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Linguatula serrata (Frölich, 1789) is a widespread parasite known as the tongue worm belonging to the family Linguatulidae. The adult form of the parasite is usually located in the upper respiratory tract of domestic and wild carnivores while the larval forms are located in the visceral organs of intermediate hosts (various herbivorous mammals). Twenty-four European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) were examined in this study, of which two were positive with L. serrata nymphs. The collected nymphs were examined morphologically using electron-microscopic analysis and molecularly by amplification of 18S rRNA and COX1 genes. Lung tissue samples were also collected and histopathological examination was performed. Histopathological examination revealed the following lesions: generalized inflammatory oedema, granulomas with necrosis, calcification and fibrosis in the bronchial tree. The results of molecular sequencing for L. serrata specimens collected from the European brown hares are deposited in GenBank. This study presents the first report on Linguatula serrata nymphs collected from L. europaeus in Romania, using molecular and morphological characterization simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has revolutionized the way we create objects. However, its layer-by-layer process may lead to an increased incidence of local defects compared to traditional casting-based methods. Factors such as light intensity, depth of light penetration, component inhomogeneity, and fluctuations in nozzle temperature all contribute to defect formations. These defective regions can become sources of toxic component leakage, but pinpointing their locations in 3D printed materials remains a challenge. Traditional toxicological assessments rely on the extraction and subsequent exposure of living organisms to these harmful agents, thus only offering a passive detection approach. Therefore, the development of an active system to both identify and locate sources of toxicity is essential in the realm of 3D printing technologies. Herein, we introduce the use of the nematode model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), for toxicity evaluation. C. elegans exhibits distinctive 'sensing' and 'locomotion' capabilities that enable it to actively navigate toward safe zones while steering clear of hazardous areas. This active behavior sets C. elegans apart from other aquatic and animal models, making it an exceptional choice for immediate and precise identification and localization of toxicity sources in 3D printed materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New palynological studies from the Xiaoyangqiao section (Jilin Province, north-east China), which has been selected as an Auxiliary Boundary Stratigraphic Section and Point (ASSP) for the base of the Ordovician, confirms the presence of Goniomorpha Yin 1986 in intervals ranging from the late Cambrian (Furongian) to the Early Ordovician (Tremadocian), and allow us to clarify its morphology and affinities. Despite being compared originally to vesicular microfossils with processes arising from one pole, Goniomorpha lacks an enclosed cavity, so it cannot be classified as an acritarch in the strict sense. Instead, we find that the specimens originally described as Goniomorpha are actually part of a wider spectrum of morphologies that are identifiable as the pharyngeal teeth of priapulid worms. The best-preserved specimens resolve the 'processes' as denticles arising from an arch on the margins of a cuticular pad, sometimes with an extending spur and polygonal microstructure. Closely equivalent forms have been reported from Cambrian assemblages of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) and in situ on Burgess Shale specimens of the priapulid Ottoia. The findings from the Xiaoyangqiao section extend the taphonomic range of Cambrian-type SCFs into the Ordovician, and provide the first evidence for priapulids from the Ordovician of northern China. More generally, our results demonstrate the reciprocal insights from palynological and SCF-type processing for identifying problematic microfossils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We compared subtotal meniscectomy and saucerization with stabilization for osteocartilaginous damage based on injured location and further examined the factors related to osteocartilaginous damage in juvenile discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) with peripheral tear after a follow-up period of at least 5 years. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed juvenile DLM patients with peripheral tear who underwent arthroscopic surgery with more than 5 years of follow-up. Osteocartilaginous damage, which was identified by osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) development and the whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging score (WORMS) of cartilage grade ≥ 3, was compared between subtotal meniscectomy and saucerization with stabilization. A subgroup analysis examining the location of the tear site was performed. Factors for osteocartilaginous damage were analyzed between the damaged and non-damaged groups. Results: Forty-one patients, including 29 who underwent saucerization with stabilization and 12 who underwent subtotal meniscectomy, were included in this study. Seven patients developed OCD lesions; six patients showed cartilage WORMS of more than grade 3. Overall, there was a significant difference in the total cartilage and meniscus WORMS between the two groups at the final follow-up. The subgroup analysis demonstrated more severe osteocartilaginous damage developed in posterior subtotal meniscectomy than in posterior stabilization following saucerization. The damaged group showed significant difference compared to the non-damaged group in terms of age (p = 0.003), sex (p = 0.036), and posterior subtotal meniscectomy (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Posterior subtotal meniscectomy revealed the worst scenario for the progression of osteocartilaginous damage in cases of juvenile DLM with peripheral tear over a minimum follow-up period of 5 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entomopathogenic nematodes, including Steinernema spp., play an increasingly important role as biological alternatives to chemical pesticides. The infective juveniles of these worms use nictation–a behavior in which animals stand on their tails–as a host-seeking strategy. The developmentally-equivalent dauer larvae of the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans also nictate, but as a means of phoresy or "hitching a ride" to a new food source. Advanced genetic and experimental tools have been developed for C. elegans, but time-consuming manual scoring of nictation slows efforts to understand this behavior, and the textured substrates required for nictation can frustrate traditional machine vision segmentation algorithms. Here we present a Mask R-CNN-based tracker capable of segmenting C. elegans dauers and S. carpocapsae infective juveniles on a textured background suitable for nictation, and a machine learning pipeline that scores nictation behavior. We use our system to show that the nictation propensity of C. elegans from high-density liquid cultures largely mirrors their development into dauers, and to quantify nictation in S. carpocapsae infective juveniles in the presence of a potential host. This system is an improvement upon existing intensity-based tracking algorithms and human scoring which can facilitate large-scale studies of nictation and potentially other nematode behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) may benefit from specific instruction on ways to prepare for and participate in their own Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. In this article, we describe the application of a research-based self-directed IEP process that can be used by educators to effectively foster participation by students with EBD in their IEP meetings. Research support, a detailed overview, and guidelines on how educators can implement this research-based practice at the middle school level are included. