A combined methodological approach to characterize pig farming and its influence on the occurrence of interactions between wild boars and domestic pigs in Corsican micro-regions

The pig sector in Corsica is based by a wide range of farming systems, mainly characterized on traditional extensive practices, which favor contacts between domestic and wild individuals. These contacts are suspected to influence the maintenance and the transmission of shared infectious diseases between both populations. Therefore, it is important to develop methods that allow to understand and anticipate their occurrence. Modeling these interactions requires accurate data on the presence, location and use of land on pig farms and farming practices, but such data are often unavailable, incomplete or outdated. In this study, we suggest a method to collect and analyze pig farming information that combines approaches from social sciences and epidemiology and enables a spatial representation of an index of potential interaction (IPI) between wild and domestic pigs at municipality level in the Corsican territory. As a first step of the process, interviews were conducted to gather information from 103 pig farms. Then, using hierarchical clustering, we identified five different clusters of pig farming practices which were evaluated and validated by local experts using participatory tools. The five pig farming clusters with their respective estimated levels of direct and indirect interactions with wild boars were combined in a linear equation with pig density to estimate a hypothetical index of potential interaction (IPI) in 155 municipalities. Our results revealed the diversity of pig farming practices across the island of Corsica and pointed out potential hotspots of interaction. Our method proved to be an effective way to collect and update information on the presence and typology of pig farms which has the potential to update official livestock production statistics. The spatial representation of an IPI between wild boars and domestic pigs in the Corsican territory could help design regional disease management strategies and policies to improve the control of certain shared pig pathogens in pig farms from Corsica.

Low prevalence of hepatitis E virus in the liver of Corsican pigs slaughtered after 12 months despite high antibody seroprevalence

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection can be acute and benign or evolve to chronic hepatitis with rapid progression toward cirrhosis or liver failure in humans. Hence, hepatitis E (HE) disease is a major public health concern. In countries where pig populations are highly contaminated with HEV, human cases of HE are mainly foodborne, occurring frequently after consumption of raw or undercooked pork products or liver. Among factors associated to the presence of HEV in pork livers from intensive rearing systems, early slaughter (≤6 months) seems to be major. In Corsica, local pigs are raised in extensive farming systems and slaughtered after 12 months. To evaluate if slaughter of pigs over 12 months reduces the risk of HEV presence in livers, 1197 liver samples were randomly collected in 2 Corsican slaughterhouses. Presence of HEV RNA was detected in liver and HEV seroprevalence was determined in paired serum. The sampling included 1083 livers from animals between 12 and 48 months and 114 livers from animals <12 months. The samples were predominantly from semi-extensive and extensive farms (n = 1154). Estimated HEV seroprevalence was high, that is, >88%, and HEV RNA prevalence in adult pig livers (>12 months old) was low, that is, 0.18%. However, in livers from younger animals (<12 months), including piglets below 6 months old, 5.3% (6/114) of the samples were positive for HEV RNA. Sequences recovered from positive livers belonged to HEV genotype 3c and 3f. The presence of infectious HEV was confirmed in two livers by the detection of HEV replication in HepaRG cell cultures. Thus, this study demonstrates the low prevalence of HEV in livers of pigs over 12 months, even in farms with high HEV circulation. This observation may open new perspectives on the preferential use of livers from animals older than 12 months in raw pork liver products.

Risk Factors of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Producing Enterobacteriaceae Occurrence in Farms in Reunion, Madagascar and Mayotte Islands, 2016-2017

In South Western Indian ocean (IO), Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) are a main public health issue. In livestock, ESBL-E burden was unknown. The aim of this study was estimating the prevalence of ESBL-E on commercial farms in Reunion, Mayotte and Madagascar and genes involved. Secondly, risk factors of ESBL-E occurrence in broiler, beef cattle and pig farms were explored. In 2016-2017, commercial farms were sampled using boot swabs and samples stored at 4 °C before microbiological analysis for phenotypical ESBL-E and gene characterization. A dichotomous questionnaire was performed. Prevalences observed in all production types and territories were high, except for beef cattle in Reunion, which differed significantly. The most common ESBL gene was bla_CTX-M-1. Generalized linear models explaining ESBL-E occurrence varied between livestock production sectors and allowed identifying main protective (e.g., water quality control and detergent use for cleaning) and risk factors (e.g., recent antibiotic use, other farmers visiting the exploitation, pet presence). This study is the first to explore tools for antibiotic resistance management in IO farms. It provides interesting hypothesis to explore about antibiotic use in IO territories and ESBL-E transmission between pig, beef cattle and humans in Madagascar.

