Probe particles in odd active viscoelastic fluids: How activity and dissipation determine linear stability.

Odd viscoelastic materials are constrained by fewer symmetries than their even counterparts. The breaking of these symmetries allows these materials to exhibit different features, which have attracted considerable attention in recent years. Immersing a bead in such complex fluids allows for probing their physical properties, highlighting signatures of their oddity and exploring the consequences of these broken symmetries.

Evaluation of a Revised Point-of-Care Test for the Detection of Feline Leukaemia p27 Antigen and Anti-p15E Antibodies in Cats.

The first point-of-care (PoC) test (v-RetroFel; modified version 2021) determining the presence of FeLV p27 antigen and FeLV anti-p15E antibodies has become recently commercially available to identify different feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) infection outcomes. This study aimed to assess this PoC test's performance concerning FeLV p27 antigen and FeLV anti-p15E antibody detection. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV) were assessed after ten minutes (recommended) and 20 min (prolonged) incubation times.

Prevalence of Serum Antibody Titers against Core Vaccine Antigens in Italian Cats.

Feline core vaccines strongly recommended for all cats are against Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV), Felid herpesvirus type 1 (FeHV-1), and Feline calicivirus (FCV), but cats can be classified as low- and high-risk based on their lifestyle. The aim of this study was to determine the actual seroprotection against FPV, FeHV-1, and FCV in a large cohort of Italian cats by using the VacciCheck test. A total of 740 cats (567 owned and 173 stray cats; 435 vaccinated and 305 unvaccinated) were analyzed for Protective Antibody Titers (PATs).

Lift force in odd compressible fluids.

When a body moves through a fluid, it can experience a force orthogonal to its movement called lift force. Odd viscous fluids break parity and time-reversal symmetry, suggesting the existence of an odd lift force on tracer particles, even at vanishing Reynolds numbers and for symmetric geometries. It was previously found that an incompressible odd fluid cannot induce lift force on a tracer particle with no-slip boundary conditions, making signatures of odd viscosity in the two-dimensional bulk elusive.

Prevalence of Different Courses of Feline Leukaemia Virus Infection in Four European Countries.

Prevalence of progressive feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) infection is known to still be high in cats in Europe, especially in Southern Europe, but the prevalence of other outcomes of FeLV infection has not been determined in most countries. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of progressive, regressive, abortive, and focal infection in four European countries, two with a high (Italy, Portugal) and two with a low expected prevalence (Germany, France). Blood samples of 934 cats (Italy: 269; Portugal: 240; France: 107; Germany: 318) were evaluated for the p27 antigen, as well as anti-whole virus, anti-SU, and anti-p15E antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum and for proviral DNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in whole blood.

Roadmap on Deep Learning for Microscopy.

Through digital imaging, microscopy has evolved from primarily being a means for visual observation of life at the micro- and nano-scale, to a quantitative tool with ever-increasing resolution and throughput. Artificial intelligence, deep neural networks, and machine learning are all niche terms describing computational methods that have gained a pivotal role in microscopy-based research over the past decade. This Roadmap is written collectively by prominent researchers and encompasses selected aspects of how machine learning is applied to microscopy image data, with the aim of gaining scientific knowledge by improved image quality, automated detection, segmentation, classification and tracking of objects, and efficient merging of information from multiple imaging modalities.

Passive odd viscoelasticity.

Active chiral viscoelastic materials exhibit elastic responses perpendicular to the applied stresses, referred to as odd elasticity. We use a covariant formulation of viscoelasticity combined with an entropy production analysis to show that odd elasticity is not only present in active systems but also in broad classes of passive chiral viscoelastic fluids. In addition, we demonstrate that linear viscoelastic chiral solids require activity in order to manifest odd elastic responses.

Objective comparison of methods to decode anomalous diffusion.

Deviations from Brownian motion leading to anomalous diffusion are found in transport dynamics from quantum physics to life sciences. The characterization of anomalous diffusion from the measurement of an individual trajectory is a challenging task, which traditionally relies on calculating the trajectory mean squared displacement. However, this approach breaks down for cases of practical interest, e.

