Vision System for a Forestry Navigation Machine.

This article presents the development of a vision system designed to enhance the autonomous navigation capabilities of robots in complex forest environments. Leveraging RGBD and thermic cameras, specifically the Intel RealSense 435i and FLIR ADK, the system integrates diverse visual sensors with advanced image processing algorithms. This integration enables robots to make real-time decisions, recognize obstacles, and dynamically adjust their trajectories during operation. The article focuses on the architectural aspects of the system, emphasizing the role of sensors and the formulation of algorithms crucial for ensuring safety during robot navigation in challenging forest terrains. Additionally, the article discusses the training of two datasets specifically tailored to forest environments, aiming to evaluate their impact on autonomous navigation. Tests conducted in real forest conditions affirm the effectiveness of the developed vision system. The results underscore the system's pivotal contribution to the autonomous navigation of robots in forest environments.

Sensor Integration in a Forestry Machine.

This paper presents the integration of multimodal sensor systems for an autonomous forestry machine. The utilized technology is housed in a single enclosure which consolidates a set of components responsible for executing machine control actions and comprehending its behavior in various scenarios. This sensor box, named Sentry, will subsequently be connected to a forestry machine from MDB, model LV600 PRO. The article outlines previous work in this field and then details the integration and operation of the equipment, integrated into the forest machine, providing descriptions of the adopted architecture at both the hardware and software levels. The gathered data enables the assessment of the forestry machine's orientation and position based on the information collected by the sensors. Finally, practical experiments are presented to demonstrate the system's behavior and to analyze the methods to be employed for autonomous navigation, thereby assessing the performance of the established architecture. The novel aspects of this work include the physical and digital integration of a multimodal sensor system on a forestry machine, its use in a real case scenario, namely, forest vegetation removal, and the strategies adopted to improve the machine localization and navigation performance on unstructured environments.

Collagenated Porcine Heterologous Bone Grafts: Histomorphometric Evaluation of Bone Formation Using Different Physical Forms in a Rabbit Cancellous Bone Model.

Collagenated porcine-derived bone graft materials exhibit osteoconductive properties and the development of different formulations intends to enhance bone regeneration. This study aims to evaluate bone healing in a rabbit cancellous bone defect in response to grafting with different physicochemical forms of heterologous porcine bone. Twenty-six adult male New Zealand White rabbits received two critical size femoral bone defects per animal (n = 52), each randomly assigned to one of the five tested materials (Apatos, Gen-Os, mp3, Putty, and Gel 40). Animals were sacrificed at 15- and 30-days post-surgery. Qualitative and quantitative (new bone, particle and connective tissue percentages) histological analyses were performed. Histomorphometry showed statistically significant differences in all evaluated parameters between mp3 and both Putty and Gel 40 groups, regardless of the timepoint (p < 0.05). Moreover, statistical differences were observed between Apatos and both Putty (p = 0.014) and Gel 40 (p = 0.007) groups, at 30 days, in regard to particle percentage. Within each group, regarding new bone formation, mp3 showed significant differences (p = 0.028) between 15 (40.93 ± 3.49%) and 30 (52.49 ± 11.04%) days. Additionally, intragroup analysis concerning the percentage of particles revealed a significant reduction in particle occupied area from 15 to 30 days in mp3 and Gen-Os groups (p = 0.009). All mp3, Gen-Os and Apatos exhibited promising results in terms of new bone formation, thus presenting suitable alternatives to be used in bone regeneration.

Evaluation of hematology, general serum biochemistry, bone turnover markers and bone marrow cytology in a glucocorticoid treated ovariectomized sheep model for osteoporosis research.

