Effects of Arm-Crank Exercise on Fitness and Health in Adults With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review.

Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) may benefit less from exercise training due to consequences of their injury, leading to lower cardiorespiratory fitness and higher risks of developing cardiovascular diseases. Arm-crank exercise (ACE) is the most common form of volitional aerobic exercise used by people with SCI outside a hospital. However, evidence regarding the specific effects of ACE alone on fitness and health in adults with SCI is currently lacking. Hence, this review aimed to determine the effects of ACE on cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, motor function, health-related quality of life (QoL), and adverse events in adults with chronic SCI. Inclusion criteria were: inactive adults (≥18 years) with chronic SCI (>12 months post injury); used ACE alone as an intervention; measured at least one of the following outcomes; cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, cardiovascular disease risk factors, motor function, health-related QoL, and adverse events. Evidence was synthesized and appraised using GRADE. Eighteen studies with a combined total of 235 participants having an injury between C4 to L3 were included. There was a moderate certainty of the body of evidence on ACE improving cardiorespiratory fitness. Exercise prescriptions from the included studies were 30-40 min of light to vigorous-intensity exercise, 3-5 times per week for 2-16 weeks. GRADE confidence ratings were very low for ACE improving body composition, CVD risks factors, motor function, or health-related QoL. No evidence suggests ACE increases the risk of developing shoulder pain or other injuries. Overall, this review recommends adults with chronic SCI should engage in regular ACE to improve cardiorespiratory fitness. More high-quality, larger-scale studies are needed to increase the level of evidence of ACE in improving cardiorespiratory fitness and to determine the effects of ACE on other outcomes. Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_reco rd.php?ID=CRD42021221952], identifier [CRD42021221952].

A microsystem for extraction, capture and detection of E-coli O157:H7.

This paper presents use of a microsystem for extraction, capture and detection of pathogenic bacteria such as E-coli O157:H7 in soil sample. The assay protocol considers Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), with each bacterium sandwiched between a magnetic bead and a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme. The system employs three different chips, the soil extraction and mixing chip, retention and reaction chip, and the detection chip. The extractor chip extracts bacterial solution directly from soil sample and mixes with magnetic beads (Dynabeads). The retention chip traps bacteria attached to beads in a microfluidic chamber using a bar magnet. Subsequently, bacteria are bound to HRP which finally reacts with substrate solution to generate a fluorophore. The detection chip relies on a microfluidic flow cell and a pair of fibers to measure fluorescence due to the fluorophore that is related to the concentration of bacteria in the soil sample. Use of the microsystem for detection of pathogenic bacteria extracted directly from the soil sample has been demonstrated. Variation of fluorescence with concentration of bacteria in the sample is studied. The limit of detection (LOD) of the system is evaluated.

Intrathecal humoral responses are inversely associated with the frequency of simian immunodeficiency virus macrophage-tropic variants in the central nervous system.

Sustained simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of the central nervous system (CNS) depends on macrophage-tropic (M-tropic) strains that are often easily neutralizable. The CNS is often thought of as an immunologically privileged site that fosters replication of M-tropic quasispecies. Yet, there are limited data addressing the intrathecal antibody response or the role of the humoral response, in general, to control M-tropic strains. We investigated the temporal course of the intrathecal fusion inhibitory activity against an M-tropic viral variant and found an inverse relationship between the magnitude of this neutralization and the prevalence of M-tropic populations. These studies suggest a role for the humoral response in the suppression of M-tropic viral species in the CNS in experimental SIV infection.

Identification of Variants of the High Plains virus Infecting Wheat in Kansas.