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of implementing research- or evidence-based practices in the daily instructional programming of students with EBD in middle school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although within-host competition among parasites if often assumed to occur based on statistical patterns, actual physical evidence of direct antagonistic interactions between parasites, either intraspecific or interspecific, is very rare. Here, we report such evidence between and within two species of hemiurid trematodes infecting the deep-sea grenadier fish Coryphaenoides subserrulatus. We found pairs of worms attached together, with one worm using its ventral sucker against another worm, and sucking out a large protuberance on the victim. We also found single worms showing clear signs of past attacks. There was no evidence that these interactions were more common at high intensities of infection, where the conditions would be expected to be more conducive to competitive interactions. Our findings provide evidence that trematodes may cause some harm to co-occurring individuals, suggesting a direct form of interference competition among intestinal helminths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high glucose diet (HGD) is associated with many metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, a HGD increases the oxidative stress resistance of young animals but shortens their lifespan. To investigate the role of HGD feeding on the aging of aged animals, we tested for oxidative stress resistance and changes in lifespan using C. elegans. We showed that a HGD extends the lifespan of aged worms that are dependent on oxidative stress resistance. Furthermore, we measured the lifespan of oxidative stress responding genes of HGD-fed worms. We found that gpdh-1 and col-92 are highly expressed in HGD and paraquat (PQ) treated worms. Further experiments indicated that intestinal gpdh-1 is essential for the HGD induced lifespan extension of aged worms. Our studies provide new insights into understanding the correlation between glucose metabolism, oxidative stress resistance, and aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leaf worm, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a notorious insect pest of many economically important cultivated crops like cotton, maize, tobocco and vegetables causing severe economic losses from 50-100%. In most crops, damage arises due to voracious feeding by the larvae and leads to the skeletonizing of leaves. Toxicological studies were performed to estimate lethal and sublethal levels of flubendiamide and spirotetramat against S. litura. Effects of these estimated values were assessed on different biological traits of S. litura including life duration, survival and next generation potential. Both flubendiamide and spirotetramat showed toxic responses against second instar larvae of S. litura under laboratory conditions. Larval duration and survival rate of S. litura to were significantly different. Exposure to test insecticides resulted in negative effect on the demography of S. litura as longer life cycle and decreased fecundity. Changes in net reproductive rate and intrinsic rate of increase also helped to decide the fate of these insecticides. Low reproductive potential and low hatching percentage due to exposure to test insecticides can help to manage next generation of target pest. These two new chemistry insecticides can be recommended for their effective and long-term utilization against this important leaf feeder which may help its management and decrease economic losses faced by the growers. Their impact on larval duration and low survival rate at lethal levels guides about their potential in pest control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nematodes have lost the ability to synthesise necessary lipids de novo and have complementally evolved the capacity to acquire fatty acids and their derivatives from a diet or host animal. Nematode-specific fatty acid- and retinol-binding protein (FAR) family is one approach that facilitates lipid acquisition, representing an Achilles heel and potential target against roundworms of socioeconomic significance. However, little is known about their detailed functional roles in either free-living or parasitic nematodes. Methods: A genome-wide identification and curation were performed to screen the FAR family members of Haemonchus contortus. Their transcription patterns in worms were also analysed to identify the targets. Ligand binding assay and molecular docking were conducted to verify the fatty acid binding activities of FAR proteins of interest. RNA interference (RNAi) and heterologous expression (rescuing) experiments were designed to explore the potential roles of the selected FAR protein in nematodes. Localisation of the protein was shown in sections of paraffin-embedded worms after an immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay. Results: Here, an orthologue of far-6 in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans (Ce-far-6) was functionally characterised in a parasitic nematode, H. contortus (Hc-far-6). It is demonstrated that knockdown of Ce-far-6 gene did not affect worm fat content, reproduction, or lifespan, but decreased worm body length at an early life stage of C. elegans. In particular, the Ce-far-6 mutant associated phenotype was completely rescued by Hc-far-6, suggesting a conserved functional role. Surprisingly, there were distinct tissue expression patterns of FAR-6 in the free-living C. elegans and parasitic H. contortus. High transcriptional level of Hc-far-6 and dominant expression of FAR-6 in the intestine of the parasitic stage of H. contortus link this gene/protein to nematode parasitism. Conclusions: These findings substantially enhance our understanding of far genes and the associated lipid biology of this important parasitic nematode at a molecular level, and the approaches established are readily applicable to the studies of far genes in a broad range of parasites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility to extract motion of a single organism from video recordings at a large-scale provides means for the quantitative study of its behavior, both individual and collective. This task is particularly difficult for organisms that interact with one another, overlap, and occlude parts of their bodies in the recording. Here we propose WormSwin—an approach to extract single animal postures of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) from recordings of many organisms in a single microscope well. Based on transformer neural network architecture our method segments individual worms across a range of videos and images generated in different labs. Our solutions offers accuracy of 0.990 average precision ( AP 0.50 ) and comparable results on the benchmark image dataset BBBC010. Finally, it allows to segment challenging overlapping postures of mating worms with an accuracy sufficient to track the organisms with a simple tracking heuristic. An accurate and efficient method for C. elegans segmentation opens up new opportunities for studying of its behaviors previously inaccessible due to the difficulty in the worm extraction from the video frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In the background of a very small number of effective anthelmintics available today with a narrow activity spectrum, and a rise in resistance against them among parasitic helminths, there is an urgent need for discovery of novel broad-spectrum anthelmintics displaying no or minimal toxicity towards the host. Silver being used since centuries for therapeutic purposes and considered safe for human consumption, we investigated anthelmintic activity of a colloidal nanosilver formulation Silversol®. Anthelmintic efficacy of the test formulation was assayed employing the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model worm through a live-dead