Evolutionary relationships between Rhynchosporium lolii sp. nov. and other Rhynchosporium species on grass.

Copyright: 2013 King et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedThe fungal genus Rhynchosporium (causative agent of leaf blotch) contains several host-specialised species, including R. commune (colonising barley and brome-grass), R. agropyri (couch-grass), R. secalis (rye and triticale) and the more distantly related R. orthosporum (cocksfoot). This study used molecular fingerprinting, multilocus DNA sequence data, conidial morphology, host range tests and scanning electron microscopy to investigate the relationship between Rhynchosporium species on ryegrasses, both economically important forage grasses and common wild grasses in many cereal growing areas, and other plant species. Two different types of Rhynchosporium were found on ryegrasses in the UK. Firstly, there were isolates of R. commune that were pathogenic to both barley and Italian ryegrass. Secondly, there were isolates of a new species, here named R. lolii, that were pathogenic only to ryegrass species. R. lolii was most closely related to R. orthosporum, but exhibited clear molecular, morphological and host range differences. The species was estimated to have diverged from R. orthosporum ca. 5735 years before the present. The colonisation strategy of all of the different Rhynchosporium species involved extensive hyphal growth in the sub-cuticular regions of the leaves. Finally, new species-specific PCR diagnostic tests were developed that could distinguish between these five closely related Rhynchosporium species.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Development of the Malocclusion Impact Questionnaire (MIQ) to measure the oral health-related quality of life of young people with malocclusion: part 1 - qualitative inquiry

OBJECTIVES: To seek the views of adolescents with malocclusion about how the appearance and arrangement of their teeth affects their everyday life and to incorporate these views into a new Malocclusion Impact Questionnaire (MIQ). METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a purposive sample of 30 young people (10-16 years) referred for orthodontic treatment to two dental teaching hospitals. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using framework analysis. Several themes and sub themes were identified and these were used to identify items to include in the new measure. RESULTS: Three themes emerged which were: concerns about the appearance of their teeth, effect on social interactions and oral health/function. Participants expressed the view that their teeth did not look normal, causing them embarrassment and a lack of confidence, particularly when they were with their peers or having their photograph taken. Concerns regarding the potential effect of a malocclusion on oral health, in terms of food becoming stuck between crooked teeth, interferences when chewing and increased risk of damaging the teeth were also identified. The themes were used to generate individual items for inclusion in the questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Common themes relating to the impact of malocclusion on the lives of young people were identified and generated items for the new MIQ to measure the oral health-related quality of life of young people with malocclusion. Part 2 outlines the further development and testing of the MIQ

A study of data-driven momentum and disposition effects in the Chinese stock market by functional data analysis

We apply a functional data analysis approach to decompose the cross-sectional Fama–French three-factor model residuals in the Chinese stock market. Our results indicate that other than Fama–French three factors, there are two orthonormal asset pricing factors describing the behavioral biases in their historical performances: between winner and loser stocks, and extreme and mediocre-performing stocks, respectively. We explain these two factors through investors’ overreaction, overconfidence and the lead-lag effect. These findings empirically show the existence of momentum and disposition effects in the Chinese stock market. A buy-and-hold mean-variance optimized portfolio incorporating these two market anomalies boosts the Sharpe ratio to 1.27

An electromagnetism-like metaheuristic for open-shop problems with no buffer

This paper considers open-shop scheduling with no intermediate buffer to minimize total tardiness. This problem occurs in many production settings, in the plastic molding, chemical, and food processing industries. The paper mathematically formulates the problem by a mixed integer linear program. The problem can be optimally solved by the model. The paper also develops a novel metaheuristic based on an electromagnetism algorithm to solve the large-sized problems. The paper conducts two computational experiments. The first includes small-sized instances by which the mathematical model and general performance of the proposed metaheuristic are evaluated. The second evaluates the metaheuristic for its performance to solve some large-sized instances. The results show that the model and algorithm are effective to deal with the problem

Morphology of the first instar larva of obligatory traumatic myiasis agents (Diptera: Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae)

There are only three fly species that are obligate agents of traumatic myiasis of humans and livestock: a single species of flesh fly, Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Sarcophagidae), and two species of blow flies, Chrysomya bezziana and Cochliomyia hominivorax (Calliphoridae). The morphology of their first instar larvae is thoroughly and consistently documented here with light microscopy photographs and scanning electron microscopy micrographs. The following morphological structures are documented: pseudocephalon, antennal complex, maxillary palpus, oral ridges, thoracic and abdominal spinulation, spiracular field, posterior spiracles and cephaloskeleton. New diagnostic features drawn from the cephaloskeleton and the spinulation of abdominal segments, including the anal pad, are discovered and extensively described. Earlier descriptions in the literature are revisited, and major discrepancies between these and the results of the current study are discussed. The present results allow clarification, correction and, especially, complementation of information provided by earlier authors. The relatively distant taxonomic position of all three species is evidence that obligatory myiasis has arisen independently, and the extensively similar morphology in the first instar larvae of Chrysomya bezziana, Cochliomyia hominivorax and W. magnifica in comparison to necrophagous species, especially the enhancement of the anterior part of the cephaloskeleton and the segmental spinulation, is therefore best interpreted as homoplasic adaptations to a life strategy as obligate vertebrate parasites. An identification key for first instar larvae of all obligatory traumatic myiasis agents of mammals is provided.Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited

Low-frequency cortical activity is a neuromodulatory target that tracks recovery after stroke.

