Possible routes of animal exposure to cadmium and cadmium compounds and induced effects: a review

A retrospective analysis about cadmium and cadmium compounds teratogenicity, toxicity and carcinogenicity was carried out on literature basis, up to date, reviewed according to animal species, routes of exposure, acute and chronic response to different dosages via gastrointestinal or inhalatory uptake, target organs and apparatus. Some recent updates from experimental trials were also comparatively considered

An integrated approach towards the nutritional assessment of the Sardinian donkey: a tool for clinical nutritionists

The aims of the current study were to establish: i) a species-specific approach for nutritional assessment during clinical checks on Sarda breed adult donkeys, and ii) a suitable equation for body weight prediction, which at present is lacking. A total of 18 adult donkeys were sampled and the following criteria were recorded: body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), muscular mass index (MMI), along with somatometric measures (height at withers; chest girth) and metabolic profiles of each individual. The species-specific nutritional assessment based on the integrated approach turned out to correlate significantly (P<0.05) with the body condition score and levels of Na, P and cholesterol in blood. The parametric equation for predicting the BW (y=0.353a+0.443b-7.62, where a= height at withers in cm; b= chest girth in cm) closely fit the determined BW, with a standard error of SE=±5 kg BW

The Nutritional Year-Cycle of Italian Honey Bees (Apis mellifera ligustica) in a Southern Temperate Climate

Nutrition is a key aspect influencing honey bee health and overwintering. Since honey bee seasonality in southern temperate climates represents a significant research gap, this study conducted long-term monitoring of honey bees in the Mediterranean (Sassari, Italy). Specifically, individual weight, fat body, and size measurements (head, thorax, abdomen, and total body) were recorded monthly so to detect changes in the nutrient storage of worker bees during an annual cycle. Data were analysed according to sampling date, climate (temperature, precipitation, and daylength), and flower diversity and were conducted for nurse and forager bees separately. The nutritional honey bee year-cycle generally followed the nectar flow and showed two critical timepoints: summer and winter dearth. A short cessation of activities in late fall/early winter coupled with an increase in nutrient storage indicated the presence of winter bees. Precipitation was found to play an important role in honey bee nutrition in the study area through its impacts on colony demography and plants in particular illustrating how climate change could pose a threat to European honey bee populations in the future. These results provide valuable insights into the nutritional dynamics of Apis mellifera ligustica in the Mediterranean that could support management decisions to improve overwintering success and prevent unnecessary colony losses

Signe et fonction des objets lithiques préhistoriques en Sardaigne

The presence of lithic tools in the funeral contexts is a recurrent fact related to the different compositions of the mortuary assemblages : they contain objects of daily use and objects of prestige and symbolic value. The lithic elements recovered in the burials of Ispiluncas (Sedilo, Sardinia), represent an occasion to discuss the sense and value of funeral deposits, connected to the ritual domain, composed of gestures and offers. These elements suggest the existence of complex rituals : they start by the moving of objects belonging to daily life to the funeral domain/sphere, losing their function of use, coming into the world of the defuncts through technical acts that can themselves become symbolic. An aspect of ritual seems to be suggested by the presence of picks, used for the excavation of the hypogeum, of used objects or showing deliberate fractures, which could suggest the wish to deprive the daily object of its primary function and to insert it in the parallel and, at the same time opposite, afterlife. The technological analysis of the knapped lithic industry and the reconstruction of reduction sequences attest the presence of many elements linked to the knapping phase : core preparation flakes, débitage products, tools and débris. These elements primarily show that a part of the débitage was made at the necropolis. This evidence open a discussion on the value of knapping operations as ritual gestures, although the state of the research, due to the bad quality of the available data, strongly limits its field. The main issue is to establish the real purpose of the débitage inside the grave : was it the realization of funeral objects or offerings ? Or was knapping part of the ritual ? From the economic point of view, the intimate bond with daily life is once more highlighted : although obsidian is preferentially chosen at Sedilo, local or easier to find stones are also used, testifying to different approaches to raw material exploitation and the same technology used in the dwelling sites.La présence d’outillage lithique dans les dépôts sépulcraux est un fait récurrent de la composition des mobiliers funéraires, qui contenaient des objets d’usage quotidien, mais aussi de prestige, dont la dimension symbolique est plus directement perceptible. Les éléments lithiques retrouvés dans les hypogées funéraires d’Ispiluncas (Sedilo, Sardaigne), offrent l’occasion de lancer un débat sur le sens et la valeur des dépôts funéraires, liés aux rituels, faits de gestes et d’offrandes. Ces éléments suggèrent le déroulement de rituels complexes : ils commencent par le déplacement dans le domaine funéraire des objets appartenant à la vie quotidienne qui, en perdant leur fonction d’usage, entrent dans le monde des morts au travers de gestes techniques qui deviennent symboliques. Un aspect du rituel paraît être suggéré par la présence de pics de creusement des hypogées, d’objets usagés et d’objets avec des cassures vraisemblablement intentionnelles, qui peuvent être vus comme relevant de la volonté de priver de sa fonction normale l’objet appartenant à l’univers quotidien pour l’insérer dans le monde parallèle, et en même temps opposé, de l’au-delà. L’analyse technologique de l’industrie lithique taillée de Sedilo et la reconstruction de la chaîne opératoire ont mis en évidence la présence de plusieurs éléments liés aux phases de débitage : éclat de préparation, produits du débitage, outils et débris.  Ces éléments montrent d’abord qu’une partie du débitage a été effectuée dans la nécropole. En outre une telle évidence ouvre la discussion sur la valeur des opérations de taille comme gestes du rituel, bien que l’état actuel de la recherche en limite fortement le discernement à cause de la mauvaise qualité des données disponibles. Il faut avant tout établir quel était le but réel du débitage dans la tombe : était-ce la réalisation d’objets du mobilier ou des offrandes, ou bien la fabrication d’outils servant à fabriquer de tels objets ou bien encore, le débitage lui-même était-il une partie du rituel ? Au point de vue économique on remarque là aussi un lien étroit avec la vie quotidienne : à côté du choix préférentiel de l’obsidienne sont utilisées à Sedilo des roches locales ou faciles à repérer, qui témoignent des différentes modalités de l’exploitation des matières premières telles qu’elles sont connues dans les habitats

