Schlumberger (Ireland)

In the accompanying comment letter (1), Weinert summarizes published data from the Brazilian Gestational Diabetes Study (2) and comments on applying International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) Consensus Panel recommendations (3) for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) to that cohort. The Brazilian study provided evidence that adverse perinatal outcomes are associated with levels of maternal glycemia below those diagnostic of GDM by American Diabetes Association or World Health Organization criteria. However, the results were potentially confounded by the treatment of GDM. It did find that women with GDM were at increased risk for some …

We appreciate the comment by Kilpatrick et al. (1) regarding the International Expert Committee report on the diagnosis of diabetes with the A1C assay (2). The Committee considered all of the limitations of the A1C assay for populations in which it is not available or is currently too expensive, as well as for individuals in whom the assay may be misleading. On the basis of these recognized limitations, the Committee emphasized the use of the currently recommended glucose tests and criteria in such populations or individuals. We did not “breeze over” any of the relative advantages or disadvantages of the A1C assay as a means of diagnosis; rather, the …

The nationwide multicenter trials of the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS) aim to characterize the somatosensory phenotype of patients with neuropathic pain. For this purpose, we have implemented a standardized quantitative sensory testing (QST) protocol giving a complete profile for one region within 30 min. To judge plus or minus signs in patients we have now established age- and gender-matched absolute and relative QST reference values from 180 healthy subjects, assessed bilaterally over face, hand and foot. We determined thermal detection and pain thresholds including a test for paradoxical heat sensations, mechanical detection thresholds to von Frey filaments and a 64 Hz tuning fork, mechanical pain thresholds to pinprick stimuli and blunt pressure, stimulus/response-functions for pinprick and dynamic mechanical allodynia, and pain summation (wind-up ratio). QST parameters were region specific and age dependent. Pain thresholds were significantly lower in women than men. Detection thresholds were generally independent of gender. Reference data were normalized to the specific group means and variances (region, age, gender) by calculating z-scores. Due to confidence limits close to the respective limits of the possible data range, heat hypoalgesia, cold hypoalgesia, and mechanical hyperesthesia can hardly be diagnosed. Nevertheless, these parameters can be used for group comparisons. Sensitivity is enhanced by side-to-side comparisons by a factor ranging from 1.1 to 2.5. Relative comparisons across body regions do not offer advantages over absolute reference values. Application of this standardized QST protocol in patients and human surrogate models will allow to infer underlying mechanisms from somatosensory phenotypes.

A pot trial was carried out to investigate the effect of biochar produced from greenwaste by pyrolysis on the yield of radish (Raphanus sativus var. Long Scarlet) and the soil quality of an Alfisol. Three rates of biochar (10, 50 and 100 t/ha) with and without additional nitrogen application (100 kg N/ha) were investigated. The soil used in the pot trial was a hardsetting Alfisol (Chromosol) (0–0.1 m) with a long history of cropping. In the absence of N fertiliser, application of biochar to the soil did not increase radish yield even at the highest rate of 100 t/ha. However, a significant biochar × nitrogen fertiliser interaction was observed, in that higher yield increases were observed with increasing rates of biochar application in the presence of N fertiliser, highlighting the role of biochar in improving N fertiliser use efficiency of the plant. For example, additional increase in DM of radish in the presence of N fertiliser varied from 95% in the nil biochar control to 266% in the 100 t/ha biochar-amended soils. A slight but significant reduction in dry matter production of radish was observed when biochar was applied at 10 t/ha but the cause is unclear and requires further investigation. Significant changes in soil quality including increases in pH, organic carbon, and exchangeable cations as well as reduction in tensile strength were observed at higher rates of biochar application (>50 t/ha). Particularly interesting are the improvements in soil physical properties of this hardsetting soil in terms of reduction in tensile strength and increases in field capacity.

