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[Display omitted] • Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) can predict cheese-making traits. • Cheese yield of total solids was the best-predicted trait of goat milk. • Variability of the prediction performance was found among and within farms and across the cheese-making traits analyzed. • Specific procedures for FTIR calibrations are necessary along the dairy goat chain. The objectives of this study were to explore the use of Fourier-transform infrared (FITR) spectroscopy on 458 goat milk samples for predicting cheese-making traits, and to test the effect of the farm variability on their prediction accuracy. Calibration equations were developed using a Bayesian approach with three different scenarios: i) a random cross-validation (CV) [80% calibration (CAL); 20% validation (VAL) set], ii) a stratified CV [(SCV), 13 farms used as CAL, and the remaining one as VAL set], and iii) a SCV where 20% of the goats randomly selected from the VAL farm were included in the CAL set (SCV 80). The best prediction performance was obtained for cheese yield solids, justifying for its practical application at population level. Overall results were similar to or outperformed those reported for bovine milk. Our results suggest considering specific procedures for calibration development to propose reliable tools applicable along the dairy goat chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) represents a heterogeneous group of cognitive disturbances at high risk of dementia. The amnestic subtype (aMCI) might be a prodromal state of Alzheimer''s disease (AD). The aim of this study is the identification, by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS), of modifications in brain metabolites able to detect subjects with aMCI at risk of conversion towards AD. Twenty-five subjects with aMCI and 29 normal elderly were enrolled; they underwent a comprehensive clinical and instrumental assessment, a cerebral 1H MRS scan to measure N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), myo-inositol (mI) and creatine (Cr) in the paratrigonal white matter, bilaterally. After 1 year, 5 MCI subjects became demented (progressive MCI, pMCI). Their baseline levels of metabolites were compared with those evaluated in stable MCI (sMCI) and in controls. We observed a significant difference of the NAA/Cr ratio between pMCI (1.48±0.08) and sMCI (1.65±0.12) and between pMCI and controls (1.63±0.16) in the left hemisphere, suggesting that this metabolic alteration can be detected before the clinical appearance of dementia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]