Efficient Unitary Designs with a System-Size Independent Number of Non-Clifford Gates.

Many quantum information protocols require the implementation of random unitaries. Because it takes exponential resources to produce Haar-random unitaries drawn from the full n-qubit group, one often resorts to t-designs. Unitary t-designs mimic the Haar-measure up to t-th moments. It is known that Clifford operations can implement at most 3-designs. In this work, we quantify the non-Clifford resources required to break this barrier. We find that it suffices to inject O ( t 4 log 2 ( t ) log ( 1 / ε ) ) many non-Clifford gates into a polynomial-depth random Clifford circuit to obtain an ε -approximate t-design. Strikingly, the number of non-Clifford gates required is independent of the system size - asymptotically, the density of non-Clifford gates is allowed to tend to zero. We also derive novel bounds on the convergence time of random Clifford circuits to the t-th moment of the uniform distribution on the Clifford group. Our proofs exploit a recently developed variant of Schur-Weyl duality for the Clifford group, as well as bounds on restricted spectral gaps of averaging operators.

Impact and risk factors of non-adherence to 5-aminosalicylates in quiescent ulcerative colitis evaluated by an electronic management system.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of non-adherence to 5-Aminosalicylates (5-ASA) on the risk of flares and to identify risk factors of non-adherence. METHODS: Observational, cohort study of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients in clinical remission at least 6 months on 5-ASA monotherapy maintenance prescribed by an electronic management program. Adherence was considered when 80% of the prescribed 5-ASA had been dispensed at the pharmacy. The study analyzed the existence and degree of 5-ASA adherence, disease course, UC phenotypic expression, and 5-ASA dose and regimen, and consumption of non-UC chronic drugs during 2-year follow-up. RESULTS: The study included 274 patients, 49% males with a median age of 38 (27-49) years old. Overall, 41% of patients were non-adherent to 5-ASA. Risk of flares was reduced in the adherent group (36% vs 54%; OR = 0,484; p = 0,004), mainly the mild ones (26% vs 38%; OR = 0,559; p = 0,031). Non-adherence was associated with younger age at diagnosis (32 (26-45) vs 41.5 (21-50), p = 0.000) and no-consumption of other chronic treatments (1.1 vs 2.1; OR = 1709; p = 0,048). CONCLUSION: Non-adherence to 5-ASA evaluated by the pharmaceutical management system was at 41% with a higher risk of relapse. Younger patients and patients who do not receive non-UC chronic treatments showed lower adherence rate.

Demonstration of Single-Barium-Ion Sensitivity for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay Using Single-Molecule Fluorescence Imaging.

A new method to tag the barium daughter in the double-beta decay of ^{136}Xe is reported. Using the technique of single molecule fluorescent imaging (SMFI), individual barium dication (Ba^{++}) resolution at a transparent scanning surface is demonstrated. A single-step photobleach confirms the single ion interpretation. Individual ions are localized with superresolution (∼2 nm), and detected with a statistical significance of 12.9σ over backgrounds. This lays the foundation for a new and potentially background-free neutrinoless double-beta decay technology, based on SMFI coupled to high pressure xenon gas time projection chambers.

Combining ability of S3 progenies for key agronomic traits in popcorn: comparison of testers in top-crosses.

The successful development of hybrid cultivars depends on the reliability of estimated combining ability of the parent lines. The objectives of this study were to assess the combining ability of partially inbred S3 families of popcorn derived from the open-pollinated variety UENF 14, via top-crosses with four testers, and to compare the testers for their ability to discriminate the S3 progenies. The experiment was conducted in the 2015/2016 crop season, in an incomplete-block (Lattice) design with three replications. The following agronomic traits were evaluated: average plant height, grain yield (GY), popping expansion (PE), and expanded popcorn volume per hectare. The top-cross hybrid, originating from the BRS-Angela vs S3 progeny 10 combination, was indicated as promising, showing high values for specific combining ability for GY and PE. For the S3 progenies that showed high and positive GCA values for GY and PE, the continuity of the breeding program is recommended, with the advance of self-pollination generations. Fasoulas' differentiation index discriminated the BRS-Angela tester as the most suitable for identifying the superior progenies.

