534 SIX-MONTH EFFICACY OF INTRA-ARTICULAR HYALURONIC ACID FOR CARPOMETACARPAL JOINT OSTEOARTHRITIS

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On the functional design of the DTU10 MW wind turbine scale model of LIFES50+ project

This paper illustrates the mechatronic design of the wind tunnel scale model of the DTU 10MW reference wind turbine, for the LIFES50+ H2020 European project. This model was designed with the final goal of controlling the angle of attack of each blade by means of miniaturized servomotors, for implementing advanced individual pitch control (IPC) laws on a Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) 1/75 scale model. Many design constraints were to be respected: among others, the rotor-nacelle overall mass due to aero-elastic scaling, the limited space of the nacelle, where to put three miniaturized servomotors and the main shaft one, with their own inverters/controllers, the slip rings for electrical rotary contacts, the highest stiffness as possible for the nacelle support and the blade-rotor connections, for ensuring the proper kinematic constraint, considering the first flapwise blade natural frequency, the performance of the servomotors to guarantee the wide frequency band due to frequency scale factors, etc. The design and technical solutions are herein presented and discussed, along with an overview of the building and verification process. Also a discussion about the goals achieved and constraints respected for the rigid wind turbine scale model (LIFES50+ deliverable D.3.1) and the further possible improvements for the IPC-aero-elastic scale model, which is being finalized at the time of this paper

Minimal inhibitory and Mutant prevention concentrations of enrofloxacin for Pasteurella multocida from rabbits affected by pasteurellosis

Pasteurella multocida is the agent of one of the most significant diseases in rabbits and it is associated with a heterogeneous clinical picture. Drugs belonging to the fluoroquinolones class are useful to control pasteurellosis. Among them, enrofloxacin is one of the most used molecules in rabbit industry and it is the only one fluoroquinolone registered for this species in Italy. Enrofloxacin adopted dosages are currently based on Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). Nevertheless, MIC is not effective against possible pathogen sub-populations with lower susceptibility that may be selectively amplified, leading to possible problems of antibiotic resistance. Mutant Prevention Concentration (MPC) could represent an approach to minimize the risk of resistance selection in pathogens. The aim of this work was to test the sensitivity to enrofloxacin of P. multocida strains isolated from rabbits affected by pasteurellosis to evaluate if MPC-based dosages can represent a valid option. The study was performed on ten strains of P. multocida isolated from rabbits from two industrial farms of Puglia, South Italy. The sensitivity to enrofloxacin has been evaluated by MIC tests by microdilution method and MPC tests performed according to Marcusson et al. (2005) with minor modifications. The results of MIC and MPC tests have revealed that MPC dosages are on average 8,4 times higher than MIC dosages. This data highlight that, although MPC-based dosages are useful to prevent the selection of potential mutant, they could be higher than MIC-based ones, leading to possible issues related to their application in field, for example the potential risk of possible toxicity for animals and residues in meat

The role of iatrogenic disease of cattle in admission to veterinary hospital

Iatrogenic diseases are due to negligence or malpractice (Pezza et al.,2008). In human medicine, these conditions are widely described (Weingart et al., 2000), mostly for insurance issues related to hospitalization, while in veterinary medicine are reported only occasional case reports. 4155 clinical records related to cattle admitted to the Clinic for Ruminants and Swine of the University of Milan between 2005 and 2017 were analyzed. Clinical cases that required admission because of an iatrogenic related disease were selected for this study. For case selection, 3 experienced veterinarians examined the clinical records, cross-compared the selection and pick 114 cases (2,7%). The iatrogenic diseases were primarily caused by farmers (93%) than veterinary practitioner (7%). Iatrogenic diseases were caused mostly by erroneous administration of drugs (47,4%), excessive traction at birth (17,5%), improper milk or colostrum administration, frequently performed by oroesophageal tubing (16,7%) or by forced administration using a nipple bottle (12,3%). As verified by our study, farmers often performs medical, nursing and zootechnical procedures without adequate competences and sometimes choose medical treatment for sick animals without professional consultation of veterinarians.The veterinarian rule is fundamental in farmer education. Clinicians, especially in some professional branches as neonatology, should be more responsible of their assignments, avoiding delegation of specific procedures to unskilled staff. The importance of communication in improving management and health in dairy farms has been recently demonstrated (Jansen and Lam, 2012; Jansen et al., 2010). Effective communication has a key role in dairy herd health and communication strategies are required to support diseases control programs (Lievaart et al., 2008). More attention to iatrogenic issue may have a positive impact on animal and public health. Moreover, a decrease of unnecessary and injurious drug administration may result in a reduction of treatment costs and in prevention of antibiotic resistance

