Inflammation and metabolism gene sets in subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue are altered 1 hour after exercise in adults with obesity.

Although the health benefits of exercise in adults with obesity are well described, the direct effects of exercise on adipose tissue that may lead to improved metabolic health are poorly understood. The primary aims of this study were to perform an unbiased analysis of the subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue transcriptomic response to acute exercise in adults with obesity, and to compare the effects of moderate-intensity continuous exercise versus high-intensity interval exercise on this response. Twenty-nine adults with obesity performed a session of either high-intensity interval exercise (HI; 10 × 1 min at 90%HRpeak, 1 min recovery between intervals; n = 14) or moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MI; 45 min at 70%HRpeak; n = 15). Groups were well matched for BMI (HI 33 ± 3 vs. MI 33 ± 4 kg/m2), sex (HI: 9 women vs. MI: 10 women), and age (HI: 32 ± 6 vs. MI: 29 ± 5). Subcutaneous adipose tissue was collected before and 1 h after the session of HI or MI, and samples were processed for RNA sequencing. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed 7 of 21 gene sets enriched postexercise overlapped between HI and MI. Interestingly, both HI and MI upregulated gene sets involved in inflammation (IL6-JAK-STAT3 signaling, allograft rejection, TNFα signaling via NFκB, and inflammatory response; FDR q value < 0.25). Exercise also downregulated adipogenic and oxidative metabolism gene sets in both groups. Overall, these data suggest genes involved in subcutaneous adipose tissue metabolism and inflammation may be an important part of the initial response after a session of exercise.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study compared the effects of a single session of high-intensity interval exercise versus moderate-intensity continuous exercise on transcriptional changes in subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue collected from adults with obesity. Our novel findings indicate exercise upregulated inflammation-related gene sets, while it downregulated metabolism-related gene sets - after both high-intensity and moderate-intensity exercise. These data suggest exercise can alter the adipose tissue transcriptome 1 h after exercise in ways that may impact inflammation and metabolism.

Embryos of an Antarctic zooplankton require anoxia for dormancy, are permeable to lipophilic chemicals, and reside in sediments containing PCBs.

Zooplankton in Antarctic maritime lakes face challenges imposed by anthropogenic chemicals. Studies on temperate species suggest that lipophilic chemicals will accumulate in dormant embryos of Antarctic zooplankton and decrease hatching success, thereby threatening centuries of accumulated genetic diversity that would increase population resilience in the face of climate change. We evaluated the potential for lakes to act as sinks for legacy pollutants in the maritime Antarctic by testing sediments for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) previously identified in soil, flora and fauna of lake catchments. Direct tests of embryo permeability to chemicals are confounded by potential adhesion of chemicals to the embryo surface and limited biomass available. Therefore, in order to assess the potential for lipophilic chemicals to penetrate and passively accumulate in dormant embryos of Antarctic lacustrine zooplankton, we evaluated the effect of anoxia on post-diapause development in the calanoid copepod, Boeckella poppei, and then used chemical anoxia induced by rotenone as a reporter for permeability of these embryos to moderately lipophilic chemicals. The data presented demonstrate that embryos of B. poppei from Antarctic lake sediments will passively accumulate moderately lipophilic chemicals while lying dormant in anoxic sediments. Implications for legacy POPs in sediments of Antarctic maritime lakes are discussed.

Farm level risk factors for fluoroquinolone resistance in E. coli and thermophilic Campylobacter spp. on poultry farms.

Data on husbandry practices, performance, disease and drug use were collected during a cross-sectional survey of 89 poultry meat farms in England and Wales to provide information on possible risk factors for the occurrence of fluoroquinolone (FQ)-resistant bacteria. Faeces samples were used to classify farms as "affected" or "not affected" by FQ-resistant (FQr) Escherichia coli or Campylobacter spp. Risk factor analysis identified the use of FQ on the farms as having by far the strongest association, among the factors considered, with the occurrence of FQr bacteria. Resistant E. coli and/or Campylobacter spp. were found on 86% of the farms with a history of FQ use. However, a substantial proportion of farms with no history of FQ use also yielded FQr organisms, suggesting that resistant bacteria may transfer between farms. Further analysis suggested that for Campylobacter spp., on-farm hygiene, cleaning and disinfection between batches of birds and wildlife control were of most significance. By contrast, for E. coli biosecurity from external contamination was of particular importance, although the modelling indicated that other factors were likely to be involved. Detailed studies on a small number of sites showed that FQr E. coli can survive routine cleaning and disinfection. It appears difficult to avoid the occurrence of resistant bacteria when FQ are used on a farm, but the present findings provide evidence to support recommendations to reduce the substantial risk of the incidental acquisition of such resistance by farms where FQ are not used.

