61871 research outputs found
Sort by
Vector-borne and other pathogens of potential relevance disseminated by relocated cats
Full text linkLarge populations of unowned cats constitute an animal welfare, ecological, societal and public health issue worldwide. Their relocation and homing are currently carried out in many parts of the world with the intention of relieving suffering and social problems, while contributing to ethical and humane population control in these cat populations. An understanding of an individual cat’s lifestyle and disease status by veterinary team professionals and those working with cat charities can help to prevent severe cat stress and the spread of feline pathogens, especially vector-borne pathogens, which can be overlooked in cats. In this article, we discuss the issue of relocation and homing of unowned cats from a global perspective. We also review zoonotic and non-zoonotic infectious agents of cats and give a list of practical recommendations for veterinary team professionals dealing with homing cats. Finally, we present a consensus statement consolidated at the 15th Symposium of the Companion Vector-Borne Diseases (CVBD) World Forum in 2020, ultimately to help veterinary team professionals understand the problem and the role they have in helping to prevent and manage vector-borne and other pathogens in relocated cats
Mapping out market drivers of improved variety seed use: The case of sorghum in Tanzania
Full text linkIt is understood that the grain market pulls the seed market. The problem of low quality prompted failure of traders and processors to purchase most of the farmers' grain to subsequently drive the use of improved variety seed. The aim of this study is to identify drivers that persuade farmers to use improved variety seeds for grain production. It also assesses factors affecting market participation among small-scale farmers. Descriptive analysis, Binary Logistic model, Probit model and gross margin analysis was conducted from random selected sample of 212 individual farmers, 63 grain off-takers, 3 extension officers and 7 seeds producers through structured interviews. In additional, 80 farmers were interviewed through 10 focus group discussion. The results showed that taste, preferences and price difference between grain and seed were significant and positive drivers that influenced the decision of farmers to use improved varieties at 47% and 0.007%, respectively. Factors such as group membership and farm size were significantly positive affecting farmer's market participation while age was negatively significant affecting farmer's market participation. Gross margin was computed to compare the profit margin between users and non-users of improved variety seeds, where users had high profit margin (530 979.89Tsh/Ha) compared to non-users (472 885.94Tsh/Ha), because non-users incurred high seed cost (54 504.84Tsh/15kg) compared to users of improved variety seeds (39 329.94Tsh/kg). Also, users obtained high grain revenue compared to non-user at 1 353 268.37Tsh and 848 249.11Tsh, respectively. Efforts should be made by value chain actors and other agricultural actors to support farmers based on market demand so they could benefit from high grain quality, quantity and promising grain market
The safety and efficacy of using moxibustion and or acupuncture for cancer-related insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
Full text linkIntroduction:
This study aimed to synthesise the best available evidence on the safety and efficacy of using moxibustion and/or acupuncture to manage cancer-related insomnia (CRI).
Methods:
The PRISMA framework guided the review. Nine databases were searched from its inception to July 2020, published in English or Chinese. Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of moxibustion and or acupuncture for the treatment of CRI were selected for inclusion. Methodological quality was assessed using the method suggested by the Cochrane collaboration. The Cochrane Review Manager was used to conduct a meta-analysis.
Results:
Fourteen RCTs met the eligibility criteria. Twelve RCTs used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score as continuous data and a meta-analysis showed positive effects of moxibustion and or acupuncture (n = 997, mean difference (MD) = −1.84, 95% confidence interval (CI) = −2.75 to −0.94, p < 0.01). Five RCTs using continuous data and a meta-analysis in these studies also showed significant difference between two groups (n = 358, risk ratio (RR) = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.26–0.80, I2 = 39%).
