Zatiranje plevelov v vinogradu z alternativnimi metodami v primerjavi s herbicidom glifosat

<p class="042abstractstekst"><span lang="EN-US">In a two-year field experiment, six different weed control methods were studied. The methods were: use of the herbicide glyphosate (GL), use of herbicides based on acetic acid (AA), pelargonic acid (PA) and citrus essential oil (EO), mowing weeds with a thread trimmer (TT) and flaming of weeds with fire (FL). Alternative methods of weed control were significantly less effective than the use of herbicide glyphosate. Due to the lower efficiency of alternative methods, large yield losses have occurred, on average, 31 % at AA, 30.6 % at PA, 22.7 % at EO, 5.4 % at TT and 12.9 % at FL in two years. The cost of carrying out controls with alternative methods was significantly higher than the cost of GL. AA it was higher by 3.2-times, in PA by 7.1-times, in EO by 3.8-times, in TT by 3.8- times and in FL by 5.8-times on average in two years. To achieve a comparable control efficiency of GL, five applications of alternative preparations per year have to be performed, or four times mowing of weeds or five weed flaming operations per year.</span></p>

Stretchable self-tuning MRI receive coils based on liquid metal technology (LiquiTune)

Magnetic resonance imaging systems rely on signal detection via radiofrequency coil arrays which, ideally, need to provide both bendability and form-fitting stretchability to conform to the imaging volume. However, most commercial coils are rigid and of fixed size with a substantial mean offset distance of the coil from the anatomy, which compromises the spatial resolution and diagnostic image quality as well as patient comfort. Here, we propose a soft and stretchable receive coil concept based on liquid metal and ultra-stretchable polymer that conforms closely to a desired anatomy. Moreover, its smart geometry provides a self-tuning mechanism to maintain a stable resonance frequency over a wide range of elongation levels. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations were experimentally confirmed and demonstrated that the proposed coil withstood the unwanted frequency detuning typically observed with other stretchable coils (0.4% for the proposed coil as compared to 4% for a comparable control coil). Moreover, the signal-to-noise ratio of the proposed coil increased by more than 60% as compared to a typical, rigid, commercial coil.

Cerebrovascular Accident and SARS-CoV-19 (COVID-19): A Systematic Review

<b><i>Background:</i></b> While the most common neurologic symptoms reported in patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 are headache, dizziness, myalgia, mental fog, and anosmia, there is a growing basis of published peer-reviewed cases reporting stroke in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The peer-reviewed literature suggests an increased risk of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) in the setting of COVID-19 infection. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We searched 3 databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, and CINAHL) with search terms COVID-19, novel coronavirus, stroke, and cerebrovascular accident. Case series and case studies presenting patients positive for both COVID-19 and CVA published from January 1 through September 1, 2020, were included. Data collection and analysis was completed and risk of bias assessed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The search identified 28 studies across 7 counties comprising 73 patients. Amongst patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection and CVA, the average age was 60; the most common preexisting conditions were hypertension and diabetes mellitus, and those without preexisting conditions were significantly younger with an average age of 47. Amongst hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and CVA, there was a bimodal association with COVID-19 infection severity with majority of patients classified with mild or critical COVID-19 infection. <b><i>Discussion:</i></b> The data suggest SARS-CoV-2 is a risk factor for developing stroke, particularly in patients with hypertension and diabetes. Furthermore, the younger average age of stroke in patients with SARS-CoV-2, particularly those patients with zero identifiable preexisting conditions, creates high suspicion that SARS-CoV-2 is an independent risk factor for development of stroke; however, this cannot yet be proven without comparable control population. The data suggest the risk of developing CVA in the setting of COVID-19 infection is not dependent upon severity of illness. Continued studies must be done to understand the epidemiologic factors of COVID-19 infection and stroke and the pathophysiology of the COVID-associated hypercoagulable state.

Social Interactions of DAT-HET Epi-Genotypes Differing for Maternal Origins: The Development of a New Preclinical Model of Socio-Sexual Apathy

