Photo 3D technology applied to e-Learning tools production for animal biology

[EN] The teachers from the Biology Department of the University of Lille have been developing for the last two years, a digitalization program of naturalist collections. This project aims to preserve this scientific heritage and to use it for animal and plant biology teaching. Specimens are digitalized by a photo 3D capture system, that produces a 360° and/or hemispheric images of the objects starting from high-resolution pictures. Based on the use of this particular imaging technology, teachers realized multimedia eBooks and a series of files “at the glance“ for practical works in animal biology for Bachelor students in Life Sciences. These supports, enriched by graphic complements, texts, legends and interactive animations, are available on the pedagogic platform Moodle. These digital tools are viewable on computers and can be handled on smartphones and tablets for a nomad utilisation. Students generally consider these supports useful for learning and they consult these resources before, during and after the practical sessions. This distance-learning approach gives the students a complete autonomy for practical session preparation and reviews. The innovative tools here presented constitute a useful learning complement to classical academic lectures in animal biology.The project “Mammal teeth and diets“ is funded by UNISCIEL (Université des Sciences en ligne, http://www.unisciel.fr).Sautière, P.; Delbende, C.; Deleplanque, B.; Mikolajczyk, B.; Vizioli, J. (2019). Photo 3D technology applied to e-Learning tools production for animal biology. En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 921-928. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9225OCS92192

Nurses’ Contacts and Potential for Infectious Disease Transmission

These data can help predict staff availability and provide information for pandemic preparedness planning

Household Responses to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009–related School Closures, Perth, Western Australia

Results from closures will determine the appropriateness and efficacy of this mitigation measure

Influence of Contact Definitions in Assessment of the Relative Importance of Social Settings in Disease Transmission Risk

BACKGROUND: Realistic models of disease transmission incorporating complex population heterogeneities require input from quantitative population mixing studies. We use contact diaries to assess the relative importance of social settings in respiratory pathogen spread using three measures of person contact hours (PCH) as proxies for transmission risk with an aim to inform bipartite network models of respiratory pathogen transmission. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Our survey examines the contact behaviour for a convenience sample of 65 adults, with each encounter classified as occurring in a work, retail, home, social, travel or "other" setting. The diary design allows for extraction of PCH-interaction (cumulative time in face-face conversational or touch interaction with contacts)--analogous to the contact measure used in several existing surveys--as well as PCH-setting (product of time spent in setting and number of people present) and PCH-reach (product of time spent in setting and number of people in close proximity). Heterogeneities in day-dependent distribution of risk across settings are analysed using partitioning and cluster analyses and compared between days and contact measures. Although home is typically the highest-risk setting when PCH measures isolate two-way interactions, its relative importance compared to social and work settings may reduce when adopting a more inclusive contact measure that considers the number and duration of potential exposure events. CONCLUSIONS: Heterogeneities in location-dependent contact behaviour as measured by contact diary studies depend on the adopted contact definition. We find that contact measures isolating face-face conversational or touch interactions suggest that contact in the home dominates, whereas more inclusive contact measures indicate that home and work settings may be of higher importance. In the absence of definitive knowledge of the contact required to facilitate transmission of various respiratory pathogens, it is important for surveys to consider alternative contact measures

Close Encounters in a Pediatric Ward: Measuring Face-to-Face Proximity and Mixing Patterns with Wearable Sensors