Conclusion:
The meta-analyses demonstrated that moxibustion and or acupuncture showed a positive effect in managing CRI. Such modalities could be considered an add-on option in the current CRI management regimen
Fang shape varies with ontogeny and sex in the venomous elapid snake Pseudonaja affinis
No full textA predator's preferred prey often changes over the course of its life as it grows from an inexperienced juvenile through to a sexually mature adult. For species with highly specialised feeding strategies, this may require its anatomy to change over the course of its life. The dugite (Pseudonaja affinis, Günther 1872) is a venomous snake from Australia that displays such a diet shift, with juveniles feeding on small reptiles, while adults mainly target mammals. We examined the morphology of fangs across both sexes and throughout ontogeny using geometric morphometrics and cross-sectional sharpness measurements of key functional regions on these teeth. This highlighted key differences in shape that likely relate to the varied properties of their adult and juvenile diet. We found that juveniles display a more robust and blunter fang, which likely relates to feeding on scaly lizard prey, whereas adults have slender fangs with sharper tips, which reflects their diet of softer mammalian prey. There were also differences between males and females, with male snakes having significantly more slender fangs than females, which might be an indication of niche partitioning between the sexes. Using snout-vent length as a proxy for age, we found that the ontogenetic shift in fang shape occurs when P. affinis is around 60 cm long, corresponding with previous studies that found this size to be the moment where these snakes switch from their juvenile to adult diet
QTL-seq for the identification of candidate genes for days to flowering and leaf shape in pigeonpea
Full text linkTo identify genomic segments associated with days to flowering (DF) and leaf shape in pigeonpea, QTL-seq approach has been used in the present study. Genome-wide SNP profiling of extreme phenotypic bulks was conducted for both the traits from the segregating population (F2) derived from the cross combination- ICP 5529 × ICP 11605. A total of 126.63 million paired-end (PE) whole-genome resequencing data were generated for five samples, including one parent ICP 5529 (obcordate leaf and late-flowering plant), early and late flowering pools (EF and LF) and obcordate and lanceolate leaf shape pools (OLF and LLS). The QTL-seq identified two significant genomic regions, one on CcLG03 (1.58 Mb region spanned from 19.22 to 20.80 Mb interval) for days to flowering (LF and EF pools) and another on CcLG08 (2.19 Mb region spanned from 6.69 to 8.88 Mb interval) for OLF and LLF pools, respectively. Analysis of genomic regions associated SNPs with days to flowering and leaf shape revealed 5 genic SNPs present in the unique regions. The identified genomic regions for days to flowering were also validated with the genotyping-by-sequencing based classical QTL mapping method. A comparative analysis of the identified seven genes associated with days to flowering on 12 Fabaceae genomes, showed synteny with 9 genomes. A total of 153 genes were identified through the synteny analysis ranging from 13 to 36. This study demonstrates the usefulness of QTL-seq approach in precise identification of candidate gene(s) for days to flowering and leaf shape which can be deployed for pigeonpea improvement
Analysis of Small RNA Sequencing Data in Plants
Full text linkOver the past decades, next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been employed extensively for investigating the regulatory mechanisms of small RNAs. Several bioinformatics tools are available for aiding biologists to extract meaningful information from enormous amounts of data generated by NGS platforms. This chapter describes a detailed methodology for analyzing small RNA sequencing data using different open source tools. We elaborate on various steps involved in analysis, from processing the raw sequencing reads to identifying miRNAs, their targets, and differential expression studies
Modes of participation and political economy of Environmental Impact Assessments in Bali, Indonesia
Full text linkEnvironmental Impacts Assessments have long provided avenues of participation to communities on questions of development occurring in their area. Despite reforms to the EIA process in Indonesia, large scale developments remain contested. EIA’s role in contested development has often been interpreted as a means to resolve conflict. As such, the literature focuses more on institutions – diagnosing flaws and recommending fixes – than they have on the groups party to the EIA. This thesis presents an alternative understanding of institutions to instead focus on how and why actors engaging with EIAs support or resist development. In doing so, I operate within the Murdoch School of Political Economy, a school in the critical political economy tradition that allows for closer examination of the dynamics of contestation because it considers the broader contexts of global capitalism. This thesis uses Gramscian conceptions of ideology and a lens of legal pluralism to best understand how social groups draw on a wide repertoire of ideologies and normative ordering systems as they contest large-scale developments in Bali. This is particularly necessary given the central role that adat and Balinese Hinduism play in the contestations examined in the case studies. Engaging with these belief frameworks on their owns terms allows for better understanding of the way actors draw on a wide array of ideological and institutional resources to contest or support development – which is integral for understanding how the law, including EIA, actually operates.
