Evaluation of β-Actin and Mitochondrial DNA Levels in Determining the Age of Remains.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is an infectious disease affecting pigs and wild boars, causing significant economic losses. Epidemiological surveillance plays an important role in minimizing its impact. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of β-actin DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) levels in determining the age of animal remains from the Suidae family, which could be helpful in epidemiological investigations.

Evaluation of Decay Kinetics of Black Elderberry Antioxidants from Fruits and Flowers.

The health-promoting properties of black elderberry are related to its high content of polyphenols (natural antioxidants), which eliminate free radicals and prevent the formation of oxidative stress responsible for many diseases. The aim of this work was to determine, the anti-radical effect of infusions based on the reaction with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and galvinoxyl (Glv) radicals and to determine the function describing the disappearance curves of these radicals. The antioxidant properties of infusions obtained from the flowers and fruits of this plant were tested using the modified Brand-Williams method using DPPH and Glv radicals.

Label-Free Detection of African Swine Fever and Classical Swine Fever in the Point-of-Care Setting Using Photonic Integrated Circuits Integrated in a Microfluidic Device.

Swine viral diseases have the capacity to cause significant losses and affect the sector's sustainability, a situation further exacerbated by the lack of antiviral drugs and the limited availability of effective vaccines. In this context, a novel point-of-care (POC) diagnostic device incorporating photonic integrated circuits (PICs), microfluidics and information, and communication technology into a single platform was developed for the field diagnosis of African swine fever (ASF) and classical swine fever (CSF). The device targets viral particles and has been validated using oral fluid and serum samples.

Deletion of MGF505-2R Gene Activates the cGAS-STING Pathway Leading to Attenuation and Protection against Virulent African Swine Fever Virus.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent causing African swine fever (ASF), affecting domestic pigs and wild boar, which is currently the biggest animal epidemic in the world and a major threat to the swine sector. At present, some safety concerns about using LAVs against ASFV still exist despite a commercial vaccine licensed in Vietnam. Therefore, the efforts to identify virulence factors and their mechanisms, as well as to generate new vaccine prototypes, are of major interest.

African Swine Fever: Transmission, Spread, and Control through Biosecurity and Disinfection, Including Polish Trends.

African swine fever is a contagious disease, affecting pigs and wild boars, which poses a major threat to the pig industry worldwide and, therefore, to the agricultural economies of many countries. Despite intensive studies, an effective vaccine against the disease has not yet been developed. Since 2007, ASFV has been circulating in Eastern and Central Europe, covering an increasingly large area.

Disease control tools to secure animal and public health in a densely populated world.

Animal health is a prerequisite for global health, economic development, food security, food quality, and poverty reduction, while mitigating against climate change and biodiversity loss. We did a qualitative review of 53 infectious diseases in terrestrial animals with data from DISCONTOOLS, a specialist database and prioritisation model focusing on research gaps for improving infectious disease control in animals. Many diseases do not have any appropriate control tools, but the prioritisation model suggests that we should focus international efforts on Nipah virus infection, African swine fever, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, peste des petits ruminants, sheeppox and goatpox, avian influenza, Rift Valley fever, foot and mouth disease, and bovine tuberculosis, for the greatest impact on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Development and Clinical Validation of a Potential Penside Colorimetric Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay of Porcine Circovirus Type 3.

Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3), a novel circovirus, imposes great burdens on the global pig industry. The penside tests for detecting PCV3 are critical for assessing the epidemiological status and working out disease prevention and control programs due to the unavailability of a commercial vaccine. A one-step molecular assay based on visual loop-mediated isothermal amplification (vLAMP) was developed for simple and rapid detection of PCV3.

Dam and reservoir removal projects: a mix of social-ecological trends and cost-cutting attitudes.

The removal of dams and reservoirs may seem to be an unforeseen and sometimes controversial step in water management. The removal of barriers may be different for each country or region, as each differs greatly in terms of politics, economy and social and cultural awareness. This paper addresses the complex problem of removing dams on rivers and their connected reservoirs.

Kinetics of single and dual simultaneous infection of pigs with swine influenza A virus and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

Background: Simultaneous viral infections exhibit the phenomenon of viral interference, but understanding of the effect of one virus on another is limited.

Objective: Evaluate and compare clinical characteristics, immune and acute phase response, viral shedding and viral load in pigs singly and doubly inoculated with swine influenza A virus (swIAV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV).

Animals: Fifty-four 7-week-old piglets.

Do porcine parvoviruses 1 through 7 (PPV1-PPV7) have an impact on porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) viremia in pigs?

Infections with porcine parvoviruses 1 through 7 (PPV1-PPV7) and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) are widespread in pig population. PCV2 is involved in a number of disease syndromes collectively called PCV2-associated diseases (PCVD). It is well elucidated, that PPV1 may act as a triggering factor of PCVD through supporting PCV2 replication.

Selection and Characterization of CSFV-Specific Single-Domain Antibodies and Their Application along with Immunomagnetic Nanobeads and Quantum Dots.

Outbreak of classical swine fever (CSF) results in high mortality and thus causes severe economic losses in the swine industry. Single-domain antibody (sdAb) is the smallest antigen-binding molecule derived from camelid heavy-chain antibodies and has the potential to be used as a molecular probe for detection of CSF virus (CSFV). In this study, two sdAb fragments against the E2 antigen of CSFV were obtained, expressed .

S-Nitrosation impairs activity of stress-inducible aldehyde dehydrogenases from Arabidopsis thaliana.

Nitric oxide (NO) is an intracellular messenger that mediates stress responses. Several plant aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) genes are expressed during abiotic stress conditions to reduce the level of cytotoxic aldehydes. We investigated a possible interference between NO and ALDHs, using the isoform ALDH3H1 of Arabidopsis thaliana as model.

