Phaidra - University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
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Superficial buccal lymph nodes in MRT in dogs
No full textDiploma thesis - University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna - 2024The lymphatic system is a crucial part of a functioning immune-competent system and therefore inalienable for a healthy organism. It mainly consists of lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels. The head and upper neck area is a region that is quite densely populated with lymph nodes. They are organized in lymph centers which are the lc. parotideum, lc. mandibulare and lc. retropharyngeum. The most common differential diagnoses for swelling in the buccal or periorbital region of the head are injuries resulting in a hematoma, an infection which also can form an abscess, or a neoplasia. Furthermore, any pathologies that involve the oral and nasal cavities like infected tooth roots or retrobulbar processes as well as allergic reactions come to mind. In this retrospective study the MRI and accompanying CT scans of 856 dogs were examined with the goal to identify facultative buccal lymph nodes. These scans were performed over a decade and were acquired with a Siemens Magnetom Espree 1,5T MRT (Vienna, Austria) and a multislice helical CT (16-slice helical CT, Siemens Somatom Emotion till May 2021, since July 2021 with a dual energy 128-slice helical CT, Siemens Somatom X.cite, Vienna, Austria). The scans were preselected and evaluated by the author then reviewed by an experienced radiologist (advisor). Out of the study population of 856 dogs, twelve (n=12, 8 females, 4 males) patients had buccal lymph nodes. The location of these facultative buccal lymph nodes correlated with the topography of the angle of confluence of the superior labial vein and the facial vein, previously described in the existing literature. Out of the twelve positive patients, a buccal lymph node was bilaterally present in three cases (n=3). In the remaining nine patients (n=9) the lymph node was located one time on the right side and the other eight times on the left side. Generally speaking, the buccal lymph nodes were not enlarged and showed no other signs of abnormality. A correlation between illness and the presence of buccal lymph nodes cannot be proven due to the few positive cases. Even if only rarely present the facultative buccal lymph nodes should be taken into consideration when being confronted with symptoms that involve swellings in the facial region.Diploma thesis - University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna - 2024The lymphatic system is a crucial part of a functioning immune-competent system and therefore inalienable for a healthy organism. It mainly consists of lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels. The head and upper neck area is a region that is quite densely populated with lymph nodes. They are organized in lymph centers which are the lc. parotideum, lc. mandibulare and lc. retropharyngeum. The most common differential diagnoses for swelling in the buccal or periorbital region of the head are injuries resulting in a hematoma, an infection which also can form an abscess, or a neoplasia. Furthermore, any pathologies that involve the oral and nasal cavities like infected tooth roots or retrobulbar processes as well as allergic reactions come to mind. In this retrospective study the MRI and accompanying CT scans of 856 dogs were examined with the goal to identify facultative buccal lymph nodes. These scans were performed over a decade and were acquired with a Siemens Magnetom Espree 1,5T MRT (Vienna, Austria) and a multislice helical CT (16-slice helical CT, Siemens Somatom Emotion till May 2021, since July 2021 with a dual energy 128-slice helical CT, Siemens Somatom X.cite, Vienna, Austria). The scans were preselected and evaluated by the author then reviewed by an experienced radiologist (advisor). Out of the study population of 856 dogs, twelve (n=12, 8 females, 4 males) patients had buccal lymph nodes. The location of these facultative buccal lymph nodes correlated with the topography of the angle of confluence of the superior labial vein and the facial vein, previously described in the existing literature. Out of the twelve positive patients, a buccal lymph node was bilaterally present in three cases (n=3). In the remaining nine patients (n=9) the lymph node was located one time on the right side and the other eight