Occurrence and population distribution of plant parasitic nematodes associated with roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) in northern Nigeria

Pests including nematodes have been reported as a limiting factor to the production of roselle worldwide. A survey of rosellefarmsinsix Northern Sates of Nigeria was conductedin 2013 to identify the diverse nematode species associated with the soils and roots of the plant and determine their population densities on farmers’ fields. Eightsoil and ten plant samples were randomly collected from each of twenty farms from which nematodes were extracted and identified. Four genera of plantparasitic nematodes (Meloidogyne spp., Helicotylenchus spp., Rotylenchulus spp.and Tylenchus spp.) were found in association with roots and rhizosphere of roselle plants. Meloidogyne were most populous (62.29%) on the roots while Tylenchuswas least (1.68%). Helicotylenchus spp appeared in highest density (50.05%) in plant rhizosphere, but not identified from the roots. The highest percentage of nematode population (22.7 %) wasfrom Katsina, followed by Sokoto (21.6%), Jigawa (17.4%), Zamfara (16.5%), Kano (15.1%) and Kaduna states (6.7%).The generally low nematode density observed might be due to low precipitation and high soil temperature of the six states. Occurrence of varied species of nematodes demands effective control measures for improved roselle productivity. Kano, Zamfara and Jigawawith low nematode population densities can be considered for further research towards the establishment of pest-free areas or area of low pest prevalence for roselle nematodes in Nigeria, useful in the agricultural export trade. Further studies are required on the determination of density economic threshold and the definitive roles of nematodes in causing low productivity of roselle.Keywords: Export value, Hibiscus sabdariffa, nematodes, population densities, pest-free are

Combinatorial Solutions to Normal Ordering of Bosons

We present a combinatorial method of constructing solutions to the normal ordering of boson operators. Generalizations of standard combinatorial notions - the Stirling and Bell numbers, Bell polynomials and Dobinski relations - lead to calculational tools which allow to find explicitly normally ordered forms for a large class of operator functions.Comment: Presented at 14th Int. Colloquium on Integrable Systems, Prague, Czech Republic, 16-18 June 2005. 6 pages, 11 reference

Emotion, Meaning, and Appraisal Theory

According to psychological emotion theories referred to as appraisal theory, emotions are caused by appraisals (evaluative judgments). Borrowing a term from Jan Smedslund, it is the contention of this article that psychological appraisal theory is “pseudoempirical” (i.e., misleadingly or incorrectly empirical). In the article I outline what makes some scientific psychology “pseudoempirical,” distinguish my view on this from Jan Smedslund’s, and then go on to show why paying heed to the ordinary meanings of emotion terms is relevant to psychology, and how appraisal theory is methodologically off the mark by employing experiments, questionnaires, and the like, to investigate what follows from the ordinary meanings of words. The overarching argument of the article is that the scientific research program of appraisal theory is fundamentally misguided and that a more philosophical approach is needed to address the kinds of questions it seeks to answer

Linear optics substituting scheme for multi-mode operations

We propose a scheme allowing a conditional implementation of suitably truncated general single- or multi-mode operators acting on states of traveling optical signal modes. The scheme solely relies on single-photon and coherent states and applies beam splitters and zero- and single-photon detections. The signal flow of the setup resembles that of a multi-mode quantum teleportation scheme thus allowing the individual signal modes to be spatially separated from each other. Some examples such as the realization of cross-Kerr nonlinearities, multi-mode mirrors, and the preparation of multi-photon entangled states are considered.Comment: 11 pages, 4 eps-figures, using revtex

Deficient histone H3 propionylation by BRPF1-KAT6 complexes in neurodevelopmental disorders and cancer

Lysine acetyltransferase 6A (KAT6A) and its paralog KAT6B form stoichiometric complexes with bromodomain- and PHD finger-containing protein 1 (BRPF1) for acetylation of histone H3 at lysine 23 (H3K23). We report that these complexes also catalyze H3K23 propionylati

Gene-educational attainment interactions in a multi-population genome-wide meta-analysis identify novel lipid loci

