Large-scale optical characterization of solid-state quantum emitters.

Solid-state quantum emitters have emerged as a leading quantum memory for quantum networking applications. However, standard optical characterization techniques are neither efficient nor repeatable at scale. Here we introduce and demonstrate spectroscopic techniques that enable large-scale, automated characterization of colour centres. We first demonstrate the ability to track colour centres by registering them to a fabricated machine-readable global coordinate system, enabling a systematic comparison of the same colour centre sites over many experiments. We then implement resonant photoluminescence excitation in a widefield cryogenic microscope to parallelize resonant spectroscopy, achieving two orders of magnitude speed-up over confocal microscopy. Finally, we demonstrate automated chip-scale characterization of colour centres and devices at room temperature, imaging thousands of microscope fields of view. These tools will enable the accelerated identification of useful quantum emitters at chip scale, enabling advances in scaling up colour centre platforms for quantum information applications, materials science and device design and characterization.

Ursodeoxycholic acid in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy: a secondary analysis of the PITCHES trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a particular group of women with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), based on their presenting characteristics, would benefit from treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). DESIGN: Secondary analysis of the PITCHES trial (ISRCTN91918806). SETTING: United Kingdom. POPULATION OR SAMPLE: 527 women with ICP. METHODS: Subgroup analyses were performed to determine whether baseline bile acid concentrations or baseline itch scores moderated a woman's response to treatment with UDCA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Bile acid concentration and itch score. RESULTS: In women with baseline bile acid concentrations less than 40 µmol/l, treatment with UDCA resulted in increased post-randomisation bile acid concentrations (geometric mean ratio 1.19, 95% CI 1.00-1.41, P = 0.048). A test of interaction showed no significance (P = 0.647). A small, clinically insignificant difference was seen in itch response in women with a high baseline itch score (-6.0 mm, 95% CI -11.80 to -0.21, P = 0.042), with a test of interaction not showing significance (P = 0.640). Further subgroup analyses showed no significance. Across all women there was a weak relationship between bile acid concentrations and itch severity. CONCLUSIONS: There was no subgroup of women with ICP in whom a beneficial effect of treatment with UDCA on bile acid concentration or itch score could be identified. This confirms that its routine use in women with this condition for improvement of bile acid concentration or itch score should be reconsidered. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: PITCHES: No group of women with ICP has been found in whom UDCA reduces bile acid concentrations or pruritus.

Guideline for the management of hip fractures 2020: Guideline by the Association of Anaesthetists.

We convened a multidisciplinary Working Party on behalf of the Association of Anaesthetists to update the 2011 guidance on the peri-operative management of people with hip fracture. Importantly, these guidelines describe the core aims and principles of peri-operative management, recommending greater standardisation of anaesthetic practice as a component of multidisciplinary care. Although much of the 2011 guidance remains applicable to contemporary practice, new evidence and consensus inform the additional recommendations made in this document. Specific changes to the 2011 guidance relate to analgesia, medicolegal practice, risk assessment, bone cement implantation syndrome and regional review networks. Areas of controversy remain, and we discuss these in further detail, relating to the mode of anaesthesia, surgical delay, blood management and transfusion thresholds, echocardiography, anticoagulant and antiplatelet management and postoperative discharge destination. Finally, these guidelines provide links to supplemental online material that can be used at readers' institutions, key references and UK national guidance about the peri-operative care of people with hip and periprosthetic fractures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cohort antler size signals environmental stress in a moderate climate.

Research in northern latitudes confirms that climate teleconnections exert important influences on ungulate fitness, but studies from regions with milder climates are lacking. We explored the influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Northern Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on male, 2.5-year-old white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) antler and body mass in Mississippi, USA, a region with mild winters and warm, humid summers. Explanatory variables were seasonal averages of each climate index extending back to 3 years prior to account for possible maternal and lag effects. Seasonal climate indices from the period of gestation and the first year of life were correlated with deer morphometrics. Reduced antler mass was largely correlated (R2 = 0.52) with PDO values indicating dry conditions during parturition and neonatal development and NAO values indicating warmer than normal winters during gestation and the first year of life. Body mass was less correlated (R2 = 0.16) to climate indices, responding negatively to warmer winter weather during the first winter of life. Climate may promote variable fitness among cohorts through long-term effects on male competition for dominance and breeding access. Because broad-scale climate indices simplify complex weather systems, they may benefit management at larger scales. Although this study compared climate with morphological variables, it is likely that demographic characteristics can likewise be modeled using climate indices. As climate change in this region is projected to include greater variability in summer precipitation, we may see concomitantly greater variability in fitness among cohorts of white-tailed deer.