This thesis uses data from fieldwork and primary sources to produce an in-depth analysis of how and why social coalitions are engaging in the EIA process. Two case studies are examined in the thesis. The first, PT Tirta Wahana Internasional’s fiercely contested plans to reclaim several hundred hectares in Benoa Bay for a tourism and real estate development, shows how contestation, when not successfully mediated, can spill beyond the bounds of the EIA process. The second case study, MNC Land Bali resort near Tanah Lot temple, highlights how these contestations are not merely expressions of subalterns versus oligarchs. Here, a coalition of social forces’ use of adat institutions to support an illegal development has been integral to the development’s success. This support stands in stark contrast to the site’s history and to the outcome of the first case study. In Bali, adat institutions and village governance processes have provided unique modes of participation and ideological arguments with which residents can contest or support oligarchic interests, village leaders and government decision makers. The research finds that adat and Balinese Hinduism mediate the way these conflicts unfold because of the continuing importance and openness to interpretation of these frameworks and belief systems in the daily lives of Balinese
Pathogenicity of three genetically distinct and highly pathogenic Egyptian H5N8 avian influenza viruses in chickens
Full text linkIn late 2016, Egypt encountered multiple cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus of the H5N8 subtype. In a previous study, three distinct genotypes, including A/common-coot/Egypt/CA285/2016 (H5N8) (CA285), A/duck/Egypt/SS19/2017 (H5N8) (SS19), and A/duck/Egypt/F446/2017 (H5N8) (F446), were isolated from wild birds, a backyard, and a commercial farm, respectively, during the first wave of infection. In this current study, we investigated the differences in the pathogenicity, replication and transmissibility of the three genotypes and A/chicken/Egypt/15S75/2015 (H5N1) (S75) was used as the control. The intravenous pathogenicity index was between 2.68 and 2.9. The chicken lethal dose 50 values of F446, SS19 and CA285 were 103.7, 103.7, an 104 with a natural route of infection, respectively. These strains took longer than S75 to cause death when infection was carried out through the natural route (HPAI H5N1). After inoculation with the original concentration of 105 and 106 egg infective dose 50 (EID50), F446 had a higher mortality rate with short mean death times of 4, and 7 days, respectively compared with the other H5N8 viruses. Chickens inoculated with F446 and contacted exposed chickens infected with F446 showed the highest viral titer with remarkable differences in all H5N8 tested swabs at 2-4 days postinfection (dpi) compared to S75 at 2 dpi. This indicates that F446 had a more efficient transmission and spread from contact exposed birds to other birds. All H5N8 viruses were able to replicate systematically in all organs (trachea, brain, lung, and spleen) of the chicken with high viral titer with significantly different and more pathological changes observed in F446 than in other H5N8 viruses at 2 and 4 dpi. Compared with H5N1, we recorded a significantly high viral titer in the samples obtained from the lung, brain and both cloacal and tracheal swabs at 2 and 4 dpi, respectively and in the samples obtained from the spleen at 2 and 4 dpi among the experimental chicken. The comparative pathogenesis study revealed that in comparison with the other HPAI H5N8 viruses, the genotype F446 was more pathogenic, and showed more efficient viral replication and transmissibility in chickens in Egypt. The genotype F446 also showed a high viral titer than HPAI H5N1 and short mean death time at the third day after inoculation with 106 and 105 EID50, which revealed a conservation of certain H5N8 genotypes and a decrease in the incidence of H5N1
Promoting vocabulary building, learning motivation, and cultural identity representation through digital storytelling for young Indonesian Learners of English as a foreign language
No full textDigital Storytelling (DST) is a globally accepted approach in teaching English. However, in the Indonesian EFL context, little attention has been paid to DST as a pedagogical approach, particularly its potential to create a bridge between the students’ primary culture and that of English cultures. We report on how DST helped Indonesian junior-school students make meaning in English through a local culture-based DST narrative project. As part of a case study approach, we used various qualitative data collection methods, including focus group interviews, students' reflective journals, classroom observations, and the DST product itself. Finally, multimodal transcription and thematic content analysis were used to interpret the data. The study shows that the digital story is an effective tool to express the students' identity and make meaning through their local culture stories. Participating in these activities also increased student motivation. Working collaboratively in a group helped them to make meaning and focus on topics that resonated with them personally, reduced stress, and allowed them to focus on communication. Drawing on their local culture also assisted to build a bridge between the familiar lexical content and terminology and the less familiar English cultural content and vocabulary, resulting in enhanced engagement and achievement in English. Practically, the DST project-based learning assisted EFL teachers to integrate authentic and communicative learning experiences into a packed curriculum