Osteoporosis is a metabolic disorder characterized by a loss of bone mass and structure and increasing the risk of fragility fractures, mostly among postmenopausal women. Sheep is a recognized large animal model for osteoporosis research. An experimental group of ewes (3-4 years old) was subjected to ovariectomy (OVX) and weekly glucocorticoid (GC) application for 24 weeks and compared with a sham control group. Blood and bone marrow parameters were analyzed before and 24 weeks after OVX and GC administration. Osteopenia was confirmed through micro-computed tomography and histomorphometric analysis of L4 vertebra in the study end. A statistically significant increase was observed in mean corpuscular volume, mean cell hemoglobin and monocytes and a decrease in red blood count and eosinophils (p<0.05). Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, magnesium and α1-globulin increased, and creatinine, albumin, sodium and estradiol decreased (p<0.05). A slight decrease of bone formation markers (bone ALP and osteocalcin) and an increase of bone resorption markers (C-terminal telopeptides of collagen type 1 and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) were observed, but without statistical significance. This study aims to contribute to better knowledge of sheep as a model for osteoporosis research and the consequences that a performed induction protocol may impose on organic metabolism.

Evaluation of a novel dog animal model for peri-implant disease: clinical, radiographic, microbiological and histological assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To assess longitudinal peri-implant tissue evaluation in a plaque compromised ligature free dog model, clinically, radiographically, microbiologically and histologically. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six beagle mandibular premolars and first molars were extracted. Plaque accumulated for 16 weeks. Two implants were placed per hemi-mandible. For 17 weeks, control implants (CI) in one hemi-mandible were brushed daily; test implants (TI) in the other were not. These parameters were then assessed: clinically, probing depth (PD), bleeding-on-probing (BOP), presence of plaque (PP) and clinical attachment level (CAL); radiographically, marginal bone level; microbiologically, counts for Streptococcus spp., Fusobacterium spp., Porphyromonas gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia and total bacterial load. At week 17, histomorphometric analysis was performed (MM-ISH (mucosal margin-implant shoulder); ISH-fBIC (implant shoulder-first bone-to-implant contact); MM-aJE (mucosal margin-apical area junctional epithelium); MM-aINF (mucosal margin-apical limit of the inflammatory infiltrate); %INF (percentage of inflammatory infiltrate)). RESULTS: At week 17, TI had significant increased PD, BOP, PP and CAL versus baseline. All clinical variables presented intergroup differences. There was no intergroup difference for radiographic bone loss (p > 0.05). Total bacteria, Fusobacterium spp., A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis had intergroup differences. There was no statistically significant intergroup difference for ISH-fBIC. CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal microbiology evaluation detected a shift period. Final intergroup microbiological differences were the basis of W17 clinical intergroup differences, with higher values in TI. Microbiological and clinical changes detected in peri-implant tissues were compatible with onset of peri-implant disease. Despite histological inflammatory intergroup difference, no histological or radiographic intergroup bone loss was detected. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study set-up describes a valuable method for generating "true" early peri-implant defects without mechanical trauma.

Mesenchymal stem cells therapy in companion animals: useful for immune-mediated diseases?

Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent cells, with capacity for self-renewal and differentiation into tissues of mesodermal origin. These cells are possible therapeutic agents for autoimmune disorders, since they present remarkable immunomodulatory ability.The increase of immune-mediated diseases in veterinary medicine has led to a growing interest in the research of these disorders and their medical treatment. Conventional immunomodulatory drug therapy such as glucocorticoids or other novel therapies such as cyclosporine or monoclonal antibodies are associated with numerous side effects that limit its long-term use, leading to the need for developing new therapeutic strategies that can be more effective and safe.The aim of this review is to provide a critical overview about the therapeutic potential of these cells in the treatment of some autoimmune disorders (canine atopic dermatitis, feline chronic gingivostomatitis, inflammatory bowel disease and feline asthma) compared with their conventional treatment.Mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy in autoimmune diseases has been showing that this approach can ameliorate clinical signs or even cause remission in most animals, with the exception of canine atopic dermatitis in which little to no improvement was observed.Although mesenchymal stem cells present a promising future in the treatment of most of these disorders, the variability in the outcomes of some clinical trials has led to the current controversy among authors regarding their efficacy. Mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy is currently requiring a deeper and detailed analysis that allows its standardization and better adaptation to the intended therapeutic results, in order to overcome current limitations in future trials.

Preclinical and Translational Studies in Small Ruminants (Sheep and Goat) as Models for Osteoporosis Research.

