Pest and diseases of 16 local and exotic sweet-potato varieties in Benin and their agronomic characteristics.

Morphological characteristics and agronomic parameters were studied on 16 sweet-potato varieties (5 East Africa, 9 Benin, 1 China and 1 Bolivia) in April to August 2011 in southern Benin. Varietal variability was observed for length of internodes, leaf petiole, stem and leaf number. Positive significant correlations existed between stem length, number of leaves and number of tubers and tuber yield. In the same trial, incidence and severity of pests and diseases and effects on yield were observed. Six pests, Ptyelus sp., Aspidomorpha sp., B. tabaci, Blosyrus sp., C. puncticollis and P. grossipes and one disease, anthracnose were observed. The density of pests was low (less than 0,2 insect by plant on the average). Incidence of leaf-eating pests such as Ptyelus sp., Aspidomorpha sp., Blosyrus sp. reached 100% from the 7th week, while severity evolved linearly reaching over 50% for all varieties 17 weeks after planting. Anthracnose was identified at the end of the growing season on all exotic varieties and on some local varieties (Manouga, Fornonwinka and Gboadobodouaho). Anthracnose increased on 400166 (25%); 440029 (35%); Carrot-c (10%) and Manouga (9%). Yield was not affected by the pests and diseases. Damage from termites, C. puncticollis, rodents, nematodes and Alternaria sp. were observed on less than 15 tubers. Highest yield was observed for 440029, Vobodouaho, Kolidokpon and Manouga. There was no effect of pests on yield; we suggest that this study is repeated in all the agro-ecological zones of Béni

The content of nostalgic memories among people living with dementia

Although dementia may affect the reliability of autobiographical memories, the psychological properties of nostalgic memories may be preserved. We compared the content of nostalgic (n = 36) and ordinary (n = 31) narratives of 67 participants living with dementia. Narratives were rated according to their self-oriented, social, and existential properties, as well as their affective content. Social properties and affective content were assessed using a linguistic word count procedure. Compared to the ordinary narratives described in the control condition, nostalgic narratives described atypical events, expressed more positive affect, and had more expressions of self-esteem and self-continuity. They were also rated higher on companionship, connectedness and the closeness of relationships, and reflected life as being meaningful. Despite their cognitive impairment, people living with dementia experience nostalgia in similar ways to cognitively healthy adults, with their nostalgic narratives containing self-oriented, social, and existential propertie

Listening to sad music in adverse situations: Music selection strategies, self-regulatory goals, listening effect, and mood-enhancement

Adults’ (N = 220) reported motivations for listening to sad music after experiencing adverse negative circumstances were examined by exploring how their music selection strategies related to (a) their self-regulatory goals, and (b) reported effects of listening. The effects of music selection strategies, self-regulatory goals, and reported effects on the achievement of mood enhancement were also explored using a retrospective survey design. The findings indicate that music choice is linked to the individual’s identified self-regulatory goals for music listening and to expected effects. Additionally, the results show that if individuals had intended to achieve mood enhancement through music listening, this was often achieved by first experiencing cognitive reappraisal or distraction. The selection of music with perceived high aesthetic value was the only music selection strategy that directly predicted mood enhancement. Where respondents indicated that they chose music with the intention of triggering memories, this was negatively related to the self-regulatory goal of mood enhancement

Construction of 3D models of the CYP11B family as a tool to predict ligand binding characteristics

Aldosterone is synthesised by aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2). CYP11B2 has a highly homologous isoform, steroid 11β-hydroxylase (CYP11B1), which is responsible for the biosynthesis of aldosterone precursors and glucocorticoids. To investigate aldosterone biosynthesis and facilitate the search for selective CYP11B2 inhibitors, we constructed three-dimensional models for CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 for both human and rat. The models were constructed based on the crystal structure of Pseudomonas Putida CYP101 and Oryctolagus Cuniculus CYP2C5. Small steric active site differences between the isoforms were found to be the most important determinants for the regioselective steroid synthesis. A possible explanation for these steric differences for the selective synthesis of aldosterone by CYP11B2 is presented. The activities of the known CYP11B inhibitors metyrapone, R-etomidate, R-fadrazole and S-fadrazole were determined using assays of V79MZ cells that express human CYP11B1 and CYP11B2, respectively. By investigating the inhibitors in the human CYP11B models using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations we were able to predict a similar trend in potency for the inhibitors as found in the in vitro assays. Importantly, based on the docking and dynamics simulations it is possible to understand the enantioselectivity of the human enzymes for the inhibitor fadrazole, the R-enantiomer being selective for CYP11B2 and the S-enantiomer being selective for CYP11B1

