Insights into the oral bacterial microbiota of sows

The investigation of bacterial microbiota represents a developing research field in veterinary medicine intended to look for correlations between animal health and the balance within bacterial populations. The aim of the present work was to define the bacterial microbiota of the oral cavity of healthy sows, which had not been thoroughly described so far. In total, 22 samples of oral fluid were collected and analyzed by 16S-rRNA gene sequencing. CLC Genomics Workbench 20.0 (QIAGEN Digital Insights, Aarhus, Denmark) was then used to examine the results. The predominant orders were Lactobacillales, Clostridiales, and Corynebacteriales. Lactobacillaceae, Corynebacteriaceae, Moraxellaceae, Aerococcaceae, and Staphylococcaceae were the most represented families. As regards the most abundant genera, Lactobacillus, Corynebacterium, Acinetobacter, Staphylococcus, Rothia, Aerococcus, and Clostridium can be pointed out as the bacterial core microbiota. Sows were also divided into “gestating” and “lactating” groups, and mild differences were found between pregnant and lactating sows. The data herein described represent an original contribution to the knowledge of the porcine bacterial microbiota. Moreover, the choice of sows as experimental animals was strategic for identifying the adult microbial community. These data provide a basis for further studies on the oral bacterial microbiota of pigs

Training convolutional neural networks to score pneumonia in slaughtered pigs

The slaughterhouse can act as a valid checkpoint to estimate the prevalence and the economic impact of diseases in farm animals. At present, scoring lesions is a challenging and time‐consuming activity, which is carried out by veterinarians serving the slaughter chain. Over recent years, artificial intelligence(AI) has gained traction in many fields of research, including livestock production. In particular, AI‐based methods appear able to solve highly repetitive tasks and to consistently analyze large amounts of data, such as those collected by veterinarians during postmortem inspection in high‐throughput slaughterhouses. The present study aims to develop an AI‐based method capable of recognizing and quantifying enzootic pneumonia‐like lesions on digital images captured from slaughtered pigs under routine abattoir conditions. Overall, the data indicate that the AI‐based method proposed herein could properly identify and score enzootic pneumonia‐like lesions without interfering with the slaughter chain routine. According to European legislation, the application of such a method avoids the handling of carcasses and organs, decreasing the risk of microbial contamination, and could provide further alternatives in the field of food hygiene

Biallelic GRM7 variants cause epilepsy, microcephaly, and cerebral atrophy

Objective: Defects in ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors are implicated in developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE). Metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 (mGluR7), encoded by GRM7, is a presynaptic G-protein-coupled glutamate receptor critical for synaptic transmission. We previously proposed GRM7 as a candidate disease gene in two families with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). One additional family has been published since. Here, we describe three additional families with GRM7 biallelic variants and deeply characterize the associated clinical neurological and electrophysiological phenotype and molecular data in 11 affected individuals from six unrelated families. Methods: Exome sequencing and family-based rare variant analyses on a cohort of 220 consanguineous families with NDDs revealed three families with GRM7 biallelic variants; three additional families were identified through literature search and collaboration with a clinical molecular laboratory. Results: We compared the observed clinical features and variants of 11 affected individuals from the six unrelated families. Identified novel deleterious variants included two homozygous missense variants (c.2671G>A:p.Glu891Lys and c.1973G>A:p.Arg685Gln) and one homozygous stop-gain variant (c.1975C>T:p.Arg659Ter). Developmental delay, neonatal- or infantile-onset epilepsy, and microcephaly were universal. Three individuals had hypothalamic–pituitary–axis dysfunction without pituitary structural abnormality. Neuroimaging showed cerebral atrophy and hypomyelination in a majority of cases. Two siblings demonstrated progressive loss of myelination by 2 years in both and an acquired microcephaly pattern in one. Five individuals died in early or late childhood. Conclusion: Detailed clinical characterization of 11 individuals from six unrelated families demonstrates that rare biallelic GRM7 pathogenic variants can cause DEEs, microcephaly, hypomyelination, and cerebral atrophy. © 2020 The Authors. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc on behalf of American Neurological Association

