Monitoring gastrointestinal nematode and liver fluke infections in Belgium by bulk tank milk ELISA: are we making progress in parasite control?

Parasitic infections with gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes and liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) are common causes of reduced productivity in ruminants. In this paper, the results of a voluntary monitoring campaign on helminth infections in Belgian dairy herds are summarized and discussed. From 2009 until 2011, a bulk tank milk sample was collected in autumn and analyzed by antibody-detecting bulk tank milk ELISA's to assess the level of exposure to GI nematodes and liver fluke. The number of farms participating in the survey increased over the years, from 1216 in 2009 to 1731 in 2011. The proportion of herds with high exposure to GI nematodes varied significantly between the three years, from 67% in 2009 over 70% in 2010 to 63% in 2011. The proportion of herds with high exposure to F. hepatica remained stable around 30%. Important regional variations were observed with levels of exposure to GI nematodes increasing from the north to the south of the country, whereas the distribution of F. hepatica was concentrated in the province of West-Flanders, the southern part of East-Flanders, Hainaut and the northern part of Luxembourg. It can be concluded that, when compared with surveys conducted in surrounding countries, the levels of helminth exposure in Belgium can be considered high, especially for GI nematodes. If the aim is to decrease levels of exposure in the future, this will likely require control methods based on altered timings of treatment and changes in pasture management

Fine-scale mapping of vector habitats using very high resolution satellite imagery : a liver fluke case-study

The visualization of vector occurrence in space and time is an important aspect of studying vector-borne diseases. Detailed maps of possible vector habitats provide valuable information for the prediction of infection risk zones but are currently lacking for most parts of the world. Nonetheless, monitoring vector habitats from the finest scales up to farm level is of key importance to refine currently existing broad-scale infection risk models. Using Fasciola hepatica, a parasite liver fluke as a case in point, this study illustrates the potential of very high resolution (VHR) optical satellite imagery to efficiently and semi-automatically detect detailed vector habitats. A WorldView2 satellite image capable of <5m resolution was acquired in the spring of 2013 for the area around Bruges, Belgium, a region where dairy farms suffer from liver fluke infections transmitted by freshwater snails. The vector thrives in small water bodies (SWBs), such as ponds, ditches and other humid areas consisting of open water, aquatic vegetation and/or inundated grass. These water bodies can be as small as a few m(2) and are most often not present on existing land cover maps because of their small size. We present a classification procedure based on object-based image analysis (OBIA) that proved valuable to detect SWBs at a fine scale in an operational and semi-automated way. The classification results were compared to field and other reference data such as existing broad-scale maps and expert knowledge. Overall, the SWB detection accuracy reached up to 87%. The resulting fine-scale SWB map can be used as input for spatial distribution modelling of the liver fluke snail vector to enable development of improved infection risk mapping and management advice adapted to specific, local farm situations

Assessing nanoparticle toxicity in cell-based assays : influence of cell culture parameters and optimized models for bridging the in vitro-in vivo gap

The number of newly engineered nanomaterials is vastly increasing along with their applications. Despite the fact that there is a lot of interest and effort is being put into the development of nano-based biomedical applications, the level of translational clinical output remains limited due to uncertainty in the toxicological profiles of the nanoparticles (NPs). As NPs used in biomedicines are likely to directly interact with cells and biomolecules, it is imperative to rule out any adverse effect before they can be safely applied. The initial screening for nanotoxicity is preferably performed in vitro, but extrapolation to the in vivo outcome remains very challenging. In addition, generated in vitro and in vivo data are often conflicting, which consolidates the in vitro-in vivo gap and impedes the formulation of unambiguous conclusions on NP toxicity. Consequently, more consistent and relevant in vitro and in vivo data need to be acquired in order to bridge this gap. This is in turn in conflict with the efforts to reduce the number of animals used for in vivo toxicity testing. Therefore the need for more reliable in vitro models with a higher predictive power, mimicking the in vivo environment more closely, becomes more prominent. In this review we will discuss the current paradigm and routine methods for nanotoxicity evaluation, and give an overview of adjustments that can be made to the cultivation systems in order to optimise current in vitro models. We will also describe various novel model systems and highlight future prospects

