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Hovedformålet med projektet var at kortlægge prævalensen af halelæsioner hos Holstein og Holstein krydsninger i hhv. udvalgte besætninger i Nordjylland, og på et Nordjysk kreaturslagteri. Derudover skulle læsionerne beskrives makroskopisk og histologisk. Der er foretaget to delundersøgelser: en på slagteriet, hvor 457 malkekøer indgik, og her blev der fundet en prævalens på 23% [21,6%-25,2%], samt en i 16 udvalgte besætninger med i alt 2099 malkekøer, hvor prævalensen var 25% [23,6%-27,4%]. Halelæsioner fra slagteriet blev udtaget til histologisk undersøgelse. Udgangspunktet for specialet var læsioner klassificeret i tre makroskopiske grupper: 1. Akut, 2. Kronisk, 3. Ophelet. De histologiske resultater viste, at ingen akutte læsioner var akutte, selvom de makroskopisk var beskrevet sådan. Resultaterne for de kroniske læsioner viste som forventet tegn på inflammation og reparation. For de makroskopisk klassificerede ophelede læsioner viste det sig, at hårfolikler og svedkirtler var intakte, med ophobning af kollagen omkring. Udfra disse resultater kunne man ikke sige om læsionerne startede eller sluttede med denne gruppe. Af denne grund blev gruppe 3. omdøbt til i stedet at hedde ”bindevævsringe”. Det blev observeret, at læsionerne altid sad mellem 2 og 22 cm fra halespidsen, med en gennemsnitsplacering på henholdsvis 8 og 7 cm fra halespidsen for de kroniske læsioner og bindevævsringene fra slagteridelundersøgelsen, og tilsvarende henholdsvis 7 og 6,25 cm fra halespidsen i besætningsdelundersøgelsen. Læsionerne omkranser halen i varierende grad, og i størstedelen af tilfældene er omkring halvdelen af halens omkreds dækket af læsionen. Læsionen fandtes altid dorsalt på halen, hvis ikke den var fuld circumciderende. Udvalgte variabler er undersøgt i forbindelse med de to delundersøgelser. Der er udarbejdet en univariabel og multivariabel analyse på disse. Resultaterne viste en sammenhæng mellem forekomsten af halelæsioner og stig, The purpose of this master’s thesis was to estimate the prevalence of tail lesions in Danish Holstein and Holstein-mix dairy cows. The study was split in two parts, one of which occurred in selected herds, and the other at a cattle abattoir, both in Northern Jutland, Denmark. The tail lesions were described macroscopically and histologically. A sample size of 457 dairy cows in the abattoir dataset found a prevalence of tail lesions at 23% [21,6%-25,2%], whereas in the 16 studied herds with a sample size of 2099 dairy cows, a prevalence of 25% [23,6%-27,4%] was found. Tail lesions found at the abattoir were selected and stored for later histology. Lesions were categorized macroscopically into three categories, acute, chronic, and healed lesions. Histological results suggested, that despite lesions being macroscopically assessed as acute, no histological indicators of this were found. Results from chronic lesions were as expected, with signs of inflammation and reparation. Healed lesions were found to have intact hair follicles and sweat glands, with a buildup of collagen around the named structures. From these results, it cannot be concluded if the lesion arose or ended in this specific group. Therefore, Group 3 was renamed “connective tissue rings”. It was observed that lesions were always placed between 2 to 22cm from tail tip, with an average placement of 8 and 7 cm from the tip of the tail of the chronic lesions and the connective tissue rings from the abattoir data, respectively. The average location in the herd data where 7 and 6,25 cm from the tip of the tail, respectively. The lesions circumcised the tail to a varying degree, but in most cases circumcised half of the tail’s circumference. Besides the characteristic placement and distribution, it was found, that the lesions always initially arose on the dorsal surface of the tail. Selected variables were studied, in both datasets, where a univariable and multivariable analyses were