count. Results: Silversol® exerted anthelmintic action superior to one of the positive controls (Benzimidazole), and almost at par to another positive control (Ivermectin). At concentrations ≥ 2 ppm, it could kill all the worms present in the experimental well. Lower concentrations of silver were found to have a cuticle-damaging action on worms. Further investigation is warranted to assess whether Silversol® can exert similar potent activity against different species of parasitic helminths, and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Churning power losses are a complex phenomenon that produces critical power losses when considering the splash lubrication of gear units. This article describes the method to investigate the churning power loss in a worm gearbox. A particular test rig was designed and fabricated to experiment on single start worm gear incompletely submerged in an oil bath. The direct torque measurement technique was used to determine the churning power losses. Experiments have been conducted to determine the impact of a variety of operating conditions on churning power losses, including worm speeds, gear immersion depth, lubricant temperatures, and lubricant type (mineral and synthetic). It was found that the churning losses were significantly affected by the worm shaft orientation, speed of gear, and the depth of immersion (static head). The lubricant's temperature is more essential than the type of lubricant in terms of churning power loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cell doctrine—the theory of ventricular localization of the mental faculties—includes Galen's idea of a locking or valve mechanism between the middle and the rear ventricle. The anatomical substrate was the vermiform epiphysis, known today as the vermis cerebelli. This entity played a significant role in brain physiology even though its appearance, texture, and location changed over time. This article tells the story of the "worm's" transformation from Galen to Vesalius and beyond. Until the time of Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280 ce), the worm corresponded to the vermis cerebelli. From the beginning of the fourteenth century, under the influence of Mondino's Anothomia, the worm referred to the choroid plexus in the anterior ventricles; its Galenic heritage was abandoned. Contemporaneous illustrations confirm this anterograde movement. The contributions of post-Galenic natural philosophers and pre-Vesalian anatomists to this development are discussed. Today, the worm can serve as an example for different viewpoints and often deadlocked doctrines (religious, philosophic, scientific). In tracing beliefs about the worm from the Greeks to the Arabs and back to the Latin West, this article follows the history of neuroanatomy in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adenylate kinases (ADKs) are one of the important enzymes regulating adenosine triphosphate (ATP) metabolism in Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato. The objective of the present study was to explore the molecular characteristics and immunological properties of E. granulosus sensu stricto (G1) adenylate kinase 1 (EgADK1) and adenylate kinase 8 (EgADK8). EgADK1 and EgADK8 were cloned and expressed, and the molecular characteristics of EgADK1 and EgADK8 were analyzed through different bioinformatics tools. Western blotting was used to examine the reactogenicity of recombinant adenylate kinase 1 (rEgADK1) and recombinant adenylate kinase 8 (rEgADK8) and to evaluate their diagnostic value. The expression profiles of EgADK1 and EgADK8 in 18-day-old strobilated worms and protoscoleces were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR, and their distribution in 18-day-old strobilated worms, the germinal layer, and protoscoleces was determined by immunofluorescence localization. EgADK1 and EgADK8 were successfully cloned and expressed. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that EgADK1 and EgADK8 have multiple phosphorylation sites and B-cell epitopes. Compared with EgADK8, EgADK1 and other parasite ADKs have higher sequence similarity. In addition, both cystic echinococcosis (CE)–positive sheep sera and Cysticercus tenuicollis–infected goat sera could recognize rEgADK1 and rEgADK8. EgADK1 and EgADK8 were localized in protoscoleces, the germinal layer, and 18-day-old strobilated worms. EgADK1 and EgADK8 showed no significant difference in their transcription level in 18-day-old strobilated worms and protoscoleces, suggesting that EgADK1 and EgADK8 may play an important role in the growth and development of E. granulosus sensu lato. Since EgADK1 and EgADK8 can be recognized by other parasite-positive sera, they are not suitable as candidate antigens for the diagnosis of CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onchocerciasis, the second leading infectious cause of blindness, afflicts approximately 21 million people globally. Its control is limited to the use of the microfilaricidal drugs, ivermectin and moxidectin. Both drugs are unable to kill the adult worms which can survive for up to 15 years in patients, justifying the urgent need for potent and novel macrofilaricides that kill adult worms. The development of such drugs has been hindered by the lack of an appropriate small laboratory animal model to evaluate potential drug candidates in vivo. This study assessed the survival of O. ochengi female worms and their embryos over time in two laboratory rodents: gerbils and hamsters and tested using "proof-of-concept" studies, whether known macrofilaricidal drugs can kill these worms. Animals were surgically implanted with mechanical or collagenase-liberated O. ochengi worm masses, and necropsied at various time points to test for survival. Recovered worm masses were assessed for viability by biochemical analysis (MTT/formazan assay) or fecundity (embryogram). Flubendazole (FBZ) administered at 20 mg/kg body weight was used to validate both rodent models. By day 26 post-implantation of 15 worm masses, a median of 7.00 (4.00–10.00) was recovered from hamsters, and 2.50 (2.00–4.00) from gerbils. Worm masses recovered from gerbils were mostly disintegrated or fragmented, with significantly higher fragmentation observed with collagenase-liberated worm masses. FBZ had no significant effect on the number of worm masses recovered, but enhanced embryo degradation in gerbils and reduced worm mass viability in hamsters. This exploratory study has revealed the gerbil and hamster as permissible rodents to adult female worms of O. ochengi. The hamsters appeared to maintain the worms longer, compared to gerbils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monotypic polynoid genus Arctonoella Buzhinskaja, 1967 comprises solely the type species A. sinagawaensis (Izuka, 1912), which was originally described from Tokyo Bay (central Japan), and subsequently recorded from China and the Russian Far East. The six specimens we collected together with the burrowing filter-feeding spoon worm Urechis unicinctus (Drasche, 1880) from three intertidal-flat sites in the Seto Inland Sea represent a new report for the western Japan, and the second for the country. Our morphological observations reveal that the shape of the cephalic peaks in the frontal prostomial margin is variable even within a local population, although this character has been considered as diagnostic for Arctonoella. This genus is closely related with Hesperonoe Chamberlin, 1919, both morphologically and phylogenetically. Hesperonoe urechis Marin and Antokhina, 2020, collected inside a burrow of U. unicinctus in the Russian Far East, is hereby deemed a junior synonym of A. sinagawaensis. This species morphologically resembles Hesperonoe adventor (Skogsberg in Fisher and MacGinitie, 1928), which inhabits spoon worm (Urechis caupo Fisher and MacGinitie, 1928 and Echiurus echiurus alaskanus Fisher, 1946) burrows along the northeastern Pacific coast of America. Therefore, we conclude that the Arctonoella-Hesperonoe species complex requires to be reviewed to determine the proper generic