, corn gluten meal) and/or other feed at risk of contamination (peanut, cotton). The methods of decontamination and detoxification can help to reduce the level of aflatoxins in corn, with different efficiency depending on the treatment used. Some treatments seem to provide encouraging results but should be evaluated on a large scale. Substances to reduce contamination or absorption of aflatoxin can be a valid support but generally are characterized by a wide variability of response
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
- …
