In basic research, testing of oral fluid specimens by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has been used to evaluate changes in gene expression levels following experimental treatments. In diagnostic medicine, qPCR has been used to detect DNA/RNA transcripts indicative of bacterial or viral infections. Normalization of qPCR using endogenous and exogenous reference genes is a well-established strategy for ensuring result comparability by controlling sample-to-sample variation introduced during sampling, storage, and qPCR testing. In this review, the majority of recent publications in human (n = 136) and veterinary (n = 179) medicine did not describe the use of internal reference genes in qPCRs for oral fluid specimens (52.9% animal studies; 57.0% human studies). However, the use of endogenous reference genes has not been fully explored or validated for oral fluid specimens. The lack of valid internal reference genes inherent to the oral fluid matrix will continue to hamper the reliability, reproducibility, and generalizability of oral fluid qPCR assays until this issue is addressed.

Projects that aim to control invasive species often assume that a reduction of the target species will increase native species abundance. However, reports of the responses of native species following exotic species control are relatively rare. We assessed the recovery of the native community in five tidal wetland locations in which we attempted to eradicate the invasive common reed [Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.]. We tested whether 3 yr of treatment were able to eradicate Phragmites and promote recovery of the native plant community. After 3 yr of treatment, Phragmites density declined sharply in all treated stands, though it was not eradicated in any of them. Native plant cover increased significantly in treated areas, and community composition, particularly in smaller stands, converged toward that of uninvaded habitat. Thus, even within the relatively short timescale of the treatments and monitoring, significant progress was made toward achieving the goals of controlling Phragmites infestations and promoting native biodiversity. There was a trend toward greater promise for success in smaller stands than larger stands, as has been observed in other studies. A greater emphasis on monitoring whole-community responses to exotic plant control, across a range of conditions, would enhance our ability to plan and design successful management strategies.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) remains an important pathogen of livestock more than 120 years after it was identified, with annual costs from production losses and vaccination estimated at €5.3–€17 billion (US$6.5–US$21 billion) in FMDV-endemic areas. Control and eradication are difficult because FMDV is highly contagious, genetically and antigenically diverse, infectious for a wide variety of species, able to establish subclinical carriers in ruminants, and widely geographically distributed. For early detection, sustained control, or eradication, sensitive and specific FMDV surveillance procedures compatible with high through-put testing platforms are required. At present, surveillance relies on the detection of FMDV-specific antibody or virus, most commonly in individual animal serum, vesicular fluid, or epithelial specimens. However, FMDV or antibody are also detectable in other body secretions and specimens, e.g., buccal and nasal secretions, respiratory exhalations (aerosols), mammary secretions, urine, feces, and environmental samples. These alternative specimens offer non-invasive diagnostic alternatives to individual animal sampling and the potential for more efficient, responsive, and cost-effective surveillance. Herein we review FMDV testing methods for contemporary and alternative diagnostic specimens and their application to FMDV surveillance in livestock (cattle, swine, sheep, and goats).

All sectors of livestock production are in the process of shifting from small populations on many farms to large populations on fewer farms. A concurrent shift has occurred in the number of livestock moved across political boundaries. The unintended consequence of these changes has been the appearance of multifactorial diseases that are resistant to traditional methods of prevention and control. The need to understand complex animal health conditions mandates a shift toward the collection of longitudinal animal health data. Historically, collection of such data has frustrated and challenged animal health specialists. A promising trend in the evolution toward more efficient and effective livestock disease surveillance is the increased use of aggregate samples, e.g. bulk tank milk and oral fluid specimens. These sample types provide the means to monitor disease, estimate herd prevalence, and evaluate spatiotemporal trends in disease distribution. Thus, this article provides an overview of the use of bulk tank milk and pen-based oral fluids in the surveillance of livestock populations for infectious diseases.

Preamble: Executive Order (EO) 13112—defines an invasive species as “an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.” In the Executive Summary of the National Invasive Species Management Plan (NISMP) the term invasive species is further clarified and defined as “a species that is non-native to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.” To provide guidance for the development and implementation of the NISMP, the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) and the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC) adopted a set of principles outlined in Appendix 6 of the NISMP. Guiding Principle #1 provides additional context for defining the term invasive species and states “many alien species are non-invasive and support human livelihoods or a preferred quality of life.”

If a magnetized-orbit-charged grain encounters any abrupt inhomogeneity in plasma conditions during a gyro-orbit, such that the resulting in-situ equilibrium charge is significantly different between these regions (q1/q2 ~ 2, where q1 is the in-situ equilibrium charge on one side of the inhomogeneity, q2 is the in-situ equilibrium charge on the other side, and q1 < q2 < 0), then the capacitive effects of charging and discharging of the dust grain can result in a modification to the orbit-averaged grain trajectory, i.e. gyro-phase drift. The special case of q1/q2 is notioned for the purpose of illustrating the utility of the method. An analytical expression is derived for the grain velocity, assuming a capacitor approximation to the OML charging model. For cases in which a strong electric field suddenly appears in the wake or at the space-plasma-to-crater interface from solar wind and/or ultraviolet illumination and in which a magnetic field permeates an asteroid, comet, or moon, this model could contribute to the interpretation of the distribution of fields and particles.