ABSTRACT Elicitation of induced systemic resistance (ISR) by plant-associated bacteria was initially demonstrated using Pseudomonas spp. and other gram-negative bacteria. Several reviews have summarized various aspects of the large volume of literature on Pseudomonas spp. as elicitors of ISR. Fewer published accounts of ISR by Bacillus spp. are available, and we review this literature for the first time. Published results are summarized showing that specific strains of the species B. amyloliquefaciens, B. subtilis, B. pasteurii, B. cereus, B. pumilus, B. mycoides, and B. sphaericus elicit significant reductions in the incidence or severity of various diseases on a diversity of hosts. Elicitation of ISR by these strains has been demonstrated in greenhouse or field trials on tomato, bell pepper, muskmelon, watermelon, sugar beet, tobacco, Arabidopsis sp., cucumber, loblolly pine, and two tropical crops (long cayenne pepper and green kuang futsoi). Protection resulting from ISR elicited by Bacillus spp. has been reported against leaf-spotting fungal and bacterial pathogens, systemic viruses, a crown-rotting fungal pathogen, root-knot nematodes, and a stem-blight fungal pathogen as well as damping-off, blue mold, and late blight diseases. Reductions in populations of three insect vectors have also been noted in the field: striped and spotted cucumber beetles that transmit cucurbit wilt disease and the silver leaf whitefly that transmits Tomato mottle virus. In most cases, Bacillus spp. that elicit ISR also elicit plant growth promotion. Studies on mechanisms indicate that elicitation of ISR by Bacillus spp. is associated with ultrastructural changes in plants during pathogen attack and with cytochemical alterations. Investigations into the signal transduction pathways of elicited plants suggest that Bacillus spp. activate some of the same pathways as Pseudomonas spp. and some additional pathways. For example, ISR elicited by several strains of Bacillus spp. is independent of salicylic acid but dependent on jasmonic acid, ethylene, and the regulatory gene NPR1-results that are in agreement with the model for ISR elicited by Pseudomonas spp. However, in other cases, ISR elicited by Bacillus spp. is dependent on salicylic acid and independent of jasmonic acid and NPR1. In addition, while ISR by Pseudomonas spp. does not lead to accumulation of the defense gene PR1 in plants, in some cases, ISR by Bacillus spp. does. Based on the strains and results summarized in this review, two products for commercial agriculture have been developed, one aimed mainly at plant growth promotion for transplanted vegetables and one, which has received registration from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for disease protection on soybean.

This paper reports the results of a 'cost-of-illness' study of the socio-economic costs of back pain in the UK. It estimates the direct health care cost of back pain in 1998 to be pound1632 million. Approximately 35% of this cost relates to services provided in the private sector and thus is most likely paid for directly by patients and their families. With respect to the distribution of cost across different providers, 37% relates to care provided by physiotherapists and allied specialists, 31% is incurred in the hospital sector, 14% relates to primary care, 7% to medication, 6% to community care and 5% to radiology and imaging used for investigation purposes. However, the direct cost of back pain is insignificant compared to the cost of informal care and the production losses related to it, which total pound10668 million. Overall, back pain is one of the most costly conditions for which an economic analysis has been carried out in the UK and this is in line with findings in other countries. Further research is needed to establish the cost-effectiveness of alternative back pain treatments, so as to minimise cost and maximise the health benefit from the resources used in this area.

Infection of plants by necrotizing pathogens or colonization of plant roots with certain beneficial microbes causes the induction of a unique physiological state called "priming." The primed state can also be induced by treatment of plants with various natural and synthetic compounds. Primed plants display either faster, stronger, or both activation of the various cellular defense responses that are induced following attack by either pathogens or insects or in response to abiotic stress. Although the phenomenon has been known for decades, most progress in our understanding of priming has been made over the past few years. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of priming in various induced-resistance phenomena in plants.

Wildland fire is a global phenomenon, and a result of interactions between climate–weather, fuels and people. Our climate is changing rapidly primarily through the release of greenhouse gases that may have profound and possibly unexpected impacts on global fire activity. The present paper reviews the current understanding of what the future may bring with respect to wildland fire and discusses future options for research and management. To date, research suggests a general increase in area burned and fire occurrence but there is a lot of spatial variability, with some areas of no change or even decreases in area burned and occurrence. Fire seasons are lengthening for temperate and boreal regions and this trend should continue in a warmer world. Future trends of fire severity and intensity are difficult to determine owing to the complex and non-linear interactions between weather, vegetation and people. Improved fire data are required along with continued global studies that dynamically include weather, vegetation, people, and other disturbances. Lastly, we need more research on the role of policy, practices and human behaviour because most of the global fire activity is directly attributable to people.

