Eleven Years of Health Monitoring in Wild Boars (Sus scrofa) in the Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy)

In recent years, the growth of wild ungulates has increased the focus on their health monitoring. In particular, the health status of wild boars is relevant for the economic impact on the pig industry. The Emilia-Romagna region activated a wildlife monitoring plan to better evaluate the health status of the wild boar population. Between 2011 and 2021, samples of found dead and hunted wild boar have been examined for trichinellosis, tuberculosis, brucellosis, african swine fever, classical swine fever, Aujeszky’s disease, swine vesicular disease, and swine influenza A. Trichinella britovi was identified in 0.001% of the examined wild boars; neither M. bovis nor M. tuberculosis were found in M. tuberculosis complex positive samples; 2.3% were positive for Brucella suis; 29.4% of the sera were positive for Aujeszky’s disease virus; and 0.9% of the samples were positive for swine influenza A virus. With an uncertain population estimate, the number of animals tested, the number of positives, and the sampling method do not allow us to make many inferences but suggest the need to implement and strengthen the existing surveillance activity, as it seems to be the only viable alternative for safeguarding animal and human health

Genere Classe e Nazione nell’Irlanda Rivoluzionaria: i femminismi radicali (1900 ca - 1923)

Lo scopo di questo lavoro è duplice. Infatti, si vogliono esplorare sia le relazioni tra repubblicanesimo irlandese, femminismo radicale e socialismo rivoluzionario nel periodo 1900-1916, sia l’evoluzione del femminismo socialista nello stesso periodo. In particolare, l'obiettivo è di analizzare le modalità con cui alcune attiviste femministe e repubblicane si siano radicalizzate come socialiste; come il pensiero socialista influenzò gli sviluppi storici culminati nella Rivolta del 1916; come queste attiviste abbiano bilanciato le loro molteplici identità; come queste molteplici appartenenze e i fatti reali che hanno vissuto abbiano influito sulle loro scelte politiche e personali e sulla comprensione di sé; e come l’appartenenza alla rete transnazionale influì sulla loro comprensione politica ed elaborazione ideologica. Il lavoro è sviluppato utilizzando tre diverse fonti. Le prime sono le testimonianze ufficiale rilasciate al Bureau of Military History irlandese da undici leader femministe attive in questo periodo. Il secondo tipo di fonti sono due giornali radicali - Workers’ Republic e Irish Citizen - studiati dall'autore durante un periodo di ricerca alla University College Dublin sotto la supervisione di Conor Mulvagh. I giornali saranno utilizzati come strumento di analisi delle forme di espressione ed elaborazione teorica sviluppate dalle femministe irlandesi socialiste, laburiste e repubblicane. Il terzo è la raccolta di lettere di una delle figure di spicco del femminismo socialista nel periodo rivoluzionario, ovvero le lettere dal carcere di Constance Markievicz. The aim of this work is twofold. In fact, this work wants to explore the relationships between Irish republicanism, radical feminism and revolutionary socialism in the period 1900-1916, and the evolution of socialist feminism during the same period. In particular, I want to analyse the ways in which some female activists from the feminist and nationalist movements radicalised themselves as socialists; how the socialist influx impacted the developments of the movements which culminated in 1916 Rising; how they balanced their multiple identities; how these multiple belongings and the real facts that they lived impacted in their political and personal choices and self-understanding; and how the transnational network belonging impacted on their political understanding and ideological elaboration. This work will be accomplished using three diverse sources. The first ones are the BHM Statements of eleven different characters of this period, used as direct testimonies. The second one is two radical papers - Workers’ Republic and Irish Citizen - studied by myself during my research period at UCD under the supervision of Mr Conor Mulvagh. I choose them because they functioned as expression and ideological elaboration spaces for the socialist, labour and republican Irish feminists. The third one is the letters’ collection of one of the leading figures of socialist feminism in the Revolutionary Period, i.e., the Prison Letters of Constance Markievicz.

ANALYSIS OF THE SEALING FLOW RATE ON LOSS PRODUCTION MECHANISMS IN LPT STAGE

In the present work, numerical simulations have been carried out to model the flow behavior within an aeroengine rotor/stator cavity system of low pressure turbine, and to investigate the interaction process between the main flow and the flow entering/exiting from the cavity system. Different sealing flow rates injected into the cavity to prevent thermomechanical failure of the disks have been simulated. Experimental results acquired in a cold-flow facility reproducing one-and-half Low Pressure Turbine axial flow stage have been used to validate the simulations. Cavity characteristic mass flow rates and the total pressure loss distribution coefficient have been computed for different sealing flow rates to understand the effect that this parameter has on the stage performance and leakage flow ingested into the cavity. The time mean effect related to the rotor/stator interaction, provoking ingestion in the cavity of the wake generated by the upstream rotor bars and blockage effects related to the presence of the downstream bars have also been considered. The results confirm that unsteady calculation procedures are necessary if the aim is to correctly capture the effect induced by the leakage flow on the cavity sealing capability. Moreover, the increase of the mass flow rate injected into the cavity leads to the enhancement of the strength of the loss core in the lower 50% span observed downstream of the vane, also inducing local variation of flow angle close to the hub, associated with the flow exiting from the cavity. The results provide a clearer picture on the mechanisms responsible for producing additional losses and how this mechanism is affected by the sealing flow rate

