What do we (need to) know about low-susceptibility of codling moth against Cydia pomonella granulovirus (CpGV)!

In 2005, the first codling moth (CM) populations with a reduced susceptibility to Cydia pomonella granulovirus (CpGV) products have been observed. This phenomenon might be an indicator of an emerging resistance of CM to CpGV. This paper summarizes some aspects of CM CpGV interaction and discusses potential mechanisms in the host virus interaction, which could contribute to the observed low susceptibility. In order to develop and implement successful resistance management strategies, much more knowledge about the plasticity of CM CpGV interaction and the diversity of CM populations is essential

Cost information for corporate social responsibility performance

The main objective of this study is to develop an accounting and reporting system for the costs of corporate social responsibility performance. Secondary objectives of the study are: (1) to review the current issues of corporate social responsibility to be measured and reported; (2) to provide some guide-lines to help a company's management in selecting the socially relevant activities; (3) to investigate the rationale for corporate social involvement; (4) to indicate the legal minimum requirements in the major areas of corporate social performance; (5) to determine the concept of accounting for corporate social performance and the appropriate method for measuring and reporting the costs of such performance; and (6) to ascertain the current state of corporate social reporting practice in the United Kingdom. To achieve these objectives, the study begins by discussing the social activities to be covered in corporate social reporting. The rationale for initiating corporate social activities is also discussed and some guide-lines are offered. Moreover, the social actions which should be taken by all British companies, as they are legally required, are examined. Thereafter, the current development of accounting for corporate social responsibility is reviewed and it is concluded that this sort of accounting is still in its infancy. The reasons for which accountants should be concerned with corporate social responsibility accounting are then presented. The concept of accounting for corporate social performance is discussed and the scope of the concept determined. Several approaches for measuring and reporting corporate social performance are examined and it is indicated that the cost approach is the proper method to be employed in this study. Then, the cost concepts of accounting for corporate social performance are discussed from both accounting and economic points of view, and a method for measuring the social costs of a company's economic activities is presented. After reviewing the literature, an attempt is made to develop a framework for accounting and reporting of corporate social performance costs. The identification and classification of such costs are presented and the accounting treatment of these costs is discussed. Separate disclosures of such costs in the traditional financial statements are suggested and illustrated in this study. Finally, a survey of the current state of corporate' social reporting practice in the United Kingdom is given. This survey involved the analysis of corporate social responsibility disclosures in the annual reports and accounts of 207 companies extracted from the top 265 of the 1000 largest U. K. industrial companies. The results of the survey and examples of corporate social responsibility disclosures are presented. The detailed analysis is provided in an Appendix

Could cardiac MR imaging with late gadolinium enhancement affect the risk stratification and outcome prediction in non-ischemic cardiomyopathies?

Background: Cardiac MR (CMR) evaluating non-ischemic cardiomyopathies (NICMs) is superior 3D imaging with non-invasiveness, more accuracy and reproducibility of measurements. It provides comprehensive structural, functional information, tissue characterization, and assesses fibrosis by LGE.Objective: The study aimed to investigate these imaging data and their prognostic value in NICM.Patients and methods: 46 NICM patients were assessed by echocardiography/cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). They were divided into 3 groups: dilated, hypertrophic and miscellaneous types. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) presence and myocardial extent/percentage were assessed with clinical follow up for a median of 1-year for any Major adverse cardiac events (MACE). For each group, univariate analysis of clinical/imaging risk factors in the associations with LGE/MACE was performed. Results: Twenty-six dilated cardiomyopathy patients, 62% had LGE and 31% had MACE. Using LGE as a predictor for MACE was statistically significant (p = 0.007). Using univariate analysis, the presence of LGE (p=0.00) and the extent of LGE (p < 0.0001) demonstrated the strongest unadjusted association with MACE. ROC curves revealed a cutoff value of LGE > 4.5% as MACE predictor. Twelve hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients (67%) had LGE and (50%) had MACE. Using LGE as a predictor for MACE was statistically significant (p=0.014). Using univariate analysis, the presence of LGE (p=0.01) and the extent of LGE (p=0.01) demonstrated the strongest unadjusted association with MACE. ROC curves revealed a cutoff value of LGE > 4.5% as MACE predictor.Conclusion: CMR with LGE is crucial in NICM evaluation with prognostic value; changing the way that myocardial disorders will be understood and managed in the near future

