Untersuchungen zur Pathovar-Prävalenz beim Escherichia coli- bedingten Durchfall neugeborener Saugferkel in ökologisch wirtschaftenden Ferkelerzeugerbetrieben

Saugferkeldurchfall ist eine Faktorenkrankheit, die durch Tierverluste, Wachstumsdepressionen und zusätzlichen therapeutischen Aufwand zu großen wirtschaftlichen Einbußen in der Ferkelproduktion führt. Im Zuge des vorgestellten Forschungsprojekts wurden 699 Kotproben von Saugferkeln mit Durchfall aus 258 Würfen von 18 ökologisch wirtschaftenden Ferkelerzeugerbetrieben auf enterotoxische Escherichia coli (ETEC), Clostridium (Cl.) perfringens, Rotaviren und Kokzidien untersucht. Außerdem wurden 369 Kotproben von Sauen und 419 Proben von gesunden Ferkeln auf Cl. perfringens untersucht. Eine Genotypisierung aller kulturell angezüchteten Cl. perfringens Isolate mittels RAPD-PCR sowie eine MLST von 8 Isolaten schlossen sich an. In 39,5% der erkrankten Würfe wurde Cl. perfringens Typ A nachgewiesen, welches damit der am häufigsten nachgewiesene Durchfallerreger war. 89,7% der Cl. perfringens Typ A Isolate wurden positiv auf das β2-Toxingen getestet. Rotaviren traten in 27,6% und Kokzidien in 20,0% der erkrankten Würfe auf, während ETEC mit 7,7% unerwartet selten diagnostiziert wurden. Cl. perfringens Typ C wurde in keiner Probe nachgewiesen. Auffällig ist, dass die Nachweisrate für Cl. perfringens Typ A bei gesunden Saugferkeln mit 58,9% über der bei erkrankten Saugferkeln liegt und dass nur 8,6% der Cl. perfringens Typ A Isolate von Sauen das β2-Toxingen tragen, welches in 94,2% aller Isolate von Saugferkeln (gesund und erkrankt) nachgewiesen wurde. Diese Erkenntnis deutet darauf hin, dass die Rolle der Sau als Infektionsquelle für die Saugferkel in Hinblick auf Cl. perfringens bisher überschätzt wurde. Die Genotypisierung der Cl. perfringens Typ A Isolate mittels RAPD offenbart eine hohe genetische Diversität der Isolate. Ferner geht aus einer Befragung der Betriebsleiter hervor, dass auf den meisten der teilnehmenden Betriebe erhebliche Defizite bei der Durchführung von Hygienemaßnahmen im Abferkelstall sowie Überwachung von Geburtsverlauf und Kolostrumaufnahme bestehen

Using Multispectral Imagery to Interrogate Deposition, Alteration, and Weathering Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse in Gale Crater, Mars

Since landing in 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover has explored over 20 kilometers of Gale crater, climbing almost 400 meters in elevation. The fluvio-deltaic, lacustrine, and aeolian sediments in the crater have been well documented by Curiosity’s suite of in situ and remote science instruments. Indeed, they have traced chemical trends that track changes in lithology and diagenesis over the study area—though most instruments only sample individual rock, vein, and soil targets at a very small scale. The Mast Camera (Mastcam) has periodically acquired much larger (meter-scale) multispectral, visible to near-infrared observations of outcrops throughout this stratigraphic sequence, with the resulting spectra tracking iron-bearing minerals and oxidation states. These observations contextualize the precise chemistry measured by the other instruments, and allow interpretations about the landscape beyond the rover’s traverse. In this study, I present the first comprehensive analysis of the spectral variability observed in Gale crater’s rocks with Mastcam, from sol 750 (when Curiosity first entered the lacustrine deposits of the Murray formation at Pahrump Hills) through sol 2755. Characteristic spectral parameters can help distinguish Murray formation from Stimson formation, and also allows comparisons of spectral variations to changes in lithology; the Murray formation is highly variable, and spectral signatures are not always confined to member boundaries. Several of these spectral parameters are also measured by the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, which collects continuous spectra in passive mode from 400-840 nm. A quantitative comparison of the ChemCam passive and Mastcam datasets reveals that ChemCam’s higher spectral resolution does not significantly affect measured spectral variability. Mineralogical interpretations based on Mastcam spectra, under the lens of this cross-instrument calibration, are an essential component of the suite of observations needed to characterize the diverse geology of Gale crater

Rethinking the Core List of Journals for Libraries that Serve Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy.

The Core List of Journals for Libraries that Serve Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy is a guide for developing and maintaining pharmacy-affiliated library collections. A work group was created to update the list and design a process for updating that will streamline future revisions. Work group members searched the National Library of Medicine catalog for an initial list of journals and then applied inclusion criteria to narrow the list. The work group finalized the fifth edition of the list with 225 diverse publications and produced a sustainable set of criteria for journal inclusion, providing a structured, objective process for future updates

The intersection of information skills and behaviors with the steps of evidence-based practice (EBP) in local professional health programs curricula

PDF version of PPT presentation given at virtual SCC/MLA 2021 conferenc

Empathy deficits, callous‐unemotional traits and structural underpinnings in autism spectrum disorder and conduct disorder youth

