Pathogenicity of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica on potato

Host–parasite relationships and pathogenicity of Meloidogyne javanica on potatoes (newly recorded from Malta) were studied under glasshouse and natural conditions. Potato cvs Cara and Spunta showed a typical susceptible reaction to M. javanica under natural and artificial infections, respectively. In potato tubers, M. javanica induced feeding sites that consisted of three to four hypertrophied giant cells per adult female. Infection of feeder roots by the nematode resulted in mature large galls which usually contained at least one mature female and egg mass. In both tubers and roots, feeding sites were characterized by giant cells containing granular cytoplasm and many hypertrophied nuclei. Cytoplasm in giant cells was aggregated alongside the thickened cell walls. Stelar tissues within galls appeared disorganized. The relationship between initial nematode population density ( P ) [0–64 eggs + second-stage juveniles (J2s) per cm 3 soil] and growth of cv. Spunta potato seedlings was tested under glasshouse conditions. A Seinhorst model [ y = m + (1 − m ) z ( P − T ) ] was fitted to fresh shoot weight and shoot height data of nematode-inoculated and control plants. Tolerance limits ( T ) for fresh shoot weight and shoot height of cv. Spunta plants infected with M. javanica were 0·50 and 0·64 eggs + J2s per cm 3 soil, respectively. The m parameter in that model (i.e. the minimum possible y -values) for fresh shoot weight and shoot height were 0·60 and 0·20, respectively, at P = 64 eggs + J2s per cm 3 soil. Root galling was proportional to the initial nematode population density. Maximum nematode reproduction rate was 51·2 at a moderate initial population density ( P = 4 eggs + J2s per cm 3 soil).peer-reviewe

Brain-machine interfaces for rehabilitation in stroke: A review

BACKGROUND: Motor paralysis after stroke has devastating consequences for the patients, families and caregivers. Although therapies have improved in the recent years, traditional rehabilitation still fails in patients with severe paralysis. Brain-machine interfaces (BMI) have emerged as a promising tool to guide motor rehabilitation interventions as they can be applied to patients with no residual movement. OBJECTIVE: This paper reviews the efficiency of BMI technologies to facilitate neuroplasticity and motor recovery after stroke. METHODS: We provide an overview of the existing rehabilitation therapies for stroke, the rationale behind the use of BMIs for motor rehabilitation, the current state of the art and the results achieved so far with BMI-based interventions, as well as the future perspectives of neural-machine interfaces. RESULTS: Since the first pilot study by Buch and colleagues in 2008, several controlled clinical studies have been conducted, demonstrating the efficacy of BMIs to facilitate functional recovery in completely paralyzed stroke patients with noninvasive technologies such as the electroencephalogram (EEG). CONCLUSIONS: Despite encouraging results, motor rehabilitation based on BMIs is still in a preliminary stage, and further improvements are required to boost its efficacy. Invasive and hybrid approaches are promising and might set the stage for the next generation of stroke rehabilitation therapies.This study was funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung BMBF MOTORBIC (FKZ13GW0053)andAMORSA(FKZ16SV7754), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the fortüne-Program of the University of Tübingen (2422-0-0 and 2452-0-0), and the Basque GovernmentScienceProgram(EXOTEK:KK2016/00083). NIL was supported by the Basque Government’s scholarship for predoctoral students

Communicating Reproductive Rights to Marginalised Girls and Teenage Mothers at Risk of HIV Infection in Rural Zimbabwe

Access to information and resources are critical factors in ensuring that young girls are empowered to handle reproductive health issues. This is especially significant in the context of teenage Landa mothers’ phenomenon, which has a generic relationship with the problem of HIV infection in rural Zimbabwe. The UN Population Fund (2013) indicates that 92% of sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 19 in largely rural Zimbabwe are in a relationship or engage in sexual intercourse regardless of being uninformed about their reproductive rights. It is this paper’s position that uninformed girls and women pose a risk unto themselves and their children, which impacts on the fight against new HIV infections. We argue that reproductive health information is central to the prevention of HIV infection and AIDS related deaths. This paper critically appraises existing communication strategies in the dissemination of reproductive health information in rural, marginalised areas; discussing gaps, weaknesses and possible future directions in reaching vulnerable girls and women in the periphery. Young girls have limited access to information, medical services, support and resources that can empower them to prevent unplanned teenage pregnancies and attendant risks like HIV due to common preconceptions about the taboos of teaching ‘young’ people about ‘adult’ issues in a culture-conscious society

Espondilodiscitis en la infancia

La espondilodiscitis es una enfermedad inflamatoria que afecta el disco intervertebral y los cuerpos vertebrales adyacentes. Esta afección cursa con gran variedad de síntomas, relacionados con la edad del paciente y la localización del proceso inflamatorio. Se presentan 3 casos de discitis en niños pequeños que manifestaron síntomas diversos tales como: dificultad en la marcha, rechazo a caminar o sentarse, lumbalgia y dolor abdominal. Todos presentaron hiperlordosis lumbo-sacra. La centellografía resultó el examen complementario de elección para definir el diagnóstico al demostrar hipercaptación a nivel del disco intervertebral. La antibioticoterapia endovenosa fue curativa. Se propone al dosaje de proteína C reactiva como parámetro de laboratorio útil para el seguimiento.Spondylodiscitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the intervertebral disk and adjacent vertebral bodies. This affection develops a wide variety of symptoms related to the patient´s age and the inflammatory process location. We are reporting three children of early age with discitis who presented a range of symptoms such as: walking difficulties, refusal to walk or sit, low back pain and abdominal pain. Lumbosacral hyperlordosis was present in all cases. Scintigraphy was the complementary method of choice to define the diagnosis by showing hypercaptatation at the invertebral disk level. Endovenous antibiotic therapy proved effective. We propose the dosage of C protein as a useful laboratory parameter for the follow-up of these patients

