Long‐Term Tillage and Cropping System Effects on Chemical and Biochemical Characteristics of Soil Organic Matter in a Mediterranean Semiarid Environment     

Vito Armando Laudicina  Agata Novara  Vito Barbera  Markus Egli  Luigi Badalucco 《Land Degradation \u0026amp; Development》2015,26(1):45-53

Several studies have reported how tillage and cropping systems affect quantity, quality, and distribution of soil organic matter (SOM) along the profile. However, the effect of soil management on the chemical structure of SOM and on its hydrophobic and hydrophilic components has been little investigated. In this work, the long‐term (19 years) effects of two cropping systems (wheat monoculture and wheat/faba bean rotation) and three tillage managements (conventional, reduced, and no tillage) on some chemical characteristics of SOM and their relationships with labile carbon (C) pools were evaluated. Soil samples were taken from the topsoil (0–15 cm) of a Chromic Haploxerert (central Sicily, Italy). After 19 years of different tillage and cropping systems management, total organic C significantly differed among treatments with the labile organic C pools showing the greater amount in no till and in wheat/faba bean plots. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic components of SOM, determined by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, were mainly affected by cropping system, whereas aromatic components of SOM by tillage. Soil organic matter components and characteristics showed significant correlations with the soil biochemical parameters, confirming the expected synergism between chemical and biochemical properties. This study demonstrated that (i) no tillage and crop rotation improve the chemical and biochemical properties of SOM of Vertisols under semiarid environment; and (ii) tillage management and cropping systems have affected, after 19 years, more the chemical and biochemical properties of SOM than its quantity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

COMBINATION OF RADIATION THERAPY AND FIROCOXIB FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANINE NASAL CARCINOMA          下载免费PDF全文

Simona Cancedda  Silvia Sabattini  Giuliano Bettini  Vito F. Leone  Paola Laganga  Federica Rossi  Rossella Terragni  Giacomo Gnudi  Massimo Vignoli 《Veterinary radiology & ultrasound》2015,56(3):335-343

Carcinomas represent two‐thirds of canine nasosinal neoplasms. Although radiation therapy (RT) is the standard of care, the incidence of local recurrence following treatment is high. Cyclooxygenase‐isoform‐2 (COX‐2) is expressed in 71–95% of canine nasal carcinomas and has been implicated in tumor growth and angiogenesis. Accordingly, COX‐2 inhibition seems rational to improve outcome. Dogs with histologically confirmed, previously untreated nasal carcinomas were randomized to receive the combination of a selective COX‐2 inhibitor (firocoxib) and palliative RT (Group 1) or RT and placebo (Group 2). Patients were regularly monitored with blood tests, urinalysis, and computed tomography. Pet owners were asked to complete monthly a quality‐of‐life questionnaire. Twenty‐four dogs were prospectively enrolled. According to Adams modified system, there were five stage 1, five stage 2, three stage 3, and 11 stage 4 tumors. Two dogs had metastases to regional lymph nodes. Median progression‐free interval and overall survival were 228 and 335 days in Group 1 (n = 12) and 234 and 244 days in Group 2 (n = 12). These differences were not statistically significant. The involvement of regional lymph nodes was significantly associated with progression‐free interval and overall survival (P = 0.004). Quality of life was significantly improved in Group 1 (P = 0.008). In particular, a significant difference was observed for activity and appetite. Although not providing a significant enhancement of progression‐free interval and overall survival, firocoxib in combination with RT is safe and improved life quality in dogs with nasal carcinomas.  相似文献   

Effect of different levels of dietary sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) peel extract on humoral immune system responses in broiler chickens          下载免费PDF全文

Zohreh Pourhossein  Ali Ahmad Alaw Qotbi  Alireza Seidavi  Vito Laudadio  Gerardo Centoducati  Vincenzo Tufarelli 《Animal Science Journal》2015,86(1):105-110

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) peel extract (SOPE) on humoral immune system responses in broiler chickens. Three hundred 1‐day broilers (Ross‐308) were randomly allocated to treatments varying in supplemental SOPE added in the drinking water. The experimental groups consisted of three treatments fed for 42 days as follows: a control treatment without feed extract, a treatment containing 1000 ppm of SOPE and a treatment containing 1250 ppm of SOPE. All treatments were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Broilers were vaccinated with Newcastle disease virus (NDV), avian influenza (AI), infectious bursal disease (IBD) and infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) vaccines. Antibody titer response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was higher in the group fed 1250 ppm of SOPE (P < 0.05) as well as for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM. Similarly, antibody titer responses to all vaccines were constantly elevated (P < 0.05) by SOPE enrichment in a dose‐dependent manner. Relative weights of spleen and bursa of Fabricius were unaffected by treatments. Dietary SOPE supplementation may improve the immune response and diseases resistance, indicating that it can constitute a useful additive in broiler feeding. Thus, supplying SOPE in rations may help to improve relative immune response in broiler chickens.  相似文献   

