NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCES FOR DETECTION OF SERPULINA HYODYSENTERIAE

The invention provides a method for detecting the presence of Serpulina hyOdysenteriae in a biological Sample, an oligonucleotide primer and an S. hyodysenteriae-specific oligonucleotide probe useful in that method, and an article of manufacture that contains the primers and/or probe. Also provided are an about 2.3-kb DNA fragment derived from genomic DNA of S. hyodysenteriae and encoding for an about 56 kDa polypeptide, a recombinant expression vector containing the DNA fragment, the 56 kDa polypeptide and a monoclonal antibody reactive with the peptide, and a method of assaying for antibodies reactive with the 56 kDa peptide

G85-748 Prevention and Control of Swine Dysentery

This NebGuide describes the causes and symptoms of swine dysentery and offers management recommendations and treatment procedures for its prevention and control. Swine dysentery is a highly contagious disease of growing and finishing pigs. First described in Indiana in 1921, it has been called black scours, bloody scours, and vibrionic dysentery. Swine dysentery causes important financial losses because of reduced feed efficiency and lower weight gain, costs of medication and additional animal care, and death. Substantial costs may result from loss of sales of breeding stock, or depopulation when necessary. Serpula (Treponema) hyodysenteriae, a spiral bacterium, is the cause of swine dysentery, and seven different types have been recognized worldwide. Types 1 and 2 are the most common in the United States

Pathology in Practice

A 1.5-year-old second-parity Large Black X Tamworth cross sow from a well-managed 20-sow, unvaccinated, pasture-raised herd of pigs in upstate New York aborted a litter of 7 variably mummified near-term fetuses and stillborn piglets. This sow had no signs of ill health other than abortion; it was housed in a group with 4 other sows and a 2-year-old Gloucestershire Old Spot boar. One of the stillborn piglets from this litter was submitted to the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center for necropsy; no placental tissue was submitted with the piglet. A second sow from this group had aborted a litter at the same late stage of gestation within the preceding 2 weeks; however, none of the fetuses were submitted for diagnostic investigation. No signs of ill health were reported for the rest of the herd. The referring veterinarian indicated that these pigs had access to corn standing in the field and that, because of recent wet weather, there was concern that mycotoxin contamination might be the cause of the abortions

An examination of distress, sleep, and fatigue in metastatic breast cancer patients

Objective: Few studies have used rapid screening instruments to document the prevalence of distress among metastatic breast cancer patients. This study used the one-item Distress Thermometer (DT) to assess distress in this population. Anxiety and depressive symptoms, sleep problems, fatigue, and mental health service use were assessed for patients who met the cutoff on the DT for probable distress (score ⩾4). Methods: A total of 173 metastatic breast cancer patients rated their distress on the DT. Respondents who met study eligibility criteria (n = 90), including a score ⩾4 on the DT, completed a telephone survey 1 week later that assessed anxiety, depressive symptoms, sleep problems, and fatigue. Associations of study outcomes with demographic and medical characteristics were computed. Results: Sixty percent of the 173 patients met the cutoff for probable distress on the DT. Meeting this cutoff was not associated with age, ethnicity, time since diagnosis, or medical treatments. The majority (61%) of respondents who were classified as distressed on the DT reported clinically significant anxiety or depressive symptoms 1 week later. On average, these patients also showed significant fatigue and sleep disturbance, with 70% reporting decrements in sleep quality. Only 29% of patients with significant anxiety or depressive symptoms accessed mental health services. Conclusions: Results point to a high prevalence of distress, sleep problems, and fatigue across demographic and medical subgroups of metastatic breast cancer patients. A rapid one-item screening tool may be used to identify patients with a potential need for psychosocial assessment and intervention

An ERP Investigation on Visuotactile Interactions in Peripersonal and Extrapersonal Space: Evidence for the Spatial Rule

