Salmonella serovar distribution and risk factors associated with persistence of shedding in finishing pigs

The objectives of this study were to describe the Salmonella serovar distribution and to identify risk factors associated with serovar persistence in finisher pigs. A longitudinal study was conducted in 18 cohorts of pigs. Fecal culture and serotyping were conducted using standard methods

Novel Insights for Systemic Inflammation in Sepsis and Hemorrhage

The inflammatory responses in sepsis and hemorrhage remain a major cause of death. Clinically, it is generally accepted that shock in sepsis or hemorrhage differs in its mechanisms. However, the recognition of inflammatory cytokines as a common lethal pathway has become consent. Proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or high-mobility group box1 (HMGB1) are fanatically released and cause lethal multiorgan dysfunction. Inhibition of these cytokines can prevent the inflammatory responses and organ damage. In seeking potential anti-inflammatory strategies, we reported that ethyl pyruvate and alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7nAChR) agonists effectively restrained cytokine production to provide therapeutic benefits in both experimental sepsis and hemorrhage. Here, we review the inflammatory responses and the anti-inflammatory strategies in experimental models of sepsis and hemorrhage, as they may have a consistent inflammatory pathway in spite of their different pathophysiological processes

Can REDD+ reconcile local priorities and needs with global mitigation benefits? lessons from Angai Forest, Tanzania

The scope of the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) mechanism has broadened REDD+ to accommodate different country interests such as natural forests, protected areas, as well as forests under community-based management. In Tanzania the REDD+ mechanism is still under development and pilot projects are at an early stage. In this paper, we seek to understand how local priorities and needs could be met in REDD+ implementation and how these expectations match with global mitigation benefits. We examine the local priorities and needs in the use of land and forest resources in the Angai Villages Land Forest Reserve (AVLFR) in the Liwale District of Lindi Region in Tanzania. Primary data was collected in two villages, Mihumo and Lilombe, using semistructured key informant interviews and participatory rural appraisal methods. In addition, the key informant interviews were conducted with other village, district, and national level actors, as well as international donors. Findings show that in the two communities REDD+ is seen as something new and is generating new expectations among communities. However, the Angai villagers highlight three key priorities that have yet to be integrated into the design of REDD+: water scarcity, rural development, and food security. At the local level improved forest governance and sustainable management of forest resources have been identified as one way to achieve livelihood diversification. Although the national goals of REDD+ include poverty reduction, these goals are not necessarily conducive to the goals of these communities. There exist both structural and cultural limits to the ability of the Angai villages to implement these goals and to improve forestry governance. Given the vulnerability to current and future climate variability and change it will be important to consider how the AVLFR will be managed and for whose benefit

Fast Bayesian estimation of brain activation with cortical surface fMRI data using EM

Task functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a type of neuroimaging data used to identify areas of the brain that activate during specific tasks or stimuli. These data are conventionally modeled using a massive univariate approach across all data locations, which ignores spatial dependence at the cost of model power. We previously developed and validated a spatial Bayesian model leveraging dependencies along the cortical surface of the brain in order to improve accuracy and power. This model utilizes stochastic partial differential equation spatial priors with sparse precision matrices to allow for appropriate modeling of spatially-dependent activations seen in the neuroimaging literature, resulting in substantial increases in model power. Our original implementation relies on the computational efficiencies of the integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) to overcome the computational challenges of analyzing high-dimensional fMRI data while avoiding issues associated with variational Bayes implementations. However, this requires significant memory resources, extra software, and software licenses to run. In this article, we develop an exact Bayesian analysis method for the general linear model, employing an efficient expectation-maximization algorithm to find maximum a posteriori estimates of task-based regressors on cortical surface fMRI data. Through an extensive simulation study of cortical surface-based fMRI data, we compare our proposed method to the existing INLA implementation, as well as a conventional massive univariate approach employing ad-hoc spatial smoothing. We also apply the method to task fMRI data from the Human Connectome Project and show that our proposed implementation produces similar results to the validated INLA implementation. Both the INLA and EM-based implementations are available through our open-source BayesfMRI R package.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2203.0005

The use of quantitative Real-Time PCR to estimate Salmonella shed in fecal samples from naturally infected finishing pigs

The objective of this study was to describe the shedding pattern of Salmonella in finishing pigs, as well to quantify the Salmonella load. A longitudinal study was conducted in 12 cohorts of pigs in a multi-site farrow-to-finish production system. At the beginning of each cohort, 50 pigs (10 ± 2 weeks old) were randomly selected and individually identified. Individual pig fecal samples were collected and cultured every 2 weeks for 16 weeks (8 collections)

