Artykuły w czasopismach na temat „Pin de Monterey”

As part of the Phytophthora ramorum testing program from 2005 through 2007, a Phytophthora sp. was isolated on PARP-CMA medium (4) at the CDFA lab in Sacramento, CA, from the margin of necrotic spots and tissue suffering from dieback on Arctostaphylos sp. (manzanita), Camellia spp., Laurus nobilis (bay), Buxus sempervirens (boxwood), Rhododendron sp., Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree), and Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood). Isolates were collected from Shasta, Contra Costa, San Diego, Solano, Santa Cruz, Alameda, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Monterey, and Los Angeles Counties. Isolates from A. unedo tissue on PARP medium produced apapillate, obovate sporangia 25 to 80 × 15 to 40 μm (48.0 × 26.9 μm average) and a few isolates produced intercalary and terminal chlamydospores at 22°C (30 to 46 μm diameter, 38.9 μm average). The internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of rDNA was amplified from four isolates using ITS1 and ITS4 primers as described by White et al. (3) and the amplicons sequenced (GenBank Accession Nos. JQ307188 through JQ307191). BLAST analysis of the amplicons showed 99 to 100% identity with the ITS sequence of Phytophthora taxon Pgchlamydo from forest streams in Oregon (GenBank Accession No. HM004224) (1). Pathogenicity tests were performed on B. sempervirens, C. sasanqua, L. nobilis, and A. unedo. Five plants of each species were inoculated with 6-mm plugs taken from the margin of a 7- to 10-day-old culture grown on V8 juice agar. Plant leaves were wounded with a sterile pushpin and two agar plugs were covered with a freezer tube cap filled with sterile dH2O and clipped to the underside of the leaves with a sterile pin-curl clip (4). Inoculated plants were sprayed with water, covered with plastic bags, and incubated for 2 days, when bags and plugs were removed. Five leaves of each isolate plus five control plugs using V8 juice agar alone were inoculated on each plant. Plants were incubated for 12 days at 18°C (16-h photoperiod). Lesions formed on all inoculated plants, ranging in size from approx. 1 mm on B. sempervirens to 9.2 × 10.9 mm average on A. unedo. The lesions on A. unedo grew into and caused the mid-vein to blacken. The lesion sizes on camellia and bay were larger than those formed on B. sempervirens and smaller than those formed on A. unedo, with most lesions surrounded by a dark ring. Phytophthora taxon Pgchlamydo is associated with leaf lesions on rhododendron and dieback of yew in Minnesota (2). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Phytophthora taxon Pgchlamydo causing disease in camellia, bay, strawberry tree, and boxwood in California. Phytophthora taxon Pgchlamydo causes damage that is indistinguishable from the quarantine pest, P. ramorum (4). References: (1) P. W. Reeser et al. Mycologia 103:22, 2011. (2) B. W. Schwingle and R. A. Blanchette. Plant Dis. 92:642, 2008. (3) T. J. White et al. PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. M. A. Innis et al., eds., Academic Press, San Diego, 1990. (4) L. E. Yakabe et al. Plant Dis. 93:883, 2009.

Gibberella circinata (anamorph Fusarium circinatum) causes pitch canker in pines and is not known to have any hosts outside the Pinaceae. However, G. circinata is closely related to and interfertile with G. subglutinans, which is associated with grasses both as a pathogen and a commensal endophyte. Furthermore, studies under controlled conditions have shown that G. circinata can colonize corn (Zea mays) without inducing symptoms (4). To determine if G. circinata can also infect grasses under natural conditions, plants were collected in proximity to trees with symptoms of pitch canker in native stands of Pinus radiata (Monterey pine) on the Monterey Peninsula and P. muricata (bishop pine) at Pt. Reyes National Seashore on the California coast during July and August of 2011. Leaves and stems were rinsed in 0.1% Tween 20, immersed in 70% ethanol for 30 s followed by 1 min in 1% NaOCl, and placed on a Fusarium selective medium (FSM) (1). Single-spore subcultures of colonies growing from cultured plant material were transferred to 0.6% KCl agar and identified as G. circinata based on morphological criteria as described by Gordon et al. (2). G. circinata isolates were recovered from Holcus lanatus and Festuca arundinacea on the Monterey Peninsula and H. lanatus at Pt. Reyes National Seashore. Three isolates from each of these sources (nine total) and one known G. circinata isolate from pines (GL 17) were tested for virulence by inoculating 1-year-old, greenhouse-grown Monterey pine trees; three trees were inoculated, once for each isolate. Trees were inoculated by depositing 250 spores in a wound on the main stem by the method described by Gordon et al. (3). Two weeks later, all grass isolates had induced resinous branch cankers with lesions comparable in length (17 to 24 mm) and appearance to those caused by GL 17. Similar results were obtained when inoculations were repeated. One isolate from F. arundinacea and one from H. lanatus (collected at Pt. Reyes National Seashore) were tested and shown to be somatically compatible with tester strains for vegetative compatibility groups C6 and C1, respectively, both of which are associated with isolates previously recovered from diseased pines (2). GL 17 and one isolate each from F. arundinaceae and H. lanatus were tested for their ability to infect F. arundinaceae cv. Fawn. For each isolate, 20 14-day-old seedlings (10 pots with two plants per pot) were sprayed to runoff with an aqueous suspension of 106 spores per ml. All inoculations were repeated once. Two weeks after inoculation, leaves and stems were rinsed briefly in 0.1% Tween 20, immersed for 10 s in 70% ethanol, followed by 30 s in 1% NaOCl, and cultured on FSM. All tested isolates were recovered from at least some of the inoculated plants (range 20 to 100%), from living stems and leaves, as well as from senescing tissue. These results show that grass species can be symptomless hosts for G. circinata, constituting the first documentation of any host for this pathogen outside the Pinaceae. Studies are underway to further characterize the host range of G. circinata and assess the epidemiological implications of grasses as alternate hosts for the pitch canker pathogen. References: (1) B. J. Aegerter and T. R. Gordon. For. Ecol. Manag. 235:14, 2006. (2) T. R. Gordon et al. Mycol. Res. 100:850, 1996. (3) T. R. Gordon et al. Hortscience 33:868, 1998. (4) C. L. Swett and T. R. Gordon. Phytopathology (Abstr.) 89:S126, 2009.

Radicchio (Cichorium intybus) is ranked 22 among crops in Monterey County, California, with a farm gate value of $19,531,000 (3). Beginning in 2002, a leaf spot disease of radicchio was observed in Monterey County. The disease began as small lesions and in some cases coalesced into larger, irregular spots. Lesions were maroon to dark brown; in some cases, the margins of brown lesions became dark maroon with aging. Each leaf spot was observable from both adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces. Symptoms primarily occurred on the outer foliage of the heads, though on occasion the head cap leaf could develop lesions. Disease incidence in the first year resulted in up to 10% unharvested radicchio because of cap leaf infections or reduced head size if outer wrapper leaves were all removed; outbreaks in subsequent seasons were more limited. Bacteria forming yellow mucoid colonies were isolated from surface disinfested symptomatic tissue that was macerated and streaked onto sucrose peptone agar medium. Bacteria were gram negative, did not fluoresce on King's Medium B, and used esculin as a carbon source but used none of the other 48 carbon sources tested using the API 50 CH test strip. Nine isolates from symptomatic radicchio had the same DNA fragment banding pattern generated by repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence polymerase chain reactions (rep-PCR) using the BOXA1R primer. Amplicons of rpoD, dnaK, fyuA, and gyrB for multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were generated using a modification of the scheme developed by Young et al. (4) and sequenced by a commercial laboratory. Concatenated sequences of the four genes from the radicchio isolates were compared to the sequences available in the Plant Associated and Environmental Microbes Database (1). The genetic distance between the nine isolates from radicchio and pathotypes of Xanthomonas hortorum were 0.03 or less and MLST analysis indicated that radicchio isolates were members of the species X. hortorum (2). To complete Koch's postulates, freshly grown cultures were suspended in phosphate buffer and adjusted to approximately 5 × 108 CFU/ml. The inoculum was sprayed onto the undersides of leaves of 40-day-old radicchio plants (C. intybus cv. Leonardo). Plants were incubated at 100% humidity for 48 h and then moved to a greenhouse. Plants sprayed with buffer served as negative controls. For each of the two experiments conducted, there were three and six single-plant replicates per treatment. The buffer treated plants did not develop symptoms but the plants treated with isolates from radicchio developed leaf spots similar to those observed in the field with symptoms beginning to be visible after 5 days. The bacteria isolated from symptomatic tissue on inoculated plants were identical to the original strains when compared with rep-PCR, thus completing Koch's postulates. Results from the two experiments were similar. To our knowledge, this is the first report of X. hortorum causing a leaf spot disease on radicchio. The disease continues to occur sporadically on radicchio grown in coastal California. References: (1) Almeida et al. Phytopathology 100:208, 2010. (2) Bull et al. Phytopathology 101:847, 2011. (3) Lauritzen, Monterey County Crop Report, 2010; (4) Young et al. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 31:366, 2008.

Stem cankers and branches showing bark discoloration, fissuring, resin exudation leading to dieback, crown wilting, and tree mortality have been observed since late spring 2008 on 40-year-old Cupressus macrocarpa (Hartw.) trees planted in forests mixed with Juniperus oxycedrus L. and Acer monspessulanum L. in Taffet, near Ain Abbessa, in the district of Bougaa, Algeria (36°18′57″N; 05°06′33″E; 1,400 m elevation). In 2010, approximately 60% of the C. macrocarpa trees were diseased. For fungal isolations, cankered branches were surface sterilized with ethanol. After removal of the outer bark, fragments of necrotic inner bark taken from the margin of cankers were plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Most of the colonies were identified as Botryosphaeria iberica (Phillips, Luque & Alves) based on comparison of morphological traits and DNA sequences with known isolates of the fungus (1). Pestalotiopsis funerea colonies were also obtained, although with less frequency. B. iberica colonies on PDA were dark green with aerial mycelium and optimum growth at 25°C. Pycnidia were produced after 3 weeks of incubation at 20°C under a 12-h near UV light photoperiod on water agar amended with autoclaved cypress seeds. Conidia were brown, one-septate, oval to oblong, and 24.2 (20.1 to 27.4) × 11.2 μm (8.8 to 14.1) (n= 50). An isolate was deposited at the Centralbureau voor Schimmelculture as CBS 130984. DNA was extracted from freeze-dried mycelium and amplified using primers ITS1 and ITS4. The amplified DNA sequence of B. iberica isolate CBS 130984 from Algeria (GenBank Accession No. JN836991) showed 100% homology with sequences of B. iberica isolates obtained from dead and cankered bark of oaks from Spain and Italy (GenBank Accession Nos. AY573216, AY573214, AY573213, AY573210, AY573202, and AY573201). Stem inoculations were performed in the greenhouse on 10 4-year-old, grafted plants of C. macrocarpa growing in 5-liter pots using isolate CBS 130984. A 3-mm plug taken from the margin of a colony grown on PDA for 1 week was inserted in a circular wound of the same size made in the bark with a cork borer where the stem diameter was approximately 1 cm. Inoculations were repeated in June 2010 and June 2011. Five months after inoculations, small rounded to elongated lesions (1.0 to 2.5 cm long), sometimes with resin exuding cracks, were visible on all inoculated stems. Control trees, inoculated with sterile PDA plugs, showed no canker development. B. iberica was successfully reisolated from the necrotic bark surrounding the inoculation sites. No significant differences in canker size were observed between the two replicated experiments. Some Botryosphaeria species that are found on a variety of hosts are also known to cause cankers and dieback of cypress; among these are B. stewensii, B. obtusa, B. dothidea, and B. ribis, often acting as weak pathogens (2,3). Considered weakly virulent in causing dieback of grapevine (4) and, to our knowledge, reported here for the first time on Cupressaceae, B. iberica caused cankers and dieback of C. macrocarpa trees that had probably been weakened by repeated drought events occurring in Algeria during the last 10 years. References: (1) A. Phillips et al. Mycologia 97:513, 2005. (2) E. Punithalingam and J. M. Waller. IMI Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria 40, Sheet 394, 1973; (3) E. Punithalingam and P. Holliday. IMI Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria. 40, Sheet 395, 1973; (4) R. Úrbez-Torres et al. Plant Dis. 93:584, 2009.

In June 2013, a commercial organic planting of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla) in Monterey County, CA, showed symptoms of a soilborne disease. Early symptoms consisted of delayed and stunted growth, with wilting of foliage during the warmer times of the day. Initially, a light brown discoloration developed on stems at the soil line. As disease progressed, a dark brown necrosis extended up the main stem and down along the upper portion of the taproot. In advanced cases, the plants collapsed and died. Extensive white cottony mycelium and numerous brown, spherical sclerotia, approximately 1 mm in diameter, developed externally on the lower stem, crown, and adhering adjacent soil. For this particular planting, approximately 10% of the 0.4 ha was lost. Sequentially planted sets of chard placed in other parts of the farm were unaffected. Isolations from necrotic plant tissues, sclerotia, and white mycelium all resulted in recovery of the same white fungus that in culture produced identical sclerotia but no other reproductive structures. Based on white mycelium, sclerotia morphology, and the presence of clamp connections at hyphal septa, the fungus was identified as Sclerotium rolfsii (1). Pathogenicity was tested by growing isolates on potato dextrose agar, drying the resulting sclerotia for 48 h, then burying 5 to 8 sclerotia adjacent to the crowns of healthy Swiss chard plants grown in pots. Three isolates were tested using 24 plants per isolate. Six control plants were inoculated with sterilized sand. All plants were incubated in a greenhouse at 22 to 25°C. After 8 days, inoculated plants began to wilt. By 14 days after inoculation, 100% of the inoculated plants showed symptoms identical to those observed in the field. One half of the plants were used for re-isolations, from which S. rolfsii was recovered from all necrotic crown and stem tissues. The other half of the plants were maintained in the greenhouse; these plants later supported the development of sclerotia. Sand-inoculated control plants did not develop any disease symptoms. The experiment was repeated and the results were the same. To our knowledge, this is the first report of southern blight of Swiss chard in California. Southern blight has not previously been found in this cooler, western part of the county adjacent to the Pacific Ocean; southern blight has been documented on other crops such as pepper, tomato, and chives (3) in the warmer eastern and southern parts of Monterey County. S. rolfsii has been reported on Swiss chard in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Cuba (2). References: (1) K. H. Domsch et al. Compendium of Soil Fungi, 2nd edition. IHW-Verlag, Eching, Germany, 2007. (2) D. F. Farr and A. Y. Rossman. Fungal Databases. Syst. Mycol. Microbiol. Lab. Online publication, ARS, USDA. Retrieved July 26, 2013. (3) S. T. Koike et al. Plant Dis. 78:208, 1994.

Thirty-seven multidrug-resistant and 13 pan-susceptible isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were analysed for the diversity of genotypes associated with known drug-resistance mechanisms. The isolates were obtained from patients attending a university tuberculosis clinic in Monterrey, Mexico. A total of 25 IS6110-RFLP patterns were obtained from the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) isolates. Approximately 65 % of the MDR-TB isolates were attributed to secondary resistance. Different drug-susceptibility patterns were seen with the clustered isolates. The percentage of isolates resistant to isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RIF), ethambutol (EMB) and streptomycin (STR) was 100, 97.3, 48.7 and 67.6, respectively. The most common resistance-associated polymorphisms for the four drugs were as follows: INH, Ser315Thr (67.6 %) in katG; RIF, Ser450Leu (41.7 %) in rpoB; EMB, Met306Ile/Val/Leu (66.7 %) in embB; and STR, Lys43Arg (24 %) in rpsL. Drug-resistance-associated mutations were similar to changes occurring in isolates from other areas of the world, but unique, previously unreported, mutations in katG (n = 5), rpoB (n = 1) and rrs (n = 3) were also identified.

The idea of the article is to describe the relationship between the journalist and writer Rosa Montero and Maria Skłodowska-Curie that was aroused as an effect of the work on the explorer’s diary. Montero was supposed to create a prologue to Maria’s diary written after her husband’s tragic death, but the text con-verted into a book. La ridícula idea de no volver a verte is an example of the combination of journalism and literature as an experiment; it takes the form of an intertextual dialogue between the transmitters (Rosa, Maria) and the recipient (Rosa who is reading Maria’s diary, the reader that is reading Rosa’s and Maria’s texts). In the stormy life of Skłodowska-Curie, Rosa finds elements binding her own experiences as well as those of other women. By introducing highlights in the form of hashtags, she pays attention to the universal problems of women: she sees that there are many aspects that bound not only Polish and Spanish women, but all the representatives of that sex living in a world dominated by men. She shows, step by step, the efforts of the Polish explorer, underlying at the same time, her emotionality and the capacity of manipulating the word. Rosa proves that words are the element that makes possible the interaction between her, Maria, and the reader, who is forced to reflect and cannot stay indifferent to the message directed to him. Montero also shows the way in which words permit us to adjust to the pain and suffering after a loss of a loved one, and find inner peace.

The evaluation of quality of life may enable researchers to produce information that may improve health care and the quality of older people’s lives. This research has two main goals: the first is to assess the psychometric properties of the SF-36 Health Questionnaire (construct validity and internal consistency), and the second, to calculate the factorial invariance of the questionnaire in two random, independent samples (i.e., cross-validation). The total sample consisted of 970 elderly subjects from the cities of Chihuahua and Monterrey, Mexico, with an average age of 71.18 (SD = 7.69). The factor structure of the SF-36 was analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The analyses show an adequate four-factor structure. The four-factor structure (Physical Function, Body Pain, Physical Role and Psychological Health) shows adequate reliability and validity indices. In addition, the results from the CFA analyses for the subsamples provide strong evidence of the stability of the four-factor structure. Future research should consider replicating the present findings in larger samples.

Background: Pelvic floor myofascial syndrome is defined as non-articular skeletal muscle pain, characterized by the presence of trigger points. Present in 14-23% of patients with chronic pelvic pain. It has an impact on urinary function. The prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms is 15-67%, with storage symptoms predominating in patients with PFMS. Objective was to determine the relationship between female pelvic floor myofascial syndrome and lower urinary tract storage symptoms. Methods: This was a retrospective, observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, homodemic and single-center study at University Hospital Doctor José Eleuterio González, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico from period one from April 1st to June 30th, 2022. Type of non-probabilistic convenience sampling. Database in Excel 2016, Pearson's Х² statistical test in the SPSS V25® program. Results: 136 patients with PFMS and LUTS storage were evaluated. The most frequent age group was 46-55 years with 33.1% (N=45); the marital status was married with 74.3% (N=101). In relation to education 55.9% (N=76) with a bachelor's degree. The most frequent storage symptoms were nocturia 67.6% (N=92) p<0.05, frequency 60.3% (N=82) p=0.512, urgency 57.4% p<0.005. Conclusions: Knowing the correlation between PFMS and storage LUTS can guide specific pain treatment with review of urinary symptoms. In patients with nocturia, frequency, urgency, SUI and UUI, a physical examination should be performed and included trigger points in the pelvic floor. Nocturia is the most prevalent storage LUTS in PFMS.

Abstract BACKGROUND Neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinases (NTRK 1-3)fusions have been identified in a range of pediatric cancer. Among children with cancer NTRK fusions can be detected in less than 1% of cases. Low grade gliomas (LGG) are the most pediatric brain tumors and the frequency of NTRK fusions reported is between 0.4 -4.3%. NTRK2 fusions are the most commonly reported in pediatric brain tumors. METHOD We describe the characteristics of patients analysed. Due to limited access to Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) only patients with recurrent, progressive, metastatic or midline location LGG were tested during 2021-2022. Positivity to Pan-Trk immunohistochemistry was needed to proceed to confirmation with NGS. 10 patients with LGG were included. Median age of patients at baseline was 4.7 (range,1-12) years. 10/10 showed positivity to Pan-Trk stain and NTRK fusions were detected in 6/10 patients, 3/6 had NTRK1 fusions, 2/6 NTRK2 fusion and 1 with NTRK3 fusion.. All 4 patients without NTRK fusions are off therapy (more than 1 year survellaince) and 2/4 were treated with surgery only. All patients with NTRK fusions are still on treatment due to progressive disease, 4/6 patients have required 2 or more surgeries and 5/6 patients have needed 2 or more chemotherapy regimens. CONCLUSION This small cohort of patients represents a highly selected population with LGG and the frequency of NTRK fusions resulted significantly higher than expected (6 out of 10 patients tested). This finding could reflect a clinical or prognostic significance, it will be important to analyze a larger cohort of patients that share these same clinical characteristics to determine its real value as a prognostic marker in these heavily treated patients. There is well known molecular alterations that predict outcome in patients with LGG. NTRK targeted therapy already exists with proven efficacy although access may limits its use.

