Comparative SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5 variant and D614G-Wuhan strain infections in ferrets: insights into attenuation and disease progression during subclinical to mild COVID-19.

Introduction: As the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to evolve and new variants emerge, it becomes crucial to understand the comparative pathological and immunological responses elicited by different strains. This study focuses on the original Wuhan strain and the Omicron variant, which have demonstrated significant differences in clinical outcomes and immune responses.

Methods: We employed ferrets as an experimental model to assess the D614G variant (a derivative of the Wuhan strain) and the Omicron BA.

Epidemiology of paratuberculosis in sheep and goats in southern Spain.

Paratuberculosis is a worldwide, chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) that mainly affects ruminant species. This disease has a significant economic impact on small ruminant production due to the costs of implementing control measures and production losses.

Transcranial photoacoustic computed tomography based on a layered back-projection method.

A major challenge of transcranial human brain photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) is correcting for the acoustic aberration induced by the skull. Here, we present a modified universal back-projection (UBP) method, termed layered UBP (L-UBP), that can de-aberrate the transcranial PA signals by accommodating the skull heterogeneity into conventional UBP. In L-UBP, the acoustic medium is divided into multiple layers: the acoustic coupling fluid layer between the skull and detectors, the skull layer, and the brain tissue layer, which are assigned different acoustic properties.

No effect of inoculation site and injection device on the skin test response of red deer to the intradermal injection of Mycobacterium avium-derived purified protein derivative (PPD).

Mycobacterial diseases are important health issues in farmed deer. The single intradermal tuberculin test is the standard test for tuberculosis testing in deer. We studied two factors which might influence the response of deer to skin testing: the inoculation site and the injection device.

Description of the first Schmallenberg disease outbreak in Spain and subsequent virus spreading in domestic ruminants.

Schmallenberg disease (SBD) is an emerging disease transmitted mainly among ruminant species by biting midges of the genus Culicoides. Since the Schmallenberg virus (SBV) was first identified in Germany in late 2011, it rapidly spread to other European countries. The aims of the present study were to describe the first SBD outbreak in Spain and to assess the spread and risk factors associated with SBV infection in domestic ruminants from nearby farms during the following year.

Coded Excitation for Pulse-Echo Systems.

Pulse compression has been used for decades in radar, sonar, medical, and industrial ultrasound. It consists in transmitting a modulated or coded excitation, which is then cross-correlated with the received signal such that received echoes are time compressed, thereby increasing their intensity and hence the system resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). A central problem in pulse-echo systems is that while longer coded excitations yield higher SNRs, the length of the coded excitation or sequence is limited by the distance between the closest reflector and the transmitter/receiver.

The Use of Binary Quantization for the Acquisition of Low SNR Ultrasonic Signals: A Study of the Input Dynamic Range.

Low-power excitation and/or low sensitivity transducers, such as electromagnetic acoustic transducers, piezoelectric paints, air-coupled transducers, and small elements of dense arrays, may produce signals below the noise threshold at the receiver. The information from those noisy signals can be recovered after averaging or pulse compression using binary (1-b) quantization only without experiencing significant losses. Hence, no analog-to-digital converter is required, which reduces the data throughput and makes the electronics faster, more compact, and energy efficient.