This article introduces a new MfEIT UDESC Mark I system, which consists of a 32-electrode setup featuring a modified Howland current source, low cost, portability, and non-radiation. The system is capable of reconstructing electrical conductivity tomographic images at a rate of 30.624 frames per second, taking about 5 min for imaging. The current source employs a 0.5 mA adjacent current application pattern with frequencies ranging from 10 kHz to 1 MHz. This article outlines the hardware, firmware, and software design specifications, which include the design of the current source, calibration procedures, and image reconstruction process. Tomographic images of conductivity were reconstructed in ex vivo healthy pig lungs and those with pneumonia, as a proof of concept for future applications in live pigs. The high spectral power density, combined with real-time system calibration provides clinical advantages in veterinary medicine. The goal is to identify lung areas affected by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in pigs through the analysis of electrical conductivity difference, offering a valuable tool to assist veterinarians to obtain images of respiratory diseases. The modified reconstruction method GREIT (EIDORS) was evaluated with experimental data and was compared with the Gauss–Newton and Total Variation methods, where GREIT 2D proved to be superior.

Occurrence of antibodies against Neospora caninum in sows and factors associated with infection in commercial herds in two regions of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil

This paper describes a spontaneous outbreak of toxic myopathy in finishing pigs due to the ingestion of feed with salinomycin associated with tiamulin and addresses the control methods performed during the outbreak to minimize economic losses resulting from the intoxication. A lot of 940 pigs fed feed containing 30 ppm salinomycin received 100 ppm tiamulin (via water) to control recurrent respiratory diseases on the farm. After ingesting tiamulin, some animals manifested clinical signs of motor incoordination, stiff gait, reluctance to move, muscle weakness and tremors, dyspnea, depression, and decubitus, remaining in “sitting-dog position” or with the abduction of the pelvic limbs, and rested on tip-toes when in a standing position. Two animals were euthanized for macro-and microscopic evaluation. The other sick animals received supportive anti-inflammatory treatment. The most relevant macroscopic finding observed during necropsy was the slight pallor of the pelvic limb muscles. The main histopathological findings consisted of multifocal areas of hyaline degeneration and marked necrosis of skeletal myofibers, with macrophage infiltrate associated with cell regeneration and skeletal fiber phagocytosis. These lesions were more intense in the longissimus dorsi, diaphragm, and masseter muscles. The definitive diagnosis was based on epidemiological aspects and clinical lesional conditions compatible with toxic myopathy secondary to ionophore intoxication.

This article introduces a new MfEIT UDESC Mark I system, which consists of a 32-electrode setup featuring a modified Howland current source, low cost, portable and non radiation. The system is capable of reconstruction of electrical conductivity tomographic images at a rate of 30.624 frames per second and about 5 minutes for imaging. The current source employs 0.5 mA, adjacent current application pattern with frequencies ranging from 10 kHz to 1 MHz. The article outlines the hardware, firmware, and software design specifications, which include the design of the current source, calibration procedures, and image reconstruction process. Tomographic images of conductivity were reconstructed in ex vivo healthy pig lungs and those with pneumonia, as a proof of concept for future applications in live pigs. The high spectral power density, combined with real-time system calibration provides clinical advantages in veterinary medicine. The goal is to identify lung areas affected by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in pigs, through the analysis of electrical conductivity difference, offering a valuable tool to assist veterinarians for to obtain images of respiratory diseases. The reconstruction method (GREIT) was evaluated with experimental data and It was compared with the Gauss-Newton and Total Variation methods, where GREIT proved to be superior.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and intestinal health of nursery-phase piglets (22 to 64 days of age) fed a diet supplemented with organic acids and prebiotics or a diet supplemented with colistin. One hundred fifty weaned piglets 22 days old and with an initial weight of 5.56 kg were allotted to pens based on BW in a completely randomized block design to one of three treatment diets: T1, negative control; T2, colistin (10 mg/kg); and T3, mannan oligosaccharides + beta-glucans + ammonium formate, formic acid, ammonium propionate and acetic acid (1 kg/ton). The daily feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion, diarrhea score, cecal Lactobacillus, E. coli and fecal coliform content, and proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine concentrations were evaluated. The performance results considering the whole nursery phase showed a better (P < 0.05) feed conversion for T3 (1.593) and T2 (1.602) compared with T1 (1.679). The diarrhea score of T2 was lower than that of T1 (P < 0.05) and similar to that of T3 (P ≥ 0.05). The piglets that received T3 presented a greater concentration of proinflammatory cytokines at 36 days of age than T1, similar to T2 (p < 0.05), with the exception of TNFa, where T3 was superior to all groups, whereas at 57 days of age the piglets that received T2 presented a greater concentration of inflammatory cytokines. The piglets fed diets supplemented with a combination of mannan oligosaccharides, beta-glucans and acidifiers, representing an alternative to growth-promoting antibiotics, performed similarly to those fed colistin-supplemented diets.