Ulcerogenic risk assessment of diets for pigs in relation to gastric lesion prevalence

Background: Gastric ulcers in fattening pigs from intensive pork production can cause sudden deaths on farm and the grinding intensity of the diet appears to be among the risk factors. The objective of this work is to adopt the latest laboratory tests and thresholds for the ulcerogenic risk assessment of diets from experimental reports and verify the class of risk in relation to gastric lesion prevalence in reared finishers. Results: Specificity and accuracy of feed safety tests based on the ulcerogenic risk of feed associated with the particle size distribution of diets were calculated on the occurrence of gastric lesions observed at a slaughterhouse: 41 lard-type hogs, fed with two diets [pelleted (n = 21 pigs) vs. mixed meal (n = 20 pigs)], analyzed at the laboratory of our Institute, were involved. Gross inspection at the abattoir allowed the identification of the development of macroscopic gastric lesions in the pigs (13/21) fed with a pelleted complete diet, ranked in Class 1 (high ulcerogenic risk) on laboratory assessment. Breakdown of gastric lesion severity: hyperkeratosis (13/13), mucosal erosions (11/13) and bleeding ulcers (2/13). This occurrence was compared to the morphology of stomach mucosa from 20 finishers fed with a mixed meal diet, ranked in Class 3 (low ulcerogenic risk), in which no gastric lesions were observed. Very fine particle (VFP) mass (&lt;0.4 mm) according to cut off thresholds (&gt;36%) for the safety ranking of diets, showed: 100% positive predictive value (PPV); 100% specificity; 88.1% accuracy; 72.2% sensitivity. Conclusions: Three factors emerged: the elevated mass (42.6%) of &lt;0.4 mm particles in the pelleted complete diet confirmed the associated risk rank in Class 1 assessed by laboratory procedures, as gastric lesions were selectively observed in 61.9% of finishers fed with the high risk diet; in these animals, macroscopic gastric lesions occurred within four weeks and showed a sub-clinical course, independently of severity; proper sieving analysis is necessary to define the VFP proportion in feedstuffs with certainty, as an adequate measure to assess the ulcerogenic risk class of the diet

Effect of intraperitoneal electronic identification on productive performance of Sardinian suckling lambs

The electronic identification could represent a further step to improve the traceability of meat, considering that, starting from the 1st of January 2008, this method will be compulsory in the whole EU (Reg. CE n. 21/2004). The “Agnello di Sardegna” is a Protected Geographic Identification product (Provv. 13/03/2001) and it has to match up a series of requirements, such as the identification of animals in 20 days time from birth. In a previous work, Pinna et al. (2004) showed the results of a survey carried out for the development of the intraperitoneal identification systems in lambs. In the present work, the effects on the main productive in vivo and post mortem performance are taken into account

Help from the sky: Can vultures contribute to Cystic Echinococcosis control in endemic areas?

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is endemic in Sardinia and constitutes a serious public health concern due to high prevalence in livestock and humans. Despite sustained efforts, control of the disease had been unsuccessful in the region. Problematic carcass disposal due to soaring incineration costs and free access of dogs to infected carrion are dominant factors, fueling endemicity among other. As sole obligate scavenger, griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) are uniquely specialized to eliminate carcasses swiftly and efficiently, saving on unnecessary environmental and economic costs for carrion disposal. However, following drastic population declines across Europe, griffon vultures practically went extinct in Italy. A conservation expansion program in Sardinia successfully reinforced the last remaining Italian vulture population by mitigating the main threats to its survival; food shortage. Through the establishment of supplementary feeding stations, permanent supply of livestock cadavers was provided. In this research, the management and conservation implications on the controlled disposal of carcass disposal through vulture feeding stations on the control of CE in Sardinia were assessed. During the course of the project, vultures scavenged a total of 81,361 kg of biomass, saving €90,041 in incineration costs and € 1,054 in CO2 emission. Through extrapolation of these results, a total of 5,304 kg of suspected CE infected sheep carcasses (65.3%) was calculated to have been disposed by griffons, considerably reducing the CE risk and burden in Sardinia. A quantification of the amount of biomass that could be eliminated by griffon in a succeeding conservation project was also made. These calculations implied that 162,722 kg of biomass, including 10,608 kg of infected biomass from sheep, would be consumed over a period of 5 years, further lowering the CE burden in Sardinia. Our results, driven under one health approach, emphasize the crucial and direct role of griffons in breaking the lifecycle of CE as well as their indirect role in rendering multiple ecosystem and economic services through the elimination of carcasses. Please view a video Abstract here: https://youtu.be/Tm820nPq5KE

