Air Sacs Research Articles

Pasteurella multocida Infection in Duck, Detection of Virulence Genes and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of the Isolates

Pasteurella multocida is a gram negative bacterium causing respiratory diseases in many birds including ducks resulting in great morbidity and mortality rates among them. Seventy five samples were collected from air sacs, lungs, livers, hearts and spleens were collected from different duck flocks which selected randomly and hade respiratory manifestations and diarrhea. All samples subjected to bacteriological examination for the presence of Pasteurella multocida (P. multocida). The results showed that Pasteurella multocida was isolated in a prevalence rate of as 13%. All isolates were identified by vitek 2 system. The virulence genes of two random isolates of Pasteurella multocida (toxA , tbpA and pfhA ) were detected by PCR. The results of antibiotic sensitivity test proved that the isolates were resistant to Cefalexin, Cefpodoxime, Ceftiofur, Amikacin, Nitrofurantoin, Trimethoprim, Rifampicin and Tetracycline. While the isolates were sensitive to Ampicillin, Amoxicillin/clavunic acid, Piperacillin, Cefpirome, Imipenen and Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazle. The three examined virulence genes were detected in both samples.

Evaluation of immunogenicity and efficacy of the enterobactin conjugate vaccine in protecting chickens from colibacillosis.

Colibacillosis is one of the most common and economically devastating infectious diseases in poultry production worldwide. Innovative universal vaccines are urgently needed to protect chickens from the infections caused by genetically diverse avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). Enterobactin (Ent) is a highly conserved siderophore required for E. coli iron acquisition and pathogenesis. The Ent-specific antibodies induced by a novel Ent conjugate vaccine significantly inhibited the in vitro growth of diverse APEC strains. In this study, White Leghorn chickens were immunized with the Ent conjugate vaccine using a crossed design with two variables, vaccination (with or without) and APEC challenge (O1, O78, or PBS control), resulting in six study groups (9 to 10 birds/group). The chickens were subcutaneously injected with the vaccine (100μg per bird) at 7days of age, followed by booster immunization at 21days of age. The chickens were intratracheally challenged with an APEC strain (108 CFU/bird) or PBS at 28days of age. At 5days post infection, all chickens were euthanized to examine lesions and APEC colonization of the major organs. Immunization of chickens with the Ent vaccine elicited a strong immune response with a 64-fold increase in the level of Ent-specific IgY in serum. The hypervirulent strain O78 caused extensive lesions in lung, air sac, heart, liver, and spleen with significantly reduced lesion scores observed in the vaccinated chickens. Interestingly, the vaccination did not significantly reduce APEC levels in the examined organs. The APEC O1 with low virulence only caused sporadic lesions in the organs in both vaccination and control groups. The Ent conjugate vaccine altered the bacterial community of the ileum and cecum. Taken together, the findings from this study showed the Ent conjugate vaccine could trigger a strong specific immune response and was promising to confer protection against APEC infection.

Pneumonia Detection Using Image Enhancing Techniques and Deep Learning

Pneumonia is a lung inflammation that mostly affects the tiny air sacs known as alveoli. The disorder can range in severity. The most prevalent causes of pneumonia are infections with viruses or bacteria, other microbes, or certain drugs. Cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, diabetes, heart failure, a history of smoking, having a defective cough reflex, such as after a stroke, and having a weakened immune system are risk factors. The physical exam and symptoms are frequently used to make a diagnosis. One of the most common illnesses that are challenging to diagnose because of a shortage of professionals is pneumonia. Early and accurate diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment and better patient outcomes. Pneumonia, along with Covid-19, became one of the more serious medical conditions. The most popular procedure for diagnosis is a chest X-ray. In recent years, deep learning-based approaches have shown great promise in automated pneumonia detection using chest X-ray images. However, examining a chest X-ray is a difficult task. It follows that automated diagnostic systems are necessary. Hence one such system is the proposed CNN model described in this paper with an accuracy of 97.02%. It comprises of image enhancing techniques specially designed for X-ray images and the proposed CNN model.

