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Annual monitoring of wilt pathogens on elm trees in Alberta is part of a provincially-regulated prevention and control program for Dutch elm disease. Over the past eight years (2016–2023), twig samples with wilt symptoms from 200 elm trees across Alberta were tested for the presence of wilt pathogens. Plenodomus tracheiphilus, the causal agent of Mal secco disease of citrus trees, was isolated from 116 out of the 200 elm trees. The identification of this fungus was confirmed morphologically by comparison with the type culture, and sequencing the internal transcribed spacer region, the β-tubulin gene, the DNA-directed RNA polymerase II second largest subunit gene, the actin gene and eight protein-coding genes exclusively present in the P. tracheiphilus genome. The pathogenicity of P. tracheiphilus isolated from Alberta was tested by artificial inoculation on elm trees to fulfill Koch's postulates based on symptom observation and fungal re-isolation. Our data indicated that P. tracheiphilus is commonly present in Alberta's elm trees especially in the Edmonton area and that the previously described Dothiorella elm wilt is actually caused by P. tracheiphilus and not Dothiorella ulmi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is currently the type of breast cancer with the worst prognosis; it lacks specific treatments, such as ER/PR antagonistic endocrine and anti-HER2 targeted therapies. Although immunotherapy with immune checkpoints has shown some efficacy in many solid tumors, clinical data in TNBC suggest significant limitations. The essence of ferroptosis is the impaired metabolism of intracellular lipid oxides, which in turn causes the activation and abnormalities of the immune system, including ROS, and not only plays an important role in liver injury and organ aging but also a large amount of data points to the close correlation between the ferroptosis process and tumor development. In this study, through the analysis of large-throughput biological data of breast tumors, combined with the characteristics of the biological process of ferroptosis, the specific gene IDH2 was found to be significantly highly expressed in TNBC and functionally correlated with ferroptosis. Through clinical specimens validated at the gene and protein levels, in vitro tumor cell line validation, and in vivo mouse models, we found that the high expression of IDH2 in TNBC has a role in inhibiting the ferroptosis process in TNBC, thus promoting the proliferation of TNBC cells and other malignant features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is recommended as a reliable diagnostic alternative to chest X-ray (CXR) for detecting pneumonia in children. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were used to identify eligible studies from their inception until April 2023. The investigated diagnostic parameters included sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). Results: Twenty-six studies involving 3,401 children were selected for meta-analysis. The sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR, and AUC of LUS for detecting pneumonia in children were 0.95, 0.92, 12.31, 0.05, 108.53, and 0.98, respectively, while the sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR, and AUC of CXR were 0.92, 0.93, 24.63, 0.08, 488.54, and 0.99, respectively. The sensitivity of LUS was higher than that of CXR for detecting pneumonia in children (ratio: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01–1.06; P = 0.018), whereas the DOR of LUS was significantly lower than that of CXR (ratio: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.06–0.85; P = 0.028). Conclusions: This study found that the diagnostic performance of LUS was comparable to that of CXR for detecting pneumonia, and the sensitivity of LUS was superior to that of CXR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both electric vehicles and Tokamak power supply use multiple parallel converters to realize high current operation in four quadrants. A finite‐time current sharing control algorithm based on disturbance compensation is proposed to improve the converter system's dynamic and steady‐state performance so that the system can achieve the required load current and branch‐current sharing in a finite time. In the proposed algorithm, this paper adopts a finite‐time observer for unknown disturbances in the converter system and load circuit due to disturbances, such as unknown inductance and resistance in the converter system. The results show that the load current control overshoot is minimal, and the dynamic performance of each branch current is higher than the traditional control algorithm. A finite‐time current sharing control algorithm based on disturbance compensation is proposed so that the converter system can achieve the required load current and branch current sharing in a finite time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water repellency has a great influence on water infiltration into soil. Currently, there is no modified correlation model that is applicable to the water infiltration of water-repellent soils (WRS). In order to better construct a model suitable for water infiltration in water-repellent soil, our objectives are to validate the effect of a modified Green-Ampt model. We modified the model by assuming that the saturated and unsaturated zones had the same thickness and by combining three formulas of the suction head (Sf VG, Sf BC, Sf GP) and the average saturated hydraulic conductivity. Therefore, we obtained three modified models: the Green-Ampt-VG, Green-Ampt-BC, and Green-Ampt-GP models. Indoor one-dimensional water infiltration experiments were conducted to simulate the cumulative infiltration (CI), the distance of the wetting front (Zf), and the infiltration rate of a hydrophilic treatment and repellent treatments. The results showed that as the degree of repellency increased, the soil suction head decreased, and the relationship between the value of the soil suction head and the degree of WRS was exponential. In