Effects of microflora composition in the phyllosphere on biological regulation of grapevine fungal diseases

Aqueous fermentation extracts of composted microbiologically active substrates reduced significantly the infestation of grapevine leaves with Plasmopara viticola under growth chamber conditions. Enhancement of efficacy was available through the enrichment of the extracts with nutrients - like sucrose and brewer's yeast - or with a natural surfactant (methylized cellulose). Studies on the microbial composition of the phyllosphere showed that the quantity of the total number of colony forming units, of yeasts/filametous fungi, of enterobacteria, of pseudomonads and of aerobic bacilli depends on the specific amendments to the extracts and on the microclimatic conditions. They ace responsible for the differences in efficiency of the various extracts against P. viticola. Appropriate investigations on the phyllosphere in a field experiment resulted in a different composition of the microflora, though the same combinations of extract amendments were used. This is caused by the varying environmental conditions. In spite of the changed microflora, the disease suppressing effects against Urcinula necator were preserved

The RootScope: A Simple High-Throughput Screening System For Quantitating Gene Expression Dynamics In Plant Roots

Background: High temperature stress responses are vital for plant survival. The mechanisms that plants use to sense high temperatures are only partially understood and involve multiple sensing and signaling pathways. Here we describe the development of the RootScope, an automated microscopy system for quantitating heat shock responses in plant roots.Results: The promoter of Hsp17.6 was used to build a Hsp17.6(p):GFP transcriptional reporter that is induced by heat shock in Arabidopsis. An automated fluorescence microscopy system which enables multiple roots to be imaged in rapid succession was used to quantitate Hsp17.6p: GFP response dynamics. Hsp17.6(p):GFP signal increased with temperature increases from 28 degrees C to 37 degrees C. At 40 degrees C the kinetics and localization of the response are markedly different from those at 37 degrees C. This suggests that different mechanisms mediate heat shock responses above and below 37 degrees C. Finally, we demonstrate that Hsp17.6(p):GFP expression exhibits wave like dynamics in growing roots.Conclusions: The RootScope system is a simple and powerful platform for investigating the heat shock response in plants

Fluorescence assisted capillary electrophoresis of glycans enabled by the negatively charged auxochromes in 1-Aminopyrenes

A compact and negatively charged acceptor group, N-(cyanamino)sulfonyl, is introduced for dye design and its influence on the absorption and emission spectra of the “push–pull” chromophores is demonstrated with 1,3,6-tris[(cyanamino)sulfonyl]-8-aminopyrene. The new sulfonamides, including O-phosphorylated (3-hydroxyazetidine)-N-sulfonyl, are negatively charged electron acceptors and auxochromes. 1-Aminopyrenes decorated with the new sulfonamides have three or six negative charges (pH ≥8), low m/z ratios, high mobilities in an electric field, and yellow to orange emission. We labeled maltodextrin oligomers by reductive amination, separated the products by electrophoresis, and demonstrated their high brightness in a commercial DNA analyzer and the distribution of the emission signal among the detection channels

FLT3-regulated antigens as targets for leukemia-reactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes

The FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) is highly expressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Internal tandem duplications (ITD) of the juxtamembrane domain lead to the constitutive activation of the FLT3 kinase inducing the activation of multiple genes, which may result in the expression of leukemia-associated antigens (LAAs). We analyzed the regulation of LAA in FLT3-wild-type (WT)- and FLT3-ITD+ myeloid cells to identify potential targets for antigen-specific immunotherapy for AML patients. Antigens, such as PR-3, RHAMM, Survivin, WT-1 and PRAME, were upregulated by constitutively active FLT3-ITD as well as FLT3-WT activated by FLT3 ligand (FL). Cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) clones against PR-3, RHAMM, Survivin and an AML-directed CTL clone recognized AML cell lines and primary AML blasts expressing FLT3-ITD, as well as FLT3-WT+ myeloid dendritic cells in the presence of FL. Downregulation of FLT3 led to the abolishment of CTL recognition. Comparing our findings concerning LAA upregulation by the FLT3 kinase with those already made for the Bcr-Abl kinase, we found analogies in the LAA expression pattern. Antigens upregulated by both FLT3 and Bcr-Abl may be promising targets for the development of immunotherapeutical approaches against myeloid leukemia of different origin

Aboriginal Urban Design for Health

Montreal’s Aboriginal population is growing rapidly, yet the community lacks a culturally safe and holistic health service center that is accessible to all Aboriginal people. On Friday, June 2, 2017 The Montreal Urban Aboriginal Health Centre (MUAHC) joined forces with Next City & Concordia University to co-create a 7-minute pitch for a $7,000 prize through the Vangaurd Conference Big Idea Challenge. An interdisciplinary team of 8 conference attendees worked with MUAHC leadership to design a short-term solution that would be a step in the right direction towards MUAHC’s goal to build a fully functioning and independent health center dedicated to Montreal’s Aboriginal population. The Big Idea was to transform an existing room within a new hospital site into a Healing and Teaching Lodge, where Aboriginal patients and their family/friends could come together to focus on wellness. Ultimately, the judges received an anonymous donation after the six presentations, and the Lodge was awarded$2,000 to implement the project. PPT: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CwzoQokFMR-MZYTyEbpjJtBvB903K6c995QOU6VD3I0/edit#slide=id.g1f67c01f4c_0_

Estimating the Predictive Value of Negative SARS-CoV-2 Results: A Prospective Study

© 2020 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. We performed a prospective study of 501 patients, regardless of symptoms, admitted to the hospital, to estimate the predictive value of a negative Nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2. At a positivity rate of 10.2%, the estimated Negative Predictive Value (NPV) was 97.2% and NPV rose as prevalence decreased during the study

Shot-noise spectroscopy of energy-resolved ballistic currents

We investigate the shot noise of nonequilibrium carriers injected into a ballistic conductor and interacting via long-range Coulomb forces. Coulomb interactions are shown to act as an energy analyzer of the profile of injected electrons by means of the fluctuations of the potential barrier at the emitter contact. We show that the details in the energy profile can be extracted from shot-noise measurements in the Coulomb interaction regime, but cannot be obtained from time-averaged quantities or shot-noise measurements in the absence of interactions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Multiple impact therapy : evaluation and design for future study

The theoretical underpinnings of Washington County Children\u27s Services Division (CSD) Immediate Conflict-Resolution Family Treatment Program include the systems theory of family therapy with a focus on communication and roles. One of the many approaches to helping families in crisis, it incorporates theories regarding assessment of and intervention in families in crisis. Finally, while it draws upon several different approaches to family therapy, the Washington County program is most closely related to Multiple Impact Therapy (MIT). Thus, a review of relevant literature must address portions of the above enumerated theories that illuminate the thinking behind the Immediate Conflict- Resolution Family Treatment Program. While each of the four components of the literature review (systems theory, family crisis theory, assessment of families in crisis, and Multiple Impact Therapy) represents a topic area of breadth and complexity, the aspects of each topic area which seem most relevant to Washington County\u27s MIT project have been reviewed