Introduction: Educational attainment, widely used in epidemiologic studies as a surrogate for socioeconomic status, is a predictor of cardiovascular health outcomes. Methods: A two-stage genome-wide meta-analysis of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and triglyceride (TG) levels was performed while accounting for gene-educational attainment interactions in up to 226,315 individuals from five population groups. We considered two educational attainment variables: “Some College” (yes/no, for any education beyond high school) and “Graduated College” (yes/no, for completing a 4-year college degree). Genome-wide significant (p &lt; 5 × 10−8) and suggestive (p &lt; 1 × 10−6) variants were identified in Stage 1 (in up to 108,784 individuals) through genome-wide analysis, and those variants were followed up in Stage 2 studies (in up to 117,531 individuals). Results: In combined analysis of Stages 1 and 2, we identified 18 novel lipid loci (nine for LDL, seven for HDL, and two for TG) by two degree-of-freedom (2 DF) joint tests of main and interaction effects. Four loci showed significant interaction with educational attainment. Two loci were significant only in cross-population analyses. Several loci include genes with known or suggested roles in adipose (FOXP1, MBOAT4, SKP2, STIM1, STX4), brain (BRI3, FILIP1, FOXP1, LINC00290, LMTK2, MBOAT4, MYO6, SENP6, SRGAP3, STIM1, TMEM167A, TMEM30A), and liver (BRI3, FOXP1) biology, highlighting the potential importance of brain-adipose-liver communication in the regulation of lipid metabolism. An investigation of the potential druggability of genes in identified loci resulted in five gene targets shown to interact with drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, including genes with roles in adipose and brain tissue. Discussion: Genome-wide interaction analysis of educational attainment identified novel lipid loci not previously detected by analyses limited to main genetic effects.</p

Application of a risk-management framework for integration of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in clinical trials

Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are a potential predictive biomarker for immunotherapy response in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). To incorporate sTILs into clinical trials and diagnostics, reliable assessment is essential. In this review, we propose a new concept, namely the implementation of a risk-management framework that enables the use of sTILs as a stratification factor in clinical trials. We present the design of a biomarker risk-mitigation workflow that can be applied to any biomarker incorporation in clinical trials. We demonstrate the implementation of this concept using sTILs as an integral biomarker in a single-center phase II immunotherapy trial for metastatic TNBC (TONIC trial, NCT02499367), using this workflow to mitigate risks of suboptimal inclusion of sTILs in this specific trial. In this review, we demonstrate that a web-based scoring platform can mitigate potential risk factors when including sTILs in clinical trials, and we argue that this framework can be applied for any future biomarker-driven clinical trial setting

Cardiothoracic ratio and vertebral heart size (VHS) to standardize the heart size of the tufted capuchin (Cebus apella Linnaeus, 1758) in computerized radiographic images

Abstract: The VHS and CTR were assessed using computerized thoracic radiographs of ten clinically healthy tufted capuchin monkeys (five males and five females) from the Wild Animal Screening Center in São Luís (Centro de Triagem de Animais Silvestres de São Luís-MA-CETAS). Radiographs were taken in laterolateral and dorsoventral projections to calculate the cardiothoracic ratio (VHS) and vertebral heart size (CTR). The VHS showed mean values of 9.34±0.32v (males) and 9.16±0.34v (females) and there was no statistical difference between males and females (p>0.05). The CTR showed mean values of 0.55±0.04 (males) and 0.52±0.03 (females) and there was no statistical difference between the sexes (p>0.05). There was positive correlation between VHS and CTR (r=0.78). The thoracic and heart diameters showed mean values of 5.70±0.48cm and 2.16±0.40cm in the males, respectively. In the females they measured 5.32±0.39cm and 2.94±0.32cm. There was no statistical difference between the sexes. Our results show that the high correlation found between VHS and CTR permitted the verification with similar clinical precision between the two methods to estimate alterations in the heart silhouette by radiographic examination of tufted capuchin, making it an easy technique to apply that can be considered in the investigation of heart problems for this wild species