Expert knowledge for translating land cover/use maps to General Habitat Categories (GHC)     

Maria Adamo  Cristina Tarantino  Valeria Tomaselli  Vasiliki Kosmidou  Zisis Petrou  Ioannis Manakos  Richard M. Lucas  Caspar A. Mücher  Giuseppe Veronico  Carmela Marangi  Vito De Pasquale  Palma Blonda 《Landscape Ecology》2014,29(6):1045-1067

Monitoring biodiversity at the level of habitats and landscape is becoming widespread in Europe and elsewhere as countries establish international and national habitat conservation policies and monitoring systems. Earth Observation (EO) data offers a potential solution to long-term biodiversity monitoring through direct mapping of habitats or by integrating Land Cover/Use (LC/LU) maps with contextual spatial information and in situ data. Therefore, it appears necessary to develop an automatic/semi-automatic translation framework of LC/LU classes to habitat classes, but also challenging due to discrepancies in domain definitions. In the context of the FP7 BIO_SOS (www.biosos.eu) project, the authors demonstrated the feasibility of the Food and Agricultural Organization Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) taxonomy to habitat class translation. They also developed a framework to automatically translate LCCS classes into the recently proposed General Habitat Categories classification system, able to provide an exhaustive typology of habitat types, ranging from natural ecosystems to urban areas around the globe. However discrepancies in terminology, plant height criteria and basic principles between the two mapping domains inducing a number of one-to-many and many-to-many relations were identified, revealing the need of additional ecological expert knowledge to resolve the ambiguities. This paper illustrates how class phenology, class topological arrangement in the landscape, class spectral signature from multi-temporal Very High spatial Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery and plant height measurements can be used to resolve such ambiguities. Concerning plant height, this paper also compares the mapping results obtained by using accurate values extracted from LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) data and by exploiting EO data texture features (i.e. entropy) as a proxy of plant height information, when LIDAR data are not available. An application for two Natura 2000 coastal sites in Southern Italy is discussed.  相似文献   

Some factors influencing byssus thread production in mytilus edulis (mollusca: Bivalvia) Linnaeus, 1758     

Tena Martella 《Water, air, and soil pollution》1974,3(2):171-177

A study was conducted to consider how certain rhythmic patterns influence byssus thread production in Mytilus edulis. The factors considered were proximity to other M. edulis, circadian rhythms, and tidal rhythms. More M. edulis produce byssus threads when clumped with other M. edulis than M. edulis maintained in separate containers, and more mussels produce byssus threads during the night than during the day. Tidal fluctuations had no influence on byssus thread production. However, it should be noted that the experimental animals were collected from a floating dock so that the results may be different if animals were collected from a stationary intertidal habitat. The results show rhythmic patterns in the animal's behavior must be considered when interpreting data concerning byssus thread production in M. edulis. Considerable variability was recorded in the number of byssus threads produced by individual animals under the same conditions. Where the effects of these factors are not taken into account, this study strongly suggests that the use of average number of byssus threads produced/animal/hour as a measure of sublethal effects of pollutants is probably invalid.  相似文献   

Determination of free and bound phenolic compounds in buckwheat spaghetti by RP-HPLC-ESI-TOF-MS: effect of thermal processing from farm to fork     

Verardo V  Arraez-Roman D  Segura-Carretero A  Marconi E  Fernandez-Gutierrez A  Caboni MF 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2011,59(14):7700-7707

Nowadays there is considerable interest in the consumption of alternative crops as potential recipes for gluten-free products production. Therefore, the use of buckwheat for the production of gluten-free pasta has been investigated in the present study. RP-HPLC-ESI-TOF-MS has been applied for the separation and characterization of free and bound phenolic compounds in buckwheat flour and buckwheat spaghetti. Thus, 32 free and 24 bound phenolic compounds in buckwheat flour and spaghetti have been characterized and quantified. To the authors' knowledge, protochatechuic-4-O-glucoside acid and procyanidin A have been detected in buckwheat for the first time. The results have demonstrated a decrease of total free phenolic compounds from farm to fork (from flour to cooked spaghetti) of about 74.5%, with a range between 55.3 and 100%, for individual compounds. The decrease in bound phenols was 80.9%, with a range between 46.2 and 100%. The spaghetti-making process and the cooking caused losses of 46.1 and 49.4% of total phenolic compounds, respectively. Of the total phenolic compounds present in dried spaghetti, 11.6% were dissolved in water after cooking.  相似文献   

