Relative effectiveness of irish factories in the surveillance of slaughtered cattle for visible lesions of tuberculosis, 2005-2007

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Ireland, every animal is examined at slaughter for its fitness for human consumption. The aim of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of factories in submitting and subsequently in having suspect lesions confirmed as bovine tuberculosis (TB) lesions during the years 2005-2007. This work provides an update from previously published data for years 2003-2004. During 2005-2007 data were available on 4,401,813 cattle from attested herds (<it>i.e</it>. herds classified free of bovine TB), from which data for potential confounding factors were available for 3,344,057 slaughtered animals at one of the 37 export-licensed factories.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>From these animals, 8,178 suspect lesions were submitted for laboratory confirmation. Lesions from 5,456 (66.7%) animals tested as positive, and 269 (3.2%) were inconclusive for bovine TB. Logistic regression was used to determine adjusted submission and confirmation risks for each factory while controlling for confounding factors. Factory rankings based on adjusted and crude risks were similar. The average crude submission risk for all the factories was 25 lesions per 10,000 animals slaughtered, ranging from 0 to 52. The crude confirmation risk varied between 30.3% and 91.3%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Substantial variation in the effectiveness of lesion submission and subsequent confirmation as bovine TB was found among the 37 factories. Compared to previous years (2003-2004), there was an increased bovine TB lesion submission and confirmation risk. Continued monitoring of the effectiveness of slaughter surveillance in Ireland is recommended; emphasis should be placed on efforts to improve bovine TB surveillance in factories with lower rankings.</p

The Lantern Vol. 40, No. 1, Fall 1973

• I, The Poet • Observation • Haiku • Smile and Lift Me Up • The Sacrifice • Prints in the Snow • Eric • Ode to a Possum • The Flower • Yamato • You, Sisyphus • The Love Song • Goodbyes • Living High With Gary Rutledge in Markevitch\u27s Cucumber and Gourd Patch: Grabbing Lightning Bugs and Stuffing Them in My Hellmann\u27s Mayonnaise Jar!https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1103/thumbnail.jp

The Lantern Vol. 39, No. 1, Fall 1972

• A Journey Into Darkness • September 5, 1972 • Atlantic Taperecorder • Aftermath • Linda • Sweet Baby Jane • The Court of the Ebony Clown • The Cosmic Band • Poem to the Dreamer • Dawn • Too Bad Life Isn\u27t • Incident at Tiffany\u27s • Sonnet • Infinitas • Podiatry • 2 and 4a • Autistic Autumn • I Walk Alone • Eyes---and They Were Emptyhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1101/thumbnail.jp

Antimalarial Therapy Selection for Quinolone Resistance among Escherichia coli in the Absence of Quinolone Exposure, in Tropical South America

BACKGROUND: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is thought to develop only in the presence of antibiotic pressure. Here we show evidence to suggest that fluoroquinolone resistance in Escherichia coli has developed in the absence of fluoroquinolone use. METHODS: Over 4 years, outreach clinic attendees in one moderately remote and five very remote villages in rural Guyana were surveyed for the presence of rectal carriage of ciprofloxacin-resistant gram-negative bacilli (GNB). Drinking water was tested for the presence of resistant GNB by culture, and the presence of antibacterial agents and chloroquine by HPLC. The development of ciprofloxacin resistance in E. coli was examined after serial exposure to chloroquine. Patient and laboratory isolates of E. coli resistant to ciprofloxacin were assessed by PCR-sequencing for quinolone-resistance-determining-region (QRDR) mutations. RESULTS: In the very remote villages, 4.8% of patients carried ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli with QRDR mutations despite no local availability of quinolones. However, there had been extensive local use of chloroquine, with higher prevalence of resistance seen in the villages shortly after a Plasmodium vivax epidemic (p<0.01). Antibacterial agents were not found in the drinking water, but chloroquine was demonstrated to be present. Chloroquine was found to inhibit the growth of E. coli in vitro. Replica plating demonstrated that 2-step QRDR mutations could be induced in E. coli in response to chloroquine. CONCLUSIONS: In these remote communities, the heavy use of chloroquine to treat malaria likely selected for ciprofloxacin resistance in E. coli. This may be an important public health problem in malarious areas

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Singleton bovine tuberculosis breakdowns as a predictor of future herd breakdowns in Ireland

Department of Agriculture, Food and the MarineTeagascDeposited by bulk impor