addition, the simulated values of the modified CI formula highly fit the measured values of all treatments in the three models (RMSE: 1.696, 1.812, and 0.694). The modified Green-Ampt-VG model had the best simulation effect on the infiltration rate (RMSE: 0.036) and Zf (RMSE: 3.976). The results indicated that the suction head values obtained from the parameters of the VG model were closest to the actual values compared the other models. These results can provide a reference for the solution of problems involving the suction head and water infiltration into WRS in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innate immune signaling in macrophages during viral infection is regulated by ISGylation, the covalent attachment of the ubiquitin-like protein interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) to protein targets. Here, we explored the role of ISGylation in the macrophage response to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In human and mouse macrophages, the E3 ubiquitin ligases HERC5 and mHERC6, respectively, mediated the ISGylation of the phosphatase PTEN, which promoted its degradation. The decreased abundance of PTEN led to an increase in the activity of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, which stimulated the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines. Bacterial growth was increased in culture and in vivo when human or mouse macrophages were deficient in the major E3 ISG15 ligase. The findings expand the role of ISGylation in macrophages to antibacterial immunity and suggest that HERC5 signaling may be a candidate target for adjunct host-directed therapy in patients with tuberculosis. Editor's summary: The antimicrobial response in macrophages is regulated in part by a protein modification called ISGylation. Du et al. found that ISGylation mediated by the protein HERC5 (or the functional equivalent in mice, HERC6) enabled macrophages to respond to infection with the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. HERC5- or HERC6-mediated ISGylation of the phosphatase PTEN induced its degradation, thus alleviating its suppression of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway and promoting the production of cytokines that facilitated clearance of the bacteria. The findings reveal a host-response mechanism against tuberculosis that might inform the development of improved treatments for patients. —Leslie K. Ferrarelli [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: 5‐Methylcytosine (m5C) methylation is a major epigenetic RNA modification and is closely related to tumorigenesis in various cancers. This study aimed to explore the prognostic value of m5C‐related lncRNAs in breast cancer. Methods: Clinical characteristics and RNA‐seq expression data from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) were used in the study. First, we performed differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis and constructed a PPI network for the 12 m5C regulators. Then, we identified the m5C‐related LncRNAs by the "cor. test." An m5C‐related lncRNA prognostic risk signature was developed using univariate Cox regression and Lasso‐penalized Cox regression analyses. The model's performance was determined using Kaplan–Meier (KM) survival analysis and ROC curves. Finally, a nomogram was constructed for clinical application in evaluating patients with BRCA. We also researched the drug sensitivity of signature lncRNAs and immune cell infiltration. Finally, we validated the expression of the signature lncRNAs through qRT–PCR in a breast cancer cell line and a breast epithelial cell line. Results: Overall, we constructed an 11‐lncRNA risk score signature based on the lncRNAs associated with m5C regulators. According to the median risk score, we divided BRCA patients into high‐ and low‐risk groups. The prognostic risk signature displayed excellent accuracy and demonstrated sufficient independence from other clinical characteristics. The immune cell infiltration analysis showed that the prognostic risk signature was related to the infiltration of immune cell subtypes. Drug sensitivity proved that our prognostic risk signature potentially has therapeutic value. Conclusions: The m5C‐related lncRNA signature reliably predicted the prognosis of breast cancer patients and may provide new insight into the breast cancer tumor immune microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BIM is one of the main technical ways to realize building informatization, and the model's texture is essential to its style design during BIM construction. However, the texture maps provided by mainstream BIM software are not realistic enough and monotonous to meet the actual needs of users for the model style. Therefore, an interior furniture BIM style restoration method was proposed based on image retrieval and object location using convolutional neural network. First, two types of furniture images, namely grayscale contour images from BIM software and real images from the Internet, were collected to train the following network model. Second, a multi-feature weighted fusion neural network model based on an attention mechanism (AM-rVGG) was proposed, which focused on the structural information of furniture images to retrieve the most similar real image, and then some furniture image patches from the retrieved one were generated with object location and random cropping techniques as the candidate texture maps of the furniture BIM. Finally, the candidate ones were fed back into the BIM software to realize the restoration of the furniture BIM style. The experimental results showed that the average retrieval accuracy of the proposed network model was 83.1%, and the obtained texture maps could effectively restore the real style of the furniture BIM. This work provides a new idea for restoring the realism in other BIM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The prognostication for the injured recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) with incomplete loss of signal (LOS) and its function outcome have not