Investigation of Cold Stress Induced Disease Resistance (SIDR) in Grapevines and Arabidopsis

The focus of this thesis project was to investigate the impact of cold temperature conditions on the resistance of Vitis vinifera (grapevines) to powdery mildew, a phenomenon known as cold stress-induced disease resistance (SIDR). The model organism Arabidopsis thaliana was used to determine specific defense mechanisms of plant-pathogen resistance. An RNA-Seq time course experiment was performed for the two organisms: V. vinifera and A. thaliana. The time-series datasets consisted of data points where samples were exposed to an acute (less than 4 hours) cold (below 8°C) temperature for set times prior to inoculation with powdery mildew. The acute cold time points used ranged from 48 hours, 36 hours, 24 hours, and 12 hours prior to inoculation. An untreated control group, which was not exposed to any acute cold treatment, was used to compare between the treatments. The significant, differentially expressed genes were evaluated and mapped to the pathways of the respective organisms. The outcome of this project was the identification of pathways, as well as potential genes of interest, involved with cold stress-induced disease resistance. There has been limited research on genetic mechanisms of cold stress induced disease resistance. This project provides an improved understanding of the interactions between host stress and the epidemiology of the biotrophic pathogen powdery mildew

Eating disorders as a public health issue: prevalence and attributable impairment of quality of life in an Italian community sample.

The prevalence of eating disorders (ED) in the community is still under debate, as well as the measure of their impact on the well-being of individuals. It was decided to evaluate the prevalence of eating disorders in an Italian community sample as well as to measure the burden of the quality of life of people and to compare it to those attributable to other chronic illnesses. A community survey of 4,999 people using a questionnaire on health services utilization, the Advanced Neuropsychiatric Tools and Assessment Schedule (ANTAS), a semi-structured clinical interview derived from the non-patient version of the DSM-IV (SCID/NP) and Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) was conducted. A total of 3,398 individuals were interviewed (68% of those recruited). Lifetime prevalence for overall ED was 1.7%; for anorexia 0.7%; for bulimia 0.6% and for binge eating disorder 0.5%. ED was more frequent in women than in men. No cases of anorexia in men were identified. ED showed an attributable burden in impairing quality of life with no statistically significant differences with those due to major depressive disorder, bipolar spectrum disorders and Wilson's disease. Of the pathological conditions considered, only multiple sclerosis showed a worsening attributable burden. ED thus has a non-negligible frequency in Italy, with severe impact on quality of life comparable to that produced by severe chronic psychiatric and general medical conditions. These elements emphasize that ED is a serious public health issue.The prevalence of eating disorders (ED) in the community is still under debate, as well as the measure of their impact on the well-being of individuals. It was decided to evaluate the prevalence of eating disorders in an Italian community sample as well as to measure the burden of the quality of life of people and to compare it to those attributable to other chronic illnesses. A community survey of 4,999 people using a questionnaire on health services utilization, the Advanced Neuropsychiatric Tools and Assessment Schedule (ANTAS), a semi-structured clinical interview derived from the non-patient version of the DSM-IV (SCID/NP) and Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) was conducted. A total of 3,398 individuals were interviewed (68% of those recruited). Lifetime prevalence for overall ED was 1.7%; for anorexia 0.7%; for bulimia 0.6% and for binge eating disorder 0.5%. ED was more frequent in women than in men. No cases of anorexia in men were identified. ED showed an attributable burden in impairing quality of life with no statistically significant differences with those due to major depressive disorder, bipolar spectrum disorders and Wilson's disease. Of the pathological conditions considered, only multiple sclerosis showed a worsening attributable burden. ED thus has a non-negligible frequency in Italy, with severe impact on quality of life comparable to that produced by severe chronic psychiatric and general medical conditions. These elements emphasize that ED is a serious public health issue. © 2014 Institute of Psychiatry

Overview of the JET results with the ITER-like wall

Following the completion in May 2011 of the shutdown for the installation of the beryllium wall and the tungsten divertor, the first set of JET campaigns have addressed the investigation of the retention properties and the development of operational scenarios with the new plasma-facing materials. The large reduction in the carbon content (more than a factor ten) led to a much lower Z(eff) (1.2-1.4) during L- and H-mode plasmas, and radiation during the burn-through phase of the plasma initiation with the consequence that breakdown failures are almost absent. Gas balance experiments have shown that the fuel retention rate with the new wall is substantially reduced with respect to the C wall. The re-establishment of the baseline H-mode and hybrid scenarios compatible with the new wall has required an optimization of the control of metallic impurity sources and heat loads. Stable type-I ELMy H-mode regimes with H-98,H-y2 close to 1 and beta(N) similar to 1.6 have been achieved using gas injection. ELM frequency is a key factor for the control of the metallic impurity accumulation. Pedestal temperatures tend to be lower with the new wall, leading to reduced confinement, but nitrogen seeding restores high pedestal temperatures and confinement. Compared with the carbon wall, major disruptions with the new wall show a lower radiated power and a slower current quench. The higher heat loads on Be wall plasma-facing components due to lower radiation made the routine use of massive gas injection for disruption mitigation essential