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The dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans exists in two forms, green and red Noctiluca, with and without the photosynthetic endosymbiont Pedinomonas noctilucae, respectively. In Southeast Asia, green Noctiluca has a northern boundary of distribution in the Luzon Strait and the Vietnamese coast, approximately corresponding to the 25°C isotherm. We examined whether this boundary arose from the growth dependence of Noctiluca on temperature and/or that of P. noctilucae. We analyzed the effect of temperature on growth by examining one and four unialgal cultures of red and green Noctiluca, respectively, and two monocultures of the endosymbiont. Growth dependence on temperature was markedly different between host cells of green Noctiluca and monocultures of the endosymbiont, although some variations in growing temperature were observed among strains of both Noctiluca and the endosymbiont. Green Noctiluca grew at a temperature range of 20–31°C, whereas P. noctilucae did not grow at low temperatures ≤25°C. Growth rates of green Noctiluca were considerably higher when fed compared to monocultures. Our findings demonstrate that the effect of temperature on P. noctilucae growth is a crucial factor controlling the geographical distribution of green Noctiluca in the South China Sea. An implication of this finding is discussed in the context of global warming.

The use of Compton cameras for medical imaging and its interest as a hadron therapy treatment monitoring has increased in the last decade with the development of silicon photomultipliers. MACACO is a Compton camera prototype designed and assembled at the IRIS group of IFIC-Valencia. This Compton camera is based on monolithic Lanthanum (III) Bromide crystals and silicon photomultipliers, and employs the novel TOFPET2 ASIC as readout electronics. This system emerged as an alternative to MACACO II prototype, with the aim of improving its limited time resolution. To test the performance of the ASIC in a Compton camera setup, the prototype was characterized, both in laboratory and in-beam. A time resolution of 1.5 ns was obtained after time corrections, which improves greatly the performance of the MACACO II. Moreover, the results obtained at high photon energies demonstrate the ability of the system to obtain 1 mm displacements of the reconstructed spots. The results reinforce the potential of the system as a monitoring device for hadron therapy., This work has received funding from the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain (AICO/2019070) and from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2019-110657RB-100). Group members are supported by UVEG Atracció de Talent, FPU, CDEIGENT, SEJIGENT and Generalitat Valenciana contracts. M.C. Jiménez-Ramos acknowledges the support to this work through a VI PPIT-US contract.

En este estudio fueron evaluadas algunas variedades de cítricos utilizadas como interinjertos en las características del crecimiento inicial de brote primario de la lima persa var. ‘Tahiti’ (Citrus x latifolia Tanaka ex Q. Jiménez) y su relación con características del tallo. Se utilizaron como interinjertos trifoliado ‘Flying Dragon’ (Poncirus trifoliata var. ‘Monstruosa’), trifoliado ‘Rubidoux’ (P. trifoliata var. ‘Rubidoux’) y la propia lima ‘Tahiti’; y como portainjertos se utilizó el naranjo ‘Agrio’ (C. aurantium L.) y limón ‘Volkameriano’ (C. volkameriana Tenn. & Pasq.). Se realizó un diseño de tratamientos factorial 2 x 4. Se midieron siete variables del crecimiento inicial del injerto y seis características del tallo y se correlacionaron entre ellas. El ‘Agrio’ con los interinjertos redujo la longitud, velocidad de crecimiento, diámetro y longitud de entrenudos del brote primario en 18, 22, 12 y 14 % menos respecto a ‘Volkameriano’ con los interinjertos. ’Rubidoux’ sobre ‘Volkameriano’ tuvo los valores más altos en seis variables del crecimiento, pero combinado con ‘Agrio’ indujo características de enanismo en el brote primario de lima ‘Tahiti’. El diámetro de tallo de ambos portainjertos se afectó por el interinjerto. ´Rubidoux’ incrementó el diámetro de ‘Volkameriano’ pero no el de ‘Agrio’, mientras que ‘Flying Dragon’ presentó mayor diámetro que su portainjerto. Se encontraron correlaciones bajas ( -0.22 a 0.50) del diámetro del portainjerto y del interinjerto; del grosor de la corteza del portainjerto y del interinjerto con todas las variables del crecimiento del brote primario de lima ‘Tahiti’.