Activation of the Prostaglandin E2 receptor EP2 prevents house dust mite-induced airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation by restraining mast cells' activity.

BACKGROUND: Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ) has been proposed to exert antiasthmatic effects in patients, to prevent antigen-induced airway pathology in murine models, and to inhibit mast cells (MC) activity in vitro. OBJECTIVE: To assess in a murine model whether the protective effect of PGE2 may be a consequence of its ability to activate the E-prostanoid (EP)2 receptor on airway MC. METHODS: Either BALB/c or C57BL/6 mice were exposed intranasally (i.n.) to house dust mite (HDM) aeroallergens. Both strains were given PGE2 locally (0.3 mg/kg), but only BALB/c mice were administered butaprost (EP2 agonist: 0.3 mg/kg), or AH6809 (EP2 antagonist; 2.5 mg/kg) combined with the MC stabilizer sodium cromoglycate (SCG: 25 mg/kg). Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and inflammation, along with lung MC activity, were evaluated. In addition, butaprost's effect was assessed in MC-mediated passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) in mice challenged with 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). RESULTS: Selective EP2 agonism attenuated aeroallergen-caused AHR and inflammation in HDM-exposed BALB/c mice, and this correlated with a reduced lung MC activity. Accordingly, the blockade of endogenous PGE2 by means of AH6809 worsened airway responsiveness in sensitive BALB/c mice, and such worsening was reversed by SCG. The relevance of MC to PGE2 -EP2 driven protection was further highlighted in MC-dependent PCA, where butaprost fully prevented MC-induced ear swelling. Unlike in BALB/c mice, PGE2 did not protect the airways of HDM-sensitized C57BL/6 animals, a strain in which we showed MC to be irrelevant to aeroallergen-driven AHR and inflammation. CONCLUSIONS & CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The beneficial effect of both exogenous and endogenous PGE2 in aeroallergen-sensitized mice may be attributable to the activation of the EP2 receptor, which in turn acts as a restrainer of airway MC activity. This opens a path towards the identification of therapeutic targets against asthma along the 'EP2 -MC-airway' axis.

Differential effects of environmental enrichment and isolation housing on the hormonal and neurochemical responses to stress in the prefrontal cortex of the adult rat: relationship to working and emotional memories.

The present study was designed to investigate the modulation of the stress responses by the environmental conditions and its putative neurobiological mechanisms. For that an integrative study on the effects of environmental enrichment and isolation housing on (1) the corticosterone, dopamine and acetylcholine responses to acute restraint stress in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the awake rat; (2) the mRNA levels of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in the PFC, and (3) the behavioral responses to stress, related to the PFC (habituation to a novel environment, spatial-working memory and inhibitory avoidance response) was performed. Male Wistar rats were maintained from 3 to 6 months of age in two different conditions: enriched (EC) or impoverished (IC). Animals were stereotaxically implanted with bilateral guide cannulae in the PFC to perform microdialysis experiments to evaluate the concentrations of corticosterone, dopamine and acetylcholine. EC animals showed lower increases of corticosterone and dopamine but not of acetylcholine than IC animals in the PFC in response to acute restraint stress (20 min). In the PFC, GR mRNA levels showed a trend towards an enhancement in EC animals. EC reduced the days to learn the spatial working memory task (radial-water maze). Spatial working memory, however, was not different between groups in either basal or stress conditions. Inhibitory avoidance response was reduced in EC rats. The changes produced by EC in the neurochemical, neuroendocrine and behavioral parameters evaluated suggest that EC rats could show a better coping during an acute stress challenge.

Assessment of beliefs and attitudes about electroconvulsive therapy posted on Twitter: An observational study.

BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective and safe medical procedure that mainly indicated for depression, but is also indicated for patients with other conditions. However, ECT is among the most stigmatized and controversial treatments in medicine. Our objective was to examine social media contents on Twitter related to ECT to identify and evaluate public views on the matter. METHODS: We collected Twitter posts in English and Spanish mentioning ECT between January 1, 2019 and October 31, 2020. Identified tweets were subject to a mixed method quantitative-qualitative content and sentiment analysis combining manual and semi-supervised natural language processing machine-learning analyses. Such analyses identified the distribution of tweets, their public interest (retweets and likes per tweet), and sentiment for the observed different categories of Twitter users and contents. RESULTS: "Healthcare providers" users produced more tweets (25%) than "people with lived experience" and their "relatives" (including family members and close friends or acquaintances) (10% combined), and were the main publishers of "medical" content (mostly related to ECT's main indications). However, more than half of the total tweets had "joke or trivializing" contents, and such had a higher like and retweet ratio. Among those tweets manifesting personal opinions on ECT, around 75% of them had a negative sentiment. CONCLUSIONS: Mixed method analysis of social media contents on Twitter offers a novel perspective to examine public opinion on ECT, and our results show attitudes more negative than those reflected in studies using surveys and other traditional methods.

Small animal PET scanner based on monolithic LYSO crystals: performance evaluation.

PURPOSE: The authors have developed a small animal Positron emission tomography (PET) scanner based on monolithic LYSO crystals coupled to multi-anode photomultiplier tubes (MA-PMTs). In this study, the authors report on the design, calibration procedure, and performance evaluation of a PET system that the authors have developed using this innovative nonpixelated detector design. METHODS: The scanner is made up of eight compact modules forming an octagon with an axial field of view (FOV) of 40 mm and a transaxial FOV of 80 mm diameter. In order to fully determine its performance, a recently issued National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU-4 protocol, specifically developed for small animal PET scanners, has been followed. By measuring the width of light distribution collected in the MA-PMT the authors are able to determine depth of interaction (DOI), thus making the proper identification of lines of response (LORs) with large incidence angles possible. PET performances are compared with those obtained with currently commercially available small animal PET scanners. RESULTS: At axial center when the point-like source is located at 5 mm from the radial center, the spatial resolution measured was 1.65, 1.80, and 1.86 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) for radial, tangential, and axial image profiles, respectively. A system scatter fraction of 7.5% (mouse-like phantom) and 13% (rat-like phantom) was obtained, while the maximum noise equivalent count rate (NECR) was 16.9 kcps at 12.7 MBq (0.37 MBq/ml) for mouse-like phantom and 12.8 kcps at 12.4 MBq (0.042 MBq/ml) for rat-like phantom The peak absolute sensitivity in the center of the FOV is 2% for a 30% peak energy window. Several animal images are also presented. CONCLUSIONS: The overall performance of our small animal PET is comparable to that obtained with much more complex crystal pixelated PET systems. Moreover, the new proposed PET produces high-quality images suitable for studies with small animals.

Nares patients have more respiratory infections than allergic subjects.

Respiratory infections (RI) represent a frequent challenge for physicians. Allergic patients could present higher susceptibility to contract RI than non-allergic subjects. Non-allergic rhinitis with eosinophils (NARES) has been little investigated. This preliminary study was performed to evaluate the number and duration of RI and their sequelae in NARES and allergic patients, and non-allergic healthy subjects. Forty healthy non-allergic subjects (22 males, mean age 29 years), 40 patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) (19 males, mean age 35), and 40 NARES patients (18 males, mean age 34) were evaluated. The considered parameters were: nasal eosinophils, total number, duration in days of RI, and RI severity. NARES patients had more eosinophils than AR patients and normal controls (p<0.01); RI duration was longer in NARES patients than in AR ones (p<0.05) and controls (p<0.01); RI were more severe in NARES patients than in AR ones (p<0.05) and controls (p<0.01); pneumonia and asthma were more frequent in both NARES and AR patients than controls (p<0.05 and p<0.01). In conclusion, this preliminary study shows that NARES may induce more severe respiratory infections than allergic rhinitis.

First Report of Tomato chlorosis virus Infecting Sweet Pepper in Costa Rica.

