Risk factors for transport-related problem behaviors in horses: A New Zealand survey

Transport-related problem behaviors (TRPBs) are common in horses and can cause injury to both the horses and their handlers. This study aimed to identify possible risk factors for TRPBs to inform approaches to mitigate TRPBs incidence and enhance horse welfare. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted to explore the prevalence of TRPBs and their association with human-, training-and transport management-related factors in New Zealand. The survey generated 1124 valid responses that were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and logistic regression analyses. Having at least one horse with TRPB was reported by 249/1124 (22.2%) respondents during the two previous years. Of these, 21/249 (8.4%) occurred during pre-loading, 78/249 (31.3%) during loading, 132/249 (53.0%) while travelling, and 18/249 (7.3%) during unloading. Our findings indicate that the use of negative reinforcement and positive punishment as training methods, using a whip or food for loading, and travelling in a straight load trailer/float while offering food were associated with a higher likelihood of TRPBs. Cross-sectional studies cannot determine causality and findings should be interpreted with caution, and evaluated in further experimental studies. The authors suggest that education on appropriate training methods for transport, and vehicle selection may mitigate the risk for TRPBs in horses

Dromedary Camel Health Care Practices Reported by Caretakers Working at a Permanent Market

Traditional health care practices and ethnoveterinary medicine are still common in camels. This study aimed at describing camel health issues reported by caretakers including their management and treatment practices. Associations between the health issues and caretakers’ background, management practices, and facilities were also investigated. Camel caretakers (n=49) at a permanent market in Qatar were interviewed and data related to the camel pens (e.g. presence of shelters, water, and feeding points) collected. During the interview, questions sought to elicit the following information; i) caretaker’s background (age, level of education, experience, and how they identify when a camel is sick), ii) caretaker’s management practices (feeding, watering, and health care practices), iii) caretaker’s description of the last health problem (camel details, recalled diagnosis/clinical signs, possible cause, treatment, and outcome). The majority of the caretakers were middle-aged (31-50 years old) and they used to identify a sick camel mainly observing its behavioural modifications (p < 0.001). Treatment for endo- and ectoparasites were usually administered by caretakers, health checks routinely performed by veterinarians, while vaccinations were not conducted in most of the pens (p < 0.001). A total of 38 health problems were described and the high environmental temperature was the most reported possible cause (43.2%; p < 0.001). Among the recalled health problems, sunstrokes were the most common (11/38; p = 0.046), followed by fever (9/38). Sunstroke was more likely to affect males (OR: 5.04; CI95%: 1.87-23.38; p = 0.039), while fever younger animals (OR: 0.68, CI95%: 0.47-1.00; p = 0.050). Sunstrokes were more likely managed by non-veterinarians (OR: 4.75; CI95%: 1.05-21.34; p = 0.042). The majority of the cases were early identified and had a full recovery, but 11/38 camels died. Interestingly, drugs were the most common treatment (73.7%, p < 0.001), but often bought and administered directly by caretakers. Duty of care, infectious disease prevention, early and appropriate treatments could be recommended to guarantee the principle of good health and consequently animal welfare. Education on how to identify a sick camel and how to manage it should be also promoted

Effects of two different management systems on hormonal, behavioral, and semen quality in male dromedary camels

Effects of two different management systems on male dromedary camel hormones, behaviors, and semen parameters were documented. Camels (n=6) were tested under two management systems: (i) housed in single boxes with 1-h freedom (H23); (ii) exposed to females for 17 h (from 3.30 p.m. to 8.30 a.m.) and then housed (ConExF). Blood was collected every morning; camel behavior was recorded twice a day: (i) from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. to determine the short effects; (ii) from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. to determine the long effects. Each camel underwent a female parade and semen collection thrice a week; sexual behavior, libido, and semen parameters were assessed. Testosterone and cortisol concentrations were higher in ConExF than H23. Compared to the H23 group, ConExF group spent more time walking, standing tripods, and looking outside their pen/box but they spent less time eating, ruminating, resting, standing, and showing stereotypical behaviors. In the morning, ConExF group spent more time walking, ruminating, and showing typical sexual behaviors compared to themselves during afternoon time and the H23 group. However, in the afternoon time, ConExF camels put more time their heads outside the box through the window and showed higher frequencies of stereotypies, probably due to a higher level of frustration. While the sexual behavioral score was higher and ejaculates showed a higher fraction of milky white and white-colored semen in ConExF than H23 group, their libido was similar. Overall, 17 h of exposure led to an increase in testosterone and cortisol levels, enhancing sexual behavior and semen color, but leading to frustration

