Novel saliva biomarkers for stress and infection in pigs : Changes in oxytocin and procalcitonin in pigs with tail-biting lesions

There is a need for feasible and reliable measures to improve and evaluate production animal health and welfare. Oxytocin is a promising novel stress-related biomarker and procalcitonin may be a measure of sepsis. Both have potential for use in pigs and can be measured from saliva, which allows on-farm sampling with minimal impact on the animals. The current study sought to further validate these measures using a spontaneous situation that causes both stress and an increased risk for infections in pigs, namely a tail-biting outbreak. Grower pigs on a commercial farm belonging to three different phenotype groups were selected: control pigs from control pens (CC, N = 30), control pigs (CTB, N = 10), and pigs with tail lesions from pens with a tail-biting outbreak (LTB, N = 27). A single sample of saliva was collected from each pig and analysed for a range of biomarkers related to stress, infection, inflammation, and immune activation. Oxytocin tended to be higher in CC pigs than in LTB pigs, while cortisol was higher in CTB than CC pigs. Procalcitonin tended to be higher, and haptoglobin was higher in LTB than in CC pigs. Adenosine-deaminase levels were similar between phenotypes. These results provide further evidence for the link between stress and tail biting, and indicate that tail-biting lesions are potential routes for systemic spread of bacteria. Further research into saliva oxytocin as a stress biomarker and saliva procalcitonin as a sepsis biomarker in pigs is warranted.Peer reviewe

Automatic adaptation decision making in the MPEG-21 framework: mechanisms and complementary description tools

This paper explains an effective mechanism to make automatic multimedia adaptation decisions within the MPEG-21 framework. The paper analyzes some difficulties for the implementation of automatic decision with the current MPEG-21 description schema. Subsequently, the paper proposes some improvements to the MPEG-21 description schema to address these difficulties. To demonstrate these improvements, the current implementation of the CAIN-21 framework is explained and several experiments are reporte

Mobile Usability: An Experiment to Check Whether Current Mobile Devices are Ready to Support Frames and iFrames

Frames have traditionally been identified as a usability issue in websites for computers. Literature points out that they may also be a problem for mobile websites but no studies have been carried out to prove it. Since mobile devices have changed a lot in recent years, it is necessary to check whether frames are still a problem for those devices. In this paper we have performed an experiment with twenty-two mobile devices, to test whether the content can be showed in their browsers, as well as their behavior with different configuration of frames and iframes and whether behavior of bookmarks and the back button is correct or not. The results show that frames and iframes should be avoided in mobile devices because they can cause many problems, which are explained in detail in this paper

An Analysis Of The Temporal Evolution Of Agrarian Prices

At the end of 2007 and principles of 2008 took place the greater nourishing crisis of the last decades. This crisis was caused by a spectacular increase in the prices of some agricultural raw materials and in the costs of the agrarian production. Since the end of 2008 the prices of the agricultural raw materials have decreased with similar intensity as when they raised. In the upward period, the increases of prices quickly were moved to the final consumer prices without great impact in the farmer’s income but when the prices decreased they do not allow seeing so fast in the final consumers prices. In this paper, we analyse the evolution of the agricultural activity results over the last years. In order to do so, we consider the prices of agricultural raw materials and products made with these, without forgetting the production costs. This study analyses the evolution of: the differential between the producer (farmer and stockman) prices and the prices charged for agrarian products to the final consumers and the differential between the producer price and the production cost

Sobreexplotación del acuífero del Valle de Toluca y su incidencia en el medio ambiente

El agua es uno de los recursos naturales más importantes para el hombre y las diferentes actividades antrópicas (agrícola, urbana e industrial) han generado un uso incontrolado de este recurso. A medida que la población aumenta, surge el incremento de la demanda de agua y una extracción intensiva en los acuíferos. De los 653 acuíferos que existen en México, 106 acuíferos están sobreexplotados, entre los cuales se encuentra el Acuífero del Valle de Toluca (AVT) (CONAGUA, 2013). El uso del agua subterránea es la principal fuente de agua potable para la población del Valle de Toluca, lo que ha llevado a dicha sobreexplotación del acuífero y al desarrollo de efectos ambientales negativos, tales como la extinción de zonas húmedas y el agrietamiento del terreno. El AVT se encuentra en la poción central del Altiplano Mexicano, dentro de la cuenca Alta del Río Lerma y cubre un área de 2,768 km2. La altitud va a partir de los 2000 msnm correspondientes a la planicie del valle hasta los 4680 msnm en el Nevado de Toluca (CNA-GTZ, 2008)

