Nose Of Pigs Research Articles

Feasibility of MRI-guided focused ultrasound-mediated intranasal delivery in a large animal model

Intranasal delivery provides non-invasive delivery of drugs from the nose to the brain bypassing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). We previously reported the focused ultrasound (FUS)-mediated intranasal delivery (FUSIN) of various agents in mice using FUS. However, no study has investigated the feasibility of FUSIN in large animals. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of MR-guided FUS-mediated intranasal delivery in a large animal model. Pigs were used as the large animal model due to their clinical relevance to humans. Fluorescence-labeled albumin was mixed with an MRI contrast agent and administrated intranasally to the pig using a catheter. Followed by intravenous injection of microbubbles, FUS sonication was performed at two brain regions, the cortex and brainstem. T1-weighted MR images showed enhancement of MRI contrast agent at the olfactory region of the pig nose. Fluorescence imaging displayed enhanced fluorescence intensity at the FUS-targeted brain regions. These findings suggest that MR-guided FUS can achieve noninvasive and localized delivery of intranasally administered agents to the brain in large animals.

Design of a Low-Cost Miniature Robot to Assist the COVID-19 Nasopharyngeal Swab Sampling.

Nasopharyngeal (NP) swab sampling is an effective approach for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Medical staffs carrying out the task of collecting NP specimens are in close contact with the suspected patient, thereby posing a high risk of cross-infection. We propose a low-cost miniature robot that can be easily assembled and remotely controlled. The system includes an active end-effector, a passive positioning arm, and a detachable swab gripper with integrated force sensing capability. The cost of the materials for building this robot is 55 USD and the total weight of the functional part is 0.23kg. The design of the force sensing swab gripper was justified using Finite Element (FE) modeling and the performances of the robot were validated with a simulation phantom and three pig noses. FE analysis indicated a 0.5mm magnitude displacement of the gripper's sensing beam, which meets the ideal detecting range of the optoelectronic sensor. Studies on both the phantom and the pig nose demonstrated the successful operation of the robot during the collection task. The average forces were found to be 0.35N and 0.68N, respectively. It is concluded that the proposed robot is promising and could be further developed to be used in vivo.

Rot, the Bravest in the World! by Ben Clanton

Reviewed by: Rot, the Bravest in the World! by Ben Clanton Natalie Berglind Clanton, Ben Rot, the Bravest in the World!; written and illus. by Ben Clanton. Atheneum, 2020 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4814-6764-3 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4814-6765-0 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R 3-6 yrs Rot is a mutant potato, and the one thing mutant potatoes truly love is mud (“Mud between my toes! Mud in my nose! Mud is GREAT wherever it goes!”). When Rot comes across a particularly lush mud pile, he’s eager to dive in—until his brother, Snot, warns him of the Squirm, a hungry creature that lurks in mud and is “slippery and slimy! Grimy and gross!” Terrified of this new threat, Rot dons the gear that will make him brave enough to face it—first, a cape to be a superhero, then a pot on his head to be a knight, and finally, a pig nose and ears to be “Sir SUPER ROT the PIGtato.” Finally ready to face the mud, Rot realizes that the Squirm his brother scared him about is just a worm, and he sets up a return prank on Snot. Clanton, known for Narwhal and Jelly (BCCB 10/16), succeeds in a delightfully disgusting readaloud that kids with a penchant for fart jokes will love. With a predominantly vomit-green and brown color palette, the book uses watercolors and, appropriately, potato stamps to depict Rot and his mutant potato friends in all their unibrowed, uneven pupilled glory in the style of a Cartoon Network show. Kids with a passion for the gross and smelly will find a home in this unabashed depiction of the slimy world of mutant potatoes. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Harold & Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat

Reviewed by: Harold & Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat Karen Coats Santat, Dan Harold & Hog Pretend for Real!; written and illus. by Dan Santat and Mo Willems. Hyperion, 2019 [64p] (Elephant & Piggie Like Reading!) ISBN 978-1-3680-2716-8 $9.99 Reviewed from galleys R* Gr. 1-3 Harold and Hog are great fans of Mo Willems' characters Elephant and Piggie, so much so that Harold comes up with the idea that they should pretend to be them. Harold the elephant dons round glasses, and Hog puts on a humorously redundant paper pig nose. Then the trouble begins. Harold insists that Hog adopt Piggie's carefree, antic personality, smiling, dancing, and leaping with comic grace to show Hog how it's done, and then he demonstrates how he will perform the same feats in imitation of Gerald's careful demeanor. When Hog tries to behave like Piggie, Hog's own careful temperament will not allow smiling, dancing, and flying all at the same time. The two despair over their inability to act like their heroes until they switch roles, determining that there is more to similarity than appearance. This intertextual homage to the Elephant & Piggie series is blessed by Gerald and Piggie themselves with an encouraging letter from Mo Willems on endpapers showing the original pair reading the book and appearing as characters at the beginning and end. A big-headed blue pigeon also appears, but it's clearly not THE pigeon, as he declines an offer to pretend to drive the bus. Santat uses shading, shadows, and texture to give his characters a density that Willems' simpler shaped and flatly colored characters lack, but readers will recognize the early reader features, such as the use of repetition, antonyms, and speech bubbles colored to match the character speaking (salmon for Hog, and grey-green for Harold). The humor will be best appreciated by readers already familiar with Elephant & Piggie, but the message [End Page 405] reaches anyone who has ever identified with a character based on temperament and behavioral style rather than physical similarities alone. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

ИЗ ОПЫТА ИЗУЧЕНИЯ ПАРАДИГМАТИКИ ФРАЗЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ЕДИНИЦ РУССКОГО ЯЗЫКА (ВСТАВИТЬ СВОИ ПЯТЬ КОПЕЕК)

Studying and representing grammatical paradigms of phraseological units is one of the most challenging tasks of Russian phraseology. The electronic resource «Lexicographer's Library» enables to keep track of the time when words and idioms are introduced into the language, the system of their meanings, semantic dynamics, historical stylistic dynamics, and communicatively dependent variation. The phraseological unit vstavit' (svoi) pyat' kopeek (= interfere into other people’s affairs) is generally used to denote a speech act, the other occurrences are rare. The unit emerged in late 1990s and the 21st century marked the peak of its use. The statistics of its use by certain authors shows that female authors are less enthusiastic with it while male authors are inclined to attribute it to female characters. The unit appeared as the euphemism for a much ruder expression that means «to poke one’s pig nose into other people’s affairs».

Livestock Susceptibility to Infection with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus.

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) cases continue to be reported, predominantly in Saudi Arabia and occasionally other countries. Although dromedaries are the main reservoir, other animal species might be susceptible to MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection and potentially serve as reservoirs. To determine whether other animals are potential reservoirs, we inoculated MERS-CoV into llamas, pigs, sheep, and horses and collected nasal and rectal swab samples at various times. The presence of MERS-CoV in the nose of pigs and llamas was confirmed by PCR, titration of infectious virus, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization; seroconversion was detected in animals of both species. Conversely, in sheep and horses, virus-specific antibodies did not develop and no evidence of viral replication in the upper respiratory tract was found. These results prove the susceptibility of llamas and pigs to MERS-CoV infection. Thus, the possibility of MERS-CoV circulation in animals other than dromedaries, such as llamas and pigs, is not negligible.

Dynamics of air temperature, velocity and ammonia emissions in enclosed and conventional pig housing systems.

This study aimed to compare the dynamics of air temperature and velocity under two different ventilation and housing systems during summer and winter in Korea. The NH3 concentration of both housing systems was also investigated in relation to the pig’s growth. The ventilation systems used were; negative pressure type for the enclosed pig house (EPH) and natural airflow for the conventional pig house (CPH). Against a highly fluctuating outdoor temperature, the EPH was able to maintain a stable temperature at 24.8 to 29.1°C during summer and 17.9 to 23.1°C during winter whilst the CPH had a wider temperature variance during summer at 24.7 to 32.3°C. However, the temperature fluctuation of the CPH during winter was almost the same with that of EPH at 14.5 to 18.2°C. The NH3 levels in the CPH ranged from 9.31 to 16.9 mg/L during summer and 5.1 to 19.7 mg/L during winter whilst that of the EPH pig house was 7.9 to 16.1 mg/L and 3.7 to 9.6 mg/L during summer and winter, respectively. These values were less than the critical ammonia level for pigs with the EPH maintaining a lower level than the CPH in both winter and summer. The air velocity at pig nose level in the EPH during summer was 0.23 m/s, enough to provide comfort because of the unique design of the inlet feature. However, no air movement was observed in almost all the lower portions of the CPH during winter because of the absence of an inlet feature. There was a significant improvement in weight gain and feed intake of pigs reared in the EPH compared to the CPH (p<0.05). These findings proved that despite the difference in the housing systems, a stable indoor temperature was necessary to minimize the impact of an avoidable and highly fluctuating outdoor temperature. The EPH consistently maintained an effective indoor airspeed irrespective of season; however the CPH had defective and stagnant air at pig nose level during winter. Characteristics of airflow direction and pattern were consistent relative to housing system during both summer and winter but not of airspeed. The ideal air velocity measurement favored the EPH and therefore can be appropriate for the Korean environment. Further emphasis on its cost effectiveness will be the subject of future investigations.