In September 2008, a survey of whiteflies and whitefly-borne viruses was performed in 11 pepper-growing greenhouses in the province of Cartago, Costa Rica. During this survey, the vast majority of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum cv. Nataly) plants showed interveinal chlorosis, enations, necrosis, and mild upward leaf curling. Large populations of whiteflies were present and they were found to be composed only of Trialeurodes vaporariorum. Total RNA from frozen plant samples was extracted with TRI Reagent (Molecular Research Inc., Cincinnati, OH). RevertAid H Minus Reverse Transcriptase Kit (Fermentas, Hanover, MD) was used for reverse transcription of the total RNA extract, with cDNA synthesis directed using random primers. A real-time PCR assay was performed to detect Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) (genus Crinivirus, family Closteroviridae) using the SYBR Green PCR Master Mix (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, CA). Three sets of primers were used to confirm the presence of ToCV in the samples: TocQ875F/TocQ998R primer set directed to a fragment of 123 bp of the HSP gene (3); ToCVp22RQF (5'-TGGATCTCACTGGTTGCTTG-3')-ToCVp22RQR (5'-TAGTGTTTCAGCGCCAACAG-3') primer pair that amplifies a 198-bp segment of the ToCV p22 gene (R. Hammond, E. Hernandez, J. Guevara, J. A. Vargas, A. Solorzano, R. Castro, N. Barboza, F. Mora, and P. Ramirez, unpublished) and the ToCVCPmRQF (5'-CATTGGTTGGGGATTACGTC-3')-ToCVCPmRQR (5'-TCTCAGCCTTGACTTGAGCA-3') primer pair designed to amplify a 170-bp portion of the ToCV CPm gene (R. Hammond, E. Hernandez, J. Guevara, J. A. Vargas, A. Solorzano, R. Castro, N. Barboza, F. Mora and P. Ramirez, unpublished). Fifteen symptomatic samples per greenhouse were tested for a total of 165 sweet pepper plants. From this total, seven samples from four different greenhouses produced amplification of PCR products with all three sets of primers. One of the seven samples showed mild chlorosis, but others were highly chlorotic with different levels of upward leaf curling. None of the other samples showed amplification with any of the primer sets; the symptoms on these plants could have been due to nutritional deficiencies or infection by viruses. Sequence analysis of the 460-bp HSP PCR products, produced using previously reported primers (3), and 150-bp fragment of the P22 revealed 100% sequence identity with a tomato isolate of ToCV from the United States (GenBank Accession No. AY903448). Because of the low number of samples infected with ToCV and the high incidence of symptoms, DNA extraction and a begomovirus PCR detection assay was performed using primer pair AV494/AC1048 (4). Negative results were obtained for all samples. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ToCV infecting sweet pepper plants in Costa Rica and the third one worldwide. ToCV has also been found to be infecting tomato in open field and greenhouses (1) and other weeds in greenhouses including Ruta chalepensis (Rutaceae), Phytolacca icosandra (Phytolaccaceae), Plantago major (Plantaginaceae), and Brassica sp. (Brassicaceae) (2) in the same region of Costa Rica, suggesting that it has adapted to the conditions of the area and poses an important threat to the vegetable production. References: (1) R. M. Castro et al. Plant Dis. 93:970, 2009. (2) A. Solorzano-Morales et al. Plant Dis. 95:497, 2011. (3) W. M. Wintermantel et al. Phytopathology 98:1340, 2008. (4) S. Wyatt and J. Brown. Phytopathology 86:1288, 1996.