times on the left side. Generally speaking, the buccal lymph nodes were not enlarged and showed no other signs of abnormality. A correlation between illness and the presence of buccal lymph nodes cannot be proven due to the few positive cases. Even if only rarely present the facultative buccal lymph nodes should be taken into consideration when being confronted with symptoms that involve swellings in the facial region.Diplomarbeit - Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien - 2024Das Lymphsystem ist ein entscheidender Bestandteil eines immunkompetenten Systems und daher unverzichtbar für einen gesunden Organismus. Es besteht hauptsächlich aus zwei Strukturen, nämlich den Lymphknoten und den Lymphgefäßen. Der Kopf- und vordere Halsbereich ist eine Region, die sehr dicht mit Lymphknoten versehen ist. Sie sind in Lymphzentren (Lc) organisiert, die als Lc. parotideum, Lc. mandibulare und Lc. retropharyngeum bezeichnet werden. Bei Schwellungen im bukkalen oder periorbitalen Bereich des Kopfs, sind folgende Differentialdiagnosen in Betracht zu ziehen: Verletzungen, Hämatome, Infektionen, die auch Abszesse bilden können, oder Neoplasien. Darüber hinaus kommen Pathologien, die die Mund- und Nasenhöhle betreffen in betracht, wie infizierte Zahnwurzeln oder retrobulbäre Prozesse, sowie allergische Reaktionen. In dieser retrospektiven Studie wurden die MRT- und ergänzenden CT-Scans von 856 Hunden mit dem Ziel untersucht, fakultative bukkale Lymphknoten zu finden. Die untersuchten Scans wurden über einen Zeitraum von zehn Jahren durchgeführt und mit einem Siemens Magnetom Espree 1,5T MRT (Wien, Österreich) und einem Multislice-Helical-CT (16-Slice-Helical-CT, Siemens Somatom Emotion bis Mai 2021, ab Juli 2021 mit einem Dual Energy 128-Slice-Helical-CT, Siemens Somatom X.cite, Wien, Österreich) gewonnen. Die Scans wurden vom Autor vorselektiert und ausgewertet und von einer erfahrenen Radiologin (Betreuerin) überprüft. Von der Studienpopulation von 856 Hunden waren bei zwölf Patienten (n=12, 8 Hündinnen, 4 Rüden bukkale Lymphknoten vorhanden. Die Lage dieser fakultativen Lymphknoten korrelierte mit der Topografie des Einflusswinkels der Vena labialis superior und der Vena facialis, welcher bereits in der Literatur beschrieben wurde. Aus der positiven Studiengruppe (n=12) waren bukkale Lymphknoten in drei Fällen (n=3) bilateral vorhanden. In den weiteren neun (n=9) Fällen waren die bukkalen Lymphknoten einmal rechtsseitig und die anderen acht Male linksseitig aufzufinden. Grundsätzlich waren die abgebildeten Lymphknoten nicht vergrößert und zeigten keine pathologischen Auffälligkeiten auf. Eine Korrelation zwischen einer bestehenden Erkrankung und den präsenten bukkalen Lymphknoten, konnte aufgrund der geringen Fallzahl nicht nachgewiesen werden. Auch wenn die bukkalen Lymphknoten nur selten vorhanden sind (fakultativ), sollten sie bei Symptomen, die mit Schwellungen im Gesichtsbereich einhergehen, berücksichtigt werden
Egalitarian preferences in young children depend on the genders of the interacting partners
No full textIn decisions between equal and unequal resource distributions, women are often believed to be more prosocial than men. Previous research showed that fairness attitudes develop in childhood, but their-possibly gendered, developmental trajectory remains unclear. We hypothesised that gender-related fairness attitudes might depend not only on the gender of the Allocator, but also on that of the Recipient. To examine this, we tested 332 three to 8-year-old children in a paired resource allocation task, with both boys and girls acting as Allocators and Recipients. We indeed found gender-related effects: girls more than boys aimed to reduce advantageous inequity, and Allocators of both genders were more averse against male Recipients being better off. Notably, older girls exhibited an envy bias, i.e., they tolerated disadvantageous inequity more when the resource allocation was in favour of other girls than when it favoured boys. We also observed a gender-related spite gap in boys aged 7-8: unlike girls, boys treated other boys with spite, i.e., they valued unfair distributions in their own favour over equal outcomes, especially if rejecting advantageous inequity was costly. This pattern hints at contextualised gender-related fairness preferences that evolve with age that could depend on same- and cross-gender past interaction experiences
Evolution of phenotypic variance provides insights into the genetic basis of adaptation.