Rapid evaluation of the early pathogen of severe Chlamydophila psittaci pneumonia by diagnostic bronchoscopy

To explore the rapid evaluation of the early pathogen of severe Chlamydophila psittaci pneumonia by bedside diagnostic bronchoscopy, so as to start effective anti-infection treatment before the results of macrogenome next generation sequencing (mNGS) test. The clinical data of three patients with severe Chlamydophila psittaci pneumonia who were successfully treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, the First People's Hospital of Aksu District, and the First Division Hospital of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps from October 2020 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, including the rapid assessment of early pathogens by bedside diagnostic bronchoscopy and the use of antibiotics to start anti-infection treatment. These patients were successfully treated. The three patients were male, aged 63, 45 and 58 years old, respectively. Before the onset of the penumonia, they had a clear medical history of bird exposure. The clinical manifestations mainly included fever, dry cough, shortness of breath and dyspnea. One case had abdominal pain and lethargy. The results of laboratory examination indicated that the peripheral blood white blood cell count (WBC) of two patients were high [(10.2-11.9)×109/L], the percentage of neutrophils increased (85.2%-94.6%) and the percentage of lymphocytes decreased (3.2%-7.7%) in all 3 patients after admission to hospital and entering into intensive care unit (ICU). The procalcitonin (PCT) of 3 patients increased after admission, and still increased when entering ICU (0.3-4.8 ng/L), so did C-reactive protein (CRP, 58.0-162.0 mg/L) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR, 36.0-90.0 mm/1 h). After admission, serum alanine transaminase (ALT) increased in 2 cases (136.7 U/L, 220.5 U/L), so did aspartate transaminase (AST) in 2 cases (249.6 U/L, 164.2 U/L). ALT (162.2-267.9 U/L) and AST (189.8-223.2 U/L) increased in 3 patients when they entered ICU. The level of serum creatinine (SCr) of 3 patients were normal after admission and entering ICU. The chest computed tomography (CT) findings of 3 patients were acute interstitial pneumonia, bronchopneumonia and lung consolidation, of which 2 cases were accompanied by a small amount of pleural effusion, and 1 case was accompanied by more regular small air sacs. Multiple lung lobes were involved, but mainly one lung lobe. The oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) of the 3 patients admitting to ICU were 100.0, 57.5 and 105.4 mmHg (1 mmHg ≈ 0.133 kPa), respectively, which met with the diagnostic criteria of moderate and severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). All three patients received endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. Under the bedside bronchoscope, the bronchial mucosa of 3 patients were obviously congested and edematous, without purulent secretion, and there was 1 case with mucosal hemorrhage. Three patients underwent bedside diagnostic bronchoscopy, and the evaluation result of the pathogen was that it might be atypical pathogen infection, so they were given moxifloxacin, cisromet and doxycycline intravenously, respectively, and combined with carbapenem antibiotics intravenously. After 3 days, the detection results of mNGS in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) showed that only Chlamydia psittaci was infected. At this time, the condition was significantly improved, and PaO2/FiO2 was significantly increased. Therefore, the antibiotic treatment scheme remained unchanged, and mNGS only served to verify the initial diagnosis. Two patients were extubated on the 7th and 12th day of admission to the ICU, respectively, while one patient was extubated on the 16th day of admission to the ICU due to nosocomial infection. All 3 patients were transferred to the respiratory ward after the condition was stable. The bedside diagnostic bronchoscopy based on clinical characteristics is conducive to not only the rapid assessment of the early pathogens of severe Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia, but also effective anti-infection treatment before the returning of mNGS test results, which can make up for the lag and uncertainty of the mNGS test results.

Automated Pneumonia Diagnosis using a 2D Deep Convolutional Neural Network with Chest X-Ray Images

Tiny air sacs in one or both lungs become inflamed as a result of the lung infection known as pneumonia. In order to provide the best possible treatment plan, pneumonia must be accurately and quickly diagnosed at initial stages. Nowadays, a chest X-ray is regarded as the most effective imaging technique for detecting pneumonia. However, performing chest X-ray analysis may be quite difficult and laborious. For this purpose, in this study we propose deep convolutional neural network (CNN) with 24 hidden layers to identify pneumonia using chest X-ray images. In order to get high accuracy of the proposed deep CNN we applied an image processing method as well as rescaling and data augmentation methods as shear_range, rotation, zooming, CLAHE, and vertical_flip. The proposed approach has been evaluated using different evaluation criteria and has demonstrat-ed 97.2%, 97.1%, 97.43%, 96%, 98.8% performance in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, F-score, and AUC-ROC curve. Thus, the applied deep CNN obtain a high level of performance in pneumonia detection. In general, the provided approach is intended to aid radiologists in making an accurate pneumonia diagnosis. Additionally, our suggested models could be helpful in the early detection of other chest-related illnesses such as COVID-19.

