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Sphaeropsis rot, caused by Sphaeropsis pyriputrescens, is an important postharvest disease of apple in the United States. The objectives of this study were to determine the timing of apple fruit infection in the orchard in relation to development of Sphaeropsis rot in storage and to identify infection courts and mode of penetration by S. pyriputrescens on apple fruit. Fruit of apple cvs Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Fuji were inoculated in the orchard from 3 weeks after petal fall to 2 weeks before harvest at 5 to 6-week intervals in three consecutive seasons. All fruit were harvested and stored at 0 oC to monitor decay development. Light and scanning electron microscopy were used to examine the infection courts and mode of penetration of the fungus on/in the host tissues. At harvest, the fungus was re-isolated from the stem (pedicel), sepal, anther, or filament of the inoculated fruit, but decay did not develop on fruit. Sphaeropsis rot developed on inoculated fruit during cold storage beginning 1–3 months after harvest. Stem-end rot was prevalent on cv. Golden Delicious, whereas calyx-end rot was prevalent on cv. Fuji. Both stem- and calyx-end rots were common on cv. Red Delicious. Infection also occurred at lenticels on fruit skin, particularly on cv. Golden Delicious, but at low incidence. Relationships between the incidence of Sphaeropsis rot in stored apple fruit and the timing of inoculation in the orchard varied with cultivar and year. On cv. Red Delicious apples, the incidence of Sphaeropsis rot generally increased as the timing of infection approached harvest. Histological studies indicated that infection took place through natural openings of plant organs such as stomata on stems and sepals and lenticels on fruit skin. Fungal penetration also was observed at micro-cracks on the stem and sepal and at trichome sockets where mechanical damage occurred in sepals. Direct penetration was observed on the stem and sepal of fruit, but most invasions were restricted between the cuticle and the epidermis. Our results indicate that wounding is not required for infection of apple fruit by S. pyriputrescens, though it may facilitate infections.

Treatment of cancer-related symptoms represents a major challenge for physicians. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether a brief bedside visual art intervention (BVAI) facilitated by art educators improves mood, reduces pain and anxiety in patients with haematological malignancies. Thirty-one patients (21 women and 10 men) were invited to participate in a BVAI where the goal of the session was to teach art technique for ~30 min. Primary outcome measures included the change in visual analog scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scale, from baseline prior to and immediately post-BVAI. Total of 21 patients (19 women and two men) participated. A significant improvement in positive mood and pain scores (p = .003 and p = .017 respectively) as well as a decrease in negative mood and anxiety (p = .016 and p = .001 respectively) was observed. Patients perceived BVAI as overall positive (95%) and wished to participate in future art-based interventions (85%). This accessible experience, provided by artists within the community, may be considered as an adjunct to conventional treatments in patients with cancer-related mood symptoms and pain, and future studies with balanced gender participation may support the generalisability of these findings.

Bruising of apples results in millions of dollars in loss annually. To reduce economic loss, a greater understanding of the mechanisms involved is necessary. Our objective was to visualize damage due to bruising, using different methods of microscopy, as an aid to substantiating which mechanisms were most viable. 'Golden Delicious' apples at different maturity levels were similarly bruised with an artificial silicon finger attached to an Instron machine. Bruising was induced on freshly harvested fruit and examined after 48 h at room temperature. We used fluorescence microscopy with Calcofluor (to identify cell walls) and CDFA (to identify intact cell membranes) in the bruised and discolored tissue. Together with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), different breakage mechanisms were observed in the bruised volume. These techniques revealed that bruised tissue was comprised of both live cells, and dead cells that appeared burst, crushed or without apparent damage. The greater the amount of intercellular space present in the tissue, the more tissue damage from bruising occurred. Because airspaces weakened the tissue, damage initiated close to these sites. As apples matured, there was an increase in damaged cells surrounding larger intercellular spaces.