Control of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia: knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices in Narok district of Kenya.

CBPP is an important transboundary disease in sub-Saharan Africa whose control is urgent. Participatory data collection involving 52 focus group discussions in 37 village clusters and key informant interviews, a cross-sectional study involving 232 households and a post-vaccination follow up involving 203 households was carried out in 2006-2007 in Narok South district of Kenya. This was to investigate knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices (KAPP) associated with control of CBPP as well as the adverse post-vaccination reactions in animals in order to advice the control policy. The community perceived trans-boundary CBPP threat to their cattle. They had traditional disease coping mechanisms and were conversant with CBPP prevention and control with 49.8% (95%CI: 42.8-56.7%) giving priority to CBPP control. However, 12.9% (95%CI: 9.0-18.1%) of pastoralists had no knowledge of any prevention method and 10.0% (95%CI: 6.5-14.7%) would not know what to do or would do nothing in the event of an outbreak. Although 43.5% (95%CI: 37.1-50.2%) of pastoralists were treating CBPP cases with antimicrobials, 62.5% (95%CI: 52.1-71.7%) of them doubted the effectiveness of the treatments. Pastoralists perceived vaccination to be the solution to CBPP but vaccination was irregular due to unavailability of the vaccine. Vaccination was mainly to control outbreaks rather than preventive and exhibited adverse post-vaccination reactions among 70.4% (95%CI: 63.6-76.5%) of herds and 3.8% (95%CI: 3.5-4.2%) of animals. Consequently, nearly 25.2% (95%CI: 18.5-33.2%) of pastoralists may resist subsequent vaccinations against CBPP. Pastoralists preferred CBPP vaccination at certain times of the year and that it is combined with other vaccinations. In conclusion, pastoralists were not fully aware of the preventive measures and interventions and post-vaccination reactions may discourage subsequent CBPP vaccinations. Consequently there is need for monitoring and management of post vaccination reactions and awareness creation on CBPP prevention and interventions and their merits and demerits. CBPP vaccine was largely unavailable to the pastoralists and the preference of the pastoralists was for vaccination at specified times and vaccine combinations which makes it necessary to avail the vaccine in conformity with the pastoralists preferences. In addition, planning vaccinations should involve pastoralists and neighbouring countries. As the results cannot be generalized, further studies on CBPP control methods and their effectiveness are recommended.

Equine anthelmintics: survey of the patterns of use, beliefs and attitudes among horse owners in the UK.

An online survey was conducted to establish horse owners' beliefs, attitudes and practices relating to the use of anthelmintic drugs. Out of a total of 574 respondents, 89 per cent described themselves as 'leisure riders', most of whom took part in a variety of activities including eventing, show jumping, dressage, hunter trials, hunting, driving, endurance and showing. Overall, respondents were generally aware and concerned about the issue of anthelmintic resistance. Less than 60 per cent of all respondents were comfortable with their existing anthelmintic programme, and 25 per cent would like to reduce the use of anthelmintics in their horses. Of all the respondents, 47 per cent used livery, and 49 per cent of those reported that the livery imposed a common anthelmintic programme for horses kept on the premises; 45 per cent of these respondents were not entirely happy with the livery yard's programme. Less than 50 per cent of all respondents included 'veterinary surgeon' among their sources of advice on worming.

Differential vulnerability of global motion, global form, and biological motion processing in full-term and preterm children.

