Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important disease of cattle caused by infection with Mycobacterium bovis, a pathogen that may be extremely difficult to eradicate in the presence of a true wildlife ...reservoir. Our objective was to identify and review relevant literature and provide a succinct summary of current knowledge of risk factors for transmission of infection of cattle. Search strings were developed to identify publications from electronic databases to February 2015. Abstracts of 4255 papers identified were reviewed by three reviewers to determine whether the entire article was likely to contain relevant information. Risk factors could be broadly grouped as follows: animal (including nutrition and genetics), herd (including bTB and testing history), environment, wildlife and social factors. Many risk factors are inter-related and study designs often do not enable differentiation between cause and consequence of infection. Despite differences in study design and location, some risk factors are consistently identified, e.g. herd size, bTB history, presence of infected wildlife, whereas the evidence for others is less consistent and coherent, e.g. nutrition, local cattle movements. We have identified knowledge gaps where further research may result in an improved understanding of bTB transmission dynamics. The application of targeted, multifactorial disease control regimens that address a range of risk factors simultaneously is likely to be a key to effective, evidence-informed control strategies.
Abstract
Cereal cultivation in Britain dates back to ca. 4000 BCE, probably introduced by migrant farmers from continental Europe. Widespread evidence for livestock appears in the archaeozoological ...record, also reflected by ubiquitous dairy lipids in pottery organic residues. However, despite archaeobotanical evidence for domesticated plants (such as cereals), organic residue evidence has been near-absent. Our approach, targeting low-abundance cereal-specific markers, has now revealed evidence for cereals (indicating wheat) in Neolithic pottery from Scottish ‘crannogs’, dating to ca. 3600 – 3300 BCE. Their association with dairy products suggests cereals may have been regularly prepared together as a milk-based gruel. We also observed a strong association between the occurrence of dairy products and smaller-mouthed vessels. Here, we demonstrate that cereal-specific markers can survive in cooking pots for millennia, revealing the consumption of specific cereals (wheat) that are virtually absent from the archaeobotanical record for this region and illuminating culinary traditions among early farming communities.
Highlights • The RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine is a naturally attenuated, human neonatal rotavirus vaccine. • A Phase I study evaluated the safety of RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine in 60 participants. • One ...dose of RV3-BB rotavirus vaccine was well tolerated. • Vaccine take was demonstrated in 8/9 infants compared with 2/7 infant placebo recipients. • These data support progression of RV3-BB to Phase II immunogenicity and efficacy trials.
Abstract Introduction Past experience with live oral vaccines including licensed rotavirus vaccines demonstrates a trend towards reduced vaccine efficacy in developing countries compared with ...developed countries. The reasons behind this disparity are not well understood. Transplacental transfer of maternal antibodies and breast milk ingestion may attenuate vaccine responses in infants in developing countries where rotavirus infections are endemic, and maternal antibody levels are high. We examined the prevalence and level of rotavirus antibody in maternal and cord serum, colostrum and breast milk in a developing country setting. Methods 100 mother–infant pairs were prospectively recruited from December 2008 to February 2009 at Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Maternal and cord sera were collected during delivery. Colostrum and transitional breast milk were collected between day 0–3 and day 7–10 postpartum respectively. Rotavirus-specific IgA and IgG were estimated for all specimens and virus neutralization assays were conducted on a subset of milk specimens. Results All maternal and cord serum samples were positive for rotavirus-specific IgG antibodies with a strong correlation between levels of rotavirus-specific IgG in mothers and levels transferred to infants in cord blood ( r = 0.86; p = 0.001). 78% of colostrum and 67% of transitional breast milk specimens were positive for rotavirus-specific IgA. There was a median 4-fold decrease in rotavirus-specific IgA from colostrum to transitional breast milk. Neutralizing antibodies were present in 56% of colostrum specimens assayed (19/34) and in 41% of transitional milk specimens assayed (14/34). Conclusions Maternal serum and breast milk antibodies to rotavirus are highly prevalent in a developing country setting. Evaluation of the impact of maternal anti-rotavirus serum and breast milk antibody upon vaccine immunogenicity would help to inform rotavirus vaccination strategies, especially in developing settings.
Low cardiorespiratory fitness (V̇O
) is highly associated with chronic disease and mortality from all causes. Whilst exercise training is recommended in health guidelines to improve V̇O
, there is ...considerable inter-individual variability in the V̇O
response to the same dose of exercise. Understanding how genetic factors contribute to V̇O
training response may improve personalisation of exercise programs. The aim of this study was to identify genetic variants that are associated with the magnitude of V̇O
peak response following exercise training.
