Assessment of real aging in selection process of replacement materials for stone monuments conservation

[EN] Reconstruction of monuments often raises the question of stones replacement. It must be aesthetically durable, which means the stone must age like the original one. This study presents an image processing chain, from capture to visualisation, to compare stones at different states of aging: recently extracted from quarry, weathered on old buildings, and cleaned on monuments recently restored. This tool includes: (1) a digital still camera calibration, (2) a chromatic adaptation transform and (3) a resizing process. To test it, a case study was conducted to assess the compatibility of three types of limestone. This graphical tool helps the selection of replacement materials by visual comparison between several possible stones in order to select them by aging properties and visual resemblance.[ES] En el ámbito de la sustitución de piedras en los monumentos, frecuentemente se plantea el problema de la selección de las piedras de reemplazo. De hecho, la reconstrucción debe ser estéticamente duradera, es decir, la piedra sustituida debe envejecer como la piedra original. Este estudio presenta una cadena de procesamiento de imágenes, desde la adquisición hasta la visualización, que permite comparar imágenes de piedras en varias etapas de su envejecimiento: recién extraída de la cantera, envejecida en edificios antiguos, y decapada con arena en monumentos recién restaurados. Esta herramienta incluye: (1) una calibración de cámara digital, (2) una transformación de adaptación cromática y (3) una etapa de redimensión. Para testear el método propuesto, un estudio de caso se llevó a cabo para evaluar la compatibilidad de tres tipos de caliza. Esta herramienta gráfica puede ayudar la selección de materiales de reemplazo con envejecimiento complejo como la piedra natural.Concha Lozano, N.; Lafon, D.; Eterradossi, O.; Gaudon, P. (2011). Assessment of real aging in selection process of replacement materials for stone monuments conservation. Virtual Archaeology Review. 2(3):27-31. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2011.4579OJS273123BRILL, Michael H., "The relation between the color of the illuminant and the color of the illuminated object". Color Research & Application. (1995) 20: 70- 5. doi:10.1002/col.5080200112.)CHORRO E., PERALES E., de Fez D., LUQUE M. J., and MARTÍNEZ-VERDÚ F. M., "Application of the S-CIELAB color model to processed and calibrated images with a colorimetric dithering method," Optics Express 15, no. 12 (Juin 11, 2007): 7810-7817. http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.15.007810FAIRCHILD M.D., "A Revision of CIECAM97s for Practical Applications ", dans Color Research & Applications, Wiley Interscience, vol. 25, no 4, August 2000, p. 260-266ICOMOS-ISCS, Illustrated glossary on stone deterioration patterns, 2008THORNBUSH. M.J. and VILES, H.A., "Photo-based decay mapping of replaced stone blocks on the boundary wall of Worcester College, Oxford". Building stone decay: from diagnosis to conservation. In, Prikryl, R. and Smith, B.J. (eds.) (2007) Geological Society Special Publication, 271: 69-75.P.THORNBUSH. M.J., "Grayscale calibration of outdoor photographic surveys of historical Stone Walls in Oxford, England," Color Research & Application 33, no. 1 (2, 2008): 61-67.STOKES M. (Hewlett-Packard), ANDERSON M. (Microsoft), CHANDRASEKAR S. (Microsoft), MOTTA R. (Hewlett-Packard) Version 1.10, November 5, 1996 "A Standard Default Color Space for the Internet: sRGB" ICC, [online] http://www.color.org/sRGB.xalter [Consulta: 22-04-2010]

Higher levels of CO2 during late incubation alter the hatch time of chicken embryos

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Detection of embryo mortality and hatch using thermal differences among incubated chicken eggs

Accurate diagnosis of both the stage of embryonic mortality and the hatch process in incubated eggs is a fundamental component in troubleshooting and hatchery management. However, traditional methods disturb incubation, destroy egg samples, risk contamination, are time and labour-intensive and require specialist knowledge and training. Therefore, a new method to accurately detect embryonic mortality and hatching time would be of significant interest for the poultry industry if it could be done quickly, cheaply and be fully integrated into the process. In this study we have continuously measured individual eggshell temperatures and the corresponding micro-environmental air temperatures throughout the 21 days of incubation using standard low-cost temperature sensors. Moreover, we have quantified the thermal interaction between eggs and air by calculating thermal profile changes (temperature drop time, drop length and drop magnitude) that allowed us to detect four categories of egg status (infertile/early death, middle death, late death and hatch) during incubation. A decision tree induction classification model accurately (93.3%) predicted the status of 105 sampled eggs in comparison to the classical hatch residue breakout analyses. With this study we have provided a major contribution to the optimisation of incubation processes by introducing an alternative method for the currently practiced hatch residue breakout analyses.status: publishe

Different Domains of the RNA Polymerase of Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Contribute to Virulence

