Tomato transcriptome and mutant analyses suggest a role for plant stress hormones in the interaction between fruit and Botrytis cinerea.

Fruit-pathogen interactions are a valuable biological system to study the role of plant development in the transition from resistance to susceptibility. In general, unripe fruit are resistant to pathogen infection but become increasingly more susceptible as they ripen. During ripening, fruit undergo significant physiological and biochemical changes that are coordinated by complex regulatory and hormonal signaling networks. The interplay between multiple plant stress hormones in the interaction between plant vegetative tissues and microbial pathogens has been documented extensively, but the relevance of these hormones during infections of fruit is unclear. In this work, we analyzed a transcriptome study of tomato fruit infected with Botrytis cinerea in order to profile the expression of genes for the biosynthesis, modification and signal transduction of ethylene (ET), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and abscisic acid (ABA), hormones that may be not only involved in ripening, but also in fruit interactions with pathogens. The changes in relative expression of key genes during infection and assays of susceptibility of fruit with impaired synthesis or perception of these hormones were used to formulate hypotheses regarding the involvement of these regulators in the outcome of the tomato fruit-B. cinerea interaction

Effects of glycine supplementation at varying levels of methionine and cystine on the growth performance of broilers fed reduced crude protein diets

Two experiments were conducted to investigate gly addition to reduced crude protein corn-soybean meal (C-SBM) diets with varying levels of TSAA achieved by varying Met and Cys. The experiments were conducted with female Ross 708 broilers in brooder batteries from 0 to 18 d posthatching. Treatments had 6 replicates with 6 broilers/pen. Diets in all experiments were fed without or with gly supplementation to contain 2.32% total gly + Ser. All diets were C-SBM based and formulated to contained 1.27% standardized ileal digestible Lys supplemented with 0.20% Lys (0.394% Lys·SO4) and to meet or exceed the requirement of all nutrients except Met and Cys where appropriate. Experiment 1 consisted of 8 dietary treatments. Three ratios of Met to Cys (60:40, 50:50, and 40:60) were used on a mole for mole basis to achieve 0.063 mol of TSAA/kg of feed and a positive control with Met:Cys of 50:50 at 0.76 TSAA:Lys. glycine supplementation did not affect ADg or ADFI; however, g:F was increased (P = 0.003) with gly supplementation. An increase in Cys and a decrease in Met resulted in a decrease (P = 0.028) in ADg but had no effect on ADFI or g:F. In experiment 2, Met was kept constant at a marginal level of 0.45% and Cys was increased in 0.05% increments from 0.35 to 0.50%. glycine supplementation had no main effect on ADg, ADFI, or g:F; however, gly increased g:F at the lower levels of Cys but not at the higher levels (gly × Cys, P = 0.031). A linear decrease (P = 0.071) was found in ADFI with increasing Cys supplementation. These data indicate that gly increased g:F in female broilers fed suboptimal levels of Met and Cys but not at Cys levels at or above the requirement. This implies that the synthesis of Cys accounts for a portion of the increased g:F observed from gly supplementation in female broilers fed reduced CP C-SBM diets. © 2011 Poultry Science Association Inc

Electronic and magnetic properties of the ionic Hubbard model on the striped triangular lattice at 3/4 filling

We report a detailed study of a model Hamiltonian which exhibits a rich interplay of geometrical spin frustration, strong electronic correlations, and charge ordering. The character of the insulating phase depends on the magnitude of Delta/|t| and on the sign of t. We find a Mott insulator for Delta >> U >> |t|; a charge transfer insulator for U >> \Delta >> |t|; and a correlated covalent insulator for U >> \Delta ~ |t|. The charge transfer insulating state is investigated using a strong coupling expansion. The frustration of the triangular lattice can lead to antiferromagnetism or ferromagnetism depending on the sign of the hopping matrix element, t. We identify the "ring" exchange process around a triangular plaquette which determines the sign of the magnetic interactions. Exact diagonalization calculations are performed on the model for a wide range of parameters and compared to the strong coupling expansion. The regime U >> \Delta ~ |t| and t<0 is relevant to Na05CoO2. The calculated optical conductivity and the spectral density are discussed in the light of recent experiments on Na05CoO2.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figure

A phenomenological model of the superconducting state of the Bechgaard salts

We present a group theoretical analysis of the superconducting state of the Bechgaard salts, e.g., (TMTSF)_2PF_6 or (TMTSF)_2ClO_6. We show that there are eight symmetry distinct superconducting states. Of these only the (fully gapped, even frequency, p-wave, triplet) 'polar state' is consistent with the full range of the experiments on the Bechgaard salts. The gap of the polar state is d(k) (psi_uk,0,0), where psi_uk may be any odd parity function that is translationally invariant.Comment: 4 pages, no figure

SU(2)-invariant continuum theory for an unconventional phase transition in a three-dimensional classical dimer model

We derive a continuum theory for the phase transition in a classical dimer model on the cubic lattice, observed in recent Monte Carlo simulations. Our derivation relies on the mapping from a three-dimensional classical problem to a two-dimensional quantum problem, by which the dimer model is related to a model of hard-core bosons on the kagome lattice. The dimer-ordering transition becomes a superfluid-Mott insulator quantum phase transition at fractional filling, described by an SU(2)-invariant continuum theory.Comment: 4+ pages, 1 figur

An investigation of impact breakage of rocks using the split Hopkinson pressure bar

Discrete element methods (DEM) are being used to provide detailed impact histories of the particles in comminution devices, such as mills. To match this immense detail of information, far more informative breakage tests than those that are generally conducted are now required. The split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus is used in this study, as it allows the calculation of breakage forces and absorbed energies. The geometry of rock particles has been identified as significant, so this project undertook to identify the influence of shape on the breakage pattern of blue stone. Comparisons are then made between the breakage pattern of angular rocks and rounded, milled rocks for single impact fracture and consecutive impact loading at low energy. Results of this experiment indicate that although breakage for both geometries occurs over a similar energy range, rounded particles have the greater probability of fracture because they absorb more of the impact energy for a given loading. Size distributions of progeny show that five pebbles or more are sufficient to predict the distribution of most particles in small energy regimes. Cumulative impact testing shows that considerably more energy is required to break a rock through cumulative damage than through a single impact—this is of considerable importance in the light of the indications from DEM simulations that most breakage in a mill will be from cumulative damage rather than single impact breakage

Radiationless Travelling Waves In Saturable Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Lattices

The longstanding problem of moving discrete solitary waves in nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger lattices is revisited. The context is photorefractive crystal lattices with saturable nonlinearity whose grand-canonical energy barrier vanishes for isolated coupling strength values. {\em Genuinely localised travelling waves} are computed as a function of the system parameters {\it for the first time}. The relevant solutions exist only for finite velocities.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Ten simple rules for principled simulation modelling

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Systematic review and meta-analysis of the prognostic significance of Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) After R0 gastrectomy for cancer

Abstract Purpose A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic value of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients undergoing potentially curative gastrectomy for cancer (GC). Methods Thomson Reuters Web of Science, Ovid MEDLINE(R) and PUBMED databases were searched for relevant articles using search terms neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), GC and survival. Articles reporting overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival and disease-free survival (DFS), in patients undergoing R0 gastrectomy, were studied. Results Articles numbering 365 were identified during the preliminary search, and 10 containing 4164 patients were included in the final review. Most patients were &gt; 60 years of age, male (67%) and 2239 (53.8%) had pT3 disease. The number of NLR dichotomization thresholds reported numbered 7, with 2.00 and 3.00 (n = 2) the most common. NLR was associated with poor survival in eight studies with hazard ratios ranging from 1.54 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.26–1.89) to 2.99 (1.99–4.49). Pooled odds ratio (OR) for OS was 2.31 (1.40–3.83, p = 0.001) and for DFS 2.72 (1.14–6.54, p = 0.020). Four studies presented T-stage data, OR 1.62 (1.33–1.96, p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion NLR is an important prognostic indicator associated with both OS and DFS after R0 resection of GC, but the critical level is equivocal. </jats:sec

Fatigue Intervention by Nurses Evaluation - The FINE Trial. A randomised controlled trial of nurse led self-help treatment for patients in primary care with chronic fatigue syndrome: study protocol. [ISRCTN74156610]

Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME (CFS/ME), is a condition characterised primarily by severe, disabling fatigue, of unknown origin, which has a poor prognosis and serious personal and economic consequences. Evidence for the effectiveness of any treatment for CFS/ME in primary care, where most patients are seen, is sparse. Recently, a brief, pragmatic treatment for CFS/ME, based on a physiological dysregulation model of the condition, was shown to be successful in improving fatigue and physical functioning in patients in secondary care. The treatment involves providing patients with a readily understandable explanation of their symptoms, from which flows the rationale for a graded rehabilitative plan, developed collaboratively with the therapist. The present trial will test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of pragmatic rehabilitation when delivered by specially trained general nurses in primary care. We selected a client-centred counselling intervention, called supportive listening, as a comparison treatment. Counselling has been shown to be as effective as cognitive behaviour therapy for treating fatigue in primary care, is more readily available, and controls for supportive therapist contact time. Our control condition is treatment as usual by the general practitioner (GP). Methods and design: This study protocol describes the design of an ongoing, single-blind, pragmatic randomized controlled trial of a brief (18 week) self-help treatment, pragmatic rehabilitation, delivered by specially trained nurse-therapists in patients' homes, compared with nurse-therapist delivered supportive listening and treatment as usual by the GP. An economic evaluation, taking a societal viewpoint, is being carried out alongside the clinical trial. Three adult general nurses were trained over a six month period to deliver the two interventions. Patients aged over 18 and fulfilling the Oxford criteria for CFS are assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and again one year later. Primary outcomes are self-reported physical functioning and fatigue at one year, and will be analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. A qualitative study will examine the interventions' mechanisms of change, and also GPs' drivers and barriers towards referral