Background Clinical studies have revealed a greater risk of pulmonary autograft dilation after the Ross procedure in patients with preoperative aortic insufficiency (AI). The present study examined whether the morphologic, biomechanical, and cellular properties of the pulmonary artery (PA) from patients with AI were phenotypically different compared with patients diagnosed with aortic stenosis (AS). Methods PA segments were harvested from patients undergoing the Ross procedure for AS (n = 16) and AI (n = 6). Preoperative aortic annulus was significantly larger (P less then 0.05) in patients with AI (28.5 ± 1.8 mm) vs AS (22.8 ± 1.2 mm). Morphologic, biomechanical, and cellular phenotypes of the PA were analyzed. Results Collagen and elastin content in the media of the PA wall were similar in patients with AS and AI. Elastic modulus and energy loss of the PA were not significantly different between the groups. In the media of the PA, expression of a panel of vascular smooth muscle cell-specific proteins were similar in patients with AS and AI. In contrast, nonmuscle myosin IIB protein levels in the PA of AS patients were significantly higher compared with AI patients, and immunofluorescence identified staining in α-smooth muscle actin-positive vascular smooth muscle cells. Conclusions Despite similar morphological and biomechanical properties, the disparate expression of nonmuscle myosin IIB protein distinguishes the PA of patients with AI from patients with AS. The biological role in vascular smooth muscle cells and the potential contribution of nonmuscle myosin IIB to pulmonary autograft dilation in a subset of AI patients after the Ross procedure remain to be determined.The field assessment technique to evaluate the plants with a fungal phytopathogen for their tolerance to the disease is one of the crucial steps in dissecting their genetic control and in developing the resistant crop varieties. The objective behind this study was to develop and evaluate a field-based non-injury method of inoculation technique for Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) in oilseed Brassica, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary. The non-injury method of screening technique involves stem inoculation using a five days old mycelial mat on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plug placed on the top of sterile water-soaked cotton pad firmly wrapped over the internodal region with parafilm at the basal portion of the stem (15-20 cm above the ground) in the field. Inoculation without injury substantiates the natural means of infection in the field and the use of moist cotton pad keeps humidity for longer to initiate infection even in case of adverse climatic conditions. Disease development on the inoculated stem was measured by the length and width of the lesion. The symptom appears with water-soaked lesion formation and spreading deeper and wider on the stem in >90% of inoculated plants. During the experiment, about 800 Brassica germplasms including their wild relatives were screened and evaluated for three consecutive years using near-natural (non-injury) method of disease inoculation in the field. The Inoculation severity index (ISI) obtained during these years at Pusa, New Delhi were significantly similar and correlated with the natural infection measured in terms of disease severity index (DSI) on selected germplasm in the sick plot at ICAR-DRMR, Bharatpur. The significant correlations obtained among the used Brassica lines that were earlier not subjected for natural screening suggest the potential of this technique in evaluating the breeding material for SSR before confirmation with natural infection in the field.Microcystis aeruginosa complex (MAC) encompasses noxious colonial bloom forming cyanobacteria. MAC representatives bloom in eutrophic freshwater and brackish ecosystems with stagnant water, were temperature and salinity are the main variables modulating their distribution, biomass and toxicity. Cell abundance and biovolume of MAC colonies define regulatory standards for public health. These variables depend upon colony size that in turn changes with environmental conditions. Here, we conducted two series of experiments to evaluate the response of MAC colonies morphological traits (length, volume, mucilage and number of cells) to temperature and salinity. In two series of experiments in the laboratory, we exposed natural MAC communities to three different temperatures (10, 21 and 30 °C) and four salinity levels (0, 5, 10 and 25 ppt) typically found in estuaries. We found that average colony length, volume and mucilage thickness did not change with temperature, but the cell-free space inside the colonies was smaller at the highest evaluated temperature (30 °C). Salinity fostered an increase in colony length, volume and mucilage thickness, while cell-free space diminished, resulting in higher cell density. The number of cells per colony was significantly related to colony size (length and volume) and both, temperature and salinity, affected the parameters of the relationships. Based on present results we propose statistical models to predict cell number per colony based on length and volume and accounting for the effect of salinity and temperature on these traits. This is applicable to ecological studies and to the monitoring of estuarine aquatic environments, by means of a fast and more accurate estimation of cell numbers to define MAC toxic populations early warning systems. A protocol is suggested for its application while the analysis of the interaction of temperature and salinity, as well as the variability in natural environments are objectives for future researches.Background This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of the TaqMan real-time PCR and serological methods in detecting Brucella spp. in clinical specimens that have been collected from suspected patients in Ardabil, Iran. check details Methods In this cross-sectional study, a total of 113 consecutive patients suspected of brucellosis who were referred to the three hospitals in Ardabil province were selected. In the first step, the diagnosis of brucellosis was performed by serological methods including the Rose Bengal slide agglutination test, Wright test, 2-ME test, and BrucellaCapt test. In the next step, TaqMan real-time PCR with primer and probe targeting the bcsp31 gene was used for the detection of Brucella spp. Specificity, sensitivity, and positive and negative predictive values of the TaqMan real-time PCR assay were calculated. Results Among 113 suspected patients with different clinical manifestations, the Rose Bengal slide agglutination test, Wright test, and 2-ME test were positive in 60 cases; however, the BrucellaCapt test titer was 1160 for one patient.