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and are microsporidia which play an important role in the epidemiology of honeybee microsporidiosis worldwide. Nosemiasis reduces honeybee population size and causes significant losses in honey production. To the best of our knowledge, limited information is available about the prevalence of nosemiasis in Italy. In this research, we determined the occurrence of infection in Central Italy. Thirty-eight seemingly healthy apiaries (2 to 4 hives each) were randomly selected and screened from April to September 2014 ( = 11) or from May to September 2015 ( = 27). The apiaries were located in six areas of Central Italy, including Lucca ( = 11), Massa Carrara ( = 9), Pisa ( = 9), Leghorn ( = 7), Florence ( = 1), and Prato ( = 1) provinces. Light microscopy was carried out according to current OIE recommendations to screen the presence of microsporidiosis in adult worker honeybees. Since the morphological characteristics of and spores are similar and can hardly be distinguished by optical microscopy, all samples were also screened by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) assay based on 16S rRNAgenetargeted species-specific primers to differentiate from Furthermore, PCR-positive samples were also sequenced to confirm the species of amplified DNA. Notably, spores were detected in samples from 24 out of 38 (63.2%, 95% CI: 47.8-78.5%) apiaries. Positivity rates in single provinces were 10/11, 8/9, 3/9, 1/7, or 1/1 ( = 2). A full agreement (Cohen's Kappa = 1) was assessed between microscopy and M-PCR. Based on M-PCR and DNA sequencing results, only was found. Overall, our results highlighted that infection occurs frequently in the cohort of honeybee populations that was examined despite the lack of clinical signs. These findings suggest that colony disease outbreaks might result from environmental factors that lead to higher susceptibility of honeybees to this microsporidian.

Antibiotics have been used for decades in poultry diets to increase performance and decrease morbidity and mortality. The growing concern over the spreading of antibiotic-resistant bacteria among animals and humans has resulted in the ban of the feed use of antibiotic growth promoters in livestock and in some cases additives derived from plants are used as alternative. Four commercial essential oils, from litsea (Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers.), oregano (Origanum vulgare L. subsp. hirtum), marjoram (Origanum majorana L.), thymus (Thymus vulgaris L.) and their mixtures, were tested against pathogenic bacteria and yeasts that may be shed in faeces by poultry. In particular, the analysis were carried out against reference and wild bacterial strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Yersinia enterocolitica, Listeria monocytogenes, Enterococcus durans, E. faecalis, and E. faecium, and wild isolates of Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. guilliermondii, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Essential oils had varying degrees of growth inhibition in relationship to the tested bacterial and yeast strains; however the best results were achieved by O. vulgare and T. vulgaris. All mixtures gave good results with reference and field bacterial strains, with MIC values ranging from 1.13 to 0.14 mg/ml. The mixture composed by O. vulgare, T. vulgaris and O. majorana appeared the most effective against the tested yeast isolates, with MIC 1.85 mg/ml. O. vulgare and T. vulgaris showed good antimicrobial activities, thus they seem useful not only to promote poultry growth, but also to control fastidious microorganisms commonly occurring in digestive tract of these animals.

Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is the most commonly diagnosed neoplasm in the urinary bladder. Distant metastases to the regional lymph nodes, lungs, abdominal organs or bones are noted in up to 50% of dogs at time of death. Surgical excision is often not practical as TCC typically involve the trigone of the bladder and/or occurs multifocally throughout the bladder with field cancerization. Therapeutic approaches are very challenging and the requirement to evaluate alternative therapeutic protocols that may prolong survival times in dogs bearing these tumours is compelling. We assessed the immunohistochemical expression of HER-2 in 23 cases of canine TCCs of the urinary bladder and compare it with non-neoplastic urothelium in order to evaluate a rationale for targeted therapies and gene-based vaccines. HER-2 positivity was recorded in 13/23 (56%) neoplastic lesions. The receptor was significantly overexpressed in neoplastic than in non-neoplastic samples (P = .015). According to our preliminary results, it would be of interest to further evaluate the role of HER-2 in canine TCCs as a marker of malignancy and a therapeutic target for cancer vaccine and antibodies. Moreover, the significantly different overexpression of HER-2 in TCCs than in non-neoplastic urothelium further supports to investigate its role in the progression toward malignancy of non-neoplastic lesions.

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