Salmonella in free-ranging quokkas (Setonix brachyurus) from Rottnest Island and the mainland of Western Australia

Salmonella is a genus of Gram-negative, motile, and facultative anaerobic bacteria with a worldwide distribution that contaminates multiple substrates (vegetation, food, soil, and water) and inhabits the gastrointestinal tract of birds, reptiles, and mammals, including humans. Rottnest Island is a popular tourist destination and is abundantly inhabited by quokkas (Setonix brachyurus), a charismatic small wallaby. Current data on the association between Salmonella and quokkas on Rottnest Island are outdated by approximately 30 years. Additionally, previous studies on quokkas on this island and mainland Western Australia did not perform physical examinations or any diagnostic tests. The aim of the project was to assess the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in quokkas from Rottnest Island and mainland Western Australia and correlate the presence of the bacterium with the health of the animal. Ninety-two quokkas from Rottnest Island (n = 71) and populations on the mainland (n = 21) were screened for Salmonella, and a prevalence of 47.9% and 4.8%, respectively, was determined. A total of 16 serovars were identified from 37 isolates; five of these serovars had previously not been described in the quokka. Salmonella appeared to have an effect on the haematology and blood chemistry of quokkas on Rottnest Island consistent with subclinical salmonellosis. The health of Rottnest Island quokkas, and their potential impact on the health of the visitors to the island, should continue to be monitored carefully

Qualitative Behavioural Assessment of Bos indicus cattle after surgical castration

There are various methods to perform castration of cattle, but surgical castration is the most common. Although it is well documented that surgical procedures inflict pain, analgesic use is usually omitted for surgical castration of production animals in Australia. This study compares the behavioural responses of castrated cattle (C) with non-castrated (NC) controls, and C with those castrated and given lignocaine and meloxicam (CLM) for analgesia. Brahman bull calves (n = 8 for each treatment) were filmed in the morning pre- (day -1) and post- (day +1) castration in the paddock and feed yard (‘context’ of observation). Over four sessions, volunteer observers viewed the video footage for Qualitative Behaviour Analysis (QBA) using the Free Choice Profiling methodology comparing C and NC cattle, and C and CLM cattle under both contexts. The QBA consensus profiles explained 37.4% (C vs. NC) and 40.6% (C vs. CLM) of variation among observers for paddock sessions and 34.7% (C vs. NC) and 38.7% (C vs. CLM) for feed yard sessions. Significant treatment x day interaction effects were recorded in the paddock (P = 0.007 and P < 0.001) and yard (P =  0.004 and P =  0.025) contexts for comparisons between NC vs C, and C vs CLM respectively. Compared to NC, post-castration C cattle were described as more ‘bored’/’lethargic’ and ‘alone’ (paddock) and were more ‘calm’/’relaxed’ and ‘relaxed’/’lonely’ (yard). Similarly, compared to CLM, post-castration C cattle were described as more ‘docile’/’chilled’ and ‘curious’/’aware’ (paddock) and were less ‘hungry’/’alert’ (yard). There was only one correlation between qualitative and quantitative behaviour scoring; ruminating showed significant correlation with one dimension in each context, that reflected a positive emotion (‘calm, relaxed’). The comparison between C vs. NC suggest that C were less active and less engaged with their environment compared to the NC group following castration. The C vs. CLM comparison suggests a more subtle response whereby analgesia was associated with more positive valence (higher scores on ‘calm/comfortable’, and ‘hungry/alert’ dimensions) following castration. The interpretation of findings requires careful consideration of the emotional responses given these calves were unhabituated and reactive to their surroundings. These results suggest the body language of Bos indicus cattle may reveal indicators of pain, and that the administration of analgesia may be beneficial at the time of castration. The study highlights the complexities and challenges of identifying pain responses in Brahman cattle

Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities

A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in 2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the $B$-factories and CLEO-c flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality, precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b}, and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K. Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D. Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A. Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair

Genetic algorithm based feature selection combined with dual classification for the automated detection of proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a condition that carries a high risk of severe visual impairment. The hallmark of PDR is the growth of abnormal new vessels. In this paper, an automated method for the detection of new vessels from retinal images is presented. This method is based on a dual classification approach. Two vessel segmentation approaches are applied to create two separate binary vessel map which each hold vital information. Local morphology features are measured from each binary vessel map to produce two separate 4-D feature vectors. Independent classification is performed for each feature vector using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier. The system then combines these individual outcomes to produce a final decision. This is followed by the creation of additional features to generate 21-D feature vectors, which feed into a genetic algorithm based feature selection approach with the objective of finding feature subsets that improve the performance of the classification. Sensitivity and specificity results using a dataset of 60 images are 0.9138 and 0.9600, respectively, on a per patch basis and 1.000 and 0.975, respectively, on a per image basis

Variação sazonal na riqueza e na abundância de pequenos mamíferos, na estrutura da floresta e na disponibilidade de artrópodes em fragmentos florestais no Mato Grosso, Brasil

We captured small mammals in eight forest fragments (43 a 1.411 ha.) during the dry and wet seasons, in southwest Mato Grosso, Brazil, and investigated the variation in small mammal richness and abundance, as well as in forest structure variables (litter volume and canopy openness) and arthropod availability, between the two seasons. Sampling was carried out during the wet season between 2002 and 2003 and in the dry season of 2003. In each fragment, we used Sherman, Tomahawk, snap, and pitfall traps during 10 consecutive days per season, totaling 17,600 trap x nights. In total, we obtained 379 captures of 20 species, seven of marsupials and 13 of rodents. Overall capture success was 2.2% (1.6% during the wet season and 2.7% during the dry season). Total richness, richness of rodents, richness of marsupials, total abundance and abundance of rodents did not varied significantly between seasons. However, marsupial abundance was significantly lower in the dry season, when rainfall is high. Litter volume was significantly higher during the dry season, while arthropod availability was significantly higher during the wet season. Therefore, higher food availability during the wet season may have made trap baits less attractive. In general, the observed variations between dry and wet seasons are in accordance with patterns described in other studies