The applicability extent of hadron therapy for tumor treatment is currently limited by the lack of reliable online monitoring techniques. An active topic of investigation is the research of monitoring systems based on the detection of secondary radiation produced during treatment. MACACO, a multi-layer Compton camera based on LaBr3 scintillator crystals and SiPMs, is being developed at IFIC-Valencia for this purpose. This work reports the results obtained from measurements of a 150 MeV proton beam impinging on a PMMA target. A neural network trained on Monte Carlo simulations is used for event selection, increasing the signal to background ratio before image reconstruction. Images of the measured prompt gamma distributions are reconstructed by means of a spectral reconstruction code, through which the 4.439 MeV spectral line is resolved. Images of the emission distribution at this energy are reconstructed, allowing calculation of the distal fall-off and identification of target displacements of 3 mm.

espanolEl objetivo de la investigacion fue implementar un programa de intervencion psicosocial en ninas/os con sobrepeso u obesidad y que logren identificar habitos alimenticios saludables. Se realizo un muestreo no probabilistico por conveniencia reclutando a 20 ninos y ninas con peso normal (n=4), sobrepeso (n=11) y obesidad (n=5) con un rango de edad de 8 a 12 anos (= 9.65). De la muestra inicial solo 16 ninos y ninas con sobrepeso u obesidad comenzaron el programa de intervencion y solo 9 participantes lo concluyeron. El estudio fue no experimental de tipo descriptivo de corte transversal donde las variables estudiadas fueron la alimentacion emocional, habitos alimenticios, creencias irracionales, funcionamiento familiar y depresion. Para el analisis de los resultados de la bateria se utilizaron tablas cruzadas con el fin de crear un plan de intervencion que respondiera a las necesidades de la poblacion encontrando que los participantes presentaban riesgo de alimentacion emocional, muestran ausencia de actividad fisica y presencia de creencias irracionales en torno a su alimentacion, indicativo de habitos alimenticios no saludables. Finalmente se aplico un pretest-postest, durante el programa de intervencion, donde se llevo a cabo un analisis descriptivo destacando la mejora de los habitos alimenticios de los participantes. EnglishThe objective of the research was to implement a psychosocial intervention program for children who are overweight or obese and enable them to identify healthy eating habits. A non-probability sample for convenience was carried out, recruiting 20 with normal weight (n=4), overweight (n=11) or obese (n=5) boys and girls with an age range of 8 to 12 years ( = 9.65). Of the initial sample, only 16 boys and girls that were overweight or obese started the intervention program and only 9 participants completed it. The study was non-experimental of a cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational type with a quantitative approach where the variables studied were emotional eating, eating habits, irrational beliefs, family functioning, and depression. In the analysis of the results of the battery, crossed tables were used in order to create an intervention plan that responded to the needs of the population, finding that the participants were at risk of emotional feeding, they also showed absence of physical activity and presence of irrational beliefs around their diet, which is an indicative of unhealthy eating habits. Finally, a pretest-posttest was applied during the intervention program, where a descriptive analysis was carried out highlighting improvement in the eating habits of the participants.

In recent decades, PET scanners have been widely used for diagnosis and treatment monitoring in nuclear medicine. The continuous effort of the scientific community has led to improvements in scanner performance. Total-body PET is one of the latest upgrades in PET scanners. These kinds of scanners are able to scan the whole body of the patient with a single bed position, since the scanner tube is long enough for the patient to fit inside. While these scanners show unprecedented efficiency and extended field-of-view, a drawback is their low spatial resolution compared to dedicated scanners. In order to improve the spatial resolution of specific areas when measuring with a total-body PET scanner, the IRIS group at IFIC-Valencia is developing a probe. The proposed setup of the probe contains a monolithic scintillation crystal and a SiPM. The signal of the probe is read out by a TOFPET2 ASIC from PETsys, which has shown good performance for PET in terms of spatial and time resolutions. Furthermore, the PETsys technology generates a trigger signal that will be used to time synchronise the probe and the scanner. The proof-of-concept of the probe will be tested in a Preclinical Super Argus PET/CT scanner for small animals located at IFIC. Preliminary simulations of the scanner and the probe under ideal conditions show a slight improvement in the position reconstruction compared to the data obtained with the scanner, therefore we expect a considerable improvement when using the probe in a total-body PET scanner. Characterisation tests of the probe have been performed with a 22Na point-like source, obtaining an energy resolution of 9.09% for the 511 keV energy peak and a temporal resolution of 619 ps after time walk correction. The next step of the project is to test the probe measuring in temporal coincidence with the scanner.

