Mutualistic interactions between plants and microorganisms shape the continuous evolution and adaptation of plants such as to the terrestrial environment that was a founding event of subsequent life ...on land. Such interactions also play a central role in the natural and agricultural ecosystems and are of primary importance for a sustainable future. To boost plant's productivity and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, new approaches involving associated symbiotic organisms have recently been explored. New discoveries on mutualistic symbioses evolution and the interaction between partners will be key steps to enhance plant potential.
Three-dimensional (3D) imaging offers new possibilities in animal phenotyping. Here, we investigated how this technology can be used to study the morphological changes that occur in dairy cows over ...the course of a single lactation. First, we estimated the individual body weight (BW) of dairy cows using traits measured with 3D images. To improve the quality of prediction, we monitored body growth (via 3D imaging), gut fill (via individual dry matter intake), and body reserves (via body condition score) throughout lactation. A group of 16 Holstein cows—8 in their first lactation, 4 in their second lactation, and 4 in their third or higher lactation—was scanned in 3D once a month for an entire lactation. Values of morphological traits (e.g., chest depth or hip width) increased continuously with parity, but cows in their first lactation experienced the largest increase during the monitoring period. Values of partial volume, estimated from point of shoulder to pin bone, predicted BW with an error of 25.4 kg (R2 = 0.92), which was reduced to 14.3 kg when the individual effect of cows was added to the estimation model. The model was further improved by the addition of partial surface area (from point of shoulder to pin bone), hip width, chest depth, diagonal length, and heart girth, which increased the R2 of BW prediction to 0.94 and decreased root mean square error to 22.1 kg. The different slopes for individual cows were partly explained by body condition score and morphological traits, indicating that they may have reflected differences in body density among animals. Changes in BW over the course of lactation were mostly due to changes in growth, which accounted for around two-thirds of BW gain regardless of parity. Body reserves and gut fill had smaller but still notable effects on body composition, with a higher gain in body reserves and gut fill for cows in their first lactation compared with multiparous cows. This work demonstrated the potential for rapid and low-cost 3D imaging to facilitate the monitoring of several traits of high interest in dairy livestock farming.
We present a novel experimental technique that can differentiate unequivocally between chaotic light and coherent light with amplitude fluctuations, and thus permits us to characterize unambiguously ...the output of a laser. This technique consists of measuring the second-order intensity cross correlation at the outputs of an unbalanced Michelson interferometer. It is applied to a chaotic light source and to the output of a semiconductor nanolaser whose "standard" intensity correlation function above threshold displays values compatible with a mixture of coherent and chaotic light. Our experimental results demonstrate that the output of such lasers is not partially chaotic but is indeed a coherent state with amplitude fluctuations.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare fatal motor neuron disease. Although many potential mechanisms have been proposed, the pathophysiology of the disease remains unknown. Currently ...available treatments can only delay the progression of the disease and prolong life expectancy by a few months. There is still no definitive cure for ALS, and the development of new treatments is limited by a lack of understanding of the underlying biological processes that trigger and promote neurodegeneration. Several scientific results suggest a neurovascular impairment in ALS providing perspectives for the development of new biomarkers and treatments. In this article, we performed a systematic review using PRISMA guidelines including PubMed, EmBase, GoogleScholar, and Web of Science Core Collection to analyze the scientific literature published between 2000 and 2021 discussing the neurocardiovascular involvement and ophthalmologic abnormalities in ALS. In total, 122 articles were included to establish this systematic review. Indeed, microvascular pathology seems to be involved in ALS, affecting all the neurovascular unit components. Retinal changes have also been recently highlighted without significant alteration of the visual pathways. Despite the peripheral location of the retina, it is considered as an extension of the central nervous system (CNS) as it displays similarities to the brain, the inner blood–retinal barrier, and the blood–brain barrier. This suggests that the eye could be considered as a ‘window’ into the brain in many CNS disorders. Thus, studying ocular manifestations of brain pathologies seems very promising in understanding neurodegenerative disorders, mainly ALS. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) could therefore be a powerful approach for exploration of retinal microvascularization allowing to obtain new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of ALS.
Nonlinear dynamical systems involving small populations of individuals may sustain oscillations in the population densities arising from discrete changes in population numbers due to random events. ...By applying these ideas to nanolasers operating with small numbers of emitting dipoles and photons at threshold, we show that such lasers should display photon and dipole population cycles above threshold, which should be observable as a periodic modulation in the second-order correlation function of the nanolaser output. Such a modulation was recently reported in a single-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser.
