Background Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty has been used with increasing frequency in the treatment of infrainguinal arterial occlusive disease. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the ...middle-term outcomes after crural angioplasty in patients with chronic critical limb ischemia and compare results with a meta-analysis of popliteal-to-distal vein bypass graft. Methods Data were retrieved from 30 articles published from 1990 through 2006 (63% of articles published between 2000 and 2006). All studies used survival analysis, reported a 12-month cumulative rate of patency or limb salvage, and included at least 15 infrapopliteal angioplasties. The outcome measures were immediate technical success, primary and secondary patency, limb salvage, and patient survival. Data from life-tables, survival curves, and texts were used. Results The pooled estimate of success was 89.0% ± 2.2% for immediate technical result. Results at 1 and 36 months were 77.4% ± 4.1% and 48.6% ± 8.0% for primary patency, 83.3% ± 1.4% and 62.9% ± 11.0% for secondary patency, 93.4% ± 2.3% and 82.4% ± 3.4% for limb salvage, and 98.3% ± 0.7% and 68.4% ± 5.5% for patient survival, respectively. Studies with >75% of the limbs with tissue loss fared worse than their respective comparative subgroup for technical success and patency but not for limb salvage or survival. No publication bias was detected. Conclusion The technical success and subsequent durability of crural angioplasty are limited compared with bypass surgery, but the clinical benefit is acceptable because limb salvage rates are equivalent to bypass surgery. Further studies are necessary to determine the proper role of infrapopliteal angioplasty.
Isolates from the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex, mainly F. sacchari, have been reported to be the causal agents of pokkah boeng in sugarcane in Brazil. However, inadequate information was ...available on the occurrence and genetic diversity of F. sacchari in Northeast Brazil, which is a limiting factor on management. Thus, isolates of F. subglutinans sensu lato from sugarcane plants with symptoms of pokkah boeng were evaluated using the sexual cross‐fertility to determine species. All the isolates produced black perithecia when they were crossed with the test isolates of F. sacchari. Three weeks after the crossing, the formation of fertile ascospores cirri was observed. Thirty‐four isolates were self‐sterile hermaphrodites, while 21 were fertile only as males. Five isolates were homothallic. The effective size Ne(f) of the population as a function of the frequency of hermaphrodites and female sterile strains was 95.5%. The F. sacchari isolates were separated into four genetic groups independent of geographic location. The mean of polymorphism among all populations was 79%, and the average unbiased genetic diversity (uh) was considered moderate (0.31). This study in addition to confirming that F. sacchari as the main species associated with pokkah boeng in sugarcane in Northeast Brazil, reveals the relationship of mating type and genetic diversity of F. sacchari. The unrestricted gene flow between regions is probably the best explanation for the low geographic correlation. This knowledge will help in the adoption of management measures with fungicides or resistant cultivars.
Salicylic acid (SA) has been considered to attenuate the effects of abiotic stresses on plants, including water deficit that intensely affects the growth and production of plants. The goal of this ...work was to evaluate the role of SA in the alleviation of water stress in watermelon seedlings on a morphophysiological and biochemical level. The experiment consisted of application of SA at concentrations of 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0 μmol L−1 to leaves of watermelon seedlings grown in three levels of water retention (100%, 75% and 50% WRL). To evaluate the effect on morphophysiological and biochemical aspects, the plant height, leaf area, shoot and root dry weight, chlorophyll index, relative water content, electrolyte leakage, protein content, amino acids, proline, carbohydrates, sucrose and starch concentration variables were determined. All variables were influenced by the SA concentrations and WRL, with statistically significant interaction between these factors for all except root dry weight. SA promotes increases in the concentration of organic solutes and reduces the rate of electrolyte leakage in watermelon seedlings, thus, supporting metabolism and growth of plants under stress conditions resulting from water deficit.