This work presents the Campus City initiative followed by the Challenge Living Lab platform to promote research, innovation, and entrepreneurship with the intention to create urban infrastructure and creative talent (human resources) that solves different community, industrial and government Pain Points within a Smart City ecosystem. The main contribution of this work is to present a working model and the open innovation ecosystem used in Tecnologico de Monterrey that could be used as both, a learning mechanism as well as a base model for scaling it up into a Smart Campus and Smart City. Moreover, this work presents the Smart Energy challenge as an example of a pedagogic opportunity for the development of competencies. This included the pedagogic design of the challenge, the methodology followed by the students and the results. Finally, a discussion on the findings and learnings of the model and challenge implementation. Results showed that Campus City initiative and the Challenge Living Lab allows the identification of highly relevant and meaningful challenges while providing a pedagogic framework in which students are highly motivated, engaged, and prepared to tackle different problems that involve government, community, industry, and academia.

El siguiente texto tiene por objetivo mostrar cuáles fueron las herramientas tecnológicas que más impactaron en el alumnado del Tecnológico de Monterrey que cursa la maestría en educación -modalidad online-. En este sentido, se busca conocer cómo a través de los diferentes cursos transitados a lo largo de dicho posgrado, el estudiantado pudo ser capaz de gestionar su aprendizaje y utilizar las distintas TIC a su favor. La metodología aplicada es de corte cualitativo, y se sustenta en la herramienta de entrevistas profundas/intensas; en particular se aplica esta técnica al alumnado que cursa cualquiera de las tres fases de la materia: Proyecto de Investigación Aplicada (PIA), es decir, alumnos y alumnas que ya culminaron la mayoría de sus materias y actualmente desarrollan su tesis. Como resultado, se encuentra que con el uso de distintas herramientas tecnológicas como aplicaciones, presentaciones, aplicaciones que fomentan el trabajo colaborativo, grabaciones asincrónicas, videos, etc., En conclusión, tanto la constante comunicación, como el nuevo rol del profesorado, y distintos recursos tecnológicos enfocados en la enseñanza, son determinantes para que el estudiantado sea capaz de gestionar su tiempo para mejorar su propio proceso de aprendizaje y administrar sus actividades para llevarlas a cabo en tiempo y forma.

Introducción El pan es una de las principales fuentes de carbohidratos, es consumido por la mayoría de la población, sin embargo, los panes que usan como base a los vegetales no son muy conocidos, la remolacha es una hortaliza que se caracteriza por su sabor dulce y característico, su ingesta se considera baja a pesar de ser un alimento con grandes beneficios para el organismo, debido a la presencia se sustancias bioactivas con función antioxidante, encargándose de la eliminación de radicales libres y así evitando daño en órganos y previniendo el envejecimiento prematuro; por esta razón, la finalidad de este proyecto fue utilizar remolacha en la elaboración de un pan y así potenciar el consumo de esta hortaliza, mejorando la calidad nutricional del pan y creando un producto innovador. Objetivos Desarrollar un pan a base de remolacha para potenciar el consumo de esta hortaliza, la cual es fuente de antioxidantes, mismos que combaten los procesos inflamatorios en el organismo. Método Pesado de los ingredientes, mezclado (amasadora Montero modelo HS20), reposo (27°C por 15 min), boleado y formado (piezas de 60 g), reposo (27°C por 1 hora) y horneado (inoxforni 5 bandejas) (160°C por 25 min) Principales resultados Se obtuvo un pan con características organolépticas aceptables, destacando su color y sabor respecto del pan que sólo emplea harina de trigo. El aporte nutricional, por porción de 60 g fue de: aporte calórico de 160,5 kcal; macronutrientes: agua 18,35%, Carbohidratos 21,53 g; Proteína 4,07 g; Grasa 6,51 g; micronutrientes como Fe 1.15 mg; Ácido Fólico 32,88 ug. Conclusiones El producto obtenido posee menos calorías que productos comerciales y el aporte de ácido fólico es 8%, sabiendo que las necesidades de esta vitamina son de 400 ug día en mujeres en edad reproductiva, tomando en cuenta que se consumen otros alimentos que contienen esta vitamina se contribuye a su ingesta mediante el pan de remolacha. La posibilidad de introducir verduras en la elaboración de pan aumenta el consumo de verduras, mejora el aporte nutricional e introduce en la dieta sustancias bioactivas capaces de reducir el riesgo de distintas patologías de origen inflamatorio.

An assistive technology (AT) is any item, equipment or product used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of people with disabilities. The aim of this study was to design and develop two ATs in order to assist the needs of a male student from Universidad de Monterrey experiencing gait dysfunction and pain due to a congenital foot deformity preventing him from normal performance. These ATs included personalized orthopedic insoles to improve the participant’s posture and stability as well as two ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) to reduce the pain he presented. In order to design the orthopedic insoles, it was necessary to scan the participant’s feet; this was achieved using the photogrammetry technique. For the design of the AFOs, anthropometric measurements of the lower limbs were taken in order to modify a predefined 3D human model and obtain a digital model of the lower limbs. Both devices were manufactured using 3D printing technology. In order to analyze the participant’s progress and validate the effectiveness of the ATs, we developed a methodology for movement analysis based on the marker-less motion capture system Kinect 2. Data obtained was imported into Matlab in order to calculate lower limb joint angles and compare gait before and after using the ATs. Significant improvement was seen in the participant’s gait after two weeks of using the ATs. Moreover, we were able to demonstrate that the use of orthopedic insoles improved participant’s posture based on the correct alignment (180°) of the heel with the ankle. We believe these posture improvements could further impact on participant’s gait performance. Therefore, we expect a significant improvement on participant’s gait after constant use of both ATs developed.

<p>Metaphor is one of the most frequently used resources in the specialized language of sports (cf. Segrave, 2000; Herráez Pindado, 2004; Segura Soto, 2009; Medina Montero, 2015). The focus of this study is on how victory and defeat are expressed through metaphors in sports headlines. The data collection consists of 100 sports headlines in English and 100 in Spanish. Based on our findings, we argue that there is a diversity of metaphors that take advantage of mutual semantic fields to present victory and defeat in the two corpora, the semantic fields that were identified in the study are: a) war, b) laws, c) cleaning, d) royalty, e) life and death, f) space and g) pain. Finally, when a team’s nickname is an animal-related name, journalists map the properties of the animal onto the team (Silaški, 2009) to make the headline more attractive for the audience.</p>

Declining coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) trees have been observed since 2012 throughout urban landscapes in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Monterey counties in California. Symptoms causing branch dieback and tree death included a cinnamon-colored gum seeping through multiple 0.95-mm-diameter entry holes on the bole, followed by a prolific, cream-colored foamy liquid. Beneath the outer bark was phloem and xylem necrosis. Fifty 1- to 2.5-mm adult and larval beetles were collected. Adults fit the morphological description of Pseudopityophthorus pubipennis (western oak bark beetle) (R. Rabaglia, personal communication), and ~800 bp of the mitochondrial COI gene was amplified for three beetles using primer pairs and methods previously described (2,3). All three sequences were identical (GenBank Accession Nos. KJ831289 to 91) and a BLAST search confirmed the closest match (94%) as P. pubipennis. Necrotic wood tissues collected from two trees in each county were cultured on potato dextrose agar amended with 0.01% tetracycline (PDA-tet), and incubated at 25°C for 1 week. Ochre-colored cultures with plane or radially furrowed velutinous mycelium were consistently produced. Fifty conidia each measured from two isolates were 3.66 ± 0.04 μm × 1.77 ± 0.03 μm, and arranged in non-persistent conidial chains, at first roughly parallel, becoming tangled with age. These fungal colonies were observed within gallery walls. The rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) was amplified using primer pairs and methods previously described (5). Three isolates were sequenced and matched 100% to known sequences of Geosmithia pallida in GenBank; sequences of two isolates (UCR2208 and UCR2210) were deposited in GenBank (KJ468687 and KJ468688). Pathogenicity tests were performed by inoculating twelve 27.0-cm detached coast live oak shoots for each isolate with a spore suspension of G. pallida (UCR2208 and UCR2210) and sterile distilled water for controls. A 2-mm-wide, 3-mm-deep hole was drilled into the center of each shoot, 20 μl of a 106 conidia/ml spore suspension was pipetted into the hole, and sealed with Vaseline and Parafilm. The experiment was repeated twice. After 4 weeks in a moist chamber at 25°C, lesions produced by G. pallida averaged 8.3 cm and was significantly longer (ANOVA; P < 0.0001) from the control (average 0.4 cm). G. pallida was re-isolated from all inoculated plants and identified by colony morphology. P. pubipennis is a native beetle, common as a secondary agent, and previously not associated with disease. However, cryptic species may be common among bark and ambrosia beetles (4). A larger sample (i.e., populations and loci) is needed to determine the precise taxonomic status of P. pubipennis. G. pallida was shown to inhibit root growth of Q. petraea by 25% in Europe (1), appears to have affinities with a range of subcorticolous insects, and is widely distributed (5), but there is no published record of the fungus occurring in the United States. This is the first report of G. pallida causing foamy bark canker in association with P. pubipennis on Q. agrifolia in California. Results suggest this new disease complex is causing decline of Q. agrifolia throughout the state. References: (1) D. Cizková et al. Folia Microbiol. 50:59, 2005. (2) A. I. Cognato and F. A. H. Sperling. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 14:445, 2000. (3) A. I. Cognato et al. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 36:494, 2006. (4) B. H. Jordal and M. Kambestad. Mol. Ecol. Res. 14:7, 2014. (5) M. Kolarík et al. Mycol. Res. 108:1053, 2004.

Pinus radiata D. Don is a forest tree species native to the Monterey Baja in California. Due to its rapid growth and desirable lumber and pulp qualities, between 1960 and 1980, about 12,000 ha of P. radiata were planted in Sardinia, Italy. The only disease reported on this conifer species has been Diplodia pinea, which causes tip and branch dieback (3). In January 2012, dieback and mortality of 25-year-old radiata pine trees were observed in a reforestation area of about 20 ha located in northern Sardinia (40°43′N, 9°22′E, 600 m a.s.l.). Symptoms included chlorosis, reddish-brown discoloration of the whole crown or dieback starting in the upper crown and progressing downward through the crown, and necrotic bark tissues at root collar. Approximately 25% of the trees were affected. In a first attempt, a Phytophthora species was consistently isolated from the rhizosphere of 23 symptomatic trees, which included necrotic fine roots using oak leaves as bait (4). Afterwards, it was also isolated from phloem samples taken from the margins of fresh lesions at the stem base and upper roots of affected trees using synthetic mucor agar medium (1). Isolation from soil samples of six healthy pine trees randomly selected in the site did not yield any Phytophthora isolate. On carrot agar (CA), Phytophthora colonies were stellate to slightly radiate with limited aerial mycelium. Sporangia were obpiryform, non-papillate, and non-caducous, measuring 46.9 to 51.2 × 29.1 to 32.6 μm (l:b ratio 1.9). Hyphal swellings were formed in chains or clusters; chlamydospores were not observed. These isolates had cardinal temperatures of <5°C, 25°C, and 35°C, respectively. Their morphological and cultural features were typical of Phytophthora cryptogea Pethybridge & Lafferty. They were heterothallic and produced oogonia with amphyginous antheridia when paired with an A2 mating type tester strain of P. cryptogea. This identity was corroborated by sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA. BLAST searches showed 99% homology with sequences of P. cryptogea available in GenBank (DQ479410 and HQ697245). The ITS sequence of a representative isolate (PH101) was submitted to GenBank (Accession Nos. KC603895). The strain PH101 was stored in the culture collection of the Department of Agriculture at the University of Sassari. Pathogenicity of isolate PH101 was verified by inoculating five freshly cut logs of radiata pine (1 m long and 15 cm diam.) with a 5-mm agar plug taken from the margin of 4-day-old culture grown on CA (4). The plug was inserted in a 5-mm hole made through the bark with a cork borer. Five control logs were inoculated with sterile CA. All logs were incubated in a growth chamber at 20°C. Phloem lesion sizes were assessed after 1 month and measured 9.7 ± 5.5 cm2 (average ± standard deviation). Control logs had no lesions. The pathogen was re-isolated from the lesions, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. P. cryptogea has been previously reported in Australia, causing decline of radiata pine trees in wet and flooded soils (2). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. cryptogea on P. radiata trees in Europe. References: (1) C. M. Brasier and S. A. Kirk. Plant Pathol. 50:218, 2001. (2) M. Bumbieris. Aust. J. Bot. 24:703, 1976. (3) A. Franceschini et al. Informatore Fitopatologico 1:54, 2006. (4) B. Scanu et al. For. Pathol. 43:340, 2013.

California is a major almond (Prunus dulcis) producer in the world. In September 2012, 2-year-old almond trees from an orchard in Fresno Co. with stem cankers were submitted for disease diagnosis. In a survey of the orchard, 12 ha (1,500 Nonpareil and 1,800 Monterey almond trees) of 48 ha trees had been killed apparently due to a stem canker. The cankers developed above the graft union, were covered with amber sap, and often girdled the trunk. Isolations made from tissues at the canker margins onto acidified potato dextrose agar (PDA) yielded two fungi, Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid and Lasiodiplodia theobromae (Pat.) Griffon & Maubl (1). M. phaseolina and L. theobromae were isolated from eight and two of 10 cankered trees, respectively. No mixed infections were found. M. phaseolina isolates were characterized by gray hyphae that turned black with developing microsclerotia. L. theobromae isolates were characterized by white, aerial mycelium that turned mouse gray after 5 days. Young conidia were ellipsoidal, thick walled, initially hyaline, granular, and nonseptate; aged conidia were brown, 1-septate with longitudinal striations in the wall. Identity was confirmed by analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), β-tubulin 2 (BT2), and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF-1α) gene regions. BLAST searches at GenBank showed a high identity with reference sequences of type specimens both for M. phaseolina (isolates 7E64 to 7E69: ITS, 100%; BT2, 99%; TEF-1α, 99%) and L. theobromae (isolates 7E86 to 7E88: ITS, 99%; BT2, 99%; TEF-1α, 100%). Sequences of three gene regions were deposited as GenBank accessions KC357271 to KC357279 (ITS); KC357280 to KC357288 (BT2); and KC357289 to KC357297 (TEF-1α). The pathogenicity of M. phaseolina and L. theobromae to P. dulcis cultivars Butte, Carmel, Nonpareil, and Padre was investigated in an orchard at KARE using four isolates of M. phaseolina (7E64, 7E65, 7E66, and 7E69) and two isolates of L. theobromae (7E86 and 7E88). Ten 2-year-old branches per isolate from 7-year-old trees were inoculated with each isolate in late September 2012, after removing the bark with a 7-mm cork borer and placing a 7-day-old 7-mm-diameter agar plug bearing mycelium of each isolate directly into the fresh wound, mycelium side down. Ten additional branches of each of the four cultivars were inoculated with sterile PDA plugs and served as negative controls. Three weeks after inoculation, the average lesion produced by M. phaseolina on Butte, Carmel, Nonpareil, and Padre was 53, 52, 41, and 37 mm in length, respectively. Lesions produced by L. theobromae were 191, 206, 194, and 103 mm in length on the four cultivars, respectively. No disease lesion, only wounds, were produced on negative controls. Lesions produced by both pathogens were longer (P < 0.05) than wounds on the controls (average length 10 mm on all cultivars). Both L. theobromae isolates killed branches of cultivars Butte, Carmel, and Nonpareil in 2 weeks. M. phaseolina and L. theobromae were reisolated from the inoculated branches, and no fungus was reisolated from controls. Based on pathogenicity results, L. theobromae is more virulent to almond branches than M. phaseolina. To our knowledge, this is the second report of M. phaseolina (2) and the first report of L. theobromae as pathogens of P. dulcis trees in California. References: (1) A. Alves et al. Fungal Diversity 28:1, 2008. (2) P. Inderbitzin et al. Mycologia 102:1350, 2010.

Sticky monkey flower plant, Mimulus aurantiacus (Phrymaceae), is a small, perennial shrub that is widely distributed throughout California, especially in coastal and disturbed habitats. It is also found in native plantings in parks and landscapes. In October 2012, nearly all the M. aurantiacus plants grown in a Monterey County, CA nursery for a restoration project were stunted and had dull, yellowish leaves. Roots and stem collars had necrotic, sunken lesions with few feeder roots. Thirty percent of the plants had died. Samples of diseased plants were sent to the CDFA-PPDC Lab and tested positive for Phytophthora sp. using the Agdia ELISA Phytophthora kit (Agdia, Elkhart, IN). A Phytophthora sp. was consistently isolated from the tissue on corn meal agar-PARP (CMA-PARP) (2). Sporangia were spherical to ovoid, papillate to bipapillate and 17 to 42.5 (avg. 27.5) × 12 to 35 (avg. 22.9) μm, with a length/breadth ratio of 1.2:1. Chlamydospores, which were spherical, terminal to intercalary, thin walled and 27.5 to 40 μm, and hyphal swellings formed on CMA-PARP. Spherical oospores, 25 to 36 μm, with primarily paragynous antheridia formed readily on V8 juice agar. rDNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the isolates (GenBank KF667505), amplified using primers ITS1 and ITS4, were 100% identical to Phytophthora tentaculata (CBS 552.96, GenBank AF266775) by a BLAST query (1,3). To assess pathogenicity, exposed root crowns of three 3.78-liter potted M. aurantiacus plants were inoculated with 20 ml of zoospore suspension (2 × 104 ml−1). Plants were maintained in a 23°C growth chamber with a 12-h photoperiod and watered daily. Sterile water was applied to the exposed crowns of three control plants. At 2 weeks, all inoculated plants were wilted with chlorotic foliage. After 3 weeks, the cortical tissue of the crowns and roots was discolored and sloughing and P. tentaculata was recovered on CMA-PARP. P. tentaculata did not grow from the asymptomatic control plants. Inoculations were repeated with similar results. P. tentaculata is a homothallic species in Phytophthora clade 1 that causes crown, root, and stalk rot of nursery plants in Europe and China (1,4). A USDA PERAL analysis lists it as one of the top 5 Phytophthora species of concern to the United States (4). Genera infected with P. tentaculata include Apium, Aucklandia, Chicorium, Chrysanthemum, Delphinium, Gerbera, Lavandula, Santolina, Origanum, and Verbena (4). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. tentaculata in North America. The source of inoculum of P. tentaculata in California remains unknown. The nursery used seed and cuttings of M. aurantiacus from nearby native areas for propagation, and P. tentaculata was not found in neighboring plant hosts or by baiting soil and water at the nursery. All infected M. aurantiacus material was destroyed. The presence of P. tentaculata in California nurseries could have serious economic impacts on the nursery industry and environmental impacts on susceptible native hosts, if spread into the wildlands. References: (1) D. E. L. Cooke et al. Fungal Genet. Biol. 30:17, 2000. (2) S. N. Jeffers and S. B. Martin. Plant Dis. 70:1038, 1986. (3) H. Krober and R. Z. Marwitz. Pflanzenkrankh. Pflanzenschutz 100:250, 1993. (4) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS). Phytophthora species in the Environment and Nursery Settings New Pest Response Guidelines, USDA-APHIS-PPQ-Emergency and Domestic Programs-Emergency Management, Riverdale, MD, 2010.

Dothistroma needle blight (DNB), also known as red band needle blight, is an important fungal disease of Pinus spp. that occurs worldwide. On the basis of molecular and morphological studies of the anamorphic stage, Barnes et al. (1) showed that two closely related species were involved in DNB: Dothistroma septosporum (Dorog.) Morelet and D. pini Hulbary. D. septosporum (teleomorph: Mycosphaerella pini Rostr.) has a worldwide distribution and is reported as the species that caused past epidemics of DNB. This species is reported on more than 80 different pine species, and Pinus radiata D. Don (Monterey pine) is classified as a highly or moderately susceptible species, depending on the published sources (4). D. pini (telemorph: unknown) was initially found on needles of P. nigra J. F. Arnold collected from 1964 to 2001 in the north central United States (Minnesota, Nebraska, and Michigan). It was subsequently found in Ukraine and southwestern Russia, where it has been associated with the emergence of DNB on P. nigra subsp. pallasiana (Lamb.) Holmboe, in Hungary on P. nigra, and in Russia on P. mugo Turra (1). In France, D. pini was reported for the first time on P. nigra, and was sometimes found in association with D. septosporum on the same needles (3). Later on, a more intensive survey of DNB was launched in France and 216 stands of Pinus sp. were studied. D. septosporum and D. pini were detected in 133 and 123 stands, respectively. Both species co-occurred in 40 stands but D. pini was only found on P. nigra (subsp. laricio and austriaca) (2). Up to now, D. pini was therefore only reported on European pine species, mainly on the different allopatric subspecies belonging to the black pine complex and on one occasion on P. mugo, which belongs to the same section and subsection as P. nigra. In March 2011, typical symptoms of DNB (needles with orangey-red brown distal ends, dark red bands, and green bases; small and black fruit bodies within the bands) were observed in a 50- to 60-year old P. radiata stand of ~3 ha located in Pyrénées Atlantiques close to the Spanish border (1°36′08″ W, 43°19′51″ N). The density of pine was relatively low and patches of natural regeneration were present. Although nearly all of the trees showed DNB symptoms, less than 50% of their needles were affected by the disease. In this stand, needles showing typical DNB symptoms were randomly taken from four pines and mixed together to form a single sample for analysis. Total DNA was extracted from symptomatic needle pieces. The presence of D. pini was confirmed by a specific multiplex real-time PCR analysis using the D. pini-specific primers/probe combination DPtef-F1-/R1/-P1 (3), and by sequencing a D. pini-specific amplicon generated by another conventional PCR (3) using DPtef-F/DPtef-R primers (GenBank Accession KC853059) (3). D. septosporum was not detected in the sample. To our knowledge, this is the first report worldwide of D. pini on P. radiata, a pine species largely planted in Spain and in the Southern Hemisphere. This is also the first report of this pathogen on a non-European pine species. The original native range and the host range of D. pini remain unknown and there is currently no data about host preferences or aggressiveness on different pine species. References: (1) I. Barnes et al. For. Pathol. 41:361, 2011. (2) B. Fabre et al. Phytopathology 102:47, 2012. (3) R. Ioos et al. Phytopathology 100:105, 2010. (4) M. Watt et al. For. Ecol. Manage. 257:1505, 2009.