A Fast Statistical Approach for Human Activity Recognition

Abstract: An essential part of any activity recognition system claiming be truly real-time is the ability to perform feature extraction in real-time. We present, in this paper, a quite simple and computationally tractable approach for real-time human activity recognition that is based on simple statistical features. These features are simple and relatively small, accordingly they are easy and fast to be calculated, and further form a relatively low-dimensional feature space in which classification can be carried out robustly. On the Weizmann publicly benchmark dataset, promising results (i.e. 97.8%) have been achieved, showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach compared to the-state-of-the-art. Furthermore, the approach is quite fast and thus can provide timing guarantees to real-time applications and embedded systems

Comparison between different methods of sonographic cervical length assessment during pregnancy

Background: Preterm birth is the presence of uterine contraction of sufficient frequency and intensity to effect progressive effacement and dilatation of cervix prior to term gestation (between 20 and 37 weeks). The objective of this study was to compare between the different methods of assessment of cervical length (Trans abdominal, trans vaginal, and transperineal) during pregnancy as a possible screening of preterm birth.Methods: Prospective cohort study was performed on 200 cases who attended at Elshat by hospital. At gestational age from 20 to 26 weeks, there was no significant difference regarding demographic data as (maternal age, parity). The route of examination was started according to urinary bladder fullness at admission. Accordingly, the patient was not instructed to void if she had full bladder, rather we started by transabdominal route. If she had empty bladder at the time she presented we started by transperineal then transvaginal route. The four measurements were compared to each other and the difference between them calculated. The selected sample size was found to be 200 pregnant women.Results: Transvaginal route gave the longest cervical measurements followed by transperineal route then abdominal route (full bladder) and finally tans abdominal route (semi-full bladder). Our results indicate that there is a significant positive correlation among the four methods of measuring cervical length in that gestational age.Conclusions: Tran-abdominal assessment could be used initially for cervical length screening, considering the maternal and fetal condition. Then, if the need arises, transvaginal sonography could be used. This step by step approach may be more convenient and useful to both patients and physicians for cervical length screening

Statistical Classification Strategy for Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectra of Soft Tissue Sarcoma: An Exploratory Study with Potential Clinical Utility

Purpose: Histological grading is currently one of the best predictors of tumor behavior and outcome in soft tissue sarcoma. However, occasionally there is significant disagreement even among expert pathologists. An alternative method that gives more reliable and non-subjective diagnostic information is needed. The potential use of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in combination with an appropriate statistical classification strategy was tested here in differentiating normal mesenchymal tissue from soft tissue sarcoma

Productivity, water use efficiency and soil properties of sugarcane as influenced by trash mulching and irrigation regimes under different planting systems in sandy loam soils