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW: This review summarizes research on the use of sheep and goats as large animal models of human osteoporosis for preclinical and translational studies. RECENT FINDINGS: The most frequent osteoporotic sheep model used is the ovariectomized sheep with 12 months post-operatively or more and the combined treatment of ovariectomized sheep associated to calcium/vitamin D-deficient diet and glucocorticoid applications for 6 months, but other methods are also described, like pinealectomy or hypothalamic-pituitary disconnection in ovariectomized sheep. The goat model for osteoporosis research has been used in a very limited number of studies in osteoporosis research relative to sheep. These osteoporotic small ruminant models are applied for biomaterial research, bone augmentation, efficacy of implant fixation, fragility fracture-healing process improvement, or bone-defect repair studies in the osteopenic or osteoporotic bone. Sheep are a recognized large animal model for preclinical and translational studies in osteoporosis research and the goat to a lesser extent. Recently, the pathophysiological mechanism underlying induction of osteoporosis in glucocorticoid-treated ovariectomized aged sheep was clarified, being similar to what occurs in postmenopausal women with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. It was also concluded that the receptor activator of NF-κB ligand was stimulated in the late progressive phase of the osteoporosis induced by steroids in sheep. The knowledge of the pathophysiological mechanisms at the cellular and molecular levels of the induction of osteoporosis in small ruminants, if identical to humans, will allow in the future, the use of these animal models with greater confidence in the preclinical and translational studies for osteoporosis research.

Large Animal Models for Osteochondral Regeneration.

Namely, in the last two decades, large animal models - small ruminants (sheep and goats), pigs, dogs and horses - have been used to study the physiopathology and to develop new therapeutic procedures to treat human clinical osteoarthritis. For that purpose, cartilage and/or osteochondral defects are generally performed in the stifle joint of selected large animal models at the condylar and trochlear femoral areas where spontaneous regeneration should be excluded. Experimental animal care and protection legislation and guideline documents of the US Food and Drug Administration, the American Society for Testing and Materials and the International Cartilage Repair Society should be followed, and also the specificities of the animal species used for these studies must be taken into account, such as the cartilage thickness of the selected defect localization, the defined cartilage critical size defect and the joint anatomy in view of the post-operative techniques to be performed to evaluate the chondral/osteochondral repair. In particular, in the articular cartilage regeneration and repair studies with animal models, the subchondral bone plate should always be taken into consideration. Pilot studies for chondral and osteochondral bone tissue engineering could apply short observational periods for evaluation of the cartilage regeneration up to 12 weeks post-operatively, but generally a 6- to 12-month follow-up period is used for these types of studies.

An Effective Extension of Anti-Collision Protocol for RFID in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is often presented as a concept that is significantly changing industry, yet continuous improvements in the identification and automation of objects are still required. Such improvements are related to communication speed, security, and reliability, critical attributes for industrial environments. In this context, the radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems present some issues related to frame collision when there are several tags transmitting data. The dynamic framed-slotted ALOHA (DFSA) is a widely used algorithm to solve collision problems in RFID systems. DFSA dynamically adjusts the frame length based on estimations of the number of labels that have competed for slots in the previous frame. Thus, the accuracy of the estimator is directly related to the label identification performance. In the literature, there are several estimators proposed to improve labels identification accuracy. However, they are not efficient when considering a large tag population, requiring a considerable amount of computational resources to perform the identification. In this context, this work proposes an estimator, which can efficiently identify a large number of labels without requiring additional computational resources. Through a set of simulations, the results demonstrate that the proposed estimator has a nearly ideal channel usage efficiency of 36.1%, which is the maximum efficiency of the DFSA protocol.

The effect of dietary corn oil and fish oil supplementation in dogs with naturally occurring gingivitis.