Background:Health and disease status assessment is of paramount importance in rheumatic diseases. Self-report functional status questionnaires provide a cost and time-efficient means of systematic evaluation for physicians. The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) is one of the most utilized comprehensive measures of outcome, and is divided in 8 sections of activity domains, namely, dressing, arising, eating, walking, hygiene, reach, grip and outside activities. Other disease-specific instruments such as the Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) share most of the functional domains evaluated by HAQ, whereas Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and WOMAC share domains mostly regarding pain and stiffness. Here, we present the results of the application of self-administered surveys in a third-level reference center in Mexico.Objectives:Determine the functional status and most affected activity domains of patients with rheumatic diseases measured by generic (HAQ) and disease-specific (WOMAC and BASDAI) questionnaires in a reference center of northeastern Mexico.Methods:We carried out a cross-sectional study in Rheumatology consultation in University Hospital “Dr. José Eleuterio González” in Monterrey, Mexico from August 2019 to December 2020. Nursery personnel systematically applied self-reported questionnaires HAQ, WOMAC and BASDAI in patients during their medical follow-up. Patient-reported outcomes were categorized by HAQ activity domains and/or pain and stiffness symptoms in WOMAC and BASDAI. Demographical characteristics were retrieved as well.Results:Demographic characteristics are shown in Table 1. HAQ showed a higher prevalence of difficulty performing daily activities in the Grip domain. WOMAC question regarding heavy domestic duties had the higher degree of difficulty, as well as pain ascending stairs and stiffness after awakening. Fatigue was the most severe symptom in BASDAI, followed by pain in areas tender to touch and pressure and stiffness after awakening.Conclusion:Disease activity and functional status impact is present on a mild-moderate level in self-reported questionnaires in the Rheumatology consultation of a northeastern center of reference in Mexico. The most affected domain in patients with rheumatic diseases is Grip domain, the most affected daily activities to perform are heavy domestic duties and the most prevalent symptoms are pain ascending stairs and stiffness after awakening as measured by HAQ, WOMAC and BASDAI, respectively.References:[1]Ferreira, P. L., Gonçalves, S. P., Ferreira, L. N., Pereira, L. N., Antunes, P., Gouveia, N., Rodrigues, A., Canhão, H., & Branco, J. (2016). Assessing quality of life of self-reported rheumatic patients. Rheumatology international, 36(9), 1265–1274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-016-3517-0.Table 1.Clinical and demographic characteristics of self-reported questionnaires HAQ, WOMAC and BASDAI.HAQn = 293Female, n (%)53.96 (95.6%)Age in years, mean (SD)51.96 (14.2)Mean score0.8WOMACn = 59Female, n (%)56 (94.9%)Age in years, mean (SD)61.64 (9.19)Mean score35.6%BASDAIn = 8Male, n (%)5 (62.5%)Age in years, mean (SD)42.12 (14.77)Mean score4.98HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; WOMAC, Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index; BASDAI, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index; SD, standard deviation.Figure 1.HAQ, WOMAC and BASDAI questions arranged by HAQ activity domains and/or symptoms showing the prevalence of difficulty degree per activity.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

e15687 Background: Data, incidence and/or prevalence about gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors remains unknown in Mexico. Also there is no evidence about any Mexican multicenter study reporting information such as clinical presentation, diagnostic approach and treatment. The biggest problem is the lack of clinical and therapeutic management results so physicians can validate the proper patient protocols. Methods: To know the clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic characteristics of NET-GEP patients treated at the 5 biggest Concentration Mexican Medical Institutions.This paper was developed with the support of 5 Public Medical Institutions: Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE), Secretary of the Mexican Navy, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), Ministry of Public Health 495 Patients from 6 hospitals where included: Oncology Hospital, CMN XXI Century, Hospital No. 25 25, Monterrey IMSS, National Cancer Institute (INCAN), National Medical Center November 20, Naval General Hospital of High Specialty and Private Institutions. This was a observational and retrospective academic paper . Results: :Of 495 patients, 59.7% (296) were women and 40.32% (200) were men, 26% of them had around 50 years old. Diagnosis symptoms included: abdominal pain 47.27% (234), gastrointestinal bleeding 18.58% (92) no-predominant symptoms 28.88% (143). Around 32.25% (160) had Carcinoid syndrome and 67.74% (336) were nonfunctioning. The predominant location was pancreas 33.27% (165) and stomach 28.02% (139). 36% resulted circumscribed neoplasia (179), features polypoid 26% (129) and infiltrative 15% (73). The size was > 2cm in 49% (242) > 1-2cm: 36% (180) 0.5 to 1 cm 9% (45) < 0.5 cm 6% (29). Grade: GI 64% (316), GII 13% (66), GIII 23% (114). Metastasis positive ganglioanres (6%) (31), negative (94%) (465). Only seven cases extra nodal metastases (liver (3), lung (2), spleen (2)) Conclusions:This is the first multi-center study in Mexico. Which reflects the clinical characteristics of the NET_GET. The results differ in their epidemiology from that reported in other countries. However, the clinical and therapeutic results are very similar.

BackgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating joint disorder affecting articular cartilages and subchondral bones, prompting synovial membrane irritation and inflammation (1). Nowadays, knee OA can be treated either by surgical or non-surgical approaches, while the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) suggested pharmacological medications joined with other functional approaches such as exercise, joint inflammation instructions, and weight reduction (2), yet most of them exhibit modest safety and efficacy (3). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been well-known in regenerative medicine for their wide differentiation capacity. Moreover, MSCs can be derived from various sources (4); however, Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) are easiest to assemble for clinical use with higher isolation yields (4).ObjectivesThis study investigated the potential and regenerative capacity of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) for osteoarthritis (OA).MethodsWe created a search strategy and applied it to six databases. After screening the records for eligibility, we identified and evaluated the risk of bias in both the randomized and non-randomized research studies. Then, data were extracted and implemented into single-arm and double-arm analysesResults16 studies with 469 patients were included. We found a significant improvement in the quality of life (QOL) among the three doses subgroups (high, medium, and low doses) which was estimated by the SF-36 scores after a year of follow up (low dose: Mean (M) -23.991; p = 0.000; medium dose: M -15.96; p = 0.000; high dose: M -19.306, p = 0.000). Furthermore, we noticed a significant decrease in pain as estimated by the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) after three months of follow-up with no significant difference between the low and medium doses (low dose: M -3.119; p = 0.002; medium dose; M -2.17; p = 0.000).Our double-arm analyses illustrated significant pain reduction in the ADMSCs group over the control after 12 months as estimated by WOMAC pain subscore (Mean difference (MD) -1.85, p =0.03); moreover, The knee functions and activity levels improved significantly among the low dose group as measured by the WOMAC physical function and stiffness subscales after six months (M -23.797; p = 0.001; M -10.249; p = 0.009, respectively) and the KOOS scores after 12 months (p ≤ 0.007 for all KOOS subscales). No significant adverse events were observed in the ADMSCs injections group (Event rate (ER) p = 0.001).ConclusionAlthough ADMSCs were associated with significant reductions in pain scores, improvements in QOL score and knee functions, and achieving disease modification in patients with OA, they did not significantly differ from the control. Therefore, implementing ADMSCs in routine clinical practice needs more studies with large sample sizes, longer follow-up periods.References[1]Morille M, Toupet K, Montero-Menei CN, Jorgensen C, Noël D. PLGA-based microcarriers induce mesenchymal stem cell chondrogenesis and stimulate cartilage repair in osteoarthritis. Biomaterials. 2016 May; 88:60–9[2]Bannuru RR, Osani MC, Vaysbrot EE, Arden NK, Bennell K, Bierma-Zeinstra SMA, et al. OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee, hip, and polyarticular osteoarthritis. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2019;27(11):1578–89[3]Abraham NS, El-Serag HB, Hartman C, Richardson P, Deswal A. Cyclooxygenase-2 selectivity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the risk of myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular accident. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2007;25(8):913–24[4]Lv FJ, Tuan RS, Cheung KMC, Leung VYL. Concise review: The surface markers and identity of human mesenchymal stem cells. Vol. 32, Stem Cells. Wiley-Blackwell; 2014. p. 1408–19.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

BackgroundThe oral health in patients with rheumatologic diseases is frequently affected because of chronic inflammation, slow rate of saliva production and poor self-care. These factors affect the life quality and psychosocial wellness, causing pain, difficulty biting and chewing, even malnutrition. The Geriatric/General Oral Health Assessment Index Spanish Version (GOHAI-SP) consists in 12 items and values self-perception in oral health and wellness (1), validated and applied to young adults (2).Objectivesto describe the oral health measured by the GOHAI-SP in patients with rheumatic diseases.Methodsa cross-sectional and observational study was conducted of January to May 2021 in rheumatology service of Hospital Universitario “Dr. José Eleuterio González” at Monterrey, Mexico. Patients with rheumatologic diseases was assessed with GOHAI-SP during their control consult, each item is valuated like a Likert ordinal scale from 1 to 5, the best and worst possible score is 60-12 respectively, patients whit score <45 is classified as poor oral health and >50 as good oral health(3). This assessment is divided in self-perception of mechanical function, pain and discomfort in mouth, gums, teeth and psychosocial function (4).Results316 patients were included, 289 (91.5%) were women, the mean age was 46.23 years (SD: 15.49), the general mean score was 51.88 classified as good oral health. 24 (7.52%) patients was classified with moderate oral health and 63 (19.74%) as poor oral health. The most frequent diagnoses with poor oral health were rheumatoid arthritis 26 cases (8.22%), systemic lupus erythematosus 11 cases (3.48%) and psoriasic arthritis 4 cases(1.2%).ConclusionThe prevalence of poor or moderated self-perceived oral health in patients with rheumatologic diseases was 27.53%. The primary prevention and early detection plays a fundamental roll to avoid oral disease in this population.References[1]Aguirre-Bustamante, J., Barón-López, F., Carmona-González, FJ et al. Validación de una versión modificada del Índice de Evaluación de la Salud Oral Geriátrica Española (GOHAI-SP) para adultos y personas mayores. BMC Oral Health 20, 61 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-020-1047-3.[2]Atchison, K.A., Der-Martirosian, C. and Gift, H.C. (1998), Components of Self-reported Oral Health and General Health in Racial and Ethnic Groups. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 58: 301-308. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-7325.1998.tb03013.x[3]Hernández-Palacios RD, Ramírez-Amador V, Jarillo-Soto EC, Irigoyen-Camacho ME, Mendoza-Núñez VM. Relationship between gender, income and education and self-perceived oral health among elderly Mexicans. An exploratory study. Cien Saude Colet. 2015 Apr;20(4):997-1004. doi: 10.1590/1413-81232015204.00702014. PMID: 25923612.[4]Sánchez-García S, Heredia-Ponce E, Juárez-Cedillo T, Gallegos-Carrillo K, Espinel-Bermúdez C, de la Fuente-Hernández J, García-Peña C. Psychometric properties of the General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) and dental status of an elderly Mexican population. J Public Health Dent. 2010 Fall;70(4):300-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2010.00187.x. PMID: 20663049Table 1.Demographic characteristics and results GOHAI-SPGOHAI-SPCharacteristicsn=316Score, mean (SD)Age, mean (SD)46.23 (15.49)51.87 (8.35)Gender, n (%)Female289(91.5)51.92Classification GOHAI-SPGood229 (72.47)56.34Moderate24 (7.59)46.95Poor63 (19.93)37.5Rheumatologic diseases, n (%)Rheumatoid arthritis120(37.97)51.45Systemic lupus erythematosus53(16.77)51.81Osteoarthritis19 (6.02)53.57Other diagnoses124(39.24)52.26GOHAI-SP: Geriatric/General Oral Health Assessment Index Spanish Version; (SD) Standard deviation, n number; (%) Percentage.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

Background:The chronic nature of rheumatic diseases has a negative impact in quality of life. Pain and loss of function in the upper extremity cause a progressive difficulty to perform daily activities, often requiring integral physical rehabilitation programs. Anthropometric measurements habitually take prolonged periods of time, given the extensive nature of physical examination in rheumatic patients. It is unknown which factors are most efficient to better reflect the functional status of the rheumatic patient.Objectives:Determine the most efficient anthropometric measurements in the upper extremity to assess the functional status of rheumatic patients in rehabilitation programs.Methods:Thirty-six patients were recruited from Rheumatology consultation of University Hospital “Dr. José Eleuterio González” in Monterrey, Mexico. Patients had a complete physical examination by a board-certified rheumatologist, which referred patients to Physical Rehabilitation consultation if necessary. A cross-sectional study was carried out in these patients with Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire (1), measurement of ranges of motion (ROM) and hand strength with the Mathiowetz protocol (2). Analysis was performed through Principal Components Analysis including Total Variance Explained (TVE), Rotated Component Matrix (RCM) and dendrograms.Results:From the total of patients, 34 (94.4%) were women with a mean age of 34 years (SD 11.33). The most common diagnosis was rheumatoid arthritis (47.2%) followed by osteoarthritis (8.3%). The mean disability score in DASH was 29.3% (DE 23.36). The TVE analysis found that 3 elements explained 48.6% of the total variance, and 13 elements explained 89.4%. RCM correlations among hand strength parameters ranged from 0.51 to 0.93, whereas ROM correlation values were below 0.4. Graph 1 depicts data dispersion for ROM, grip strength and pinch gauge by dynamometer.Graph 1.Two main clusters are observed in the RCM plot of the data. In the center and superior to the x axis, a conglomeration corresponding to ROM is shown, consisting of radial and ulnar deviation; flexion, extension, abduction and adduction in carpal bones, metacarpophalangeal joints, and proximal and distal interphalangeal joints of the five fingers of both hands, accordingly. To the right and across the x axis, another cluster depicts the grip strength and tip, key, and lateral pinch gauge of the fingers according to the Mathiowetz protocol. Closeness of data points portray a higher similarity among variances in the second cluster.Conclusion:Hand strength is the most efficient parameter to assess the functional status of the upper extremity in rheumatic patients in rehabilitation programs.References:[1]Arreguín Reyes, R., López López, C. O., Alvarez Hernández, E., Medrano Ramírez, G., Montes Castillo, M., & Vázquez-Mellado, J. (2012). Evaluation of hand function in rheumatic disease. Validation and usefulness of the Spanish version AUSCAN, m-SACRAH and Cochin questionnaires. Reumatologia clinica, 8(5), 250–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reuma.2012.03.005[2]Mathiowetz, V., Kashman, N., Volland, G., Weber, K., Dowe, M., & Rogers, S. (1985). Grip and pinch strength: normative data for adults. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 66(2), 69–74.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

BackgroundThe Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID) questionnaire is the standard tool for evaluating the impact of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) on quality of life [1]. Variables associated with high disease impact were studied in patients with long-standing established disease. The characteristics associated with high-impact PsAID in recent-onset PsA remain unknown.ObjectivesTo evaluate which patient and disease characteristics are associated with the perception of high-impact disease (PsAID ≥4) in recent-onset PsA.All patients gave their informed consent. The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the Principality of Asturias.We conducted a cross-sectional analysis. The dataset was generated using data for the independent variables at the 3 visits (baseline, first year, and second year of follow-up) matched with the PsAID values at each of the 3 visits. PsAID was categorized into two groups, namely, <4 and ≥4 [1]. We trained logistic regression models and a random forest–type machine learning algorithm to analyze the association between the outcome measure and the variables selected in the bivariate analysis (statistical significance defined as p value <0.05). We used a confusion matrix to visualize the performance of the final model. This matrix shows the real class of the data items, together with the class predicted by the machine learning algorithm, and records the number of hits and misses.ResultsThe sample comprised 158 patients. 20.9% were lost to follow-up. Of the patients who attended the clinic, 45.8% scored PsAID ≥4 at baseline; 27.1%, at the first follow-up visit, and 23.0%, at the second follow-up visit. The variables associated with PsAID ≥4 selected in the logistic regression analysis were HAQ, patient global pain during the previous week, educational level, and level of physical activity in the previous week. The association was positive for the first 2 variables and for level of physical activity and negative for educational level. When physical activity was introduced as a categorical variable, a possible negative association was observed for a moderate level (although this was not statistically significant) and a positive association was observed for a high level (Table 1).Table 1.Variables associated with PsAID ≥4: Logistic regression analysis.VariableRegression coefficient95% CIp value (Wald test)HAQ10.394[7.777, 13.011]<0.001Patient global pain in the previous week5.668[4.016, 7.320]<0.001Educational level-2.064[-3.515, -0.613]0.005Moderate level of physical activity in the previous week-0.341[-1.255, 0.573]0.465High level of physical activity in the previous week1.221[0.158, 2.283]0.024When the random forest–type machine learning algorithm was trained with these 4 variables, the order of importance (from more to less) attributed by the model was: patient global pain, HAQ, educational level, and physical activity. The percentage of hits in the confusion matrix was 86.14%.ConclusionPain control and control of the disease as a whole, preventing patients from suffering a decrease in their functional capacity, are first-order treatment objectives. PsA patients should take regular physical exercise, but with a moderate or low impact on their joints and entheses.References[1]Orbai A, Holland R, Leung YY, Tillett W, Goel N, McHugh N et al. PsAID12 provisionally endorsed at OMERACT 2018 as core outcome measure to assess psoriatic arthritis-specific health- related quality of life in clinical trials. J Rheumatol 2019;46:990–95.AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to acknowledge José Luis Fernández Sueiro for his contribution to the conception of the study; José Miguel Carrasco for his contribution to the design of the study; Nuria Montero and Cristina Oliva for her contribution to data monitoring; Ana González Marcos and Cristina Pruenza for her contribution to data analysis; Thomas O´Boyle for the translation of the manuscript; and non-author investigators of Proyecto REAPSER Study GroupDisclosure of InterestsNone declared

Background:Clinically Suspect Arthralgia (CSA) was defined by European League Against Rheumatism to identify a combination of clinical features that best characterise patients with arthralgia who are at risk of progression to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (1). A specificity >90% is obtained with the presence of ≥4 parameters. Another clinical feature useful to identify patients at risk is the squeeze test (ST). Recently, we have identified the necessary strength to screen the patient with arthralgia through ST, with a median squeeze force of 3 kg and 2.78 kg to evoke pain in the right and left hand of the RA patient, respectively (2). Primary care physicians (PCP), the first contact of patients at risk, could benefit from these screening tools, prompting early referral, diagnosis, and treatment of these individuals.Objectives:To identify the clinical utility of CSA and ST in the referral of patients with hand arthralgia from PCP to rheumatologists.Methods:We conducted a cohort study from October 2018 to December 2020 in 110 patients who attended a Family Medicine clinic at University Hospital “Dr. Jose Eleuterio Gonzalez” in Monterrey, Mexico. We recruited patients with hand arthralgia with no history of previous trauma or autoimmune rheumatic diseases. A questionnaire assessing CSA criteria was employed, and an ST maneuver was performed through an automated compressor with quantitative measures of applied force. Patients were grouped based on referral to Rheumatology consultation and variables categorized according to clinically relevant thresholds. Chi square test was performed in categorical variables, t-student test was performed in normal, continuous variables and Spearman’s rho correlation was utilized between CSA number of criteria and quantitative ST force using SPSS v25.Results:Out of 110 patients, 49 (44.5%) were referred to a rheumatologist. A non-significant association was found across assessed variables in referred and non-referred patients as seen in Table 1. Spearman’s rho found a moderate correlation between the number of CSA criteria and quantitative force in right (r=-.445) and left (r=-.382) hand as seen in Figure 1. Evaluation of CSA cutoffs other than ≥4 did not yield a significant association in referral of patients to the rheumatologist (data not shown).Conclusion:The clinical utility of CSA criteria and ST in referral of patients with hand arthralgia from PCP to rheumatologists is currently limited. More research is needed to elucidate the clinical utility of these screening tools.References:[1]van Steenbergen HW, et al. EULAR definition of arthralgia suspicious for progression to rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76(3):491-496.[2]Vega-Morales D, et al. Automated squeeze test (Gaenslen’s manoeuvre) to identify patients with arthralgia suspicious for progression to RA: improving time delay to rheumatology consultation. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76(10):e40.Table 1.Demographic characteristics and clinical performance of CSA and ST in referral of patients with hand arthralgia from PCP to rheumatologists.Referred patients,n = 49Non-referred patients, n = 61pFemale, n (%)40 (81.6)50 (82.0)0.964Age in years, mean ± SD46.76 ± 14.4352.05 ± 15.000.064Patients with ≥4 CSA criteria, n (%)23 (46.9)19 (31.1)0.090Right hand positive ST patients, n (%)21 (42.9)22 (36.1)0.468Left hand positive ST patients, n (%)26 (53.1)28 (45.9)0.455Force in right hand ST, mean kg ± SD4.19 ± 2.923.86 ± 3.070.571Force in left hand ST, mean kg ± SD4.25 ± 3.043.54 ± 2.740.198CSA, Clinically Suspect Arthralgia; ST, Squeeze Test; SD, Standard Deviation.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

