Dinamica dell’infezione da Mycoplasma Hyopneumoniae in scrofette da rimonta in 3 allevamenti di tipo commerciale = Infection dynamics of mycroplasma hyopneumoniae in replacement in replacement gilts in 3 commercial herds

La trasmissione di Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, agente eziologico della polmonite enzootica, avviene prevalentemente per contatto diretto. Nonostante il problema sia maggiormente apprezzabile nei suini in fase di accrescimento-ingrasso, il contatto tra scrofa escretrice e suinetto gioca un ruolo chiave nel mantenimento dell\u2019infezione in allevamento. In particolare le scrofette e le scrofe giovani rappresentano un fattore di criticit\ue0 per la trasmissione del Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in sala parto. Scopo di questo studio \ue8 stato quello di valutare la presenza, la dinamica e la persistenza dell\u2019infezione da Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae nelle scrofette da rimonta. 168 scrofette provenienti da 3 allevamenti positivi per Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae sono state selezionate e testate nel corso dello studio. Tamponi tracheo-bronchiali e prelievi ematici sono stati effettuati a 110, 150, 180, 210, 270, 330 e 360 giorni di vita. 52 tamponi su 164 sono risultati positivi mentre la sierologia ha evidenziato una sieroprevalenza variabile nel corso degli intervalli di tempo valutati. Le scrofette oggetto dello studio sono risultate naturalmente infettate con Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae per un minimo di 2 mesi ad oltre 160 giorni. Inoltre \ue8 stata osservata l\u2019estensione dell\u2019 infezione tardiva ino alla sala parto, fattore di rischio importante per il protrarsi della patologia in allevamento.Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is prevalent transmitted by direct contact; despite pathology is mainly impactful in fattening unit, the direct contact between piglets and their dams play a crucial role for the persistence of the microorganism in the herd. Gilts and young sows represent a critical factor for Mycoplasma transmission in farrowing unit. The aim of the study was to assess detection, dynamic and persistence of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infection in replacement gilts. 168 gilts from three commercial herds positive for Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae were selected and tested during the study. Tracheobronchial swabs and blood were collected at 110, 150, 180, 210, 270, 330 and 360 days of age. Positive swabs were founded in 52 out of 164 evaluated; seroprevalence was variable during the observed time. The study has shown that naturally infected gilts are positive for a minimum of 2 months for more than 160 days post infection. If infection occurs late during acclimation the possibility to a have shedders in farrowing unit is high and this can compromise the herd health status

Spatial Epidemiology of Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Apulia, Italy

Background: Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare neurodegenerative disease caused by prions that is randomly distributed in all countries, with an overall yearly mortality rate of about 1-2 cases per million people. On a few occasions, however, sporadic CJD occurred with higher than expected rates, but further investigations failed to recognize any convincing causal link. In Italy, cluster analyses of sporadic CJD cases have not been performed previously. Objective: To investigate the geographical distribution of sporadic CJD using municipality geographical data of Apulia with the aim of detecting spatial clusters of disease. Patients and Methods: Patients included in this study were diagnosed as probable or definite sporadic CJD and were residents of the Apulia Region (Italy). Bayesian hierarchical models with spatially structured and unstructured random components were used to describe the spatial pattern of the disease and to assess the extent of heterogeneity among municipalities. The Kulldorff-Nagarwalla scan test and the flexible spatial scan statistic were used for detecting spatial clusters. Results: Smoothed Bayesian relative risks above the null value were observed in a few adjacent municipalities in the north and middle areas of Apulia. However, both the circular scanning method and the flexible spatial scan statistic identified only a single cluster in the central part of the region. Conclusion: Geographical analyses and tests for spatial randomness identified a restricted area with an unusually high number of sporadic CJD cases in the Apulia region of Italy. Environmental and genetic risk factors other than mutations in the prion protein gene however, need to be investigated

How alternative are immunoassay systems employing non-radioisotopic labels? A comparative appraisal of their main analytical characteristis

--

Applications of ECH on the DIII-D tokamak and projections for future ECH upgrades

Electron Cyclotron Heating and Current Drive plays an important role in the DIII-D program. In high performance discharges EC power contributes greatly to MHD stability, and this is particularly important for discharges with low rotational torque applied, as will be the case for ITER. Off-axis EC current drive also plays a key role in the actualization of steady-state scenarios by supporting the desired current profile. In order to carry out these applications at higher beta and higher field, an upgrade of the EC power to 15 MW is needed, and the best gyrotron frequency for the DIII-D program is 117.5 GHz

Fast wave direct electron heating in advanced inductive and ITER baseline scenario discharges in DIII-D

Fast Wave (FW) heating and electron cyclotron heating (ECH) are used in the DIII-D tokamak to study plasmas with low applied torque and dominant electron heating characteristic of burning plasmas. FW heating via direct electron damping has reached the 2.5 MW level in high performance ELMy H-mode plasmas. In Advanced Inductive (AI) plasmas, core FW heating was found to be comparable to that of ECH, consistent with the excellent first-pass absorption of FWs predicted by ray-tracing models at high electron beta. FW heating at the ∼2 MW level to ELMy H-mode discharges in the ITER Baseline Scenario (IBS) showed unexpectedly strong absorption of FW power by injected neutral beam (NB) ions, indicated by significant enhancement of the D-D neutron rate, while the intended absorption on core electrons appeared rather weak. The AI and IBS discharges are compared in an effort to identify the causes of the different response to FW