The control of classical swine fever in wild boar

Classical swine fever (CSF) is a viral disease with severe economic consequences for domestic pigs. Natural hosts for the CSF virus (CSFV) are members of the family Suidae, i.e. Eurasian wild boar (sus scrofa) are also susceptible. CSF in wild boar poses a serious threat to domestic pigs. CSFV is an enveloped RNA virus belonging to the pestivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family. Transmission of the infection is usually by direct contact or by feeding of contaminated meat products. In recent decades CSF has been successfully eradicated from Australia, North America, and the European Union. In areas with dense wild boar populations CSF tends to become endemic whereas it is often self-limiting in small, less dense populations. In recent decades eradication strategies of CSF in wild boar have been improved considerably. The reduction of the number of susceptible animals to a threshold level where the basic reproductive number is R0<1 is the major goal of all control efforts. Depending on the epidemiological situation, hunting measures combined with strict hygiene may be effective in areas with a relatively low density of wild boar. Oral immunization was shown to be highly effective in endemic situations in areas with a high density of wild boar

The pestivirus N terminal protease N(pro) redistributes to mitochondria and peroxisomes suggesting new sites for regulation of IRF3 by N(pro.)

The N-terminal protease of pestiviruses, N(pro) is a unique viral protein, both because it is a distinct autoprotease that cleaves itself from the following polyprotein chain, and also because it binds and inactivates IRF3, a central regulator of interferon production. An important question remains the role of N(pro) in the inhibition of apoptosis. In this study, apoptotic signals induced by staurosporine, interferon, double stranded RNA, sodium arsenate and hydrogen peroxide were inhibited by expression of wild type N(pro), but not by mutant protein N(pro) C112R, which we show is less efficient at promoting degradation of IRF3, and led to the conclusion that N(pro) inhibits the stress-induced intrinsic mitochondrial pathway through inhibition of IRF3-dependent Bax activation. Both expression of N(pro) and infection with Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) prevented Bax redistribution and mitochondrial fragmentation. Given the role played by signaling platforms during IRF3 activation, we have studied the subcellular distribution of N(pro) and we show that, in common with many other viral proteins, N(pro) targets mitochondria to inhibit apoptosis in response to cell stress. N(pro) itself not only relocated to mitochondria but in addition, both N(pro) and IRF3 associated with peroxisomes, with over 85% of N(pro) puncta co-distributing with PMP70, a marker for peroxisomes. In addition, peroxisomes containing N(pro) and IRF3 associated with ubiquitin. IRF3 was degraded, whereas N(pro) accumulated in response to cell stress. These results implicate mitochondria and peroxisomes as new sites for IRF3 regulation by N(pro), and highlight the role of these organelles in the anti-viral pathway

Comparison of bulk milk antibody and youngstock serology screens for determining herd status for Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus

BACKGROUND: This paper examines the use of Bulk Milk antibody (BM Ab), Youngstock (YS) serology (Check Tests) and Bulk Milk PCR (BM PCR) for determining the presence or absence of animals persistently infected (PI) with Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) within a herd. Data is presented from 26 herds where average herd sizes were 343 and 98 animals for dairy and beef units respectively. Seventeen herds had sufficient data to analyse using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and probability curves enabling calculation of the sensitivity and specificity of BM Ab and YS Check tests for determining the presence of PI animals within herds in this dataset. RESULTS: Using BM Ab to screen a herd for the presence of PI animals, achieved a herd level sensitivity and specificity of 80.00 % (44.39–97.48 %) and 85.71 % (42.13–99.64 %) respectively (95 % confidence intervals quoted). Sensitivity and specificity of YS Check Tests at a cut off of 3/10 Ab positive YS were 81.82 % (48.22–97.72 %) and 66.67 % (22.28–95.67 %) respectively (95 % confidence interval). These results were achieved by comparing the screening tests to whole herd PI searches that took place 1–19 months after the initial screen with a mean interval of 8 months. Removal of this delay by taking BM samples on the day of a whole herd test and simulating a YS Check Test from the herd test data produced improvements in the reliability of the Check Tests. BM Ab sensitivity and specificity remained unchanged. However, the Check Test sensitivity and specificity improved to 90.9 % (58.72–99.77 %) and 100 % (54.07–100 %) respectively (95 % confidence interval) at a cut of off 2.5/10 Ab positive animals. Our limited BM PCR results identified 5/23 dairy farms with a positive BM PCR result; two contained milking PIs, two had non-milking PIs and another had no PIs identified. CONCLUSIONS: Delaying a PI search following an initial herd screen decreased the diagnostic accuracy and relevance of our results. With careful interpretation, longitudinal surveillance using a combination of the techniques discussed can successfully determine farm status and therefore allow changes in BVDV status to be detected early, thus enabling prompt action in the event of a BVDV incursion