Social interaction is essential for life and is impaired in many psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, au-tism, depression and major anxiety disorder. Monoamine transmission plays a key role in social behavior and both genetic and epigenetic modifications of dopamine and noradrenaline neurotransmission-related genes can affect the levels of social interaction. Since heterozygous individuals for a specific genetic trait possess only one mutant allele of that trait, in order to better evaluate the role of the interaction between genetics and epigenetics in unmasking latent genetically-determined predispositions, our interest has focused on studying the interplay between genetics and epigenetics influences on social behavior in male rats obtained by two different breeding schemes: a first group by breeding of knock-out (KO) male rats with wild-type (WT) female dams (homogeneous heterozygous offspring, termed MAT-HET), and a second group of heterozygous DAT male offspring by breeding of KO male and DAT-heterozygous female subjects (to obtain comparable control pups, termed MIX-HET). Their social behavior was then assessed by partner preference, social preference and elicited preference tests. In the first test MIX-HET and MAT-HET male mice had choice between two WT females one in estrous and the other not in estrous. In the second test they met either a MIX-HET or a WT male rodent. Also, the expression of the noradrenaline transporter (NET) was assessed in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and hypothalamus of MAT, MIX and WTs by immunofluorescence in order to estimate its involvement in the expression of social behavior. Our results show that MIX-HET focal rodents tend to have an asocial behavior when in contact with a female in estrous, and their behavior is similar to when the stimulus is a MIX-HET male. MAT-HET male rodents, instead, tend to be very attracted by the female in estrous, but they ignore the MIX-HET stimulus. MIX-HET progeny showed a lower expression of noradrenaline transporter in both hypothalamus and hippocampus with respect to MAT-HET rats, whereas MAT-HET rats displayed increased noradrenaline transporter immunofluorescence in the hypothalamus and in the hippocampus with respect to WT rats, while no difference was observed in the prefrontal cortex. Therefore we can hypothesize that the differences observed between the two heterozygous groups may be attributable to an epigenetic factor: the different maternal care received. These data can open new perspectives towards increased the preclinical knowledge about autism and bipolar disorder.

Effects of an urban sanitation intervention on childhood enteric infection and diarrhea in Maputo, Mozambique: a controlled before-and-after trial

We conducted a controlled before-and-after trial to evaluate the impact of an onsite urban sanitation intervention on the prevalence of enteric infection, soil transmitted helminth re-infection, and diarrhea among children in Maputo, Mozambique. A non-governmental organization replaced existing poor-quality latrines with pour-flush toilets with septic tanks serving household clusters. We enrolled children aged 1-48 months at baseline and measured outcomes before and 12 and 24 months after the intervention, with concurrent measurement among children in a comparable control arm. Despite nearly exclusive use, we found no evidence that intervention affected the prevalence of any measured outcome after 12 or 24 months of exposure. Among children born into study sites after intervention, we observed a reduced prevalence of Trichuris and Shigella infection relative to the same age group at baseline (<2 years old). Protection from birth may be important to reduce exposure to and infection with enteric pathogens in this setting.

Accuracy of Chest CT for Differentiating COVID-19 from COVID-19 Mimics

Purpose To determine the performance of radiologists with different levels of expertise regarding the differentiation of COVID-19 from other atypical pneumonias. Chest CT to identify patients suffering from COVID-19 has been reported to be limited by its low specificity for distinguishing COVID-19 from other atypical pneumonias (“COVID-19 mimics”). Meanwhile, the understanding of the morphologic patterns of COVID-19 has improved and they appear to be fairly specific. Materials and Methods Between 02/2020 and 04/2020, 60 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia underwent chest CT in our department. Cases were matched with a comparable control group of 60 patients of similar age, sex, and comorbidities, who underwent chest CT prior to 01/2020 for atypical pneumonia caused by other pathogens. Included were other viral, fungal, and bacterial pathogens. All 120 cases were blinded to patient history and were reviewed independently by two radiologists and two radiology residents. Readers rated the probability of COVID-19 pneumonia according to the COV-RADS classification system. Results were analyzed using Clopper-Pearson 95 % confidence intervals, Youden’s Index for test quality criteria, and Fleiss‘ kappa statistics. Results Overall, readers were able to correctly identify the presence of COVID-19 pneumonia in 219/240 (sensitivity: 91 %; 95 %-CI; 86.9 %–94.5 %), and to correctly attribute CT findings to COVID-19 mimics in 159/240 ratings (specificity: 66.3 %; 59.9 %–72.2 %), yielding an overall diagnostic accuracy of 78.8 % (378/480; 74.8 %–82.3 %). Individual reader accuracy ranged from 74.2 % (89/120) to 84.2 % (101/120) and did not correlate significantly with reader expertise. Youden’s Index was 0.57. Between-reader agreement was moderate (κ = 0.53). Conclusion In this enriched cohort, radiologists were able to distinguish COVID-19 from “COVID-19 mimics” with moderate diagnostic accuracy. Accuracy did not correlate with reader expertise. Key Points: Citation Format

Associative Remote Viewing for Profit: Evaluating the Importance of the Judge and the Investment Instrument