Background and Aims Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are critical for preventing sudden cardiac death (SCD) in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). This study aims to identify cross-continental differences in utilization of primary prevention ICDs and survival free from sustained ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in ARVC.Methods This was a retrospective analysis of ARVC patients without prior VA enrolled in clinical registries from 11 countries throughout Europe and North America. Patients were classified according to whether they received treatment in North America or Europe and were further stratified by baseline predicted VA risk into low- (<10%/5 years), intermediate- (10%-25%/5 years), and high-risk (>25%/5 years) groups. Differences in ICD implantation and survival free from sustained VA events (including appropriate ICD therapy) were assessed.Results One thousand ninety-eight patients were followed for a median of 5.1 years; 554 (50.5%) received a primary prevention ICD, and 286 (26.0%) experienced a first VA event. After adjusting for baseline risk factors, North Americans were more than three times as likely to receive ICDs {hazard ratio (HR) 3.1 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.5, 3.8]} but had only mildly increased risk for incident sustained VA [HR 1.4 (95% CI 1.1, 1.8)]. North Americans without ICDs were at higher risk for incident sustained VA [HR 2.1 (95% CI 1.3, 3.4)] than Europeans.Conclusions North American ARVC patients were substantially more likely than Europeans to receive primary prevention ICDs across all arrhythmic risk strata. A lower rate of ICD implantation in Europe was not associated with a higher rate of VA events in those without ICDs., Funding Agencies|Leonie-Wild Foundation; Leyla Erkan Family Fund for ARVD Research; Hugh Calkins, Marvin H. Weiner, and Jacqueline J. Bernstein Cardiac Arrhythmia Center; Dr Francis P. Chiaramonte Private Foundation; Dr Satish, Rupal, and Robin Shah ARVD Fund at Johns Hopkins; Bogle Foundation; Campanella Family; Patrick J. Harrison Family; Peter French Memorial Foundation; ALF foundation; Wilmerding Endowments; NIH [T32HL007227]; NIH Loan Repayment Program [L30HL165535]; Philippa and Marvin Carsley Cardiology Research Chair; Montreal Heart Institute Foundation; Norwegian Research Council [309762, 288438, 298736]; ZonMW Off Road personal research grant; Dutch Heart Association; Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative - Dutch Heart Foundation [2018-30 PREDICT2]; Dutch Heart Foundation; Netherlands Heart Institute [06901]; Georg and Bertha Schwyzer-Winiker Foundation; Baugarten Foundation; Swiss National Science Foundation; Swiss Heart Foundation; USZ Foundation; Daniel Bravo Foundation; Spanish Society of Cardiology; Sociedad Espanola de Cardiologia; Swedish Heart Lung Foundation

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a small passerine known to be highly sedentary. Throughout a 30-year capture–mark–recapture study, we have obtained occasional reports of recoveries far outside our main metapopulation study system, documenting unusually long dispersal distances. Our records constitute the highest occurrence of long-distance dispersal events recorded for this species in Scandinavia. Such long-distance dispersals radically change the predicted distribution of dispersal distances and connectedness for our study metapopulation. Moreover, it reveals a much greater potential for colonization than formerly recorded for the house sparrow, which is an invasive species across four continents. These rare and occasional long-distance dispersal events are challenging to document but may have important implications for the genetic composition of small and isolated populations and for our understanding of dispersal ecology and evolution.

Aging has been associated with a changed composition and function of the gut microbiota (GM). Here, we investigate the effects of the multi-strain probiotic HOWARU® Restore on GM composition and function in seniors. Ninety-eight healthy adult volunteers aged ≥75 years were enrolled in a randomised, double-blinded intervention (NCT02207140), where they received HOWARU Restore (1010 CFU) or the placebo daily for 24 weeks, with 45 volunteers from each group completing the intervention. Questionnaires monitoring the effects on gastro-intestinal discomfort and bowel movements were collected. Faecal samples for GM characterisation (qPCR, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) and metabolomics (GC-FID, 1H NMR) were collected at the baseline and after 24 weeks. In the probiotic group, self-reported gastro-intestinal discomfort in the form of flatulence was significantly decreased during the intervention. At the baseline, 151 ‘core species’ (present in ≥95% of samples) were identified. Most core species belonged to the Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae families. Neither alpha diversity nor beta diversity or faecal metabolites was affected by probiotic intake. On the contrary, we observed high intra-individual GM stability, with ‘individual’ accounting for 72–75% of variation. In conclusion, 24 weeks of HOWARU Restore intake reduced gastro-intestinal discomfort in the form of flatulence in healthy seniors without significantly influencing GM composition or activity.

