Longevity of an immunocontraceptive vaccine effect on fecundity in rats

Increases in human-wildlife conflicts alongside cultural shifts against lethal control methods are driving the need for alternative wildlife management tools such as fertility control. Contraceptive formulations suitable for oral delivery would permit broader remote application in wildlife species. This study evaluated the contraceptive effect and immune response to two novel injectable immunocontraceptive formulations targeting the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH): MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P conjugates, both identified as having potential as oral contraceptives. The study also explored whether in multiparous species immunocontraceptives may either totally prevent reproduction or also affect litter size. Female rats, chosen as a model species, were given three doses of either MAF-IMX294 or MAFIMX294P to compare anti-GnRH immune response and reproductive output up to 310 days posttreatment. Both formulations induced anti-GnRH antibody titres in 100% of rats and significantly impaired fertility compared to control animals. Following treatment with MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P 0 of 9 and 1 of 10 females respectively produced litters following the first mating challenge 45 days posttreatment, compared to 9 of 9 control animals. Across the whole 310 day study period 7 of 9 females from the MAF-IMX294 group and 10 of 10 females in the MAF-IMX294P group became fertile, producing at least one litter throughout six mating challenges. No significant differences were found between the two formulations in antibody titre response or duration of contraceptive effect, with an average time to first pregnancy of 166 days for MAFIMX294 and 177 days for MAF-IMX294P for all females that became fertile. Following treatment with MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P the first litter produced post-infertility in treated females was significantly smaller than in control animals. This indicates treatment with immunocontraceptives may induce an overall suppression of fecundity extending past an initial infertility effect. This increases the potential long-term impact of these immunocontraceptives in multiparous species such as commensal rodents

Intelligent agents & interoperable simulation for strategic decision making on multicoalition joint operations

This paper proposes an innovative interoperable federation developed for addressing strategic decision making on multi-coalition operations. The proposed architecture integrates several different simulators in HLA and is open to be operated in different modes from stand alone basic installation to fully integrated with entity based simulations. The simulator uses Intelligent Agents, to reproduce human behavior and human factors, as well as discrete event simulation paradigm into virtual and constructive environments. The paper describes the models as well as the approach to address this problem; some experimental results related a realistic scenario are proposed as well as the different a solutions adopted to support Commander engagement in using this kind of simulation

Unusual onset of a case of chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis

Background: Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is a rare condition that commonly affects the clavicle and pelvis. Case presentation: We report here a case a 12 years old girl with CRMO arising with recurrent episodes of left supraorbital headache, followed by the appearance of a periorbital dyschromia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the skull and orbits revealed an important subacute inflammatory process. Few months after, the child presented a painful swelling of the left clavicle; the histological examination of the related biopsy allowed to establish the diagnosis of CRMO. Conclusion: CRMO presenting as acute headache involving neurocranium is rare; to our knowledge this is the first recognized case in the world literature. This pathological condition is frequently misdiagnosed as infection or neoplasm and needs a deep investigation for the differential diagnosis. The physical, laboratoristic and instrumental diagnostic investigations of the patient and the treatment employed are described in detail

The origin of the 1500-year climate cycles in Holocene North-Atlantic records

© 2007 Author(s) et al. This is an open-access article distributed under a Creative Commons License. The definitive version was published in Climate of the Past 3 (2007): 569-575, doi:10.5194/cp-3-569-2007Since the first suggestion of 1500-year cycles in the advance and retreat of glaciers (Denton and Karlen, 1973), many studies have uncovered evidence of repeated climate oscillations of 2500, 1500, and 1000 years. During last glacial period, natural climate cycles of 1500 years appear to be persistent (Bond and Lotti, 1995) and remarkably regular (Mayewski et al., 1997; Rahmstorf, 2003), yet the origin of this pacing during the Holocene remains a mystery (Rahmstorf, 2003), making it one of the outstanding puzzles of climate variability. Solar variability is often considered likely to be responsible for such cyclicities, but the evidence for solar forcing is difficult to evaluate within available data series due to the shortcomings of conventional time-series analyses. However, the wavelets analysis method is appropriate when considering non-stationary variability. Here we show by the use of wavelets analysis that it is possible to distinguish solar forcing of 1000- and 2500- year oscillations from oceanic forcing of 1500-year cycles. Using this method, the relative contribution of solar-related and ocean-related climate influences can be distinguished throughout the 10 000 yr Holocene intervals since the last ice age. These results reveal that the 1500-year climate cycles are linked with the oceanic circulation and not with variations in solar output as previously argued (Bond et al., 2001). In this light, previously studied marine sediment (Bianchi and McCave, 1999; Chapman and Shackleton, 2000; Giraudeau et al., 2000), ice core (O'Brien et al., 1995; Vonmoos et al., 2006) and dust records (Jackson et al., 2005) can be seen to contain the evidence of combined forcing mechanisms, whose relative influences varied during the course of the Holocene. Circum-Atlantic climate records cannot be explained exclusively by solar forcing, but require changes in ocean circulation, as suggested previously (Broecker et al., 2001; McManus et al., 1999).This work is supported by ANR project: “Integration des contraintes Paleoclimatiques pour reduire les Incertitudes sur l’evolution du Climat pendant les periodes Chaudes”- PICC (ANR-05-BLAN- 0312-02)