International audienceBackground Nosocomial infections place a substantial burden on health care systems and represent one of the major issues in current public health, requiring notable efforts for its prevention. Understanding the dynamics of infection transmission in a hospital setting is essential for tailoring interventions and predicting the spread among individuals. Mathematical models need to be informed with accurate data on contacts among individuals. Methods and Findings We used wearable active Radio-Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) to detect face-to-face contacts among individuals with a spatial resolution of about 1.5 meters, and a time resolution of 20 seconds. The study was conducted in a general pediatrics hospital ward, during a one-week period, and included 119 participants, with 51 health care workers, 37 patients, and 31 caregivers. Nearly 16,000 contacts were recorded during the study period, with a median of approximately 20 contacts per participants per day. Overall, 25% of the contacts involved a ward assistant, 23% a nurse, 22% a patient, 22% a caregiver, and 8% a physician. The majority of contacts were of brief duration, but long and frequent contacts especially between patients and caregivers were also found. In the setting under study, caregivers do not represent a significant potential for infection spread to a large number of individuals, as their interactions mainly involve the corresponding patient. Nurses would deserve priority in prevention strategies due to their central role in the potential propagation paths of infections. Conclusions Our study shows the feasibility of accurate and reproducible measures of the pattern of contacts in a hospital setting. The obtained results are particularly useful for the study of the spread of respiratory infections, for monitoring critical patterns, and for setting up tailored prevention strategies. Proximity-sensing technology should be considered as a valuable tool for measuring such patterns and evaluating nosocomial prevention strategies in specific settings

Effet de traitements au GnRHa et au pimozide sur le rythme des ovulations et la qualité des œufs chez l'omble chevalier (Salvelinus alpinus) à 5 et 10 °C

International audienceThe effectiveness of different gonadotropin releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa) and/or pimozide for inducing ovulation in Arctic charr was investigated at two different temperatures : 5 degrees C, a temperature suitable for spontaneous ovulation in Arctic charr and 10 degrees C, a temperature which inhibited ovulation in Arctic charr. At 5 degrees C all the different GnRH analogues tested were able to induce and synchronize ovulation. At 10 degrees C a sustained release preparation of D-tryptophan(6) luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (D-Trp(6)LH-RH) at 20 mu g.kg(-1) and an acute release preparation of D-arginine(6)salmon GnRH (D-Arg(6) sGnRH) at 100 mu g.kg(-1) were able to induce ovulation in 80% of the females within 15 days (versus 2% in controls). Pimozide alone or in combination with a low dose of D-Arg(6)sGnRH was able to induce some ovulation at 10 degrees C, suggesting that a dopamine inhibition of gonadotropin secretion could occur at 10 degrees C. Egg survival in groups receiving GnRHa at 5 degrees C was comparable to controls (73%) except in the group receiving GnRHa in combination with pimozide (45%). At 10 degrees C, egg survival was significantly lower than controls at 5 degrees C, except for the group receiving pimozide alone. At both temperatures, egg survivals of each spawn were negatively correlated with the plasma gonadotropin (GtH2) level of the reproducing females except in groups receiving a sustained release preparation of D-Trp(6)LH-RH.L'efficacité de différents analogues du GnRH et/ou du pimozide pour induire l'ovulation chez l'omble chevalier est étudié à deux températures : 5 °C, une température propice pour l'ovulation spontanée de l'omble chevalier et 10 °C, une température inhibant l'ovulation chez l'omble chevalier. A 5 °C tous les différents analogues du GnRH étudiés sont capables d'induire et de synchroniser les ovulations. A 10 °C, une préparation à diffusion prolongée du D-Trp6LH-RH à 20 μg.kg−1 et une forme à diffusion instantanée du D-Arg6sGnRH à 100 μg.kg−1 sont capables d'induire l'ovulation chez 80 % des femelles en une quinzaine de jours (contre 2 % chez les témoins). Le pimozide seul ou associé à une faible dose de D-Arg6sGnRH est capable d'induire quelques ovulations à 10 °C, suggèrant qu'une inhibition de type dopaminergique de la sécrétion gonadotrope puisse se produire à 10 °C. La survie des œufs provenant des poissons traités au GnRHa à 5 °C est comparable à celle des témoins (73 %), excepté dans le groupe des poissons traités avec du GnRHa associé à du pimozide (45 %). A 10 °C, la survie des œufs est significativement inférieure à celle des témoins à 5 °C, sauf dans le groupe de poissons traités uniquement au pimozide. Aux deux températures, la survie des œufs de chaque ponte est corrélée négativement avec la teneur en gonadotropine plasmatique de la femelle génitrice (valeur maximale observée dans les quatre jours suivant le traitement), sauf dans les groupes recevant la préparation à diffusion prolongée du D-Trp6LH-RH

