Avaliacoes da infeccao de explantes de feijoeiro por Agrobacterium tumefaciens por meio de microscopia.

Phaseolus vulgaris L. e considerada recalcitrante a transformacao por Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Contudo, alteracoes no meio de co-cultivo, utilizacao de linhagens hipervirulentas de Agrobacterium e de vetores binarios contendo genes vir demostraram que o feijoeiro e susceptivel a essa bacteria. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi estudar o efeito da sonificacao nos tecidos vegetais de feijoeiro, bem como a penetracao da Agrobacterium nas camadas subepidermicas do tecido vegetal, usando a metodologia SAAT ("Sonification-Assisted Agrobacterium-mediated Transformation"). A variedade de feijoeiro utilizada foi a Olathe Pinto, a linhagem de A. tumefaciens foi LBA4404:pTOK.Os embrioes de feijao foram pre-tratados po 14 dias em meio de multibrotacao e, entao submetidos a sonificacao (de 0 ou 60 segundos) na presenca de Agrobacterium. Apos a inoculacao foram co-cultivados por 24 horas em meio liquido seguido de 48 horas em meio solido, ambos, contendo 20 m. L -1 de acetoceringona. Os explantes inoculados foram fixadas em solucao de Karnovsk para avaliacoes em microscopia optica e eletronica de varredura. As analises da microspia demostraram a presenca de rupturas na epiderme, quebras da parede celular e invasao da Agrobacterium nos tecidos subepidermicos. Os reultados demostraram que o metodo SAAT e uma tecnica viavel para a inoculcao de Agrobacterium em explantes de P. vulgaris.bitstream/CPAC-2010/23710/1/bolpd-04.pd

Vaccines in children with inflammatory bowel disease: Brief review

Incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is increasing worldwide. Children with IBDs have a dysfunctional immune system and they are frequently treated with immunomodulating drugs and biological therapy, which significantly impair immune system functions and lead to an increased risk of infections. Vaccines are essential to prevent at least part of these infections and this explains why strict compliance to the immunization guidelines specifically prepared for IBD patients is strongly recommended. However, several factors might lead to insufficient immunization. In this paper, present knowledge on the use of vaccines in children with IBDs is discussed. Literature review showed that despite a lack of detailed quantification of the risk of infections in children with IBDs, these children might have infections more frequently than age-matched healthy subjects, and at least in some cases, these infections might be even more severe. Fortunately, most of these infections could be prevented when recommended schedules of immunization are carefully followed. Vaccines given to children with IBDs generally have adequate immunogenicity and safety. Attention must be paid to live attenuated vaccines that can be administered only to children without or with mild immune system function impairment. Vaccination of their caregivers is also recommended. Unfortunately, compliance to these recommendations is generally low and multidisciplinary educational programs to improve vaccination coverage must be planned, in order to protect children with IBD from vaccine-preventable diseases

Acute pancreatitis in children. An Italian multicentre study

AIM: To evaluate the clinical, morphological and aetiological aspects of acute pancreatitis in children in Italy. PATIENTS: The hospital records of 50 consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis observed in 5 Italian Pediatric Departments were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 25 males and 25 females (median age 10.5 years, range 2-17) were studied. Of these patients, 48 (96%) had abdominal pain. The pancreatitis was associated with biliary disease in 10 patients (20%); it was due to viral infection in 6 patients (12%), pancreatic duct abnormalities in 4 (8%, familial chronic pancreatitis in 3 (6%), trauma in 5 (10%) and other causes in 5 (10%); the pancreatitis was of unknown origin in 17 patients (34%). Previous attacks of the disease had occurred in 14 patients. A diagnosis of mild pancreatitis was made in 41 patients (82%) and of severe disease in 9 (18%). One patient with severe pancreatitis died from multiorgan failure. Patients with severe pancreatitis had significantly higher serum concentrations of C-reactive protein than patients with mild pancreatitis. Hospital stay was similar for patients with the mild form and those with the severe form of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: In Italian children, acute pancreatitis is of unknown origin in about one-third of the children and is recurrent in 28% of the cases. The disease is severe in 18% of the case

Self-consistent simulation of plasma scenarios for ITER using a combination of 1.5D transport codes and free-boundary equilibrium codes

Self-consistent transport simulation of ITER scenarios is a very important tool for the exploration of the operational space and for scenario optimisation. It also provides an assessment of the compatibility of developed scenarios (which include fast transient events) with machine constraints, in particular with the poloidal field (PF) coil system, heating and current drive (H&CD), fuelling and particle and energy exhaust systems. This paper discusses results of predictive modelling of all reference ITER scenarios and variants using two suite of linked transport and equilibrium codes. The first suite consisting of the 1.5D core/2D SOL code JINTRAC [1] and the free boundary equilibrium evolution code CREATE-NL [2,3], was mainly used to simulate the inductive D-T reference Scenario-2 with fusion gain Q=10 and its variants in H, D and He (including ITER scenarios with reduced current and toroidal field). The second suite of codes was used mainly for the modelling of hybrid and steady state ITER scenarios. It combines the 1.5D core transport code CRONOS [4] and the free boundary equilibrium evolution code DINA-CH [5].Comment: 23 pages, 18 figure

