Investigation on the phytosanitary status of the main stone fruit nurseries and mother plots in Albania

To assess the virus and viroid infections of the most important stone fruits in Albania, surveys were carried out in nurseries, mother plots and commercial orchards in the main fruit tree-growing areas. The presence of viruses and viroids was assessed by visual inspections and laboratory tests. During field surveys, more than 5,000 trees were individually inspected for symptoms expression. A total of 749 trees were tested, and shown to be highly infected (27%) by one or more viruses at the same time; in particular, Sharka infection was detected in all the selected areas and in plants of different origin (nurseries: 29%, mother plants: 13%, and commercial orchards: 29%). Infections by Prunus necrotic leaf spot virus (PNRSV) and Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV) were frequent in peach and plum, while Prunus dwarf virus (PDV) was more frequent in cherry. Regarding viroids, 740 samples were tested for Peach latent mosaic viroid (PLMVd); as for viruses, the infection rate was quite high (23%), particularly on peach (60% of tested samples). This study highlights the quite alarming existing situation, especially for the presence of PPV infection in nurseries. Urgent measures should be taken to avoid a serious crisis and deterioration of the fruit tree industry in Albania.Keywords: Albania, stone fruits, viruses, viroids, detection, nursery, mother bloc

Cutibacterium (formerly Propionibacterium) acnes clavicular infection.

Cutibacterium (formerly Propionibacterium) acnes13, 16 is a slow growing, gram-positive bacteria that is naturally found in higher concentrations as skin flora on the chest and back, as well as in other areas with greater numbers of hair follicles.25, 37 Most of the reported cases of C. acnes shoulder girdle infection follow arthroplasty surgery,18, 20, 26, 27, 32, 35 which then often requires debridement, administration of intravenous antibiotics, and surgical revision of the implanted device.12, 15, 21, 28-30 In a recent study, 56% of 193 shoulder revisions had a positive culture, 70% of which grew C. acnes.30 Despite the relatively common presumed association of C. acnes humeral osteomyelitis with prosthetic infection, infection of the scapula or clavicle secondary to C. acnes is rare.4, 23, 36 Osteomyelitis of the clavicle involving any organism is also an uncommon event that can arise spontaneously via presumed hematogenous spread, or secondary to open fractures or internal fixation.6, 33 The most commonly found organism in clavicular osteomyelitis is Staphylococcus aureus.9 We here report two cases of clavicular infection secondary to C. acnes that were not associated with implants

Dependencia de la viscosidad de cizalladura en la concentración depseudo plasticidad (oxido de polietileno - xantano) colisión de polímero

Introduction: Its necessary to bear in mind that we life in theword increase industrialization, therefore we make many modifications to material to getting on best characterizations. The aim ofthis research is to Prepare new Pseudo Plasticity Polymer Collide.Materials and Methods: In the present paper effects of xanthancellulose gum (X) on rheological properties of polyethylene oxidepolymer (PEO, 3000 Daltons) included different type of viscosityhas been investigated by using the following parameters: (Spindle:no.1, Speed: 60 rpm and Temperature: RT), different sort of viscosity is computed for a PEO that dissolved in distilled cold waterwith completely different various concentrations (0.1, 0.2 to 0.8)%g/mL once and before adding (0.25 and 0.5) g X for every concentration. Results and Discussion: The results show that all properties of density, shear viscosity, relative viscosity, specific viscosity,reduced viscosity, intrinsic viscosity, viscosity average mass and theeffective molecular radius have been enhanced after the addition ofxanthan. Conclusions: Addition of xanthan are often applied asthicker mixture in coating, oil drilling and pumping of fluids attributable related pseudo physical propert

Prevalence of Patients Living with HIV/AIDS with Their CD4+ Counts in Some Hospitals in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria

