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Developing host resistance is an economic and long-term approach to disease management; however, resistance reactions that differ depending on the genotypes. Potato late blight is the devastating disease caused due to Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary. In order to identify late blight resistance in potato genotypes, seven local potato cultivars (Bardiya Rato Local, Bardiya Seto Local, Cardinal, Deukhuri Rato Local, Deukhuri Seto Local, Kailali Local and Khumal Ujjowal) were evaluated in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications during October 2018 to January 2019 on naturally infested soils in Deukhuri, Dang, Nepal. Results showed that significantly the highest disease incidence (99.17%), and the highest disease severity (88%) were found on Cardinal followed by Deukhuri Rato Local (64%), and Deukhuri Seto Local (60%). Potato cultivar namely Khumal Ujjowal was moderately resistant, whereas Deukhuri Rato local and Deukhuri Seto Local were susceptible to late blight disease. Significantly the highest yield (12.67 t ha -1 ) was produced by Khumal Ujjowal followed by Bardiya Rato Local (10.78 t ha -1 ) and Bardiya Seto Local (9.40 t ha -1 ). The disease incidence and Area under disease progressive curve (AUDPC) value was negatively co-related with the tuber yield. The potato cultivar Khumal Ujjowal followed by Bardiya Rato Local were found moderately resistant to late blight disease in Deukhuri conditions. This study suggests that potato cultivar Bardiya Rato Local can be grown for higher tuber production in Dang and similar topographic regions. DOI: 10.37637/ab.v3i1.464

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Background and Objective: It can be challenging to delineate the target object in anatomical imaging when the object boundaries are difficult to discern due to the low contrast or overlapping intensity distributions from adjacent tissues. Methods: We propose a topo-graph model to address this issue. The first step is to extract a topographic representation that reflects multiple levels of topographic information in an input image. We then define two types of node connections - nesting branches (NBs) and geodesic edges (GEs). NBs connect nodes corresponding to initial topographic regions and GEs link the nodes at a detailed level. The weights for NBs are defined to measure the similarity of regional appearance, and weights for GEs are defined with geodesic and local constraints. NBs contribute to the separation of topographic regions and the GEs assist the delineation of uncertain boundaries. Final segmentation is achieved by calculating the relevance of the unlabeled nodes to the labels by the optimization of a graph-based energy function. We test our model on 47 low contrast CT studies of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 10 contrast-enhanced CT liver cases and 50 breast and abdominal ultrasound images. The validation criteria are the Dice's similarity coefficient and the Hausdorff distance. Results: Student's t-test show that our model outperformed the graph models with pixel-only, pixel and regional, neighboring and radial connections (p-values

Climatic changes in the recent decades have led to large variations in precipitation over the different geographical regions of the globe. Changes in precipitation pattern over the space and time can severely affect the country like India, which has a large spatio-temporal variability in the precipitation. Any shift in the mean precipitation pattern pose a challenge to economy, agricultural farming and the ecosystem of these regions. In the present study, we analyze the seasonal spatio-temporal variation in trends of long term (1901–2013) observed high resolution (0.25° × 0.25°) gridded daily precipitation data of the Indian Meteorological Department over Western Ghats and coastal region of Karnataka, vulnerable to the risks of climate change. Our analysis shows increasing trend in seasonal ratio of precipitation over the Southern coastal plains and the adjacent Western Ghats region during pre-monsoon (MAM) while the southern coastal plains show decreasing trend in monsoon period (JJAS). Daily intensity index of precipitation during monsoon shows increasing trend in northern plains with decreasing trend in the medium precipitation events. Our study finds that different topographic regions of Karnataka have different responses in the trends of precipitation, particularly the response of plains is quite different to that of the higher elevated Ghat region.

Evaluation of synchronization between myoelectric signals can give new insights into the functioning of the complex system of porcine myometrium. We propose a model of uterine contractions according to the hypothesis of action potentials similarity which is possible to detect during propagation in the uterine wall. We introduce similarity measures based on the concept of synchronization as used in matching linear signals such as electromyographic (EMG) time series data. The aim was to present linear measures to assess synchronization between contractions in different topographic regions of the uterus. We use the cross-correlation function (ƒx,y[l], ƒy,z[l]) and the cross-coherence function (Cxy[ƒ], Cyz[ƒ]) to assess synchronization between three data series of a diestral uterine EMG bundles in porcine reproductive tract. Spontaneous uterine activity was recorded using telemetry method directly by three-channel transmitter and three silver bipolar needle electrodes sutured on different topographic regions of the reproductive tract in the sow. The results show the usefulness of the cross-coherence function in that synchronization between uterine horn and corpus uteri for multiple action potentials (bundles) could be observed. The EMG bundles synchronization may be used to investigate the direction and velocity of EMG signals propagation in porcine reproductive tract.