Quantitative theory for the diffusive dynamics of liquid condensates.

Key processes of biological condensates are diffusion and material exchange with their environment. Experimentally, diffusive dynamics are typically probed via fluorescent labels. However, to date, a physics-based, quantitative framework for the dynamics of labeled condensate components is lacking.

Efficacy of fipronil/(S)-methoprene/eprinomectin/praziquantel (Broadline) against Thelazia callipaeda in naturally infected cats.

Background: The present clinical field trial was conducted to assess the efficacy of a broad-spectrum parasiticide spot-on formulation containing eprinomectin (Broadline) against Thelazia callipaeda eyeworm in naturally infected cats.

Methods: Fifteen privately owned cats harboring at least one live adult T. callipaeda were included in the study.

Canine parvovirus is shed infrequently by cats without diarrhoea in multi-cat environments.

Whether subclinical shedding of canine parvovirus (CPV) by cats might contribute to the epidemiology of canine CPV infections, particularly in facilities housing both cats and dogs, requires clarification. Conflicting results are reported to date. Using conventional PCR (cPCR) to amplify the VP2 gene, shedding of the CPV variants (CPV-2a, 2b, 2c) by healthy cats in multi-cat environments was reportedly common in Europe but rare in Australia.

Power-law population heterogeneity governs epidemic waves.

We generalize the Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) model for epidemics to take into account generic effects of heterogeneity in the degree of susceptibility to infection in the population. We introduce a single new parameter corresponding to a power-law exponent of the susceptibility distribution at small susceptibilities. We find that for this class of distributions the gamma distribution is the attractor of the dynamics.

Measurement of anomalous diffusion using recurrent neural networks.

Anomalous diffusion occurs in many physical and biological phenomena, when the growth of the mean squared displacement (MSD) with time has an exponent different from one. We show that recurrent neural networks (RNNs) can efficiently characterize anomalous diffusion by determining the exponent from a single short trajectory, outperforming the standard estimation based on the MSD when the available data points are limited, as is often the case in experiments. Furthermore, the RNNs can handle more complex tasks where there are no standard approaches, such as determining the anomalous diffusion exponent from a trajectory sampled at irregular times, and estimating the switching time and anomalous diffusion exponents of an intermittent system that switches between different kinds of anomalous diffusion.

Feline calicivirus infection in cats with virulent systemic disease, Italy.

Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a contagious viral pathogen that usually causes a mild, self-limiting respiratory disease. More recently, highly virulent FCV strains have emerged and have been associated with severe systemic infection, referred to as virulent systemic disease (VSD). The objective of this study is to report VSD cases in Italian cats along with the molecular characterization of two detected FCV strains.

Stochastic sequestration dynamics: a minimal model with extrinsic noise for bimodal distributions and competitors correlation.

Many biological processes are known to be based on molecular sequestration. This kind of dynamics involves two types of molecular species, namely targets and sequestrants, that bind to form a complex. In the simple framework of mass-action law, key features of these systems appear to be threshold-like profiles of the amounts of free molecules as a function of the parameters determining their possible maximum abundance.

On the role of extrinsic noise in microRNA-mediated bimodal gene expression.

Several studies highlighted the relevance of extrinsic noise in shaping cell decision making and differentiation in molecular networks. Bimodal distributions of gene expression levels provide experimental evidence of phenotypic differentiation, where the modes of the distribution often correspond to different physiological states of the system. We theoretically address the presence of bimodal phenotypes in the context of microRNA (miRNA)-mediated regulation.

Mammary fibroadenomatous hyperplasia in a male cat.

Case Summary: Mammary fibroadenomatous hyperplasia (MFH) is a benign pathology characterised by extensive proliferation of the ductal epithelium and mammary stroma. It typically occurs in young female cats, and seems to result from hypersensitivity to progesterone. A 2-year-old entire male European Shorthair cat presented to the veterinary clinic with enlargement of several mammary glands, which had developed within the previous 10 days.

Experimental realization of a minimal microscopic heat engine.

