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by Alberto Vangelisti, Flavia Mascagni, Tommaso Giordani, Cristiana Sbrana, Alessandra Turrini, Andrea Cavallini, Manuela Giovannetti, Lucia Natali Retrotransposon expression during arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal colonisation of sunflower roots ( Helianthus annuus ) was analysed using Illumina RNA-Seq, in order to verify whether mycorrhizal symbiosis can activate retrotransposable elements. Illumina cDNA libraries were produced from RNAs isolated from the roots of sunflower plants at 4 and 16 days after inoculation with the AM fungus Rhizoglomus irregulare and from their respective control plants. Illumina reads were mapped to a library of reverse transcriptase-encoding sequences, putatively belonging to long terminal repeat retrotransposons of Gypsy and Copia superfamilies. Forty-six different reverse transcriptase sequences were transcribed, although at a low rate, in mycorrhizal or control roots and only four were significantly over-expressed at day 16, compared with control ro ...

by Matthew L. Boulton, Bradley F. Carlson, Abram L. Wagner, Julia M. Porth, Berhanu Gebremeskel, Yemesrach Abeje Background We characterize the risk factors for delayed polio dose 1, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) dose 1, pentavalent dose 1, and measles dose 1 in Ethiopian infants. We also examine the interaction between institutional delivery and demographic factors on the birth doses of the BCG and polio vaccines to better understand factors influencing vaccination. Methods Using the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, we calculated the distribution of the study population across different demographic and vaccination characteristics. We computed acceleration factors using a multivariable accelerated failure time model with a Weibull distribution to account for left and right censoring. For the birth doses, we further specified an interaction term between institutional delivery and every other a priori specified independent variable to test whether institutional delivery ...

by Tihana Marček, Kamirán Áron Hamow, Balázs Végh, Tibor Janda, Eva Darko Wheat is one of the most important cereals, whose growth and development is strongly limited by drought. This study investigated the physiological and metabolic response of six winter wheat cultivars to drought with the emphasis on the induction of dominant metabolites affected by the treatment and genotypes or both. The plants were exposed to a moderate (non-lethal) drought stress, which was induced by withholding watering for six days under controlled greenhouse conditions. A decline in CO 2 assimilation (Pn) and transpiration rate, stomata closure, a decrease in relative water content (RWC) and increase of malondialdehyde content were observed in drought-treated plants of all cultivars. These changes were most pronounced in Ellvis, while Soissons was able to retain the higher RWC and Pn. Among the studied metabolites, sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose, several disaccharides), organic acids (malic acid, ...

by Jana Basas, Marta Palau, Xavier Gomis, Benito Almirante, Joan Gavaldà Objective The aims of this study were as follows. First, we sought to compare the in vitro susceptibility of liposomal amphotericin B (LAmB) and anidulafungin on Candida albicans and Candida glabrata biofilms growing on silicone discs. Second, we sought to compare the activity of LAmB versus anidulafungin for the treatment of experimental catheter-related C . albicans and C . glabrata infections with the antifungal lock technique in a rabbit model. Methods Two C . albicans and two C . glabrata clinical strains were used. The minimum biofilm eradication concentration for 90% eradication (MBEC 90 ) values were determined after 48h of treatment with LAmB and anidulafungin. Confocal microscopy was used to visualize the morphology and viability of yeasts growing in biofilms. Central venous catheters were inserted into New Zealand rabbits, which were inoculated of each strain of C . albicans and C . glabrata . Then, c ...

by M. Atiqul Haque, Staffan Janson, Syed Moniruzzaman, A. K. M. Fazlur Rahman, Syed Shariful Islam, Saidur Rahman Mashreky, Ulla-Britt Eriksson Background Although child physical abuse (CPA) is considered as a major global public health problem, it has not yet been recognized as such in Bangladesh. Very few studies have assessed the prevalence and victims’ characteristics of multiple forms of CPA. Objective This population-based study assessed the prevalence of CPA committed by adults in a rural area of Bangladesh and examined its association with demographic and socio-contextual factors. Methods Data were obtained using ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool for Children (ICAST-C) in a random sample of 1416 children (49% girls, 51% boys) aged 11 to 17 years by face-to-face interviews during March-April 2017. The response rate was 91.5%. To estimate predictors of CPA, physical abuse was categorized into frequent and less frequent groups. Results The prevalence of at least one form (≥ 1 ...

