Spatial Pattern of Strawberry Powdery Mildew (Podosphaera aphanis) and Airborne Inoculum.

The relationship between strawberry powdery mildew and airborne conidium concentration (ACC) of Podosphaera aphanis was studied using data collected from 2006 to 2009 in 15 fields, and spatial pattern was described using 2 years of airborne inoculum and disease incidence data collected in fields planted with the June-bearing strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cultivar Jewel. Disease incidence, expressed as the proportion of diseased leaflets, and ACC were monitored in fields divided into 3 × 8 grids containing 24 100 m2 quadrats. Variance-to-mean ratio, index of dispersion, negative binomial distribution, Poisson distribution, and binomial and beta-binomial distributions were used to characterize the level of spatial heterogeneity. The relationship between percent leaf area diseased and daily ACC was linear, while the relationship between ACC and disease incidence followed an exponential growth curve. The V/M ratios were significantly greater than 1 for 100 and 96% of the sampling dates for ACC sampled at 0.35 m from the ground (ACC0.35m) and for ACC sampled at 1.0 m from the ground (ACC1.0m), respectively. For disease incidence, the index of dispersion D was significantly greater than 1 for 79% of the sampling dates. The negative binomial distribution fitted 86% of the data sets for both ACC1.0m and ACC0.35m. For disease incidence data, the beta-binomial distribution provided a good fit of 75% of the data sets. Taylor's power law indicated that, for ACC at both sampling heights, heterogeneity increased with increasing mean ACC, whereas the binary form of the power law suggested that heterogeneity was not dependent on the mean for disease incidence. When the spatial location of each sampling location was taken into account, Spatial Analysis by Distance Indices showed low aggregation indices for both ACCs and disease incidence, and weak association between ACC and disease incidence. Based on these analyses, it was found that the distribution of strawberry powdery mildew was weakly aggregated. Although a higher level of heterogeneity was observed for airborne inoculum, the heterogeneity was low with no distinct foci, suggesting that epidemics are induced by well-distributed inoculum. This low level of heterogeneity allows mean airborne inoculum concentration to be estimated using only one sampler per field with an overall accuracy of at least 0.841. The results obtained in this study could be used to develop a sampling scheme that will improve strawberry powdery mildew risk estimation.

Early language development in children exposed to or infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

OBJECTIVES: To compare language development in infants and young children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection to language development in children who had been exposed to HIV but were uninfected, and (among subjects with HIV infection) to compare language development with cognitive and neurologic status. DESIGN: Prospective evaluation of language development in infected and in exposed but uninfected infants and young children. SETTING: Pediatric Infectious Disease Clinic, State University of New York-Health Science Center at Syracuse. SUBJECTS: Nine infants and young children infected with HIV and 69 seropositive but uninfected infants and children, age 6 weeks to 45 months. RESULTS: Mean Early Language Milestone Scale, 2nd edition (ELM-2) Global Language scores were significantly lower for subjects with HIV infection, compared with uninfected subjects (89.3 vs 96.2, Mann-Whitney U test). The proportion of subjects scoring >2 SD below the mean on the ELM-2 on at least one occasion also was significantly greater for subjects with HIV infection, compared with uninfected subjects (4 of 9 infected subjects, but only 5 of 69 uninfected subjects; Fisher's exact test). Seven of the 9 subjects with HIV infection manifested deterioration of language function. Four manifested unremitting deterioration; only 1 of these 4 demonstrated unequivocal abnormality on neurologic examination. Three subjects with HIV infection and language deterioration showed improvement in language almost immediately after the initiation of antiretroviral drug treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography of the brain were performed in 6 of 7 infected subjects with language deterioration, and findings were normal in all 6. ELM-2 Global Language scaled scores showed good agreement with the Bayley Mental Developmental Index or the McCarthy Global Cognitive Index (r = 0. 70). Language deterioration, or improvement in language after initiation of drug therapy, coincided with or preceded changes in global cognitive function, at times by intervals of up to 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Language deterioration occurs commonly in infants and young children with HIV infection, is seen frequently in the absence of abnormalities on neurologic examination or central nervous system imaging, and may precede evidence of deterioration in global cognitive ability. Periodic assessment of language development should be added to the developmental monitoring of infants and young children with HIV infection as a means of monitoring disease progression and the efficacy of drug treatment.

The interpersonal relationship in clinical practice. The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory as an assessment instrument.

The biomedical model that has long been central to medical practice is gradually being expanded to a broader biopsychosocial model. Relationship-building skills commensurate with the new paradigm need to be understood by educators and taught to medical practitioners. The person-centered, or humanistic, model of psychologist Carl Rogers provides a theoretical approach for the development of effective biopsychosocial relationships. The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI) was developed in 1962 as an assessment instrument for the person-centered model. In this article, the person-centered model and the use of the BLRI as an assessment instrument of this model are discussed. Current and potential uses of the BLRI are explored.