Encouraging female entrepreneurship in Jordan: environmental factors, obstacles and challenges

The number of female entrepreneurs and their contribution to the economy is steadily rising. Yet research suggests that female entrepreneurs face more challenges and barriers than their male counterparts. This is expected to be even more prevalent in Islamic contexts, which are characterised by conservative and patriarchal societies. In this research, 254 female business students from a private and a public university responded to a questionnaire that gauges their perceptions about potential barriers to entrepreneurship in Jordan and whether the business education they are receiving helps to prepare them for future entrepreneurial activity. Our results help to form a basis on which a deeper understanding of the phenomena can be achieved through more in depth future research. Among the main environmental factors that worry potential female entrepreneurs are the weakness of Jordanian economy, lack of finance, fear of risk, gender inequality and inability to maintain a work and private life balance. Our results also show that students are really not aware of the opportunities available to them and are unable to make a proper assessment. We call on both universities and the Jordanian government to put more emphasis on practical entrepreneurial education and encouraging women to play a much more active role within the workforce

Ecological indicators to capture the effects of fishing on biodiversityand conservation status of marine ecosystems

IndiSeas (“Indicators for the Seas”) is a collaborative international working group that was established in2005 to evaluate the status of exploited marine ecosystems using a suite of indicators in a comparative framework. An initial shortlist of seven ecological indicators was selected to quantify the effects of fishing on the broader ecosystem using several criteria (i.e., ecological meaning, sensitivity to fishing, data avail-ability, management objectives and public awareness). The suite comprised: (i) the inverse coefficient of variation of total biomass of surveyed species, (ii) mean fish length in the surveyed community, (iii)mean maximum life span of surveyed fish species, (iv) proportion of predatory fish in the surveyed community, (v) proportion of under and moderately exploited stocks, (vi) total biomass of surveyed species,and (vii) mean trophic level of the landed catch. In line with the Nagoya Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2011–2020), we extended this suite to emphasize the broader biodiversity and conservation risks in exploited marine ecosystems. We selected a subset of indicators from a list of empirically based candidate biodiversity indicators initially established based on ecological significance to complement the original IndiSeas indicators. The additional selected indicators were: (viii) mean intrinsic vulnerability index of the fish landed catch, (ix) proportion of non-declining exploited species in the surveyed community, (x) catch-based marine trophic index, and (xi) mean trophic level of the surveyed community. Despite the lack of data in some ecosystems, we also selected (xii) mean trophic level of the modelled community, and (xiii) proportion of discards in the fishery as extra indicators. These additional indicators were examined, along with the initial set of IndiSeas ecological indicators, to evaluate whether adding new biodiversity indicators provided useful additional information to refine our under-standing of the status evaluation of 29 exploited marine ecosystems. We used state and trend analyses,and we performed correlation, redundancy and multivariate tests. Existing developments in ecosystem-based fisheries management have largely focused on exploited species. Our study, using mostly fisheries independent survey-based indicators, highlights that biodiversity and conservation-based indicators are complementary to ecological indicators of fishing pressure. Thus, they should be used to provide additional information to evaluate the overall impact of fishing on exploited marine ecosystems

Ecological indicators to capture the effects of fishing on biodiversityand conservation status of marine ecosystems