Young children born very prematurely show elevated thresholds for global motion and global form [Atkinson, J. & Braddick, O. (2007). Visual and visuocognitive development in children born very prematurely. Progress in Brain Research, 164, 123-149; MacKay, T. L., Jakobson, L. S., Ellemberg, D., Lewis, T. L., Maurer, D., & Casiro, O. (2005). Deficits in the processing of local and global motion in very low birthweight children. Neuropsychologia, 43, 1738-1748]. In adolescence, those with white matter pathology show reduced sensitivity to biological motion [Pavlova, M., Sokolov, A., Staudt, M., Marconato, F., Birbaumer, N., & Krageloh-Mann, I. (2005). Recruitment of periventricular parietal regions in processing cluttered point-light biological motion. Cerebral Cortex, 15, 594-601; Pavlova, M., Staudt, M., Sokolov, A., Birbaumer, N., & Krageloh-Mann, I. (2003). Perception and production of biological movement in patients with early periventricular brain lesions. Brain, 126, 692-701]. Here, we measured sensitivity to global form, global motion, and biological motion in a sample of 23, five- to nine-year-old children born at <32 weeks gestation, and in 20 full-term controls matched to the clinical sample in age, socioeconomic status, and estimated Verbal IQ. As a group, premature children showed reduced sensitivity, relative to controls, on all three tasks (F>4.1, p<0.05). By computing a deficit score for each task (the ratio between a premature child's threshold and the mean threshold for three age-matched controls) we were able to compare performance across tasks directly. Mean deficit scores were significantly greater than 1 (indicating some level of impairment) for biological motion and global motion (ps<0.03). In contrast, the mean deficit score for global form was not significantly different from 1 (indicating no impairment, relative to age-matched control children). Rates of impairment (deficit score>or=2) were four times higher for global motion than for global form (p<0.04); rates of impairment on the biological motion task fell at an intermediate level. In agreement with previous studies, we find impairments in the processing of global motion (Atkinson & Braddick; MacKay et al.) and of biological motion (Pavlova et al.), which are larger than the impairments in the processing of global form (Atkinson & Braddick). In addition, we show that the impairments are not correlated with each other. The differential vulnerability that we observed across tasks could not be accounted for by stereoacuity deficits, amblyopia, or attentional problems. We suspect, instead, that it reflects the fact that these forms of visual processing develop at different rates, and may be differentially vulnerable to early brain injury or atypical neurodevelopment [c.f., Atkinson, J. & Braddick, O. (2007). Visual and visuocognitive development in children born very prematurely. Progress in Brain Research, 164, 123-149; Braddick, O., Atkinson, J., & Wattam-Bell, J. (2003). Normal and anomalous development of visual motion processing: Motion coherence and 'dorsal-stream vulnerability'. Neuropsychologia, 41, 1769-1784].

Farm-level risk factors for fluoroquinolone resistance in E. coli and thermophilic Campylobacter spp. on finisher pig farms.

Logistic regression, supported by other statistical analyses was used to explore the possible association of risk factors with the fluoroquinolone (FQ)-resistance status of 108 pig finisher farms in Great Britain. The farms were classified as 'affected' or 'not affected' by FQ-resistant E. coli or Campylobacter spp. on the basis of isolation of organisms from faecal samples on media containing 1 mg/l FQ. The use of FQ was the most important factor associated with finding resistant E. coli and/or Campylobacter, which were found on 79% (FQ-resistant E. coli) and 86% (FQ-resistant Campylobacter) of farms with a history of FQ use. However, resistant bacteria were also found on 19% (FQ-resistant E. coli) and 54% (FQ-resistant Campylobacter) of farms with no history of FQ use. For FQ-resistant E. coli, biosecurity measures may be protective and there was strong seasonal variation, with more farms found affected when sampled in the summer. For FQ-resistant Campylobacter, the buying-in of grower stock may increase risk and good on-farm hygiene may be protective. The findings suggest that resistant organisms, particularly Campylobacter, may spread between pig farms.

A survey of fluoroquinolone resistance in Escherichia coli and thermophilic Campylobacter spp. on poultry and pig farms in Great Britain.

AIMS: To estimate the proportions of farms on which broilers, turkeys and pigs were shedding fluoroquinolone (FQ)-resistant Escherichia coli or Campylobacter spp. near to slaughter. METHODS AND RESULTS: Freshly voided faeces were collected on 89 poultry and 108 pig farms and cultured with media containing 1.0 mg l(-1) ciprofloxacin. Studies demonstrated the specificity of this sensitive method, and both poultry and pig sampling yielded FQ-resistant E. coli on 60% of farms. FQ-resistant Campylobacter spp. were found on around 22% of poultry and 75% of pig farms. The majority of resistant isolates of Campylobacter (89%) and E. coli (96%) tested had minimum inhibitory concentrations for ciprofloxacin of > or =8 mg l(-1). The proportion of resistant E. coli and Campylobacter organisms within samples varied widely. CONCLUSIONS: FQ resistance is commonly present among two enteric bacterial genera prevalent on pig and poultry farms, although the low proportion of resistant organisms in many cases requires a sensitive detection technique. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: FQ-resistant bacteria with zoonotic potential appear to be present on a high proportion of UK pig and poultry farms. The risk this poses to consumers relative to other causes of FQ-resistant human infections remains to be clarified.

Use and abuse of mathematical models: an illustration from the 2001 foot and mouth disease epidemic in the United Kingdom.