Fire blight of apple and pear is initiated by epiphytic populations of Erwinia amylovora on flower stigmas. Predicting this disease and managing it with microbial antagonists depends on an understanding of bacterial colonization on stigmas. Detached ‘Manchurian’ crab apple flowers were inoculated with E. amylovora and subjected to a range of constant temperatures or various fluctuating temperature regimes. Results may have application to disease risk assessment systems such as the Cougarblight model, which now are based on in vitro growth of the pathogen. In other experiments, detached crab apple flowers and attached ‘Gala’ apple flowers were maintained at different temperatures for various periods before inoculation with E. amylovora or antagonists (Pseudomonas fluorescens strain A506 and Pantoea agglomerans strains C9-1 and E325). Maximum stigma age supporting bacterial multiplication decreased as temperature increased, and was reduced by pollination. Stigmas were receptive to bacteria at ages older than previously reported, probably due to less interference from indigenous organisms. The study revealed antagonist limitations that possibly affect field performance (e.g., the inability of strain A506 to grow on relatively old stigmas conducive to the pathogen). Such deficiencies could be overcome by selecting other antagonists or using antagonist mixtures in the orchard.

The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) supports the creation of distributed systems that cross processor, language and paradigm boundaries. These systems can be large and complex entities that consume considerable resources in their creation and execution. Measurements of characteristics of software systems is an important area of study in general and of particular interest for distributed systems. In this paper, we present a specific technique for instrumenting components in a distributed system. The technique constructs a wrapper around the component being measured. The wrapper monitors interactions with the ORB (Object Request Broker) and other components. Each wrapper mimics the interface of the component that it is wrapping so that the remaining objects in the system do not need modification. Two approaches to wrapping the component are presented and contrasted. The result is an efficient and modular technique that can quickly be applied to a component.

SummarySkin tissue disks from preclimacteric or climacteric apples were incubated on preset temperature plates and exposed to high intensity white light to find the optimum temperature of anthocyanin accumulation. Pre-climacteric fruit developed more anthocyanin than did tissue from climacteric fruit. Different cultivars showed different temperature optima. Pre-cooling the tissue for 48 h at 2°C before incubation at 25°C increased the amount of pigment that accumulated. The highly colouring Scarlet Spur ‘Delicious’ sport showed a higher rate of anthocyanin accumulation, but a similar temperature optimum to that of Oregon Spur ‘Delicious’.

In 1989 and 1990, preharvest applications of 2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid (ethephon) at dosages from 50–400 mg 1’1 were applied to ‘Fuji’ and ‘Granny Smith’ apples. In 1989, the greatest reduction in scald after storage on both ‘Fuji’ and ‘Granny Smith’, relative to the untreated control resulted from applying 400 mg 1−1 ethephon five weeks before harvest and was 45% and 55% of controls, respectively. On ‘Granny Smith’ 400 mg 1− was also effective when applied three weeks before harvest. In 1990, preharvest applications of ethephon at either 200 or 400 mg 1−1 reduced scald in both cultivars relative to the controls. Ethephon applied six weeks before harvest had no dosage effect on scald reduction after storage. There was no consistent effect on fruit maturity at harvest from any treatment in either year, and no effect on quality of fruit out of storage.

Foliar applications of 30, 60 or 120 mg I-1 uniconazole were made to ‘Delicious’ apple trees at full bloom or one, two or three weeks after full bloom. Application at full bloom reduced fruit weight and length/diameter ratio more than when applied two or more weeks after full bloom. In another experiment, a single application of uniconazole was applied to ‘Delicious’ trees three weeks after full bloom at 15, 30, 60, 120, 240 or 480 mg I-1. Posages of 240 or 480 mg I-1 controlled vegetative growth to about 50% of the control values at ten weeks after treatment. Thereafter, the rate of shoot elongation was similar to that of the controls. The lowest dosage to reduce vegetative growth was 15 mgl-1. In a third experiment, uniconazole was compared with BAS111 for controlling vegetative growth of ‘Delicious’ trees. Uniconazole or BAS111 applied six times at 350 mgl'1 reduced growth to 46% and 81% of that of the controls, respectively. Increasing the rate of surfactant from 0.1% to 1.0% reduced growth by an addi...

The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) supports the creation of distributed systems that cross processor, language and paradigm boundaries. These systems can be large and complex entities that consume considerable resources in their creation and execution. Measurements of characteristics of software systems is an important area of study in general and of particular interest for distributed systems. The work presented in this paper describes a specific technique for instrumenting components in a distributed system. The technique constructs a wrapper around the component being measured. Interactions with the ORB and other components are monitored and summarized. Each wrapper mimics the interface of the component that it is wrapping so that the remaining objects in the system do not need modification. Two approaches to wrapping the component are presented and contrasted. The result is an efficient and modular technique that can quickly be applied to a component.

