Estimation of the Wild Boar Population in the Italian Apennines by Pellet Count Group Technic- A Pilot Study

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Session H/11.8 -Effect of management and housing on horse welfare Corresponding author: [email protected] Three-dimensional design of a horse stud like better toll for technical choices of housing and welfare

Abstract It is well known that captivity and the following upsetting of the horse natural habits and physiological activities have made the horse defenceless towards the numerous dangers and have exposed it to a wide range of risks. As a consequence, the safety of the infrastructures where the athlete spends the majority of its life time represent a fundamental aspect strictly linked to the prevention modalities of many pathologies found within equestrian veterinary practice. In recent year the three-dimensional designs are more and more utilised to have a complete vision of the structures. In the case of horse studs, the three-dimensional design represents the best solution to verify, in virtual imagines, the technical choices not only for housing bur also for improving welfare conditions. In fact it is possible to hypothesize and to virtually test the operative conditions needed both in terms of structures and welfare. The results of this kind of representation is optimal to research the best welfare conditions. This study refers to a virtual three-dimensional design of an equestrian centre destined to show jumping horses. This facility includes the realization of different structures such as stud and wasting areas, covered grounds, open air fields, open fields, rings, club services, competition arenas with tribunes, jury, services for public, etc.

Exploitation of a natural pasture by wild horses: comparison between nutritive characteristics of the land and the nutrient requirements of the herds over a 2-year period

In the Molise region (Italy), some autochthonous populations are still bred and, between them, some wild horses named 'Pentro horses.' The breeding area is a natural pasture. It is 2200 ha extended including a broad plane surrounded by wooden hills. The aim of this research was to determine the nutritional characteristics of this area over a 2-year period to improve the management of the herd and to define the stocking rate in relation to the forage production in terms of production and quality. The forage samples were collected over two successive years during the grazing period (May to October) from five experimental areas and analysed for dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), neutral-detergent fibre (NDF), acid-detergent fibre (ADF), acid-detergent lignin (ADL) and gross energy (GE). Horse feed units (HFU) and horse-digestible crude protein (HDCP) were also predicted. Data were analysed with a one-way ANOVA test using month and area as factors. The DM, HFU and HDCP total production was determined to be compared with the total nutrient requirements of the herds from May to October. The results show that seasonal and yearly climatic variations significantly affect chemical composition and nutritive value of the pasture. The parameters most influenced were DM, CP, ADF and to a less extent NDF, while OM, ADL and GE show smaller differences during the observed period. The results show a low production per ha; nevertheless, because of the low stocking rate (0.3 to 0.6 head per ha), nutrient production meets the nutrient requirements of the horses regarding DM and energy. The differences among the areas have to be ascribed to the different botanical compositions and to the different draining capacity of the soil, and also in this case the greatest variations are for DM, CP and ADF

Corticosteroid-Sparing Effect of Chromoglycate Sodium and Nedocromil

The most appropiate management for bronchial asthma is the control of airway inflammation. Corticosteroids are the most effective anti-inflammatory drugs available, but they have a number of side effects; most of these are dose-dependent. In children, asthma control should be accomplished with low steroid doses possibly given by inhalation. In a double-bind placebo-controlled crossover study a group of children with mild to moderate asthma received NED 16 mg/day or BDP 400 μg/day. Values for FEV1, PEF, symptoms use ofbronchodilators overlapped, whereas bronchial hyper-responsiveness assessed by histamine bronchoprovocation challenge was better with BDP than NED. In another case, one boy with high bronchial hyper-reactivity assessed by provocation test with hypertonic solution, experienced a significant improvement only after 2 weeks of therapy with Deflazacort (2 mg/Kg/day) followed by 4 months on combined treatment with NED (16 mg/day) and BDP (300 μ/day). Authors conclude that NED could have a steroidsparing effect over long-term use

Survival of a sars-cov-2 surrogate on flow-pack polyethylene and polystyrene food trays at refrigeration and room temperature conditions

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of the current pandemic referred to as coronavirus disease 2019, is spread by direct and indirect transmission between humans, including contact with contaminated surfaces, frozen food, packaging materials, and storage environments. Food contamination may occur in the “farm-to-table” lifecycle through contact with food handlers and environments. In the present study, the survival of a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate (feline coronavirus (FCoV)) at room temperature and refrigeration conditions for different time intervals on two types packaging widely used packaging, namely flow-pack polyethylene and polystyrene food trays, was investigated. FCoV was stable on the flow-pack polyethylene for 48 h and 120 h at room temperature and 4◦C, respectively, while it persisted on polystyrene food trays for 36 h at room temperature and for 120 h at +4◦C. The results of our study highlight the possible implications of food packaging in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 during the current pandemic