Research Notes : United States : Instability of virulence characters of soybean mosaic virus strains after seed transmission

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) is distributed worldwide. The primary mode of transmission is through seed (Goodman and Oard, 1980), although the virus is also nonpersistently transmitted by aphids (Irwin and Goodman, 1981). Cul-tivars have been identified which combine tolerance to SMV infection and low incidence of transmission through seed (Goodman and Oard, 1980)

SonoNet: Real-Time Detection and Localisation of Fetal Standard Scan Planes in Freehand Ultrasound

Identifying and interpreting fetal standard scan planes during 2D ultrasound mid-pregnancy examinations are highly complex tasks which require years of training. Apart from guiding the probe to the correct location, it can be equally difficult for a non-expert to identify relevant structures within the image. Automatic image processing can provide tools to help experienced as well as inexperienced operators with these tasks. In this paper, we propose a novel method based on convolutional neural networks which can automatically detect 13 fetal standard views in freehand 2D ultrasound data as well as provide a localisation of the fetal structures via a bounding box. An important contribution is that the network learns to localise the target anatomy using weak supervision based on image-level labels only. The network architecture is designed to operate in real-time while providing optimal output for the localisation task. We present results for real-time annotation, retrospective frame retrieval from saved videos, and localisation on a very large and challenging dataset consisting of images and video recordings of full clinical anomaly screenings. We found that the proposed method achieved an average F1-score of 0.798 in a realistic classification experiment modelling real-time detection, and obtained a 90.09% accuracy for retrospective frame retrieval. Moreover, an accuracy of 77.8% was achieved on the localisation task.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, published in IEEE Transactions in Medical Imagin

Sequence comparisons of plasmids pBJS-O of Spiroplasma citri and pSKU146 of S. kunkelii: implications for plasmid evolution

BACKGROUND: Spiroplasma citri BR3-3X and S. kunkelii CR2-3X cause serious diseases worldwide on citrus and maize species, respectively. S. citri BR3-3X harbors a plasmid, pBJS-Original (pBJS-O), that encodes the spiroplasma adhesion related protein 1 (SARP1), a protein implicated in binding of the pathogen to cells of its leafhopper vector, Circulifer tenellus. The S. kunkelii CR2-3X plasmid, pSKU146, encodes a homolog of SARP1, Sk-ARP1. Due to the close phylogenetic relationship of the two pathogens, we hypothesized that the two plasmids are closely related as well. RESULTS: The nucleotide sequence of pBJS-O was determined and compared to the sequences of a plasmid from BR3-T (pBJS-T), which is a multiply passaged leafhopper transmissible derivative of BR3-3X, and to known plasmid sequences including that of pSKU146. In addition to arp1, the 13,374 bp pBJS-O sequence putatively contains nine genes, recognized as open reading frames (ORFs). Several pBJS-O ORFs have homologs on pSKU146. However, the sequences flanking soj-like genes on both plasmids were found to be more distant from one another than sequences in any other region. Further, unlike pSKU146, pBJS-O lacks the conserved oriT region characteristic of the IncP group of bacterial plasmids. We were unable to identify a region in pBJS-O resembling a known plasmid origin of transfer. In regions where sequence was available for the plasmid from both BR3-3X and BR3-T, the pBJS-T sequence had a 0.4 kb deletion relative to its progenitor, pBJS-O. Southern blot hybridization of extrachromosomal DNA from various S. citri strains and spiroplasma species to an arp-specific probe and a probe made from the entire plasmid DNA of BR3-3X revealed limited conservation of both sequences in the genus Spiroplasma. Finally, we also report the presence on the BR3-3X chromosome of arp2, an S. citri homolog of arp1 that encodes the predicted protein SARP2. The C-terminal domain of SARP2 is homologous to that of SARP1, but its N-terminal domain is distinct. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that pBJS is a novel S. citri plasmid that does not belong to any known plasmid incompatibility group. The differences between pBJS-O and pSKU146 suggest that one or more events of recombination have contributed to the divergence of the plasmids of the two sister Spiroplasma species; the plasmid from S. citri itself has diverged slightly during the derivation of S. citri BR3-T from BR3-3X. Our data also show that pBJS-O encodes the putative adhesin SARP1. The presence of traE and mob on pBJS-O suggests a role for the plasmid in spiroplasmal conjugation

The First Brown Dwarf Discovered by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a powerful tool for finding nearby brown dwarfs and searching for new planets in the outer solar system, especially with the incorporation of NEOWISE and NEOWISE-Reactivation data. So far, searches for brown dwarfs in WISE data have yet to take advantage of the full depth of the WISE images. To efficiently search this unexplored space via visual inspection, we have launched a new citizen science project, called "Backyard Worlds: Planet 9," which asks volunteers to examine short animations composed of difference images constructed from time-resolved WISE coadds. We report the discovery of the first new substellar object found by this project, WISEA J110125.95+540052.8, a T5.5 brown dwarf located approximately 34 pc from the Sun with a total proper motion of $\sim$0.7 as yr$^{-1}$. WISEA J110125.95+540052.8 has a WISE $W2$ magnitude of $W2=15.37 \pm 0.09$, this discovery demonstrates the ability of citizen scientists to identify moving objects via visual inspection that are 0.9 magnitudes fainter than the $W2$ single-exposure sensitivity, a threshold that has limited prior motion-based brown dwarf searches with WISE.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