been well unified. A warning criterion was proposed to predict RLN injury during monitored thyroidectomy. Methods: A retrospective review of prospectively collected data from consecutive 357 patients with 560 nerves at risk was conducted. Vocal cords mobility with laryngoscope was performed preoperatively, on the second day, and once a month postoperatively until complete recovery. Different cutoff values of the percentage reduction in sum of the amplitude of left and right channel at the end of the surgery, for postoperative vocal cord paralysis (VCP) prediction were compared. Results: Percentage reduction in sum of the amplitude of left and right channel at the end of operation ranged from 30.2 to 63.6% in 27 nerves with incomplete LOS (absolute amplitude value of final R2 > 100 μV with reduction > 50% of R1). Seven (1.25%) nerves experienced transient postoperative VCP, in which one nerve with postoperative VCP showed no amplitude reduction. The positive predictive value of VCP for the sum amplitude reduction exceeding 30, 40, 50, and 60% was 22.2, 40, 85.7, and 100%, respectively. Accuracy was 96.1, 98.2, 99.6, 99.4%, respectively. Conclusion: Percentage reduction in sum of the amplitude of left and right channel is a meaningful method to improve the accuracy of VCP prediction. When the sum amplitude reduction ≥ 50%, surgeons should consider the possibility of postoperative VCP and correct some surgical maneuvers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the indoor thermal condition on people's stress and thermal comfort under acute stress. Therefore, an experiment was carried out on 20 human subjects in the climate chamber. Three thermal conditions (PMV = −1, PMV = 0 and PMV = 1) were created. Trier social stress test was used as the program to stimulate acute stress and was divided into three stages: Pre-stressor, Stressor task and Post-stressor under each thermal condition. To analyse stress and thermal sensation, a survey was conducted and human subjects completed questionnaire provided about their responses. Furthermore, the psychophysiological responses of subjects were measured by electroencephalogram at different thermal conditions. The results indicate that subject's stress is not significantly related to the thermal environment conditions in the stage of Pre-stressor. However, a neutral and slightly cold environment can reduce the stress of the subjects in the Stressor task, while a slightly warm environment would increase more acute stress. The thermal environment and psychological stress were found to have a combined effect, which could affect the thermal sensation, thermal comfort and acceptability of the environment when subjects were under acute stress stimulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of infrastructure construction in China, the number of bridges is increasing rapidly, putting a strain on operation management and structural maintenance. Bridge Information Management System (BIMS) uses information and digital technology to ensure the maintenance of the bridge in long-term operation. However, large-scale bridge models are large in size, complex in structure, rich in information and occupy more computer resources, which harms performance of the BIMS. This paper aims to design and develop a bridge information visualization management system based on Building Information Model (BIM). The geometry and material information for the model is extracted from the IFC by the secondary development of Revit. The lightweight method of the bridge model is studied and implemented, and the model volume is reduced to less than 20% by using the lightweight algorithm. Also, a Web-BIM-oriented model visualization scheme is proposed to render the lightweight model into the browser. This system integrates BIM with the Internet of Things (IoT) and contains information visualization, human-computer interaction and user collaboration. Such a BIMS can effectively relieve the pressure of bridge operation and maintenance, while also providing managers with a safe and reliable platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel adaptive second-order sliding mode (2-SM) control approach, based on online zero-crossing detection, was proposed to solve the problems of the chattering and fixed control gain for buck converters with multi-disturbances. In modeling, the possible parameter perturbations and external disturbances of the converter system were contained. Instead of the traditional first-order sliding mode (1-SM), the twisting algorithm with 2-SM was adopted for the controller design, which could overcome the chattering problem and realize control continuity. Meanwhile, a novel adaptive mechanism was introduced to replace the conventional fixed control gain by time-varying control gain, the idea of which is to calculate the number of the zero-crossing points of the sliding surface online. As a result, the control magnitude of the improved controller could be reduced to a minimal admissible level, and the steady error of the output voltage could converge to the expected value. Furthermore, the robust stability of the converter system with multi-disturbances wads investigated. Comparative simulations and experiments validated the advantages of this paper as offering better robustness and control performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clubroot, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, is an important disease of canola and other brassica crops. Recommending improved management strategies may be guided by an evolving understanding of host and pathogen biology. In order to better understand infection thresholds, clubroot-susceptible canola plants (cultivar Westar) were inoculated with resting spores of P. brassicae in a soil inoculation assay and a plant inoculation assay. In the soil inoculation assay, seven-day-old seedlings were transplanted into soil containing clubroot resting spores at a final concentration of each of the 10× serial dilutions from 1 to 1 × 106 spores/mL soil. In the plant inoculation assay, seven-day-old seedlings