Controller design for model-scale rotors and validation using prescribed motion

Aerodynamic-load calculation in aero-hydro-servo-elastic modeling tools has been recently validated against experiments for low-frequency platform motions but without considering the capability of active wind turbine controls. This work presents a control design framework that allows for including industry-standard wind turbine control functionalities in a model-scale rotor and its application to a 1:100 scaled version of the International Energy Agency (IEA) 15 MW turbine. Wind tunnel tests with a fixed foundation and steady wind show the scaled turbine reproduces the steady-state rotor speed–blade pitch–thrust–torque characteristics of the IEA 15 MW turbine, confirming the controller design method. Tests with a prescribed platform pitch motion are carried out to assess the turbine response and controller modeling in conditions representative of the normal operation of floating wind turbines. The blade element momentum model of OpenFAST is verified against the experiment, showing aerodynamic thrust and torque are predicted with higher accuracy in the below-rated than the above-rated region: in our simulation, the decrease in thrust oscillation amplitude due to blade pitch actuation is underpredicted. This, combined with uncertainty in modeling the blade pitch actuators, complicates the numerical–experimental simulation of the turbine aerodynamic response in above-rated operation.</p

Focused lung ultrasonography of calves (FLUC): valutazione di un protocollo rapido per la diagnosi ultrasonografica della broncopolmonite enzootica

Nella pratica buiatrica vengono comunemente usati gli score clinici che rappresentano un mezzo diagnostico pratico ed immediato per la diagnosi di broncopolmonite enzootica (BRD), nonostante la sensibilit\ue0 e la specificit\ue0 di questi score sia bassa (Calf respiratory score \u2013 CRS: sensibilit\ue0 55%, specificit\ue0 58%; auscultazione toracica: sensibilit\ue0 3-17%). L\u2019ecografia del torace, invece, \ue8 un esame molto accurato che permette di avere un quadro dei danni anatomici al polmone, difficilmente riscontrabili con altri mezzo diagnostici. Bench\ue9 il \u201clung ultrasonographic score system\u201d (LUS), rappresenti il \u201cgold standard\u201d per la valutazione delle alterazioni patologiche del polmone, questa tecnica si dimostra spesso indaginosa soprattutto per i veterinari che hanno poca dimestichezza con l\u2019ecografia toracica. Lo scopo di questo studio \ue8 stabilire la validit\ue0 di un protocollo ecografico rapido utilizzabile anche da veterinari senza esperienza in ecografia del torace, limitando la scansione a specifiche regioni dell\u2019area polmonare (lobi craniali) che vengono comunemente colpite in corso di BRD. Vitelli di razza frisona italiana con un\u2019et\ue0 compresa tra 30 giorni e 6 mesi, un punteggio di Calf respiratory score (CRS) maggiore a 5 e l\u2019assenza di patologie concomitanti sono stati selezionati come casi. Come controlli sono stati selezionati vitelli con le medesime caratteristiche ma con un punteggio del CRS inferiore a 5. Ogni vitello \ue8 stato sottoposto a visita clinica, a compilazione del CRS e a LUS. Immediatamente dopo la scansione ecografica, un operatore con scarsa esperienza ha effettuato la sola ecografia del V spazio intercostale di entrambi gli emitoraci (focused lung ultrasonography of calves; FLUC) utilizzando come marker ventrale la giunzione costo-condrale e la deviazione pleurica. Sono state calcolate sensibilit\ue0, specificit\ue0 e valori predittivi negativo e positivo per la presenza del consolidamento polmonare riscontrato tramite FLUC. Nello studio sono stati inclusi 26 vitelli (19 \u201cmalati\u201d e 7 \u201csani\u201d). Tramite esecuzione della FLUC nel gruppo \u201cmalati\u201d \ue8 stato possibile rinvenire consolidamento polmonare a livello del quinto spazio intercostale destro e/o sinistro in 17 animali su 19. I due animali che non presentavano consolidamento avevano numerosi artefatti a coda di cometa a livello del V spazio intercostale. Nel gruppo \u201csani\u201d la FLUC non ha riscontrato la presenza di consolidamento polmonare in nessun animale. Valutando gli animali tramite LUS, tutti gli animali inclusi nel gruppo \u201cmalati\u201d hanno mostrato uno score 65 2, mentre gli animali nel gruppo \u201csani\u201d hanno ottenuto uno score < 2. L\u2019accuratezza della FLUC, confrontata all\u2019ecografia totale dell\u2019area polmonare, \ue8 risultata essere pari all\u201985%. La sensibilit\ue0 \ue8 risultata essere 81% e la specificit\ue0 100%. Il valore predittivo positivo del test \ue8 stato pari al 100%, mentre il valore predittivo negativo 56%. La metodica FLUC si \ue8 rivelata essere una metodica pratica, rapida e facilmente eseguibile da un solo operatore, in grado di dare una buona rappresentazione della situazione polmonare. Pu\uf2 essere quindi considerato un ulteriore strumento per i veterinari di campo per raggiungere una precoce, accurata e corretta diagnosi della broncopolmonite enzootica con riferimenti riguardanti il tipo di lesioni, fondamentale per applicare un protocollo terapeutico efficace e risolutivo