IntroductionIn the era of climate change, sugarcane used to face a problem associated with water shortage due to erratic rainfall patterns and lowered water tables. Improved water use efficiency using innovative crop management strategy is needed for sustainable sugarcane production. Trash mulching with different irrigation regimes can effectively modify the plant's hydrothermal micro-environment for increasing cane yield and water productivity.MethodsKeeping this in the background, a field experiment was conducted at Sugarcane Research Institute, RPCAU, Pusa, India, from 2016–17 to 2018–19 to investigate the effects of trash mulching and irrigation regimes on sugarcane productivity, water use efficiency (WUE) and soil properties in different planting systems. The field experiment comprised 12 treatments including four planting methods viz. conventional flat planting (CF; 75 cm row spacing) with trash mulching (6 t ha−1), CF planting (75 cm row spacing) without trash mulching (6 t ha−1), paired row trench (PT) planting (30: 120 cm row spacing) with trash mulching (6 t ha−1), PT planting (30: 120 cm row spacing) without trash mulching (6 t ha−1) and three irrigation schedules consisted of irrigation water (IW); cumulative pan evaporation (CPE) ratio of 0.60, 0.80, and 1.00 was laid out in strip plot design with three replications.Results and discussionThe cane yield (103.5 t ha−1) was found significantly higher in PT planting with trash mulching over the CF planting method with or without mulching. Concerning irrigation regimes using the IW/CPE ratio, it was found that the IW/CPE of 0.6 resulted in 16.9, 13.3% higher water-use efficiency, and 37.1, 40.7% higher water productivity over those under IW/CPE of 0.8, and 1.00, respectively. Furthermore, soil parameters like soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) and dehydrogenase activity were increased by 12.5, and 17.5 % due to trash mulching with trench planting as compared to those under conventional flat planting without mulching. The results suggest that planting sugarcane in paired rows and irrigation scheduling at 1.00 IW/CPE with the adoption of trash mulching practices is effective for increasing profitability by way of higher sugarcane productivity and water productivity and also in sustaining soil health

Value of Entheseal Ultrasonography and Serum Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein in the Preclinical Diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis

Objective: To evaluate the utility of entheseal ultrasonography and serum COMP in the preclinical diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis. Methods: 60 psoriatic patients were divided into: 30 patients with psoriasis (group I) and 30 patients with psoriatic arthritis as control (group II). They underwent independent clinical and ultrasonographic examination of both lower limbs at the calcaneal insertions of Achilles tendons. Psoriatic arthritis disease activity and severity was assessed by modified DAS28 and Steinbrockers scores. Serum levels of COMP were measured for all patients by ELISA. Results: On clinical examination, no entheseal abnormalities were detected in group I while they were present in 23.3% of group II with statistically significant difference between them (P < 0.001). Ultrasonographic entheseal abnormalities were detected in 33.3% of group I and in 46.7% of group II with no significant difference between them (P > 0.05). Serum COMP were significantly elevated in group I and II with no statistically significant difference between them (mean ± SD 5.9 ± 3 and 6.8 ± 12 respectively, P > 0.05). Entheseal ultrasound was more specific (67%) while serum COMP was more sensitive (87%) in the preclinical diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis. Serum COMP levels were significantly correlated with CRP in both groups and with DAS28 and Steinbrockers scores in group II (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Entheseal ultrasonography and serum COMP levels may be used complementary to each other for preclinical diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis. Serum COMP seems to be promising prognostic marker for psoriatic arthritis patients

Study on the Effect of the addition of Synthesized Nano scale Lead Oxide for Concrete Samples used in Gamma-Ray Shielding

Our goal in this research is to investigate the effect ofconcrete incorporated with nanoparticles of lead oxide inpowder form by different percentages on Gamma-ray shieldingcharacteristics. The lead oxide nanostructure was synthesizedthrough the reaction of citric acid (C6H7O8.H2O) solution andlead acetate (Pb (C2H3O2)) solution as stabilizer and precursor,respectively. In this synthesis, the prepared lead oxidenanostructure was characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques. Theprepared PbO consists of the crystallites about 50 nm. Theconcrete samples were prepared according to the localstandards of building materials and doped with PbO nanopowders by different percentages, 0%, 5%and 10% (by weight)by replacing cement and keeping constant w/c ratio. Moreover,commercial PbO bulk powder additive was used to check theeffect of particle size on concrete attenuation properties. The γ-rays attenuation coefficients were measured as a function of theadditive percentage of nanoparticles of lead oxides and using γ-ray point source,126Ra with different energies in the range(0.295- 1.73) MeV. The results were compared with that fornormal concrete incorporated with the same percentage of bulklead oxide. It was found that the γ-ray attenuation coefficientfor concrete doped with nanoparticles of PbO was slightlyimproved