Ossendampers, Tabakhändler und „Bolschewiken“ – die Deutsche Levante-Linie und die Hamburger Definition des Orients

Die Ausstellung „Osmanen in Hamburg – eine Beziehungsgeschichte zur Zeit des Ersten Weltkrieges“, die vom 6. November 2014 bis zum 4. Januar 2015 in der Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Carl von Ossietzky gezeigt wurde, widmete sich anlässlich des 100. Jahrestages der „Urkatastrophe“ den deutsch-osmanischen Beziehungen aus Hamburger Sicht und nahm vor allem die Zeit zwischen 1914 und 1918 in den Blick. Die erstmals gezeigten Archivmaterialien veranschaulichen dabei nicht nur die wirtschaftlichen, diplomatischen und kulturellen Kontakte. Sie vermitteln vor allem einen Eindruck von der Präsenz und vom Leben der ethnisch wie religiös heterogenen Gruppe der Osmanen (u. a. Armenier, Griechen, sephardische Juden, muslimische Türken) in Hamburg, deren Spuren sich bis ins 19. Jahrhundert zurückverfolgen lassen. Der vorliegende Katalog möchte aber nicht nur die in acht Sektionen unterteilte Ausstellung dokumentieren. Er liefert mit zusätzlichen acht Beiträgen einen weiterführenden Einblick in die komplexe und ambivalente osmanisch-deutsche bzw. hamburgisch-osmanische Beziehungsgeschichte. In drei Kapiteln werden neben den transkulturellen Begegnungen wie Kulturdifferenzen der Zeit von etwa 1850 bis 1909, die kolonialen Ambitionen und orientalistischen Embleme des Deutschen Reiches, aber auch die Rolle deutscher Frauen im Osmanischen Reich zwischen 1914 und 1918 beleuchtet.The exhibition "Osmanen in Hamburg - a relationship history during the First World War" which was shown in the Hambrug State and University Library from November 6th, 2014 to January 4th, 2015, devoted itself to the 100th anniversary of the "Urkatastrophe" (the Great War) to he German-Ottoman relations from the perspective of Hamburg, and focused on the years between 1914 and 1918. The archival objects were presented for the first time and are documented in this publication. They illustrate not only economic, diplomatic and cultural contacts., but also give an impression of the presence and the life of the ethnically and religiously heterogeneous group of the Ottomans (e.g. Armenians, Greeks, Sephardic Jews, Muslim Turks) in Hamburg who can be traced back to the 19th century. This catalog, however, does not only want to document the exhibition which was divided into eight sections. With an additional eight contributions, it provides a deeper insight into the complex and ambivalent Ottoman-German and/ or Hamburg-Ottoman relations. In addition to transcultural encounters such as cultural differences between the time of 1850 and 1909 the colonial ambitions and oriental emblems of the German Reich, as well as the role of German women in the Ottoman Empire between 1914 and 1918, are illuminated in three chapters

Ο S. SCHULTZE KAI Ο Α. FR. WOLTERSDORF ΠΕΛΑΤΕΣ ΣΤΟ ΒΙΒΛΙΟΠΩΛΕΙΟ TOY BORTOLI ΣΤΗ ΒΕΝΕΤΙΑ (1750). ME ΠΡΟΣΘΗΚΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΥΜΠΛΗΡΩΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΒΙΒΛΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη.No abstract