Assessment of Domestic Pigs, Wild Boars and Feral Hybrid Pigs as Reservoirs of Hepatitis E Virus in Corsica, France

In Corsica, extensive pig breeding systems allow frequent interactions between wild boars and domestic pigs, which are suspected to act as reservoirs of several zoonotic diseases including hepatitis E virus (HEV). In this context, 370 sera and 166 liver samples were collected from phenotypically characterized as pure or hybrid wild boars, between 2009 and 2012. In addition, serum and liver from 208 domestic pigs belonging to 30 farms were collected at the abattoir during the end of 2013. Anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 26% (21%–31.6%) of the pure wild boar, 43.5% (31%–56.7%) of hybrid wild boar and 88% (82.6%–91.9%) of the domestic pig sera. In addition, HEV RNA was detected in five wild boars, three hybrid wild boars and two domestic pig livers tested. Our findings provide evidence that both domestic pig and wild boar (pure and hybrid) act as reservoirs of HEV in Corsica, representing an important zoonotic risk for Corsican hunters and farmers but also for the large population of consumers of raw pig liver specialties produced in Corsica. In addition, hybrid wild boars seem to play an important ecological role in the dissemination of HEV between domestic pig and wild boar populations, unnoticed to date, that deserves further investigation.

In-vacuum optical isolation changes by heating in a Faraday isolator

We describe a model evaluating changes in the optical isolation of a Faraday isolator when passing from air to vacuum in terms of different thermal effects in the crystal. The changes are particularly significant in the crystal thermal lensing (refraction index and thermal expansion) and in its Verdet constant and can be ascribed to the less efficient convection cooling of the magneto-optic crystal of the Faraday isolator. An isolation decrease by a factor of 10 is experimentally observed in a Faraday isolator that is used in a gravitational wave experiment (Virgo) with a 10 W input laser when going from air to vacuum. A finite element model simulation reproduces with a great accuracy the experimental data measured on Virgo and on a test bench. A first set of measurements of the thermal lensing has been used to characterize the losses of the crystal, which depend on the sample. The isolation factor measured on Virgo confirms the simulation model and the absorption losses of 0.0016 +/- 0.0002/cm for the TGG magneto-optic crystal used in the Faraday isolator.

Inducible nitric oxide synthase, anti-oxidant enzymes and Helicobacter pylori infection in gastritis and gastric precancerous lesions in humans

Chronic inflammation induced by Helicobacter pylori infection has been associated with an increased risk of stomach cancer. We have analysed 167 stomach biopsies from 99 patients for H. pylori infection and immunohistochemically for the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), catalase and superoxide dismutases (SODs) as markers of oxidative stress. Biopsies were graded as follows on the basis of histology: normal, superficial gastritis, variable severity of atrophic gastritis with or without intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia. iNOS was detected in inflammatory cells in all types of gastritis with or without H. pylori infection and independently of its severity. In foveolar cells, iNOS was observed in approximately 25% of all biopsies showing any type of gastritis, but in a markedly higher proportion of dysplastic samples. Catalase and Mn-type SOD in inflammatory cells and catalase in foveolar cells were more frequently observed in marked atrophic gastritis biopsies than in less severe gastritis. Individual differences were found in the expression of these enzymes within groups with the same severity of gastritis. Prolonged oxidative stress in severe gastritis and dysplasia may play an important role in gastric carcinogenesis, through increased damage of DNA and tissue by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species.

