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Este estudio de carácter psicométrico tuvo como objetivo evaluar la fiabilidad y validez de las pruebas V-Sit and Reach (VS) y Toe –Touch (TT) en población preescolar. De un total inicial de 158 participantes, 132 realizaron las pruebas en tres ocasiones. La prueba de elevación pasiva de la pierna recta (PSLR) se usó como indicador de validez. Ambas pruebas mostraron una fiabilidad excelente (CCI=0,91-0,93 para el VS; CCI=0,93-0,97 para el TT). Se observaron correlaciones estadísticamente significativas (p

Plant organogenesis induction is a vital method to regenerate explants and produce complete organisms. In this study, we analyzed the applicability of three different root biostimulants and a commercially available synthetic rooting hormone (RH) for root organogenesis induction in Epipremnum aureum stem cuttings. The biostimulants used were Aloe vera gel (AV1), and garlic (GR2) and turmeric extracts (TM3), and the synthetic RH (TakeRoot®) used contained an active ingredient, indole butyric acid (0.01%). The E. aureum stem cuttings were placed in hydroponic pots and root development rates were monitored for up to 30 days. Recorded data from five parameters were analyzed: (1) number of rooted cuttings, (2) number of roots per stem cutting, (3) length of the longest and (4) shortest roots of the cuttings, and (5) rooting time. Stem cuttings were quantified using ImageJ software. The results showed that compared to the application of TakeRoot®, treatment with the biostimulant AV1 produced the longest roots, whereas stem cuttings treated with GR2 and TM3 did not produce significant results. Moreover, AV1 induced root organogenesis 16.67% faster than did TakeRoot® but no significant difference (pAloe vera gel, known for plant growth benefits, is the best choice for plant root propagation.

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUG Background: The feasibility and reliability of the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) battery for predicting injury risk have been widely studied in athletic, military, public service and healthy populations. However, scant research has been carried out in people with disabilities. This study aimed at identifying the feasibility and reliability of the FMS battery when administered to adults with intellectual disability (ID). Methods: Adults from a residential and day care centre over 18 years of age, diagnosed with ID and able to follow simple instructions, were included in the study. All participants with behavioural or health problems that prevented the completion of the FMS battery were excluded. All exercises were video recorded to assure proper scoring. Three assessors (one trained and two novices) scored each of the FMS subtests performed separately from the videos. Feasibility was based on completion rates. Reliability of the composite test scores was analysed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Results: A total of 30 people with ID (mean age: 35.5 ± 7.12 years; 33.3% women) completed all assessments. The battery showed to be feasible, although difficulties when performing two of the subtests were observed among those with moderate and severe ID. Mean total scores from the three assessors ranged from 7.83 to 8.90. An inverse trend was observed indicating that the higher the ID level, the lower the total FMS score. Test–retest reliability was good for the trained assessor (ICC = 0.89) and mostly moderate for both novice assessors (ICC range: 0.60 to 0.76). Moderate to good inter-rater reliability was observed (ICC range: 0.65 to 0.80). Conclusion: The FMS battery is a reliable tool that can be performed by people with ID, albeit with certain difficulties, especially in those with moderate to severe impairment. The battery does not seem to be useful for identifying people with ID at risk of suffering a sport injury. Adequately powered, well-designed studies are required to determine if the FMS battery is appropriate for identifying changes in functional performance in this population.

Le présent article situe les données du problème reliées au rôle de l’intervenant d’origine ethnique en psychiatrie légale. Il soulève les points saillants concernant l’évaluation clinique et le diagnostic de patients d’ethnies autres que Québécoise. Un éclairage sur la problématique de l’émigré, sur les liens existant entre santé mentale et culture seront exposés. Un cas clinique étayera notre réflexion. Nos conclusions réfutent la nécessité d’être d’une même origine ethnique pour prendre en charge ou traiter un patient. Mais lors d’évaluations ou d’expertises psychiatriques et légales, la présence de l’intervenant homoethnique qui crée un « pont inter culturel » entre le clinicien et le patient est importante. C’est ce rôle de coordination et de jonction entre deux cultures que devraient jouer les cliniques transculturelles.