The properties of two virus isolates (U04-82 and U04-83) obtained from two wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants expressing mosaic symptoms were investigated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS), and infection of wheat with resistance to Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV). The coat protein mass was estimated by SDS-PAGE as approximately 32 kDa for U04-82 and 30 kDa for U04-83. The amino acid sequence of the coat protein of U04-82 was 99.6 and 85.5% identical to two isolates, ABC58222 and TX96, respectively, of High Plains virus (HPV) described from Texas. U04-82 was transmitted by wheat curl mites and caused significant yield reductions in wheat resistant to WSMV. U04-83 was actually two distinct virus isolates whose capsid protein amino acid sequences were only 57 and 50% similar to that of TX96. Antiserum prepared to a synthetic peptide from the sequence of the U04-83 isolate recognized the two U04-83 isolates, but not the U04-82 isolate.

Identification of the Wheat Curl Mite as the Vector of Triticum mosaic virus.

Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV) is a newly discovered virus found infecting wheat (Triticum aestivum) in Kansas. This study was conducted to determine if the wheat curl mite (WCM, Aceria tosichella) and the bird cherry oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi) could transmit TriMV. Using different sources of WCM and two different isolates of TriMV, we were able to show the WCM is the vector of TriMV. Field analysis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) demonstrated natural infection patterns of wheat infected with TriMV, Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), or both TriMV and WSMV, putatively infected by viruliferous WCM from a volunteer source growing adjacent to the wheat. Moreover, by single WCM transfers using WCM obtained from different wheat plants naturally infected with TriMV and WSMV and naturally infested with WCM, we showed that these WCM also transmitted TriMV only to wheat or transmitted both TriMV and WSMV to wheat. The infection rates of wheat with TriMV only using WCM transmission was low in both laboratory and field analyses. However, field analyses by ELISA showed that levels of infection of wheat by both TriMV and WSMV were high. No transmission of TriMV to wheat by R. padi occurred in our studies.

An exploratory examination of medical gas booms versus traditional headwalls in intensive care unit design.

Should power, medical gases, and monitoring and communications systems be located in a headwall or a ceiling-mounted boom in intensive care unit (ICU) rooms? Often, only the financial costs could be determined for the options, whereas data regarding its potential influence on teamwork, safety, and efficiency are lacking. Hence, purchase decisions are more arbitrary than evidence based. This study simulated care delivery in settings with a traditional headwall and a ceiling boom. Observed were the way the following elements were managed and the extent either system affected flexibility, ergonomics, and teamwork: tubing for intravenous fluids, medical gases, and suction drainage; monitoring leads and equipment power cords; and the medical equipment itself. Simulation runs involving 6 scenarios were conducted with the voluntary participation of 2 physicians, 2 nurse practitioners, 2 respiratory therapists, and 4 registered nurses at a children's tertiary care center in December 2007. Analysis suggests that booms have an advantage over headwalls in case of high-acuity ICU patients and when procedures are performed inside patient rooms. However, in case of lower-acuity ICU patients, as well as when procedures are not typically conducted in the patient room, booms may not provide a proportionate level of advantage when compared with the additional cost involved in its procurement.

Triticum mosaic virus: A New Virus Isolated from Wheat in Kansas.

In 2006, a mechanically-transmissible and previously uncharacterized virus was isolated in Kansas from wheat plants with mosaic symptoms. The physiochemical properties of the virus were examined by purification on cesium chloride density gradients, electron microscopy, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), sequencing of the nucleotides and amino acids of the coat protein, and immunological reactivity. Purified preparations contained flexuous, rod-shaped particles that resembled potyviruses. The coat protein was estimated from SDS-PAGE to have a mass of approximately 35 kDa. Its amino acid sequence, as deduced from DNA sequencing of cloned, reverse-transcribed viral RNA and separately determined by time-of-flight mass spectrometry, was most closely related (49% similarity) to Sugarcane streak mosaic virus, a member of the Tritimovirus genus of the family Potyviridae. The virus gave strong positive reactions during enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using polyclonal antibodies raised against purified preparations of the cognate virus but gave consistent negative reactions against antibodies to Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), other wheat potyviruses, and the High Plains virus. When the virus was inoculated on the WSMV-resistant wheat cv. RonL, systemic symptoms appeared and plant growth was diminished significantly in contrast with WSMV-inoculated RonL. Taken together, the data support consideration of this virus as a new potyvirus, and the name Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV) is proposed.