were inoculated with 1-µL aliquots of a resting spore suspension at a concentration of each of the 10× serial dilutions from 1 × 103 to 1 × 107 spores/mL, and after 48 h, the inoculated seedlings were transplanted into soil. After 42 days, clubroot development, incidence and severity were visually assessed. From the soil inoculation assay, clubroot was observed to establish in the soil containing as low as 1 spore/mL soil of resting spores. From the plant inoculation assay, very low clubroot incidence was observed when the plants were inoculated with ≤ 100 resting spores total. Our results indicated the urgent need for more sensitive methods of clubroot diagnosis and emphasized the difficulty of the creation of P. brassicae single-spore isolates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the leading malignancy among women worldwide. Aim: This work aimed to present a comprehensively bioinformatic analysis of gene expression profiles and to identify the hub genes during BC tumorigenesis, providing potential biomarkers and targets for the diagnosis and therapy of BC. Materials & Methods: In this study, multiple public databases, bioinformatics approaches, and online analytical tools were employed and the real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was implemented. Results: First, we identified 10, 107, and 3869 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from three gene expression datasets (GSE9574, GSE15852, and GSE42568, covering normal, para‐cancerous, and BC samples, respectively), and investigated different biological functions and pathways involved. Then, we screened out 8, 16, and 29 module genes from these DEGs, respectively. Next, 10 candidate genes were determined through expression and survival analyses. We noted that seven candidate genes JUN, FOS, FOSB, EGR1, ZFP36, CFD, and PPARG were downregulated in BC compared to normal tissues and lower expressed in aggressive types of BC (basal, HER2+, and luminal B), TP53 mutation group, younger patients, higher stage BC, and lymph node metastasis BC, while CD27, PSMB9, and SELL were upregulated. The present study discovered that the expression levels of these candidate genes were correlated with the infiltration of immune cells (CD8+ T cell, macrophage, natural killer [NK] cell, and cancer‐associated fibroblast) in BC, as well as biomarkers of immune cells and immune checkpoints. We also revealed that promoter methylation, amplification, and deep deletion might contribute to the abnormal expressions of candidate genes. Moreover, we illustrated downstream‐targeted genes of JUN, FOS, FOSB, EGR1, and ZFP36 and demonstrated that these targeted genes were involved in "positive regulation of cell death", "pathways in cancer", "PI3K‐Akt signaling pathway", and so on. Discussion & Conclusion: We presented differential gene expression profiles among normal, para‐cancerous, and BC tissues and further identified candidate genes that might contribute to tumorigenesis and progression of BC, as potential diagnostic and prognostic targets for BC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As deubiquitinases (DUBs), ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase (UCH)-L1 has been shown to play a crucial role in regulating diverse biological processes. However, its function in macrophage polarization remains unclear. Methods: We performed in vivo and in vitro experiments to investigate the role of ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1), a kind of DUBs, in macrophage differentiation by using UCHL1-deficiency mice. Results: We demonstrated that LPS stimulation induced UCHL1 expression in macrophages. The deficiency of UCHL1 expression decreased the expression of CD80 and CD86 but increased the expression of CD206. The expression of TNF-α, IL-6, iNOS, and IL-10 was downregulated, while that of Arg1, Ym1, and Fizz1 was upregulated in UCHL1 deficient macrophages. Moreover, we observed that UCHL1 promoted the degradation of p110α through autophagy, but paradoxically increased the activity of AKT, thereby promoting polarization of macrophages into pro-inflammatory states. Conclusion: In this study, we identified UCHL1 as a positive regulator of M1 macrophage polarization. Our findings may help in developing therapeutic interventions for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and pathogenic infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell migration-inducing hyaluronidase 1 (CEMIP), a Wnt-related protein and also known as KIAA1199, is implicated in the process of metastatic colonization in a variety of malignant tumors, including breast cancer (BC), which is one of the most frequently diagnosed tumors in women worldwide. In this study, multiple public databases, online analytical tools, and bioinformatics approaches were applied to explore the expression levels, regulatory mechanisms, and biological functions of CEMIP in BC. We illustrated that CEMIP was highly expressed in various kinds of carcinomas, including BC, especially advanced subtypes, and predicted less favorable prognosis (negatively associated with overall survival) in BC patients, which might be an independent prognostic factor. Then, we revealed that the mutation and high expression of CEMIP might lead to it as an oncogene. We also demonstrated that TP53 mutation, DNA hypo-methylation, and the expression changes of three potential upstream transcription factors (EZH2, EGR1 , and JUN) of CEMIP were likely to cause the hyperexpression of CEMIP in BC. Moreover, our findings suggested that CEMIP might exert its carcinogenic roles in the tumor microenvironment via participation in the extracellular matrix formation, increasing cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF), M2 macrophage, and neutrophil infiltration and decreasing CD8+ T cell infiltration. In summary, our study provided more solid evidence for CEMIP as a prognostic and metastatic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in BC. Of course, these findings also need more confirmations of basic experiments and further clinical trials