High sero-prevalence of caseous lymphadenitis identified in slaughterhouse samples as a consequence of deficiencies in sheep farm management in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), caused by <it>Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis</it>, is one of the most important diseases of sheep and goats, causing considerable economic losses for herd owners.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We assessed the seroprevalence of infection with <it>C. pseudotuberculosis </it>in 805 sheep from 23 sheep farms that supply slaughterhouses in the state of Minas Gerais; we also analyzed management practices that could be associated with CLA occurrence, used on these and nearby farms that also supplied animals to the slaughterhouse (n = 60). The serum samples for assaying CLA infection were taken at the slaughterhouse. Frequency of infection with <it>C. pseudotuberculosis </it>was estimated at 43.7%, and farm frequency was estimated at 100%. Management practices were analyzed through a questionnaire. All farmers (60/60) had extensive/semi-extensive rearing system; 70.0% (42/60) identified sheep individually; 11.7% (7/60) had periodical technical assistance; 41.7% (25/60) disinfected the facilities; 86.7% (52/60) used barbed wire fences and did not implement adequate CLA control measures; only 11.7% (7/60) of breeders reported vaccination against <it>C. pseudotuberculosis</it>; 13.3% (8/60) took note of animals with clinical signs of CLA; 1.7% (1/60) opened and sanitized abscesses, and isolated the infected animals; 10.0% (6/60) knew the zoonotic potential of this disease and 1.7% (1/60) of the farmers culled animals in case of recurrence of abscesses.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It can be concluded that <it>C. pseudotuberculosis </it>infection is widely spread in sheep flocks in Minas Gerais state in Brazil and that there is a lack of good management measures and vaccination, allowing transmission of this infectious agent throughout the production network.</p

Estimating aboveground biomass in tropical forests: Field methods and error analysis for the calibration of remote sensing observations

Mapping and monitoring of forest carbon stocks across large areas in the tropics will necessarily rely on remote sensing approaches, which in turn depend on field estimates of biomass for calibration and validation purposes. Here, we used field plot data collected in a tropical moist forest in the central Amazon to gain a better understanding of the uncertainty associated with plot-level biomass estimates obtained specifically for the calibration of remote sensing measurements. In addition to accounting for sources of error that would be normally expected in conventional biomass estimates (e.g., measurement and allometric errors), we examined two sources of uncertainty that are specific to the calibration process and should be taken into account in most remote sensing studies: the error resulting from spatial disagreement between field and remote sensing measurements (i.e., co-location error), and the error introduced when accounting for temporal differences in data acquisition. We found that the overall uncertainty in the field biomass was typically 25% for both secondary and primary forests, but ranged from 16 to 53%. Co-location and temporal errors accounted for a large fraction of the total variance (<65%) and were identified as important targets for reducing uncertainty in studies relating tropical forest biomass to remotely sensed data. Although measurement and allometric errors were relatively unimportant when considered alone, combined they accounted for roughly 30% of the total variance on average and should not be ignored. Our results suggest that a thorough understanding of the sources of error associated with field-measured plot-level biomass estimates in tropical forests is critical to determine confidence in remote sensing estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes, and to develop strategies for reducing the overall uncertainty of remote sensing approaches. © 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Search for high-mass diphoton resonances in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This article describes a search for high-mass resonances decaying to a pair of photons using a sample of 20.3  fb−¹ of pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data are found to be in agreement with the Standard Model prediction, and limits are reported in the framework of the Randall-Sundrum model. This theory leads to the prediction of graviton states, the lightest of which could be observed at the Large Hadron Collider. A lower limit of 2.66 (1.41) TeV at 95% confidence level is set on the mass of the lightest graviton for couplings of k/M̄Pl=0.1(0.01)

Search for heavy lepton resonances decaying to a Z boson and a lepton in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy leptons decaying to a Z boson and an electron or a muon is presented. The search is based on pp collision data taken at s√=8 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Three high-transverse-momentum electrons or muons are selected, with two of them required to be consistent with originating from a Z boson decay. No significant excess above Standard Model background predictions is observed, and 95% confidence level limits on the production cross section of high-mass trilepton resonances are derived. The results are interpreted in the context of vector-like lepton and type-III seesaw models. For the vector-like lepton model, most heavy lepton mass values in the range 114–176 GeV are excluded. For the type-III seesaw model, most mass values in the range 100–468 GeV are excluded

