Classification of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome clinical impact in Ontario sow herds using machine learning approaches.

Since the early 1990s, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus outbreaks have been reported across various parts of North America, Europe, and Asia. The incursion of PRRS virus (PRRSV) in swine herds could result in various clinical manifestations, resulting in a substantial impact on the incidence of respiratory morbidity, reproductive loss, and mortality. Veterinary experts, among others, regularly analyze the PRRSV open reading frame-5 (ORF-5) for prognostic purposes to assess the risk of severe clinical outcomes.

Latent burnout profiles of veterinarians in Canada: Findings from a cross-sectional study.

Background: Although burnout is often discussed as 'present' or 'not-present', the conceptual framework of an engagement-burnout continuum is more accurate and useful. Recognition of individuals' transitional states of burnout also allows for earlier detection of issues and tailored interventions to address the full burnout spectrum.

Methods: Previously reported Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Scale (MBI-HSS) data from a 2017 national survey of 1272 veterinarians across Canada were re-analysed using a latent profile analysis to classify individuals along the engagement-burnout continuum.

Community science reveals links between migration arrival timing advance, migration distance and wing shape.

Substantial global data show that many taxa are shifting their phenologies in response to climate change. For birds, migration arrival dates in breeding regions have been shifting earlier, and there is evidence that both evolutionary adaptation and behavioural flexibility influence these shifts. As more efficient flyers may be able to demonstrate more flexibility to respond to changing conditions during migratory flight, we hypothesize that differences among passerine species in flight efficiency, as reflected by morphology, may be associated with the magnitude of shifts in arrival date in response to climate warming.

Characteristics of miRNAs Present in Bovine Sperm and Associations With Differences in Fertility.

Small non-coding RNAs have been linked to different phenotypes in bovine sperm, however attempts to identify sperm-borne molecular biomarkers of male fertility have thus far failed to identify a robust profile of expressed miRNAs related to fertility. We hypothesized that some differences in bull fertility may be reflected in the levels of different miRNAs in sperm. To explore such differences in fertility that are not due to differences in visible metrics of sperm quality, we employed Next Generation Sequencing to compare the miRNA populations in sperm from bulls with comparable motility and morphology but varying Sire Conception Rates.

A content analysis of Canadian influencer crisis messages on Instagram and the public's response during COVID-19.

Successful mitigation of emerging infectious disease requires that the public adopt recommended behaviours, which is directly influenced by effective crisis communication. Social media has become an important communication channel during COVID-19 where official actors, influencers, and the public are co-creating crisis messages. Our research examined COVID-19-related crisis messages across Canadian influencer accounts within news media, politicians, public health and government, science communicators, and brand influencer and celebrities, posted on Instagram between December 2019 and March 2021 for Health Belief Model and Extended Parallel Processing Model constructs and the corresponding public comment sentiment and engagement.

Molecular Acquisition, Cleaning and Evaluation in R (MACER) - A tool to assemble molecular marker datasets from BOLD and GenBank.

Molecular sequence data is an essential component for many biological fields of study. The strength of these data is in their ability to be centralised and compared across research studies. There are many online repositories for molecular sequence data, some of which are very large accumulations of varying data types like NCBI's GenBank.

Examining Social Media Crisis Communication during Early COVID-19 from Public Health and News Media for Quality, Content, and Corresponding Public Sentiment.

Rising COVID-19 cases in Canada in early 2021, coupled with pervasive mis- and disinformation, demonstrate the critical relationship between effective crisis communication, trust, and risk protective measure adherence by the public. Trust in crisis communication is affected by the communication's characteristics including transparency, timeliness, empathy, and clarity, as well as the source and communication channels used. Crisis communication occurs in a rhetorical arena where various actors, including public health, news media, and the public, are co-producing and responding to messages.

Collaborating in the Time of COVID-19: The Scope and Scale of Innovative Responses to a Global Pandemic.

The emergence of COVID-19 spurred the formation of myriad teams to tackle every conceivable aspect of the virus and thwart its spread. Enabled by global digital connectedness, collaboration has become a constant theme throughout the pandemic, resulting in the expedition of the scientific process (including vaccine development), rapid consolidation of global outbreak data and statistics, and experimentation with novel partnerships. To document the evolution of these collaborative efforts, the authors collected illustrative examples as the pandemic unfolded, supplemented with publications from the JMIR COVID-19 Special Issue.

HACSim: an R package to estimate intraspecific sample sizes for genetic diversity assessment using haplotype accumulation curves.

Assessing levels of standing genetic variation within species requires a robust sampling for the purpose of accurate specimen identification using molecular techniques such as DNA barcoding; however, statistical estimators for what constitutes a robust sample are currently lacking. Moreover, such estimates are needed because most species are currently represented by only one or a few sequences in existing databases, which can safely be assumed to be undersampled. Unfortunately, sample sizes of 5-10 specimens per species typically seen in DNA barcoding studies are often insufficient to adequately capture within-species genetic diversity.

The utility of joinpoint regression for estimating population parameters given changes in population structure.

The method of joinpoint regression has been used in numerous domains to assess changes in time series data, including such things as cancer mortality rates, motor vehicle collision mortalities, and disease risk. To help improve estimation of population parameters for use in ecological risk assessment and management, we present a simulation and analysis to describe the utility of this method for the ecological domain. We demonstrate how joinpoint regression can accurately identify if the population structure changes based on time series of abundance, as well as identify when this change occurs.

The need for community-led, integrated and innovative monitoring programmes when responding to the health impacts of climate change.