Optimizing Lighting in the Workplace and Occupational Risk Prevention through Mobile Applications

Nowadays, there are many problems arising from the exploitation of energy resources and the production and use of energy. This research aims to analyze in which way the development of a mobile application may help on registering the lighting levels from different kind of environments, allowing to manage and assess consumption, comply with current regulations. Furthermore, the application provides information about how to optimize the use of energy and prevent occupational risks resulting from mismanagement. To do this relevant information is stored for the evaluation of the measurements through a rule engine that behaves as an expert system capable of guiding in the decision-making process

Mobile Instant Messaging Apps: Usability Evaluation on iOS and Android Platforms and Recommendations for Developers

With the current growth in the use of smartphone devices, and the large amount of Mobile Instant Messaging applications available in the markets, this co-occurrence makes it highly valuable to evaluate the usability of this kind of applications in order to provide more satisfying user experiences. Within this paper, a systematic usability evaluation of Mobile Instant Messaging applications is presented, which will be applied to both iOS and Android platforms. Based on the results, it is suggested that this type of mobile applications present serious problems in performing tasks, poor user interfaces and lack of information about privacy and security features. Likewise, along with the results, this paper presents a list of usability recommendations to help developers improve their Instant Messaging applications

Diseño de una red de monitoreo del nivel piezométrico mediante el análisis multicriterio

El agua subterránea es un recurso natural vital para el suministro confiable y económico de agua para el consumo humano en zonas urbanas y rurales. De acuerdo con la UNESCO (2009), los sistemas de agua subterránea suministran el 48.23% del agua potable del mundo. Hoy en día, la mitad de las megalópolis del mundo y grandes ciudades en todos los continentes dependen del agua subterránea. El agua subterránea es susceptible a sufrir cambios en su cantidad y calidad, siendo estos cambios frecuentemente procesos muy lentos por lo que necesitan ser monitoreados. El monitoreo de un acuífero es un programa de medición continua y observación de la situación actual del agua subterránea en el espacio y tiempo

Situación legal de la atención farmacéutica en residencias de ancianos en España

Introducción: La mayor esperanza de vida está produciendo un aumento de la población de personas mayores de 65 años. Este grupo de población se caracteriza por un elevado consumo de medicamentos y de asistencia sanitaria, permaneciendo muchos de ellos en centros residenciales donde son cubiertas todas sus necesidades. El perfil farmacoterapéutico de estos pacientes suele ser complejo debido a la polimedicación y a las patologías crónicas que padecen. Es aquí donde entra en juego el papel del farmacéutico a través de servicios asistenciales. El objetivo de esta revisión es analizar la situación legal, a través del estudio de la normativa específica española que regula la atención farmacéutica en centros sociosanitarios. Método: Revisión de la situación legal de la atención farmacéutica en centros sociosanitarios en España Resultados: En España, el marco legal básico se encuentra en el Real Decreto Ley 16/2012 que establece la obligación de tener un servicio de farmacia para los centros sociosanitarios que tengan cien o más camas en régimen de asistidos, mientras que aquellos con menos camas tendrán que tenerlo vinculado a un hospital o a una farmacia. Sin embargo, cada Comunidad Autónoma establece un régimen propio de funcionamiento, a través de su normativa específica. Conclusiones: Existen diferencias en la regulación de los centros sociosanitarios en cuanto a prestaciones, funciones y servicios farmacéuticos correspondiente a cada Comunidad Autónoma. Método: Revisión de la situación legal de la atención farmacéutica en centros sociosanitarios en España Resultados: En España, el marco legal básico se encuentra en el Real Decreto Ley 16/2012 que establece la obligación de tener un servicio de farmacia para los centros de asistencia social que tengan cien o más camas en régimen de asistidos, mientras que aquellos con menos camas tendrán que tenerlo vinculado a un hospital o a una farmacia. Estos servicios de farmacia tienen asignada la atención farmacéutica en estos centros asistenciales. Conclusiones: El desarrollo del régimen particular de estos servicios corresponde a cada Comunidad Autónoma que tiene su propia legislación adaptándola a sus peculiaridades sanitarias y sociales