Assessing Biogeography of Coffee Rust Risk in Brazil as Affected by the El Niño Southern Oscillation.

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon influencing worldwide weather and climate. Its occurrence is determined by the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly of the 3.4 Niño region in the Pacific Ocean (5°N-5°S, 120°-170°W). El Niño (EN), Neutral (NT), and La Niña (LN) are the three possible phases of ENSO, respectively, for warm, normal, and cold SST anomaly. As in other regions around the world, weather in Brazil is influenced by ENSO phases. The country is the major coffee producer in the world, and production is strongly influenced by weather conditions, which affect plant yield, harvest quality, and interactions with pests and diseases. Coffee leaf rust (CLR), caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix, is a major cause of coffee yield and quality losses in Brazil, and requires fungicide spray applications every season. Because CLR is highly influenced by weather conditions, it is possible to use weather variables to simulate its progress during the cropping cycle. Therefore, the aims of this study were to estimate CLR infection rate based on a validated empirical model, which has daily minimum air temperature and relative humidity as inputs, and to assess the extent of ENSO influence on the annual risk of this disease at 45 sites in Brazil. Cumulative infection rates (CIR) were estimated daily from October to June of each growing season and location, based on the prevailing ENSO phase. Differences between the extreme phases (EN-LN) were assessed by the Two-One-Sided-Tests (TOST) method. Analysis of data from eight sites, located mainly in Paraná State, provided evidence of CIR differences between EN and LN phases (G1). Evidence of no difference of CIR between EN and LN was found in 18 sites (G2), whereas 19 sites showed no evidence of differences (G3) due to relatively large variation of CIR within the same ENSO phase. The G1 sites are located mostly in Southern Brazil, where ENSO exerts a well-defined influence on rainfall regime. In contrast, the G2 sites are mainly in Minas Gerais State, which is characterized as a transition region for ENSO influence on rainfall. The G3 sites are located between the northern region of Minas Gerais State and southern region of Bahia State, which is characterized by a subhumid climate that is usually very dry during winter, and where rainfall can vary up to 300% from one year to another, influencing relative humidity and resulting in a high CIR variability. Therefore, ENSO had a well-defined influence on CIR only in Paraná State, a region with minor importance for coffee production in Brazil. No ENSO influence was found in more northerly zones where the majority of Brazilian coffee is produced. This is the first evidence of ENSO-linked regional impact on the risk of coffee rust.

Large-alphabet encoding for higher-rate quantum key distribution.

The manipulation of high-dimensional degrees of freedom provides new opportunities for more efficient quantum information processing. It has recently been shown that high-dimensional encoded states can provide significant advantages over binary quantum states in applications of quantum computation and quantum communication. In particular, high-dimensional quantum key distribution enables higher secret-key generation rates under practical limitations of detectors or light sources, as well as greater error tolerance. Here, we demonstrate high-dimensional quantum key distribution capabilities both in the laboratory and over a deployed fiber, using photons encoded in a high-dimensional alphabet to increase the secure information yield per detected photon. By adjusting the alphabet size, it is possible to mitigate the effects of receiver bottlenecks and optimize the secret-key rates for different channel losses. This work presents a strategy for achieving higher secret-key rates in receiver-limited scenarios and marks an important step toward high-dimensional quantum communication in deployed fiber networks.

Latitude and daily-weather effects on gobbling activity of wild turkeys in Mississippi.

Weather has been recognized as a density independent factor influencing the abundance, distribution, and behavior of vertebrates. Male wild turkeys' (Meleagris gallopavo) breeding behavior includes vocalizations and courtship displays to attract females, the phenology of which can vary with latitude. State biologists design spring turkey-hunting season frameworks centered on annual vocalization patterns to maximize hunter engagement. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks has traditionally instituted a statewide, 7-week, spring harvest season. However, hunters routinely argue that different peaks in gobbling activity across the state exist. The objective of this study was to determine whether differences in peak gobbling activity existed across a latitudinal gradient of Mississippi and assess the effect of weather on gobbling. During 2008 and 2009, we conducted a statewide gobbling survey. We used generalized additive mixed models to describe the probability and frequency of gobbling activity within northern and southern regions of the state. We also investigated the effect of daily weather conditions on gobbling activity. Our results revealed an approximate 10-14-day difference in peak gobbling activity between southern and northern Mississippi. The majority of all gobbling activity occurred within the current spring harvest framework. Perhaps more importantly, gobbling activity was more prevalent on days of regionally dry conditions (i.e., less humid) according to the Spatial Synoptic Classification. Our results provide information on gobbling activity phenology relative to hunting-season dates and weather-response information. Our approach may be particularly applicable in states with relatively shorter seasons or highly variable daily weather conditions that moderate gobbling frequency.