BackgroundVery few data are available on predictors of minimal disease activity (MDA) in patients with recent-onset psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Such data are crucial, since the therapeutic measures used to change the adverse course of PsA are more likely to succeed if we intervene early.ObjectivesTo detect patient and disease variables associated with achieving MDA in patients with recent-onset PsA.MethodsWe performed a multicenter observational prospective study (2-year follow-up, regular annual visits), promoted by the Spanish Society of Rheumatology. Patients aged ≥18 years who fulfilled the CASPAR criteria, with less than 2 years since the onset of symptoms, were included. The intention at the baseline visit was to reflect the patient’s situation before disease progress was modified by the treatments prescribed by the rheumatologist.All patients gave their informed consent. The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the Principality of Asturias.MDA was defined as fulfillment of at least 5 of the following: ≤1 tender joint; ≤1 swollen joint; PASI ≤1 or BSA ≤3%; score on the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain provided by the patient ≤1.5; overall score for disease activity provided by the patient ≤2; HAQ score ≤0.5; ≤1 painful enthesis [1].The dataset contained data for the independent variables from the baseline visit and from follow-up visit number 1. These were matched with the outcome measures from follow-up visits 1 and 2, respectively. We trained a random forest–type machine learning algorithm to analyze the association between the outcome measure and the variables selected in the bivariate analysis. In order to understand how the model uses the variables to make its predictions, we applied the SHAP technique. This approach assigns a SHAP value to each value of each variable according to the extent to which it affects the prediction of the model (the higher the absolute SHAP value, the greater the influence of this data item on prediction) and to how it affects the prediction (if the SHAP value is positive, the data item positively affects the prediction, that is, it confers a higher value on the prediction). The SHAP summary graphs order the predictors by their importance in the predictions of the model. This importance is calculated with the mean of the SHAP values assigned to each data item of a variable; mean values <0.01 indicate the low importance of the variable in the model. We used a confusion matrix to visualize the performance of the model. This matrix shows the real class of the data items, together with the predicted class, and records the number of hits and misses.ResultsThe sample comprised 158 patients. 14.6% were lost to follow-up. 55.5% and 58.3% of the patients had MDA at the first and second follow-up visit, respectively. The importance of the variables in the model according to the mean of the SHAP values is shown in Table 1. The variables with the greatest predictive ability were global pain, impact of the disease (PsAID), patient global assessment of disease and physical function (HAQ-Disability Index). The SHAP values for each value of each variable are shown in Figure 1. The percentage of hits in the confusion matrix was 85.94%.Table 1.Variables in the predictions of the random forest for MDA according to the SHAP method.VariableImportance according to SHAP1Global pain0.069PsAID0.064Patient global assessment of disease0.047HAQ0.044Articular pattern at diagnosis0.029Physician global assessment of disease0.023Tender joint count0.014Sex0.009Weekly alcohol consumption0.0091Mean of the SHAP values for each value of the variable.MDA: minimal disease activity.Figure 1.SHAP summary graph.ConclusionA key objective in the management of PsA should be control of pain, which is not always associated with inflammatory burden, and the establishment of measures to better control the various domains of PsA.References[1]Coates LC, Fransen J, Helliwell PS. Defining minimal disease activity in psoriatic arthritis: a proposed objective target for treatment. Ann Rheum Dis. 2010;69:48-53.AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to acknowledge José Luis Fernández Sueiro for the conception of the study; José Miguel Carrasco for his contribution to the design of the study; Nuria Montero and Cristina Oliva for her contribution to data monitoring; Ana González Marcos and Cristina Pruenza for her contribution to data analysis; and Thomas O´Boyle for the translation of the manuscript.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

Introduction: SM is a rare, mast cell neoplasm characterized by uncontrolled proliferation, accumulation, and activation of abnormal mast cells (MCs). Approximately 95% of patients with SM harbor the D816V mutation, which results in constitutive activation of the KIT receptor, causing debilitating symptoms across all SM subtypes such as pruritus, headaches, bone pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, brain fog, and anaphylaxis. Patients with SM are managed across specialties depending on symptom severity and organ involvement. Hematologists/oncologists and allergists/immunologists both play key roles in the management of disease. With few multidisciplinary SM practices in the US, more information is needed across specialties to enable optimal SM care. Here we report findings from the TouchStone SM survey of healthcare providers (HCPs) in the US to inform perceptions of disease and disease management strategies. Methods: HCPs completed an online survey containing 47 items covering a range of concepts related to diagnosis (how made, how long it takes), symptoms (how assessed, what symptoms patients experience, how HCPs discuss symptoms with patients, treatment and management), perceived impact on daily life, treatment received (prescription and over-the-counter, treatment goals, unmet needs) and satisfaction (symptom management, overall treatment and disease management). The focus of these analyses are HCP perceptions of disease severity, treatment goals, and disease management. Practicing hematologists/oncologists and allergists/immunologists were eligible if caring for ≥4 SM patients and in practice ≥3 years post fellowship. HCPs were recruited through double-blinded market research survey panels, with individual responses kept confidential. Descriptive analyses were performed on survey responses. Results: Of 304 HCPs contacted, 60 allergists/immunologists and 59 hematologists/oncologists were enrolled with an average of 14 years of practice experience. On average, participating HCPs had 25 SM patients (range: 4-100) under their care. HCPs reported perceived prevalence of the KIT D816V mutation at 46% of patients (range 0-100), substantially lower than published prevalence rates of up to 95%.1 Among HCPs, the average perceived time from patient symptom onset to diagnosis was 8 months, in contrast to 7 years as reported by patients.2 Allergist/immunologists reported primarily seeing patients with non-advanced disease (80%), while hematologists/oncologists reported managing both non-advanced (50%) and advanced patients (50%). Participating HCPs reported that 58% of their patients have moderate-severe SM. HCP treatment goals for SM patients were consistent across specialties. The 2 most important treatment goals for non-advanced patients were improved quality of life (QoL) (40%; 48/120) and improvement of symptoms (24%; 29/119), while the 2 most important treatment goals for advanced patients were improved progression-free survival /improved overall survival (34%, 35/104) and improved QoL (25%, 26/104). Conclusions: Allergists/immunologists co-manage SM care with hematologists/oncologists, particularly in non-advanced SM, and have similar treatment goals for this patient population, including improvement in QoL and symptom control. In this sample of HCPs, the perceived prevalence of the KIT D816V mutation as well as the perceived time from symptom onset to diagnosis were substantially lower than published estimates. These gaps identified suggest a need to improve HCP awareness of SM symptoms and diagnostic tools to help facilitate earlier patient diagnosis. 1. Garcia-Montero et al. Blood. 2006;108(7):2366-2372. 2. Jennings SV et al. Immuno Allergy Clin North Am. 2018;38(3):505-525. Disclosures Mesa: Promedior: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Genetech: Research Funding; CTI: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Sierra Onc: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; LaJolla Pharma: Consultancy; Samus: Research Funding. Sullivan:Blueprint Medicines Corporation: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Dubinsky:Blueprint Medicines Corporation: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Carroll:Blueprint Medicines Corporation: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Mathias:Blueprint Medicines Corporation: Other: employed by Health Outcomes Solutions, which received funding Blueprint for providing assistance in developing the Touchstone survey. Castells:Blueprint Medicines Corporation: Consultancy, Other: Clinical trials: Principle Investigator; UpToDate: Other: Author fee; Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology: Other: Editorial Board.

Este número especial está dedicado a dos campos de conocimiento que comparten trayectorias históricas de prácticas y múltiples frentes de reflexión y construcción teórica: la contabilidad y las finanzas. La contabilidad, surgida de las prácticas de cálculo en el Estado, la iglesia y el comercio, ha llegado a posicionarse como una pieza clave en la operación e institucionalización de las organizaciones modernas (Chapman, Cooper y Miller, 2009). Las finanzas, constituidas a partir del análisis básico de las cifras contables, como mecanismo de pilotaje y visión sintética de las organizaciones, han evolucionado de la mano de la economía financiera y de la institucionalización de los mercados financieros, hasta llegar a erigirse como campo de conocimiento inter-disciplinario, con una legitimidad y una hegemonía conceptual e instrumental quizás inesperadas (Baskin y Miranti, 1997).Hoy, en el marco de la financiarización económica, las interrelaciones e interacciones entre la contabilidad y las finanzas son más profundas (Demir, 2009) y reclaman un detenido y riguroso escrutinio por parte de los investigadores académicos. En este contexto, recogemos en este número especial diez (10) colaboraciones internacionales, provenientes de profesores e investigadores de España, Chile, México, Estados Unidos, Portugal y Francia. Los temas de los artículos van desde las especificidades de la convergencia a las Normas Internacionales de Contabilidad y de Información Financiera (NIC-NIIF), pasando por los nuevos tipos de información cualitativa y no financiera, hasta incluso retomar el debate sobre la relación causal entre mercados financieros y desarrollo de la economía real. De esta manera, el número está organizado en tres (3) secciones: Contabilidad, Gestión Financiera y Globalización, y Finanzas.En la sección de Contabilidad reunimos cuatro (4) artículos.Las profesoras Belén Álvarez Pérez y Eva Suárez Álvarez, de la Universidad de Oviedo en España, participan con el trabajo titulado Calificación de instrumentos financieros en las sociedades cooperativas a raíz de la NIC 32. La solución española. En este trabajo se estudia conceptualmente la particularidad del tratamiento contable de los instrumentos financieros del patrimonio (fondos propios) y del pasivo, en las cooperativas españolas, en el marco del proceso internacional de convergencia hacia las Normas Internacionales de Información Financiera. A partir de la normativa establecida en España (Plan General de Contabilidad de 2007), se concluye que los nuevos tratamientos contables supondrán costos para las cooperativas, fruto de las operaciones societarias con impactos significativos de reclasificación y valoración.El segundo artículo, titulado Convergencia de normas contables internacionales entre México y Estados Unidos: evidencia empírica, es una colaboración entre profesores de México y España. Sus autores son los profesores Sergio Polo Jiménez, de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo en México, y Mercedes Palacios Manzano e Isabel Martínez Conesa, de la Universidad de Murcia en España. La investigación buscó evaluar si la convergencia de la normativa mexicana con las normas internacionales de contabilidad e información financiera (NIC-NIIF) incrementó la calidad de las mismas, como producto de la mejora de la comparabilidad con las normas estadounidenses (US-GAAP). Teniendo como referente la Teoría de la Agencia, el trabajo realiza una investigación empírica para contrastar varias hipótesis sobre la comparabilidad de la información financiera preparada, siguiendo las nuevas normas mexicanas (NIF) y las normas americanas (US-GAAP). Para el estudio empírico, se tomaron como referentes todas las compañías mexicanas no financieras cotizadas en la bolsa de Nueva York, entre 1997 y 2008. Los resultados permiten a los autores concluir, entre otros elementos, que se ha generado una aproximación entre las normas mexicanas y americanas en el cálculo del resultado neto.Desde la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela de España, el profesor Óscar Suárez Fernández aporta el artículo La divulgación de buenas y malas noticias por parte de las empresas cotizadas españolas. Este trabajo buscó analizar si las sociedades cotizadas españolas seleccionan las noticias a divulgar, impactando en la neutralidad de la información cualitativa y descriptiva presentada en las revelaciones o notas. La investigación empírica se focalizó en grupos empresariales cotizados en el Índice General de la Bolsa de Madrid, tomando información de los años 2007, 2008 y 2009. Los grupos empresariales estudiados representan el 78% del total de los grupos cotizados en tal índice. Para el tratamiento de la información cualitativa divulgada en las revelaciones (memoria), se utilizó el análisis de contenido. Los resultados permiten al autor concluir que la divulgación de información se orienta hacia las buenas noticias, sean históricas o prospectivas, independientemente del desempeño financiero de las empresas. Con lo anterior se afecta la neutralidad de la información narrativa divulgada.El cuarto artículo, titulado A divulgação dos ativos fixos tangíveis segundo a IAS 16 e o seu grau de cumprimento, es una contribución de los investigadores Fernando Ferreira da Costa y Lídia Alves Morais de Oliveira, de la Universidad de Minho, Portugal. El trabajo buscó contrastar el nivel de cumplimiento de los requerimientos de la Norma Internacional de Contabilidad No. 16, relativa a la propiedad, planta y equipo, en la información financiera divulgada por las empresas cotizadas en el índice Euronext de Lisboa, durante los años 2005 al 2010. A partir de la construcción de un índice de cumplimiento, se concluye que existe un grado medio de cumplimiento que llega al 67,3% de los requisitos de la NIC 16. Al mismo tiempo, se realizó un trabajo empírico para contrastar hipótesis soportadas en la teoría positiva de la contabilidad, que les permitió a los autores concluir que las empresas de mayor tamaño y con mayores niveles de activos fijos (propiedad, planta y equipo) son las más propensas a cumplir con los requerimientos de la NIC 16.En la sección de Gestión Financiera y Globalización de este número especial, recogemos tres (3) artículos.El profesor Rafael Hernández Barros, de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, es el autor del artículo Los riesgos de las entidades aseguradoras en el marco del Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) y el control interno. El objetivo de este trabajo es proponer un marco conceptual para la comprensión de los diversos riesgos que enfrentan las empresas de seguros en un entorno de globalización. Vinculando la gestión del riesgo empresarial y los principios del control interno, el autor realiza un análisis y una integración que le llevan a plantear la propuesta de un marco conceptual para la identificación y la gestión del riesgo de las empresas aseguradoras, recogiendo los riesgos de: suscripción, inversión, crédito, operacional, gastos, liquidez, mismatch y reaseguro. El autor concluye que este marco conceptual puede resultar útil también para la caracterización y gestión del riesgo en otros sectores.El trabajo titulado Integración de los Mercados Accionarios de Chile, Colombia y Perú en el Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano (MILA) es una colaboración internacional entre los profesores Eduardo Sandoval, de la Universidad de Concepción de Chile, Arturo Vásquez-Párraga, de la University of Texas Pan American de Estados Unidos, y Rocío Sabat, también de la Universidad de Concepción en Chile. El objetivo de este artículo fue evaluar el grado de integración de los mercados de acciones de Chile, Colombia y Perú, antes y después del proceso que llevó a la consolidación del MILA. Por tanto, el trabajo es analítico y comparativo. Con base en el modelo de valoración de activos de capital CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) y a partir de diferentes avances de la economía financiera, se plantean modelos multivariados (GARCH in-mean) para contrastar los retornos de los índices accionarios de Chile, Colombia, Perú y Estados Unidos. El periodo observado va desde 1996 hasta el 2013. Los autores concluyen que existe evidencia parcial de que los mercados accionarios integrantes del MILA efectivamente mostraron una mayor integración en los periodos analizados. Los mercados más beneficiados, según los autores, han sido el colombiano y el peruano, lo que se debe a una importante disminución de su riesgo sistemático.Las profesoras Ana Zorio-Grima y María García-Benau, de la Universidad de Valencia, y Laura Sierra-García, de la Universidad Pablo de Olavide de España, participan en este número especial con el artículo Aseguramiento del informe de sostenibilidad en España y Latinoamérica. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo analizar el estado del mercado de aseguramiento de los informes sostenibilidad en Latinoamérica y España. La tendencia a publicar información de sostenibilidad o Responsabilidad Social por parte de las empresas muestra el auge y la importancia de este tópico. En los últimos años, ha surgido un importante mercado para realizar la evaluación (el aseguramiento) de los informes cualitativos y no financieros dedicados a los aspectos de sostenibilidad. Esta investigación tomó como muestra 783 empresas que emiten informes de sostenibilidad, siguiendo la guía del Global Reporting Iniciative (GRI). Con los informes de los años 2008 y 2009, la investigación contrasta varias hipótesis para establecer las características de las empresas que aseguran estos informes y del mercado de aseguramiento. El trabajo concluye identificando las variables significativas y evidenciando el crecimiento del mercado de aseguramiento, dominado por las grandes firmas de auditoría (Big 4).La tercera y última sección de este número especial es Finanzas y recoge tres (3) artículos de investigación.De la Universidad del País Vasco, España, los profesores Jorge Gutiérrez-Goiria y Koldo Unceta Satrustegui contribuyen con el trabajo titulado Compatibilidad o conflicto entre objetivos sociales y financieros de las microfinanzas: debates teóricos y evidencia empírica. La investigación realiza una importante evaluación teórica de las tensiones entre los objetivos económico-financieros y sociales de las microfinanzas. Al mismo tiempo, realiza un contraste empírico en 1.022 instituciones microfinancieras, con información de la base Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). El artículo concluye que no existe una contradicción insalvable entre una mayor proyección social de las Instituciones de Microfinanzas y la búsqueda de su solvencia financiera, mostrando que ambos tópicos pueden ser compatibles y complementarios. Al mismo tiempo, el trabajo contribuye a explicar algunos de los interrogantes en los debates teóricos sobre las microfinanzas.El artículo titulado Análisis de los factores de riesgo en el seguro de automóvil mediante ecuaciones estructurales es una contribución de los profesores María Jesús Segovia-Vargas y David Pascual-Ezama, de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, María-del-Mar Camacho-Miñano, de la University College for Financial Studies, y Piedad Tolmos Rodríguez-Piñero, de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, de España. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo comprobar empíricamente la validez de la utilización de los niveles de "bonus-malus" para clasificar a los asegurados, utilizando dos modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. El sistema "bonus-malus" es un sistema de ajuste de la prima a pagar por el asegurado, tomando como referente el historial de siniestros y penalizaciones. Este sistema busca inducir a los asegurados a conducir sus vehículos de una manera más cuidadosa. El trabajo empírico tomó como referente variables de 4.365 pólizas de vehículos para realizar la contrastación de los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. El trabajo concluye que la inclusión del "bonus-malus" aumenta el poder explicativo de los modelos para el establecimiento de las tarifas de los seguros de automóvil, pero no recoge todas las variables posibles o los factores ocultos.Finalmente, los investigadores Osmar Zavaleta Vásquez e Irving Martínez Silva, vinculados al Tecnológico de Monterrey en México y a la compañía de inversiones Quilvest en Francia, aportan el artículo titulado Crecimiento económico y desarrollo del mercado de capitales en México. El objetivo de este trabajo es estimar un modelo econométrico estructural para analizar la influencia del desarrollo del mercado de capitales sobre el crecimiento de la economía mexicana, teniendo en cuenta los principales determinantes del crecimiento de la economía real. El trabajo inicia con una interesante revisión de la literatura que muestra la existencia de dos concepciones o corrientes de opinión para explicar la relación entre el desarrollo del mercado de capitales y la economía real. Posteriormente, se plantea un modelo para contrastar la hipótesis según la cual "el desempeño del mercado de capitales de México influye positivamente en el crecimiento de la economía real", a partir de tomar como variables las determinantes clásicas del crecimiento económico. Los autores concluyen que el desempeño del mercado de capitales de México tiene una relación importante con el crecimiento de la economía nacional.Esperamos que nuestros lectores encuentren aportes en estos trabajos y extendemos nuestra gratitud y felicitación a los autores por sus nuevas contribuciones.

A pesar de su importancia, existe relativamente poca investigación centrada en el riesgo por sequía en las ciudades. Por ello, el presente trabajo tiene como objetivo proponer una metodología para la evaluación del riesgo por sequía hidrológica en áreas urbanas de México y sus respectivos Organismos Operadores de Agua Potable, Alcantarillado y Saneamiento (OOAPAS). Esta metodología se aplicó en dos de las zonas urbanas más importantes del país: el área hidropolitana de Monterrey (AHM), y el área metropolitana de Guadalajara (AMG). El periodo de estudio fue de 2008-2018. Para la evaluación del riesgo se adoptó el enfoque contextual, que define este concepto en función de la amenaza, exposición y vulnerabilidad del sistema analizado. Para el cálculo de la amenaza se utilizó el Índice de Sequía de los Caudales Fluviales (SDI-12), y para la evaluación de la vulnerabilidad y la exposición se utilizaron indicadores socioeconómicos, ambientales y de gestión institucional. Los resultados indican que las áreas de estudio son muy sensibles a las sequías hidrológicas, es decir, al déficit de escurrimientos superficiales que ingresan a sus fuentes de abastecimiento de agua. La tendencia del índice de vulnerabilidad en estas áreas va a la baja. Con respecto al índice de exposición y riesgo por sequía, la tendencia es ir en aumento en ambas áreas. Los resultados obtenidos demostraron que la metodología propuesta es factible y útil en la evaluación del riesgo por sequía en las áreas de estudio, y puede ser aplicada en otras zonas urbanas del país.

In California, Fusarium wilt of strawberry is widespread and causes significant yield losses. Resistant cultivars with the FW1 gene were protected against Fusarium wilt because all strains of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae (Fof) in California were race 1 (i.e., avirulent to FW1-resistant cultivars) (Henry et al. 2017; Pincot, et al. 2018; Henry et al. 2021). In the fall of 2022, severe wilt disease was observed in an organic, summer-planted strawberry field in Oxnard, California. Fusarium wilt symptoms were common and included wilted foliage, deformed and highly chlorotic leaflets, and crown discoloration. The field was planted with Portola, a cultivar with the FW1 gene that is resistant to Fof race 1 (Pincot et al. 2018; Henry et al. 2021). Two samples, each consisting of four plants, were collected from two different locations within the field. Crown extracts from each sample were tested for Fof, Macrophomina phaseolina, Verticillium dahliae, and Phytophthora spp. by recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) (Steele et al. 2022). Petioles were surface sterilized in 1% sodium hypochlorite for 2 minutes and plated on Komada’s medium to select for Fusarium spp. (Henry et al. 2021; Komada, 1975). The RPA results were positive for M. phaseolina in one sample and negative for all four pathogens in the other sample. Salmon-colored, fluffy mycelia grew profusely from petioles of both samples. Colony morphology and non-septate, ellipsoidal microconidia (6.0-13 μm × 2.8-4.0 μm) borne on monophialides resembled F. oxysporum. Single hyphal tip isolation of fourteen cultures (P1-P14) was done to purify single genotypes. None of these pure cultures amplified with Fof-specific qPCR (Burkhardt et al. 2019), confirming the negative result obtained with RPA. Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1α) was amplified using EF1/EF2 primers (O’Donnell et al. 1998) from three isolates. Amplicons were sequenced (GenBank OQ183721) and found through BLAST search to have 100% identity with an isolate of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melongenae (GenBank FJ985297). There was at least one nucleotide difference when compared to all known strains of Fof race 1 (Henry et al. 2021). Five isolates (P2, P3, P6, P12, and P13) and an Fof race 1 control isolate (GL1315) were tested for pathogenicity on Fronteras (FW1) and Monterey (fw1; susceptible to race 1). Five plants per isolate × cultivar combination were inoculated by dipping roots in 5 × 106 conidia per mL of 0.1% water agar, or in sterile 0.1% water agar for the negative control, and grown as described by Jenner and Henry (2022). After six weeks, all non-inoculated control plants remained healthy while plants of both cultivars inoculated with the five isolates were severely wilted. Petiole assays yielded colonies identical in appearance to the inoculated isolates. For Fof race 1-inoculated plants, wilt symptoms were observed in Monterey but not in Fronteras. This experiment was repeated with P2, P3, P12, and P13 on another FW1 cultivar, San Andreas, and the same results were observed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. oxysporum f. sp. fragariae race 2 in California. Losses to Fusarium wilt are likely to increase until genetic resistance to this strain of Fof race 2 is deployed in commercially viable cultivars.

Pinus eldarica, P. halepensis and P. radiata are important conifer species native to Mediterranean regions that are cultivated in the southwestern United States for landscaping (Phillips and Gladfelter, 1991; Chambel et al., 2013). Among them, Monterey pine (P. radiata) is native to restricted areas of California and Mexico, but it is extensively grown for timber production in other countries, especially in the Southern Hemisphere (Rogers, 2004). From 2018 to 2022, severe dieback and cankers have been detected on more than 30 mature pines of the three species within a 40-ha urban forest in Orange County, Southern California. Symptoms initiate on the lower portion of the canopy and advance into the crown, leading to quick dieback and, in some cases, to tree death. Cross sections of affected branches revealed wedged cankers with irregular, indistinct margins, and cryptic discoloration (i.e., “ghost cankers”). Pycnidia were observed on the surface of each bark scale of branches with advanced infections. Two morphotypes of Botryosphaeriaceae colonies (n = 34 isolates) were recovered consistently from more than 90% of the symptomatic pines. Two isolates per morphotype were grown on pistachio leaf agar (Chen et al., 2014) for 14 days to induce pycnidia formation. Conidia (n = 50) were hyaline, thin-walled and fusoid to ellipsoidal in shape, ranging from 16.1 to 27.9 (22.6) × 5.4 to 8.2 (6.8) µm for the first morphotype and 11.5 to 20.4 (16.3) × 4.8 to 8.6 (6.3) µm for the second morphotype. The rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), beta-tubulin (tub2), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1-α) partial gene regions were amplified and sequenced using the primers ITS5/ITS4 (White et al., 1990), Bt2a/Bt2b (Glass and Donaldson, 1995), and EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn, 1999), respectively. A multi-locus phylogenetic analysis revealed that isolates UCD9433 and UCD10439 clustered with the ex-type strain of Neofusicoccum mediterraneum (CBS:113083), and isolates UCD9161 and UCD9434 grouped with N. parvum (CMW:9081). Sequences were submitted to GenBank (nos. OP535391 to OP535394 for ITS, OP561946 to OP561949 for tef1-α, and OP561950 to OP561953 for tub2). Pathogenicity tests were performed with above-mentioned isolates on 20-mm-diameter healthy branches of mature Monterey pines (n = 10, 14 years old) located in a research field at UC Davis. Isolates were grown for 7 days on potato dextrose agar and inoculated in the internode area by removing a 5-mm-diameter disk of the bark with a sterile cork borer and placing a 5-mm-diameter mycelial plug. Controls were mock-inoculated with sterile agar plugs, and the experiment was performed twice. After three months, inoculations resulted in vascular lesions that ranged from 20.6 to 49.7 (32.7) mm with N. mediterraneum and from 13.5 to 71.0 (33.6) mm with N. parvum, and the same pathogens were reisolated (70 to 100% recovery). Controls remained symptomless and no botryosphaeriaceous colonies were recovered. Both N. mediterraneum and N. parvum are polyphagous pathogens associated with multiple woody plant hosts (Phillips et al., 2013). Previously, only N. parvum has been associated with pine cankers in Iran, however, the pine species was not indicated (Abdollahzadeh et al., 2013). The detection of these pathogens in urban forests raises concerns of potential spillover events to other forest and agricultural hosts in Southern California. To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. mediterraneum and N. parvum causing Pine Ghost Canker on P. eldarica, P. halepensis and P. radiata.

Este artículo expone las resistencias del Gobierno del Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) en Nuevo León, para promover una democracia deliberativa en la construcción de una pista de carreras en terrenos públicos del Parque Fundidora en Monterrey. Para este fin, mantuvo una asociación mercantil con empresarios, y no compartió información con las organizaciones de la sociedad civil, particularmente con el Comité Pro Rescate Fundidora, que cuestionó el fundamento legal, la legitimidad y la sustentabilidad ambiental de esta decisión pública. Además, desconoció jurídicamente a los ciudadanos organizados, para obtener la información que les permitiera conocer las bases del proyecto; esto imposibilita la construcción de una esfera pública deliberativa, como una de las condiciones para generar la gobernabilidad democrática.

In Mexico, nearly 23,000 adolescents between the ages of 12-17 years suffer sexual coercion every year. This group also has a high birth rate of 77/1,000 adolescents, which indicates that one in every five pregnant women is an adolescent. This study describes the sexual coercion of victims and their views regarding the experience based on data collected from 37 Mexican girls between the age of 13 to 19, selected purposively using the snowball method in Monterrey city, Mexico. Results indicate that sexual coercion among adolescents is a serious problem, where 70% of adolescents experienced vaginal sexual coercion, nearly 22% experienced vaginal and oral sexual coercion, and eight percent suffered vaginal, verbal, and anal sexual coercion. Almost 50% of adolescent girls suffered sexual coercion by multiple partners. Of 37 girls’ responses, nearly one-fourth of them (nine adolescents) said that they suffered unintended pregnancy due to coercion, and many of them suffered from different types of sexually transmitted diseases, which may reduce their reproductive potential in the long term. This research study showed an association between sexual coercion and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents. Sexually coerced adolescents experience many reproductive health problems such as pain or burning while urinating, irregular menstruation, itching or irritation, lower abdominal pain, and vaginal discharge.

Artículo científico concerniente a los avances metodológicos de la investigación “concepciones docentes para la enseñanza y practicas evaluativas en las matemáticas de básica primaria de las instituciones educativas públicas de montería”, con el objetivo de generar un constructo teórico a partir de las concepciones de los docentes de básica primaria relacionadas con la enseñanza y las practicas evaluativas en matemáticas, que permita el diseño de una propuesta de formación docente en las Instituciones Educativas Públicas de Montería – Córdoba-Colombia, estudio cualitativo enmarcado en el paradigma hermenéutico comprensivo, con una perspectiva proyectiva, abordada metodológicamente desde la teoría fundamentada de Strauss & Corbin (2002), asumiendo el análisis de los datos desde la teoría sustantiva y utilizando como instrumentos para recolectar la información la entrevista estructurada, observación participante y revisión documental, el análisis se soportara en el software Atlas Ti. Versión 7.5 .4 que permitirá organizar y triangular la información.

In June of 2020 we observed greenhouse grown Cannabis sativa in Sonoma County, CA and Monterey County, CA showing stress symptoms: stunting, leaf chlorosis, and leaf senescence, when moved to flower production conditions. We uprooted symptomatic and healthy plants and observed disease symptoms only in symptomatic plants: reduced root mass, reduced root hair density, and necrosis. Roots and growth substrate samples were taken from infected and healthy plants for further analysis. Approximately one gram of soil was added to 20.0 mL deionized water and 5.0 mL of the resulting slurry was spread on water agar plates. Plates were rinsed free of soil after 24 hours of incubation, then incubated for an additional two days. Diffuse mycelial growth was observed on all soil plates from symptomatic plant pots and not healthy plant pots. Four subcultures were transferred to V8 media and grown for three days. Roots with brown lesions and healthy roots were surface sterilized by soaking in 0.1% sodium hypochlorite for five minutes, rinsed in sterile deionized water, and two-centimeter segments plated on V8 agar. After 24 hours mycelial growth was observed growing from the cut ends of the lesion roots and not the healthy-looking roots. Four subcultures were transferred to V8 and grown for three days. Mycelium from water sample isolates and root isolates were collected and DNA extractions performed using Quick DNA Fungi/Bacterial Kit (Zymo Research Irvine, CA, USA), then PCR amplified using ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) primers ITS100/ITS4 as described by Riit et al. and cytochrome oxidase I (COX) primers OomCox-Levup/OomCox-Levlo as described by Robideau et al. (Riit et al., 2016; Robideau et al., 2011). Amplicons from all eight isolates for each region were Sanger sequenced and the found to be identical, and consensus sequences deposited in Genebank with accession numbers MW436422 and MW448569 for ITS and COX sequences, respectively. Observation of cultures under light microscope revealed morphological characteristics congruent with P. myriotylum (Watanabe, 2002). Two V8 cultures isolated from roots were cut into approximately 2-3mm2 pieces and transferred to a one-liter flask of water. A negative control using clean V8 was also prepared. The flasks were placed on a rotary shaker and incubated at 150 rpm at ambient temperature for 48 hours. The resulting suspensions for zoospore and control treatments were observed under a light microscope and motile zoospores present in the water suspension from P. myriotylum cultures only. The zoospore suspension was then divided into six equal portions and applied to the soil of six C. sativa rooted cuttings in one-gallon pots. The control slurry was added to two C. sativa rooted cuttings. All plants were grown in a controlled environment for 28 days with 16-hour photoperiod. All plants were then removed from their pots and roots observed for symptoms. Plants that were treated with zoospore suspensions had tan to brown lesions on significant numbers of roots, and reduced root hair density compared to the plants treated with the control V8 agar suspension. Roots samples from all eight plants were then surfaced sterilized in bleach as previously described and five root sections from each plant plated on V8 media. After 48 hours mycelial growth was observed from root sections from P. myriotylum zoospore treated plants and not control plants. DNA extraction and PCR amplification for ITS and COX amplicons was performed from one representative culture for each plant, Sanger sequenced, and aligned with the previous sequences. All ITS and COX sequences were identical to the original sequences from greenhouse samples. P. myriotylum may cause root rot in C. sativa in greenhouse cultivation.

A year of forest health surveys has led to the first detection of Phytophthora ramorum in Del Norte County followed by the first wildland detection of the EU1 clonal lineage (Grunwald et al. 2009) of this pathogen in California. In July 2019, leaves were sampled from two tanoaks (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) and 16 California bay laurels (Umbellularia californica) in Jedediah Smith State Park in Del Norte County, the northernmost coastal County of California. Leaves displayed lesions normally associated with Sudden Oak Death (SOD) caused by P. ramorum and were discovered during the citizen science-based survey known as SOD Blitz (Meentemeyer et al. 2015). Samples were surface sterilized using 75% Ethanol and plated on PARPH-V8 agar (Jeffers and Martin 1986). After plating, DNA was extracted and amplified using two P. ramorum-specific assays (Hayden et al. 2006, Kroon et al. 2004). Leaves from two tanoaks exhibiting twig die-back had typical SOD lesions along the midvein, gave positive PCR results and yielded cultures with colony morphology, sporangia and chlamydospores typical of the NA1 lineage of P. ramorum originally isolated in California from tanoaks and coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) (Rizzo et al. 2002). The ITS locus and a portion of the Cox-1 locus were sequenced from DNA extracts of each culture using primers DC6-ITS4 (Bonants et al. 2004) and COXF4N-COXR4N (Kroon et al. 2004), respectively. ITS sequences (GB MN540639-40) were typical of P. ramorum and Cox-1 sequences (GB MN540142-3) perfectly matched the Cox-1 sequence of the NA1 lineage (GB DQ832718) (Kroon et al. 2004). Microsatellite alleles were generated as described in Croucher et al. (2013) for the two Del Norte cultures and for eight P. ramorum cultures, representative of the four main multilocus genotypes (MLGs) present in California, namely c1 (Santa Cruz/Commercial Nurseries), c3 (San Francisco Bay Area), c2 (Monterey County), and c4 (Humboldt County) (Croucher et al. 2013). The two Del Norte MLGs were identical to one another and most similar to MLG c1, with a single repeat difference at a single locus. SSR results suggest the inoculum source may not be from Humboldt County, neighboring to the South, but from a yet unidentified outbreak, possibly associated with ornamental plants. Jedediah Smith State Park was surveyed for 12 months following the initial detection, however the pathogen has yet to be re-isolated in that location. In July 2020, SOD symptomatic leaves from two tanoak trees exhibiting twig cankers were collected 8 Km north of Jedediah Smith State Park, where three additional tanoak trees displayed rapidly browned dead canopies consistent with late stage SOD. Leaves were processed as above. Colonies from these samples produced chlamydospores and sporangia typical of P. ramorum on PARPH-V8 agar, but displayed a growth rate faster than that of NA1 genotypes and were characterized by aerial hyphae, overall resembling the morphology of EU1 lineage colonies (Brasier 2003). The EU1 lineage was confirmed by the perfect match of the sequence of a portion of the Cox-1 gene (GB MW349116-7) with the Cox-1 sequence of EU1 genotypes (GB EU124926). The EU1 clonal lineage has been previously isolated from tanoaks in Oregon forests, approximately 55 Km to the North (Grünwald et al. 2016), but this is the first report for California wildlands and will require containment and government regulations. It is unknown whether the EU1 strains in Del Norte County originated from Oregon forests or elsewhere.

Strawberry production in California represents over 38,000 acres with an annual farm value of $1.99 billion. Strawberry dieback was observed in February of 2021 in the Salinas Valley in central California. Disease symptoms included dead and dying ‘Maverick’ strawberry plants with necrotic lesions and black discoloration of the crown, root cortex, epidermis, and vascular tissues. Disease incidence was estimated to be 60% of a 20-acre field. The causal agent was isolated from five randomly selected symptomatic plants by surface disinfesting symptomatic crowns and roots in 1% sodium hypochlorite for 30 s, rinsed twice in sterile water for 30 s then placed on 3.7% potato dextrose agar (PDA) Petri dishes amended with 100 mg/L streptomycin, and then incubated for 7 days at 24°C under a 12-h photoperiod. Consistent white cottony fungal colonies were hyphal tip transferred to fresh PDA dishes and incubated as above for morphological and genetic comparisons. Black acervuli developed 7 to 9 days after incubation. Conidia were ellipsoidal, measuring 25 to 30 × 7.5 to 10 µm (average 26.8 × 9.2 µm, n = 30), with five cells. Apical and basal cells were hyaline, and the three median cells were versicolorous brown, with a single, straight, centric basal appendage and 3 to 4 flexuous apical appendages. Colony diameter averaged 90 mm in 7 days. Based on colony and conidial characters, the fungus was tentatively identified as a species of Neopestalotiopsis (Maharachchikumbura et al. 2014). Total genomic DNA was extracted from three axenic cultures using the Invitrogen Easy-DNA kit. Three genetic loci were PCR amplified and sequenced: internal transcribed spacer (ITS), beta-tubulin (BT), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF) utilizing the primer pairs ITS1/ITS4, T1/Bt2a, and EF1-688F/EF1-1251R, respectively (White et al. 1990, O’Donnell and Cigelnik 1997, Glass and Donaldson 1995, and Alves et al. 2008). A BLASTn search of NCBI showed 99.6% identity (495/497 bases; OM942910-OM942912) with the type specimen of Neopestalotiopsis rosae CBS 101057 for the ITS locus. Both BT (765/765 bases, OM964802-OM964804) and TEF (475/475 bases; OM964799-OM964801) sequences were 100% identical to CBS 101057. Conidia of isolate PAR027 were scraped from the surface of 14-day-old PDA Petri dishes and inoculated (1 × 106 spores/mL: 2 mL/plant) to four apparently healthy strawberry transplant roots of the cultivar ‘Monterey’ in ‘sunshine mix’ potting soil. Two control plants were inoculated with sterile water. The experiment was conducted twice. Strawberry plants were maintained in a hoop house for four weeks, after which dieback and wilt symptoms resembled the symptoms observed in the field. Control plants remained asymptomatic and no pathogens were isolated. Fungal recovery from inoculated plants morphologically matched the original inoculum; thus, Koch’s postulates was satisfied. To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. rosae causing crown and root rot disease of strawberry in California. Previously, N. rosae has been reported to cause serious decline of strawberry plants in Florida and several countries (Baggio et al. 2021, Rebollar-Alviter et al. 2020, Wu et al. 2021, Sun et al. 2021). Correct identification of the causal agent provides a proper foundation to identify control strategies for this emerging disease, which has the potential to become a significant problem for strawberry growers in the Salinas Valley of California.

From 2018 to 2021 a decline was detected in young vineyards of both wine and table grape (Vitis vinifera L.) in seven counties across California (Kern, Monterey, Napa, Sonoma, Tulare, Yolo, and Yuba). Affected vines showed poor or no growth throughout the season, dieback, sap exudation and internal cankers around the graft union. Lack of feeder roots was detected, indicating weak root development. In some cases, graft failure was associated with the symptomatology in recently established vineyards (<3 years old). A prevalence from 5 to 50% was estimated in 10 vineyards. Affected vines (n=34) were collected by farm advisors and submitted to the laboratory. Symptomatic vines were surface disinfected with 70% ethanol for 1 minute and air dried under sterile conditions. Vascular discoloration around the graft union was observed and inspected by removing the bark using a sterile knife. Isolations were performed from the margin of lesions by placing five wood sections (1×1 mm) per vine onto potato dextrose agar acidified with 0.5 mL/L of 85% lactic acid (APDA) and incubated for 7 days at 25°C in the dark. Even though other fungi associated with young vine decline were isolated and identified as Phaeoacremonium, Ilyonectria, and Botryosphaeriaceae species, Fusarium colonies (Leslie and Summerell, 2006) were the most prevalent among all the symptomatic vines. Pure cultures were obtained by transferring single hyphal tips onto fresh PDA. After 5 days of incubation, colonies formed white aerial mycelium with orange to purple colors on the bottom. Colonies in Spezieller Nährstoffarmer agar (SNA) produced abundant microconidia that were hyaline and ovoid to elliptical, ranging from 5.4 to 10.6 (7.4) × 1.4 to 3.3 (2.4) µm in size (n=50). Straight and slightly curved macroconidia varied from 15.5 to 42.3 (23.7) × 2.6 to 5.0 (3.6) µm in size (n=50). Upon DNA extraction, the translation elongation factor 1α (tef1) and the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) partial gene regions were amplified and sequenced using the EF1/EF2, 5F2/7cR and 7cF/11aR pair primers, respectively (O’Donnell et al. 1998, O’Donnell et al. 2007, Liu et al. 1999). Consensus sequences were compared to the NCBI database using BLAST, showing over 99% similarity with the ex-type sequence of F. annulatum CBS 258.54 (MT010994 and MT010983). A maximum likelihood multi-locus phylogenetic analysis confirmed that all the Californian isolates cluster with F. annulatum strains. Sequences were deposited in GenBank (nos. OK888534 to OK888537). Two representative isolates (UCD9188 and UCD9416) were used for pathogenicity tests. One-year-old ‘Chardonnay’ vines were inoculated between the second and third node by removing a 5-mm diameter disk of the bark using a sterile cork borer and placing a 5-mm agar plug with actively growing mycelium. Five replicates per isolate including controls with sterile agar plugs were incubated under greenhouse conditions for 2 months. The experiment was performed twice. Symptoms expressed as vascular linear necrotic lesions that ranged from 25.6 to 62.8 mm and the same pathogen was recovered, thus fulfilling Koch’s postulates. Fusarium annulatum Bugnic. is a morphologically and genetically diverse species that has been widely known as F. proliferatum and known to be pathogenic in more than 200 plant hosts (Yilmaz et al. 2021). Fusarium spp. have been previously reported to cause young vine decline in Australia and British Columbia, Canada (Highet and Nair, 1995; Úrbez-Torres et al. 2017). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of F. annulatum associated with young vine decline complex in California.

Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV; family Tospoviridae, genus Orthotospovirus) is a thrips-borne pathogen that infects a wide range of ornamental and vegetable crops. INSV was first reported in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) in the Salinas Valley of CA (Monterey County) in 2006 (Koike et al. 2008). Since then, the pathogen has continued to impact lettuce production in the region, causing severe economic losses with increasing incidence and severity in recent years. Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), another tospovirus, also infects lettuce, but its occurrence is much less frequent than INSV (Kuo et al. 2014). While INSV has not been reported in the desert areas of CA and AZ, there are concerns that the virus could become established in this region. In early March 2021, symptoms resembling those caused by orthotospovirus infection were observed in several romaine and iceberg lettuce fields in the Yuma and Tacna regions of Yuma County, AZ. Symptoms included leaves that exhibited tan to dark brown necrotic spots, distorted leaf shapes, and stunted plant growth. Similar symptoms were also reported in romaine fields and one green leaf and iceberg lettuce field in the neighboring Imperial and Riverside Counties of CA. A total of 14 samples (5 from Tacna, 4 from Yuma, 4 from Imperial, 1 from Riverside) were tested using ImmunoStrips (Agdia, Elkhart, IN) for INSV and TSWV. Results confirmed the presence of INSV in 13 out of 14 samples, and the absence of INSV in one sample originating from Yuma. All 14 samples tested negative for TSWV. The 13 INSV positive samples were processed for RT-PCR validation. Total RNA was extracted from each sample using the RNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). RT-PCR was performed with OneStep Ahead RT-PCR Kit (Qiagen) with primers to the N gene of INSV S RNA (Accession KF745140.1; INSV F = CCAAATACTACTTTAACCGCAAGT; INSV R = ACACCCAAGACACAGGATTT). All reactions generated a single amplicon at the correct size of 524 bp. One sample each from Yuma, Tacna, and Brawley (Imperial County), as well as a romaine lettuce sample collected from the Salinas Valley in March 2021, were sent for Sanger bi-directional sequencing (Eton Biosciences, San Diego, CA). Sequence analysis revealed that all three desert samples (Yuma, Tacna, and Brawley with Accessions OK340696, OK340697, OK340698, respectively) shared 100% sequence identity and 99.43% identity to the Salinas Valley 2021 sample (SV-L2, Accession OK340699). Additionally, all desert samples shared 99.24% sequence identity to the Salinas Valley lettuce isolate previously described in 2014 (SV-L1, Accession KF745140.1; Kuo et al. 2014), while the SV-L2 and SV-L1 sequences shared 99.43% identity. By the end of the season (April 2021) a total of 43 lettuce fields in Yuma County, AZ, and 9 fields in Imperial and Riverside Counties, CA were confirmed to have INSV infection using ImmunoStrips. Impacted fields included romaine, green leaf, red leaf, and head lettuce varieties, and both direct-seeded and transplanted lettuce, under conventional and organic management regimes. In AZ, INSV incidence in fields ranged between 0.2% and 33%, while in Imperial and Riverside Counties, CA, field incidence remained low at less than 0.1%. It is possible that INSV was introduced from the Salinas Valley of CA through the movement of infected lettuce transplants and/or thrips vectors. To our knowledge, this is the first report of INSV infecting lettuce in Arizona and the southern desert region of California.

Brassica yellows virus (BrYV; genus Polerovirus, family Solemoviridae) has an icosahedral spherical virion with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome and it is distinguished from turnip yellows virus (TuYV) based on differences in ORF0 and ORF5 (Xiang et al., 2011). To investigate the occurrence and distribution of viruses infecting strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) in the main production areas in China, a survey of nine greenhouses (667 m2 each) was conducted in the cities of Yantai and Beijing, China in August 2020. About 1% of strawberry plants in each greenhouse showed virus-like symptoms of chlorotic spots; 89 symptomatic leaf samples were randomly collected for virus testing. Total RNA was extracted from a pool of eight samples of four different cultivars (Hokowase: 2, Mibao: 2, Sagahonoka: 2, Monterey: 2) from Yantai using RNAprep Pure Plant Plus Kit (TianGen, China). A cDNA library was constructed by NEBNext® Ultra™ Directional RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina® (NEB, USA) after ribosomal RNA-depletion using an Epicentre Ribo-Zero™ rRNA Removal Kit (Epicentre, USA). High-throughput sequencing was done on Illumina Hiseq 4000, generating 70,931,850 high-quality 150 bp paired-end reads. Clean reads were de novo assembled by Trinity (v2.2.0) and the resulting contigs were screened by BLASTn and BLASTx against GenBank database as described previously (Grabherr et al., 2013). A total of 1,432,164 high-quality reads unmapped to the strawberry genome were obtained and assembled into 93 contigs (ranging from 33 to 8,031 nt). Seven of these contigs (277 to 1,254 nt) shared 98.2 to 100% nt identities with BrYV-A (accession no. HQ388348) and covered 89.5% of the genome of BrYV-A. Subsequent analyses indicated the presence of Strawberry pallidosis-associated virus and Strawberry mottle virus in the analyzed sample, both have been reported in strawberry in China (Shi et al., 2018; Fan et al., 2021). To confirm BrYV infection, total RNA was isolated from the eight samples used for HTS and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was conducted with two pairs of specific primers (CP and rtp, Supplementary Table 1) designed based on the assembled contigs. PCR products with expected sizes (587 and 609 bp) were observed in one sample (cv. Mibao). BLASTn analysis indicated that the amplicons (accession no. MW548437 and MW548438) shared 98.6% and 99.3% nt identity with BrYV-A, respectively. To obtain the complete sequence of the putative BrYV isolate, the gaps were bridged and the terminal sequences were determined using 5ʹ and 3ʹ RACE kits (Clontech, China) based on the assembled contigs. The complete genome sequence of the putative BrYV isolate has a length of 5,666 nt (accession no. MZ666129) and shares more than 94.3% nt identities with other BrYV isolates. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the isolate grouped closely with BrYV and further from TuYV (Figure S1). In addition, 11 samples (cv. Benihoppe) of the remaining 81 symptomatic strawberry samples tested positive for BrYV by RT-PCR with the two pairs of primers mentioned above. The sequences (accession no. MZ407232 and MZ407233) revealed 99.5% and 99.3% nt identities with MW548437 and MW548438. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of natural infection of BrYV in strawberry plants. Our findings expand the host range of BrYV, but disease association is difficult to establish due to presence of mixed infection and non-fulfillment of Koch's postulates.

Abstract High resolution esophageal manometry (HREM) has been in use for about a decade. However, there is no available information regarding geographical or regional differences in diagnostic outcome. Aim Characterize the indications, demographics and diagnostic outcome of HREM in a diverse population of Mexico. Methods Data was collected from four major referral centers representing diverse geographical areas of Mexico: central—Mexico City (two centers, years 2016-2020), south (Veracruz, years 2015-2020) and north (Monterrey, years 2013—2020). All consecutive cases referred for HREM were entered into a data base and analyzed using Chicago 3 classification. Data was evaluated using chi-square to compare frequencies among groups. Results 2,932 patients included: Central n = 877(29.9), North n = 1003(34.2), South n = 1052(35.9). Mean age 47.9(11-93), women 1,795(61.2), men 1,137(38.8). Nationwide, the most common indications for testing were: GERD n = 1677(57.2), followed by dysphagia 587(20), atypical GERD 244(8.3), post-operative GERD 230(7.9), chest pain 114(3.9), and post-operative dysphagia 78(2.8). HREM was normal in 1,468(49.9) patients. Table shows the diagnostic distribution among centers: Central-Mexico had more abnormal cases 531(60.5) (p &lt; 0.0.001) vs 407(40.6) North and 532(50.6) South. Achalasia was more commonly diagnosed in the South n = 104(19.5) whereas outlet obstruction 39(967) p &lt; 0.001 and spastic disorders were more common in the North 47(11.8) p = 0.002. Weak peristaltic disorders were more common in Central-Mexico 369(78.8) p &lt; 0.001. Conclusion This study represents the first large comparative multicenter HREM data base project in Mexico. In this cohort, most patients receiving HREM are women and those whose indication was GERD. These findings indicate variable regional geographical distribution of HERM diagnosis. Our study suggests that further investigation into the causes and epidemiological distribution of motility disorders is warranted.

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) is a crop of economic importance, refreshing drinks are prepared from its calyces, it is also attributed to antioxidant, antibacterial, and antihypertensive properties (Da-Costa-Rocha et al. 2014). In November 2022, in municipality of Iguala (18.355592N, 99.548546W, 749 m above sea level), Guerrero, México, roselle plants of approximately 1.5 months of age with basal rot were detected under greenhouse conditions. The symptoms consisted of wilting, yellowing, and root and stem rot with constriction in the base of the stem. The symptoms were detected in approximately 15% of plants at the operation. From symptomatic tissue, cuts were made into approximately 0.5 cm pieces, sterilized with 2% NaClO, washed with sterile distilled water, transferred to PDA medium amended with 50 mg/liter of Chloramphenicol, and incubated in the dark for four days at 28 °C. Rhizoctonia-like colonies were consistently obtained, and nine isolates were selected and purified by the hyphal-tip method. After four days, isolates developed a mycelium was light-white that became brown with age. Right-angled hyphal branching was also observed, in addition to a slight constriction at the base of the branches. In some older cultures, numerous dark brown sclerotia were observed. They were multinucleate cell with three to eight nuclei and measured from 1 to 2 mm in diameter. Together these characteristics were consistent with the description of Rhizoctonia solani Kühn (Parmeter 1970). The anastomosis group (AG) was confirmed by amplifying the ITS region with the primers ITS1 and ITS4 (White et al. 1990) of the RIJAM3 and RIJAM5 strains. The sequences were deposited in GenBank (Nos. OR364496 and OR364497 for RIJAM3 and RIJAM5, respectively). BLAST analysis, both isolates indicated 99.7 identity to R. solani AG-4 HG-I (GenBank: KM013470) strain ICMP 20043 (Ireland et al. 2015). The phylogenetic analysis of AGs sequences allowed assignment of isolates RIJAM3 and RIJAM5 to the AG-4 HG-1 clade. A pathogenicity test was performed on 20 one-month-old roselle plants. Mycelium of RIJAM3 isolate was inserted into the base of the stem with a sterile toothpick. As a control, a sterile toothpick with no mycelium was inserted in ten healthy plants. Additionally, 50 eight-day-old seedlings were inoculated by placing a 5-mm diameter agar plug colonized with mycelium of RIJAM3 at the base of the stem 10 mm below the soil surface. As control treatments, uncolonized PDA plugs were deposited at the base of 25 seedlings. The inoculated plants were incubated in a greenhouse with an average temperature and relative humidity of 28°C and 85%, respectively. Following inoculation, symptoms similar to those observed in the original outbreak were observed in plants after six days and only after four days in seedlings. In both experiments, the control plants and seedlings remained asymptomatic. R. solani was re-isolated from plants and seedlings, complying with Koch's postulates. The pathogenicity testing was repeated twice, with concordant results. In Nigeria and Malaysia R. solani was reported to seedling death to cause seedling dieback in roselle (Adeniji 1970; Eslaminejad and Zakaria 2011). In México R. solani AG-4 has been previously reported in crops of potato, chili and tomato (Montero-Tavera et al. 2013; Ortega-Acosta et al. 2022; Virgen-Calleros et al. 2000). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of R. solani AG-4 HG-I as a causing of root and basal stem rot on roselle in Mexico. This research provides information essential for informing the management of this disease, and may help design measures to prevent the spread of the pathogen to other regions.

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Bilingual Research Journal (National Association for Bilingual Education) 30.1 (2006), 107–122.07–116Leung, Constant (King's College London, UK; constant.leung@kcl.ac.uk), Language and content in bilingual education. Linguistics and Education (Elsevier) 16.2 (2005), 238–252.07–117Lindholm-Leary, Kathryn (San Jose State U, USA) & Graciela Borsato, Hispanic high schoolers and mathematics: Follow-up of students who had participated in two-way bilingual elementary programs. Bilingual Research Journal (National Association for Bilingual Education) 29.3 (2005), 641–652.07–118López, María G. & Abbas Tashakkori (Florida International U, USA), Differential outcomes of two bilingual education programs on English language learners. Bilingual Research Journal (National Association for Bilingual Education) 30.1 (2006), 123–144.07–119Lung, Rachel (Lingnan U, Hong Kong, China; wclung@ln.edu.hk), Translation training needs for adult learners. Babel (John Benjamins) 51.3 (2005), 224–237.07–120MacSwan, Jeff (Arizona State U, USA) & Lisa Pray, Learning English bilingually: Age of onset of exposure and rate of acquisition among English language learners in a bilingual education program. Bilingual Research Journal (National Association for Bilingual Education) 29.3 (2005), 653–678.07–121Monzó, Lilia D. (U California, Los Angeles, USA), Latino parents' ‘choice’ for bilingual education in an urban California school: language politics in the aftermath of proposition 227. Bilingual Research Journal (National Association for Bilingual Education) 29.2 (2005), 365–386.07–122Mugaddam, Abdel Rahim Hamid (U Khartoum, Sudan), Language status and use in Dilling City, the Nuba Mountains. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Multilingual Matters) 27.4 (2006), 290–304.07–123Napier, Jemina (Macquarie U, Australia; jemina.napier@ling.mq.edu.au), Training sign language interpreters in Australia: An innovative approach. Babel (John Benjamins) 51.3 (2005), 207–223.07–124Oladejo, James (National Kaohsiung Normal U, Taiwan), Parents’ attitudes towards bilingual education policy in Taiwan. Bilingual Research Journal (National Association for Bilingual Education) 30.1 (2006), 147–170.07–125Paneque, Oneyda M. (Barry U, USA) & Patricia M. Barbetta, A study of teacher efficacy of special education teachers of English language learners with disabilities. Bilingual Research Journal (National Association for Bilingual Education) 30.1 (2006), 171–193.07–126Proctor, Patrick C. (Center for Applied Special Technology, USA), Diane August, María S. Carlo & Catherine Snow, The intriguing role of Spanish language vocabulary knowledge in predicting English reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology (American Psychological Association) 98.1 (2006), 159–169.07–127Ramírez-Esparza, Nairán (U Texas, USA; nairan@mail.utexas.edu), Samuel D. Gosling, Verónica Benet-Martínez, Jeffrey P. Potter & James W. 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Photo by lafayett zapata montero on Unsplash INTRODUCTION Mid-level providers are not new to the field of medicine. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants have been providing direct care for patients with the oversight of licensed physicians for many years. As a result of their assistance, physicians can focus on complex cases and oversee a larger patient base. This, in turn, creates a more accessible healthcare system. Although many gaps remain between medicine and dentistry, mid-level providers may be the answer to expanding access to dental healthcare needs. Recently, mid-level providers have entered the field of dentistry in multiple states in the US. People commonly refer to this role as a dental therapist. A dental therapist works under a licensed dentist providing preventive and routine restorative care to expand dental healthcare to underserved populations.[1] This new addition to the workforce has proven to be beneficial in some regions but has opened a door to ethical debate among dentists and public health officials. In 2009 Minnesota approved the first state-wide legislation in the US to legalize the role of dental therapists after seeing a drastic decline in their dentist-to-population ratio. The congregation of dentists in high-income and highly populated areas have left many communities in the US in need of dental care but unable to receive it locally. A case study performed by dental hygienists Minnesota, from 2003 to 2007, concluded that one in four primary school children presented with visible decay, and half of these cases were deemed urgent due to symptoms including toothaches and other oral pain.[2] Minnesota health professionals performed another case study which presented results that they believed to further strengthen the need for dental reform in the state. Over the course of a year, health professionals surveyed seven hospitals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The results showed over 10,000 emergency room visits were from dental-related problems such as abscesses or toothaches. These patients had untreated oral health problems, eventually leading to infection and unbearable pain. The total cost for these emergency room visits exceeded $4.7 million in out-of-pocket payments and insurance costs.[3] These issues surrounding dental health care are evident on a national level as well. To visualize the need for expanded oral care on a larger scale, in 2022 researchers recorded that over 69 million people in the US live in areas that have a dental health professional shortage. According to federal regulations, a shortage of providers indicates a population-to-provider ratio that meets or exceeds 5,000:1.[4] Integrating the role of dental therapists into the healthcare system has solved similar issues elsewhere. Alaskan Native communities and countries including the UK, Canada, and New Zealand have used dental therapists for decades.[5] In recent years Maine, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Michigan, Idaho, New Mexico, Connecticut, and Nevada joined this list.[6] As of 2022, there are five dental therapy licensing programs in the US, located in Alaska, Washington and Minnesota. Dental therapists are required to have a bachelor’s degree in dental therapy and can pursue a master’s in dental therapy to extend their license and perform more advanced procedures.[7] Differences in education, allowed procedures, and state-specific requirements in Minnesota are depicted in Table 1 (state-to-state specifics may vary). Table 1: The Varying Degrees of Dental Therapy *State of Minnesota, Minnesota Administrative Rules, 150A.105, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/ statutes/?id=150a.105; State of Minnesota, Minnesota Session Laws (2009), Regular Session, Chapter 95—S.F. No. 2083, http://www.dentalboard.state.mn.us/Portals/3/Licensing/Dental%20Therapist/DTLEG.pdf; and Minnesota Board of Dentistry, “Dental Therapist Scope of Practice,” http://www.dentalboard.state.mn.us/Portals/3/Licensing/Dental%20 Therapist/DTSCOPE.pdf. I. Regional Outcomes of Employing Dental Therapists The goal of integrating dental therapists was to increase access to care in underserved areas. Results from a 2017 data collection on dental therapists in Alaska provide evidence that the region met this goal. Residents in communities where dental therapists practiced presented with more restorative care and fewer extractions than in communities without.[8] Another statistic reported an increase in private practices opening their doors to Medicaid patients after the addition of a dental therapist to their team. One practice recorded that their dental therapist treated over 200 Medicaid patients and earned nearly $24,000 in additional profit for the practice that year.[9] Expanding dental care to patients enrolled in Medicaid programs has been an ongoing issue. According to the American Dental Association, in 2018, around 30 percent of practicing dentists accepted Medicaid. In 2012, a case study was conducted in Alaska, which collected the statistics produced by Rochelle Furry, a certified dental therapist. Over the course of a year, Furry saw 750 patients and performed 5,000 procedures. Furry’s addition to the team cost the supervising dentist $180,009 in overhead. Furry’s collections totaled $385,338, with a yearly net profit of $205,329.[10] Another benefit reported by dentists when integrating a dental therapist into their team was the ability to prioritize their focus toward more complex cases, leaving routine fillings and other minimally invasive procedures in the hands of the dental therapist. With the reduced education of dental therapists comes reduced costs per procedure. This may encourage patients who are uninsured or owe out-of-pocket payments and entice them to follow through with the diagnosed treatment. II. Areas of Debate Despite providing benefits to patients and supervising dentists, dental therapists are not prevalent throughout the US. Similar to the debate regarding mid-level providers like physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners, there are disputes between healthcare officials on whether the addition of dental therapists is an ethical solution to the disparities in access to oral care. The different levels of education between dentists and dental therapists spark debates on whether dental therapists have enough training to treat patients. Dentists are required to complete both a bachelor’s and a doctorate program, as well as pass rigorous board exams usually totaling eight years of additional education after a high-school degree. Although dental therapists perform more routine procedures that are minimally invasive, they are primarily working with populations that have received minimal oral care in the past, usually presenting with larger amounts of decay. This increases the complexity of cases that a healthcare worker with minimal training compared to a DDS or DMD attends to. While some patients prefer the low costs of procedures done by a dental therapist, others prioritize quality of treatment and believe only dentists are well-trained enough to provide it. Some argue that a doctorate-level medical professional should do irreversible procedures involving the permanent removal of the tooth surfaces, such as fillings, crowns, or extractions. This position also brings up the issue of a two-tiered healthcare system in which patients of low socioeconomic status are treated by providers with less training, while mid to upper class patients are treated by doctors. Some public health professionals argue there are better solutions. For example, the Academy of General Dentistry “White Paper on Increasing Access to and Utilization of Oral Health Care Services" suggests that one of the biggest challenges in achieving optimal oral health for all is “underutilization of available oral health care.”[11] This argument addresses the noneconomic barriers in seeking professional care, including the patient's behavioral factors, levels of oral health literacy, transportation, location, and cultural or linguistic preferences. This author concludes that increased access can be achieved with the current dentist supply, if optimally utilized, along with public health officials increasing public knowledge and awareness regarding oral health.[12] CONCLUSION The remaining question is what may be the best way forward for the health of the US population. The goal of equal and accessible healthcare is not easily obtainable. The introduction of dental therapists to the workforce has provided a possible solution to this problem by expanding access to healthcare to affected populations. Some regions have documented benefits from this addition, but disagreements remain among healthcare professionals on whether this is the ethical solution to the problem of oral health disparities. The practice of integrating dental therapists into all regions with oral health care shortages throughout the US comes down to whether licensed dental therapists are competent in rendering quality treatment in underserved areas. Some are content with the addition of dental therapists, while others continue to look for other solutions, such as better dental education on prevention and optimizing access to already established practices. - [1] Corr, Allison. “What Are Dental Therapists?” The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Pew Charitable Trusts, 9 Oct. 2019, www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2019/10/09/what-are-dental-therapists. [2] The Pew Center on the States. “The State of Children’s Dental Health: Making Coverage Matter.” Pew Children’s Dental Campaign, Sept. 2010. https://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/legacy/uploadedfiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/reports/state_policy/childrensdental50statereport2011pdf.pdf. [3] Pew Center on the States (2010). [4] Health Workforce Shortage Areas, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), 31 Mar. 2023, https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas. [5] David A. Nash, Jay W. Friedman, Kavita R. Mathu-Muju, Peter G. Robinson, Julie Satur, Susan Moffat, Rosemary Kardos, Edward C.M. Lo, Anthony H.H. Wong, Nasruddin Jaafar, Jos van den Heuvel, Prathip Phantumvanit, Eu Oy Chu, Rahul Naidu, Lesley Naidoo, Irvi. “A Review of the Global Literature on Dental Therapists.” Community Dentistry and Oral EpidemiologyVolume 42, Issue 1 p. 1-10, Wiley Library Online, 3 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1111/cdoe.12052. [6] Corr (2019). [7] Urahn, S. and Schuler, A. (2014) Expanding the Dental Team. The Pew Charitable Trust. https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2014/06/27/expanding_dental_case_studies_report.pdf [8] Corr (2019). [9] Corr (2019). [10] Nash, et al. (2013). [11] White Paper on Increasing Access to and Utilization of Oral Health Care Services, Academy of General Dentistry, July 2008, https://www.agd.org/docs/default-source/advocacy-papers/agd-white-paper-increasing-access-to-and-utilization-of-oral-health-care-services.pdf?sfvrsn=2%20. [12] Burton L. Edelstein, DDS, MPH. “Examining Whether Dental Therapists Constitute a Disruptive Innovation in US Dentistry.” American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, Oct. 2011, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222362/.