[Background] Viruses are among the most destructive and difficult to control plant pathogens. Melon (Cucumis melo L.) has become the model species for the agriculturally important Cucurbitaceae family. Approaches that take advantage of recently developed genomic tools in melon have been extremely useful for understanding viral pathogenesis and can contribute to the identification of target genes for breeding new resistant cultivars. In this work, we have used a recently described melon microarray for transcriptome profiling of two melon cultivars infected with two strains of Melon necrotic spot virus (MNSV) that only differ on their 3′-untranslated regions., [Results] Melon plant tissues from the cultivars Tendral or Planters Jumbo were locally infected with either MNSV-Mα5 or MNSV-Mα5/3’264 and analysed in a time-course experiment. Principal component and hierarchical clustering analyses identified treatment (healthy vs. infected) and sampling date (3 vs. 5 dpi) as the primary and secondary variables, respectively. Out of 7566 and 7074 genes deregulated by MNSV-Mα5 and MNSV-Mα5/3’264, 1851 and 1356, respectively, were strain-specific. Likewise, MNSV-Mα5/3’264 specifically deregulated 2925 and 1618 genes in Tendral and Planters Jumbo, respectively. The GO categories that were significantly affected were clearly different for the different virus/host combinations. Grouping genes according to their patterns of expression allowed for the identification of two groups that were specifically deregulated by MNSV-Mα5/3’264 with respect to MNSV-Mα5 in Tendral, and one group that was antagonistically regulated in Planters Jumbo vs. Tendral after MNSV-Mα5/3’264 infection. Genes in these three groups belonged to diverse functional classes, and no obvious regulatory commonalities were identified. When data on MNSV-Mα5/Tendral infections were compared to equivalent data on cucumber mosaic virus or watermelon mosaic virus infections, cytokinin-O-glucosyltransferase2 was identified as the only gene that was deregulated by all three viruses, with infection dynamics correlating with the amplitude of transcriptome remodeling., [Conclusions] Strain-specific changes, as well as cultivar-specific changes, were identified by profiling the transcriptomes of plants from two melon cultivars infected with two MNSV strains. No obvious regulatory features shared among deregulated genes have been identified, pointing toward regulation through differential functional pathways., This work was supported by grants AGL2012-37390 and PCIN-2013-043 (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain)

BACKGROUND 18F-FDG PET/CT predicts cardiovascular disease. To analyze the predictive value of cardiovascular events from inflammation and arterial calcification in patients who underwent an 18F-FDG PET/CT for lung cancer. METHODS A retrospective study of 274 patients with primary lung neoplasia. We determined: (i) TBR (target-to-background ratio), and (ii) the calcium score, at eight common arterial segments. We took as arteriosclerosis, a TBR ≥1.6 and ≥15 Calcium Score sum. We registered cardiovascular risk factors, comorbidities, histology, stage, treatment, status at the last clinical review, cause of death and cardiovascular event during the follow-up. RESULTS The territory presenting the greatest uptake of 18F-FDG, was the thoracic aorta with an average of 1.77 (± 0.27 TBR) in the aortic arch, while the greatest degree of calcification was obtained in the abdominal aorta (52% with a Calcium Score ≥ 3). 24% of the patients presented a sum Calcium Score ≥15, and 17% a TBR ≥1.6. Patients with high TBR, (17%), had not a higher frequency of cardiovascular comorbidities beforehand, nor did they in the follow-up. However, those with a sum Calcium Score ≥15 (24%), were older, had more cardiovascular risk factors and ischemic events during follow-up. The calcium score, but not the TBR, predicted the emergence of a cardiovascular event (HR 4.9 IC95% 2.1-9.1, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION In our cohort, a high Calcium Score was an independent predictor for developing cardiovascular events.

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is an important biomarker of bone diseases clinically measured in blood as a routine assay by means of optical read-outs, which when compared with electroanalytical methods present lack of miniaturization, slow response and high cost. Thus, electrochemical ALP sensors have arisen as a tool to develop disposable low cost devices with an increased sensitivity for healthcare. However, few of them comply with clinical standards, hence, limiting their application and competitiveness compared to the traditional optical methods. Therefore, we address a rapid test for ALP determination in human samples based on an end-point electrochemical assay using disposable graphite screen-printed electrodes and following international clinical recommendations. Using Square Wave Voltammetry (SWV), we first evaluated the electrochemistry of the enzymatic product phenol both at commercial ALP samples as well as at in vitro samples from osteoblasts cell cultures. ALP present in human serum and saliva from patients under normal and pathological conditions was further quantified by SWV. Additionally, the bone ALP isoform of such human samples was measured via precipitation with lectin wheat germ agglutinin. The resulting sensor showed an operational range between 20 to 1500 U L−1 using 10 μL of sample, a total volume of 100 μL and a reaction time of 10 min at 37 °C in addition to no interference of human samples in the potential window of interest for phenol oxidation. This work demonstrates that the electrochemical ALP sensor, here developed, is a promising alternative against the traditional commercial methods currently used. Fil: Sappia, Luciano David. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Bioingeniería; Argentina Fil: Felice, Betiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Bioingeniería; Argentina. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España Fil: Sanchez, Maria Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Bioingeniería; Argentina. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España Fil: Martí, Mercè. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España Fil: Madrid, Rossana Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Bioingeniería; Argentina Fil: Pividori, María Isabel. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España