Proinflammatory Cytokine Changes in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Cells Isolated from Pigs Infected Solely with Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus or Co-infected with Swine Influenza Virus.

Introduction: The study evaluated the patterns of local innate immune response in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cells of pigs infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) alone or co-infected with swine influenza virus (SIV).

Material And Methods: The study was performed on 26 seven-week-old pigs in three groups: PRRSV-infected (n = 11), PRRSV and SIV-infected (n = 11), and control (n = 4). BALF was collected post euthanasia at 2 and 4 dpi (three piglets per inoculated group) and at 21 dpi (all remaining pigs).

Efficacy of the Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) vaccination under field conditions.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccination on the levels of viremia, the number of viremic-positive pigs, and production performance [i.e. nursery mortality, post-weaning mortality, and average daily weight gain (ADWG)] under field conditions.

Comparison of six commercial ELISAs for the detection of antibodies against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in field serum samples.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most common infectious diseases of swine globally. Since the course of PRRS virus (PRRSV) infection is subclinical, laboratory diagnosis is necessary to detect the virus or specific antibodies. The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of IDEXX PRRS X3 Ab Test (IDEXX, USA), Civtest Suis E/S (Hipra, Spain), INgezim PRRS 2.

Transcriptional profiles of PBMCs from pigs infected with three genetically diverse porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus strains.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus is the cause of reproductive failure in sows and respiratory disease in young pigs, which has been considered as one of the most costly diseases to the worldwide pig industry for almost 30 years. This study used microarray-based transcriptomic analysis of PBMCs from experimentally infected pigs to explore the patterns of immune dysregulation after infection with two East European PRRSV strains from subtype 2 (BOR and ILI) in comparison to a Danish subtype 1 strain (DAN). Transcriptional profiles were determined at day 7 post infection in three tested groups of pigs and analysed in comparison with the expression profile of control group.

Genetic diversity of PRRSV 1 in Central Eastern Europe in 1994-2014: origin and evolution of the virus in the region.

More than 20 years after the first outbreaks, the phylogenetic picture of PRRSV is still incomplete and full of gaps, especially in regards of PRRSV 1. Due to the exceptional diversity observed at the eastern borders of Europe and the low number of available sequences from Central Eastern European countries, the authors collected and analyzed both recent as well as already submitted sequences comparing them to a large backbone set of available ORF5 sequences representing the full spectrum of PRRSV 1 Subtype 1 diversity to conduct a systematic phylogenetic analysis and reclassification elucidating the diversity of the virus in these countries. Moreover, further analyses of the EUROSTAT data regarding the live pig movement trends revealed their influence of virus diversity and evolution.

Effect of Regular Aerobic Activity in Young Healthy Athletes on Profile of Endothelial Function and Platelet Activity.

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of regular professional sports activity on the endothelial and platelet function in young men. The studied group were 79 young men (18-40 y, 25 athletes and 54 without any regular physical activity). The nitric oxide (NO) metabolic pathway intermediates, oxidative stress markers, mediators of inflammation, and platelet aggregation were measured.

Pathogenicity of three genetically diverse strains of PRRSV Type 1 in specific pathogen free pigs.

Studies from Eastern European countries proved that porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus Type 1 (PRRSV-1) harbours high genetic diversity and that genetically divergent subtypes 2-4 circulate in this area. In the present study, we compared the pathogenicity of two different PRRSV-1 subtype 2 strains and a strain representing PRRSV-1 subtype 1. Four groups of 8-week-old specific pathogen free pigs were either infected with subtype 2 strain ILI6, subtype 2 strain or BOR59, subtype 1 strain 18794, or mock inoculated.

Genetic Characterization of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) in Pigs of Bhutan.

Porcine circovirus (PCV) is a small non-enveloped virus with a single-stranded circular DNA with two antigenically and genetically different species, PCV1 and PCV2. Among these two, PCV2 is responsible for multifactorial disease syndromes, the most important disease known as PCV2-systemic disease (PCV2-SD), previously known as post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). The epidemiological situation is dynamically changing and new strains including recombinant PCV2 have emerged in Asia.

Rovac is the possible ancestor of the Russian lapinized vaccines LK-VNIVViM and CS strains but not the Chinese strain (C-strain) vaccine against classical swine fever.

Classical swine fever (CSF), or hog cholera, is a highly contagious disease that emerged in the first half of the nineteenth century. To fight against the disease and protect pigs, different vaccines were developed, including early generation of lapinized Rovac strain and the later development of the “Chinese” strain (C-strain). However, details of the development of these vaccines are lost in history.

Effects of intravascular low-level laser therapy during coronary intervention on selected growth factors levels.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of intravascular low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on selected growth factor levels in subjects undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).

Background Data: Restenosis remains the main problem with the long-term efficacy of PCI, and growth factors are postulated to play a crucial role in the restenosis cascade.

Materials And Methods: In a randomized prospective study, an 808 nm LLLT (100 mW/cm2, continuous wave laser, 9 J/cm2, illuminated area 1.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme ALDH3H1 from Arabidopsis thaliana: Identification of amino acid residues critical for cofactor specificity.

The cofactor-binding site of the NAD(+)-dependent Arabidopsis thaliana aldehyde dehydrogenase ALDH3H1 was analyzed to understand structural features determining cofactor-specificity. Homology modeling and mutant analysis elucidated important amino acid residues. Glu149 occupies a central position in the cofactor-binding cleft, and its carboxylate group coordinates the 2'- and 3'-hydroxyl groups of the adenosyl ribose ring of NAD(+) and repels the 2'-phosphate moiety of NADP(+).