Heat/mortality sensitivities in Los Angeles during winter: a unique phenomenon in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Extreme heat is often associated with elevated levels of human mortality, particularly across the mid-latitudes. Los Angeles, CA exhibits a unique, highly variable winter climate, with brief periods of intense heat caused by downsloping winds commonly known as Santa Ana winds. The goal is to determine if Los Angeles County is susceptible to heat-related mortality during the winter season. This is the first study to specifically evaluate heat-related mortality during the winter for a U.S. city. METHODS: Utilizing the Spatial Synoptic Classification system in Los Angeles County from 1979 through 2010, we first relate daily human mortality to synoptic air mass type during the winter season (December, January, February) using Welch's t-tests. However, this methodology is only somewhat effective at controlling for important inter- and intra-annual trends in human mortality unrelated to heat such as influenza outbreaks. As a result, we use distributed lag nonlinear modeling (DLNM) to evaluate if the relative risk of human mortality increases during higher temperatures in Los Angeles, as the DLNM is more effective at controlling for variability at multiple temporal scales within the human mortality dataset. RESULTS: Significantly higher human mortality is uncovered in winter when dry tropical air is present in Los Angeles, particularly among those 65 years and older (p < 0.001). The DLNM reveals the relative risk of human mortality increases when above average temperatures are present. Results are especially pronounced for maximum and mean temperatures, along with total mortality and those 65 + . CONCLUSIONS: The discovery of heat-related mortality in winter is a unique finding in the United States, and we recommend stakeholders consider warning and intervention techniques to mitigate the role of winter heat on human health in the County.

Where are weather-suicide associations valid? An examination of nine US counties with varying seasonality.

There has been much research on the associations between weather variables and suicide rates. However, the state of understanding has remained rather stagnant due to many contradictory findings. The purpose of this project is to examine a larger database of suicides that includes a longer and more recent period of record (1975-2010) across numerous locations in the USA. In all, we examine nine total counties (and the primary city associated with them) with a special effort made to compare locations with varying degrees of temperature seasonality: Cook (Chicago), Fulton (Atlanta), King (Seattle), Los Angeles (Los Angeles), Maricopa (Phoenix), Miami-Dade (Miami), Philadelphia (Philadelphia), Salt Lake (Salt Lake City), and St. Louis (St. Louis). We first examine the unique seasonal cycle in suicides evident in each locale and then use distributed lag nonlinear modeling (DLNM) to relate the suicide data to daily surface temperatures. Results suggest that a late spring/summer peak generally exists in suicide rates, and above average temperatures are associated with increased suicide risk in almost all study counties. Further, it appears that these associations can be found in both mid-latitude and sub-tropical climate types.

Study protocol for an evaluation of the effectiveness of 'care bundles' as a means of improving hospital care and reducing hospital readmission for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

BACKGROUND: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is one of the commonest respiratory diseases in the United Kingdom, accounting for 10% of unplanned hospital admissions each year. Nearly a third of these admitted patients are re-admitted to hospital within 28 days of discharge. Whilst there is a move within the NHS to ensure that people with long-term conditions receive more co-ordinated care, there is little research evidence to support an optimum approach to this in COPD. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of introducing standardised packages of care i.e. care bundles, for patients with acute exacerbations of COPD as a means of improving hospital care and reducing re-admissions. METHODS / DESIGN: This mixed-methods evaluation will use a controlled before-and-after design to examine the effect of, and costs associated with, implementing care bundles for patients admitted to hospital with an acute exacerbation of COPD, compared with usual care. It will quantitatively measure a range of patient and organisational outcomes for two groups of hospitals - those who deliver care using COPD care bundles, and those who deliver care without the use of COPD care bundles. These care bundles may be provided for patients with COPD following admission, prior to discharge or at both points in the care pathway. The primary outcome will be re-admission to hospital within 28 days of discharge, although the study will additionally investigate a number of secondary outcomes including length of stay, total bed days, in-hospital mortality, costs of care and patient / carer experience. A series of nested qualitative case studies will explore in detail the context and process of care as well as the impact of COPD bundles on staff, patients and carers. DISCUSSION: The results of the study will provide information about the effectiveness of care bundles as a way of managing in-hospital care for patients with an acute exacerbation of COPD. Given the number of unplanned hospital admissions for this patient group and their rate of subsequent re-admission, it is hoped that this evaluation will make a timely contribution to the evidence on care provision, to the benefit of patients, clinicians, managers and policy-makers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials - ISRCTN13022442 - 11 February 2015.