The ecdysone response enhancer of the Fbp1 gene of Drosophila melanogaster is a direct target for the EcR/USP nuclear receptor

The transcription of the Drosophila melanogaster Fbp1 gene is induced by the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone and restricted to the late-third-instar fat body tissue. In a previous study we showed that the -68 to -138 region relative to the transcription start site acts as an ecdysone-dependent third-instar fat body-specific enhancer in a transgenic assay. Here we report that seven nucleoprotein complexes are formed in vitro on this enhancer when a nuclear extract from late-third-instar fat body is used in a gel shift assay. Accurate mapping of the binding sites of the complexes revealed a remarkably symmetrical organization. Using specific antibodies, one of the complexes was identified as a heterodimer consisting of the ecdysone receptor (EcR) and Ultraspiracle (USP) proteins. The binding site of the heterodimer as defined by mutagenesis and methylation interference experiments bears strong sequence similarity to the canonical hsp27 ecdysone response element, including an imperfect palindromic structure. The two elements diverge at three positions in both half-sites, indicating that the structure of an active EcR/USP binding site allows considerable sequence variations. In vivo footprinting experiments using ligation-mediated PCR and wild-type or ecdysteroid-deficient larvae show that occupancy of the Fbp1 EcR/USP binding site and adjacent region is dependent on a high concentration of ecdysteroids. These results provide strong evidence for a direct role of the EcR/USP heterodimer in driving gene expression in response to changes of the ecdysteroid titer during Drosophila larval development.

In vivo functional characterization of an ecdysone response enhancer in the proximal upstream region of the Fbp1 gene of D. melanogaster

Transcription of the D. melanogaster Fat-body-protein-1 (Fbp1) gene is induced by the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone and is restricted to the fat body tissue at the end of the third larval instar. The location and functional properties of the Fbp1 cis-acting regulatory sequences contained in the region from -1386 to +80 relative to the transcription start were examined by transformation using hybrid constructs with the Adh or lacZ genes as reporters. Regulatory element(s) required for the full level of transcription of the Fbp1 gene were located between positions -1386 and -138. Sequences between -138 and -68 were able to drive transcription from a heterologous minimal promoter in the fat body of late third instar larvae. Remarkably, these sequences also conferred 20-hydroxyecdysone inducibility and behaved as an enhancer-like element. These results provide the first functional characterization, at the level of the whole organism, using a direct in vivo ecdysone induction assay, of a discrete ecdysone response element.

Sequence of the novel joints present in the amplified DNA of N-phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate resistant Drosophila cells: implication on the mechanisms of amplification in these cells

We have previously shown the presence, in the amplified DNA of a Drosophila cell line resistant to N-phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate (PALA), of two units of 150 kb and 120 kb respectively duplicated and amplified. The two joints (J1 and J2) linking these units as well as their respective wild-type counterparts have been sequenced. Sequence analysis indicates that a region of the Drosophila genome which corresponds to the proximal boundary of the 150 kb unit is common to both joints. In addition to this common region, the J1 junction possesses a 26-nucleotide sequence belonging to the J2 junction. This indicates that the J2 junction was the first formed, and that J1, therefore, results from recombination between J2 and a region of the wild-type genome 120 kb distal to J2. Sequence analysis also reveals that the joints result from illegitimate recombination between unrelated regions. AT-rich sequences, strand bias composition and putative topoisomerase I and II sites were found in at least one of the two parental sequences involved in the formation of the joints. On the basis of these results we can hypothesize that after two illegitimate recombinations between sister chromatids, leading first to J2 and then to J1, the amplification may have arisen by a series of homologous (unequal crossing-over) or illegitimate recombinations, or by an intrachromosomal rolling circle.

