Usefulness of echocardiography in the prognostic evaluation of non-Q-wave myocardial infarction.

Patients with non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) are a heterogeneous population with a wide range of coronary disease severity and extent of myocardial necrosis, showing, therefore, different electrocardiographic findings and different outcomes. To evaluate the role of echocardiography in the management of non-Q-wave MI patients, 192 consecutive patients without previous MI were studied (78 with ST segment elevation, 56 with ST depression and 58 without ST modifications). All patients underwent 2-dimensional echocardiography (16-segment model) within 24 hours of admission to the coronary care unit. Wall-motion abnormalities, wall-motion score index, ejection fraction, and end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were evaluated. In 35 patients, death, reinfarction, recurrent angina, or severe heart failure occurred during the in-hospital phase, whereas the remaining 157 patients had a good outcome. Patients with a poor prognosis were older (68 +/- 6 vs 59 +/- 5 years, p 3 segments 0.28 and 0.86; wall-motion score index > 1.33 = 0.28 and 0.87; end-diastolic volume > 46 mL/m2 = 0.49 and 0.91; ST segment depression and wall-motion abnormalities in > 3 segments 0.60 and 0.88. These results underline the usefulness of echocardiography in the early risk stratification of non-Q-wave MI patients, together with electrocardiographic data. Patients with ST segment depression and more extensive wall-motion abnormalities are at higher risk and their management needs a more aggressive approach

Antiviral and quality effects of chemical elictors and Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) infection on tomato plants and fruits

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) has emerged as one of the most serious threats to tomato cultivation in Greece. In the present study the effects of Benzothiadiazoles (BTH) and pyraclostrobin against mechanically or aphid-transmitted CMV in tomato plants, of hybrid F1 Clodin, were investigated in greenhouse experiments. BTH was confirmed as capable of inducing systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in tomato seedlings against CMV, while pyraclostrobin was not. Responses to BTH application and/or CMV inoculation on Spanish tomato hybrid Delos (BTH, BTH+CMV, CMV treatments) were monitored during winter and spring season in Greece. In both seasons the SAR derived from BTH application suppressed CMV. BTH treatment presented increased plant growth, fruit size and marketable tomato yield compared to CMV and BTH+CMV treatments, whereas decreased compared to healthy control. CMV treatment caused the most severe stunting of tomato plants among the examined treatments and resulted in yield loss of marketable fruits, although the total fruit number was higher versus to other treatments. Cont/d.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Water diffusion mechanisms in bitumen studied through molecular dynamics simulations

Water transport is one of the major factors responsible for moisture damage in asphalt pavements. To study the thermodynamics and kinetics of water transport in bitumen and to uncover microscale mechanisms of moisture-induced damage, molecular dynamics simulations were performed for up to 600 ns for water–bitumen systems with realistic water contents that varied from 0 to 1.76 wt%. Hydrogen bonding interactions and clustering of water molecules at various combinations of temperature and water content were investigated, and their effects on the self-diffusion coefficient of water and bitumen properties are computed and discussed. It is shown that the saturated water concentration in bitumen is small, especially at low temperatures, and additional water molecules tend to form large water clusters via hydrogen bonding, indicating micro-phase separation of the water and bitumen phases inside the simulation box. Hydrogen bonding and water clustering play a crucial role on the magnitude of the self-diffusion coefficient of water. Physical properties of bitumen that include viscosity and cohesive energy are affected by water. The presence of large water clusters is indicative of how degradation in cohesion is observed on the microscale

First Report on «Hop Stunt Viroid» (HSVd) from Some Mediterranean Countries

Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) has a very wide host range including most stone fruit trees. Among them, apricot is one of the most important host crops in the Mediterranean basin. In this study non-isotopic molecular hybridisation revealed, for the first time, the presence of HSVd on apricot in four Mediterranean countries (Cyprus, Greece, Morocco and Turkey). The results obtained by this technique were confirmed by northern-blot and RT-PCR analyses. The data presented in this work indicate a wider geographical distribution of this viroid than hitherto known and emphasise the need for this kind of study as part of the control effort

Natural occurrence of Cucumber mosaic virus infecting water mint (Mentha aquatica) in Antalya and Konya, Turkey

A virus causing a disease in mint (the aromatic and culinary plant) has recently become a problem in the Taurus Mountains, a mountain range in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. To detect the virus and investigate its distribution in the region, mint leaf samples were collected from the vicinity of spring areas in the plateaus of Antalya and Konya in 2009. It was found that Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) was detected in 27.08% of symptomatic samples tested by DAS-ELISA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of CMV on mint plants in this region of Turkey

