Welfare issues of donkey (Equus asinus): a checklist based on the five freedoms

Studies on the welfare of donkey (Equus asinus) have developed slowly, because considered very rustic animals, reared prevalently under extensive production systems and widespread mainly in marginal areas. The diffusion of extensive breeding of this species has led to the belief that donkey did not need any welfare assessment. More recently, the scenario has changed, due to a gradual diffusion of intensive and semi-intensive production systems, especially in highly productive dairy breeds, to the growing concern of consumers about the life conditions of farmed animals, and to the issuing of a number of national and European rules / laws on the safety of animal products and well-being of farmed livestock. Relating with the importance of this species on food farming industry, the Author underlines the missing of specific recommendations concerning the welfare of farmed donkey. In absence of common criteria and guidelines, it is possible to make reference to the well-known “five freedoms”. This paper will review the main welfare issues of donkeys and the following aspects will be considered: nutrition, housing and management, clinical problems, behaviour problems.     

Native and Biotechnologically Engineered Plant Proteases with Industrial Applications

Proteases occupy the most relevant position among industrial enzymes. Plant proteases have been used in medicine, detergent manufacturing, and food science for many years, but their production is diminishing in favor of those of microbial origin because lower production costs. Papain, bromelain, and ficin are the most frequently employed plant proteases, although new proteases with new and more appealing physicochemical properties for industry are still emerging. DNA technology and genetic engineering shall play, without a doubt, an important role for the production of these proteases at the industrial level. The present review focuses on the applications of traditional plant proteases as well as new proteases discovered during the last 20 years, some of which have already been genetically engineered either to increase production or to strengthen some of their physicochemical properties. The review also refers to the protease classification, action pattern, and main characteristics.     

Comparison of the Determination of Eight Cholesterol Oxides in Dry�CCured Shoulder by GC�CFID, GC�CMS, and GC Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The analysis of eight cholesterol oxidation products: 7α–hydroxycholesterol, 7β–hydroxycholesterol, α–epoxycholesterol, β–epoxycholesterol, 20α–hydroxycholesterol, cholestanetriol, 25–hydroxycholesterol, and 7–ketocholesterol in dry–cured shoulder was carried out. The extraction of lipids was performed by using the Bligh and Dyer method (1959). Interferences were removed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) in two steps with silica and aminipropylsilica SPE columns. The separation of the eight cholesterol oxidation products was done by gas chromatography, and the detection was performed by flame ionization detection (FID) and mass spectrometry (MS). The results obtained from the use of both systems of detection were compared. The results showed that gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was the most suitable technique to obtain reliable quantitative data, and significant differences (p < 0.05) between FID and MS determining 7α–hydroxycholesterol, 20α–hydroxycholesterol, and 25–hydroxycholesterol were observed. For the determination of cholesterol oxidation products, it was necessary to apply gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to increase the sensitivity and to avoid interference from other compounds.     

Zur numerischen Pumpversuchsauswertung in Mehrschichtgrundwasserleitern

The analysis of well tests conducted in complex geological units is often not well suited with classical analytical approaches. Numerical simulators are usually needed to account for unconventional test conditions in order to analyze data which do not fit within analytical theory. In the current work, a numerical method for simulating pumping tests is adopted, which was developed about 30 years ago in the UK. The method is expanded within the present work to allow for a consistent analysis of pumping tests, vertical interference tests, pressure pulse tests, drillstem tests, and slug tests. Two-layer formations and their dual permeability equivalents can be treated by the implemented model including nonlinear well entrance losses. The application of the model is demonstrated for a pumping test conducted in the Oligocene base formation at the Teltow-Plateau south of Berlin. The test aimed at investigating potential leakages between this poor water quality base formation and overlying high water quality aquifers envisioned for future drinking water exploitation.     

Blind decentralized projection receiver for asynchronous CDMA in multipath channels

An asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) system employing periodic spreading sequences is considered to be operating in a frequency selective channel. The cyclostationary spread signal is received at multiple sensors and/or is sampled multiple times per chip (oversampling), leading to a stationary vector-valued received signal. Hence, such a model represents a very particular multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system with plentiful side information in terms of distinct spreading waveforms for the input signals. Depending upon the finite impulse response (FIR) length of the propagation channel, and the processing gain, the channel of a certain user spans a certain number of symbol periods, thus inducing memory or intersymbol interference (ISI) in the received signal in addition to the multiple-access interference (MAI) contributed by concurrent users. The desired user’s multipath channel estimate is obtained by means of a new blind technique which exploits the spreading sequence of the user and the second-order statistics of the received signal. The blind minimum mean square error-zero forcing (MMSE-ZF) receiver or projection receiver is subsequently obtained. This receiver represents the proper generalization of the anchored MOE receiver [1] to the asynchronous case with delay spread. Classification of linear receivers obtained by various criteria is provided and the MMSE-ZF receiver is shown to be obtainable in a decentralized fashion by proper implementation of the unbiased minimum output energy (MOE) receiver, leading to the minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) receiver for the signal of the desired user. This MVDR receiver is then adapted blindly by applying Capon’s principle. A channel impulse response is obtained as a by-product. Lower bounds on the receiver filter length are derived, giving a measure of the ISI and MAI tolerable by the receiver and ensuring its identifiability.