Effects of Age on Acute Appetite-Related Responses to Whey-Protein Drinks, Including Energy Intake, Gastric Emptying, Blood Glucose, and Plasma Gut Hormone Concentrations—A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Comparative Effects of Co-Ingesting Whey Protein and Glucose Alone and Combined on Blood Glucose, Plasma Insulin and Glucagon Concentrations in Younger and Older Men

The ingestion of dietary protein with, or before, carbohydrate may be a useful strategy to reduce postprandial hyperglycemia, but its effect in older people, who have an increased predisposition for type 2 diabetes, has not been clarified. Blood glucose, plasma insulin and glucagon concentrations were measured for 180 min following a drink containing either glucose (120 kcal), whey-protein (120 kcal), whey-protein plus glucose (240 kcal) or control (~2 kcal) in healthy younger (n = 10, 29 ± 2 years; 26.1 ± 0.4 kg/m(2)) and older men (n = 10, 78 ± 2 years; 27.3 ± 1.4 kg/m(2)). Mixed model analysis was used. In both age groups the co-ingestion of protein with glucose (i) markedly reduced the increase in blood glucose concentrations following glucose ingestion alone (p < 0.001) and (ii) had a synergistic effect on the increase in insulin concentrations (p = 0.002). Peak insulin concentrations after protein were unaffected by ageing, whereas insulin levels after glucose were lower in older than younger men (p < 0.05) and peak insulin concentrations were higher after glucose than protein in younger (p < 0.001) but not older men. Glucagon concentrations were unaffected by age. We conclude that the ability of whey-protein to reduce carbohydrate-induced postprandial hyperglycemia is retained in older men and that protein supplementation may be a useful strategy in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes in older people

Whey protein drink ingestion before breakfast suppressed energy intake at breakfast and lunch, but not during dinner, and was less suppressed in healthy older than younger men

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Capturing Provenance of Data Curation at BCO-DMO

Presented at Data Curation Network, May 15, 2020At domain-specific data repositories, curation that strives for FAIR principles often entails transforming data submissions to improve understanding and reuse. The Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO, https://www.bco-dmo.org) has been adopting the data containerization specification of the Frictionless Data project (https://frictionlessdata.io) in an effort to improve its data curation process efficiency. In doing so, BCO-DMO has been using the Frictionless Data Package Pipelines library (https://github.com/frictionlessdata/datapackage-pipelines) to define the processing steps that transform original submissions to final data products. Because these pipelines are defined using a declarative language they can be serialized into formal provenance data structures using the Provenance Ontology (PROV-O, https://www.w3.org/TR/prov-o/). While there may still be some curation steps that cannot be easily automated, this method is a step towards reproducible transforms that bridge the original data submission to its published state in machine-actionable ways that benefit the research community through transparency in the data curation process. BCO-DMO has built a user interface on top of these modular tools for making it easer for data managers to process submission, reuse existing workflows, and make transparent the added value of domain-specific data curation.NSF #192461

Capturing Provenance of Data Curation at BCO-DMO

Presented at USGS Data Management Working Group, 9, November 2020At domain-specific data repositories, curation that strives for FAIR principles often entails transforming data submissions to improve understanding and reuse. The Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO, https://www.bco-dmo.org) has been adopting the data containerization specification of the Frictionless Data project (https://frictionlessdata.io) in an effort to improve its data curation process efficiency. In doing so, BCO-DMO has been using the Frictionless Data Package Pipelines library (https://github.com/frictionlessdata/datapackage-pipelines) to define the processing steps that transform original submissions to final data products. Because these pipelines are defined using a declarative language they can be serialized into formal provenance data structures using the Provenance Ontology (PROV-O, https://www.w3.org/TR/prov-o/). While there may still be some curation steps that cannot be easily automated, this method is a step towards reproducible transforms that bridge the original data submission to its published state in machine-actionable ways that benefit the research community through transparency in the data curation process. BCO-DMO has built a user interface on top of these modular tools for making it easier for data managers to process submission, reuse existing workflows, and make transparent the added value of domain-specific data curation.NSF #192461