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Small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) is a group of viruses of the Retroviridae family, shared between caprine, ovine and wild ruminants. It is responsible for a systemic infection that can affect the lungs, central nervous system, mammary gland and joints, causing chronic, insidious, and progressive diseases, seriously affecting animal health. Concurrently, it is associated with a decrease in milk production, leading to malnutrition of lambs and goat kids and to the premature slaughter of adult animals, causing substantial economic losses. This review aims to gather the latest information regarding lentivirusin small ruminants in the clinical practice, their economic importance, and diagnostic and prevention methods. Diagnosis is based on clinical, analytical, and post-mortem findings. The feasibility of imaging diagnosis is also highlighted. Preventive measures and management interventions, including the culling or segregation of positive animals, are effective options to control or even eradicate this disease. SRLV prevention strategies must be applied continuously to progressively eradicate infection.

Studies on normal concentration of blood constituents of free-living birds are not very common. An adequate knowledge of blood chemistry is greatly recommended for those projects involving research and management of populations as far as they can be valuable for the assessment of the nutritional levels and health status of species. No previous published reports on these parameters from this species are available. The aim of this study was to obtain representative reference measures for hematologic and biochemical values in free-living clinically healthy wild White-tailed Sea Eagle nestlings (Haliaeetus albicilla). In addition, we investigated potential relationships between blood parameters, sex, age and hatching dates. Blood samples were obtained as part of routine monitoring and management when wild chicks were removed from their nest as part of a reintroduction program prerelease health check. A total of 83 nestlings, 43 males and 40 females, between 41 and 66 days of age (mean = 54.22, SD = 5.7), were sampled. Significant differences between sexes were found. Among hematological parameters, MCH, lymphocytes P and thrombocytes showed significant differences between males and females. In biochemical parameters, significant differences were found only in calcium, CK and LDH between sexes. No effect was found of age of the nestling when the sample was taken in any of the analyzed hematological parameters. No other significant relationships were found between biochemical parameters and other considered explanatory variables. Hatching date showed no relationship with blood parameters excepting urea. Urea was the only variable showing a strong relationship with hatching date, with those nestlings hatching later in the season showing higher urea concentration.

Energy infrastructure is expanding at a global scale and can represent a major threat to wildlife populations. Power lines are one of the main sources of human-induced avian mortality due to electrocution or collision, but many species use electricity pylons as a structure for nesting. Pylon nesting results in human-wildlife conflict because it can cause power outages and structural damage to power lines. The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large-size semicolonial species that increasingly nests on pylons, causing growing operational and economic issues to power companies and energy consumers. In this study, the likelihood of problematic pylon use by nesting storks was predicted using a suite of explanatory variables related to the availability of foraging habitat and human disturbance. During a five-year period (2015–2019), we assessed the distribution of stork nests removed from the highly-risky top part of transmission pylons (220–400 kV) by power company technicians in South western Spain. A total of 839 nests were removed from 11% of the transmission pylons (n = 1196) during the study period. Pylon use intensified on pylons located near to landfills, surrounded by high proportion of grassland, and when close to freshwater sources (water body or river) and other occupied pylons. Human disturbance was unlikely to deter storks from using pylons and pylon use increased in urban areas. The approach used here to predict pylon use by nesting birds has applications for both human-wildlife conflict mitigation and conservation purposes where endangered species use human infrastructure. Power companies may use this kind of information to install anti-nesting devices (to reduce power outages and avian mortality or nesting platforms on suitable pylons (to promote pylons use by endangered species), and to account for the likelihood of conflict-prone use of pylons when siting future power lines.

The spatial variation in the strength of climate change may lead to different impacts on migratory birds using different breeding areas across a region. We used a long-term data series of White Stork ring recoveries to study the temporal and spatial variation of annual survival rates of White Stork across western Europe between 1960 and 2009 in relation to climatic and environmental conditions at their breeding and wintering grounds. White Stork survival was estimated from the Cormack–Jolly–Seber (CJS) model using a cohort-based analysis. Our results support that climate change has caused a gradual decline in the survival performance of western European White Storks during the study period. Both the shape and the strength of the relationship between climate warming and survival differ among different life-stages of the individual development, with juvenile White Storks more strongly affected. The decline in survival is particularly marked for those storks breeding in southern Europe. The large-scale effect of climatic conditions identified in this widespread long-distance migrant species represents a highly likely scenario for other migratory birds in Europe.

Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) causes ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma. JSRV can be transmitted via infected colostrum or milk, which contain somatic cells (SCs) harboring JSRV provirus. Nevertheless, the cell types involved in this form of transmission and the involvement of the mammary gland remain unknown. We separated adherent cells (macrophages and monocytes) by plastic adherence, and lymphocytes (CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and B cells) by flow cytometry, from SCs in milk samples from 12 naturally infected, PCR blood test JSRV–positive, subclinical ewes. These cell populations were tested by PCR to detect JSRV provirus. The ewes were euthanized, and mammary gland samples were analyzed immunohistochemically to detect JSRV surface protein. We did not detect JSRV provirus in any milk lymphocyte population, but milk adherent cells were positive in 3 of 12 sheep, suggesting a potential major role of this population in the lactogenic transmission of JSRV. Immunohistochemistry did not reveal positive results in mammary epithelial cells, pointing to a lack of participation of the mammary gland in the biological cycle of JSRV and reducing the probability of excretion of free viral particles in colostrum or milk.

ispartof: Ieee-Acm Transactions On Audio Speech And Language Processing vol:30 pages:3199-3213 status: published