Recent work has highlighted the importance of transient low-frequency oscillatory (LFO; <4 Hz) activity in the healthy primary motor cortex during skilled upper-limb tasks. These brief bouts of oscillatory activity may establish the timing or sequencing of motor actions. Here, we show that LFOs track motor recovery post-stroke and can be a physiological target for neuromodulation. In rodents, we found that reach-related LFOs, as measured in both the local field potential and the related spiking activity, were diminished after stroke and that spontaneous recovery was closely correlated with their restoration in the perilesional cortex. Sensorimotor LFOs were also diminished in a human subject with chronic disability after stroke in contrast to two non-stroke subjects who demonstrated robust LFOs. Therapeutic delivery of electrical stimulation time-locked to the expected onset of LFOs was found to significantly improve skilled reaching in stroke animals. Together, our results suggest that restoration or modulation of cortical oscillatory dynamics is important for the recovery of upper-limb function and that they may serve as a novel target for clinical neuromodulation

Misinformation increases symptom reporting: a test – retest study

OBJECTIVES: We examined whether misleading information (i.e. misinformation) may promote symptom reporting in non-clinical participants. DESIGN: A test-retest study in which we collected baseline data about participants' psychological symptoms and then misinformed them that they had rated two target symptoms relatively highly. During an interview, we determined whether participants would notice this misinformation and at direct and one-week follow-up, we evaluated whether the misinformation would exacerbate retest measures of the same symptoms. SETTING: A psychological laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 78 undergraduate students. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants' scores on a widely used self-report measure of psychological symptoms. RESULTS: We found that most participants (63%) were blind to the discrepancies between their original symptom ratings and the upgraded scores they were misinformed with. Furthermore, at the one-week follow-up retest, blind participants revised their symptom ratings in the direction of the misinformation (i.e. they increased their ratings of these symptoms). CONCLUSION: Introspective monitoring of common psychological symptoms is poor and this creates an opportunity for misinformation and symptom escalation. Our finding bears relevance to theories about the iatrogenic amplification of medically unexplained symptoms

HPV infection and immunochemical detection of cell-cycle markers in verrucous carcinoma of the penis

Penile verrucous carcinoma is a rare disease and little is known of its aetiology or pathogenesis. In this study we examined cell-cycle proteins expression and correlation with human papillomavirus infection in a series of 15 pure penile verrucous carcinomas from a single centre. Of 148 penile tumours, 15 (10%) were diagnosed as pure verrucous carcinomas. The expression of the cell-cycle-associated proteins p53, p21, RB, p16INK4A and Ki67 were examined by immunohistochemistry. Human papillomavirus infection was determined by polymerase chain reaction to identify a wide range of virus types. The expression of p16INK4A and Ki67 was significantly lower in verrucous carcinoma than in usual type squamous cell carcinoma, whereas the expression of p53, p21 and RB was not significantly different. p53 showed basal expression in contrast to usual type squamous cell carcinoma. Human papillomavirus infection was present in only 3 out of 13 verrucous carcinomas. Unique low-risk, high-risk and mixed viral infections were observed in each of the three cases. In conclusion, lower levels of p16INK4A and Ki67 expressions differentiate penile verrucous carcinoma from usual type squamous cell carcinoma. The low Ki67 index reflects the slow-growing nature of verrucous tumours. The low level of p16INK4A expression and human papillomavirus detection suggests that penile verrucous carcinoma pathogenesis is unrelated to human papillomavirus infection and the oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes classically altered by virus infection.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Consensus-Based Technical Recommendations for Clinical Translation of Renal Phase Contrast MRI

BACKGROUND: Phase-contrast (PC) MRI is a feasible and valid noninvasive technique to measure renal artery blood flow, showing potential to support diagnosis and monitoring of renal diseases. However, the variability in measured renal blood flow values across studies is large, most likely due to differences in PC-MRI acquisition and processing. Standardized acquisition and processing protocols are therefore needed to minimize this variability and maximize the potential of renal PC-MRI as a clinically useful tool. PURPOSE: To build technical recommendations for the acquisition, processing, and analysis of renal 2D PC-MRI data in human subjects to promote standardization of renal blood flow measurements and facilitate the comparability of results across scanners and in multicenter clinical studies. STUDY TYPE: Systematic consensus process using a modified Delphi method. POPULATION: Not applicable. SEQUENCE FIELD/STRENGTH: Renal fast gradient echo-based 2D PC-MRI. ASSESSMENT: An international panel of 27 experts from Europe, the USA, Australia, and Japan with 6 (interquartile range 4–10) years of experience in 2D PC-MRI formulated consensus statements on renal 2D PC-MRI in two rounds of surveys. Starting from a recently published systematic review article, literature-based and data-driven statements regarding patient preparation, hardware, acquisition protocol, analysis steps, and data reporting were formulated. STATISTICAL TESTS: Consensus was defined as ≥75% unanimity in response, and a clear preference was defined as 60–74% agreement among the experts. RESULTS: Among 60 statements, 57 (95%) achieved consensus after the second-round survey, while the remaining three showed a clear preference. Consensus statements resulted in specific recommendations for subject preparation, 2D renal PC-MRI data acquisition, processing, and reporting. DATA CONCLUSION: These recommendations might promote a widespread adoption of renal PC-MRI, and may help foster the set-up of multicenter studies aimed at defining reference values and building larger and more definitive evidence, and will facilitate clinical translation of PC-MRI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: