The Effects of Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 41607 on Salmonella infection and the microbial population in the gastrointestinal tract of the chicken

Salmonellosis is a foodborne disease, poultry and poultry products are the main source of the disease. Many countries including Iraq still use antibiotics to control Salmonella. The increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria putatively caused by the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture has provided the incentive to look for alterna-tives to antibiotic to control diseases in livestock. Lactic acid bacteria with probiotic characteristics have the potential to beneficially affect the gut microflora of chick-ens and help reduce the incidence of Salmonella infection. In this study, Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 41607 was examined in vitro for in-hibitory effects against Salmonella and in vivo for its effects on the gut microflora and on the incidence of Salmonella infection. In separate studies Lb. plantarum was administered to chicks as fermented moist feed (containing 175 mmol/L lactic acid and 1x109 CFU/g of Lb. plantarum), in drinking water or applied to dry feed. Rifampicin resistance was used as a biomarker for the Lb. plantarum NCIMB 41607. Traditional and molecular microbiology including DGGE, RISA, and FISH were used with electron microscopy to assess the effect of Lb. plantarum on bac-terial population in the digestive system of chicks. Lactobacillus plantarum (NCIMB 41607) was found to reduce the growth of Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis by 4 Log CFU/g in a chicken simulated digestive system in vitro. The presence of rifampicine resistant Lactobacillus plantarum in the gut was con-firmed by replica plating and fluorescent in situ hybridisation with a strain specific probe. In general, the bacterial population in the guts of chicks fed Lactobacillus plantarum was more diverse in the guts of chicks fed control feed. There was no significant effect on Salmonella infection in Ross chicks compared with control. However, with specific pathogen free chicks the Salmonella infection was reduced. The intestinal villi lengths in FMF group were increased. These studies demonstrate that probiotics can affect the microflora in the chicken gut. Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 41607 may have the potential to control of Salmonella Typhimurium infection in chicken and continued research is advised.Iraqi ministry of higher education, Baghdad and I

Retrospective study on transmissible viral proventriculitis and chicken proventricular necrosis virus (CPNV) in the UK

Chicken proventricular necrosis virus (CPNV) is a recently described birnavirus, which has been proposed to be the cause of transmissible viral proventriculitis (TVP). The understanding of the epidemiology of both the virus and the disease is very limited. A retrospective investigation on TVP and CPNV in broiler chicken submissions from the UK from between 1994 and 2015 was performed with the aims of assessing the longitudinal temporal evolution of TVP and CPNV, and to review the histological proventricular lesions in the studied chickens. Ninety-nine of the 135 included submissions (73.3%) fulfilled the TVP-diagnostic criteria, while the remaining 36 submissions (26.7%) displayed only lymphocytic proventriculitis (LP). The first detection of CPNV by PCR dated from 2009. Results showed a rise in the number of both TVP and positive CPNV RT-PCR submissions from 2009 with a peak in 2013, suggesting that they may be an emerging or re-emerging disease and pathogen, respectively. Twenty-two out of the 99 submissions displaying TVP lesions (22%) and four out of the 36 (11%) submissions with LP gave positive CPNV RT-PCR results, further supporting the association between CPNV and TVP and confirming that CPNV is present in a low proportion of proventriculi that do not fulfil the TVP-diagnostic criteria. In addition, intranuclear inclusion bodies were observed in 22 of the submissions with TVP. The vast majority of these cases (21 of 22, 96%) gave negative CPNV RT-PCR results, raising the question of whether a virus other than CPNV is responsible for some of these TVP-affected cases.RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSTVP and CPNV have been present in British broilers since at least 1994 and 2009, respectively.TVP and CPNV seem to be an emerging and re-emerging disease and pathogen, respectively.CPNV was detected in proventriculi with both TVP and LP-lesions.Viruses other than CPNV may be responsible for some TVP-affected cases.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Studies on transmissible viral proventriculitis in chickens

