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The objective of the present work was to categorize the risks in the on-farm welfare of dairy sheep in semi-extensive systems in order to highlight if risks in welfare vary according to the farm size. To the best of our knowledge, this study constitutes one of the few categorizations of the risks in the welfare of dairy sheep reared semi-extensively. The survey was conducted on 12 semi-extensive dairy sheep farms in Tuscany (Central Italy), which were classified according to flock size: <500, from 500 to 1000, and >1000. The results showed an adequate rating for all the farms included in the study. The most critical issues concerned the ratio between the number of stockpersons and the number of animals within the farms, the small decubitus areas, the lack of udder cleaning procedures during milking operations, and, in terms of biosecurity, the lack of prevention, control, and eradication plans for the most important infectious ovine diseases. The results show that different items in the five areas evaluated, including the assessments of management of the flock, the number of daily inspections, and the hygiene of the water supplies are associated with the farm size. In large farms, the assessment of management of the flock was better, but the number of daily inspections and the hygiene of the water supplies were worse.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the upper airway dimensions in adult non-orthodontic patients, equally divided according to their skeletal class., Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, lateral cephalometric radiographs of adult patients referred for orthodontic consultation were collected. Cephalometric tracing was performed with dedicated software. For each measure, descriptive statistics were calculated. Cephalometric measurements between the different skeletal classes were compared. Linear regressions were performed between upper airway diameters and cephalometric measurements, sex and age. Significance was predetermined for p < 0.05., Results: Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 120 patients were reviewed. Nasopharynx length (NL) and depth (PD) measurements were significantly shorter in skeletal class III patients ( p < 0.05). The superior pharyngeal airway space (SPAS) was found to be significantly shorter in class III patients as compared to class II patients ( p < 0.05), and the mean airway space (MAS) of class I patients was found to be significantly shorter compared to class II patients ( p < 0.05). Palate length (PL) values were found to be significantly longer in class I ( p < 0.05). Linear regressions showed that the sella-nasion-A point angle (SNA) and Riedel's angle between point A, the nasion and point B (ANB) significantly influenced NL and PD ( p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Class III patients show significantly shorter nasopharynx measurements; clinicians should consider that this sagittal discrepancy could be related to an altered anatomy of the upper respiratory tract.

There has recently been some concern on possible cognitive impairment in patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). The aim of this study was to assess cognitive profiles in type II and III SMA with a focus on individual indexes and possible correlations with motor function. 57 type II and III individuals, aged 3.5-17 years, were consecutively enrolled in a prospective, multicentric study. Cognitive function was assessed using age-appropriate Weschler Scales. Motor function was concomitantly assessed using disease-specific functional scales. Only 2 individuals (3%) had a intellectual disability of mild degree while the others were within normal range, with no significant difference in relation to SMA type, gender or functional status. While the overall quotients were mostly within normal range, some indexes showed wider variability. A significant positive medium correlation was found between Processing Speed Index and motor functional scores. Working memory had lower scores in type III patients compared to type II. Intellectual disability is uncommon in type II and III SMA. Motor functional abilities may play a role in some of the items contributing to the overall cognitive profile., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Coratti G reports personal fees from GENESIS PHARMA, Biologix, BIOGEN S.R.L., ROCHE, AVEXIS and NOVARTIS outside the submitted work; Pera MC, Pane M, report personal fees from BIOGEN S.R.L., ROCHE, AVEXIS and NOVARTIS outside the submitted work; Sansone V reports personal fees from BIOGEN S.R.L., ROCHE, AVEXIS, Dyne, Avidity, LUPIN and NOVARTIS outside the submitted work (i.e. participation of advisory board and provides intellectual and teaching activities); R Battini reports personal fees from PTC Therapeutics AADC aware outside the submitted work. Mercuri E is part of advisory board for BIOGEN S.R.L., ROCHE, AVEXIS and NOVARTIS, Scholar ROCK, EPIRIUM, CYTOKINETICS and NMD PHARMA. All remaining authors have nothing to disclose. Funders had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Cartilage injury defects in animals and humans result in the development of osteoarthritis and the progression of joint deterioration. Cell isolation from equine hyaline cartilage and evaluation of their ability to repair equine joint cartilage injuries establish a new experimental protocol for an alternative approach to osteochondral lesions treatment. Chondrocytes (CCs), isolated from the autologous cartilage of the trachea, grown in the laboratory, and subsequently arthroscopically implanted into the lesion site, were used to regenerate a chondral lesion of the carpal joint of a horse. Biopsies of the treated cartilage taken after 8 and 13 months of implantation for histological and immunohistochemical evaluation of the tissue demonstrate that the tissue was still immature 8 months after implantation, while at 13 months it was organized almost similarly to the original hyaline cartilage. Finally, a tissue perfectly comparable to native articular cartilage was detected 24 months after implantation. Histological investigations demonstrate the progressive maturation of the hyaline cartilage at the site of the lesion. The hyaline type of tracheal cartilage, used as a source of CCs, allows for the repair of joint cartilage injuries through the neosynthesis of hyaline cartilage that presents characteristics identical to the articular cartilage of the original tissue.

