Preventing Soil Inoculum of Calonectria pseudonaviculata from Splashing onto Healthy Boxwood Foliage by Mulching.

Boxwood blight, caused by Calonectria pseudonaviculata, is an emerging disease of great concern to horticulturists in the United States and other affected countries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of mulching as a physical barrier to prevent soil inoculum from splashing onto healthy boxwood foliage. A field trial consisting of two treatments, mulched and nonmulched, was conducted under field conditions in Lowgap, North Carolina, and in a residential landscape setting near Richmond, Virginia, for 2 years at each site. Mulching efficacy was assessed by monitoring and comparing boxwood blight development on detector plants: containerized 'Justin Brouwers' boxwood, which were rotated through mulched and nonmulched plots at 1- and 2-week intervals in the Lowgap and Richmond sites, respectively. Boxwood blight was observed on detector plants in a combined 55 of the 88 monitoring periods during this study at the two sites. Mulching provided complete protection of Justin Brouwers boxwood from infection by C. pseudonaviculata soil inoculum during 33 of the 55 positive monitoring periods (60%) and good to excellent protection during 13 monitoring periods (24%). The potential applications of mulching for boxwood blight mitigation are discussed.

Effects of Inoculum Dose, Temperature, Cultivar, and Interrupted Leaf Wetness Period on Infection of Boxwood by Calonectria pseudonaviculata.

Boxwood blight is an emerging disease of great concern for the ornamental horticulture industry, historic garden managers, landscapers, and homeowners. Controlled-environment experiments were conducted to determine the effects of conidial concentration, temperature, interrupted leaf wetness period, cultivar, and leaf age on infection of boxwood leaves by Calonectria pseudonaviculata. Boxwood blight incidence (BBI) increased with increasing concentration up to 2.0 × 104 spores/ml. BBI also increased as temperature increased from 18 to 25°C, then declined gradually to zero at 29°C. Similar infection effects of inoculum concentration were observed in an experiment with four boxwood cultivars ('Justin Brouwers', 'John Baldwin', 'Green Mound', and 'Nana') of various degrees of susceptibility. The hypothesis that younger leaves are more susceptible than older leaves was supported for Justin Brouwers and Nana but not for Green Mound; and younger leaves of John Baldwin were less susceptible than older leaves. When inoculated plants ('Suffruticosa') were exposed to dry interruptions of 3 h or longer between 5 or 8 h of initial wetness and 12 h of additional wetness, these plants had significantly lower BBI compared with those exposed to continuous wetness for 20 h, and similar or at most slightly more infection than plants exposed to only the 5- or 8-h initial wetness. Continuous wetness durations beyond 20 h did not increase infection in these experiments. These results advanced our understanding of the environmental requirements of the infection process in boxwood blight development and they are essential for refining disease forecasting models.

[HPV prophylactic vaccine coverage and factors impacting its practice among students and high school students in Marseilles' area]. / Vaccination anti-HPV : évaluation de la couverture vaccinale et des facteurs qui l'influencent chez les lycéennes et étudiantes de la région PACA.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the coverage of HPV vaccine among young women from Marseilles' area and factors influencing the probability of this vaccination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An anonymous survey was conducted among 2124 high school and university students from Marseilles' area, France from December 2011 to May 2012. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 20.4years (±SD: 3.3). Only 41.6% participants reported being vaccinated against HPV, of whom 768 (93.3) had completed the 3 injections scheme. Among non-vaccinated respondents, 33.6% acknowledged they would accept a catch-up vaccination. Factors influencing the probability of being vaccinated were young age (AOR: 0.728; 95% CI: 0.681-0.779; P<0.001), socioeconomic and/or education level of parents (AOR: 1.324; 95% CI: 1.006-1.742; P=0.045), information about vaccination (AOR: 24.279; 95% CI: 5.417-108.82; P<0.001) and having a general practitioner (GP) favourable to vaccination (AOR: 68.776; 95% CI: 34.511-137.061; P<0.001). Factors influencing the probability to accept a catch-up vaccination were age (AOR: 1.059; 95% CI: 1.001-1.120; P=0.046), socioeconomic and/or education level of parents (AOR: 1.637; 95% CI: 1.198-2.237; P=0.002) and having a GP favourable to vaccination (AOR: 4.381; 95% CI: 2.978-6.445; P<0.001). Only 35.5% of respondents were aware that screening remains necessary following HPV vaccination. CONCLUSION: The coverage of HPV vaccine among young women from Marseilles' area is insufficient. Factors influencing the probability of being vaccinated against HPV are age, socioeconomic and/or education level of parents and information regarding vaccination. GP plays a major role in the acceptance of HPV vaccine.

The EOS imaging system for understanding a patellofemoral disorder following THR.

An aspect of patellofemoral syndrome secondary to total hip replacement (THR) is mainly suggestive of a problem of femoral implant torsion. We here present the first reported case of patellofemoral syndrome secondary to THR relating to limb-length discrepancy, with no abnormality of femoral torsion. The pelvis adapted to the length inequality by axial rotation rather than frontal tilt, and this went undetected on standard X-ray and CT-scan. 3D imaging in upright posture on the EOS system enabled the situation to be clearly described and analyzed, and adapted surgical correction to be indicated.

Parametric subject-specific model for in vivo 3D reconstruction using bi-planar X-rays: application to the upper femoral extremity.

Although feasibility of accurate 3D reconstruction of the proximal epiphysis of the femur from biplanar X-rays (frontal and lateral) has been assessed, in vivo application is limited due to bone superposition. The aim of this study was to propose a specific algorithm to get accurate and reproducible, low dose in vivo 3D reconstruction. To achieve this goal, a parametric subject-specific model was introduced as a priori knowledge. This geometric model was based on a database based on proximal epiphysis of 60 femurs. The accuracy was estimated using comparisons to CT scans on 13 cadaveric femurs, then in vivo intra- and inter- observer reproducibility was assessed using a set of 23 femurs. The mean for the relative difference was 0.2 mm for the in vitro 3D accuracy. The mean error was 1.0 mm with maximum value of 5.1 mm in ideal conditions (in vitro). The confidence interval for the inter-observer reproducibility was within +/-2.2 mm. This method gave us a reproducible tool in order to get in vivo 3D reconstructions of the femur proximal epiphysis from biplanar X-rays.