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The measurement of the refractive index of parallel plated, optically simple, glass samples is a common and fundamental activity in numerous fields of expertise. This work aimed to optimize a known technique to a simple, cost-effective and reliable system to be implemented in a lab environment, with an accuracy in the results better than 10-2. A setup with a 632.8nm HeNe laser, automatic stage and CMOS camera was used and data was acquired with the help of LabVIEW controlling software. All system components were carefully controlled and optimized with the help of an uncertainty budget. Measurements had an associated uncertainty in the range from 10-3 to 10-4.

Objective: Understanding how the main scapular muscles behave in overhead athletes with scapular dyskinesis (SD)., Design: Systematic Review., Setting: Electronic searches were performed in Pubmed (MedLine), Embase, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus databases., Participants: Overhead athletes with SD., Main Outcome Measures: Electromyographic activity of the upper (UT), middle (MT), and lower (LT) trapezius, and serratus anterior (SA)., Results: Eight studies were included in this review. The UT activity showed a tended to increase its activity mainly during tasks over 90° compared to 45°. SA activity had similar behavior, mainly during isometric tasks. The MT also increased its activity mainly in tasks with overhead angulations when compared to lower angulations. The LT activation tended to decrease its EMG activity at angulations below 60° in overhead athletes with SD., Conclusions: The EMG behaviour of UT and SA for non-athletes appears to differ from what has already been described in the literature. The MT seems to be the most neglected muscle for scapular stabilization in overhead athletes with SD. The decrease in LT activity suggests that this may have implications for the performance of these athletes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a highly destructive fungal disease of wheat to which host resistance is quantitatively inherited and largely influenced by the environment. Resistance to FHB has been associated with taller height and later maturity; however, a further understanding of these relationships is needed. An association mapping panel (AMP) of 192 predominantly Canadian spring wheat was genotyped with the wheat 90K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. The AMP was assessed for FHB incidence (INC), severity (SEV) and index (IND), days to anthesis (DTA), and plant height (PLHT) between 2015 and 2017 at three Canadian FHB-inoculated nurseries. Seven multi-environment trial (MET) datasets were deployed in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using a single-locus mixed linear model (MLM) and a multi-locus random SNP-effect mixed linear model (mrMLM). MLM detected four quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) for INC on chromosomes 2D and 3D and for SEV and IND on chromosome 3B. Further, mrMLM identified 291 QTNs: 50 (INC), 72 (SEV), 90 (IND), 41 (DTA), and 38 (PLHT). At two or more environments, 17 QTNs for FHB, DTA, and PLHT were detected. Of these 17, 12 QTNs were pleiotropic for FHB traits, DTA, and PLHT on chromosomes 1A, 1D, 2D, 3B, 5A, 6B, 7A, and 7B; two QTNs for DTA were detected on chromosomes 1B and 7A; and three PLHT QTNs were located on chromosomes 4B and 6B. The 1B DTA QTN and the three pleiotropic QTNs on chromosomes 1A, 3B, and 6B are potentially identical to corresponding quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in durum wheat. Further, the 3B pleiotropic QTN for FHB INC, SEV, and IND co-locates with TraesCS3B02G024900 within the Fhb1 region on chromosome 3B and is ~3 Mb from a cloned Fhb1 candidate gene TaHRC . While the PLHT QTN on chromosome 6B is putatively novel, the 1B DTA QTN co-locates with a disease resistance protein located ~10 Mb from a Flowering Locus T1-like gene TaFT3-B1 , and the 7A DTA QTN is ~5 Mb away from a maturity QTL QMat.dms-7A.3 of another study. GWAS and QTN candidate genes enabled the characterization of FHB resistance in relation to DTA and PLHT. This approach should eventually generate additional and reliable trait-specific markers for breeding selection, in addition to providing useful information for FHB trait discovery., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wentao Zhang, Kerry Boyle, Pierre Fobert and His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for the contribution of Adrian L. Cabral, Yuefeng Ruan, Richard D. Cuthbert, Lin Li, Samia Berraies, Maria A. Henriquez, Andrew Burt, Santosh Kumar, Isabelle Piche, Firdissa E. Bokore, Brad Meyer, Jatinder Sangha, Ron E. Knox.)