Development of an improved RT-PCR for specific detection of spring viraemia of carp virus.

Spring viraemia of carp (SVC) is a rhabdovirus infection, which has a significant economic impact in pond cultures of carp in Europe and western Independent States of the former Soviet Union. The causative agent of SVC, spring viraemia of carp virus (SVCV), has been divided into four subgroups, Ia, Ib, Ic and Id, on the basis of glycoprotein (G) protein gene sequences. In this study, a new primer set was designed from a G gene sequence of SVCV to identify the four subtypes of SVCV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The specific PCR products of 369 bp were amplified from 15 SVCV isolates of all four subtypes. However, pike fry rhabdovirus (PFRV), which is antigenically related to SVCV, and other viruses antigenically related to SVCV and PFRV were not amplified. The four subtypes of SVCV were specifically amplified by the RT-PCR. Furthermore, the detection limit of the RT-PCR was 7.1 × 10(2) copies/reaction, and it was not influenced by the addition of RNA extracted from fish tissues. The RT-PCR will be applied not only to RNA extracted from viral suspensions, but also from fish tissue. It will contribute to rapid identification of SVCV in fish with clinical signs of SVC.

No evidence for mutations in NLRP7, NLRP2 or KHDC3L in women with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss or infertility.

STUDY QUESTION: Are mutations in NLRP2/7 (NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 2/7) or KHDC3L (KH Domain Containing 3 Like) associated with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) or infertility? SUMMARY ANSWER: We found no evidence for mutations in NLRP2/7 or KHDC3L in unexplained RPL or infertility. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Mutations in NLRP7 and KHDC3L are known to cause biparental hydatidiform moles (BiHMs), a rare form of pregnancy loss. NLRP2, while not associated with the BiHM pathology, is known to cause recurrent Beckwith Weidemann Syndrome (BWS). STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, AND DURATION: Ninety-four patients with well characterized, unexplained infertility were recruited over a 9-year period from three IVF clinics in Sweden. Blood samples from 24 patients with 3 or more consecutive miscarriages of unknown etiology were provided by the Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic at St Mary's Hospital, London, UK. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Patients were recruited into both cohorts following extensive clinical studies. Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood and subject to Sanger sequencing of NLRP2, NLRP7 and KHDC3L. Sequence electropherograms were analyzed by Sequencher v5.0 software and variants compared with those observed in the 1000 Genomes, single nucleotide polymorphism database (dbSNP) and HapMap databases. Functional effects of non-synonymous variants were predicted using Polyphen-2 and sorting intolerant from tolerant (SIFT). MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: No disease-causing mutations were identified in NLRP2, NLRP7 and KHDC3L in our cohorts of unexplained infertility and RPL. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Due to the limited patient size, it is difficult to conclude if the low frequency single nucleotide polymorphisms observed in the present study are causative of the phenotype. The design of the present study therefore is only capable of detecting highly penetrant mutations. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The present study supports the hypothesis that mutations in NLRP7 and KHDC3L are specific for the BiHM phenotype and do not play a role in other adverse reproductive outcomes. Furthermore, to date, mutations in NLRP2 have only been associated with the imprinting disorder BWS in offspring and there is no evidence for a role in molar pregnancies, RPL or unexplained infertility. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: This study was funded by the following sources: Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (Grant SF0180044s09), Enterprise Estonia (Grant EU30020); Mentored Resident research project (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine); Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre; Grant Number C06RR029965 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCCR; NIH). No competing interests declared.

A systematic review of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry compared to routine microbiological methods for the time taken to identify microbial organisms from positive blood cultures.