in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce Tilt Map, a novel interaction technique for intuitively transitioning between 2D and 3D map visualisations in immersive environments. Our focus is visualising data associated with areal features on maps, for example, population density by state. Tilt Map transitions from 2D choropleth maps to 3D prism maps to 2D bar charts to overcome the limitations of each. Our article includes two user studies. The first study compares subjects’ task performance interpreting population density data using 2D choropleth maps and 3D prism maps in virtual reality (VR). We observed greater task accuracy with prism maps, but faster response times with choropleth maps. The complementarity of these views inspired our hybrid Tilt Map design. Our second study compares Tilt Map to: a side-by-side arrangement of the various views; and interactive toggling between views. The results indicate benefits for Tilt Map in user preference; and accuracy (versus side-by-side) and time (versus toggle). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present how to integrate Design Sprints and project-based learning into introductory visualization courses. A design sprint is a unique process based on rapid prototyping and user testing to define goals and validate ideas before starting costly development. The well-defined, interactive, and time-constrained design cycle makes design sprints a promising option for teaching project-based and active-learning-centered courses to increase student engagement and hands-on experience. Over the past five years, we have adjusted the design sprint methodology for teaching a range of visualization courses. We present a detailed guide on incorporating design sprints into large undergraduate and small professional development courses in both online and on-campus settings. Design sprint results, including quantitative and qualitative student feedback, show that design sprints engage students and help practice and apply visualization and design skills. We provide design sprint teaching materials, show examples of student-created work, and discuss limitations and lessons learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper surveys visualization and interaction techniques for geospatial networks from a total of 95 papers. Geospatial networks are graphs where nodes and links can be associated with geographic locations. Examples can include social networks, trade and migration, as well as traffic and transport networks. Visualizing geospatial networks poses numerous challenges around the integration of both network and geographical information as well as additional information such as node and link attributes, time and uncertainty. Our overview analyses existing techniques along four dimensions: (i) the representation of geographical information, (ii) the representation of network information, (iii) the visual integration of both and (iv) the use of interaction. These four dimensions allow us to discuss techniques with respect to the trade‐offs they make between showing information across all these dimensions and how they solve the problem of showing as much information as necessary while maintaining readability of the visualization. https://geonetworks.github.io. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HYDRUS‐1D has been extensively applied to the simulation of wettable soil infiltration, but very few studies have explored its applicability to the infiltration of water‐repellent soil (WRS) at different depths. To this end, HYDRUS‐1D was used to simulate water movement of layered soil with a surface repellent thickness of 10 cm. The parameters of the van Genuchten model were calibrated and validated using cumulative infiltration (CI), distance of the wetting front (Zf) and volumetric water content (θv) through five respective treatments. Another 10 tilled scenarios were selected to simulate water movement of tilled WRS. RRMSE (relative root mean square error) and CRM (coefficient of residual mass) were adopted to evaluate simulation accuracy. For the calibration and validation, the RRMSE values ranged from 0.04 to 0.251 and 0.042 to 0.101, respectively, indicating that HYDRUS‐1D could effectively simulate water movement of WRS. Furthermore, for layered treatments, the simulation accuracy of θv, CI and Zf decreased with the increase of the degree of repellency and thickness. The treatments with the repellent thickness of 10 cm had higher simulation accuracy than that with repellent thickness of 5 cm when the top layer had the same WRS. The results revealed HYDRUS‐1D was effective in the simulation of water movement in repellent clay loam with different degrees of repellency and depths. Highlights: The applicability of HYDRUS‐1D to the infiltration of water‐repellent soil (WRS) at different depths was explored.The simulation of different degrees of repellency and depths was first conducted.Simulation accuracy decreased with the increase of degree of repellency and thickness.HYDRUS‐1D was effective in simulating water movement of repellent soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PCR and qPCR are important methods for plant disease diagnosis and quantification of pathogen populations in host tissues or soil. For most plant diseases, DNA extracted from infected tissue or soil is a prerequisite for PCR or qPCR. The efficiency of DNA extraction should have a direct impact on the sensitivity of PCR and qPCR systems. In this study, plant pathogen DNA extraction efficiencies were evaluated based on three plant disease systems and three DNA extraction methods. DNA of bacterial (Pectobacterium atrosepticum), protist (Plasmodiophora brassicae) and fungal (Botrytis cinerea) pathogens was extracted and aliquots were prepared. Aliquots of the DNA were mixed with healthy tissues of the corresponding host plant and DNA was extracted again from the mixture. The resultant mixed DNA, as well as the original pathogen DNA, were analysed by qPCR to assess the quantities of the pathogen DNA. Extraction efficiency was calculated based