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The effect of selenium supplementation in finishing broiler diets on meat quality was studied. A corn soya based diet was supplemented with 0.3 ppm of Se from an organic (Seleno methionine; Se-Met) or inorganic source (sodium selenite; Se-Na) and offered to Rossmale chickens from thirty five to fifty two days old. Body weight and feed consumption were recorded during the experimental period. Immediately post sacrifice liver was removed and weight was recorded. The liver glycogen and lactate content was measured. Carcass yield and abdominal fat were determined. At 24 hours post mortem, pHu, colour L * , a * , b * , H˚, C*, and drip loss of the Pectoralis and Gastrocnemius muscles were determined. Se-Met supplementation significantly decreases daily food intake. Se-Na significantly increases liver glycogen and lactate content at 3 minutes post mortem. Se-Met and Se-Na significantly increase pHu as compared to the control diet. Also a Se-Met provoked a darker (lower L *) and a redder (higher a *) and a decreased tone (lower H˚) in Pectoralis. Se-Met and Se-Na significantly decrease the drip loss in Pectoralis and Gastrocnemius at 24 hours post mortem. We conclude that selenium supplementation decreases food intake and improves meat quality by improving colour and decreasing drip loss, likely by a modulation of reserve of glycogen in liver. The difference among the organic and inorganic sources is not clear and requires further investigation.

For hundreds of years, water mills have supported the local economies of Piedmont by contributing to the production of flour, textile fibres, timber, and metal agricultural tools. Since the beginning of the last century, and in particular after the 1950s, many artefacts have been abandoned. Nonetheless, hundreds of mills are still present in southern Piedmont, both in the plains and in the mountains, sometimes in an excellent state of conservation. This work presents a hammer forge, the La Pianca mill in Busca, Cuneo, Italy, as a significant, detailed case study. The socio-economic context in which exists is analysed, its history is reconstructed, and the functioning of the machinery, including the water wheels, the motion transmission systems, and the various utilities consisting of tilt hammers, grinding wheels, and drills, is analysed in detail. Beyond the historical interest, concerning both the territory and the architecture, as well as the machines and mechanisms, this work aims to make a contribution to the prefiguration of effective scenarios for the reconversion of similar productive artefacts.