Bloodstream infections are a significant source of mortality and morbidity. Patient outcomes are improved by rapid identification of the causative pathogen and administration of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry has recently emerged as an alternative to microbiological identification. It is important to establish whether the costs of MALDI-TOF are justified by more timely identification and appropriate therapy, reduced length of stay and reduced hospital costs. We undertook a systematic review of the literature comparing MALDI-TOF and routine methods for the identification of the aetiological agent in patients with known or suspected bloodstream infection. The primary outcome of the review was the 'time to identify' organisms. Information on related measures such as 'time to appropriate antimicrobial treatment' and downstream hospital cost was also collected where reported. Ten of 775 articles identified met the inclusion criteria. All included studies were observational. MALDI-TOF identification was at least 24 h faster than routine methods in most circumstances. MADLI-TOF was associated with a reduction in downstream hospital costs and length of stay in studies reporting these outcomes. The observational studies reviewed provide evidence of potentially substantial time savings of MALDI-TOF in pathogen identification and instigation of appropriate therapy, which may also reduce hospital stay. Due to the small number of studies, all at relatively high risk of bias, this cannot be considered as definitive evidence of the impact of MALDI-TOF. More and better evidence, including impact on patient health and cost-effectiveness, is required.

The energy-water nexus: are there tradeoffs between residential energy and water consumption in arid cities?

Water scarcity, energy consumption, and air temperature regulation are three critical resource and environmental challenges linked to urban population growth. While appliance efficiency continues to increase, today's homes are larger and residents are using more energy-consuming devices. Recent research has often described the energy-water nexus as a "tradeoff" between energy and water due to reduced temperatures resulting from irrigated vegetation. Accordingly, some arid cities have implemented landscape-conversion programs that encourage homeowners to convert their yards from grass (mesic) to drought-tolerant (xeric) landscapes to help conserve water resources. We investigated these relationships in Phoenix, Arizona by examining energy and water data for the summer months of June-September 2005 while temperature variability was analyzed from a local heat wave. Results show parallel consumption patterns with energy and water use strongly correlated and newer homes using more of both. The counterintuitive findings show that "drought-resistant" models may not be beneficial for community health, environment, or economics and that this issue is further complicated by socio-economic variables.

A glossary for biometeorology.

Here we present, for the first time, a glossary of biometeorological terms. The glossary aims to address the need for a reliable source of biometeorological definitions, thereby facilitating communication and mutual understanding in this rapidly expanding field. A total of 171 terms are defined, with reference to 234 citations. It is anticipated that the glossary will be revisited in coming years, updating terms and adding new terms, as appropriate. The glossary is intended to provide a useful resource to the biometeorology community, and to this end, readers are encouraged to contact the lead author to suggest additional terms for inclusion in later versions of the glossary as a result of new and emerging developments in the field.

Muscle coactivation during gait in children with and without cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND: Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) walk with an uncoordinated gait compared to Typically Developing (TD) children. This behavior may reflect greater muscle co-activation in the lower limb; however, findings are inconsistent, and the determinants of this construct are unclear. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: (i) Compare lower-limb muscle co-activation during gait in children with, and without CP, and (ii) determine the extent to which muscle co-activation is influenced by electromyography normalization procedures and Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) class. METHODS: An electromyography system measured muscle activity in the rectus femoris, semitendinosus, gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior muscles during walking in 46 children (19 CP, 27 TD). Muscle co-activation was calculated for the tibialis anterior-gastrocnemius (TA-G), rectus femoris-gastrocnemius (RF-G), and rectus femoris-semitendinosus (RF-S) pairings, both using root mean squared (RMS)-averaged and dynamically normalized data, during stance and swing. Mann-Whitney U and independent t-tests examined differences in muscle co-activation by group (CP vs. TD) and GMFCS class (CP only), while mean difference 95% bootstrapped confidence intervals compared electromyography normalization procedures. RESULTS: Using dynamically normalized data, the CP group had greater muscle co-activation for the TA-G and RF-G pairs during stance (p < 0.01). Using RMS-averaged data, the CP group had greater muscle co-activation for TA-G (stance and swing, p < 0.01), RF-G (stance, p < 0.05), and RF-S (swing, p < 0.01) pairings. Muscle co-activation calculated with dynamically normalized, compared to RMS-averaged data, were larger in the RF-S and RF-G (stance) pairs, but smaller during swing (RF-G). Children with CP classified as GMFCS II had greater muscle co-activation during stance in the TA-G pair (p < 0.05). SIGNIFICANCE: Greater muscle co-activation observed in children with CP during stance may reflect a less robust gait strategy. Although data normalization procedures influence muscle co-activation ratios, this behavior was observed independent of normalization technique.

Spectral engineering by Gaussian phase-matching for quantum photonics.