The spatial rule of multisensory integration holds that cross-modal stimuli presented from the same spatial location result in enhanced multisensory integration. The present study investigated whether processing within the somatosensory cortex reflects the strength of cross-modal visuotactile interactions depending on the spatial relationship between visual and tactile stimuli. Visual stimuli were task-irrelevant and were presented simultaneously with touch in peripersonal and extrapersonal space, in the same or opposite hemispace with respect to the tactile stimuli. Participants directed their attention to one of their hands to detect infrequent tactile target stimuli at that hand while ignoring tactile targets at the unattended hand, all tactile nontarget stimuli, and any visual stimuli. Enhancement of ERPs recorded over and close to the somatosensory cortex was present as early as 100 msec after onset of stimuli (i.e., overlapping with the P100 component) when visual stimuli were presented next to the site of tactile stimulation (i.e., perihand space) compared to when these were presented at different locations in peripersonal or extrapersonal space. Therefore, this study provides electrophysiological support for the spatial rule of visual–tactile interaction in human participants. Importantly, these early cross-modal spatial effects occurred regardless of the locus of attention. In addition, and in line with previous research, we found attentional modulations of somatosensory processing only to be present in the time range of the N140 component and for longer latencies with an enhanced negativity for tactile stimuli at attended compared to unattended locations. Taken together, the pattern of the results from this study suggests that visuotactile spatial effects on somatosensory processing occur prior and independent of tactile–spatial attention

Diet-Induced Alterations in Gut Microflora Contribute to Lethal Pulmonary Damage in TLR2/TLR4-Deficient Mice

SummaryChronic intake of Western diet has driven an epidemic of obesity and metabolic syndrome, but how it induces mortality remains unclear. Here, we show that chronic intake of a high-fat diet (HFD), not a low-fat diet, leads to severe pulmonary damage and mortality in mice deficient in Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 (DKO). Diet-induced pulmonary lesions are blocked by antibiotic treatment and are transmissible to wild-type mice upon either cohousing or fecal transplantation, pointing to the existence of bacterial pathogens. Indeed, diet and innate deficiency exert significant impact on gut microbiota composition. Thus, chronic intake of HFD promotes severe pulmonary damage and mortality in DKO mice in part via gut dysbiosis, a finding that may be important for immunodeficient patients, particularly those on chemotherapy or radiotherapy, where gut-microbiota-caused conditions are often life threatening

Puesta en turismo y durabilidad de los lugares turisticos : contexto, procesos y invariabilidades

Puesta en turismo y durabilidad de los lugares turisticos : contexto, procesos y invariabilidade

Fast Fourier Optimization: Sparsity Matters

Many interesting and fundamentally practical optimization problems, ranging from optics, to signal processing, to radar and acoustics, involve constraints on the Fourier transform of a function. It is well-known that the {\em fast Fourier transform} (fft) is a recursive algorithm that can dramatically improve the efficiency for computing the discrete Fourier transform. However, because it is recursive, it is difficult to embed into a linear optimization problem. In this paper, we explain the main idea behind the fast Fourier transform and show how to adapt it in such a manner as to make it encodable as constraints in an optimization problem. We demonstrate a real-world problem from the field of high-contrast imaging. On this problem, dramatic improvements are translated to an ability to solve problems with a much finer grid of discretized points. As we shall show, in general, the "fast Fourier" version of the optimization constraints produces a larger but sparser constraint matrix and therefore one can think of the fast Fourier transform as a method of sparsifying the constraints in an optimization problem, which is usually a good thing.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Validation of age determination using otoliths of the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus L.) in the Bay of Biscay

Validation of the age determination procedure using otoliths of European anchovy in the Bay of Biscay was achieved by monitoring very strong year-classes in successive spring catches and surveys, as well as the seasonal occurrence of edge types. Historical corroboration of the ageing method was obtained by cross-correlation between successive age groups by year-classes in catches and surveys (1987–2013). Summary annual growth in length is also presented. Yearly annuli consist of a hyaline zone (either single or composite) and a wide opaque zone, disrupted occasionally by some typical checks (mainly at age-0 and age-1 at peak spawning time). Age determination, given a date of capture, requires knowledge of the typical annual growth pattern of otoliths, their seasonal edge formation by ages and the most typical checks. Most opaque growth occurs in summer and is minimal (translucent) in winter. Opaque zone formation begins earlier in younger fish (in spring), and this helps distinguish age-1 from age-2þ.Versión del edito

Certain Canine Weakly β-Hemolytic Intestinal Spirochetes Are Phenotypically and Genotypically Related to Spirochetes Associated with Human and Porcine Intestinal Spirochetosis

Four canine weakly β-hemolytic intestinal spirochetes associated with intestinal spirochetosis (IS-associated WBHIS) were compared with IS-associated human and porcine WBHIS and the type species for Serpulina hyodysenteriae and S. innocens by using phenotypic and genotypic parameters. The IS-associated canine, human, and porcine WBHIS belonged to a phyletic group distinct from but related to previously described Serpulina type species