arrangement. Additionally, we revise the available data on the symbiotic fauna living inside the burrows of U. unicinctus and U. caupo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Euphorbia neriifolia Linn. (Snuhi) (Euphorbiacea family) is a traditional medicine which is included under multiple catagories such as Upavisha, Purgatives and Anthelminthic drugs. Preferably, an anthelminthic agent should have comprehensive deed, high fraction of rehabilitation with a single analeptic hit, denuded noxiousness to the host and should be economical. Even the intricacy like retching, wobbliness and bowel interruption have been shown by the prevalent drugs like piperazine particles. High consequence of the existing drugs and hostility of the parasites to their action sanction the hunt for revived anthelminthic molecules. In the ritualistic remedy implementation, the genesis of many worthwhile drugs is found and to evaluate denizenlore healing herb for their proclaimed anthelminthic virtue, several researchers have undertaken studies. Reinforced governance integrated with Chemical command of helminthes has been the important world-wide worm constraint tactics. Still, global multiplying resistance of gastrointestinal trichostronglides of household petty ruminants hostile to accustomed antihelminthes.[1,2] The expertise of molding employ of even a solitary Drug with their sorting and amalgam to escort a concluding upgraded outcome is Yukti. Not forgetting the safety and fruitfulness of the medicament, it is the fundamental notion of empirical drug lay out. This review describes the key information related to botanical description of E. neriifolia, phytochemistry, pharmacological actions, its purification, clinical studies and better utilization as anthelminthic-purgative package. The author emphasizes the need for evidence-based clinical studies to expand Snuhi pharmacological activities, clinical efficacy and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ruddy ground dove, Columbina talpacoti (Temminck, 1811), is reported herein as a new host for the diplotriaenid nematode Diplotriaena deliraePinto & Noronha, 1970. The host was collected in the municipality of Januária, northern region of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. A heavy infection wholly occupied the coelomic cavity and air sacs. The nematodes were also found in the pectoral subcutaneous tissue, an infection site hitherto unknown for these parasites. A total of 262 specimens of D. delirae was found, which surprisingly corresponded to 27% of the host carcass weight. The impacts of the heavy infection with D. delirae on overall host health and population regulation are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slots on a blade tip can effectively suppress the tip vortices by diffusing the core structure of a vortex and thus mitigate the adverse impacts of vortex interactions. In this paper, the effect of a slotted tip on vortex diffusion in the hovering state is investigated numerically by implementing the IDDES method using the fifth-order WENO scheme. The resulting wake flow field show that the number of secondary turbulent structures of so-called vortex worms near the slotted tip reduces significantly, indicating the weakening of vortex core rotation. It was found that the slotted tip reduced the peak value of velocity profiles in the vicinity of the vortex core by about 50%. The numerical result is close to the experimental conclusion. Correspondingly, the diameter of the vortex core is approximately doubled at each wake age relative to the baseline blade because the local flow passing through the slots will disintegrate the stable structure of the core region during the early stages of tip vortex generation. This promotes the turbulence mixture, resulting in the reduction in the vorticity value and rotating effect near the vortex core. Based on the overall results, the study of the slot parameters demonstrated that reducing the slot number or diameter will weaken the diffusing effect, causing a decrease in the flow rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mobile network has become the social standing pulverized for heaps of novel worms, including the SMS, Bluetooth-built worms and Wi-Fi based worms. Particularly, SMS worms have drawn significant attention owing to their enormous threats to the mobile network. In this article, we proposed and analysed the SMS worm propagation, a delayed SAIDR model (Susceptible-Affected-Infected-Suspended-Recovered) with a saturated incidence rate. A novel express in the SMS model, the suspended state, which gets some margin to affected node to infected node in mobile network. Furthermore, the influence of time delay during the charging behaviour of the affected state nodes needs to be considered. Hopf bifurcation is studied by discussing the time delay that is chosen as the bifurcation parameter. Direction and stability of the Hopf bifurcation are derived using normal form theory and centre manifold theorem. At last, a few numerical simulations are presented to check the analytical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the bacterial food digestion and accumulation in wild-type adult Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) worms that have fed on either non-pathogenic RFP-expressing Escherichia coli (E. coli) OP50 or pathogenic-RFP-expressing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) PAO1 during the first 4 days of adulthood. Once the worms had completed their planned feeding cycles, they were loaded on microfluidic chips, where they were fixed to allow high-resolution z-stack fluorescence imaging of their intestines utilizing a Spinning Disk Confocal Microscope (SDCM) equipped with a high-resolution oil-immersion objective (60×). IMARIS software was used to visualize and analyze the obtained images, resulting in the production of three-dimensional constructs of the intestinal bacterial load. We discovered two distinct patterns for the bacteria-derived fluorescence signal in the intestine: (i) individual fluorescent spots, originating from intact bacteria, were present in the fluorescent E. coli-OP50-fed worms, and (ii) individual fluorescent spots (originating from intact bacteria) were dispersed in large regions of diffuse fluorescence (RDF), originating from disrupted bacteria, in fluorescent P. aeruginosa-PAO1-fed worms. We performed a semi-automated single-worm-resolution quantitative analysis of the intestinal bacterial load, which showed that the intestinal bacterial load generally increases with age of the worms, but more rapidly for the fluorescent P. aeruginosa-PAO1-fed worms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is an ideal model organism for studying human diseases and genetics due to its transparency and suitability for optical imaging. However, manually sorting a large population of C. elegans for experiments is tedious and inefficient. The microfluidic-assisted C. elegans sorting chip is considered a promising platform to address this issue due to its automation and ease of operation. Nevertheless, automated C. elegans sorting with multiple parameters requires efficient identification technology due to the different research demands for worm phenotypes. To improve the efficiency and accuracy of multi-parameter sorting, we developed a deep learning model using You Only Look Once (YOLO)v7 to detect and recognize C. elegans automatically. We used a dataset of 3931 annotated worms in microfluidic chips from various studies. Our model showed higher precision in automated C. elegans identification than YOLOv5 and Faster R-CNN, achieving a mean average precision (mAP) at a 0.5 intersection over a union (mAP@0.5) threshold of 99.56%. Additionally, our model demonstrated good generalization ability, achieving an mAP@0.5 of 94.21% on an external validation set. Our model can efficiently and accurately identify and calculate multiple phenotypes of worms, including size, movement speed, and fluorescence. The multi-parameter identification model can improve sorting efficiency