We demonstrate Gaussian-shaped phase matching of a periodically-poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PPKTP) crystal by imposing a custom duty-cycle pattern on its grating structure while keeping the grating period fixed. The PPKTP's phase-matching characteristics are verified through optical difference-frequency generation measurements, showing good agreement with expected values based on our design parameters. Our theoretical analysis predicts that under extended phase-matching conditions the custom-poled PPKTP crystal is capable of generating heralded single photons with a spectral purity of 97%, and can reach as high as 99.5% with gentle spectral filtering, something that is highly desirable for photonic quantum information processing applications.

Violation of continuous-variable Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering with discrete measurements.

In this Letter, we derive an entropic Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering inequality for continuous-variable systems using only experimentally measured discrete probability distributions and details of the measurement apparatus. We use this inequality to witness EPR steering between the positions and momenta of photon pairs generated in spontaneous parametric down-conversion. We examine the asymmetry between parties in this inequality, and show that this asymmetry can be used to reduce the technical requirements of experimental setups intended to demonstrate the EPR paradox. Furthermore, we develop a more stringent steering inequality that is symmetric between parties, and use it to show that the down-converted photon pairs also exhibit symmetric EPR steering.

Genetic and virulence variability among Erwinia tracheiphila strains recovered from different cucurbit hosts.

The causal agent of cucurbit bacterial wilt, Erwinia tracheiphila, has a wide host range in the family Cucurbitaceae, including economically important crops such as muskmelon (Cucumis melo), cucumber (C. sativus), and squash (Cucurbita spp.). Genetic variability of 69 E. tracheiphila strains was investigated by repetitive-element polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) using BOXA1R and ERIC1-2 primers. Fingerprint profiles revealed significant variability associated with crop host; strains isolated from Cucumis spp. were clearly distinguishable from Cucurbita spp.-isolated strains regardless of geographic origin. Twelve E. tracheiphila strains isolated from muskmelon, cucumber, or summer squash were inoculated onto muskmelon and summer squash seedlings, followed by incubation in a growth chamber. Wilt symptoms were assessed over 3 weeks, strains were reisolated, and rep-PCR profiles were compared with the inoculated strains. Wilting occurred significantly faster when seedlings were inoculated with strains that originated from the same crop host genus (P<0.001). In the first run of the experiment, cucumber and muskmelon strains caused wilting on muskmelon seedlings at a median of 7.8 and 5.6 days after inoculation (dai), respectively. Summer squash seedlings wilted 18.0, 15.7, and 5.7 dai when inoculated with muskmelon-, cucumber-, and squash-origin strains, respectively. In a second run of the experiment, cucumber and muskmelon strains caused wilting on muskmelon at 7.0 and 6.9 dai, respectively, whereas summer squash seedlings wilted at 23.6, 29.0 and 9.0 dai when inoculated with muskmelon-, cucumber-, and squash-origin strains, respectively. Our results provide the first evidence of genetic diversity within E. tracheiphila and suggest that strain specificity is associated with plant host. This advance is a first step toward understanding the genetic and population structure of E. tracheiphila.

Muscle co-contraction and co-activation in cerebral palsy during gait: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral palsy (CP) results from an injury to a developing brain. Muscle activation patterns during walking are disrupted in individuals with CP. Indeed, excessive muscle co-contraction or co-activation (MCo/MCa) is one of the characteristics of pathological gait. Although some researchers have studied MCo/MCa in individuals with CP during gait, inconsistent results limit our understanding of this literature. Increased knowledge of MCo/MCa patterns in individuals with CP may help the development of improved gait management approaches. RESEARCH QUESTION: This review aims to summarize MCo/MCa patterns while walking in individuals with CP across the existing literature and compare them with their healthy peers. METHODS: This study follows the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines and the recommendations presented in PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for scoping Reviews statement were respected. The following databases were searched: MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), CINAHL Plus with Full Text (Ebsco), SPORTDiscus with Full Text (Ebsco), and Web of Science. RESULTS: Among 2545 identified studies, 21 studies remained after screening. In total, 337 participants with CP and 249 healthy participants were included. Both MCo and MCa terminologies are used for describing simultaneous muscle activation; however, when it is measured by electromyography (EMG), MCa terminology should be preferred to facilitate interpretation. A wide range of MCo/MCa patterns has been found across studies using different methodologies (e.g., gait protocol, computation methods). Finally, most of the included studies confirm that MCo/MCa is increased in individuals with CP during walking compared to controls. SIGNIFICANCE: This review identified missing concepts and common limitations in the literature which could be addressed in future research such as the association between MCo/MCa and gait deviations, and the most appropriate MCo/MCa computation method.