Clostridium perfringens toxin-types in lambs and kids affected with gastroenteric pathologies in Italy     

Greco G  Madio A  Buonavoglia D  Totaro M  Corrente M  Martella V  Buonavoglia C 《Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)》2005,170(3):65-350

A study was carried out in the South of Italy to assess the role of clostridia in neonatal diseases of lambs and kids. Eighty-seven lambs and 15 kids belonging to 25 flocks were examined and Clostridium perfringens was the microorganism most commonly identified. C. perfringens isolates were analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in order to determine the prevalence of the genes cpa, cpb, cpb2, etx, iap and cpe. The most prevalent toxin-type of C. perfringens was found to be type A found in 84% of the cases with clostridial enterotoxaemia. No C. perfringens type B, C or E were found. C. perfringens type D was isolated in 16% of the cases. About 24% of the isolates were cpb2 positive. The prevalence of cpb2 across the different C. perfringens types varied. The beta(2)-toxin gene cpb2 was detected in 4/21 (19%) type A isolates, in 1/2 type D isolates, and in 1/2 type DE (cpe-carrying type D) isolates. The high rate of positivity to cpb2 among the isolates suggests that a vaccine based on the beta(2)-toxin, should be included in the vaccination schedule of the animals to confer adequate protection and to prevent the disease.  相似文献   

DNA test to sex the lesser rhea (Rhea pennata pennata)     

Rossi Fraire HJ  Martella MB 《British poultry science》2006,47(3):375-377

1. A polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR)-based test was adapted to sex the lesser rhea. Feathers instead of blood were used as the source of DNA. 2. The primers used allowed the assignment of sex by amplification of Z and W chromosome linked sequences. 3. This method proved to be safe, accurate and non-invasive. 4. The W chromosome linked fragment was sequenced and compared to other ratite sequences.  相似文献   

Heterogeneity within the hemagglutinin genes of canine distemper virus (CDV) strains detected in Italy     

Martella V  Cirone F  Elia G  Lorusso E  Decaro N  Campolo M  Desario C  Lucente MS  Bellacicco AL  Blixenkrone-Møller M  Carmichael LE  Buonavoglia C 《Veterinary microbiology》2006,116(4):301-309

Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a highly contagious viral pathogen causing lethal disease in dogs and other mammalians. A high degree of genetic variation is found between recent CDV strains and the old CDV isolates used in the vaccines and such genetic variation is regarded as a possible cause of the increasing number of CDV-related diseases in dogs. The H gene shows the greatest extent of genetic variation that allows for distinction of various lineages, according to a geographical pattern of distribution and irrespective of the species of identification. In the present study, hemagglutinin (H) genes obtained from field strains detected from clinical specimens of Italian dogs were analyzed genetically. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that a homogeneous group of CDV strains is widespread in Italian dogs, all which are included into the European lineage. Unexpectedly, strains 179/04 and 48/05 clustered along with CDVs of the Arctic lineage, the highest identity being to strain GR88 (98.0 and 98.4%aa, respectively). The full-length sequence of a red fox CDV strain, 207/00 was also determined and analyzed. The H protein of the fox CDV strain was unrelated to strains within the major European lineage. These results suggest that at least three different CDV lineages are present in Italy.  相似文献   

Infrared spectroscopy of comet 81P/Wild 2 samples returned by Stardust     

Keller LP  Bajt S  Baratta GA  Borg J  Bradley JP  Brownlee DE  Busemann H  Brucato JR  Burchell M  Colangeli L  d'Hendecourt L  Djouadi Z  Ferrini G  Flynn G  Franchi IA  Fries M  Grady MM  Graham GA  Grossemy F  Kearsley A  Matrajt G  Nakamura-Messenger K  Mennella V  Nittler L  Palumbo ME  Stadermann FJ  Tsou P  Rotundi A  Sandford SA  Snead C  Steele A  Wooden D  Zolensky M 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2006,314(5806):1728-1731

Infrared spectra of material captured from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft reveal indigenous aliphatic hydrocarbons similar to those in interplanetary dust particles thought to be derived from comets, but with longer chain lengths than those observed in the diffuse interstellar medium. Similarly, the Stardust samples contain abundant amorphous silicates in addition to crystalline silicates such as olivine and pyroxene. The presence of crystalline silicates in Wild 2 is consistent with mixing of solar system and interstellar matter. No hydrous silicates or carbonate minerals were detected, which suggests a lack of aqueous processing of Wild 2 dust.  相似文献