IntroductionFood Studies is a relatively recent area of research enquiry in Australia and Magazine Studies is even newer (Le Masurier and Johinke), with the consequence that Australian culinary magazines are only just beginning to be investigated. Moreover, although many major libraries have not thought such popular magazines worthy of sustained collection (Fox and Sornil), considering these publications is important. As de Certeau argues, it can be of considerable consequence to identify and analyse everyday practices (such as producing and reading popular magazines) that seem so minor and insignificant as to be unworthy of notice, as these practices have the ability to affect our lives. It is important in this case as these publications were part of the post-war gastronomic environment in Australia in which national tastes in domestic cookery became radically internationalised (Santich). To further investigate Australian magazines, as well as suggesting how these cosmopolitan eating habits became more widely embraced, this article will survey the various ways in which the idea of “abroad” is expressed in one Australian culinary serial from the post-war period, Australian Wines & Food Quarterly magazine, which was published from 1956 to 1960. The methodological approach taken is an historically-informed content analysis (Krippendorff) of relevant material from these magazines combined with germane media data (Hodder). All issues in the serial’s print run have been considered.Australian Post-War Culinary PublishingTo date, studies of 1950s writing in Australia have largely focused on literary and popular fiction (Johnson-Wood; Webby) and literary criticism (Bird; Dixon; Lee). There have been far fewer studies of non-fiction writing of any kind, although some serial publications from this time have attracted some attention (Bell; Lindesay; Ross; Sheridan; Warner-Smith; White; White). In line with studies internationally, groundbreaking work in Australian food history has focused on cookbooks, and includes work by Supski, who notes that despite the fact that buying cookbooks was “regarded as a luxury in the 1950s” (87), such publications were an important information source in terms of “developing, consolidating and extending foodmaking knowledge” at that time (85).It is widely believed that changes to Australian foodways were brought about by significant post-war immigration and the recipes and dishes these immigrants shared with neighbours, friends, and work colleagues and more widely afield when they opened cafes and restaurants (Newton; Newton; Manfredi). Although these immigrants did bring new culinary flavours and habits with them, the overarching rhetoric guiding population policy at this time was assimilation, with migrants expected to abandon their culture, language, and habits in favour of the dominant British-influenced ways of living (Postiglione). While migrants often did retain their foodways (Risson), the relationship between such food habits and the increasingly cosmopolitan Australian food culture is much more complex than the dominant cultural narrative would have us believe. It has been pointed out, for example, that while the haute cuisine of countries such as France, Italy, and Germany was much admired in Australia and emulated in expensive dining (Brien and Vincent), migrants’ own preference for their own dishes instead of Anglo-Australian choices, was not understood (Postiglione). Duruz has added how individual diets are eclectic, “multi-layered and hybrid” (377), incorporating foods from both that person’s own background with others available for a range of reasons including availability, cost, taste, and fashion. In such an environment, popular culinary publishing, in terms of cookbooks, specialist magazines, and recipe and other food-related columns in general magazines and newspapers, can be posited to be another element contributing to this change.Australian Wines & Food QuarterlyAustralian Wines & Food Quarterly (AWFQ) is, as yet, a completely unexamined publication, and there appears to be only three complete sets of this magazine held in public collections. It is important to note that, at the time it was launched in the mid-1950s, food writing played a much less significant part in Australian popular publishing than it does today, with far fewer cookbooks released than today, and women’s magazines and the women’s pages of newspapers containing only small recipe sections. In this environment, a new specialist culinary magazine could be seen to be timely, an audacious gamble, or both.All issues of this magazine were produced and printed in, and distributed from, Melbourne, Australia. Although no sales or distribution figures are available, production was obviously a struggle, with only 15 issues published before the magazine folded at the end of 1960. The title of the magazine changed over this time, and issue release dates are erratic, as is the method in which volumes and issues are numbered. Although the number of pages varied from 32 up to 52, and then less once again, across the magazine’s life, the price was steadily reduced, ending up at less than half the original cover price. All issues were produced and edited by Donald Wallace, who also wrote much of the content, with contributions from family members, including his wife, Mollie Wallace, to write, illustrate, and produce photographs for the magazine.When considering the content of the magazine, most is quite familiar in culinary serials today, although AWFQ’s approach was radically innovative in Australia at this time when cookbooks, women’s magazines, and newspaper cookery sections focused on recipes, many of which were of cakes, biscuits, and other sweet baking (Bannerman). AWFQ not only featured many discursive essays and savory meals, it also featured much wine writing and review-style content as well as information about restaurant dining in each issue.Wine-Related ContentWine is certainly the most prominent of the content areas, with most issues of the magazine containing more wine-related content than any other. Moreover, in the early issues, most of the food content is about preparing dishes and/or meals that could be consumed alongside wines, although the proportion of food content increases as the magazine is published. This wine-related content takes a clearly international perspective on this topic. While many articles and advertisements, for example, narrate the long history of Australian wine growing—which goes back to early 19th century—these articles argue that Australia's vineyards and wineries measure up to international, and especially French, examples. In one such example, the author states that: “from the earliest times Australia’s wines have matched up to world standard” (“Wine” 25). This contest can be situated in Australia, where a leading restaurant (Caprice in Sydney) could be seen to not only “match up to” but also, indeed to, “challenge world standards” by serving Australian wines instead of imports (“Sydney” 33). So good, indeed, are Australian wines that when foreigners are surprised by their quality, this becomes newsworthy. This is evidenced in the following excerpt: “Nearly every English businessman who has come out to Australia in the last ten years … has diverted from his main discussion to comment on the high quality of Australian wine” (Seppelt, 3). In a similar nationalist vein, many articles feature overseas experts’ praise of Australian wines. Thus, visiting Italian violinist Giaconda de Vita shows a “keen appreciation of Australian wines” (“Violinist” 30), British actor Robert Speaight finds Grange Hermitage “an ideal wine” (“High Praise” 13), and the Swedish ambassador becomes their advocate (Ludbrook, “Advocate”).This competition could also be located overseas including when Australian wines are served at prestigious overseas events such as a dinner for members of the Overseas Press Club in New York (Australian Wines); sold from Seppelt’s new London cellars (Melbourne), or the equally new Australian Wine Centre in Soho (Australia Will); or, featured in exhibitions and promotions such as the Lausanne Trade Fair (Australia is Guest;“Wines at Lausanne), or the International Wine Fair in Yugoslavia (Australia Wins).Australia’s first Wine Festival was held in Melbourne in 1959 (Seppelt, “Wine Week”), the joint focus of which was the entertainment and instruction of the some 15,000 to 20,000 attendees who were expected. At its centre was a series of free wine tastings aiming to promote Australian wines to the “professional people of the community, as well as the general public and the housewife” (“Melbourne” 8), although admission had to be recommended by a wine retailer. These tastings were intended to build up the prestige of Australian wine when compared to international examples: “It is the high quality of our wines that we are proud of. That is the story to pass on—that Australian wine, at its best, is at least as good as any in the world and better than most” (“Melbourne” 8).There is also a focus on promoting wine drinking as a quotidian habit enjoyed abroad: “We have come a long way in less than twenty years […] An enormous number of husbands and wives look forward to a glass of sherry when the husband arrives home from work and before dinner, and a surprising number of ordinary people drink table wine quite un-selfconsciously” (Seppelt, “Advance” 3). However, despite an acknowledged increase in wine appreciation and drinking, there is also acknowledgement that this there was still some way to go in this aim as, for example, in the statement: “There is no reason why the enjoyment of table wines should not become an Australian custom” (Seppelt, “Advance” 4).The authority of European experts and European habits is drawn upon throughout the publication whether in philosophically-inflected treatises on wine drinking as a core part of civilised behaviour, or practically-focused articles about wine handling and serving (Keown; Seabrook; “Your Own”). Interestingly, a number of Australian experts are also quoted as stressing that these are guidelines, not strict rules: Crosby, for instance, states: “There is no ‘right wine.’ The wine to drink is the one you like, when and how you like it” (19), while the then-manager of Lindemans Wines is similarly reassuring in his guide to entertaining, stating that “strict adherence to the rules is not invariably wise” (Mackay 3). Tingey openly acknowledges that while the international-style of regularly drinking wine had “given more dignity and sophistication to the Australian way of life” (35), it should not be shrouded in snobbery.Food-Related ContentThe magazine’s cookery articles all feature international dishes, and certain foreign foods, recipes, and ways of eating and dining are clearly identified as “gourmet”. Cheese is certainly the most frequently mentioned “gourmet” food in the magazine, and is featured in every issue. These articles can be grouped into the following categories: understanding cheese (how it is made and the different varieties enjoyed internationally), how to consume cheese (in relation to other food and specific wines, and in which particular parts of a meal, again drawing on international practices), and cooking with cheese (mostly in what can be identified as “foreign” recipes).Some of this content is produced by Kraft Foods, a major advertiser in the magazine, and these articles and recipes generally focus on urging people to eat more, and varied international kinds of cheese, beyond the ubiquitous Australian cheddar. In terms of advertorials, both Kraft cheeses (as well as other advertisers) are mentioned by brand in recipes, while the companies are also profiled in adjacent articles. In the fourth issue, for instance, a full-page, infomercial-style advertisement, noting the different varieties of Kraft cheese and how to serve them, is published in the midst of a feature on cooking with various cheeses (“Cooking with Cheese”). This includes recipes for Swiss Cheese fondue and two pasta recipes: spaghetti and spicy tomato sauce, and a so-called Italian spaghetti with anchovies.Kraft’s company history states that in 1950, it was the first business in Australia to manufacture and market rindless cheese. Through these AWFQ advertisements and recipes, Kraft aggressively marketed this innovation, as well as its other new products as they were launched: mayonnaise, cheddar cheese portions, and Cracker Barrel Cheese in 1954; Philadelphia Cream Cheese, the first cream cheese to be produced commercially in Australia, in 1956; and, Coon Cheese in 1957. Not all Kraft products were seen, however, as “gourmet” enough for such a magazine. Kraft’s release of sliced Swiss Cheese in 1957, and processed cheese slices in 1959, for instance, both passed unremarked in either the magazine’s advertorial or recipes.An article by the Australian Dairy Produce Board urging consumers to “Be adventurous with Cheese” presented general consumer information including the “origin, characteristics and mode of serving” cheese accompanied by a recipe for a rich and exotic-sounding “Wine French Dressing with Blue Cheese” (Kennedy 18). This was followed in the next issue by an article discussing both now familiar and not-so familiar European cheese varieties: “Monterey, Tambo, Feta, Carraway, Samsoe, Taffel, Swiss, Edam, Mozzarella, Pecorino-Romano, Red Malling, Cacio Cavallo, Blue-Vein, Roman, Parmigiano, Kasseri, Ricotta and Pepato” (“Australia’s Natural” 23). Recipes for cheese fondues recur through the magazine, sometimes even multiple times in the same issue (see, for instance, “Cooking With Cheese”; “Cooking With Wine”; Pain). In comparison, butter, although used in many AWFQ’s recipes, was such a common local ingredient at this time that it was only granted one article over the entire run of the magazine, and this was largely about the much more unusual European-style unsalted butter (“An Expert”).Other international recipes that were repeated often include those for pasta (always spaghetti) as well as mayonnaise made with olive oil. Recurring sweets and desserts include sorbets and zabaglione from Italy, and flambéd crepes suzettes from France. While tabletop cooking is the epitome of sophistication and described as an international technique, baked Alaska (ice cream nestled on liquor-soaked cake, and baked in a meringue shell), hailing from America, is the most featured recipe in the magazine. Asian-inspired cuisine was rarely represented and even curry—long an Anglo-Australian staple—was mentioned only once in the magazine, in an article reprinted from the South African The National Hotelier, and which included a recipe alongside discussion of blending spices (“Curry”).Coffee was regularly featured in both articles and advertisements as a staple of the international gourmet kitchen (see, for example, Bancroft). Articles on the history, growing, marketing, blending, roasting, purchase, percolating and brewing, and serving of coffee were common during the magazine’s run, and are accompanied with advertisements for Bushell’s, Robert Timms’s and Masterfoods’s coffee ranges. AWFQ believed Australia’s growing coffee consumption was the result of increased participation in quality internationally-influenced dining experiences, whether in restaurants, the “scores of colourful coffee shops opening their doors to a new generation” (“Coffee” 39), or at home (Adams). Tea, traditionally the Australian hot drink of choice, is not mentioned once in the magazine (Brien).International Gourmet InnovationsAlso featured in the magazine are innovations in the Australian food world: new places to eat; new ways to cook, including a series of sometimes quite unusual appliances; and new ways to shop, with a profile of the first American-style supermarkets to open in Australia in this period. These are all seen as overseas innovations, but highly suited to Australia. The laws then controlling the service of alcohol are also much discussed, with many calls to relax the licensing laws which were seen as inhibiting civilised dining and drinking practices. The terms this was often couched in—most commonly in relation to the Olympic Games (held in Melbourne in 1956), but also in relation to tourism in general—are that these restrictive regulations were an embarrassment for Melbourne when considered in relation to international practices (see, for example, Ludbrook, “Present”). This was at a time when the nightly hotel closing time of 6.00 pm (and the performance of the notorious “six o’clock swill” in terms of drinking behaviour) was only repealed in Victoria in 1966 (Luckins).Embracing scientific approaches in the kitchen was largely seen to be an American habit. The promotion of the use of electricity in the kitchen, and the adoption of new electric appliances (Gas and Fuel; Gilbert “Striving”), was described not only as a “revolution that is being wrought in our homes”, but one that allowed increased levels of personal expression and fulfillment, in “increas[ing] the time and resources available to the housewife for the expression of her own personality in the management of her home” (Gilbert, “The Woman’s”). This mirrors the marketing of these modes of cooking and appliances in other media at this time, including in newspapers, radio, and other magazines. This included features on freezing food, however AWFQ introduced an international angle, by suggesting that recipe bases could be pre-prepared, frozen, and then defrosted to use in a range of international cookery (“Fresh”; “How to”; Kelvinator Australia). The then-new marvel of television—another American innovation—is also mentioned in the magazine ("Changing concepts"), although other nationalities are also invoked. The history of the French guild the Confrerie de la Chaine des Roitisseurs in 1248 is, for instance, used to promote an electric spit roaster that was part of a state-of-the-art gas stove (“Always”), and there are also advertisements for such appliances as the Gaggia expresso machine (“Lets”) which draw on both Italian historical antecedence and modern science.Supermarket and other forms of self-service shopping are identified as American-modern, with Australia’s first shopping mall lauded as the epitome of utopian progressiveness in terms of consumer practice. Judged to mark “a new era in Australian retailing” (“Regional” 12), the opening of Chadstone Regional Shopping Centre in suburban Melbourne on 4 October 1960, with its 83 tenants including “giant” supermarket Dickens, and free parking for 2,500 cars, was not only “one of the most up to date in the world” but “big even by American standards” (“Regional” 12, italics added), and was hailed as a step in Australia “catching up” with the United States in terms of mall shopping (“Regional” 12). This shopping centre featured international-styled dining options including Bistro Shiraz, an outdoor terrace restaurant that planned to operate as a bistro-snack bar by day and full-scale restaurant at night, and which was said to offer diners a “Persian flavor” (“Bistro”).ConclusionAustralian Wines & Food Quarterly was the first of a small number of culinary-focused Australian publications in the 1950s and 1960s which assisted in introducing a generation of readers to information about what were then seen as foreign foods and beverages only to be accessed and consumed abroad as well as a range of innovative international ideas regarding cookery and dining. For this reason, it can be posited that the magazine, although modest in the claims it made, marked a revolutionary moment in Australian culinary publishing. As yet, only slight traces can be found of its editor and publisher, Donald Wallace. The influence of AWFQ is, however, clearly evident in the two longer-lived magazines that were launched in the decade after AWFQ folded: Australian Gourmet Magazine and The Epicurean. Although these serials had a wider reach, an analysis of the 15 issues of AWFQ adds to an understanding of how ideas of foods, beverages, and culinary ideas and trends, imported from abroad were presented to an Australian readership in the 1950s, and contributed to how national foodways were beginning to change during that decade.ReferencesAdams, Jillian. “Australia’s American Coffee Culture.” Australian Journal of Popular Culture 2.1 (2012): 23–36.“Always to Roast on a Turning Spit.” The Magazine of Good Living: Australian Wines and Food 4.2 (1960): 17.“An Expert on Butter.” The Magazine of Good Living: The Australian Wine & Food 4.1 (1960): 11.“Australia Is Guest Nation at Lausanne.” The Magazine of Good Living: Australian Wines and Food 4.2 (1960): 18–19.“Australia’s Natural Cheeses.” The Magazine of Good Living: The Australian Wine & Food 4.1 (1960): 23.“Australia Will Be There.” The Magazine of Good Living: Australian Wines and Food 4.2 (1960): 14.“Australian Wines Served at New York Dinner.” Australian Wines & Food Quarterly 1.5 (1958): 16.“Australia Wins Six Gold Medals.” Australian Wines & Food: The Magazine of Good Living 2.11 (1959/1960): 3.Bancroft, P.A. “Let’s Make Some Coffee.” The Magazine of Good Living: The Australian Wine & Food 4.1 (1960): 10. 