Host range and symptomatology of Pepino mosaic virus strains occurring in Europe

Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) has caused great concern in the greenhouse tomato industry after it was found causing a new disease in tomato in 1999. The objective of this paper is to investigate alternative hosts and compare important biological characteristics of the three PepMV strains occurring in Europe when tested under different environmental conditions. To this end we compared the infectivity and symptom development of three, well characterized isolates belonging to three different PepMV strains, EU-tom, Ch2 and US1, by inoculating them on tomato, possible alternative host plants in the family Solanaceae and selected test plants. The inoculation experiments were done in 10 countries from south to north in Europe. The importance of alternative hosts among the solanaceous crops and the usefulness of test plants in the biological characterization of PepMV isolates are discussed. Our data for the three strains tested at 10 different European locations with both international and local cultivars showed that eggplant is an alternative host of PepMV. Sweet pepper is not an important host of PepMV, but potato can be infected when the right isolate is matched with a specific cultivar. Nicotiana occidentalis 37B is a useful indicator plant for PepMV studies, since it reacts with a different symptomatology to each one of the PepMV strains.Ravnikar, M.; Blystad, D.; Van Der Vlugt, R.; Alfaro Fernández, AO.; Del Carmen Cordoba, M.; Bese, G.; Hristova, D.... (2015). Host range and symptomatology of Pepino mosaic virus strains occurring in Europe. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 143(1):43-56. doi:10.1007/s10658-015-0664-1S43561431Alfaro-Fernández, A., Córdoba-Sellés, M. C., Herrera-Vásquez, J. A., Cebrián, M. C., & Jordá, C. (2009). Transmission of Pepino mosaic virus by the fungal vector Olpidium virulentus. Journal of Phytopathology, 158, 217–226.Charmichael, D. J., Rey, M. E. C., Naidoo, S., Cook, G., & van Heerden, S. W. (2011). First report of Pepino mosaic virus infecting tomato in South Africa. Plant Disease, 95(6), 767.2.Córdoba, M. C., Martínez-Priego, L., & Jordá, C. (2004). New natural hosts of Pepino mosaic virus in Spain. Plant Disease, 88, 906.Córdoba-Sellés, M. C., García-Rández, A., Alfaro-Fernández, A., & Jordá-Gutiérrez, C. (2007). Seed transmission of pepino mosaic virus and efficacy of tomato seed disinfection treatments. Plant Disease, 91, 1250–1254.Efthimiou, K. E., Gatsios, A. P., Aretakis, K. C., Papayannis, L. C., & Katis, N. I. (2011). First report of Pepino mosaic virus infecting greenhouse cherry tomato in Greece. Plant Disease, 95(1), 78.2.Fakhro, A., von Bargen, S., Bandte, M., Büttner, C., Franken, P., & Schwarz, D. (2011). Susceptibility of different plant species and tomato cultivars to two isolates of Pepino mosaic virus. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 129, 579–590.Gómez, P., Sempere, R. N., Elena, S. F., & Aranda, M. A. (2009). Mixed infections of Pepino mosaic virus strains modulate the evolutionary dynamics of this emergent virus. Journal of Virology, 83, 12378–12387.Hanssen, I. M., Paeleman, A., Wittemans, L., Goen, K., Lievens, B., Bragard, C., Vanachter, A. C. R. C., & Thomma, B. P. H. J. (2008). Genetic characterization of Pepino mosaic virus isolates from Belgian greenhouse tomatoes reveals genetic recombination. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 121, 131–146.Hanssen, I. M., Paeleman, A., Vandewoestijne, E., Van Bergen, L., Bragard, C., Lievens, B., Vanachter, A. C. R. C., & Thomma, B. P. H. J. (2009). Pepino mosaic virus isolates and differential symptomatology in tomato. Plant Pathology, 58, 450–460.Hanssen, I. M., Mumford, R., Blystad, D.-G., Cortez, I., Hasiów-Jaroszewska, B., Hristova, D., Pagán, I., Pereira, A.-M., Peters, J., Pospieszny, H., Ravnikar, M., Stijger, I., Tomassoli, L., Varveri, C., van der Vlugt, R., & Nielsen, S. L. (2010). Seed transmission of Pepino mosaic virus in tomato. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 126, 145–152.Hasiów-Jaroszewska, B., Borodynko, N., Jackowiak, P., Figlerowicz, M., & Pospieszny, H. (2010a). Pepino mosaic virus – a pathogen of tomato crops in Poland: biology, evolution and diagnostics. Journal of Plant Protection Research, 50, 470–476.Hasiów-Jaroszewska, B., Jackowiak, P., Borodynko, N., Figlerowicz, M., & Pospieszny, H. (2010b). Quasispecies nature of Pepino mosaic virus and its evolutionary dynamics. Virus Genes, 41, 260–267.Jeffries, C. J. (1998). FAO/IPGRI technical guidelines for the safe movement of germplasm no. 19. Potato. Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations, Rome/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome pp 177Jones, R. A. C., Koenig, R., & Lesemann, D. E. (1980). Pepino mosaic virus, a new potexvirus from pepino (Solanum muricatum). Annals of Applied Biology, 94, 61–68.Jordá, C., Lázaro Pérez, A., & Martínez Culebras, P. (2001). First report of Pepino mosaic virus on natural hosts. Plant Disease, 85, 1292.King, A. M. Q., Adams, M. J., Carstens, E. B., Lefkowitz, E. J., (eds). (2012). potexvirus, pp 912–915, in virus taxonomy, classification and nomenclature of viruses; ninth report of the international committee on taxonomy of viruses (p 1327) London, UK: Elsevier Academic PressLing, K.-S., & Zhang, W. (2011). First report of Pepino mosaic virus infecting tomato in Mexico. Plant Disease, 95(8), 1035.Martin, J., & Mousserion, C. (2002). Potato varieties which are sensitive to the tomato strains of Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV). Phytoma Défence Végétaux, 552, 26–28.Mehle, N., Gutierrez-Aguirre, I., Prezelj, N., Delić, D., Vidic, U., & Ravnikar, M. (2014). Survival and transmission of potato virus Y, pepino mosaic virus, and potato spindle tuber viroid in water. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 80(4), 1455–1462.Moreno-Pérez, M. G., Pagán, I., Aragón-Caballero, L., Cáceres, F., Aurora Fraile, A., & García-Arenal, F. (2014). Ecological and genetic determinants of Pepino mosaic virus emergence. Journal of Virology, 88(6), 3359–3368.Noël, P., Hance, T., & Bragard, C. (2014). Transmission of the pepino mosaic virus by whitefly. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 138, 23–27.Pagan, I., Cordoba-Selles, M. D., Martinez-Priego, L., Fraile, A., Malpica, J. M., Jorda, C., & Garcia-Arenal, F. (2006). Genetic structure of the population of pepino mosaic virus infecting tomato crops in Spain. Phytopathology, 96, 274–279.Papayiannis, L. C., Kokkinos, C. D., & Alfaro-Fernández, A. (2012). Detection, characterization and host range studies of Pepino mosaic virus in Cyprus. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 132, 1–7.Pospieszny, H., Haslow, B., & Borodynko, N. (2008). Characterization of two Polish isolates of Pepino mosaic virus. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 122, 443–445.Salomone, A., & Roggero, P. (2002). Host range, seed transmission and detection by ELISA and lateral flow of an Italian isolate of Pepino mosaic virus. Journal of Plant Pathology, 84, 65–68.Samson, R. G., Allen, T. C., & Whitworth, J. L. (1993). Evaluation of direct tissue blotting to detect potato viruses. American Potato Journal, 70, 257–265.Schwarz, D., Beuch, U., Bandte, M., Fakhro, A., Büttner, C., & Obermeier, C. (2010). Spread and interaction of pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) and pythium aphanidermatum in a closed nutrient solution recirculation system: effects on tomato growth and yield. Plant Pathology, 59(3), 443–452.Shipp, J. L., Buitenhuis, R., Stobbs, L., Wang, K., Kim, W. S., & Ferguson, G. (2008). Vectoring of pepino mosaic virus by bumble-bees in tomato greenhouses. Annals of Applied Biology, 153, 149–155.Van der Vlugt, R. A. A. (2009). Pepino mosaic virus (review). Hellenic Plant Protection Journal, 2, 47–56.Van der Vlugt, R. A. A., & Stijger, C. C. M. M. (2008). Pepino mosaic virus. In B. W. J. Mahy & M. H. V. Van Regenmortel (Eds.), Encyclopedia of virology (5th ed., pp. 103–108). Wageningen: Oxford Elsevier.Van der Vlugt, R. A. A., Stijger, C. C. M. M., Verhoeven, J. T. J., & Lesemann, D.-E. (2000). First report of Pepino mosaic virus on tomato. Plant Disease, 84, 103.Van der Vlugt, R. A. A., Cuperus, C., Vink, J., Stijger, I. C. M. M., Lesemann, D.-E., Verhoeven, J. T. J., & Roenhorst, J. W. (2002). Identification and characterization of Pepino mosaic potexvirus in tomato. Bulletin EPPO/EPPO Bulletin, 32, 503–508.Verchot-Lubicz, J., Chang-Ming, Y., & Bamunusinghe, D. (2007). Molecular biology of potexviruses: recent advances. Journal of General Virology, 88(6), 1643–1655.Verhoeven, J. T. H. J., van der Vlugt, R., & Roenhorst, J. W. (2003). High similarity between tomato isolates of pepino mosaic virus suggests a common origin. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 109, 419–425.Werkman, A.W., & Sansford, C.E. (2010). Pest risk analysis for pepino mosaic virus for the EU. Deliverable Report 4.3. EU Sixth Framework project PEPEIRA. http:// www.pepeira.com .Wright, D., & Mumford, R. (1999). Pepino mosaic potexvirus (PepMV): first records in tomato in the United Kingdom. Plant disease notice (89th ed.). York, UK: Central Science Laboratory

