Fungal environment in different rabbit intensive farms

Many environmental factors (for example, temperature, relative humidity, ventilation, NH3 concentration) can influence the health and welfare of rabbits reared in intensive farms. Among these elements, microorganisms and, in particular, fungi play a pivotal role in the spreading of potential pathogenic and zoonotic diseases. Aim of our work was to evaluate the fungal contamination in two different rabbit rearing (A and B). SAS System® (PBI International, Italy) and opened plates, filled with cultural media for fungal growth (environmental and dermatophytes) have been used. The data collected in both the farms showed that, for environmental fungi, Aspergillus, Alternaria and Penicillium were the most spread. On the contrary, for dermatophytes, there was a difference between farm A and B. In fact, in the first one Microsporum canis (a known zoonotic agent) has been recovered in high concentration, while in the second rearing we have isolated Microsporum gypseum a geophilic fungus with a very low pathogenic potential

CARPET: a web-based package for the analysis of ChIP-chip and expression tiling data

Summary: CARPET (Collection of Automated Routine Programs for Easy Tiling) is a set of Perl, Python and R scripts, integrated on the Galaxy2 web-based platform, for the analysis of ChIP-chip and expression tiling data, both for standard and custom chip designs. CARPET allows rapid experimental data entry, simple quality control, normalization, easy identification and annotation of enriched ChIP-chip regions, detection of the absolute or relative transcriptional status of genes assessed by expression tiling experiments and, more importantly, it allows the integration of ChIP-chip and expression data. Results can be visualized instantly in a genomic context within the UCSC genome browser as graph-based custom tracks through Galaxy2. All generated and uploaded data can be stored within sessions and are easily shared with other users. Availability: http://bio.ifom-ieo-campus.it/galaxy Contacts: [email protected] lucilla.luzi@if om-ieo-campus.i

Damage distribution and seismological model of the November 24, 2004, Salo' (Northern Italy) earthquake

The West side of lake of Garda, in Northern Italy, was struck by a ML=5.2 earthquake on November 24, 2004. The felt area is rather large (from Venice to Milan) and the damaged area consists of 66 municipalities, with a number of homeless of about 2200 and estimated direct damages of 215 millions of euros. Most of the damaged structures are old masonry buildings and churches, while there were almost no damage to reinforced concrete structures. The observed distribution of macroseismic intensity shows a strong azimuthal dependence, with high intensity level in a 10x10 km2 area located SW to the epicentre and rather large dispersion of values (ranging from V to VII-VIII) in the first 10 km epicentral distance. Taking into account the vulnerability level of the damaged structures and the features of the geological formations, we tried to explain the observed damage distribution in terms of finite fault properties of the source, despite the moderate magnitude of the event. Thus we hypothesised a fault geometry from seismotectonic considerations and we simulated the event by a high frequency simulation technique (Deterministic Stochastic Method, DSM). The synthetic ground motion parameters were converted into intensity values by empirical relationships and local geological conditions were considered to explain some discrepancies between simulated and observed intensities. It was possible to adequately reproduce both the observed distribution of macroseismic intensity and the ground motion recorded by an accelerometric station located at about 13 km epicentral distance

User acceptance: the key to evaluating SODIS and other methods for household water treatment and safe storage

Household water treatment has been identified as one effective strategy to interrupt transmission routes of diarrhoea causing pathogens, and thus to mitigate the global burden of waterborne diseases. And yet, the commitment of governments and international organizations to integrate household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) into their water supply, sanitation, and hygiene promotion programmes remains limited. More efforts are required to scale up the initial successes in the promotion of HWTS methods, and to achieve sustainable application at user level. This article illustrates the experience with the promotion of one particular HWTS approach solar water disinfection (SODIS) as an input to the debate on effectiveness, user acceptance, and integrated planning in the context of HWTS approaches

Proceedings of the inaugural International Summit for Medical Nutrition Education and Research

