Estimating the changing disease burden attributable to smoking in South Africa for 2000, 2006 and 2012

Background. Ongoing quantification of the disease burden attributable to smoking is important to monitor and strengthen tobacco control policies. Objectives. To estimate the attributable burden due to smoking in South Africa for 2000, 2006 and 2012. Methods. We estimated attributable burden due to smoking for selected causes of death in South African (SA) adults aged ≥35 years for 2000, 2006 and 2012. We combined smoking prevalence results from 15 national surveys (1998 - 2017) and smoking impact ratios using national mortality rates. Relative risks between smoking and select causes of death were derived from local and international data. Results. Smoking prevalence declined from 25.0% in 1998 (40.5% in males, 10.9% in females) to 19.4% in 2012 (31.9% in males, 7.9% in females), but plateaued after 2010. In 2012 tobacco smoking caused an estimated 31 078 deaths (23 444 in males and 7 634 in females), accounting for 6.9% of total deaths of all ages (17.3% of deaths in adults aged ≥35 years), a 10.5% decline overall since 2000 (7% in males; 18% in females). Age-standardised mortality rates (and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)) similarly declined in all population groups but remained high in the coloured population. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease accounted for most tobacco-attributed deaths (6 373), followed by lung cancer (4 923), ischaemic heart disease (4 216), tuberculosis (2 326) and lower respiratory infections (1 950). The distribution of major causes of smoking-attributable deaths shows a middle- to high-income pattern in whites and Asians, and a middle- to low-income pattern in coloureds and black Africans. The role of infectious lung disease (TB and LRIs) has been underappreciated. These diseases comprised 21.0% of deaths among black Africans compared with only 4.3% among whites. It is concerning that smoking rates have plateaued since 2010. Conclusion. The gains achieved in reducing smoking prevalence in SA have been eroded since 2010. An increase in excise taxes is the most effective measure for reducing smoking prevalence. The advent of serious respiratory pandemics such as COVID-19 has increased the urgency of considering the role that smoking cessation/abstinence can play in the prevention of, and post-hospital recovery from, any condition

Detection and characterization of phytoplasmas infecting tomato plants in Greece

Over the course of the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons, surveys were carried out in tomato fields in different parts of Greece in order to determine the occurrence and distribution of phytoplasma diseases of tomato, and to identify and classify the phytoplasmas involved. In all the tomato cultivating areas, the percentage of plants with symptoms resembling phytoplasma infection ranged usually between 1-2%, although in some cases it reached 70-80%. The presence of phytoplasmas in these plants was verified by PCR analysis with universal primers. Further analysis using group specific primers showed that mixed infections with phytoplasmas belonging to the aster yellows (16SrI) or the stolbur (16SrXII-A) group were very common, even in plants showing symptoms typical to either big bud or stolbur disease

Powdery mildew (Erysiphe cruciferarum) infection on camelina (Camelina sativa) under Mediterranean conditions and the role of wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis) as alternative host of this pathogen

During the growing season 2014-2015, camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) plants were naturally infected by powdery mildew at the province of Domokos in Central Greece. Moreover, wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis L.) plants, naturally occurring in camelina field, were infected by the disease. The environmental conditions that influence infection of camelina by powdery mildew were recorded. The anamorph as well as the teleomorph of the fungus pathogen were observed on symptomatic leaves, stems and fruits of camelina and wild mustard plants. Fungal specimens were examined. Conidiophores were cylindrical and comprised 3 cells, while conidia were produced singly; they were oblong to cylindrical and measured 21.8 to 40.5 × 9.4 to 18.4 μm (average 32.1 × 13.9 μm). Chasmothecia were also observed on the upper surface of camelina or wild mustard leaves and on wild mustard siliques. Immature chasmothecia were globose, yellow and turned dark brown as reached maturity. Each chasmothecium contained six asci that measured 47.6 to 74.5 × 29.8 to 44.7 μm. Based on these characteristics the pathogen was identified as Erysiphe cruciferarum Opiz ex L. Junell, being probably the first report of E. cruciferarum on camelina in Greece

Detection of Venturia inaequalis Isolates with Multiple Resistance in Greece

The excessive use of fungicides against Venturia inaequalis, the causal agent of apple scab, has led to the emergence of resistant populations to multiple fungicides over the years. In Greece, there is no available information on fungicide resistance, despite the fact that control failures have been reported on certain areas. An amount of 418 single-spore isolates were collected from three major apple production areas and tested for their sensitivity to eight commonly used fungicides from unrelated chemical groups. The isolates were tested on malt extract agar media enriched with the discriminatory dose of each fungicide using the point inoculation method. To define the discriminatory dose for assessing the levels of resistance, EC50 values on both spore germination and mycelial growth assays were previously determined. Isolates exhibiting high resistance to trifloxystrobin (92% in total) and difenoconazole (3%); and moderate resistance to cyprodinil (75%), dodine (28%), difenoconazole (36%), boscalid (5%), and fludioxonil (7%) were found for the first time in Greece. A small percentage of the isolates were also found less sensitive to captan (8%) and dithianon (6%). Two isolates showed various levels of resistance to all eight fungicides. Despite the occurrence of strains with multiple resistances to many fungicides, we concluded that this practical resistance in the field arose mainly due to the poor control of apple scab with trifloxystrobin and difenoconazole. © 2022 by the authors