Lamb icteric carcasses condemnation due to Anaplasma ovis is causing relevant economic losses. A comparative study was developed on the effects of different antibiotics to treat ovine anaplasmosis in fattening lambs. A total of 100 A. ovis naturally infected lambs were selected and randomly divided into four groups of 25 lambs: Group ID, treated with injectable doxycycline; Group OD, oral doxycycline; Group O, injectable oxytetracycline; and Group C, untreated animals for the control group. Clinical, haematological, and molecular analyses were performed before the treatment and 12 and 45 days after the beginning of the treatments, and carcass condemnation was followed after slaughter. The A. ovis bacterial load was high before the treatments in the four groups and decreased significantly 45 days after treatment in the ID and O Groups (p < 0.001). The parameters that were related to haemolysis showed similar results. At the abattoir, 15 out of the 47 examined carcasses were condemned; 7 of C Group, 6 of OD Group, 2 of O Group, and 0 of ID Group. It can be concluded that injectable doxycycline and oxytetracycline significantly reduce A. ovis bacterial load in blood and carcass condemnation at the abattoir. Further studies are needed in order to confirm these encouraging findings.

Calls for urgent action to conserve biodiversity under global change are increasing, and conservation of migratory species in this context poses special challenges. In the last two decades the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) has provided a framework for several subsidiary instruments including action plans for migratory bird species, but the effectiveness and transferability of these plans remain unclear. Such laws and policies have been credited with positive outcomes for the conservation of migratory species, but the lack of international coordination and on-ground implementation pose major challenges. While research on migratory populations has received growing attention, considerably less emphasis has been given to integrating ecological information throughout the annual cycle for examining strategies to conserve migratory species at multiple scales in the face of global change. We fill this gap through a case study examining the ecological status and conservation of a migratory raptor and facultative scavenger, the red kite (Milvus milvus), whose current breeding range is limited to Europe and is associated with agricultural landscapes and restricted to the temperate zone. Based on our review, conservation actions have been successful at recovering red kite populations within certain regions. Populations however remain depleted along the southern-most edge of the geographic range where many migratory red kites from northern strongholds overwinter. This led us to a forward-looking and integrated strategy that emphasizes international coordination involving researchers and conservation practitioners to enhance the science-policy-action interface. We identify and explore key issues for conserving the red kite under global change, including enhancing conservation actions within and outside protected areas, recovering depleted populations, accounting for climate change, and transboundary coordination in adaptive conservation and management actions. The integrated conservation strategy is sufficiently general such that it can be adapted to inform conservation of other highly mobile species subject to global change., Financial and logistic support were provided by GREFA, IREC, UCLM (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha), CSIC and MITECO.

Birds of prey frequently feature in reintroductions and the hacking technique is typically used. Hacking involves removing large nestlings from donor populations, transferring them to captivity, feeding them ad libitum. Potentially, via the hacking method, stress of captivity and disruption of parental feeding may be detrimental. Alternatively, provision of ad libitum food may be advantageous. Although hacking has underpinned reintroduction project successes there has been no research on how the method may affect the health and nutritional status of translocated birds during captivity. We compared blood chemistry data from 55 young White-tailed Eagles, translocated from Norway as part of the species’ reintroduction to Scotland, from sampling soon after arriving in captivity and again (≈ 42 d later) before their release. Numerous significant differences between first and second samples were found, but no significant interactions showed that sexes responded similarly to captivity. According to hematological and biochemical metrics, individuals showed several changes during captivity, including in red blood cell parameters, plasma proteins and white cellular parameters related to the immune system, that indicated improved health status. Captivity with ad libitum food was associated with decreased urea and uric acid values: high values can indicate nutritional stress. Urea values became more normally distributed before release, indicating that ad libitum food had reduced nutritional differences between early nestlings in the season and later ones. Despite plentiful food, both sexes lost body mass before release, suggesting an inherent physiological mechanism to improve flight performance in fledglings. We conclude that hacking improved the health and nutritional status of released eagles which is likely to enable birds to cope with greater costs of exploratory behavior which they may require in reintroduction projects. In this context, we note the absence of survival differences between hacked and wild raptors in previous research.

Human movement studies and analyses have been fundamental in many scientific domains, ranging from neuroscience to education, pattern recognition to robotics, health care to sports, and beyond. Previous speech motor models were proposed to understand how speech movement is produced and how the resulting speech varies when some parameters are changed. However, the inverse approach, in which the muscular response parameters and the subject’s age are derived from real continuous speech, is not possible with such models. Instead, in the handwriting field, the kinematic theory of rapid human movements and its associated Sigma-lognormal model have been applied successfully to obtain the muscular response parameters. This work presents a speech kinematics-based model that can be used to study, analyze, and reconstruct complex speech kinematics in a simplified manner. A method based on the kinematic theory of rapid human movements and its associated Sigma-lognormal model are applied to describe and to parameterize the asymptotic impulse response of the neuromuscular networks involved in speech as a response to a neuromotor command. The method used to carry out transformations from formants to a movement observation is also presented. Experiments carried out with the (English) VTR-TIMIT database and the (German) Saarbrucken Voice Database, including people of different ages, with and without laryngeal pathologies, corroborate the link between the extracted parameters and aging, on the one hand, and the proportion between the first and second formants required in applying the kinematic theory of rapid human movements, on the other. The results should drive innovative developments in the modeling and understanding of speech kinematics.

Plant toxicology has affected animals throughout evolution. Plants have adapted themselves to the environment. This adaptation has led to the development of defensive strategies to avoid being consumed. Plants have several chemical compounds, which can cause deleterious effects on people or animals that consume them, causing a wide variety of clinical signs. Plants from various latitudes, both cultivated for human and animal feeding or decorative purpose and even wild growth plants are able to generate anaemia in ruminants. Coumarins or ptaquiloside predispose bleeding and haemorrhages, causing a haemorrhagic disease in affected animals. In this group, some important fodder plants, such sweet clover (Genus Melilotus spp.), or other weeds distributed worldwide, such as bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) of giant fennel (Ferula communis), are included. On the other hand, sulfur-containing chemicals (e.g., n-propyl disulfate and S-propyl cysteine sulfoxides (SMCOs)) may cause severe direct damage to the erythrocyte and their membrane, leading to their destruction and causing haemolytic anaemia in the animal. This review presents the most frequent intoxication by plants causing anaemia in ruminants. Toxic compounds, clinical signs, diagnosis and possible treatments are also presented.

SummaryAvian electrocutions are a global conservation problem. Power outages associated with electrocutions are problematic for electric utilities focused on delivering reliable electric power. We used contextual data, photographs, line voltage, outage type and assessments of power line components to quantify outage-causing avian electrocutions throughout each of Iran’s 31 provinces. We evaluated records of 222 avian-caused outages involving 235 electrocuted birds in 2018. Of these, 14.5% involved species of conservation concern, and a few (at least eight) sparked fires when the plumage of electrocuted birds ignited and fell into dry vegetation. Most avian-caused outages (96%) involved distribution voltages, and 91% involved phase-to-ground contacts attributable to grounded concrete pylons with grounded steel crossarms. These are the most common type of power line structure in Iran. Insulators were involved in 37% of outage-causing avian electrocutions, fused cutouts 29%, transformers 33%, and midspan collisions 1%. Given the numbers of these components in the electrical system, fused cutouts and transformers were involved in more outage-causing avian electrocutions than expected due to chance. The average body size of electrocuted birds was largest for incidents involving suspension insulators, smaller for birds electrocuted on other insulators, and smallest for electrocutions on fused cutouts and transformers. Given that most avian electrocutions do not cause outages and given the similarity across electric systems in the region, our findings likely indicate a much larger avian electrocution concern throughout the middle east. Retrofitting power line components to reduce avian contacts would reduce impacts to wildlife and improve the electrical system’s reliability, reduce costs associated with unplanned outages, and reduce risks associated power line ignitions of fires.

This article presents the design, planning, classroom implementation and analysis of a sequence of eight artistic installation sessions that make it possible for early-childhood pupils to learn scientific content. Using a descriptive perspective, the study analyses how the activities allow researchers to experiment with each installation’s object to discover the scientific processes involved in their actions, verbalise them, think about what is happening and thus know the science around us.

Resumen La neumonia intrahospitalaria (NIH) es la segunda causa de infeccion nosocomial y la que conlleva mayor movilidad y mortalidad. Hoy en dia se clasifica en tres grupos: NIH que no requiere ventilacion artificial, NIH que requiere ventilacion artificial y NIH adquirida durante la ventilacion artificial (NAV). Las ultimas normativas para el manejo de la NIH se han publicado en 2016 (IDSA/ATS) y el 2017 (ERS/ESCMID/ESICM y ALAT). Las ultimas normativas espanolas se publicaron en el ano 2011 en Archivos de Bronconeumologia. Las normativas americanas del 2016 y las internacionales del 2017 presentan sus recomendaciones en un marco de gran aumento de resistencias de los microorganismos a los antibacterianos, tanto para Gram positivos y muy especialmente para Gram negativos. La SEPAR celebro en el 2019 el ano de la neumonia y creyo conveniente actualizar las normativas publicadas en el 2011.En estas normativas han participado neumologos, intensivistas,infectologos y metodologos. Se consensuo realizar las normativas con el siguiente esquema 1. Formulacion de preguntas - ?Son similares la epidemiologia y microbiologia de la NIH y la NAV - Son validos los factores de riesgo para predecir la etiologia de las NIH y NAV causada por microorganismos multirresistentes (MDR) y extremadamente resistentes (XDR) - ?Son efectivos los biomarcadores para el diagnostico y para guiar la duracion del tratamiento? - Cual es el algoritmo de tratamiento empirico actual? - ?Influye la duracion del tratamiento antibiotico de 7-8 dias vs 14 dias en el desenlace de los pacientes? - Cual es la indicacion mas adecuada de los nuevos antibioticos? 2. Cada pregunta contiene los siguientes apartados - Controversia - Evidencia - Directrices - Estudios para recomendados para resolver la controversia - Todas las directrices se consensuaron por el 100% de los expertos

BackgroundHigh-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) has become a frequently used noninvasive form of respiratory support in acute settings; however, evidence supporting its use has only recently emerged. These guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the use of HFNC alongside other noninvasive forms of respiratory support in adults with acute respiratory failure (ARF).Materials and methodologyThe European Respiratory Society task force panel included expert clinicians and methodologists in pulmonology and intensive care medicine. The task force used the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) methods to summarise evidence and develop clinical recommendations for the use of HFNC alongside conventional oxygen therapy (COT) and noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for the management of adults in acute settings with ARF.ResultsThe task force developed eight conditional recommendations, suggesting the use of 1) HFNC over COT in hypoxaemic ARF; 2) HFNC over NIV in hypoxaemic ARF; 3) HFNC over COT during breaks from NIV; 4) either HFNC or COT in post-operative patients at low risk of pulmonary complications; 5) either HFNC or NIV in post-operative patients at high risk of pulmonary complications; 6) HFNC over COT in nonsurgical patients at low risk of extubation failure; 7) NIV over HFNC for patients at high risk of extubation failure unless there are relative or absolute contraindications to NIV; and 8) trialling NIV prior to use of HFNC in patients with COPD and hypercapnic ARF.ConclusionsHFNC is a valuable intervention in adults with ARF. These conditional recommendations can assist clinicians in choosing the most appropriate form of noninvasive respiratory support to provide to patients in different acute settings.

