Sara Ferrari

Yearly emission factors of ammonia and particulate matter from three laying-hen housing systems

The aim of the present study was to measure the concentration of ammonia and particulate matter (PM) that passes through a size‐selective inlet with a 50% cut‐off at 10-μm aerodynamic-equivalent diameter (PM10) and emissions into atmosphere in the following three types of laying-hen houses: traditional battery cages with aerated open-manure storage (BSP) and two best available technique (BAT) housing types, namely, an aviary-system housing (ASH) and a vertical tiered cage with manure belts and forced-air drying (VTC). Measurements were taken continuously for a period of 1 year in each house. Ammonia concentration was measured continuously in each house using an infrared photoacoustic detector with a 15-min sampling interval. PM10 was measured continuously using a scatter light photometer, corrected by the traditional gravimetric-technique concentration to lower the measurement error. The same instrument was also used to collect PM10 through a traditional gravimetric technique. This procedure was performed to adjust the particulate matter-specific gravity of PM that is typical and specific for every animal house. PM10 and ammonia measurements were carried out together with measurements of inside and outside temperature, inside and outside relative humidity and ventilation rate. For the high PM10 concentrations measured in the ASH house during a preliminary survey, concentrations of total suspended particles (TSP) and fine PM (particles <2.5 microns) were also measured to evaluate the dustiness in the building during the working hours. The ammonia concentration was 5.37 mg/m3 in the traditional BSP house (the reference for cage-housing system), 4.95 mg/m3 in the VTC and 3.85 mg/m3 in the ASH. The ammonia-emission factors were 15.445 mg/h.hen place (0.135 kg/year.hen place) for BSP, 8.258 mg/h.hen place (0.072 kg/year.hen place) for VTC, and 23.704 mg/h.hen place (0.208 kg/year.hen place) for ASH. Ammonia emission-reduction efficiency of VTC v. the BSP was 53%, according to thresholds assessed by Integrated Prevention Pollution Control. The ammonia-reduction efficiency of ASH v. that of the standard Reference Housing system for non-cage housing was 68%. Average yearly PM10 concentration was remarkably higher in the ASH, with 0.215 mg/m3 v. 0.108 mg/m3 for the VTC and 0.094 mg/m3 for BSP. In the ASH, the concentration of total suspended particles (TSP) was 0.444 mg/m3 and that of PM2.5 was 0.032 mg/m3. In this facility, a great variation of PM10 concentration occurred in the morning hours. Recorded values for the PM10 emission were 0.433 mg/h.hen for BSP and 0.081 mg/h.hen for VTC, while the ASH showed the highest PM10 emission (1.230 mg/h.hen), with clear peaks occurring in the morning hours during daily farming operations.

Cough sound description in relation to respiratory diseases in dairy calves.

Cough can be a biomarker in case of respiratory diseases. By monitoring and analyzing cough sounds through automatic devices, the farmer can obtain an early warning about a developing outbreak of respiratory infections. Cough sounds can be characterized by particular acoustic features (amplitude, frequency and duration) that are obtained by sound recording, labeling and analytic procedures. Based on these features, it might be possible to develop an automated cough recognition system. The aim of the study described in this paper is to investigate whether it is possible to discriminate cough sounds from other frequently occurring sounds in youngstock stables. Nasal swabs and blood were taken to identify the microbiological agents responsible for the respiratory problems. The collected cough sounds were compared to metal rack sounds, which are very common sounds in cattle farming, to identify acoustic differences between them. Results show that the length of cough sounds was significantly different from metal rack sounds (0.34 versus 0.37 s, P<0.05). Also, the analysis of amplitude and fundamental frequency showed significant differences between both types of sounds (resp. 0.21 and 0.18; 1326 and 3868 HZ). This indicates that it is possible discriminate cough sounds from other sounds and that cough sound can be used as a non-invasively diagnostic tool for respiratory diseases in youngstock groups.

Time-series analysis for online recognition and localization of sick pig (Sus scrofa) cough sounds

This paper considers the online localization of sick animals in pig houses. It presents an automated online recognition and localization procedure for sick pig cough sounds. The instantaneous energy of the signal is initially used to detect and extract individual sounds from a continuous recording and their duration is used as a preclassifier. Autoregression (AR) analysis is then employed to calculate an estimate of the sound signal, and the parameters of the estimated signal are subsequently evaluated to identify the sick cough sounds. It is shown that the distribution of just three AR parameters provides an adequate classifier for sick pig coughs. A localization technique based on the time difference of arrival is evaluated on field data and is shown that it is of acceptable accuracy for this particular application. The algorithm is applied on continuous recordings from a pig house to evaluate its effectiveness. The correct identification ratio ranged from 73% (27% false positive identifications) to 93% (7% false positive identifications) depending on the position of the microphone that was used for the recording. Although the false negative identifications are about 50% it is shown that this accuracy can be enough for the purpose of this tool. Finally, it is suggested that the presented application can be used to online monitor the welfare in a pig house, and provide early diagnosis of a cough hazard and faster treatment of sick animals.

