Interactions between nutrition and gastrointestinal infections with parasitic nematodes in goats

Parasitic nematodes of the digestive tract remain one of the main constraints to goat production both in temperate and tropical countries. The usual mode of control of these gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) based on the repeated use of anthelmintics is now strongly questioned because of the increasing development of resistance to these molecules. Among the alternative methods to anthelmintics currently available, the manipulation of host nutrition in order to improve the host resistance and/or resilience to parasitic infections seems to represent one of the most promising options to reduce the dependence on conventional chemotherapy and to favour the sustainable control of gastro intestinal nematode infections. This paper will review the available information on the interactions between nutrition and nematode parasitism in dairy or meat goats both in temperate and tropical conditions. It will refer to quantitative aspects of the diet (influence of the protein and/or energy parts) as well as to qualitative components (effects of plant secondary metabolites on worm biology) and will discuss the specificities of goats in regard of theses interactions

Localization Capability of Cooperative Anti-Intruder Radar Systems

System aspects of an anti-intruder multistatic radar based on impulse radio ultrawideband (UWB) technology are addressed. The investigated system is composed of one transmitting node and at least three receiving nodes, positioned in the surveillance area with the aim of detecting and locating a human intruder (target) that moves inside the area. Such systems, referred to also as UWB radar sensor networks, must satisfy severe power constraints worldwide imposed by, for example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and by the European Commission (EC) power spectral density masks. A single transmitter-receiver pair (bistatic radar) is considered at first. Given the available transmitted power and the capability of the receiving node to resolve the UWB pulses in the time domain, the surveillance area regions where the target is detectable, and those where it is not, are obtained. Moreover, the range estimation error for the transmitter-receiver pair is discussed. By employing this analysis, a multistatic system is then considered, composed of one transmitter and three or four cooperating receivers. For this multistatic system, the impact of the nodes location on area coverage, necessary transmitted power and localization uncertainty is studied, assuming a circular surveillance area. It is highlighted how area coverage and transmitted power, on one side, and localization uncertainty, on the other side, require opposite criteria of nodes placement. Consequently, the need for a system compromising between these factors is shown. Finally, a simple and effective criterion for placing the transmitter and the receivers is drawn

Microwave Devices for Wearable Sensors and IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm is currently highly demanded in multiple scenarios and in particular plays an important role in solving medical-related challenges. RF and microwave technologies, coupled with wireless energy transfer, are interesting candidates because of their inherent contactless spectrometric capabilities and for the wireless transmission of sensing data. This article reviews some recent achievements in the field of wearable sensors, highlighting the benefits that these solutions introduce in operative contexts, such as indoor localization and microwave sensing. Wireless power transfer is an essential requirement to be fulfilled to allow these sensors to be not only wearable but also compact and lightweight while avoiding bulky batteries. Flexible materials and 3D printing polymers, as well as daily garments, are widely exploited within the presented solutions, allowing comfort and wearability without renouncing the robustness and reliability of the built-in wearable sensor

A canine gait analysis protocol for back movement assessment in german shepherd dogs

Objective-To design and test a motion analysis protocol for the gait analysis of adult German Shepherd (GS) dogs with a focus in the analyses of their back movements. Animals-Eight clinically healthy adult large-sized GS dogs (age, 4 ± 1.3 years; weight, 38.8 ± 4.2 kg). Procedures-A six-camera stereo-photogrammetric system and two force platforms were used for data acquisition. Experimental acquisition sessions consisted of static and gait trials. During gait trials, each dog walked along a 6 m long walkway at self-selected speed and a total of six gait cycles were recorded. Results-Grand mean and standard deviation of ground reaction forces of fore and hind limbs are reported. Spatial-temporal parameters averaged over gait cycles and subjects, their mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variance are analyzed. Joint kinematics for the hip, stifle and tarsal joints and their average range of motion (ROM) values, and their 95% Confidence Interval (CI) values of kinematics curves are reported. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-This study provides normative data of healthy GS dogs to form a preliminary basis in the analysis of the spatial-temporal parameters, kinematics and kinetics during quadrupedal stance posture and gait. Also, a new back movement protocol enabling a multi-segment back model is provided. Results show that the proposed gait analysis protocol may become a useful and objective tool for the evaluation of canine treatment with special focus on the back movement

Ripening effect on the concentration of polyfunctional thiol precursors in 'Gew\ufcrztraminer

The effect of ripeness on the concentration of polyfunctional thiol precursors was investigated in 'Gew\ufcrztraminer' juices in two vintages characterised by very different climate conditions. An incremental trend of glutathionyl-3-mercaptohexan-1-ol and cysteinyl-3-mercaptohexan-1-ol during ripening was observed. The increase in the last phase of maturation was noticeable in both vintages. The concentration of 4-S-glutathionyl-4-methylpentan-2-one and 4-S-cysteinyl-4-methylpentan-2-one was confirmed to be low in 'Gew\ufcrztraminer', although the latter was found at quantifiable levels in a couple of samples. The management of the harvest date appears to be highly important in order to exploit the potential grapefruit-like note related to polyfunctional thiols of little aromatic 'Gew\ufcrztraminer' wines, particularly in case of challenging vintage years

Scoring pleurisy in slaughtered pigs using convolutional neural networks

Diseases of the respiratory system are known to negatively impact the profitability of the pig industry, worldwide. Considering the relatively short lifespan of pigs, lesions can be still evident at slaughter, where they can be usefully recorded and scored. Therefore, the slaughterhouse represents a key check-point to assess the health status of pigs, providing unique and valuable feedback to the farm, as well as an important source of data for epidemiological studies. Although relevant, scoring lesions in slaughtered pigs represents a very time-consuming and costly activity, thus making difficult their systematic recording. The present study has been carried out to train a convolutional neural network-based system to automatically score pleurisy in slaughtered pigs. The automation of such a process would be extremely helpful to enable a systematic examination of all slaughtered livestock. Overall, our data indicate that the proposed system is well able to differentiate half carcasses affected with pleurisy from healthy ones, with an overall accuracy of 85.5%. The system was better able to recognize severely affected half carcasses as compared with those showing less severe lesions. The training of convolutional neural networks to identify and score pneumonia, on the one hand, and the achievement of trials in large capacity slaughterhouses, on the other, represent the natural pursuance of the present study. As a result, convolutional neural network-based technologies could provide a fast and cheap tool to systematically record lesions in slaughtered pigs, thus supplying an enormous amount of useful data to all stakeholders in the pig industry

Following the best of us to help them: Group member prototypicality and collective action

While considering the role of group-level factors as predictors of collective action, research has overlooked the role of group prototypes in determining willingness to engage in collective action. To begin to investigate this area, we conducted two correlational studies (Ns = 141 and 98) in high schools examining the association between prototypical ingroup members’ desire to engage in collective action and participants’ collective action on behalf of a disadvantaged group (immigrants). Results showed a positive association between these two variables. We also investigated boundaries of this effect, finding that the association emerged when participants lacked personal experiences with the disadvantaged group (cross-group friendships; Study 1) or identified more with their ingroup, an effect also found when including a behavioral measure of collective action (Study 2). Intentions to follow the prototypical ingroup member emerged as the mediator (Study 2). It is worth noting that our methodology allowed us to assess prototypicality in a naturalistic context by calculating a metacontrast ratio for each group member, in line with self-categorization theory’s conceptualization of prototypicality. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications, with reference to the role of prototypicality as a means of social influence and to developing social norms in the context of collective action