Effect of temperature on the in vitro multiplication of seven Radopholus similis isolates from different banana producing zones of the world

Une étude a été réalisée afin de comparer l'effet de la température sur le taux de multiplication de divers isolats du nématode #Radopholus similis en élevage monoxénique sur rondelles de carottes. Ces isolats ont été collectés sur racines de bananiers dans sept zones productrices du monde (Costa Rica, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guinée, Côte d'Ivoire, Sri Lanka, et Queensland). Cette étude a été divisée en deux parties. Dans la première, les différents isolats ont été étudiés séparément, à quatre températures : 21, 24, 27 et 30°C. Dans la seconde, les sept isolats ont été étudiés en même temps à deux températures : 30 et 33°C. Les différents isolats se comportent de la même manière vis-à-vis de la température. La croissance des populations est très faible à 21°C et augmente fortement avec la température jusqu'à un maximum à 30°C pour chuter brusquement à 33°C. En revanche ces isolats se différencient par leur taux intrinsèque de multiplication, ceux de Côte d'Ivoire, du Costa Rica et de Guinée présentant les plus forts taux de multiplication. A l'opposé, les isolats de Martinique et du Queensland ont les taux les plus faibles. Ces résultats confirment la très forte diversité biologique au sein de l'espèce #Radopholus similis. (Résumé d'auteur

Pharmacological Modulation of the Mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain in Paclitaxel-Induced Painful Peripheral Neuropathy

AbstractPaclitaxel is an effective first-line chemotherapeutic with the major dose-limiting side effect of painful neuropathy. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress have been implicated in paclitaxel-induced painful neuropathy. Here we show the effects of pharmacological modulation of mitochondrial sites that produce reactive oxygen species using systemic rotenone (complex I inhibitor) or antimycin A (complex III inhibitor) on the maintenance and development of paclitaxel-induced mechanical hypersensitivity in adult male Sprague Dawley rats. The maximally tolerated dose (5 mg/kg) of rotenone inhibited established paclitaxel-induced mechanical hypersensitivity. However, some of these inhibitory effects coincided with decreased motor coordination; 3 mg/kg rotenone also significantly attenuated established paclitaxel-induced mechanical hypersensitivity without any motor impairment. The maximally tolerated dose (.6 mg/kg) of antimycin A reversed established paclitaxel-induced mechanical hypersensitivity without any motor impairment. Seven daily doses of systemic rotenone or antimycin A were given either after paclitaxel administration or before and during paclitaxel administration. Rotenone had no significant effect on the development of paclitaxel-induced mechanical hypersensitivity. However, antimycin A significantly inhibited the development of paclitaxel-induced mechanical hypersensitivity when given before and during paclitaxel administration but had no effect when given after paclitaxel administration. These studies provide further evidence of paclitaxel-evoked mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo, suggesting that complex III activity is instrumental in paclitaxel-induced pain.PerspectiveThis study provides further in vivo evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction is a key contributor to the development and maintenance of chemotherapy-induced painful neuropathy. This work also indicates that selective modulation of the electron transport chain can induce antinociceptive effects in a preclinical model of paclitaxel-induced pain

Scanning electron microscope study of two African populations of Radopholus similis (Nematoda : Pratylenchidae) and proposal of R. citrophilus as a junior synonym of R. similis

Les structures cuticulaires de #Radopholus similis provenant de Côte d'Ivoire et de Guinée Bissau ont été étudiées en microscopie électronique à balayage. Les résultats montrent que les structures cuticulaires sont identiques dans les deux populations et exhibent une variabilité supérieure à celle observée dans les populations américaines de #R. similis et de #R. citrophilus qui est proposé comme un synonyme mineur de #R. similis. Des données additionnelles sont apportées sur la forme de la queue et les champs latéraux chez la femelle, et sur la forme de la région céphalique et de la bursa chez le mâle. (Résumé d'auteur

An appropriate verbal probability lexicon for communicating surgical risks is unlikely to exist

Effective risk communication about medical procedures is critical to ethical shared decision-making. Here, we explore the potential for development of an evidence-based lexicon for verbal communication of surgical risk. We found that Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons expressed a preference for communicating such risks using verbal probability expressions (VPEs; e.g., “high risk”). However, there was considerable heterogeneity in the expressions they reported using (Study 1). Study 2 compared ENT surgeons’ and laypeople’s (i.e., potential patients) interpretations of the ten most frequent VPEs listed in Study 1. While both groups displayed considerable variability in interpretations, lay participants demonstrated more, as well as providing systematically higher interpretations than those of surgeons. Study 3 found that lay participants were typically unable to provide unique VPEs to differentiate between the ranges of (low) probabilities required. Taken together, these results add to arguments that reliance on VPEs for surgical risk communication is ill-advised. Not only are there systematic interpretational differences between surgeons and potential patients, but the coarse granularity of VPEs raises severe challenges for developing an appropriate evidence-based lexicon for surgical risk communication. We caution against the use of VPEs in any risk context characterized by low, but very different, probabilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved

Using an Electronic Monitoring System to Link Offspring Provisioning and Foraging Behavior of a Wild Passerine

Although the costs of parental care are at the foundations of optimal-parental-investment theory, our understanding of the nature of the underlying costs is limited by the difficulty of measuring variation in foraging effort. We simultaneously measured parental provisioning and foraging behavior in a free-living population of Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata) using an electronic monitoring system. We fitted 145 adults with a passive transponder tag and remotely recorded their visits to nest boxes and feeders continuously over a 2-month period. After validating the accuracy of this monitoring system, we studied how provisioning and foraging activities varied through time (day and breeding cycle) and influenced the benefits (food received by the offspring) and costs (interclutch interval) of parental care. The provisioning rates of wild Zebra Finches were surprisingly low, with an average of only one visit per hour throughout the day. This was significantly lower than those reported for this model species in captivity and for most other passerines in the wild. Nest visitation rate only partially explained the amount of food received by the young, with parental foraging activity, including the minimum distance covered on foraging trips, being better predictors. Parents that sustained higher foraging activity and covered more distance during the first breeding attempt took longer to renest. These results demonstrate that in some species matching foraging activity with offspring provisioning may provide a better estimate of the true investment that individuals commit to a reproductive attempt

When unlikely outcomes occur: the role of communication format in maintaining communicator credibility

The public expects science to reduce or eliminate uncertainty (Kinzig & Starrett, 2003), yet scientific forecasts are probabilistic (at best) and it is simply not possible to make predictions with certainty. Whilst an ‘unlikely’ outcome is not expected to occur, an ‘unlikely’ outcome will still occur one in five times (based on a translation of 20%, e.g. Theil, 2002), according to a frequentist perspective. When an ‘unlikely’ outcome does occur, the prediction may be deemed ‘erroneous’, reflecting a misunderstanding of the nature of uncertainty. Such misunderstandings could have ramifications for the subsequent (perceived) credibility of the communicator who made such a prediction. We examine whether the effect of ‘erroneous’ predictions on perceived credibility differs according to the communication format used. Specifically, we consider verbal, numerical (point and range [wide / narrow]) and mixed format probability expressions. We consistently find that subsequent perceptions are least affected by the ‘erroneous’ prediction when it is expressed numerically, regardless of whether it is a point or range estimate. Our findings suggest numbers should be used in consequential risk communications regarding ‘unlikely’ events, wherever possible

Cartan subalgebras in C*-algebras of Hausdorff etale groupoids

The reduced $C^*$-algebra of the interior of the isotropy in any Hausdorff \'etale groupoid $G$ embeds as a $C^*$-subalgebra $M$ of the reduced $C^*$-algebra of $G$. We prove that the set of pure states of $M$ with unique extension is dense, and deduce that any representation of the reduced $C^*$-algebra of $G$ that is injective on $M$ is faithful. We prove that there is a conditional expectation from the reduced $C^*$-algebra of $G$ onto $M$ if and only if the interior of the isotropy in $G$ is closed. Using this, we prove that when the interior of the isotropy is abelian and closed, $M$ is a Cartan subalgebra. We prove that for a large class of groupoids $G$ with abelian isotropy---including all Deaconu--Renault groupoids associated to discrete abelian groups---$M$ is a maximal abelian subalgebra. In the specific case of $k$-graph groupoids, we deduce that $M$ is always maximal abelian, but show by example that it is not always Cartan.Comment: 14 pages. v2: Theorem 3.1 in v1 incorrect (thanks to A. Kumjain for pointing out the error); v2 shows there is a conditional expectation onto $M$ iff the interior of the isotropy is closed. v3: Material (including some theorem statements) rearranged and shortened. Lemma~3.5 of v2 removed. This version published in Integral Equations and Operator Theor

Understanding person acquisition using an interactive activation and competition network

Face perception is one of the most developed visual skills that humans display, and recent work has attempted to examine the mechanisms involved in face perception through noting how neural networks achieve the same performance. The purpose of the present paper is to extend this approach to look not just at human face recognition, but also at human face acquisition. Experiment 1 presents empirical data to describe the acquisition over time of appropriate representations for newly encountered faces. These results are compared with those of Simulation 1, in which a modified IAC network capable of modelling the acquisition process is generated. Experiment 2 and Simulation 2 explore the mechanisms of learning further, and it is demonstrated that the acquisition of a set of associated new facts is easier than the acquisition of individual facts in isolation of one another. This is explained in terms of the advantage gained from additional inputs and mutual reinforcement of developing links within an interactive neural network system. <br/