Rainfall erosivity is the main driver for soil detachment and sediment transport, and represents the climatic factor most influencing the risk of soil erosion at a given site. Our objectives were to explore 15 min rainfall breakpoint data from 51 rain gauges in the northeastern part of Austria to (1) calculate rainfall erosivity values for this region, and (2) analyze statistically whether there exists a temporal evolution in rainfall erosivity. Rainfall data (May to October) covered between nine and 53 years. Rain gauges were located at elevations between 150 and 970 m a.s.l., and mean rainfall depths were 514 (±169) mm and 652 (±156) mm for Lower Austria (LA) and Upper Austria (UA), respectively. The calculated rainfall erosivity factor (R factor) ranged from 273 to 1599 with an average of 884 MJ mm ha -1 h -1 in LA and from 637 and 1697 with an average of 982 MJ mm ha -1 h -1 in UA. Rainfall depths and erosivities showed greater variability in LA than in UA, which can be attributed to the different ranges of topographic regions in LA. For both states, relationships could be established between average rainfall from May to October and the R factor, with correlation coefficients between 0.77 (LA) and 0.85 (UA). Overall, for the same rainfall amounts, rainfall erosivity was lower in UA than in LA. In LA, time series analyses showed a significant temporal increasing trend in rainfall intensity, rainfall erosivity, and storm number and intensity. These positive trends at 90% of the stations with data sets of >25 years indicate possible future R factor increases and increasing erosion risk. In UA, only 25% of the rain gauges showed a significant positive trend in rainfall erosivity, and 40% showed a significant increase in rainfall intensity. Changes in rainfall patterns were more distinct in eastern Austria than in northern Austria, thus impacting runoff, infiltration, and erosion processes in this area in the future.

The Parsnip River area in British Columbia (BC), Canada, provides important habitat for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos). This area contains 2 adjacent topographic regions: (1) a relatively pristine portion of the Hart Ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and (2) a plateau on which timber harvests have occurred. Increasing human modification of both landscapes may affect the quality of grizzly bear habitat. Therefore, we examined denning behavior and den-site selection of grizzly bears in this area based on data from 61 grizzly bears radiocollared between 1997 and 2002 (34 plateau, 27 mountain bears). Adult females residing in the mountainous landscape arrived earlier to their denning areas (14 Oct versus 26 Oct), entered dens earlier (23 Oct versus 9 Nov), and emerged later (11 May versus 24 Apr) than plateau females, spending on average 36 days longer in their dens (200 days versus 164 days). Dens used in consecutive years by mountain females tended to be closer to one another (x = 2.4 km) than those of plateau females (x = 5.1 km). Dens in the mountains were excavations into sloping ground (74%), or natural caves (26%), using rocks as the primary stabilizing structure (47%). Resource selection functions (RSF) revealed that mountain grizzly bears selected dens in alpine habitats at mid-to-upper elevations. Plateau bears mainly excavated dens under the base of trees (90%), where roots stabilized material (80%). These dens primarily were located in older-aged forest stands ranging from 45–99 years (40%) or >100 years (50%); RSFs further revealed that grizzly bears on the plateau selected stands with tall trees. Plateau dens also were located away from roads, possibly because of less disturbance and because older trees were farther from roads.

Thymic nurse cells are defined in vitro as multicellular complexes of epithelial cells and thymocytes. Although these structures have been implicated in the intrathymic differentiation of thymocytes, little is known about the biology of this cell complex and about the occurrence of the cells in the thymus in situ. Therefore, to clarify the matter, in this review we have presented characteristics of epithelial cells capable of forming complexes with thymocytes, in light of the literature data and the experience of the authors. The structure of cells within the complexes allowed us to distinguish three types of thymic nurse cells. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the thymus and observations employing TEM and SEM demonstrated the presence of distinct types of complexes in various topographic regions of the thymus. Where possible, the functional relevance of the morphological data was analyzed.

The posttraumatic hand deformity remains a difficult challenge for reconstructive surgeons. Much has been written about the relative benefits of fasciocutaneous, fascial, and muscle flap reconstruction; however, the literature is devoid of guidelines for secondary surgery after flap reconstruction to improve the appearance of the hand. We introduce the concept of visual subunits of the hand in an effort to better guide restoration of natural hand form; thenar, hypothenar, midpalm, distal palm, dorsal hand, volar forearm, and dorsal forearm subunits are proposed. The visual subunit principle has been implemented in reconstruction of posttraumatic hand deformities. Management initially focused on reestablishment of hand function and provision of soft tissue coverage via local and free tissue transfer. Secondary procedures involved partial flap elevation, targeted debulking, and redefining topographic regions where possible. By designing asymmetric skin excision patterns, the resultant length and width discrepancies can be used to purposefully enhance topographic features while re-creating the appearance of natural crease lines bordering adjacent subterritories. No complications related to partial or complete flap loss were encountered.