Relationships between exterior views and nurse stress: an exploratory examination.

OBJECTIVE: Examine the relationships between acute stress and alertness of nurse, and duration and content of exterior views from nurse work areas. BACKGROUND: Nursing is a stressful job, and the impacts of stress on performance are well documented. Nursing stress, however, has been typically addressed through operational interventions, although the ability of the physical environment to modulate stress in humans is well known. This study explores the outcomes of exposure to exterior views from nurse work areas. METHODS: A survey-based method was used to collect data on acute stress, chronic stress, and alertness of nurses before and after 12-hour shifts. Control measures included physical environment stressors (that is, lighting, noise, thermal, and ergonomic), organizational stressors, workload, and personal characteristics (that is, age, experience, and income). Data were collected from 32 nurses on 19 different units at two hospitals (part of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta) in November 2006. RESULTS: Among the variables considered in the study view duration is the second most influential factor affecting alertness and acute stress. The association between view duration and alertness and stress is conditional on the exterior view content (that is, nature view, non-nature view). Of all the nurses whose alertness level remained the same or improved, almost 60% had exposure to exterior and nature view. In contrast, of all nurses whose alertness levels deteriorated, 67% were exposed to no view or to only non-nature view. Similarly, of all nurses whose acute stress condition remained the same or reduced, 64% had exposure to views (71% of that 64% were exposed to a nature view). Of nurses whose acute stress levels increased, 56% had no view or only a non-nature view. CONCLUSIONS: Although long working hours, overtime, and sleep deprivation are problems in healthcare operations, the physical design of units is only now beginning to be considered seriously in evaluating patient outcomes. Access to a nature view and natural light for care-giving staff could bear direct as well as indirect effects on patient outcomes.

Association of a Virus with Wheat Displaying Yellow Head Disease Symptoms in the Great Plains.

Wheat with yellow head disease (YHD) (yellow heads and mosaic leaf symptoms) has been observed in Kansas since 1997. A pathogen was transmitted from the infected wheat to maize by vascular puncture inoculation and to Nicotiana benthamiana by rub inoculation. The original infected wheat and infected maize and N. benthamiana test plants all produced a unique 32- to 34-kDa protein when analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis of the unique 32- to 34-kDa protein showed that the amino acid sequence was most closely related to the nucleoprotein of Rice hoja blanca virus, indicating that the virus causing YHD symptoms in wheat is a tenuivirus. Antiserum made to this protein failed to react with extracts made from healthy wheat or wheat infected with Wheat streak mosaic virus or the High Plains virus. The antiserum did react to extracts made from symptomatic wheat, maize, and N. benthamiana, shown by SDS-PAGE to contain the unique protein, and to extracts of wheat with YHD symptoms from Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. The name Wheat yellow head virus is proposed for this virus.

Biological and Molecular Variability Among High Plains virus Isolates.

The High Plains virus (HPV), vectored by the wheat curl mite (WCM) (Aceria tosichella), causes a severe disease of maize (Zea mays) in the U. S. High Plains. In the present study, five HPV isolates from five states were separated from co-infecting Wheat streak mosaic virus and their molecular and biological variability studied. Molecular studies involved time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) to determine amino acid sequence variability of the 32-kDa nucleoprotein (32 np) of the isolates. Biological studies involved testing the ability of the five HPV isolates to infect a maize line previously shown to have resistance. Inoculations of the HPV isolates were conducted using vascular puncture inoculation (VPI) and viruliferous WCM. TOFMS analyses demonstrated an 18-amino acid sequence in the isolates at the N-terminus of the 32 np, the presence of amino acid sequence differences among the isolates, and variability among amino acid sequences of the 32 np of some isolates. Three of the five HPV isolates infected the resistant maize inbred, B73, using VPI, and two of the same three HPV isolates infected this line using WCM inoculation, albeit low numbers of plants were infected by each technique.