La proventriculitis viral transmissible (TVP) és una malaltia infecciosa viral emergent que afecta principalment a les gallines de graella. Es caracteritza per una digestió de l'alimentació deficient, un creixement deficient i una taxa de conversió de l'alimentació deficient, causant pèrdues econòmiques a la indústria avícola. En casos de TVP s'observa l'ampliació, engrossiment, fragilitat i pal·lidesa del proventriculus, juntament amb debilitat i dilatació de l'istme gàstric. Tot i que les lesions greus proventriculars poden ser indicatives de TVP, no són específiques. La malaltia es caracteritza per les seves lesions histològiques: necrosi de cèl·lules oxinticopèptiques, inflamació amb predomini de limfòcits i substitució de l'epiteli glandular per epiteli ductal hiperplàsic. Per tant, l'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi era determinar la presència de la malaltia i del nou agent viral a les granges avícoles espanyoles i caracteritzar encara més aquest agent viral mitjançant estudis ultraestructurals i tècniques de seqüenciació de propera generació. En el primer estudi, la presència de CPNV en casos clínics de TVP de granges avícoles espanyoles es va avaluar retrospectivament del 1999 al 2019 en teixit proventricular FFPE. L'examen histopatològic, la RT-PCR de CPNV i el genoma de seqüència parcial de casos positius obtinguts mitjançant la seqüència de Sanger es va dur a terme en 42 casos clínics. A més, es va configurar una nova tècnica ISH com a nou mètode per detectar el virus. L'estudi va identificar la presència de CPNV a les granges de pollastres espanyoles des de 1999 com a mínim. A més, deu proventriculi de set casos clínics diferents van ser positius per a CPNV RT-PCR i ISH, i tots ells van mostrar els trets histopatològics característics de TVP (necrosi de l'oxinticopèptic inflamació intersticial de les cèl·lules i de les glàndules). Els estudis filogenètics van demostrar que les seqüències parcials de CPNV espanyoles estaven molt relacionades amb les seqüències CPNV disponibles del Regne Unit i els EUA. El segon estudi d'aquesta tesi tenia com a objectiu identificar, visualitzar i localitzar l'agent causant de TVP mitjançant l'ús de TEM. Es van utilitzar mostres proventriculars de dotze casos clínics diferents. Vuit de les mostres van ser positives per RT-PCR i ISH a CPNV, mentre que les altres tres, tot i que presentaven una lesió brut i microscòpica coherent amb TVP, van ser negatives per a CPNV ISH i RT-PCR. Es van observar virus icosaèdrics de 70 nm, no embolcallats, intranuclears i / o intracitoplasmàtics en quatre mostres. Dues d'aquestes mostres van ser negatives per al CPNV mitjançant mètodes moleculars, mentre que les altres dues van donar resultats positius a les tècniques de RT-PCR i ISH CPNV. Aquests resultats, juntament amb la troballa de virions als nuclis de les cèl·lules infecetd, una troballa que no es sol veure en els virus d'ARN, van plantejar la qüestió de si TVP també podria ser causada per un altre agent viral simultàniament o sense la contribució de CPNV. Per entendre encara més aquesta última hipòtesi, es va fer un tercer estudi per caracteritzar encara més el genoma dels virus implicats en els casos de TVP. Es van estudiar vuit mostres de proventriculi de TVP per NGS i es van trobar seqüències parcials o completes del segment B de CPNV en tots ells, confirmant la implicació d'aquest virus en casos clínics de TVP. No obstant això, en cinc dels casos, es van trobar seqüències parcials d'adenovirus A aviari, en particular els dos casos en què s'havien observat virions intranuclears per TEM. Aquests resultats confirmen la hipòtesi que l'adenovirus A aviari pot estar present en casos clínics de TVP, tot i que el seu paper en el desenvolupament de la malaltia necessita estudis addicionals.La proventriculitis viral transmisible (TVP) es una enfermedad infecciosa viral emergente que afecta principalmente a los pollos de engorde. Se caracteriza por una digestión deficiente de los alimentos, un crecimiento deficiente y una tasa de conversión de alimentos deficiente, lo que provoca pérdidas económicas para la industria avícola. En los casos de TVP se observa agrandamiento, engrosamiento, fragilidad y palidez del proventrículo, junto con debilidad y dilatación del istmo gástrico. Aunque las lesiones macroscópicas proventriculares podrían ser indicativas de TVP, no son específicas. La enfermedad se caracteriza por sus lesiones histológicas: necrosis de células oxinticopépticas, inflamación con predominio de linfocitos y sustitución del epitelio glandular por epitelio ductal hiperplásico. Por tanto, el objetivo principal de esta tesis fue determinar la presencia de la enfermedad y el nuevo agente viral en las granjas avícolas españolas y caracterizar este agente viral mediante estudios ultraestructurales y técnicas de secuenciación de última generación. En el primer estudio, se evaluó retrospectivamente la presencia de CPNV en casos clínicos de TVP de granjas avícolas españolas desde 1999 hasta 2019 en tejido proventricular FFPE. En 42 casos clínicos se realizó examen histopatológico, CPNV RT-PCR y secuencia parcial del genoma de casos positivos obtenidos mediante secuencia de Sanger. Además, se estableció una nueva técnica de ISH como un nuevo método para detectar el virus. El estudio identificó la presencia de CPNV en las granjas avícolas españolas desde al menos 1999. Además, diez proventrículos de siete casos clínicos diferentes fueron positivos a CPNV RT-PCR e ISH, y todos mostraron los rasgos