Comparison of Lateral and Dorsal Recumbency During Endoscope-Assisted Oophorectomy in Mature Pond Sliders (Trachemys Scripta)

Ovariectomy via the prefemoral fossa is a well-described technique for sterilization in chelonians. The choice between lateral and dorsal recumbency is generally left to the surgeon\u2019s preference, with no data supporting an objective superiority of one over the other. Twenty-four sexually mature female pond sliders (Trachemys scripta) were enrolled for elective prefemoral endoscope-assisted oophorectomy, and were randomly divided in two groups: 12 animals were placed in right lateral recumbency with a left fossa approach (Group A), and 12 in dorsal recumbency with a right fossa approach (Group B). Scoring systems were applied to assess the ease of access to the coelomic cavity, and the ease of identification of the ovary opposite to the surgical incision. A negative correlation was found between the body weight of the animals and the ease of access to the coelom (p = 0.013), making the access easier in smaller animals. No significant dierence was found between the two groups in terms of ease of access to the coelomic cavity, first ovary removal time, ease of identification of the second ovary, second ovary removal time, or total surgery time

A mulher imigrante brasileira no contexto educacional português: limites e possibilidades

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências da EducaçãoO objectivo deste estudo foi conhecer e analisar qual a importância que as mulheres imigrantes brasileiras residentes em Portugal atribuem à educação e acerca de sua inserção no contexto educacional português. O interesse por este tema responde à nossa vivência como estudantes imigrantes, à curiosidade em desvendar o universo da imigração passando pelas aspirações e pelos valores que cada pessoa traz consigo, assim como seus pensamentos e expectativas. Desejamos que esta investigação possa contribuir para que os olhares da educação portuguesa não restrinjam-se apenas aos filhos dos imigrantes, mas que envolvam também os pais, mais especificamente as mulheres, que ambicionam compartilhar e integrar-se na cultura de outro país. A investigação foi dividida em duas partes: a fundamentação teórica e o estudo empírico. A primeira parte da investigação esteve alicerçada num referencial bibliográfico voltado para os assuntos relacionados aos temas: mulher, imigração e educação. A segunda parte teve como foco uma metodologia fundamentada na abordagem qualitativa, mediante entrevistas semi-estruturadas com doze mulheres imigrantes brasileiras. Os critérios de amostra foram: estar morando em Portugal há no mínimo quatro anos e ter idade compreendida entre 20 e 49 anos. Como resultados, identificamos que o nível de escolaridade das mulheres ainda é baixo e aquelas que têm nível superior ainda não conseguiram dar continuidade aos estudos nem inserirem-se na nova comunidade. Para tanto essas mulheres demonstraram acreditar e apostar, apesar das dificuldades serem maiores que as possibilidades, que ter estudo ainda é um indicador de evolução, de status que possibilita o ser humano a tomar decisões certas e a trilhar novos caminhos com maior consciência e responsabilidade

The bovine acute phase protein α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) can disrupt Staphylococcus aureus biofilm

Staphylococcus aureus biofilm-related infections are of clinical concern due to the capability of bacterial colonies to adapt to a hostile environment. The present study investigated the capability of the acute phase protein alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) to a) disrupt already established S. aureus biofilm and b) interfere with the biofilm de novo production by using Microtiter Plate assay (MtP) on field strains isolated from infected quarters by assessing. The present study also investigated whether AGP could interfere with the expression of bacterial genes related to biofilm formation (icaA, icaD, icaB, and icaC) and adhesive virulence determinants (fnbA, fnbB, clfA, clfB, fib, ebps, eno) by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). The results provided the evidence that AGP could disrupt the biofilm structure only when it was already developed, but could not prevent the de novo biofilm formation. Moreover, AGP could interfere with the expression levels of genes involved in biofilm formation in a dose- and strain-dependent way, by upregulating, or downregulating, icaABC genes and fnbB, respectively. The results presented in this study provide new insights about the direct antibacterial activity of AGP in bovine milk. It remains to be demonstrated the molecular bases of AGP mechanism of action, in particular for what concerns the scarce capability to interact with the de novo formation of biofilm