Identification and phylogenetic analysis of Taenia spp. parasites found in wildlife in the Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy (2017–2022)

The recent expansion of the habitat of several wildlife species, comprising anthropized areas, is a relevant risk factor for many zoonotic diseases and should be considered in national and regional sanitary monitoring systems. We evaluated adult intestinal Taenia spp. parasites isolated from wild carnivores and cystic larval forms isolated from wild mammals analysed at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia ed Emilia-Romagna (IZSLER) as part of the regional wildlife sanitary surveillance plan. Then, we assessed parasite species through molecular analysis (multiplex PCR followed by ribosomal 12S subunit gene sequencing) in order to update the epidemiological situation on Taeniids infection in the Emilia-Romagna wildlife, reporting the prevalence of each isolated species. The most commonly isolated species was Taenia serialis, which we detected in both wolves and foxes as definitive hosts and in roe deer as intermediate host. More attention on the distribution of Taeniids in wildlife should be paid, considering their potential zoonotic role: several Taenia spp. (Taenia solium, Taenia multiceps, Taenia serialis, Taenia brauni, Taenia glomerulatus) are known for causing coenurosis in humans, with possible severe or fatal outcomes

Influenza A in Wild Boars: Viral Circulation in the Emilia-Romagna Region (Northern Italy) between 2017 and 2022

A systematic surveillance against influenza A viruses (IAVs) in the Suidae population is essential, considering their role as IAV mixing vessels. However, the viral circulation in wild Sus scrofa species is poorly investigated in comparison to the knowledge of IAV infection dynamics in domestic pigs. This study investigated the circulation and the genetic diversity of wild boars’ IAVs detected in the Emilia-Romagna region (2017–2022). A total of 4605 lung samples were screened via an M gene real-time RT-PCR for SwIAV; positive samples were subtyped by multiplex RT-PCR, and viral isolation was attempted. Isolated strains (3 out of the 17 positives) were fully sequenced to evaluate viral genotypic diversity. H1N1 was the most frequently detected subtype, with identification of H1pdm09N1 and H1avN1. Whole-genome phylogenetic analysis revealed SwIAVs belonging to different genotypes, with different genetic combinations, and highlighted the simultaneous circulation of the same genotypes in both pigs and wild boars, supporting the hypothesis of SwIAV spillover events at the wildlife–livestock interface. This study represents an update on the wild boar SwIAV Italian situation, and the strains’ complete genome analysis showed an evolving and interesting situation that deserves further investigation

First evidence of widespread positivity to anticoagulant rodenticides in grey wolves (Canis lupus)

Second-generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (ARs) can be critical for carnivores, due to their widespread use and impacts. However, although many studies explored the impacts of ARs on small and mesocarnivores, none assessed the extent to which they could contaminate large carnivores in anthropized landscapes. We filled this gap by exploring spatiotemporal trends in grey wolf (Canis lupus) exposure to ARs in central and northern Italy, by subjecting a large sample of dead wolves (n = 186) to the LC-MS/MS method. Most wolves (n = 115/186, 61.8 %) tested positive for ARs (1 compound, n = 36; 2 compounds, n = 47; 3 compounds, n = 16; 4 or more compounds, n = 16). Bromadiolone, Brodifacoum and Difenacoum, were the most common compounds, with Brodifacoum andBromadiolone being the ARs that co-occurred the most (n = 61). Both the probability of testing positive for multiple ARs and the concentration of Brodifacoum, and Bromadiolone in the liver, systematically increased in wolves that were found at more anthropized sites. Moreover, wolves became more likely to test positive for ARs through time, particularly after 2020. Our results underline that rodent control, based on ARs, increases the risks of unintentional poisoning of non-target wildlife. However, this risk does not only involve small and mesocarnivores, but also large carnivores at the top of the food chain, such as wolves. Therefore, rodent control is adding one further conservation threat to endangered large carnivores in anthropized landscapes of Europe, whose severity could increase over time and be far higher than previously thought. Large-scale monitoring schemes for ARs in European large carnivores should be devised as soon as possible