Equine Gasterophilosis in Sardinia: annual trend of boteggs laying in different topographic regions of the horse Cristian Pilo & Antonella Altea & Maria Paola Fois & Antonio Scala Published online: 8 July 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009 Keywords Botegg-laying.Gasterophilus spp..HorseIntroductionHorse breeding is an important sector of animal husbandry in Sardinia; furthermore this islandforitslocationinthemiddleoftheMediterraneancouldbeanepidemiologicalstudymodelforsome parasitoses of the Mediterranean area, such as equine Gasterophilosis. Nevertheless, inthis region some aspects concerning the chronobiology of this important myasis caused byGasterophilus spp. have never been evaluated. In order to provide a contribution on this topic,we present the results of a study aimed at understanding the monthly trend of Gasterophilosisthrough the survey of egg-laying by adult flies in different topographic regions of horses.Materials and methodsFrom October 2005 to September 2006, a survey on egg-laying by adults of Gasterophilusspp. was carried out monthly in 4 study farms (s.f.): s.f. A in the countryside of Osilo (SS)(5 horses); s.f. B in the countryside of Sassari-Bunnari (9 horses); s.f. C (7 horses) and s.f.D in the countryside of Stintino (SS), and stud-farm E (5 horses) in the countryside ofSassari. Except for the horses of s.f. C that were kept inside a paddock surrounded with awall about 3 m high, all the other animals were always raised outdoors.Eggs found on the coat of the 30 horses monitored were preventively removed(September 2005). Afterwards, once a month the horses were monitored and all eggs laidon each of the 30 topographic regions, in to which the horses were schematically dividedaccording to Popesko (1980), were counted and the total number recorded. The eggmonitoringwascarriedoutontheleftsideofthehorsebeginningfromthehead,thentheneck

Objective In physiological research, there are not too many studies on multivariate data sets, containing two or more simultaneously recorded time series. It is important to examine synchronization in these kinds of signals. The aim of this study is to present the linear measures: the cross-correlation function, the coherence function, the wavelet cross-correlation and the wavelet coherence to assess synchronization between contractions in different topographic regions of the uterus. Study design Spontaneous uterine activity was recorded directly by a dual micro-tip catheter (Millar Instruments, Inc., USA). The device consisted of two ultra-miniature pressure sensors. One sensor was placed in the fundus, the other one in the cervix. For this analysis, a healthy patient with normal contractions, a patient with dysmenorrhea, a patient with fibromyomas in the follicular phase, and the patient with endometriosis were selected. Results For each method the values of synchronization parameters for normal contractions were higher than the values of these parameters for other pairs of signals. The differences between these four groups of the uterine contraction signals were clear. The lowest values of the synchronization measures were in the case of dysmenorrheic patient. Conclusion The analysis of synchronization of the uterine contractions signals may have a diagnostic value. For intrauterine pressure signals results obtained by means of different synchronization methods are different, but consistent.

[1] Topologically, water bodies are the first-level topographic regions that get flooded, and as the flood level gets higher, adjacent water bodies merge. The looplike network that forms along all these merging points represents zones of influence of each water body. These two topologically interdependent phenomena follow the universal scaling laws similar to certain other environmental and biological phenomena. Despite morphological variations, water bodies and their influence zones of varied sizes and shapes have different sets of scaling exponents, thereby determining that they belong to different universality classes.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the gender effecton minor physical anomalies (MPA) in schizophrenic patients and normal controls. Seventy-six schizophrenic patients (43 males and 33 females) and 82 normal control subjects (42 males and 40 females) were examined for MPA using a modified version of the Waldrop Physical Anomaly Scale. Men tended to be more stigmatized with MPA than women both in normal subjects and in schizophrenics (with this difference slightly expanding in schizophrenics). In both genders schizophrenic patients were significantly more likely to have MPA than normal controls, but the difference tended to be more pronounced in males. There was a tendency towards sex-related predilection for the increase of MPA in schizophrenics in terms of individual anomalies and topographic regions affected. Among schizophrenics, genders showed a somewhat opposite topography of MPA stigmatization, with relatively more pronounced peripheral dysmorphy in males and craniofacial dysmorphy in females. These data suggest greater vulnerability of the male fetus to endogenous or exogenous factors and different susceptibilities to developmental adversities in male and female schizophrenics. This finding is in accord with the increasing evidence that sex differences in the epidemiology of schizophrenia may be broader and more fundamental than previously thought.