In 2018, the Italian Ministry of Health introduced the ClassyFarm system in order to categorize the level of risk related to animal welfare. The ClassyFarm checklist for beef cattle is divided into four areas: Areas A "Farm management and personnel"; B "Structures and equipment"; C "Animal-based measures"; and "Emergency plan and alert system". Answers contribute to the final Animal Welfare Score (AWS) and to the score of each area. The aim of this work was to assess the animal welfare level on 10 Tuscan beef cattle farms through the ClassyFarm checklist and to examine the relationship between the level of animal welfare on final weight (FW), carcass weight (CW), weight gain (WG), and average daily gain (ADG). The AWS was divided into four classes, and the scores for each area were divided into three classes. The analysis of variance was applied, and AWS class, sex, and breeding techniques (open and closed cycle) were included in the model. The AWS class and sex had a highly significant influence on all parameters, while the breeding technique did not significantly influence any parameter. Farms classified as excellent presented a higher FW (677.9 kg) than those classified as good and insufficient, and the same trend was found for the ADG. The classes obtained in Areas A and C had a highly significant influence on all the parameters investigated. The classes obtained in Area B significantly influenced FW and WG. In conclusion, the productive response of the animals seemed to benefit from the welfare conditions.

Objective: Social cognition and executive deficits are frequent in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Yet, there is a paucity of standardized domain-specific psychometric tools for the assessment of complex decision-making, social cognition (i.e., Theory of Mind), and empathy. To this aim, this study intended at providing normative data in an Italian population sample for the Iowa Gambling Task, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index., Method: The Iowa Gambling Task, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index were administered to 462 healthy Italian participants aged between 18 and 91 years, considering demographic factors. A confirmatory factor analysis was run to test for unidimensionality. Normative values were derived by means of the Equivalent Scores method., Results: Education predicted all tests' scores, age influenced scores at the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, gender predicted empathic abilities only. The three tests did not underpin a unidimensional structure., Conclusions: The present work provides demographically adjusted Italian normative data for a set of tests assessing real-life decision-making, emotion recognition and empathy, filling a gap within II-level, domain-specific, neuropsychological testing. For the first time, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index is proposed as an adjuvant neuropsychological tool, while the standardization of the Iowa Gambling Task offers a new scoring system for advantageous/disadvantageous choices., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of hidden environmental pollution on some blood parameters of sheep to detect susceptible biomarkers able to reveal slight contamination. Four dairy sheep farms, two with semi-extensive and two with intensive type systems were involved in this study. Two farms in different systems were chosen as properly located in a southern area of Latium (Italy), close to the Sacco River, in which contamination with β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) occurred in the past due to industrial waste. A recent study established the presence of low but detectable residual contamination in these areas. The other two farms were outside the contaminated area. Erythrocyte glutathione transferase (e-GST) and oxidative stress parameters were monitored as well as some immune response and metabolic profile parameters throughout the investigated period of four months. The present study showed a relevant and significant increase in e-GST (+63%) in the extensive farming system of the contaminated area, whereas some immune response biomarkers, i.e., white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and lysozyme resulted within the physiological range. In all farms, oxidative stress and acute phase response parameters were also within the physiological range. Our results suggest that e-GST is a very effective alarm signal to reveal "hidden" persistent contamination by β-HCH, and reasonably, by many other different dangerous pollutants.