Spatial modeling for low pathogenicity avian influenza virus at the interface of wild birds and backyard poultry

Low pathogenicity avian influenza virus (LPAIV) is endemic in wild birds and poultry in Argentina, and active surveillance has been in place to prevent any eventual virus mutation into a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), which is exotic in this country. Risk mapping can contribute effectively to disease surveillance and control systems, but it has proven a very challenging task in the absence of disease data. We used a combination of expert opinion elicitation, multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), and ecological niche modeling (ENM) to identify the most suitable areas for the occurrence of LPAIV at the interface between backyard domestic poultry and wild birds in Argentina. This was achieved by calculating a spatially‐explicit risk index. As evidenced by the validation and sensitivity analyses, our model was successful in identifying high‐risk areas for LPAIV occurrence. Also, we show that the risk for virus occurrence is significantly higher in areas closer to commercial poultry farms. Although the active surveillance systems have been successful in detecting LPAIV‐positive backyard farms and wild birds in Argentina, our predictions suggest that surveillance efforts in those compartments could be improved by including high‐risk areas identified by our model. Our research provides a tool to guide surveillance activities in the future, and presents a mixed methodological approach which could be implemented in areas where the disease is exotic or rare and a knowledge‐driven modeling method is necessary

Implementation and modeling of a femtosecond laser-activated streak camera

8 June 2017) A laser-activated streak camera was built to measure the duration of femtosecond electron pulses. The streak velocity of the device is 1.89 mrad/ps, which corresponds to a sensitivity of 34.9 fs/pixels. The streak camera also measures changes in the relative time of arrival between the laser and electron pulses with a resolution of 70 fs RMS. A full circuit analysis of the structure is presented to describe the streaking field and the general behavior of the device. We have developed a general mathematical model to analyze the streaked images. The model provides an accurate method to extract the pulse duration based on the changes of the electron beam profile when the streaking field is applied

Construcción de una genoteca de cdna de fríjol (phaseolus vulgaris l.) para mapeo genético

Se construyó una pequeña librería de cDNA de fríjol (phaseolus vulgaris L.) de alrededor de 1500 clones, con el fin de incrementar la saturación del mapa de ligamiento de fríjol con marcadores de RFLPs. Para la generación de la librería se utilizó la técnica de amplificación por PCR (Jepson et al., 1991). En ella se utilizan como iniciadores para la reacción los mismos adaptadores empleados para generar los terminales cohesivos del cDNA. Se obtuvieron insertos con un promedio de 500 pares de bases. Se aislaron 93 clones, los cuales mostraron un porcentaje de repetición del 61 %. De los clones con patrón único, el 80% fueron de copia única y el 20% fueron de bajo número de copias. Se evaluó el polimorfismo de tres pares de parentales de frijol, escogidos por sus características agronómicas. El polimorfismo total más alto se halló con la enzima de restricción EcoRI (77%), luego le siguieron Dral (73%), EcoRI (63%) y Hindlll (60%). El par más polimórfico fue DOR60 con APN18, con 71% para EcoRV y 57% para EcoRI respectivamente. Se analizaron por hibridización dos clones de los grupos con más repeticiones en "slot blot" contra los demás clones y DNA que codifica para yRNA, con el fin de aclarar el origen de las repeticiones. Sólo uno de ellos parece ser de origen ribosomal, como lo sugiere el patrón de hibridización con DNA genómico de fríjol digerido con HaeIII, lo cual puede indicar que el grupo al cual pertenece es probablemente de origen ribosomal. Esto se puede explicar probablemente por la combinación en la metodología de amplificación por PCR con la utilización de iniciadores múltiples para la síntesis de la primera cadena de cDNA.A small cDNA library from beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) of about 1500 clones was constructed, to further saturate the bean RFLP linkage map. The primarily synthesized cDNAs were amplified by PCR using the adaptors as primers for amplification (Jepson et al., 1991). Inserts in the range of 500 bp were obtained. 93 clones were singled for further analysis. They showed a degree of repeatibility of around 61 %. Around 80% of the unique clones were single copy, and 20% were low copy sequences as expected from a cDNA library. Three pairs of parental bean lines were chosen for their agronomical traits, and evaluated for polymorphism, which was highest as revealed by digestion with EcoRV (77%), followed by DraI (73%), EcoRI (63%) and HindIIl (60%). The highest polymorphism was observed between the pair DOR60 and APNI8, 71% for EcoRV and 57% for EcoRI, respectively. Two clones of the two groups with the most repeated clones were analyzed by slot blot hybridization against the other clones and ribosomal DNA, to understand the origin of the repetitions. Only one clone seemed to be of ribosomal origin, as confirmed by the patterns obtained by hybridization to bean genomic DNA digested with HaelIl, implying that the whole group to which it belonged was of ribosomal origin.  It can be explained by the combined utilization of the PCR amplification methodology and the multipleprimers for the synthesis of the first cDNA strand