No full textMost traits are polygenic, and the contributing loci can be identified by genome-wide association studies. The genetic basis of adaptation (adaptive architecture) is, however, difficult to characterize. Here, we propose to study the adaptive architecture of traits by monitoring the evolution of their phenotypic variance during adaptation to a new environment in well-defined laboratory conditions. Extensive computer simulations show that the evolution of phenotypic variance in a replicated experimental evolution setting can distinguish between oligogenic and polygenic adaptive architectures. We compared gene expression variance in male Drosophila simulans before and after 100 generations of adaptation to a novel hot environment. The variance change in gene expression was indistinguishable for genes with and without a significant change in mean expression after 100 generations of evolution. We suggest that the majority of adaptive gene expression evolution can be explained by a polygenic architecture. We propose that tracking the evolution of phenotypic variance across generations can provide an approach to characterize the adaptive architecture
The expected sample allele frequencies from populations of changing size via orthogonal polynomials
No full textIn this article, discrete and stochastic changes in (effective) population size are incorporated into the spectral representation of a biallelic diffusion process for drift and small mutation rates. A forward algorithm inspired by Hidden-Markov-Model (HMM) literature is used to compute exact sample allele frequency spectra for three demographic scenarios: single changes in (effective) population size, boom-bust dynamics, and stochastic fluctuations in (effective) population size. An approach for fully agnostic demographic inference from these sample allele spectra is explored, and sufficient statistics for stepwise changes in population size are found. Further, convergence behaviours of the polymorphic sample spectra for population size changes on different time scales are examined and discussed within the context of inference of the effective population size. Joint visual assessment of the sample spectra and the temporal coefficients of the spectral decomposition of the forward diffusion process is found to be important in determining departure from equilibrium. Stochastic changes in (effective) population size are shown to shape sample spectra particularly strongly
How can I find what I want? Can children, chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys form abstract representations to guide their behavior in a sampling task?
No full textconcepts are a powerful tool for making wide-ranging predictions in new situations based on little experience. Whereas looking-time studies suggest an early emergence of this ability in human infancy, other paradigms like the relational match to sample task often fail to detect abstract concepts until late preschool years. Similarly, non-human animals show difficulties and often succeed only after long training regimes. Given the considerable influence of slight task modifications, the conclusiveness of these findings for the development and phylogenetic distribution of abstract reasoning is debated. Here, we tested the abilities of 3 to 5-year-old children, chimpanzees, and capuchin monkeys in a unified and more ecologically valid task design based on the concept of "overhypotheses" (Goodman, 1955). Participants sampled high- and low-valued items from containers that either each offered items of uniform value or a mix of high- and low-valued items. In a test situation, participants should switch away earlier from a container offering low-valued items when they learned that, in general, items within a container are of the same type, but should stay longer if they formed the overhypothesis that containers bear a mix of types. We compared each species\u27 performance to the predictions of a probabilistic hierarchical Bayesian model forming overhypotheses at a first and second level of abstraction, adapted to each species\u27 reward preferences. Children and, to a more limited extent, chimpanzees demonstrated their sensitivity to abstract patterns in the evidence. In contrast, capuchin monkeys did not exhibit conclusive evidence for the ability of abstract knowledge formation
Elucidating the factors and consequences of the severity of rumen acidosis in first-lactation Holstein cows during transition and early lactation
