Explore the vast range of titles available.

Background White root rot (WRR) disease caused by Rosellinia necatrix is one of the most important threats affecting avocado orchards in temperate regions. The eradication of WRR is a difficult task and environmentally friendly control methods are needed to lessen its impact. Priming plants with a stressor (biotic or abiotic) can be a strategy to enhance plant defense/tolerance against future stress episodes but, despite the known underlying common mechanisms, few studies use abiotic-priming for improving tolerance to forthcoming biotic-stress and vice versa (‘ cross-factor priming’ ). To assess whether cross-factor priming can be a potential method for enhancing avocado tolerance to WRR disease, ‘Dusa’ avocado rootstocks, susceptible to R. necatrix , were subjected to two levels of water stress (mild-WS and severe-WS) and, after drought-recovery, inoculated with R. necatrix . Physiological response and expression of plant defense related genes after drought-priming as well as the disease progression were evaluated. Results Water-stressed avocado plants showed lower water potential and stomatal limitations of photosynthesis compared to control plants. In addition, NPQ and q N values increased, indicating the activation of energy dissipating mechanisms closely related to the relief of oxidative stress. This response was proportional to the severity of the water stress and was accompanied by the deregulation of pathogen defense-related genes in the roots. After re-watering, leaf photosynthesis and plant water status recovered rapidly in both treatments, but roots of mild-WS primed plants showed a higher number of overexpressed genes related with plant defense than severe-WS primed plants. Disease progression after inoculating primed plants with R. necatrix was significantly delayed in mild-WS primed plants. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that mild-WS can induce a primed state in the WRR susceptible avocado rootstock ‘Dusa’ and reveal that ‘ cross-factor priming’ with water stress (abiotic stressor) is effective for increasing avocado tolerance against R. necatrix (biotic stressor), underpinning that plant responses against biotic and abiotic stress rely on common mechanisms. Potential applications of these results may involve an enhancement of WRR tolerance of current avocado groves and optimization of water use via low frequency deficit irrigation strategies.

Index hopping is the main cause of incorrect sample assignment of sequencing reads in multiplexed pooled libraries. We introduce a statistical model for estimating the sample index-hopping rate in multiplexed droplet-based single-cell RNA-seq data and for probabilistic inference of the true sample of origin of hopped reads. We analyze several datasets and estimate the sample index hopping probability to range between 0.003–0.009, a small number that counter-intuitively gives rise to a large fraction of phantom molecules — the fraction of phantom molecules exceeds 8% in more than 25% of samples and reaches as high as 85% in low-complexity samples. Phantom molecules lead to widespread complications in downstream analyses, including transcriptome mixing across cells, emergence of phantom copies of cells from other samples, and misclassification of empty droplets as cells. We demonstrate that our approach can correct for these artifacts by accurately purging the majority of phantom molecules from the data. Sample index hopping results in various artefacts in multiplexed scRNA-seq experiments. Here, the authors introduce a statistical model to estimate sample index hopping rate in droplet-based scRNA-seq data and show that artifacts can be corrected by purging phantom molecules from the data.

Neutrophils and their products are increasingly recognized to have a key influence on cancer progression and response to therapy. Their involvement has been shown in nearly every aspect of cancer pathophysiology with growing evidence now supporting their role in resistance to a variety of cancer therapies. Recently, the role of neutrophils in cancer progression and therapy resistance has been further complicated with the discovery of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs are web-like structures of chromatin decorated with a variety of microbicidal proteins. They are released by neutrophils in a process called NETosis. NET-dependent mechanisms of cancer pathology are beginning to be appreciated, particularly with respect to tumor response to chemo-, immuno-, and radiation therapy. Several studies support the functional role of NETs in cancer therapy resistance, involving T-cell exhaustion, drug detoxification, angiogenesis, the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and extracellular matrix remodeling mechanisms, among others. Given this, new and promising data suggests NETs provide a microenvironment conducive to limited therapeutic response across a variety of neoplasms. As such, this paper aims to give a comprehensive overview of evidence on NETs in cancer therapy resistance with a focus on clinical applicability.

