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Aim of this study was to assess the effects of feeding whole soybean flakes and whole extruded linseed to dairy cows on milk lipid fraction and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese produced from it; specifically, PUFA and CLA contents were evaluated. For 14 weeks, a herd of 145 cows received a diet with a daily supplementation of 1 kg of whole soybean flakes and 0.3 kg of whole extruded linseed. In the pre-trial period, cows received an isoproteic ration devoid of both seeds. From 20 cows selected from the herd, individual milk, bulk morning milk and vat milk samples of the entire herd were taken every 14 days. After 24 months of aging, cheese samples were taken from twelve cheese wheels, obtained from milk produced at 0, 4, 8, 10, 12 and 14 weeks on the same days as bulk milk and vat milk samples were made. Fatty acid composition of the lipid fraction was determined in all milk and cheese samples. Feeding whole extruded linseed and soybean flakes has determined a decrease in short-chain fatty acids content and an increase in total CLA concentration of the milk. Bulk milk, vat milk and aged cheese analysis samples confirmed a decrease of short-chain fatty acids content in milk and revealed a decrease in n-6/n-3 fatty acid and in saturated/unsaturated fatty acid ratios. In conclusion, feeding a ration including whole soybean flakes and extruded linseed can improve the nutritional characteristics of milk and of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, particularly with respect to their lipid fractions.

Providing hidden food is a method of nutritional and environmental enrichment for captive animals and yogurt is sometimes used with this purpose for non-human primates. Objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of feeding fresh yogurt on the intestinal ecosystem of Emperor tamarins (Saguinus imperator). A population of nine adult/juvenile emperor tamarins received during the whole trial a diet mainly consisting of different fruits. During the first 30 d, the diet did not contain any yogurt; during the following 28 d, every two days, a total of 300 g of fresh fruit yogurt was provided to the animals. A fresh fecal sample was collected from each animal the day before administration of yogurt started (Day 0) and again after 21 and 28 days for chemical and bacterial determinations. Throughout the study, all tamarins remained in good health and no clinical signs of intestinal discomfort were observed. During yogurt supplementation, fecal pH, moisture and ammonia resulted unchanged respect to the beginning of the study. Similarly, fecal volatile fatty acids were not affected by the yogurt intake. On the contrary, fecal spermine concentration resulted significantly decreased at Day 28 respect to Day 0 (4.4 vs. 30.1 nmol/g of feces; P < 0.05). Furthermore, the consumption of yogurt resulted in reduced fecal concentrations of coliforms, enterococci and lactobacilli on Rogosa Agar (respectively,-1.9,-1.5 and-2.8 log CFU/g of feces; P < 0.05). Results from the present study showed that emperor tamarins can tolerate high amounts of yogurt in their diet without showing any signs of lactose malabsorption (for example, soft feces or diarrhea). On the other hand, yogurt ingestion failed to exert any major influence on the animals' intestinal microbiota.

This paper reports the continuation of studies on the 4-aminosubstituted 1,2,3-triazolo [4,5-d] pyridazine derivatives which had shown binding affinity towards A1-adenosine receptors. 1-Benzyl derivatives bearing new amines and new 1-(substituted benzyl) derivatives were prepared and tested. The biological results showed that some compounds possessed high affinity (approximately 30-70 nM) and good selectivity toward the A1-adenosine receptors. Further information about structure-biological activity relationships was aquired.