System for Monitoring Avian Cardiac Output and Breathing Patterns Using Transmission-Type Microwaves

We report the development of a non-contact monitoring device for avian cardiac output and breathing patterns based on the anterior thoracic air sac pressure that uses transmission-type microwaves (2,400−2,500 MHz, continuous wave). Since the phase waveform represents the dielectric constant change, the phase reflects −j/ωc and the dielectric constant change is related to blood flow. The magnitude waveform is reflected from the electronic resistance of tissues due to the expansion of the anterior thoracic air sac, which mainly consists of the thoracic wall. To confirm these waveforms, pigeons and chickens were used for testing. To validate the output waveforms of the developed transmission-type microwave device, data from esophageal catheters and pressure sensors in the anterior thoracic air sac, abdominal air sac, and intraoral cavity were obtained. The waveform for the esophageal catheter, where electrocardiogram electrodes and an angular velocity sensor were installed, correlates with cardiac output. A heart sound microphone was used to confirm the closing sound of the arterial and mitral valves. The experimental results confirm that a linear waveform synchronized with the cardiac blood flow and the anterior thoracic air sac pressure of birds was obtained using transmission-type microwaves. The proposed device, which can monitor cardiac output and respiratory patterns, may enable the early screening of cytokine storms caused by avian influenza viruses. Existing devices use Doppler radar in the 10 to 77 GHz band; these high frequencies are reflected by the chest wall and do not reach deep into body, making it impossible to monitor the blood flow inside the body.

Anosmia-An Effect of COVID-19 Infection-Review.

The World Health Organization announced on March 11, 2020 that COVID-19 could become a pandemic. COVID-19 is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). Viruses usually enter the body through the mouth or nose. The virus then enters the alveoli, which are small air sacs inside the lungs. Cough, fatigue, fever, shortness of breath or breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste are all symptoms of COVID-19. Anosmia, also known as smell blindness, is a condition in which the ability to detect one or more smells is lost. Olfaction uses chemoreceptors to create signals that are processed in the brain and form the sense of smell in anosmia. Anosmia is recognised as a COVID-19 symptom in many countries, and some have developed "smell tests" as potential screening tools. The first level of screening, which is currently used in India, is primarily based on temperature and can result in false positives and negatives (fever as a symptom has not yet been developed although infection). One of the methods for detecting COVID-19 is an intermediate level of screening based on assessing an olfactory function, depending on the usage. This paper provides an overview of COVID-19 and its effects on the human body, as well as an overview of anosmia and how it contributes to one of the symptoms of COVID-19.

Diagnostic Study of Serratospiculum spp in Starlings

Serratospiculum species was diagnosed in thoracic cavity and air sacs of 15 starlings, with a percentage of 30% out of 50 starling birds examined for the first time in Mosul city/Iraq. Numbers of adult white worms were detected in the thoracic cavity ranging from 3-20 worms with mean intensity was 7.9. Large numbers of embryonated eggs were detected in the impression smears from the respiratory tract and uterus of worms measuring 52.4x25.93 µm with ranging 50-55x25-28.5 µm. These worms were characterized by possessing cuticular orientation, particularly in the anterior end. The female's posterior end is pointy, and her uterus is packed with a huge quantity of eggs. Moreover, the male's posterior end is characterized by the presence of spicules and papillae. At gross examination air saculitis and pneumonia were the most common lesions in infected birds. Histologically, embryonated eggs, adult worms with mild focal hemorrhage, mild myocardial degenerative changes, congestion of blood vessels and focal infiltration of lymphocytes, and plasma cells were diagnosed in the myocardium and lung tissues.