and potentially promote the development of automated and integrated microfluidic platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caenorhabditis (C.) elegans has become a popular toxicological and biological test organism in the last two decades. Furthermore, the role of C. elegans as an alternative for replacing or reducing animal experiments is continuously discussed and investigated. In the current study, we investigated whether C. elegans survival assays can help in determining differences in the virulence of Salmonella enterica strains and to what extent C. elegans assays could replace animal experiments for this purpose. We focused on three currently discussed examples where we compared the longevity of C. elegans when fed (i) with S. enterica serovar Enteritidis vaccination or wild-type strains, (ii) with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) deficient rough or LPS forming smooth S. enterica serovar Enteritidis, and (iii) with an S. enterica subsp. diarizonae strain in the presence or absence of the typical pSASd plasmid encoding a bundle of putative virulence factors. We found that the C. elegans survival assay could indicate dierences in the longevity of C. elegans when fed with the compared strain pairs to a certain extent. Putatively higher virulent S. enterica strains reduced the lifespan of C. elegans to a greater extent than putatively less virulent strains. The C. elegans survival assay is an effective and relatively easy method for classifying the virulence of different bacterial isolates in vivo, but it has some limitations. The assay cannot replace animal experiments designed to determine differences in the virulence of Salmonella enterica strains. Instead, we recommend using the described method for pre-screening bacterial strains of interest to select the most promising candidates for further animal experiments. The C. elegans assay possesses the potential to reduce the number of animal experiments. Further development of the C. elegans assay in conjunction with omics technologies, such as transcriptomics, could refine results relating to the estimation of the virulent potential of test organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opisthorchis viverrini infection is an emerging disease in Cambodia, especially in central and southeastern areas. However, its status in northern areas bordering Lao PDR has been relatively unknown. The present study was performed to investigate the status of O. viverrini infection among people in Preah Vihear and Stung Treng provinces through fecal examination to detect eggs and recovery of adult flukes from some of the egg-positive cases. Fecal examinations were performed on a total of 1101 people from 10 villages in the 2 provinces using the Kato-Katz thick smear technique. For recovery of adult flukes and other helminth parasites 10 volunteers positive for eggs of Opisthorchis viverrini and/or minute intestinal flukes (Ov/MIF), in Kampong Sangkae village, Preah Vihear province, were administered a single oral dose of 40 mg/kg praziquantel plus 5–10 mg/kg of pyrantel pamoate and purged with 40–50 g magnesium salts. Adult trematodes, together with nematodes and cestodes expelled in diarrheic stools were collected under a stereomicroscope or with the naked eye. The proportion of egg-positive cases for overall liver and intestinal helminths was high but not notably different between the 2 provinces, 65.5% in Preah Vihear versus 64.7% in Stung Treng. The average proportion of Ov/MIF egg-positive cases was 59.8%. A total of 315 adult specimens of O. viverrini were recovered from the 10 volunteers (4–98 specimens per individual; mean, 32). A smaller number of Haplorchis taichui adults, an intestinal fluke, were found mixed-infected in 7 (103 specimens in total; 1–31 per individual; mean, 15) of the 10 volunteers. Adult specimens of hookworms, Enterobius vermicularis, Trichostrongylus sp., and a Taenia tapeworm strobila were recovered in some cases. Based on the results, it has been confirmed that the surveyed areas in Preah Vihear and Stung Treng provinces, Cambodia, are highly endemic areas of O. viverrini infection with a low-grade mixed infection with H. taichui. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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While Hecht's work carefully tracks the powerful ways in which Carson uses understatement in I Silent Spring i , his article also provides significant information about the reception of Carson's text and how her legacy lives on. 3 Environmental thinkers like Joshua DiCaglio and Timothy Morton describe the kind of interconnectivity Carson's case studies often reveal as more of a "mesh" or "enmeshment" of relations. In fact, everything is done earnestly; the air reeks with earnestness.... (qtd. in Seymour 18) While Gessner's allusion to Carson's earnestness is a lighthearted transition to his assessment of the state of environmental writing at large, he is not the only one who has teased Carson for this trait; nevertheless, her work engages in more playful and, at times, unexpected modes of writing than she gets credit for. In her reading of I Silent Spring i in conjunction with Carson's personal letters, Maxwell identifies how "for Carson, a sense of wonder is important not just because it encourages the pursuit of knowledge but also for its own sake: as an experience of pleasure that unsettles our unthinking habits and conventions" (688). The publication of Rachel Carson's I Silent Spring i was a watershed moment for the modern environmental movement, and it is now a foundational twentieth-century environmental literature text. [Extracted from the article]

The field experiments were carried out to determine the bioefficacy of new insecticidal molecules chlorantraniliprole (Coragen 18.5 SC), pyridalyl (Sumipleo 10 EC) and emamectin benzoate (Proclaim 5 SG) against shoot and fruit borer, Earias vittella in okra crop. The experiments were conducted at farmer's field and PAU Regional Research Station, Gurdaspur during 2017-18 and 2018-19, respectively. The significantly lower infested shoots 0.49, 0.54 and 0.59 per plant were recorded ten days after application of chlorantraniliprole, emamectin benzoate and pyridalyl @ 30, 8.75 and 62.5 g ai ha-1, respectively. Maximum (87.1%) reduction in fruit infestation over control was recorded with application of chlorantraniliprole and it was closely followed by emamectin benzoate and pyridalyl @ 8.75 and 62.5 g ai ha-1 with reduction in fruit infestation of 83.2 and 82.6%, respectively. Significantly, more marketable fruit yield (122.40 q ha-1) was obtained from plots treated with of chlorantraniliprole @ 30 g ai ha-1 and it was at par with emamectin benzoate and pyridalyl @ 8.75 and 62.5 g ai ha-1 with an average marketable fruit yield of 121.7 and 120.0 q ha-1, respectively. Maximum cost benefit ratio (1: 36.5) was achieved by spray of emamectin benzoate @ 8.75 g ai ha-1 and it was followed by chlorantraniliprole and pyridalyl @ 30 and 62.5 g ai ha-1 with mean C:B ratio of 1: 21.7 and 1: 21.6, respectively. All new insecticidal molecules under study had neither any significant adverse effect on population of natural enemies of okra insect-pests nor any phytotoxicity to okra crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful design of strategic control measures against the blood-sucking gastrointestinal nematode, Haemonchus contortus in small ruminants can be facilitated by revealing its general features from morphology to the molecular level. In the south Gujarat region of India, a total of 2408 H. contortus were collected from 84 slaughtered sheep's abomasum, consisting of 347 males and 2061 females (1:6 ratio) (p<0.05). Furthermore, 726 H. contortus were collected from 61 goats, comprising 145 males and 581 females (1:4 ratio) (p<0.05). The male worms were approximately 12±0.06 mm long, while female worms were about 20±0.09 mm long. The vulvar morphotypes of the female worms were found to be 17.7% linguiform, 76.6 % knobbed/button (p<0.05), and 5.7 % smooth type, demonstrating