1,720,967 research outputs found
Detecting ear lesions in slaughtered pigs through open-source convolutional neural networks
No full textBackground: Ear biting is a damaging behavior of pigs, likely triggered by a genetic predisposition, previous health issues and/or poor environmental conditions. The accurate assessment of animal health and welfare relies on the systematic gathering of data about animals, resources and management. In this respect, slaughterhouse surveys offer valuable insights, as distinct tail and skin lesions can act as ‘iceberg’ parameters, suitable to estimate welfare during the entire animals’ lifecycle. However, the routine recording of lesions is often costly and time-consuming, making it unfeasible in high-throughput abattoirs. This study aims to train open-source convolutional neural networks for detecting ear biting lesions in slaughtered pigs, as a pre-requisite for a systematic and cost-effective welfare monitoring. Results: A total of 3,140 pictures were employed to train and test open-source convolutional neural networks. Investigations were carried out by three veterinarians, who agreed to assess porcine ears using a simplified method, to minimize inter-observers’ variability and to facilitate the convolutional neural networks’ training: a) healthy auricles (label 0); deformed auricles displaying alterations in their contour due to real lesions (label 1); postmortem artefacts due to slaughtering (label 2). The entire dataset (training set and test set) was evaluated by one observer, while a supplementary set of 150 pictures was assessed by all veterinarians. Overall, the agreement among observers was very high (Cohen’s kappa coefficient > 0.88). Moreover, convolutional neural networks’ performances appeared suitable when compared with veterinarians: overall accuracy 0.89, specificity 0.96, sensitivity 0.86, agreement with each individual observer 0.79 (Cohen’s kappa coefficient). Conclusions: Open-source convolutional neural networks can achieve good performances, especially when the task is strictly defined and rather easy. Valuable experiences are being gathered about the routine application of artificial intelligence-powered tools in pig abattoirs. We consider that such tools will likely enable the systematic collection of data, addressing the distinct needs of stakeholders in a cost-effective manner
Perspectives in the implementation of risk-based meat safety assurance system (RB-MSAS) in broiler meat production
Full text linkWe discuss the challenges associated with risk-based meat safety assurance system (RB-MSAS) focussed on chicken meat production. Campylobacter, Salmonella, and more recently, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), are the primary causes of foodborne illness attributed to poultry meat and pose the most significant challenges for food safety assurance systems. To achieve the goals of RB-MSAS, thorough data collection and risk assessment are essential for food business operators (FBOs).
The use of harmonised epidemiological indicators (HEIs) implies a set of standardized metrics that facilitate the assessment of the distribution and determinants of health-related events in animal populations. These indicators ensure consistency and comparability of data across different contexts or geographic areas and are valuable for informing risk management decisions. Current challenges encompass the limited availability of data on Campylobacter infection prevalence, concerns related to flock uniformity, and the burden of antibiotic resistance. The failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) model should be applied to prevent non-conformity from leading to unacceptable risk levels. We also address the challenges associated with implementing risk-based meat inspection (RBMI) at the slaughterhouse, highlighting the crucial role of public veterinary officers (PVOs) in ensuring compliance with food laws and maintaining good management standards. Towards these goals, the paper emphasizes the necessity for evidence-based interventions to enhance meat safety. It also advocates for the application of failure mode and effect analysis to implement efficient corrective and preventive actions, specifically targeting non-compliance and contamination issues
Intestinal Emphysema and Gut Bacterial Microbiota Composition
