Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas (GHG) produced and released by eructation to the atmosphere in large volumes by ruminants. Enteric CH4 contributes significantly to global GHG emissions arising from animal agriculture. It has been contended that tropical grasses produce higher emissions of enteric CH4 than temperate grasses, when they are fed to ruminants. A number of experiments have been performed in respiration chambers and head-boxes to assess the enteric CH4 mitigation potential of foliage and pods of tropical plants, as well as nitrates (NO3−) and vegetable oils in practical rations for cattle. On the basis of individual determinations of enteric CH4 carried out in respiration chambers, the average CH4 yield for cattle fed low-quality tropical grasses (>70% ration DM) was 17.0 g CH4/kg DM intake. Results showed that when foliage and ground pods of tropical trees and shrubs were incorporated in cattle rations, methane yield (g CH4/kg DM intake) was decreased by 10% to 25%, depending on plant species and level of intake of the ration. Incorporation of nitrates and vegetable oils in the ration decreased enteric CH4 yield by ∼6% to ∼20%, respectively. Condensed tannins, saponins and starch contained in foliages, pods and seeds of tropical trees and shrubs, as well as nitrates and vegetable oils, can be fed to cattle to mitigate enteric CH4 emissions under smallholder conditions. Strategies for enteric CH4 mitigation in cattle grazing low-quality tropical forages can effectively increase productivity while decreasing enteric CH4 emissions in absolute terms and per unit of product (e.g. meat, milk), thus reducing the contribution of ruminants to GHG emissions and therefore to climate change.

Community engagement is important for reaching vulnerable populations in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A risk communication framework was implemented by a community-engaged research (CEnR) partnership in Southeast Minnesota to address COVID-19 prevention, testing, and socioeconomic impacts. Bidirectional communication between Communication Leaders and community members within their social networks was used by the partnership to refine messages, leverage resources, and advise policy makers. Over 14 days, messages were delivered by 24 Communication Leaders in 6 languages across 9 electronic platforms to 9882 individuals within their networks. CEnR partnerships may effectively implement crisis and emergency risk communication to vulnerable populations in a pandemic.

With their sizes larger than 0.7 Mpc, Giant Radio Galaxies (GRGs) are the largest individual objects in the Universe. To date, the reason why they reach such enormous extensions is still unclear. One of the proposed scenarios suggests that they are the result of multiple episodes of jet activity. Cross-correlating the INTEGRAL+Swift AGN population with radio catalogues (NVSS, FIRST, SUMSS), we found that 22% of the sources are GRG (a factor four higher than those selected from radio catalogues). Remarkably, all of the sources in the sample show signs of restarting radio activity. The X-ray properties are consistent with this scenario, the sources being in a high-accretion, high-luminosity state with respect to the previous activity responsible for the radio lobes.

The citrus leafminer (CLM), Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton causes injury to citrus and related species in the Rutaceae family. The damage that the CLM larvae can cause is significant in citrus plantations. We tested two citrus cultivars — ‘Kinnow’ (Citrus reticulata Blanco) and ‘Fairchild’ (a hybrid of Citrus reticulata Clementine x Orlando Tangelo) — to quantify CLM larvae infestation and effect on the physiology of the citrus cultivars. We then compared the CLM larval weight with its associated damage. To calculate infestation level, mine area and total leaf area, we used the image analysis technique. The infestation level of CLM was higher in ‘Fairchild’ than in ‘Kinnow’ cultivar of citrus. For both cultivars, larval weight of CLM was directly proportional to the amount of mines generated. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that the mines that CLM larvae generate pose significant effect on the net photosynthetic rates and water use efficiency of citrus nursery plants. These results will help improve our understanding of the interaction between CLM and citrus nursery plants and effect of the pest on the yield potential of the crop.

This study investigated the potential application of genomic selection under a multi-breed scheme in the Spanish autochthonous beef cattle populations using a simulation study that replicates the structure of linkage disequilibrium obtained from a sample of 25 triplets of sire/dam/offspring per population and using the BovineHD Beadchip. Purebred and combined reference sets were used for the genomic evaluation and several scenarios of different genetic architecture of the trait were investigated. The single-breed evaluations yielded the highest within-breed accuracies. Across breed accuracies were found low but positive on average confirming the genetic connectedness between the populations. If the same genotyping effort is split in several populations, the accuracies were lower when compared with single-breed evaluation, but showed a small advantage over small-sized purebred reference sets over the accuracies of subsequent generations. Besides, the genetic architecture of the trait did not show any relevant effect on the accuracy with the exception of rare variants, which yielded slightly lower results and higher loss of predictive ability over the generations.

The aim of the study was to determine whether routine probiotic supplementation (RPS) with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) or Lactobacillus acidophilus +Lactobacillus bifidum is associated with reduced risk of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC)≥Stage II in preterm neonates born at ≤32 weeks’ gestation. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on the effect of probiotic supplementation in very low birth weight infants in our neonatal unit by comparing two periods: before and after supplementation. The incidence of NEC≥Stage II, late-onset sepsis and all-cause mortality was compared for an equal period ‘before’ (Period I) and ‘after’ (Period II) RPS with LGG or L. acidophillus+L. bifidum. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to adjust for relevant confounders. The study population was composed of 261 neonates (Period I v. II: 134 v. 127) with comparable gestation duration and birth weights. In <32 weeks, we observed a significant reduction in NEC≥Stage II (11·3 v. 4·8 %), late-onset sepsis (16 v. 10·5 %) and mortality (19·4 v. 2·3 %). The benefits in neonates aged ≤27 weeks did not reach statistical significance. RPS with LGG or L. acidophillus+L. bifidum is associated with a reduced risk of NEC≥Stage II, late-onset sepsis and mortality in preterm neonates born at ≤32 weeks’ gestation.

