To cause diseases in plants, pathogenic microorganisms have evolved mechanisms to deliver proteins directly into plant cells, where they suppress plant defences and facilitate tissue invasion. How ...plant pathogenic fungi, which cause many of the world's most serious plant diseases, deliver proteins during plant infection is currently unknown. Here we report the characterization of a P-type ATPase-encoding gene, MgAPT2, in the economically important rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe grisea, which is required for exocytosis during plant infection. Targeted gene replacement showed that MgAPT2 is required for both foliar and root infection by the fungus, and for the rapid induction of host defence responses in an incompatible reaction. ΔMgapt2 mutants are impaired in the secretion of a range of extracellular enzymes and accumulate abnormal Golgi-like cisternae. However, the loss of MgAPT2 does not significantly affect hyphal growth or sporulation, indicating that the establishment of rice blast disease involves the use of MgApt2-dependent exocytotic processes that operate during plant infection.
Energy modelling of high-density controlled environment agriculture (CEA-HD) spaces using a building performance simulation (BPS) tool and a crop energy balance model is emerging as a method to ...conduct load calculation and energy analysis. However, the modelling hypotheses used in BPS tools have yet to be tailored for CEA-HD spaces and might not be suitable for this specific application. This paper investigates the convective heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) algorithms for inside surfaces included in EnergyPlus to examine their applicability to CEA-HD spaces. The influence of these inside surfaces CHTC algorithms on relevant variables are quantified, with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) computed CHTCs as a reference. The results revealed that certain algorithms (Simple, TARP, and ASTMC1340) are ill-suited to model CEA-HD production spaces compared to CFD-computed reference values. Furthermore, due to the modelled flow rate, the Adaptive Convection algorithm resulted in an aberrant value for the ceiling CHTC. This paper highlights the importance of exercising caution when using BPS tools for energy modelling of CEA-HD spaces.
To estimate whether term neonates with acute intrapartum hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and permanent brain injury satisfied the criteria for causation of cerebral palsy developed by the Task Force ...on Neonatal Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy.
In this descriptive study, patients in the case group were obtained from a registry of singleton, liveborn, term, neurologically impaired neonates. Entry criteria included a reactive intrapartum fetal heart rate pattern followed by a sudden, rapid, and sustained deterioration of the fetal heart rate that lasted until delivery and an umbilical artery cord pH. All patients in the case group were then assessed to determine if they met the criteria developed by the Task Force on Neonatal Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy.
Thirty-nine neonates met the entry criteria, and the proportion meeting each essential criterion was as follows: 38 of 39 (97.4%) had umbilical artery pH of less than 7.00 and 30 of 30 (100%) had a base deficit of 12 mmol/L or higher; 33 of 34 (97%) had either moderate or severe encephalopathy; 34 of 36 (94%) had spastic quadriplegia or dyskinetic cerebral palsy or death attributable to brain injury; and 39 of 39 (100%) had no identifiable reason for exclusion.
Fetuses that underwent a sudden and sustained deterioration of the fetal heart rate and that subsequently were found to have cerebral palsy demonstrated characteristics consistent with criteria developed by the Task Force on Neonatal Encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy for intrapartum asphyxial injury.
III.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the model of a rear pressure bulkhead with different design optimizations to meet the pressurized cabin requirements of an aircraft.
...Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the results of the static analysis of a dome-shaped rear pressure bulkhead model designed in Catia-v5. Numerical analysis of model meshed in hyper-mesh and solved using Opti-Struct for iterative design optimizations.
Findings
All the iterative models are analyzed at 9 Psi. Rear pressure bulkhead designed with L-section stringer shows better results than the model optimized with T-section stringer for the same thickness. The model optimized with L-shaped stinger also reduces the weight of the bulkhead without affecting the structural integrity.
Practical implications
It has been concluded in this paper that the selection of specific shapes of the stringers shows a significant influence on weight reduction.
Originality/value
This paper provides a topical, technical insight into the design and development of a rear pressure bulkhead. It also outlines the future development of dome-shaped rear pressure bulkhead.
Surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) in wild birds is logistically demanding due to the very low rates of virus detection. Serological approaches may be more cost ...effective as they require smaller sample sizes to identify exposed populations. We hypothesized that antigenic differences between classical Eurasian H5 subtype viruses (which have low pathogenicity in chickens) and H5N1 viruses of the Goose/Guangdong/96 H5 lineage (which are HPAIV) may be used to differentiate populations where HPAIVs have been circulating, from those where they have not. To test this we performed hemagglutination inhibition assays to compare the reactivity of serum samples from wild birds in Mongolia (where HPAIV has been circulating, n = 1,832) and Europe (where HPAIV has been rare or absent, n = 497) to a panel of reference viruses including classical Eurasian H5 (of low pathogenicity), and five HPAIV H5N1 antigens of the Asian lineage A/Goose/Guangdong/1/96. Antibody titres were detected against at least one of the test antigens for 182 Mongolian serum samples (total seroprevalence of 0.10, n = 1,832, 95% adjusted Wald confidence limits of 0.09-0.11) and 25 of the European sera tested (total seroprevalence of 0.05, n = 497, 95% adjusted Wald confidence limits of 0.03-0.07). A bias in antibody titres to HPAIV antigens was found in the Mongolian sample set (22/182) that was absent in the European sera (0/25). Although the interpretation of serological data from wild birds is complicated by the possibility of exposure to multiple strains, and variability in the timing of exposure, these findings suggest that a proportion of the Mongolian population had survived exposure to HPAIV, and that serological assays may enhance the targeting of traditional HPAIV surveillance toward populations where isolation of HPAIV is more likely.