Meta-analysis is a method of data analysis applied to summarizing research findings, both quantitative and qualitative summaries of individual studies. Rooted in the fundamental values of the scientific enterprise of replicability, causal and correlational analysis, it is useful for answering three general questions: What is the central tendency or typical study outcome? How much variability exists among study outcomes? What is the explanation of the variability? Advanced statistical and mathematical techniques are being used in counting studies with significant and non-significant findings; in combining effect size estimates based on fixed- or random-effects models; in the use of general linear models; and, Bayesian procedures. The methodology of meta-analysis and suggestions for publications are presented as well as appropriate software programs available for use in the meta-analytic process are explored. The benefits of meta-analysis as a research method in effecting health policy development is offered as a pragmatic perspective for future consideration. Conclusions have implications for the use of meta-analysis as a teaching strategy and as a methodology in nursing research and other applied sciences. In view of the rapid pace of knowledge development and increased public demand for accountability, meta-analysis offers an opportunity for organizing phenomena which gives direction for provision of quality health care.

Canonical correlation is presented as a technique to determine how sets of dependent variables are related with sets of independent variables. Canonical correlation reveals the strength of the relationship between the clusters using case data as illustration, three pairs of clusters (factors or profiles) emerged. Interpretation of the clusters are presented. As indicated in the case presentation, Canonical Correlation (CA) is the fourth in a series of methodologies selected for illustration as precursors to advanced statistics and modeling. In this paper, background will be given, a schematic example presented, sample size and CA, SPSS procedure to perform CA, and interpretation of CA and possible uses of CA in nursing research.

This is part III of a case series on research methodology with additional case demographic information. The relationship of a dependent variable with two or more independent variables is explained and used to illustrate multiple correlation and multiple regression.

I would like to clarify and respond to the information about me that Eliot Marshall presented in his News Focus article “Bastions of tradition adapt to alternative medicine” (2 June, p. [1571][1]). We physicians who are solidly a part of conventional medicine and who are also exploring

GUILD 1 has reported an audiometric analysis of children with reduced hearing acuity who were studied before and after medical treatment continuing over a period of several years. The complete population studied shows, among other things, an increase in hearing acuity at certain frequencies over the six years of the study for some groups of children, regardless of whether or not medical treatment was received. In analysis of the hearing data of the rural Illinois school system under consideration in the present series of studies, the threshold results for boys have been kept separate from those for girls. In the light of Guild's interesting findings, I have considered that an analysis of the present data to discover possible differences by sex in the improvement pattern might prove to be of significance. An effort has been made to break down the cases of the present survey in an attempt to add

This preliminary study was designed to ascertain the relative intelligibility of the twenty‐six individual spoken alphabet letters when presented to normal listeners over a 45‐db range of levels. The gain function for the pooled results of 26 letters spoken by three experienced speakers to 18 listeners has a sigmoidal shape. The 15‐db increase in presentation level from 10 to 25 db yields a 65% increase in correct identification for all letters. The average slope of the pooled curve for all letters between 20 and 80% was 4.34% per db. The curves appear to be similar to those of the more difficult stimuli such as the monosyllable PB lists and unselected disyllabic lists. Percentages of correct identifications for each letter at each presentation level are also presented.

The literature on hearing testing contains relatively few specific directions regarding the threshold finding procedure in pure frequency audiometry. Some "procedures" often quoted will be found on examination to contain little specific procedural information. It is the purpose of this paper to provide specific steps for obtaining the auditory threshold. All individuals working in the area of hearing testing would probably testify to the basic importance of a general philosophical or theoretical orientation regarding the nature of hearing and the nature of testing. In spite of the importance of such an orientation, the person who is actually conducting audiometric examinations as an important part of his diagnostic procedure will find a general philosophy an incomplete guide when he is faced with a specific client. In addition to the orientation, a step-by-step procedure is of vital concern. Such a procedure must be useful for the audiometrician in the daily conduct of

SOME general results of the analysis of hearing patterns in a rural Illinois school system have been previously described.1The present paper is a consideration of certain more exact aspects of the hearing of the same population. In brief review, the population under consideration in this analysis consisted of all the children in grades 5, 7 and 9 in two Illinois counties, DeWitt and Piatt. These children were tested during the month of March 1949. The total number of the school population, 6,062, was viewed as a rural population by the members of the health unit who were responsible for this analysis of the hearing acuity of this population. Children in the grades indicated were tested with a pure frequency sweep of 15 decibels intensity at seven frequencies (256 to 11,584). All children who failed to pass this sweep test were given an individual pure frequency audiometric test on