Assessment of retinal atrophy in mixed breed dogs using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and electroretinography.

The aim of the study was to characterize retinal atrophy (RA) with progressive retinal atrophy symptoms in mixed breed dogs using ophthalmoscopy, spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and electroretinography (ERG).The study was performed on 13 mixed breed dogs affected by retinal atrophy (11 males and 2 females that were 1.5-14 years old). Depending on the advancement of RA, SD-OCT examinations identified retinal abnormalities ranging from layer disorganisation to advanced atrophy. The most advanced RA occurred ventral to the optic disc. Total retinal thickness in both eyes (mean ± SD) was lower in dogs with RA compared to controls dorsally (77.7 ± 39.5 µm vs 173.5 ± 13.3 µm), ventrally (33.4 ± 29.9 µm vs 139.5 ± 10.8 µm), nasally (65.0 ± 34.5 µm vs 163.9 ± 11.0 µm) and temporally (61.8 ± 41.7 µm vs 171.9 ± 11.1 µm) to the optic disc. In dogs with locally normal architecture of inner retina, loss of definition of outer retinal layers occurred in many regions. Dark and light-adapted ERGs were reduced in 2 dogs with RA and were unrecordable in 11 dogs. Lesions evident in SD-OCT scans of mixed breed dogs affected with retinal atrophy initially appear ventrally to the optic disc and ventro-dorsally in advanced RA. In all mixed breed dogs with retinal atrophy, clinical signs and SD-OCT results correlate with ERG findings.

Lightweight On-Device Detection of Android Malware Based on the Koodous Platform and Machine Learning.

Currently, Android is the most popular operating system among mobile devices. However, as the number of devices with the Android operating system increases, so does the danger of using them. This is especially important as smartphones increasingly authenticate critical activities(e-banking, e-identity). BotSense Mobile is a tool already integrated with some critical applications (e-banking, e-identity) to increase user safety. In this paper, we focus on the novel functionality of BotSense Mobile: the detection of malware applications on a user device. In addition to the standard blacklist approach, we propose a machine learning-based model for unknown malicious application detection. The lightweight neural network model is deployed on an edge device to avoid sending sensitive user data outside the device. For the same reason, manifest-related features can be used by the detector only. We present a comprehensive empirical analysis of malware detection conducted on recent data (May-June, 2022) from the Koodous platform, which is a collaborative platform where over 70 million Android applications were collected. The research highlighted the problem of machine learning model aging. We evaluated the lightweight model on recent Koodous data and obtained f1=0.77 and high precision (0.9).

The effects of environmental parameters on the microbial activity in peat-bog lakes.

Microbiological activity is an important parameter for understanding the functioning of different environments. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to estimate the quantity and contribution of metabolically active at the single-cell level bacteria in the microbial community in peat-bog lakes. To determine different aspects of the metabolic activity of bacteria, four fluorescent staining methods (Dehydrogenase/Electron Transport System Activity -CTC+, Nucleoid Containing Cells- NuCC+, Active Bacteria with Intact Ribosome Structures- RIB+ and Active Bacteria With an Intact Membrane-MEM+) were applied. We identified four natural peat-bog lakes in Northern Europe to determine which factors-community (bacterial factors) or environment (hydrochemical and physical factors)-have a significant influence on the quantitative dynamics of metabolically active microorganisms, in terms of seasonal and habitat changes. The results show that change in the amount of abiotic components such as DOC, TN, and TOC can result in stress, which may limit a function but does not lead to losing all other metabolic functions in the community-forming bacteria. In nutrient-poor peat bog lakes, nutrients and organic carbon are factors which regulate the overall activity of the community.

Electroretinographic findings in day-blind dogs.