Torrao or torrado is an emerging disease that is causing serious economic losses in tomato crops of southeastern Spain. The causal agent has been shown to be a new picorna-like plant virus, tentatively named Tomato torrado virus (ToTV) (4). By using trap tomato plants in a greenhouse affected by torrado located in the Murcia Region of Spain, we obtained a ToTV isolate (ToTV-CE) that we have biologically and molecularly characterized. Subtracted cDNA libraries (1) and expressed sequence tags sequencing were used to determine the partial nucleotide sequence of ToTV-CE. We covered ≈53% of the virus genome (GenBank Accession Nos. EU476181 and EU476182) and found that ToTV-CE RNAs 1 and 2 had a high nucleotide similarity (98 and 99%, respectively) with the ToTV published sequences (2,4). ToTV-CE sequences also showed a 70% nt similarity with those of Tomato apex necrosis virus, a newly identified virus in tomato crops of the Culiacan area (Sinaloa, Mexico) (3). To characterize the host range of ToTV-CE, 6 to 10 plants belonging to 14 species were mechanically inoculated with extracts from ToTV-CE-infected Nicotiana benthamiana plants. The presence of ToTV in these plants was analyzed at 3 and 6 weeks postinoculation (PI) by molecular hybridization in dot-blots. The determined host range was in agreement with that described earlier (2,4), but additional hosts and nonhosts were identified. Thus, the virus did not infect melon (Cucumis melo var. cantaloupe), cucumber (C. sativus cv. Marketmore), squash (Cucurbita pepo cv. Negro Belleza), Chenopodium album ssp. Amaranticolor, or Chenopodium quinoa. The virus infected systemically N. benthamiana, N. glutinosa, N. rustica, tobacco (N. tabacum cvs. Xanthi nc and Samsun), Physalis floridana, pepper (Capsicum annuum cv. Italian Long Sweet), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Boludo), and eggplant (S. melongena cv. Black Beauty). Pepper plants displayed severe symptoms of infection consisting of marked mosaics and stunting (but no necrosis), but eggplant remained asymptomatic for up to 6 weeks PI. A simple assay was devised to analyze whether ToTV can be transmitted by whiteflies. ToTV-CE-infected tomato plants were placed together with three to eight healthy tomato seedlings inside insect-proof glass boxes. Adult Bemisia tabaci (100 to 800 individuals in three replicates) or Trialeurodes vaporariorum (100 individuals in one replicate) were released into each box. For both treatments, symptoms typically induced by ToTV appeared in one to seven tomato seedlings by 1 week after the release of the whiteflies. ToTV infection was confirmed by molecular hybridization in tissue prints of petiole cross sections at 10 days PI. These data are in agreement with those reported by Pospieszny et al. (2) and strongly suggest that both B. tabaci and T. vaporariorum can transmit ToTV. References: (1) L. Diachenko et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:6025, 1996. (2) H. Pospieszny et al. Plant Dis. 91:1364, 2007 (3) M. Turina et al. Plant Dis. 91:932, 2007. (4) M. Verbeek et al. Arch. Virol. 152:881, 2007.

In situ hybridization (ISH) is an informative and relatively accessible technique for the localization of viral genomes in plant tissue and cells. However, simultaneous visualization of related plant viruses in mixed infections may be limited by the nucleotide similarity in the genomes and the single chromogenic detection over the same sample preparation. To address this issue, we used two Pepino mosaic virus isolates and performed ISH over consecutive serial cross-sections of paraffin-embedded leaf samples of single and mixed infected Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Moreover, the probe design was optimized to reduce cross-hybridisation, and co-localization was based on the overlapping of consecutive cross-sections from mixed infected leaves; thus, our results showed that both Pepino mosaic virus isolates co-localized in the same leaf tissue. In turn, both isolates were localized in the cytoplasm of the same cells. These results provide valuable information for studying mixed infections in plants by using a simple ISH procedure that is accessible to any pathology laboratory., P.G. and M.A.A. acknowledge funding from MINECO (grants AGL2014-59556-R and PCIN-2017-055, the latter within the ERANET-ARIMNet2 (ref. 302) program), and C.A. was supported by funding from the Ministry of Industry, Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, Spain) within the PhD programme grant (FPU16/02569).