Microscopic heat engines are microscale systems that convert energy flows between heat reservoirs into work or systematic motion. We have experimentally realized a minimal microscopic heat engine. It consists of a colloidal Brownian particle optically trapped in an elliptical potential well and simultaneously coupled to two heat baths at different temperatures acting along perpendicular directions.

Steady diffusion in a drift field: A comparison of large-deviation techniques and multiple-scale analysis.

A particle with internal unobserved states diffusing in a force field will generally display effective advection-diffusion. The drift velocity is proportional to the mobility averaged over the internal states, or effective mobility, while the effective diffusion has two terms. One is of the equilibrium type and satisfies an Einstein relation with the effective mobility while the other is quadratic in the applied force.

Serum symmetric dimethylarginine and creatinine in Birman cats compared with cats of other breeds.

Objectives The aim of this study was to assess whether, in contrast to serum creatinine, which is higher in Birman cats than in other breeds, the serum concentration of symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) is comparable in clinically healthy Birmans and in the general feline population. This could allow, in this breed, to better evaluate chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods Serum creatinine and SDMA were measured in clinically healthy Birmans (n = 50) and in cats of other breeds (n = 46), and the results were statistically compared.

Driven Anisotropic Diffusion at Boundaries: Noise Rectification and Particle Sorting.

We study the diffusive dynamics of a Brownian particle in the proximity of a flat surface under nonequilibrium conditions, which are created by an anisotropic thermal environment with different temperatures being active along distinct spatial directions. By presenting the exact time-dependent solution of the Fokker-Planck equation for this problem, we demonstrate that the interplay between anisotropic diffusion and hard-core interaction with the plain wall rectifies the thermal fluctuations and induces directed particle transport parallel to the surface, without any deterministic forces being applied in that direction. Based on current micromanipulation technologies, we suggest a concrete experimental setup to observe this novel noise-induced transport mechanism.

Acromegaly in a non-diabetic cat.

Case Summary: A 14-year-old, neutered male European shorthair cat was evaluated for a routine health check. The owner did not report any clinical signs except for respiratory stridor. On physical examination the main findings were broad facial features and increased interdental spaces.

Frequency of electrophoretic changes consistent with feline infectious peritonitis in two different time periods (2004-2009 vs 2013-2014).

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the frequency of electrophoretic changes in serum of cats with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) changed in recent years vs past years. Methods Agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) from cats with FIP and healthy cats recorded in the periods 2004-2009 and 2013-2014 were retrospectively analysed. Relative and absolute values of each electrophoretic fraction were recorded and the number of cats showing single or combined electrophoretic changes consistent with FIP (hypoalbuminaemia, inverted albumin to globulin [A:G] ratio, increased total protein, total globulin, alpha [α]-globulin and gamma [γ]-globulin concentration) were counted.

Molecular surveillance of traditional and emerging pathogens associated with canine infectious respiratory disease.

A molecular survey for traditional and emerging pathogens associated with canine infectious respiratory disease (CIRD) was conducted in Italy between 2011 and 2013 on a total of 138 dogs, including 78 early acute clinically ill CIRD animals, 22 non-clinical but exposed to clinically ill CIRD dogs and 38 CIRD convalescent dogs. The results showed that canine parainfluenza virus (CPIV) was the most commonly detected CIRD pathogen, followed by canine respiratory coronavirus (CRCoV), Bordetella bronchiseptica, Mycoplasma cynos, Mycoplasma canis and canine pneumovirus (CnPnV). Some classical CIRD agents, such as canine adenoviruses, canine distemper virus and canid herpesvirus 1, were not detected at all, as were not other emerging respiratory viruses (canine influenza virus, canine hepacivirus) and bacteria (Streptococcus equi subsp.

White-noise limit of nonwhite nonequilibrium processes.

The asymptotic behavior of a stochastic process subject to a colored noise is considered in the limit of vanishing correlation time of the noise. The interpretation of the multiplicative noise of the effective equation is investigated. The mathematically consistent formulation of the stochastic calculus for the limiting process is given.