Traditional medicinal plant knowledge and use by local healers in Sekoru District, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia

The knowledge and use of medicinal plant species by traditional healers was investigated in Sekoru District, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia from December 2005 to November 2006. Traditional healers of the study area were selected randomly and interviewed with the help of translators to gather information on the knowledge and use of medicinal plants used as a remedy for human ailments in the study area. In the current study, it was reported that 27 plant species belonging to 27 genera and 18 families were commonly used to treat various human ailments. Most of these species (85.71%) were wild and harvested mainly for their leaves (64.52%). The most cited ethnomedicinal plant species was Alysicarpus quartinianus A. Rich., whose roots and leaves were reported by traditional healers to be crushed in fresh and applied as a lotion on the lesions of patients of Abiato (Shererit). No significant correlation was observed between the age of traditional healers and the number of species reported and the indigenous knowledge transfer was found to be similar. More than one medicinal plant species were used more frequently than the use of a single species for remedy preparations. Plant parts used for remedy preparations showed significant difference with medicinal plant species abundance in the study area

Autonomic function in patients with functional dyspepsia assessed by 24-hour heart rate variability

The function of the autonomic nervous system was assessed in 23 patients with dysmotility-like functional dyspepsia and 12 healthy volunteers by analysis of 24-hr heart rate variability and a battery of five standardized sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular reflex tests. Measures of heart rate variability were obtained by analysis of ambulatory electrocardiographic recordings using both the time and the frequency domain methods. The values of parameters reflecting vagal activity (HF, rMSSD) were significantly lower in patients with functional dyspepsia, Individual analysis of heart rate variability data identified at least one abnormal parameter of vagal function in seven (30.4%) patients, and in five of these the results of parasympathetic cardiovascular reflex tests were also abnormal. Our results suggest impaired efferent vagal function in a subgroup of patients with functional dyspepsia. This abnormality may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease in these patients.471273

Cloud-to-ground lightning observations over the eastern Amazon Region

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning variables, space and time distributions near the equator, over Eastern Amazon, were analyzed in this work. Over seven million lightning flash events of this type, detected by a VAISALA lightning detection network were processed. This data set was collected by the Brazilian Amazon Protection System between 2006 and 2008. The results showed the sub-areas of higher occurrence densities, polarity types, current peak intensity intervals, as well as, the hourly distributions of CG lightning, for this region. A considerable percentage (7%) of discharges with stroke current peaks above 100 kA, was observed. An attempt was made to compare the statistical results of this work with observations made elsewhere in Brazil and other regions of the world. The differences found suggest that, some regional peculiarities of the CG lightning parameter values should be taken into consideration, for electric and telecommunication systems protection against atmospheric electric discharges, in the Amazon Region. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.117SI8690Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP) - REMAM 2 ProjectConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Genetic distance may underlie virulence differences among isolates of a bacterial plant pathogen

Certain pathogens evolve with their hosts in a stepwise arms race of virulence and resistance, mediated by one or a few genetic loci in their genomes. Other pathogens may retain the ability to colonize hosts through multiple small genetic changes, which do not necessarily occur solely at loci under selective pressure. The bacterial plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa lacks classic indicators of pathogenicity such as a type III secretion system, which makes the identification of its virulence mechanism challenging. We tested the hypothesis that quantitative differences in virulence between pairs of X. fastidiosa isolates were correlated with their respective genetic distances. Isolates from two different X. fastidiosa subspecies were genetically typed using 20 loci, generating information on the genetic distance among pairs of isolates. Virulence data were obtained by determining the impact of these genotypes on the phenotype of alfalfa plant hosts. Results show significant or marginally significant correlations with respect to differences in infection level and alfalfa stunting, suggesting that genetic distance partially explains plant phenotypic differences in virulence among X. fastidiosa isolates. Furthermore, the data demonstrate substantial amount of phenotypic variation among X. fastidiosa isolates within subspecies fastidiosa and multiplex

Genetic distance may underlie virulence differences among isolates of a bacterial plant pathogen

Certain pathogens evolve with their hosts in a stepwise arms race of virulence and resistance, mediated by one or a few genetic loci in their genomes. Other pathogens may retain the ability to colonize hosts through multiple small genetic changes, which do not necessarily occur solely at loci under selective pressure. The bacterial plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa lacks classic indicators of pathogenicity such as a type III secretion system, which makes the identification of its virulence mechanism challenging. We tested the hypothesis that quantitative differences in virulence between pairs of X. fastidiosa isolates were correlated with their respective genetic distances. Isolates from two different X. fastidiosa subspecies were genetically typed using 20 loci, generating information on the genetic distance among pairs of isolates. Virulence data were obtained by determining the impact of these genotypes on the phenotype of alfalfa plant hosts. Results show significant or marginally significant correlations with respect to differences in infection level and alfalfa stunting, suggesting that genetic distance partially explains plant phenotypic differences in virulence among X. fastidiosa isolates. Furthermore, the data demonstrate substantial amount of phenotypic variation among X. fastidiosa isolates within subspecies fastidiosa and multiplex