Structural features critical to the activity of an ecdysone receptor binding site

Two ecdysone-response elements from the hsp27 (hsp27 EcRE) and the Fbp1 (D EcRE) genes of Drosophila melanogaster were used as probes in a gel shift assay to investigate the interactions of the ecdysone receptor (EcR) with its cognate DNA response element. The source of EcR was a nuclear extract from the late third-larval instar fat body. The hsp27 and D EcREs share a sequence similarity at 12 positions over a 15bp region including an imperfect palindromic structure consisting of two pentamer half-sites separated by a single intervening nucleotide. We have shown that a short oligonucleotide containing this 11bp imperfect palindrome of the hsp27 EcRE and three flanking bp on each side is an efficient EcR binding site. Mutational analysis confirms that the integrity of both these half-sites as well as their 1bp spacing are critical for binding of the ecdysone receptor. The D EcRE behaved as a much weaker EcR binding site than the hsp27 EcRE but a single bp substitution was sufficient to confer upon it a binding capacity equivalent to that of the hsp27 EcRE. These results have led us to propose the sequence PuG(G/T)T(C/G)A(N)TG(C/A)(C/A)(C/t)Py as a revised version of a previously proposed EcRE consensus sequence.

Multiple neuroendocrine responses to chronic social stress: interaction between individual characteristics and situational factors

After four weeks of individual housing, male Wistar rats (selected for high or low spontaneous aggressiveness by multiple round-robin encounters) were housed three per cage and submitted to four weeks of chronic social stress consisting of changing membership in the social groups by daily rotation of the animals among cages every day according to a random permutation procedure. In addition, half the males in each condition were housed with three females. Each environmental condition triggered different neuroendocrine changes. Cohabitation with females increased the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis activity, including enlargement of adrenals and increased circulating corticosterone levels. On the other hand, daily rotation of the rats between different social groups activated part of the sympathetic nervous system, such as increased phenylethanolamine N-methyl transferase (PNMT) activity in the adrenals. The level of aggressiveness, however, had no direct influence but interacted with environmental factors on such neuroendocrine measures as circulating testosterone or plasma renin activity. These results indicate that during chronic stress, there is no single, unique response by the animal, but a highly complex set of neuroendocrine changes, dependent on the interaction between individual characteristics (the level of aggressiveness is an example) and situational factors.

Carcinogenicity studies with deltamethrin in mice and rats

The pesticide Deltamethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid, was studied for carcinogenicity in long-term experiments in mice and rats. Mice were given Deltamethrin by gavage in arachis oil at 0, 1, 4 or 8 mg/kg body wt for 2 years. A group of untreated controls was also available. Rats received 0, 3 or 6 mg/kg body wt. Deltamethrin in arachis oil for 2 years. In mice, an increased incidence of lymphomas was observed in the groups receiving 1 and 4 mg/kg body wt., but not in the group treated with 8 mg/kg body wt. Deltamethrin. In rats, an increased incidence of thyroid tumours was noted, but, no clear dose-response relationship was shown. Deltamethrin does not appear to be carcinogenic in mice or rats, but further studies are needed on the group of compounds to which this substance belongs.

Plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic hormone during endogenous glucocorticoid hypercorticism

In vitro studies have shown that glucocorticoids may increase atrial natriuretic-hormone (ANH) synthesis and/or release. This action of glucocorticoids has also been suggested in vivo in patients with Cushing's syndrome. However, in this circumstance, plasma AH elevation might be due to humoral disturbances associated with cortisol overproduction. We studied 16 patients with endogenous hypercorticism and 11 of them after successful treatment. Plasma levels of ANH, plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone, desoxycorticosterone (DOC), angiotensin II (AII), cortisol, osmolarity, sodium and potassium, urinary free cortisol (UFC), and blood pressure were measured. Before treatment the mean plasma ANH concentration in patients with Cushing's syndrome was significantly higher than in controls (11.3 +/- 2.6 vs. 4.9 +/- 2.3 pmol/l; p less than 0.001). ANH was correlated with cortisol and UFC (r = 0.715, r = 0.700; p less than 0.05). There was no significant correlation between plasma ANH, PRA, aldosterone, DOC, AII, osmolarity, sodium or blood pressure. After recovery, ANH concentration decreased in all patients and was not different from that of normal subjects (4.9 +/- 2.3 vs. 4.3 +/- 2.6 pmol/l). These results suggest that in Cushing's syndrome, ANH secretion is mainly dependent on the severity of hypercortisolism and independent of the other associated disturbances that we studied.