Comparison of VIDAS and radioimmunoassay methods for measurement of cortisol concentration in bovine serum

Radioimmunoassay (RIA) is the "gold standard" method for evaluation of serum cortisol concentration. The VIDAS cortisol test is an enzyme-linked fluorescent assay designed for the MiniVidas system. The aim of this study was to compare the VIDAS method with RIA for measurement of bovine serum cortisol concentration. Cortisol concentrations were evaluated in 40 cows using both VIDAS and RIA methods, the latter as the reference method. A paired Student's t-test, Pearson's correlation analysis, Bland-Altman plot, and Deming regression analysis were used to compare the two methods. There was no statistically significant difference between mean serum cortisol concentrations measured by VIDAS or RIA methods (P = 0.6570). Both methods were able to detect significant differences in mean low and high cortisol concentrations (P < 0.00014 RIA and P < 0.0016 VIDAS). The correlation coefficient was low, but a Bland-Altman plot and Deming regression analysis show neither constant nor proportional error. The VIDAS method produced slightly higher values than RIA, but the difference was small and in no case did the mean value move the normal range. Results suggest that VIDAS method is suitable for the determination of bovine serum cortisol concentration in studies of large numbers of animals

Effects of storage time on total protein and globulin concentrations in bovine fresh frozen plasma obtained for transfusion

To evaluate the effects of storage conditions on total protein (TP) and globulin fractions in fresh frozen bovine plasma units prepared and stored for transfusion, TP and globulin fractions were evaluated in fresh plasma and at 1 month and 6 and 12 months after blood collection in plasma stored at -20\ub0C. Significant differences in concentrations were found in the median concentration of total protein (P = 0.0336), between 0 months and 1 month (P = 0.0108), 0 and 6 months (P = 0.0023), and 0 and 12 months (P = 0.0027), in mean concentration (g/dL) of albumin (P = 0.0394), between 0 months and 1 month (P = 0.0131), 0 and 6 months (P = 0.0035), and 0 and 12 months (P = 0.0038), and beta-2 fraction (P = 0.0401), between 0 and 6 months (P = 0.0401) and 0 and 12 months (P = 0.0230). This study suggests that total gamma globulin concentration in bovine frozen plasma is stable for 12 months at -20\ub0C. Total protein, ALB, and beta-2 fraction have significantly different concentrations (g/dL) when compared to prestorage. This study has shown IgG protein fraction stability in bovine fresh frozen plasma collected for transfusion; therefore, bovine fresh frozen plasma seems to be suitable for the treatment of hypogammaglobulinemia (failure of passive transfer) in calves when stored for 12 months at -20\ub0C