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In recent years the interest in animal emotions is improved. The central point is whether and in what circumstances the animals suffer for example, after strong experiences or persistent negative emotions. If animals have fear and pain experiences and if their frustration experience is the result of being unable to perform their natural behavior patterns, then this has legal and ethical importance and in turn may have major economic consequences (1). Some humans claim to be able to read emotional facial expressions in dogs, whereas others are skeptical of such a human ability. Recently, it was investigated if dog facial expressions can be identified accurately in photographs of a dog face (2). Humans were able to accurately, but not perfectly, identify at least one dog facial expression, anchored in behavioral situations that were expected to produce specific emotions. The basic question remains if this ability results from a common mammalian lineage or has been enhanced by our long shared history (3). The aim of our trial was to evaluate how teachers and students of Veterinary Medicine in Italy feel the human-animal bond about animal reference, cognition and emotion. Therefore, we organized a questionnaire according to the analytical framework based on zooanthropological predicate references: subjectivity, diversity and uniqueness; part of the work is also based on the theme of the emotions of animals and on their importance in the processes of interaction with the human. The questionnaire were administered to 935 units of the Veterinary Medicine Faculty of Italy. The data obtained express interpretable results at multiple levels, interconnected among them: experimental, educational and communicative. Experimentally it shows an awareness of the active role of the animal in structure of the report, but the data are connected to the direct experience and the species of animal than the understanding of cognitive processes related to their subjectivity: cognition is recognized as basis of animal behavior only 11.6% of the sample. Very interesting is the comparison of data between favorite animal / what is an animal / cognition, which highlights the correlation between the concept of active relationship and mental processes. Another significant result is expressed by the recognition of the socialization activities as more important for the well-being animal, respect to the health care. The results indicate a trend to anthropomorphism, especially to the animal companions, linked to the lack of adequate tools for interaction, especially at communicational and ethological level. Anyway, all categories of participants consider the emotions that animals feel a focal point for their behavior and for relationship with the humans. (1) Dawkins, M. S. Animal Minds and Animal Emotions. Amer. Zool., 40:883-888 (2000); (2) Bloom T, Friedman H Classifying dogs’ (Canis familiaris) facial expressions from photographs Behavioural Processes. 96 (2013) 1-10; (3) Paxton, D.W., 2011. Why It’s OK to Talk to Your Dog: Co-evolution of People and Dogs. Watson Ferguson & Company, Salisbury, Brisbane, Australia.

The majority of animal feeding trials using GM feeds indicated no clinical effects while as concerns histopathological abnormalities in organs or tissues of exposed animals, the results are conflicting. Several data indicate liver and kidney problems as end points of GM diet effects. In rabbit fed GM soybean, it was hypothesised that cell metabolism of sev- eral enzymes was altered as well as elevated levels of LDH were revealed in tissues and organs of kids when mothers are fed GM soybean. The objective of this study was to investigate the fate of transgenic DNA and the activity of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) in blood, liver and kidney from kids fed only milk of their mother fed conventional (control) or genetically modified soybean meal solvent extract (treated). PCR analysis revealed that fragments of mul- ticopy chloroplast (trnL) and single soybean-specific (lectin) gene were found in samples of both groups. Fragments of transgenic gene were found only in treated kids: detection of 35S promoter was significant in liver, kidney and blood, and detection of CP4 epsps gene fragment was significant in liver and kidney. Concerning GGT, no differences were found in serum, while its activity was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in kidney (63.4 ± 7.8 vs 81.2 ± 11.3 u/g of tissue) and liver (40.1 ± 5.2 vs 62.6 ± 9.8 u/g of tissue) of kids from treated goats. The increase in GGT activity was confirmed by histochemistry.