BACKGROUND: Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a pathogen of worldwide significance to the poultry industry. IBDV has a bi-segmented double-stranded RNA genome. Segments A and B encode the capsid, ribonucleoprotein and non-structural proteins, or the virus polymerase (RdRp), respectively. Since the late eighties, very virulent (vv) IBDV strains have emerged in Europe inducing up to 60% mortality. Although some progress has been made in understanding the molecular biology of IBDV, the molecular basis for the pathogenicity of vvIBDV is still not fully understood. METHODOLOGY, PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Strain 88180 belongs to a lineage of pathogenic IBDV phylogenetically related to vvIBDV. By reverse genetics, we rescued a molecular clone (mc88180), as pathogenic as its parent strain. To study the molecular basis for 88180 pathogenicity, we constructed and characterized in vivo reassortant or mosaic recombinant viruses derived from the 88180 and the attenuated Cu-1 IBDV strains. The reassortant virus rescued from segments A of 88180 (A88) and B of Cu-1 (BCU1) was milder than mc88180 showing that segment B is involved in 88180 pathogenicity. Next, the exchange of different regions of BCU1 with their counterparts in B88 in association with A88 did not fully restore a virulence equivalent to mc88180. This demonstrated that several regions if not the whole B88 are essential for the in vivo pathogenicity of 88180. CONCLUSION, SIGNIFICANCE: The present results show that different domains of the RdRp, are essential for the in vivo pathogenicity of IBDV, independently of the replication efficiency of the mosaic viruses

Effect of transportation duration of 1-day-old chicks on postplacement production performances and pododermatitis of broilers up to slaughter age

This experiment studied the effect of transportation duration of 1-d-old chicks on dehydration, mortality, production performance, and pododermatitis during the growout period. Eggs from the same breeder flock (Ross PM3) were collected at 35, 45, and 56 wk of age, for 3 successive identical experiments. In each experiment, newly hatched chicks received 1 of 3 transportation duration treatments from the hatchery before placement in the on-site rearing facility: no transportation corresponding to direct placement in less than 5 min (T00), or 4 (T04) or 10 h (T10) of transportation. The chicks were housed in 35-m2 pens (650 birds each) and reared until 35 d old. Hematocrit and chick BW were measured on sample chicks before and after transportation. During the growout period, bird weight, feed uptake, and feed conversion ratio were measured weekly until slaughter. Transportation duration affected BW; T00 groups had a significantly higher BW than T04 and T10 transported birds but this effect lasted only until d 21. No clear effect on hematocrit, feed uptake, feed conversion ratio, or mortality was observed for birds transported up to 10 h. The decrease in weight in T10 birds was associated with less severe pododermatitis. Increasing age of the breeder flock was correlated with reduced egg fertility and hatchability, and also with higher quality and BW of hatched chicks. Chicks from older breeders also exhibited reduced mortality during the growout period

Blood B Cell Depletion Reflects Immunosuppression Induced by Live-Attenuated Infectious Bursal Disease Vaccines

Immunosuppression in poultry production is a recurrent problem worldwide, and one of the major viral immunosuppressive agents is Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV). IBDV infections are mostly controlled by using live-attenuated vaccines. Live-attenuated Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) vaccine candidates are classified as “mild,” “intermediate,” “intermediate-plus” or “hot” based on their residual immunosuppressive properties. The immunosuppression protocol described by the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) uses a lethal Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) infectious challenge to measure the interference of a given IBDV vaccine candidate on NDV vaccine immune response. A Ph. Eur.-derived protocol was thus implemented to quantify immunosuppression induced by one mild, two intermediate, and four intermediate-plus live-attenuated IBD vaccines as well as a pathogenic viral strain. This protocol confirmed the respective immunosuppressive properties of those vaccines and virus. In the search for a more ethical alternative to Ph. Eur.-based protocols, two strategies were explored. First, ex vivo viral replication of those vaccines and the pathogenic strain in stimulated chicken primary bursal cells was assessed. Replication levels were not strictly correlated to immunosuppression observed in vivo. Second, changes in blood leukocyte counts in chicks were monitored using a Ph. Eur. - type protocol prior to lethal NDV challenge. In case of intermediate-plus vaccines, the drop in B cells counts was more severe. Counting blood B cells may thus represent a highly quantitative, faster, and ethical strategy than NDV challenge to assess the immunosuppression induced in chickens by live-attenuated IBD vaccines

Infectious Bronchitis Coronavirus: Genome Evolution in Vaccinated and Non-Vaccinated SPF Chickens

Infectious Bronchitis virus (IBV) continues to cause significant economic losses for the chicken industry despite the use of many live IBV vaccines around the world. Several authors have suggested that vaccine-induced partial protection may contribute to the emergence of new IBV strains. In order to study this hypothesis, three passages of a challenge IBV were made in SPF chickens sham inoculated or vaccinated at day of age using a live vaccine heterologous to the challenge virus. All birds that were challenged with vaccine heterologous virus were positive for viral RNA. NGS analysis of viral RNA in the unvaccinated group showed a rapid selection of seven genetic variants, finally modifying the consensus genome of the viral population. Among them, five were non-synonymous, modifying one position in NSP 8, one in NSP 13, and three in the Spike protein. In the vaccinated group, one genetic variant was selected over the three passages. This synonymous modification was absent from the unvaccinated group. Under these conditions, the genome population of an IBV challenge virus evolved rapidly in both heterologous vaccinated and non-vaccinated birds, while the genetic changes that were selected and the locations of these were very different between the two groups