Genetic variation among lambs in peripheral IgE activity against the larval stages of <i>Teladorsagia circumcincta</i>

IgA and IgE activity against Teladorsagia circumcincta was investigated in a flock of Texel lambs following natural, mixed nematode infection among lambs. The distribution of IgA activity was similar to a gamma distribution whereas IgE activity was different. Box-Cox analysis demonstrated that X0.25 was a suitable transformation to normalise IgE responses. The transformed IgE activity was under moderate to strong genetic control. Nine different allergens were identified by proteomic analysis. Tropomyosin was selected for further analysis. IgE activity against tropomyosin was moderately heritable and associated with decreased egg counts and with reduced body weight at the time of sampling

New Perspectives in Sinographic Language Processing Through the Use of Character Structure

Chinese characters have a complex and hierarchical graphical structure carrying both semantic and phonetic information. We use this structure to enhance the text model and obtain better results in standard NLP operations. First of all, to tackle the problem of graphical variation we define allographic classes of characters. Next, the relation of inclusion of a subcharacter in a characters, provides us with a directed graph of allographic classes. We provide this graph with two weights: semanticity (semantic relation between subcharacter and character) and phoneticity (phonetic relation) and calculate "most semantic subcharacter paths" for each character. Finally, adding the information contained in these paths to unigrams we claim to increase the efficiency of text mining methods. We evaluate our method on a text classification task on two corpora (Chinese and Japanese) of a total of 18 million characters and get an improvement of 3% on an already high baseline of 89.6% precision, obtained by a linear SVM classifier. Other possible applications and perspectives of the system are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, presented at CICLing 201

Black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) from semi-arid rangelands in South Africa harbour Hepatozoon canis and a Theileria species but apparently not Babesia rossi

Despite the importance of disease as a wildlife management challenge in South Africa, baseline data on the epidemiology of pathogens occurring in free-ranging species has received little attention to date. Black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) are a wide-ranging, abundant carnivore with substantial economic importance due to their role in livestock depredation. They are known reservoirs hosts of Babesia rossi, a virulent pathogen in domestic dogs in sub-Saharan Africa. We investigated the prevalence and diversity of tick-borne pathogens (TPBs) including Babesia, Theileria, Hepatozoon, Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species, together with host-attached tick diversity, in a black-backed jackal population from the semi-arid Central Karoo, a small-livestock farming region in South Africa. Using reverse line blot hybridisation, we screened 43 blood samples and sequenced the 18S rRNA gene from positive samples to confirm and characterise pathogen identity using a phylogenetic framework. Hepatozoon canis, a ubiquitous pathogen of domestic and wild canids globally, was observed in 47% of jackals, while a Theileria sp. most similar to T. ovis, a piroplasm found in small livestock, was observed in 5% of jackals. No Babesia, Ehrlichia or Anaplasma species were identified, although a Sarcocystis sp. sequence was isolated from one jackal. Host-attached ticks (n = 20) comprised three species, Amblyomma marmoreum, Haemaphysalis elliptica/zumpti and Ixodes rubicundus, commonly known ticks in the region. In summary, prevalence of TBPs in black-backed jackals from this semi-arid rangeland region was lower than in jackal populations in more mesic regions. These jackals were apparently not infected with B. rossi. While this study is one of the first investigations into the epidemiology of TBPs infecting jackals and adds to the sparse literature, further studies which span landscape uses, climate conditions and seasonality are encouraged.Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, University of Cape Town; Foundational Biodiversity Information Programme, National Research Foundation of South Africa; University of Cape Town Science Faculty Grant and National Research Foundation of South Africa; National Research Foundation Freestanding Masters bursary and Wilderness Wildlife Trust bursary.https://www.elsevier.com/locate/vprsr2022-03-31hj2022Centre for Veterinary Wildlife StudiesVeterinary Tropical Disease

Dyslexia and Developmental Language Disorder : comorbid disorders with distinct effects on reading comprehension

BACKGROUND: Reading comprehension draws on both decoding and linguistic comprehension, and poor reading comprehension can be the consequence of a deficit in either of these skills. METHODS: Using outcome data from the longitudinal Wellcome Language and Reading Project, we identified three groups of children at age 8 years: children with dyslexia (N = 21) who had deficits in decoding but not oral language, children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD; N = 38) whose decoding skills were in the normal range, and children who met criteria for both dyslexia and DLD (N = 29). RESULTS: All three groups had reading comprehension difficulties at the ages of 8 and 9 years relative to TD controls though those of the children with dyslexia were mild (relative to TD controls, d = 0.51 at age 8, d = 0.60 at age 8); while the most severe problems were found in the comorbid dyslexia + DLD group (d = 1.79 at age 8, d = 2.06 at age 9) those with DLD also had significant difficulties (d = 1.56 at age 8, d = 1.56 at age 9). CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm that children with dyslexia or DLD are at-risk for reading comprehension difficulties but for different reasons, because of weak decoding in the case of dyslexia or weak oral language skills in the case of DLD. Different forms of intervention are required for these groups of children, targeted to their particular area(s) of weakness

Elastic electron deuteron scattering with consistent meson exchange and relativistic contributions of leading order