Participant change in objectively measured V̇O
peak from 18 different interventions was obtained from a multi-centre study (Predict-HIIT). A genome-wide association study was completed (n = 507), and a polygenic predictor score (PPS) was developed using alleles from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated (P < 1 × 10
) with the magnitude of V̇O
peak response. Findings were tested in an independent validation study (n = 39) and compared to previous research.
No variants at the genome-wide significance level were found after adjusting for key covariates (baseline V̇O
peak
individual study, principal components which were significantly associated with the trait). A Quantile-Quantile plot indicates there was minor inflation in the study. Twelve novel loci showed a trend of association with V̇O
peak response that reached suggestive significance (P < 1 × 10
). The strongest association was found near the membrane associated guanylate kinase, WW and PDZ domain containing 2 (MAGI2) gene (rs6959961, P = 2.61 × 10
). A PPS created from the 12 lead SNPs was unable to predict V̇O
peak response in a tenfold cross validation, or in an independent (n = 39) validation study (P > 0.1). Significant correlations were found for beta coefficients of variants in the Predict-HIIT (P < 1 × 10
) and the validation study (P < × 10
), indicating that general effects of the loci exist, and that with a higher statistical power, more significant genetic associations may become apparent.
Ongoing research and validation of current and previous findings is needed to determine if genetics does play a large role in V̇O
peak response variance, and whether genomic predictors for V̇O
peak response trainability can inform evidence-based clinical practice. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), Trial Id: ACTRN12618000501246, Date Registered: 06/04/2018, http://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=374601&isReview=true .
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) is a viral disease with a significant negative impact on the global aquaculture of Atlantic salmon. IPN outbreaks can occur during specific windows of both the ...freshwater and seawater stages of the salmon life cycle. Previous research has shown that a proportion of the variation seen in resistance to IPN is because of host genetics, and we have shown that major quantitative trait loci (QTL) affect IPN resistance at the seawater stage of production. In the current study, we completed a large freshwater IPN challenge experiment to allow us to undertake a thorough investigation of the genetic basis of resistance to IPN in salmon fry, with a focus on previously identified QTL regions. The heritability of freshwater IPN resistance was estimated to be 0.26 on the observed scale and 0.55 on the underlying scale. Our results suggest that a single QTL on linkage group 21 explains almost all the genetic variation in IPN mortality under our experimental conditions. A striking contrast in mortality is seen between fry classified as homozygous susceptible versus homozygous resistant, with QTL-resistant fish showing virtually complete resistance to IPN mortality. The findings highlight the importance of the major QTL in the genetic regulation of IPN resistance across distinct physiological lifecycle stages, environmental conditions and viral isolates. These results have clear scientific and practical implications for the control of IPN.
The prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in the UK remains a significant economic burden and problem for the agri-food industry. Much effort has been directed towards improving diagnostics, ...finding vaccine candidates and assessing the usefulness of badger culling. The contribution that host genotype makes to disease outcome has, until recently, been overlooked; yet, it is biologically untenable that genetic variation does not play a role. In this review, we highlight the evidence, past and present, for a role of host genetics in determining susceptibility to BTB in livestock. We then address some of the major issues surrounding the design of future studies tasked with finding the exact causative genetic variation underpinning the TB susceptibility phenotype. Finally, we discuss some of the potential future benefits, and problems, that a knowledge of the genetic component to BTB resistance/susceptibility may bring to the agricultural industries and the wider scientific community.
Background
Temporal summation of second pain (TSSP) is relevant for the study of central sensitization, and refers to increased pain evoked by repetitive stimuli at a constant intensity. While the ...literature reports on participants whose pain ratings increase with successive stimuli, response to a TSSP protocol can be variable. The aim of this study was to characterize the full range of responses to a TSSP protocol in pain‐free adults.
Method
Three hundred twelve adults received a train of brief, repetitive heat stimuli at a fixed temperature and rated the intensity of second pain after each pulse. TSSP response (Δ in pain ratings) was quantified using the most common methods in the literature, and response groups were formed: TSSP (Δ > 0), no change (Δ = 0), and temporal decrease in second pain (TDSP) (Δ < 0). A cluster analysis was performed on the Δ values to empirically derive response groups.
Results
Depending on how TSSP response was quantified, 61–72% of the sample demonstrated TSSP, 11–28% had no change in pain ratings and 0–20% demonstrated TDSP. The cluster analysis found that the majority (59%) of participants fell in the no change cluster, 29% clustered into the TSSP group and 12% in the TDSP cluster.
Conclusions
Using a fixed thermal paradigm, pain‐free adults exhibit substantial variability in response to a TSSP protocol not well characterized by group‐mean slopes. Studies are needed to determine TSSP response patterns in clinical samples, identify predictors of response and determine the clinical implications of response variability.
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