In plasma a real "antioxidant barrier” is identifiable, and to constitute it both inside (eg. carotenoids, ascorbate, vitamin E, etc.) and outside (eg. GSH, protein, bilirubin, uric acid, etc.) substances contribute. Each of these components blocks the potential damaging action of free radicals, whose reactivity is precisely linked to the particular "shortage" of these small particles negative. Any "insult" against this barrier allows free radicals to attack and damage cell structures, setting the stage for lesions typical of oxidative stress and all its dangerous consequences (premature aging, disease, etc.) [1]. The aim of the present study was to measure two components of the plasma oxidative barrier to evaluate the animal welfare status: the Biological Antioxidant Potential (BAP) and the anti oxidant power (OXY). The BAP is used as an index to determine the biological antioxidant capacity and is measured on the basis of the capacity of the plasma sample to reduce ferric ions to ferrous ions. The OXY-adsorbent test measures the ability of a plasma or serum sample to oppose a massive oxidative insult induced by a solution of hypochlorous acid. The present study was performed on wild boars (Sus scrofa) bred in the wild of two areas (C1and D1) of a 820 hectares wood belonging to Campania Region, included in the “Cilento e Vallo di Diano” National Park. The wood is made up of Quercus cerris and Castano sativa, mixed mesoxerofil conifer. Blood samples, from the jugular vein, were collected from 15 and 18 wild boars of the C1 and D1 areas respectively, during the routine sanitary control. On the serum, BAP test and OXY-adsorbent test were evaluated (DIACRON, Grosseto, Italy). The results are shown in Table 1. The data show no significative difference between wild boars of C1 and D1 area, both in BAP test and OXY-adsorbent test. These preliminary values are valid for the definition of the normal range in healthy and, therefore, used as parameters to evaluate the stress oxidative status and then animal welfare [2].

Animal welfare can be assessed by measurements of relevant stress markers. The adrenal cortex response does occur in diverse difficult situations and is useful in welfare assessment, in particular the production of cortisol acts in providing extra energy for forthcoming activity. Furthermore, a high level of ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species), due to an increased production of oxidant species and/or a decreased efficacy of antioxidant system, can lead to oxidative stress, an emerging health risk factor involved in the aging and in a lot of diseases. The reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) are used as an index to determine the level of oxidative stress (oxidant capacity) by measuring the amount of organic hydroperoxide (ROOH) converted into radicals that oxidize N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine [1, 2]. The present study was performed on wild boars (Sus scrofa) bred in the wild of two areas (C1and D1) of a 820 hectares wood belonging to Campania Region, included in the “Cilento e Vallo di Diano” National Park. The wood is made up of Quercus cerris and Castano sativa, mixed mesoxerofil conifer. Blood samples, from the jugular vein, were collected from 15 and 18 wild boars of the C1 and D1 areas respectively, during the routine sanitary control. On the serum, cortisol and ROMs (DIACRON, Grosseto, Italy) were evaluated. The results are shown in Table 1. Cortisol was higher in D1 than in C1 area, but there was not any significative difference; ROMs in D1 were significantly higher than C1 area, with P

INTRODUZIONE - La didattica applicata alla zooantropologia prevede un’attuazione in campo educativo e pedagogico dei principi zooantropologici; essa si prefigge un duplice obiettivo: di ridurre il gap relazionale tra animali e giovani generazioni e di recuperare i contenuti e le valenze della relazione, al fine dell’utilizzo pedagogico ed educativo. Nasce un nuovo modello educativo che pone al centro delle strutture pedagogiche l’animale, non più come oggetto da sfruttare, ma come soggetto che aiuti il bambino nella sua crescita educativa (1,2). In quest’ottica generale, la Fattoria Zooantropologica sembra essere un buon sistema in grado di permettere la “fruizione” da parte di bambini e\o soggetti con disabilità di questo modello relazionale e di consentire, altresì, attività e terapie assistite con gli animali (3,4). La Fattoria Zooantropologica offre l’opportunità di attivare la relazione reciproca in un ambiente nuovo, attraente e confortevole tra il fruitore e l’animale che giova di un habitat naturale e familiare. L’esperienza diretta permette ai bambini di usare tutti i loro sensi per imparare: più i bambini vedono, toccano, odorano, sentono, gustano, più imparano (5,6). Partendo da questi presupposti, lo studio si è posto l’obiettivo di effettuare una valutazione del gradimento delle differenti specie animali, attraverso l’analisi degli indici di interazione dei bambini rispetto agli animali presenti in fattoria, al fine di fornire delle linee guida nella scelta del pet in relazione ad una amplificazione delle risposte cognitive ed emozionali del bambino.