Small-scale pig farmers’ behavior, silent release of African swine fever virus and consequences for disease spread

The expanding distribution of African swine fever (ASF) is threatening the pig industry worldwide. Most outbreaks occur in backyard and small-scale herds, where poor farmers often attempt to limit the disease’s economic consequences by the emergency sale of their pigs. The risk of African swine fever virus (ASFV) release via this emergency sale was investigated. Simulation modeling was used to study ASFV transmission in backyard and small-scale farms as well as the emergency sale of pigs, and the potential impact of improving farmers and traders’ clinical diagnosis ability–its timeliness and/or accuracy–was assessed. The risk of ASFV release was shown to be high, and improving farmers’ clinical diagnosis ability does not appear sufficient to effectively reduce this risk. Estimates obtained also showed that the distribution of herd size within the backyard and small-scale sectors influences the relative contribution of these farms to the risk of release of infected pigs. These findings can inform surveillance and control programs

Evaluation of five diagnostic methods for the detection and quantification of Myxobolus cerebralis

abstract: Diagnostic methods were used to identify and quantify Myxobolus cerebralis, a myxozoan parasite of salmonid fish. In this study, 7-week-old, pathogen-free rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were experimentally infected with M. cerebralis and at 7 months postinfection were evaluated with 5 diagnostic assays: (1) pepsin-trypsin digest (PTD) to detect and enumerate spores found in cranial cartilage, (2) 2 different histopathology grading scales that provide a numerical score for severity of microscopic lesions in the head, (3) a conventional single-round polymerase chain reaction (PCR), (4) a nested PCR assay, and (5) a newly developed quantitative real-time TaqMan PCR. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) among the 5 diagnostic assays in distinguishing between experimentally infected and uninfected control fish. The 2 histopathology grading scales were highly correlated (P<0.001) for assessment of microscopic lesion severity. Quantification of parasite levels in cranial tissues using PTD and real-time TaqMan PCR was significantly correlated r=0.540 (P<0.001). Lastly, 104 copies of the 18S rDNA gene are present in the M. cerebralis genome, a feature that makes this gene an excellent target for PCR-based diagnostic assays. Also, 2 copies of the insulin growth factor-I gene are found in the rainbow trout genome, whose detection can serve both as an internal quality control for amplifiable DNA and as a basis to quantify pathogen genome equivalents present in quantitative PCR assays

Psicoterapia de Vittorio Guidano y sus influencias epistemológicas

Este artigo encontra-se estruturado basicamente em três partes. Na primeira, contextualizamos as concepções de Vittorio Guidano face às correntes psicoterapêuticas do século XX, nomeadamente quanto ao comportamentalismo, ao cognitivismo e ao construtivismo. Fazemos notar que as várias tendências da psicoterapia dessa época se autorrotulavam a partir de conceitos advindos de outras áreas, sem terem o cuidado de indagar sobre os fundamentos epistemológicos nos quais elas se alicerçavam. Num segundo momento detemo-nos no embasamento epistemológico de sua teoria e metodologia psicoterapêuticas, focalizando-nos no papel que o cognitivismo cibernético teve no seu pensamento (nomeadamente, quanto à questão da observação), bem como na teoria biológica da autopoiesis, na qual nosso autor explicitamente se inspirou. Por fim, nos debruçamos com algum pormenor sobre o seu modelo sobre o conhecimento e experiência humana, que se traduz numa nova teoria da personalidade (organização pessoal, noção de si mesmo) e um novo sistema psicoterapêutico que enfatiza o papel do vínculo afetivo como modelador da identidade pessoal.This article is structured in three parts. At first, we contextualize the concepts of Vittorio Guidano in relation to psychotherapeutic currents of the twentieth century, particularly regarding behaviorism, cognitivism constructivism and others. We note that the various trends of psychotherapy labeled themselves according to concepts coming from other areas of study, without regard to their epistemological origins. Secondly we reflect on the epistemological foundation of Guidano’s theory and psychotherapeutic methodology, focusing on the role that cyber cognitivism had in his thinking (namely, the question of observation, and self-observation), as well as the biological theory of autopoiesis, in which our author explicitly inspired himself. Finally, we center our attention on his model of knowledge and human experience that translates into a new theory of personality (regarding personal organization, as well as the notion of the self) and into a new system, that emphasizes the psychotherapeutic role of bonding in shaping personal identity.Este artículo se estructura básicamente en tres partes. Al principio, contextualizamos los conceptos de Vittorio Guidano con respecto a las corrientes psicoterapéuticas del siglo XX, sobre todo en relación con el comportalismo, el cognitivismo y el constructivismo. Tomamos nota de que las diversas tendencias de la psicoterapia en ese momento si se llamaban a sí mismos nombres provenientes de conceptos otras áreas, sin la precaución de preguntar acerca de las bases epistemológicas sobre la que se fundaban. En segundo lugar estamos reflejando el fundamento epistemológico de su teoría y metodología psicoterapéutica, centradas en el papel que el cognitivismo cibernético tenía en su mente (es decir, la cuestión de la observación), así como en la teoría biológica de la autopoiesis, en ella que nuestro autor se ha inspirado explícitamente Finalmente, nos detenemos en algunos detalles sobre su modelo en el conocimiento y la experiencia humana, que se traduce en una nueva teoría de la personalidad (organización personal, la noción del yo) y un nuevo sistema que destaca en psicoterapia el papel de la vinculación en la unión y en la formación de la identidad personal.(undefined