We examined a case of congenital idiopathic megaesophagus (CIM) in a 5-wk-old female Gordon Setter puppy by means of contrast radiography, autopsy, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry. Clinical and radiologic findings included weight stagnation and marked generalized esophageal dilation with ventral displacement of the heart and lungs. These findings were confirmed at autopsy, and segments of the thoracic esophagus were sampled for histopathology. On histopathology, diffuse esophageal muscular atrophy, mucosal erosions, mononuclear inflammation, and a marked reduction in the number of myenteric plexus structures and number of ganglion cells were present (aganglionosis). The latter was determined immunohistochemically using an anti-peripherin antibody as the primary reagent, which provides a strong tool for the histologic confirmation of CIM. The histologic findings share some similarities to lesions associated with megaesophagus in Friesian foals, as well as esophageal achalasia and Hirschsprung disease in humans., We examined a case of congenital idiopathic megaesophagus (CIM) in a 5-wk-old female Gordon Setter puppy by means of contrast radiography, autopsy, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry. Clinical and radiologic findings included weight stagnation and marked generalized esophageal dilation with ventral displacement of the heart and lungs. These findings were confirmed at autopsy, and segments of the thoracic esophagus were sampled for histopathology. On histopathology, diffuse esophageal muscular atrophy, mucosal erosions, mononuclear inflammation, and a marked reduction in the number of myenteric plexus structures and number of ganglion cells were present (aganglionosis). The latter was determined immunohistochemically using an anti-peripherin antibody as the primary reagent, which provides a strong tool for the histologic confirmation of CIM. The histologic findings share some similarities to lesions associated with megaesophagus in Friesian foals, as well as esophageal achalasia and Hirschsprung disease in humans.

Pulmonary aspergillosis constitutes an increasingly prevalent and potentially fatal complex of mycotic diseases, caused by different species of Aspergillus. The broad spectrum of pathological manifestations associated with pulmonary aspergillosis necessitates a differentiation of commensalism from saprophytic colonization, hypersensitivity reactions, and true invasive infections, which highlights the importance of histopathology as a gold standard in a diagnostic setting. For the past decades, changes in terminology and contradicting contributions from different diagnostic disciplines have made the classification of pulmonary aspergillosis rather confusing. This review offers a categorization of aspergillosis lesions based on what can be histopathologically identified and distinguished, differentiating between acute invasive infection and forms of subacute, chronic, and allergic diseases and coinfections, and summarizes important manifestations of lesions associated with the different forms of pulmonary aspergillosis.

Background: The relationship between combined genetic predisposition and lifestyle and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation (AF) is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to assess a possible interaction between lifestyle and genetics on AF risk. Methods: We included AF cases and a randomly drawn subcohort of 4040 participants from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort. Lifestyle risk factors were assessed, a score was calculated, and participants were categorised as having a poor, intermediate, or ideal lifestyle. We calculated a genetic risk score comprising 142 variants, and categorised participants into low (quintile 1), intermediate (quintiles 2-4) or high (quintile 5) genetic risk of AF. Results: 3094 AF cases occurred during a median follow-up of 12.9 years. Regardless of genetic risk, incidence rates per 1000 person-years were gradually higher with worse lifestyle. For participants with high genetic risk, the incidence rates of AF per 1000 person-years were 5.0 (95% CI 3.4 to 7.3) among individuals with ideal lifestyle, 6.6 (95% CI 5.4 to 8.1) among those with intermediate lifestyle and 10.4 (95% CI 9.2 to 11.8) among participants with poor lifestyle. On an additive scale, there was a positive statistically significant interaction between genetic risk and lifestyle (relative excess risk due to interaction=0.86, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.03, p<0.001). Conclusions: The rates of AF increased gradually with worse lifestyle within each category of genetic risk. We found a positive interaction on an additive scale between genetic risk and lifestyle, suggesting that risk factor modification is especially important in individuals with a high genetic risk of AF.

Comprehensive characterization of structural variation in natural populations has only become feasible in the last decade. To investigate the population genomic nature of structural variation, reproducible and high-confidence structural variation callsets are first required. We created a population-scale reference of the genome-wide landscape of structural variation across 33 Nordic house sparrows (Passer domesticus). To produce a consensus callset across all samples using short-read data, we compare heuristic-based quality filtering and visual curation (Samplot/PlotCritic and Samplot-ML) approaches. We demonstrate that curation of structural variants is important for reducing putative false positives and that the time invested in this step outweighs the potential costs of analyzing short-read-discovered structural variation data sets that include many potential false positives. We find that even a lenient manual curation strategy (e.g. applied by a single curator) can reduce the proportion of putative false positives by up to 80%, thus enriching the proportion of high-confidence variants. Crucially, in applying a lenient manual curation strategy with a single curator, nearly all (>99%) variants rejected as putative false positives were also classified as such by a more stringent curation strategy using three additional curators. Furthermore, variants rejected by manual curation failed to reflect the expected population structure from SNPs, whereas variants passing curation did. Combining heuristic-based quality filtering with rapid manual curation of structural variants in short-read data can therefore become a time- and cost-effective first step for functional and population genomic studies requiring high-confidence structural variation callsets.