A large-scale field experiment was used to test whether exposure to a suite of potential environmental factors (flow speed, temperature, salinity, and low dissolved oxygen) influences the level of parasitic infection of the oyster Crassostrea virginica. The parasite was the protozoan Perkinsus marinus, which has decimated populations of oysters in estuaries of North America. The environmental f...

Self-incompatibility (SI) in Brassica is controlled by a single locus, termed the S locus. There is evidence that two of the S locus genes, SLG, which encodes a secreted glycoprotein, and SRK, which encodes a putative receptor kinase, are required for SI on the stigma side. The current model postulates that a pollen ligand recognizing the SLG/SRK receptors is encoded in the genomic region defin...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between visual score of emphysema and homology-based emphysema quantification (HEQ) and evaluate whether visual score was accurately predicted by machine learning and HEQ. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 115 anonymized computed tomography images from 39 patients were obtained from a public database. Emphysema quantificat...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Our aim was to evaluate whether the use of barbed suture for vaginal cuff closure is associated with a decrease in postoperative vaginal bleeding compared with cuff closure with polyglactin 910 in patients who have undergone laparoscopic hysterectomy. METHODS We performed a cohort study of patients who underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy between January 2008 and July...

A dural tear is a common but troublesome complication of endoscopic spinal surgery. The limitations of space make repair difficult, and it is often necessary to proceed to an open operation to suture the dura in order to prevent leakage of cerebrospinal fluid. We describe a new patch technique in which a small piece of polyglactin 910 is fixed to the injured dura with fibrin glue. Three pieces ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of new antibacterial suture (Vicryl Plus) compared with a traditional braided suture (Vicryl) in a clinical study. The primary goal was to study effectiveness on reduced surgical site infection in an appendectomy operation. The authors' secondary goal was to analyze the safety and physical properties of Vicryl plus. MATERIAL AND METHOD This was a ...