Research on the adoption of rural innovations is reviewed and interpreted through a cross-disciplinary lens to provide practical guidance for research, extension and policy relating to conservation practices. Adoption of innovations by landholders is presented as a dynamic learning process. Adoption depends on a range of personal, social, cultural and economic factors, as well as on characteristics of the innovation itself. Adoption occurs when the landholder perceives that the innovation in question will enhance the achievement of their personal goals. A range of goals is identifiable among landholders, including economic, social and environmental goals. Innovations are more likely to be adopted when they have a high ‘relative advantage’ (perceived superiority to the idea or practice that it supersedes), and when they are readily trialable (easy to test and learn about before adoption). Non-adoption or low adoption of a number of conservation practices is readily explicable in terms of their failure to provide a relative advantage (particularly in economic terms) or a range of difficulties that landholders may have in trialing them.

Humans share with animals a primitive neural system for processing emotions such as fear and anger. Unlike other animals, humans have the unique ability to control and modulate instinctive emotional reactions through intellectual processes such as reasoning, rationalizing, and labeling our experiences. This study used functional MRI to identify the neural networks underlying this ability. Subjects either matched the affect of one of two faces to that of a simultaneously presented target face (a perceptual task) or identified the affect of a target face by choosing one of two simultaneously presented linguistic labels (an intellectual task). Matching angry or frightened expressions was associated with increased regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the left and right amygdala, the brain's primary fear centers. Labeling these same expressions was associated with a diminished rCBF response in the amygdalae. This decrease correlated with a simultaneous increase in rCBF in the right prefrontal cortex, a neocortical region implicated in regulating emotional responses. These results provide evidence for a network in which higher regions attenuate emotional responses at the most fundamental levels in the brain and suggest a neural basis for modulating emotional experience through interpretation and labeling.

Despite the recent interest in biochars as soil amendments for improving soil quality and increasing soil carbon sequestration, there is inadequate knowledge on the soil amendment properties of these materials produced from different feed stocks and under different pyrolysis conditions. This is particularly true for biochars produced from animal origins. Two biochars produced from poultry litter under different conditions were tested in a pot trial by assessing the yield of radish (Raphanus sativus var. Long Scarlet) as well as the soil quality of a hardsetting Chromosol (Alfisol). Four rates of biochar (0, 10, 25, and 50 t/ha), with and without nitrogen application (100 kg N/ha) were investigated. Both biochars, without N fertiliser, produced similar increases in dry matter yield of radish, which were detectable at the lowest application rate, 10 t/ha. The yield increase (%), compared with the unamended control rose from 42% at 10 t/ha to 96% at 50 t/ha of biochar application. The yield increases can be attributed largely to the ability of these biochars to increase N availability. Significant additional yield increases, in excess of that due to N fertiliser alone, were observed when N fertiliser was applied together with the biochars, highlighting the other beneficial effects of these biochars. In this regard, the non activated poultry litter biochar produced at lower temperature (450°C) was more effective than the activated biochar produced at higher temperature (550°C), probably due to higher available P content. Biochar addition to the hardsetting soil resulted in significant but different changes in soil chemical and physical properties, including increases in C, N, pH, and available P, but reduction in soil strength. These different effects of the 2 different biochars can be related to their different characteristics. Significantly different changes in soil biology in terms of microbial biomass and earthworm preference properties were also observed between the 2 biochars, but the underlying mechanisms require further research. Our research highlights the importance of feedstock and process conditions during pyrolysis on the properties and, hence, soil amendment values of biochars.