Autopoint Business Aids catalog 1966

The Autopoint company was founded around 1920 in Chicago. The founders pioneered using molded plastic to make mechanical pencils. In the mid1920s, the Bakelite Corporation took over ownership of Autopoint. Over the next 50 years Autopoint had several different corporate owners, but it continued to operate as a stand-alone company with its own officers, employees, manufacturing plant, sales force, etc. By 1966 Autopoint had developed an extensive product line of pencils, ball-point pens, desk top accessories, and specialty advertising products like cigarette lighters and pocket knives. They got much of their business as a job shop manufacturing personalized pencils, pens, and the like advertising businesses. One interesting illustration of that sort of use is a pencil listing business-card type information about Sol Sulman, the president of Autopoint. (p. 46) The inside cover of this catalog shows the logos of numerous companies Autopoint had done business with. The catalog contains tables showing pricing information for various quantities of pencils ordered. Substantial discounts were offered for thousands of pencils ordered at once. Since this is a loose-leaf catalog, pages could be easily added to it. One interesting addition is a page advertising pencils using ultra thin (“UTL”), 0.5mm, lead. These new pencils were obviously introduced in response to competition from Japanese companies selling the newly introduced 0.5mm lead. Elsewhere in the catalog, lead sizes are shown in fractions of an inch. “Standard” (0.45 inch) lead was the industry standard for mechanical pencils when Autopoint was founded. “Real Thin” (0.36mm) lead had been introduced in 1938. Also, Autopoint sold some marker type pencils with .076 inch (“Thick”) lead . The catalog has been modified by pasting in pricing information on the previously printed pages. Many of the pages were changed that way

Autopoint Business Aids catalog 1966

The Autopoint company was founded around 1920 in Chicago. The founders pioneered using molded plastic to make mechanical pencils. In the mid1920s, the Bakelite Corporation took over ownership of Autopoint. Over the next 50 years Autopoint had several different corporate owners, but it continued to operate as a stand-alone company with its own officers, employees, manufacturing plant, sales force, etc. By 1966 Autopoint had developed an extensive product line of pencils, ball-point pens, desk top accessories, and specialty advertising products like cigarette lighters and pocket knives. They got much of their business as a job shop manufacturing personalized pencils, pens, and the like advertising businesses. One interesting illustration of that sort of use is a pencil listing business-card type information about Sol Sulman, the president of Autopoint. (p. 46) The inside cover of this catalog shows the logos of numerous companies Autopoint had done business with. The catalog contains tables showing pricing information for various quantities of pencils ordered. Substantial discounts were offered for thousands of pencils ordered at once. Since this is a loose-leaf catalog, pages could be easily added to it. One interesting addition is a page advertising pencils using ultra thin (“UTL”), 0.5mm, lead. These new pencils were obviously introduced in response to competition from Japanese companies selling the newly introduced 0.5mm lead. Elsewhere in the catalog, lead sizes are shown in fractions of an inch. “Standard” (0.45 inch) lead was the industry standard for mechanical pencils when Autopoint was founded. “Real Thin” (0.36mm) lead had been introduced in 1938. Also, Autopoint sold some marker type pencils with .076 inch (“Thick”) lead . The catalog has been modified by pasting in pricing information on the previously printed pages. Many of the pages were changed that way

Rehabilitation Intervention for Individuals With Heart Failure and Fatigue to Reduce Fatigue Impact: A Feasibility Study

Objective: To investigate feasibility of recruitment, tablet use in intervention delivery, and use of self-report outcome measures and to analyze the effect of Energy Conservation plus Problem-Solving Therapy versus Health Education interventions for individuals with heart failure-associated fatigue. Methods: This feasibility study was a block-randomized controlled trial involving 23 adults, blinded to their group assignment, in a rural southern area in the United States. Individuals with heart failure and fatigue received the interventions for 6 weeks through videoconferencing or telephone. Participants were taught to solve their fatigue-related problems using energy conservation strategies and the process of Problem-Solving Therapy or educated about health-related topics. Results: The recruitment rate was 23%. All participants completed the study participation according to their group assignment, except for one participant in the Energy Conservation plus Problem-Solving Therapy group. Participants primarily used the tablet (n=21) rather than the phone (n=2). Self-report errors were noted on Activity Card Sort (n=23). Reported fatigue was significantly lower for both the Energy Conservation plus Problem-Solving Therapy (p=0.03, r=0.49) and Health Education (p=0.004, r=0.64) groups. The Health Education group reported significantly lower fatigue impact (p=0.019, r=0.48). Participation was significantly different in low-physical demand leisure activities (p=0.008; r=0.55) favoring the Energy Conservation plus Problem-Solving Therapy group. Conclusion: The recruitment and delivery of the interventions were feasible. Activity Card Sort may not be appropriate for this study population due to recall bias. The interventions warrant future research to reduce fatigue and decrease participation in sedentary activities (Clinical Trial Registration number: NCT03820674)