Livestock trade network: potential for disease transmission and implications for risk-based surveillance on the island of Mayotte

The island of Mayotte is a department of France, an outermost region of the European Union located in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the coast of Eastern Africa. Due to its close connection to the African mainland and neighbouring islands, the island is under constant threat of introduction of infectious diseases of both human and animal origin. Here, using social network analysis and mathematical modelling, we assessed potential implications of livestock movements between communes in Mayotte for risk-based surveillance. Our analyses showed that communes in the central region of Mayotte acted as a hub in the livestock movement network. The majority of livestock movements occurred between communes in the central region and from communes in the central region to those in the outer region. Also, communes in the central region were more likely to be infected earlier than those in the outer region when the spread of an exotic infectious disease was simulated on the livestock movement network. The findings of this study, therefore, suggest that communes in the central region would play a major role in the spread of infectious diseases via livestock movements, which needs to be considered in the design of risk-based surveillance systems in Mayotte

Exploring pig trade patterns to inform the design of risk-based disease surveillance and control strategies

An understanding of the patterns of animal contact networks provides essential information for the design of risk-based animal disease surveillance and control strategies. This study characterises pig movements throughout England and Wales between 2009 and 2013 with a view to characterising spatial and temporal patterns, network topology and trade communities. Data were extracted from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)’s RADAR (Rapid Analysis and Detection of Animal-related Risks) database, and analysed using descriptive and network approaches. A total of 61,937,855 pigs were moved through 872,493 movements of batches in England and Wales during the 5-year study period. Results show that the network exhibited scale-free and small-world topologies, indicating the potential for diseases to quickly spread within the pig industry. The findings also provide suggestions for how risk-based surveillance strategies could be optimised in the country by taking account of highly connected holdings, geographical regions and time periods with the greatest number of movements and pigs moved, as these are likely to be at higher risk for disease introduction. This study is also the first attempt to identify trade communities in the country, information which could be used to facilitate the pig trade and maintain disease-free status across the country in the event of an outbreak

mCCDcl1 cells show Plasticity Consistent with the Ability to Transition between Principal and Intercalated Cells

The cortical collecting duct of the mammalian kidney plays a critical role in the regulation of body volume, sodium pH, and osmolarity and is composed of two distinct cells types, principal cells and intercalated cells. Each cell type is detectable in the kidney by the localization of specific transport proteins such as aquaporin 2 (Aqp2) and epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) in principal cells and V-ATPase B1 and connexin 30 (Cx30) in intercalated cells. mCCD cl1 cells have been widely used as a mouse principal cell line on the basis of their physiological characteristics. In this study, the mCCD cl1 parental cell line and three sublines cloned from isolated single cells (Ed1, Ed2, and Ed3) were grown on filters to assess their transepithelial resistance, transepithelial voltage, equivalent short circuit current and expression of the cell-specific markers Aqp2, ENaC, V-ATPaseB1, and Cx30. The parental mCCD cl1 cell line presented amiloride-sensitive electrogenic sodium transport indicative of principal cell function; however, immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR showed that some cells expressed the intercalated cell-specific markers V-ATPase B1 and Cx30, including a subset of cells also positive for Aqp2 and ENaC. The three subclonal lines contained cells that were positive for both intercalated and principal cell-specific markers. The vertical transmission of both principal and intercalated cell characteristics via single cell cloning reveals the plasticity of mCCD cl1 cells and a direct lineage relationship between these two physiologically important cell types and is consistent with mCCDcl1 cells being precursor cells. </p

Meeting the mammography screening needs of underserved women: the performance of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program in 2002–2003 (United States)

OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (Program) has helped to meet the mammography screening needs of underserved women. METHODS: Low-income, uninsured women aged 40–64 are eligible for free mammography screening through the Program. We used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to estimate the number of women eligible for services. We obtained the number of women receiving Program-funded mammograms from the Program. We then calculated the percentage of eligible women who received mammograms through the Program. RESULTS: In 2002–2003, of all U.S. women aged 40–64, approximately 4 million (8.5%) had no health insurance and had a family income below 250% of the federal poverty level, meeting Program eligibility criteria. Of these women, 528,622 (13.2%) received a Program-funded mammogram. Rates varied substantially by race and ethnicity. The percentage of eligible women screened in each state ranged from about 2% to approximately 79%. CONCLUSIONS: Although the Program provided screening services to over a half-million low-income, uninsured women for mammography, it served a small percentage of those eligible. Given that in 2003 more than 2.3 million uninsured, low-income, women aged 40–64 did not receive recommended mammograms from either the Program or other sources, there remains a substantial need for services for this historically underserved population

mTOR signalling, embryogenesis and the control of lung development

The existence of a nutrient sensitive “autocatakinetic” regulator of embryonic tissue growth has been hypothesised since the early 20th century, beginning with pioneering work on the determinants of foetal size by the Australian physiologist, Thorburn Brailsford-Robertson. We now know that the mammalian target of rapamycin complexes (mTORC1 and 2) perform this essential function in all eukaryotic tissues by balancing nutrient and energy supply during the first stages of embryonic cleavage, the formation of embryonic stem cell layers and niches, the highly specified programmes of tissue growth during organogenesis and, at birth, paving the way for the first few breaths of life. This review provides a synopsis of the role of the mTOR complexes in each of these events, culminating in an analysis of lung branching morphogenesis as a way of demonstrating the central role mTOR in defining organ structural complexity. We conclude that the mTOR complexes satisfy the key requirements of a nutrient sensitive growth controller and can therefore be considered as Brailsford-Robertson's autocatakinetic centre that drives tissue growth programmes during foetal development

Using Drugs to Probe the Variability of Trans-Epithelial Airway Resistance

BACKGROUND:Precision medicine aims to combat the variability of the therapeutic response to a given medicine by delivering the right medicine to the right patient. However, the application of precision medicine is predicated on a prior quantitation of the variance of the reference range of normality. Airway pathophysiology provides a good example due to a very variable first line of defence against airborne assault. Humans differ in their susceptibility to inhaled pollutants and pathogens in part due to the magnitude of trans-epithelial resistance that determines the degree of epithelial penetration to the submucosal space. This initial 'set-point' may drive a sentinel event in airway disease pathogenesis. Epithelia differentiated in vitro from airway biopsies are commonly used to model trans-epithelial resistance but the 'reference range of normality' remains problematic. We investigated the range of electrophysiological characteristics of human airway epithelia grown at air-liquid interface in vitro from healthy volunteers focusing on the inter- and intra-subject variability both at baseline and after sequential exposure to drugs modulating ion transport. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Brushed nasal airway epithelial cells were differentiated at air-liquid interface generating 137 pseudostratified ciliated epithelia from 18 donors. A positively-skewed baseline range exists for trans-epithelial resistance (Min/Max: 309/2963 Ω·cm2), trans-epithelial voltage (-62.3/-1.8 mV) and calculated equivalent current (-125.0/-3.2 μA/cm2; all non-normal, P<0.001). A minority of healthy humans manifest a dramatic amiloride sensitivity to voltage and trans-epithelial resistance that is further discriminated by prior modulation of cAMP-stimulated chloride transport. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Healthy epithelia show log-order differences in their ion transport characteristics, likely reflective of their initial set-points of basal trans-epithelial resistance and sodium transport. Our data may guide the choice of the background set point in subjects with airway diseases and frame the reference range for the future delivery of precision airway medicine

Nonverbal cue perception and social competence in children with symptoms of AD/HD

Bibliography: p. 51-60