Diagnostic value of whole body bone scan in horses

Scintigraphy is widely used in the assessment of musculoskeletal disorders and often it is considered as a screening tool in lame or poor performing horses. It is proved that nuclear scintigraphy is useful in highlighting the presence of lesions undetectable by clinical examination, in horses that do not respond to local analgesic blocks or with intermittent lameness[1]. Despite the usefulness of bone scan is proven, in a recent report, Quiney et al. observed that false-negative results predominate and may lead to missed diagnosis[2]. The aim of this study is to analyze the diagnostic usefulness of whole body bone scan in horses referred for lameness or poor performance. For this retrospective study, bone scans acquired at the Ospedale Veterinario Universitario di Lodi between July 2014 and February 2019 were reviewed. In the study have been included only horses that had a whole body bone scan. On the basis of the history, horses were classified as poor performing, for localized lameness or non-localized lameness. Scintigraphic findings were organized in five categories: definitive diagnosis, localization of the lameness, no findings related to the present clinical signs, findings of unlikely clinical significance and findings that need further investigations. A contingency table and a chi-squared test were used for the statistical analysis. One hundred and eighty horses underwent scintigraphy and 102 were included in the study; twenty-one horses were referred for lameness localized using diagnostic analgesia while in 44 horses the source of lameness was not identified. Thirty-seven horses had an history of poor performance. Statistical analysis highlighted that the only correlation between clinical history and scintigraphic findings was between horse referred for poor performance and findings of unlikely clinical significance (59,5% of horses with a poor performance diagnosis). A final diagnosis or localization of the source of pain were observed respectively in the 5.9% and in the 29.4% of horses. In 11 subjects (10.8%) were found increased radiopharmaceutical uptakes (IRU) of uncertain clinical significant that needed further investigations using analgesic blocks. In the 20% of cases, all referred for lameness, no findings related to the present clinical signs were found. In order to increase the capability of bone scintigraphy, it is mandatory to consider that the sensitivity and specificity are higher in specific regions[2] and the interpretation of the relevance of IRU must be based on detailed clinical examination. In conclusion, we confirm that whole body bone scintigraphy should not be considered a diagnostic screening especially in poor performing horses and that localization of lameness can improve the possibility of a positive result. [1] Dyson S.J. Musculoskeletal scintigraphy of the equine athlete. Semin Nucl Med, 44:4-14, 2014. [2] Quiney L., Ireland J., Dyson S.J. Evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of skeletal scintigraphy in lame and poorly performing sports horses. Vet Radiol Ultrasound, 59:477-489, 2018

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Teat-Sealant and Antibiotic Dry-Cow Treatments for Mastitis Prevention Shows Similar Effect on the Healthy Milk Microbiome

Lactating cows are routinely treated at dry-off with antibiotic infusions in each quarter for the cure and prevention of pathogenic intramammary infection, which remains the most common disease in dairy herds. This approach is known as blanket dry-cow therapy, usually effective for the prevention and cure of infections, but has been shown to potentially contribute to the emergence and spreading of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. Exploring the use of non-antibiotic treatments coupled with selective dry-cow therapy is necessary to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance and potential interference with milk microbiome balance. The impact of selective dry-cow therapy on the physiological milk microbiome needs to be carefully evaluated. In this small-scale trial, five healthy (no mastits, SCC <200,000 cells mL 121) second-parity cows from dry-off to 5 days after calving were sampled. For every cow, each quarter received a different treatment: (i) bismuth salnitrate (internal teat sealant, OrbSeal\uae, Zoetis, Italy), front right quarter; (ii) cephalonium dihydrate (Cepravin\uae, MSD, Italy), rear right quarter; (iii) benzathine cloxacillin (Cloxalene dry, Ati, Italy), rear left quarter. No treatment was applied to the remaining quarter (front left) which served as experimental control. For 16S rRNA gene sequencing, bacterial DNA was extracted from 5 ml of milk samples, amplified using the primers for the V3\u2013V4 hypervariable regions and sequenced in one MiSeq (Illumina) run with 2 7 250-base paired-end reads. Bacteriological results confirmed that the quarters were all healthy. The phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria were the most abundant for all treatments and controls at all three timepoints, accounting for over 80% of the entire milk microbiota composition. No significant differences were found between treatments and controls in terms of the major alpha and beta diversity indexes, revealing that antibiotic, and non-antibiotic treatments for selective dry-cow therapy did not alter significantly the milk microbiome of dairy cows. The milk microbiota composition showed a clear evolution over the lactation cycle, and the overall changes in the milk microbiota diversity over the lactation cycle were mainly independent of treatments