Crown rust, caused by Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae (Pca), is a significant impediment to global oat production. Some 98 alleles at 92 loci conferring resistance to Pca in Avena have been designated; however, allelic relationships and chromosomal locations of many of these are unknown. Long-term monitoring of Pca in Australia, North America and elsewhere has shown that it is highly variable even in the absence of sexual recombination, likely due to large pathogen populations that cycle between wild oat communities and oat crops. Efforts to develop cultivars with genetic resistance to Pca began in the 1950s. Based almost solely on all all-stage resistance, this has had temporary benefits but very limited success. The inability to eradicate wild oats, and their common occurrence in many oat growing regions, means that future strategies to control Pca must be based on the assumption of a large and variable prevailing pathogen population with high evolutionary potential, even if cultivars with durable resistance are deployed and grown widely. The presence of minor gene, additive APR to Pca in hexaploid oat germplasm opens the possibility of pyramiding several such genes to give high levels of resistance. The recent availability of reference genomes for diploid and hexaploid oat will undoubtedly accelerate efforts to discover, characterise and develop high throughput diagnostic markers to introgress and pyramid resistance to Pca in high yielding adapted oat germplasm., (© 2022. Crown.)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing created challenges for accessing and providing health services. Telemedicine enables prompt evaluation of patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury, even at a distance, without prejudice to the prognosis. The present study aimed to verify the validity of range of motion, muscle strength, sensitivity, and Tinel sign tele-assessment in adults with traumatic brachial plexus injury (TBPI)., Methods: A cross-sectional study of twenty-one men and women with TBPI admitted for treatment at a Rehabilitation Hospital Network was conducted. The participants were assessed for range of motion, muscle strength, sensitivity, and Tinel sign at two moments: in-person assessment (IPA) and tele-assessment (TA)., Results: The TA muscle strength tests presented significant and excellent correlations with the IPA (the intra-rater intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC ranged between 0.79 and 1.00 depending on the muscle tested). The agreement between the TA and IPA range of motion tests ranged from substantial to moderate (weighted kappa coefficient of 0.47-0.76 (p < 0.05) depending on the joint), and the kappa coefficient did not indicate a statistically significant agreement in the range of motion tests of supination, wrist flexors, shoulder flexors, and shoulder external rotators. The agreement between the IPA andTA sensitivity tests of all innervations ranged from substantial to almost perfect (weighted kappa coefficient 0.61-0.83, p < 0.05) except for the C5 innervation, where the kappa coefficient did not indicate a statistically significant agreement. The IPA versus TA Tinel sign test showed a moderate agreement (weighted kappa coefficient of 0.57, p < 0.05)., Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that muscle strength tele-assessment is valid in adults with TBPI and presented a strong agreement for many components of TA range of motion, sensitivity, and Tinel sign tests., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare (1) the effects of the instrument-assisted perineal stretching technique with different application protocols in combination with perineal massage and (2) the effects of the isolated techniques on the extensibility and strength of the pelvic floor muscles (PFMs)., Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial with parallel randomization, assessor blinding, and concealed allocation was conducted in the Campus Physical Education at the Federal University of Uberlândia in Brazil. Ninety-six pregnant women (18-40 years of age) were allocated into 4 groups: perineal massage (PnM) group (PnM protocol for 10 minutes); instrument-assisted perineal stretching with a long static protocol for 15 minutes [IStrLS group]); PnM + IStrLS group (both techniques applied in the 2 previous groups); and PnM + IStrSR group (the same techniques as used in the PnM + IStrLS group but with a short repeated protocol; 4 sets lasting 30 seconds each). Eight interventions were performed in all 4 groups twice weekly (beginning at the 34th gestational week). The primary outcome was PFM extensibility, assessed using vaginal dilator circumference, and the secondary outcome was PFM strength, assessed using vaginal manometry., Results: For the PFM extensibility variable, a significant main effect of time (F2,88 = 87.951) and group (F3,88 = 7.193) was found. Tukey post hoc test results showed that the PnM + IStrSR group presented greater extensibility than the PnM and IStrLS groups. The PnM group showed increased PFM strength after 8 sessions compared with the other groups., Conclusions: Women who were pregnant and received the combination of perineal massage and instrument-assisted perineal stretching with short repeated application had a greater increase in PFM extensibility than perineal massage and instrument-assisted perineal stretching alone., Impact: The combination of perineal massage and instrument-assisted perineal stretching techniques with a short, repeated protocol led to better PFM extensibility results than the application of the techniques alone in women who were pregnant., Lay Summary: Pregnant women can benefit from intervention using the combination of perineal massage and instrument-assisted perineal stretching techniques with a short, repeated protocol., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Physical Therapy Association. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Asthma is a disease with reversible bronchoconstriction; however, some patients develop fixed airflow obstruction (FAO). Previous studies have reported the incidence and risk factors of FAO in adults; however, the corresponding factors in children remain poorly understood., Aim: To evaluate the incidence and risk factors of FAO in children and adolescents with asthma., Method: Observational and prospective cohort study with a 4-year follow-up of clinically stable patients with asthma (from 6-8 years old). Anthropometric data, history of asthma, number of hospitalizations, frequent exacerbations, asthma severity, asthma control, inhaled corticosteroid dose, atopy, and lung function were analyzed as potential risk factors for FAO. FAO was defined by a ratio of the forced expiratory volume in the first second to the forced vital capacity below the lower limit of normal, even after inhaled and oral corticosteroid treatment., Results: Four hundred and twenty-eight patients were recruited, and 358 were analyzed. The FAO incidence in children and adolescents with asthma was 9.5% (n = 34), starting at 10 years of age. Age, body mass index, hospitalizations for asthma, bronchodilator response, frequent exacerbations, length of exacerbations, and asthma severity were associated with FAO. Frequent exacerbations (odds ratio [OR] = 4.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3-11.7) and asthma severity categorized as steps 4 to 5 (OR = 3.5; 95% CI = 1.6-7.6) remained risk factors., Conclusions: Frequent exacerbations and asthma severity are the risk factors for FAO in children and adolescents with asthma., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance in the durum wheat breeding gene pool is rarely reported. Triticum turgidum ssp. carthlicum line Blackbird is a tetraploid relative of durum wheat that offers partial FHB resistance. Resistance QTL were identified for the durum wheat cv. Strongfield × Blackbird population on chromosomes 1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, 6A, 6B and 7B in a previous study. The objective of this study was to identify the defense mechanisms underlying the resistance of Blackbird and report candidate regulator defense genes and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers within these genes for high-resolution mapping of resistance QTL reported for the durum wheat cv. Strongfield/Blackbird population., Results: Gene network analysis identified five networks significantly (P < 0.05) associated with the resistance to FHB spread (Type II FHB resistance) one of which showed significant correlation with both plant height and relative maturity traits. Two gene networks showed subtle differences between Fusarium graminearum-inoculated and mock-inoculated plants, supporting their involvement in constitutive defense. The candidate regulator genes have been implicated in various layers of plant defense including pathogen recognition (mainly Nucleotide-binding Leucine-rich Repeat proteins), signaling pathways including the abscisic acid and mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase, and downstream defense genes activation including transcription factors (mostly with dual roles in defense and development), and cell death regulator and cell wall reinforcement genes. The expression of five candidate genes measured by quantitative real-time PCR was correlated with that of RNA-seq, corroborating the technical and analytical accuracy of RNA-sequencing., Conclusions: Gene network analysis allowed identification of candidate regulator genes and genes associated with constitutive resistance, those that will not be detected using traditional differential expression analysis. This study also shed light on the association of developmental traits with FHB resistance and partially explained the co-localization of FHB resistance with plant height and maturity QTL reported in several previous studies. It also allowed the identification of candidate hub genes within the interval of three previously reported FHB resistance QTL for the Strongfield/Blackbird population and associated SNPs for future high resolution mapping studies.

Introduction and Hypothesis: Perineal preparation techniques for childbirth have been used with the aim of reducing perineal tears during the expulsive phase of labor. However, no studies were found to investigate the effects of instrument-assisted stretching versus perineal massage on pelvic floor muscle (PFM) variables. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of instrument-assisted stretching versus perineal massage on the extensibility and strength of the PFMs., Methods: Primiparous women were randomized to the instrument-assisted stretching (IStr) group (n = 13) and perineal massage (PnM) group (n = 14). The groups participated in eight sessions, twice weekly, beginning at the 34th gestational week. The IStr group underwent the intervention for 15 min using EPI-NO®. The PnM group underwent a perineal massage protocol for 10 min. Each woman was evaluated by a blinded physiotherapist before, after four and after eight sessions for primary (PFM extensibility using the EPI-NO® circumference) and secondary (PFM strength using a manometer) outcomes. Covariate analysis (ANCOVA) was used to compare the groups using the baseline values as a covariate., Results: Both groups showed an increase in PFM extensibility compared with the evaluations before and after four and eight sessions (PnM group from 17.6 ± 1.8 to 20.2 ± 1.9 cm; IStr group from 19.9 ± 1.6 to 22.9 ± 1.6 cm;p < 0.001). There was no difference between groups. Regarding muscle strength, no statistical differences were observed between evaluations or between groups., Conclusions: Instrument-assisted stretching and perineal massage increase extensibility and do not alter the strength of PFMs in pregnant women.

