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This study investigates the natural repellency of Solanum torvumSw. (herein Torvum) to the Meloidogyne incognita(M. incognita) and the influence on neighboring plants. Torvum is a solanaceous species that has demonstrated high resistance to several pathogens and pests transmitted from the soil, including M. incognita. Inoculation experiments were performed on five Solanaceae species. The results confirmed the high resistance of Torvum to M. incognitaand its ability to have beneficial effects on closely grown plants, evidenced by a significant reduction of galls and egg masses on the highly susceptible plants of Solanum melongenaL. and Solanum lycopersicum. We show that the resistance of Torvum is due to impenetrability to M. incognita. We show that roots of in vitro grown Torvum present distinguished trichomes and root hair phenotypes. In our previous study, the Torvum transcriptome revealed differentially expressed genes with significant enrichment for the sesquiterpenoid and chitinase genes. Re-analyzing the transcriptomic data of our previous work, we found several genes modulated among those of Dirigent/Disease Resistance Response (DIR/DRR) proteins, then validated through qRT-PCR. The resistant plants showed DIR-DRRgenes highly expressed compared to susceptible in the controls and inoculated plants, thus suggesting a role in plant defense. We proposed a schematic model to explain the protection potential of Torvum against M. incognitainfection and possibly new opportunities in the plant protection.

Ketamine remains one of the most commonly used anaesthetic agents around the world. Despite it being the anaesthetic agent of choice in many developing nations, there is a paucity of literature describing ketamine in the developing world. In what we believe is the first randomized controlled trial to be performed in Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides) we compared the use of ketamine 0.9 mg/kg and diazepam 0.07 mg/kg with ketamine 0.3 mg/kg and 2% lignocaine infiltration in 50 Melanesian women undergoing post partum tubal ligation. All women received 0.5 mg/kg intramuscular pethidine.Visual analog pain scores and verbal numeric satisfaction scores were similar between the groups. However the time to obeyed command was significantly faster in the 0.3 mg/kg ketamine group (7.0±4.9 vs 13.0±9.2 min). The incidence of dreaming was similar and the content rated as pleasant by both groups. In institutions where post-anaesthesia care resources are limited, 0.3 mg/kg ketamine with local anaesthesia provides for earlier self-care of patients after tubal ligation, without compromise of analgesia, emergence or satisfaction. The implications of these findings extend to other procedures that require short general anaesthesia, which can be adequately performed with low-dose ketamine and local anaesthesia. The latter technique allows more rapid awakening.

In 15 patients with duodenal diverticula close to the papilla of Vater we evaluated the motor activity of the sphincter of Oddi by endoscopic biliary manometry. Both basal pressure and phasic activity were similar to those in nine patients without biliopancreatic disease and in 60 patients with common bile duct stones. The anatomical relationship between the papilla and diverticula did not lead to any change in the motor pattern. If juxtapapillary diverticula are associated with a higher prevalence of biliopancreatic disease, dysfunction of the sphincter of Oddi does not seem to play a pathogenic role.

Glucagon-(1–21)-peptide, the peptide containing the amino acid sequence (1–21) of glucagon, has the same spasmolytic effect as the complete molecule, without its metabolic action. The effect of glucagon and glucagon-(1–21)-peptide on sphincter of Oddi motor activity was evaluated in 20 patients undergoing ERCP and endoscopic biliary manometry. Glucagon produced a nonsignificant decrease in basal pressure, but significantly reduced both frequency and amplitude of phasic activity of the sphincter of Oddi. Glucagon-(1–21)-peptide showed no effect on basal pressure and amplitude of phasic activity, but provoked a significant reduction of frequency of phasic contraction.

Attempts to synthesize the depsidones virensic acid (1), physciosporin (2), and pannarin (3) by routes based on the Ullmann ether condensation and the Hems reaction are described. Selective functionalization of highly substituted p-xylenes by photobromination is reported.

The xanthones 1-hydroxy-3,6-dimethoxy-(2), 2,4-dichloro-1,3-dihydroxy- 6-methoxy-(6), 2-chloro-1,3-dihydroxy-6-methoxy- (7), 4-chloro-1,3- dihydroxy-6-methoxy- (8) and 2-chloro-1-hydroxy-3,6-dimethoxy-8-methyl- 9H-xanthen-9-one (11) were isolated from the lichen Pertusaria sulphurata Mull. Arg. The unambiguous synthesis of compounds (6), (7), (8), (11) and some other chloroxanthones, and the chlorination of 1,3- dihydroxy-6-methoxy-8-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one (5), are described.

Oxidation of 2,2'-dihydroxy-4,4'-dimethoxy-6,6'-dimethylbenzophenone (1) with alkaline ferricyanide gave the expected 4',6-dimethoxy-4,6'-dimethylspiro[benzofuran-2(3H),1'-cyclohexa-3',5'-diene]-2',3(2H)-dione (2) as well as 2'-hydroxy-6-methoxy-4,5'-dimethylspiro[benzofuran-2(3H),1'-cyclopent-4'-ene]-3(2H),3'-dione (3). The structure of compound (3) was deduced from its spectroscopic properties and was confirmed by X-ray diffraction.

Transtympanic administration of gentamicin was used to treat patients with unilateral Menière's disease and was stopped at the first signs of damage to cochlear and/or vestibular function. Twenty-eight patients were treated between 1974 and 1981 and 34 patients were managed between 1981 and 1987. In the two groups of patients, objective vertigo disappeared in 85%, hearing improved in 26%, aural fullness disappeared in 78%, while tinnitus ceased altogether in 51% and became less intense in 24%. Our findings show that this kind of treatment can be used after unsuccessful medical therapy and prior to any labyrinthine or endolymphatic sac surgery.

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Wide-bandwidth phase lock between the tooth of a frequency comb and a CW extended-cavity diode laser at 1.55 μm is achieved by the use of an acousto-optical frequency shifter in a feed-forward configuration. The coherence properties of the comb are efficiently transferred to the CW laser, whose linewidth is narrowed down to the ∼10  KHz comb level. A maximum control bandwidth of ∼0.6  MHz has been experimentally achieved, limited by the transit time of the acoustic wave inside the frequency shifter.