Susceptibility and yield response of commercial corn hybrids to maize dwarf mosaic disease.

Maize dwarf mosaic (MDM) is one of the most important virus diseases of maize worldwide. Caused by the potyviruses maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) or sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), MDM can cause up to 90% yield loss in susceptible hybrids. One of the most effective management strategies for MDM is growing potyvirus resistant corn varieties. However, yield impacts associated with MDM and the corresponding efficacy of genetic resistance present in modern U.S. commercial hybrid lines is uncharacterized. In this study, we evaluated the disease response of 78 commercial hybrids to MDMV and SCMV and quantified yield losses associated with infection over multiple trials. We determined that while 97% of the hybrids tested were resistant to MDMV, 100% were susceptible to SCMV, with mean disease incidence per line averaging between 45% and 78% across six trial years. Despite only one hybrid displaying visible mosaic symptoms when inoculated with MDMV, MDMV reduced average yields by approximately 5% across all hybrids compared to the mock inoculated treatment. The yield impact of SCMV was more severe, reducing average yields by 10% across replicated experiments. These results indicate that while most commercial hybrids are resistant to MDMV, possibly due to the presence of the major Scmv1 resistance locus on chromosome 6, additional potyvirus resistance genes are needed to manage SCMV induced MDM. Pyramiding resistance loci, such as Scmv2 on chromosome 3 or Scmv3 on chromosome 10 in addition to Scmv1 could be an effective strategy to mitigate the yield impact of MDM disease.

Point Cloud Completion: A Survey.

Point cloud completion is the task of producing a complete 3D shape given an input of a partial point cloud. It has become a vital process in 3D computer graphics, vision and applications such as autonomous driving, robotics, and augmented reality. These applications often rely on the presence of a complete 3D representation of the environment. Over the past few years, many completion algorithms have been proposed and a substantial amount of research has been carried out. However, there are not many in-depth surveys that summarise the research progress in such a way that allows users to make an informed choice of what algorithms to employ given the type of data they have, the end result they want, the challenges they may face and the possible strategies they could use. In this study, we present a comprehensive survey and classification of papers on point cloud completion untill August 2023 based on the strategies, techniques, inputs, outputs, and network architectures. We will also cover datasets, evaluation methods, and application areas in point cloud completion. Finally, we discuss challenges faced by the research community and future research directions.

Simple Instrument Modification to Aid in Laparoscopic Gastric Wraps for Posterior Fundoplications.

Described is a simple modification of the O'Reilly esophageal retractor to aid in performing laparoscopic posterior gastric wraps during antireflux procedures. A 3-mm hole was drilled into the distal end of the reticulating arm. Once the arm is positioned posteriorly to the gastroesophageal (GE) junction, the freed gastric fundus can be secured to the retractor with a suture. The fundus can then be pulled posteriorly to the GE junction and held into position for placement of the fundoplication sutures.

Analysis of the impact of badger culling on bovine tuberculosis in cattle in the high-risk area of England, 2009-2020.

BACKGROUND: Since 2013, badger culling has been part of the UK Government's strategy for controlling bovine tuberculosis (bTB) within a high-risk area (HRA) in England. Government surveillance data now enables an examination of bTB herd incidence and prevalence, its headline indicators, within and outside cull areas over the period 2009-2020. METHODS: Analysis compared herd incidence and prevalence data from within and outside badger culling areas. A range of models (GLMs, GLMMs, GAMs and GAMMs) were used to analyse incidence and prevalence in culled and unculled areas using frequentist and Bayesian approaches. Change in incidence across ten county areas within the HRA for the period 2010-2020 was also compared. RESULTS: Analyses based on Defra published data using a variety of statistical methodologies did not suggest that badger culling affected herd bTB incidence or prevalence over the study period. In 9 of 10 counties, bTB incidence peaked and began to fall before badger culling commenced. LIMITATIONS: There are limitations around the data available on culling location, temporal information and other confounding factors. As such, further analysis of any future datasets that may be released on bTB levels in areas where badger culling has been implemented is warranted. CONCLUSION: This examination of government data obtained over a wide area and a long time period failed to identify a meaningful effect of badger culling on bTB in English cattle herds. These findings may have implications for the use of badger culling in current and future bTB control policy.