The Spanish local beef cattle breeds have most likely common origin followed by a process of differentiation. This particular historical evolution has most probably left detectable signatures in the genome. The objective of this study was to identify genomic regions associated with differentiation processes in seven Spanish autochthonous populations (Asturiana de los Valles (AV), Avileña-Negra Ibérica (ANI), Bruna dels Pirineus (BP), Morucha (Mo), Pirenaica (Pi), Retinta (Re) and Rubia Gallega (RG)). The BovineHD 777K BeadChip was used on 342 individuals (AV, n=50; ANI, n=48; BP, n=50; Mo, n=50; Pi, n=48; Re, n=48; RG, n=48) chosen to be as unrelated as possible. We calculated the fixation index (F ST ) and performed a Bayesian analysis named SelEstim. The output of both procedures was very similar, although the Bayesian analysis provided a richer inference and allowed us to calculate significance thresholds by generating a pseudo-observed data set from the estimated posterior distributions. We identified a very large number of genomic regions, but when a very restrictive significance threshold was applied these regions were reduced to only 10. Among them, four regions can be highlighted because they comprised a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms and showed extremely high signals (Kullback–Leiber divergence (KLD)>6). They are located in BTA 2 (5 575 950 to 10 152 228 base pairs (bp)), BTA 5 (17 596 734 to 18 850 702 bp), BTA 6 (37 853 912 to 39 441 548 bp) and BTA 18 (13 345 515 to 15 243 838 bp) and harbor, among others, the MSTN (Myostatin), KIT-LG (KIT Ligand), LAP3 (leucine aminopeptidase 3), NAPCG (non-SMC condensing I complex, subunit G), LCORL (ligand dependent nuclear receptor corepressor-like) and MC1R (Melanocortin 1 receptor) genes. Knowledge on these genomic regions allows to identify potential targets of recent selection and helps to define potential candidate genes associated with traits of interest, such as coat color, muscle development, fertility, growth, carcass and immunological response.

This study aimed to evaluate the embryo development competence, the nuclear maturation and the viability of germinal vesicle (GV) and metaphase II (MII) oocytes vitrified by the Cryotop method. Cumulus–oocyte complexes were derived from bovine ovaries and three experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, GV oocytes were vitrified and underwent in vitro maturation (IVM) or not and their nuclear maturation was assessed by orcein staining. In Experiment 2, GV oocytes and MII oocytes were vitrified or not and the viability was assessed by calcein/ethidium homodimer-1 staining. In Experiment 3, MII oocytes matured before or after vitrification were submitted to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and parthenogenetic activation (PA) in order to evaluate embryo development. No difference was found for the nuclear maturation rate in the GV group (50%) and the GV control group (67%; P = 0.23) and for viability rate (56%; 77%; P = 0.055, respectively). However, in the MII group (27%) viability was significantly lower than that of the MII control group (84%; P < 0.0001). The cleavage rate by IVF and PA was similar in the GV group and the MII group. In contrast, vitrified MII oocytes showed no capacity for blastocyst development after IVF or PA and vitrified GV oocytes were able to develop to blastocysts only after PA, but not after IVF. In conclusion, oocyte vitrification by the Cryotop method reduced the capacity for embryo development. Vitrification of GV oocytes, however, did not influence the capacity of meiotic nuclear maturation and they exhibited higher viability following vitrification at the MII stage.

The gastropod Buccinanops globulosus is commonly used as a bioindicator of tributyltin (TBT) contamination due to its high imposex incidence in maritime traffic areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate both oxidative stress in B. globulosus at three sites with different maritime activity, and imposex incidence in Nuevo Gulf, Argentina. Oxidative stress parameters in digestive glands, like superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities, reduced glutathione levels (GSH), and oxidative damage to lipids, estimated as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) as well as imposex parameters (% imposex and female penis length (FPL)) were measured in females. Gastropods from the harbour area showed 100% imposex, the highest FPL and TBARs content, as well as GSH levels and SOD activity.

The different oxidative stress responses and high imposex incidence at the harbour site may indicate a negative effect on the organism's physiological state due to environmental pollution.

The distribution of phlebotomine sand flies is widely reported to be changing in Europe. This can be attributed to either the discovery of sand flies in areas where they were previously overlooked (generally following an outbreak of leishmaniasis or other sand fly-related disease) or to true expansion of their range as a result of climatic or environmental changes. Routine surveillance for phlebotomines in Europe is localized, and often one of the challenges for entomologists working in non-leishmaniasis endemic countries is the lack of knowledge on how to conduct, plan and execute sampling for phlebotomines, or how to adapt on-going sampling strategies for other haematophagous diptera. This review brings together published and unpublished expert knowledge on sampling strategies for European phlebotomines of public health concern in order to provide practical advice on: how to conduct surveys; the collection and interpretation of field data; suitable techniques for the preservation of specimens obtained by different sampling methods; molecular techniques used for species identification; and the pathogens associated with sand flies and their detection methods.