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Although agricultural activities can strongly affect soil biodiversity and health, with consequences on the provisioning of soil biota-mediated functions, their specific impact on soil invertebrate communities is far from being fully elucidated. In this study, the invertebrate communities associated with the soils of six habitat types, including both semi-natural and cropping systems, of one of the most intensively farmed areas in Europe, the Po Valley (North Italy), were characterized using the eDNA metabarcoding approach. The aims were to examine the variation in the taxonomic and functional diversity among the habitats and evaluate the relation between the disturbance caused by the main agronomic practices adopted in the area and the community diversity. Overall, the invertebrate communities were found to substantially differ in terms of taxonomic and functional diversity between the six habitats considered. For example, cornfield and rice paddy showed the highest diversity of annelids and the lowest one of nematodes. Woodland was found to host the most unique soil fauna, while grassland shared the majority of its soil taxa with almost all the other habitat types. The trophic groups had significantly lower diversity in specific habitats (e.g., carnivores, herbivores, microbivores in cornfield) suggesting that biological soil quality and ecosystem services provision may vary among them. Concerning agronomic practices, it was not observed an inverse relation between diversity and the disturbance they cause. In detail, while tillage and insecticide use negatively affected invertebrate diversity as a whole, specific soil taxa and trophic groups were idiosyncratically affected by the different agronomic practices (e.g., pesticide and fertilizer use was related to an increase of annelid and bacterivore diversity). In this regard, the peak of diversity observed for specific taxonomic and functional groups might be attributed to an impaired community balance. Altogether

HLA molecules are important for immunoreactivity in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The Gruppo Italiano Trapianto di Cellule Staminali e Terapie Cellulari, Italian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and Associazione Italiana di Immunogenetica e Biologia dei Trapianti promoted a retrospective observational study to evaluate HLA matching and the impact of allelic HLA mismatching and non-HLA factors on unrelated Italian HSCT outcomes. From 2012 to 2015, 1788 patients were enrolled in the study. The average donor age was 29 years and the average recipient age was 49 years. As a conditioning regimen, 71% of the patients received myeloablative conditioning. For GVHD prophylaxis, 76% received either antithymocyte or anti-T lymphocyte globulin, cyclosporine A, and methotrexate. Peripheral blood was the stem cell source in 80%. The median duration of follow-up was 53 months. Regarding HLA matching, 50% of donor-recipient pairs were 10/10 matched, 38% had 1 mismatch, and 12% had 2 or more mismatches. A total of 302 pairs shared Italian origin. Four-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival, GVHD-free relapse-free survival, and relapse rates were 49%, 40%, 22%, and 34%, respectively. The 4-year NRM was 27%, and the 100-day cumulative incidence of grade ≥II acute GVHD (aGVHD) was 26%. In multivariate analysis, 9/10 and ≤8/10 HLA allele-matched pairs were associated with worse OS (P = .04 and. 007, respectively), NRM (P = .007 and P < .0001, respectively), and grade III-IV aGVHD (P = .0001 and. 01, respectively). Moreover, the incidences of grade II-IV aGVHD (P = .001) and chronic GVHD (P = .002) were significantly lower in Italian pairs. In conclusion, 10/10 HLA matching is a favorable prognostic factor for unrelated HSCT outcome in the Italian population. Moreover, the presence of 2 HLA-mismatched loci was associated with a higher NRM (P < .0001) and grade II-IV aGVHD (P = .006) and a poorer OS (P = .001) compared with 1 HLA-mismatched loc