No full textPneumatosis cystoides intestinalis, or intestinal emphysema, is a condition characterized by the presence of multiple cystic structures within the gut wall and on the serosal surface of the intestine. Intestinal emphysema represents an accidental finding in swine, although it can be clinically relevant in humans. Its etiology is unknown, and many theories have been proposed. Among them, a bacterial etiology is considered the most likely. Therefore, in this study, the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced from 19 swine ileal tracts, 12 with intestinal emphysema and 7 without lesions, to detect a possible bacterial agent. In parallel, prevalence was estimated. Escherichia-Shigella (13.15%), Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1; s__uncultured_bacterium (7.09%), and Fusobacterium; s_uncultured bacterium (6.60%) were the most abundant species identified. No statistically relevant differences were observed between the pathological and physiological groups. Prevalence ranged from 1.25 to 5.12% depending on the batch. Our results suggest that the gut wall bacterial microbiota greatly match the normal gut microbiota, and that the etiological agent of intestinal emphysema may be (1) undetectable due to the chronicity of the lesions, (2) not considered statistically relevant in comparing the two groups (p < 0.05) and likewise in causing lesions, and (3) undetectable due to contamination. Regarding prevalence, the condition is moderately frequent
Bovine herpesvirus 4-based vector delivering a hybrid rat/human HER-2 oncoantigen efficiently protects mice from autochthonous Her-2+ mammary cancer
Full text linkThe epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) oncogene is a major target for the immunotherapy of breast cancer. Following up to the therapeutic success achieved with Her-2-targeting monoclonal antibodies, immune-prophylactic approaches directed against Her-2 have also been investigated taking into account, and trying to overcome, Her-2 self-tolerance. Perhaps due to safety (and efficacy) concerns, the least explored anti-Her-2 active immunization strategy so far has been the one relying on viral-vectored vaccine formulations. Taking advantage of the favorable properties of bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) in terms of safety and ease of manipulation as well as its previously documented ability to transduce and confer immunogenicity to heterologous antigens, we tested the ability of different recombinant HER-2-BoHV-4 immunogens to 8break tolerance and elicit a protective, anti-mammary tumor antibody response in HER-2 transgenic BALB-neuT mice. All the tested constructs expressed the HER-2 transgenes at high levels and elicited significant cellular immune responses in BALB/c mice upon administration via either DNA vaccination or viral infection. In BALB-neuT mice, instead, only the viral construct expressing the membrane-bound chimeric form of Her-2 protein (BoHV-4-RHuT-gD) elicited a humoral immune response that was more intense and earlier-appearing than that induced by DNA vaccination. In keeping with this observation, two administrations of BoHV-4-RHuT-gD effectively protected BALB-neuT mice from tumor formation, with 50% of vaccinated animals tumor-free after 30 weeks from immunization compared to 100% of animals exhibiting at least one palpable tumor in the case of animals vaccinated with the other BoHV-4-HER-2 constructs. © 2016 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LL
Virus-Mediated Metalloproteinase 1 Induction Revealed by Transcriptome Profiling of Bovine Herpesvirus 4-Infected Bovine Endometrial Stromal Cells
No full textViral infections can cause genital tract disorders (including abortion) in cows, and bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is often present in endometritis-affected animals. A major problem with cattle uterine viral infections in general, and BoHV-4 in particular, is our limited understanding of the pathogenic role(s) that these infections play in the endometrium. A similar lack of knowledge holds for the molecular mechanisms utilized, and the host cell pathways affected, by BoHV-4. To begin to fill these gaps, we set up optimized conditions for BoHV-4 infection of a pure population of bovine endometrial stromal cells (BESCs) to be used as source material for RNA sequencing-based transcriptome profiling. Many genes were found to be upregulated (417) or downregulated (181) after BoHV-4 infection. As revealed by enrichment functional analysis on differentially expressed genes, BoHV-4 infection affects various pathways related to cell proliferation and cell surface integrity, at least three of which were centered on upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1) and interleukin 8 (IL8). This was confirmed by reverse transcription PCR, real-time PCR, Western-immunoblot analysis, and a luciferase assay with a bovine MMP1-specific promoter reporter construct. Further, it was found that MMP1 transcription was upregulated by the BoHV-4 transactivator IE2/RTA, leading to abnormally high metalloproteinase tissue levels, potentially leading to defective endometrium healing and unresolved inflammation. Based on these findings, we propose a new model for BoHV-4 action centered on IE2-mediated MMP1 upregulation and novel therapeutic interventions based on IFN gamma-mediated MMP1 downregulation
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
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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