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The article discusses a comparative field study between two vaccination methods for hens such as the classical infectious bursal disease (IBD) intermediate vaccine with zootechnical and health parameters and IBD vector vaccine with turkey herpes virus vaccination (VAXXITEK HVT+IBD) as tested on 272-day-old pullets in a hatchery. Topics covered include the nature of infectious bursal disease, the use of Hy Line Brown chicks in the study, and hen growth and homogeneity.

The state of built-up features after their destruction, as well as the process of their rehabilitation, are assessed through the analysis of conflict and postconflict very high spatial resolution Ikonos images using a pixel-level support vector machine (SVM) learning classification approach. Different input vectors of the supervised SVM classifier are tested in order to assess the discrimination power of structural and spectral image descriptors: the use of spectral information only with (a) the panchromatic images at time t0 and t1, (b) the pan-sharpened images with the multispectral bands at time t0 and t1, (c) the iteratively re-weighted multivariate alteration detection (IR-MAD) variates derived from dataset (b); the use of structural information only with image series resulting from the decomposition by the derivative of the morphological profile (DMP) of the panchromatic (d) and pan-sharpened (e) data; finally, the use of spectral and structural information simultaneously (f) and (g) by stacking up (a) and (d), and (b) and (e), respectively. The results show that the SVM performs better with feature vectors based on the simultaneous use of spectral and structural information rather than with those formed by the grey-level information or the DMPs only. Moreover, approach (f) requiring only two panchromatic data as input compete well with approaches (b), (e), and (g), which instead necessitate ten spectral channels as input. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present contribution demonstrates the feasibility and explores the limits of a new method for estimating the velocity and direction of moving targets using a single, optical, very-high-resolution (VHR) satellite sensor dataset. The method is based on the fact that there is a time lag between the data collection of the panchromatic (P) and multi-spectral (MS) sensors in the same VHR platform. Consequently, it is developed around three main steps: (1) accurate image-to-image registration between MS and P images with a sub-pixel displacement error, (2) precise location of barycentre of targets by mathematical morphology-based image transforms, and (3) estimation of the ground velocity and direction of the target using the MS-P spatial displacement, the known time lag, and an image-to-ground transformation taking into account the interior and exterior orientation of the sensors and a terrain height reference. An evaluation of the reliability and limits of the proposed method based on the observation of the results regarding manually selected moving and non-moving targets is included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A blinded, randomised clinical trial was carried out in Britanny, France on three commercial pig farms with a history of pneumonia. Pigs with clinical signs of respiratory disease were randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups; 100 pigs received a single intramuscular injections of a long-acting formulation of tylosin at a dose rate of 20 mg tylosin/kg bodyweight, and pigs received three consecutive daily intramuscular injections of 10 mg tylosin/kg bodyweight. The pigs' rectal temperatures and other clinical variables were recorded at intervals and a scoring system was used to evaluate the results of the treatments. Relapses were recorded for up to nine days after the treatment. There were no statistically significant differences between the two treatments in terms of clinical scores, rectal temperatures, or cure or relapse rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poultry is generally recognized as the main source of human campylobacteriosis and Campylobacter is highly prevalent at the farm level. To reduce the relative risk of human campylobacteriosis attributable to broiler meat, it is necessary to reduce Campylobacter loads in broiler ceca but to date, no effective, reliable and practical strategy is available. The marine environment is a rich source of original natural compounds exhibiting different biological activities. The objective of this study was to test a phlorotannin extract of the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum as a potential control strategy against Campylobacter in broilers. Bactericidal activity has been demonstrated in vitro, on several Campylobacter spp. strains at a range of 0.06 to 0.47 mg/mL. Therefore, an in vivo trial in experimental facilities was performed to evaluate addition of 0.2% (w/w) of an A. nodosum extract to feed distributed at the end of rearing from day 31 to day 35, and to assess the effect on artificial Campylobacter jejuni colonization. No statistical differences in Campylobacter enumeration were observed between the treated and control groups. Another trial was performed in a commercial broiler flock. Feed containing the extract at 0.2% (w/w) (2 kg/t) was distributed during the last 5 days of rearing (day 33-day 38). No significant effects on Campylobacter colonization and on growth parameters were observed compared to the control group. Additional studies are needed to assess whether active polyphenols are found in the cecum., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Poultry red mite (PRM) (Dermanyssus gallinae) infestations are a cause of anaemia, impaired productivity and stress-related behaviours linked to reduced hen welfare. A study investigated the potential health, welfare and productivity benefits following fluralaner treatment to eliminate PRM from infested hens., Methods: A PRM-infested layer house was selected on a free-range farm (5400 hens) and an aviary farm (42,400 hens). Fluralaner (Exzolt ® ; 0.5 mg/kg body weight) was administered twice, 7 days apart (Weeks 0 and 1), via drinking water. Mite populations were monitored by traps. Cameras recorded nighttime hen behaviours weekly, pre- and post-treatment. On the free-range farm, daytime behaviours were also recorded weekly. For pre- and post-treatment corticosterone assessments, eggs were randomly collected on both farms, and blood samples were collected from 50 randomly selected aviary farm hens. Production parameters were assessed using farm records., Results: Throughout the post-treatment period, fluralaner efficacy against PRM was > 99% on both farms. On the aviary and free-range farms, treatment was followed by significant nighttime increases in the proportion of resting hens (P < 0.0001; P = 0.0175, respectively). Significant post-treatment versus pre-treatment nighttime reductions were observed in head shaking (aviary, P < 0.0001; free-range P = 0.0233) and preening (P = 0.0032; P = 0.0018) and on the aviary farm in bouts of body shaking (P = 0.0108), vertical wing shaking (P = 0.0002), head scratching (P = 0.0335), and gentle feather pecking (P < 0.0001). On the free-range farm there were significant daytime reductions in head scratching (P < 0.0001), head shaking (P = 0.0492) and preening (P = 0.0012). Relative to standard production parameters, no differences were detected on the aviary farm, but on the free-range farm the laying rate decline with increasing age was less than expected and the increase in egg weight greater than expected. Post-treatment increases in egg and plasma corticosterone were suggestive of stress factors in addition to mite infestation. Red blood cell counts and haematocrit increased following treatment., Conclusion: Fluralaner treatment eliminated mite challenge, leading to improved hen welfare and health, based on reductions in stress-related behaviours and restoration of the anaemia-inducing effects of mite blood feeding.

