Possible solutions for replant problems caused by soil-borne pathogens in organic strawberry production

Soil-borne pathogens, above all Verticillium sp. cause plant losses and yield decreases in many Austrian strawberry fields, also in organic farming systems; in a research project possibilities to resolve this problem were examined. In a field trial, which was started 1998, organically managed and differently fertilized plots (green compost, manure, hornchips) were compared to an unfertilised control plot and to two mineral fertilized and conventionally treated plots; the differences in field characteristics of strawberries in 2004 and 2005 were low, but differences in storage and biochemical characteristics could be seen in 2005. Some new cultivars tested as alternative to the very sensitive 'Elsanta' planted in 2005 on several farms showed a higher tolerance to diseases and good yield and fruit quality characteristics. Brassica sp. planted as an intercrop before strawberries reduced the amount of microsclerotia of Verticillium dahliae in highly infested soils, nevertheless the system has to be optimised and adapted to our climatic and husbandry conditions in further trials

Patterns and predictors of fast food consumption with acute myocardial infarction

Computational Infrastructure & Informatics Poster SessionBackground: Fast food is affordable and convenient, yet high in calories, saturated fat and sodium. The prevalence of fast food intake at the time of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and patterns of fast food intake in recovery are unknown. Moreover, the association between dietary counseling at hospital discharge and fast food intake after MI has not been described. Methods: We assessed baseline, 1 and 6-month fast food intake in 2494 patients in TRIUMPH, a 26-center, prospective registry of AMI patients. Fast food intake was divided into frequent (≥ weekly) vs. infrequent (< weekly) consumption. Multivariable regression was used to identify predictors of frequent fast food intake at 6-months, adjusted for baseline fast food consumption, sociodemographics and clinical factors. Results: Frequent fast food intake was common at the time of AMI (36%), but decreased substantially after AMI to 17% at 1-month and 20% at 6-months (p-value <0.0001). Patient characteristics independently associated with frequent fast food intake at 6-months included white race, male gender, health literacy, financial difficulty, dyslipidemia and diabetes. College education, heart failure and coronary revascularization during AMI admission were inversely associated with 6-month fast food consumption. Importantly, dietary counseling at discharge was not associated with lower 6-month fast food intake. Conclusion: Fast food consumption declined substantially after AMI. Certain populations, including patients with financial difficulty and lower health literacy continued to eat fast food frequently after their event. Although several patient groups are at risk for persistent high fast food intake, current dietary counseling efforts appear ineffective at altering behavior and new counseling strategies are needed

Lösungsansätze für Nachbauprobleme durch bodenbürtige Pathogene im biologischen Erdbeeranbau

Soil-borne pathogens, above all Verticillium sp. cause plant losses and yield decreases in many Austrian strawberry fields, also in organic farming systems; in a research project possibilities to resolve this problem were examined. In a field trial, which was started 1998, organically managed and differently fertilized plots (green compost, manure, hornchips) were compared to an unfertilised control plot and to two mineral fertilized and conventionally treated plots; the differences in field characteristics of strawberries in 2004 and 2005 were low, but differences in storage and biochemical characteristics could be seen in 2005. Some new cultivars tested as alternative to the very sensitive 'Elsanta' planted in 2005 on several farms showed a higher tolerance to diseases and good yield and fruit quality characteristics. Brassica sp. planted as an intercrop before strawberries reduced the amount of microsclerotia of Verticillium dahliae in highly infested soils, nevertheless the system has to be optimised and adapted to our climatic and husbandry conditions in further trials

Variation in practice regarding pretreatment with dual antiplatelet therapy for patients with non–ST elevation myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: Despite guideline recommendations, a significant number of patients with non–ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) do not receive dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) before angiography “pretreatment.” While there may be valid clinical reasons to not pretreat, such as concern for bleeding or multivessel disease warranting coronary artery bypass graft surgery, the degree of variability and factors associated with DAPT pretreatment are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: From the multicenter TRIUMPH registry, 1632 NSTEMI patients were not taking DAPT on admission and were included in the study cohort. Among the study patients, only 22% patients received DAPT pretreatment. A multivariable logistic regression model showed that race other than white or black (odds ratio [OR] 0.41, 95% CI 0.21–0.83), hemoglobin level (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.08–1.29), patients’ bleeding risk (assessed with NCDR CathPCI Bleeding Risk Score) (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.74–0.99), and severe left ventricular dysfunction (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.13–0.65) were the main predictors of pretreatment with DAPT, whereas likelihood of needing coronary artery bypass graft surgery (GRACE prediction model) was not (OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.88–1.35). Median ORs were calculated to assess variability of receiving DAPT pretreatment across sites after adjustment for patient characteristics. Receiving DAPT pretreatment varied substantially across sites (range 0–100%, mean OR 3.94, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: While deviating from guideline‐recommended DAPT pretreatment in patients with NSTEMI was associated with patient factors (eg, bleeding risk), marked variation was present across sites after accounting for patient‐level characteristics. This suggests that site‐level interventions are needed to improve concordance with current guidelines