Current treatments of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) induce symptomatic and histological remission in a proportion of patients. However, they do not fully meet patients' needs and limitations should be acknowledged. The growing epidemiology of EoE has generated a great interest for research into novel therapeutic approaches.This article discusses current therapies available for EoE, those under investigation and presents potential additional ones. Established anti-inflammatory treatments for EoE include dietary therapy, proton pump inhibitors, and swallowed topical corticosteroids, which are combined with endoscopic dilation in cases of strictures. Refractoriness, recurrence after treatment-cessation, and need for long-term therapies have encouraged investigation of novel, esophageal-targeted formulas of topical corticosteroids and of new therapeutic approaches directed at blocking the molecular pathways that lead to inflammation in EoE. These include monoclonal antibodies (including mepolizumab, reslizumab, benralizumab, dectrekumab, cendakimab, and dupilumab), JAK-STAT blockers, and S1PR agonists, among others. Some have provided evidence of effectiveness and safeness in the short-term use.Therapies under investigation potentially can target multiple Th2-associated diseases that converge in EoE patients. Therapeutic strategies require a personalized and patient-centered approach to reduce the burden of the disease, and cost-effectiveness analysis to position their use in a complex therapeutic landscape.

The Neospora caninum Calcium-dependent protein kinase 1 (NcCDPK1) inhibitor BKI-1294 had demonstrated excellent efficacy in a pregnant mouse model of neosporosis, and was also highly efficacious in a pregnant sheep model of toxoplasmosis. In this work, we present the efficacy of BKI-1294 treatment (dosed 5 times orally every 48 h) starting 48 h after intravenous infection of sheep with 105 Nc-Spain7 tachyzoites at mid-pregnancy. In the dams, BKI-1294 plasma concentrations were above the IC50 for N. caninum for 12–15 days. In treated sheep, when they were compared to untreated ones, we observed a minor increase in rectal temperature, higher IFNγ levels after blood stimulation in vitro, and a minor increase of IgG levels against N. caninum soluble antigens through day 28 post-infection. Additionally, the anti-NcSAG1 and anti-NcSAG4 IgGs were lower in treated dams on days 21 and 42 post-infection. However, BKI-1294 did not protect against abortion (87% foetal mortality in both infected groups, treated and untreated) and did not reduce transplacental transmission, parasite load or lesions in placentomes and foetal brain. The lack of foetal protection was likely caused by short systemic exposure in the dams and suboptimal foetal exposure to this parasitostatic drug, which was unable to reduce replication of the likely established N. caninum tachyzoites in the foetus at the moment of treatment. New BKIs with a very low plasma clearance and good ability to cross the blood-brain and placental barriers need to be developed., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • BKI-1294 triggers a transiently decrease in anti-N. caninum IgG levels in sheep. • BKI-1294 does not protect against abortion and vertical transmission of N. caninum. • The efficacy of BKI-1294 is different in pregnant mice and sheep models of neosporosis.

Metalliferous mining, a major source of metals and metalloids, has severe potential environmental impacts. However, the number of papers published in international peer-reviewed journals seems to be low regarding its effects in terrestrial wildlife. To the best of our knowledge, our review is the first on this topic. We used 186 studies published in scientific journals concerning metalliferous mining or mining spill pollution and their effects on terrestrial and semi-terrestrial vertebrates. We identified the working status of the mine complexes studied, the different biomarkers of exposure and effect used, and the studied taxa. Most studies (128) were developed in former mine sites and 46 in active mining areas. Additionally, although several mining accidents have occurred throughout the world, all papers about effects on terrestrial vertebrates from mining spillages were from Aznalcóllar (Spain). We also observed a lack of studies in some countries with a prominent mining industry. Despite50% of the studies used some biomarker of effect, 42% of them only assessed exposure by measuring metal content in internal tissues or by non-invasive sampling, without considering the effect in their populations. Most studied species were birds and small mammals, with a negligible representation of reptiles and amphibians. The information gathered in this review could be helpful for future studies and protocols on the topic and it facilitates a database with valuable information on risk assessment of metalliferous mining pollution.