Factors affecting the development of Bovine Respiratory Disease: a cross-sectional study in beef steers shipped from France to Italy

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a complex, multifactorial syndrome and one of the major welfare and economical concerns for the cattle industry. This 1-year cross-sectional study was aimed at documenting the prevalence of BRD-related pathogens and clinical signs before and after a long journey and at identifying possible predisposition factors. Male Limousine beef steers (n = 169) traveling from France to Italy were health checked and sampled with Deep Nasopharyngeal Swabs (DNS) at loading (T0) and 4 days after arrival (T1). Real-time quantitative PCR was used to quantify the presence of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1), bovine coronavirus (BCoV), bovine adenovirus (BAdV), bovine parainfluenza virus 3 (BPIV-3), Histophilus somni, Mannheimia haemolytica, Mycoplasma bovis, and Pasteurella multocida. Weather conditions at departure and arrival were recorded, and the travel conditions were taken from the travel documentation. At T0, even if no animals displayed clinical signs, some of them were already positive for one or more pathogens. At T1, the number of animals displaying clinical signs and positive for BCoV, BAdV, BRSV, H. somni, M. haemolytica, M. bovis, and P. multocida increased dramatically (p < 0.001). Transport also significantly increased co-infection passing from 16.0% at T0 to 82.8% at T1 (p < 0.001). An extra stop during the journey seemed to favor BRSV, M. haemolytica, and P. multocida (p < 0.05). Weather conditions, in particular sudden climate changes from departure to arrival and daily temperature variance, were found to be predisposing factors for many of the pathogens. The farm of arrival also played a role for BRSV, BAdV, and H. somni (p < 0.05). BCoV increased dramatically, but no associations were found confirming that it spreads easily during transport phases. Our findings increased our understanding of factors increasing the likelihood of BRD-related pathogens shedding and can be useful to minimize the incidence of BRD and to implement animal transport regulations

Effect of preoperative pulmonary hemodynamic and cardiopulmonary bypass on lung function in children with congenital heart disease

In children with congenital heart disease (CHD), pulmonary blood flow (Qp) contributes to alterations of pulmonary mechanics and gas exchange, while cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) induces lung edema. We aimed to determine the effect of hemodynamics on lung function and lung epithelial lining fluid (ELF) biomarkers in biventricular CHD children undergoing CPB. CHD children were classified as high Qp (n = 43) and low Qp (n = 17), according to preoperative cardiac morphology and arterial oxygen saturation. We measured ELF surfactant protein B (SP-B) and myeloperoxidase activity (MPO) as indexes of lung inflammation and ELF albumin as index of alveolar capillary leak in tracheal aspirate (TA) samples collected before surgery and in 6 hourly intervals within 24 h after surgery. At the same time points, we recorded dynamic compliance and oxygenation index (OI). The same biomarkers were measured in TA samples collected from 16 infants with no cardiorespiratory diseases at the time of endotracheal intubation for elective surgery. Preoperative ELF biomarkers in CHD children were significantly increased than those found in controls. In the high Qp, ELF MPO and SP-B peaked 6 h after surgery and tended to decrease afterward, while they tended to increase within the first 24 h in the low Qp. ELF albumin peaked 6 h after surgery and decreased afterwards in both CHD groups. Dynamic compliance/kg and OI significantly improved after surgery only in the High Qp. Conclusion: In CHD children, lung mechanics, OI, and ELF biomarkers were significantly affected by CPB, according to the preoperative pulmonary hemodynamics.What is Known:• Congenital heart disease children, before cardiopulmonary run, exhibit changes in respiratory mechanics, gas exchange, and lung inflammatory biomarkers that are related to the preoperative pulmonary hemodynamics.• Cardiopulmonary bypass induces alteration of lung function and epithelial lining fluid biomarkers according to preoperative hemodynamics.What is New:• Our findings can help to identify children with congenital heart disease at high risk of postoperative lung injury who may benefit of tailored intensive care strategies, such as non-invasive ventilation techniques, fluid management, and anti-inflammatory drugs that can improve cardiopulmonary interaction in the perioperative period