A new diagnostic method for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using the photoplethysmography signal and hybrid artificial intelligence.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is a primary public health issue globally and in our country, which continues to increase due to poor awareness of the disease and lack of necessary preventive measures. COPD is the result of a blockage of the air sacs known as alveoli within the lungs; it is a persistent sickness that causes difficulty in breathing, cough, and shortness of breath. COPD is characterized by breathing signs and symptoms and airflow challenge because of anomalies in the airways and alveoli that occurs as the result of significant exposure to harmful particles and gases. The spirometry test (breath measurement test), used for diagnosing COPD, is creating difficulties in reaching hospitals, especially in patients with disabilities or advanced disease and in children. To facilitate the diagnostic treatment and prevent these problems, it is far evaluated that using photoplethysmography (PPG) signal in the diagnosis of COPD disease would be beneficial in order to simplify and speed up the diagnosis process and make it more convenient for monitoring. A PPG signal includes numerous components, including volumetric changes in arterial blood that are related to heart activity, fluctuations in venous blood volume that modify the PPG signal, a direct current (DC) component that shows the optical properties of the tissues, and modest energy changes in the body. PPG has typically received the usage of a pulse oximeter, which illuminates the pores and skin and measures adjustments in mild absorption. PPG occurring with every heart rate is an easy signal to measure. PPG signal is modeled by machine learning to predict COPD. During the studies, the PPG signal was cleaned of noise, and a brand-new PPG signal having three low-frequency bands of the PPG was obtained. Each of the four signals extracted 25 features. An aggregate of 100 features have been extracted. Additionally, weight, height, and age were also used as characteristics. In the feature selection process, we employed the Fisher method. The intention of using this method is to improve performance. This improved PPG prediction models have an accuracy rate of 0.95 performance value for all individuals. Classification algorithms used in feature selection algorithm has contributed to a performance increase. According to the findings, PPG-based COPD prediction models are suitable for usage in practice.

The absence of an invasive air sac system in the earliest dinosaurs suggests multiple origins of vertebral pneumaticity

The origin of the air sac system present in birds has been an enigma for decades. Skeletal pneumaticity related to an air sac system is present in both derived non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs. But the question remained open whether this was a shared trait present in the common avemetatarsalian ancestor. We analyzed three taxa from the Late Triassic of South Brazil, which are some of the oldest representatives of this clade (233.23 ± 0.73Ma), including two sauropodomorphs and one herrerasaurid. All three taxa present shallow lateral fossae in the centra of their presacral vertebrae. Foramina are present in many of the fossae but at diminutive sizes consistent with neurovascular rather than pneumatic origin. Micro-tomography reveals a chaotic architecture of dense apneumatic bone tissue in all three taxa. The early sauropodomorphs showed more complex vascularity, which possibly served as the framework for the future camerate and camellate pneumatic structures of more derived saurischians. Finally, the evidence of the absence of postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in the oldest dinosaurs contradicts the homology hypothesis for an invasive diverticula system and suggests that this trait evolved independently at least 3times in pterosaurs, theropods, and sauropodomorphs.

Effects of in ovo injection of black cumin (Nigella sativa) extract on hatching performance of broiler eggs

Abstract The objective of this research is to state the impact of black cumin (Nigella sativa) extract in ovo injected at different doses on the hatchability of Cobb 500 Broiler fertile eggs. Injected doses of black cumin were 3 and 6 mg, applied to the air sac of the eggs on the 17.5th day of incubation. It has been established that, black cumin extract given to fertile broiler eggs had a positive effect on chick weight and chick length, but did not have a significant impact on hatching power and chick quality.

Seroprevalence of Mycoplasma Infection in Broiler Population of Assam

The experiment was conducted in the Department of Veterinary Pathology, C.V.Sc, A.A.U., Khanapara, Guuwahati, Assam, India during September, 2020−August, 2021. Avian Mycoplasmosis is a severe threat to the poultry industry. Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) represent the most important Avian Mycoplasma spp. worldwide in the poultry industry. All age groups of chickens and turkeys are susceptible to infection. Most of the outbreaks were recorded between 3rd and 6th weeks of age. The disease is characterized by respiratory rales, coughing, nasal discharge, conjunctivitis, sinusitis and air sac lesions. In the present study, a total of 400 sera were tested for detection of antibodies from 29 farms from 11 different locations of Kamrup (M) and Kamrup (R) district, Assam. For detection of Mycoplasma antibodies, indirect ELISA was performed by using commercially available kits for MG and MS (IDEXX Laboratories). Out of the total samples tested, 13.25% showed sero-positivity for MG and 7.25% showed sero-positivity for MS. Among different age groups, highest sero-positivity was recorded in age group of above 5 weeks (8.5%) and lowest sero-positivity was recorded in birds of age 3−4 weeks (0.75%) for MG. For MS, the highest sero-positivity was recorded in birds of age group of above 5 weeks (5.25%) and lowest sero-positivity was recorded from age 3−4 weeks (0.5%). Season-wise highest sero-positivity was recorded in winter (6.5%), followed by post-monsoon (4.25%), monsoon (1.75%) and pre-monsoon (0.75%) for MG. In case of MS, highest sero-positivity was recorded in post-monsoon (3%), followed by winter (2.75%), monsoon (1%) and pre-monsoon (0.5%).