Milk cathelicidin and somatic cell counts in dairy goats along the course of lactation

This research communication reports the evaluation of cathelicidin in dairy goat milk for its relationship with the somatic cell count (SCC) and microbial culture results. Considering the limited performances of SCC for mastitis monitoring in goats, there is interest in evaluating alternative diagnostic tools. Cathelicidin is an antimicrobial protein involved in innate immunity of the mammary gland. In this work, half-udder milk was sampled bimonthly from a herd of 37 Alpine goats along an entire lactation and tested with the cathelicidin ELISA together with SCC and bacterial culture. Cathelicidin and SCC showed a strong correlation (r = 0.72; n = 360 milk samples). This was highest in mid-lactation (r = 0.83) and lowest in late lactation (r = 0.61), and was higher in primiparous (0.80, n = 130) than in multiparous goats (0.71, n = 230). Both markers increased with stage of lactation, but cathelicidin increased significantly less than SCC. Inaddition, peak level in late lactation was lower for cathelicidin (5.05-fold increase) than for SCC (7.64-fold increase). Twenty-one (5.8%) samples were positive to bacteriological culture, 20 for coagulase-negative staphylococci and one for Streptococcus spp.; 18 of them were positive to the cathelicidin ELISA (85.71% sensitivity). Sensitivity of SCC >500 000 and of SCC >1 000 000 cells/ml was lower (71.43 and 23.81%, respectively). Therefore, the high correlation of cathelicidin with SCC during the entire lactation, along with its lower increase in late lactation and good sensitivity indetecting intramammary infection (IMI), indicate a potential for monitoring subclinical mastitis in dairy goats. However, based on this preliminary assessment, specificity should be improved (40.41% for cathelicidin vs. 54.57 and 67.85% for SCC >500 000 and >1 000 000 cells/ml, respectively). Therefore, the application of cathelicidin for detecting goat IMI will require further investigation and optimization, especially concerning the definition of diagnostic thresholds

Impact of Staphylococcus aureus infection on the late lactation goat milk proteome: New perspectives for monitoring and understanding mastitis in dairy goats

The milk somatic cell count (SCC) is a standard parameter for monitoring intramammary infections (IMI) in dairy ruminants. In goats, however, the physiological increase in SCC occurring in late lactation heavily compromises its reliability. To identify and understand milk protein changes specifically related to IMI, we carried out a shotgun proteomics study comparing high SCC late lactation milk from goats with subclinical Staphylococcus aureus IMI and from healthy goats to low SCC mid-lactation milk from healthy goats. As a result, we detected 52 and 19 differential proteins (DPs) in S. aureus-infected and uninfected late lactation milk, respectively. Unexpectedly, one of the proteins higher in uninfected milk was serum amyloid A. On the other hand, 38 DPs were increased only in S. aureus-infected milk and included haptoglobin and numerous cytoskeletal proteins. Based on STRING analysis, the DPs unique to S. aureus infected milk were mainly involved in defense response, cytoskeleton organization, cell-to-cell, and cell-to-matrix interactions. Being tightly and specifically related to infectious/inflammatory processes, these proteins may hold promise as more reliable markers of IMI than SCC in late lactation goats. Significance: The biological relevance of our results lies in the increased understanding of the changes specifically related to bacterial infection of the goat udder in late lactation. The DPs present only in S. aureus infected milk may find application as markers for improving the specificity of subclinical mastitis monitoring and detection in dairy goats in late lactation, when other widespread tools such as the SCC lose diagnostic value

