Giovanni Perona

This study examined the effects of stocking density on the circadian patterns in locomotor activity (LA), body temperature (T), and cardiac traits in ewe lambs. Eleven animals were monitored for two consecutive 7-d periods under low (2.6 m² animal⁻¹) and high (1.3 m² animal⁻¹) densities. LA was recorded by triaxial accelerometers, and four lambs carried subcutaneous biologgers that measured T, heart rate (HR), and HR variability (HRV). Hourly means were analyzed by cosinor modeling to determine the MESOR, amplitude, and acrophase of 24-h rhythms, and the Circadianity Index (CI) was computed as an indicator of robustness. Mean T was lower and HR was higher low high density (T: 38.09±0.03 °C vs. 38.57±0.01 °C, p<0.001; HR: 78.6±2.3 vs. 73.5±0.9 bpm, p<0.001), but LA and HRV indices (SDNN and RMSSD) did not differ between densities. MESOR and amplitudes were similar at the two densities. T acrophase was more advanced at high density (1416±6.9 h) than it was at low density (2207±1.1 h, p<0.001), but the acrophases in HR and LA were similar. The CI confirmed moderate to high robustness in circadian rhythmicity (T: 0.46 vs. 0.29; HR: 0.50 vs. 0.47; LA: 0.16 vs. 0.17). Cortisol levels in the feces did no differ between low density (86.42±2.62 ng/ml) and high density (79.62±4.26 ng/ml). The results indicate that an increase in stocking density influenced the temporal pattern in thermoregulation but did not markedly affect locomotor or cardiac rhythmicity, which suggests that short-term crowding has a limited influence on overall circadian organization in ewe lambs.

Incorporating by-products into animal feed under a circular economy approach can reduce waste and use materials that would otherwise be discarded (Jalal et al. 2023). Among agro-industrial by-produ...

Passive immunity transfer has a pivotal role in newborn lambs, where the colostrum represents the primary source of immunoglobulins. This study hypothesized that the high content in polyphenolic compounds, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, and vitamin E of hazelnut skin affects blood and colostrum immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration and related gamma-glutamyl-transferase (GGT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in sheep and their lambs. In the last 45 days of pregnancy, ewes were divided into a control (CTR) and a hazelnut skin supplemented group (HZN). Blood and colostrum were collected from ewes and lambs before the first suckling, at 24 and 48 h after birth, then IgG concentration, GGT and LDH activity levels were measured. IgG concentration in the colostrum and in lamb’s serum were significantly greater in HZN than CTR. No significant difference was detected for ewe’s blood. A significant positive correlation was found between IgG and GGT in lambs’ serum and colostrum, between IgG and LDH, as well as between GGT and LDH in lambs’ serum and colostrum. Our results suggest that hazelnut skin supplementation influences IgG colostrum concentration, with improved immune passive transfer to the suckling lambs. The transfer of maternal derived immune factors is confirmed by the GGT and LDH enzyme activity levels.

The aim of this study was to evaluate how different rearing systems (intensive or semi-extensive) and sexual hormones could affect stress parameters and the development of stress-related intramural coronary arteriosclerosis in Lidia bulls (n = 18) and Piemontese oxen (n = 17). At slaughter, hearts were sampled and submitted to histological investigations in order to evaluate coronary arteriosclerosis. Blood and hair samples were also collected to measure d-ROMS and 20β-dihydrocortisol levels, respectively. No significant differences were recorded for serum levels of d-ROMS between Piemontese oxen and Lidia bulls. On the contrary, Lidia bulls presented higher levels of hair 20β-dihydrocortisol compared to Piemontese oxen (p = .007). Arteriosclerosis was recorded in both the groups. In Lidia bulls, mild to moderate coronary arteriosclerosis was recorded in all the evaluated regions of the heart (right and left papillary muscle; interventricular septum; right and left ventricle free wall; right and left atrium). In Piemontese oxen, mild to severe coronary arteriosclerosis was observed, especially in the left papillary muscle. These results suggest that both cattle breed experienced stress during their rearing cycle. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of housing system and sexual hormones in the development of these subclinical vascular pathology.