Virtual Screening Approach to Identifying a Novel and Tractable Series of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Elastase Inhibitors.

Novel therapies are required to treat chronic bacterial infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) sufferers. The most common pathogen responsible for these infections is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which persists within the lungs of CF sufferers despite intensive antibiotic treatment. P. aeruginosa elastase (also known as LasB or pseudolysin) is a key virulence determinant that contributes to the pathogenesis and persistence of P. aeruginosa infections in CF patients. The crucial role of LasB in pseudomonal virulence makes it a good target for the development of an adjuvant drug for CF treatment. Herein we discuss the discovery of a new series of LasB inhibitors by virtual screening and computer assisted drug design (CADD) and their optimization leading to compounds 29 and 39 (K i = 0.16 µM and 0.12 µM, respectively).

Fabrication and Validation of a Cost-Effective Upper Endoscopy Simulator.

PURPOSE: Beginning with the graduating class of 2018, the American Board of Surgery (ABS) requires that residents complete the ABS Flexible Endoscopy Curriculum, Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES). This curriculum includes both didactic and simulator training. In the ideal setting residents gain proficiency using simulation prior to performing endoscopies in the clinical setting. This new requirement creates an increased demand for endoscopic simulators in all General Surgery residency programs. Due to the cost prohibitive nature of virtual reality simulators an economic alternative is needed. METHODS: A mechanical simulator was created from inexpensive items easily acquired at a hardware store and in the hospital. Total cost of the simulator was approximately $120 USD. To validate the simulator, experienced endoscopists completed a training session with the device. A seven-question Likert scale survey (1 - strongly disagree to 5 - strongly agree) was completed after the session evaluated the simulated experience versus live upper endoscopies and the device's ability to meet the goals of the FES curriculum. RESULTS: Eight proficient endoscopists completed the training session and survey and agreed that the device closely replicated live colonoscopies and would meet all training requirements in the FES curriculum. Mean responses to all seven survey questions ranged from 3.8-4.4. CONCLUSION: This device is a cost-effective method for simulating live upper endoscopies and is appropriate for use in FES training.

A Work Efficient Parallel Algorithm for Exact Euclidean Distance Transform.

A fully-parallelized work-time optimal algorithm is presented for computing the exact Euclidean Distance Transform (EDT) of a 2D binary image with the size of n×n . Unlike existing PRAM (Parallel Random Access Machine) and other algorithms, this algorithm is suitable for implementation on modern SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) architectures such as GPUs. As a fundamental operation of 2D EDT, 1D EDT is efficiently parallelized first. Specifically, the GPU algorithm for the 1D EDT, which uses CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) binary functions, such as ballot(), ffs(), clz(), and shfl(), runs in O(log32n) time and performs O(n) work. Using the 1D EDT as a fundamental operation, the fully-parallelized work-time optimal 2D EDT algorithm is designed. This algorithm consists of three steps. Step 1 of the algorithm runs in O(log32n) time and performs O(N) ( N = n2 ) of total work on GPU. Step 2 performs O(N) of total work and has an expected time complexity of O(logn) on GPU. Step 3 runs in O(log32n) time and performs O(N) of total work on GPU. As far as we know, this algorithm is the first fully-parallelized and realized work-time optimal algorithm for GPUs. The experimental results show that this algorithm outperforms the prior state-of-the-art GPU algorithms.

Innovative Use of dHACM in Conjunction With Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to Treat a Nonhealing Nasal Wound Subsequent to Squamous Cell Carcinoma Resection and Radiation: A Case Study.