Nuisance Bleeding With Prolonged Dual Antiplatelet Therapy After Acute Myocardial Infarction and its Impact on Health Status

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of nuisance bleeding after AMI and its impact on QOL.BackgroundProlonged dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is recommended after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to reduce ischemic events, but it is associated with increased rates of major and minor bleeding. The incidence of even lesser degrees of post-discharge “nuisance” bleeding with DAPT and its impact on quality of life (QOL) are unknown.MethodsData from the 24-center TRIUMPH (Translational Research Investigating Underlying Disparities in Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients' Health Status) study of 3,560 patients, who were interviewed at 1, 6, and 12 months after AMI, were used to investigate the incidence of nuisance bleeding (defined as Bleeding Academic Research Consortium type 1). Baseline characteristics associated with “nuisance” bleeding and its association with QOL, as measured by the EuroQol 5 Dimension visual analog scale, and subsequent re-hospitalization were examined.ResultsNuisance (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium type 1) bleeding occurred in 1,335 patients (37.5%) over the 12 months after AMI. After adjusting for baseline bleeding and mortality risk, ongoing DAPT was the strongest predictor of nuisance bleeding (rate ratio [RR]: 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17 to 1.76 at 1 month; RR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.35 to 2.65 at 6 months; and RR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.79 at 12 months; p < 0.01 for all comparisons). Nuisance bleeding at 1 month was independently associated with a decrement in QOL at 1 month (−2.81 points on EuroQol 5 Dimension visual analog scale; 95% CI: 1.09 to 5.64) and nonsignificantly toward higher re-hospitalization (hazard ratio: 1.20; 95% CI: 0.95 to 1.52).ConclusionsNuisance bleeding is common in the year after AMI, associated with ongoing use of DAPT, and independently associated with worse QOL. Improved selection of patients for prolonged DAPT may help minimize the incidence and adverse consequences of nuisance bleeding

Visuo-spatial cognition in Williams syndrome: Reviewing and accounting for the strengths and weaknesses in performance

Individuals with Williams syndrome typically show relatively poor visuo-spatial abilities in comparison to stronger verbal skills. However, individuals' level of performance is not consistent across all visuo-spatial tasks. The studies assessing visuo-spatial functioning in Williams syndrome are critically reviewed, in order to provide a clear pattern of the relative difficulty of these tasks. This prompts a possible explanation of the variability in performance seen which focuses on the processing demands of some of these tasks. Individuals with Williams syndrome show an atypical processing style on tests of construction, which does not affect tests of perception

Neurobiology of social behavior abnormalities in autism and Williams syndrome

Social behavior is a basic behavior mediated by multiple brain regions and neural circuits, and is crucial for the survival and development of animals and humans. Two neuropsychiatric disorders that have prominent social behavior abnormalities are autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which is characterized mainly by hyposociability, and Williams syndrome (WS), whose subjects exhibit hypersociability. Here we review the unique properties of social behavior in ASD and WS, and discuss the major theories in social behavior in the context of these disorders. We conclude with a discussion of the research questions needing further exploration to enhance our understanding of social behavior abnormalities

Uric Acid Levels in Relation to Progression of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by demyelination in the central nervous system. In previous studies, serum uric acid (UA) levels have been implied as a useful biomarker in understanding MS disease progression and development. The majority of previous studies have found MS patients have a lower UA level than healthy controls, however some studies have found higher UA levels with MS patients. Previous studies have compared UA levels between subtypes of MS, but have not produced conclusive data. To better understand the correlation between UA levels and MS patients, we compared UA levels between our set of MS patients from the Vanderbilt BioVU database, which includes the electronic health records of ~7,000 MS patients. In 499 MS patients and 276 healthy controls with UA results, Both gender and age were found to be contributing factors to UA levels (p = 5.979e-10 and p=4.448e-5). With both age and gender as covariates, we found no significant different UA levels associated with MS patients (regression, p=0.0858). UA levels were compared to MS subtype with no significant association (p = 0.628) Our study failed to support previous evidence of low UA levels associated with MS patients. Gender and age were identified as contributing factors to UA level. There was no significant difference found between UA levels of different subtypes of MS.https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/library_studentposters_2017/1002/thumbnail.jp