common features of H. contortus. The nucleotide sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS-1) of 165 bp or ITS-2 plus of 256 bp were aligned, and it was found that the genotypes of male and female specimens of either sheep or goat origin were identical, with a 100 % match. The present isolates shared >95 % and >94 % homology with published sequences of ITS-1 and ITS-2 plus of H. contortus, respectively, with more nucleotide transitions than transversions in the aligned sequences. The reconstructed phylogram of either ITS-1 or ITS-2 plus revealed two major clades, one for H. contortus and another for other nematodes, with Haemonchus placei showing its proximity with the clade of H. contortus. The study established the role of morphological and molecular features in identifying and differentiating H. contortus parasite at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Worm gear sets are used in many applications of the transmission field. These mechanisms have interesting advantages. Despite this, its modelization is still challenging. This is due to its complex geometry. The goal behind this is to have an accurate model that allows improvement of the design of worm gear sets. Purpose: In this context, the paper presents a new mathematical model of a worm gear drive under rotational external excitations. Methods: Dynamic model is defined by fourteen degrees of freedom describing all rotations and translations of worm gear set, AQ1 bearings, a motor and a receiver connected together. First, equations of motion are developed to describe the dynamic behavior. Lagrange formula is, thus, employed. Elastic deformations of meshed teeth are considered. The normal load associated with the meshing is established as function of the model degrees of freedom through the elastic deflection. Second, a numerical simulation is carried out. Newmark Beta method is used to solve equations. Results: Numerical results are presented to discuss the model accuracy. The impact of the variation of friction coefficient and the stiffness of the worm gear is finally studied to discuss the consistency of the new formulation developed through this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In value-based decision making, options are selected according to subjective values assigned by the individual to available goods and actions. Despite the importance of this faculty of the mind, the neural mechanisms of value assignments, and how choices are directed by them, remain obscure. To investigate this problem, we used a classic measure of utility maximization, the Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preference, to quantify internal consistency of food preferences in Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode worm with a nervous system of only 302 neurons. Using a novel combination of microfluidics and electrophysiology, we found that C. elegans food choices fulfill the necessary and sufficient conditions for utility maximization, indicating that nematodes behave as if they maintain, and attempt to maximize, an underlying representation of subjective value. Food choices are well-fit by a utility function widely used to model human consumers. Moreover, as in many other animals, subjective values in C. elegans are learned, a process we find requires intact dopamine signaling. Differential responses of identified chemosensory neurons to foods with distinct growth potentials are amplified by prior consumption of these foods, suggesting that these neurons may be part of a value-assignment system. The demonstration of utility maximization in an organism with a very small nervous system sets a new lower bound on the computational requirements for utility maximization and offers the prospect of an essentially complete explanation of value-based decision making at single neuron resolution in this organism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni causes schistosomiasis, which affects over 200 million people worldwide. Schistosomes are dioecious, with egg laying depending on the females' obligatory pairing with males. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides with low or no protein-coding potential that have been involved in other species with reproduction, stem cell maintenance, and drug resistance. In S. mansoni, we recently showed that the knockdown of one lncRNA affects the pairing status of these parasites. Here, we re-analyzed public RNA-Seq data from paired and unpaired adult male and female worms and their gonads, obtained from mixed-sex or single-sex cercariae infections, and found thousands of differentially expressed pairing-dependent lncRNAs among the 23 biological samples that were compared. The expression levels of selected lncRNAs were validated by RT-qPCR using an in vitro unpairing model. In addition, the in vitro silencing of three selected lncRNAs showed that knockdown of these pairing-dependent lncRNAs reduced cell proliferation in adult worms and their gonads, and are essential for female vitellaria maintenance, reproduction, and/or egg development. Remarkably, in vivo silencing of each of the three selected lncRNAs significantly reduced worm burden in infected mice by 26 to 35%. Whole mount in situ hybridization experiments showed that these pairing-dependent lncRNAs are expressed in reproductive tissues. These results show that lncRNAs are key components intervening in S. mansoni adult worm homeostasis, which affects pairing status and survival in the mammalian host, thus presenting great potential as new therapeutic target candidates. Author summary: Schistosoma mansoni is a parasite that causes schistosomiasis, affecting over 200 million people worldwide. Only one drug is available for treatment, and new therapeutic strategies are required. S. mansoni females need to be continuously paired with males to be sexually mature and to produce eggs that cause tissue pathology. Therefore, interfering with adult worm pairing may provide new therapeutic intervention alternatives. However, the entire set of factors driving this pairing status are not fully understood. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides with low or no protein coding potential. They have been shown in other species to be involved with reproduction. Here, we show that lncRNAs are essential for S. mansoni pairing-dependent adult worm homeostasis and/or fertility. We found that hundreds of lncRNAs are differentially expressed between paired and unpaired adult worms. We show by in vitro and in vivo gene silencing approaches that lncRNAs are essential to regulate the cell proliferation status of adult worm and their gonads, and to maintain worm pairing, female reproductive capacity, and/or egg development. Our study shows that lncRNAs are key components intervening in S. mansoni adult worm homeostasis, which affects pairing status and survival, thus presenting great potential as new therapeutic target candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental analysis of the influence of lubricant viscosity on the efficiency and power loss of a worm gear transmission. The tests were performed on the open circuit power specialized testing device AT200 at the Center for testing power transmissions at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac. In the experiment, three oils of different viscosities were used: 220 mm²/s, 460 mm²/s and 680 mm²/s. The efficiency was measured for three different values of input number of rotations: 1500 min-1, 2000 min-1 and 2500 min-1. Output torque values range from 2.2 Nm to 6 Nm. The test results showed that the efficiency of worm gear increases with increasing input shaft speed. It was also observed that the efficiency increases with increasing oil viscosity in all test regimes. The results of the work are a reference for researching the efficiency of worm gears and engineering optimization, which is of great importance for the development of gears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, wax worm larvae (Galleria mellonella) were used to examine their ability to degrade and assimilate polyethylene (PE) as an energy source. This idea came from the similarity of wax, that is used as the sole diet for larvae, with PE in composition. Morphology changes, weight loss, FTIR analysis and GC-Mass test were studied to prove the degradation of PE by G. mellonella. The maximum depth of holes on the plastic surface and 16% PE weight loss was due to extensive cutting. The creation of a novel O-H stretching alcohols/phenols group absorbance peak at 3293cm-1 observed in wax worm larvae PE frass samples may be due to the oxidation in their gut. Accordingly, the biodegradation of PE by wax worm larvae is ensured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to show the effect of Hemazole fungicide on the growth and vitality of earthworms when treated with different concentrations of the pesticide (1000,200,40) mg.kg-1 and for periods of (7,14,21,and28) days, a clear decrease was observed in the growth rate of worms treated with the pesticide with the increase in the time period, and the highest decrease in growth was recorded at the concentration of 40 mg.kg-1 amounted to 83.23% during the third period of rearing (21 days), as for the survival of worms, it was noted that young worms were affected by the three concentrations, and the time period for killing worms 100% was observed after (7, 15 and 21)minutes, respectively, while the time period for the death of adult worms was much higher, reaching (72, 30 and 13) minutes. As for the effect of the pesticide on the thickness of the body wall and the occurrence of tissue abnormalities, it was noted that the thickness of the body wall was significantly affected, especially at the concentration of 40 mg.kg-1, where the lowest thickness was 28,333, 170, 39.67 micrometers compared to the control group, which recorded the thickness of the body wall amounted to 56.667, 532.67, 124 Histological abnormalities were also observed, including necrosis in the epidermal layer, a decrease in the thickness of the longitudinal muscles, and flattening or necrosis in the epithelium of the alimentary canal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vermifiltration is a low-energy and low-cost option to reduce the environmental impact of aquaculture. A comparative study was performed for two different stocking densities of the epigeic worm Dendrobaena veneta (Michaelsen, 1890, Annelida: Oligochaeta), which were fed with sediment sludge from African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822), recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS). The intensive (I) and extensive (E) systems were stocked with 15 and 10 g of worm/L filter substrate, respectively, and were compared with a control (C) for four weeks. The total weight gain was 9.4–13.5% for (I) and 13.8–19.5% for (E), with low mortality rates of 3.46–5.84% (I) and 3.57–5.19% (E). The temperature inside the vermifilters was slightly higher than that in the control, indicating a favorable milieu for microbial activity. The worms supported the pH buffering capacity in the systems, with the effluent reaching 7.10 ± 0.02 (I) and 7.26 ± 0.04 (E) at the end of the experiment while the pH in the (C) was significantly higher (7.51 ± 0.05). The removal rates were 68.02–98.84% (I), 71.85–98.67% (E), and 72.80–98.68% (C) for the total nitrogen bound (TNb); 82.77–96.64% (I), 81.65–94.84% (E), and 77.79–94.74% (C) for the total organic carbon (TOC); and 50.43–97.51% (I), 50.89–96.84% (E), and 48.23–96.34% (C) for the chemical oxygen demand (COD). By utilizing the sludge as feed, the worms and associated microbiota significantly altered the African catfish sediments, removing organic loads, upgrading the composition, and reducing the possible environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperia punctata is one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal nematodes affecting cattle under grazing conditions, and the increasing reports of anthelmintic resistance forces researchers to look for novel control measures. Previous reports have proposed the use of polyphenolic compound (PC) combinations (Coumarin:Quercetin (CuQ) and Caffeic-acid:Rutin (CaR)) against free-living stages (L3) of C. punctata. The objective of this study was to assess the in vitro motility inhibition of C. punctata adult worms and infective larvae using the Larval Motility Inhibition Assay (LMIA) and Adult Motility Inhibition Assay (AMIA), and to assess the structural and ultrastructural changes induced by both treatments using Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy. For the LMIA, infective larvae were incubated for 3 h in 0.8 mg mL−1 and 0.84 mg mL−1 of CuQ and CaR, respectively. For AMIA, six concentrations and five incubation periods (2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h) were assessed using each PC combination. Cooperia punctata motility was calculated as a percentage and corrected using control motility percentages. A multiple comparisons Brown–Forsythe and Welch ANOVA test was used to compare larval motility; and to fit the dose–response in AMIA, data were analyzed with a non-linear regression four-parameter logistic equation with a variable slope, using the computer program GraphPad Prism® V.9.2.0. Although larval motility was barely affected by both treatments (p > 0.05), adult worm motility was inhibited 100% and 86.9% after 24 h incubation with CuQ and CaR, respectively (p < 0.05). The best fit EC50 for adult worm motility inhibition were 0.073 ± 0.071 mg mL−1 and 0.051 ± 0.164 mg mL−1 for CuQ and CaR, respectively. Main structural and ultrastructural lesions observed in both biological stages were: (i) L3 sheath–cuticle complex disruption, (ii) collagen fibers degradation; (iii) hypodermic detachment, (iv) seam cell apoptosis and (v) mitochondrial swelling. The alterations observed suggest that the PC combinations interfere with the anatomy and physiology of the locomotive apparatus of the nematodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naturalist Charles Bonnet wrote three publications on the tapeworm—in 1750, 1777, and 1780—now largely forgotten. This article considers how these texts reveal both the challenges of researching intestinal worms and the practices used to examine tapeworms. Bonnet's publication of 1777 is particularly informative as it provides a rare and detailed account of an artist conducting research alongside the naturalist. Bonnet explains how the Danish artist Henrik Plötz manipulated, described, magnified, and drew tapeworm fragments to help the naturalist see them more clearly with the naked eye. The attentive observation often associated with eighteenth-century naturalism played a diminished role in their efforts to discern the tapeworm's anatomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea Dury) has a strong impact on agricultural systems in Europe. However, its invasive potential inherited from its native niche in North America remains unknown. In the present study, we analyzed niche and range shifts of the fall webworm in Europe and compared them with those in native North America. Compared with those in Europe, the fall webworm in North America showed wider niche and larger potential ranges in Europe. Based on the invasive potential of fall webworm in Europe inherited from its native counterpart, its potential range in Europe could be 5.5-fold that of the current one. The fall webworm may prefer vast regions of Europe, excluding Norway, Sweden, Finland, North Russia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, and Ukraine, which might be the priority regions for future invasions of the fall webworm in Europe. The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea Dury) has a strong impact on agricultural systems in Europe. However, its invasive potential, which was inherited from its native niche in North America, remains unknown. Here, we investigated the climatic niche and range shifts of the fall webworm in Europe and compared them with those in native North America, then assessed the worms' invasive potential in Europe. Compared with the fall webworm