Prevalensi Strain Avian Pathogenik Escherichia coli (APEC) Penyebab Kolibasilosis pada Burung Puyuh

PREVALENCE OF AVIAN PATHOGENIC Escherichia coli (APEC) STRAINS ON COLIBACILLOSIS IN QUAIL Wahyu Prihtiyantoro1), Khusnan1), Mitra Slipranata2)† dan Imron Rosyidi2) 1 Akademi Peternakan Brahmaputra, Jl. Ki Ageng Pemanahan, Nitikan, Sorosutan Umbulharjo Yogyakarta,Tlp. 0274-384370, E-mail: wahyumatra@gmail.com 2 Fakultas Kedokteran Hewan, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Fauna 2, Karangmalang, Yogyakarta 55281 ABSTRACTAvian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is a pathogen that causes colibacillosis in poultry, including salpingitis, omphalitis, cellulitis, swollen head syndrome, coligranuloma yolk sac inflammation, and air sacs inflammation. APEC is a zoonotic strain which spread through raw meat and processed meat products of animals and birds. In this research, the isolation and the identification of Escherichia coli were done by using selective media MacConkey, Kligger Iron Agar, and Gram staining. To analyse genetopically, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect 16SrRNA genes, vt1 genes, and vt2 genes. Thirty one (55,36%) isolates of 56 specimens collected from quail were detected as Escherichia coli. The detection of APEC strains towards 31 Escherichia coli isolates were done by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with vt1 and vt2 specific primer. From the results showed that 32,26% (10/31) was APEC strains and 67.74% was non-APEC strains. From 10 isolates, 90% had vt1 gene and 10% had vt2 gene. Escherichia coli isolates were found in eyes (32,26%), infraorbital sinus fluid (32,26%), nasal fluid (16,20%), also in lungs, air sacs, ascites, and heart for 3,2% each. The isolates could not be found in the specimens from the skull. These isolates are zoonotic and have an impact on human health.Keywords: APEC, colibacillosis, quail, vt1 and vt2

Virulence factors of Mycoplasma synoviae: Three genes influencing colonization, immunogenicity, and transmissibility.

Infections caused by Mycoplasma synoviae are major welfare and economic concerns in poultry industries worldwide. These infections cause chronic respiratory disease and/or synovitis in chickens and turkeys leading to reduced production and increased mortality rates. The live attenuated vaccine strain MS-H (Vaxsafe® MS), commonly used for protection against M. synoviae infection in many countries, contains 32 single nucleotide variations compared to its wildtype parent strain, 86079/7NS. Genomic analysis of vaccine strains reisolated from flocks following the administration of MS-H has identified reversions to the original 86079/7NS sequence in the obgE, oppF and gapdh genes. Here, three MS-H field reisolates containing the 86079/7NS genotype in obgE (AS2), obgE and oppF (AB1), and obgE, oppF and gapdh (TS4), as well as the vaccine MS-H and the parental strain 86079/7NS were experimentally inoculated to chickens. The strains were assessed for their ability to infect and elicit immune responses in the recipient chickens, as well as in naïve in-contact chickens. Despite the loss of temperature sensitivity phenotype and colonization of the reisolates in the lower respiratory tract, there was no significant differences detected in the microscopic mucosal thickness of the middle or lower trachea of the inoculated chickens. Concurrent reversions in ObgE, OppF and GAPDH proteins were associated with higher gross air sac lesion scores and increased microscopic upper-tracheal mucosal thickness in chickens directly inoculated with the reisolates following intratracheal administration of a virulent strain of infectious bronchitis virus. The gross air sac lesions of the chickens in-contact with those inoculated with reisolates were not significantly different to those of chickens in-contact with MS-H inoculated chickens, suggesting that horizontal transmission of the reisolates in the poultry flock will not lead to higher pathogenicity or clinical signs. These results suggest a significant role of GAPDH and/or cumulative effect of ObgE, OppF and GAPDH on M. synoviae pathogenicity. Future experiments will be required to investigate the effect of single mutations in gapdh or oppF gene on pathogenicity of M. synoviae.