This study examined the importance of the judge and the particular investment selection in the associative remote viewing (ARV) process. In Protocol 1, ARV was used to predict investments and to generate funds. Three viewers made weekly predictions on Sunday about an image they would be shown on Friday. Two images were selected to represent different states of a stock (value increase or value decrease), and a judge reviewed the images and the viewers’ information. Based on the judge’s evaluation, a coordinator informed an investor whether to invest for the stock to rise or fall during the weekly session. Though the sessions lost funds due to a complication in the investment process, this was not the focus of the study. A second judge (Protocol 2) and a mock investment instrument (Protocol 3) were included, blinded to all study participants. The second judge (J2) performed at a significantly less accurate level than the first judge (p < 0.05), and J2 also performed significantly lower than could be expected by chance (p = 0.02; effect size = –1.498; power > .80). Both judges performed significantly differently on the target investment than on a control investment. Although this is a pilot study with a small sample size and a limited number of sessions, conclusions are that the selection of a judge, even a very experienced judge, can have a significant effect on the success of an ARV project and that judges’ decisions are more affected by the target investments than by a comparable control investment. Future ARV projects are advised to qualify judges for accuracy just as they qualify viewers for accuracy. Keywords: associative remote viewing; ARV

Abstract P106: Population-Based Drug Repurposing to Treat Thrombosis in COVID-19 Patients

Introduction: Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have an increased risk of thrombosis. Our objective is to obtain population-level treatment effects of drugs on treating thrombosis in COVID-19. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of Optum electronic health records (EHRs) with 34,043 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. We identified case-patient with thrombosis (stroke, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and myocardial infarction) using PheWas codes. The propensity score matching was used to select comparable control patients who survived without any thrombosis based on demographics and admission status (temperature and SpO 2 level). We computed the average treatment effect (ATT) for medication using advanced inverse propensity score weighting based on pre-treatment conditions (i.e., comorbidities in the last 6 months and medications in the last 2 months before hospitalization). Results: We identified 2,446 case-patients with thrombosis and 5,020 comparable control patients. There were a total of 540 drugs that were administered in at least 80 patients. We calculated the 540 drugs’ ATT coefficient. As a result, 23 drugs had a positive ATT coefficient with a p -value of less than 0.05. After filtering out commonly prescribed symptomatic drugs (e.g., Acetaminophen, Guaifenesin, and Ondansetron), we highlight the following drugs with statistically significant treatment effects: Atorvastatin (ATT=0.34), Ceftriaxone (ATT=0.26), Levothyroxine (ATT=0.26), Albuterol (ATT=0.25), Azithromycin (ATT=0.23), Enoxaparin (ATT=0.20), and Metformin (ATT=0.20). Conclusions: In this preliminary work, we identified anti-thrombotic drugs (Enoxaparin) but also anti-inflammatory drugs (Atorvastatin, Metformin) and possibly antibiotics that have a significant treatment effect in COVID-19 patients that could reduce risk of thrombosis. We also observed that several anti-thrombotic drugs (Apixaban and Ticagrelor) had negative treatment effects, which was partly due to an imbalance in pre-treatment conditions. Our future work is to incorporate more extensive data (such as lab tests and vital signs) into the propensity scores to better capture the severity of admission status.

The effect of oat β-glucan on postprandial blood glucose and insulin responses: a systematic review and meta-analysis

To determine the effect of oat β‑glucan (OBG) on acute glucose and insulin responses and identify significant effect modifiers we searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases through October 27, 2020 for acute, crossover, controlled feeding trials investigating the effect of adding OBG (concentrate or oat-bran) to carbohydrate-containing test-meals compared to comparable or different carbohydrate-matched control-meals in humans regardless of health status. The primary outcome was glucose incremental area-under-the-curve (iAUC). Secondary outcomes were insulin iAUC, and glucose and insulin incremental peak-rise (iPeak). Two reviewers extracted the data and assessed risk-of-bias and certainty-of-evidence (GRADE). Data were pooled using generic inverse-variance with random-effects model and expressed as ratio-of-means with [95% CIs]. We included 103 trial comparisons (N = 538). OBG reduced glucose iAUC and iPeak by 23% (0.77 [0.74, 0.81]) and 28% (0.72 [0.64, 0.76]) and insulin by 22% (0.78 [0.72, 0.85]) and 24% (0.76 [0.65, 0.88]), respectively. Dose, molecular-weight, and comparator were significant effect modifiers of glucose iAUC and iPeak. Significant linear dose-response relationships were observed for all outcomes. OBG molecular-weight >300 kg/mol significantly reduced glucose iAUC and iPeak, whereas molecular-weight <300 kg/mol did not. Reductions in glucose iAUC (27 vs 20%, p = 0.03) and iPeak (39 vs 25%, p < 0.01) were significantly larger with different vs comparable control-meals. Outcomes were similar in participants with and without diabetes. All outcomes had high certainty-of-evidence. In conclusion, current evidence indicates that adding OBG to carbohydrate-containing meals reduces glycaemic and insulinaemic responses. However, the magnitude of glucose reduction depends on OBG dose, molecular-weight, and the comparator.