1,213 research outputs found
Incidence of anthelmintic resistance in cattle farms in Northern Germany – first results
Anthelmintic resistance (AR) is an increasing problem worldwide especially for small ruminants and it is also rising in cattle. To maintain the efficacy of anthelmintics is an important objective. The current project aims at the investigation of the current efficacy of macrocyclic lactone anthelmintics for strongylid nematodes in first season grazing (FSG) calves in Northern Germany. On 8 participating farms in Northern Germany faecal egg count reduction tests (FECRT) with ivermectin (IVM) were performed. On 3 farms the efficacy of IVM was found to be ≤90% and on only 4 farms it was > 95% at 14 days post treatment (d.p.t.). Only 2 farms showed a reduction ≥ 95% at 21 d.p.t.. This survey reveals a rising problem of AR. The problem of drug resistance places the welfare of animals at risk. In organic farming, without a preventive treatment, livestock may harbour high worm counts. Therefore it is necessary to maintain powerful anthelmintic drugs to guarantee the welfare of animals that need salvage treatment. To investigate the AR problem in cattle more surveys with different anthelmintic drug classes are urgently needed
Beyond E11
We study the non-linear realisation of E11 originally proposed by West with
particular emphasis on the issue of linearised gauge invariance. Our analysis
shows even at low levels that the conjectured equations can only be invariant
under local gauge transformations if a certain section condition that has
appeared in a different context in the E11 literature is satisfied. This
section condition also generalises the one known from exceptional field theory.
Even with the section condition, the E11 duality equation for gravity is known
to miss the trace component of the spin connection. We propose an extended
scheme based on an infinite-dimensional Lie superalgebra, called the tensor
hierarchy algebra, that incorporates the section condition and resolves the
above issue. The tensor hierarchy algebra defines a generalised differential
complex, which provides a systematic description of gauge invariance and
Bianchi identities. It furthermore provides an E11 representation for the field
strengths, for which we define a twisted first order self-duality equation
underlying the dynamics.Comment: 97 pages. v2: Minor changes, references added. Published versio
The attentional blink modulates activity in the early visual cortex
The attentional blink (AB) documents a particularly strong case of visual attentional competition, in which subjects' ability to identify a second target (T2) is significantly impaired when it is presented with a short SOA after a first target (T1). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the impact of the AB on visual activity in individually defined retinotopic representations of the target stimuli. Our results show reduction of neural response in V3 and marginally in V2 and V1, paralleling the behavioral AB effect. Reduction of visual activity was accompanied by reduced neural response in the inferior parietal cortex. This indicates that attentional competition modulates activity in higher-order parietal regions and the early visual cortex, providing a plausible neural basis of the behavioral AB effect
Generalised BPS conditions
We write down two E11 invariant conditions which at low levels reproduce the
known half BPS conditions for type II theories. These new conditions contain,
in addition to the familiar central charges, an infinite number of further
charges which are required in an underlying theory of strings and branes. We
comment on the application of this work to higher derivative string
corrections
Pure type I supergravity and DE(10)
We establish a dynamical equivalence between the bosonic part of pure type I
supergravity in D=10 and a D=1 non-linear sigma-model on the Kac-Moody coset
space DE(10)/K(DE(10)) if both theories are suitably truncated. To this end we
make use of a decomposition of DE(10) under its regular SO(9,9) subgroup. Our
analysis also deals partly with the fermionic fields of the supergravity theory
and we define corresponding representations of the generalized spatial Lorentz
group K(DE(10)).Comment: 28 page
E11 and Spheric Vacuum Solutions of Eleven- and Ten dimensional Supergravity Theories
In view of the newly conjectured Kac-Moody symmetries of supergravity
theories placed in eleven and ten dimensions, the relation between these
symmetry groups and possible compactifications are examined. In particular, we
identify the relevant group cosets that parametrise the vacuum solutions of AdS
x S type.Comment: discussion improve
Curvature corrections and Kac-Moody compatibility conditions
We study possible restrictions on the structure of curvature corrections to
gravitational theories in the context of their corresponding Kac--Moody
algebras, following the initial work on E10 in Class. Quant. Grav. 22 (2005)
2849. We first emphasize that the leading quantum corrections of M-theory can
be naturally interpreted in terms of (non-gravity) fundamental weights of E10.