Modes of Oscillation in Radiofrequency Paul Traps

We examine the time-dependent dynamics of ion crystals in radiofrequency traps. The problem of stable trapping of general three-dimensional crystals is considered and the validity of the pseudopotential approximation is discussed. We derive analytically the micromotion amplitude of the ions, rigorously proving well-known experimental observations. We use a method of infinite determinants to find the modes which diagonalize the linearized time-dependent dynamical problem. This allows obtaining explicitly the ('Floquet-Lyapunov') transformation to coordinates of decoupled linear oscillators. We demonstrate the utility of the method by analyzing the modes of a small `peculiar' crystal in a linear Paul trap. The calculations can be readily generalized to multispecies ion crystals in general multipole traps, and time-dependent quantum wavefunctions of ion oscillations in such traps can be obtained.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures, v2 adds citations and small correction

PROTECTED-UK – Clinical pharmacist interventions in the UK critical care unit: exploration of relationship between intervention, service characteristics and experience level

PURPOSE: Clinical pharmacist (CP) interventions from the PROTECTED-UK cohort, a multi-site critical care interventions study, were further analysed to assess effects of: time on critical care, number of interventions, CP expertise and days of week, on impact of intervention and ultimately contribution to patient care. METHODS: Intervention data were collected from 21 adult critical care units over 14 days. Interventions could be error, optimisation or consults, and were blind-coded to ensure consistency, prior to bivariate analysis. Pharmacy service demographics were further collated by investigator survey. KEY FINDINGS: Of the 20 758 prescriptions reviewed, 3375 interventions were made (intervention rate 16.1%). CPs spent 3.5 h per day (mean, ±SD 1.7) on direct patient care, reviewed 10.3 patients per day (±SD 4.2) and required 22.5 min (±SD 9.5) per review. Intervention rate had a moderate inverse correlation with the time the pharmacist spent on critical care (P = 0.05; r = 0.4). Optimisation rate had a strong inverse association with total number of prescriptions reviewed per day (P = 0.001; r = 0.7). A consultant CP had a moderate inverse correlation with number of errors identified (P = 0.008; r = 0.6). No correlation existed between the presence of electronic prescribing in critical care and any intervention rate. Few centres provided weekend services, although the intervention rate was significantly higher on weekends than weekdays. CONCLUSIONS: A CP is essential for safe and optimised patient medication therapy; an extended and developed pharmacy service is expected to reduce errors. CP services should be adequately staffed to enable adequate time for prescription review and maximal therapy optimisation

Effect of Primary Power Source on the Load Voltage Relationship in Load Cells from an Instrumented Scrum Machine

To measure force generated by rugby union players during the scrum, we instrumented a scrum machine using S-type load cells for voltage force data collection. Data collection may take place in a variety of settings with varying access to primary power. The voltage outputs from electronic equipment may change when using battery versus AC power. Purpose: To compare the load-voltage relationship in S-type load cells between wall outlet AC power and a lithium ion battery pack and inverter. Methods: Dead weight calibrations of two load cells under two power supply conditions were performed up to 200kg. Voltage data was obtained using 1) outlet power from the lab, and 2) using a lithium ion battery pack and inverter (Yeti 1500x Goal Zero, South Bluffdale, UT). A linear model was created to estimate the influence of power source (battery vs wall plug) on the load-voltage relationship (i.e. voltage = β0 + β1•load + β2•load.cell(7) + β3•power.source(plug) + β4•time + β5•load • power.source(plug)). Results: The linear model indicated a main effect of the power source was present (p = 0.003) but not a load x power source interaction effect (p = 0.085). On average, voltage values from the load cell were about 0.001 volts greater than when using the battery. Conclusion: The lithium ion battery pack reliably produces voltage outputs greater than wall AC outlet power. Thus field data collection using the lithium ion battery pack is permitted, providing the volt difference is accounted for when analyzing data

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Symptoms Among Autistic Individuals, With and Without Co-Occurring Intellectual Disability

Gastrointestinal symptoms (GI) are very common among individuals on the autism spectrum. Prior research reports mixed findings regarding whether individuals with autism and co-occurring intellectual disability (ID) have elevated risk of gastrointestinal symptoms relative to individuals with autism alone. GI symptoms can be challenging to assess in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or ID given challenges with language, communication, and interoception. Prior research has tended to only include individuals with documented presence or absence of GI symptoms or conditions, that is, to exclude observations in which there is uncertainty regarding presence of GI symptoms. Therefore, none of the prior autism studies reported the association between ID and the certainty regarding presence or absence of GI symptoms. The objective of this study was to examine differences in parental certainty and odds of reporting gastrointestinal signs and symptoms among children on the autism spectrum, with and without intellectual disability. Participants were 308 children (36% ID) with a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (6-17 years). Parents endorsed whether their child had experienced or displayed a range of signs or symptoms related to GI problems in the past 3 months. Parents of autistic children with ID were less certain about the presence of more subjective symptoms, including abdominal pain, nausea, and bloating. Conversely, certainty regarding more objective signs (e.g., constipation, diarrhea, spitting up, etc.) was not significantly different. More accurate measures for GI signs/symptoms are needed for this population