How pneumatic were the presacral vertebrae of dicraeosaurid (Sauropoda: Diplodocoidea) dinosaurs?

Abstract Skeletal pneumaticity implies bone invasion via air sacs that are diverticula of the respiratory system. Among extant vertebrates, this feature is found only in birds, and in extinct taxa it occurs in saurischian dinosaurs and pterosaurs. The sauropod axial skeleton is characterized by having a complex architecture of laminae and fossae that have usually been related to some degree of pneumaticity. We examined the external anatomy of the presacral vertebrae of two dicraeosaurid sauropods holotype specimens, Amargasaurus cazaui and Brachytrachelopan mesai, and obtained computed tomography scan images from mid- and posterior cervical vertebrae of both specimens and an anterior dorsal vertebra of Brachytrachelopan. In all cases, we recognized a ‘procamerate’ internal pneumatization pattern, confirming previous hypotheses that dicraeosaurid vertebral pneumaticity is reduced relative to other eusauropod taxa. Thus, pneumatic diverticula were present in Amargasaurus, Brachytrachelopan, Dicraeosaurus, Pilmatueia and, possibly, other dicraeosaurid sauropods, but these diverticula did not invade their presacral vertebrae extensively. Furthermore, we found that the more pneumatic dicraeosaurid taxa, with some exceptions, occupy a basal position within Dicraeosauridae. There is some variability in pneumaticity among dicraeosaurids from Gondwana, with Pilmatueia achieving the highest degree of pneumatization.

Effects of administration of tylosin on the duration of protective immunity induced by the novel Mycoplasma gallisepticum vaccine strain, Vaxsafe MG ts-304, in chickens

Prophylactic use of antimicrobials after administration of live vaccines is a common practice in the poultry industry, but the impact of this on the efficacy and duration of protection induced by the vaccines is unknown. The effect of treatment with tylosin on the efficacy of vaccination with the live attenuated M. gallisepticum strain, Vaxsafe MG ts-304, was examined. This vaccine has previously been shown to provide protection for at least 57 weeks. Ten-week-old specific-pathogen-free chickens were vaccinated with Vaxsafe MG ts-304 and then treated with tylosin at a therapeutic dose in drinking water from 6 weeks after vaccination. Tylosin was withdrawn 5 days before challenge with M. gallisepticum strain Ap3AS at 6, 10, 14, 18 or 22 weeks after vaccination. Air sac lesions, tracheal mucosal thickening and the concentrations of serum antibodies against M. gallisepticum were assessed at 2 weeks after challenge. The protection induced by the vaccine in the 6 weeks before initiation of tylosin treatment persisted for 18 weeks after vaccination, with lesions only observed in the air sacs of vaccinated birds that had been treated with tylosin after challenge at 22 weeks after vaccination. Concentrations of serum antibodies against M. gallisepticum began to decrease in vaccinated birds that had been treated with tylosin from 16 weeks after vaccination. This study has suggested that treatment of chickens with tylosin after vaccination with a live attenuated mycoplasma vaccine reduces the duration of protective immunity afforded by the vaccine.