Characterization of clouds is still a challenging task for weather forecasting and climate modeling. This is because clouds depend on interdisciplinary natural processes, ranging from the micrometer scale, where particles and droplets collide, to the thousand-of-meters scale of airflow dynamics. Turbulence has an important role in cloud formation and rain initiation since it helps rain droplets to evolve through coalescence and collision processes. Unfortunately, the effects of turbulence mechanisms are not yet well understood and there remains a need for further clarification. In an attempt to address these knowledge gaps, this work presents the advances of an experimental method for measuring in-situ the influence of turbulence in cloud formation and producing an infield cloud Lagrangian dataset by means of the development of ultra-light bio- compatible radio-probes. With a target weight of less than 20 grams, these innovative devices are carefully designed to float and passively track small-scale turbulence fluctuations in warm clouds and neighboring air. Each mini radio-probe embeds a set of compact size microprocessors, controllers and sensors for the measurement of atmospheric parameters inside clouds (e.g. velocity, acceleration, vorticity, pressure, temperature, humidity) after been released into the atmosphere. To reach a buoyancy force equal to the weight of the system, the bio balloons containing the electronics are appropriately filled with a mixture of helium gas and air. During the flight, the smart radio-probes acquire, pre-process, store, arrange and transmit the obtained data to different receiving and ground stations located on earth through a dedicated radio transmission link. Due to the radio-probes’ physical constrains and the environmental conditions that can be found inside warm clouds, a power-saving and long-range wireless communication technology has been selected and tested. The development of the first operational prototypes for both, the radio-probes and the receiving stations, are presented together with results of the first measurement experiments both, in laboratory and field campaign.

The aim of this trial was to investigate the effects of different inclusion levels of a partially defatted black soldier fly (BSF, Hermetia illucens L.) larva meal on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, gut morphology and histological features of piglets. A total of 48 newly weaned piglets were individually weighed (initial body weight (IBW): 6.1 ± 0.16 kg) and randomly allocated to 3 dietary treatments (4 boxes as replicates/treatment and 4 animals/box). BSF larva meal was included at increasing levels (0% [BSF0], 5% [BSF5] and 10% [BSF10]) in isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets formulated for two feeding phases: I (from d 1 to d 23) and II (from d 24 to d 61). The weight gain (WG), average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated for each feeding phase and for the whole trial. The haematochemical parameters and nutrient digestibility of the piglets were also evaluated. A total of 3 piglets per box were slaughtered on d 61 and the slaughtered piglets were submitted to morphometric investigations and histopathological examinations. No overall significant differences were observed for growth performance (P > 0.05), except for the ADFI of phase II, which showed a linear response to increasing BSF meal levels (P < 0.05, maximum for the BSF10 group). Dietary BSF meal inclusion did not significantly influence the blood profile, except as far as monocytes and neutrophils are concerned, and these showed a linear and quadratic response, respectively, to increasing BSF meal levels (P < 0.05, maximum for the BSF10 and BSF5 groups, respectively). On the other hand, the nutrient digestibility, gut morphology and histological features were not affected by dietary BSF meal inclusion (P > 0.05). The obtained results show that a partially defatted BSF larva meal can be used as a feed ingredient in diets for weaned piglets without negatively affecting their growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, gut morphology or histological features.