in Europe, those in North America survived in more diverse climatic conditions, which was closely associated with their broader niche and larger potential ranges in Europe. If the fall webworm in Europe could exploit the native niche inherited from those in North America to adapt to climatic conditions in Europe, their potential ranges in Europe could be 5.5-fold those based on the niche as introduced in Europe. The potentially unfilled ranges of the fall webworm in Europe were mainly detected in vast regions of Europe, excluding Norway, Sweden, Finland, North Russia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, and Ukraine, suggesting that, without strict control, these vast regions might be preferably invaded by the fall webworm in Europe in the future. Therefore, strict control against its invasion is needed. Given that small niche shifts in this invasive insect could result in large range shifts, the niche shifts represent a more sensitive indicator of invasion risk than range shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the effects of selected retail packaging materials, storage temperature and duration on the quality and shelf life of traditionally processed and sun-dried mopane worms (Imbrasia belina). Changes in the quality of dried mopane worms (MW) were evaluated in a 2 x 2 x 5 factorial experiment comprising packaging materials (low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE)), storage temperature (ambient and accelerated), and storage time (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days) with three replications. Dried MW samples were analysed for changes in physicochemical (ash, moisture, fat, protein content and colour, microbiological (yeast, mould and coliform count), and sensory (colour, taste, texture and overall acceptability) qualities. The results of the experiment were subjected to ANOVA, and the means were separated using the post hoc Tukey test at 5% level of significance. Packaging material did not significantly (p > 0.05) affect ash, moisture, fat, protein content, yeast and coliform count, and sensory qualities of dried MW. However, the mould count and colour parameters of dried MW were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by packaging material. Storage time significantly affected (p < 0.05) moisture, fat, protein content, colour parameters and sensory qualities of dried MW. The ash content was not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by storage time, but the storage temperature significantly affected (p < 0.05) ash, moisture content and colour parameters of dried MW. The three-way interaction between packaging material, storage temperature and time was not significant (p > 0.05) for all proximate composition and microbial quality parameters, indicating that it is safe to consume dried MW over a period of 120 days post-processing. This study recommended that a further study for storage periods greater than 120 days be done to determine the shelf life of traditionally processed dried MW packaged in retail-sized HDPE and LDPE. The HDPE performed better than LDPE in preserving the quality of dried MW, as evidenced by the better-quality parameters recorded under this packaging material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A plethora of studies, both experimental and epidemiological, have indicated the occurrence of associations between infections by gastrointestinal (GI) helminths and the composition and function of the host gut microbiota. Given the worldwide risk and spread of anthelmintic resistance, particularly for GI parasites of livestock, a better understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the relationships between GI helminths and the gut microbiome, and between the latter and host health, may assist the development of novel microbiome‐targeting and other bacteria‐based strategies for parasite control. In this article, we review current and prospective methods to manipulate the host gut microbiome, and/or to exploit the immune stimulatory and modulatory properties of gut bacteria (and their products) to counteract the negative impact of GI worm infections; we also discuss the potential applications of these intervention strategies in programmes aimed to aid the fight against helminth diseases of humans and livestock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the discrete-time dynamical systems generated by network worm propagation models based on the theory of quadratic stochastic operators(QSO). This approach simultaneously solves two important problems: exploring of the QSO trajectory's behavior, we described the set of limit points, thereby completely solved the main problem of dynamical systems (i), we showed a new application of the theory QSOs in worm propagation modelling (ii). We demonstrated that proposed discrete-time biologically-inspired model represents also realistic picture of the worm propagation process and such analytical models can be used in decision of some problems of computer networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large cylindrical worm gear set of ISO type I are manufactured using endmill tools on universal CNC machine tools. This manufacturing method requires neither special gear-generating machines nor special tools. The tooth flank forms of ISO type I cylindrical worm gears are involute helicoids as a standard. The targeted theoretical tooth flanks of the worm and the mating worm wheel are determined based on a tooth contact analysis (TCA) of such worm gear set. The cutting conditions of the worm are determined after the offset distance between the worm axis, and the central axis of the endmill tool is calculated. Afterward, the worm is manufactured by controlling only two axes on machine tools using a swarf milling method by use of the side of the endmill tool under the determined conditions. Meanwhile, the targeted theoretical tooth flanks of the mating worm wheel are modeled in 3-dimensional computer-aided design software, and the worm wheel is manufactured by a swarf milling method in a computer-aided manufacturing process. The comparison of experimental and analytical tooth contact patterns indicates almost no difference between the two tooth contact patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the manufacturing and assembly of a toroidal drive mechanism, errors have a great influence on the load sharing of the mechanism. In order to improve the load-sharing characteristics of the mechanism, a floating oil film structure system is designed to support the planetary gear and to compensate for inaccuracies in the manufacturing and assembly of the mechanism parts in this paper. The elasticity and hydrodynamic effect of the floating oil film allow the planetary gear to achieve its own small floatation and produce a certain axial displacement, which compensates for the influence of error and achieves load sharing. To examine the effect of the floating oil film structure, the floating oil film bearing is simulated by FLUENT, the characteristics of the floating oil film are analyzed, and the stiffness and damping coefficients of the floating oil film are calculated. In ADAMS, the method of equivalent replacement of the floating oil film with spring damping is adopted to conduct a dynamic analysis on the toroidal drive mechanism with the floating oil film load-sharing structure, and the results show that the system with a floating oil film structure can effectively compensate the influence of errors and improve the uniform load performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progression up the dental career ladder into dental specialty training is notoriously tough, with rising numbers of applicants and the introduction of national recruitment creating fierce competition for training places. This paper explores the emerging tick-box culture surrounding specialty recruitment applications and the issues accompanying precocious portfolio point-seeking, with a particular focus on recognised postgraduate teaching courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]