Objective The objective of this study is to outline the evidence regarding the surgical management of esophageal cancer and provide a single institutional outline regarding its implementation. Background Esophageal cancer is a major cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. Surgery continues to play an important role in its management and offers the best chance for cure in localized and locally advanced disease. However, considerable controversy exists regarding the optimum treatment strategy in this patient population. Furthermore, despite advances in operative and perioperative care and the advent of minimally invasive approaches, the majority of patients succumb to distant metastases after curative intent resection. This failure highlights the importance of multimodal, stage-directed therapy in the management of patients with newly diagnosed esophageal tumors. Methods Herein, we provide a comprehensive, evidence-based review of the diagnostic workup and locoregional and systemic treatment options available to esophageal cancer patients. The evidence supporting perioperative chemotherapy versus chemoradiotherapy is outlined and discussed. In addition, we highlight our institutional approach to the diagnostic evaluation, operative selection strategy, and perioperative treatment regimen selection based on the stage of presentation. Finally, we discuss the role of enhanced recovery in the postoperative management of this complex group of patients. Conclusions Esophageal cancer remains a devastating disease with high mortality. Favorable outcomes mandate a multimodal, stage-directed treatment approach.

Background White root rot disease caused by Rosellinia necatrix is one of the most important threats affecting avocado productivity in tropical and subtropical climates. Control of this disease is complex and nowadays, lies in the use of physical and chemical methods, although none have proven to be fully effective. Detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying white root rot disease has the potential of aiding future developments in disease resistance and management. In this regard, this study used RNA-Seq technology to compare the transcriptomic profiles of R. necatrix during infection of susceptible avocado ‘Dusa’ roots with that obtained from the fungus cultured in rich medium. Results The transcriptomes from three biological replicates of R. necatrix colonizing avocado roots (RGA) and R. necatrix growing on potato dextrose agar media (RGPDA) were analyzed using Illumina sequencing. A total of 12,104 transcripts were obtained, among which 1937 were differentially expressed genes (DEG), 137 exclusively expressed in RGA and 160 in RGPDA. During the root infection process, genes involved in the production of fungal toxins, detoxification and transport of toxic compounds, hormone biosynthesis, gene silencing and plant cell wall degradation were overexpressed. Interestingly, 24 out of the 137 contigs expressed only during R. necatrix growth on avocado roots, were predicted as candidate effector proteins (CEP) with a probability above 60%. The PHI (Pathogen Host Interaction) database revealed that three of the R. necatrix CEP showed homology with previously annotated effectors, already proven experimentally via pathogen-host interaction. Conclusions The analysis of the full-length transcriptome of R. necatrix during the infection process is suggesting that the success of this fungus to infect roots of diverse crops might be attributed to the production of different compounds which, singly or in combination, interfere with defense or signaling mechanisms shared among distinct plant families. The transcriptome analysis of R. necatrix during the infection process provides useful information and facilitates further research to a more in -depth understanding of the biology and virulence of this emergent pathogen. In turn, this will make possible to evolve novel strategies for white root rot management in avocado.

A bstract We present a comprehensive phenomenological analysis of the calorimetric electron capture (EC) decay spectrum of 163 Ho as measured by the HOLMES experiment. Using high-statistics data, we unfold the instrumental energy resolution from the measured spectrum and model it as a sum of Breit-Wigner resonances and shake-off continua, providing a complete set of parameters for each component. Our approach enables the identification and tentative interpretation of all observed spectral features, including weak and overlapping structures, in terms of atomic de-excitation processes. We compare our phenomenological model with recent ab initio theoretical calculations, finding good agreement for both the main peaks and the spectral tails, despite the limitations of current theoretical and experimental precision. The model delivers an accurate description of the endpoint region, which is crucial for neutrino mass determination, and allows for a realistic treatment of backgrounds such as pile-up and tails of low-energy components. Furthermore, our decomposition facilitates the generation of Monte Carlo toy spectra for sensitivity studies and provides a framework for investigating systematic uncertainties related to solid-state and detector effects. This work establishes a robust foundation for future calorimetric neutrino mass experiments employing 163 Ho, supporting both data analysis and experimental design.