Breeding for Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance in durum wheat is complicated by the quantitative trait expression and narrow genetic diversity of available resources. High-density mapping of the FHB resistance quantitative trait loci (QTL), evaluation of their co-localization with plant height and maturity QTL and the interaction among the identified QTL are the objectives of this study. Two doubled haploid (DH) populations, one developed from crosses between Triticum turgidum ssp. durum lines DT707 and DT696 and the other between T. turgidum ssp. durum cv. Strongfield and T. turgidum ssp. carthlicum cv. Blackbird were genotyped using the 90K Infinium iSelect chip and evaluated phenotypically at multiple field FHB nurseries over years. A moderate broad-sense heritability indicated a genotype-by-environment interaction for the expression of FHB resistance in both populations. Resistance QTL were identified for the DT707 × DT696 population on chromosomes 1B, 2B, 5A (two loci) and 7A and for the Strongfield × Blackbird population on chromosomes 1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, 6A, 6B and 7B with the QTL on chromosome 1A and those on chromosome 5A being more consistently expressed over environments. FHB resistance co-located with plant height and maturity QTL on chromosome 5A and with a maturity QTL on chromosome 7A for the DT707 × DT696 population. Resistance also co-located with plant height QTL on chromosomes 2A and 3A and with maturity QTL on chromosomes 1A and 7B for the Strongfield × Blackbird population. Additive × additive interactions were identified, for example between the two FHB resistance QTL on chromosome 5A for the DT707 × DT696 population and the FHB resistance QTL on chromosomes 1A and 7B for the Strongfield × Blackbird population. Application of the Single Nucleotide Polymorphic (SNP) markers associated with FHB resistance QTL identified in this study will accelerate combining genes from the two populations., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Kernel morphology characteristics of wheat are complex and quantitatively inherited. A doubled haploid (DH) population of the cross RL4452/'AC Domain' was used to study the genetic basis of seed shape. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analyses were conducted on a total of 18 traits: 14 grain shape traits, flour yield (Fyd), and three agronomic traits (Plant height [Plht], 1000 Grain weight [Gwt], Test weight [Twt]), using data from trial locations at Glenlea, Brandon, and Morden in Manitoba, Canada, between 1999 and 2004. Kernel shape was studied through digital image analysis with an Acurum® grain analyzer. Plht, Gwt, Twt, Fyd, and grain shape QTL were correlated with each other and QTL analysis revealed that QTL for these traits often mapped to the same genetic locations. The most significant QTL for the grain shape traits were located on chromosomes 4B and 4D, each accounting for up to 24.4% and 53.3% of the total phenotypic variation, respectively. In addition, the most significant QTL for Plht, Gwt, and Twt were all detected on chromosome 4D at the Rht-D1 locus. Rht-D1b decreased Plht, Gwt, Twt, and kernel width relative to the Rht-D1a allele. A narrow genetic interval on chromosome 4B contained significant QTL for grain shape, Gwt, and Plht. The 'AC Domain' allele reduced Plht, Gwt, kernel length and width traits, but had no detectable effect on Twt. The data indicated that this variation was inconsistent with segregation at Rht-B1. Numerous QTL were identified that control these traits in this population.

Competing Interests: Conflito de interesse: Os autores declararam não haver conflitos de interesse que precisam ser informados.

