Ante-mortem and Post-mortem Inspection and Relationship between Findings in a North Albanian Pig Slaughterhouse

Simple Summary In European Union abattoirs, the safety of meat is dependent on the favorable opinion from an official veterinarian, in accordance with the current legislation. From this perspective, the feedback generated from the ante-mortem visit and the post-mortem inspection can be investigated to control the health and welfare conditions of the animals in the pre-slaughter phases. From this perspective, we evaluated the ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection outcomes of slaughtered pigs in northern Albania and correlated the results in order to gain insight into the conditions and injuries of pigs slaughtered outside the European context and to extend knowledge on the possible relationship between ante-mortem and post-mortem relief. Dyspnea and tail, skin, and ear lesions were the most frequently observed conditions before slaughter, while pleuritis, pneumonia, liver alterations, white spots on the liver, and pericarditis were the most frequent lesions after slaughter. A significant increase in the total number of post-mortem findings was also observed as the number of ante-mortem findings increased. Overall, the prevalence of the findings observed in this study falls within the broad range of the data in the literature, but additional information should be collected during meat inspection so as to better understand the relationship between ante- and post-mortem outcomes. In June 2014, Albania was granted EU candidate status, thus starting a process of compliance with the membership criteria. In this context, a modern meat inspection approach in line with the European legislation was applied to a pig slaughterhouse in northern Albania in order to investigate the ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM) conditions and the relationship between these findings. For this purpose, 3930 pigs divided into 35 batches were evaluated over a 3-month period. The most frequent AM conditions recorded were tail lesions and dyspnea (9.1%), followed by skin (8.9%) and ear lesions (8.5%), while in the PM inspections, pleuritis was the most frequently observed condition (10.2%), followed by pneumonia (8.5%), liver alterations (5.7%), milk spot liver (3.8%), and pericarditis (3.3%). With the exception of liver alterations, the other PM lesions mentioned were positively associated with lesions on the ears (OR = 1.036; p < 0.001) and skin (OR = 1.026; p = 0.011) and dyspnea (OR = 1.021; p = 0.005), confirming the link between these variables and the health and welfare conditions of pigs on farms. Overall, the evidence that emerged from this Albanian slaughterhouse can be considered in line with other European contexts, especially in light of the considerable variability in the data present in the literature

REGARD SUR LES CRITIQUES DES TRADUCTIONS D’EN ATTENDANT LE VOTE DES BÊTES SAUVAGES ET D’ALLAH N’EST PAS OBLIGÉ D’AHMADOU KOUROUMA

Dans le présent article, l’auteure examine les critiques portées à la traduction des auteurs africains sub-sahariens, en particulier, Ahmadou Kourouma, écrivain emblématique, connu pour son style unique et son usage particulier des langues. L’analyse critique des traductions de ses deux romans révèle deux approches à la traduction des oeuvres littéraires des écrivains de l’Afrique sub-saharienne postcoloniale : l’approche de normalisation qui domine la traduction des oeuvres littéraires minoritaires vers les canons littéraires dominantes selon l’étude de Batchelor (2009), et l’approche de décolonisation des pratiques de traduction qui renforce les marques de visibilité des langues minoritaires. Nous soutenons l’idée que la critique de Schaefer sur les deux traductions anglaises d’En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages de Kourouma (la traduction de Carrol Croates et celle de Frank Wynne) s’inscrit dans l’approche de décolonisation. De son côté, Stemeers présente des arguments en faveur des stratégies de normalisation employées par Frank Wynne dans la traduction anglaise d’Allah n’est pas obligé. Or, sur quelles bases théoriques fondent-elles leurs critiques ? Quels éléments des traductions forment l’objet de leurs critiques et quelles en sont les limites ? Ces quelques points constituent le point de départ pour notre réflexion

Subclinical myocardial injury, coagulopathy, and inflammation in COVID-19: A meta-analysis of 41,013 hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND: Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus can lead to myocardial injury, evidenced by increases in specific biomarkers and imaging. OBJECTIVE: To quantify the association between biomarkers of myocardial injury, coagulation, and severe COVID-19 and death in hospitalized patients. METHODS: Studies were identified through a systematic search of indexed articles in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus, published between December 2019 to August 2021. Effect estimates from individual studies for association between markers of myocardial injury (Troponin), myocardial stretch (N-terminal-pro hormone BNP, NT-proBNP), and coagulopathy (D-Dimer) and death or severe/critical COVID-19 were pooled using inverse variance weighted random-effects model. Odds Ratios (OR), Hazard Ratios (HR), and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) were pooled separately and reported by outcomes of critical/severe COVID-19 and death. A meta-analysis of proportions was also performed to summarize the pooled prevalence of co-morbidities in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. RESULTS: We included 62 articles, with a total of 41,013 patients. The pooled proportion of patients with history of hypertension was 39% (95% CI: 34-44%); diabetes, 21% (95% CI: 18%-24%); coronary artery disease, 13% (95% CI: 10-16%); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 7% (95% CI: 5-8%); and history of cancer, 5% (95% CI: 4-7%). Elevated troponin was associated with higher pooled odds of critical/severe COVID-19 and death [Odds Ratio (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.42-2.16)]; and also separately for death (OR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.32-2.25), and critical/severe COVID-1919 (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.45-2.40). Elevations in NT-proBNP were also associated with higher severe COVID-19 and death (OR: 3.00, 95% CI: 1.58-5.70). Increases in D-dimer levels was also significantly associated with critical/severe COVID-19 and death (pooled OR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.07-1.79). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis synthesizes existing evidence showing that myocardial injury, and coagulopathy are complications of COVID-19. The durability of these complications and their contributions to long-term cardiac implications of the disease is still being investigated. Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 may benefit from minimally invasive assessment for markers of myocardial injury, stretch and coagulopathy for early risk stratification purposes