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•New comprehensive neuroimaging resource for MRI studies of the mouse brain.•Longitudinal VBM approach highlights the dynamic of the maternal brain.•Highly maternal females developed specific transient cortical hypertrophies. Reproduction induces changes within the brain to prepare for gestation and motherhood. However, the dynamic of these central changes and their relationships with the development of maternal behavior remain poorly understood. Here, we describe a longitudinal morphometric neuroimaging study in female mice between pre-gestation and weaning, using new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) resources comprising a high-resolution brain template, its associated tissue priors (60-µm isotropic resolution) and a corresponding mouse brain atlas (1320 regions of interest). Using these tools, we observed transient hypertrophies not only within key regions controlling gestation and maternal behavior (medial preoptic area, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis), but also in the amygdala, caudate nucleus and hippocampus. Additionally, unlike females exhibiting lower levels of maternal care, highly maternal females developed transient hypertrophies in somatosensory, entorhinal and retrosplenial cortices among other regions. Therefore, coordinated and transient brain modifications associated with maternal performance occurred during gestation and lactation.

•Seasons significantly impact both the physiology and behavior of seasonal animals living in temperate and polar regions.•By developing novel tools and methodologies for brain registration and morphometric analysis, we examined brain plasticity in sheep, a large seasonal animal model, over the course of the seasons.•Voxel-based morphometry and grey matter thickness analysis show seasonal changes in grey matter organization in areas related to sensory processing, learning, memory, behavior control, and social cognition in sheep.•Our research underscores the importance of considering the time of year as a variable in MRI studies when studying general brain organization. At temperate and polar latitudes, animals and humans experience seasonal changes that impact physiology and behavior. In these habitats, the prevalence and severity of certain psychiatric disorders fluctuate seasonally. Such patterns imply that an adaptive system fine-tunes brain physiology in response to annual environmental changes, and alterations to this system may adversely affect mental health. To date, the core neuronal circuitry of the seasonal control of brain functioning is still largely unknown. To address this question, we identified brain regions sensitive to seasonal changes, using neuroimaging in the domestic sheep (Ovis aries), an animal model commonly used to study seasonality. Here, we developed MRI neuroinformatics resources (templates and atlas) dedicated to the analysis of the sheep brain and revealed that seasons broadly modify grey matter organization and volume of both cortical and subcortical regions involved in the control of homeostasis, sensory processing, learning, memory, behavior control, and social cognition. Many of these regions were not previously known to be affected by seasonal variations, highlighting that the seasonal control of brain function involves plasticity mechanisms across multiple brain sites.

Social interactions shape both the physiological and behavioural development of offspring, and poor care/early caregiver loss is known to promote adverse outcomes during infancy in both animals and humans. How affiliative behaviours impact the future development of offspring remains an open question. Here, we used Equus caballus (domestic horse) as a model to investigate this question. By coupling magnetic resonance imaging, longitudinal biobehavioural assessments and advanced multivariate statistical modelling, we found that prolonged maternal presence during infancy promotes the maturation of brain regions involved in both social behaviour (anterior cingulate cortex and retrosplenial cortex) and physiological regulation (hypothalamus and amygdala). Additionally, offspring benefiting from a prolonged maternal presence showed higher default mode network connectivity, improved social competences and feeding behaviours, and higher concentrations of circulating lipids (triglyceride and cholesterol). The findings of the present study underscore the salient role of social interactions in the development of allostatic regulation in offspring. The present study shows that maternal presence beyond early life remains crucial for brain, behavioural and physiological development in young horses, highlighting the importance of the mother–offspring relationship during a childhood-like stage.