Structural organization and expression of amplified chromosomal sequences, which include the rudimentary gene, in cultured Drosophila cells resistant to N-(phosphonacetyl)-L-aspartate

We have used 160 kilobases of cloned Drosophila genomic DNA from the rudimentary (r) region to examine the organization of amplified DNA in Drosophila cells resistant to 10 mM N-(phosphonacetyl)-L-aspartate (PALAr cells) obtained by stepwise selection. Evidence for the direct tandem linkage of the amplified sequences is presented. The pattern and intensity of amplified bands as well as the presence of novel junctions in the DNA sequence of PALAr cells indicate that there are two types of units of 150 and 120 kilobases long. The sequence of the smaller unit is entirely included within the larger one. The longer of the two units is present twice while the shorter one is amplified eightfold as compared to the level of the relevant DNA sequences in the wild-type. These data are consistent with a model in which successive crossing-over events over several cell cycles lead to amplification of the selected r gene and flanking sequences. However, these data can also be accounted for by a totally different mechanism in which multiple copies of DNA are generated by rolling circle replication. Transcription units other than the r gene are present within the 150 kilobase region of amplified DNA. These are found to be overexpressed in PALAr cells, though some transcripts are underrepresented relative to the copy number of the corresponding coding sequences.

Larval fat body-specific gene expression in D. melanogaster

The Pl gene, together with the LSP-1 alpha, -1 beta, and -1 gamma, LSP-2, and P6 genes, is expressed exclusively in the larval fat body of D. melanogaster during the third instar. In vivo mapping of the cis-acting regulatory sequences of the P1 gene was carried out using hybrid constructs with three different reporter genes and a combination of transient and germline transformation assays. This revealed that regulatory elements involved in the setting up of the temporal and spatial specificities of transcription of the P1 gene are located in a short DNA region immediately upstream of the mRNA transcription start. This region includes an element that behaves as a fat-body transcriptional enhancer and element(s) required for ecdysone inducibility of transcription of the P1 gene.

Overproduction of the first three enzymes of pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis in Drosophila cells resistant to N-phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate

Drosophila cells were treated in vitro with N-phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate (PALA) which is a specific inhibitor of aspartate transcarbamylase, the second enzyme of the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. By stepwise selection using increasing amounts of this inhibitor, PALA-resistant (PALAr) stable clones have been isolated. Enzymatic activities of aspartate transcarbamylase, carbamyl phosphate synthetase and dihydro-orotase, borne by the same multifunctional protein, CAD, are increased 6-12-fold in these resistant clones compared with parental cells. The aspartate transcarbamylase in PALAr cells is shown by physical, kinetic and immunological criteria to be normal. The data from immunotitration and immunoblotting experiments indicate that the increased enzyme activities result from the overproduction of CAD.

Statistical study of a gamma camera transfer function

In order to investigate the theoretical resolution of a gamma camera, the position transfer function of the input converters, scintillator and photocathode, has been studied. It is assumed that point scintillations occur in a scintillator at xy0 at a height h above a plane photocathode of sensitivity p per incident photon and that the spatial emission pattern of photoelectrons is known completely. A statistical analysis is given of various methods for determination of the estimator x0 of x0 both for a photocathode of finite and infinite extent. It is shown that the standard deviation sigma of this estimator x0 has a minimum value 2h/(N0p)1/2 where N0p/2 is the total number of photoelectrons emitted by the cathode.

Incorporation of amino acids by rat liver nucleoli in vitro

Isolated rat liver nucleoli are shown to incorporate radioactive amino acids into proteins. The characteristics of this nucleolar protein-synthesizine system indicated that the incorporation observed was not due to cytoplasmic or bacterial contamination. The products synthesized by isolated nucleoli have been analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and subsequent autoradiography; this revealed a few radioactive bands suggesting that in vitro only a few proteins are labelled. The results presented are discussed in view of a possible nucleolar protein synthesis.