Proprioceptive loss and the perception, control and learning of arm movements in humans: evidence from sensory neuronopathy

© 2018 The Author(s) It is uncertain how vision and proprioception contribute to adaptation of voluntary arm movements. In normal participants, adaptation to imposed forces is possible with or without vision, suggesting that proprioception is sufficient; in participants with proprioceptive loss (PL), adaptation is possible with visual feedback, suggesting that proprioception is unnecessary. In experiment 1 adaptation to, and retention of, perturbing forces were evaluated in three chronically deafferented participants. They made rapid reaching movements to move a cursor toward a visual target, and a planar robot arm applied orthogonal velocity-dependent forces. Trial-by-trial error correction was observed in all participants. Such adaptation has been characterized with a dual-rate model: a fast process that learns quickly, but retains poorly and a slow process that learns slowly and retains well. Experiment 2 showed that the PL participants had large individual differences in learning and retention rates compared to normal controls. Experiment 3 tested participants’ perception of applied forces. With visual feedback, the PL participants could report the perturbation’s direction as well as controls; without visual feedback, thresholds were elevated. Experiment 4 showed, in healthy participants, that force direction could be estimated from head motion, at levels close to the no-vision threshold for the PL participants. Our results show that proprioceptive loss influences perception, motor control and adaptation but that proprioception from the moving limb is not essential for adaptation to, or detection of, force fields. The differences in learning and retention seen between the three deafferented participants suggest that they achieve these tasks in idiosyncratic ways after proprioceptive loss, possibly integrating visual and vestibular information with individual cognitive strategies

Rate-Dependent Nucleation and Growth of NaO2 in Na-O2 Batteries

Understanding the oxygen reduction reaction kinetics in the presence of Na ions and the formation mechanism of discharge product(s) is key to enhancing Na–O2 battery performance. Here we show NaO2 as the only discharge product from Na–O2 cells with carbon nanotubes in 1,2-dimethoxyethane from X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Sodium peroxide dihydrate was not detected in the discharged electrode with up to 6000 ppm of H2O added to the electrolyte, but it was detected with ambient air exposure. In addition, we show that the sizes and distributions of NaO2 can be highly dependent on the discharge rate, and we discuss the formation mechanisms responsible for this rate dependence. Micron-sized (∼500 nm) and nanometer-scale (∼50 nm) cubes were found on the top and bottom of a carbon nanotube (CNT) carpet electrode and along CNT sidewalls at 10 mA/g, while only micron-scale cubes (∼2 μm) were found on the top and bottom of the CNT carpet at 1000 mA/g, respectively.Seventh Framework Programme (European Commission) (Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, 2007-2013))National Science Foundation (U.S.) (MRSEC Program, award number DMR-0819762)Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch Energy Research Network (BERN) Grant)China Clean Energy Research Center-Clean Vehicles Consortium (CERC-CVC) (award number DE-PI0000012)Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech-MIT Center for Electochemical Energy Storage

The global burden of trichiasis in 2016.