Tooth extraction decision model in periodontitis patients.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to build, around several types of input data, a decision analysis model for dental extraction strategy in periodontitis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The decision analysis was based on the following scenario: a fictitious adult chronic periodontitis patient with no chief complaint, being referred to make a decision of extraction on one single tooth presenting a periodontal defect that may affect the decision-making process. A decision tree was used to identify the treatment options within the next 5 years. Scientific evidences were based on probabilities given by a literature analysis using a systematic approach. Clinical expertize was based on subjective utilities (SUs) assigned by an experts' panel. Expected utilities (EUs) were used to rank the following options: no treatment (EU(1)) or periodontal treatment (EU(2)); extraction followed by a tooth-supported fixed partial denture - FPD - (EU(3)) or an implant-supported single crown - ISC - (EU(4)). RESULTS: The robustness analysis calculation indicates that the probability of tooth survival needed to be equal to 0.78 in order that the passive option becomes optimal. However, EU(1) was impossible to calculate due to the lack of available probabilities. The EU intervals were 79-96, 86-89 and 94-95 for EU(2), EU(3) and EU(4), respectively. Consequently, the FPD option is dominated by the ISC option, and it is not possible to conclude to a difference between the periodontal and the ISC therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limits of this model, tooth extraction followed by FPD is the worst strategy compared with ISC or periodontal therapies.

Normal values in ambulatory oesophageal pH monitoring at two levels in Spain.

AIM: Upper oesophageal pH monitoring may play a significant role in the study of extra-oesophageal GERD, but limited normal data are available to date. Our aim was to develop a large series of normal values of proximal oesophageal acidification. METHODS: 155 healthy volunteers (74 male) participated in a multi-centre national study including oesophageal manometry and 24 hours oesophageal pH monitoring using two electrodes individually located 5 cm above the LOS and 3 cm below the UOS. RESULTS: 130 participants with normal manometry completed all the study. Twelve of them were excluded for inadequate pH tests. Twenty-seven subjects had abnormal conventional pH. The remaining 91 subjects (37 M; 18-72 yrs age range) formed the reference group for normality. At the level of the upper oesophagus, the 95th percentile of the total number of reflux events was 30, after eliminating the meal periods 22, and after eliminating also the pseudo-reflux events 18. Duration of the longest episodes was 5, 4 and 4 min, respectively (3.5 min in upright and 0.5 min in supine). The upper limit for the percentage of acid exposure time was 1.35, 1.05 and 0.95%, respectively. No reflux events were recorded in the upper oesophagus in 8 cases. CONCLUSION: This is the largest series of normal values of proximal oesophageal reflux that confirm the existence of acid reflux at that level in healthy subjects, in small quantity and unrelated to age or gender. Our data support the convenience of excluding pseudo-reflux events and meal periods from analysis.

Brain self-stimulation: direct evidence for the involvement of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex.

Rats were trained to self-stimulate the medial prefrontal cortex, a region rich in dopaminergic terminals. After the region adjacent to the electrode site was labeled with [14C]dopamine, it was perfused repeatedly by means of push-pull cannulas. Electrical stimulation of this cortical area in six animals enhanced the release of dopamine and its associated metabolites in nine of 16 experiments. Thus in vivo evidence is provided that dopamine is involved in the brain self-stimulation mechanism within the frontal cortex.

First Report of Tomato chlorosis virus in Tomato in Costa Rica.

