Agave attenuata and Agave amica, new hosts of Tuberose mild mosaic virus in Mexico.

Agave attenuata is a Mexican wild plant originally from highlands in the central and occidental mountains of Mexico. This species, known as "swan´s neck agave", is used only as an ornamental plant in public and private gardens. No virus had previously been reported from A. attenuata before this study. In a survey conducted in a commercial greenhouse in Cuautla, Morelos, in 2018, several plants were observed with symptoms of green mosaic and streaks, consistent with a putative viral infection. Sap inoculation from symptomatic A. attenuata plants to herbaceous indicator plants (Nicotiana benthamiana and N. tabacum) failed to produce symptoms in the mechanically inoculated plants. ELISA specific test to CMV, TEV, AMV, TMV and Potyvirus Group (Agdia, Inc.), was positive only for the last one (Chen and Chang, 1998). To determine the identity of the potyvirus involved, total nucleic acid extracts from 100 mg of symptomatic leaves (Trizol reagent; Gibco BRL Life Technologies, England) were used as template in RT-PCR with genus-specific potyvirus primers POT1-POT2, which targeted the variable 5´ terminal half of the coat protein gene of potyviruses (Colinet et al. 1998). The expected 900 bp amplicon was consistently detected in 10 symptomatic A. attenuata plants whereas no PCR products were obtained from 15 asymptomatic A. attenuata plants collected from the "Agaves de México" section at the 'Botanic Garden' of the Instituto de Biología de la UNAM, México. The amplicons were sequenced by the Sanger´s method and the obtained nucleotide (nt) sequences (Acc. No KY190217.1; OP964597-598) and their derived amino acid (aa) sequences were 94.68% to 95.80% similar to an isolate of Tuberose mild mosaic virus (TuMMV; Potyvirus; (Acc. No ON116187.1) characterized from Agave amica in India (Raj et al. 2009). Interestingly, A. amica (formerly Poliantes tuberose) is also a wild Mexican plant that is geographically distributed in the central and south regions of Mexico and is currently being commercially cultivated as an ornamental plant. Plants of A. amica (n=10) showing yellow mild streak were collected from commercial greenhouse and tested positive for TuMMV by RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing (No Acc. OP964599-601 levels) described above. The derived TuMMV sequences from A. attenuata and A. amica were 99-100% similar to each other at the nt/aa level. To exclude the involvement of additional viral agents in the disease, high-throughput sequencing analysis was performed separately for each species of Agave on total RNA extracts from a composite sample of symptomatic leaf tissues using Illumina´s Next Seq 500 platform. Analysis of the obtained 13,260,700 reads (each 75 nt) by the Trinity software, with a total number of sequences of 22,793, resulted in the identification of a single viral contig of 9500 nt for A. attenuata (Acc. No OP964595). Similarly, for A. amica, 27,262,248 reads were obtained, with a total number of sequences of 23,269, resulting in the identification of a single viral contig of 8500 nt (ACC. No OP964602). These contigs showed an identity percentage of 96%/88% and 98%/96% for nucleotides and amino acids, respectively, compared to an isolate of TuMMV from India (Acc. OM293939). Mexico is a center of origin for numerous species of genus Agave which have high economic, social, and ecological impact. TuMMV could be a threat to these plants and potentially to other unknown susceptible crops. To our knowledge, this is the first report of TuMMV in A. attenuata and A. amica in Mexico. REFERENCE Chen, C. C., and Chang, C. A. 1998. Characterization of a potyvirus causing mild mosaic on tuberose. Plant Dis. 82:45-49. Colinet, D., Nguyen, M., Kummert, J., Lepoivre, P., and Xia, F. Z. 1998. Differentiation among potyviruses infecting sweet potato based on genus- and virus-specific reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Plant Dis. 82:223-229. Raj, S.K., Snehi, S.K., Kumar, S., Ram, T. and Goel, A.K. 2009. First report of Tuberose mild mosaic potyvirus from tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) in India. Australasian Plant Dis. Notes 4, 93-95.

Exploring the predictive power of the unspecific risk category of the Basel Screening Instrument for Psychosis.

AIM: Ultrahigh risk (UHR) criteria, consisting of brief limited intermittent psychotic symptoms (BLIPS), attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS) and genetic risk and deterioration (GRD) syndrome are the most widely used criteria for assessing the clinical high-risk state for psychosis (CHR-P). The Basel Screening Instrument for Psychosis (BSIP) includes a further risk category, the unspecific risk category (URC). However, little is known about the predictive power of this risk category compared to other risk categories. METHODS: Two hundred CHR-P patients were detected as part of the Früherkennung von Psychosen (FePsy) study using the BSIP. Transition to psychosis was assessed in regular intervals for up to 7 years. RESULTS: Patients meeting only the URC criterion (n = 40) had a significantly lower risk of transition to psychosis than the UHR group (including BLIPS, APS and GRD) (HR 0.19 [0.05; 0.80] (P = 0.024). Furthermore, the URC only risk group had a lower transition risk than the APS without BLIPS group (P = 0.015) and a trendwise lower risk than the BLIPS group (P = 0.066). However, despite the lower transition risk in the URC only group, there were still two patients (5%) in this group with a later transition to psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: The URC includes patients who have a lower risk of transition than those included by the UHR categories and thereby increases the sensitivity of the BSIP. This offers the possibility of a stratified intervention, with these subjects receiving low intensity follow-up and treatment.

