Mortality in organic free-range chickens and molecular characterization of the involved pathogens

Longitudinal investigations on causes of mortality were carried out at one organic layer farm with four flocks of Lohman Brown and Lohman White chickens producing table eggs. All flocks were housed separately. One flock of each breed were followed from September 2001 to August 2002. Post mortem examinations were performed on a total of 16% of the dead chickens over the entire period. Of these 346 (96%) of the Lohmann Brown and 315 (91%) of the Lohmann White chickens were subjected for bacteriology. High mortality rates, 91% and 63% were observed in Lohman Brown and Lohman White chickens, respectively and were found to be due to infections with mainly Pasteurella multocida, Erysipelothix rhusiopathia and Escherichia coli. E. rhusiopathia, P. multocida and E. coli were isolated from 46%, 19% and 17%, respectively of the Lohmann Brown chickens. In the flock of Lohmann White chickens P. multocida and E. coli were isolated from 46% and 15%, respectively while E. rhusiopathia was not recorded. P. multocida and E. rhusiopathia isolates were characterized by Restriction Endonuclease Analysis (REA), Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) and Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE). It was demonstrated that all the P. multocida isolates were genotypic identical over time. The E. rhusiopathia isolates obtained were also identical. It was concluded that the outbreaks caused by P. multocida and E. rhusiopathia were clonal and these two pathogens may cause severe losses in free-range chickens

Comparison of family centered care with family integrated care and mobile technology (mFICare) on preterm infant and family outcomes: a multi-site quasi-experimental clinical trial protocol.

BackgroundFamily Centered Care (FCC) has been widely adopted as the framework for caring for infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) but it is not uniformly defined or practiced, making it difficult to determine impact. Previous studies have shown that implementing the Family Integrated Care (FICare) intervention program for preterm infants in the NICU setting leads to significant improvements in infant and family outcomes. Further research is warranted to determine feasibility, acceptability and differential impact of FICare in the US context. The addition of a mobile application (app) may be effective in providing supplemental support for parent participation in the FICare program and provide detailed data on program component uptake and outcomes.MethodsThis exploratory multi-site quasi-experimental study will compare usual FCC with mobile enhanced FICare (mFICare) on growth and clinical outcomes of preterm infants born at or before 33 weeks gestational age, as well as the stress, competence and self-efficacy of their parents. The feasibility and acceptability of using mobile technology to gather data about parent involvement in the care of preterm infants receiving FCC or mFICare as well as of the mFICare intervention will be evaluated (Aim 1). The effect sizes for infant growth (primary outcome) and for secondary infant and parent outcomes at NICU discharge and three months after discharge will be estimated (Aim 2).DiscussionThis study will provide new data about the implementation of FICare in the US context within various hospital settings and identify important barriers, facilitators and key processes that may contribute to the effectiveness of FICare. It will also offer insights to clinicians on the feasibility of a new mobile application to support parent-focused research and promote integration of parents into the NICU care team in US hospital settings.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, ID NCT03418870. Retrospectively registered on December 18, 2017

Detection of vvIBDV in Vaccinated SPF Chickens

The purpose of our experiment was to investigate, if apparently healthy, vaccinated chickens may be involved in maintaining and spreading infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) in poultry environments. We aimed at simultaneous detection and identification of very virulent field strain IBDV (vvIBDV) as well as vaccine strain IBDV in experimentally infected chickens. Two groups of specific pathogen free (SPF) chickens were vaccinated using the intermediate infectious bursal disease (IBD) vaccine D78. Group 1 was vaccinated at the age of one week and group 2 at the age of three weeks. Both groups were challenged with vvIBDV at the age of four weeks. A third, vaccinated, non-challenged group served as negative control. No clinical symptoms were observed in any of these groups. The chickens were euthanised and submitted to autopsy and sample preparation in groups of three at fixed intervals from the age of 28 to 44 days. Gross pathological lesions were not observed. Lymphoid tissues from the bursa of Fabricius, bone marrow, spleen and thymus in addition to cloacal- and bursal swaps were analysed by one-step reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Positive results were confirmed by two-step strain specific duplex (DPX) RT-PCR. The vaccine strain was detected in bursa tissues from all groups, while the challenge strain was detected in few bursal as well as non-bursal tissue samples. The results indicate a possibility of replication of vvIBDV in vaccinated chickens

