Survival of Johne’s Disease in the environment : National Ovine Johne's Disease Control and Evaluation Program.

This report covers three MLA projects (TR.055, TR.055A and OJD.003) undertaken by NSW Agriculture to determine how long the sheep strain of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis survives in the environment to validate destocking recommendations for eradication of OJD. Survival of the organism was prolonged but finite. In the shade it lasted for 13 months while in the open in ungrazed pasture it lasted for 7 months. It survived for a shorter period in fully exposed pastures where grazing was simulated but for much longer in water than on pasture. These times were probably underestimates. Liming pasture did not reduce survival and moisture did not increase it. Shade was the most significant factor favouring survival. Further research is necessary to determine the mechanisms of survival, which include dormancy. Decay rates for the organism were determined for short term and long term destocking. These can be used to estimate how much time must be allowed to render pastures safe for control and eradication of OJD, respectively. When estimates of soil ingestion rates by grazing sheep are combined with within-flock OJD prevalence estimates and bacterial shedding rates determined by PFC, it is possible to make property by property recommendations for the purpose of control or eradication of OJD

Developing Novel Water-Soluble Porphyrins for Potential Use as Photosensitizers in Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment modality for various illnesses, including some types of cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The prevalence of lung cancer in certain gender, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups add to existing health disparities in the United States. For this reason, it is necessary to address the social determinants underlying lung cancer disparities, as well as improve treatment options. These treatment options should be cost effective, convenient, and increase survival rates. This research focused on synthesizing novel water-soluble porphyrin compounds for use as photosensitive agents in PDT for the treatment of lung cancer. Three novel water-soluble compounds were synthesized. The compounds were then purified and characterized prior to being tested on an A549 non-small cell lung cancer line in vitro

Survival of Johne’s Disease in the environment : National Ovine Johne's Disease Control and Evaluation Program.

This report covers three MLA projects (TR.055, TR.055A and OJD.003) undertaken by NSW Agriculture to determine how long the sheep strain of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis survives in the environment to validate destocking recommendations for eradication of OJD. Survival of the organism was prolonged but finite. In the shade it lasted for 13 months while in the open in ungrazed pasture it lasted for 7 months. It survived for a shorter period in fully exposed pastures where grazing was simulated but for much longer in water than on pasture. These times were probably underestimates. Liming pasture did not reduce survival and moisture did not increase it. Shade was the most significant factor favouring survival. Further research is necessary to determine the mechanisms of survival, which include dormancy. Decay rates for the organism were determined for short term and long term destocking. These can be used to estimate how much time must be allowed to render pastures safe for control and eradication of OJD, respectively. When estimates of soil ingestion rates by grazing sheep are combined with within-flock OJD prevalence estimates and bacterial shedding rates determined by PFC, it is possible to make property by property recommendations for the purpose of control or eradication of OJD

Outcomes of Unbalanced versus Balanced Crystalloids in Sepsis: A Systematic Review

This systematic review attempts to examine current literature regarding the outcomes of septic patients who receive fluid resuscitation with balanced versus unbalanced crystalloids. Inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), retrospective cohort studies, and clinical trials that presented either pediatric or adult patients who were admitted to the hospital in critically ill condition and received either 0.9% normal saline or any type of balanced crystalloid, with the presence of at least one out of three primary outcomes: comparative rates of mortality, renal dysfunction, or metabolic acidosis. Reports were excluded if they did not contain information regarding any primary outcome measure, had a mixed age population, or did not include septic patients. Pubmed was the database in which this systematic review was conducted, which took place from inception until July 2023. The included studies were summarized in the results section of this systematic review which includes the dates, patient population, interventions, primary outcomes, results, and overall conclusions of the authors. The total number of included studies was 11, with 107,921 total participants. 71,983 patients received normal saline, 17,846 received balanced crystalloids, and 7,054 received some combination of both. Results of the majority of studies point to balanced crystalloids as a better option for fluid resuscitation than normal saline, showing decreases in overall mortality as well as renal dysfunction and metabolic acidosis. The implications of this finding further support the weak recommendation made by the current Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines, arguing for the preference of balanced over unbalanced crystalloids in initial management of sepsis

Identity, continuity and consciousness

It is my intention in this thesis to demonstrate that there exists a clear and explicit formal relationship between the seemingly exclusive descriptions of spatio-temporal and purely temporal continuity, and further, that this relationship manifests itself within our most fundamental understanding of the physical world itself, namely; within our understanding of the identity, diversity and re-identification of material bodies (Book 1). It may therefore be claimed that behind that cultural understanding which leads us to imagine that the physical world is located in both space and time, whereas our thoughts and feelings are located in time alone, there lies a formal logical framework, or an explicit formal description of how being in space and time relates to being in time alone - leading us to wonder, perhaps, whether these two things are really as distinct as we might at first imagine. That I should then go on (albeit without a formal methodology) to apply to this analysis a philosophical interpretation of Bergson's conception of the relationship between the intuition and the intellect (Book 2) is of lesser importance - indicating as it does little more than my own philosophical inclinations. However, something will be gained, I hope, from this further exercise. Along the way it will allow me to clarify a number of technical points of which the general philosopher may be unaware; for example the unobservable nature of numerical identity and re-identification, the importance of the principle of special relativity to the topic of mind and the technical difficulties of claiming that mental events are 'in time' at all. Notwithstanding these latter points, however, the intentions of this work are predominantly analytical and are adequately described as an attempt to consolidate spatio-temporal and purely temporal description under a unified logical framework

Individual animal tests for ovine Johne's disease.

Routine diagnostic tests for ovine paratuberculosis have poor sensitivity in the early stages of the disease, and transmission often occurs before detection. Currently there are no tests to accurately confirm early infection in individual sheep. Such tests are required to provide trading opportunities for producers who may have valuable stock at low risk of infection. Surgical biopsy is one means of disease detection using relatively sensitive laboratory procedures, but was unproven. 77 sheep grazing on a heavily infected farm were examined at 12, 18 and 24 months of age by histopathology and culture of biopsied ileum and mesenteric lymph nodes. Results from biopsy were compared to those from routine tests (ELISA, AGID, IFN-γ, skin testing, faecal culture and direct PCR) applied at six-monthly intervals, and to necropsy findings at three years of age. A total of 170 biopsies were performed without serious complications, and the samples collected were adequate for culture and histological assessment of paratuberculosis. Overall, 36% of sheep were shown to be uninfected at 3 years of age. Of these, 16 were uninfected at all sampling times and 11 sheep had recovered. (ie. They had been infected at an earlier sampling.) The remaining 64% of sheep were classified at necropsy as infected. Biopsy was consistently the most sensitive nonlethal technique for identification of infected sheep, although even at 36 months it detected only 2/3 of infected sheep. It may be useful as an additional tool in the management for individual valuable sheep from infected stud flocks

Cross species transmission of ovine Johnes Disease - Phase 1 : National Ovine Johne’s Disease Control and Evaluation Program.

Johne’s disease was investigated in fibre goats on several farms. The disease was caused by sheep [S] strains of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. The infection appeared to be less severe than the same infection in sheep in that fewer goats than sheep became infected, and fewer goats than sheep developed obvious signs of the infection. However, infected goats shed the organism in their faeces and therefore were able to spread the infection to other goats and sheep. Therefore inclusion of goats in the control program for ovine Johne’s disease is justified. A communication program is recommended to advise producers that ovine Johne’s disease in goats may not be obvious and that testing should be undertaken to ensure disease is not present. The impact of ovine Johne’s disease on the fibre goat industry is projected not to be great due to the small number of herds likely to be infected