Mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) species associated with cacao mild mosaic virus and evidence of virus acquisition

Theobroma cacao is affected by viruses on every continent where the crop is cultivated, with the most well-known ones belonging to the Badnavirus genus. One of these, cacao mild mosaic virus (CaMMV), is present in the Americas, and is transmitted by several species of Pseudococcidae (mealybugs). To determine which species are associated with virus-affected cacao plants in North America, and to assess their potential as vectors, mealybugs (n = 166) were collected from infected trees in Florida, and identified using COI, ITS2, and 28S markers. The species present were Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi (38%; n = 63), Maconellicoccus hirsutus (34.3%; n = 57), Pseudococcus comstocki (15.7%; n = 26), and Ferrisia virgata (12%; n = 20). Virus acquisition was assessed by testing mealybug DNA (0.8 ng) using a nested PCR that amplified a 500 bp fragment of the movement protein–coat protein region of CaMMV. Virus sequences were obtained from 34.6 to 43.1% of the insects tested; however, acquisition did not differ among species, X2 (3, N = 166) = 0.56, p < 0.91. This study identified two new mealybug species, P. jackbeardsleyi and M. hirsutus, as potential vectors of CaMMV. This information is essential for understanding the infection cycle of CaMMV and developing effective management strategies

Telenursing: The view of care professionals in selected EU countries. A pilot study

Background With the growth of digital nursing, several studies have focused on recording patients' views on remote care, or specialised nurse staffing aspects. This is the first international survey on telenursing focused exclusively on clinical nurses that analyses the dimensions of usefulness, acceptability, and appropriateness of telenursing from the staff point of view. Methods A previously validated structured questionnaire including demographic variables, 18 responses with a Likert-5 scale, three dichotomous questions, and one overall percentual estimation of holistic nursing care susceptible to being undertaken by telenursing, was administered (from 1 September to 30 November 2022) to 225 clinical and community nurses from three selected EU countries. Data analysis: descriptive data, classical and Rasch testing. Results The results show adequacy of the model for measurement of the domains of usefulness, acceptability, and appropriateness of telenursing (overall Cronbach's alpha 0.945, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin 0.952 and Bartlett's p < 0.001). Answers in favour of telenursing ranked 4 out of 5 in Likert scale, both globally and by the three domains. Rasch: reliability coefficient 0.94, Warm's main weighted likelihood estimate reliability 0.95. In the ANOVA analysis, the results for Portugal were significantly higher than those for Spain and Poland, both overall and for each of the dimensions. Respondents with bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees score significantly higher than those with certificates or diplomas. Multiple regression did not yield additional data of interest. Conclusions The tested model proved to be valid, but although the majority of nurses are in favour of telenursing, given the nature of the care, which is mainly face-to-face, according to the respondents, the chances of carrying out their activities by telenursing is only 35.3%. The survey provides useful information on what can be expected from the implementation of telenursing and the questionnaire proves to be a useful tool to be applied in other countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contributions to the study of the vegetation from playa la vaca, a locality with floristic significance located at the municipality of Moa, Holguin, Cuba

Playa La Vaca está ubicada al noroeste de la ciudad de Moa y desde principios del siglo XX ha sido objeto de interés para los botánicos. Aunque no se ha constatado la existencia de obras publicadas que caractericen la vegetación de esta área clásica de colecta existen muestras de materiales depositados en los herbarios cubanos y extranjeros. La flora y vegetación de esta localiad se desarrolló en suelos derivados de serpentinitas, de las cuales varios autores expresan que son áreas de gran endemismo; esto fundamenta la necesidad de conocer y registrar los valores de diversidad vegetal de esta localidad. Este trabajo abarca una primera parte de la investigación realizada en esta localidad y tiene como objetivo la delimitación y caracterización de las formaciones vegetales presentes en Playa La Vaca. Para esto se recopiló información de la bibliografía y las colectas de plantas realizadas en Playa La Vaca depositadas en el herbario HAC provenientes de las expediciones botánicas y se efectuaron anotaciones en recorridos del trabajo de campo, identificándose 10 formaciones vegetales. Se obtuvo el mapa de vegetación a través del uso de un Sistema de Información Geográfica.Playa La Vaca is located northwest of Moa city. Since the early twentieth century it has been an interestin site for botanists. There aren't any publication characterizing the vegetation of this classic collection area but it is possible to find a lot of sample materials from this site in Cuban and foreign herbals instead. The flora and vegetation of Playa La Vaca was developed on soils wich are derived from serpentinite rock, because of this, several authors states that this area is of high endemism. This fact, substantiates the need to study and record the diversity value of Playa La Vaca, thus contributing with the sustainable management of the area. This paper covers the first part of the research work conducted in Playa La Vaca locality and it aims to the characterization of plant communities of this site. For this work, it was used information obtained from fieldwork. Information from bibliography and plants collections from Playa La Vaca, deposited in the HAC herbarium were consulted too. Ten plants communities were identified in the locality. The vegetation map was obtained through the use of a Geographic Information System