El objetivo de la presente investigacion fue estimar la elasticidad ingreso de la disposicion a pagar de los consumidores de servicios ambientales proporcionados por el parque recreativo de los Prismas Basalticos de Huasca de Ocampo, Hidalgo. La importancia del estudio radica en las recomendaciones de politica ambiental para hacer que el ecosistema de los Prismas Basalticos sea sustentable economicamente mediante el cobro diferencial de cuotas de entrada. La metodologia utilizada fue la segmentacion de los consumidores a partir del modelo de analisis de conglomerados en dos etapas. El principal resultado fue la identificacion de tres tipos de consumidores, quienes los de menor ingreso tienen mayor disponibilidad a pagar por mejoras potenciales en los servicios recreativos del parque, mientras que los de mayores ingresos tienen menor disponibilidad a pagar. Los resultados indican que, en los tres tipos de consumidores, la elasticidad ingreso de la disponibilidad al pago por mejoras potenciales a la calidad de los servicios recreativos es menor que la unidad y mayor que cero; es decir, que los servicios recreativos son un bien normal. El resultado es relevante y consistente con los reportados en otras investigaciones.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the key cell factories for production of chemicals and active pharmaceuticals. For large-scale fermentations, particularly in biorefinery applications, it is desirable to use stress-tolerant industrial strains. However, such strains are less amenable for metabolic engineering than the standard laboratory strains. To enable easy delivery and overexpression of genes in a wide range of industrial S. cerevisiae strains, we constructed a set of integrative vectors with long homology arms and dominant selection markers. The vectors integrate into previously validated chromosomal locations via double cross-over and result in homogenous stable expression of the integrated genes, as shown for several unrelated industrial strains. Cre-mediated marker rescue is possible for removing markers positioned on different chromosomes. To demonstrate the applicability of the presented vector set for metabolic engineering of industrial yeast, we constructed xylose-utilizing strains overexpressing xylose isomerase, xylose transporter and five genes of the pentose phosphate pathway. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10295-015-1684-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In recent years, it has become recognized that patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) have an increased risk of multiple autoimmune diseases. Possible shared genetic aetiologies have been observed between EoE and autoimmune diseases. Currently, it is believed that EoE is not associated with a higher risk of neoplasms since such published cases are very rare and there are only isolated reports. Herein, we describe a unique case of EoE due to gluten without coeliac disease. The patient presented some unusual comorbidities, such as hypothyroidism (autoimmune disease) and essential thrombocythemia (neoplasm of haematologic origin).

En este artículo se presentan las propiedades físicas y mecánicas del culmo de Guadua aculeata. El material de estudio se colectó en el predio “Las Margaritas”, Hueytamalco, Puebla, México. El marcado, derribo y ensayo se realizó tomando como referencia las normas ISO 22157-1 ISO e ISO/TR 22157-2. Se presentan valores promedio de los resultados para las secciones inferior, media y superior; se observa que la densidad básica (peso anhidro/volumen verde) varia de 560 a 660 kg/m3 de la base a la parte superior del culmo. Las contracciones totales promedio fueron de 13,9 % en espesor; 7,1 % en diámetro y 0,1 % en longitud. En el caso de las propiedades mecánicas se encontró que el esfuerzo máximo cortante varió de 6,0 a 10,5 MPa; el esfuerzo máximo en compresión paralela a la fibra incrementó de 28,2 a 56,7 MPa de la sección inferior a la superior y su módulo de elasticidad de 13,7 a 20,7 GPa. El módulo de ruptura en flexión de 51,9 a 79,6 MPa y su módulo de elasticidad de 15,1 a 24,1 GPa. La resistencia en tensión paralela a la fibra se incrementó de 58,5 a 92,2 MPa y el módulo de elasticidad en ese esfuerzo de 8,2 a 9,8 GPa. La especie estudiada tiene propiedades físicas, mecánicas y geométricas similares a la G. angustifolia que se utiliza en la construcción en países como Colombia, Costa Rica, Panamá, Venezuela y Ecuador. The physical and mechanical properties of Guadua aculeata culm are shown in this paper. The study material was collected from the locality “Las Margaritas” Hueytamalco, Puebla, Mexico. The marking, felling and testing was performed with reference to ISO standards ISO 22157-1 and ISO/TR 22157-2. The average values of the results of low, middle and upper sections are shown; the basic density (dry weight / green volume) ranged from 560 to 660 kg/m3 of the lower to upper culm section. The average total contractions were 13,9% in thickness; 7,1% in diameter and 0,1% in length. In the case of mechanical properties were found that the maximum shear stress varies from 6,0 to10,5 MPa; the maximum stress in compression parallel to fiber increased from 28,2 to 56,7 MPa from low to top section and the modulus of elasticity from 13,7 to 20,7 GPa. The modulus of rupture in bending varies from 51,9 to 79,6 MPa and the modulus of elasticity from 15,1 to 24,1 GPa. The strength in tension parallel to the fiber also increased from 58,5 to 92,2 MPa and modulus of elasticity ranged from 8,2 to 9,8 GPa. The studied specie has the same physical, mechanical and geometric properties to G. angustifolia that it is used in the construction in countries how Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador.

