Publications by authors named "Ruocco L"

Article Synopsis
  • * The virus re-emerged in 2007, leading to outbreaks in various regions including Italy, where the first case was documented in a wild boar in January 2022, eventually spreading to pig farms by mid-2023.
  • * The report highlights the response to ASF outbreaks in Lombardy, focusing on epidemiological investigations and measures taken to minimize economic impacts on the pig industry, in compliance with national and European regulations.
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Objectives: To design a novel artificial intelligence-based software platform that allows users to analyze text data by identifying various coherent topics and parts of the data related to a specific research theme-of-interest (TOI).

Materials And Methods: Our platform uses state-of-the-art unsupervised natural language processing methods, building on top of a large language model, to analyze social media text data. At the center of the platform's functionality is BERTopic, which clusters social media posts, forming collections of words representing distinct topics.

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African swine fever is a devastating contagious viral disease of kept and wild porcine animals that will challenge the Veterinary Services involved in its eradication. Nowadays, ASF represents one of the biggest challenges for the pig sector at a global level. Following a number of simulated virus random introductions, the paper estimates the average number of farms (including their type) and animals that will be under restriction, and finally the average distance of infected farms from the nearest rendering plant.

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This study described a SARS-CoV-2 infection in minks on an Italian farm. Surveillance was performed based on clinical examination and a collection of 1879 swabs and 74 sera from dead and live animals. The farm was placed under surveillance for 4.

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Background: African Swine Fever (ASF) is a challenge for pig health worldwide. The disease has spread to multiple countries on five continents. ASF-free countries need to apply effective strategies to prevent the introduction of infection.

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Background And Aims: Unfractionated-heparin (UFH) is the first-choice parenteral anticoagulant during invasive percutaneous procedures and its effect is monitored by the activated coagulation time (ACT). The effects of the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) on the ACT and on ACT prolongation by UFH were not clearly established. We assessed the ACT prolongation induced by different UFH concentrations in blood samples of patients taking the four types of currently marketed NOACs and in patients not taking anticoagulants.

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Article Synopsis
  • Brucella canis was first identified in Italy at a commercial breeding kennel after investigating reproductive issues, with initial detection in aborted Chihuahua foetuses and later in blood samples of dogs.
  • Serological tests showed a significant number of dogs tested positive for the bacteria, revealing a possible infection within the kennel environment, although the source of the outbreak remains unknown.
  • Genomic analysis indicated limited variation among the strains, suggesting a single introduction of the bacteria; however, comparisons with global genomes highlighted a significant difference in related strains, complicating the search for the outbreak's origin.
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Article Synopsis
  • The EFSA and ECDC report highlights that the main cause of human salmonellosis in Europe is contaminated poultry products, and certain Salmonella serovars are monitored in breeding hens.
  • A study from 2016 to 2018 in Italy explored the distribution of these serovars in humans and poultry, finding that some previously prioritized serovars, like S. Virchow and S. Hadar, are no longer a major concern.
  • Instead, S. Napoli and S. Derby, which are not EU targets, emerged as frequent isolates in humans, with S. Napoli posing a particular public health risk due to its severe illness potential and links to poultry flocks.
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The cattle industry is a major driving force for the Italian agricultural sector totalling about 5. 6 million heads for dairy and meat production together. It is particularly developed in the northern part of the country, where 70% of the whole Italian cattle population is reared.

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Swine vesicular disease (SVD) is a contagious viral disease of pigs clinically indistinguishable from other vesicular diseases, such as foot and mouth disease, vesicular stomatitis, vesicular exanthema of swine, and idiopathic vesicular disease. In Italy, where SVD was first reported in 1966, an eradication program started in 1995. The program, updated in 2008, was based on regionalization, complete control on pig movements, improvement of pig farms biosecurity, appropriate cleansing and disinfection procedures of vehicles approved for pig transportation, and a testing program using both serological and virological assays.