Influence of molecular symmetry on strong-field ionization: Studies on ethylene, benzene, fluorobenzene, and chlorofluorobenzene

Using the molecular strong-field approximation we consider the effects of molecular symmetry on the ionization of molecules by a strong, linearly polarized laser pulse. Electron angular distributions and total ionization yields are calculated as a function of the relative orientation between the molecule and the laser polarization. Our studies focus on ethylene (C$_2$H$_4$), benzene (C$_6$H$_6$), fluorobenzene (C$_6$H$_5$F), and ortho chlorofluorobenzene (1,2 C$_6$H$_4$ClF), the molecules representing four different point groups. The results are compared with experiments, when available, and with the molecular tunneling theory appropriately extended to non-linear polyatomic molecules. Our investigations show that the orientational dependence of ionization yields is primarily determined by the nodal surface structure of the molecular orbitals.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to Physical Review

Sygdomme og velfærd

Siden anden verdenskrig er der sket store ændringer i fjerkræproduktionen. Indførslen af nye produktionssystemer, robuste og højtydende dyr, forbedret management og indførslen af biosecurity har medført en stor produktionsfremgang med lav mortalitet. I de senere år har forbrugerønsker medført at udvikling af udendørs produktionssystemer, hvor de klassiske fjerkræsygdomme nu er på fremmarch med en forhøjet mortalitet til følge. Forfatterne diskuterer, om de udendørs produktionssystemer reelt har betydet en forbedret velfærd for hønerne

QUINOLONE- AND ETA-LACTAM- RESISTANCE IN Escherichia coli FROM DANISH AND ITALIAN BROILER FLOCKS

The prevalence of quinolone- and -lactam-resistant E. coli was investigated among healthy broiler flocks in Denmark and Italy. In Denmark, sock samples were collected from 10 parent flocks and 10 offspring flocks, according to the procedure currently used for the surveillance of Salmonella in the EU. Samples were enriched in McConkey broth and streaked on McConkey agar plates added with nalidixic acid (32 g/ml), ciprofloxacin (2 g/ml), ampicillin (32 g/ml), cefotaxime (2 g/ml) or ceftiofur (8 g/ml). The -glucuronidase test was performed for verification of presumptive E. coli. The same methods were used to analyse sock samples collected from 6 Italian broiler flocks. PCR with primers for the CTX-M-type extended-spectrum -lactamases (ESBLs) was performed on cephalosporin-resistant isolates. While resistance to ampicillin and nalidixic acid was widespread in both countries, resistance to ciprofloxacin and cephalosporins was more common among Italian flocks. In Denmark, ciprofloxacin resistance was only detected in 1 parent flock without any history of quinolone usage and none of the flocks was positive for cephalosporin-resistant E. coli. In Italy, resistance to ciprofloxacin was detected in all flocks and resistance to ceftiofur and cefotaxime were detected in 5 flocks. Primers specific for the CTX-M-type ESBLs generated PCR amplicons from isolates from 3 of these flocks. In industrialized countries, the poultry production system is highly standardized, and therefore comparable. However, the use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials is particularly limited in Danish poultry production. Accordingly, the results of this study could reflect the different policies in antimicrobial usage between the two countries

Bioenergetic Changes during Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells along the Hepatic Lineage.

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been demonstrated to result in premature aging due to its effects on stem cells. Nevertheless, a full understanding of the role of mitochondrial bioenergetics through differentiation is still lacking. Here we show the bioenergetics profile of human stem cells of embryonic origin differentiating along the hepatic lineage. Our study reveals especially the transition between hepatic specification and hepatic maturation as dependent on mitochondrial respiration and demonstrates that even though differentiating cells are primarily dependent on glycolysis until induction of hepatocyte maturation, oxidative phosphorylation is essential at all stages of differentiation