Salicylicacid concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0 μmol L−1) applied to leaves of watermelon seedlings grown at three levels of water retention (100, 75 and 50% WRL)
Plant breeding reduces the genetic diversity of plants and could influence the composition, structure, and diversity of the rhizosphere microbiome, selecting more homogeneous and specialized ...microbes. In this study, we used 16S rRNA sequencing to assess the bacterial community in the rhizosphere of different lines and modern cowpea cultivars, to investigate the effect of cowpea breeding on bacterial community assembly. Thus, two African lines (IT85F-2687 and IT82D-60) and two Brazilian cultivars (BRS-Guariba and BRS-Tumucumaque) of cowpea were assessed to verify if the generation advance and genetic breeding influence the bacterial community in the rhizosphere. No significant differences were found in the structure, richness, and diversity of bacterial community structure between the rhizosphere of the different cowpea genotypes, and only slight differences were found at the OTU level. The complexity of the co-occurrence network decreased from African lines to Brazilian cultivars. Regarding functional prediction, the core functions were significantly altered according to the genotypes. In general, African lines presented a more abundance of groups related to chemoheterotrophy, while the rhizosphere of the modern cultivars decreased functions related to cellulolysis. This study showed that the genetic breeding process affects the dynamics of the rhizosphere community, decreasing the complexity of interaction in one cultivar. As these cowpea genotypes are genetically related, it could suggest a new hypothesis of how genetic breeding of similar genotypes could influence the rhizosphere microbiome.
We aimed to estimate the occurrence of syphilis in pregnant women (SPW) and congenital syphilis (CS) in the municipalities of the state of São Paulo (SP) and evaluate their relationship with ...socioeconomic, demographic, and health care variables. We developed an ecological study based on secondary data of SPW and CS with spatiotemporal components from 645 municipalities in SP including data from 2007 to 2018. We modeled the data in a Bayesian context, considered spatial and temporal random effects, and used binomial negative probability distributions. We found a continuous increase in the relative temporal risk of SPW, from 2007 to 2018, and CS, from 2007 to 2017, when their incidences increased by 8.6 and 6.6 times, respectively. This increase occurred en bloc in practically all municipalities of SP. The increase in SPW was associated with teenage pregnancy, municipalities with a large number of inhabitants, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) incidence. The increase in CS was associated with municipalities with a large number of inhabitants, incomplete antenatal care, and AIDS incidence. Although actions to control these diseases are required in all municipalities of SP, the identification of high-risk areas points to priority regions for development.
Transit systems play a key role in improving access to job opportunities and basic services such as health and education. Most studies in the literature calculate transit accessibility using ...traditional place-based indicators that measure accessibility at a given location. However, because transit routes are the main unit of analysis in most approaches for planning and operation of transit systems, these accessibility indicators provide limited information to inform transport planning at the route-level. In addition, previous studies have demonstrated the methodological limitations of traditional place-based accessibility metrics to study the association between accessibility and transit ridership. In this paper, we propose a novel route-based accessibility measure to fill the mentioned gaps. The indicator measures the average level of access to opportunities provided by a given transit route to the population in its extended catchment area. This indicator is flexible enough that it can be calculated using different travel cost functions and can be applied to measure access to different activity types for the whole population or for specific groups. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed indicator, we calculated the employment accessibility provided by all routes of the transit system of Fortaleza, Brazil. We also show that the proposed indicator has greater predictive power of transit ridership than other route-level accessibility measures found in the literature. This paper provides a methodological contribution that could help transport planners incorporate accessibility analysis into transit system redesign projects, and help practitioners anticipate what accessibility impacts and subsequent changes in transit ridership could be expected from route-level service changes, and to examine the influence of accessibility on transit ridership.
A high frequency of plants showing symptoms of wilting and root rot has been observed in tomato‐producing areas in Santarém and Belterra, Pará, Brazil. These plants showed symptoms ranging from ...yellowing to wilting, with roots displaying reduced development and darkening of the xylem. Four fungal isolates, derived from a collection of 12 obtained from symptomatic plants, were chosen for identification using both morphological and phylogenetic species concepts. To determine the identity of the fungi, DNA was extracted and used in PCR reactions. PCR products were sequenced from the TEF‐1α and RBP2 regions and compared with sequences in GenBank using BLASTn. Based on the phylogenetic analyses, the isolates were identified as Fusarium falciforme and Fusarium suttonianum, belonging to the species complex Fusarium solani – (FSSC), and Fusarium triseptatum, belonging to the species complex Fusarium oxysporum – (FOSC). The fourth isolate, COUFPI 295, grouped within a clade of F. kalimantanense and F. sangayamense from FOSC. The fulfilment of Koch's postulates confirmed that all isolates induced symptoms of root rot and concomitant reduction in root mass, leading to observable wilting symptoms. This is the first report of F. suttonianum, F. falciforme and F. triseptatum causing root rot and wilt in tomato plants in Brazil.