— Epidermotropic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma was diagnosed in six Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) with a generalised dermatosis characterised by pruritus, alopecia and exfoliative erythroderma. Plaques and nodules were evident in one animal. Clinical and histopathological findings were suggestive of mycosis fungoides and electron microscopical investigations in one case were supportive. Immuno-histochemical stains for CD3 antigen were strongly positive in all cases. Resume— Un lyphome T cutane a ete diagnostique chez six hamsters de Siberie (Mesocricetus auratus) avec une dermatose generalisee, caracterisee par un prurit, une alopecle et une erythrodermie exfoliative. Des plaques et des nodules ont ete observees sur un animal. Les donnees cliniques et histopathologiques etaient evocatrices d'un mycosis fungoides et les examens en microscopie electronique etaient compatibles dans un cas. Les marquages immuno-histochimiques de l'antigene CD3 etaient tres positifs dans tous les cas. Zusammenfassung— Bei sechs Syrischen Goldhamstern (Mesocricetus auratus) wurde ein epidermotropes kutanes T-Zell-Lymphom mit einer generalisierten Dermatose diagnostiziert, die durch Pruritus, Alopezie und eine exfoliative Erythrodermie gekennzeichnet war. Bei einem Tier traten auch Plagues und Knoten auf. Die klinischen und histopathologischen Befunde deuteten auf Mycosis fungoides hin. Elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen unterstutzten diesen Verdacht in einem Fall. Immunhistochemische Farbungen auf CD3-Antigen waren bei alien Fallen stark positiv. Resumen En un grupo de seis hamsters de siria, (Mesocricetus auratus), se diagnostico limfoma epidermotropico cutaneo de linfocitos T, presentando una dermatosis generalizada de tipo pruriginoso, acompanada de alopecia y eritroderma exfoliativo. Las placas y nodulos fueron evidentes en uno de los animales. Los estudios clinicos e histopatologicos indicaron una micosis fungoide, y las investigaciones de microscopia, en uno de los caseos, parecio indicar lo mismo. La tintura inmuno-histoquimica para el antigeno CD3 resulto claramente positiva en todod los casos.

Two cases of cutaneous mycobacteriosis in psittacine birds showing featherless, non-painful, non-pruritic nodules are described. Histopathological studies of skin biopsies from both cases demonstrated the presence of a diffuse granulomatous dermatitis with acid- fast organism s inside macrophages, which led to the diagnosis of cutaneous mycobacteriosis. In one case, generalization of the process to internal organs (intestinal and hepatic serosae) was observed. Mycobacterial organisms could not be cultured using conventional isolation media (Coletsos and Lowenstein-Jensen), but polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique performed on pathological samples from both birds revealed the presence of Mycobacterium genavense. It is thus proposed that cutaneous mycobacteriosis infections, in particular those caused by M.genavense, should be included in the differential diagnosis of skin nodular processes in psittacine birds. The usefulness of PCR techniques for aetiological diagnosis of mycobacterial infections is emphasized.

The Kinematic Theory of rapid movements and its associated Sigma-Lognormal model have been extensively used in a large variety of applications. While the physical and biological meaning of the model have been widely tested and validated for rapid movements, some shortcomings have been detected when it is used with continuous long and complex movements. To alleviate such drawbacks, and inspired by the motor equivalence theory and a conceivable visual feedback, this paper proposes a novel framework to extract the Sigma-Lognormal parameters, namely iDeLog. Specifically, iDeLog consists of two steps. The first one, influenced by the motor equivalence model, separately derives an initial action plan defined by a set of virtual points and angles from the trajectory and a sequence of lognormals from the velocity. In the second step, based on a hypothetical visual feedback compatible with an open-loop motor control, the virtual target points of the action plan are iteratively moved to improve the matching between the observed and reconstructed trajectory and velocity. During experiments conducted with handwritten signatures, iDeLog obtained promising results as compared to the previous development of the Sigma-Lognormal.

Computer aided diagnosis systems can provide non-invasive, low-cost tools to support clinicians. These systems have the potential to assist the diagnosis and monitoring of neurodegenerative disorders, in particular Parkinson’s disease (PD). Handwriting plays a special role in the context of PD assessment. In this paper, the discriminating power of “dynamically enhanced” static images of handwriting is investigated. The enhanced images are synthetically generated by exploiting simultaneously the static and dynamic properties of handwriting. Specifically, we propose a static representation that embeds dynamic information based on: (i) drawing the points of the samples, instead of linking them, so as to retain temporal/velocity information; and (ii) adding pen-ups for the same purpose. To evaluate the effectiveness of the new handwriting representation, a fair comparison between this approach and state-of-the-art methods based on static and dynamic handwriting is conducted on the same dataset, i.e. PaHaW. The classification workflow employs transfer learning to extract meaningful features from multiple representations of the input data. An ensemble of different classifiers is used to achieve the final predictions. Dynamically enhanced static handwriting is able to outperform the results obtained by using static and dynamic handwriting separately.

Oestrus ovis (Linnaeus 1761) is a parasite of sheep and goats, in which the fly larvae are obligatory parasites of nasal and sinus cavities. Oestrosis is endemic in hot and dry regions, especially in Mediterranean areas of Europe, Africa and America. Infected animals firstly suffer from fly strike, when adult flies inject first stage larvae on their nostrils and secondly, hosts will suffer from nasal-sinus myiasis with varying clinical respiratory signs. The disturbance caused to small ruminants while grazing and the effects during development of larvae can have severe consequences on livestock production. The evolution of O. ovis depends on the weather; the parasite is very well-adapted to their environment, being able to undergo hypobiosis either inside or outside the host, according to the climatic environmental conditions and seasonality. Understanding the epidemiology and life cycle of O. ovis is crucial to design effective control measures of this myiasis. Moreover, O. ovis infestation is considered a zoonosis; it causes ophthalmomyiasis in man in many parts of the world. The present article focuses on describing the main information about this parasite gathered in the last 20 years.

Vaccination programs against Ovine Respiratory Complex (ORC) in lambs should be accompanied by non-specific preventive measure, e.g., establishment of proper management and husbandry conditions. Implementing a vaccination plan against ORC requires: involvement of all farm staff, recording data, a positive cost:benefit analysis and continuous monitoring over time. Licensed vaccines for sheep are only against Mannheimia haemolytica (MH), Bibersteinia trehalosi (BT) and Pasteurella multocida (PM). According to the antigens contained in the MH vaccines, these can be divided into outer membrane protein vaccines (OmpA), leucotoxoid vaccines (LKT) and iron regulated protein vaccines (IROMP). Each serotype of MH or BT presents differences in these three antigens, although in the case of IROMP, there is an effective cross protection among them. In addition, strains of bovine origin do not protect sheep and vice versa. For PM, vaccines containing bacteria grown in iron restricted conditions give better results. The lambs should be vaccinated during the first week of life followed by a booster dose three weeks apart. The best results are obtained with LKT vaccines, when the serotype that is present in the farm is included in the vaccine, or with IROMP, which can be applied in any situation.