Background and aims: To assess the impact of obesity and being overweight on sickness absence (SA) as a function of healthy/unhealthy metabolic phenotype. Methods and results: A total of 173 120 healthy workers who underwent a routine check-up, consisting of a structured interview, anthropometric measurements and blood pressure and fasting blood analysis, were included as the study sample (67.1% males; 49.2% manual workers; mean age 40.6 +/- 21.9 years). Workers were classified according to their body mass index (BMI) and metabolic phenotype. A metabolically unhealthy phenotype was defined as the presence of three or more of the following criteria: glycaemia >= 110 mg/dL or previously diagnosed type I/II diabetes or treatment for diabetes; triglycerides >= 150 mg/dL or lipid-lowering therapy; HDL = 130/85 mmHg or previously diagnosed hypertension or antihy-pertensive therapy; waist circumference >102/88 cm M/F. A one-year follow-up was conducted to evaluate the incidence of work-related and non-work-related SA (WRSA/NWRSA). The association of BMI with SA was tested using Poisson regression (standard error correction), segmenting on the basis of metabolic phenotype. The overall percentages of workers who were overweight, obese and/or had a metabolically unhealthy phenotype were 37.7%, 16.3% and 8.8%, respectively. BMI was associated with increased incidence of NWRSA in both phenotypes. It was also associated with WRSA in subjects with a BMI in the range of 35-39.99 kg/m(2)and in metabolically healthy individuals. WRSA was lower in subjects with a BMI >= 40 kg/m(2)and among metabolically unhealthy individuals. Conclusion: Obesity is associated with health problems that have a significant impact on SA. (C) 2019 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The emerging lettuce big-vein disease (LBVD) is causing losses in lettuce production ranging from 30 to 70% worldwide. Several studies have associated this disease with Mirafiori lettuce big-vein virus (MiLBVV) alone or in mixed infection with lettuce big-vein associated virus (LBVaV). We used Illumina small RNA sequencing (sRNA-seq) to identify viruses present in symptomatic lettuce plants from commercial fields in Southern Spain. Data analysis using the VirusDetect tool showed the consistent presence of MiLBVV and LBVaV in diseased plants. Populations of MiLBVV and LBVaV viral small RNAs (sRNAs) were characterized, showing features essentially similar to those of other viruses, with the peculiarity of an uneven asymmetric distribution of MiLBVV virus-derived small RNAs (vsRNAs) for the different polarities of genomic RNA4 vs. RNAs1 to 3. Sanger sequencing of coat protein genes was used to study MiLBVV and LBVaV phylogenetic relationships and population genetics. The Spanish MiLBVV population was composed of isolates from three well-differentiated lineages and reflected almost all of the diversity reported for the MiLBVV species, whereas the LBVaV population showed very little genetic differentiation at the regional scale but lineage differentiation at a global geographical scale. Universal primers were used to detect and quantify the accumulation of MiLBVV and LBVaV in field samples; both symptomatic and asymptomatic plants from affected fields carried equal viral loads, with LBVaV accumulating at higher levels than MiLBVV., CG-A was recipient of grant PTQ-15-07646 from the Torres-Quevedo program (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness; Spain) and CT of fellowship DI-14-06825 from the Industrial Doctoral program (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, Spain).

Ordered arrays of very high quality, defect-free GaN nanocolumns were achieved by selective area growth following a two step process involving nanopillar dry etching (top down) and overgrowth by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (bottom up). A study by transmission electron microscopy, over more than 50 individual nanocolumns, confirmed the absence of extended defects, such as dislocations, polarity inversion domain boundaries and stacking faults. Low temperature (10 K) photoluminescence spectrum is dominated by a donor-bound exciton emission line at 3.472 eV with a line width of 0.5 meV. In addition, a distinct emission line from the free-exciton A is observed at 3.479 eV. No traces of emission lines, either at 2.3 eV (Yellow Band); 3.45 eV (also labeled as UX line and recently linked to polarity inversion domain boundaries); or 3.42 eV (stacking faults) were observed.