Langzeitergebnisse der endoskopischen Ballondilatation von Crohn-Stenosen am unteren Gastrointestinaltrakt

Hintergrund: Das Ziel der Arbeit bestand in der Erfassung von Komplikations-, Erfolgs- und Langzeiterfolgsrate der endoskopischen Ballondilatation von Crohnstenosen am unteren Gastrointestinaltrakt.Methoden: Es wurden Daten von 47 dilatierten MC Patienten (w = 29; m =18) ausgewertet (Mittlerer Nachbeobachtungszeitraum 10,59 Jahre).Ergebnisse: Insgesamt wurden 103 Stenosen dilatiert (PS = 53; AS 50). Technische Erfolgsrate 97,1%, Komplikationsrate 5,8%. Ein Langzeiterfolg konnte bei 57,45% (27) der Patienten über einen Zeitraum von durchschnittlich 9,66 Jahren verzeichnet werden (Median = 8,67 Jahren; SD = 5,48).Ausblick: Die EBD von Crohnstenosen am unteren GIT scheint eine sichere und wirksame Therapieoption bei MC bedingten Stenosen zu sein.<br

Sensitivity and specificity of a competitive enzyme immunoassay in the serodiagnosis of bovine brucellosis

O trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a sensibilidade e a especificidade de um teste imunoenzimático competitivo, empregando como conjugado os anticorpos monoclonais BM-38 e BM-40, no diagnóstico sorológico da brucelose bovina. Foram examinados 74 soros de bovinos dos quais havia sido isolada Brucella abortus e 2.118 soros de bovinos procedentes de rebanhos livres de brucelose e que apresentaram resultado negativo quando submetidos ao teste Rosa Bengala. O teste imunoenzimático competitivo, usando qualquer dos dois conjugados, foi capaz de revelar a presença de anticorpos contra o lipopolissacáride bacteriano em todos os soros de bovinos infectados, o que resulta em uma sensibilidade de 100%. A especificidade do teste usando o conjugado BM-38 foi de 98.82% e usando o conjugado BM-40 foi de 99,95%. Estes resultados indicam que o teste imunoenzimático competitivo, principalmente ao se empregar o conjugado BM-40, consiste em um método bastante útil para ser usado como teste confirmatório no diagnóstico sorológico da brucelose bovina.The purpose of this work was to evaluate the sensitivity and the specificity of a competitive enzyme immunoassay, using as conjugate the monoclonal antibodies BM-38 and BM-40, in the serodiagnosis of bovine brucellosis. Seventy-four sera from culture-positive cattle and 2,118 cattle sera from herds free from brucellosis and negative to the Rose Bengal plate test were examined. The competitive enzyme immunoassay, using any of the two conjugates, was able to reveal the presence of antibodies to Brucella lipopolysaccharide in all of the 74 sera of the infected cattle, resulting in a sensitivity of 100%. The specificity of the test using the conjugate BM-38 was 98.82% and using the conjugate BM-40 was 99.95%. These results indicated that the competitive enzyme immunoassay, mainly when using the conjugate BM-40, consists in a technique very useful in the confirmation of the serological diagnosis of bovine brucellosis

An approach to the control of disease transmission in pig-to-human xenotransplantation.

Abstract: Although several major immunologic hurdles need to be overcome, the pig is currently considered the most likely source animal of cells, tissues and organs for transplantation into humans. Concerns have been raised with regard to the potential for the transfer of infectious agents with the transplanted organ to the human recipient. This risk is perceived to be increased as it is likely that the patient will be iatrogenically immunocompromised and the organ-source pig may be genetically engineered in such a way to render its organs particularly susceptible to infection with human viruses. Furthermore, the risk may not be restricted to the recipient, but may have consequences for the health of others in the community. The identification of porcine endogenous retroviruses and of hitherto unknown viruses have given rise to the most concern. We document here the agents we believe should be excluded from the organ-source pigs. We discuss the likelihood of achieving this aim and outline the potential means by which it may best be achieved