1,720,974 research outputs found
Rapid, Sensitive, and Species-Specific Detection of Conventional and Recombinant Herpesvirus of Turkeys Vaccines Using Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Coupled With a Lateral Flow Device Readout
Full text linkMarek's disease, an economically important disease of chickens caused by virulent serotype 1 strains of the Mardivirus Marek's disease virus (MDV-1), is effectively controlled in the field by live attenuated vaccine viruses including herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT)—both conventional HVT (strain FC126) and, in recent years, recombinant HVT viruses carrying foreign genes from other avian viruses to protect against both Marek's disease and other avian viral diseases. Testing to monitor and confirm successful vaccination is important, but any such test must differentiate HVT from MDV-1 and MDV-2, as vaccination does not prevent infection with these serotypes. End-point and real-time PCR tests are widely used to detect and differentiate HVT, MDV-1 and MDV-2 but require expensive specialist laboratory equipment and trained operators. Here, we developed and validated two tube-based loop-mediated isothermal amplification tests coupled with detection by lateral flow device readout (LAMP-LFD): an HVT-specific test to detect both conventional and recombinant HVT strains, and a second test using novel LAMP primers to specifically detect the Vaxxitek® recombinant HVT. Specificity was confirmed using DNA extracted from virus-infected cultured cells, and limit of detection was determined using plasmid DNA carrying either the HVT or Vaxxitek® genome. The LAMP-LFD tests accurately detected all HVT vaccines, or Vaxxitek® only, in crude DNA as well as purified DNA extracted from field samples of organs, feathers, or poultry house dust that were confirmed positive for HVT by real-time PCR. These LAMP-LFD tests have potential for specific, rapid, simple, and inexpensive detection of HVT vaccines in the field
Molecular characterization of avian metapneumovirus from Guinea fowls (numida meleagridis)
Full text linkIn the present study the subtype B aMPV, strain aMPV/B/IT/GuineaFowl/1818/12, was detected in Guinea fowls affected by respiratory signs, sequenced and molecularly characterized. Comparisons among several F and G gene full sequences of aMPVs subtype B, showed that no consistent pattern related to host-tropism could be identified. Moreover, analysis of partial G gene revealed the perfect identity of the Guinea fowl strain with four Italian aMPVs isolated from turkeys or chickens in a time frame of three years, in the same geographic area. Phylogenetic analysis of both genes showed an evolutionary trend of subtype B circulating in Northern Italy from its first appearance in 1987, to date. The co-presence in the same geographic area of farms housing different avian species sensitive to aMPV, vaccinated with different vaccination programs or not vaccinated (like Guinea fowls), and often belonging to the same integrate poultry company, could be a crucial factor for the establishment of an endemic infection. © 2018 PVJ. All rights reserved
Analysis of provincial and municipal regulations governing crustacean welfare in Italy
Full text linkThe trade in live crustaceans implies keeping these animals alive after capture and/or farming until purchase by the final consumer. Regarding animal welfare, the European Union includes cephalopods in Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, but there are no further regulations on crustaceans in EU legislation. The present study analysed the provisions of Italian municipal regulations on animal welfare applicable to crustaceans. Only 62 of the 110 municipal websites of the provincial capitals reported a regulation safeguarding animal welfare. These regulations contain different rules on: aquaria characteristics (size, volume and shape); management of aquaria; maintenance (preservation and exposure) of live aquatic species; slaughtering and/or suppression of aquatic species and crustaceans; tying of crustacean claws; and crustacean cooking. The analysis on Italian municipal regulations on crustaceans’ animal welfare showed that the provisions are vague, lacking uniformity and scientific guidelines
Mislabelling of Döner kebab sold in Italy
Full text linkThe aim of this study was to assess whether Döner kebabs sold in Italy comply with legal labelling requirements. A checklist of EU labelling requirements was drawn up and nine labels of Döner kebab marketed in the province of Modena were collected to evaluate the mandatory information laid down in article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 together with the mandatory requirements of Regulation (EC) 853/2004 for meat preparations. The study showed that different additives are commonly used in Döner kebabs, including E 621 (monosodium glutamate). This additive is not included among the ingredients authorized for the meat preparation food category. Eight frozen Döner kebab samples were taken and a visual assessment and a histologic examination were performed to verify potential changes in the meat’s inner muscle fibre structure that could allow the product to be considered among meat preparations or meat products. The Döner kebab labels showed several systematically deficient regulatory requirements in both extrinsic defects (not related to food composition) and aspects concerning the protection of consumers’ health. Histological examination showed that the tissue was moderately swollen, but the muscle fibre structure was intact. Kebab can be reasonably classified as a meat preparation thereby precluding the use monosodium glutamate (E 621) as an ingredient
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Forward self-similar solutions for the forced 3D Navier-Stokes equations
No full textLAUREA MAGISTRALEIn questa Tesi, consideriamo le equazioni di Navier-Stokes in 3D con una forzante self-similar, e costruiamo soluzioni di Leray self-similar. La categoria presa in esame ha una rilevanza speciale, grazie al suo legame con il sistema stazionario di Navier-Stokes, per cui sono emersi spunti interessanti sulla non unicità. La strategia impiegata consiste in una combinazione degli argomenti proposti da Jia e Šverák e Bradshaw e Tsai, e prevede la decomposizione della soluzione in una componente ad energia finita e in un termine ausiliario con un comportamento noto. Il nostro metodo consiste nel dimostrare le stime a priori necessarie per applicare teoremi di punto fisso su operatori opportunamente definiti. Diversamente da Jia e Šverák, non utilizziamo la Degree Theory e rilassiamo dunque le ipotesi sulla forza e sul dato iniziale. Le ipotesi sull'integrabilità in spazio e in tempo della forza sono dettate dal naturale scaling self-similar e dalla necessità di garantire la significatività di una nozione locale di soluzioni di Leray. Nello specifico, consideriamo forze self-similar con profilo in L^2_{loc} e idoneo decadimento all'infinito. Il nostro metodo può anche essere adattato per provare l'esistenza di soluzioni con una categoria di forze che include quella proposta per dimostrare la non-unicità nell'innovativo risultato proposto da Albritton, Bruè e Colombo.In this Master Project, we consider the 3D Navier-Stokes equations with a self-similar forcing, and construct forward self-similar Leray solutions arising from such a force. The category of solutions that we analyze has a special relevance, thanks to their natural link with the steady Navier-Stokes system, for which interesting insights on non-uniqueness emerged. The strategy we employ is a combination of the arguments proposed by Jia and Šverák and Bradshaw and Tsai, consisting in decomposing the solution into a component with finite energy and an auxiliary term with known behavior. Our method consists in the establishment of the necessary a priori estimates to apply topological fixed point theorems on suitably defined operators; unlike Jia and Šverák, we do not refer to Degree Theory and therefore relax hypothesis on forcing and initial datum.
The hypothesis on the space-time integrability of the force is dictated by the natural self-similar scaling, and by the necessity to give meaning to a local notion of Leray solutions; in particular, we consider the class of self-similar forces with profile in L^2_{loc} and suitable decay. Our argument can be adapted also to prove existence for general forces in the category that includes the one used to prove non-uniqueness in the groundbreaking recent result by Albritton, Bruè and Colombo
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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