Summary
Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) was recently proposed as a new porcine circovirus. It has been described by researchers in the USA and China and associated with porcine dermatitis and ...nephropathy syndrome, reproductive failure and systemic inflammation disease. The study reports the occurrence of the new virus in Italy. PCV3 was detected in the tissues of foetuses and stillborn piglets coming from two farms located in the Po Valley. The genome sequences of the two Italian strains share 99.7% to 97.8% of nucleotide identity with those available in GenBank. Results strengthen the hypothesis of PCV3 as a new emerging porcine circovirus, widespread all over the world. It follows the urgency of investigating in depth epidemiology and pathogenicity associated with this new virus.
The objective was to test if creep feeding (CF) improves the average daily gain (ADG) and weaning weight of calves submitted to temporary weaning (TW) and if the combination of CF and TW improves ...conception and pregnancy rates of cows.
Primiparous (n = 74) and primiparous and multiparous (n = 104) cows grazing native grasslands were used in experiment 1 and 2; respectively. The experimental design was in plots divided into complete random blocks with two replications. CF was the big plot and TW the small plot, thus four experimental groups were formed: 1) -CF-TW (n = 21 and 27); 2) -CF+TW (n = 16 and 24); 3) +CF-TW (n = 20 and 26); 4) +CF+TW (n=17 and 27) with cow-calf pairs for experiments 1 and 2; respectively. Nose plate application for TW had a duration of 14 and 15 days for experiment 1 and 2: respectively. In experiment 1, calves were fed at 1 % of live weight for 112 days using a commercial supplement with 18.4 % crude protein. In experiment 2, the supplementation lasted 98 days, and was carried out with corn dried distillers grains with soluble (DDGS) at 40 % of the potential intake on a daily basis.
TW reduced ADG during the TW period and the following 14 days, but the negative effect of TW was maintained until the final weaning only in experiment 2. CF increased ADG during TW period in both experiments. TW promoted an earlier conception of the dams (12 days in -CF treatment and 19 days in +CF treatment, P<0.01) and CF increased pregnancy rate in experiment 1, being the effects not consistent between experiments.
CF consistently promoted an increase in ADG during the period of TW and increased final weaning weight of calves, therefore it is economically viable.
•Farmers need to adapt their selection management to the agroecological transition.•Farmers’ expectations depend on the region and the breeding system.•Producers and breeders implement different ...selection strategies.•Breeding advice needs to focus on developing the knowledge of producer and breeder.•Relevant new breeding programs would include knowledge and expectation diversity.
Small ruminant farming is of socio-economic and environmental importance to many rural communities around the world. The SMARTER H2020 project aims to redefine genetic selection criteria to increase the sustainability of the sector. The objective of this study was to analyse the selection and breeding management practices of small ruminant producers and breeders, linked with socio-technical elements that shape them. The study is based on farm surveys using semi-structured interviews conducted in five countries (France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Uruguay) across 272 producers and breeders of 13 sheep and goat breeds, and 15 breed × system combinations. The information was collected in four sections. The first and second sections dealt with general elements of structure and management of the system and the flock/herd. The third section focused on selection and breeding management practices: criteria for culling and replacement of females, selection criteria for males, use of estimated breeding values and global indexes, and preferences for indexing new traits to increase the sustainability of their system. The fourth section aimed to collect socio-technical information. We used a data abstraction method to standardise the representation of these data. A mixed data factor analysis followed by a hierarchical ascending classification allowed the characterisation of three profiles of selection and breeding management: (1) a profile of producers (n = 93) of small flocks/herds, with little knowledge or use of genetic selection and improvement tools (selection index, artificial insemination, performance recording); these farmers do not feel that new traits are needed to improve the sustainability of their system. (2) a profile of producers (n = 34) of multibreed flocks/herds that rely significantly on grazing; they are familiar with genetic tools, they currently use AI; they would like the indexes to include more health and robustness characteristics, to make their animals more resistant and to increase the sustainability of their system. And (3) a profile of producers or breeders (n = 145) of large flocks/herds, with specific culling criteria; these farmers are satisfied with the current indexes to maintain the sustainability of their system. These results are elements that can be used by private breeding companies and associations to support the evolution of selection objectives to increase the resilience of animals and to improve the sustainability of the small ruminant breeding systems.