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Article Synopsis
  • The 27 EU member states are set to fully implement European Law 429/2016 in 2021, standardizing animal health regulations across all member states.
  • This law incorporates modern scientific principles and long-term epidemiological data to update regulations affecting various animal diseases.
  • A total of 58 diseases have been categorized, with five major viral epizooties recognized for their critical importance, and different action categories have been established to manage these diseases based on their risk levels.
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Introduction: Few data are available on the safety of anticoagulation in very elderly patients treated with Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) and direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Methods: We carried out a prospective cohort study on VTE patients aged ≥85 years enrolled in the Survey on anticoagulaTed pAtients RegisTer (START2-Register) on treatment with VKAs or DOACs, with the aim to evaluate mortality, bleeding and thrombotic rates (venous and arterial).

Results: We enrolled 272 patients, 58.

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Paratuberculosis, a chronic disease affecting ruminant livestock, is caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). It has direct and indirect economic costs, impacts animal welfare and arouses public health concerns.

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Unlabelled: Few reports have been published on the correlation between plasma concentrations of rivaroxaban and clinical outcome in patients who have experienced venous thromboembolism. This article describes the case of a 44-year-old woman who experienced deep vein thrombosis during anticoagulation therapy with rivaroxaban, with evidence of repeated low plasma levels of the drug. We postulate that the determination of plasma rivaroxaban anti-Xa activity can be useful in the evaluation of anticoagulation therapy in selected cases.

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Introduction: Haemolysis is the leading cause of sample rejection in laboratory haemostasis. Most studies focused on artificially haemolysed samples. The aim of this study was a prospective assessment of spontaneous haemolysis on haemostasis tests, by comparing results of haemolysed (H) new, non-haemolysed (NH) specimens, collected within 4hrs.

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Background: Patients with a mechanical prosthetic heart valve implantation need to be treated with a vitamin K antagonist (VKA) due to a substantially high risk of thromboembolism. In this study we report data on patients with mechanical heart valves (MV), with the aim of evaluating the thromboembolic risk in relation to the type and site of implantation, quality of anticoagulation and risk factors associated with thromboembolism.

Methods: Observational retrospective multicenter study among Centers affiliated to the Italian Federation of Anticoagulation Clinics (FCSA) on patients with MV implanted after 1990 and followed for the management of anticoagulation.

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Due to a hyperfunctioning mesocorticolimbic system, Naples-High-Excitability (NHE) rats have been proposed to model for the meso-cortical variant of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Compared to Naples Random-Bred (NRB) controls, NHE rats show hyperactivity, impaired non-selective attention (Aspide et al., 1998), and impaired selective spatial attention (Ruocco et al.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The NRCL analyzed serological data from 43,935 animal specimens collected between 2010-2011, using the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) to identify positive cases, resulting in 6,279 positive titers.
  • * The study found that bovine, swine, and small ruminants (ovine and goat) were the most frequently tested animals, with serogroups like Australis, Sejroe, and Icterohaemorrhagiae
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The Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene is involved in vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders. Naples high-excitability (NHE) rat model neuropsychiatric problems characterized by an unbalanced mesocortical dopamine system. Here, we assessed behavioral and neurochemical effects of immunization against multimeric rat DISC1 protein in adult NHE rats, an animal model of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and their Random-Bred (NRB) controls.

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Intranasal application of dopamine (IN-DA) has been shown to increase motor activity and to release DA in the ventral (VS) and dorsal striatum (DS) of rats. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of IN-DA treatment on parameters of DA and excitatory amino acid (EAA) function in prepuberal rats of the Naples high-excitability (NHE) line, an animal model for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and normal random bred (NRB) controls. NHE and NRB rats were daily administered IN-DA (0.

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The cross-talk at the prefronto-striatal interface involves excitatory amino acids, different receptors, transducers and modulators. We investigated long-term effects of a prepuberal, subchronic 5-HT7-R agonist (LP-211) on adult behaviour, amino acids and synaptic markers in a model for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Naples High Excitability rats (NHE) and their Random Bred controls (NRB) were daily treated with LP-211 in the 5th and 6th postnatal week.

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The serotonin receptor 7 (5-HT7-R) plays important functional roles in learning and memory, in regulation of mood and circadian rhythmicity. LP-211 is a new selective agonist, belonging to 1-arylpiperazine category. We report studies aimed to evaluate the modulatory effect of a subchronic regimen on behavioral/molecular parameters.

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