'Numerous disorders affect the lower respiratory tract of adult sheep, including Maedi Visna, ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma and verminous pneumonias as reported elsewhere in this special issue. Herein we examine gangrenous pneumonia, ovine respiratory complex (ORC) and the visceral form of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA). Gangrenous pneumonia is a pulmonary infection commonly caused by inhalation of foreign materials, producing inflammation and necrosis of the lung parenchyma. ORC is a complex disease process involving a range of host-pathogen-environment interactions, where host immunological and physiological mechanisms interact with multiple etiological agents including bacteria, plus environmental factors or stressors. Visceral form of CLA commonly causes lesions in mediastinal lymph nodes and lung parenchyma, producing respiratory clinical signs, particularly the coughing that is responsible for transmission of the disease by aerosol. The economic relevance, etiological, clinical and pathological findings of these diseases are reviewed.

PURPOSE: Ventilator associated-lower respiratory tract infections (VA-LRTIs), either ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) or tracheobronchitis (VAT), accounts for most nosocomial infections in intensive care units (ICU) including. Our aim was to determine if appropriate antibiotic treatment in patients with VA-LRTI will effectively reduce mortality in patients who had cardiovascular failure.METHODS: This was a pre-planned subanalysis of a large prospective cohort of mechanically ventilated patients for at least 48 h in eight countries in two continents. Patients with a modified Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (mSOFA) cardiovascular score of 4 (at the time of VA-LRTI diagnosis and needed be present for at least 12 h) were defined as having cardiovascular failure.RESULTS: VA-LRTI occurred in 689 (23.2%) out of 2960 patients and 174 (25.3%) developed cardiovascular failure. Patients with cardiovascular failure had significantly higher ICU mortality than those without (58% vs. 26.8%; p CONCLUSIONS: Patients with VA-LRTI and cardiovascular failure did not show an association to a higher ICU survival with appropriate antibiotic treatment. Additionally, we found that in patients without cardiovascular failure, appropriate antibiotic treatment conferred a survival benefit for patients only with VAP.TRIAL REGISTRY: ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01791530.

With recent increases in the numbers of reintroduction projects, it has become crucial to know the main factors that allow colonization of new areas and prevent the extinction of small and reintroduced populations. Dispersal is one of the most important phenomena in population biology with consequences to the proportion of individuals that keep breeding in the natal population and the number of individuals that move to other populations to breed. We studied changes in offspring sex ratio and differences in dispersal patterns between the sexes in a reintroduced population of osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Results showed that at the beginning of the colonization process breeding pairs produced more males, which dispersed shorter distances and were more philopatric than females. However, with increasing breeding population size over the years, the offspring production was skewed to females, which dispersed longer distances from their natal area and tended to breed in different areas. Here we suggest that changes in offspring sex ratio during colonization processes, together with differences in dispersal pattern between sexes, could influence colonization rate and the probability of success of future reintroduction projects.

We used biochemical analyses of blood to quantify nutritional status and a standardized test to measure the response to a novel object (bold-shy test). Our aim was to examine the relationship betwe...

Building upon findings in computational model of handwriting learning and execution, we introduce the concept of stability to explain the difference between the actual movements performed during multiple execution of the subject’s signature, and conjecture that the most stable parts of the signature should play a paramount role in evaluating the similarity between a questioned signature and the reference ones during signature verification. We then introduce the Stability Modulated Dynamic Time Warping algorithm for incorporating the stability regions, i.e. the most similar parts between two signatures, into the distance measure between a pair of signatures computed by the Dynamic Time Warping for signature verification. Experiments were conducted on two datasets largely adopted for performance evaluation. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm improves the performance of the baseline system and compares favourably with other top performing signature verification systems.

The present biodiversity crisis has led to an increasing number of reintroduction programs, and this conservation method is likely to be increasingly used in the future, especially in the face of climate change. Many fundamental questions in population ecology are focused on the mechanisms through which populations escape extinction. 2. Population viability analysis (PVA) is the most common procedure for analyzing extinction risk. In the use of PVA to model the trajectories of reintroduced populations, demographic values are sometimes taken from other existing wild populations or even from individuals in captivity. 3. Density dependence in productivity is usually considered in viability models, but density‐dependent variation in age of first breeding is usually ignored. Nevertheless, age of first breeding has a buffering effect on population fluctuations and in consequence on population persistence. 4. We simulated the viability of Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) and Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) populations using data from established and reintroduced populations in southern Spain. 5. Our results show that reduction in the age of first breeding is critical in the success of reintroductions of such long‐lived birds. Additionally, increases in productivity allow populations to growth at maximum rate. However, without considering variation in age of breeding, and the associated increasing overall productivity, reintroduced populations seem nonviable. 6. To ignore density dependence in age of breeding in PVA means that we are seriously limiting the potential of the model population to respond to fluctuations in density, thereby reducing its resilience and viability. Variation in age of first breeding is an important factor that must be considered and included in any simulation model involving long‐lived birds with deferred maturity.