histopatológicos característicos de TVP (necrosis de oxinticopeptic células e inflamación intersticial de la glándula). Los estudios filogenéticos mostraron que las secuencias parciales de CPNV españolas estaban muy relacionadas con las secuencias de CPNV disponibles en Reino Unido y EE. UU. El segundo estudio de esta tesis tuvo como objetivo identificar, visualizar y localizar el agente causante de TVP mediante el uso de TEM. Se utilizaron muestras proventriculares de doce casos clínicos diferentes. Ocho de las muestras fueron positivas por RT-PCR e ISH a CPNV, mientras que las otras tres, aunque mostraron lesiones macroscópicas y microscópicas compatibles con TVP, fueron negativas a CPNV ISH y RT-PCR. Se observaron virus icosaédricos, de 70 nm, no envueltos, intranucleares y / o intracitoplasma en cuatro muestras. Dos de estas muestras dieron negativo a CPNV por métodos moleculares, mientras que las otras dos dieron resultados positivos a las técnicas de RT-PCR e ISH CPNV. Estos resultados, junto con el hallazgo de viriones en los núcleos de las células infecciosas, un hallazgo que no suele observarse en los virus de ARN, plantearon la cuestión de si la TVP también podría ser causada por otro agente viral simultáneamente o sin la contribución del CPNV. Para comprender aún más esta última hipótesis, se realizó un tercer estudio para caracterizar aún más el genoma de los virus involucrados en los casos de TVP. Se estudiaron por NGS ocho muestras de proventrículos de TVP y en todas se encontraron secuencias parciales o completas del Segmento B de CPNV, confirmando además la participación de este virus en casos clínicos de TVP. Sin embargo, en cinco de los casos, se encontraron secuencias parciales de adenovirus aviar A, en particular los dos casos en los que se habían observado viriones intranucleares mediante TEM. Estos resultados confirman la hipótesis de que el adenovirus A aviar puede estar presente en casos clínicos de TVP, aunque su papel en el desarrollo de la enfermedad requiere más estudios.Transmissible Viral Proventriculitis (TVP) is an emergent viral infectious disease that affects mainly broiler chickens. It is characterized by impaired feed digestion, poor growth, and poor feed conversion rate, causing economic losses to the poultry industry. Enlargement, thickening, fragility, and paleness of the proventriculus, together with weakness and dilation of gastric isthmus is observed in TVP cases. Although proventricular gross lesions could be indicative of TVP, they are not specific. The disease is characterized by its histologic lesions: necrosis of oxynticopeptic cells, inflammation with a predominance of lymphocytes, and replacement of glandular epithelium by hyperplasic ductal epithelium. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis was to determine the presence of the disease and the new viral agent in Spanish poultry farms and further characterize this viral agent by ultrastructural studies and next generation sequencing techniques. In the first study, the presence of CPNV in TVP clinical cases from Spanish poultry farms was retrospectively evaluated from 1999 to 2019 in FFPE proventricular tissue. Histopathological examination, CPNV RT-PCR, and partial sequence genome of positive cases obtained using Sanger sequence was carried out in 42 clinical cases. In adition, a new ISH technique was set up as a new method to detect the virus. The study identified the presence of CPNV in Spanish chicken farms since at least 1999. Moreover, ten proventriculi from seven different clinical cases were positive to CPNV RT-PCR and ISH, and all of them showed the characteristic histopathological features of TVP (necrosis of oxynticopeptic cells and gland interstitial inflammation). Phylogenetic studies showed that the Spanish CPNV partial sequences were very closely related to the available UK and USA CPNV sequences. The second study of this thesis aimed to identify, visualize, and localize the causative agent of TVP by using TEM. Proventricular samples from twelve different clinical cases were used. Eight of the samples were positive by RT-PCR and ISH to CPNV, while the other three, although showing gross and microscopic lesiosn consistent with TVP, were negative to CPNV ISH and RT-PCR. Icosahedral, 70 nm, non-enveloped, intranuclear and/or intracytoplasm viruses were observed in four samples. Two of these samples were negative to CPNV by molecular methods, while the other two gave positive results to RT-PCR and ISH CPNV techniques. These results, together with the finding of virions in the nuclei of infecetd cells, a finding which is not usually seen in RNA viruses, raised the question whether TVP could also be caused by another viral agent simultaneoulsy or without the contribution fo CPNV. To further undesrtand this last hypothesis, a third study was done to further characterize the genome of the virus/es involved in the TVP cases. Eight TVP proventriculi samples were studied by NGS and partial or complete sequences of CPNV Segment B were found in all of them, furter confirming the involvement of this virus in TVP clinical cases. However, in five of the cases, partial sequences of Avian adenovirus A were found, particularly the two cases where intranuclear virions had been observed by TEM. These results confirm the hypothesis that Avian adenovirus A can be present in TVP clinical cases, although its role in the development of the disease needs further studies.Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Medicina i Sanitat Animal