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Meristem culture and/or thermotherapy were used for virus elimination from ornamental Phlox paniculata L. (`Blue Boy', `Orange perfection' and `Starfire') mother plants. Shoot tip, leaf, node and flower ovary explants collected from greenhouse-maintained virus free plants were cultured in vitro for shoot initiation. Adventitious shoot initiation was observed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing the cytokinin BA with or without the auxin NAA. The addition of 0.4 mg·L-1 thiamine, 0.4 mg·L-1 folic acid, and 40 mg·L-1 adenine sulfate to the MS medium did not improve the regeneration rate. Multiplication and rooting were genotype dependent. Blue Boy and Orange Perfection cultivars regenerated the maximum number of shoots from leaf explants. `Blue Boy' leaf explants from in vitro plants had a lower regeneration rate than explants from greenhouse plants. Cultivar `Starfire' had the highest shoot formation with open flower ovary explants and failed to regenerate from leaf explants. In vitro rooting of adventitious shoots in the presence of auxins (IAA, NAA, or IBA) with or without BA was less effective than ex vitro rooting. Chemical names used: 6-benzyladenine (BA); indole-acetic acid (IAA); indole-3-butyric acid (IBA); α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA).

Meristem culture and/or thermotherapy were used to eliminate viruses from ornamental Dianthus gratianopolitanus Vill. (`Spotti' and `Frosty Fire') mother plants. Shoot tip, leaf, node, and ovary explants collected from greenhouse-maintained, virus-free plants were cultured in vitro for shoot initiation on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing BAP, kinetin, or 2-iP with or without IAA or NAA. Culture of shoot tips in MS with 0.57 μm IAA and node explants in MS with 2.46 μm 2-iP is recommended for `Spotti' cultivar. In `Frosty Fire', optimum number of axillary shoots was obtained from shoot tip and node explants in MS without plant regulators. Leaves and ovaries were not adequate explants for D. gratianopolitanus micropropagation because none or only a low percentage of explants regenerated shoots. High levels of cytokinins increased the number of shoots per explant but also increased the production of aberrant phenotypes and induced hyperhydricity. Adventitious shoots rooted in vitro with auxins, but maximum rooting was 97% ex vitro without auxins. This study demonstrated that D. gratianopolitanus can be successfully micropropagated. Chemical names used: 6-benzyladenine (BAP); kinetin (KIN); 6-(γ,γ-dimethylallylamino)-purine (2iP); indole-acetic acid (IAA); indole-3-butyric acid (IBA); α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA); gibberellic acid (GA3).

Moreno, A. B., Martinez del Pozo, A., Borja, M., and San Segundo, B. 2003. Activity of the antifungal protein from Aspergillus giganteus against Botrytis cinerea. Phytopathology 93:1344-1353. Botrytis blight (gray mold), caused by Botrytis cinerea, is one of the most widely distributed diseases of ornamental plants. In geranium plants, gray mold is responsible for important losses in production. The mold Aspergillus giganteus is known to produce and secrete a basic lowmolecular-weight protein, the antifungal protein (AFP). Here, the antifungal properties of the Aspergillus AFP against various B. cinerea isolates obtained from naturally infected geranium plants were investigated. AFP strongly inhibited mycelial growth as well as conidial germination of B. cinerea. Microscopic observations of fungal cultures treated with AFP revealed reduced hyphal elongation and swollen hyphal tips. Washout experiments in which B. cinerea was incubated with AFP for different periods of time and then washed away revealed a fungicidal activity of AFP. Application of AFP on geranium plants protected leaves against Botrytis infection. Cecropin A also was active against this pathogen. An additive effect against the fungus was observed when AFP was combined with cecropin A. These results are discussed in relation to the potential of the afp gene to enhance crop protection against B. cinerea diseases. Additional keyword: Pelargonium.

Anthropogenic activities affect water quality and biological resources in bays such as zooplankton community. A survey on the zooplankton in Manila Bay was done from January to December 2013 in relation to physico-chemical parameters.Temperature and salinity in the bay showed uniform spatial patterns. Mean DO concentrations in the bay ranges from 2.79-6.25 mg/L, the lowest value was recorded in station 14 in the month of July with a value of 1.01 mg/L. Mean concentrations of nitrate, phosphate, nitrite, silicate ranges from 0.0265-8.3902 μM, 0.0135-0.2573 μM, 0.1385- 0.8396 μM, and 5.4887-53.2027 μM respectively. Arthropods, consist mainly of copepods, dominated the zooplankton community in the bay. High concentrations were observed in the eastern and southern part of the bay. Copepod nauplii, calanids and Oithona sp. were among the dominant species. Redundancy Analysis revealed that salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, phosphate and nitrate have positive correlation with zooplankton.

