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Non-viable chicken embryos: an overlooked niche harbouring a significant source of multidrug resistant bacteria in the poultry production
No full textAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global issue, posing a grave threat to the public, animal, and environmental health. The AMR surveillance at the level of the hatchery is crucial to develop an AMR control strategy in the poultry industry. The objective of this study was to investigate the AMR profiles of bacteria isolated from yolk material of non-viable broiler chicken embryos at hatch from commercial hatcheries in western Canada. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done using the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method focusing on Escherichia coli (n = 170) and Enterococcus (n = 256) species, which are commonly used as indicators of AMR evolution. E. coli isolates were resistant to tetracycline, ampicillin, amoxycillin-clavulanic acid, triple sulpha, ceftiofur, gentamycin, and spectinomycin at the rate of 52.9%, 50.6%, 40.0% 31.8%, 29.4%, 29.4%, 21.8% respectively. Among those, 37.1% of E. coli were multidrug resistant. The descending order of antimicrobial resistance of E. faecalis was; tetracycline (61.9%), ceftiofur (46.2%), bacitracin (43.9%), erythromycin (31.4%) and tylosin (27.4%). Multidrug resistance was detected in 40.4% of E. faecalis isolates, and 85.7% of E. faecium isolates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on AMR surveillance of non-viable chicken embryos. Overall, the present study revealed that non-viable chicken embryos, an overlooked niche for AMR surveillance, harbour multidrug-resistant E. coli, and enterococci that can be a substantial source of superbugs in the environment. Our data also highlight the urgency of including non-viable chicken embryos in AMR surveillance programme to understand AMR dissemination and its control.Saskatchewan Chicken Industry Development Fund (Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan)Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) of SaskatchewanNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaAgriculture and Agri-Food CanadaAlberta Livestock and Meat Agenc
No plastics detected in seal (Phocidae) stomachs harvested in the eastern Canadian Arctic
No full textThrough collaboration with Inuit hunters, we examined the stomach contents of 142 seals (ringed seals [Phoca hispida; n = 135], bearded seals [Erignathus barbatus; n = 6], and one harbour seal [Phoca vitualina; n = 1]) hunted between 2007 and 2019 from communities around Nunavut to assess whether seals in the eastern Canadian Arctic ingest and retain plastics in their stomachs. The seals in this study ranged from juveniles to adults of up to 30 years of age, and 55% of the seals were males. We found no evidence of plastic ingestion in any of the seals suggesting that seals in Nunavut are not accumulating plastics (>425 μm) in their stomachs. These data provide important baseline information for future plastic pollution monitoring programs in the Arctic
Multisystemic therapy versus management as usual in the treatment of adolescent antisocial behaviour (START): 5-year follow-up of a pragmatic, randomised, controlled, superiority trial
No full textBackground
Multisystemic therapy is a manualised treatment programme for young people aged 11–17 years who exhibit antisocial behaviour. To our knowledge, the Systemic Therapy for At Risk Teens (START) trial is the first large-scale randomised controlled trial of multisystemic therapy in the UK. Previous findings reported to 18 months after baseline (START-I study) did not indicate superiority of multisystemic therapy compared with management as usual. Here, we report outcomes of the trial to 60 months (START-II study).
Methods
In this pragmatic, randomised, controlled, superiority trial, young people (aged 11–17 years) with moderate-to-severe antisocial behaviour were recruited from social services, youth offending teams, schools, child and adolescent mental health services, and voluntary services across England, UK. Participants were eligible if they had at least three severity criteria indicating past difficulties across several settings and one of five general inclusion criteria for antisocial behaviour. Eligible families were randomly assigned (1:1), using stochastic minimisation and stratifying for treatment centre, sex, age at enrolment, and age at onset of antisocial behaviour, to management as usual or 3–5 months of multisystemic therapy followed by management as usual. Research assistants and investigators were masked to treatment allocation; the participants could not be masked. For this extension study, the primary outcome was the proportion of participants with offences with convictions in each group at 60 months after randomisation. This study is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN77132214, and is closed to accrual.
Findings
Between Feb 4, 2010, and Sept 1, 2012, 1076 young people and families were assessed for eligibility and 684 were randomly assigned to management as usual (n=342) or multisystemic therapy (n=342). By 60 months' of follow-up, 188 (55%) of 342 people in the multisystemic therapy group had at least one offence with a criminal conviction, compared with 180 (53%) of 341 in the management-as-usual group (odds ratio 1·13, 95% CI 0·82–1·56; p=0·44).
Interpretation
The results of the 5-year follow-up show no evidence of longer-term superiority for multisystemic therapy compared with management as usual.
Funding
National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme
A stochastic simulation model of African swine fever transmission in domestic pig farms in the Red River Delta region in Vietnam
No full textThe main objectives of this study were to model various scenarios of African swine fever (ASF) virus transmission among farms in Vietnam and to evaluate the impact of control strategies using North American Animal Disease Spread Model (NAADSM). A total of 7,882 pig farms in the Red River Delta (RRD) region were obtained from the General Statistics Office, and then, random points corresponding to the number of farms in each province were generated as exact farm locations were not avail-able. A total of 10 models were developed, including movement control scenarios. In addition, we conducted sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of indirect contact transmission probability (TP). Overall, the indirect contact exhibited an important role in transmitting the ASF virus. In order to minimize ASF transmission between farms, we found that movement restriction needed to reach a certain level (approxi-mately between 50% and 75%) and that the restriction had to be applied in a timely manner. This study offers valuable insight into how ASF virus can be transmitted via direct and indirect contact and controlled among farms under the various simulation scenarios. Our results suggest that the enforcement of movement restriction was an effective control measure as soon as the outbreaks were reported. In addition, this study provided evidence that high standards of biosecurity can contribute to the reduction of disease spread.CGIA
Identifying key factors in momentum in basketball games
No full textMomentum as elaborated under a recent novel definition has been shown quantitatively to have a significant impact on basketball game outcomes. This paper makes two contributions to the analytical literature on sports momentum: (1) two aspects of the new definition are operationalized so that its practicality becomes evident; and (2) through a dimension-reduction technique (elastic net), key factors associated with momentum are identified. Both technical variables such as field goals, assists, rebounds, etc. and environmental variables such as the spectator attendance rate and player salary dispersion are considered, and the potential for useful real-time analyzes is illustrated
Hysteresis of wettability in porous media: A review
No full textThe process of “hysteresis” has widely attracted the attention of researchers and investigators due to its usage in many disciplines of science and engineering. Economics, physics, chemistry, electrical, mechanical, and petroleum engineering are some examples of disciplines that encounter hysteresis. However, the meaning of hysteresis varies from one field to another, and therefore, many definitions occur for this phenomenon depending on the area of interest. The “hysteresis” phenomenon in petroleum engineering has gained the attention of researchers and investigators lately, because of the role that plays in reservoir engineering and reservoir simulation. Hysteretic effects influence reservoir performance. Therefore, an accurate estimation of rock and fluid property curves has an essential role in evaluating hydrocarbon recovery processes. In this paper, a comprehensive review of research and growth on the hysteresis of wettability for its applications in petroleum engineering is reported. Also, theoretical and experimental investigations of hysteresis of wettability are compared and discussed in detail. The review highlights a range of concepts in existing models and experimental processes for wettability hysteresis. Furthermore, this paper tracks the current development of hysteresis and provides insight for future trends in the research. Finally, it reveals an outlook on the research challenges and weaknesses of hysteresis of wettability.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)Research and Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador (RDC)Statoil Canada Ltd
Production optimization of hydrocarbon reservoirs by entropy generation minimization
No full textReservoir entropy generation has a significant role in production cycles of a hydrocarbon reservoir. During production, entropy generation characterizes the irreversible fluid energy losses. This paper aims to develop a new production strategy that minimizes the entropy production to improve operational efficiencies. The second law of thermodynamics is used to calculate entropy generation in a porous medium during hydrocarbon production. The model considers different sections of a production system, including the reservoir, near-wellbore, and wellbore regions. The proposed model is an extension of the Civan model. The introduced model considers the near wellbore region as a separate zone, which allows flexibility in modelling skin effects near the wellbore. In addition, a new performance criterion, called the coefficient of performance (COP). This COP integrates the recovery factor with entropy generation and provides a quantitative measure to optimize the reservoir production. The model is used to conduct a parametric sensitivity analysis including effects of fluid and rock parameters such as permeability, porosity, viscosity, skin factor, and temperature on the total entropy production. The COP is used to optimize operating conditions of the reservoir such as production rates and bottomhole pressure. It was found that permeability and the bottom hole pressure have the most impact on the total entropy production. This article will present new approaches and findings to maximize the recovery efficiency by minimizing entropy generation of fluid transport processes in a hydrocarbon reservoir.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)Memorial UniversityInnovateNLEquinor Canad
Incomplete symmetric orthogonal polynomials of finite type generated by a generalized Sturm–Liouville theorem
No full textIn a classical case, orthogonal polynomial sequences are in such a way that the nth polynomial has the exact degree n. Such sequences are complete and form a basis of the space for any arbitrary polynomial. In this paper, we introduce some incomplete sets of finite orthogonal polynomials that do not contain all degrees, but they are solutions of some symmetric generalized Sturm–Liouville problems. Although such polynomials do not possess all properties as in classical cases, they can be applied to functions approximation theory as we will compute their explicit norm square values.Alexander von Humboldt FoundationNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canad