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a major threat, not only to countries whose economies rely on agricultural exports, but also to industrialised countries that maintain a healthy domestic livestock industry by eliminating major infectious diseases from their livestock populations. Traditional methods of controlling diseases such as FMD require the rapid detection and slaughter of infected animals, and any susceptible animals with which they may have been in contact, either directly or indirectly. During the 2001 epidemic of FMD in the United Kingdom (UK), this approach was supplemented by a culling policy driven by unvalidated predictive models. The epidemic and its control resulted in the death of approximately ten million animals, public disgust with the magnitude of the slaughter, and political resolve to adopt alternative options, notably including vaccination, to control any future epidemics. The UK experience provides a salutary warning of how models can be abused in the interests of scientific opportunism.

DNA extraction from low-biomass carbonate rock: an improved method with reduced contamination and the low-biomass contaminant database.

Caves represent a unique environment in which to study subsurface geomicrobial interactions and processes. One of the primary techniques used to study such geologic samples is molecular phylogenetic analysis, but this technique is hampered by low microbial biomass and calcium in the host rock, often leading to poor and irreproducible DNA extraction. We describe an improved protocol to recover extremely low amounts of DNA from calcium-rich geologic samples. This protocol relies on the use of the synthetic DNA molecule poly-dIdC, to act both as blocking agent and carrier molecule to increase the yield of DNA, and dialysis to remove calcium inhibitors of PCR amplification. Further, we demonstrate that many traditionally used laboratory substrates contain microbial DNA that can be amplified through the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and contaminate molecular phylogenetic profiles. While the number of potential contaminants can be minimized, it cannot be eliminated from extraction techniques. We have therefore established the low-biomass contaminant (LBC) database, which contains the 16S rRNA gene sequences of species that have been identified as common laboratory contaminants. These identified contaminants provide a reference database to allow investigators to critically evaluate certain species identified within their phylogenetic profile when examining such low-biomass environments.

Relationship of speed of slaughter on infected premises and intensity of culling of other premises to the rate of spread of the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in Great Britain, 2001.

During the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in the UK in 2001, two major control policies were the rapid identification of cases and the culling of animals on infected premises and on dangerous contact premises. Dangerous contact premises were divided into two groups, premises contiguous to an infected premises and non-contiguous premises. In England, the largest numbers of geographically clustered infected premises were in Cumbria, the South West (Somerset, Devon and Cornwall) and the Settle/Clitheroe area straddling the Yorkshire-Lancashire border. In each of these clusters, the rate of spread of the disease, the average time from the first lesion to slaughter on infected premises, and the intensity of culling of contiguous premises and non-contiguous premises were calculated for seven-day periods. Linear regression analysis was used to look for relationships between these factors and the rate of spread of the disease. The average time from the first lesion to slaughter had a statistically significant relationship in two of the three clusters and the intensity of culling of non-contiguous premises had a significant relationship in one. The intensity of culling of contiguous premises had no significant relationship in any of the three clusters.

Evaluation of the application of veterinary judgement in the pre-emptive cull of contiguous premises during the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease in Cumbria in 2001.

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the application of contiguous culling in Cumbria between May 1 and September 30, during the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001. The analysis shows that the application of veterinary risk assessment and judgement identified and removed groups of susceptible stock which were at risk of direct transmission of infection and avoided infected animals being left that might have spread the disease. When compared with an automatic contiguous cull, fewer culls were made and some of these were reduced in scale, providing economies in the use of resources. The data suggest that farms contiguous to an infected premises faced a 5 per cent risk of infection by direct transmission and a 12 per cent risk of infection by indirect transmission.

Risk of foot-and-mouth disease associated with proximity in space and time to infected premises and the implications for control policy during the 2001 epidemic in Cumbria.

An analysis was made that calculated the risk of disease for premises in the most heavily affected parts of the county of Cumbria during the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in the UK in 2001. In over half the cases the occurrence of the disease was not directly attributable to a recently infected premises being located within 1.5 km. Premises more than 1.5 km from recently infected premises faced sufficiently high infection risks that culling within a 1.5 km radius of the infected premises alone could not have prevented the progress of the epidemic. A comparison of the final outcome in two areas of the county, south Penrith and north Cumbria, indicated that focusing on controlling the potential spread of the disease over short distances by culling premises contiguous to infected premises, while the disease continued to spread over longer distances, may have resulted in excessive numbers of premises being culled. Even though the contiguous cull in south Penrith appeared to have resulted in a smaller proportion of premises becoming infected, the overall proportion of premises culled was considerably greater than in north Cumbria, where, because of staff and resource limitations, a smaller proportion of premises contiguous to infected premises was culled.