BACKGROUND: Trichiasis is present when one or more eyelashes touches the eye. Uncorrected, it can cause blindness. Accurate estimates of numbers affected, and their geographical distribution, help guide resource allocation. METHODS: We obtained district-level trichiasis prevalence estimates in adults for 44 endemic and previously-endemic countries. We used (1) the most recent data for a district, if more than one estimate was available; (2) age- and sex-standardized corrections of historic estimates, where raw data were available; (3) historic estimates adjusted using a mean adjustment factor for districts where raw data were unavailable; and (4) expert assessment of available data for districts for which no prevalence estimates were available. FINDINGS: Internally age- and sex-standardized data represented 1,355 districts and contributed 662 thousand cases (95% confidence interval [CI] 324 thousand-1.1 million) to the global total. Age- and sex-standardized district-level prevalence estimates differed from raw estimates by a mean factor of 0.45 (range 0.03-2.28). Previously non- stratified estimates for 398 districts, adjusted by ×0.45, contributed a further 411 thousand cases (95% CI 283-557 thousand). Eight countries retained previous estimates, contributing 848 thousand cases (95% CI 225 thousand-1.7 million). New expert assessments in 14 countries contributed 862 thousand cases (95% CI 228 thousand-1.7 million). The global trichiasis burden in 2016 was 2.8 million cases (95% CI 1.1-5.2 million). INTERPRETATION: The 2016 estimate is lower than previous estimates, probably due to more and better data; scale-up of trichiasis management services; and reductions in incidence due to lower active trachoma prevalence

Sanitation and water supply coverage thresholds associated with active trachoma: Modeling cross-sectional data from 13 countries.

BACKGROUND: Facial cleanliness and sanitation are postulated to reduce trachoma transmission, but there are no previous data on community-level herd protection thresholds. We characterize associations between active trachoma, access to improved sanitation facilities, and access to improved water sources for the purpose of face washing, with the aim of estimating community-level or herd protection thresholds. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used cluster-sampled Global Trachoma Mapping Project data on 884,850 children aged 1-9 years from 354,990 households in 13 countries. We employed multivariable mixed-effects modified Poisson regression models to assess the relationships between water and sanitation coverage and trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF). We observed lower TF prevalence among those with household-level access to improved sanitation (prevalence ratio, PR = 0.87; 95%CI: 0.83-0.91), and household-level access to an improved washing water source in the residence/yard (PR = 0.81; 95%CI: 0.75-0.88). Controlling for household-level water and latrine access, we found evidence of community-level protection against TF for children living in communities with high sanitation coverage (PR80-90% = 0.87; 95%CI: 0.73-1.02; PR90-100% = 0.76; 95%CI: 0.67-0.85). Community sanitation coverage levels greater than 80% were associated with herd protection against TF (PR = 0.77; 95%CI: 0.62-0.97)-that is, lower TF in individuals whose households lacked individual sanitation but who lived in communities with high sanitation coverage. For community-level water coverage, there was no apparent threshold, although we observed lower TF among several of the higher deciles of community-level water coverage. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insights into the community water and sanitation coverage levels that might be required to best control trachoma. Our results suggest access to adequate water and sanitation can be important components in working towards the 2020 target of eliminating trachoma as a public health problem

Real-Space Mesh Techniques in Density Functional Theory

This review discusses progress in efficient solvers which have as their foundation a representation in real space, either through finite-difference or finite-element formulations. The relationship of real-space approaches to linear-scaling electrostatics and electronic structure methods is first discussed. Then the basic aspects of real-space representations are presented. Multigrid techniques for solving the discretized problems are covered; these numerical schemes allow for highly efficient solution of the grid-based equations. Applications to problems in electrostatics are discussed, in particular numerical solutions of Poisson and Poisson-Boltzmann equations. Next, methods for solving self-consistent eigenvalue problems in real space are presented; these techniques have been extensively applied to solutions of the Hartree-Fock and Kohn-Sham equations of electronic structure, and to eigenvalue problems arising in semiconductor and polymer physics. Finally, real-space methods have found recent application in computations of optical response and excited states in time-dependent density functional theory, and these computational developments are summarized. Multiscale solvers are competitive with the most efficient available plane-wave techniques in terms of the number of self-consistency steps required to reach the ground state, and they require less work in each self-consistency update on a uniform grid. Besides excellent efficiencies, the decided advantages of the real-space multiscale approach are 1) the near-locality of each function update, 2) the ability to handle global eigenfunction constraints and potential updates on coarse levels, and 3) the ability to incorporate adaptive local mesh refinements without loss of optimal multigrid efficiencies.Comment: 70 pages, 11 figures. To be published in Reviews of Modern Physic