by C. Wetterauer, D. J. Winkel, J. R. Federer-Gsponer, A. Halla, S. Subotic, A. Deckart, H. H. Seifert, D. T. Boll, J. Ebbing Background Effective interdisciplinary communication of imaging findings is vital for patient care, as referring physicians depend on the contained information for the decision-making and subsequent treatment. Traditional radiology reports contain non-structured free text and potentially tangled information in narrative language, which can hamper the information transfer and diminish the clarity of the report. Therefore, this study investigates whether newly developed structured reports (SRs) of prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can improve interdisciplinary communication, as compared to non-structured reports (NSRs). Methods 50 NSRs and 50 SRs describing a single prostatic lesion were presented to four urologists with expert level experience in prostate cancer surgery or targeted MRI TRUS fusion biopsy. They were subsequently asked to plot the tumor lo ...

by Jeffrey G. Klann, Matthew A. H. Joss, Kevin Embree, Shawn N. Murphy Background The All Of Us Research Program (AOU) is building a nationwide cohort of one million patients’ EHR and genomic data. Data interoperability is paramount to the program’s success. AOU is standardizing its EHR data around the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) data model. OMOP is one of several standard data models presently used in national-scale initiatives. Each model is unique enough to make interoperability difficult. The i2b2 data warehousing and analytics platform is used at over 200 sites worldwide, which uses a flexible ontology-driven approach for data storage. We previously demonstrated this ontology system can drive data reconfiguration, to transform data into new formats without site-specific programming. We previously implemented this on our 12-site Accessible Research Commons for Health (ARCH) network to transform i2b2 into the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Network mode ...

by Jing Chen, Yinglong Wang, Ying Guo, Mingyue Jiang Test oracles are commonly used in software testing to determine the correctness of the execution results of test cases. However, the testing of many software systems faces the test oracle problem: a test oracle may not always be available, or it may be available but too expensive to apply. One such software system is a system involving abundant business processes. This paper focuses on the testing of business-process-based software systems and proposes a metamorphic testing approach for event sequences, called MTES , to alleviate the oracle problem. We utilized event sequences to represent business processes and then applied the technique of metamorphic testing to test the system without using test oracles. To apply metamorphic testing, we studied the general rules for identifying metamorphic relations for business processes and further demonstrated specific metamorphic relations for individual case studies. Three case studies were ...

by Joanna Lorek, Luna C. M. Centifanti, Minna Lyons, Craig Thorley Although note taking during trials is known to enhance jurors’ recall of trial evidence, little is known about whether individual differences in note taking underpin this effect. Individual differences in handwriting speed, working memory, and attention may influence juror’s note taking. This, in turn, may influence their recall. It may also be the case that if jurors note down and recall more incriminating than non-incriminating evidence (or vice versa), then this may predict their verdict. Three studies examined the associations between the aforementioned individual differences, the amount of critical evidence jurors noted down during a trial, the amount of critical evidence they recalled, and the verdicts they reached. Participants had their handwriting speed, short-term memory, working memory, and attention assessed. They then watched a trial video (some took notes), reached a verdict, and recalled as much tria ...

by Eduardo Habermann, Juca Abramo Barrera San Martin, Daniele Ribeiro Contin, Vitor Potenza Bossan, Anelize Barboza, Marcia Regina Braga, Milton Groppo, Carlos Alberto Martinez Changes in leaf anatomy and ultrastructure are associated with physiological performance in the context of plant adaptations to climate change. In this study, we investigated the isolated and combined effects of elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentration ([CO 2 ]) up to 600 μmol mol -1 ( eC ) and elevated temperature ( eT ) to 2°C more than the ambient canopy temperature on the ultrastructure, leaf anatomy, and physiology of Panicum maximum Jacq. grown under field conditions using combined free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) and temperature free-air controlled enhancement (T-FACE) systems. Plants grown under eC showed reduced stomatal density, stomatal index, stomatal conductance ( g s ), and leaf transpiration rate ( E ), increased soil-water content ( SWC ) conservation and adaxial epidermis thickness we ...