CTCL follows different courses depending on the clinical stage at the time of diagnosis. Patients with early stage Mycosis Fungoides (MF) variant of CTCL may experience an indolent course over ...decades, whereas patients with advanced MF and Sézary Syndrome (SS) disease at diagnosis, often succumb within 5 years. Even within early stage CTCL/MF, a minority of patients will progress to more advanced stages. We recently generated RNA sequencing data on 284 CTCL-relevant genes for 157 patients and identified differentially expressed genes across stages I-IV. In this study, we aim to validate robust molecular markers linked to disease progression and survival. We performed multiple hypothesis testing-corrected analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the expression of individual genes across all CTCL samples and early stage (≤IIA) CTCL/MF patients. We used in silico immune cell-type deconvolution from gene expression data to estimate immune cell populations. Based on the analysis of all CTCL samples, we identified TOX, FYB, and CD52 as predictors of disease progression and poor survival. Among early stage (≤IIA) CTCL/MF patients, these 3 genes, along with CCR4, were valuable to predict disease progression. We validated these 4 genes in 3 independent, external Sézary Syndrome patient cohorts with RNA-Sequencing data. In silico immune cell-type deconvolution revealed that neutrophil infiltration in early stage MF conveyed a higher risk for disease progression. Also, NK cell infiltration in late stage MF/SS correlated with improved survival. TOX, FYB, CCR4 and CD52 are robust disease progression and decreased survival biomarkers in CTCL.
Interactions between plants and compatible fungal pathogens are spatially and temporally dynamic, posing a major challenge for sampling and data analysis. A protocol is described for the infection of ...the model grass species Brachypodium distachyon with Magnaporthe grisea (rice blast), together with modifications to extend the use to rice and barley. We outline a method for the preparation of long-term stocks of virulent fungal pathogens and for the generation of fungal inoculants for challenge of host plants. Host plant growth, pathogen inoculation and plant sampling protocols are presented together with methods for assessing the efficiency of both infection and sampling procedures. Included in the anticipated results is a description of the use of metabolite fingerprinting and multivariate data analysis to assess disease synchrony and validate system reproducibility between experiments. The design concepts will have value in any studies using biological systems that contain dynamic variance associated with large compositional changes in sample matrix over time.
The effect of powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis) infection of wheat leaves on solute transport and invertase activity of the host tissue has been examined. Sugars (glucose, sucrose, maltose) and ...amino acids (glutamine, histidine) were taken up by leaf pieces, and radioactivity was transferred to the fungal mycelium. Infection had a marked effect on sugar uptake, particularly for glucose which was taken up into infected tissue at considerably higher rates than into uninfected tissues. In contrast, amino acid uptake rates into infected tissues were lower when compared with those into uninfected tissue. The increase in glucose uptake could be correlated with a change in sugar transporter gene expression as a wheat homologue of the monosaccharide carrier AtSTP4 was shown to increase in infected tissue. Efflux analysis showed a higher leakage of preloaded glucose from infected leaves in comparison with uninfected tissue and transfer to the mycelium was greater for glucose than for the other solutes measured. All types of invertase, measured enzymatically, showed an increase in infected tissue, with the highest proportional increase observed for cell‐wall invertase. A partial‐length complementary DNA, TaINV2, was isolated for a putative cell‐wall invertase; expression studies indicated that levels for this or related sequences increased substantially 3 days after infection.
Growing evidence suggests that multiple wildlife species can be infected with peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), with important consequences for the potential maintenance of PPRV in communities ...of susceptible hosts, and the threat that PPRV may pose to the conservation of wildlife populations and resilience of ecosystems. Significant knowledge gaps in the epidemiology of PPRV across the ruminant community (wildlife and domestic), and the understanding of infection in wildlife and other atypical host species groups (e.g., camelidae, suidae, and bovinae) hinder our ability to apply necessary integrated disease control and management interventions at the wildlife-livestock interface. Similarly, knowledge gaps limit the inclusion of wildlife in the FAO/OIE Global Strategy for the Control and Eradication of PPR, and the framework of activities in the PPR Global Eradication Programme that lays the foundation for eradicating PPR through national and regional efforts. This article reports on the first international meeting on, "Controlling PPR at the livestock-wildlife interface," held in Rome, Italy, March 27-29, 2019. A large group representing national and international institutions discussed recent advances in our understanding of PPRV in wildlife, identified knowledge gaps and research priorities, and formulated recommendations. The need for a better understanding of PPRV epidemiology at the wildlife-livestock interface to support the integration of wildlife into PPR eradication efforts was highlighted by meeting participants along with the reminder that PPR eradication and wildlife conservation need not be viewed as competing priorities, but instead constitute two requisites of healthy socio-ecological systems.
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