Following basal stem rot in young oil palm plantings

The PCR primer GanET has previously been shown to be suitable for the specific amplification of DNA from Ganoderma boninense. A DNA extraction and PCR method has been developed that allows for the amplification of the G. boninense DNA from environmental samples of oil palm tissue. The GanET primer reaction was used in conjunction with a palm-sampling programme to investigate the possible infection of young palms through cut frond base surfaces. Ganoderma DNA was detected in frond base material at a greater frequency than would be expected by comparison with current infection levels. Comparisons are made between the height of the frond base infected, the number of frond bases infected, and subsequent development of basal stem rot. The preliminary results suggest that the development of basal stem rot may be more likely to occur when young lower frond bases are infected

Men, rheumatoid arthritis, psychosocial impact and self-management: A narrative review.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease affecting fewer men than women. We systematically reviewed the literature on impact and self-management of RA men. Twenty eight papers were included, and grouped into two categories: Psychosocial impact of RA; and Coping and self-management. This review finds gender differences relating to quality of life; work; distress; self-management; coping; and support. We conclude there is a dearth of literature focussing on RA men only, and mixed gender studies include insufficient men to draw strong conclusions about men. Thus, further research is needed to understand the support needs of men with RA in depth

Motivated proteins: a web application for studying small three-dimensional protein motifs

<b>BACKGROUND:</b> Small loop-shaped motifs are common constituents of the three-dimensional structure of proteins. Typically they comprise between three and seven amino acid residues, and are defined by a combination of dihedral angles and hydrogen bonding partners. The most abundant of these are alphabeta-motifs, asx-motifs, asx-turns, beta-bulges, beta-bulge loops, beta-turns, nests, niches, Schellmann loops, ST-motifs, ST-staples and ST-turns.We have constructed a database of such motifs from a range of high-quality protein structures and built a web application as a visual interface to this. <b>DESCRIPTION:</b> The web application, Motivated Proteins, provides access to these 12 motifs (with 48 sub-categories) in a database of over 400 representative proteins. Queries can be made for specific categories or sub-categories of motif, motifs in the vicinity of ligands, motifs which include part of an enzyme active site, overlapping motifs, or motifs which include a particular amino acid sequence. Individual proteins can be specified, or, where appropriate, motifs for all proteins listed. The results of queries are presented in textual form as an (X)HTML table, and may be saved as parsable plain text or XML. Motifs can be viewed and manipulated either individually or in the context of the protein in the Jmol applet structural viewer. Cartoons of the motifs imposed on a linear representation of protein secondary structure are also provided. Summary information for the motifs is available, as are histograms of amino acid distribution, and graphs of dihedral angles at individual positions in the motifs. <b>CONCLUSION:</b> Motivated Proteins is a publicly and freely accessible web application that enables protein scientists to study small three-dimensional motifs without requiring knowledge of either Structured Query Language or the underlying database schem

Business process modelling and visualisation to support e-government decision making: Business/IS alignment

© 2017 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57487-5_4.Alignment between business and information systems plays a vital role in the formation of dependent relationships between different departments in a government organization and the process of alignment can be improved by developing an information system (IS) according to the stakeholders’ expectations. However, establishing strong alignment in the context of the eGovernment environment can be difficult. It is widely accepted that business processes in the government environment plays a pivotal role in capturing the details of IS requirements. This paper presents a method of business process modelling through UML which can help to visualise and capture the IS requirements for the system development. A series of UML models have been developed and discussed. A case study on patient visits to a healthcare clinic in the context of eGovernment has been used to validate the models