This study was conducted over a period of nine months on the prevalence of HIV and the CD4+ counts among women attending selected Hospitals (Dr Musa Inuwa, General, Clinic A, IBB, and Clinic B hospitals) in Minna. A total of 500 patients were screened. Questionnaires were used to gather relevant data on sampled patients. Cyflow counter and Hematology analyzer were used to determine CD4+ and  hematological parameters (Hb and WBC). Of the 500 samples, 408 tested negative while 92 tested positive, translating to a prevalence rate of 18.4%. The age group 25 – 34 years had the highest number of cases under HIV positive pregnant women (67.7%). The CD4+ count was shown to be significantly (p < 0.05) lower in HIV positive pregnant women not on ART (146.17 ± 29.52 cell/μL), while HIV negative non-pregnant women had the highest count of 978.26 ± 13.00 cell/μL. The mean Hemoglobin concentration was similarly significantly lower in women that are HIV positive, pregnant but not on ART (7.95 ± 0.61 g/dL) while those not pregnant and HIV negative (11.90 ± 0.12 g/dL). However, the WBC count was significantly higher in HIV positive non-pregnant women on ART (22.21±2.74 ×109/L). The prevalence of HIV within the sampled hospitals is very high with the various factors showing close associations. It is then recommended that government and non-government organizations should intensify efforts to enlighten the populace on the need for HIV screening

Linear acenes linked thiophene, electronic and chemical properties: Prospects for molecular organic electronic material

We report a theoretical study of linear acene (n=1 to 7) linked thiophene properties functionality. The total ground state and band gap energies, Coulomb potential and nuclear repulsion energy are calculated by DFT, MP2 at B3LYP exchange level of the theory and 6-311G* basis set. The results are in good agreement with the experimental and theoretical values. It is found that the total ground state energy of the system and band gap energy decreases with an increasing number of electrons in the rings. The addition of thiophene molecules tends to improve the electronic and chemical properties of the linear acenes, the material exhibit potential application in the organic molecular electronic material

Variations in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) progeny response to high aluminium concentrations in solution culture

Aluminium (Al) phytotoxicity is an important soil constraint that limits crop yield. The objectives of this study were to investigate how growth, physiology, nutrient content and organic acid concentration is affected by Al, and to assess the degree of Al tolerance in different oil palm progeny (OPP). Four OPPs [‘A’ (Angola dura × Angola dura), ‘B’ (Nigerian dura × Nigerian dura), ‘C’ (Deli dura × AVROS pisifera) and ‘D’ (Deli dura × Dumpy AVROS pisifera)] were grown in different Al concentrations (0, 100 and 200 μm) in aerated Hoagland solution, pH 4.4, for 80 days. We observed a severe reduction (57.5%) in shoot dry weight, and root tips were reduced by 46.5% in 200 μm Al. In ‘B’ and ‘C’, the majority of macro- and micronutrients in plants were reduced significantly by 200 μm Al, with Mg being lowered by more than 50% in roots and shoots. The 200 μm Al treatment resulted in a 56.50% reduction in total leaf area, a 20% reduction in net photosynthesis and a 17% reduction in SPAD chlorophyll value in the third leaf. Root tips (0–5 mm) showed a significant increase in oxalic acid content with increasing Al concentration (∼5.86-fold); progeny ‘A’ had the highest concentration of oxalic acid. There was a significant interaction between Al concentration × OPP on total leaf number, root volume, lateral root length, Mg and K in root and shoot tissues, and Ca and N in shoots. The OPPs could be ranked in their tolerance to Al as: ‘A’ > ‘D’ > ‘B’ > ‘C’

Aluminium speciation of amended acid tropical soil and its effects on plant root growth