Objective: The objective was to test if creep feeding (CF) improves the average daily gain (ADG) and weaning weight of calves submitted to temporary weaning (TW) and if the combination of CF and TW ...improves conception and pregnancy rates of cows. Methods: Primiparous (n = 74) and primiparous and multiparous (n = 104) cows grazing native grasslands were used in experiment 1 and 2; respectively. The experimental design was in plots divided into complete random blocks with two replications. The CF was the big plot and TW the small plot, thus four experimental groups were formed: i) -CF-TW (n = 21 and 27); ii) -CF+TW (n = 16 and 24); iii) +CF-TW (n = 20 and 26); iv) +CF+TW (n = 17 and 27) with cow-calf pairs for experiments 1 and 2; respectively. Nose plate application for TW had a duration of 14 and 15 days for experiment 1 and 2: respectively. In experiment 1, calves were fed at 1% of live weight for 112 days using a commercial supplement with 18.4% crude protein. In experiment 2, the supplementation lasted 98 days, and was carried out with corn dried distillers grains with soluble (DDGS) at 40% of the potential intake on a daily basis. Results: The TW reduced ADG during the TW period and the following 14 days, but the negative effect of TW was maintained until the final weaning only in experiment 2. The CF increased ADG during TW period in both experiments. The TW promoted an earlier conception of the dams (12 days in -CF treatment and 19 days in +CF treatment, p<0.01) and CF increased pregnancy rate in experiment 1, being the effects not consistent between experiments. Conclusion: The CF consistently promoted an increase in ADG during the period of TW and increased final weaning weight of calves, therefore it is economically viable.
Small molecule inhibition of the BET family of proteins, which bind acetylated lysines within histones, has been shown to have a marked therapeutic benefit in pre-clinical models of mixed lineage ...leukemia (MLL) fusion protein-driven leukemias. Here, we report that I-BET151, a highly specific BET family bromodomain inhibitor, leads to growth inhibition in a human erythroleukemic (HEL) cell line as well as in erythroid precursors isolated from polycythemia vera patients. One of the genes most highly downregulated by I-BET151 was LMO2, an important oncogenic regulator of hematopoietic stem cell development and erythropoiesis. We previously reported that LMO2 transcription is dependent upon Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) kinase activity in HEL cells. Here, we show that the transcriptional changes induced by a JAK2 inhibitor (TG101209) and I-BET151 in HEL cells are significantly over-lapping, suggesting a common pathway of action. We generated JAK2 inhibitor resistant HEL cells and showed that these retain sensitivity to I-BET151. These data highlight I-BET151 as a potential alternative treatment against myeloproliferative neoplasms driven by constitutively active JAK2 kinase.
Contents
This study compared the effect of different management systems on endocrine parameters, and gene expression of members of the somatotrophic axis in the liver and endometrium of beef heifers. ...Twenty‐two 709‐days‐old heifers submitted to Early Weaning (EW, n = 8), Traditional Weaning (TW, n = 7) and TW plus creep feeding (TW+CF, n = 7) were used. Animals were synchronized with two prostaglandin (PG) injections at 11‐day interval (Oestrus = Day 0). Blood samples were collected daily for progesterone (P4) determination, and endometrial and liver biopsies on Days 7 and 16 for transcript determination of members of the somatotrophic axis. Progesterone concentrations were greater on Days 15 and 16 (p < .02) of the cycle in TW+CF than TW and EW heifers. On Day 7, TW+CF heifers expressed greater liver total growth hormone receptor transcripts than TW heifers (p = .05) and greater insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)‐binding protein 3 mRNA than both EW and TW groups (p < .05). On Days 7 and 16, TW+CF expressed more endometrial IGF1 mRNA than the other groups (p < .01). We conclude that increasing the plane of nutrition of nursing calves may have a long‐term effect on the functioning of the somatotrophic axis both in the liver and in the endometrium.
Porcine enterovirus (PEV), Porcine Teschovirus and Porcine sapelovirus, belonging to the family Picornaviridae, are ubiquitous and mainly cause asymptomatic infections in pigs. In this study, a total ...of 40 Italian porcine picornavirus isolates were characterized by sequencing the capsid VP1‐encoding gene. This procedure turned out to be a useful diagnostic tool for the molecular identification of porcine enterovirus, teschovirus and sapelovirus strains and for the study of molecular epidemiology and evolution of these viruses confirming the possibility of correlating virus genotype to serotype.