Assessment of Aegilops tauschii for resistance to biotypes of wheat curl mite (Acari: Eriophyidae).

Aegilops tauschii, the wild diploid D-genome progenitor of wheat, Triticum aestivum L., is an important source of resistance to several arthropod pests and pathogens. A total of 108 Ae. tauschii accessions from different geographic regions were evaluated for resistance to biotypes of the wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella Keifer, from Kansas, Nebraska, and Montana. The wheat curl mite is the only vector known to transmit wheat streak mosaic virus. Wheat curl mite resistance was detected in germplasm from all the geographic locations represented. The highest percentage of resistant accessions originated from Turkey, followed by Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea region of Iran. Sixty-seven percent of the accessions exhibited resistance to at least one wheat curl mite biotype and 19% were resistant to all the three biotyopes. Resistance to the accessions tested occurred more frequently in the Nebraska and Kansas biotypes (69% and 64%, respectively) than did resistance to the Montana biotype (42%), although the frequency of resistance was not significant. The differential reactions of accessions to the different wheat curl mite biotypes suggests that Ae. tauschii has at least five different genes for resistance to mite colonization. Ae. tauschii continues to be a very useful source for wheat curl mite resistance genes for bread wheat improvement.

Differential Transmission of Isolates of the High Plains virus by Different Sources of Wheat Curl Mites.

High Plains virus (HPV) isolates from Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Texas, and Utah were serologically related, had similar relative molecular masses (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) for the 32-kDa diagnostic HPV protein, and were transmissible and maintained free of Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) by vascular puncture inoculation. Collections of wheat curl mites (Aceria tosichella Keifer; WCM) from Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Texas differentially transmitted these isolates. For collections from South Dakota and Texas, little or no HPV transmission occurred, whereas WCM from Nebraska and Montana transmitted all five isolates. The collection from Kansas mostly transmitted only one HPV isolate. Aviruliferous or viruliferous WSMV Nebraska WCM transmitted HPV at similar rates and aviruliferous Montana WCM transmitted HPV at lower levels than viruliferous Montana WCM.

Natural Infection of Sorghum by Foxtail Mosaic Virus in Kansas.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) was infected by a mechanically transmissible, flexuous, rod-shaped virus. Antiserum made against the purified virus reacted specifically in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to the virus and to the potexvirus foxtail mosaic virus (FoMV), indicating that the sorghum virus was an isolate of FoMV. Comparison of the sorghum isolate (H93) to FoMV PV 139 showed that H93 differed biologically by causing severe symptoms in sorghum, not readily infecting certain barley lines, and causing only faint symptoms in barley. At the molecular level, the capsid of H93 had a mass of 23.9 kDa and 217 amino acid residues compared with 23.7 kDa and 215 residues previously reported for the nucleic acid sequence of FoMV. The amino acid sequences of the two viruses were greater than 96% identical. They varied by having four substitutions, one deletion, and three insertions between residues 66 and 67. This is the first report of natural infection of sorghum by FoMV, thus extending its host range among cereal crops.

A Partial Host Range of the High Plains Virus of Corn and Wheat.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare), cheat (Bromus secalinus), corn (Zea mays), oat (Avena sativa), rye (Secale cereale), and wheat (Triticum aestivum) were infected by a Kansas isolate of the High Plains virus (HPV) in greenhouse experiments, but several other grass species were not. Infection of a host was dependent upon wheat curl mite numbers. Although both green foxtail (Setaria viridis) and yellow foxtail (S. glauca) are found naturally infected by HPV, only yellow foxtail could be infected in greenhouse experiments. Field sampling (1994 to 1996) of symptomatic yellow foxtail showed that it is a good indicator of the presence of HPV, with 252 of 278 symptomatic plants testing positive in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for HPV, 2 of 278 for American wheat striate mosaic virus, and 1 of 278 for johnson grass mosaic virus, whereas 23 of 278 symptomatic plants were negative for all viruses tested by ELISA and were not infectious in back-assays.