Nicotiana benthamiana plants transformed with the coat protein gene of tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) failed to elicit effective virus resistance when inoculated with wild-type virus. Subsequently, R1 and R2 progeny from 13 transgenic lines were inoculated with a TBSV mutant containing a defective coat protein gene. Mild symptoms typical of those elicited in nontransformed plants infected with the TBSV mutant initially appeared. However, within 2 to 4 weeks, up to 20% of the transgenic plants sporadically began to develop the lethal syndrome characteristic of wild-type virus infections. RNA hybridization and immunoblot analyses of these plants and nontransformed N. benthamiana inoculated with virus from the transgenic lines indicated that wild-type virus had been regenerated by a double recombination event between the defective virus and the coat protein transgene. Similar results were obtained with a TBSV deletion mutant containing a nucleotide sequence marker, and with a chimeric cucumber necrosis virus (CNV) containing the defective TBSV coat protein gene. In both cases, purified virions contained wild-type TBSV RNA or CNV chimeric RNA derived by recombination with the transgenic coat protein mRNA. These results thus demonstrate that recombinant tombusviruses can arise frequently from viral genes expressed in transgenic plants.

This commentary relates to the work by M. Borja et al. (M. Borja, T. Rubio, H. B. Scholthof, and A. O. Jackson, MPMI 12:153-162, 1999) that shows that wild-type virus can be restored frequently by double recombination events between a tomato bushy stunt virus mutant with deletions inactivating the coat protein gene and a coat protein transgene. Here, we focus on evidence suggesting that new viruses might evolve via recombination with transgenes used for disease resistance, and discuss the potential effects of widespread use of these sources of resistance on virus evolution. We argue that the benefits arising from using transgenic sources of resistance for virus disease control outweigh potential negative consequences of evolution of novel hybrid viruses with destructive disease potential.

We have previously documented that faecal indicator bacteria (Escherichia coli, faecal coliform, enterococci) recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to establish recreational water quality standards are naturally found in high concentrations in the surface and subsurface of soils in Hawaii. Rain, the source of all streams in Hawaii, washes the soil sources of faecal bacteria into all the streams of Hawaii, at concentrations which consistently exceed the USEPA recreational water quality standards. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that faecal bacteria are able to establish themselves in the soil environments of tropical islands by conducting the same study in Guam, a tropical pacific island with warmer temperatures and higher humidity than Hawaii. The same methods and study design used in Hawaii was used in Guam. The results of the study conducted in Guam revealed that all streams contain consistently high concentrations of faecal coliform, E. coli, and enterocci which exceeded the old USEPA recreational water quality standard of 200 faecal coliform/100 ml as well as the new water quality standards of 126 E. coli/100 ml or 33 enterococci/100 ml. These same faecal indicator bacteria were recovered in high concentrations in surface and subsurface (18-36 cm depth) soil samples in Guam. Limited coastal water analysis showed that most coastal marine waters contain low concentrations of faecal bacteria but coastal waters impacted by stream run-off showed elevated levels of faecal bacteria. The results of this study support the hypothesis that environmental conditions in the tropical areas of the world can support the growth and establishment of populations of faecal bacteria in the soil. Thus, soil becomes an environmental, non-faecal source of faecal indicator bacteria. These results indicate that USEPA water quality standards may not be directly applicable to tropical island environments.

Programa de doctorado en Oceanografía, [EN]The present thesis deals with observations of breeze-forced oscillations and modeling of strongly nonlinear tide-generated internal solitons. These two phenomena are of special interest owing to its periodic appearance, specially in shelf areas, with associated highly energetic motions. The contents of the seven chapters which compose this thesis are distributed as follows., [ES]La presente Tesis Doctoral se centra en el estudio observacional de oscilaciones forzadas por las brisas y el modelaje de ondas internas solitarias de origen mareal fuertemente no lineales. El interés de estos fenómenos oceanográficos radica en su aparición periódica, especialmente en ambientes de plataforma continental, con corrientes asociadas altamente energéticas.

Passage of cucumber necrosis virus (CNV) containing defective interfering (DI) RNAs through cucumber plants decreased the accumulation of DI RNAs to undetectable levels. Subsequent passages in two Nicotiana species (Nicotiana benthamiana or N. clevelandii) resulted in the appearance of DI RNA species that were larger than the DI RNAs observed during exclusive serial passages of CNV through the Nicotiana species. Sequence analysis of cloned cDNAs corresponding to the two DI RNA populations indicated that the smaller CNV-DI RNAs contained the four conserved regions (I through IV) of the genome typical of tombusvirus DI RNAs, whereas the larger DI RNAs were of similar organization but had a direct repeat of the middle portion of the molecule. This result suggests that the host has an influence on the type of DI RNA that accumulates during consecutive high multiplicity of infection passages. A comparative analysis of deletions targeting the individual conserved regions in both CNV and tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) DI RNAs revealed that only region III was completely dispensable for accumulation of either DI RNA species. More refined deletion analyses in regions I and II indicated that smaller segments of 75 and 35 nucleotides (nt), respectively, could be deleted without abolishing infectivity. The dispensable sequences in region II of both TBSV and CNV DI RNAs mapped to the top portion of a putative stem-loop structure. These studies indicate that both essential and nonessential sequences are conserved in DI RNAs The essential sequences in regions I, II, and IV likely contain important cis-acting elements, whereas nonessential regions such as region III may play secondary roles such as optimally spacing cis-acting elements or maintaining the DI RNA at an overall size that is stable.