on the qPCR Cq values of the mixed DNA and the original pathogen DNA for each extraction method on each pathogen. Our results indicated the pathogen DNA extraction efficiencies were generally less than, or near, 50%. This result called attention to the importance of: 1) including the DNA extraction efficiency in the evaluation and announcement of new qPCR diagnostic systems, and 2) developing and using high efficient DNA extraction methods in plant disease diagnosis and pathogen quantification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Node-link diagrams are widely used to visualise networks. However, even the best network layout algorithms ultimately result in ‘hairball’ visualisations when the graph reaches a certain degree of complexity, requiring simplification through aggregation or interaction (such as filtering) to remain usable. Until now, there has been little data to indicate at what level of complexity node-link diagrams become ineffective or how visual complexity affects cognitive load. To this end, we conducted a controlled study to understand workload limits for a task that requires a detailed understanding of the network topology-finding the shortest path between two nodes. We tested performance on graphs with 25 to 175 nodes with varying density. We collected performance measures (accuracy and response time), subjective feedback, and physiological measures (EEG, pupil dilation, and heart rate variability). To the best of our knowledge this is the first network visualisation study to include physiological measures. Our results show that people have significant difficulty finding the shortest path in high density node-link diagrams with more than 50 nodes and even low density graphs with more than 100 nodes. From our collected EEG data we observe functional differences in brain activity between hard and easy tasks. We found that cognitive load increased up to certain level of difficulty after which it decreased, likely because participants had given up. We also explored the effects of global network layout features such as size or number of crossings, and features of the shortest path such as length or straightness on task difficulty. We found that global features generally had a greater impact than those of the shortest path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract data has no natural scale and so interactive data visualizations must provide techniques to allow the user to choose their viewpoint and scale. Such techniques are well established in desktop visualization tools. The two most common techniques are zoom+pan and overview+detail. However, how best to enable the analyst to navigate and view abstract data at different levels of scale in immersive environments has not previously been studied. We report the findings of the first systematic study of immersive navigation techniques for 3D scatterplots. We tested four conditions that represent our best attempt to adapt standard 2D navigation techniques to data visualization in an immersive environment while still providing standard immersive navigation techniques through physical movement and teleportation. We compared room-sized visualization versus a zooming interface, each with and without an overview. We find significant differences in participants' response times and accuracy for a number of standard visual analysis tasks. Both zoom and overview provide benefits over standard locomotion support alone (i.e., physical movement and pointer teleportation). However, which variation is superior, depends on the task. We obtain a more nuanced understanding of the results by analyzing them in terms of a time-cost model for the different components of navigation: way-finding, travel, number of travel steps, and context switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin B6 is necessary to maintain normal metabolism and immune response, especially the anti‐inflammatory immune response. However, the exact mechanism by which vitamin B6 plays the anti‐inflammatory role is still unclear. Here, we report a novel mechanism of preventing excessive inflammation by vitamin B6 via reduction in the accumulation of sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) in a S1P lyase (SPL)‐dependent manner in macrophages. Vitamin B6 supplementation decreased the expression of pro‐inflammatory cytokines by suppressing nuclear factor‐κB and mitogen‐activated protein kinases signalling pathways. Furthermore, vitamin B6–reduced accumulation of S1P by promoting SPL activity. The anti‐inflammatory effects of vitamin B6 were inhibited by S1P supplementation or SPL deficiency. Importantly, vitamin B6 supplementation protected mice from lethal endotoxic shock and attenuated experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis progression. Collectively, these findings revealed a novel anti‐inflammatory mechanism of vitamin B6 and provided guidance on its clinical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey was conducted in southern Alberta, Canada, to collect Fusarium stalk rot and Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease samples from corn and wheat fields, respectively, with an aim to understand the diversity in the population of Fusarium graminearum. From 77 wheat and 80 corn samples, 79 isolates of F. graminearum were obtained. These 79 isolates were evaluated for their growth rate, sporulation ability, pathogenicity and trichothecene genotype. Eighty-two percent of the isolates were recovered from corn, which suggests corn residue may be better suited than wheat for perpetuating the FHB pathogen. Three genotypes with potential of producing 3-ADON, 15-ADON and NIV were present in the population, and among them, 15-ADON producing genotype was predominant, and 3-ADON genotype produced more spores than the 15-ADON genotype. The proportion of 3-ADON genotype is increasing overtime in Alberta. The impact of increasing population of 3-ADON genotype is worthy of to be monitored for the management of FHB. There were variations in the population of F. graminearum isolates for growth