Factorial electrochemical design for tailoring of morphological and optical properties of Cu2O

[EN] The electrodeposition of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) onto FTO-coated glass substrate was studied by using a statistical approach in order to control the Cu2O morphology and optical properties. The factorial design considered four electrodeposition conditions at two representative levels as input variables (electrolyte temperature and pH, deposition potential and duration) and the deposition charge and morphology of obtained Cu2O as the output variables. The morphology analysis showed the highest influence on crystal shape was exhibited by electrolyte temperature and pH, reaching significance levels of 95 and 98%, respectively. Temperature as low as 35°C and pH 12.2 results in cubic morphology, while other parameters result in octahedron shape. The highest absorbance was exhibited by the Cu2O with cubic morphology.AP acknowledges financial support from Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNCS - UEFISCDI (project number PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-0806].Cembrero-Coca, P.; Cembrero Cil, J.; Busquets Mataix, DJ.; Pérez Puig, MA.; Marí, B.; Pruna, AI. (2017). Factorial electrochemical design for tailoring of morphological and optical properties of Cu2O. Materials Science and Technology. 33(17):2102-2109. https://doi.org/10.1080/02670836.2017.1349595S210221093317Rakhshani, A. E. (1987). Measurement of dispersion in electrodeposited Cu2O. Journal of Applied Physics, 62(4), 1528-1529. doi:10.1063/1.339619Chen, L.-C. (2013). Review of preparation and optoelectronic characteristics of Cu2O-based solar cells with nanostructure. Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, 16(5), 1172-1185. doi:10.1016/j.mssp.2012.12.028Hsu, Y.-K., Lin, H.-H., Wu, J.-R., Chen, M.-H., Chen, Y.-C., & Lin, Y.-G. (2014). Electrochemical growth and characterization of a p-Cu2O thin film on n-ZnO nanorods for solar cell application. RSC Advances, 4(15), 7655. doi:10.1039/c3ra47188hChou, S.-M., Hon, M.-H., Leu, I.-C., & Lee, Y.-H. (2008). Al-Doped ZnO∕Cu[sub 2]O Heterojunction Fabricated on (200) and (111)-Orientated Cu[sub 2]O Substrates. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 155(11), H923. doi:10.1149/1.2980424Siegfried, M. J., & Choi, K.-S. (2004). Electrochemical Crystallization of Cuprous Oxide with Systematic Shape Evolution. Advanced Materials, 16(19), 1743-1746. doi:10.1002/adma.200400177Siegfried, M. J., & Choi, K.-S. (2005). Directing the Architecture of Cuprous Oxide Crystals during Electrochemical Growth. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 44(21), 3218-3223. doi:10.1002/anie.200463018Yang, W.-Y., Kim, W.-G., & Rhee, S.-W. (2008). Radio frequency sputter deposition of single phase cuprous oxide using Cu2O as a target material and its resistive switching properties. Thin Solid Films, 517(2), 967-971. doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2008.08.184Reddy, A. S., Uthanna, S., & Reddy, P. S. (2007). Properties of dc magnetron sputtered Cu2O films prepared at different sputtering pressures. Applied Surface Science, 253(12), 5287-5292. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2006.11.051Laik, B., Poizot, P., & Tarascon, J.-M. (2002). The Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance as a Means for Studying the Reactivity of Cu[sub 2]O toward Lithium. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 149(3), A251. doi:10.1149/1.1445430Fu, L. J., Gao, J., Zhang, T., Cao, Q., Yang, L. C., Wu, Y. P., … Wu, H. Q. (2007). Preparation of Cu2O particles with different morphologies and their application in lithium ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 174(2), 1197-1200. doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2007.06.030Zhou, Y., & Switzer, J. A. (1998). Electrochemical Deposition and Microstructure of Copper (I) Oxide Films. Scripta Materialia, 38(11), 1731-1738. doi:10.1016/s1359-6462(98)00091-8Budevski, E., Staikov, G., & Lorenz, W. J. (2000). Electrocrystallization. Electrochimica Acta, 45(15-16), 2559-2574. doi:10.1016/s0013-4686(00)00353-4Morales, J., Sánchez, L., Bijani, S., Martı́nez, L., Gabás, M., & Ramos-Barrado, J. R. (2005). Electrodeposition of Cu[sub 2]O: An Excellent Method for Obtaining Films of Controlled Morphology and Good Performance in Li-Ion Batteries. Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, 8(3), A159. doi:10.1149/1.1854126Holzschuh, H., & Suhr, H. (1990). Deposition of copper oxide (Cu2O, CuO) thin films at high temperatures by plasma-enhanced CVD. Applied Physics A Solids and Surfaces, 51(6), 486-490. doi:10.1007/bf00324731Jeong, S., & Aydil, E. S. (2009). Heteroepitaxial growth of Cu2O thin film on ZnO by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Journal of Crystal Growth, 311(17), 4188-4192. doi:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2009.07.020Pruna, A., Pullini, D., & Busquets, D. (2015). Effect of AZO film as seeding substrate on the electrodeposition and properties of Al-doped ZnO nanorod arrays. Ceramics International, 41(10), 14492-14500. doi:10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.07.087Pruna, A., Pullini, D., Tamvakos, D., Tamvakos, A., & Busquets-Mataix, D. (2015). Effect of tin-doped indium oxide film on electrodeposition of ZnO nanostructures. Materials Science and Technology, 31(14), 1794-1799. doi:10.1179/1743284715y.0000000016Pruna, A., Reyes-Tolosa, M. D., Pullini, D., Hernandez-Fenollosa, M. A., & Busquets-Mataix, D. (2015). Seed-free electrodeposition of ZnO bi-pods on electrophoretically-reduced graphene oxide for optoelectronic applications. Ceramics International, 41(2), 2381-2388. doi:10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.10.052Cembrero, J., Pruna, A., Pullini, D., & Busquets-Mataix, D. (2014). Effect of combined chemical and electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide on morphology and structure of electrodeposited ZnO. Ceramics International, 40(7), 10351-10357. doi:10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.03.008Prună, A., Pullini, D., & Mataix, D. B. (2012). Influence of Deposition Potential on Structure of ZnO Nanowires Synthesized in Track-Etched Membranes. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 159(4), E92-E98. doi:10.1149/2.003205jesJiang, X., Zhang, M., Shi, S., He, G., Song, X., & Sun, Z. (2014). Microstructure and optical properties of nanocrystalline Cu2O thin films prepared by electrodeposition. Nanoscale Research Letters, 9(1), 219. doi:10.1186/1556-276x-9-219Yu, X., Li, X., Zheng, G., Wei, Y., Zhang, A., & Yao, B. (2013). Preparation and properties of KCl-doped Cu2O thin film by electrodeposition. Applied Surface Science, 270, 340-345. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2013.01.026Bijani, S., Schrebler, R., Dalchiele, E. A., Gabás, M., Martínez, L., & Ramos-Barrado, J. R. (2011). Study of the Nucleation and Growth Mechanisms in the Electrodeposition of Micro- and Nanostructured Cu2O Thin Films. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 115(43), 21373-21382. doi:10.1021/jp208535

Intrauterine cannabis exposure and fetal and maternal blood flow: a case–control study