INTRODUCTION: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is known to improve wound healing in the setting of chronic, nonhealing wounds of irradiated skin; however, failure of wound healing may still occur. Dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane (dHACM) grafting is a technology that has been proven to promote wound healing of wounds related to venous stasis. Little has been published to date regarding use of dHACM in the setting of nonhealing wounds of irradiated skin. CASE REPORT: A 75-year-old man with a history of squamous cell carcinoma of the nose presented to the wound clinic with a chronic, nonhealing nasal wound following tumor resection, radiation therapy, and full-thickness skin graft and auricular cartilage allograft failure. The patient was found to have a nasal cutaneous fistula associated with rhinorrhea, adjacent skin irritation, and discomfort related to the passage of air through the fistulous tract. Following 30 days of standard wound care in the wound clinic (including weekly debridement), the patient continued to have an open, nonhealing wound. As he preferred not to proceed with a surgical flap reconstruction, the patient elected to continue with more conservative management. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was initiated with some success but with continued presence of a nonhealing fistula tract. A dHACM graft then was applied with successful resolution of the patient's symptoms and decrease in defect size of 45% after 4 applications. CONCLUSIONS: This treatment approach ultimately resulted in complete reepithelization of the wound, and a decrease in defect area. The patient's symptoms of nasal drainage and physical discomfort due to air passage through the fistula also had resolved completely. Although the fistula was still present at the conclusion of treatment, the tract was well-epithelialized and overall size of the defect diminished greatly.

SAR Studies Leading to the Identification of a Novel Series of Metallo-ß-lactamase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Infections That Display Efficacy in an Animal Infection Model.

The clinical effectiveness of carbapenem antibiotics such as meropenem is becoming increasingly compromised by the spread of both metallo-ß-lactamase (MBL) and serine-ß-lactamase (SBL) enzymes on mobile genetic elements, stimulating research to find new ß-lactamase inhibitors to be used in conjunction with carbapenems and other ß-lactam antibiotics. Herein, we describe our initial exploration of a novel chemical series of metallo-ß-lactamase inhibitors, from concept to efficacy, in a survival model using an advanced tool compound (ANT431) in conjunction with meropenem.

Comprehensive Multicenter Graduate Surgical Education Initiative Incorporating Entrustable Professional Activities, Continuous Quality Improvement Cycles, and a Web-Based Platform to Enhance Teaching and Learning.

BACKGROUND: It is increasingly important for faculty to teach deliberately and provide timely, detailed, and formative feedback on surgical trainee performance. We initiated a multicenter study to improve resident evaluative processes and enhance teaching and learning behaviors while engaging residents in their education. STUDY DESIGN: Faculty from 7 US postgraduate training programs rated resident operative performances using the perioperative briefing, intraoperative teaching, debriefing model, and rated patient visits/academic performances using the entrustable professional activities model via a web-based platform. Data were centrally analyzed and iterative changes made based on participant feedback, individual preferences, and database refinements, with trends addressed using the Plan, Do, Check, Act improvement methodology. RESULTS: Participants (92 surgeons, 150 residents) submitted 3,880 assessments during July 2014 through September 2017. Evidence of preoperative briefings improved from 33.9% ± 2.5% to 95.5% ± 1.5% between April and September 2014 compared with April and September 2017 (p < 0.001). Postoperative debriefings improved from 10.6% ± 2.7% to 90.2% ± 2.5% (p < 0.001) for the same period. Meaningful self-reflection by residents improved from 28.6% to 67.4% (p < 0.001). The number of assessments received per resident during a 6-month period increased from 6.4 ± 6.2 to 13.4 ± 10.1 (p < 0.003). Surgeon-entered assessments increased from 364 initially to 685 in the final period, and the number of resident assessments increased from 308 to 445. We showed a 4-fold increase in resident observed activities being rated. CONCLUSIONS: By adopting recognized educational models with repeated Plan, Do, Check, Act cycles, we increased the quality of preoperative learning objectives, showed more frequent, detailed, and timely assessments of resident performance, and demonstrated more effective self-reflection by residents. We monitored trends, identified opportunities for improvement and successfully sustained those improvements over time, applying a team-based approach.

Effects of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in normokinetic biliary dyskinesia.

