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The fruit is a hierarchically organized organ composed of cells from different tissues. Its quality, defined by traits such as fruit size and composition, is the result of a complex chain of biological processes. These processes involve exchanges (transpiration, respiration, photosynthesis, phloem and xylem fluxes, and ethylene emission) between the fruit and its environment (atmosphere or plant), tissue differentiation, and cell functioning (division, endoreduplication, expansion, metabolic transformations, and vacuolar storage). In order to progress in our understanding of quality development, it is necessary to analyse the fruit as a system, in which processes interact. In this case, a process-based modelling approach is particularly powerful. Such a modelling approach is proposed to develop a future ‘virtual fruit’ model. The value of a virtual fruit for agronomists and geneticists is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the in vitro antibacterial activity of amoxicillin against penicillin-susceptible and -nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated from children with acute otitis media (AOM). METHODS: Children more than 3 months of age with AOM who were seen in the Dr Sótero del Rio and Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospitals in Santiago, Chile, between July 1998 and December 2002 were subjected to tympanic puncture for middle ear fluid culture. The penicillin and amoxicillin susceptibilities of the S pneumoniae isolates were determined by epsilometer test (E test). RESULTS: A bacterial pathogen was isolated in 432 of 543 children (80%) as follows: S pneumoniae, 40%; Haemophilus influenzae, 29%; Moraxella catarrhalis, 7%; and Streptococcus pyogenes, 4%. Penicillin-susceptible S pneumoniae strains were less common than amoxicillin-susceptible strains (60% versus 95%; odds ratio [OR], 0.08; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.04 to 0.18). Both intermediate- and high-resistance strains were more common for penicillin (22% versus 4.5%; OR, 5.6; 95% CI, 2.5 to 12.7) than for amoxicillin (18% versus 0.5%; OR, 41.3; 95% CI, 6.0 to 821). CONCLUSIONS: Penicillin resistance is not extrapolable to amoxicillin among S pneumoniae strains isolated from middle ear fluid of children with AOM. Our results support the recommendation to evaluate the minimal inhibitory concentrations of penicillin-nonsusceptible S pneumoniae for amoxicillin and to continue use of this antimicrobial as a first-line antimicrobial choice for children with AOM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study used the A-line ARX index, derived from auditory evoked potential measurements, to examine the effect of epidural lidocaine on the end-tidal concentration of desflurane during general anesthesia. Thirty ASA I–II patients scheduled for elective colorectal surgery were included and randomized, in a double-blinded fashion, to receive general anesthesia, and 15 ml of either 2% lidocaine (group GE, n = 15) or normal saline (group GS, n = 15) was administered epidurally with a maintenance infusion rate of 6 ml h−1. After a 10-min high-flow oxygen wash-in period, desflurane was titrated to a target A-line ARX index (AAI) of 20 ± 5. Epidural lidocaine reduced the end-tidal concentration of desflurane required to maintain an adequate clinical effect by 42% compared to general anesthesia alone (2.6% vs. 4.5%, respectively; P < 0.001). The initial mean value of AAI was 87.8 (range 78–99) in group GE and 88.13 (79–99) in group GS before general anesthesia induction, the AAI values were approximately 19.7 (15–25) in group GE and 20.2 (16–25) in group GS during anesthesia maintenance, and returned to 84.53 (77–98) in group GE and 86.87 (79–98) in group GS when the patients regained consciousness in the recovery room. No statistical difference in the AAI values was observed either before, during, or after emergence of anesthesia. No patient reported intraoperative awareness. Lower-than-expected concentrations of volatile anesthetics are sufficient to maintain appropriate a clinical anesthesia effect during combined general-epidural anesthesia under auditory-evoked potential monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effect of broken clouds on the satellite-based retrieval of columnar water vapor using a near-infrared radiance ratio technique. A typical difference between the retrieval using only pixels directly illuminated by the Sun and pixels with mixed illumination containing direct sunlight as well as cloud shadows is found to be within 3%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aquatic palynomorph genus Cobricosphaeridium Harland and Sarjeant, 1970 was described from Holocene deposits of Australia. Restudy of the type material shows that these palynomorphs may represent the eggs of crustaceans, and that earlier attributions to the division Dinoflagellata are unsustainable. The genus Aquadulcum Harland and Sarjeant, 1970, also first described as a dinoflagellate from the Holocene of Australia, is treated as a synonym of Cobricosphaeridium, and the following new combinations are proposed: C. awendae, C. myalupense, C. pikeae, C. serpens, C. yanchepense, C.? ovatum, and C.? vermiculatum. Previous records of the genus are restricted to the Holocene and indicate a freshwater affinity. Cobricosphaeridium has now been found in Holocene subsurface brackish deposits of Laguna Hinojales in eastern Argentina. This is the first record of this genus from South America and unequivocally extends its ecological range into a brackish environment. Several species are represented, including Cobricosphaeridium hinojalensis new species; and their potential as paleoenvironmental indicators is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The efficacy and safety of single-agent, high-dose irinotecan (CPT-11, Campto) 500 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks were investigated as first-line treatment for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC).Patients and Methods: Patients were enrolled into the study to receive a first cycle of therapy with irinotecan at a dose of 350 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks, which could be escalated to 500 mg/m(2) for the second and subsequent cycles depending on toxicity. Efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics were determined in the intent to treat (ITT) population and the high-dose population (i.e. patients who had received at least three cycles of irinotecan, the second and third at 500 mg/m(2)).Results: Of 49 patients enrolled into the study (ITT population), 31 (63%) received at least three cycles of treatment with cycles 2 and 3 at an irinotecan dose of 500 mg/m(2) (the high-dose population). The response rates (RR) for the ITT and high-dose populations were 24.5% and 35.5%, respectively. The main grade 3/4 toxicities per cycle in the ITT and high-dose populations were neutropenia 22% and 17%, febrile neutropenia 5% and 3%, and diarrhoea 12% and 7%, respectively. The pharmacokinetics of irinotecan and its metabolite SN-38 were investigated in 31 patients in cycle 1 and 22 patients in cycle 2. Irinotecan clearance and SN-38 exposure were not sufficiently correlated with toxicity in cycle 1 to identify patients for dose increase in subsequent cycles. The exposure to irinotecan and SN-38 increased in proportion to dose from 350 to 500 mg/m(2).Conclusion: These results suggest that high-dose irinotecan can be safely administered as first-line monotherapy to approximately two-thirds of patients who present with advanced CRC following a selective first cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTThe consequences of manipulating abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis rates on stomatal response to drought were analysed in wild-type, a full-deficient mutant and four under-producing transgenic lines of N. plumbaginifolia. The roles of ABA, xylem sap pH and leaf water potential were investigated under four experimental conditions: feeding detached leaves with varying ABA concentration; injecting exogenous ABA into well-watered plants; and withholding irrigation on pot-grown plants, either intact or grafted onto tobacco. Changes in ABA synthesis abilities among lines did not affect stomatal sensitivity to ABA concentration in the leaf xylem sap ([ABA]xyl), as evidenced with exogenous ABA supplies and natural increases of [ABA]xyl in grafted plants subjected to drought. The ABA-deficient mutant, which is uncultivable under normal evaporative demand, was grafted onto tobacco stock and then presented the same stomatal response to [ABA]xyl as wild-type and other lines. This reinforces the dominant role of ABA in controlling stomatal response to drought in N. plumbaginifolia whereas roles of leaf water potential and xylem sap pH were excluded under all studied conditions. However, when plants were submitted to soil drying onto their own roots, stomatal response to [ABA]xyl slightly differed among lines. It is suggested, consistently with all the results, that an additional root signal of soil drying modulates stomatal response to [ABA]xyl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nd-doped CaWO[sub 4] (CWO) and NaGd(WO[sub 4] )[sub 2] (NGWO) single crystals with good optical quality have been grown by the Czochralski technique. The neodymium distribution coefficient in these matrices is about 0.4 for CWO and close to unity for NGWO. Polarized absorption and emission spectra have been recorded at room temperature and used to calculate the absorption and stimulated emission cross-sections.1 and 2% Nd : CWO and 1% Nd:NGWO laser rods have been tested in a cavity longitudinaly pumped by an 1 W AIGaAs laser diode and compared to Nd : YAG and Nd : YVO[sub 4] rods in the same conditions. The 2% Nd : CWO rod exhibits the best performance with slope efficiencies of 64%, higher than in the case of YAG and equal to the YVO[sub 4] samples. The dependence of the laser output power versus the diode temperature has been measured for all these materials. The laser output of Nd : CWO was found to be nearly as stable as for Nd : YVO[sub 4] and much more stable than in the case of Nd : YAG. A CWO microchip has also been tested for the first time to our knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]