IndiSeas (“Indicators for the Seas”) is a collaborative international working group that was established in2005 to evaluate the status of exploited marine ecosystems using a suite of indicators in a comparative framework. An initial shortlist of seven ecological indicators was selected to quantify the effects of fishing on the broader ecosystem using several criteria (i.e., ecological meaning, sensitivity to fishing, data avail-ability, management objectives and public awareness). The suite comprised: (i) the inverse coefficient of variation of total biomass of surveyed species, (ii) mean fish length in the surveyed community, (iii)mean maximum life span of surveyed fish species, (iv) proportion of predatory fish in the surveyed community, (v) proportion of under and moderately exploited stocks, (vi) total biomass of surveyed species,and (vii) mean trophic level of the landed catch. In line with the Nagoya Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2011–2020), we extended this suite to emphasize the broader biodiversity and conservation risks in exploited marine ecosystems. We selected a subset of indicators from a list of empirically based candidate biodiversity indicators initially established based on ecological significance to complement the original IndiSeas indicators. The additional selected indicators were: (viii) mean intrinsic vulnerability index of the fish landed catch, (ix) proportion of non-declining exploited species in the surveyed community, (x) catch-based marine trophic index, and (xi) mean trophic level of the surveyed community. Despite the lack of data in some ecosystems, we also selected (xii) mean trophic level of the modelled community, and (xiii) proportion of discards in the fishery as extra indicators. These additional indicators were examined, along with the initial set of IndiSeas ecological indicators, to evaluate whether adding new biodiversity indicators provided useful additional information to refine our under-standing of the status evaluation of 29 exploited marine ecosystems. We used state and trend analyses,and we performed correlation, redundancy and multivariate tests. Existing developments in ecosystem-based fisheries management have largely focused on exploited species. Our study, using mostly fisheries independent survey-based indicators, highlights that biodiversity and conservation-based indicators are complementary to ecological indicators of fishing pressure. Thus, they should be used to provide additional information to evaluate the overall impact of fishing on exploited marine ecosystems

Review of Dental Impression Materials

Major advances in impression materials and their application have occurred during the last decade, with greater emphasis being placed on rubber impression materials than on dental compound, zinc oxide-eugenol, and agar and alginate. Of particular interest has been the effect of disinfection solutions on the qualities of impressions and the biocompatibility of impression materials. The principal advance in hydrocolloids has been the introduction of the agar/alginate impression technique, which has simplified the procedure and improved the quality of gypsum dies compared with those prepared in alginate impressions. The tear strength of some alginates has been improved, and some have been formulated so that the powder is dustless, thus reducing the health hazard as a result of patient inhalation of dust during the dispensing process. Polyether and silicone impression materials have been modified so that the working time, viscosity, and flexibility of the polyethers have been improved and, with the introduction of addition silicones, their accuracy has become exceptional. Although the early addition silicones liberated hydrogen after setting, thus delaying the pouring of models and dies, most addition silicones have been improved so that no hydrogen is released and dies can be poured immediately. The introduction of automatic mixing systems for addition silicones has simplified their manipulation, has reduced the number of voids in impressions, and has reduced the amount of material wasted. The incorporation of surfactants into addition silicones has made them hydrophilic, with wetting properties similar to those of polyethers, and has made pouring bubble-free gypsum dies easier. This review is confined to published and unpublished information of the past decade. It will also suggest trends that should be anticipated in the near future based on this information. The review will not present information developed before 1975, which is available in several textbooks on dental materials by Craig (1985a), Phillips (1982), and Williams and Cunningham (1979).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66604/2/10.1177_08959374880020012001.pd

Highway infrastructure and building information modelling in UK

Traditional methods of design are becoming less relevant and prevalent, due to institutionalising of Building Information Modelling (BIM) within statutory regulations and the huge amount of data that BIM presents to practice; especially in 3D models. This can be seen in the A1 Dishforth-to-Barton road infrastructure improvement scheme which comprises the A1 Dishforth-to-Leeming and A1 Leeming-to-Barton schemes. The traditional method of design was central to the A1 Dishforth-to-Leeming scheme and BIM central to the A1 Leeming-to-Barton scheme. So this report presents a comparative study of the traditional and BIM methods in relation to the A1 Dishforth-to-Barton improvement scheme through the perception of key professionals involved in this project. A qualitative research study was conducted through the use of an open-ended questionnaire intended to bridge gaps in perceptions and understanding of both methods. Judgemental sampling technique was used to select experienced respondents who understand and participated in the A1 Dishforth-to-Barton road infrastructure improvement scheme. The study reveals an incontrovertible complementary nature of both methods and that the realisation of the 2016 mandate appears doubtful due to lack of standardization, training and level of awareness. It is highly recommended that a statutory incentivization framework for BIM be conceptualised and considered for implementation to attract and encourage small scale participants. Of high priority is the subsidization of in-house training by local authorities and localized joint ventures by smaller companies for specialist training