Background Plasmid DNA (pDNA) is a promising molecule for therapeutic applications. pDNA is produced by Escherichia coli in high cell-density cultivations (HCDC) using fed-batch mode. The typical limitations of such cultivations, including metabolic deviations like aerobic acetate production due to the existence of substrate gradients in large-scale bioreactors, remain as serious challenges for fast and effective pDNA production. We have previously demonstrated that the substitution of the phosphotransferase system by the over-expressed galactose permease for glucose uptake in E. coli (strain VH33) allows efficient growth, while strongly decreases acetate production. In the present work, additional genetic modifications were made to VH33 to further improve pDNA production. Several genes were deleted from strain VH33: the recA, deoR, nupG and endA genes were inactivated independently and in combination. The performance of the mutant strains was evaluated in shake flasks for the production of a 6.1 kb plasmid bearing an antigen gene against mumps. The best producer strain was cultivated in lab-scale bioreactors using 100 g/L of glucose to achieve HCDC in batch mode. For comparison, the widely used commercial strain DH5α, carrying the same plasmid, was also cultivated under the same conditions. Results The various mutations tested had different effects on the specific growth rate, glucose uptake rate, and pDNA yields (YP/X). The triple mutant VH33 Δ (recA deoR nupG) accumulated low amounts of acetate and resulted in the best YP/X (4.22 mg/g), whereas YP/X of strain VH33 only reached 1.16 mg/g. When cultivated at high glucose concentrations, the triple mutant strain produced 186 mg/L of pDNA, 40 g/L of biomass and only 2.2 g/L of acetate. In contrast, DH5α produced only 70 mg/L of pDNA and accumulated 9.5 g/L of acetate. Furthermore, the supercoiled fraction of the pDNA produced by the triple mutant was nearly constant throughout the cultivation. Conclusion The pDNA concentration obtained with the engineered strain VH33 Δ (recA deoR nupG) is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest reported for a batch cultivation, and its supercoiled fraction remained close to 80%. Strain VH33 Δ (recA deoR nupG) and its cultivation using elevated glucose concentrations represent an attractive technology for fast and efficient pDNA production and a valuable alternative to fed-batch cultivations of commercial strains.

Background Pelargonium is one of the most popular garden plants in the world. Moreover, it has a considerable economic importance in the ornamental plant market. Conventional cross-breeding strategies have generated a range of cultivars with excellent traits. However, gene transfer via Agrobacterium tumefaciens could be a helpful tool to further improve Pelargonium by enabling the introduction of new genes/traits. We report a simple and reliable protocol for the genetic transformation of Pelargonium spp. and the production of engineered long-life and male sterile Pelargonium zonale plants, using the pSAG12::ipt and PsEND1::barnase chimaeric genes respectively. Results The pSAG12::ipt transgenic plants showed delayed leaf senescence, increased branching and reduced internodal length, as compared to control plants. Leaves and flowers of the pSAG12::ipt plants were reduced in size and displayed a more intense coloration. In the transgenic lines carrying the PsEND1::barnase construct no pollen grains were observed in the modified anther structures, which developed instead of normal anthers. The locules of sterile anthers collapsed 3–4 days prior to floral anthesis and, in most cases, the undeveloped anther tissues underwent necrosis. Conclusion The chimaeric construct pSAG12::ipt can be useful in Pelargonium spp. to delay the senescence process and to modify plant architecture. In addition, the use of engineered male sterile plants would be especially useful to produce environmentally friendly transgenic plants carrying new traits by preventing gene flow between the genetically modified ornamentals and related plant species. These characteristics could be of interest, from a commercial point of view, both for pelargonium producers and consumers., This work was funded by grants AGL2009-13388-C03-01 and BIO2009-08134 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

Three methods were evaluated for the detection of cherry leafroll virus ELISA, dot-blot and reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Dot-blot and RT-PCR were carried out in crude plant extracts without any further RNA purification. Dot-blot hybridization using a 32P-labelled DNA probe was as sensitive as previously reported ELISA results for cherry leafroll virus detection. The most sensitive method was RT-PCR, which amplified a specific fragment of 448 bp from the 3' untranslated region of both viral genomic RNAs. RT-PCR was used to detect cherry leafroll virus in infected walnut buds and twigs. © 1992.

A contact dermatitis due to to povidone-iodine (PI) which seemed to be a strong irritant reaction is described. Nevertheless, patch-test results suggested an allergic reaction that is cell mediated.