In Northern Canada, climate change has led to many acute and interrelated health and environmental impacts experienced among Inuit populations. Community-based monitoring, in which community members participate in monitoring initiatives using various forms of technology, is a key strategy increasingly used to detect, monitor and respond to climate change impacts. To better understand the landscape of existing environmental and health monitoring programmes mobilising different technologies and operating in the North we conducted a review that used environmental scan methodologies to explore and contextualise these programmes.

Incomplete estimates of genetic diversity within species: Implications for DNA barcoding.

DNA barcoding has greatly accelerated the pace of specimen identification to the species level, as well as species delineation. Whereas the application of DNA barcoding to the matching of unknown specimens to known species is straightforward, its use for species delimitation is more controversial, as species discovery hinges critically on present levels of haplotype diversity, as well as patterning of standing genetic variation that exists within and between species. Typical sample sizes for molecular biodiversity assessment using DNA barcodes range from 5 to 10 individuals per species.

Fetal sex alters maternal anti-Mullerian hormone during pregnancy in cattle.

Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) is expressed by both male and female fetuses during mammalian development, with males expressing AMH earlier and at significantly higher concentration. The aim of the current study was to explore the potential impact of pregnancy and fetal sex on maternal AMH and to determine if plasma (Pl) AMH or placenta intercotyledonary membrane and cotyledonary AMH receptor 2 (AMHR2) mRNA expression differ in pregnant cows carrying male vs. female fetuses.

YY1 and CTCF orchestrate a 3D chromatin looping switch during early neural lineage commitment.

CTCF is an architectural protein with a critical role in connecting higher-order chromatin folding in pluripotent stem cells. Recent reports have suggested that CTCF binding is more dynamic during development than previously appreciated. Here, we set out to understand the extent to which shifts in genome-wide CTCF occupancy contribute to the 3D reconfiguration of fine-scale chromatin folding during early neural lineage commitment.

Bovine piRNA-like RNAs are associated with both transposable elements and mRNAs.

PIWI proteins and their associated piRNAs have been the focus of intensive research in the past decade; therefore, their participation in the maintenance of genomic integrity during spermatogenesis has been well established. Recent studies have suggested important roles for the PIWI/piRNA system outside of gametogenesis, based on the presence of piRNAs and PIWI proteins in several somatic tissues, cancers, and the early embryo. Here, we investigated the small RNA complement present in bovine gonads, gametes, and embryos through next-generation sequencing.

Lethal and sub-lethal effects of triclosan toxicity to the earthworm Eisenia fetida assessed through GC-MS metabolomics.

Triclosan (TCS) is a ubiquitous contaminant in municipal biosolids, which has also been detected in soils and earthworms sampled from agricultural fields amended with biosolids. The goal of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of TCS to earthworms using a metabolomics-based approach for an improved interpretation of toxicity. Toxicity of TCS was assessed using the OECD Method 207 filter paper contact test measuring the endpoints of weight loss, mortality, and ten metabolites determined by GC-MS.

Systemic and local anti-Mullerian hormone reflects differences in the reproduction potential of Zebu and European type cattle.

This study was conducted to evaluate plasma anti-Mullerian hormone (Pl AMH), follicular fluid AMH (FF AMH) and granulosa cell AMH transcript (GC AMH) levels and their relationships with reproductive parameters in two cattle subspecies, Bos taurus indicus (Zebu), and Bos taurus taurus (European type cattle). Two-dimensional ultrasound examination and serum collection were performed on Zebu, European type and crossbreed cows to determine antral follicle count (AFC), ovary diameter (OD) and Pl AMH concentration. Slaughterhouse ovaries for Zebu and European type cattle were collected to determine FF AMH concentrations, GC AMH RNA levels, AFC, oocyte number, cleavage and blastocyst rate.

Biological Response of Positron Emission Tomography Scan Exposure and Adaptive Response in Humans.

The biological effects of exposure to radioactive fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) were investigated in the lymphocytes of patients undergoing positron emission tomography (PET) procedures. Low-dose, radiation-induced cellular responses were measured using 3 different end points: (1) apoptosis; (2) chromosome aberrations; and (3) γH2AX foci formation. The results showed no significant change in lymphocyte apoptosis, or chromosome aberrations, as a result of in vivo (18)F-FDG exposure, and there was no evidence the PET scan modified the apoptotic response of lymphocytes to a subsequent 2 Gy in vitro challenge irradiation.

MicroRNA-34 family expression in bovine gametes and preimplantation embryos.

Background: Oocyte fertilization and successful embryo implantation are key events marking the onset of pregnancy. In sexually reproducing organisms, embryogenesis begins with the fusion of two haploid gametes, each of which has undergone progressive stages of maturation. In the final stages of oocyte maturation, minimal transcriptional activity is present and regulation of gene expression occurs primarily at the post-transcriptional level.

Luman/CREB3 recruitment factor regulates glucocorticoid receptor activity and is essential for prolactin-mediated maternal instinct.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a major part of the neuroendocrine system in animal responses to stress. It is known that the HPA axis is attenuated at parturition to prevent detrimental effects of glucocorticoid secretion including inhibition of lactation and maternal responsiveness. Luman/CREB3 recruitment factor (LRF) was identified as a negative regulator of CREB3 which is involved in the endoplasmic reticulum stress response.

Effect of information availability on assessment and designation of species at risk.

Information required to evaluate the extent to which species are at risk of extinction is usually limited and characterized as highly uncertain. In this context, we define information availability as the presence or absence of information used to determine the value of an ecological variable. We examined which of three hypothetical approaches best matched how levels of risk are assigned to species: (1) precautionary approach in which analysts designate levels of risk regardless of the amount of information available, (2) worst-case approach in which analysts assign the maximum level of risk possible from the criteria, and (3) insurance approach in which analysts assign poorly known species to a high-risk category when little information is available.