The aim of this work was to follow Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) infection in apricot reproductive tissues and transmission of the virus to the next generation. For this, an analysis of viral distribution in apricot reproductive organs was carried out at different developmental stages. PNRSV was detected in reproductive tissues during gametogenesis. The virus was always present in the nucellus and, in some cases, in the embryo sac. Studies within infected seeds at the embryo globular stage revealed that PNRSV infects all parts of the seed, including embryo, endosperm and testa. In the torpedo and bent cotyledon developmental stages, high concentrations of the virus were detected in the testa and endosperm. At seed maturity, PNRSV accumulated slightly more in the embryo than in the cotyledons. In situ hybridization showed the presence of PNRSV RNA in embryos obtained following hand-pollination of virus-free pistils with infected pollen. Interestingly, tissue-printing from fruits obtained from these pistils showed viral RNA in the periphery of the fruits, whereas crosses between infected pistils and infected pollen resulted in a total invasion of the fruits. Taken together, these results shed light on the vertical transmission of PNRSV from gametes to seedlings.

The objectives of this study were to establish normal values for relative echogenicity (RE) and cross-sectional area (CSA) of the flexor tendons and ligaments of the metacarpal region of Purebred Spanish horses (PBSH), and to determine the effect of body mass index (BMI), age, sex and forelimb on these variables. Transverse ultrasonographic images were obtained using 20 normal PBSH (10 females, 10 males; 2–25 years of age; BMI 132.04–152.25; not in training). The images were digitised and values for CSA and RE were determined for each structure. The suspensory ligament was the most echogenic and the largest structure, and the superficial digital flexor tendon was the least echogenic and smallest of the tissues examined. The tendons and ligaments of the metacarpal region in PBSH showed similar RE but smaller CSAs when compared to other breeds.

[EN] Job rotation is a method of work organization by which working conditions can be improved. A change of activity reduces job monotony, fatigue, the risk of musculoskeletal disorders and cumulative trauma disorders. In order to develop a rotation plan that achieves the maximum benefit obtainable from this technique, the multiple factors that affect it must be considered simultaneously. This paper proposes a genetic algorithm that allows the planner to achieve job rotation schedules that aim to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders, obtaining maximum diversification of the jobs carried out during working hours, and which take into account both permanent and temporary disabilities of the workers as well as their preferences. The fundamental contribution of the method lies in its focus on multi-criteria analysis and its ability to include new factors in the evaluation of solutions without the need to substantially modify the algorithm. This algorithm is then implemented by a computer program, which thus becomes a flexible tool to aid the planner. Relevance to industry: The results of this study suggest that the algorithm presented could be an efficient tool in the development of a rotation program, obtaining practical results within the scope of realistic possibilities of the plant.

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) has the broadest host range among plant viruses, causing enormous losses in agriculture. In melon, strains of subgroup II are unable to establish a systemic infection in the near-isogenic line SC12-1-99, which carries the recessive resistance gene cmv1 from the accession PI 161375, cultivar ‘Songwhan Charmi’. Strains of subgroup I overcome cmv1 resistance in a manner dependent on the movement protein. We characterized the resistance conferred by cmv1 and established that CMV-LS (subgroup II) can move from cell to cell up to the veins in the inoculated leaf, but cannot enter the phloem. Immunogold labelling at transmission electron microscopy level showed that CMV-LS remains restricted to the bundle sheath (BS) cells in the resistant line, and does not invade vascular parenchyma or intermediary cells, whereas, in the susceptible line ‘Piel de Sapo’ (PS), the virus invades all vein cell types. These observations indicate that the resistant allele of cmv1 restricts systemic infection in a virus strain- and cell type-specific manner by acting as an important gatekeeper for virus progression from BS cells to phloem cells. Graft inoculation experiments showed that CMV-LS cannot move from the infected PS stock into the resistant cmv1 scion, thus suggesting an additional role for cmv1 related to CMV transport within or exit from the phloem. The characterization of this new form of recessive resistance, based on a restriction of virus systemic movement, opens up the possibility to design alternative approaches for breeding strategies in melon., This work was supported by grants AGL2009-12698-C02-01 and AGL2012-40130-C02-01 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. CG-A was supported by grant BES-2010-030274 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) is an emerging pathogen that represents a serious threat to tomato production worldwide. PepMV-induced diseases manifest with a wide range of symptoms, including systemic necrosis. Our results showed that PepMV accumulation depends on the virus isolate, tomato cultivar, and environmental conditions, and associates with the development of necrosis. Substitution of lysine for glutamic acid at position 67 in the triple gene block 3 (TGB3) protein, previously described as a necrosis determinant, led to increased virus accumulation and was necessary but not sufficient to induce systemic necrosis. Systemic necrosis both in tomato and Nicotiana benthamiana shared hypersensitive response (HR) features, allowing the assessment of the role of different genomic regions on necrosis induction. Overexpression of both TGB3 and the polymerase domain (POL) of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) resulted in necrosis, although only local expression of POL triggered HR-like symptoms. Our results also indicated that the necrosis-eliciting activity of POL resides in its highly conserved “palm” domain, and that necrosis was jasmonic acid-dependent but not salicylic acid-dependent. Altogether, our data suggest that the RdRp-POL domain plays an important role in PepMV necrosis induction, with necrosis development depending on the virus accumulation level, which can be modulated by the nature of TGB3, host genotype and environmental conditions.