No full textFirst-lactation cows are particularly prone to subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) during transition. Besides common risk factors of SARA, such as feeding of starch-rich diets, an individual severity of SARA in cows has been recently evidenced. Yet, the factors that play a role in SARA severity have not been elucidated. The main goal of this research was to evaluate the factors of SARA severity in first-lactation cows during transition and early lactation, which go beyond high-grain feeding, and to explore their impact on behavior, health, and fermentation in the rumen and hindgut. Twenty-four first-lactation Holstein cows with the same feeding regime were used starting from 3 wk before the expected calving day until 10 wk postpartum. Cows received a close-up diet (32% concentrate) until calving and were then transitioned to a lactation diet (60% concentrate) within 1 week. The SARA severity was assessed by cluster analysis of several rumen pH metrics, which revealed exceptionally longer and more severe SARA in cows denominated as high (n = 9), as compared to moderate (n = 9) and low (n = 6) SARA severity cows (P < 0.01). The logistic analysis showed that the length of close-up feeding, age at parturition, and the level of dry matter intake (DMI) were the main factors that influenced the cows\u27 odds for high SARA severity (each P ≤ 0.01). Moreover, the ANOVA hinted differences in the metabolic activity of the ruminal microbiome to promote SARA severity, as indicated by highest ruminal propionate proportions (P = 0.05) in high SARA severity cows, also with similar DMI. The distinct SARA severity was marginally reflected in behavior and there were no effects of SARA severity or high-grain feeding on blood inflammation markers, which peaked at parturition regardless of SARA severity (P < 0.01). Still, ongoing high-grain feeding increased liver enzyme concentrations from 6 wk postpartum on, compared to weeks before (P < 0.01), yet irrespectively of SARA severity. In conclusion, first-lactation cows differed in SARA severity under the same feeding regime, which was ascribed to management factors and differences in ruminal fermentation. Further research is warranted to validate these findings and to understand the mechanisms behind differences in the metabolic function of rumen microbiome, in particular in terms of evaluating markers for various SARA severity, as well as to evaluate potential long-term effects on health, performance, fertility, and longevity of dairy cows
Comparison of metrics to assess antibiotic use in small ruminants at a university referral clinic between 2005 and 2019
No full textMonitoring antibiotic use is essential to provide a framework enabling veterinarians to use antibiotics prudently.Electronic medical records from the University of Veterinary Medicine\u27s Clinic for Ruminants in Vienna were analysed with respect to sheep and goat antibiotic doses administered over a 15-year period (2005-2019). Antibiotic use was assessed using total milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), total milligrams, number of doses administered, defined daily doses (DDD) for cattle and estimated DDD for sheep.A total of 5113 antibiotic doses were recorded over the 15-year period. Urinary tract disorders required the highest number of doses administered per animal (mean 16.9; median 16.0). Antibiotic use patterns varied according to the metrics used for analysis. By mg/kg, the largest proportion of antibiotics administered were penicillin/streptomycin (43.0% of the total mg/kg), followed by tetracyclines (17.3%) and sulphonamide/trimethoprim combinations (15.2%). By number of doses administered, the most frequently used antibiotics were penicillins (excluding combinations with streptomycin) (33.9% of total number of doses administered), fluoroquinolones (25.1%), third/fourth-generation cephalosporins (13.6%) and penicillin/streptomycin (13.4%).As the university clinic was a city-based referral centre, this analysis cannot be compared directly with antibiotic use in commercial herds or flocks.The considered choice of antibiotic use metrics is essential for an effective and meaningful analysis of the responsible use of antibiotics by veterinarians in practice
Three major chlorotype lineages in chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L., Asteraceae)