Exchangeable and soluble soil aluminum (Al) is limiting plant growth in many soils worldwide. This study evaluated the effects of increasing rates of dolomite and magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) on Al3+, pH, dissolved organic carbon, cations, anions, and Al speciation on oil palm Deli dura × AVROS pisifera root growth. Dolomite and MgCO3 additions significantly raised linearly soil solution pH, magnesium (Mg2+), nitrate (NO3 −) and chlorine (Cl−) concentrations; exponentially decreased the activity of phytotoxic Al species [aluminum (Al3+), aluminum sulfate (Al2SO4), and aluminum fluoride (AlF3)]; and reduced manganese (Mn) concentration and activity. High activity of those species exponentially reduced root dry weight. Optimum oil palm growth was achieved at: <50 μM monomeric Al, < 30 μM Mn, and <0.20 unit of the ratio Al+Mn to calcium (Ca)+Mg. High activity of Al species and Mn in acidic soil solution cause significant reduction of the root growth. Soil acidity alleviation either with dolomite or MgCO3 mitigates the toxic effect of Al and Mn

Magneto-transport study of intra- and intergrain transitions in the magnetic superconductors RuSr2GdCu2O8 and RuSr2(Gd1.5Ce0.5)Cu2O10

A characterization of the magnetic superconductors RuSr2GdCu2O8 [Ru-(1212)] and RuSr2(Gd1.5Ce0.5)Cu2O10 [Ru-(1222)] through resistance measurements as a function of temperature and magnetic field is presented. Two peaks in the derivative of the resistive curves are identified as intra- and intergrain superconducting transitions. Strong intragrain granularity effects are observed, and explained by considering the antiphase boundaries between structural domains of coherently rotated RuO6 octahedra as intragrain Josephson-junctions. A different field dependence of the intragrain transition temperature in these compounds was found. For Ru-(1212) it remains unchanged up to 0.1 T, decreasing for higher fields. In Ru-(1222) it smoothly diminishes with the increase in field even for a value as low as 100 Oe. These results are interpreted as a consequence of a spin-flop transition of the Ru moments. The large separation between the RuO2 layers in Ru-(1222) promotes a weak interlayer coupling, leading the magnetic transition to occur at lower fields. The suppression rate of the intragrain transition temperature is about five times higher for Ru-(1222), a result we relate to an enhancement of the 2D character of the vortex structure. A distinctive difference with conventional cuprates is the sharp increase in amplitude of the intergrain peak in both systems, as the field is raised, which is ascribed to percolation through a fraction of high quality intergrain junctions.Comment: Submitted for Physical Review

Assessing the discordance rate between local and central HER2 testing in women with locally determined HER2-negative breast cancer.

BackgroundThe importance of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) as a prognostic and predictive marker in invasive breast cancer is well established. Accurate assessment of HER2 status is essential to determine optimal treatment options.MethodsBreast cancer tumor tissue samples from the VIRGO observational cohort tissue substudy that were locally HER2-negative were retested centrally with both US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assays, using FDA-approved assay cutoffs; results were compared.ResultsOf the 552 unique patient samples centrally retested with local HER2-negative results recorded, tumor samples from 22 (4.0%) patients were determined to be HER2-positive (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.5%-5.7%). Of these, 18 had been tested locally by only one testing methodology; 15 of 18 were HER2-positive after the central retesting, based on the testing methodology not performed locally. Compared with the 530 patients with centrally confirmed HER2-negative tumors, the 22 patients with centrally determined HER2-positive tumors were younger (median age 56.5 versus 60.0 years) and more likely to have ER/PR-negative tumors (27.3% versus 22.3%). These patients also had shorter median progression-free survival (6.4 months [95% CI = 3.8-15.9 months] versus 9.1 months [95% CI = 8.3-10.3 months]) and overall survival (25.9 months [95% CI = 13.8-not estimable] versus 27.9 months [95% CI = 25.0-32.9 months]).ConclusionsThis study highlights the limitations of employing just one HER2 testing methodology in current clinical practice. It identifies a cohort of patients who did not receive potentially efficacious therapy because their tumor HER2-positivity was not determined by the test initially used. Because of inherent limitations in testing methodologies, it is inadvisable to rely on a single test to rule out potential benefit from HER2-targeted therapy