Low Soluble Syndecan-1 Precedes Preeclampsia

Introduction Syndecan-1 (Sdc1; CD138) is a major transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan expressed on the extracellular, luminal surface of epithelial cells and syncytiotrophoblast, thus comprising a major component of the glycocalyx of these cells. The "soluble" (shed) form of Sdc1 has paracrine and autocrine functions and is normally produced in a regulated fashion. We compared plasma soluble Sdc1 concentrations, in relation to placental Sdc1 expression, in uncomplicated (control) and preeclamptic pregnancies. Methods We evaluated soluble Sdc1 across uncomplicated pregnancy, and between preeclamptic, gestational hypertensive and control patients at mid-pregnancy (20 weeks) and 3rd trimester by ELISA. Placental expression level of Sdc1 was compared between groups in relation to pre-delivery plasma soluble Sdc1. Participants were recruited from Magee-Womens Hospital. Results In uncomplicated pregnancy, plasma soluble Sdc1 rose significantly in the 1st trimester, and reached an approximate 50-fold increase at term compared to post pregnancy levels. Soluble Sdc1 was lower at mid-pregnancy in women who later developed preeclampsia (P<0.05), but not gestational hypertension, compared to controls, and remained lower at late pregnancy in preeclampsia (P<0.01) compared to controls. Sdc1 was prominently expressed on syncytiotrophoblast of microvilli. Syncytiotrophoblast Sdc1 immunostaining intensities, and mRNA content in villous homogenates, were lower in preeclampsia vs. controls (P<0.05). Soluble Sdc1 and Sdc1 immunostaining scores were inversely associated with systolic blood pressures, and positively correlated with infant birth weight percentile

The two-hour orbit of a binary millisecond X-ray pulsar

Typical radio pulsars are magnetized neutron stars that are born rapidly rotating and slow down as they age on time scales of 10 to 100 million years. However, millisecond radio pulsars spin very rapidly even though many are billions of years old. The most compelling explanation is that they have been "spun up" by the transfer of angular momentum during accretion of material from a companion star in so-called low-mass X-ray binary systems, LMXBs. (LMXBs consist of a neutron star or black hole accreting from a companion less than one solar mass.) The recent detection of coherent X-ray pulsations with a millisecond period from a suspected LMXB system appears to confirm this link. Here we report observations showing that the orbital period of this binary system is two hours, which establishes it as an LMXB. We also find an apparent modulation of the X-ray flux at the orbital period (at the two per cent level), with a broad minimum when the pulsar is behind this low-mass companion star. This system seems closely related to the "black widow" millisecond radio pulsars, which are evaporating their companions through irradiation. It may appear as an eclipsing radio pulsar during periods of X-ray quiescence.Comment: 4 pages with 1 figure. Style files included. Fig. 2 deleted and text revised. To appear in Nature. Press embargo until 18:00 GMT on 1998 July 2

Change in Composition of the Anopheles Gambiae Complex and its Possible Implications for the Transmission of Malaria and Lymphatic Filariasis in North-Eastern Tanzania.

A dramatic decline in the incidence of malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum infection in coastal East Africa has recently been reported to be paralleled (or even preceded) by an equally dramatic decline in malaria vector density, despite absence of organized vector control. As part of investigations into possible causes for the change in vector population density, the present study analysed the Anopheles gambiae s.l. sibling species composition in north-eastern Tanzania. The study was in two parts. The first compared current species complex composition in freshly caught An. gambiae s.l. complex from three villages to the composition reported from previous studies carried out 2-4 decades ago in the same villages. The second took advantage of a sample of archived dried An. gambiae s.l. complex specimens collected regularly from a fourth study village since 2005. Both fresh and archived dried specimens were identified to sibling species of the An. gambiae s.l. complex by PCR. The same specimens were moreover examined for Plasmodium falciparum and Wuchereria bancrofti infection by PCR. As in earlier studies, An. gambiae s.s., Anopheles merus and Anopheles arabiensis were identified as sibling species found in the area. However, both study parts indicated a marked change in sibling species composition over time. From being by far the most abundant in the past An. gambiae s.s. was now the most rare, whereas An. arabiensis had changed from being the most rare to the most common. P. falciparum infection was rarely detected in the examined specimens (and only in An. arabiensis) whereas W. bancrofti infection was prevalent and detected in all three sibling species. The study indicates that a major shift in An. gambiae s.l. sibling species composition has taken place in the study area in recent years. Combined with the earlier reported decline in overall malaria vector density, the study suggests that this decline has been most marked for An. gambiae s.s., and least for An. arabiensis, leading to current predominance of the latter. Due to differences in biology and vectorial capacity of the An. gambiae s.l. complex the change in sibling species composition will have important implications for the epidemiology and control of malaria and lymphatic filariasis in the study area