Cell biological tools were used to localize the genomic RNAs/DNA and/or the coat protein (CP) of Carnation mottle, Carnation vein mottle, Carnation latent, and Carnation etched ring viruses in the carnation shoot tip to know whether any of them was capable of infecting the shoot apical meristem. Our results showed that all the viruses studied were excluded not only in single-infected but also in double-infected plants. Despite that, these viruses showed a different infection pattern inside the shoot tip, with different cell types being their main targets. For the mixed infection studied here, our results showed the existence of a spatial separation pattern within the carnation shoot tip which strongly suggests an exclusion phenomenon.

Prevencion primaria. La prevencion de la arteriosclerosis pasa en primer lugar por identificar a los pacientes de alto riesgo; en nuestro pais, estos sujetos son aquellos que ya han tenido un episodio isquemico, los diabeticos tipo 1 con microalbuminuria o diabeticos tipo 2 y aquellos que alcancen un riesgo de muerte vascular en la puntuacion SCORE de mas del 5% a los 10 anos. Medidas no farmacologicas. Enmarcadas dentro del concepto de estilo de vida saludable, son la base de la prevencion de la enfermedad y cuentan con grandes ventajas: se pueden aconsejar a toda la poblacion, incluida la infantil, las medidas son baratas, no tienen apenas efectos adversos y han demostrado su eficiencia a traves de ensayos clinicos y estudios epidemiologicos. Dislipidemias. Las estatinas son el grupo terapeutico de eleccion en el tratamiento de la hipercolesterolemia y de la arteriosclerosis. La dosis depende del farmaco elegido, la gravedad de la hiperlipidemia y del objetivo terapeutico, ademas de otras consideraciones farmacocineticas. Diabetes mellitus. A los pacientes diabeticos se les debe tratar de forma mas energica las elevaciones de los lipidos y de la presion arterial que a los sujetos no diabeticos, ya que son estos dos factores los que mas predisponen a la enfermedad macrovascular. Respecto del control glucemico, tienen preferencia los hipoglucemiantes orales que reducen la resistencia a la insulina. Hipertension arterial. Varios grupos terapeuticos para el control de la hipertension arterial son eficaces en reducir la morbilidad y mortalidad vascular; la eleccion del hipotensor esta condicionada por las comorbilidades.

Prunus necrotic ring spot virus (PNRSV) transmission takes place in nature during flowering and pollination. It is thought to be transmitted through pollen and seeds although the exact mechanism is unknown. In a previous work, we demonstrated that in the case of nectarine, PNRSV is located inside the pollen grains, which would help to explain its vertical transmission in this tree. Experiments involving artificial pollination resulted in transmission percentages that varied from 100% in peach to 0% in cherry. In this work we study the vertical transmission of PNRSV by gametes in apricot in an attempt to understand to what extent they are involved in the high incidence of PNRSV in this crop. In order to obtain a preliminary indication about PNRSV location on the apricot pollen grains, we made dot-blot hybridisation. Unlike in nectarine, the results pointed to the presence of the virus outside as well as inside the apricot pollen grains, results that are consistent with those of other authors. When in situ hybridisation experiments were carried out in flowers the virus was found in all organs, including its presence inside pollen grains. However, not all pollen grains contained in an anther were infected indicating an irregular distribution of the virus. We also studied the germination percentage of in vitro germinated pollen grains and found that PNRSV -infected pollen have a germination rate of only 27% while healthy pollen shows 64%.