An Ex Vivo Porcine Nasal Mucosa Explants Model to Study MRSA Colonization

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen able to colonize the upper respiratory tract and skin surfaces in mammals. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus ST398 is prevalent in pigs in Europe and North America. However, the mechanism of successful pig colonization by MRSA ST398 is poorly understood. To study MRSA colonization in pigs, an ex vivo model consisting of porcine nasal mucosa explants cultured at an air-liquid interface was evaluated. In cultured mucosa explants from the surfaces of the ventral turbinates and septum of the pig nose no changes in cell morphology and viability were observed up to 72 h. MRSA colonization on the explants was evaluated followed for three MRSA ST398 isolates for 180 minutes. The explants were incubated with 3×108 CFU/ml in PBS for 2 h to allow bacteria to adhere to the explants surface. Next the explants were washed and in the first 30 minutes post adhering time, a decline in the number of CFU was observed for all MRSA. Subsequently, the isolates showed either: bacterial growth, no growth, or a further reduction in bacterial numbers. The MRSA were either localized as clusters between the cilia or as single bacteria on the cilia surface. No morphological changes in the epithelium layer were observed during the incubation with MRSA. We conclude that porcine nasal mucosa explants are a valuable ex vivo model to unravel the interaction of MRSA with nasal tissue.

CMY-2-Producing Escherichia coli in the Nose of Pigs

The spread of extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant (ESC-R) Escherichia coli isolates represents a public health concern. Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) or plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamases (pAmpCs) are the most frequently encountered mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon ([10][1

Species and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) diversity among methicillin-resistant non-Staphylococcus aureus staphylococci isolated from pigs

While methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ST398 is known to be widespread in pig farms, few studies have investigated the species diversity and SCCmec types of methicillin-resistant non-S. aureus staphylococci (MRNAS) residing in the nose of pigs. We examined nasal swab samples of 200 pigs originating from 10 Belgian pig farms previously found positive for MRSA ST398. Suspected staphylococcal isolates were subjected to a 16S rRNA-mecA-nuc PCR. Confirmed MRNAS were genotypically identified to the species level and investigated with a SCCmec typing PCR. MRNAS (n=72) were detected on all 10 farms and were carried by 29.5% of the pigs. Seven MRNAS species were found: Staphylococcus epidermidis (38.9%), Staphylococcus sciuri (18.1%), Staphylococcus pasteuri (18.1%), Staphylococcus rostri (12.5%), Staphylococcus warneri (8.3%), Staphylococcus haemolyticus (2.7%) and Staphylococcus hominis (1.4%). SCCmec cassettes were of type IVa (29.2%), type IVc (25%), type III (22.2%), type V (5.6%) or could not be assigned to any of the known types (NT types) (18.1%). Five distinct NT types were found. The predominance of methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis (MRSE) in our samples is remarkable, as MRSE is mainly associated with humans. The finding of three different SCCmec elements (IVa, V, NT type 1) in MRNAS that also prevail or predominate in MRSA ST398 shows that MRNAS might be an important SCCmec reservoir for MRSA in pigs. Yet, the occurrence of multiple other SCCmec types illustrates that further studies are required to understand the presence and spread of SCCmec in methicillin-resistant staphylococci from animals.

Hypertonic saline alters electrical barrier of the airway epithelium

The effect of tonicity changes in nebulizer solutions and irrigations on nasal mucosa is not well known. The present study aims to determine the basic mechanism of hypertonic solution on airway epithelial barrier. We investigated the electrical potential difference (PD) that is influenced by both active transport and the transepithelial electrical resistance of the epithelial mucosa in the human nose in vivo. The short circuit current (SCC) revealed net ion transport across the epithelium in the guinea pig trachea in vitro. Finally, the size dependency of macromolecules across the tracheal mucosa was determined in vitro using FITC-labeled dextrans of different sizes. PD was significantly decreased after topical application of hypertonic solution both in human and in guinea pig nose. SCC was significantly decreased after application of hypertonic solution. The transport of these dextrans from the basolateral to the apical side was not increased significantly after apical application of hypertonic saline. Hypertonic saline enhances the electrical permeability of the airway epithelial mucosa but not transport of macromolecule in the short term.