integrating the rfid identification system for charolaise breeding bulls with 3d imaging for virtual archive creation

The individual electronic identification (EID) of cattle based on RFID technology (134.2 kHz ISO standard 11784) will definitely enter into force in European countries as an official means of animal identification from July 2019. Integrating EID with 3D digital images of the animal would lead to the creation of a virtual archive of breeding animals for the evaluation and promotion of morphology associated with economic traits, strategic in beef cattle production. The genetically-encoded morphology of bulls and cows together with the expression in the phenotype were the main drivers of omic technologies of beef cattle production. The evaluation of bulls raised for reproduction is mainly based on the conformation and heritability of traits, which culminates in muscle mass and optimized carcass traits in the offspring destined to be slaughtered. A bottom-up approach by way of SWOT analysis of the current morphological and functional evaluation process for bulls revealed a technological gap. The innovation of the process through the use of smart technologies was tested in the field. The conventional 2D scoring system based on visual inspection by breed experts was carried out on a 3D model of the live animal, which was found to be a faithful reproduction of live animal morphology, thanks to the non significant variance (p > 0.05) of means of the somatic measures determined on the virtual 3D model and on the real bull. The four main groups composing the scoring system of bull morphology can easily be carried out on the 3D model. These are as follows: (1) Muscular condition; (2) Skeletal development; (3) Functional traits; (4) Breed traits. The 3D-Bull model derived from the Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithm displays a high tech profile for the evaluation of animal morphology in an upgraded system

Short communication: Cocoa husks can effectively replace soybean hulls in dairy sheep diets-Effects on milk production traits and hematological parameters.

The aim of this study was to test the effect of replacing soybean hulls with different doses of cocoa husk (CH) on milk production traits and the hematological profile of dairy ewes. Twenty-four mid-lactating Sarda dairy ewes were allotted to 3 homogeneous experimental groups (8 animals per group divided into 4 pens). Each group received a total mixed ration as a basal diet and a supplement that differed among groups. The first group was supplemented with 100 g of soybean hulls/d per head (SBH group). In the second group, soybean hulls were replaced with 50 g of CH/d (CH50 group). In the third group, soybean hulls were replaced with 100 g of CH/d per head (CH100 group). The study lasted 8 wk, with 3 wk of adaptation and 5 wk for the experimental period. The replacement of soybean hulls with 50 and 100 g of CH/d did not affect dry matter intake, milk production, and milk coagulation properties. Milk fat, protein, casein, and somatic cell count concentration and curd-firming time showed a significant interaction between treatment and sampling date. During the experiment, the somatic cell counts were lower in both the CH50 and CH100 groups than in the SBH group. Most of the hematological parameters were not affected by treatments except for basophiles, which were significantly higher in the SBH group than in the CH50 and CH100 groups. In conclusion, CH can be substituted for soybean hulls in the diet of dairy sheep without adverse effects on milk production or apparent negative effects on animal health conditions

Genetic diversity and transmission patterns of Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto among domestic ungulates of Sardinia, Italy

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), a parasitic zoonosis of public health and economic concern, is highly endemic in Sardinia, Italy. The study involved examining the intraspecific variability and demographic structure of Echinococcus granulosussensu stricto (s.s.) in common hosts of this parasite. Molecular surveillance included the fragment amplification of a partial mitochondrial gene, cox1 (750 bp), for a total of 69 isolates derived from sheep (n = 52), cattle (n = 11), pigs (n = 4), and goats (n = 2). It was ascertained that E. granulosus s.s. was the primary agent of infection among these ungulates and G1 genotype was highly prevalent (79.71%). Considerable intraspecific variation was found, revealing the existence of 22 haplotypes with relatively high haplotype (0.8555 ± 0.033) and low nucleotide diversities (0.00281 ± 0.00030). Population demographics indicated an expanding parasitic population signifying negative deviation from neutrality indices. Little genetic differentiation was found between the subpopulations of E. granulosus s.s. in the island. Moreover, the geographic dispersal of genotypes G1 and G3 also indicated similarity between Sardinian and mainland Echinococcus granulosus s.s. populations reaffirming the sympatric occurrence and efficient transmission of G1 and G3 genotypes. Molecular survey of CE has the potential to yield baseline information on the infective genotypes among the intermediate hosts and helps in devising suitable control strategies for curtailing the disease