New advances on Selective Area Growth (SAG) of InGaN/GaN nanostructures by plasma-assisted MBE on GaN/sapphire templates and Si (111) substrates are presented. Both, axial and core-shell structures are considered. Very intense green electroluminescence is achieved on axial nanoLEDs grown on Si(111) with very small emission drift with current injection. First results on core-shell InGaN/GaN structures grown by MBE on GaN templates are also presented. Two approaches are followed: i) top down, where cylindrical micro-rods are etched down by ICP from a 3 micron thick GaN/sapphire template, and bottom up, in which very high aspect ratio GaN cores are used. In both cases, GaN and InGaN shell layers are then grown both in axial and radial directions. Potential advantages of this core-shell structure as compared to the axial one are twofold: the increase of emission surface (lateral area) and the absence of internal electric fields (m-plane). The crystal perfection is much better than that of 2D InGaN films of similar In% composition. Ordered arrays of GaN and InGaN axial nanostructures are also grown on non-polar and semi-polar directions and subsequently merged into a continuous film to produce high quality pseudo substrates. The resulting films exhibit a very strong luminescence, orders of magnitude higher that from the substrate used. Semi-polar GaN templates have a huge density of stacking faults (SFs) most of them are filtered upon coalescence of the nanostructures grown on top. In all cases there is a preferential growth direction along the c-plane (0001). PL and spatially resolved CL measurements on individual nanostructures, either polar, non-polar, or semi-polar show that the In% incorporation depends strongly on the crystal plane considered.

We will highlight our recent work on the properties of residual defects and dopants in GaN heteroepitaxial layers and on the nature of recombination from InGaN single quantum well (SQW) light emitting diodes (LEDs) through magnetic resonance techniques. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) were performed on undoped (highly resistive and n-type) and intentionally doped (Si, Mg, or Be) GaN films grown by a variety of techniques (MOCVD, MBE, and HVPE) in order to obtain general trends and behavior. Through the spin-Hamiltonian parameters, these methods can reveal symmetry information, the character of the wave function and (ideally) the chemical identity of the defect. In addition, low temperature EPR intensities can be used to determine the neutral acceptor or donor concentrations without the need for contacts or the high temperatures required for Hall effect measurements. The ODMR was performed on both bandedge (mainly shallow donor–shallow acceptor recombination) and deep (visible and near-IR) PL bands. In spite of the radically different (non-equilibrium) growth techniques, many of the same defects were found in the various samples. Finally, earlier ODMR studies of recombination from Nichia InGaN ‘green’ and ‘blue’ LEDs were extended to include shorter (‘violet’) and longer (‘amber’) wavelength LEDs and an undoped 30 A In0.3Ga0.7N/GaN heterostructure. The results provide evidence for spatially separated electrons and holes in the optically-active 30 A InGaN layers under low photoexcitation conditions, likely due to localization at different potential minima in the x–y planes and/or the large strain-induced piezoelectric fields parallel to the growth direction.

The growth of ordered arrays of InGaN/GaN nanocolumnar light emitting diodes by molecular beam epitaxy, emitting in the blue (441 nm), green (502 nm), and yellow (568 nm) spectral range is reported. The device active region, consisting of a nanocolumnar InGaN section of nominally constant composition and 250 to 500 nm length, is free of extended defects, which is in strong contrast to InGaN layers (planar) of similar composition and thickness. The devices are driven under pulsed operation up to 1300 A/cm2 without traces of efficiency droop. Electroluminescence spectra show a very small blue shift with increasing current, (almost negligible in the yellow device) and line widths slightly broader than those of state-of-the-art InGaN quantum wells.

Summary form only given. New advances on Selective Area Growth (SAG) of InGaN/GaN nanostructures by plasma-assisted MBE on GaN/sapphire templates and Si (111) substrates are presented. Both, axial and core-shell structures are considered. Very intense green electroluminescence (figure 1) is achieved on axial nanoLEDs grown on Si(111) with very little peak drift and droop effects with current injection. First results on core-shell InGaN/GaN structures grown by MBE on GaN templates are also presented. Cylindrical micro-rods are etched down by ICP from a 3 micron thick GaN/sapphire template. GaN and InGaN layers are then grown both in axial and radial directions so that the initial GaN cylinder is covered in a conformal way. Hexagonal symmetry is fully recovered once the GaN shell layer is grown. Potential advantages of this core-shell structure as compared to the axial one are twofold: the increase of emission surface (lateral area) and the absence of internal electric fields (m-plane). The crystal perfection is much better than that of 2D InGaN films of similar In% composition. Ordered arrays of GaN and InGaN axial nanostructures are grown on non-polar and semi-polar directions and subsequently merged into a continuous film to produce high quality pseudo substrates. Results show that in both cases the resulting films exhibit a very strong luminescence, orders of magnitude higher that from the substrate used. Semi-polar GaN templates have a huge density of stacking faults (SFs) most of them are filtered upon coalescence of the nanostructures grown on top. In all cases there is a preferential growth direction along the c-plane (0001). PL and spatially resolved CL measurements on individual nanostructures, either polar, non-polar, or semi-polar show that the In% incorporation depends strongly on the crystal plane considered.

