Efficacy of flukicides against Fasciola hepatica and first report of triclabendazole resistance on German sheep farms

Fasciola hepatica infections lead to severe health problems and production losses in sheep farming, if not treated effectively. Triclabendazole has been used extensively over decades due to its unique efficacy range against all definitive hostfluke stages but published data about the susceptibility of F. hepatica to anthelmintics in Germany are lacking. This study aimed to identify current F. hepatica infections in German sheep flocks by coproscopic examinations and to evaluate the efficacy of anthelmintics with a focus on triclabendazole in a field study conducted from 2020 to 2022. Initial screening included 71 sheep farms, many of them with known history of fasciolosis. In this highly biased sample set, the frequency of F. hepatica infection at individual sheep and farm level were 12.8% and 35.2%, respectively. Additionally, eggs of Paramphistominae were found at frequencies of 4.8% and 15.5% at individual sheep and farm level, respectively. Due to low egg shedding intensity, faecal egg count reduction (FECR) tests could only be conducted on a few farms. The efficacy of triclabendazole was tested on 11 farms and albendazole on one farm, including 3–53 sheep/farm. Individual faecal samples were collected before and two weeks after treatment to evaluate the FECR using the sedimentation or FLUKEFINDER® or a modified FLUKEFINDER® method. On all farms a coproantigen reduction test was conducted in parallel. Lacking efficacy of triclabendazole even at double dosage was shown on one farm associated with a high number of animal losses due to acute fasciolosis. On this farm, the Fasciola miracidium development test was additionally performed, revealing a high in vitro ovicidal activity of albendazole while closantel was effective in vivo. On all other farms, sufficient efficacy of triclabendazole was observed. In conclusion, triclabendazole resistance appears not to be widespread on German sheep farms but, when present, can have serious effects on animal health

Secrets in the Library: Protected Scholarship and Professional Identity in Late Babylonian Uruk

Injunctions to secrecy in the colophons of scholarly cuneiform tablets offer potential insights into the classification and protection of knowledge in Mesopotamia. However, most models of a body of “secret knowledge” defined by the so-called “Geheimwissen colophons” have found it difficult to account for a seemingly disparate corpus of protected texts. This study argues first for an expanded definition of intellectual protection, which leads to a larger corpus of protected texts. Through a case study of Late Babylonian colophons from Uruk, it is suggested that there is a strong correlation between texts related to the professional specialism of the tablet owner, and the occurrence of protective formulae in the colophon. This implies that it is fruitful to consider “secret knowledge” less as an abstracted corpus of esoteric texts and more as a mutable categorisation strongly linked to professional and individual intellectual identity

The Dogs of Ninkilim, part two: Babylonian rituals to counter field pests

This article presents editions of all the extant Babylonian incantations against field pests. The sources date to the first millennium BC and many have not been published before. They are mostly tablets of the Neo-Assyrian period, from Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh, but the corpus also contains some Neo-Babylonian fragments from Nineveh, as well as a tablet from Sultantepe (ancient Huzirina) and two Late Babylonian tablets from southern Mesopotamia. Some of the pieces certainly belong to a series called in antiquity Zu-buru-dabbeda “To Seize the Locust-Tooth”, a compendium of incantations and rituals designed to combat by magic means the destruction of crops by locusts, insect larvae and other pests; other pieces are parts of related and similar texts. Some of the rituals require the observation of the Goat-star rising above the eastern horizon, which suggests they were performed at night as a precautionary measure during the winter months of the barley-growing season