Traditionally, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from both HLA-matched related and unrelated donors (UD) has been used for treating children with acute leukemia (AL) in need of an allograft. Recently, HLA-haploidentical HSCT after ab T-cell/B-cell depletion (abhaplo-HSCT) was shown to be effective in single-center studies. Here, we report the first multicenter retrospective analysis of 127 matched UD (MUD), 118 mismatched UD (MMUD), and 98 abhaplo-HSCT recipients, transplanted between 2010 and 2015, in 13 Italian centers. All these AL children were transplanted in morphological remission after a myeloablative conditioning regimen. Graft failure occurred in 2% each of UD-HSCT and abhaplo-HSCT groups. In MUD vs MMUD-HSCT recipients, the cumulative incidence of grade II to IV and grade III to IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was 35% vs 44% and 6% vs 18%, respectively, compared with 16% and 0% in abhaplo-HSCT recipients (P < .001). Children treated with abhaplo-HSCT also had a significantly lower incidence of overall and extensive chronic GVHD (P < .01). Eight (6%) MUD, 32 (28%) MMUD, and 9 (9%) abhaplo-HSCT patients died of transplant-related complications. With a median follow-up of 3.3 years, the 5-year probability of leukemia-free survival in the 3 groups was 67%, 55%, and 62%, respectively. In the 3 groups, chronic GVHD-free/relapse-free (GRFS) probability of survival was 61%, 34%, and 58%, respectively (P < .001). When compared with patients given MMUD-HSCT, abhaplo-HSCT recipients had a lower cumulative incidence of nonrelapse mortality and a better GRFS (P < .001). These data indicate that abhaplo-HSCT is a suitable therapeutic option for children with AL in need of transplantation, especially when an allele-matched UD is not available.

This study evaluated the relationship between Se supplementation and serum cortisol in repeatedly handled cattle. Sixty Nellore calves were randomly distributed into four experimental groups, which were fed a mineral-protein mixture added with Se to achieve individual daily supplementation of 0 (Gc), 3.6 (G 3.6 ), 5.4 (G 5.4 ) and 6.4 (G 6.4 ) mg Se. Stressful handling procedures and blood sampling were performed on days 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120. Serum cortisol increased until day 90 and decreased on day 120, irrespective of Se supplementation. This finding shows that cattle reached a stress state but adapted. Cortisol and Se levels were not markedly correlated. Serum Se increased over the course of the experiment in the supplemented groups. However, because serum Se decreased in Gc, it may have mobilized to form the selenoproteins needed to remove metabolic wastes from handling-related oxidative stress., Este estudo avaliou a relação entre suple- mentação com Se e cortisol sérico em gado mane- jado repetidamente. Sessenta bezerros Nelore foram distribuídos em quatro grupos, os quais se alimentaram de uma mistura mineral protéica acrescida de Se de modo a alcançar suple- mentação individual diária de 0 (Gc), 3.6 (G 3.6 ), 5.4 (G 5.4 ) or 6.4 (G 6.4 ) mg Se. O estresse de manejo e as colheitas das amostras de sangue foram nos dias 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 e 120. O cortisol sérico aumentou até o dia 90 e reduziu no dia 120, independente da suplementação com Se. Isso indica que os bovinos ficaram estressados, mas se adaptaram ao longo do tempo. O cortisol e Se sérico não foram marcantemente correlacionados. A concentração de Se sérico aumentou ao longo do experimento nos grupos suplementados. En- tretanto, como o Se sérico foi reduzido em Gc, deve-se considerar que ele pode ter sido mobilizado para formação de selenoproteínas necessárias à remoção dos restos metabólicos resultantes do estresse oxidativo desencadeado pelo estresse de manejo.

This study evaluated effect of the probiotic Proenzime® added to protein mineral salt on weight gain of Nellore cattle. Intact Nellore males (Bos indicus) aged about 10 months were on Panicum maximum pasture and supplemented by either: protein mineral salt (Gc; n = 54 animals); or protein mineral salt added probiotic Proenzime® (G3 = 3 g probiotic/day; n= 54 animals). Calves in G3 significantly increased body weight (33.28 percent) as compared with Gc. This increased net income per animal to R$9.30. Therefore, protein mineral salt supplemented with probiotic Proenzime® increase weight gain cattle, thus increasing economic gain, Este estudo avaliou o efeito do probiotico Proenzime® adicionado no sal mineral proteinado no ganho de peso em bovinos. Utilizou-se bovinos, machos inteiros da raça Nelore (Bos indicus) com aproximadamente 10 meses de idade em pastagem de Panicum maximum e suplementados com sal mineral proteinado (Gc: n= 54 animais) e sal mineral proteinado adicionado de probiotico Proenzime® (G3= 3 g de probiótico/dia; n= 54 animais). Os bezerros do grupo G3 tiveram aumento significativo no ganho de peso (33,28 p.100) em relação grupo controle. Isto aumentou a renda por animal em R$9,30. Portanto, adicionar probiotico Proenzime® no sal mineral proteinado aumenta o ganho de peso em bovinos, elevando assim o ganho econômico