Partnering with patients to design a prehabilitation program for optimizing the patient experience through general surgery

The objective of this study was to explore patients’ experiences when preparing for and undergoing general surgery at a large tertiary hospital. Findings aimed to inform the development of a prehabilitation program to empower patients to optimize their recovery and enhance their experience of general surgery. A qualitative exploratory research approach was utilized. Patients (\u3e18 years) attending for elective general surgery between May and July 2018 were invited to participate. Four focus groups (n=18) and an interview were conducted to reach saturation. Deductive content analysis was used to map responses against theoretical determinants of health behavior change. Patients described their overall experience of general surgery as positive but provided key insights about the surgical journey that impacted their capability, opportunity and motivation to optimally engage and address their recovery. Interaction and information from health professionals, understanding expectations, timely access to treatment and support of family members greatly enhanced their experience. Lack of personalized exercise and nutrition prescriptions, access to shared patient experiences of the surgical journey and not being asked about personal goals were key inhibitors. Patients also expressed feelings of frustration and anxiety regarding hospital procedures, including repetitive gathering of information and poor communication across departments. Patients’ experiences of the surgical journey identified gaps that impacted their capability, opportunity and motivation to effectively prepare and rehabilitate, that could be addressed by a multimodal prehabilitation program. Intervention options at patient and policy level were identified for trial to enhance the patient experience of general surgery. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Patient, Family & Community Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

HeppSY Partnership Evaluation Reports

The Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire (HeppSY) is part of the Uni Connect Programme (UCP), funded by the Office for Students. The main focus of Uni Connect is to provide targeted higher education outreach to young people in Years 9 to 13 living in particular geographic areas. From November 2017 to 2023, HeppSY conducted an annual Learner Survey to evaluate the students’ understanding of higher education, their expectations, and important factors related to their academic performance and choices. HeppSY evaluators consistently employed gap analysis method to analyse the learner survey data and to identify: • changes in outcomes between different academic year; • gaps of specific learning outcomes between different demographic groups; • and the cold spots (areas where there is no outreach delivery). Annual partnership reports provide insights from the analysis of survey data to inform what worked and what more needs to be done. They are valuable tools for strategic planning for HeppSY interventions

Understanding barriers to involving community midwives in identifying research participants; experience of the first Steps randomised controlled trial

- Objective: To explore barriers to the involvement of community midwives in identifying women in early pregnancy as potential participants in the XX, a randomised controlled trial of a new intervention to provide health and parenting support to potentially vulnerable women. - Design: Descriptive qualitative investigation using semi-structured audio-recoded interviews. - Setting: Community midwifery offices. - Participants: Volunteer sample of 13 community midwives. - Measurement: Themes derived from content analysis. - Findings: Understanding of their role in the research process was unclear to many midwives. Confusion arose about the difference between potential participant identification and trial recruitment. There were concerns about the eligibility criteria and it was suggested that there was insufficient time during booking appointments, and sometimes insufficient information, to determine potential eligibility. Midwives had concerns about some aspects of the intervention, which incorporated routine midwifery care, and had expectations that women may not like a group programme. This may have led some not to mention the trial. They were, however positive about the programme's potential for beneficial impacts on mothers and infants. - Key conclusions: Dedicated research midwives may be the best option if research studies need to identify potential participants early in pregnancy, so that they can communicate with all their colleagues. - Implications for practice: If community midwives are asked to be involved in time-critical research they are likely to need additional local resources and support

The Cross-Species Mycobacterial Growth Inhibition Assay (MGIA) Project, 2010-2014.

The development of a functional biomarker assay in the tuberculosis (TB) field would be widely recognized as a major advance in efforts to develop and to test novel TB vaccine candidates efficiently. We present preliminary studies using mycobacterial growth inhibition assays (MGIAs) to detect Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine responses across species, and we extend this work to determine whether a standardized MGIA can be applied in characterizing new TB vaccines. The comparative MGIA studies reviewed here aimed to evaluate robustness, reproducibility, and ability to reflect in vivo responses. In doing so, they have laid the foundation for the development of a MGIA that can be standardized and potentially qualified. A major challenge ahead lies in better understanding the relationships between in vivo protection, in vitro growth inhibition, and the immune mechanisms involved. The final outcome would be a MGIA that could be used with confidence in TB vaccine trials. We summarize data arising from this project, present a strategy to meet the goals of developing a functional assay for TB vaccine testing, and describe some of the challenges encountered in performing and transferring such assays