To evaluate changes in bone density and architecture in postmenopausal women with breast cancer (BC) and use of aromatase inhibitor (AI).
Thirty-four postmenopausal women with BC, without bone ...metastasis, renal function impairment and who were not receiving bone-active drugs were selected from a population of 523 outpatients treated for BC. According to the presence of hormonal receptors, HER2 and Ki67, seventeen had positive hormonal receptors and received anastrozole (AI group), and seventeen were triple-negative receptors (non-AI group), previously treated with chemotherapy. Areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) analyses were performed by DXA; vBMD and bone microarchitecture were evaluated by HR-pQCT. Fracture risk was estimated using the FRAX tool.
No patient referred previous low-impact fracture, and VFA detected one moderate vertebral fracture in a non-AI patient. AI patients showed lower aBMD and BMD T-scores at the hip and 33% radius and a higher proportion of osteoporosis diagnosis on DXA (47%) vs non-AI (17.6%). AI group had significantly lower values for vBMD at the entire, cortical and trabecular bone compartments, cortical and trabecular thickness and BV/TV. They also had a higher risk for major fractures and for hip fractures estimated by FRAX. Several HR-pQCT parameters evaluated at distal radius and distal tibia were significantly associated with fracture risk.
AI is associated with alterations in bone density and microarchitecture of both the cortical and trabecular compartments. These findings explain the overall increase in fracture risk in this specific population.
Genotype × environment (G×E) interaction is an important source of variation in soybean yield, which can significantly influence selection in breeding programs. This study aimed to select superior ...soybean genotypes for performance and yield stability, from data from multi-environment trials (METs), through GGE biplot analysis that combines the main effects of the genotype (G) plus the genotype-by-environment (G×E) interaction. As well as, through path analysis, determine the direct and indirect influences of yield components on soybean grain yield, as a genotype selection strategy. Eight soybean genotypes from the breeding program of Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) were evaluated in field trials using a randomized block experimental design, in an 8 x 8 factorial scheme with four replications in eight different environments of the Cerrado of Northeastern Brazil during two crop seasons. Phenotypic performance data were measured for the number of days to flowering (NDF), height of first pod insertion (HPI), final plant height (FPH), number of days to maturity (NDM), mass of 100 grains (M100) and grain yield (GY). The results revealed that the variance due to genotype, environment, and G×E interaction was highly significant (P < 0.001) for all traits. The ST820RR, BRS 333RR, BRS SambaíbaRR, M9144RR and M9056RR genotypes exhibited the greatest GY stability in the environments studied. However, only the BRS 333RR genotype, followed by the M9144RR, was able to combine good productive performance with high yield stability. The study also revealed that the HPI and the NDM are traits that should be prioritized in the selection of soybean genotypes due to the direct and indirect effects on the GY.
Aloe vera is a plant of significant medicinal importance commonly known as “Babosa”. It is often cultivated in medicinal gardens and used to produce pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Between 2019 and ...2022, Aloe vera plants at the Medicinal Plants Center of the Federal University of Piauí showed leaf spots and tip drying symptoms. This study aimed to determine the etiological agent responsible for the decline of Aloe vera plants. Four days post-inoculation, all symptomatic leaves exhibited necrosis, while control plants remained asymptomatic. Following initial isolations and confirmation of Koch's postulates, the causal agent was conclusively identified as Lasiodiplodia hormozganensis through a multilocus analysis involving the ITS, TEF, and TUB2 genes. It is the first known occurrence of L. hormozganensis causing leaf blight in Aloe vera in Brazil.
•Disease in medicinal plants.•Lasiodiplodia complex.•Lasiodiplodia hormozganensis aggressive pathogen on Aloe vera.
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