Study of the B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+) and Bc(+) -> J/psi D-s*(+) decays with the ATLAS detector

The decays B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+) and B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s*(+) are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset corresponding to integrated luminosities of 4.9 and 20.6 fb(-1) of pp collisions collected at centre-of-mass energies root s = 7 TeV and 8 TeV, respectively. Signal candidates are identified through J/psi -> mu(+)mu(-) and D-s(()*()+) -> phi pi(+)(gamma/pi(0)) decays. With a two-dimensional likelihood fit involving the B-c(+) reconstructed invariant mass and an angle between the mu(+) and D-s(+) candidate momenta in the muon pair rest frame, the yields of B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+) and B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s*(+), and the transverse polarisation fraction in B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s*(+) decay are measured. The transverse polarisation fraction is determined to be Gamma +/-+/-(B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s*(+))/Gamma(B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s*(+)) = 0.38 +/- 0.23 +/- 0.07, and the derived ratio of the branching fractions of the two modes is B-Bc+ -> J/psi D-s*+/B-Bc+ -> J/psi D-s(+) = 2.8(-0.8)(+1.2) +/- 0.3, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. Finally, a sample of B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+) decays is used to derive the ratios of branching fractions B-Bc+ -> J/psi D-s*+/B-Bc+ -> J/psi pi(+) = 3.8 +/- 1.1 +/- 0.4 +/- 0.2 and B-Bc+ -> J/psi D-s*+/B-Bc+ -> J/psi pi(+) = 10.4 +/- 3.1 +/- 1.5 +/- 0.6, where the third error corresponds to the uncertainty of the branching fraction of D-s(+) -> phi(K+ K-)pi(+) decay. The available theoretical predictions are generally consistent with the measurement

Transverse momentum, rapidity, and centrality dependence of inclusive charged-particle production in √snn = 5.02 TeV p + Pb collisions measured by the ATLAS experiment

Measurements of the per-event charged-particle yield as a function of the charged-particle transverse momentum and rapidity are performed using p + Pb collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of √snn = 5.02 TeV. Charged particles are reconstructed over pseudorapidity | η | &lt; 2.3 and transverse momentum between 0.1 GeV and 22 GeV in a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1 μb − 1. The results are presented in the form of charged-particle nuclear modification factors, where the p + Pb charged-particle multiplicities are compared between central and peripheral p + Pb collisions as well as to charged-particle cross sections measured in pp collisions. The p + Pb collision centrality is characterized by the total transverse energy measured in − 4.9 &lt; η &lt; − 3.1, which is in the direction of the outgoing lead beam. Three different estimations of the number of nucleons participating in the p + Pb collision are carried out using the Glauber model and two Glauber–Gribov colour-fluctuation extensions to the Glauber model. The values of the nuclear modification factors are found to vary significantly as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum. A broad peak is observed for all centralities and rapidities in the nuclear modification factors for charged-particle transverse momentum values around 3 GeV. The magnitude of the peak increases for more central collisions as well as rapidity ranges closer to the direction of the outgoing lead nucleus

Search for invisible particles produced in association with single-top-quarks in proton–proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for the production of single-top-quarks in association with missing energy is performed in proton– proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the large hadron collider using data collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. In this search, the W boson from the top quark is required to decay into an electron or a muon and a neutrino. No deviation from the standard model prediction is observed, and upper limits are set on the production cross-section for resonant and non-resonant production of an invisible exotic state in association with a right-handed top quark. In the case of resonant production, for a spin-0 resonance with a mass of 500 GeV, an effective coupling strength above 0.15 is excluded at 95 % confidence level for the top quark and an invisible spin-1/2 state with mass between 0 and 100 GeV. In the case of non-resonant production, an effective coupling strength above 0.2 is excluded at 95 % confidence level for the top quark and an invisible spin-1 state with mass between 0 and 657 GeV