Environmental and economic determinants of temporal dynamics of the ruminant movement network of Senegal.

Our understanding of the drivers of the temporal dynamics of livestock mobility networks is currently limited, despite their significant implications for the surveillance and control of infectious diseases. We analyzed the effect of time-varying environmental and economic variables-biomass production, rainfall, livestock market prices, and religious calendar on long-distance movements of cattle and small ruminant herds in Senegal in the years 2014 and 2019. We used principal component analysis to explore the variation of the hypothesized explanatory variables in space and time and a generalized additive modelling approach to assess the effect of those variables on the likelihood of herd movement between pairs of administrative units. Contrary to environmental variables, the patterns of variation of market prices show significant differences across locations. The explanatory variables at origin had the highest contribution to the model deviance reduction. Biomass production and rainfall were found to affect the likelihood of herd movement for both species on at least 1 year. Market price at origin had a strong and consistent effect on the departure of small ruminant herds. Our study shows the potential benefits of regular monitoring of market prices for future efforts at forecasting livestock movements and associated sanitary risks.

Analysis of DNA methylation and TP53 mutational status for differentiating feline oral squamous cell carcinoma from non-neoplastic mucosa: A preliminary study.

Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (FOSCC) is characterized by high local invasiveness and early bone lysis. The late diagnosis largely limits the efficacy of therapy and increases treatment-related morbidity. The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the methylation pattern of 10 candidate genes and TP53 mutational status in histologic samples of FOSCC. Results were compared with normal oral mucosa and oral inflammatory lesions, in order to establish a gene panel for FOSCC detection. For 10 cats, the above analyses were also performed on oral brushing samples, in order to explore the utility of these methods for screening purposes. Thirty-one FOSCC, 25 chronic inflammatory lesions and 12 controls were included. TP53 mutations were significantly more frequent in the FOSCC (68%) than in the non-neoplastic oral mucosa (3%; P <.001). Based on lasso regression analysis, a step-wise algorithm including TP53, FLI1, MiR124-1, KIF1A and MAGEC2 was proposed. The algorithm allowed to differentiate FOSCC with 94% sensitivity and 100% specificity (accuracy, 97%). When applying the proposed algorithm on 10 brushing samples, accuracy decreased to 80%. These results indicate that the altered DNA methylation of specific genes is present in FOSCC, together with a significant proportion of TP53 mutations. Such alterations are infrequent in normal oral mucosa and chronic stomatitis in cats, suggesting their involvement in feline oral carcinogenesis and their utility as diagnostic biomarkers. Further studies on a high number of brushing samples will be needed to assess the utility of a screening test for the early detection of FOSCC.

Bromatological characteristics of Macrotyloma axillare as a function of combined supply of phosphorus and calcium / Características bromatológicas de Macrotyloma axillare em função do suprimento combinado de fósforo e cálcio

The supply of nutrients to forage legumes is significant for their nutritional quality. The study aimed to evaluate the bromatological characteristics of the legume Macrotyloma axillare in response to the combined application of phosphorus and calcium. The study was conducted in a greenhouse on a Red Yellow Ultisol. A fractionated 52 factorial was used, with 13 different combinations of phosphorus and calcium application rates (P-Ca): 0-0; 0-20; 0-40; 100-10; 100-30; 200-0; 200-20; 200-40; 300-10; 300-30; 400-0; 400-20; and 400-40 mg dm-3. Experimental units were set in a randomized block design, with four replications. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, and crude protein (CP) in the leaves and branches were determined in two harvests. In both harvests of the legume we observed that the ADF, hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin contents in the leaves did not show isolated or combined responses to phosphorus and calcium rates. It was concluded that the combined supply of phosphorus and calcium did not interfere in the nutritional quality of the legume. Calcium supplied alone interfered only the NDF content and phosphorus supplied of the CP of the leaves. Phosphorus rates of 31.5 mg dm-3 and 28.2 mg dm-3 were responsible for the lower NDF content in the leaves and the higher hemicellulose content in the branches, respectively.(AU)

O fornecimento de nutrientes para as leguminosas forrageiras é importante para sua qualidade nutricional. O estudo objetivou avaliar as características bromatológicas da Macrotyloma axillare em resposta a aplicação combinada de doses de fósforo e cálcio. O estudo foi desenvolvido em uma casa de vegetação sob um Argissolo Vermelho-Amarelo. Utilizou-se um esquema fatorial 52 fracionado, com 13 combinações diferentes das doses de fósforo e cálcio (P-Ca): 0-0, 0‒40, 0‒80, 15‒20, 15‒60, 30‒0, 30‒40, 30‒80, 45‒20, 45‒60, 60‒0, 60‒40, e 60‒80 mg dm-3. As unidades experimentais foram distribuídas em delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições. Determinou-se fibra em detergente neutro (FDN), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA), hemicelulose, celulose, lignina e proteína bruta (PB) das folhas e ramos em dois cortes. Nos dois cortes da leguminosa observou-se que os teores de FDA, hemicelulose, celulose e lignina das folhas não apresentaram respostas isoladas ou combinadas às doses de fósforo e cálcio. Concluiu-se que o fornecimento combinado de fósforo e cálcio não influenciou na qualidade nutricional da leguminosa. O fornecimento isolado de cálcio interferiu somente no teor de FDN e fornecimento de fósforo na PB das folhas. As doses de fósforo de 31,5 mg dm-3 e 28,2 mg dm-3 foram responsáveis pelo menor teor de FDN nas folhas e pelo maior teor de hemicelulose nos ramos, respectivamente.(AU)