Cancer and thrombosis: Managing the risks and approaches to thromboprophylaxis

Patients with cancer are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with patients without cancer. This results from both the prothrombotic effects of the cancer itself and iatrogenic factors, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, indwelling central venous devices and surgery, that further increase the risk of VTE. Although cancer-associated thrombosis remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality, it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. However, evidence is accumulating to support the use of low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) in the secondary prevention of VTE in patients with cancer. Not only have LMWHs been shown to be at least as effective as coumarin derivatives in this setting, but they have a lower incidence of complications, including bleeding, and are not associated with the practical problems of warfarin therapy. Furthermore, a growing number of studies indicate that LMWHs may improve survival among patients with cancer due to a possible antitumor effect. Current evidence suggests that LMWHs should increasingly be considered for the long-term management of VTE in patients with cancer

Repulsively bound atom pairs in an optical lattice

Throughout physics, stable composite objects are usually formed via attractive forces, which allow the constituents to lower their energy by binding together. Repulsive forces separate particles in free space. However, in a structured environment such as a periodic potential and in the absence of dissipation, stable composite objects can exist even for repulsive interactions. Here we report on the first observation of such an exotic bound state, comprised of a pair of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. Consistent with our theoretical analysis, these repulsively bound pairs exhibit long lifetimes, even under collisions with one another. Signatures of the pairs are also recognised in the characteristic momentum distribution and through spectroscopic measurements. There is no analogue in traditional condensed matter systems of such repulsively bound pairs, due to the presence of strong decay channels. These results exemplify on a new level the strong correspondence between the optical lattice physics of ultracold bosonic atoms and the Bose-Hubbard model, a correspondence which is vital for future applications of these systems to the study of strongly correlated condensed matter systems and to quantum information.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Alcohol affects neuronal substrates of response inhibition but not of perceptual processing of stimuli signalling a stop response

Alcohol impairs inhibitory control, including the ability to terminate an initiated action. While there is increasing knowledge about neural mechanisms involved in response inhibition, the level at which alcohol impairs such mechanisms remains poorly understood. Thirty-nine healthy social drinkers received either 0.4g/kg or 0.8g/kg of alcohol, or placebo, and performed two variants of a Visual Stop-signal task during acquisition of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. The two task variants differed only in their instructions: in the classic variant (VSST), participants inhibited their response to a “Go-stimulus” when it was followed by a “Stop-stimulus”. In the control variant (VSST_C), participants responded to the “Go-stimulus” even if it was followed by a “Stop-stimulus”. Comparison of successful Stop-trials (Sstop)>Go, and unsuccessful Stop-trials (Ustop)>Sstop between the three beverage groups enabled the identification of alcohol effects on functional neural circuits supporting inhibitory behaviour and error processing. Alcohol impaired inhibitory control as measured by the Stop-signal reaction time, but did not affect other aspects of VSST performance, nor performance on the VSST_C. The low alcohol dose evoked changes in neural activity within prefrontal, temporal, occipital and motor cortices. The high alcohol dose evoked changes in activity in areas affected by the low dose but importantly induced changes in activity within subcortical centres including the globus pallidus and thalamus. Alcohol did not affect neural correlates of perceptual processing of infrequent cues, as revealed by conjunction analyses of VSST and VSST_C tasks. Alcohol ingestion compromises the inhibitory control of action by modulating cortical regions supporting attentional, sensorimotor and action-planning processes. At higher doses the impact of alcohol also extends to affect subcortical nodes of fronto-basal ganglia- thalamo-cortical motor circuits. In contrast, alcohol appears to have little impact on the early visual processing of infrequent perceptual cues. These observations clarify clinically-important effects of alcohol on behaviour