The course of GFAP expression by astrocytes has been immunohistochemically investigated during the first 30 weeks after human brain injury. In order to provide reliable data for a forensic wound age estimation, a quantitative morphometric analysis was performed considering the different topographic regions of the cortex as well as of the white matter. Compared to the GFAP immunoreactivity in unaltered control tissue, significantly increased numbers of GFAP positive astroglial cells could be detected adjacent to the cortical contusion from 1 day up to 4 weeks after brain injury.

The present review summarises the detailed recommendations for an optimal endoscopic-bioptic diagnostic procedure, endoscopic surveillance of and therapy for gastrointestinal diseases. The recommendations are mainly based on the S 3-guidelines and have been developed by histopathologists and gastroenterologists in interdisciplinary work. The material has been arranged according to topographic regions of the gastrointestinal tract and clinical problems. The focus is placed on diagnostic and surveillance of Barrett’s oesophagus, therapy and postoperative treatment for early gastrointestinal carcinoma, management of colon polyps and endoscopic surveillance of inflammatory bowel disease. Treatment recommendations for both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease as well as low-grade and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and polypoid neoplasia are currently being intensively discussed. Thus we examine this controversial discussion in detail. Furthermore, the recent guidelines for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and gastric MALT-lymphoma diagnostics are included in this survey. To allow the gastroenterologist a time-sparing overview during practical work, most of the recommendations are presented in itemised form and summarised in tables and figures at the end of the discussion.

In the face of the current debate on ‘cadaverless’ teaching of anatomy (Guttmann et al. 2004; McLachlan et al. 2004), the publication of the 13th edition of this classic ‘cook book’ of human dissection is a vindication of the irreplaceably tried and true method of gaining anatomical knowledge. With a new author assuming the mantle of this eponymous ‘Dissector’ with a 60-year publication record, the realities of the reduced curriculum time allocated for anatomical dissection are taken into account. The book is highly integrated with its complementary Grant's Atlas of Anatomy, 12th edition (although incorrectly indicating the 11th edition, page 4), and with three other popular anatomical atlases. The dissection instructions are organized into seven ‘stand alone’ topographic regions that allow for interchangeable approaches to the order of dissection. Each regional description follows a set pattern of surface anatomy, then osteology, with a preview of ‘before you dissect …’, followed by explicit instructions in a numbered sequence. A review, ‘after you dissect …’ emphasizes the significant facts and includes specific references (page and plate numbers) to four anatomical atlases. This theme is in keeping with the best tradition of reiteration and reinforcement as a pedagogical protocol that makes this text an admirable tutor. Colour-coded boxes distinguish the xanthochroic ‘Dissection Instructions’ from the cerulean ‘Clinical Correlations’, interspersed with clear, appropriately coloured drawings of the anatomical structures and the best approach to their dissection. The terminology used is in accordance with the Terminologia Anatomica, reducing potential confusion of nomenclature. The glossy paper on which this book is printed will serve to some extent to repel the ravages of dissection-room exposure. The spiralbound version will more likely survive the inevitable expansive opening for which the text is designed. In summary, a highly recommended tool for dissection.

Current emphasis on risk factors associated with established vaccines and pressing needs for vaccines against certain viral transmitted diseases have stimulated the search for new conceptual and practical approaches to vaccine production. Among these developments, the idiotope vaccine method has produced promising results. In this review the basic and conceptual principles for idiotype vaccine design are discussed. A novel approach for identifying idiotopic structures in the three dimensional structure of internal idiotope antigens is developed. The method is based on the relationship of the immune response with the evolutionary variation and diversity of the immunoglobulin family. Idiotopic structures are found in specialized topographic regions on the surface of the immunoglobulin molecule. The knowledge of these idiotope domains will facilitate the synthesis of idiotope expressing peptides and the computer modeling of the three dimensional structure of internal idiotope antigens. Finally, the existing evidence for successful application of the idiotope vaccine method is summarized and new disease groups are identified which could benefit from the development of idiotope vaccines.

It was shown earlier that nonlinear processes probably generate uterine contractions. In this study, the nonlinear synchronization measures (the mutual correlation dimension, the cross-approximate entropy, the mutual information and the nonlinear interdependencies) were employed to analyze the association between two time series representing the uterine contraction activity. Here the notion of synchronization is used in a loose sense as the synonym of correlation, the similarity of the signals or the similarity of their dynamics. The signals were recorded from the different topographic regions of the uterus: the cervix and the fundus. The results obtained by means of different algorithms are different but qualitatively similar for the checked methods.