Streptococcus suis in employees and the environment of swine slaughterhouses in S?o Paulo,Brazil: Occurrence,risk factors,serotype distribution,and antimicrobial susceptibility

Streptococcus suis is an important pathogen in the swine industry. This article is the first to report the occurrence, risk factors, serotype distribution, and antimicrobial susceptibility of S. suis recovered from employees and environmental samples of swine slaughterhouses in Brazil. Tonsillar swabs from all 139 pig-slaughtering employees and 261 environmental swabs were collected for detection of S. suis and serotyping by monoplex and multiplex polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disk-diffusion method. Although S. suis was not detected in any of the tested employees, it was isolated from 25% of the environmental samples. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in the occurrence of S. suis were observed between slaughterhouses and between areas of low, medium, and high risk. The most frequent serotypes were 4 and 29, each accounting for 12% of the isolates, followed by 5, 12, 21, and 31, each accounting for 6%. High rates of susceptibility to the antimicrobials doxycycline (100%), ceftiofur (94%), ampicillin (81%), and cephalexin (75%) were observed. However, multidrug resistance was observed in all the isolates. Because S. suis is present in the environment of swine slaughterhouses, on carcasses and knives, as well as on the hands of employees in all areas, all employees are at risk of infection.     

ASAS-NANP SYMPOSIUM: prospects for interactive and dynamic graphics in the era of data-rich animal science

Statistical graphics, and data visualization, play an essential but under-utilized, role for data analysis in animal science, and also to visually illustrate the concepts, ideas, or outputs of research and in curricula. The recent rise in web technologies and ubiquitous availability of web browsers enables easier sharing of interactive and dynamic graphics. Interactivity and dynamic feedback enhance human–computer interaction and data exploration. Web applications such as decision support systems coupled with multimedia tools synergize with interactive and dynamic graphics. However, the importance of graphics for effectively communicating data, understanding data uncertainty, and the state of the field of interactive and dynamic graphics is underappreciated in animal science. To address this gap, we describe the current state of graphical methodology and technology that might be more broadly adopted. This includes an explanation of a conceptual framework for effective graphics construction. The ideas and technology are illustrated using publicly available animal datasets. We foresee that many new types of big and complex data being generated in precision livestock farming create exciting opportunities for applying interactive and dynamic graphics to improve data analysis and make data-supported decisions.     

The PIRLA project (paleoecological investigation of recent lake acidification): Preliminary results for the Adirondacks,New England,N. Great Lakes states,and N. Florida

The PIRLA project is an interdisciplinary paleoecological study designed to provide reconstructions of the recent acidification histories of a representative set of lakes in four acid-sensitive regions in North America. We are trying to determine if lakes in the study regions have acidified, and if so, to what extent, over what time period and why. Sediment cores from 5 to 15 lakes in each region are being analyzed for several characteristics. Diatoms and chrysophytes are being used to reconstruct lakewater pH. Results for three Adirondack lakes with current pH of 4.8 to 5.0 indicate a decrease in pH beginning in the 1930's–1950's. Increased atmospheric deposition of strong acids appears to be the primary factor responsible for the pH decline. Two lakes (pH 4.4 and 4.7) in New England show clear evidence of acidification probably due to acidic deposition. Preliminary reconstructions for two lakes in Michigan (pH 4.4 and 5.6), one in Wisconsin (pH 5.3), and one in Minnesota (pH 6.8) suggest no recent pH decrease. For, the one Florida lake (pH 4.4) analyzed, inferred pH decreases by about 0.5 unit, beginning in the 1950s; the cause has not been determined.     

The mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices and rock phosphate amendment influence plant growth and microbial activity in the rhizosphere of Acacia holosericea

Plants inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi utilize more soluble phosphorus from soil mineral phosphate than non-inoculated plants. However, there is no information on the response of soil microflora to mineral phosphate weathering by AM fungi and, in particular, on the catabolic diversity of soil microbial communities.The AM fungus, Glomus intraradices was examined for (i) its effect on the growth of Acacia holosericea, (ii) plant-available phosphate and (iii) soil microbial activity with and without added rock phosphate.After 4-months culture, AM fungal inoculation significantly increased the plant biomasses (by 1.78× and 2.23× for shoot and root biomasses, respectively), while mineral phosphate amendment had no effect in a sterilized soil. After 12-months culture, the biomasses of A. holosericea plants growing in a non-sterilized soil amended with mineral phosphate were significantly higher than those recorded in the control treatment (by 2.5× and 5× for shoot and root biomasses, respectively). The fungal inoculation also significantly stimulated plant growth, which was significantly higher than that measured in the mineral phosphate treatment. When G. intraradices and mineral phosphate were added together to the soil, shoot growth were significantly stimulated over the single treatments (inoculation or amendment) (1.45×). The P leaf mineral content was also higher in the G. intraradices+mineral phosphate treatment than in G. intraradices or rock phosphate amendment. Moreover, the number of fluorescent pseudomonads has been significantly increased when G. intraradices and/or mineral phosphate were added to the soil. By using a specific type of multivariate analysis (co-inertia analysis), it has been shown that plant growth was positively correlated to the metabolization of ketoglutaric acid, and negatively linked to the metabolisation of phenylalanine and other substrates, which shows that microbial activity is also affected.G. intraradices inoculation is highly beneficial to the growth of A. holosericea plants in controlled conditions. This AM symbiosis optimises the P solubilization from the mineral phosphate and affects microbial activity in the hyphosphere of A. holosericea plants.     

Innate immune activation through Nalp3 inflammasome sensing of asbestos and silica

The inhalation of airborne pollutants, such as asbestos or silica, is linked to inflammation of the lung, fibrosis, and lung cancer. How the presence of pathogenic dust is recognized and how chronic inflammatory diseases are triggered are poorly understood. Here, we show that asbestos and silica are sensed by the Nalp3 inflammasome, whose subsequent activation leads to interleukin-1beta secretion. Inflammasome activation is triggered by reactive oxygen species, which are generated by a NADPH oxidase upon particle phagocytosis. (NADPH is the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate.) In a model of asbestos inhalation, Nalp3-/- mice showed diminished recruitment of inflammatory cells to the lungs, paralleled by lower cytokine production. Our findings implicate the Nalp3 inflammasome in particulate matter-related pulmonary diseases and support its role as a major proinflammatory "danger" receptor.     

Regulation of B versus T lymphoid lineage fate decision by the proto-oncogene LRF

Hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow give rise to lymphoid progenitors, which subsequently differentiate into B and T lymphocytes. Here we show that the proto-oncogene LRF plays an essential role in the B versus T lymphoid cell-fate decision. We demonstrate that LRF is key for instructing early lymphoid progenitors in mice to develop into B lineage cells by repressing T cell-instructive signals produced by the cell-fate signal protein, Notch. We propose a new model for lymphoid lineage commitment, in which LRF acts as a master regulator of the cell's determination of B versus T lineage.     

Modeling the Diving Behavior of Whales: A Latent-Variable Approach with Feedback and Semi-Markovian Components

Recent years have seen a fast-growing body of literature concerned with the statistical modeling of animal movement in the two horizontal dimensions. On the other hand, there is very little statistical work that deals with animal movement in the vertical dimension. We present an approach that provides an important step in analyzing such data. In particular, we introduce a hidden Markov-type modeling approach for time series comprising the depths of a diving marine mammal, thus modeling movement in the water column. We first develop a baseline Markov-switching model, which is then extended to incorporate feedback and semi-Markovian components, motivated by the observations made for a particular species, Blainville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris). The application of the proposed model to the beaked whale data reveals both strengths and weaknesses of the suggested modeling framework. The framework is general enough that we anticipate that it can be used for many other species given minor changes in the model structure.