House officers in general medicine: their perception of educational value of rotation components.

As curriculum planners in general medicine residency training programmes we were concerned about house officers' anecdotal reports that hospital work requirements often overshadow individual learning goals. After each of five rotations, we asked residents to identify the educational 'usefulness' of certain rotation components which can be included in three categories; team members, work-related activities and educational events. Of 165 surveys distributed, 127 (77%) were returned. Data were analysed by residency year and by all years combined. The mean overall perception of learning was 3.9 out of a possible 5 points suggesting that residents do find some learning value. Results suggest that different residency years vary as to the significance of specific educational components. The importance of faculty/resident relationships to residents' perceptions of learning value was highlighted in particular.

Residents' perceptions of their teachers: facilitative behaviour and the learning value of rotations.

Despite changes in modern medicine the role of the clinical teacher remains central to medical residents' education and rotations continue to be their dominant educational context. Residents have strong positive feelings for clinical teachers who are perceived as interested in teaching and for those rotations that provide a balance of educational opportunities and patient care responsibilities. Research in residency education has focused on teacher behaviours used to teach medical residents clinical information or patient care skills but has neglected teacher behaviours used to facilitate effective learning relationships with residents. To explore the impact of clinical teachers' use of facilitative behaviours on residents' educational experience, we use concepts stemming from the psychologist Carl Rogers' work previously shown to be associated with positive learning outcomes--empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. These constructs are measured by the use of the four scales of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI)--level of regard, unconditionality of regard, congruence and empathy. Our study measures the correlation between residents' perceptions of clinical teachers' use of facilitative behaviours and residents' evaluation of the learning value of rotations. Thirty-three residents completed the BLRI on a different clinical teacher for each of six monthly rotations. A total of 158 surveys were returned. There were strong positive correlations between three of the BLRI variables and residents' perception of the learning value of rotations. Potential uses of these findings are discussed.

Residents' use of humanistic skills and content of resident discussions in a support group.

In a 1983 position paper, the American Board of Internal Medicine stressed the importance of teaching humanistic skills to residents; however, how to teach or measure these skills is not well defined. In this study, the content of discussion (personal and professional problems) and processing of four humanistic skills (empathy, level of regard, unconditionality, and congruence) by Bowman Gray School of Medicine first year general medicine residents was observed. Fourteen videotapes of support group meetings from 1986 to 1988 were reviewed for humanistic relationship behaviors using the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory and for the types of personal and professional problems discussed using a content inventory. Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory scores for empathy and regard paralleled increases in the number of professional problems raised at midyear, a time of maximum stress for residents. Congruence scores became flat after an initial peak while unconditionality scores remained low. Interventions designed to improve residents' use of humanistic skills could take into account residents' need for support and education, as well as the natural flow of humanistic behaviors within residency programs.

Vasopressin immunoreactivity in the anterior hypothalamus is altered during the establishment of dominant/subordinate relationships between hamsters.

When paired for 15-min periods for 5-8 consecutive days, castrated, testosterone-treated hamsters consistently assumed the dominant status, based on a higher aggression index (18 +/- 3) and frequency of flank marking (15 +/- 3) as compared to their castrated, untreated subordinate partners (-1.3 +/- 1 and 2.4 +/- 1, respectively). In addition to these hamsters with established dominant/subordinate relationships, control hamsters with no social interactions were killed, and in all animals the vasopressin level in the anterior hypothalamus-medial preoptic area was assessed by counting vasopressin immunoreactive perikarya following immunocytochemistry, or by radioimmunoassay of vasopressin from tissue punches. In the socialized pairs the subordinate hamsters had a significantly (P less than 0.01) lower number of vasopressin staining perikarya in the anterior hypothalamus, specifically the area of the nucleus circularis, than their dominant partners (n = 6 pairs). There was also a significantly (P less than 0.001) lower level of vasopressin immunoreactivity in punches taken from the area of the nucleus circularis in subordinate hamsters as compared to their dominant partners (n = 14 pairs). However, there were no significant differences in the number of perikarya or the concentration of immunoreactive vasopressin between subordinate and dominant hamsters in the supraoptic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, suprachiasmatic nucleus or bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. The number of perikarya (n = 5 pairs) and concentration of vasopressin (n = 8 pairs) for all vasopressin immunoreactive sites, including the nucleus circularis, were similar for testosterone-treated and untreated hamsters that remained isolated and not subjected to daily aggressive encounters.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)