Distinct empathy deficits are often described in patients with conduct disorder (CD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) yet their neural underpinnings and the influence of comorbid Callous‐Unemotional (CU) traits are unclear. This study compares the cognitive (CE) and affective empathy (AE) abilities of youth with CD and ASD, their potential neuroanatomical correlates, and the influence of CU traits on empathy. Adolescents and parents/caregivers completed empathy questionnaires (N = 148 adolescents, mean age = 15.16 years) and T1 weighted images were obtained from a subsample (N = 130). Group differences in empathy and the influence of CU traits were investigated using Bayesian analyses and Voxel‐Based Morphometry with Threshold‐Free Cluster Enhancement focusing on regions involved in AE (insula, amygdala, inferior frontal gyrus and cingulate cortex) and CE processes (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, superior temporal gyrus, and precuneus). The ASD group showed lower parent‐reported AE and CE scores and lower self‐reported CE scores while the CD group showed lower parent‐reported CE scores than controls. When accounting for the influence of CU traits no AE deficits in ASD and CE deficits in CD were found, but CE deficits in ASD remained. Across all participants, CU traits were negatively associated with gray matter volumes in anterior cingulate which extends into the mid cingulate, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and precuneus. Thus, although co‐occurring CU traits have been linked to global empathy deficits in reports and underlying brain structures, its influence on empathy aspects might be disorder‐specific. Investigating the subdimensions of empathy may therefore help to identify disorder‐specific empathy deficits

Mastcam multispectral database from the Curiosity rover’s traverse in the Gale crater, Mars (sols 2302-3672)

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover has continued to explore the lower strata of Mt. Sharp in Gale Crater. Evidence for fluvial, lacustrine, and aeolian paleoenvironments has been found by multiple instruments. Curiosity’s multispectral imaging instrument, Mast Camera (Mastcam), is able to collect reflectance data covering visible to near-infrared wavelengths from 445 nm to 1013 nm. The primary control on Mastcam multispectral variability is the presence and amount of iron oxides. However, Mastcam can still make broad interpretations regarding mineralogy and diagenesis, especially when used in tandem with other instruments. This dataset includes Mastcam spectra from 266 observations, collected from sols 2302 to 3672 in Glen Torridon, Greenheugh pediment, and the clay-sulfate transition. Geologic metadata, like the type of rock surface and its position in stratigraphy, is included with each spectrum in the database, as well as image products (decorrelation and enhanced color stretches) that aided in our analyses, and context images that show where the spectra were extracted from

Secretion of Genome-Free Hepatitis B Virus – Single Strand Blocking Model for Virion Morphogenesis of Para-retrovirus

As a para-retrovirus, hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an enveloped virus with a double-stranded (DS) DNA genome that is replicated by reverse transcription of an RNA intermediate, the pregenomic RNA or pgRNA. HBV assembly begins with the formation of an “immature” nucleocapsid (NC) incorporating pgRNA, which is converted via reverse transcription within the maturing NC to the DS DNA genome. Only the mature, DS DNA-containing NCs are enveloped and secreted as virions whereas immature NCs containing RNA or single-stranded (SS) DNA are not enveloped. The current model for selective virion morphogenesis postulates that accumulation of DS DNA within the NC induces a “maturation signal” that, in turn, triggers its envelopment and secretion. However, we have found, by careful quantification of viral DNA and NCs in HBV virions secreted in vitro and in vivo, that the vast majority of HBV virions (over 90%) contained no DNA at all, indicating that NCs with no genome were enveloped and secreted as empty virions (i.e., enveloped NCs with no DNA). Furthermore, viral mutants bearing mutations precluding any DNA synthesis secreted exclusively empty virions. Thus, viral DNA synthesis is not required for HBV virion morphogenesis. On the other hand, NCs containing RNA or SS DNA were excluded from virion formation. The secretion of DS DNA-containing as well as empty virions on one hand, and the lack of secretion of virions containing single-stranded (SS) DNA or RNA on the other, prompted us to propose an alternative, “Single Strand Blocking” model to explain selective HBV morphogenesis whereby SS nucleic acid within the NC negatively regulates NC envelopment, which is relieved upon second strand DNA synthesis

Phosphodiesterase 10A Upregulation Contributes to Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling

Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) modulate the cellular proliferation involved in the pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension (PH) by hydrolyzing cAMP and cGMP. The present study was designed to determine whether any of the recently identified PDEs (PDE7-PDE11) contribute to progressive pulmonary vascular remodeling in PH. All in vitro experiments were performed with lung tissue or pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) obtained from control rats or monocrotaline (MCT)-induced pulmonary hypertensive (MCT-PH) rats, and we examined the effects of the PDE10 inhibitor papaverine (Pap) and specific small interfering RNA (siRNA). In addition, papaverine was administrated to MCT-induced PH rats from day 21 to day 35 by continuous intravenous infusion to examine the in vivo effects of PDE10A inhibition. We found that PDE10A was predominantly present in the lung vasculature, and the mRNA, protein, and activity levels of PDE10A were all significantly increased in MCT PASMCs compared with control PASMCs. Papaverine and PDE10A siRNA induced an accumulation of intracellular cAMP, activated cAMP response element binding protein and attenuated PASMC proliferation. Intravenous infusion of papaverine in MCT-PH rats resulted in a 40%–50% attenuation of the effects on pulmonary hypertensive hemodynamic parameters and pulmonary vascular remodeling. The present study is the first to demonstrate a central role of PDE10A in progressive pulmonary vascular remodeling, and the results suggest a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of PH