This is the largest single center retrospective study to date looking at response to laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with acalculous biliary disease. A chart review was completed on 1116 patients from 2009 to 2014 who had admitting diagnoses related to acalculous cholecystitis and biliary colic. Four hundred and seventy four patients were available for long term follow up (6 months or longer). Multiple factors were studied as related to cholescintigraphy scans with cholecystokinin administration (HIDA with CCK). Hyperkinetic, normokinetic and hypokinetic ejection fractions (EF), as well as reproduction of symptoms with administration of CCK were catagorized. ROME III criteria (Table 1) were used to describe cholecystitis/biliary colic symptoms. (1). It was found that rates of resolution of symptoms after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in normokinetic and hypokinetic were similar. It was also found that reproduction of symptoms after administration of CCK was a better predictor of favorable response to surgery than calculated ejection fraction.

Diverse Chromosomal Locations of Quantitative Trait Loci for Tolerance to Maize chlorotic mottle virus in Five Maize Populations.

The recent rapid emergence of maize lethal necrosis (MLN), caused by coinfection of maize with Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and a second virus usually from the family Potyviridae, is causing extensive losses for farmers in East Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. Although the genetic basis of resistance to potyviruses is well understood in maize, little was known about resistance to MCMV. The responses of five maize inbred lines (KS23-5, KS23-6, N211, DR, and Oh1VI) to inoculation with MCMV, Sugarcane mosaic virus, and MLN were characterized. All five lines developed fewer symptoms than susceptible controls after inoculation with MCMV; however, the virus was detected in systemic leaf tissue from each of the lines similarly to susceptible controls, indicating that the lines were tolerant of MCMV rather than resistant to it. Except for KS23-5, the inbred lines also developed fewer symptoms after inoculation with MLN than susceptible controls. To identify genetic loci associated with MCMV tolerance, large F2 or recombinant inbred populations were evaluated for their phenotypic responses to MCMV, and the most resistant and susceptible plants were genotyped by sequencing. One to four quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified in each tolerant population using recombination frequency and positional mapping strategies. In contrast to previous studies of virus resistance in maize, the chromosomal positions and genetic character of the QTL were unique to each population. The results suggest that different, genotype-specific mechanisms are associated with MCMV tolerance in maize. These results will allow for the development of markers for marker-assisted selection of MCMV- and MLN-tolerant maize hybrids for disease control.

A pilot study evaluating knowledge of indications for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

A pilot study was conducted in mid-Michigan to evaluate knowledge of appropriate hyperbaric oxygen therapy referrals in "first contact" physicians who did not have additional hyperbaric training. The hypothesis for this study is that many first-contact physicians have little or no exposure to hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy and its indications. A survey was distributed regarding accepted indications combined with conditions not currently approved or contraindicated for HBO2. Answers were tallied for correct identification of approved indications, missed approved indications, and inappropriate identification of unapproved indications. Ninety (90) surveys were distributed and 62 physicians of various specialties responded. There were notably high percentages of missed indications, as high as 93%. Many emergent/urgent indications were missed as well. The highest percentage of wrong indications was 32%. Very concerning is the 13% who chose refractory pneumothorax as a condition responsive to HBO2 therapy. This study showed significant lack of familiarity of HBO2 treatment indications among physicians who did not have additional hyperbaric training. Inclusion of hyperbaric education during residencies may increase HBO2 referrals and improve outcomes for various disorders.

Analysis of reported error in Monte Carlo rendered images.

Evaluating image quality in Monte Carlo rendered images is an important aspect of the rendering process as we often need to determine the relative quality between images computed using different algorithms and with varying amounts of computation. The use of a gold-standard, reference image, or ground truth is a common method to provide a baseline with which to compare experimental results. We show that if not chosen carefully, the quality of reference images used for image quality assessment can skew results leading to significant misreporting of error. We present an analysis of error in Monte Carlo rendered images and discuss practices to avoid or be aware of when designing an experiment.

Endoscopic Combined Snare-Forceps Technique for Removing Flat Sessile Polyps.