There are multiple processes at different scales that produce turbulent mixing and sediment lift off in the ocean bottom. Basic aspects of buoyancy and stratification in turbulent flows are used to investigate the lift off of sediments and we describe here some of the innovative techniques used in the laboratory. The present paper describes some of the work that our group has performed within the European Land Ocean Interaction Studies (ELOISE). Further, in a fully detailed paper, a presentation of all the experimental work as well as their results will be submitted. We present in this paper two laboratory experiments with the results of sediment lift off under sheared and zero-mean flow turbulence. We compare actual seabed sediments extracted from the Gulf of Lyon. Comparison is made between the boundary Reynolds stress derived from turbulent r.m.s. velocity, u 0 ; in the zero-mean flow turbulence, and from the friction velocity, u� (Shields critical parameter) in the shear-induced turbulence flow at the sediment laden bottom boundary layer. There is an increase in the sediment lift-off as boundary Reynolds stress increases, whereas there are important differences between zero-mean and shear-dominated boundary flows. Lower boundary Reynolds stresses are required in zero-mean flows to lift off a sediment bed of equal characteristics than in shear-induced flows, indicating the dominant role of r.m.s. velocity fluctuations at the sediment bed. r 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

A laboratory experimental set - up for studying the behaviour of sediment in presence of a turbulent field with zero mean flow is presented. Particular interest is shown on the initiation of sediment motion and in the sediment lift - off. Some examples of the results obtained with this set-up are shown. A turbulent velocity u′ lower than that u estimated by the Shield diagram is required to start sediment motion. The minimum u′ required to start sediment lift - off, is a function of sediment size, cohesivity and resting time. The lutocline height depends on u′, and the vorticity at the lutocline seems constant for a fixed sediment size. Combining grid stirring and image analysis, sediment vertical fluxes and settling speeds could be measured.

In five cats with normal renal function, doses of 200, 400, 600 and 800 mg iodine kg(-1)bodyweight of iohexol (350 mg iodine ml(-1)) were assessed in comparison to a dose of 880 mg iodine kg(-1)bodyweight of meglumine-sodium amidotrizoate (370 mg iodine ml(-1)) to determine the smallest dose which produces diagnostically adequate results for excretory urography. Urographic quality, haematologic and biochemical parameters, urinalysis and urinary osmolality, pulse and respiratory rates, blood pressure and adverse effects were determined. Iohexol presented fewer adverse reactions and influenced blood pressure less than amidotrizoate. The smallest dose of iohexol which provided urograms of similar quality to amidotrizoate was 400 mg iodine kg(-1)bodyweight. This study suggests that iohexol is safer and produces urograms of better quality than amidotrizoate.

The adsorption isotherms of fluoride from an aqueous solution on plain and aluminum-impregnated activated carbons were measured in this study. The impregnated carbon was prepared by impregnation with an aluminum nitrate solution at a fixed pH, followed by calcination under nitrogen at temperatures above 300°C. The adsorption of fluoride on impregnated carbon was shown to be dependent upon both the pH of the impregnating solution and the temperature of calcination. Impregnated carbon was shown to have a fluoride adsorption capacity of 3 to 5 times that of plain activated carbon.

Prunus necrotic ringspot Ilarvirus (PNRSV) is a pollen and seed-borne ilarvirus affecting most Prunus spp. The location of the virus in infected nectarine pollen grains was investigated by molecular hybridisation, RT-PCR and in situ hybridisation. The first two approaches revealed an internal location of the virus. In situ hybridisation demonstrated the virus in the bicellular pollen grain, where it was present in the cytoplasm of the vegetative cell but not in the generative cell. This result seems to indicate that the sperm cells, formed by the mitosis of the generative cell, are not involved in virus transmission to seed. Other possible mechanisms are discussed.