Research Priorities for Managing Invasive Wild Pigs in North America

With recent increases in distribution and numbers of feral pigs (Sus scrofa; invasive wild pigs) in North America, there has been a concurrent increase in the ecological and economic effects they have had on native and anthropogenic ecosystems. Despite the amplified interest in invasive wild pig research, there remains a significant knowledge gap regarding their basic biology and ecology, the scope of the damage they cause, and the efficacy of many control strategies. Such information is important to support the successful management of invasive wild pigs throughout North America and other areas. In 2016, members of the National Wild Pig Task Force met and developed a set of research priorities to aid in effective management of invasive wild pigs. These research priorities identify 4 topical areas where increased effort and science is most needed to manage invasive wild pigs: biology and ecology, economic and ecological damages, control strategies, and education and human dimensions, with particular emphasis on areas where specific data gaps remain within each topical area. Resolution of such knowledge deficits would advance the understanding of invasive wild pig ecology, enabling more efficient and effective management of this species

Innovative Virtual Lab for Improving Safety and Port Operations

Computer simulation makes it possible to reproduce real systems and processes in a synthetic environment. In this way virtual analysis turn to be possible and it complex scenarios are suitable to be simulated. In the proposed paper is presented a port system where to study the behavior respect operations and accidents and to consider interaction among multiple players. The simulation is applied to create a Virtual Lab able to evaluate and investigate the development of new procedures, contingency plans during crises. The development of models to be used in simulations is clearly a critical aspect, since the consistency of the simulation depend on the quality of the models and their interaction; in this case the authors used their experience in the field to guarantee a successful Verification and Validation. In this case study, models are used for simulations of phenomena related to port accidents and crises with particular attention to dispersion system of liquid contaminant on sea surface and dispersion of toxic gases into atmosphere. These models have been tested in the Alacres2 simulator in order to create as an effective tool to observe and study the evolution and impact of dangerous situations, as well as a decision-making support to define response plans crises

Effect of the GnRH vaccine GonaCon on the fertility, physiology and behaviour of wild boar

Abstract. Fertility control has the potential to be used as an attractive alternative to lethal methods for limiting population growth in overabundant species. This study tested the effectiveness and potential side effects of the single-dose gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) vaccine GonaCon on the physiology and behaviour of two groups of captive female wild boar in two sequential trials (Trial 1 and Trial 2). Following vaccination with GonaCon, data on contraceptive effectiveness were recorded as well as data on time budget, social rank, bodyweight, haematology and biochemistry. The concentration of GnRH-antibody titres peaked 2-6 weeks after vaccination and remained relatively high 12 weeks after vaccination. In Trial 1, all control females and none of the treated females gave birth. In Trial 2, faecal progesterone of treated females decreased to basal levels within a month of vaccination. No differences in time budget, social rank and blood parameters were observed between treated and control females. Bodyweight increased more in treated females than in controls. These results indicated that GonaCon can suppress reproduction of wild boar with no significant short-term effects on behaviour and physiology. GonaCon can be regarded as an effective, humane and safe contraceptive for managing wild boar populations

Correction of Basic Equations for Deep Bed Filtration with Dispersion

Copyright © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Deep bed filtration of particle suspensions in porous media occurs during water injection into oil reservoirs, drilling fluid invasion into reservoir productive zones, fines migration in oil fields, bacteria, virus or contaminant transport in groundwater, industrial filtering, etc. The basic features of the process are advective and dispersive particle transport and particle capture by the porous medium. Particle transport in porous media is determined by advective flow of carrier water and by hydrodynamic dispersion in micro-heterogeneous media. Thus, the particle flux is the sum of advective and dispersive fluxes. Transport of particles in porous media is described by an advection–diffusion equation and by a kinetic equation of particle capture. Conventional models for deep bed filtration take into account hydrodynamic particle dispersion in the mass balance equation but do not consider the effect of dispersive flux on retention kinetics. In the present study, a model for deep bed filtration with particle size exclusion taking into account particle hydrodynamic dispersion in both mass balance and retention kinetics equations is proposed. Analytical solutions are obtained for flows in infinite and semi-infinite reservoirs and in finite porous columns. The physical interpretation of the steady-state flow regimes described by the proposed and the traditional models favours the former.Altoe, J. E., Bedrikovetski, P.G., Siqueira, A. G., de Souza, A. L., Shecaira, F.http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/503345/description#descriptio