Summary
In April 2009, a novel H1N1 influenza A virus (pH1N1) was recognized as the cause of the flu pandemic in humans. Here, we report the isolation of pH1N1 virus from the lung homogenates of two ...cats, which died after severe respiratory symptoms. The cats belonged to a cat colony consisting of 90 caged cats and were found dead following a 2‐week period of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases in the colony. During the outbreak, 25 cats died and 50% of the animal colony showed anorexia, depression, respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms. Histological examination of the lungs of the two tested cats displayed lesions centred on terminal airways with epithelial bronchiolar hyperplasia and alveolar necrosis. Influenza A virus was detected in the lung tissues by immunohistochemistry and real‐time RT‐PCR (rRT‐PCR). Partial sequences of haemagglutinin (HA) genes and complete sequences of neuraminidase (NA) genes of the two isolates displayed high similarity to the pH1N1 viruses circulating in humans (99% for HA gene and 100% for NA gene). To determine whether the pandemic virus had circulated among cats, serum samples and pharyngeal swabs were collected from 38 cats of the colony. Serum samples were tested by ELISA to detect antibodies against pH1N1 nucleoprotein and by hemagglutination‐inhibition test, while pharyngeal swabs were examined by pH1N1 specific rRT‐PCR. Twenty‐one (55%) of the tested cats carried antibodies against the isolated strain and two swabs were positive for the presence of pH1N1 RNA. Our results confirm that the pH1N1 virus was able to infect cats and raise the hypothesis of the circulation of the virus within the colony being due to cat‐to‐cat transmission. The case reported here provides, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first description of the pH1N1 infection involving numerous cats that lived in a restricted area with limited contact with humans.
Background and Aims Analysis of a clinical case regarding an uncommon health problem in paediatric age, the amputation of a limb and the subsequent “phantom limb pain (PLP)”. Aim of this work is to ...describe nursing care in a case of advanced nursing practice in PICU, with the need of multidisciplinary care and with multicultural implications. Methods Case report. Discussion The patient is a 9 years old child of Chinese nationality. She lives in Italy with her parents, has a hearing impaired brother and a disabled sister. The child had a road accident and suffered major injuries. Transferred to the PICU, the amputation of the lower right limb and a permanent tutor to the left limb were inevitable. After the surgery, the child suffered severe pain to the limbs and an onset of sepsis due to necrosis of the wounds. Treated with antibiotics, she recovered from the sepsis but the pain remained. The assessment data show nursing diagnosis related to the child and the family, from NANDA-I International taxonomy: Impaired physical mobility; Disturbed sensory perception; Disturbed body image; Acute pain, Post traumatic syndrome and Impaired parenting. For each of them the team identified related outcomes and nursing interventions (from NOC and NIC taxonomies). Conclusions The analysis of the case and the literature review show a lack of literature about the care of PLP in paediatric care, especially in nursing field. Nurses should have a major role with this kind of patients, not limited to pain monitoring and drug therapy administration.
The genus
Vibrio
includes several food-borne pathogens that cause a spectrum of clinical conditions including septicemia, cholera and milder forms of gastroenteritis. Several
Vibrio
spp. are commonly ...associated with food-borne transmission including
Vibrio cholerae
,
Vibrio parahemolyticus
, and
Vibrio vulnificus
. Microbiological analysis for enumeration and isolation of
Vibrio
spp. were carried out for a total of 93 samples of seafood, meat and meat products from different geographic localities in Libya (Tripoli, Regdalin, Janzour and Tobruk).
Vibrio
spp. were detected by conventional cultural and molecular method using PCR and sequencing of 16S rDNA. Out of the 93 cultured samples only 48 (51.6%) yielded colonies on Thiosulfate Citrate Bile Salt agar (TCBS) with culture characteristics of
Vibrio
spp. More than half (n=27) of processed seafood samples (n=46) yielded colonies on TCBS, while only 44.6 % of samples of meat and meat products showed colonies on TCBS. Among cultured seafood samples, the highest bacterial count was recorded in clam with a count of 3.8 ×10
4
CFU\g. Chicken burger samples showed the highest bacterial count with 6.5 ×10
4
CFU\g. Molecular analysis of the isolates obtained in this study, showed that 11 samples out of 48 (22.9%) were
Vibrio
spp.
Vibrio parahemolyticus
was isolated from camel meat for the first time. This study is an initial step to provide a baseline for future molecular research targeting
Vibrio
spp. foodborne illnesses. This data will be used to provide information on the magnitude of such pathogens in Libyan seafood, meat and meat products.
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