Prediction of the impact of global climate change on marine HABs is fraught with difficulties. However, we can learn important lessons from the fossil record of dinoflagellate cysts; long-term monitoring programs, such as the Continuous Plankton Recorder surveys; and short-term phytoplankton community responses to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) episodes. Increasing temperature, enhanced surface stratification, alteration of ocean currents, intensification or weakening of local nutrient upwelling, stimulation of photosynthesis by elevated CO2, reduced calcification through ocean acidification (“the other CO2 problem”), and heavy precipitation and storm events causing changes in land runoff and micronutrient availability may all produce contradictory species- or even strain-specific responses. Complex factor interactions exist, and simulated ecophysiological laboratory experiments rarely allow for sufficient acclimation and rarely take into account physiological plasticity and genetic strain diversity. We can expect: (i) range expansion of warm-water species at the expense of cold-water species, which are driven poleward; (ii) species-specific changes in the abundance and seasonal window of growth of HAB taxa; (iii) earlier timing of peak production of some phytoplankton; and (iv) secondary effects for marine food webs, notably when individual zooplankton and fish grazers are differentially impacted (“match-mismatch”) by climate change. Some species of harmful algae (e.g., toxic dinoflagellates benefitting from land runoff and/or water column stratification, tropical benthic dinoflagellates responding to increased water temperatures and coral reef disturbance) may become more successful, while others may diminish in areas currently impacted. Our limited understanding of marine ecosystem responses to multifactorial physicochemical climate drivers as well as our poor knowledge of the potential of marine microalgae to adapt genetically and phenotypically to the unprecedented pace of current climate change are emphasized. The greatest problems for human society will be caused by being unprepared for significant range expansions or the increase of algal biotoxin problems in currently poorly monitored areas, thus calling for increased vigilance in seafood-biotoxin and HAB monitoring programs. Changes in phytoplankton communities provide a sensitive early warning for climate-driven perturbations to marine ecosystems.

Space and airborne sensors have been used to map area burned, assess characteristics of active fires, and characterize post-fire ecological effects. Confusion about fire intensity, fire severity, burn severity, and related terms can result in the potential misuse of the inferred information by land managers and remote sensing practitioners who require unambiguous remote sensing products for fire management. The objective of the present paper is to provide a comprehensive review of current and potential remote sensing methods used to assess fire behavior and effects and ecological responses to fire. We clarify the terminology to facilitate development and interpretation of comprehensible and defensible remote sensing products, present the potential and limitations of a variety of approaches for remotely measuring active fires and their post-fire ecological effects, and discuss challenges and future directions of fire-related remote sensing research.

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura, a native of eastern and southeastern Asia, is a pest of small and stone fruits.First detected in California in 2008, the insect is now found across the Pacific Coast states.Its penchant for attacking healthy, ripening fruit (as opposed to overripe and rotting fruit favored by other so-called "vinegar flies") makes it a potential economic threat to a host of soft-and thin-skinned fruit crops including cherry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, peach, plums, pluots, nectarines, juice grape, table grape, and wine grape.Coordinated research projects to determine host preference, seasonal phenology, biology, and management options are taking place among entomologists in Washington, Oregon, and California.A description of the pest and initial findings on its biology, life history, known and expected geographic range, management and monitoring techniques, and economic considerations are presented and discussed.

Within organizations, employees continually confront situations that put them face to face with the decision of whether to speak up (i.e., voice) or remain silent when they have potentially useful information or ideas. In recent years, there has been a rapidly growing body of conceptual and empirical research focused on better understanding the motives underlying voice, individual, and situational factors that increase employee voice behavior, and the implications of voice and silence for employees, work groups, and organizations. Yet this literature has notable gaps and unresolved issues, and it is not entirely clear where future scholarship should be directed. This article, therefore, is an attempt to review and integrate the existing literature on employee voice and also to provide some direction for future research.

Activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), a mitogen activated-protein kinase (MAPK), in dorsal horn neurons contributes to inflammatory pain by transcription-dependent and -independent means. We have now investigated if ERK is activated in the spinal cord after a spinal nerve ligation (SNL) and if this contributes to the neuropathic pain-like behavior generated in this model. An L5 SNL induces an immediate (<10 min) but transient (<6 h) induction of phosphoERK (pERK) restricted to neurons in the superficial dorsal horn. This is followed by a widespread induction of pERK in spinal microglia that peaks between 1 and 3 days post-surgery. On Day 10, pERK is expressed both in astrocytes and microglia, but by Day 21 predominantly in astrocytes in the dorsal horn. In the L5 DRG SNL transiently induces pERK in neurons at 10 min, and in satellite cells on Day 10 and 21. Intrathecal injection of the MEK (ERK kinase) inhibitor PD98059 on Day 2, 10 or 21 reduces SNL-induced mechanical allodynia. Our results suggest that ERK activation in the dorsal horn, as well as in the DRG, mediates pain through different mechanisms operating in different cells at different times. The sequential activation of ERK in dorsal horn microglia and then in astrocytes might reflect distinct roles for these two subtypes of glia in the temporal evolution of neuropathic pain.