Satellite Telemetry and Image Reception with Software Defined Radio Applied to Space Outreach Projects in Brazil.

Software Defined Radio (SDR) uses a processor, a special receiver and software that play the main parts of the receiver (mixer, filters, amplifiers, modulators, demodulators, etc.) and it is quite advantageous for its flexibility and compact size as it reduces the amount of hardware components while adapting for different needs. This work briefly presents the SDR concept and approach for obtaining satellite telemetries and imagery in the context of different modulation schemes, link budget requirements and different satellites types. Two case studies are presented for supporting affordable ground segment and promoting satellites projects in Brazil. Reception from the 1st Brazilian picosatellite, Tancredo-1, with specific software developed, UbaTM is presented for obtaining satellite raw telemetries, convert them to engineering value and friendly present on user screen. A series of support software packages are then introduced so that one can pipeline various operations and automate tasks in the ground station. Finally, a second study case was performed in order to receive NOAA class satellites imagery over VHF band and decoded by specific software freely available. Using the proposed SDR approach, it can adapt to projects mainly those with a limited budget and outreach for major inclusion on space topics in Brazil.

Apoyo virtual en el diagnóstico de lesiones cariosas según ICDAS en estudiantes de odontología / Virtual support in the carious lesions diagnosis according to ICDAS in dental students

Objetivo. Evaluar la influencia de la metodología expositiva con apoyo virtual en el diagnóstico de lesiones cariosas según ICDAS en alumnos del curso de carielogía. Materiales y métodos. Estudio descriptivo, correlacional, prospectivo, longitudinal realizado en 88 alumnos de la Facultad de Odontología de la Universidad de San Martín de Porres. Se intervino con dos tipos de metodología didáctica: la exposición a través de una clase magistral presentando imágenes de lesiones cariosas en piezas dentarias que se diagnosticaron con el sistema ICDAS y el apoyo virtual utilizando el programa E-Learning ICDAS. Ambas intervenciones tuvieron la misma temática e impartidas en sesiones diferentes. Después de cada intervención, se evaluó el nivel de conocimiento a través de un examen de 10 preguntas cuyos valores fueron: bueno (9-10), regular (6-8), malo (3-5), muy malo (0-2). El desempeño procedimental se evaluó diagnosticando visualmente ocho piezas dentarias con lesiones cariosas seleccionadas por un docente calibrado en el sistema ICDAS, registrando solo el código de caries del 0 al 6, considerando los valores: bueno (6,1-8), regular (4,1-6), malo (2,1-4), muy malo (0-2). Resultados. Existió diferencia estadísticamente significativa entre ambas metodologías utilizadas (p< 0,05). Comparando las calificaciones de las intervenciones expositivas y el apoyo virtual los valores promedio fueron 4,61 y 6,72 en el nivel de conocimiento; y en el desempeño procedimental 3,07 y 5,00 respectivamente. Conclusiones. El apoyo virtual influyó significativamente al incrementar el número de alumnos con calificaciones conceptuales y procedimentales más altas, demostrando la relevancia del apoyo de esta herramienta educativa en la enseñanza.

Objective. To evaluate the influence of the expositive methodology with virtual support in the diagnosis of carious lesions according to ICDAS in the students of dental caries course. Materials and methods. Descriptive, cross, prospective, longitudinal study conducted on 88 students of the faculty of dentistry of the San Martin de Porres university. Two types of teaching methods intervened: exposure,through a master class presenting images of carious lesions on teeth that were diagnosed with ICDAS system and the virtual support system using the E-Learning program ICDAS. Both interventions had the same subject and were imparted in different sessions. After each intervention, the knowledge level through a test of 10 questions was assessed, whose values were: good (9-10), regular (6-8), bad (3-5), very bad (0-2). The procedural performance was evaluated visually diagnosing eight teeth with carious lesions selected by acalibrated teacher in ICDAS system, recording only decay code from 0 to 6, considering the values: good (6.1-8), regular (4 1-6), bad (2.1-4), very bad (0-2). Results. There was statistically significant difference between the two methodologies (p <0. 05). Comparing the scores of expositive interventions and virtual support the average values were 4.61 and 6.72 in the knowledge level; performance and procedural performance were 3.07 and 5.00 respectively. Conclusions. The virtual support significantly influenced increasing the number of students with higher scores on the conceptual and procedural aspects, demonstrating the relevancy of the support of this educational tool in teaching.

A proton relay enhances H2O2 sensitivity of GAPDH to facilitate metabolic adaptation.

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is sensitive to reversible oxidative inactivation by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Here we show that H2O2 reactivity of the active site thiolate (C152) is catalyzed by a previously unrecognized mechanism based on a dedicated proton relay promoting leaving group departure. Disruption of the peroxidatic reaction mechanism does not affect the glycolytic activity of GAPDH. Therefore, specific and separate mechanisms mediate the reactivity of the same thiolate nucleophile toward H2O2 and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, respectively. The generation of mutants in which the glycolytic and peroxidatic activities of GAPDH are comprehensively uncoupled allowed for a direct assessment of the physiological relevance of GAPDH H2O2 sensitivity. Using yeast strains in which wild-type GAPDH was replaced with H2O2-insensitive mutants retaining full glycolytic activity, we demonstrate that H2O2 sensitivity of GAPDH is a key component of the cellular adaptive response to increased H2O2 levels.