The aim of this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was to evaluate if downregulation of the inflammatory response due to ingestion of high levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can slow down gingivitis development, and thus delay the progression of periodontal disease (PD) in dogs. To this aim, 44 client-owned adult dogs (>1 and <8 years old) with naturally occurring PD (stages 1 and 2) were submitted to a plaque, gingivitis and calculus scoring followed by a dental cleaning procedure and collection of blood samples. The animals were then fed a canine adult maintenance diet, supplemented with either corn oil (0.00 g EPA and 0.00 g DHA) or fish oil (1.53 g EPA and 0.86 g DHA, both per 1,000 kcal ME) over the following 5 months. At the end of this period, the PD scoring and the blood sampling were repeated. The animals consuming fish oil had higher plasma levels of the longer chain (C ≥ 20) omega 3 fatty acids (p < 0.01) and similar plasma levels of alpha-linolenic acid (p = 0.53), omega 6 fatty acids (p > 0.63) and C reactive protein (p = 0.28) then the ones consuming corn oil. There were no differences between fish oil and corn oil diet supplementation on plaque (18.2 vs. 17.8, p = 0.78), calculus (10.1 vs. 11.5, p = 0.18) or gingivitis (19.3 vs. 19.0, p = 0.77) indexes. The authors conclude that supplementation with EPA + DHA does not slow down progression of PD in dogs.

Dental Dam Application for Endodontics in Dogs-A Novel Clamp Kit.

Although rubber dams are widely used in endodontic treatment in humans with well-known advantages, their use in veterinary medicine is uncommon. The use of a dental rubber dam provides better control of cross-infection, prevents soft tissue contact of chemicals, and improves treatment efficiency. The purpose of this article is to describe a new line of clamps specifically designed for dogs and to review the procedure and materials used for isolating the operative field in endodontic patients. This new design of clamps, better adapted to canine tooth anatomy with different sizes and conformations, has been successfully used in dogs by the authors with good clinical results. The clamps allow for better adaptation to the tooth without injuring the gingiva or the furcation and provide increased retention of the dam for more effective isolation. Given the proven benefits in humans, the authors expect that the widespread use of a rubber dam with clamps specifically designed for canine dental anatomy will improve clinical outcomes in endodontics.

Tartrate-resistant acid phosphate as biomarker of bone turnover over the lifespan and different physiologic stages in sheep.

BACKGROUND: Currently, the best resources for assessment of bone tissue using imaging techniques are expensive and available in few medical facilities, thus serum or urinary bone turnover biomarkers could be useful as early indicators of prognosis. However, there is a wide range of variability in bone turnover markers due to several factors, such as different ages and metabolic stages, thus it is important to have as much data published on the subject as possible. The aim of this study was therefore to generate a reference range for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) and validate the already published data. RESULTS: Serum alkaline phosphatase decreased with age, with statistical difference between the 1 month old and the other groups and between the over 8 years and the 6 months old groups. There was also a statistical difference in the ALP levels between the 3 to 5 years old gestation and lactation groups. For serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase, there was a statistical difference mainly between the 1 month old and the 6 months old, 6-8 years old, and above 8 years old groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained could represent a useful tool for future studies using sheep as an animal model for orthopedic research. The different groups presented a wide variation of serum ALP and TRAP levels, however, these variations are entirely explained by known physiology. Therefore, this detailed study confirms the prediction that unexplained changes in these bone turnover markers do not occur during the lifespan of sheep.

Evaluation of biomarker canine-prostate specific arginine esterase (CPSE) for the diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

BACKGROUND: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common canine prostatic disorder. Although most or even all intact male dogs may develop BPH by 5-8 years of age, many show no clinical signs. Taking into account the non-specific character of clinical and ultrasonographic findings, a new diagnostic approach has recently been proposed based on the augmentation of blood canine prostate-specific arginine esterase (CPSE) in hyperplasic dogs. The aim of the present study was to verify CPSE levels in negative controls and hyperplasic dogs, considering cytological findings as the reference method and taking into account the fact that controls were middle-aged intact dogs (median of 5.0 years), contrarily to previous studies carried out with very young control dogs. RESULTS: Significant differences of median CPSE levels were found between controls and hyperplasic dogs (29.1 versus 160.7 ng/mL, respectively); and significant positive correlations were found between median CPSE levels and age or prostatic volume (r = 0.549 and 0.448, respectively; p < 0.001). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios put into evidence the good performance of the test. The agreement between methods was found to be very high, notably between CPSE levels and cytological results (Cohen's kappa coefficients above 0.8). CONCLUSIONS: Considering the results all together, measurement of CPSE is confirmed as a useful and accurate method and should be considered as an alternative or complementary tool to conventional methods for the diagnosis of BPH in middle-aged dogs.