Durability of European Asphalt Mixtures Containing Reclaimed Asphalt and Warm-Mix Additives

This paper investigates the moisture susceptibility of European asphalt mixtures (SMA) containing reclaimed asphalt (RA) and warm mix (WMA) additives. Test sections of a typical SMA mixture have been laid, from which cylindrical samples were cored and utilized for laboratory testing. Four variants of the SMA mixture were prepared; a control HMA mixture with 0% RA, a mixture with 30% RA and no WMA additive, a mixture with 30% RA in which a WMA additive was added and a mixture with 40% RA and a WMA additive. The coring procedure and testing were carried out in two phases; first field cores were taken 24 hrs after the construction of the test section was completed and then once again 12 months later. In this way, the influence of field aging on the mechanical performance of the mixtures was considered. The samples were moisture conditioned at various combinations of water bath immersion and cyclic pore pressures by means of the Moisture Induced Sensitivity Tester (MiST). The degradation in strength due to moisture was quantified through indirect tensile strength tests. The results indicated that the use of RA in combination with WMA additives resulted to mixtures with improved durability characteristics, with respect to moisture damage, compared to the control HMA mixture. Based on the results, recommendations were made for characterizing and limiting moisture damage of asphalt pavements

Chemo-mechanics of ageing on bituminous materials

Ageing of bitumen is a complex process. It is accompanied by major chemical and mechanical changes. In this study, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) tests were utilized to investigate the effect of ageing on the chemical and mechanical properties of bituminous materials. Bitumen films with thickness of 2 mm were exposed to laboratory ageing at various conditions. Specifically, different combinations of ageing time, temperature and pressure were applied on the materials. The FTIR tests results were used to quantify the changes in the chemical functional groups and to calculate ageing indices (carbonyl index and sulfoxide index) of bitumen. In addition, the DSR tests results were analysed to determine the evolution of the rheological properties of bitumen. A linear relationship was made between the ageing indices and complex shear modulus, providing thus a chemo-mechanics framework to describe bitumen ageing. The results were validated by using data of field aged samples. Finally, the influence of ageing on the parameters of two viscoelastic models was determined

On the combined effect of moisture diffusion and cyclic pore pressure generation in asphalt concrete

In this paper, a new moisture conditioning protocol which attempts to distinguish the contributions of long- and short-term moisture damage, i.e. moisture diffusion and cyclic pore pressure generation, in asphalt mixtures is presented. The capability of the proposed protocol to rank various asphalt mixtures of known field performance for their short- and long-term sensitivity to moisture is evaluated on the basis of the Tensile Strength Ratio. Asphalt specimens with different types of aggregates and asphalt binders were conditioned by various combinations of water bath immersion and cyclic pore pressures by means of the Moisture Induced Sensitivity Tester. The results show that the proposed conditioning protocol can be used to evaluate the moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixtures and distinguish among mixtures with different moisture damage characteristics. In addition, it is shown that the use of cyclic pore pressures has a significant effect and can be used as an accelerated moisture conditioning procedure.Structural EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience