The Safety and Efficacy of New DIVA Inactivated Vaccines Against Lumpy Skin Disease in Calves.

Lumpy skin disease virus ( family- genus) is the aetiological agent of LSD, a disease primarily transmitted by hematophagous biting, affecting principally cattle. Currently, only live attenuated vaccines are commercially available, but their use is limited to endemic areas. There is a need for safer vaccines, especially in LSD-free countries.

Autonomous Obstacle Crossing Strategies for the Hybrid Wheeled-Legged Robot Centauro.

The development of autonomous legged/wheeled robots with the ability to navigate and execute tasks in unstructured environments is a well-known research challenge. In this work we introduce a methodology that permits a hybrid legged/wheeled platform to realize terrain traversing functionalities that are adaptable, extendable and can be autonomously selected and regulated based on the geometry of the perceived ground and associated obstacles. The proposed methodology makes use of a set of terrain traversing primitive behaviors that are used to perform driving, stepping on, down and over and can be adapted, based on the ground and obstacle geometry and dimensions.

Alternative methods to reduce the animal use in quality controls of inactivated BTV8 Bluetongue vaccines.

The acceptance of serology data instead of challenge for market release of new batches of commercial vaccine is under evaluation by regulatory agencies in order to reduce the use of animals and costs for manufacturers. In this study two vaccines for Bluetongue virus serotype 8 were submitted to quality controls required by the European Pharmacopoeia and tested on sheep in comparison with a commercial inactivated vaccine. Body temperature, antibody titres and viraemia of vaccinated and controls sheep were recorded.

Evaluation of veterinary autogenous vaccines safety by an MTT in-vitro cytotoxicity assay.

In Italy, veterinary autogenous vaccines manufacturing is regulated by the legislative decree of the Ministry of Health, March 17th, 1994, n. 287. The production is performed by the network of the 'Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali' (IZSs), public health institutes scattered all over the Italian territory.