We then heuristically explore the extent to which this remark can be
generalized to all over-extended algebras by determining which curvature
corrections are compatible with their weight structure, and by comparing these
curvature terms with known results on the quantum corrections for the
corresponding gravitational theories.Comment: 27 page
Untersuchungen zur Wirksamkeit von Anthelminthika bei erstsömmrigen Rindern in Europa
Resistance to anthelmintics is a threat to several animal industries world wide. Nevertheless,
the use of effective anthelmintics to control nematode infections in cattle
still remains irreplaceable. Anthelmintic resistance in cattle has been reported in New
Zealand, North and South America and England but so far not in Europe. To be able
to determine the extent of anthelmintic resistance in nematodes of farm animals and to
monitor the success of any resistance management requires reliable tests for the
detection of anthelmintic resistance. One of the objectives of PARASOL, a European
Framework 6 funded project, is to produce standard operating procedures for the
running of a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT). Standardized procedures for
the FECRT have been developed and surveys with injectable ivermectin were then
performed in Germany, Sweden and Belgium in 2006 and 2007. Additional tests using
benzimidazoles were performed in Sweden and Germany in 2007. Furthermore, some
of the refractory strains will be isolated to test whether the phenomena observed in the
field was due to the evolution of anthelmintic resistance
Modelling the effect of malaria endemicity on spatial variations in childhood fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Malawi
BACKGROUND: Co-morbidity with conditions such as fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia is a common phenomenon in tropical Africa. However, little is known about geographical overlaps in these illnesses. Spatial modelling may improve our understanding of the epidemiology of the diseases for efficient and cost-effective control. METHODS: This study assessed subdistrict-specific spatial associations of the three conditions (fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia) in relation to malaria endemicity. We used data from the 2000 Malawi demographic and health survey which captured the history of childhood morbidities 2 weeks prior to the survey date. The disease status of each child in each area was the outcome of interest and was modelled using a trivariate logistic regression model, and incorporated random effects to measure spatial correlation. RESULTS: The risk of fever was positively associated with high and medium malaria endemicity levels relative to low endemicity level, while for diarrhoea and pneumonia we observed marginal positive association at high endemicity level relative to low endemicity level, controlling for confounding covariates and heterogeneity. A positive spatial correlation was found between fever and diarrhoea (r = 0.29); while weak associations were estimated between fever and pneumonia (r = 0.01); and between diarrhoea and pneumonia (r = 0.05). The proportion of structured spatial variation compared to unstructured variation was 0.67 (95% credible interval (CI): 0.31-0.91) for fever, 0.67 (95 % CI: 0.27-0.93) for diarrhoea, and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.62-0.96) for pneumonia. CONCLUSION: The analysis suggests some similarities in subdistrict-specific spatial variation of childhood morbidities of fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia, and might be a result of shared and overlapping risk factors, one of which is malaria endemicity
Burden of asymptomatic malaria among a tribal population in a forested village of central India: a hidden challenge for malaria control in India.
OBJECTIVE: Chhattisgarh in India is a malaria-endemic state with seven southern districts that contributes approximately 50-60% of the reported malaria cases in the state every year. The problem is further complicated due to asymptomatic malaria cases which are largely responsible for persistent transmission. This study was undertaken in one of the forested villages of the Keshkal subdistrict in Kondagaon district to ascertain the proportion of the population harbouring subclinical malarial infections. STUDY DESIGN: Community-based cross-sectional study. METHODS: Mass blood surveys were undertaken of the entire population of the village in the post-monsoon seasons of 2013 and 2014. Fingerprick blood smears were prepared from individuals of all ages to detect malaria infections in their blood. Individuals with fever at the time of the survey were tested with rapid diagnostic tests, and parasitaemia in thick blood smears was confirmed by microscopy. Malaria-positive cases were treated with anti-malarials in accordance with the national drug policy. RESULTS: Peripheral blood smears of 134 and 159 individuals, including children, were screened for malaria infection in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Overall, the malaria slide positivity rates were 27.6% and 27.7% in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and the prevalence rates of asymptomatic malaria were 20% and 22.8%. This study showed that, for two consecutive years, the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection was significantly higher among children aged ?14 years (34.4% and 34.1% for 2013 and 2014, respectively) compared with adults (15.2% and 18.2% for 2013 and 2014, respectively; PÂ =Â 0.023 and 0.04, respectively). CONCLUSION: The number of asymptomatic malaria cases, especially Plasmodium falciparum, is significant, reinforcing the underlying challenge facing the malaria elimination programme in India
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