Bone turnover markers in sheep and goat: A review of the scientific literature.

Bone turnover markers (BTMs) are product of bone cell activity and are generally divided in bone formation and bone resorption markers. The purpose of this review was to structure the available information on the use of BTMs in studies on small ruminants, especially for monitoring their variations related to diet, exercise, gestation and metabolic lactation state, circadian and seasonal variations, and also during skeletal growth. Pre-clinical and translational studies using BTMs with sheep and goats as animal models in orthopaedic research studies to help in the evaluation of the fracture healing process and osteoporosis research are also described in this review. The available information from the reviewed studies was systematically organized in order to highlight the most promising BTMs in small ruminant research, as well as provide a wide view of the use of sheep and goat as animal models in orthopaedic research, type of markers and commercial assay kits with cross-reactivity in sheep and goat, method of sample and storage of serum and urine for bone turnover markers determination and the usefulness and limitations of bone turnover markers in the different studies, therefore an effective tool for researchers that seek answers to different questions while using BTMs in small ruminants.

Serum total and bone alkaline phosphatase levels and their correlation with serum minerals over the lifespan of sheep.

This study aimed to assess serum total alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and its bone isoform (BALP) levels during the ageing and in different physiologic states of sheep, in order to expand the knowledge about the variation of these biomarkers over the sheep lifespan. Ninety female sheep were divided into nine groups of various ages and physiological states (dry, lactation and pregnancy). Serum ALP, BALP and mineral levels were determined by commercial immunoassay, molecular absorbance spectrophotometry and chemical luminescence for BALP determination. Serum ALP and BALP decreased as sheep aged, and no statistically significant differences were obtained between ewes in different physiologic states. The continuous decline of serum BALP concentration along the sheep lifespan, namely in mature and old sheep, is a sign of decreasing bone turnover associated with ageing. Serum calcium concentrations increased slightly until 2 years of age and then showed a tenuous but statistically significant decrease in mature sheep, while serum phosphorus maintained an uninterrupted decrease as sheep matured. The knowledge of serum values of bone biomarkers throughout the sheep lifespan may be useful in preclinical orthopaedic research studies and for animal science studies using sheep.

A Comprehensive Exploration of Therapeutic Strategies in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Insights from Human and Animal Studies.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a collective term for a group of chronic inflammatory enteropathies which are characterized by intestinal inflammation and persistent or frequent gastrointestinal signs. This disease affects more than 3.5 million humans worldwide and presents some similarities between animal species, in particular, dogs and cats. Although the underlying mechanism that triggers the disease is not yet well understood, the evidence suggests a multifactorial etiology implicating genetic causes, environmental factors, microbiota imbalance, and mucosa immune defects, both in humans and in dogs and cats. Conventional immunomodulatory drug therapies, such as glucocorticoids or immunosuppressants, are related with numerous adverse effects that limit its long-term use, creating the need to develop new therapeutic strategies. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) emerge as a promising alternative that attenuates intestinal inflammation by modulating inflammatory cytokines in inflamed tissues, and also due to their pro-angiogenic, anti-apoptotic, anti-fibrotic, regenerative, anti-tumor, and anti-microbial potential. However, this therapeutic approach may have important limitations regarding the lack of studies, namely in veterinary medicine, lack of standardized protocols, and high economic cost. This review summarizes the main differences and similarities between human, canine, and feline IBD, as well as the potential treatment and future prospects of MSCs.