rate, sporulation and pathogenicity but revealed no association among the parameters suggesting other factors like host susceptibility and environment play a significant role in the development of FHB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies posited the effectiveness of stimulated recall. However, few studies explored how SR is implemented in a relatively static context, for example, online self‐directed learning, or took human factors, for example, cognitive style and gender, into consideration in such a context. To fill this gap, the current study, aims to introduce biofeedback as a stimulus for learners to engage in retrospection regarding their learning behavior. A quasi‐experimental design study was carried out over a 12‐week set of EFL self‐regulated online reading activities. Pretest and posttest on reading performance and their cognitive taxonomy were assessed through a developed scale instrument, whereas physiologicalsignals (e.g., gazing duration, verbal fixation, and brain wave) were captured via eye‐tracking and electroencephalograph (EEG) technology. The results emphasized that (a) students' reading ability and cognitive hierarchy significantly improved through biofeedback stimulation. Moreover, (b) learners in single level‐one cognitive hierarchic groups had significant improvements in both cognitive abilities and reading comprehension, whereas learners in multilevel hierarchic groups had no significant enhancements. Finally, (c) the optical data results and EEG reports showed that males favor procedural feedback and females have a preference for a conclusive assessment. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: ·The stimulated recall (SR) technique, considered being a valuable tool for learners to capitalize on introspection, has positive effect on learning outcomes and cognitive processes in physical context.The recorded audio and video are generally used as the stimulus in physical learning context.The stimulus source may differ from a research context to another.Learning performance has close relationship with different human factors, such as cognitive taxonomy and gender differences. What this paper adds: Students adopting the biofeedback as stimulus demonstrated significant improvement in the dimensions of cognitive level and reading comprehension.Biofeedback, such as EEG and eye movement, may be applicable stimulus for stimulated recall in online self‐directed learning context.The lower cognitive students have more significant enhancement of taxonomy and reading capacity, when conducting biofeedback‐based stimulated recall.Eye‐track reports showed that males favor procedural feedback and females have a preference for the conclusive assessment. Implications for practice and/or policy: Biofeedback may act as a meta‐cognitive method to help learners realize their personalized learning habits and cognitive modes and encourage them to embark in the often daunting journey of autonomous learning.Biofeedback data could be used as valuable measurements for instructors to adjust their pedagogic design and improve teaching arrangements according to learners' emotional status and human factors.Procedural feedback is adaptive and should be considered utilizing for male students in self‐access learning context, whereas conclusive assessment approach is more applicable for female learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NLRC3, a member of the NLR family, has been reported as a negative regulator of inflammatory signaling pathways in innate immune cells. However, the direct role of NLRC3 in modulation of CD4+ T-cell responses in infectious diseases has not been studied. In the present study, we showed that NLRC3 plays an intrinsic role by suppressing the CD4+ T cell phenotype in lung and spleen, including differentiation, activation, and proliferation. NLRC3 deficiency in CD4+ T cells enhanced the protective immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Finally, we demonstrated that NLRC3 deficiency promoted the activation, proliferation, and cytokine production of CD4+ T cells via negatively regulating the NF-κB and MEK-ERK signaling pathways. This study reveals a critical role of NLRC3 as a direct regulator of the adaptive immune response and its protective effects on immunity during M. tuberculosis infection. Our findings also suggested that NLRC3 serves as a potential target for therapeutic intervention against tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and accurate PCR protocol for identification of Fusarium graminearum from fungal cultures was developed. In this protocol, DNA extraction was omitted by using the Thermo Scientific Phire direct PCR master mix kit for template preparation and PCR. Two primer pairs, ITS5/ITS2 for DNA template quality control and Fg16F/Fg16R for F. graminearum identification, were used in a duplex PCR. Each 20-µL PCR contained 10 µL 2× Phire Direct PCR master mix, 2 µL template and 0.25 µM each of the four primers. The PCR program consisted of an initial denaturation at 98°C for 5 min, followed by 40 cycles of denaturation at 98°C for 5 s, annealing at 62°C for 5 s and extension at 72°C for 20 s, and a final extension at 72°C for 1 min. This protocol was used to test 196 fungal cultures isolated from 75 wheat samples. Fourteen cultures were identified as F. graminearum. This protocol was demonstrated to be simpler and more accurate than other PCR protocols for F. graminearum identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores different ways to render world‐wide geographic maps in virtual reality (VR). We compare: (a) a 3D exocentric globe, where the user's viewpoint is outside the globe; (b) a flat map (rendered to a plane in VR); (c) an egocentric 3D globe, with the viewpoint inside the globe; and (d) a curved map, created by projecting the map onto a section of a sphere which curves around the user. In all four visualisations the geographic centre can be smoothly adjusted with a standard handheld VR controller and the user, through a head‐tracked headset, can physically move around the