Background: A controlled, randomised, and blinded trial performed on a conventional French farrow-to-finish farm compared the efficacy of a one-shot bivalent ready to use vaccine, Porcilis® PCV M. Hyo (group PCVM), to that of two commercial vaccines (Ingelvac® Circoflex® + Ingelvac® Mhyo, group ICIM), and to a placebo (group CTL), in preventing the health and economic impacts of Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex (PRDC)., Material & Methods: In this small-scale clinical study, all piglets in each group were administered the vaccine/placebo at weaning age (27 days old). Piglets from either of the three groups were bled at regular intervals from 3 weeks of age until slaughter, in order to assess the infection by the main PRDC infectious agents: Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae , PCV2 and PRRSV. Performance, lung checks and slaughter data were collected and analysed., Results: PCV2 viremia was significantly reduced in both vaccinated groups as compared to the placebo group. Lung lesion score was significantly lower in group PCVM, as compared to groups CTL and ICIM. Average daily weight gain during the finishing period was not significantly different between both vaccinated groups and was significantly higher than in the placebo group (849 g/d in the latter). Carcass results provided a numerical advantage to PCVM group, through improved part of production eligible for premium payment, and superior farmer income; this was a trend and did not reach significance., Conclusion: The one-shot bivalent vaccine Porcilis® PCV M Hyo proved to be efficacious and convenient to use in a field context of active PCV2 and M. hyopneumoniae infections.

Objective: To investigate the effect of preoperative meloxicam administration on postoperative stress and pain induced by surgical castration in piglets., Study Design: Prospective, blinded, randomized clinical trial., Animals: One hundred and eighty male piglets of <1 week of age., Methods: Castration was performed on 150 piglets which had received either an intramuscular injection of 0.4 mg kg(-1) meloxicam or a placebo 10-30 minutes before the procedure. Blood cortisol and ACTH concentrations were determined at 30 minutes post-castration and haptoglobin was measured at 24 hours post-castration. Presence or absence of foreleg movements, hind leg movements, urine or faeces emission, tremors or other body movements were recorded during the castration procedure. Scores for presence or absence of prostration, tremors, tail movements and isolation were recorded at 30 minutes, and at 1, 2, 4 and 24 hours post-castration and combined in a global behaviour score (GBS). Blood samples were taken from a further 30 piglets which did not undergo castration., Results: Mean blood cortisol and ACTH concentrations at 30 minutes post-castration were both significantly lower in the meloxicam group than in the placebo group (p < or = 0.01). The mean haptoglobin concentration at 24 hours was not significantly reduced (p = 0.178). The distribution of the GBS during castration was similar in both groups. There were significant differences in the GBS after castration at both 2 and 4 hours post-castration with a greater proportion of piglets in the meloxicam group showing no behavioural alterations (82.7%versus 68.0% at both time points). The score distribution was similar in both groups at 30 minutes, 1 and 24 hours after castration., Conclusion and Clinical Relevance: This study suggests that pre-emptive administration of meloxicam is able to produce some postoperative analgesia after surgical castration of young piglets.

The combination of X-ray 'propagation-based' and 'analyzer-based' phase-contrast imaging with a perfect crystal-analyzer is investigated. The image pattern produced using this 'hybrid' imaging technique presents peculiar features that can be interpreted as a mixture of the two independent phase-contrast signals. A quantitative analysis has been performed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio for the three techniques considered in this paper. Results show that in the 'hybrid imaging' technique this parameter has a weaker dependence on the angular alignment of the crystal analyser with respect to the 'analyser-based' imaging. This pioneering experiment indicates that this hybrid imaging technique might permit simultaneous advantage of the specific features of the two imaging methods to be taken.

Two x-ray phase contrast imaging techniques are compared in a quantitative way for future mammographic applications: diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) and phase propagation imaging (PPI). DEI involves, downstream of the sample, an analyser crystal acting as an angular filter for x-rays refracted by the sample. PPI simply uses the propagation (Fresnel diffraction) of the monochromatic and partially coherent x-ray beam over large distances. The information given by the two techniques is assessed by theoretical simulations and compared at the level of the experimental results for different kinds of samples (phantoms and real tissues). The imaging parameters such as the energy, the angular position of the analyser crystal in the DEI case or the sample to detector distance in the PPI case were varied in order to optimize the image quality in terms of contrast, visibility and figure of merit.

An analysis of red blood cells resistance has been conducted by exposing red corpuscles of zebu, Baoule and metis zebu x Baoule, to different saline concentrations. The statistical results show no sex influence for all breeds. In zebu, there is a difference according to the type of hemoglobin concerned. The last ones differ also from these in taurine and metis. The data analysis were realised by calculating the mean of hemolysis percentages for all samples, as with NaCl concentrations in respect of a 50 per cent hemolysis. These differences can partly explain anaemia in bovine trypanosomiasis to Trypanosoma vivax or T. congolense, which less severely affects taurine Baoule than zebus.