Influence of space allowance on the welfare of weaned buffalo (Bubalus Bubalis) calves

Twenty weaned female buffalo calves were used to evaluate the effect of space allowance in relation to their body surface area on a range of behavioural and physiological parameters. Body surface area in m2 was calculated as 0.12 body weight0.60. Ten calves received 50% of body surface as space allocation (Group 50), 10 others received 90% of body surface area (Group 90). Animals in Group 50 lay with a lower number of outstretched legs than calves in Group 90. Buffaloes from Group 50 were observed standing more frequently than animals from Group 90 ( P < 0.001). The proportions of idling ( P < 0.01) and lying idle observations ( P < 0.001) were higher for Group 90 than for Group 50. Group 90 performed a higher number of non-agonistic interactions than Group 50 ( P < 0.01), whereas the opposite was observed for the number of agonistic interactions ( P < 0.01). When exposed to open field testing, Group 50 animals displayed an increased duration of movement, number of galloping events and more vocalisation. Neither immune responses to phytohemagglutinin and ovalbumin nor the cortisol response to exogenous ACTH were affected by treatment. It was concluded that 50% of body surface area may be an inadequate space allowance for weaned calves

Durability of bioprosthetic aortic valves in patients under the age of 60 years - Rationale and design of the international INDURE registry

Background: There is an ever-growing number of patients requiring aortic valve replacement (AVR). Limited data is available on the long-term outcomes and structural integrity of bioprosthetic valves in younger patients undergoing surgical AVR. Methods: The INSPIRIS RESILIA Durability Registry (INDURE) is a prospective, open-label, multicentre, international registry with a follow-up of 5 years to assess clinical outcomes of patients younger than 60 years who undergo surgical AVR using the INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve. INDURE will be conducted across 20-22 sites in Europe and Canada and intends to enrol minimum of 400 patients. Patients will be included if they are scheduled to undergo AVR with or without concomitant root replacement and/or coronary bypass surgery. The primary objectives are to 1) determine VARC-2 defined time-related valve safety at one-year (depicted as freedom from events) and 2) determine freedom from stage 3 structural valve degeneration (SVD) presenting as morphological abnormalities and severe haemodynamic valve degeneration at 5 years. Secondary objectives include the assessment of the haemodynamic performance of the valve, all stages of SVD, potential valve-in-valve procedures, clinical outcomes (in terms of New York Heart Association [NYHA] function class and freedom from valve-related rehospitalisation) and change in patient quality-of-life. Discussion: INDURE is a prospective, multicentre registry in Europe and Canada, which will provide much needed data on the long-term performance of bioprosthetic valves in general and the INSPIRIS RESILIA valve in particular. The data may help to gather a deeper understanding of the longevity of bioprosthetic valves and may expand the use of bioprosthetic valves in patients under the age of 60 years. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03666741 (registration received September, 12th, 2018)

Durability of bioprosthetic aortic valves in patients under the age of 60 years - Rationale and design of the international INDURE registry

Background: There is an ever-growing number of patients requiring aortic valve replacement (AVR). Limited data is available on the long-term outcomes and structural integrity of bioprosthetic valves in younger patients undergoing surgical AVR. Methods: The INSPIRIS RESILIA Durability Registry (INDURE) is a prospective, open-label, multicentre, international registry with a follow-up of 5 years to assess clinical outcomes of patients younger than 60 years who undergo surgical AVR using the INS

Strain-specific differences in Neisseria gonorrhoeae associated with the phase variable gene repertoire

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited - © 2005 Jordan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.Background: There are several differences associated with the behaviour of the four main experimental Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains, FA1090, FA19, MS11, and F62. Although there is data concerning the gene complements of these strains, the reasons for the behavioural differences are currently unknown. Phase variation is a mechanism that occurs commonly within the Neisseria spp. and leads to switching of genes ON and OFF. This mechanism may provide a means for strains to express different combinations of genes, and differences in the strain-specific repertoire of phase variable genes may underlie the strain differences. Results: By genome comparison of the four publicly available neisserial genomes a revised list of 64 genes was created that have the potential to be phase variable in N. gonorrhoeae, excluding the opa and pilC genes. Amplification and sequencing of the repeat-containing regions of these genes allowed determination of the presence of the potentially unstable repeats and the ON/OFF expression state of these genes. 35 of the 64 genes show differences in the composition or length of the repeats, of which 28 are likely to be associated with phase variation. Two genes were expressed differentially between strains causing disseminated infection and uncomplicated gonorrhoea. Further study of one of these in a range of clinical isolates showed this association to be due to sample size and is not maintained in a larger sample. Conclusion: The results provide us with more evidence as to which genes identified through comparative genomics are indeed phase variable. The study indicates that there are large differences between these four N. gonorrhoeae strains in terms of gene expression during in vitro growth. It does not, however, identify any clear patterns by which previously reported behavioural differences can be correlated with the phase variable gene repertoire.This study is funded by a Wellcome Trust Project Grant

Tools for delivering entomopathogenic fungi to malaria mosquitoes: effects of delivery surfaces on fungal efficacy and persistence.

BACKGROUND\ud \ud Entomopathogenic fungi infection on malaria vectors increases daily mortality rates and thus represents a control measure that could be used in integrated programmes alongside insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS). Before entomopathogenic fungi can be integrated into control programmes, an effective delivery system must be developed.\ud \ud METHODS\ud \ud The efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae ICIPE-30 and Beauveria bassiana I93-825 (IMI 391510) (2 × 10(10) conidia m(-2)) applied on mud panels (simulating walls of traditional Tanzanian houses), black cotton cloth and polyester netting was evaluated against adult Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto. Mosquitoes were exposed to the treated surfaces 2, 14 and 28 d after conidia were applied. Survival of mosquitoes was monitored daily.\ud \ud RESULTS\ud \ud All fungal treatments caused a significantly increased mortality in the exposed mosquitoes, descending with time since fungal application. Mosquitoes exposed to M. anisopliae conidia on mud panels had a greater daily risk of dying compared to those exposed to conidia on either netting or cotton cloth (p < 0.001). Mosquitoes exposed to B. bassiana conidia on mud panels or cotton cloth had similar daily risk of death (p = 0.14), and a higher risk than those exposed to treated polyester netting (p < 0.001). Residual activity of fungi declined over time; however, conidia remained pathogenic at 28 d post application, and were able to infect and kill 73 - 82% of mosquitoes within 14 d.\ud \ud CONCLUSION\ud \ud Both fungal isolates reduced mosquito survival on immediate exposure and up to 28 d after application. Conidia were more effective when applied on mud panels and cotton cloth compared with polyester netting. Cotton cloth and mud, therefore, represent potential substrates for delivering fungi to mosquitoes in the field

Meaning Making, Labeling, and Self in Symbolic Interactionism: Teacher Identity and Everyday Life

Symbolic interactionism helps explain the meaning of labels in education and how this impacts teacher identity and professionalism. This article will explore elements of the symbolic interactionism theoretical framework: everyday life actions and interactions, meaning-making, language, labeling and symbols, identity, and teachers\u27 self. Implications will follow

Integrated On-Farm Decision Making: Economic Implications of Increased Variation in Litter Size

Increased litter sizes and associated piglet performance consequences, challenge swine producers. Stochastic modeling captured bioeconomic performance of individual piglets. As average litter size increased from 8.8 to 20.8 piglets, costs and revenues per head marketed from the demonstration herd decreased and total profit increased at a decreasing rate.stochastic modeling, farm business management, swine litter size, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries,

Surfactant mixtures at the oil–water interface

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE, VOL 398, (2013) DOI 10.1016/j.jcis.2013.01.06