We review the principles of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, the inactivation of infectious agents by UV, and current applications for the control of microorganisms. In particular, wavelengths between 200 and 280 nm (germicidal UV) affect the double-bond stability of adjacent carbon atoms in molecules including pyrimidines, purines and flavin. Thus, UV inactivation of microorganisms results from the formation of dimers in RNA (uracil and cytosine) and DNA (thymine and cytosine). The classic application of UV irradiation is the inactivation of microorganisms in biological safety cabinets. In the food-processing industry, germicidal UV irradiation has shown potential for the surface disinfection of fresh-cut fruit and vegetables. UV treatment of water (potable and wastewater) is increasingly common because the process is effective against a wide range of microorganisms, overdose is not possible, chemical residues or by-products are avoided, and water quality is unaffected. UV has been used to reduce the concentration of airborne microorganisms in limited studies, but the technology will require further development if it is to gain wider application. For bioaerosols, the primary technical challenge is delivery of sufficient UV irradiation to large volumes of air, but the absence of UV inactivation constants for airborne pathogens under a range of environmental conditions (temperature, relative humidity) further compounds the problem.

Pork production began to flourish in the USA after the practice of finishing pigs on corn was popularized in the late 1600s. By the 1840s, there were 35 million pigs and 20 million people in the USA and Cincinnati was the world's largest pork market. Between 1890 and the present, the total number of pigs in the USA has remained at 50–60 million, but dramatic changes in swine husbandry over the course of the 20th century have metamorphosed pig production from small, extensive (outdoor), labor-dependent enterprises into large, intensive (indoor), capital-dependent, production systems. This development has led to debate concerning the impact of swine production on animal/human health, the environment, and the welfare of the animals under our care. In a very tangible way, the future of pork production depends on effectively addressing the public's concerns regarding animal welfare and health. Here, we review basic sensory and behavioral aspects of swine with the objective of reaching a better understanding of pig behavior and pig welfare. The premise of this discussion is that safeguarding animal welfare and health is good for pigs, pork producers and the animal-conscious public.

The purpose of this review was to discuss the history of the development and implementation of oral fluid diagnostics for infectious diseases of humans and domestic animals. The use of oral fluid for the assessment of health and diagnosis of disease in humans and animals has a surprisingly long history. As early as 1909, Pollaci and Ceraulo reported sensitive and specific agglutination of ‘Micrococcus melitensis’ (Brucella melitensis) by oral fluid from patients diagnosed with Malta Fever. A 1986 report of the detection of antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in oral fluid from patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) marked the start of a remarkably rapid series of developments in oral fluid-based assays. Cumulatively, the literature strongly supports implementation of oral fluid-based diagnostics in veterinary diagnostic medicine. Pathogen-specific IgA, IgM and IgG antibodies have all been demonstrated in oral fluid collected from diverse domestic animal species in response to infection. A variety of infectious agents, both local and systemic, are shed in oral fluid, including some of the most economically significant pathogens of production animals (e.g. foot-and-mouth disease virus, classical swine fever virus and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus) Ultimately, point-of-care rapid assays (i.e. cow-side, sow-side or pen-side tests) and access to real-time infectious disease data will revolutionize our delivery of health management services.

The porcine tonsils are a group of lymphoepithelial tissues located at the common openings of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. The tonsils participate in a variety of functions involving innate, cellular and humoral immunity at the local and systemic levels. Among these immunological functions is the continuous surveillance for the presence of foreign antigens at the openings of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. Within the pig, the movement of lymphocytes, cytokines and chemotactic molecules from the tonsils to other lymphoid organs confers immunity to other portals of pathogen entry and facilitates an efficient and rapid systemic immune response. In spite of the immunological nature of the tonsils, some microorganisms have acquired adaptations that allow them to circumvent the tonsillar immune defenses and utilize the tonsils as a site of entry, replication and colonization. Several bacterial and viral pathogens persist asymptomatically within the tonsils, making identification of asymptomatic carrier animals difficult in disease control and/or pathogen elimination. This paper reviews the current information on the anatomy, immunology and pathobiology of porcine tonsils and discusses the tonsils as a site of pathogen entry, replication and colonization using Salmonella spp., classical swine fever virus and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus as examples.

Electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) are considered an alternative to solder interconnection in microelectronic circuit packaging. In an effort to understand the performance of this class of materials, several chemical analytical techniques have been employed to characterize polymer chemistry, filler morphology and surface chemistry. These techniques include fourier transform mass spectroscopy pyrolysis (FTMS), optical microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x‐ray analysis (SEM/EDX), auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and photo‐electron spectroscopy (XPS). Samples studied were conductive adhesive layers and deposits, plated metal surfaces, cross‐sections of bonded joints and fractured bonds. Electrical contact resistance data were also taken on bonded joints. Three commercial adhesives were studied. It was found that thermal stability varied among the three adhesives with one adhesive showing degradation at as low as 200 °C. Differences were also noted in silver flake size, morphology and apparent contact area. Excellent contact resistance stability is achieved with two formulations on a palladium‐nickel alloy surface. In contrast, a hard gold surface yielded unstable contact resistance. Fractured bond surfaces were studied for both stable and unstable joints to understand mechanisms for contact resistance degradation. The increase in contact resistance is most likely caused by oxygen ingress along an interfacial bond where the adherend surface is smooth. The matrix polymer oxidized at the interface when exposed to temperatures above the glass transition temperature. Tin surfaces cause increasing contact resistance and nickel surfaces give an initial contact resistance that is more than two orders of magnitude higher than noble metal surfaces. Oxide formation in both cases is the likely cause for the unstable and high resistances. Various analytical techniques have been used to characterize and differentiate electrically conductive adhesives. Differences among three adhesives are noted and correlated to contact resistance performance.