Drugs; Fetal blood flow; Uterine arteryDrogas; Flujo sanguíneo fetal; Arteria uterinaDrogues; Flux sanguini fetal; Artèria uterinaIntroduction Cannabis consumption during pregnancy increases the risk of pregnancy and neonatal complications. Since the underlying mechanism is unknown, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the changes in maternal and fetal blood flow in pregnancies exposed to cannabis, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Material and methods A case–control study between 2013 and 2020, included women with continued cannabis exposure during the pregnancies, defined by qualitative detection of THC in urine (Cannabis Group), and low-risk pregnancy women divided into tobacco smokers (Tobacco Group), and non-tobacco smokers (Control Group). We evaluated the association between cannabis consumption and maternal and fetal blood flow parameters measured by Doppler ultrasound: uterine artery at 11–14, 20–22 and 33–35 weeks, umbilical artery and middle cerebral artery at 33–35 weeks. Cerebral-placental ratio was calculated. Results Overall, 275 participants were included, 60 in the Cannabis Group, 17 in the Tobacco Group and 198 in the Control Group. At 33–35 weeks, differences were found in the umbilical artery pulsatility index (PI) (1.05 ± 0.23, 1.06 ± 0.19, 0.93 ± 0.15, P < 0.01), middle cerebral artery PI (1.75 ± 0.35, 1.90 ± 0.45, 1.88 ± 0.34, P < 0.05), cerebral-placental ratio (1.69 ± 0.40, 1.85 ± 0.53, 2.07 ± 0.47, P < 0.05) and mean uterine artery PI (0.89 ± 0.26, 0.73 ± 0.19, 0.74 ± 0.20, P < 0.01), respectively. On logistic regression analysis, adjusted for maternal age, maternal body mass index, maternal weight and white ethnicity, both cannabis and tobacco were predictors for increased umbilical artery PI, but only cannabis was a predictor for a decreased cerebral-placental ratio and an increased uterine artery PI at 33–35 weeks. Conclusions Data from a large cohort of continuous cannabis exposure pregnancies show that cannabis is associated with maternal and fetal blood flow changes. However, it is not possible to disentangle the association of the tobacco and cannabis

Evaluation of the potential of Mycobacterium smegmatis as vaccine Candidate against tuberculosis by in silico and in vivo studies

In this study, we scanned multiple published databases of gene expression in vivo of M. tuberculosis at different phases of infection in animals and humans, to select 38 proteins that are highly expressed in the active, latent and reactivation phases. The selected proteins were predicted for T and B epitopes. For each proteins, the regions containing T and B epitopes were selected at the same time to look for identical epitopes on M. smegmatis based on sequence alignments. Preliminary studies of humoral immunogenicity and cross-reactivity with M. tuberculosis in mice using two M. smegmatis-derived experimental vaccines were carried out, demonstrating the immunogenicity of M. smegmatis proteoliposomes and the recognition of M. tuberculosis proteins by the sera of animals immunized with this vaccine candidate. The conjunction of in silico and in vivo studies suggested the potential for future evaluation of M. smegmatis as vaccine candidate against tuberculosis using different strategie

Polypharmacy, functional outcome, and treatment effect of intravenous alteplase for acute ischemic stroke

Background: Polypharmacy is an important challenge in clinical practice. We aimed at determining the effect of polypharmacy on functional outcome and treatment effect of alteplase in acute ischemic stroke. Methods: Post‐hoc analysis of the randomized, placebo‐controlled WAKE‐UP trial of MRI‐guided intravenous alteplase in unknown onset stroke. Polypharmacy was defined as intake of ≥5 medications at baseline. Comorbidities were assessed by the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). The primary efficacy variable was favorable outcome defined by a score of 0‐1 on the modified Rankin Scale at 90 days. We used logistic regression analysis to test for an association of polypharmacy with functional outcome, and for interaction of polypharmacy and the effect of thrombolysis. Results: Polypharmacy was present in 133/503 (26%) patients. Patients with polypharmacy were older (mean age 70 vs 64 years; P&lt;0.0001) and had a higher score on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale at baseline (median 7 vs 5; P=0.0007). A comorbidity load defined by a CCI score ≥2 was more frequent in patients with polypharmacy (48% vs 8%; P&lt;0.001). Polypharmacy was associated with lower odds of favorable outcome (adjusted odds ratio 0.50, 95% CI, 0.30‐0.85; P=0.0099), while the CCI score was not. Treatment with alteplase was associated with higher odds of favorable outcome in both groups, with no heterogeneity of treatment effect (test for interaction of treatment and polypharmacy, P=0.29). Conclusion: In stroke patients, polypharmacy is associated with worse functional outcome after intravenous thrombolysis independent of comorbidities. However, polypharmacy does not interact with the beneficial effect of alteplase