Goose surfactant protein A inhibits the growth of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli via an aggregation-dependent mechanism that decreases motility and increases membrane permeability

Pulmonary collectins have been reported to bind carbohydrates on pathogens and inhibit infection by agglutination, neutralization, and opsonization. In this study, surfactant protein A (SP-A) was identified from goose lung and characterized at expression- and agglutination-functional levels. The deduced amino acid sequence of goose surfactant protein A (gSP-A) has two characteristic structures: a shorter, collagen-like region and a carbohydrate recognition domain. The latter contains two conserved motifs in its Ca2+-binding site: EPN (Glu-Pro-Asn) and WND (Trp-Asn-Asp). Expression analysis using qRT-PCR and fluorescence IHC revealed that gSP-A was highly expressed in the air sac and present in several other tissues, including the lung and trachea. We went on to produce recombinant gSP-A (RgSP-A) using a baculovirus/insect cell system and purified using a Ni2+ affinity column. A biological activity assay showed that all bacterial strains tested in this study were aggregated by RgSP-A, but only Escherichia coli AE17 (E. coli AE17, O2) and E. coli AE158 (O78) were susceptible to RgSP-A-mediated growth inhibition at 2–6 h. Moreover, the swarming motility of the two bacterial strains were weakened with increasing RgSP-A concentration, and their membrane permeability was compromised at 3 h, as determined by flow cytometry and laser confocal microscopy. Therefore, RgSP-A is capable of reducing bacterial viability of E. coli O2 and O78 via an aggregation-dependent mechanism which involves decreasing motility and increasing the bacterial membrane permeability. These data will facilitate detailed studies into the role of gSP-A in innate immune defense as well as for development of antibacterial agents.

Pneumonia Detection Using Novel Deep Learning Techniques

Pneumonia is one of the leading infectious disease that can kill children and elderly people around the world. The development of an automated system to detect pneumonia would be advantageous, especially to enable treatment of this disease in remote areas without much delay. pneumonia is an lung infectious disease which mainly affects the small air sacs known as alveoli. The main symptoms of pneumonia includes cough, fever and breathing problems . Aged people, children and persons who have medical problems are the main victims of this disease. Around 450 million people are affected by this disease on an average of each and every year. The most commonly used technique for diagnosing this disease is chest X-ray imaging. Chest X-ray examination is complex procedure to detect the disease because it involves lots of vulnerabilities. With latest advances in technologies we can use deep learning algorithms to detect the disease using chest x ray images. To deal with the scarcity of data, we used Deep Transfer Learning and designed the Hybrid Algorithms. The images of the chest X-rays were fed into the individual algorithms for training purposes. Parallel Deep Feature Extractors are used in conjunction with various algorithms. For classifying chest X-ray images into normal and pneumonia, Here we are proposing an hybrid model based on VGG16, VGG19, CNN, and Mobile Net networks. Individual image classification algorithms were combined to form a hybrid model .In comparison to individual algorithms, the new Hybrid Model with Deep Learning achieved higher accuracy than existing methods.

Undifferentiated Wing Sarcoma in a Peach-Faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis)

A 10-year-old peach-faced lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis) was evaluated for an ulcerated and painful mass at the location of a fracture 2 years previously. Whole body radiographs showed a humeral fracture with a presumptive neoplastic proliferation in the distal diaphysis. Right wing amputation was elected but the animal died during recovery from surgery. Histopathological examination of the amputated wing revealed an infiltrative sarcomatous neoplastic proliferation. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was carried out to characterize the tumour using antibodies against vimentin, desmin, smooth muscle actin (SMA), S-100, ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule-1 (IBA-1), CD18, cytokeratin and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA). The mesenchymal component of the mass was immunolabelled for vimentin and SMA and sparse epithelial cells were immunopositive for cytokeratin. Very few scattered cells were immunopositive for CD18 and IBA-1. The final diagnosis was consistent with an undifferentiated sarcoma with intralesional hyperplastic epithelium. According to the location, the history of a previous fracture and the histological pattern and IHC profile, the tumour was classified as an undifferentiated sarcoma with entrapped air sac epithelium.

Obstructive Lung Disease Is About More Than Just Airways: Blood Supply Matters

Within their small air sacs, our lungs exchange oxygen (O2) from the air for the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by our bodies. In these air spaces, O2 moves into small blood vessels while CO2 moves from the blood out into the air. Lung diseases can impair airflow and reduce the number of blood vessels in the lungs, making it harder to take in O2 and eliminate CO2. These changes to the lungs contribute to symptoms like breathlessness. The relationship between airflow and blood flow in our lungs is called V/Q, where V is for ventilation—the movement of air—and Q is for perfusion—blood flow to the lungs. While people with healthy lungs have good a good match between V and Q, those with certain lung diseases often have poor V/Q matching. In this article, we describe the origins of V/Q mismatch and its impact on lung function.