In early 2007, severe yellowing and chlorosis symptoms were observed in field-grown and greenhouse tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants in Costa Rica. Symptoms resembled those of the genus Crinivirus (family Closteroviridae), and large populations of whiteflies, including the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), were observed in the fields and on symptomatic plants. Total RNA was extracted from silica gel-dried tomato leaf tissue of 47 representative samples (all were from symptomatic plants) using TRI Reagent (Molecular Research Inc., Cincinnati, OH). Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR reactions were performed separately with each of the four primer sets with the Titan One-Tube RT-PCR Kit (Roche Diagnostics Corp., Chicago IL). Specific primers used for the detection of the criniviruses, Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) and Tomato infectious chlorosis virus (TICV), were primer pair ToCV-p22-F (5'-ATGGATCTCACTGGTTGCTTGC-3') and ToCV-p22-R (5'-TTATATATCACTCCCAAAGAAA-3') specific for the p22 gene of ToCV RNA1 (1), primer pair ToCVCPmF (5'-TCTGGCAGTACCCGTTCGTGA-3') and ToCVCPmR (5'-TACCGGCAGTCGTCCCATACC-3') designed to be specific for the ToCV CPm gene of ToCV RNA2 (GenBank Accession No. AY903448) (2), primer pair ToCVHSP70F (5'-GGCGGTACTTTCGACACTTCTT-3') and ToCVHSP70R (5'-ATTAACGCGCAAAACCATCTG-3') designed to be specific for the Hsp70 gene of RNA2 of ToCV (GenBank Accession No. EU284744) (1), and primer pair TICV-CP-F and TICV-CP-R specific for the coat protein gene of TICV (1). Amplified DNA fragments (582 bp) were obtained from nine samples, four from the greenhouse and five from the open field, with the ToCV-p22 specific primers and were cloned into the pCRII TOPO cloning vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). Nucleotide sequence analysis of all purified RT-PCR products verified their identity as ToCV, sharing 99.5 to 100% sequence identity among themselves and 96% to 98% sequence identity with previously reported ToCV p22 sequences from Florida (Accession No. AY903447), Spain (Accession No. DQ983480), and Greece (Accession No. EU284745). The presence of ToCV in the samples was confirmed by additional amplification and sequence analysis of the CPm (449-bp fragment) and Hsp70 (420-bp fragment) genes of ToCV RNA2 and sharing 98 to 99% sequence homology to Accession Nos. AY903448 and EU284774, respectively. One representative sequence of the p22 gene of the Costa Rican isolate was deposited at GenBank (Accession No. FJ809714). No PCR products were obtained using either the TICV-specific primers nor from healthy tomato tissue. The ToCV-positive samples were collected from a region in the Central Valley around Cartago, Costa Rica. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ToCV in Costa Rica. The economic impact on tomato has not yet been determined. Studies are underway to determine the incidence of ToCV in Costa Rica field-grown and greenhouse tomatoes. References: (1) A. R. A. Kataya et al. Plant Pathol. 57:819, 2008. (2) W. M. Wintermantel et al. Arch. Virol. 150:2287, 2005.

Chronic treatment with a dopamine uptake blocker changes dopamine and acetylcholine but not glutamate and GABA concentrations in prefrontal cortex, striatum and nucleus accumbens of the awake rat.

The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of a chronic treatment with the dopamine uptake blocker nomifensine on the in vivo extracellular concentrations of dopamine, acetylcholine, glutamate and GABA in the prefrontal cortex, striatum and nucleus accumbens. Male Wistar rats received intraperitoneal (i.p.) daily injections of nomifensine (10 mg/kg) or saline for 22 days. Microdialysis experiments were performed on days 1, 8, 15 and 22 of treatment to evaluate the effects of the injection of nomifensine or saline. Motor activity of the animals was monitored during microdialysis experiments. Injections of nomifensine increased extracellular concentration of dopamine in striatum and nucleus accumbens, but not in prefrontal cortex. Acetylcholine concentrations in striatum but not in nucleus accumbens were increased by nomifensine on days 15 and 22 of treatment. In prefrontal cortex, nomifensine increased acetylcholine levels without differences among days. No changes were found on glutamate and GABA concentrations in the three areas studied. Injections of nomifensine also increased spontaneous motor activity and stereotyped behaviour without differences among days. These results show that systemic chronic treatment with a dopamine uptake blocker produces differential effects on extracellular concentrations of dopamine and acetylcholine, but not glutamate and GABA, in different areas of the brain.

Short-term Use of Ventricular Assist Device in a Patient With Restrictive Cardiomyopathy: A Case Report.

The CentriMag (Levitronix LLC, Waltham, MA, USA) ventricular assist device is a centrifugal pump designed for short-term support in patients with cardiogenic shock. In patients with restrictive physiology, there is some concern about the use of these devices due a very small ventricular cavity. We review the evolution of a 32-year-old woman with restrictive cardiomyopathy, moderate pulmonary hypertension, and severe biventricular systo-diastolic dysfunction in whom a biventricular Centrimag device was implanted due to a progressive clinical worsening.