Rhinorheomanometry in the guinea pig

With a guinea pig as specimen, the anterior rhinorheomanometry technique is explained with a view to demonstrating one of its uses, i.e., the establishing of bacterial allergies (tuberculin reaction type) of the mucous membrane in animal experiments. The fixing and calibration of the pneumotachographs by the experimenter is described and the pressure-volume-flow ratio is discussed for the guinea pig nose. The number of animals necessary for statistically significant results is discussed. The limits to the usefulness of rhinorheomanometric data obtained via animal experiments in the field of immunology-allergology are shown by comparing them with the auricle test for tissue hyperplasia under allergen influence (guinea pig).

Steroid requirements of trichomonads.

SYNOPSIS. The steroid requirement of a Trypticase‐requiring strain, SLT, of Trichomonas gallinae on the Shorb‐Lund synthetic basal medium minus ribonucleic acid was fulfilled by cholesterol, 7‐dehydrocholesterol(provitamin D3), cholestanol (dihydrocholesterol), and to a lesser degree, by ergosterol (provitamin D2), β‐sitosterol and zymosterol acetate. Cholestanol was inhibitory at certain concentrations. All steroids were subsequently checked by gas chromatography. Only cholesterol and zymosterol acetate showed one peak, the others containing 2 to 4 peaks. Repurified cholestanol was active and showed no inhibition of growth, but repurified β‐sitosterol was inactive. The following were also inactive: diethylstilbestrol, estrone, dehydroepiandrosterone, progesterone, testosterone, desoxycorticosterone acetate, cortisone acetate, compound A, 5,6‐dihydro‐ergosterol, dihydroergosterol acetate, stigmasterol, sodium taurocholate, cholic acid, methyl desoxycholate, desoxycholic acid and methyl cholate. Precursors in cholesterol synthesis, acetate, mevalonic acid, mevalonic acid plus a liver extract and squalene were inactive in replacing cholesterol, although acetate is required for growth in the presence of cholesterol. Crystalline fat soluble vitamins, carotene, calciferol (vitamin D2), activated 7‐dehydrocholesterol (vitamin D3), menadione (vitamin K3) and tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E acetate) were inactive in replacing cholesterol.Trichomonas species PN from the pig's nose utilized cholesterol, 7‐dehydrocholesterol and the impure β‐sitosterol sample in a modified SL medium with acetate omitted. A reinvestigation of steroid requirements seems to be indicated when a completely synthetic medium and pure steroids are available.

Requirement of Trichomonads for Unidentified Growth Factors, Saturated and Unsaturated Fatty Acids*

SYNOPSIS. In a synthetic medium containing 57 compounds, including cholesterol, Trichomonas gallinae and T. gallinarum require 3 factors for growth and acid fermentation of maltose: (1) factor R, found in the protein contaminating some samples of ribonucleic acid, and in other isolated proteins such as conalbumin, γ‐globulin, and bovine albumin fraction V; (2) factor T, found in Trypticase and in the same isolated proteins, but with activity at 4 times the dose required for factor‐R activity, may be a large peptide containing proline; (3) factor S, found in serum, was replaceable by a saturated and an unsaturated fatty acid, each inactive alone. Only C14 through C18 saturated fatty acids were active over a range of 0.058 to 2.34 μm per tube in the presence of oleic acid, while C18 through C22 unsaturated fatty acids were active in the same range with palmitic acid as the supplement. The unsaturated fatty acids were toxic at the largest dose. All fatty acids were not equally active. Surface‐active agents containing mixtures of fatty acids also replaced serum. A 4th factor, found in serum, stimulates the rate of growth as shown by cell counts at 3 days of incubation. T. gallinarum, T. foetus, and a trichomonad from a pig's nose responded to the same supplements when grown on another synthetic medium.

Incidence of Trichomonads in the Digestive Tract and Nose of Pigs in the Western United States

Incidence of Trichomonads in the Digestive Tract and Nose of Pigs in the Western United States