CONTEXT: Current endoscopes have limitations during use in polypectomies. Specifically, polyps that are flat, broad-based and sessile are more difficult to resect. Routine polypectomy procedures allow one endoscopic device to be used at a time limiting the endoscopist. More advanced scopes are not readily available at smaller community hospitals, limiting the endoscopist to using the resources available to them. METHODS: The modification of the standard polypectomy method described here employs both an endoscopic forceps and an endoscopic snare to be used simultaneously during colonoscopy with a single lumen colonoscope. The forceps is introduced into the endoscope so the head is just projecting from the distal end of the scope. The snare is then placed just proximal to the head of the forceps outside of the endoscope. The endoscope is reinserted into the colon until the polyp is reached. Using the snare the polyp is elevated and then the snare secured around the base. RESULTS: This resulted in easier, faster, and more complete removal of flat sessile and poorly located pedunculated polyps on the first try. This technique has been employed successfully in over 20 patients at our institution. CONCLUSIONS: This new method adds another technique for endoscopists when presented with difficult polypectomies.

Fabrication of An Inexpensive but Effective Colonoscopic Simulator.

Because of increasing requirements for simulator training before actual clinical endoscopies, the demand for realistic, inexpensive endoscopic simulators is increasing. We describe the steps involved in the design and fabrication of an effective and realistic mechanical colonoscopic simulator.

A spherical-plot solution to linking acceleration metrics with animal performance, state, behaviour and lifestyle.

BACKGROUND: We are increasingly using recording devices with multiple sensors operating at high frequencies to produce large volumes of data which are problematic to interpret. A particularly challenging example comes from studies on animals and humans where researchers use animal-attached accelerometers on moving subjects to attempt to quantify behaviour, energy expenditure and condition. RESULTS: The approach taken effectively concatinated three complex lines of acceleration into one visualization that highlighted patterns that were otherwise not obvious. The summation of data points within sphere facets and presentation into histograms on the sphere surface effectively dealt with data occlusion. Further frequency binning of data within facets and representation of these bins as discs on spines radiating from the sphere allowed patterns in dynamic body accelerations (DBA) associated with different postures to become obvious. METHOD: We examine the extent to which novel, gravity-based spherical plots can produce revealing visualizations to incorporate the complexity of such multidimensional acceleration data using a suite of different acceleration-derived metrics with a view to highlighting patterns that are not obvious using current approaches. The basis for the visualisation involved three-dimensional plots of the smoothed acceleration values, which then occupied points on the surface of a sphere. This sphere was divided into facets and point density within each facet expressed as a histogram. Within each facet-dependent histogram, data were also grouped into frequency bins of any desirable parameters, most particularly dynamic body acceleration (DBA), which were then presented as discs on a central spine radiating from the facet. Greater radial distances from the sphere surface indicated greater DBA values while greater disc diameter indicated larger numbers of data points with that particular value. CONCLUSIONS: We indicate how this approach links behaviour and proxies for energetics and can inform our identification and understanding of movement-related processes, highlighting subtle differences in movement and its associated energetics. This approach has ramifications that should expand to areas as disparate as disease identification, lifestyle, sports practice and wild animal ecology. UCT Science Faculty Animal Ethics 2014/V10/PR (valid until 2017).

Use of a Defibrillator Magnet to Extract Multiple Ingested Sharp Iron Objects from the Stomach at Laparotomy.

This paper describes a technique for safely removing sharp ingested ferrous-based objects from the stomach at the time of laparotomy. It consists of a case report of a patient with psychiatric issues. He presented to our emergency department on several occasions after eating multiple foreign objects. Due to the large amount of ingested items, they could not be removed via the endoscope, therefore requiring laparotomy. A serious issue presenting to the surgeon and surgical team is puncture of surgical gloves and possible injury to the operating staff's hands during extraction of sharp objects. This technique describes using a defibrillator magnet placed into a sterile specimen bag that is then inserted into a gastrotomy incision to remove any iron-based ingested sharps. As many ingested sharps such as needles, tacks, nails, screws and pins are ferrous-based, this technique is very useful and efficient.