Research is a core university activity that contributes to the formation of critical thinking by students and teachers and promotes knowledge and scientific development that may help built better societies. The good performance of a university research system depends on, among other things, the ability to properly distribute the limited financial resources that are allocated to this activity. A common problem in grading activities usually considered in research is the integration of a long list of criteria and sub-criteria. The aim of this study was to determine how financial resources are distributed among all the research centers and institutes at the Universidad Autonoma Chapingo (UACh). Three methods were used for weighting criteria: simple ranking, point distribution and analytic hierarchy process. The aggregation of the values was carried out using TOPSIS and weighted sum methods and the resulting distributions were compared to the traditional way of distributing resources. It was concluded that although the differences were not significant, the TOSPIS method provides a more reliable allocation.

Despite the fact that around 200 cry genes from Bacillus thuringiensis have already been cloned, only a few Cry proteins are toxic towards a given pest. A crucial step in the mode of action of Cry proteins is binding to specific sites in the midgut of susceptible insects. Binding studies in insects that have developed cross-resistance discourage the combined use of Cry proteins sharing the same binding site. If resistance management strategies are to be implemented, the arsenal of Cry proteins suitable to control a given pest may be not so vast as it might seem at first. The present study evaluates the potential of B. thuringiensis for the control of a new pest, the geranium bronze ( Cacyreus marshalli Butler), a butterfly that is threatening the popularity of geraniums in Spain. Eleven of the most common Cry proteins from the three lepidopteran-active Cry families (Cry1, Cry2, and Cry9) were tested against the geranium bronze for their toxicity and binding site relationships. Using 125 I-labeled Cry1A proteins we found that, of the seven most active Cry proteins, six competed for binding to the same site. For the long-term control of the geranium bronze with B. thuringiensis -based insecticides it would be advisable to combine any of the Cry proteins sharing the binding site (preferably Cry1Ab, since it is the most toxic) with those not competing for the same site. Cry1Ba would be the best choice of these proteins, since it is significantly more toxic than the others not binding to the common site.

We performed lung transplantation in nine patients with Scleroderma related lung disease. Patient characteristics included: 7 (78%) females, 6 (67%) with limited and 3 (33%) with diffuse Scleroderma. Pulmonary fibrosis was present in 7 (78%) and pulmonary hypertension in 4 (44%). All patients were carefully screened by the Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland Scleroderma Center and only referred for transplantation when concomitant renal insufficiency (creatinine clearanceor = 50 ml/min), aspiration, and skin brakdown were excluded. When compared to a similar group of transplant patients with nonscleroderma lung disease (primary pulmonary fibrosis), there was no significant difference in post-transplant survival at four years (76.2 +/- 0.15% vs. 69.2% +/- 0.12%), mean annual incidence rate for acute rejection (0.14 +/- 0.14 vs. 0.47 +/- 0.13) and infection (viral 0.17 +/- 0.17 vs. 0.29 +/- 0.11) (bacterial 0.17 +/- 0.17 vs. 1.4 +/- 0.4) (fungal 0.99 +/- 0.69 vs. 0.36 +/- 0.16) or serum creatinine (1.55 +/- 0.34 mg/dl vs. 1.15 +/- 0.09 mg/dl). We conclude that lung transplantation is viable option for carefully selected patients with scleroderma related lung disease.

We have designed a DNA cassette to transcribe defective interfering (DI) RNAs of tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) and have investigated their potential to protect transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana plants from tombusvirus infections. To produce RNAs with authentic 5′ and 3′ termini identical to those of the native B10 DI RNA, the DI RNA sequences were flanked by ribozymes (RzDI). When RzDI RNAs transcribed in vitro were mixed with parental TBSV transcripts and inoculated into protoplasts or plants, they became amplified, reduced the accumulation of the parental RNA, and mediated attenuation of the lethal syndrome characteristic of TBSV infections. Analysis of F 1 and F 2 RzDI transformants indicated that uninfected plants expressed the DI RNAs in low abundance, but these RNAs were amplified to very high levels during TBSV infection. By two weeks postinoculation with TBSV, all untransformed N. benthamiana plants and transformed negative controls died. Although infection of transgenic RzDI plants initially induced moderate to severe symptoms, these plants subsequently recovered, flowered, and set seed. Plants from the same transgenic lines also exhibited broad-spectrum protection against related tombusviruses but remained susceptible to a distantly related tombus-like virus and to unrelated viruses.