In Europe, badgers ( ) are recognized as major tuberculosis (TB) reservoir hosts with the potential to transmit infection to associated cattle herds. Recent studies in Spain have demonstrated that vaccination with a heat-inactivated vaccine (HIMB) successfully protects captive wild boar and red deer against progressive disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two oral vaccines against TB in a badger model: the live-attenuated bacillus Calmette-Guérin BCG vaccine (Danish strain) and a HIMB vaccine. Twenty-four badgers were separated in three treatment groups: oral vaccinated with live BCG (10 CFU, = 5), oral vaccinated with HIMB (10 CFU = 7), and unvaccinated controls ( = 12). All badgers were experimentally infected with (10 CFU) by the endobronchial route targeting the right middle lung lobe. Throughout the study, clinical, immunological, pathological, and bacteriological parameters of infection were measured. Both vaccines conferred protection against experimental TB in badger, as measured by a reduction of the severity and lesion volumes. Based on these data, HIMB vaccination appears to be a promising TB oral vaccine candidate for badgers in endemic countries.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most prevalent autosomal recessive disease in the Caucasian population. A cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator knockout (CFTR-/-) pig that displays most of the features of the human CF disease has been recently developed. However, CFTR-/- pigs presents a 100% prevalence of meconium ileus that leads to death in the first hours after birth, requiring a rapid diagnosis and surgical intervention to relieve intestinal obstruction. Identification of CFTR-/- piglets is usually performed by PCR genotyping, a procedure that lasts between 4 to 6 h. Here, we aimed to develop a procedure for rapid identification of CFTR-/- piglets that will allow placing them under intensive care soon after birth and immediately proceeding with the surgical correction.Male and female CFTR+/- pigs were crossed and the progeny was examined by computed tomography (CT) scan to detect the presence of meconium ileus and facilitate a rapid post-natal surgical intervention. Genotype was confirmed by PCR. CT scan presented a 94.4% sensitivity to diagnose CFTR-/- piglets. Diagnosis by CT scan reduced the birth-to-surgery time from a minimum of 10 h down to a minimum of 2.5 h and increased the survival of CFTR-/- piglets to a maximum of 13 days post-surgery as opposed to just 66 h after later surgery.CT scan imaging of meconium ileus is an accurate method for rapid identification of CFTR-/- piglets. Early CT detection of meconium ileus may help to extend the lifespan of CFTR-/- piglets and, thus, improve experimental research on CF, still an incurable disease.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive technique that requires the participant to be completely motionless. To date, MRI in awake and unrestrained animals has only been achieved with humans and dogs. For other species, alternative techniques such as anesthesia, restraint and/or sedation have been necessary. Anatomical and functional MRI studies with sheep have only been conducted under general anesthesia. This ensures the absence of movement and allows relatively long MRI experiments but it removes the non-invasive nature of the MRI technique (i.e., IV injections, intubation). Anesthesia can also be detrimental to health, disrupt neurovascular coupling, and does not permit the study of higher-level cognition. Here, we present a proof-of-concept that sheep can be trained to perform a series of tasks, enabling them to voluntarily participate in MRI sessions without anesthesia or restraint. We describe a step-by-step training protocol based on positive reinforcement (food and praise) that could be used as a basis for future neuroimaging research in sheep. This protocol details the two successive phases required for sheep to successfully achieve MRI acquisitions of their brain. By providing structural brain MRI images from six out of ten sheep, we demonstrate the feasibility of our training protocol. This innovative training protocol paves the way for the possibility of conducting animal welfare-friendly functional MRI studies with sheep to investigate ovine cognition.

This thesis presents investigations of liquid ingress and vapour uptake in different porous media including textile fabrics and activated carbons, monitored by means of a unilateral NMR instrument. The aim of this work is to assess protective materials which prevent toxic liquid ingress and toxic vapour uptake from contaminating materials and personnel. A high performance fabric made of a combination of coated and not coated fibres can provide extremely high protection against toxic liquids. By incorporating an adsorbent layer between two highly repellent layers, an “intelligent” fabric that can prevent complete penetration through the composite system by toxic vapours can be constructed. This project was undertaken with a low-field unilateral profile NMR Mouse® (MObile Universal Surface Explorer) which can collect signal from a thin and flat sensitive volume (ca. 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm x 0.6 mm) up to 10 mm above it, and in a non-invasive manner. The instrument uses a strong inherent magnetic field gradient (11.38 T.m-1) in conjunction with pulsed radio frequency waves. The method makes use of Fourier Transformed NMR in order to spatially resolve 1D vertical profiles for each measurement over a field of view exceeding 500 µm and with a spatial resolution of 15 µm. One system investigated was a laminate heterogeneous layered fabric, made of a horizontal stack of three individual layers, each 70 μm thick, constructed from entangled fibres of 10 µm in diameter. The top and bottom layers are strongly repellent to the oil used as a model that represents a simulant for a toxic liquid, whilst the middle layer is non-repellent and allows oil to absorb inside.

