Natural Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in Blood and Milk Samples from Jennies and Their Foals after Delivery

An assessment of the natural ochratoxin A (OTA) exposure of seven Martina Franca jennies was carried out by analyzing blood and milk samples collected close to and after delivery. A total of 41 and 34 blood samples were collected from jennies and foals, respectively, and analyzed by ELISA. A total of 33 milk samples were collected from jennies and analyzed by the HPLC/FLD method based on IAC clean-up. Furthermore, 53 feed samples were collected from January to September and analyzed by a reference method (AOAC Official Method No. 2000.03) for OTA content. Feed samples showed OTA levels up to 2.7 ng/g with an incidence of 32%, while the OTA incidence rate in jennies' blood samples was 73%, with a median value of 97 ng/L and concentrations ranging fro

On the Synthesis of Holonic Management Trees

This paper presents current research on automated synthesis in the context of the Holonic Management Tree (HMT) technique. HMT has been currently challenged in robotics, manufacturing, construction, but in general this technique concerns the management of complexity that emerges in cyber-physical systems context. Although effective, the technique lacks a systematic and possibly automatic process of construction of the HMT, which impinges with artificial and extended intelligence concerns. A methodological work-in-progress position for the automation of HMT synthesis is proposed for the first time, and as a first step for an enduring but disruptive research effort

Innovative Approach in cyber physical system for smart building efficiency monitoring

Innovative technologies and comfort-energy efficiency measures are nowadays well known and widely spread, and the main issue is to identify those that will be proven to be the more effective and reliable in the long term. With such a variety of proposed measures, the decision-maker has to compensate environmental, energy, financial and social factors to reach the best possible solution that will ensure the maximization of the comfort and energy efficiency of smart buildings satisfying at the same time the building's final user/occupant/owner needs. A work-in-progress methodological position investigates the feasibility of applying new techniques to improve the comfort and energy efficiency in smart buildings so that the maximum possible number of alternative solutions and energy efficiency measures may be considered. A simple example is used to identify the potential strengths and weaknesses of the proposed approach and highlight potential problems that may arise

Natural Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in Blood and Milk Samples from Jennies and Their Foals after Delivery

An assessment of the natural ochratoxin A (OTA) exposure of seven Martina Franca jennies was carried out by analyzing blood and milk samples collected close to and after delivery. A total of 41 and 34 blood samples were collected from jennies and foals, respectively, and analyzed by ELISA. A total of 33 milk samples were collected from jennies and analyzed by the HPLC/FLD method based on IAC clean-up. Furthermore, 53 feed samples were collected from January to September and analyzed by a reference method (AOAC Official Method No. 2000.03) for OTA content. Feed samples showed OTA levels up to 2.7 ng/g with an incidence of 32%, while the OTA incidence rate in jennies' blood samples was 73%, with a median value of 97 ng/L and concentrations ranging fro