Effcient control of apple scab with targeted spray applications

For two consecutive growing seasons (2017 and 2018), three different fungicide spray programs, each with five sprays from unrelated chemical groups, were evaluated for their effectiveness against apple scab (causal agent: Venturia inaequalis) in an experimental trial in Greece. The targeted application programs consisted of five sprays with protective and systemic fungicides from unrelated chemical groups, in alternation. The applications were started at the pink bud stage (a copper-based fungicide had previously been applied at the green bud stage) and completed at the second fruit fall to arrest the primary infections by ascospores. These five-spray programs were compared to the standard farmer practice (12 sprays per season), whereas untreated plots were used as controls. The timing of the applications was based: A) on the critical growth stage of the crop, and b) on the risk analysis for infection calculated by the software Field Climate, which incorporated meteorological data from the trial site. All the five-spray programs were of very high efficacy against apple scab, showing disease severity ratings on leaves and fruits below 1.88%. In both years, in the untreated control, the disease incidence and severity on leaves ranged from 96.5% to 99.3% and from 65.2% to 75.93%, respectively. The five-spray programs showed similar efficacy to the standard 12-application program in all cases. From the results, it becomes apparent that apple scab can be controlled effectively by five targeted applications with selected fungicides at critical growth stages of the crop. © 2020 by the authors

Open Tibial Inlay PCL Reconstruction: Surgical Technique and Clinical Outcomes

PURPOSE OF REVIEW:To review the current literature on clinical outcomes following open tibial inlay posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction and provide the reader with a detailed description of the author's preferred surgical technique. RECENT FINDINGS:Despite earlier biomechanical studies which demonstrated superiority of the PCL inlay technique when compared to transtibial techniques, recent longitudinal cohort studies have shown no significant differences in clinical or functional outcomes at 10-year follow-up. Furthermore, no significant clinical differences have been shown between graft types used and/or single- versus double-bundle reconstruction methods. The optimal treatment for the PCL-deficient knee remains unclear. Open tibial inlay PCL reconstruction is safe, reproducible, and avoids the "killer turn" that may potentially lead to graft weakening and failure seen in transtibial reconstruction methods. No significant differences in subjective outcomes or clinical laxity have been shown between single-bundle versus double-bundle reconstruction methods

Evaluation of efficacy and compatibility of herbicides with fungicides in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) under different environmental conditions: Effects on grain yield and gluten content

In the present study, field experiments were conducted to determine the efficacy and compatibility of herbicides and fungicides in durum wheat under Mediterranean semi-arid conditions, in Central Greece. Our results indicate that the herbicide florasulam+2.4-D was safe and did not cause any injury when applied alone or with fungicides, while bromoxynil+2.4-D mixed with azoxystrobin or trifloxystrobin+prothioconazole caused injury symptoms on leaves. The injury symptoms were transient, and observed only at Velestino area, where low temperatures and broad diurnal temperature fluctuations were recorded during the pesticides application period. Regarding septoria leaf blotch control, good results showed strobilurin alone or in mixture with a triazole, regardless the herbicide that was added to the mixture. The results of this study showed that bromoxynil+2.4-D caused injury when mixed with fungicides and applied under cold temperatures, while one fungicide application at stem elongation provided adequate Septoria leaf blotch control. © 2018 Academic Press

Osteochondral Autograft Transfer for Focal Cartilage Lesions of the Knee With Donor-Site Back-Fill Using Precut Osteochondral Allograft Plugs and Micronized Extracellular Cartilage Augmentation

Osteochondral autograft transfer (OAT) allows for the treatment of focal chondral lesions of the femoral condyles. Patients undergoing OAT have been shown to have the greatest rate and quickest return to sport of any cartilage-restoration procedure. Disadvantages encountered with the OAT procedure include limited donor sources, small treatable lesion size, and donor-site morbidity. Here, we describe our preferred technique of open OAT with donor-site back-filling using precut fresh osteochondral allograft plugs and micronized extracellular cartilage augmentation. Advantages to this technique include single-stage transfer of living autologous osteochondral grafts allowing for early ambulation, predictable return to sport, enhanced long-term graft survival, and decreased donor-site morbidity secondary to fresh osteochondral allograft back-fill

Sensitivity of Septoria pyricola isolates to carbendazim, DMI and QoI based fungicides and to boscalid, in Greece

The sensitivity of 36 Septoria pyricola single spore isolates, obtained from isolated pear orchards, to carbendazim, bitertanol, flusilazole, myclobutanil, azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl, pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin and boscalid, was studied in vitro. Spore suspensions were point-inoculated on media amended with various concentrations of fungicides and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) of the fungicides was determined. Most isolates were highly resistant to carbendazim, forming colonies even at concentrations of 100 mg L(-1) of the fungicide. A few isolates failed to form colonies with carbendazim concentrations of 0.1 and 10 mg L(-1); these isolates were designated carbendazim-sensitive and moderately carbendazim-resistant respectively. The MIC of DMI fungicides was up to 1 mg L(-1) with some isolates, and the mean MICs of bitertanol, flusilazole and myclobutanil were 0.133 +/- 0.036, 0.075 +/- 0.044 and 0.230 +/- 0.038 mg L(-1) respectively. The MIC of the QoI fungicides was up to 0.1 mg L(-1) with most isolates, but some isolates were 100-fold less sensitive to azoxystrobin. The mean MICs of azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl, pyraclostrobin and trifloxystrobin were 0.177 +/- 0.040, 0.075 +/- 0.035, 0.067 +/- 0.063, and 0.073 +/- 0.065 mg L(-1) respectively. Overall, the MIC of boscalid was 1 mg L(-1), and the mean MIC was 0.111 +/- 0.044 mg L(-1). The ED(50) values of representative isolates are also presented, as determined by colony formation with dispersed spore inoculation on a medium amended with fungicides. The results show that the benzimidazoles are ineffective against S. pyricola isolates in Greece and suggest that the future effectiveness of the DMIs is at risk