Analysis of Cough Sounds for Diagnosis of Respiratory Infections in Intensive Pig Farming

Respiratory diseases are widespread causes of mortality and loss of productivity in intensive pig farming. Cough is one of the symptoms and a central element in screening and diagnosis of common illnesses caused, for example, by Pasteurella multocida or Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (App). The aim of this research is to compare the acoustic features of cough sounds originating from the mentioned infections and non-infectious cough sounds provoked by inhalation of citric acid by means of labeling and sound analysis. The acoustic parameters investigated are peak frequency and duration of the cough signals. The differences resulting from the sound analysis confirm the variability in acoustical parameters according to health status or disease in the animals. In infections, there is a change in the status of the respiratory system; consequently, infectious coughs are different from non-infectious coughs. The duration of single infectious coughs is considerably different among the types of cough analyzed, which are: non-infectious coughs, App coughs, and P. multocida coughs. Frequency analysis of single coughs allows a more general classification between non-infectious and infectious coughs. Acoustics parameters can be used in an algorithm-based alarm system to automatically identify cough sounds and provide farmers an early warning about the health status of their herds.

A tool for labeling individual sounds from continuous recordings: An application to bio-acoustics

Bio-acoustics is a common tool for studying health, welfare and behavior of living organisms. Current practice consists of manually extracting and labelling individual sounds out of continuous recordings. This paper presents an application tool for speeding up bio-acoustical analysis. In particular, a semi-automatic tool has been developed that enables the extraction of individual sounds from continuous recordings. Although the approach can be applied to any kind of recordings, in the present study, the focus is on extracting individual pig sounds from recordings within a pig stable. More specifically, the sound extraction is based on the amplitude of the sound signal. The energy envelope of the signal is automatically extracted using the Hilbert transform on the discrete time signals. Subsequently, the individual sounds are presented to the user for manual labelling. The front-end provides the user with tools to adjust the length of the individual sounds since it is understood that in various cases a longer or shorter part of the signal may have been identified as an individual sound. The user also has an overview of the complete recording, the number of identified sounds, and the spread of the sounds within the continuous recording. Finally, the user is allowed to label using a predefined gamut of sounds or adding a sound category that has not been foreseen, making it a flexible tool. The labeling tool also allows the integration of an automatic sound classifier in the future and can be used for both training and/or validating algorithms under development. At a later stage the tool can be connected either online or offline to a web-based database that can allow for a collection of labeled sounds to be created.

Claudia De Martino I mizrahim in Israele. La storia degli ebrei dei Paesi islamici (1948-77)

Claudia De Martino, I mizrahim in Israele. La storia degli ebrei dei Paesi islamici (1948-77) (Roma, Carocci Editore, 2015, 214 pp., ISBN: 978-8843078592) di Sara Ferrari

Alessandra Terenzi Viaggio in Levante. Armature urbane, popoli e paesaggi

Alessandra Terenzi Viaggio in Levante. Armature urbane, popoli e paesaggi (Boves, Araba Fenice, 2016, 420 pp., ISBN: 978-8866173335) di Sara Ferrari

Acoustic Analysis of Some Characteristics of Red Deer Roaring

Different strategies have been adopted to track and monitor red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations according to different habitats and ecosystems. The population census techniques usually carried out are time consuming and involve lot of manpower. A method that relies on individual animal signs like acoustic indices could be useful to support the wildlife management, since vocalisations can encode and transmit a variety of biologically significant information. The present study considered 460 roars recorded from 14 adult deers, from five to eight years old. Recordings were performed in five different locations of northern-central Italy. The acoustic spectrum of each roar was analysed in order to extract its main features, namely: the fundamental frequency (F0), the peak frequency (PF), the sound length (SL) and 24 frequency bins of 174.3 Hz, representing the sound distribution between 50 and 4233.2 Hz (F1 to F24). Statistical analyses showed that individuality and age of animals were significant on F0 (P<0.001), PF (P<0.001) and SL (P<0.001). Results also showed a correlation among the 24 F-variables of roars emitted by deer of similar age (r>0.90; P<0.001), indicating that age could influence the spectral features of roaring. The roaring frequency variables appear to be indicators of the individuality of male deer, even if the strong influence of age on the emitted sounds could compromise the reliability of the method over long periods of time.

Marina Caffiero, Storia degli ebrei nell’Italia moderna

Marina Caffiero, Storia degli ebrei nell’Italia moderna (Roma, Carocci editore, 2014, 256 pp. ISBN 978-88-430-7412-9)

Una partita in cui non ci sono vincitori: Gmar gaviʻa di Eran Riklis

Che lo sport non rappresenti esclusivamente un semplice hobby, un divertissement tramite il quale corroborare il corpo e distrarre la mente e cosa ben nota sin dai tempi piu remoti. Pur configurandosi come una pratica che riguarda e coinvolge innanzitutto l’individuo e la sua complessita psicofisica, esso possiede parimenti un significato il quale trascende l’ordinarieta di questi esigui confini. Lo sport, infatti, scrive, ad esempio, Nitsch, non e soltanto un’attivita “privata”, bensi un esercizio rivolto anche e soprattutto agli altri, ossia “uno spettacolo” (cf. Nitsch 1992: 278), con tutte le implicazioni che ne derivano. Lo sport e intrattenimento e comunicazione, divide e, al tempo stesso, unisce ed esalta, capace di esercitare sull’immaginario collettivo un potere catalizzatore paragonabile solo a pochi altri fenomeni culturali. Afferma Crosson: “sport has developed over the twentieth century and into the twenty-first to become one of the most important and influential of contemporary cultural practices” (Crosson 2013: 1), come si puo ben notare...