Fluorescent antinuclear antibody test (FANA) and anti-double stranded deoxytribonucleic acid (dsDNA) antibody testing is an integral part of the evaluation of the patients who are suspected of having connective tissue disease. We tested 2,140 serum samples for FANA and 1,460 serum samples for anti-dsDNA antibodies. Of 2,140 serum samples tested for FANA, 492 (23%) yielded a positive result (titre of 1:80 or greater) and of 1,460 serum samples tested for anti-dsDNA, 69 (4.7%) yielded positive results. Highest number (n = 27) of serum samples positive for anti-dsDNA antibodies were found in serum samples that were positive for FANA test at a titre of 1:1280 or greater. In conclusion, FANA test can be used as an initial screening test for connective tissue/autoimmune disorders.

Hybridization analyses of cDNA clones derived from the two genomic RNAs, RNA1 and RNA2, of the walnut strain of the nepovirus cherry leafroll nepovirus (wCLRV) demonstrated a long region of high homology between the two viral RNAs. Subsequent mapping and nucleotide sequencing revealed a long, noncoding, presumably untranslated, region (3′ UTR) immediately 5′ of the terminal polyadenylate, a region that is almost identical in the two RNAs. This 3′ UTR is 1567 nucleotide residues long in RNA1. Homologies of about 80% were found with corresponding regions of genomic RNAs from other strains of CLRV, but not with the corresponding regions of other nepovirus genomic RNAs. © 1995 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

A recent survey of symptomless ornamental geraniums ( Pelargonium zonale , P. peltatum and P. grandiflorum ) in Spain (2000–2003) revealed viral infections in 52·4% of the tested plants (Alonso & Borja, 2005). Most infected plants contained tombus-like viruses such as Pelargonium line pattern virus (PLPV), either alone or in combination with other viral pathogens. Several little-studied PLPV-related viruses have been reported in Pelargonium spp. but their distribution and importance to geranium growers is unknown since they are not usually included in phytosanitary programmes. One of these viruses, Pelargonium chlorotic ring pattern virus (PCRPV), was recently sequenced (GenBank Acc. No. AY038069) and found to be related to PLPV in nucleotide sequence and genome organization (Kinard & Jordan, 2002; Castano & Hernandez, 2005). To assess the occurrence of PCRPV in Spain 5 samples from the previous survey and 3 gathered in 2006 were tested. Total RNA was extracted using Plant RNA Reagent (Invitrogen) and reverse transcribed with Superscript II-RT (Invitrogen) and primer CH149 (5 ′ -CCGATTCTCGAGCTGCCAATC-3 ′ ), complementary to positions 1543–1523 of PCRPV. PCR used primers CH149 and CH148 (5 ′ -CGGTTTGAGCACTCTGCGTATC-3 ′ ), homologous to positions 1277–1298 of PCRPV. An amplicon of the expected size (267 bp comprising a region of the viral polymerase gene) was generated in five samples from different geographical origins (Zaragoza, Zamora, Aranjuez and Cordoba) and collecting times (2000, 2003 and 2006). The amplicons derived from two separate samples were sequenced (GenBank Acc. Nos. EF635383 and EF635384) and showed 95% nucleotide and 99–100% amino acid sequence identity with the PCRPV reference sequence. An Italian isolate of PCRPV was recovered from P. zonale with vein banding and leaf distortion (Lisa et al ., 1996; Kinard & Jordan, 2002); however from our results, PCRPV infection can also be asymptomatic. This is the first report of PCRPV in Spain.

Resumen Leñador de 46 años consulta al servicio de nefrología, de la Clínica Renal de la Costa en Barranquilla, con episodio de insuficiencia renal aguda 48 horas después de haber sufrido múltiples picaduras por abejas africanizadas. Durante su estancia hospitalaria presentó incremento de enzimas musculares (AST LDH), y de pruebas de función renal, motivo por el cual fue dializado en varias ocasiones. Con mejoría total, se decide egresar y manejar ambulatoriamente. Se concluye que el caso se trata de una insuficiencia renal por necrosis tubular aguda por rabdomiolisis debida a la picadura múltiple de abejas africanizadas. Palabras claves: Insuficiencia Renal Aguda, Rabdomiolisis. Abstract A farmer, 46 years old, consults the service of nephrology of “Clinica Renal de la Costa”, in Barranquilla with an episode of acute renal failure 48 hours after suffering multiples Africanized bee’s stings. He presented a rise in the muscular enzymes (AST LDH), and tests of renal function, therefore he was dialyzed in several occasions with a further improvement. It is concluded that the case was due to an acute tubular necrosis by rabdomyolysis caused by multiple bee stings. Keywords: Acute Renal Failure, Rabdomyolysis.

Jose Ma. Sison entered progressive political activism as a young university graduate at the close of the 1950s. At that time, the Philippine revolutionary movement of the 1940s and early 1950s known as the Huk rebellion had been decisively crushed, but anti-imperialist and patriotic anti-clerical sentiment was being articulated by the great nationalist Senator Claro M. Recto.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.