Technological and Economic Optimization of Functional Ready to Eat Meal

A ready meal based on precooked gluten-free pasta with a yogurt-based sauce enriched with probiotic bacteria was developed and optimized from both the nutritional and sensory point of view. Conceptually, the work aims at understanding the innovation stress in consumers and check whether the “perfect beauty” of a complex food product innovation, which is extremely admirable from a food technology point of view, could be effectively appreciated by consumers. In other words, we are interested in knowing whether there exists a gap between science-based or ”innovation-leading” technologists’ food preferences and consumers’ preferences, which are taste, information, price and promotion driven

Prospective study on the excretion of mucous stools and its association with age, gender, and feces output in captive giant pandas

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) has evolved a large number of mucous glands in the intestinal lining to adapt to the digestion of high-fiber foods. However, in captive pandas, excessive mucus might form a mass and then be eliminated, which is often accompanied by discomfort and decreased activity. This event is called \u2018mucous excretion\u2019. The causes of mucus excretions in captive pandas, however, remain unknown. The aims of this study were to document the occurrence of mucus excretion and to investigate its possible associations with pandas\u2019 age, gender, and feces output. Eighteen giant pandas were studied at the Beijing Zoo from April 2003 to June 2017, and a total of 900 occurrences of mucous excretion and 32,856 daily defecation outputs in weight were recorded. The likelihood of mucous excretion occurrence decreased by 11.34% for each 1 kg of fecal output (Z = 124.12, p < 0.0001), while it increased by 5.89% per year of age (Z = 4.02, p < 0.0001). However, individual differences in gender had no significant effect on the mucous occurrence (Z = 120.75, p = 0.4508). A monthly change in mucus occurrence was also found. The mean frequency of mucus occurrence was significantly higher in October. In August, time (month) change showed the biggest negative influence on feces output but the biggest positive influence on mucus excretion (seasonal factors were 122.261 and 0.0126, respectively). Our results documented the occurrence of mucous excretions and confirmed their possible associations with the pandas\u2019 age and fecal output based on a 15-year prospective study. This study not only adds to our knowledge of panda physiology but also suggests the need for further studies examining the causes of the excretion of mucous stools in captive pandas. Reducing the incidence of mucous excretion would promote ex situ conservation and enhance panda welfare

Protective continuous ventilation strategy during cardiopulmonary bypass in children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease: a prospective study

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate if a 'protective' (low-tidal/low-frequency) ventilation strategy can shorten the postoperative ventilation time and minimize acute lung injury in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing repair with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). METHODS: This is a single-centre prospective, interventional study, including children with CHD under the age of 5 years, undergoing open-heart surgery with a CPB >60 min, in hypothermia, haemodynamically stable, and without evident genetic abnormalities. Assist-control ventilation (tidal volume of 4 ml/kg, 10 breaths/min, positive end-expiratory pressure 5 cmH2O and FiO2 0.21) was applied in a cohort of patients during CPB. We compared clinical outcomes and in fully ventilated versus non-ventilated (control) patients. Propensity score was used to weigh ventilated and control groups to correct for the effect of other confounding clinical variables. Clinical and ventilation parameters and lung inflammatory biomarkers in tracheal aspirates were measured. The primary outcome was the postoperative intubation time of more or less than 48 h. RESULTS: We included 140 children (53 ventilated, 87 non-ventilated) with different CHD. There were no deaths or adverse events in ventilated patients. Using a weighted generalized linear model, we found no sufficient evidence for an effect of intraoperative ventilation on postoperative intubation time [estimate 0.13 (95% confidence interval, -0.08; 0.35), P = 0.22]. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous low-tidal/low-frequency mechanical ventilation during CPB is safe and harmless. However, no significant advantages were found when compared to non-ventilated patients in terms of postoperative ventilation time

Decellularized cryopreserved human pericardium: a validation study towards tissue bank practice

Pericardial patches are currently used as reconstructive material in cardiac surgery for surgical treatment of cardiac septal defects. Autologous pericardial patches, either treated with glutaraldehyde or not, can be used as an alternative to synthetic materials or xenograft in congenital septal defects repair. The availability of an allogenic decellularized pericardium could reduce complication during and after surgery and could be a valid alternative. Decellularization of allogenic tissues aims at reducing the immunogenic reaction that might trigger inflammation and tissue calcification over time. The ideal graft for congenital heart disease repair should be biocompatible, mechanically resistant, non-immunogenic, and should have the ability to growth with the patients. The aim of the present study is the evaluation of the efficacy of a new decellularization protocol of homologous pericardium, even after cryopreservation. The technique has proven to be suitable as a tissue bank procedure and highly successful in the removal of cells and nucleic acids content, but also in the preservation of collagen and biomechanical properties of the human pericardium