visualisation. For distance comparison exocentric globe is more accurate than egocentric globe and flat map. For area comparison more time is required with exocentric and egocentric globes than with flat and curved maps. For direction estimation, the exocentric globe is more accurate and faster than the other visual presentations. Our study participants had a weak preference for the exocentric globe. Generally the curved map had benefits over the flat map. In almost all cases the egocentric globe was found to be the least effective visualisation. Overall, our results provide support for the use of exocentric globes for geographic visualisation in mixed‐reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Botany is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Showing flows of people and resources between multiple geographic locations is a challenging visualisation problem. We conducted two quantitative user studies to evaluate different visual representations for such dense many-to-many flows. In our first study we compared a bundled node-link flow map representation and OD Maps [37] with a new visualisation we call MapTrix. Like OD Maps, MapTrix overcomes the clutter associated with a traditional flow map while providing geographic embedding that is missing in standard OD matrix representations. We found that OD Maps and MapTrix had similar performance while bundled node-link flow map representations did not scale at all well. Our second study compared participant performance with OD Maps and MapTrix on larger data sets. Again performance was remarkably similar. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: In recent years, drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) particularly the emergence of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has become a major public health issue. The most recent study regarding the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis in mainland China was a meta-analysis published in 2011, and the subjects from the included studies were mostly enrolled before 2008, thus making it now obsolete. Current data on the national prevalence of DR-TB is needed. This review aims to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the status of DR-TB epidemic in mainland China. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies regarding the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis in mainland China was performed. Pubmed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane central database, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database were searched for studies relevant to drug-resistant tuberculosis that were published between January 1, 2012 and May 18, 2015. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (V2.2, Biostat) software was used to analyse the data. Results: A total of fifty-nine articles, published from 2012 to 2015, were included in our review. The result of this meta-analysis demonstrated that among new cases, the rate of resistance to any drug was 20.1% (18.0%–22.3%; n/N = 7203/34314) and among retreatment cases, the rate was 49.8% (46.0%–53.6%; n/N = 4155/8291). Multi-drug resistance among new and retreatment cases was 4.8% (4.0%–5.7%; n/N = 2300/42946) and 26.3% (23.1%–29.7%; n/N = 3125/11589) respectively. The results were significantly heterogeneous (p<0.001, I2 tests). Resistance to isoniazid was the most common resistance observed, and HRSE (H: isoniazid; R: rifampicin; S: streptomycin; E: ethambutol) was the most common form for MDR among both new and retreatment cases. Different drug resistance patterns were found by subgroup analysis according to geographic areas, subject enrolment time, and methods of drug susceptibility test (DST). Conclusions: The prevalence of resistance to any drug evidently dropped for both new and retreatment cases, and multi-drug resistance declined among new cases but became more prevalent among retreatment cases compared to the data before 2008. Therefore, drug-resistant tuberculosis, particularly multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis among retreatment TB cases is a public health issue in China that requires a constant attention in order to prevent increase in MDR-TB cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, potato tubers in storage (1% of 1,000 tons) in southern Alberta showed decay symptoms. This is the first report on I I. crassa i infecting potato in North America and I I. pseudodestructans i infecting potato in the world, respectively. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

NOD‐like receptor (NLR) family CARD domain containing 3 (NLRC3), an intracellular member of NLR family, is a negative regulator of inflammatory signaling pathways in innate and adaptive immune cells. Previous reports have shown that NLRC3 is expressed in dendritic cells (DCs). However, the role of NLRC3 in DC activation and immunogenicity is unclear. In the present study, we find that NLRC3 attenuates the antigen‐presenting function of DCs and their ability to activate and polarize CD4+ T cells into Th1 and Th17 subsets. Loss of NLRC3 promotes pathogenic Th1 and Th17 responses and enhanced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) development. NLRC3 negatively regulates the antigen‐presenting function of DCs via p38 signaling pathway. Vaccination with NLRC3‐overexpressed DCs reduces EAE progression. Our findings support that NLRC3 serves as a potential target for treating adaptive immune responses driving multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders. Synopsis: The innate immune sensor NLRC3 negatively regulates dendritic cell activation to affect Th1 and Th17 cell differentiation and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. NLRC3 attenuates the antigen‐presenting function of DCs and their ability to activate and polarize CD4+ T cells into Th1 and Th17 subsets.Loss of NLRC3 promotes pathogenic Th1 and Th17 responses and enhanced EAE development.NLRC3 negatively regulates the antigen‐presenting function of DCs via p38 signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]