Nergal y la deidad doble del friso del Banquete infernal de Pozo Moro

An enthroned figure with human body and two identical and superposed animal heads rules the scene called Underworld Feast from Pozo Moro’s Orientalizing monument. Identification of this figure with a deity assimilated with Nergal and his twin, Erra, or their corresponding Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea, Lords of the Underworld, is proposed. Though their cult spread through Syria and the Phoenician environment, especially in Samaria, it is in the Upper Euphrates where there seems to be a concentration of a surprising amount of clues that would allow us to specify that it was there that the idea or the image that we finally see shown in Pozo Moro was conceived: the implantation of Nergal’s cult in the zone; the special proximity of the iconographic elements of Neohittite origin that can be seen at the Pozo Moro friezes; the frequency of the representation of Hybrid beings devouring humans that find their reflection in the Underworld Feast; the permanence in the zone of Phoenician communities still in the 7th century B.C., etc. It is possible that the transference process took place through a Phoenician deity related to the Underworld, but we do not have enough clues to specify which one it could be.<br><br>Preside la escena del Banquete infernal del monumento orientalizante de Pozo Moro una figura entronizada con cuerpo humano y dos cabezas animales idénticas y superpuestas. Se propone identificarla con una deidad asimilable a Nergal con su gemelo Erra, o sus correspondientes Lugal-irra y Meslamta-ea, señores del Inframundo. Aunque su culto se extendió por Siria y el entorno de Fenicia, especialmente en Samaria, es el Alto Éufrates donde parece concentrarse un sorprendente conjunto de indicios que permitirían precisar que fue allí donde se gestó la idea o la imagen que vemos finalmente plasmada en Pozo Moro: la implantación en la zona del culto de Nergal; especial proximidad en cuanto a los elementos iconográficos de origen neohitita que aparecen en los frisos de Pozo Moro; frecuencia de las representaciones de seres híbridos en su relivaria y la constatación de iconografía de seres híbridos devorando humanos que encuentran su reflejo en el Banquete infernal; permanencia en la zona de comunidades fenicias aún en el siglo VII a.C., etc. Es posible que el proceso de transferencia se hubiera realizado a través del culto de alguna deidad fenicia relacionada con el Inframundo, pero no contamos con indicios que permitan precisar de cual pudo tratarse

On Babylonian lavatories and sewers

This study begins by examining the archaeological and documentary evidence for lavatories (toilets) and foul-water drains in ancient Mesopotamian dwelling houses. It goes on to investigate the use, etymology and history of the Akkadian word asurrû: in the Old Babylonian period it served mainly as a term for a kind of foul-water drain or “sewer” but later shed that meaning

Leaf Trait-Environment Relationships in a Subtropical Broadleaved Forest in South-East China

Although trait analyses have become more important in community ecology, trait-environment correlations have rarely been studied along successional gradients. We asked which environmental variables had the strongest impact on intraspecific and interspecific trait variation in the community and which traits were most responsive to the environment. We established a series of plots in a secondary forest in the Chinese subtropics, stratified by successional stages that were defined by the time elapsed since the last logging activities. On a total of 27 plots all woody plants were recorded and a set of individuals of every species was analysed for leaf traits, resulting in a trait matrix of 26 leaf traits for 122 species. A Fourth Corner Analysis revealed that the mean values of many leaf traits were tightly related to the successional gradient. Most shifts in traits followed the leaf economics spectrum with decreasing specific leaf area and leaf nutrient contents with successional time. Beside succession, few additional environmental variables resulted in significant trait relationships, such as soil moisture and soil C and N content as well as topographical variables. Not all traits were related to the leaf economics spectrum, and thus, to the successional gradient, such as stomata size and density. By comparing different permutation models in the Fourth Corner Analysis, we found that the trait-environment link was based more on the association of species with the environment than of the communities with species traits. The strong species-environment association was brought about by a clear gradient in species composition along the succession series, while communities were not well differentiated in mean trait composition. In contrast, intraspecific trait variation did not show close environmental relationships. The study confirmed the role of environmental trait filtering in subtropical forests, with traits associated with the leaf economics spectrum being the most responsive ones

Cafer Bater'den suluboya sergi

Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya No: 97-Cafer Bate

The role of competition in structuring primate communities under different productivity regimes in the Amazon

The factors responsible for the formation of Amazonian primate communities are not well understood. Here we investigated the influence of interspecific competition in the assembly of these communities, specifically whether they follow an assembly rule known as "favored states". According to this rule, interspecific competition influences final species composition, resulting in functional groups that are equally represented in the community.We compiled presence-absence data for primate species at 39 Amazonian sites in Brazil, contrasting two regions with distinct productivity regimes: the eutrophic Juruá River basin and the oligotrophic Negro River basin. We tested two hypotheses: that interspecific competition is a mechanism that influences the structure of Amazonian primate communities, and that competition has had a greater influence on the structure of primate communities in regions with low productivity, where resources are more limited. We used null models to test the statistical significance of the results, and found a non-random pattern compatible with the favored states rule in the two regions. Our findings suggest that interspecific competition is an important force driving primate community assembly regardless of productivity regimes