The scientific discipline known as Conservation Biology was established in the early 1980s with the aim of becoming a tool for the management of biodiversity and ecosystems on the planet. The reality today is that there is no consensus among researchers even as to which species and spaces we should protect and how or what are the ecosystem services that we should preserve. I believe that Environmental Thinking is seriously affecting Conservation Biology. The two most influential schools in environmental philosophy thought have been land ethics and deep ecology. In both, especially in deep ecology, we still consider human beings as separate from nature and “bad” from a moral point of view.Intrinsic values beliefs oblige us to avoid any extinction, even if this is a necessary part of the evolutionary process. Both shortcomings are seriously limiting our ability to focus on the real problem. We should overcome the man–nature dichotomy by understanding that we are neither more nor less than a part of it. When we talk about protecting nature, we are actually talking about protecting human–nature habitats, maintaining conditions that make life possible for our species in a world full of opportunities and living beings, including ourselves.

Endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) has become the standard of care for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) in the modern era. Although numerous devices exist for standard infrarenal AAA repair, fenestrated EVAR (fEVAR) offers a minimally invasive alternative to traditional open repair for patients with a short infrarenal neck. Over time, aortic neck dilation can occur, leading to loss of the proximal seal, endoleaks, and AAA sac growth. In the present study, we analyzed aortic remodeling after EVAR vs fEVAR and further evaluated whether fEVAR confers a benefit in terms of sac shrinkage.A retrospective review of prospectively collected data from 120 patients who had undergone EVAR was performed. Of these 120 patients, 30 had been treated with fEVAR (Zenith fenestrated; Cook Medical Inc, Bloomington, IN) and 90 patients were treated with EVAR devices (30 each with Endurant [Medtronic, Dublin, Ireland], Excluder [W.L. GoreAssociates, Flagstaff, AZ], and Zenith [Cook Medical Inc]). The demographic data were recorded. Also, anatomic measurements were performed for each patient preoperatively, at 30 days postoperatively, and at the longest follow-up point using three-dimensional reconstruction software.No significant differences were found in demographic data between the four groups. fEVAR had been used more often in aortas with large necks and irregular morphology (P = .004). At the longest follow-up, the suprarenal aorta encompassing 5, 10, and 15 mm above the lowest renal artery had dilated the most for the fEVAR group vs all EVAR groups. However, the infrarenal segment had tended to increase the least, or to even have regressed, for fEVAR compared with all three EVAR groups and was associated with the overall greatest proportion of sac shrinkage for the fEVAR group compared with the Medtronic, Gore, and Cook devices (-13.90% vs -5.75% vs -2.31% vs -4.68%, respectively; P = .025).Compared with EVAR, the patients treated with fEVAR had experienced greater suprarenal dilation over time, consistent with an overall greater burden of disease in the proximal native aorta. However, the infrarenal segment had dilated significantly less over time in the fEVAR group compared with all three EVAR groups, suggesting that fEVAR might stabilize the infrarenal neck, promoting positive sac remodeling, which was evidenced by the greatest degree of decrease in the largest AAA diameter in the fEVAR group.

Simple Summary Different species can harbor coronavirus, including domestic and wild animals. The Coroviridae family is composed of four genera, including Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus and Deltacoronavirus. Some domestic animals are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 in natural and experimental infections. The infection of animals is generally a consequence of close contact with COVID-19 patients. Among domestic animals, SARS-CoV-2 replicates in respiratory ex vivo organ cultures of domestic ruminants. In this context, there is no information about the role sheep can play in the spread of the infection. This study tested the antibody response in 90 serum samples from sheep from the pre-pandemic period and 336 serum samples from sheep from the pandemic period (June 2020 to March 2021). In both cases, the animals were in close contact with a veterinary student community composed of more than 700 members. None of the serum samples analyzed were seroreactive based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike antigen. In this sense, no statistical difference was observed compared to the pre-pandemic sheep. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first serosurvey in sheep to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Future investigations should analyze the epidemiological role of sheep in SARS-CoV-2 infection, including the prevalence of infection. Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the zoonotic causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has caused a pandemic situation with millions of infected humans worldwide. Among domestic animals, there have been limited studies regarding the transmissibility and exposure to the infection in natural conditions. Some animals are exposed and/or susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as cats, ferrets and dogs. By contrast, there is no information about the susceptibility of ruminants to SARS-CoV-2. This study tested the antibody response in 90 ovine pre-pandemic serum samples and 336 sheep serum samples from the pandemic period (June 2020 to March 2021). In both cases, the animals were in close contact with a veterinary student community composed of more than 700 members. None of the serum samples analyzed was seroreactive based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike antigen. In this sense, no statistical difference was observed compared to the pre-pandemic sheep. Our results suggest that it seems unlikely that sheep could play a relevant role in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is the first study to report the absence of evidence of sheep exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in natural conditions.

Ovine anaplasmosis is a vector-borne disease caused by Anaplasma ovis and mainly transmitted through tick bites. In Spain, the first outbreak of ovine anaplasmosis occurred in 2014. An epidemiological study in fifty-one farms was carried out associated with this outbreak in the affected geographical area. An epidemiological questionnaire was performed. In addition, whole blood samples were taken for molecular analysis in 47 of these farms to determine the prevalence of infection of Anaplasma ovis. A. ovis was present in 44 out of 47 PCR-analysed farms (93.6%). However, only 40.4% of the studied farms showed severe clinical signs. The clinical signs affected mainly young animals, which showed severe anaemia, weakness, anorexia, cachexia and epiphora. The early culling of young animals was more frequently reported by severely affected farms than the analysed farms without clinical signs (71.4% vs. 12.5%, p &lt, 0.001). The geographical area where the farm is located seems to be relevant for the presence of clinical signs of the disease. Ovine anaplasmosis is an emerging disease in Europe that spreads rapidly through tick bites and is capable of causing significant economic losses when it spreads in a naive area and causes an epidemic.