Nicotine stimulated GtH2 secretion in vivo in male common carp (

Nicotine injected intravenously or on pituitary in vivo stimulated maturational gonadotropin (GtH2) secretion in domperidone (D-2 receptor antagonist) pretreated carps. The effective dose was 1 mg·kg−1 and 100 μg·kg−1, respectively. No stimulatory effects of nicotine were observed in normal (non-treated) carps. When nicotine was injected together with gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs (D-Arg6 sGnRH or D-Ala6 LHRH) a clear potentiation effect of nicotine on GnRH analogs' action was observed. This potentiation was seen even in normal fish where nicotine itself had no effect on GtH2 release. A synergism between nicotine and GnRH analogs appeared when low doses of GnRH analogs were used. In domperidone pretreated fish, this synergism occurred after injection of 1 μg·kg−1 of sGnRHa. In normal fish, the same phenomenon was observed after injection of 5 μg·kg−1 of sGnRHa or 20 μg·kg−1 of LHRHa. Higher doses of GnRH analogs mask this effect. Results confirm previous in vitro findings on the stimulatory action of nicotine on GtH2 secretion. They also indicate a possible synergy between nicotine and GnRH as well as an inhibitory influence of dopamine on nicotine's action

Temperature effects along the reproductive axis during spawning induction of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

International audienceFor grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) raised in the Ivory Coast (with water temperatures of 26-31degreesC), induced spawning is obligatory for fry production. However, ovulation rates following hormonal treatment are often low. We hypothesized that high temperatures are an inhibiting factor for the reproductive axis (brain-pituitary-gonad) in these conditions. By in vivo and in vitro experiments, we tried to determine the thermosensitive steps during spawning induction. We compared gonadotropin and maturation-inducing steroid (MIS) profiles during a spawning induction at controlled temperatures of 24 and 28degreesC in relation to ovulation success. We performed pituitary cell cultures and ovarian fragment incubations at controlled temperatures. The ovulation rate was lower at 28degreesC (10%) than at 24degreesC (36%). At the pituitary level, we found only minor thermal impacts on GnRH-stimulated LH release, but our data suggest an increase of the dopaminergic inhibition by high temperatures. The main effects were found at the ovary level, where ovary responsiveness to gonadotropin by MIS synthesis was disturbed, as well as oocyte responsiveness to MIS triggering final maturation,. and probably ovulation. These results show the importance of regulating temperature during spawning induction to ensure a high rate of ovulation

Disruption of the secretion and action of 17,20 beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one in response to a rise in temperature in the Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus. Consequences on oocyte maturation and ovulation

Plasma levels of 17,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20βP), and the timing of ovulation were investigated in female Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) reared at 5 °C and at 10 °C during the pre-spawning period. The effects of switching from 5 to 10 °C, and from 10 to 5 °C were also investigated. 17,20βP plasma levels were higher at 5 °C than at 10 °C. A switch from 10 to 5 °C stimulated 17,20βP secretion, whereas a switch from 5 to 10 °C had the opposite effect. Ovulation occurred spontaneously in the females kept at 5 °C, and in those switched from 10 to 5 °C. In contrast, ovulation was inhibited in females reared at 10 °C, and in those switched from 5 to 10 °C. Oocyte maturation at 5 °C and at 10 °C in the presence of LH or of 17,20βP was also investigated in vitro using donor females reared at 5 or 10 °C. Both LH and 17,20βP stimulated oocyte maturation more effectively in oocytes incubated at 5 °C than at 10 °C. At both incubation temperatures, the rearing temperature of the donor females had a significant impact on their responsiveness to LH stimulation, but had no effect on their responsiveness to 17,20βP stimulation. In addition to the inhibition of LH secretion, which had already been reported, the results reported here show that in Arctic charr raising the temperature above the physiological range reduces both follicular responsiveness to LH stimulation and the sensitivity of oocytes to 17,20βP stimulation