Electroencephalogram Based Stress Detection Using Extreme Learning Machine

The detection of stress is important because it contributes to diverse pathophysiological changes including sudden death. Various techniques have been used to evaluate stress in terms of questionnaire or by quantifying the changes of physiological signals. Electroencephalogram signals are highly useful in measuring human stress. Therefore, to solve and detect stress problem, this work had extracted electroencephalogram features of theta, alpha, and beta bands in the frequency domain by wavelet packet transform because these bands are concerned with stress. In this research four features have been supplied to extreme learning machine which gave accuracy of 98.56% of detecting stress from normal state based on db4 with an average sensitivity of 92.52% and specificity of 95.88%. This research studied the stress on 15 students due to mathematical exercises in a noisy environment with different stimulus

Retrospective study on transmissible viral proventriculitis and chicken proventricular necrosis virus (CPNV) in the UK.

Chicken proventricular necrosis virus (CPNV) is a recently described birnavirus, which has been proposed to be the cause of transmissible viral proventriculitis (TVP). The understanding of the epidemiology of both the virus and the disease is very limited. A retrospective investigation on TVP and CPNV in broiler chicken submissions from the UK from between 1994 and 2015 was performed with the aims of assessing the longitudinal temporal evolution of TVP and CPNV, and to review the histological proventricular lesions in the studied chickens. Ninety-nine of the 135 included submissions (73.3%) fulfilled the TVP-diagnostic criteria, while the remaining 36 submissions (26.7%) displayed only lymphocytic proventriculitis (LP). The first detection of CPNV by PCR dated from 2009. Results showed a rise in the number of both TVP and positive CPNV RT-PCR submissions from 2009 with a peak in 2013, suggesting that they may be an emerging or re-emerging disease and pathogen, respectively. Twenty-two out of the 99 submissions displaying TVP lesions (22%) and four out of the 36 (11%) submissions with LP gave positive CPNV RT-PCR results, further supporting the association between CPNV and TVP and confirming that CPNV is present in a low proportion of proventriculi that do not fulfil the TVP-diagnostic criteria. In addition, intranuclear inclusion bodies were observed in 22 of the submissions with TVP. The vast majority of these cases (21 of 22, 96%) gave negative CPNV RT-PCR results, raising the question of whether a virus other than CPNV is responsible for some of these TVP-affected cases.RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSTVP and CPNV have been present in British broilers since at least 1994 and 2009, respectively.TVP and CPNV seem to be an emerging and re-emerging disease and pathogen, respectively.CPNV was detected in proventriculi with both TVP and LP-lesions.Viruses other than CPNV may be responsible for some TVP-affected cases

Pathobiology of the highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses H7N1 and H5N8 in different chicken breeds and role of Mx 2032 G/A polymorphism in infection outcome

Chickens are highly susceptible to highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs). However, the severity of infection varies depending of the viral strain and the genetic background of the host. In this study, we evaluated the pathogenesis of two HPAIVs (H7N1 and H5N8) and assessed the susceptibility to the infection of local and commercial chicken breeds from Spain. Eight chicken breeds were intranasally inoculated with 10 5 ELD of A/Chicken/Italy/5093/1999 (H7N1) or A/Goose/Spain/IA17CR02699/2017 (H5N8 clade 2.3.4.4. B) and monitored during 10 days. Chickens were highly susceptible to both HPAIVs, but H7N1 was considerably more virulent than H5N8 as demonstrated by the highest mortality rates and shortest mean death times (MDT). Both HPAIVs produced severe necrosis and intense viral replication in the central nervous system, heart and pancreas; however, the lesions and replication in other tissues were virus-dependent. High levels of viral RNA were detected by the oral route with both viruses. In contrast, a low number of H5N8-inoculated chickens shed by the cloacal route, demonstrating a different pattern of viral shedding dependent of the HPAIV. We found a high variation in the susceptibility to HPAIVs between the different chicken breeds. The birds carrying the genotype AA and AG at position 2032 in chicken Mx gene presented a slightly higher, but not significant, percentage of survival and a statistically significant longer MDT than GG individuals. Our study demonstrated that the severity of HPAI infection is largely dependent of the viral isolate and host factors, underlining the complexity of HPAI infections