Interleukin-6 gene -174G>C and -636G>C promoter polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most commonly diagnosed internal malignancies affecting men. Due to the important roles of IL-6 in different physiological and pathophysiological processes, IL-6 polymorphisms may modulate PCa risk. IL-6 -174 G>C (rs 1800795, also designated -236 G>C) and -636 G>C (rs 1800796, also designated -572 G>C) promoter polymorphisms have been implicated in PCa susceptibility, albeit still controversial. A literature search using PubMed and Highwire databases was conducted, resulting in eight case-control studies concerning the IL-6 -174 G>C polymorphism (11,613 PCa cases and 13,992 controls) and four case-control publications regarding the IL-6 -636 G>C polymorphism (1,941 PCa cases and 3,357 controls). In order to derive a more precise estimation, a meta-analysis based upon these selected case-control studies was performed. There was no significant association between IL-6 -174 G>C polymorphism and PCa increased risk. Nevertheless, the presence of allele C and the CC genotype were statistically significantly associated with decreased PCa risk in the overall analysis for IL-6 -636 G>C polymorphism. Additional studies in larger samples and analyses of functional repercussions of these SNPs in prostate tumor cells are necessary to validate these findings.

Percutaneous approach for sialolith removal in a donkey.

Salivary duct lithiasis is a condition characterized by the partial or total obstruction ofa salivary gland or its excretory duct due to the formation of sialoliths. A 9-year-old female donkey, belonging to the unique and endangered indigenous breed of donkey in Portugal, was diagnosed with a sialolith in the rostral portion of the right parotid duct based on clinical, oral, dental, and radiographic examination results. Surgical removal of the sialolith was done through a percutaneous approach.

Genomic Medicine in Canine Periodontal Disease: A Systematic Review.

Genomic medicine has become a growing reality; however, it is still taking its first steps in veterinary medicine. Through this approach, it will be possible to trace the genetic profile of a given individual and thus know their susceptibility to certain diseases, namely periodontal disease. This condition is one of the most frequently diagnosed in companion animal clinics, especially in dogs. Due to the limited existing information and the lack of comprehensive studies, the objective of the present study was to systematically review the existing scientific literature regarding genomic medicine in canine periodontal disease and determine which genes have already been studied and their probable potential. This study followed the recommendations of the PRISMA 2020 methodology. Canine periodontal disease allied to genomic medicine were the subjects of this systematic review. Only six articles met all of the inclusion criteria, and these were analyzed in detail. These studies described genetic variations in the following genes: interleukin-6, interleukin-10, interleukin-1, lactotransferrin, toll-like receptor 9, and receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B. Only in two of them, namely interleukin-1 and toll-like receptor 9 genes, may the identified genetic variations explain the susceptibility that certain individuals have to the development of periodontal disease. It is necessary to expand the studies on the existing polymorphic variations in genes and their relationship with the development of periodontal disease. Only then will it be possible to fully understand the biological mechanisms that are involved in this disease and that determine the susceptibility to its development.

Evaluation of Feline Permanent Canine Tooth Mineral Density Using Micro-Computed Tomography.

The tooth is made up of three mineralized tissues, enamel, dentin, and cementum, which surround a non-mineralized tissue called the dental pulp. Micro-computed tomography (mCT) is an imaging technology based on X-rays that allows non-invasive visualization of objects at a microscopic scale, according to their radiopacity and in three dimensions (3D). Likewise, it allows the subsequent execution of morphological and quantitative analysis of the objects, such as, for example, the determination of the relative mineral density (MD). The present work aimed to describe the MD of feline teeth using mCT. The studied sample consisted of four European Shorthair cats, from which nine canine teeth were extracted per medical indication. These teeth were evaluated through dental radiography before and after their extraction. Using mCT and the CTAn software, the values of the relative mineral density of the root of each tooth and of specific segments corresponding to the coronal, middle, and apical thirds of the root were determined. Mean MD of root tissues was 1.374 ± 0040 g·cm-3, and of hard root, tissues was 1.402 ± 0.035 g·cm-3. Through mCT, it was possible to determine the mean MD values of feline canine teeth. The study of MD could become an ancillary method for the diagnosis and characterization of dental pathology.