Cone degeneration (cd; day blindness) is one of the inherited retinal diseases of dogs. Its diagnosis is based on vision testing, fundoscopy, electroretinography (ERG) and, for some breeds, on genetic tests. Typical signs of the disease are day blindness and cone dysfunction during ERG while fundoscopy does not show any abnormalities. The aim of this study was to compare behavioural findings, fundoscopic lesions and electroretinographic alterations in 12 cd-affected dogs (Alaskan Malamute, Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, Dachshund, Yorkshire Terrier, Shih Tzu, Siberian Husky and crossbreeds) examined at our clinic. None of the examined dogs had any fundoscopic lesions, and all of them had normal scotopic vision with strongly impaired or absent photopic vision. Light-adapted transient, cone-mediated and steady-state, 31-Hz cone flicker ERGs were much below the 5th percentile limits of normality or even unrecordable, while the rod-driven ERGs were within normal values. Vision test and ERG results corresponded to each other and, combined with the results of fundoscopy, were typical of cd. To date, our research is one of the few studies in the world presenting ERG alterations compared with vision test findings and fundoscopic results in the course of cd.

Influence of selected environmental factors on the abundance of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs in peat-bog lakes.

Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAPs) are photoheterotrophic prokaryotes that are widespread in many limnic and marine environments. So far, little is known about their distribution in peat-bog lakes. Seventeen peat-bog lakes were sampled during three summer seasons 2009, 2011, and 2012, and the vertical distribution of AAPs was determined by infrared epifluorescence microscopy. The analysis demonstrated that in the surface layers of the studied lakes, AAP abundance ranged from 0.3 to 12.04 × 10(5) cells mL(-1), which represents <1 to 18.3 % of the total bacteria. The vertical distribution of AAPs confirmed their presence in the upper parts of the water column with minimum numbers in the anoxic bottom waters. We have shown that the AAP abundance was significantly positively correlated with the water pH, and the highest proportion of photoheterotrophs was found in peat-bog lakes with a pH between 6.7 and 7.6. Our results demonstrated an influence of water acidity on the abundance of AAPs, which may reflect a fundamental difference in the microbial composition between acidic and pH neutral peat-bog lakes.

Seasonal changes of microbial communities in two shallow peat bog lakes.

Peat bog lakes represent important ecosystems in temperate and boreal zones. We investigated the seasonal dynamics of the microbial community in two small peat bog lakes, Kuznik Olsowy and Kuznik Bagienny, located in western Poland. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses revealed that the bacterial community was dominated by Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, in addition to a substantial number of archaea. An infrared epifluorescence analysis demonstrated that aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAPs) constituted a significant fraction of bacterial plankton (1-19%). All the bacterial groups exhibited large seasonal changes whose course differed between the studied lakes. While chlorophyll had its maximum during winter or early summer, AAPs peaked in summer, when the growth of this group was stimulated by higher irradiance and elevated water temperatures.

Seasonal patterns of the bacterioplankton community composition in a lake threatened by a pesticide disposal site.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND AIM AND SCOPE: The objective of the study was to determine the effects of ca. 35 years of pesticide contamination (pesticide dump-PD) of Lake Szelag Wielki (located in the north-eastern Poland) on changes in the microbial communities of aquatic ecosystems. In the years 2008-2009, analyses were carried out for seasonal changes in the quantity and composition of bacterioplankton in the lake examined, which is of high significance to the tourism and fishing industries and is located in the vicinity of an area subjected to reclamation after a pesticide dump. METHODS: Bacterioplankton composition was assayed by fluorescence in situ hybridisation technique for the contribution of major groups of the Bacteria domain: ά-, ß- and γ-Proteobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacterium and Actinobacteria as well as bacteria capable of degrading pesticides in an aquatic environment-Pseudomonas spp. Seasonal patterns of the total number of bacteria were determined by direct counting of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)-stained cells. RESULTS: The percentage of the detected Eubacteria (EUB 338 probe) relative to all the DAPI-stained bacteria in Lake Szelag Wielki ranged from 46% to 63%. Bacteria capable of degrading pesticides in an aquatic environment-Pseudomonas spp.-were identified with a highly specific probe PEA 998. The highest mean values of this parameter reached 5.1%. In the spring, Pseudomonas spp. bacteria accounted for up to 80% of all Gamma-Proteobacteria microbes. CONCLUSION: The study showed that the qualitative and quantitative changes in the bacterioplankton of the lake can be characterised by tendencies which are typical of a eutrophic water reservoir. However, a higher contribution of microorganisms capable of degrading sparingly degradable, toxic compounds and pesticides was determined in bacterioplankton from the PD-contaminated lake, as compared to microbial communities of a lake not contaminated with pesticides.