© 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health Medical Nutrition Education (MNE) has been identified as an area with potential public health impact. Despite countries having distinctive education systems, barriers and facilitators to effective MNE are consistent across borders, demanding a common platform to initiate global programmes. A shared approach to supporting greater MNE is ideal to support countries to work together. In an effort to initiate this process, the Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme group, in association with their strategic partners, hosted the inaugural International Summit on Medical Nutrition Education and Research on August 8, 2015 in Cambridge, UK. Speakers from the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and India provided insights into their respective countries including their education systems, inherent challenges, and potential solutions across two main themes: (1) Medical Nutrition Education, focused on best practice examples in competencies and assessment; and (2) Medical Nutrition Research, discussing how to translate nutrition research into education opportunities. The Summit identified shared needs across regions, showcased examples of transferrable strategies and identified opportunities for collaboration in nutrition education for healthcare (including medical) professionals. These proceedings highlight the key messages presented at the Summit and showcase opportunities for working together towards a common goal of improvement in MNE to improve public health at large

Color fixation strategies on sustainable poly-butylene succinate using biobased itaconic acid

Biopo-lybutylene succinate (bioPBS) is gaining attention in the biodegradable polymer market due to its promising properties, such as high biodegradability and processing versatility, representing a potential sustainable replacement for fossil-based commodities. However, there is still a need to enhance its properties for certain applications, with aesthetical and mechanical properties being a challenge. The aim of the present work is to improve these properties by adding selected additives that will confer bioPBS with comparable properties to that of current counterparts such as polypropylene (PP) for specific applications in the automotive and household appliances sectors. A total of thirteen materials have been studied and compared, being twelve biocomposites containing combinations of three different additives: a commercial red colorant, itaconic acid (IA) to enhance color fixation and zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles to maintain at least native PBS mechanical properties. The results show that the combination of IA and the coloring agent tends to slightly yellowish the blend due to the absorbance spectra of IA and also to modify the gloss due to the formation of IA nanocrystals that affects light scattering. In addition, for low amounts of IA (4 wt %), Young’s Modulus seems to be kept while elongation at break is even raised. Unexpectedly, a strong aging affect was found after four weeks. IA increases the hydrophilic behavior of the samples and thus seems to accelerate the hydrolization of the matrix, which is accompanied by an accused disaggregation of phases and an overall softening and rigidization effect. The addition of low amounts of ZrO2 (2 wt %) seems to provide the desired effect for hardening the surface while almost not affecting the other properties; however, higher amounts tends to form aggregates saturating the compounds. As a conclusion, IA might be a good candidate for color fixing in biobased polymers

The Tunisian traditional rabbit breeding system versus the commercial system: an epidemiological perspective

[EN] Rabbit breeding is practiced in many hot climate countries and contributes in terms of agricultural activities to rural development. In Tunisia two different rabbit breeding systems can be identified - the "traditional" (an integrated free range and underground system) and the "commercial" (employing sheds and wire net cages) practice. 24 Tunisian rabbitries (10 traditional and 14 commercial) were included in an epidemiological study aimed at comparing the prevalence of pathogenic bacteria responsible for upper respiratory and digestive diseases in the two breeding systems. A total of 128 adult rabbits (mean age of 9.4 months) were tested using deep nasal and rectal swabs. Symptoms of nasal discharge and/or diarrhea were recorded. 281 bacterial strains were isolated in total, 138 in commercial and 143 in traditional farms. The bacteria most frequently isolated (61.2%) were Gram-positive strains, which included Streptococcus sp. (22.8%), coagulase negative Staphylococcus sp. (17.8%) and coagulase-positive Staphylococcus (17.4%) strains. Among the Gram-negative isolated bacteria, Escherichia coli was the most frequent (12.5%), followed by Proteus sp. (5.7%). The two Salmonella strains isolated were Salmonella bongori (found in the commercial system), and Salmonella typhimurium definitive phage-type (DT) 104 (found in the traditional farming system). The absence of Pasteurella multocida in the list of isolated bacteria may be directly correlated to the method of conserving the samples (storage at freezing temperature). The coagulase-positive Staphylococcus strains were frequently isolated (73.5%) from healthy rabbits, but seldom from rabbits with rhinitis (18.4%) or diarrhea (8.2%). Staphylococcus aureus strains were recovered at a higher rate in commercial farms (21%) in comparison with traditional (11.9%) farms. However, this difference was not statistically significant. Four Staphylococcus aureus strains, all belonging to commercial farms, proved positive when tested for enterotoxin production. The antimicrobial susceptibility of isolated Staphylococcus aureus strains was also investigated. Most of the antibiotics tested were very effective: the highest level of susceptibility was observed with enrofloxacin (100%). The low performance of Tunisian traditional rabbit rearing has been linked to the high mortality rate, which may possibly be due to the increased presence of pathogens at the rabbit flock level. However, this was not confirmed by the results of our study due to the fact that the bacterial contamination seems to be comparable in both the traditional and the commercial breeding systems.Belli, P.; Fontana, E.; Sommariva, M.; Scarpelli, L.; Ricci, C.; Luzi, F.; Haddad, B. (2008). The Tunisian traditional rabbit breeding system versus the commercial system: an epidemiological perspective. World Rabbit Science. 16(4). doi:10.4995/wrs.2008.617SWORD16

