Seasonal and Spatial Dynamics of Alate Aphid Dispersal in Snap Bean Fields in Proximity to Alfalfa and Implications for Virus Management

Alfalfa is a source for viruses that may be acquired by aphids and transmitted to snap bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L. Snap bean fields in proximity to alfalfa could have an increased risk of virus infection. Knowledge of the abundance and temporal and spatial dispersal patterns of commonly encountered aphids in commercial snap bean fields, varying in distance from alfalfa, could provide insight into this risk. Alate aphids were monitored using water pan traps in snap bean and alfalfa fields that were adjacent to or >1 km away from each other. The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), was the most common aphid species captured in early-planted snap bean fields in 2002 and 2003 (56 and 23% of total, respectively), whereas the corn leaf aphid, Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), also was common in 2003 (15% of total). In contrast, the yellow clover aphid, Therioaphis trifolii (Monell), and soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, were the most abundant species trapped in late-planted snap bean fields in 2002 (77% of total) and 2003 (64% of total), respectively. These species were prevalent in traps in alfalfa as well. The abundance and temporal dispersal patterns of these species in snap beans adjacent to and >1 km away from alfalfa were similar, suggesting that the risk for virus infection may not be affected by proximity to alfalfa. A similar number of alate aphids also were captured along snap bean field edges and field centers, regardless of their proximity to alfalfa. This suggests that the aphids dispersed into snap bean randomly rather than directionally from the field edge. The implication of these results is that separating snap bean fields from alfalfa or using crop borders/barriers are not likely to be successful virus management strategie

Modeling Temporal Trends in Aphid Vector Dispersal and Cucumber Mosaic Virus Epidemics in Snap Bean

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) has become a major limiting factor in snap bean production in the Great Lakes region of North America, and epidemics have occurred more frequently since the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, was introduced. Major aphid vectors of CMV epidemics were identified by statistically relating their temporal dispersal trends to the incidence of CMV. Alates were monitored weekly using water pan traps in 74 snap bean fields in New York and Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2006. Plants were tested for CMV by ELISA one time during late bloom in 2002 and 2003 and weekly over the season from 2004 to 2006. Principal vectors of CMV included Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), A. glycines, Aphis gossypii Glover, and Therioaphis trifolii (Monell). Among these, A. glycines and T. trifolii were likely responsible for severe CMV epidemics because they were among the most abundant species captured, they efficiently transmit CMV, and their dispersal activity was positively correlated with periods when CMV incidence was highest. Moreover, because high numbers of A. glycines and T. trifolii disperse during July and August, snap bean fields planted beyond late June are at risk for infection during early vegetative stages and are subsequently more at risk for yield loss. In contrast, plantings up to late June are less likely to become infected during early developmental stages and should escape yield loss because major vectors are dispersing infrequently. CMV-resistant or tolerant snap bean varieties should be planted after late June to reduce the risk of yield los

Human Developmental Chondrogenesis as a Basis for Engineering Chondrocytes from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Joint injury and osteoarthritis affect millions of people worldwide, but attempts to generate articular cartilage using adult stem/progenitor cells have been unsuccessful. We hypothesized that recapitulation of the human developmental chondrogenic program using pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) may represent a superior approach for cartilage restoration. Using laser-capture microdissection followed by microarray analysis, we first defined a surface phenotype (CD166(low/neg)CD146(low/neg)CD73(+)CD44(low)BMPR1B(+)) distinguishing the earliest cartilage committed cells (prechondrocytes) at 5-6 weeks of development. Functional studies confirmed these cells are chondrocyte progenitors. From 12 weeks, only the superficial layers of articular cartilage were enriched in cells with this progenitor phenotype. Isolation of cells with a similar immunophenotype from differentiating human PSCs revealed a population of CD166(low/neg)BMPR1B(+) putative cartilage-committed progenitors. Taken as a whole, these data define a developmental approach for the generation of highly purified functional human chondrocytes from PSCs that could enable substantial progress in cartilage tissue engineering.Fil: Wu, Ling. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Bluguermann, Carolina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Laboratorio de Biología del Desarrollo Celular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Kyupelyan, Levon. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Latour, Brooke. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Gonzalez, Stephanie. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Shah, Saumya. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Galic, Zoran. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Ge, Sundi. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Zhu, Yuhua. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Petrigliano, Frank A.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Nsair, Ali. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Miriuka, Santiago Gabriel. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Laboratorio de Biología del Desarrollo Celular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Li, Xinmin. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Lyons, Karen M.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Crooks, Gay M.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: McAllister, David R.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Van Handel, Ben. Novogenix Laboratories; Estados UnidosFil: Adams, John S.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Evseenko, Denis. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados Unido

Epicardial Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation for Which Patients?

With the widespread use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, an increasing number of patients present with ventricular tachycardia (VT). Large multicentre studies have shown that ablation of VT successfully reduces recurrent VT and this procedure is being performed by an increasing number of centres. However, for a number of reasons, many patients experience VT recurrence after ablation. One important reason for VT recurrence is the presence of an epicardial substrate involved in the VT circuit which is not affected by endocardial ablation. Epicardial access and ablation is now frequently performed either after failed endocardial VT ablation or as first-line treatment in selected patients. This review will focus on the available evidence for identifying VT of epicardial origin, and discuss in which patients an epicardial approach would be benefitial

Coherent two-dimensional Fourier transform spectroscopy using a 25 Tesla resistive magnet.