No full textChamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L., Asteraceae) is one of the most important medicinal plants with antiphlogistic, spasmolytic, carminative, antibacterial and antimycotic properties. Thirty-one chloroplast markers were developed, optimised for high-resolution melting analysis. Subsequently, 23 M. chamomilla accessions (247 individuals) complemented with 2 individuals of the closely related species M. discoidea were analysed with this marker set. The marker set can practically be reduced to 20 markers without information loss due to the linkage of 16 markers. In total, 20 chlorotypes (multilocus genotypes) were identified, organised in three evolutionary main lineages. Only 8 accessions were monomorphic, the other 15 accessions had between 2 and 6 chlorotypes per accession. The high number of polymorphic accessions and the high number of chlorotypes within many accessions indicate already a high degree of variability within accessions, confirmed by the 66% variation within by AMOVA. Gene diversity of the polymorphic accessions ranged between 0.069 and 0.261. Since many cultivars had their origin in wild populations of the countries where breeding took place, a first hypothetical indication of the geographic origin of chamomile could point to Albania and adjacent countries. The \u27ancient chlorotype\u27 was identified by comparing published plastome sequences of Artemisia annua and Lactuca sativa. The \u27ancient chlorotype\u27 was present only in the closely related M. discoidea but not in any of the M. chamomilla accessions. Two commercially important tetraploid cultivars proofed to be unrelated to their presumed diploid parents
Effects of Tulp4 deficiency on murine embryonic development and adult phenotype
No full textGenetically engineered mouse models have the potential to unravel fundamental biological processes and provide mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of human diseases. We have previously observed that germline genetic variation at the TULP4 locus influences clinical characteristics in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. To elucidate the role of TULP4 in pathological and physiological processes in vivo, we generated a Tulp4 knockout mouse model. Systemic Tulp4 deficiency exerted a strong impact on embryonic development in both Tulp4 homozygous null (Tulp4-/-) and heterozygous (Tulp4+/-) knockout mice, the former exhibiting perinatal lethality. High-resolution episcopic microscopy (HREM) of day 14.5 embryos allowed for the identification of multiple developmental defects in Tulp4-/- mice, including severe heart defects. Moreover, in Tulp4+/- embryos HREM revealed abnormalities of several organ systems, which per se do not affect prenatal or postnatal survival. In adult Tulp4+/- mice, extensive examinations of hematopoietic and cardiovascular features, involving histopathological surveys of multiple tissues as well as blood counts and immunophenotyping, did not provide evidence for anomalies as observed in corresponding embryos. Finally, evaluating a potential obesity-related phenotype as reported for other TULP family members revealed a trend for increased body weight of Tulp4+/- mice. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: To study the role of the TULP4 gene in vivo, we generated a Tulp4 knockout mouse model. Correlative analyses involving HREM revealed a strong impact of Tulp4 deficiency on murine embryonic development
Male Barbary macaques choose loyal coalition partners which may increase their coalition network betweenness
No full textReciprocity in the form of contingent exchanges of goods and services is widespread across animals. While there is ample evidence for helping to be contingent upon the help received from a partner, less attention has been paid to partner avoidance based on harm inflicted by a partner. Here, we investigated whether partner choice for agonistic support against powerful targets is guided by loyalty received, i.e., the tendency to refrain from attacking the subject in a coalition with any third partner. We further assessed whether loyalty received by all cooperation partners may generate increased levels of betweenness in the coalition network of a group, a measure of indirect connectedness that has previously been associated with fitness benefits. Based on observational data from male coalitions against male group mates in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), loyalty received was found to predict the frequency of cooperation in coalitions and the loyalty given to a partner. We propose that loyalty-guided reciprocity will be favored in species with rank-changing coalitions where defection is particularly risky. The more loyal a male\u27s cooperation partners were, the more central he was in the coalition network in terms of higher in betweenness, suggesting a cognitively simple strategy underlying complex network positioning. Analyses of simulated data suggest strong correlations of loyalty and betweenness to be more prevalent in the relatively small groups characteristic of many primate species. In larger groups, males can support each other in coalitions against male group mates. Here we show with data on Barbary macaques, that males cooperate more with partners that are more loyal to them and that loyalty is reciprocated. We argue that this partner choice mechanism may often affect an individual\u27s coalition network betweenness - depicted here as the size of the node.image