Hospitalization and mortality following non-attendance for hemodialysis according to dialysis day of the week : a European cohort study

Background The extension of the interdialytic interval due to due to dialysis session non-attendance varies according to which session of the week the patient misses. The impact of this on subsequent hospitalization and mortality is unknown. Methods The ARO cohort study prospectively collected data from hemodialysis patients across 15 European countries on demography, comorbidity, laboratory, hospitalisation, mortality and individual hemodialysis sessions from 2007 to 2014. Event rates for death and hospitalisation according to dialysis day of the week were calculated for patients who attended the three previous scheduled hemodialysis sessions, who then on the next scheduled dialysis day either attended or did not attend. The hazard ratio for these events following non-attendance for the first compared to the second dialysis session of the week was estimated using Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for patient demographics. Results 3.8 million hemodialysis sessions in 9397 patients were analysed. The non-attendance rates for Monday/Wednesday/Friday sessions were 0.8, 0.9% & 1.4% respectively, and for Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday sessions were 0.6, 1.0% & 1.2% respectively. Compared to those who attended, for the 48–72 h between non-attendance and the next scheduled haemodialysis session, mortality significantly increased from 4.86 to 51.9/100 pt-yrs and hospitalisation increased from 0.58 to 2.1/yr. As time from the two-day break increased, the risk associated with non-attendance lessened: compared to missing the second hemodialysis session, missing the first session had a hazard ratio for mortality of 2.04 (95% CI 1.27–3.29), and for hospitalisation 1.78 (95% CI 1.29–2.47). In patients who attended their scheduled dialysis session and the three preceding, after the two-day break there were absolute increases in mortality (8.3 vs. 4.9/100 pt-yrs) and hospitalisation (1.0 vs. 0.6/yr for the rest of the week) comparable to previous studies. Conclusions In addition to hospitalisation and mortality increases seen after the two-day break, additional harm may be manifested in the greater increases in mortality and hospitalisation observed after non-attendance for the first hemodialysis session after the two-day break compared to missing other sessions

BOOTSIE – ESTIMATION OF COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION OF AFLP DATA BY BOOTSTRAP ANALYSIS

Bootsie is an English-native replacement for ASG Coelho\u27s “DBOOT” utility for estimating coefficient of variation of a population of AFLP marker data using bootstrapping. Bootsie improves on DBOOT by supporting batch processing, time-to-completion estimation, builtin graphs, and a suite of export tools for creating data files for other population genetics software

Using Genetic Diversity in Deep Root Systems of Perennial Forage Grasses and Rice to Capture Carbon in Tropical Soils

Agricultural soils have the potential not only to be sinks of carbon dioxide (CO2) but also to mitigate the emissions of this gas to the atmosphere, thus, alleviating global warming. Perennial tropical grasses and rice upland and lowland varieties exhibit a large untapped genetic diversity in their root systems (e.g., deep rooting ability, exudation rates and chemical composition) that, if unlocked, could contribute to increased food production in crop-livestock systems while enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) in tropical regions. Naturebased solutions that improve crop adaptation and SOC storage in tropical soils could help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and thereby benefit the global climate system. With the launch of Future Seeds, one of the world’s largest repositories of tropical crop varieties, the Bezos Earth Fund (BEF) granted a major project within the Program of Future of Food. The focus of this BEF funded project is to: (i) develop novel high-throughput phenotyping methods to evaluate genetic diversity of root systems of tropical grasses and rice; (ii) unravel the potential of root systems in crop-livestock systems to replenish soil organic carbon (SOC) in human-intervened areas in tropical soils; (iii) identify and target hotspots/agroecological niches for SOC storage in tropical soils; and (iv) build capacity in conducting research on root systems and SOC storage towards carbon farming in tropical regions. Implementation of land-based SOC storage practices/projects (through carbon markets) based on deep rooting ability of perennial tropical forage grasses and rice cultivars in crop-pasture rotational systems could significantly reduce net emissions from tropical soils

Mejorando agricultura, mejorando nutrición.

PCCMCA. LEG 47