Fungicide and variety effects on foliar diseases and yield of wheat and barley

Non-Peer Reviewe

Determining the race structure of Leptospheria maculans in western Canada

Non-Peer Reviewe

Management of leaf spotting diseases of winter wheat in western Canada

Non-Peer Reviewe

Managing blackleg of canola – potential new tools

Non-Peer Reviewe

Mitigating the risk of blackleg disease of canola using fungicide strategies

Non-Peer ReviewedBlackleg, the most widespread disease on canola on the prairies, has been managed mainly through use of resistant cultivars in combination with crop rotation. Over the past few years, crop rotation has been tightened in favor of canola production due largely to profitability considerations but this practice can speed up changes in pathogen race structure that may lead to losses of resistance for some of the current canola cultivars. In this study, fungicides strategies were assessed as a second line of defense for control of blackleg and canola yield benefit in case when the variety resistance is overcome by the pathogen. In 2011, the fungicide Headline, Quadris, and Quilt were applied at 2-4 leaf stage and/or bolting to target varying periods of infection at three locations on the prairies. On the susceptible cultivar Westar, an early application (2-4 leaf) of Headline or Quadris reduced the disease at Carman, MB, but not at Melfort or Vegreville relative to non-treated controls. None of the fungicide treatments increased canola yield substantially either. The study will be continued for two more years at multiple locations across the prairies

Physical and optical properties of the International Simple Glass

Radioactive waste immobilization is a means to limit the release of radionuclides from various waste streams into the environment over a timescale of hundreds to many thousands of years. Incorporation of radionuclide-containing wastes into borosilicate glass during vitrification is one potential route to accomplish such immobilization. To facilitate comparisons and assessments of reproducibility across experiments and laboratories, a six-component borosilicate glass (Si, B, Na, Al, Ca, Zr) known as the International Simple Glass (ISG) was developed by international consensus as a compromise between simplicity and similarity to waste glasses. Focusing on a single glass composition with a multi-pronged approach utilizing state-of-the-art, multi-scale experimental and theoretical tools provides a common database that can be used to assess relative importance of mechanisms and models. Here we present physical property data (both published and previously unpublished) on a single batch of ISG, which was cast into individual ingots that were distributed to the collaborators. Properties from the atomic scale to the macroscale, including composition and elemental impurities, phase purity, density, thermal properties, mechanical properties, optical and vibrational properties, and the results of molecular dynamics simulations are presented. In addition, information on the surface composition and morphology after polishing is included. Although the existing literature on the alteration of ISG is not extensively reviewed here, the results of well-controlled static alteration experiments are presented here as a point of reference for other performance investigations

The Cholecystectomy As A Day Case (CAAD) Score: A Validated Score of Preoperative Predictors of Successful Day-Case Cholecystectomy Using the CholeS Data Set

Background Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables. Methods Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set. Results Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy

Exhaled nitric oxide: Not associated with asthma, symptoms, or spirometry in children with sickle cell anemia

BACKGROUND:The significance of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (Feno) levels in children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) is unclear, but increased levels can be associated with features of asthma and thus increased morbidity.OBJECTIVES:We sought to determine factors associated with Feno and whether Feno levels are associated with increased rates of acute chest syndrome (ACS) and pain.METHODS:All participants had SCA, were part of the prospective observational Sleep and Asthma Cohort study, and had the following assessments: Feno levels, spirometry, blood samples analyzed for hemoglobin, white blood cell counts, eosinophil counts and total serum IgE levels, questionnaires about child medical and family history, and review of medical records.RESULTS:The analytic sample included 131 children with SCA (median age, 11.2 years; age range, 6-18 years) followed for a mean of 16.2 years, including a mean of 5.1 years after baseline Feno data measurements. In multivariable analyses higher Feno levels were associated with ln(IgE) levels (P &lt; .001) and the highest quartile of peripheral eosinophil counts (P = .03) but not wheezing symptoms, baseline spirometric indices, or response to bronchodilator. Multivariable analyses identified that the incident rate of ACS was associated with ln(Feno) levels (P = .03), as well as male sex (P = .025), wheezing causing shortness of breath (P = .002), and ACS at less than 4 years of age (P &lt; .001). Feno levels were not associated with future pain episodes.CONCLUSIONS:Steady-state Feno levels were not associated with an asthma diagnosis, wheezing symptoms, lung function measures, or prior sickle cell morbidity but were associated with markers of atopy and increased risk of future ACS events

Pattern of lung function is not associated with prior or future morbidity in children with sickle cell anemia

Rationale: Patient factors associated with development of abnormal lung function in children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) have not been fully characterized.Objectives: To characterize lung function abnormalities among children with SCA and to determine whether these steady-state lung function results were associated with morbidity before or after testing among children with SCA.Methods: This study was part of the prospective National Institutes of Health–funded Sleep and Asthma Cohort Study. Children with HbSS or Hb S?o (SCA) were enrolled without regard for sickle cell–related comorbidities or diagnosis of asthma. Lung function was measured by spirometry and plethysmography on the same day, when free of acute disease. Standardized asthma symptom questionnaires and review of the medical records were also performed.Measurements and Main Results: A total of 149 children aged 6 to 19 years completed lung function testing, of whom 139 participants had retrospective morbidity data from birth to the test date, and 136 participants were followed prospectively for a median of 4.3 years from the test date. At baseline, percentages with normal, obstructive, restrictive, nonspecific, and mixed lung function patterns were 70, 16, 7, 6, and 1, respectively. Neither retrospective rates of pain nor acute chest syndrome was associated with lung function patterns. Furthermore, baseline lung function pattern was not predictive of future pain or acute chest syndrome episodes.Conclusions: The majority of children with SCA have lung function that is within the normal range. Abnormal lung function patterns were not associated with prior vasoocclusive pain or acute chest syndrome episodes, and baseline lung function patterns did not predict future vasoocclusive pain or chest syndrome episodes

H magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the investigation of intractable epilepsy

We have been using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) in the investigation of adults and children with intractable epilepsy. Spectra were obtained from 2 × 2 times 2 cm cubes in the medial region of the temporal lobe, and were analyzed on the basis of signals from N‐acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine+phosphocreatine (Cr), and choline‐containing compounds (Cho). In comparison with control subjects, the epilepsy patients as a group show significant reductions in the NAA signal and in the NAA/Cho + Cr ratio, with increases in the Cho and Cr signals. The reduction in NAA is interpreted in terms of neuronal loss or damage, while the increase in Cr and Cho signals may be a reflection of reactive astrocytosis. 1994 Blackwell Munksgaard</p