Callose deposition in Arabidopsis has emerged as a popular model system to quantify activity of plant immunity. However, there has been a noticeable rise in contradicting reports about the regulation of pathogen-induced callose. To address this controversy, we have examined the robustness of callose deposition under different growth conditions and in response to two different pathogen-associated molecular patterns, the flagellin epitope Flg22 and the polysaccharide chitosan. Based on a commonly used hydroponic culture system, we found that variations in growth conditions have a major impact on the plant's overall capacity to deposit callose. This environmental variability correlated with levels of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production. Depending on the growth conditions, pretreatment with abscissic acid stimulated or repressed callose deposition. Despite a similar effect of growth conditions on Flg22- and chitosan-induced callose, both responses showed differences in timing, tissue responsiveness, and colocalization with H₂O₂. Furthermore, mutant analysis revealed that Flg22- and chitosan-induced callose differ in the requirement for the NADPH oxidase RBOHD, the glucosinolate regulatory enzymes VTC1 and PEN2, and the callose synthase PMR4. Our study demonstrates that callose is a multifaceted defense response that is controlled by distinct signaling pathways, depending on the environmental conditions and the challenging pathogen-associated molecular pattern.

Medicago truncatula, a diploid autogamous legume, is currently being developed as a model plant for the study of root endosymbiotic associations, including nodulation and mycorrhizal colonization. An important requirement for such a plant is the possibility of rapidly introducing and analyzing chimeric gene constructs in root tissues. For this reason, we developed and optimized a convenient protocol for Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of M. truncatula. This unusual protocol, which involves the inoculation of sectioned seedling radicles, results in rapid and efficient hairy root organogenesis and the subsequent development of vigorous "composite plants." In addition, we found that kanamycin can be used to select for the cotransformation of hairy roots directly with gene constructs of interest. M. truncatula composite plant hairy roots have a similar morphology to normal roots and can be nodulated successfully by their nitrogen-fixing symbiotic partner, Sinorhizobium meliloti. Furthermore, spatiotemporal expression of the Nod factor-responsive reporter pMtENOD11-gusA in hairy root epidermal tissues is indistinguishable from that observed in Agrobacterium tumefaciens-transformed lines. M. truncatula hairy root explants can be propagated in vitro, and we demonstrate that these clonal lines can be colonized by endomycorrhizal fungi such as Glomus intraradices with the formation of arbuscules within cortical cells. Our results suggest that M. truncatula hairy roots represent a particularly attractive system with which to study endosymbiotic associations in transgenically modified roots.

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas spp. are ubiquitous bacteria in agricultural soils and have many traits that make them well suited as biocontrol agents of soilborne pathogens. Tremendous progress has been made in characterizing the process of root colonization by pseudomonads, the biotic and abiotic factors affecting colonization, bacterial traits and genes contributing to rhizosphere competence, and the mechanisms of pathogen suppression. This review looks back over the last 30 years of Pseudomonas biocontrol research and highlights key studies, strains, and findings that have had significant impact on shaping our current understanding of biological control by bacteria and the direction of future research.

The etiology and prognosis of chronic daily headache (CDH) are not well understood. The aim of this study is to describe factors that predict CDH onset or remission in an adult population. Potential cases (180+ headaches per year, n=1134) and controls (two to 104 headaches per year, n=798) were interviewed two times over an average 11 months of follow-up. Factors associated with CDH prevalence at baseline were evaluated. The incidence of CDH and risk factors for onset were assessed in controls whose headache frequency increased to 180+ per year at follow-up. Prognostic factors were assessed in CDH cases whose headache frequency fell at follow-up. CDH was more common in women, in whites, and those of less education. CDH cases were more likely to be previously married (divorced, widowed, separated), obese, and report a physician diagnosis of diabetes or arthritis. At follow-up, 3% of the controls reported 180 or more headaches per year. Obesity and baseline headache frequency were significantly associated with new onset CDH. In CDH cases, the projected 1-year remission rate to less than one headache per week was 14% and to less than 180 headaches per year was 57%. A better prognosis was associated with higher education, non-white race, being married, and with diagnosed diabetes. Individuals with less than a high-school education, whites, and those who were previously married had a higher risk of CDH at baseline and reduced likelihood of remission at follow-up. New onset CDH was associated with baseline headache frequency and obesity.