El chile es la segunda hortaliza de mayor producción en México. El objetivo de la investigación fue evaluar la actividad antagónica in vitro e in vivo de Trichoderma harzianum (T-H4) y T. koningiopsis (T-K11) versus Fusarium solani (MX-MIC 798) en la germinación y establecimiento de plántula de chile Miahuateco. Se utilizó la técnica de cultivo dual para determinar el porcentaje de inhibición de crecimiento radial (PICR) de la cepa MX-MIC 798. Además, se analizó el porcentaje de germinación en semillas de chile Miahuateco en vivero, así como la mortalidad de plántulas y grado de severidad a los 40 días después del trasplante (ddt) en Santa María Tecomavaca, Oaxaca, a través de biocontrol y control químico (Mancozeb 80®). La cepa T-H4 presentó el nivel antagónico PICR más alto (53.3%) in vitro y clase II en la escala de Bell, asimismo obtuvo 82% de germinación en semillas de chile Miahuateco en vivero y 48% de mortalidad en campo; de manera que igualó al control químico y superó a T. koningiopsis T-K11. La actividad antifúngica de Trichoderma spp., ofrecen una alternativa para el biocontrol de la marchitez y necrosis en raíz del cultivo de chile Miahuateco causada por F. solani MX-MIC 798.

Microorganisms involved in ovine mandibular osteomyelitis (OMO) have not yet been deeply studied. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the microorganisms involved in OMO, comparing them with the microorganisms found in the healthy oral cavity of sheep. Two hundred and five samples were taken from mandibular osteomyelitis lesions, and they were compared with the microbiological results of samples obtained from twelve periodontally healthy sheep. Sixty-four samples (32.98%) of OMO lesions showed pure growths, while 130 (67.01%) were mixed cultures. Microorganisms of the genus Streptococcus were the most frequently isolated (20.95%), followed by bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas (8.50%), Trueperella pyogenes (7.26%), Staphylococcus (6.63%) and Escherichia coli (6.22%). Ninety-one different isolates were obtained from healthy mouths, and again, microorganisms of the genus Streptococcus were the most frequent (16.48%), followed by bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus (13.18%), Pseudomonas (9.89%) and Moraxella (6.59%). Based on these and previous results, it could be concluded that the normal microbiota of the oral cavity could be involved in the development of OMO lesions when there is an injury of the gingiva that enables the entry of bacteria to the oral mucosa that eventually settle locally in bony tissues, causing mandibular osteomyelitis.

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Delia Lacasta,1 Ramses Reina,2 Marta Ruiz de Arcaute,1 Luis Miguel Ferrer,1 Alfredo Angel Benito,3 Maria Teresa Tejedor,4 Irache Echeverria,2 Hector Ruiz,1 Silvia Martinez Cardenas,1 Peter Andrew Windsor5 1Animal Pathology Department, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2 (Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA), Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50013, Spain; 2Instituto de Agrobiotecnología (CSIC-Gobierno de Navarra), Mutilva, 31192, Navarra, Spain; 3EXOPOL S.L, San Mateo de Gállego, Zaragoza, Spain; 4Anatomy, Embryology and Animal Genetics Department, CIBER CV (Universidad de Zaragoza-IIS), Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50013, Spain; 5Sydney School of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW, 2570, AustraliaCorrespondence: Delia LacastaFacultad de Veterinaria de Zaragoza, C/Miguel Servet 177, Zaragoza, 50013, SpainTel +34 609676727Email dlacasta@gmail.comIntroduction: Orf is a highly contagious eruptive viral disease of the skin and mucosa of sheep and goats. Although vaccination with live or attenuated orf virus is the preferred option for disease control, the vaccine is unavailable in many countries. Treatment of orf lesions involves standard hygiene and in numerous cases, management of presumptive secondary infections with antibiotics, increasing risks of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The wound dressing formulation Tri-Solfen® containing two local anaesthetics (lignocaine and bupivacaine), adrenaline and an antiseptic (cetrimide) in a gel formulation was developed for pain relief in sheep undergoing surgical husbandry procedures in Australia. Recently, TS therapy was found to reduce suffering and enhance recovery in cattle and buffalo with oral and skin lesions due to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus infection. It was noted that TS has a low pH and is potentially viricidal, potentially aiding disease control.Methods: One-month-old lambs (n=14), naturally infected with orf, were recruited from a farm during a natural outbreak of the disease. The animals were selected at the early stages of the infection and randomly divided into two cohorts: Group A (n=11) treated with the topical wound gel formulation (TS); and Group B (n=3) an untreated control group. Swabs were obtained before treatment (T0) and on days one (T1), 3 (T2) and 5 (T3) post-treatment, then submitted to direct DNA extraction with real-time PCR quantification, plus incubation with primary tissue cultures from ovine skin fibroblasts (OSF) and T-immortalized goat embryonic fibroblasts (TIGEF).Results: Although no significant differences were found in the clinical progression of the lesions and PCR quantification (p=0.722) between these small cohorts, there was a significant difference (p< 0.05) in reduction in infective viral load between the groups when assessed in OSF cell cultures between T0 and T3.Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that treatment of early stage lesions with this TS may reduce the infective viral load present in orf lesions.Keywords: sheep, contagious ecthyma, wound formulation, local therapy