Objective: Studies characterizing asthma phenotypes have predominantly included adults or have involved children and adolescents in developed countries. Therefore, their applicability in other populations, such as those of developing countries, remains indeterminate. Our objective was to determine how low-income children and adolescents with asthma in Brazil are distributed across a cluster analysis., Methods: We included 306 children and adolescents (6-18 years of age) with a clinical diagnosis of asthma and under medical treatment for at least one year of follow-up. At enrollment, all the patients were clinically stable. For the cluster analysis, we selected 20 variables commonly measured in clinical practice and considered important in defining asthma phenotypes. Variables with high multicollinearity were excluded. A cluster analysis was applied using a twostep agglomerative test and log-likelihood distance measure., Results: Three clusters were defined for our population. Cluster 1 (n = 94) included subjects with normal pulmonary function, mild eosinophil inflammation, few exacerbations, later age at asthma onset, and mild atopy. Cluster 2 (n = 87) included those with normal pulmonary function, a moderate number of exacerbations, early age at asthma onset, more severe eosinophil inflammation, and moderate atopy. Cluster 3 (n = 108) included those with poor pulmonary function, frequent exacerbations, severe eosinophil inflammation, and severe atopy., Conclusions: Asthma was characterized by the presence of atopy, number of exacerbations, and lung function in low-income children and adolescents in Brazil. The many similarities with previous cluster analyses of phenotypes indicate that this approach shows good generalizability.

The user in psychological distress needs a service that provides a targeted assistance, that welcomes when required, acting as originator care device to the user on the network of health care. This study aimed to describe how people in psychological distress are perceived by the community in the voice of the community health worker. It is a qualitative research conducted with eighteen Community Health Agents, a Primary Care Unit Health (UAP) located in BE IV, in Fortaleza, Ceará. We used a semi-structured and individual interview. Data processing was due to the content analysis. Ethical and legal aspects on the advice No. 957,595. Through the speeches of ACS, it describes how the community perceives the person in psychic suffering and how it positions itself in the face of your everyday problems, as regards the rejection, prejudice, discrimination ne loss of identity. However it is emphasized that, because of being inserted in the community, the community health worker realizes more accurate way in which this social group is the person in mental distress. The rejection of the person who became ill is seen as a fairly common reaction, accompanied by prejudice and discrimination, marginalizing her from society. O usuário em sofrimento psíquico necessita de um serviço que proporcione uma assistência direcionada, que acolha no momento necessário, atuando como dispositivo ordenador do cuidado ao usuário na rede de atenção a saúde. Objetivou-se descrever como as pessoas em sofrimento psíquico são percebidas pela comunidade na voz do agente comunitário de saúde. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, realizada junto a dezoito Agentes Comunitários de Saúde, de uma Unidade de Atenção Primaria a Saúde (UAPS) situada na SER IV, em Fortaleza-Ceará. Utilizou-se uma entrevista semiestruturada e individual. O processamento dos dados deu-se pela análise de conteúdo. Aspectos éticos e legais sob parecer Nº 957.595. Através dos discursos dos ACS, descrevemos como a comunidade percebe a pessoa em sofrimento psíquico e como está se posiciona frente às problemáticas do seu cotidiano, no que se refere a rejeição, preconceito, discriminação e perda de identidade. Contudo destaca-se que, pelo fato de estar inserido na comunidade, o agente comunitário de saúde percebe de forma mais apurada como tal grupo social trata a pessoa em sofrimento mental. A rejeição da pessoa que adoeceu é observada como uma reação bastante comum, acompanhada do preconceito e discriminação, marginalizando-a da sociedade.

Crown rust, caused by Puccinia coronata Corda f. sp. avenae Eriks., is a serious menace in oats, for which resistance is an effective means of control. Wild diploid oat accessions are a source of novel resistances that first need to be characterised prior to introgression into locally adapted oat cultivars. A genetic analysis of resistance to crown rust was carried out in three diverse diploid oat accessions (CIav6956, CIav9020, PI292226) and two cultivars (Saia and Glabrota) of A. strigosa. A single major gene conditioning resistance to Australian crown rust pathotype (Pt) 0000-2 was identified in each of the three accessions. Allelism tests suggested that these genes are either the same, allelic, or tightly linked with less than 1 % recombination. Similarly, a single gene was identified in Glabrota, and possibly two genes in Saia; both cultivars previously reported to carry two and three crown rust resistance genes, respectively. The identified seedling resistance genes could be deployed in combination with other resistance gene(s) to enhance durability of resistance to crown rust in hexaploid oat. Current diploid and hexaploid linkage maps and molecular anchor markers (simple sequence repeat [SSR] and diversity array technology [DArT] markers) should facilitate their mapping and introgression into hexaploid oat.