Use of beneficial bacteria and their secondary metabolites to control grapevine pathogen diseases

Grapevine is one of the most important economic crops yielding berries, wine products as well as derivates. However, due to the large array of pathogens inducing diseases on this plant, considerable amounts of pesticides—with possible negative impact on the environment and health—have been used and are currently used in viticulture. To avoid negative impacts of such products and to ensure product quality, a substantial fraction of pesticides needs to be replaced in the near future. One solution can be related to the use of beneficial bacteria inhabiting the rhizo- and/or the endosphere of plants. These biocontrol bacteria and their secondary metabolites can reduce directly or indirectly pathogen diseases by affecting pathogen performance by antibiosis, competition for niches and nutrients, interference with pathogen signaling or by stimulation of host plant defenses. Due to the large demand for biocontrol of grapevine diseases, such biopesticides, their modes of actions and putative consequences of their uses need to be described. Moreover, the current knowledge on new strains from the rhizo- and endosphere and their metabolites that can be used on grapevine plants to counteract pathogen attack needs to be discussed. This is in particular with regard to the control of root rot, grey mould, trunk diseases, powdery and downy mildews, pierce’s disease, grapevine yellows as well as crown gall. Future prospects on specific beneficial microbes and their secondary metabolites that can be used as elicitors of plant defenses and/or as biocontrol agents with potential use in a more sustainable viticulture will be further discussed

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Detection and characterization of near surface structures using seismic refraction around Shika, Nigeria.

A geophysical investigation was carried out at Shika, using seismic refraction method. The aim was to delineate, map and characterize the different strata of the subsurface within the flanks of a dam. In order to achieve this aim, varying geometric spreads were used with geophone spacings of 5m, 4m, 3m and 2m successively for different traverse on the same profile. The Generalized Reciprocal Method (GRM) results gave average velocities of 1356 ms-1, 2543 ms-1 and 4065 ms-1 for the overburden, weathered basement and fresh Basement, respectively. In some profiles, the model suggests a sedimentary thickness of not less than 20m overlying the Basement. The results showed that as the geometric spread is reduced, the shallow structures within the overburden strata become enhanced. Hence making it possible to recover the velocities of hidden and undetected layers within the overburden and weathered Basement respectively. These overburden deposits consisting of consolidated and unconsolidated conglomerates were identified from the velocity values and correlated with the available borehole log data collected from within the area. In addition, a picture of the subsurface layering was successfully mapped from the refraction results despite the geologically complex environment.Keywords: Offset distance, Refractor, Forward and Reverse rays, Velocity analysis function, Generalized time depth, Depth section

IVM is an alternative for patients with PCO after failed conventional IVF attempt

To determine if IVM of oocytes from unstimulated cycle is a treatment option for patients who did not deliver after standard IVF-ET