Outbreak of sheeppox in farmed sheep in Kyrgystan: Histological, eletron microscopical and molecular characterization.

INTRODUCTION: On a farm in the Kyrgyz Republic, several dead sheep were found without any history of illness. The sheep showed several ulcerations on lips and bare-skinned areas. At necropsy the lungs showed multiple firm nodules, which were defined as pox nodules histologically. In the rumen hyperkeratotic plaques were visible. With electron microscopy pox viral particles were detected and confirmed with q PCR as Capripoxviruses. Although all members of the Capripoxvirus genus are eradicated in western countries, this study should remind us of the classical lesions observed in poxvirus infections.

Energy harvesting from the beating heart by a mass imbalance oscillation generator.

Energy-harvesting devices attract wide interest as power supplies of today's medical implants. Their long lifetime will spare patients from repeated surgical interventions. They also offer the opportunity to further miniaturize existing implants such as pacemakers, defibrillators or recorders of bio signals. A mass imbalance oscillation generator, which consists of a clockwork from a commercially available automatic wrist watch, was used as energy harvesting device to convert the kinetic energy from the cardiac wall motion to electrical energy. An MRI-based motion analysis of the left ventricle revealed basal regions to be energetically most favorable for the rotating unbalance of our harvester. A mathematical model was developed as a tool for optimizing the device's configuration. The model was validated by an in vitro experiment where an arm robot accelerated the harvesting device by reproducing the cardiac motion. Furthermore, in an in vivo experiment, the device was affixed onto a sheep heart for 1 h. The generated power in both experiments-in vitro (30 µW) and in vivo (16.7 µW)-is sufficient to power modern pacemakers.