The influence of relativistic contributions to elastic electron deuteron scattering is studied systematically at low and intermediate momentum transfers ($Q^2\leq 30$ fm$^{-2}$). In a $(p/M)$-expansion, all leading order relativistic $\pi$-exchange contributions consistent with the Bonn OBEPQ models are included. In addition, static heavy meson exchange currents including boost terms and lowest order $\rho\pi\gamma$-currents are considered. Sizeable effects from the various relativistic two-body contributions, mainly from $\pi$-exchange, have been found in form factors, structure functions and the tensor polarization $T_{20}$. Furthermore, static properties, viz. magnetic dipole and charge quadrupole moments and the mean square charge radius are evaluated.Comment: 15 pages Latex including 5 figures, final version accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.C Details of changes: (i) The notation of the curves in Figs. 1 and 2 have been clarified with respect to left and right panels. (ii) In Figs. 3 and 4 an experimental point for T_20 has been added and a corresponding reference [48] (iii) At the end of the text we have added a paragraph concerning the quality of the Bonn OBEPQ potential

A study of supercooling of the disordered vortex phase via minor hysteresis loops in 2H-NbSe_2

We report on the observation of novel features in the minor hysteresis loops in a clean crystal of NbSe_2 which displays a peak effect. The observed behavior can be explained in terms of a supercooling of the disordered vortex phase while cooling the superconductor in a field. Also, the extent of spatial order in a flux line lattice formed in ascending fields is different from (and larger than) that in the descending fields below the peak position of the peak effect; this is attributed to unequal degree of annealing of the state induced by a change of field in the two cases.Comment: 5 pages of text + 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Language profiles and literacy outcomes of children with resolving, emerging, or persisting language impairments

Background: Children with language impairment (LI) show heterogeneity in development. We tracked children from pre-school to middle childhood to characterize three developmental trajectories: resolving, persisting and emerging LI. Methods: We analyzed data from children identified as having preschool LI, or being at family risk of dyslexia, together with typically developing controls at three time points: t1 (age 3;09), t3 (5;08) and t5 (8;01). Language measures are reported at t1, t3 and t5, and literacy abilities at t3 and t5. A research diagnosis of LI (irrespective of recruitment group) was validated at t1 by a composite language score derived from measures of receptive and expressive grammar and vocabulary; a score falling 1SD below the mean of the typical language group on comparable measures at t3 and t5 was used to determine whether a child had LI at later time points and then to classify LIs as resolving, persisting or emerging. Results: Persisting preschool LIs were more severe and pervasive than resolving LIs. Language and literacy outcomes were relatively poor for those with persisting LI, and relatively good for those with resolving LI. A significant proportion of children with average language abilities in preschool had LIs that emerged in middle childhood - a high proportion of these children were at family risk of dyslexia. There were more boys in the persisting and resolving LI groups. Children with early LIs which resolved by the start of formal literacy instruction tended to have good literacy outcomes; children with late-emerging difficulties that persisted developed reading difficulties. Conclusions: Children with late-emerging LI are relatively common and are hard to detect in the preschool years. Our findings show that children whose LIs persist to the point of formal literacy instruction frequently experience reading difficulties

Partial-wave analysis of the eta pi+ pi- system produced in the reaction pi-p --> eta pi+ pi- n at 18 GeV/c

A partial-wave analysis of 9082 eta pi+ pi- n events produced in the reaction pi- p --> eta pi+ pi- n at 18.3 GeV/c has been carried out using data from experiment 852 at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The data are dominated by J^{PC} = 0^{-+} partial waves consistent with observation of the eta(1295) and the eta(1440). The mass and width of the eta(1295) were determined to be 1282 +- 5 MeV and 66 +- 13 Mev respectively while the eta(1440) was observed with a mass of 1404 +- 6 MeV and width of 80 +- 21 MeV. Other partial waves of importance include the 1++ and the 1+- waves. Results of the partial wave analysis are combined with results of other experiments to estimate f1(1285) branching fractions. These values are considerably different from current values determined without the aid of amplitude analyses.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure

Breed, age and gender distribution of dogs with chronic hepatitis in the United Kingdom

AbstractStandardised histological criteria are now available for the diagnosis of canine chronic hepatitis (CH). CH is common in dogs, but no studies have reported breed, age and gender distributions in the United Kingdom (UK). The objective of this study was to determine which breeds had an increased risk for developing CH in the UK and to report the age and gender distribution for those breeds. The databases of six veterinary histopathology laboratories were searched for cases with a histological diagnosis of CH according to standardised criteria. The breed, age and gender of dogs was recorded and compared to a control population to calculate the odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals for developing CH.A total of 551 cases of CH were identified, consisting of 61 breeds. Nineteen breeds were represented by five or more cases. Breeds with an increased risk for developing CH included the American cocker spaniel, Cairn terrier, Dalmatian, Dobermann pinscher, English cocker spaniel, English springer spaniel, Great Dane, Labrador retriever and Samoyed. The median age at diagnosis for all breeds with CH was 8years (range 7months to 16years). Dalmatians, Dobermann pinschers and English springer spaniels with CH were significantly younger than Cairn terriers, English cocker spaniels and Labrador retrievers with CH. Females were over-represented when all cases were examined together. In conclusion, several breeds in the UK have an increased risk of CH, some of which have not been previously reported