La difesa dai terremoti in Lombardia: stato dell’arte e prospettive

L’INGV (http://www.mi.ingv.it/) svolge in Lombardia ricerche nel campo della mitigazione del rischio sismico, mediante studi mirati al miglioramento delle conoscenze sulla storia sismica, sul modello strutturale legato al regime tettonico in atto e alla definizione del moto del suolo atteso. Accanto alle indagini necessarie alla caratterizzazione sismogenetica e dei possibili effetti dello scuotimento sismico, si pone l’attività di monitoraggio sismico, che la Sezione di Milano-Pavia espleta mediante la rete accelerometrica (RAIS, http://rais.mi.ingv.it/) che consta di 20 postazioni distribuite in prevalenza sul territorio regionale. In un recente lavoro di sintesi - di studi pluriennali su fonti storiche e di revisioni critiche di materiali pubblicati - si è tentato di colmare l’evidente carenza conoscitiva sulle caratteristiche della sismicità storica dell’area lombarda. Tale carenza è particolarmente evidente se si rapportano le informazioni oggi disponibili sui terremoti del passato in quest’area con quelle relative al settore veneto-friulano. La regione analizzata, compresa tra il bacino del fiume Adda e il Lago di Garda, è stata caratterizzata da alcuni terremoti con Mw>5.5 (es., 1117, Veronese; 1222, Brescia; 1901, Salò) e vari eventi con Mw compresa fra 4.8 e 5.5 (es., 1065, Brescia; 1396, Monza; 1642, Bergamo). Per molti degli eventi sismici fino al 1700 le informazioni sono desumibili soltanto da scarse fonti storiche. La determinazione epicentrale e l’attribuzione della magnitudo per tali eventi sono da considerarsi, pertanto, con una certa cautela al fine di definire le caratteristiche sismiche del territorio. I terremoti del 1117 e del 1222, in tale contesto, rappresentano un’eccezione rispetto ai dati generalmente disponibili. E tuttavia vari problemi tuttora aperti rendono assai difficile l’utilizzo della distribuzione del danno attribuibile a questi eventi nella prospettiva di un’affidabile parametrizzazione. Le indagini geologico-strutturali e di geologia del Quaternario, finalizzate a definire un quadro strutturale compatibile con il regime tettonico in atto, sono necessarie per giustificare la storia sismica e, in sostanza, per definire il comportamento sismogenetico della regione. Le geometrie dei sistemi di faglia attivi alpini sono ora sufficientemente noti. Le conoscenze permettono di formulare ipotesi sismotettoniche relative all’origine dei terremoti dell’area gardesana e del Bresciano. In via di definizione sono invece le geometrie dei fronti appenninici, cui sono attribuibili i terremoti al di sopra della soglia nel settore padano. Le ricerche attuali sono altresì indirizzate ad una migliore caratterizzazione del complesso settore compreso tra la parte meridionale del Lago di Garda (area di Sirmione), Verona e Mantova, all’interno del quale potrebbe collocarsi l’area epicentrale del terremoto del 1117 (o una delle aree epicentrali, qualora si considerasse questo evento come rappresentato da una sequenza sismica). Uno dei settori regionali con maggiore frequenza di eventi sismici è l’area gardesana occidentale, per questo motivo la rete di monitoraggio presenta una notevole densità di postazioni nel Bresciano e se ne è pianificato l’addensamento nel Veronese. Nel corso del 2007, la rete ha consentito la registrazione di 516 forme d’onda relative a 28 eventi locali e regionali (di cui una decina localizzati nell’area citata) con magnitudo da 1.3 a 4.2, di cui sono stati calcolati i parametri di interesse ingegneristico. L’analisi delle registrazioni ha permesso di ricavare informazioni utili per il calcolo di scenari di scuotimento. Un esempio di taali applicazioni è rappresentato dallo scenario realizzato utilizzando come terremoto di riferimento l'evento del 24 Novembre 2004 (M 5.2)