We performed nonlinear optical two-dimensional Fourier transform spectroscopy measurements using an optical resistive high-field magnet on GaAs quantum wells. Magnetic fields up to 25 T can be achieved using the split helix resistive magnet. Two-dimensional spectroscopy measurements based on the coherent four-wave mixing signal require phase stability. Therefore, these measurements are difficult to perform in environments prone to mechanical vibrations. Large resistive magnets use extensive quantities of cooling water, which causes mechanical vibrations, making two-dimensional Fourier transform spectroscopy very challenging. Here, we report on the strategies we used to overcome these challenges and maintain the required phase-stability throughout the measurement. A self-contained portable platform was used to set up the experiments within the time frame provided by a user facility. Furthermore, this platform was floated above the optical table in order to isolate it from vibrations originating from the resistive magnet. Finally, we present two-dimensional Fourier transform spectra obtained from GaAs quantum wells at magnetic fields up to 25 T and demonstrate the utility of this technique in providing important details, which are obscured in one dimensional spectroscopy

A commonly occurring genetic variant within the NPLOC4-TSPAN10-PDE6G gene cluster is associated with the risk of strabismus.

Strabismus refers to an abnormal alignment of the eyes leading to the loss of central binocular vision. Concomitant strabismus occurs when the angle of deviation is constant in all positions of gaze and often manifests in early childhood when it is considered to be a neurodevelopmental disorder of the visual system. As such, it is inherited as a complex genetic trait, affecting 2-4% of the population. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) for self-reported strabismus (1345 cases and 65,349 controls from UK Biobank) revealed a single genome-wide significant locus on chromosome 17q25. Approximately 20 variants across the NPLOC4-TSPAN10-PDE6G gene cluster and in almost perfect linkage disequilibrium (LD) were most strongly associated (lead variant: rs75078292, OR = 1.26, p = 2.24E-08). A recessive model provided a better fit to the data than an additive model. Association with strabismus was independent of refractive error, and the degree of association with strabismus was minimally attenuated after adjustment for amblyopia. The association with strabismus was replicated in an independent cohort of clinician-diagnosed children aged 7 years old (116 cases and 5084 controls; OR = 1.85, p = 0.009). The associated variants included 2 strong candidate causal variants predicted to have functional effects: rs6420484, which substitutes tyrosine for a conserved cysteine (C177Y) in the TSPAN10 gene, and a 4-bp deletion variant, rs397693108, predicted to cause a frameshift in TSPAN10. The population-attributable risk for the locus was approximately 8.4%, indicating an important role in conferring susceptibility to strabismus

Search for Narrow Diphoton Resonances and for gamma-gamma+W/Z Signatures in p\bar p Collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV

We present results of searches for diphoton resonances produced both inclusively and also in association with a vector boson (W or Z) using 100 pb^{-1} of p\bar p collisions using the CDF detector. We set upper limits on the product of cross section times branching ratio for both p\bar p\to\gamma\gamma + X and p\bar p\to\gamma\gamma + W/Z. Comparing the inclusive production to the expectations from heavy sgoldstinos we derive limits on the supersymmetry-breaking scale sqrt{F} in the TeV range, depending on the sgoldstino mass and the choice of other parameters. Also, using a NLO prediction for the associated production of a Higgs boson with a W or Z boson, we set an upper limit on the branching ratio for H\to\gamma\gamma. Finally, we set a lower limit on the mass of a `bosophilic' Higgs boson (e.g. one which couples only to \gamma, W, and Z$ bosons with standard model couplings) of 82 GeV/c^2 at 95% confidence level.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figure

Measurement of the Strong Coupling Constant from Inclusive Jet Production at the Tevatron pˉp\bar pp Collider

We report a measurement of the strong coupling constant, $\alpha_s(M_Z)$, extracted from inclusive jet production in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$1800 GeV. The QCD prediction for the evolution of $\alpha_s$ with jet transverse energy $E_T$ is tested over the range 40<$E_T$<450 GeV using $E_T$ for the renormalization scale. The data show good agreement with QCD in the region below 250 GeV. In the text we discuss the data-theory comparison in the region from 250 to 450 GeV. The value of $\alpha_s$ at the mass of the $Z^0$ boson averaged over the range 40<$E_T$<250 GeV is found to be $\alpha_s(M_{Z})= 0.1178 \pm 0.0001{(\rm stat)}^{+0.0081}_{-0.0095}{\rm (exp. syst)}$. The associated theoretical uncertainties are mainly due to the choice of renormalization scale (^{+6%}_{-4%}) and input parton distribution functions (5%).Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, using RevTeX. Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Measurement of the ttˉproductioncrosssectionint\bar{t} production cross section in p\bar{p}collisionsat collisions at \sqrt{s}$ = 1.8 TeV

We update the measurement of the top production cross section using the CDF detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. This measurement uses $t\bar{t}$ decays to the final states $e+\nu$+jets and $\mu+\nu$+jets. We search for $b$ quarks from $t$ decays via secondary-vertex identification or the identification of semileptonic decays of the $b$ and cascade $c$ quarks. The background to the $t\bar{t}$ production is determined primarily through a Monte Carlo simulation. However, we calibrate the simulation and evaluate its uncertainty using several independent data samples. For a top mass of 175 $GeV/c^2$, we measure $\sigma_{t\bar{t}}=5.1 \pm 1.5$ pb and $\sigma_{t\bar{t}}=9.2 \pm 4.3$ pb using the secondary vertex and the lepton tagging algorithms, respectively. Finally, we combine these results with those from other $t\bar{t}$ decay channels and obtain $\sigma_{t\bar{t}} = 6.5^{+1.7}_{-1.4}$ pb.Comment: The manuscript consists of 130 pages, 35 figures and 42 tables in RevTex. The manuscript is submitted to Physical Review D. Fixed typo in author lis