Evidence of resonant surface wave excitation in the relativistic regime through measurements of proton acceleration from grating targets

The interaction of laser pulses with thin grating targets, having a periodic groove at the irradiated surface, has been experimentally investigated. Ultrahigh contrast ($\sim 10^{12}$) pulses allowed to demonstrate an enhanced laser-target coupling for the first time in the relativistic regime of ultra-high intensity >10^{19} \mbox{W/cm}^{2}. A maximum increase by a factor of 2.5 of the cut-off energy of protons produced by Target Normal Sheath Acceleration has been observed with respect to plane targets, around the incidence angle expected for resonant excitation of surface waves. A significant enhancement is also observed for small angles of incidence, out of resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 2nd version implements final correction

Multi-GeV Electron Spectrometer

The advance in laser plasma acceleration techniques pushes the regime of the resulting accelerated particles to higher energies and intensities. In particular the upcoming experiments with the FLAME laser at LNF will enter the GeV regime with almost 1pC of electrons. From the current status of understanding of the acceleration mechanism, relatively large angular and energy spreads are expected. There is therefore the need to develop a device capable to measure the energy of electrons over three orders of magnitude (few MeV to few GeV) under still unknown angular divergences. Within the PlasmonX experiment at LNF a spectrometer is being constructed to perform these measurements. It is made of an electro-magnet and a screen made of scintillating fibers for the measurement of the trajectories of the particles. The large range of operation, the huge number of particles and the need to focus the divergence present unprecedented challenges in the design and construction of such a device. We will present the design considerations for this spectrometer and the first results from a prototype.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to NIM

The PLASMONX Project for advanced beam physics experiments

The Project PLASMONX is well progressing into its design phase and has entered as well its second phase of procurements for main components. The project foresees the installation at LNF of a Ti:Sa laser system (peak power > 170 TW), synchronized to the high brightness electron beam produced by the SPARC photo-injector. The advancement of the procurement of such a laser system is reported, as well as the construction plans of a new building at LNF to host a dedicated laboratory for high intensity photon beam experiments (High Intensity Laser Laboratory). Several experiments are foreseen using this complex facility, mainly in the high gradient plasma acceleration field and in the field of mono- chromatic ultra-fast X-ray pulse generation via Thomson back-scattering. Detailed numerical simulations have been carried out to study the generation of tightly focused electron bunches to collide with laser pulses in the Thomson source: results on the emitted spectra of X-rays are presented

Ventilatory associated barotrauma in COVID-19 patients: A multicenter observational case control study (COVI-MIX-study)

Background: The risk of barotrauma associated with different types of ventilatory support is unclear in COVID-19 patients. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the different respiratory support strategies on barotrauma occurrence; we also sought to determine the frequency of barotrauma and the clinical characteristics of the patients who experienced this complication. Methods: This multicentre retrospective case-control study from 1 March 2020 to 28 February 2021 included COVID-19 patients who experienced barotrauma during hospital stay. They were matched with controls in a 1:1 ratio for the same admission period in the same ward of treatment. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression (OR) were performed to explore which factors were associated with barotrauma and in-hospital death. Results: We included 200 cases and 200 controls. Invasive mechanical ventilation was used in 39.3% of patients in the barotrauma group, and in 20.1% of controls (p<0.001). Receiving non-invasive ventilation (C-PAP/PSV) instead of conventional oxygen therapy (COT) increased the risk of barotrauma (OR 5.04, 95% CI 2.30 - 11.08, p<0.001), similarly for invasive mechanical ventilation (OR 6.24, 95% CI 2.86-13.60, p<0.001). High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO), compared with COT, did not significantly increase the risk of barotrauma. Barotrauma frequency occurred in 1.00% [95% CI 0.88-1.16] of patients; these were older (p=0.022) and more frequently immunosuppressed (p=0.013). Barotrauma was shown to be an independent risk for death (OR 5.32, 95% CI 2.82-10.03, p<0.001). Conclusions: C-PAP/PSV compared with COT or HFNO increased the risk of barotrauma; otherwise HFNO did not. Barotrauma was recorded in 1.00% of patients, affecting mainly patients with more severe COVID-19 disease. Barotrauma was independently associated with mortality. Trial registration: this case-control study was prospectively registered in clinicaltrial.gov as NCT04897152 (on 21 May 2021)