Background Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most prevalent autosomal recessive disease in the Caucasian population. A cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator knockout (CFTR-/-) pig that displays most of the features of the human CF disease has been recently developed. However, CFTR-/- pigs presents a 100% prevalence of meconium ileus that leads to death in the first hours after birth, requiring a rapid diagnosis and surgical intervention to relieve intestinal obstruction. Identification of CFTR-/- piglets is usually performed by PCR genotyping, a procedure that lasts between 4 to 6 h. Here, we aimed to develop a procedure for rapid identification of CFTR-/- piglets that will allow placing them under intensive care soon after birth and immediately proceeding with the surgical correction. Methods and Principal Findings Male and female CFTR+/- pigs were crossed and the progeny was examined by computed tomography (CT) scan to detect the presence of meconium ileus and facilitate a rapid post-natal surgical intervention. Genotype was confirmed by PCR. CT scan presented a 94.4% sensitivity to diagnose CFTR-/- piglets. Diagnosis by CT scan reduced the birth-to-surgery time from a minimum of 10 h down to a minimum of 2.5 h and increased the survival of CFTR-/- piglets to a maximum of 13 days post-surgery as opposed to just 66 h after later surgery. Conclusion CT scan imaging of meconium ileus is an accurate method for rapid identification of CFTR-/- piglets. Early CT detection of meconium ileus may help to extend the lifespan of CFTR-/- piglets and, thus, improve experimental research on CF, still an incurable disease.

Social interactions shape both physiological and behavioural development of offspring and poor care/early caregiver loss are known to promote negative outcomes in adulthood in both animals and humans. How affiliative behaviours impact future development of offspring remains unknown. Here, we used Equus caballus (domestic horse) as a model to investigate this question. By coupling magnetic resonance imaging, longitudinal biobehavioural assessment and advanced multivariate statistical modelling we found that maternal presence during childhood promotes maturation of brain territories involved in both social behaviour (anterior cingulate, retrosplenial cortex) and physiological regulation (hypothalamus, amygdala). Additionally, we found that offsprings benefiting from prolonged maternal presence showed higher default mode network (DMN) connectivity, improved social competences, more efficient feeding behaviours, and metabolic profiles. The present study underscores the salient role of social interactions for the development of allostatic regulation in offspring.

Abstract Biomedical investigations in clinically relevant animal models is of crucial interest for faster and appropriate transfer to human. The ovine model has already demonstrated its potential compared to rodents and non-human primates (NHP) in various studies: sheep possess a gyrencephalic brain, captivity is not an issue and can undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in routine clinical scanners (1.5T, 3T) under identical conditions using similar techniques to humans. To date, the effects of anesthesia have been poorly explored and only few functional MRI (fMRI) studies were conducted in sheep. Here, Blood Oxygen Level dependent fMRI and perfusion MRI were conducted in lambs and adult ewes at 3 T. Robust but weak BOLD responses to visual stimulation were found in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) up to 3% isoflurane anaesthesia. BOLD responses were weaker in adult sheep than in lambs while relative cerebral blood volumes (rCBV) and relative cerebral blood flows (rCBF) were significantly higher in lambs than in adult sheep for both gray and white matter in accordance with previous findings in the human. Assessment of functional responses in healthy individuals under adequate physiological conditions is essential for robust translational studies. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.