The occurrence of crop damage by wild boars raised dramatically in the last decades, implying an increase in social conflicts, expenditures for compensation and a risk to natural ecosystems. Many researchers have explained this phenomenon by considering wild boar biology, behaviour and abundance. Little or no attention has been devoted to wildlife management and the agricultural mosaic. We hypothesised that the agricultural structure of the landscape and wildlife management planning, including hunting, can play a relevant role in causing crop damage. We studied a Mediterranean area in central Italy that is characterised by a patchy agriculture, dividing the surface into hexagons. A large number of terrain parameters were calculated at the large (hexagons) and local (buffer) scale, including the topography, land use and agricultural management. We also considered wildlife variables such as the number of wild boar shot down, hunting management and the legal status of the wild boar. The terrain and management data for each hexagon were submitted to a generalised binomial stepwise multiple logistic regression. The resultant model demonstrated an accuracy of 0.76, a misclassification rate of 0.24 and an odds ratio of 10.41. The most important variables selected by the regression were the woods in the area where hunting was banned (P< 0.001), a 1-km buffer of intensively cultivated farmland close to the woods where hunting was banned (P<0.001), a 1-km buffer of intensively cultivated farmland along the river (P<0.05), the forest edge (P<0.001), and the mean number of wild boar that were shot (P<0.05). In this study, we proved that an important factor in explaining crop damage is the "refuge effect" (a buffer close to the wooded areas where hunting was banned) and the 1-km buffer along possible dispersion routes.

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) is a perennial legume recently reappraised for some positive characteristics leading to highly satisfactory animal performance. Sainfoin's characteristics may be partly explained by the presence of moderate levels of condensed tannins (CTs) able to protect dietary protein from microbial degradation in the rumen. Decreased CH 4 emissions have been reported for ruminants consuming CT-containing forage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of CT content on the in vitro fermentation characteristics and kinetics and methane production of four samples of O. viciifolia cut at different phenological stages. Sainfoin hays and one sample of alfalfa hay were incubated at 39°C in anaerobiosis using the in vitro gas production technique. The chemical composition, tannin content and fermentation characteristics and kinetics of sainfoin samples were significantly affected by phenological stage. After 48 h, the CH 4 production in sainfoin hays showed a tendency to increase with the advancement of phenological stage [from 38AE6 to 49AE8 mL g )1 of degraded organic matter (OM)]. The best period to cut sainfoin for hay making is between early and late flowering, when the forage combines high OM digestibility, low CH 4 production and more efficient microbial fermentation.

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Fatty acids are important modulators of inflammatory responses, in particular, n-3 and n-6 essential fatty acids and CLA have received particular attention for their ability to modulate inflammation. The objectives of this study were to compare the effects of CLA and essential fatty acids on the expression of pro and anti- inflammatory cytokines and their protective efficacy against inflammatory status in mammary gland by an in vitro model based on bovine mammary epithelial cells (BME-UV1). Bovine mammary epithelial cells were treated with complete medium containing either 50 µM of cis-9, trans-11 CLA (c9,t11 CLA) or trans-10, cis-12 CLA (t10,c12 CLA) or (α)-linolenic acid (aLnA) or (γ)-linolenic acid (gLnA) or linoleic acid (LA). After 48 h by fatty acids administration the cells were treated for 3 h with 20 µM of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce inflammatory stimulus. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production after treatments was assessed to verify and to compare the potential protection of different fatty acids against LPS-induced oxidative stress. The messenger RNA abundance of bovine pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukine-10 (IL-10)) and peroxisome proliferator receptor-α/γ (PPARγ/α) were determined in BME-UV1 by real-time PCR. The results showed that cells treated with fatty acids and LPS increased ROS production compared with control cells. Among treatments, cells treated with c9,t11 CLA and t10,c12 CLA isomers revealed significant lower levels of ROS production compared with other fatty acids. All fatty acids reduced the gene expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Among fatty acids, t10,c12 CLA, LA and gLnA showed an homogeneous reduction of the three pro-inflammatory cytokines and this may correspond to more balanced and efficient physiological activity and may trigger a better protective effect. The PPARγ gene expression was significantly greater in cells treated with t10,c12 CLA, aLnA and LA, whereas the PPARα gene expression levels were significantly lower in cells treated with all different fatty acids, compared with the control. These results suggest that fatty acids inhibited the transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines by the upregulation of PPARγ expression.

Heavy metals are ubiquitous in soil, water, and air. Their entrance into the food chain is an important environmental issue that entails risks to humans. Several reports indicate that game meat can be an important source of heavy metals, particularly because of the increasing consumption of game meat, mainly by hunters. We performed an exposure assessment of hunters and members of their households, both adults and children, who consumed wild boar (WB) meat and offal. We estimated the amount of cadmium, lead, and chromium in the tissues of WB hunted in six areas within Viterbo Province (Italy) and gathered data on WB meat and offal consumption by conducting specific diet surveys in the same areas. The exposure to cadmium, lead, and chromium was simulated with specifically developed Monte Carlo simulation models. Cadmium and lead levels in WB liver and meat harvested in Viterbo Province (Italy) were similar to or lower than the values reported in other studies. However, some samples contained these metals at levels greater then the EU limits set for domestic animals. The chromium content of meat or liver cannot be evaluated against any regulatory limit, but our results suggest that the amounts of this metal found in WB products may reflect a moderate environmental load. Our survey of the hunter population confirmed that their consumption of WB meat and liver was greater than that of the general Italian population. This level of consumption was comparable with other European studies. Consumption of WB products contributes significantly to cadmium and lead exposure of both adults and children. More specifically, consumption of the WB liver contributed significantly to total cadmium and lead exposure of members of the households of WB hunters. As a general rule, liver consumption should be kept to a minimum, especially for children living in these hunter households. The exposure to chromium estimated for this population of hunters may be considered to be safe. However, a specific and complete assessment of chromium speciation in relevant dietary and environmental situations should be conducted.