Phytophthora root rot, caused by Phytophthora sojae, is one of the most damaging diseases of soybean and the introgression of Rps (Resistance to P. sojae) genes into elite soybean lines is arguably ...the best way to manage this disease. Current bioassays to phenotype the gene-for-gene relationship are hampered with respect to reproducibility and long-term stability of isolates, and do not accurately predict horizontal resistance individually. The aim of our study was to investigate a new way of phenotyping P. sojae isolates and vertical and horizontal resistance in soybean that relies on zoospores inoculated directly into a hydroponic system. Inoculation of P. sojae isolates against a set of eight differentials accurately and reproducibly identified pathotypes over a period of two years. When applied to test vertical resistance of soybean lines with known and unknown Rps genes, the bioassay relied on plant dry weight to correctly identify all genes. In addition, simultaneous inoculations of three P. sojae isolates, collectively carrying eight major virulence factors against 64 soybean lines with known and unknown levels of horizontal resistance, separated the plants into five distinct groups of root rot, allowing the discrimination of lines with various degrees of partial resistance. Based on those results, this bioassay offers several advantages in facilitating efforts in breeding soybean for P. sojae resistance and in identifying virulence factors in P. sojae.
The ISTH-SSC guidelines for lupus anticoagulant (LA) testing recommend using in-house determined cut-off values, pooled normal plasma (PNP) for ratio normalization, and a ratio for the mixing test ...interpretation. They strongly support the mixing step role in the diagnostic process.
To investigate and compare the LA testing results and interpretations obtained following the ISTH-SSC guidelines or the available alternatives.
Blood samples for LA testing from 462 consecutive patients were evaluated for screening, mixing and confirmatory tests. The analysis focused on the interpretation differences between using (1) the in-house cut-off values versus the manufacturer's cut-off values, (2) a normalized ratio calculated using PNP at each run versus the mean of the reference interval, (3) a normalized ratio versus the index of circulating anticoagulant to interpret the mixing step, and (4) a two-step versus three-step procedure.
LA testing outcomes were comparable when using the in-house and manufacturer's cut-off values. More positive dilute Russell's viper venom (DRVV) time results were obtained with the normalized ratio based on PNP than with the mean of the reference interval. Overall, the mixing test results obtained with the normalized ratio and the index of circulating anticoagulant showed a good agreement. Among the 97 DRVV Screen test-positive samples, 33 and 89 were classified as LA-positive with the 3-step and the 2-step procedure, respectively.
The cut-off value used and the way to normalize ratios had a limited impact. Conversely, it is important to understand the mixing test characteristics to maximize its diagnostic potential.
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•The current ISTH-SSC guidelines for LA testing aim to harmonize practices.•However, methodologies are not always consistent and alternatives are possible.•The impact of the cut-off value used and the way to normalize ratios remained limited.•It is important to understand the mixing test characteristics.
GnpIS is a data repository for plant phenomics that stores whole field and greenhouse experimental data including environment measures. It allows long-term access to datasets following the FAIR ...principles: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, by using a flexible and original approach. It is based on a generic and ontology driven data model and an innovative software architecture that uncouples data integration, storage, and querying. It takes advantage of international standards including the Crop Ontology, MIAPPE, and the Breeding API. GnpIS allows handling data for a wide range of species and experiment types, including multiannual perennial plants experimental network or annual plant trials with either raw data,
direct measures, or computed traits. It also ensures the integration and the interoperability among phenotyping datasets and with genotyping data. This is achieved through a careful curation and annotation of the key resources conducted in close collaboration with the communities providing data. Our repository follows the Open Science data publication principles by ensuring citability of each dataset. Finally, GnpIS compliance with international standards enables its interoperability with other data repositories hence allowing data links between phenotype and other data types. GnpIS can therefore contribute to emerging international federations of information systems.
Chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) is a rare myeloproliferative syndrome characterized by a significant increase in mature neutrophils. One of the most serious complications is the occurrence of ...bleeding events, which may sometimes lead to death.
A 75-year-old patient presented with CNL, complicated by a severe bleeding phenotype. Biological investigations revealed platelet function defect and increase in neutrophil elastase. The follow-up was marked by an intracranial hemorrhage leading to the patient's death 7 months after diagnosis.
This bleeding phenotype has been reported several times in patients with CNL. However, the pathophysiological mechanisms that cause bleeding are not yet fully understood.
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