Absence of cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction and vagal pancreatic impairment in idiopathic achalasia of the oesophagus.

Extra-oesophageal autonomic dysfunction in idiopathic achalasia is not well documented, due to contradictory results reported. We aimed to study the cardiovascular and pancreatic autonomic function in patients with idiopathic achalasia. Thirty patients with idiopathic achalasia (16M/14F; 34.5 +/- 10.8 years) and 30 healthy volunteers (13M/17F; 34.8 +/- 10.7 years) were prospectively studied. Age >60 years and conditions affecting results of autonomic evaluation were excluded. Both groups underwent the sham feeding test and plasmatic levels of pancreatic polypeptide (PP) were determined by radioimmunoassay (basal, at 5, 10, 20 and 30 min). Cardiovascular parasympathetic (deep breathing, standing, Valsalva) and sympathetic function (postural decrease of systolic blood pressure, Handgrip test) were assessed. Statistical comparison of basal and increase levels of PP and parasympathetic/sympathetic cardiovascular parameters was performed between groups. Basal levels of PP were similar in controls and patients and maximum increase of PP during sham feeding test. A similar rate of abnormal cardiovascular tests was found between groups (P > 0.05). E/I ratio was the mostly impaired parameter (patients: 36.7% vs controls: 20%, P = 0.15, chi-squared test). Autonomic cardiovascular tests and pancreatic response to vagal stimulus are not impaired in patients with primary achalasia of the oesophagus.

Pollination biology and the impact of floral display, pollen donors, and distyly on seed production in Arcytophyllum lavarum (Rubiaceae).

In animal-pollinated plants, two factors affecting pollen flow and seed production are changes in floral display and the availability of compatible mates. Changes in floral display may affect the number of pollinator visits and the availability of compatible mates will affect the probability of legitimate pollination and seed production. Distyly is a floral polymorphism where long-styled (pin) and short-styled (thrum) floral morphs occur among different individuals. Distylous plants frequently exhibit self and intra-morph incompatibility. Therefore changes in morph abundance directly affect the arrival of compatible pollen to the stigmas. Floral morph by itself may also affect female reproductive success because floral morphs may display differences in seed production. We explored the effects of floral display, availability of neighboring compatible mates, and floral morph on seed production in the distylous herb ARCYTOPHYLLUM LAVARUM. We found that floral display does not affect the mean number of seeds produced per flower. There is also no effect of the proportion of neighboring legitimate pollen donors on seed production in pin or thrum flowers. However, floral morphs differed in their female reproductive success and the thrum morph produced more seeds. Hand pollination experiments suggest that differences in seed production between morphs are the result of pollen limitation. Future research will elucidate if the higher seed production in thrum flowers is a consequence of higher availability of pollen donors in the population, or higher efficiency of the pin morph as pollen donor.

Evaluation of the expression of P-selectin, ICAM-1, and TNF-alpha in bacteria-free lesional skin of atopic dogs with low-to-mild inflammation.

Canine atopic dermatitis (AD) is a pruritic skin condition that shares many clinical and pathophysiological features with its human counterpart. A major therapeutic challenge of AD is the control of the skin inflammatory process. A detailed knowledge of the pro-inflammatory molecules involved in cell recruitment in AD would allow for a better control of the disease. We thus have studied the protein expression of P-selectin, ICAM-1 and TNF-alpha in the lesional and non-lesional skin of atopic dogs that had been treated for bacterial infections. Despite a low-to-mild inflammatory process, P-selectin protein was clearly upregulated in the lesional skin areas when compared with non-lesional skin (four-fold average increase). This P-selectin upregulation was accompanied by signs of functional changes such as increased cell margination, and membrane-associated protein expression. Although the expression of ICAM-1 and TNF-alpha was not enhanced in the lesional versus the non-lesional skin, there was a trend towards a correlated upregulation of both molecules. Further studies will help elucidate the significance of the substantial overexpression of P-selectin in canine AD, in particular in a scenario where bacterial antigens are not contributing as pro-inflammatory stimuli.