Purpose: The study aimed to identify Clogmia (Telmatoscopus) albipunctata larva recovered from the urinary tract of a four-year-old female Siberian Husky dog in India using morphological assessment and molecular techniques.
Methods: Larval specimen obtained from the dog urine underwent preliminary morphological assessments followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to selectively amplify segments of the Cytochrome b (Cytb), NADH1 genes, and the tRNA-Ser gene within mitochondrial DNA. Species identification was achieved through sequence analysis of the amplified product and subsequent phylogenetic analysis.
The brown dog tick or Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato is an ixodid tick, responsible for the dissemination of pathogens that cause canine infectious diseases besides inflicting the direct effects of tick bite. The hot humid climate of Kerala, a south Indian state, is favorable for propagation of tick vectors and acaricides are the main stay of tick control. Though the resistance against synthetic pyrethroids is reported among these species, the status of amitraz resistance in R.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Visceral schistosomosis is an economically important trematode infection caused by Schistosoma spindale and S. indicum in among ruminants. The lack of sensitive diagnostic tools has often led to underestimation of the prevalence in live animals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato, an important ectoparasite transmitting several pathogens, is the most common tick species infesting dogs. Control of ticks being central to the control of fatal tick-borne diseases, this study attempted to assess the susceptibility/resistance of brown dog ticks to synthetic pyrethroids, the commonly used acaricides against ticks. Larval packet assay revealed 60% of isolates tested to be resistant and tolerant to deltamethrin as per the resistance factor that ranged from 1 to 53.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Genotyping of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus for polymorphisms in deltamethrin-resistant loci of sodium channel gene by allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR).
Methods: Adult R. (B.
Background: Participation in online health communities (OHCs) is a popular trend in the United Kingdom. However, so far, no evidence exists to indicate an association between participation in OHCs and improved health outcomes.
Objective: This study aimed to (1) determine changes in patient activation over 3 months in new users of an OHC, (2) describe patterns of engagement with an OHC, (3) examine whether patients' characteristics at baseline were associated with subsequent patterns of engagement, and (4) determine if patterns of engagement during the 3 months were associated with changes in patient activation, health care utilization, and health status.
Background: Self-management support can improve health and reduce health care utilization by people with long-term conditions. Online communities for people with long-term conditions have the potential to influence health, usage of health care resources, and facilitate illness self-management. Only recently, however, has evidence been reported on how such communities function and evolve, and how they support self-management of long-term conditions in practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo date, social media has been used predominantly by the pharmaceutical industry to market products and to gather feedback and comments on products from consumers, a process termed social listening. However, social media has only been used cautiously in the drug development cycle, mainly because of regulations, restrictions on engagement with patients, or a lack of guidelines for social media use from regulatory bodies. Despite this cautious approach, there is a clear drive, from both the industry and consumers, for increased patient participation in various stages of the drug development process.
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