Hand-sewn intestinal anastomoses are a fundamental procedure in both open and laparoscopic intestinal surgery. Self-retaining barbed suture devices have been tested for a variety of surgical applications. With the exception of clinical reports and various experimental studies on enterotomy, little has been published so far on the use of barbed suture for end-to-end intestinal anastomoses. The aim of the study was to compare two different barbed suture materials for end-to-end jejuno-jejunal anastomosis in pigs. End-to-end jejuno-jejunal anastomosis were performed with unidirectional barbed (A group), bidirectional barbed (B group) or normal (C group) sutures in each animal. A comparison was then made between the groups based on adhesions scoring, suturing time, bursting pressure and histopathology. Mean construction times in the A group (518 ± 40 s) and in the B group (487 ± 45 s) were significantly lower than in the C group (587 ± 63 s) but were not different between A and B group (P = 0.10). Mean bursting pressures were significantly higher in the intact intestine (197 ± 13 mmHg) than in any other group (group A 150 ± 16 mmHg, group B 145 ± 22 mmHg, group C 145 ± 24 mmHg). Among anastomotic techniques, the bursting pressures were not significantly different. Histologically no difference could be detected in the grade of inflammation, collagen deposition and neovascularization at the anastomotic sites. Barbed sutures can be effectively used for handsewn end-to-end jejunojejunal anastomosis in pigs. They are comparable to normal suture but could provide a shorter surgical time.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) types 1 and 2 are members of the Pestivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family. This genus also includes the HoBi-like virus, tentatively classified as BVDV type 3. BVDV-1 is widely distributed in Italy despite the extensive use of BVDV-1-based vaccines, while BVDV-2 and HoBi-like Pestivirus have been detected occasionally. Monitoring the occurrence of sporadic or atypical pestiviruses is a useful approach to evaluate the need for additional vaccine strains that can be used in BVDV control programs. In this study we developed a multiwell antibody ELISA based on the recombinant E2 protein of the three bovine pestiviruses. We evaluated the assay’s applicability for surveillance purposes using pooled milk samples, each prepared from a maximum of 35 lactating cows and collected from 176 dairy herds. As expected, the majority of the pooled samples reacted to a greater extent against the BVDV-1 E2 antigen. All three milk pools from a single farm reacted to the BVDV-2 antigen, however. Further analysis using spot tests, antigen detection, and sequence analysis of the 5′-UTR region confirmed the presence of five persistently infected calves carrying a BVDV-2a strain. This study highlights for the first time that sporadic circulation of BVDV-2 can be predicted by immunoenzymatic methods in the absence of specific vaccination.

The use of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) has been proposed for the treatment of several acute and chronic syndromes, such as corneal epithelial defects and dry eye syndrome, gum bleeding during oral surgery, and in orthopaedic surgery. We hypothesized that PRGF, rather than PRP, could be more effective because of its intrinsic characteristics in promoting the healing of intestinal anastomosis. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate and compare the effects of PRP and PRGF on various parameters of anastomotic healing in a swine model. Eight female pigs were randomly assigned to two groups and subjected to hand sewn jeujuno-jejunal appositional extramucosal anastomoses. For each animal, a total of six anastomoses were performed: two were considered controls and received no treatment, while the remaining four anastomoses were treated with PRP or PRGF of which both were prepared at a platelet concentration that was respectively 3.4-fold and 2.81-fold higher than the original platelet count. In each animal, either PRP or PRGF was used as a treatment, to avoid interference among products. Animals were euthanized after 8 days and the anastomoses were evaluated and compared for the presence of adhesions, anastomotic leakage, bursting pressure, and histological appearance. The concentration of platelets in PRP was 3.41-fold higher (range, 3.20–4.24) that the concentration in whole blood, while the concentration in PRGF was 2.81-fold higher (range, 2.89–4.88). The results obtained from the present study highlighted that there are no differences between anastomotic samples treated with either PRP or PRGF preparations, except for a significant increase in epithelization of the intestinal mucosa at the anastomotic site in the PRGF group. Both PRP and PRGF suspensions should be considered a safe strategy and represent a relatively low-cost technology that is flexible enough to be applied in several therapeutic fields. No true benefit could be proven in our study compared to the no treatment following anastomoses formation, with the exception of enhanced epithelization of the mucosa in the PRGF group.