Seroepidemiology of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in pigs from farrow-to-finish farms.

A prospective study was carried out on three intensive farrow-to-finish farms. The aims were to estimate the incidence of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infection, to determine when pigs become infected and the pattern of transmission of infection and to verify the relationship between seroconversion and clinical signs. One batch of pigs per farm was followed from farrowing-to-slaughter. Blood samples were taken at 10, 27, 70, 94, 125 and 147 days of age, from 44, 48 and 44 pigs per farm. Colostrum and blood samples were also taken from the sows. Animals were checked clinically once a week and coughing rates were recorded. Antibodies against M. hyopneumoniae were detected by a blocking ELISA. At 27, 70 and 94 days of age most pigs on the three farms were seronegative, suggesting that no circulation of M. hyopneumoniae occurred during the growing period. Thereafter, a high proportion of pigs seroconverted, indicating that infection occurred soon after the transfer of the animals to the finishing houses. Differences were detected between farms in the incidence of seroconversion. Seropositive pigs were widely distributed among the finishing pens, suggesting that in addition to direct contact, other methods of transmission, such as indirect or airborne transmission, may have been important. Coughing started at around the same time as seroconversion. The results showed that the critical period for the transmission of M. hyopneumoniae is around the beginning of the finishing period, when pigs have low concentrations of antibodies against the agent.

Determining the accuracy of an eye tracking system for laser refractive surgery.

PURPOSE: Patient eye and head movements during laser refractive surgery may result in errors between the surgical beam position and the desired location for optimum correction. This, in turn, may lead to reduced postoperative vision, including increased higher order aberrations of the eye. Active eye tracking systems are often incorporated into laser delivery systems, which aim to reduce the effect of patient eye movement. METHODS: In this study, the accuracy of an eye tracking system designed for laser refractive surgery was determined. An enucleated porcine eye was attached to a scanning device and the movement measured using the eye tracking system. The recorded position is compared to the preprogrammed position of the scanning device. RESULTS: The system demonstrated an accuracy of 0.06 m for an intact cornea and 0.1 mm for a cornea with a thin flap removed. This compares to an average decentration of ablation of 0.4 mm for patients relying on passive fixation, as measured by previous clinical trials. CONCLUSION: implementation of this eye tracker would lead to improved alignment between the laser and eye during laser refractive surgery.

Timing mechanisms in the cerebellum: testing predictions of a large-scale computer simulation.

We used large-scale computer simulations of eyelid conditioning to investigate how the cerebellum generates and makes use of temporal information. In the simulations the adaptive timing displayed by conditioned responses is mediated by two factors: (1) different sets of granule cells are active at different times during the conditioned stimulus (CS), and (2) responding is not only amplified at reinforced times but also suppressed at unreinforced times during the CS. These factors predict an unusual pattern of responding after partial removal of the cerebellar cortex that was confirmed using small, electrolytic lesions of cerebellar cortex. These results are consistent with timing mechanisms in the cerebellum that are similar to Pavlov's "inhibition of delay" hypothesis.

Fentanyl and the interleukin-6 response to surgery.

It has been suggested that large doses of opioids may suppress the interleukin-6 response to surgery. We examined the effects of the supplementation of inhalational anaesthesia with either 3 or 15 micrograms.kg-1 fentanyl on the circulating interleukin-6, interleukin-8, C-reactive protein, cortisol and glucose concentrations in 16 patients undergoing pelvic surgery. In both groups, surgery evoked the expected glucose, cortisol and interleukin-6 response but no increase in interleukin-8 was detected. There were no significant differences between the two groups. We conclude that the supplementation of inhalational anaesthesia with conventional doses of opioids does not modify the cytokine response to surgery.

Patients' experiences of patient-controlled analgesia.

We examined patients' experiences of patient-controlled analgesia by the use of semistructured interviews in 26 patients shortly after discontinuation of the device. The options expressed by the patients were examined qualitatively to identify recurring themes in their experience of patient-controlled analgesia. The areas of interest were analgesia, factors influencing whether the patient pressed the button or not, whether they felt in control and side effects. Negative as well as the expected positive evaluations were found. The negative evaluations reflected problems with nausea and vomiting and inadequate analgesia. No clear strategy for pressing, or not pressing, the button emerged and the principle of control by the patient over their pain relief was not considered important.