Relationship of Late Lactation Milk Somatic Cell Count and Cathelicidin with Intramammary Infection in Small Ruminants

Late lactation is a critical moment for making mastitis management decisions, but in small ruminants the reliability of diagnostic tests is typically lower at this stage. We evaluated somatic cell counts (SCC) and cathelicidins (CATH) in late lactation sheep and goat milk for their relationship with intramammary infections (IMI), as diagnosed by bacteriological culture (BC). A total of 315 sheep and 223 goat half-udder milk samples collected in the last month of lactation were included in the study. IMI prevalence was 10.79% and 15.25%, respectively, and non-aureus staphylococci were the most common finding. Taking BC as a reference, the diagnostic performance of SCC and CATH was quite different in the two species. In sheep, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis produced a higher area under the curve (AUC) value for CATH than SCC (0.9041 versus 0.8829, respectively). Accordingly, CATH demonstrated a higher specificity than SCC (82.92% versus 73.67%, respectively) at comparable sensitivity (91.18%). Therefore, CATH showed a markedly superior diagnostic performance than SCC in late lactation sheep milk. In goats, AUC was <0.67 for both parameters, and CATH was less specific than SCC (61.90% versus 65.08%) at comparable sensitivity (64.71%). Therefore, both CATH and SCC performed poorly in late lactation goats. In conclusion, sheep can be screened for mastitis at the end of lactation, while goats should preferably be tested at peak lactation. In late lactation sheep, CATH should be preferred over SCC for its higher specificity, but careful cost/benefit evaluations will have to be made

Proteomic datasets of uninfected and Staphylococcus aureus-infected goat milk

We present a proteomic dataset generated from half-udder Alpine goat milk. The milk samples belonged to 3 groups: i) mid-lactation, low somatic cell count, uninfected milk (MLU, n=3); ii) late lactation, high somatic cell count, uninfected milk (LHU, n=3); and late lactation, high somatic cell count, Staphylococcus aureus subclinically infected milk (LHS, n=3). The detailed description of results is reported in the research article entitled \u201cImpact of Staphylococcus aureus infection on the late lactation goat milk proteome: new perspectives for monitoring and understanding mastitis in dairy goats\u201d. After milk defatting, high speed centrifugation and trypsin digestion of milk with the FASP protocol, peptide mixtures were analyzed by LC-MS/MS on a Q-Exactive. Peptide identification was carried out using Sequest-HT in Proteome Discoverer. Then, the Normalized Abundance Spectrum Factor (NSAF) value was calculated by label free quantitation using the spectral counting approach, and Gene Ontology (GO) annotation by Uniprot was carried out by reporting biological process, molecular function and cellular component. The MS data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange via the PRIDE with the dataset identifier PXD017243

The Role of Innate Immune Response and Microbiome in Resilience of Dairy Cattle to Disease: The Mastitis Model

Animal health is affected by many factors such as metabolic stress, the immune system, and epidemiological features that interconnect. The immune system has evolved along with the phylogenetic evolution as a highly refined sensing and response system, poised to react against diverse infectious and non-infectious stressors for better survival and adaptation. It is now known that high genetic merit for milk yield is correlated with a defective control of the inflammatory response, underlying the occurrence of several production diseases. This is evident in the mastitis model where high-yielding dairy cows show high disease prevalence of the mammary gland with reduced effectiveness of the innate immune system and poor control over the inflammatory response to microbial agents. There is growing evidence of epigenetic effects on innate immunity genes underlying the response to common microbial agents. The aforementioned agents, along with other non-infectious stressors, can give rise to abnormal activation of the innate immune system, underlying serious disease conditions, and affecting milk yield. Furthermore, the microbiome also plays a role in shaping immune functions and disease resistance as a whole. Accordingly, proper modulation of the microbiome can be pivotal to successful disease control strategies. These strategies can benefit from a fundamental re-appraisal of native cattle breeds as models of disease resistance based on successful coping of both infectious and non-infectious stressors