We present a novel technique, called DSVP (Discrimination through Singular Vectors Projections), to discriminate spurious events within a dataset. The purpose of this paper is to lay down a general procedure which can be tailored for a broad variety of applications. After describing the general concept, we apply the algorithm to the problem of identifying nearly coincident events in low temperature microcalorimeters in order to push the time resolution close to its intrinsic limit. In fact, from simulated datasets it was possible to achieve an effective time resolution even shorter than the sampling time of the system considered. The obtained results are contextualized in the framework of the HOLMES experiment, which aims at directly measuring the neutrino mass with the calorimetric approach, allowing to significally improve its statistical sensitivity.

We present the first performance results obtained with microwave multiplexed Transition Edge Sensors prototypes specifically designed for the HOLMES experiment, a project aimed at directly measuring the electron neutrino mass through the calorimetric measurement of the \\[^{163}\\]Ho electron capture spectrum. The detectors required for such an experiment feature a high energy resolution at the Q–value of the transition, around \\[\\sim \\] 2.8 keV, and a fast response time combined with the compatibility to be multiplexed in large arrays in order to collect a large statistics while keeping the pile-up contribution as small as possible. In addition, the design has to be suitable for future ion-implantation of \\[^{163}\\]Ho. The results obtained in these tests allowed us to identify the optimal detector design among several prototypes. The chosen detector achieved an energy resolution of (4.5 ± 0.3) eV on the chlorine K\\[_\\alpha \\] line, at \\[\\sim \\] 2.6 keV, obtained with an exponential rise time of 14 \\[\\upmu \\]s. The achievements described in this paper pose a milestone for the HOLMES detectors, setting a baseline for the subsequent developments, aiming to the actual ion-implantation of the \\[^{163}\\]Ho nuclei. In the first section the HOLMES experiment is outlined along with its physics goal, while in the second section the HOLMES detectors are described; the experimental set-up and the calibration source used for the measurements described in this paper are reported in Sects. 3 and 4, respectively; finally, the details of the data analysis and the results obtained are reported in Sect. 6.

Frailty has been indicated as a way for capturing biological aging of the individual and Frailty Index (FI) may serve for this purpose. This study designed the FI in a cohort of centenarians, their offspring and control subjects sex- and age-matched with offspring. The FI mean value was 0.47 (SD 0.13) in centenarians, 0.15 (SD 0.12) in their offspring, and 0.22 (SD 0.14) in controls ( p  < 0.001). The difference between offspring and controls was statistically significant ( p  = 0.003). The correlation between FI and age was significant in offspring ( r  = 0.46, p  < 0.001), close to significance in controls ( r  = 0.25, p  = 0.08) and not significant in centenarians. Our study confirms that FI is a marker of biological age useful to discriminate different degrees of frailty even at extremely advanced age.

Calcium titanate zirconate, Ca(Ti (1-x) Zr x )O 3 (CZT), powders have been synthesised by the polymeric precursor method. The structural analysis of the CZT powders was monitored by X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) and textural analysis. The photocatalytic properties were evaluated by methylene blue (MB) decomposition and real textile wastewater (RTW) combined treatment (coagulation/flocculation/photocatalysis). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) of RTW was successfully reduced from 6195 mg L −1 (untreated) to 662 mg L −1 after coagulation/flocculation with a tannin-based coagulant (Tanfloc ® ) and finally to 471 mg L −1 after combined treatment (coagulation/flocculation/photocatalysis) applying ultraviolet radiation and CaTiO 3 as photocatalyst.