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IntroductionThis article explores the work of lists in mediating the materiality and complexity of everyday life. In contemporary cultural contexts the endless proliferation of listing forms and practices takes on a “self-reflexivity” that signals their functional and productive role in negotiating the everyday. Grocery lists, to do lists, and other fragmentary notes work as personal tools for ordering and managing daily needs and activities. But what do these fragments tell us about the work of lists? Do they “merely” describe or provide analytical insight into the everyday? To address these questions we explore the issues and anxieties raised by everyday consumption drawing on theories of everyday life. These concerns, which are examined in detail in the second part of the paper, lie at the heart of French writer Georges Perec’s interest in the “infra-ordinary”—that which resides within the everyday. In the parts of his writing that he designated in retrospect as “sociological,” Perec takes the form and function of lists as a starting point for a range of literary experiments that work as tools of discovery and invention capable in their seeming banality of both mapping and disrupting everyday life. Les Choses (Things) and Je Me Souviens (I Remember), for example, take the form of endless and repetitious lists of things, places, people, and memories, collections of fragments that aim to achieve a new kind of sociology of everyday life. While this project may be contentious in terms of its “representativeness,” as a discursive method or mode of ethnographic practice (Becker) it points to the generative power of lists as both of the everyday and as an analytical tool of discovery for understanding the everyday. Perec’s sociology of the everyday is not, we argue, articulated as a form of a cohesive or generalizable characterisation of social institutions, but rather emerges as an “invent-ory” of the rich texture and disjunctures that populated his everyday spaces, personal encounters, and memories. Lists and the EverydayTo see lists as tools of common use, to paraphrase Spufford (2), is to place the list squarely within the realm of the everyday. A particular feature of the everyday—its “special quality,” as Highmore puts it—is that it is characterised by “the unnoticed, the inconspicuous, the unobtrusive” (Highmore 1). The everyday is enigmatic, elusive, difficult to grasp, and important because of this. In Maurice Blanchot’s famous formulation, “whatever its other aspects, the everyday has this essential trait: it allows no hold. It escapes” (14). Its pervasiveness renders it as platitude, but, as Blanchot adds, “this banality is also what is most important, if it brings us back to existence in its very spontaneity and as it is lived” (13). This tension poses special challenges for critics of the everyday who must register it as a part of, as inhering in, “manifold lived experience” without it “dissolving” into “statistics, properties, data” when it is “made the object of study” (Sheringham 360). In short, as Fran Martin (2) points out, “even though it surrounds us completely and takes up the vast majority of our time, the everyday is extremely difficult to pin down.” It is a predicament that is made all the more difficult in light of the complicated entanglement of the everyday and consumer capitalism (Jagose; Lury; Schor and Holt). This close relationship between consumer objects—things—and everyday life (along with other historical factors), has profoundly shifted critical understanding of the processes of subject formation and identity performance. One influential formulation of these transformations, associated most strongly with the work of Giddens and Beck, is captured in the notion of “reflexive modernity.” This refers to the understanding that, increasingly, at a broader societal level, “the very idea of controllability, certainty or security” is being challenged (Beck, World Risk Society 2)—developments that impact directly on how self-identity is formed (Giddens), reformed and performed (Hall). Faced with such upheavals, it is suggested that the individual increasingly “must produce, stage and cobble together their biographies themselves” (Beck, “Reinvention” 13), they must self-reflexively “invent” themselves. As Slater puts it, individuals, by force of circumstance, are required to “choose, construct, interpret, negotiate, display who they are to be seen as” (84) using a wide array of resources, both material and symbolic. Consumerism, it is widely argued, proffers its goods as solutions to these problems of identity (Slater 85). For instance, Adam Arvidsson notes how goods are used in the construction of “social relations, shared emotions, personal identity or forms of community” (18). This is particularly the case in relation to lifestyle consumption, which for Chaney (11) functions as a response to the loss of meaning in modern life following the sorts of larger societal upheavals described by Giddens and Beck and others. The general implication of lifestyle consumption across its various forms is that “‘every choice’ […] all acts of purchase or consumption, […] ‘are decisions not only about how to act but who to be’” (Warde in Slater 85). It is here that we can place the contemporary work of lists and the proliferation of list forms and practices. Lists figure in vital ways within this context of consumer-based everyday life. At a general level, lists assist us in making sense of the activities, objects, and experiences that feed and constitute daily life. In this sense, the list is a crucial mediating device, a means of organising things and bringing the mundanities and the exigencies of the everyday under control:The list categorises the ongoing chores of everyday life: organising and managing shopping, work, laundry, meetings, parking fines, and body management. (Crewe 33)In relation to lifestyle consumption, lists and inventories constitute one key way in which “we attempt to organise and order consumption” (Crewe 29). In this sense, lists are, for Louise Crewe, important “scripting devices that help us to manage the mundanity and weighty materiality of consumption” (Crewe 29). The use of the phrase “scripting device” is important here insofar as it suggests a double-movement in which lists simultaneously serve as “devices for regulating and disciplining the consuming body” (that is, lists as “prompts” that encourage us to follow the “script” of consumer culture) and work productively to “narrate practice and desire” (part of the “scripting” of self-identity and performance) (Crewe 30).In developing and illustrating these ideas, Crewe draws on Bill Keaggy’s found shopping lists project. Originally a blog, and subsequently a book entitled Milk Eggs Vodka, Keaggy gathers (and offers humorous commentary on) a wide array of discarded shopping lists that range from the mundane, to the bizarre, to the profound, each, in their own way, surprisingly rich and revealing of the scribes who penned them. Individually, the lists relay, through object names, places, actions, and prompts, the mundane landscape of everyday consumption. For example: Zip lockIceBeerFruit (Keaggy 42) SunglassesShoesBeer$Food (Keaggy 205)Keaggy’s collection comes to life, however, through his own careful organisation of these personal fragments into meaningful categories delineated by various playful and humorous characteristics. This listing of lists performs a certain transformation that works only in accumulation, in the book’s organisation, and through Keaggy’s humorous annotations. That is, Keaggy’s deliberate organisation of the lists into categories that highlight certain features over others, and his own annotations, introduces an element of invention and play, and delivers up many unexpected insights into their anonymous compilers’ lives. This dual process of utilising the list form as a creative and a critical tool for understanding the everyday also lies at the heart of Georges Perec’s literary and sociological project. Georges Perec: Towards an Invent-ory of Everyday LifeThe work of the French experimental writer Georges Perec is particularly instructive in understanding the generative potential of the act of listing. Perec was especially attuned to the effectiveness and significance of lists in revealing what is important in the mundane and quotidian—what he calls the “infra-ordinary” or “endotic” (as opposed to the “extraordinary” and “exotic”). As shall be detailed below, Perec’s creative recuperation of the list form as a textual device and critical tool leads us to a fuller appreciation of how, in Crewe’s words, “the most mundane, ordinary, invisible, and seemingly uninteresting things can be as significant and revealing as the most dramatic” (44).Across Perec’s diverse literary output, lists figure repeatedly in ways that speak directly to their ability to shed light on the inner workings of the everyday—their ability to make the familiar strange (Highmore 12)—and to reveal the entangled interactions between everyday consumption and personal identity. It is in this second sense that lists operate in his novel Things: A Story of the Sixties (Les Choses, 1965), a book that the French philosopher Alain Badiou (20, note 1) describes as a “rigorous literary version of the Marxist theme of alienation—especially the prevalence of things over existence.” Things tells of the endeavours of Sylvie and Jérôme, a young Parisian couple who, in Bourdieu’s terms, attempt to improve their social position in part through the cultural capital resources they see as invested in consumer objects, in the “things” that they acquire and desire. Perec’s telling of this narrative is heavily populated with lists of these semiotically loaded objects of consumer desire, taste, and distinction. The book opens, for example, with a descriptive listing of the kinds of decorative elements that visitors would encounter in the entrance hall of an idealised, imagined Paris apartment the couple longed for:Your eye, first of all, would glide over the grey fitted carpet in the narrow, long and high-ceilinged corridor. Its walls would be cupboards, in light-coloured wood, with fittings of gleaming brass. Three prints, depicting, respectively, the Derby winner Thunderbird, a paddle-steamer named Ville-de-Montereau, and a Stephenson locomotive, would lead to a leather curtain hanging on thick, black, grainy wooden rings which would slide back at the merest touch. (Perec, Things 21) This (and other detailed) listing of idealised objects—which, as the book progresses, are set in stark opposition to their present lived reality—tells the reader a great deal about the two protagonists’ wants and desires (“they both possessed, alas, but a single passion, the passion for a higher standard of living, and it exhausted them”—Perec, Things 35), and wider collective identification with these desires. Indeed, such identifications clearly had wide social resonance in France (and elsewhere) with Things collecting the Prix Renaudot. The ability of lists to speak to collective social (not just individual) experience was also explored by Perec in Je me souviens (1978), a book modelled on a project by Joe Brainard and which comprised a series of personal recollections of largely unremarkable events, which, nevertheless, at the time, had gained some form of purchase within the collective psyche of the French people—in Perec’s words, a random list of “little fragments of the everyday, things which, in such and such a year, everyone more or less the same age has seen, or lived, or share, and which have subsequently disappeared or been forgotten” (cited in Adair 178). For example:(item 57) I remember that Christian Jacque divorced Renée Faure in order to marry Martine Carol.(item 247) I remember that De Gaulle had a brother named Paul who was director of the Foire de Paris. (cited in Adair 179)Both these texts are component parts in a larger project of Perec’s to develop “an anthropology of everyday life” (Perec, “Notes” 142 note §). Howard Becker has offered a challenging, though also somewhat ambivalent, critique of Perec’s “sociological” method in these and other texts, contrasting Perec’s descriptive ethnography with the work that social scientists do. Becker takes aim at the way Perec’s detailed listing of objects, people, events, and memories eschews narrative and sociological design, referring to Perec’s method as “proto-ethnography,” or “detailed ‘raw description’” (73). Yet Becker is also drawn in by the end products of that method: “As you read Perec’s descriptions, you increasingly succumb to the feeling (at least I do, and I think others do as well) that this is important, though you can’t say how” (71). Ultimately, his criticism decries Perec’s failure to impose an explicit order on his lists and fragments, perhaps missing the significance of the way they are always bounded and underpinned by a conceptual principle: “It does not seem to have the kind of cohesion, at least not obviously, that social scientists like to ascribe to a culture, a similarity or interlocking or affinity of the parts to one another…” (74). That is, Perec’s lists stand as fragments, but fragments that do add up to something, as Becker admits: “The whole is more than the parts” (69). This ambivalence points to the analytical potential Perec found within those fragments, the “raw description,” that can only be understood through the end product. It could be argued that his lists defy the very possibility of presenting the everyday as a cohesive whole, and promote instead the everyday in its rich texture, as repetition and disjuncture. This project presents itself, in short, as a sociology of the everyday, whilst subverting the functionalist traditions of sociological observation and classification (Boyne). As Perec asks of the habitual, “How are we to speak of [...] ‘common things,’ how to track them down rather, flush them out, wrest them from the dross in which they remain mired, how to give them a meaning, a tongue [...]?” (Perec, “Approaches” 210). Lists (alongside other forms of description) play a vital role in this project and provide a partial answer to the above questions, and this is why Perec’s lists actively seek out the banal or quotidian. In addition to the examples cited above, fascination with enumeration of this kind is most strikingly realised in his essay, “Attempt at an Inventory of the Liquid and Solid Foodstuffs Ingurgitated by Me in the Course of the Year Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Four” (Реrес, “Attempt” 244-249), and his later radio broadcast, “An Attempt at а Description of Things Seen at Mabillon Junction on 19 Мау 1978” (Bellos 640). At very least, Perec’s experiments serve as testimony to his ability to transform the trivial into the poetic—list-making as “invent-ory”. Importantly, however, Perec makes the shift from the inventory as a pragmatic listing form, “presenting a simple series of units,” “collected by a conceptual principle” (Belknap 2, 3), to a more transformative or analytical discursive practice. In all the above cases, Perec’s “accumulation is used in conjunction with other forms, devices, and intentions” (Bellos 670), such as, for instance, in the deployment of the list (the “invent-ory”) as an effective lever with which to pry open for inspection the seemingly inscrutable inner workings of everyday spaces, things, memories, in order that they might “speak of what is [and] of what we are” (Perec, “Approaches” 210).In this way, Perec’s use of lists (and various forms of categorisation) can be understood as a critique of the very possibility of stable method applied to classificatory ordering systems. In its place he promotes a set of practices that are oriented towards, and appropriate to, investigations of the everyday, rather than establishing scientific universals. At points in his work Perec expresses discomfort or even anxiety in taking the act of classification as a “method.” He begins his essay “Think/Classify,” for instance, by lamenting the “discursive deficiency” of his own use of classification in grasping the everyday, which at the same time calls “the thinkable and the classifiable into question” (189). And, yet, the act of listing, situated as it is for Perec firmly within the material contexts of particular activities and spaces, ultimately offers a productive means by which to understand, and negotiate, the everyday.ConclusionIn this paper we have examined the everyday work of lists and the functions that they serve in mediating the materiality and complexity of everyday life. In the first section of the paper, following Crewe, we explored the dual function of lists as scripting devices in simultaneously “disciplining” us as consumers as well and as a means of controlling the everyday in ways that also feed our sense of self-identity. In this sense lists are complex devices. Perec was especially attuned to the layers of complexity that attend our engagement with lists. In particular, as we explored in the second part of the paper, Perec saw lists as a critical and productive tool (an invent-ory) and used them to scrutinise common things in the hope that they might “speak of what is [and] of what we are” (Perec, “Approaches” 210). Lists remain, in this sense, an accessible discursive technology often surprising for their subtle revelations about the everyday even while they maintain adherence to an inherently recognisable form.In setting out the importance of his own “project,” and the need to question the habitual, Perec provides a set of instructions (his “pedagogic strategy”—Adair 177), presented as an approach (if not a method), and which signals his desire to critique the traditions of social science as a method of material and social ordering and analysis. Perec’s appropriation of this approach, this discursive technology, also works as a provocation, as a “project” that others might adopt. He prompts his readers to “make an inventory of your pockets, your bag. Ask yourself about the provenance, the use, what will become of each of the objects you take out” (Perec, “Approaches” 210). 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February 15, 1999 THE DIGITAL EXAM digital was such a sanitary hi-tech word until my urologist snuck up from behind and gave me the bird shocked and taken back I try to ignore the painful experience by pondering the conundrum of homosexuality there had to be more to it than that "You can get dressed now" was the good doctor’s way of saying "Pull up your pants, Dude, and I’ll see you back in my office." but his casual demeanor seemed to exude foreboding "There is a stiffness in the gland demanding further examination. I’d like to schedule a blood test, ultrasound and biopsy." the doctor’s lips kept moving but I couldn’t hear him through the sheet of white fear that guillotined between us CANCER! The big C! Me? I spent the rest of that day up to my genitals in the grave I was digging. Hamlet gazing full into the face of the skull "Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well, Horatio. Before scalpel took gland. Back when he sang in a bass baritone." desperate for encouragement I turn to the illustrated brochure the informative flyer detailing the upcoming procedure where in the ultrasound and biopsy probe resembled the head of a black water moccasin baring its fang "Dang!" says I jumping back relief came 36 hours later something about the PSA blood test the prostate specific-antigen results leading the doctor to now suspect infection prescribing an antibiotic of course five weeks from now the FOLLOW-UP APPOINTMENT! and as the date approaches tension will build like in those Mel Gibson Lethal Weapon films when you know there’s a snake in the grass and Danny Glover isn’t there to cover your ass *** April 2, 1999 As it turns out, at the follow-up appointment, things had worsened so the biopsy and bone scan were re-scheduled and it was discovered that I do have incurable metastatic advanced prostate cancer. Of course the doctor is most optimistic about all the new and miraculous treatments available. But before I go into that, I want you to know that I find myself experiencing a strange and wonderful kind of peace. Hell, I’ve lived 70 years already — done exactly what I wanted to do with my life. All worthwhile dreams have come true. Made my living since 1968 as a "Performance Poet" — Billie Barbara and I have been together for 47 years — growing closer with each passing day. We have four great kids, five neat and nifty grandchildren. All things considered, I’ve been truly blessed and whether my departure date is next year or 15 years from now I’m determined not to wreck my life by doing a lousy job with my death. LIKE HAROLD / LIKE HOWARD like Harold I don’t want to blow my death I don’t want to see a lifetime of pluck and courage rubbed out by five weeks of whiny fractious behavior granted Harold’s was a scary way to go from diagnosis to last breath the cancer moving fast but five weeks of bitching and moaning was more than enough to erase every trace of a man I have wanted to emulate his wife sending word that even she can’t remember what he was like before his undignified departure no — I don’t want to go like Harold like Howard let me come swimming up out of the deepening coma face serene as if seen through undisturbed water breaking the surface to eagerly take the hand of bedside well wishers unexpected behavior I must admit as Howard has always been a world class hypochondriac second only to me the two of us able to sit for hours discussing the subtle shade of a mole turning each other on with long drawn out organ recitals in the end one would have thought such a legendary self centered soul would cower and fold up completely like Harold but no — when my time comes let me go sweetly like Howard *** April 7, 1999 The treatment was decided upon. Next Monday, the good Doctor is going to pit my apricots. From here on the Sultan can rest easy when Masten hangs with his harem. Prognosis good. No more testosterone - no more growth. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking forward to giving up the family jewels. I must say that over the years they’ve done me proud and to be totally honest I don’t think Billie Barbara will be all that disappointed either. I’m told that Viagra will help in this area., However, I’m also told that the drug is very expensive. Something like twelve bucks a pop. But hell, Billie Barbara and I can afford twenty four dollars a year.. Some thoughts the morning of— Yesterday I did a program for the Unitarian Society of Livermore. About 60 people. I had a bet with the fellow who introduced me, that at least 7 out of the 60 would come up after the reading (which would include my recent prostate musings) and share a personal war story about prostate cancer. I was right. Exactly 7 approached with an encouraging tale about themselves, a husband, a brother, a son. I was told to prepare myself for hot flashes and water retention. To which Billie Barbara said "Join the club!" I ended the presentation with one of those inspirational poetic moments. A hot flash, if you will. "It just occurred to me," I said, " I’m going to get rich selling a bumper sticker I just thought of — REAL MEN DON’T NEED BALLS A couple of days after the event The Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula is referred to as CHOMP, and the afternoon of April 12th I must say this august institution certainly lived up to it’s name. The waiting room in the Out Patient Wing is an event unto itself. Patients huddled together with friends and family, everyone speaking in hushed voices. The doomed keeping a wary eye on the ominous swinging doors, where a big tough looking nurse appeared from time to time shouting: NEXT! Actually the woman was quite sweet and mild mannered, enunciating each patient’s name in a calm friendly manner. But waiting to have done to me what was going to be done to me - the chilling word "NEXT!" is what I heard and "Out Patient Wing" certainly seemed a misnomer to me. Wasn’t the "Out-Patient Wing" where you went to have splinters removed? Of course I knew better, because in the pre-op interview the young interviewer, upon reading "Bilateral Orchiectomy" winced visibly, exclaiming under her breath "Bummer!" I recently came across this haiku — bilateral orchiectomy the sound a patient makes when he learns what it is Our daughter April lives in New York and couldn’t join the Waiting Room rooting section so as her stand in she sent her best friend Molly Williams. Now, Molly works as a veterinarian in a local animal shelter and a when I told her my operation was supposed to take no more than half an hour, she laughed: "Heck Ric, I’ll do it in five minutes and not even use gloves." NEXT! My turn to be led through those swinging doors, pitifully looking back over my shoulder. Wife, family and friends, bravely giving me the thumbs up. Things blur and run together after that. I do remember telling the nurse who was prepping me that I was afraid of being put to sleep. "Not to worry" she said, I’d have a chance to express these fears to the anesthetist before the operation would begin. And as promised the man did drop by to assure me that I would get a little something to ease my anxiety before he put me under. When the moment finally arrived, he said that I might feel a slight prick as he gave me the relaxant. Of course, that is the last thing I remember - the prick! Obviously, I‘d been suckered in by the mask man’s modus operandi. On the other side of this I surface to begin the waiting. WAITING for the catheter to be removed — for the incision to heal — WAITING to see if the pain subsides and I can loose the cane — WAITING to learn if my PSA will respond to treatment. Waiting—waiting—waiting—and I’ve never been a cheerful waiter. *** May 7, 1999 The doctor tells me I must keep taking Casodex— one a day at eleven dollars a cap - for the rest of my life. And no more doctor freebees. No wonder the listed side effect of this pricey medication is depression. But the recent funk I’ve fallen into is much deeper than dollars and cents. In the past I’ve had my share of operations and illnesses and always during the recuperation I could look forward to being my old self again. But not this time .... Not this time. Funny bumper stickers can only hold reality at bay for a short while. And anyway Billie had me remove the homemade REAL MEN DON’T NEED BALLS bumper sticker from the back of our car — She didn’t like the dirty looks she got while driving around town alone. *** Eight months later BILATERAL ORCHECTOMY never could look up words in the dictionary in a high school assignment writing an autobiography I described my self as a unique person scribbled in the margin the teachers correction fairly chortled "unique" not "eunuch" how could he have known that one day I would actually become a misspelling backed against the wall by advanced prostate cancer I chose the operation over the enormous ongoing expense of chemical castration "No big deal." I thought at the time what’s the difference they both add up to the same thing but in the movies these days during the hot gratuitous sex scene I yawn…bored... wishing they’d quit dicking around and get on with the plot and on TV the buxom cuties that titillate around the products certainly arn’t selling me anything I realize now that although it would probably kill them the guys who went chemical still have an option I don’t philosophically I’m the same person but biologically I ‘m like the picture puzzle our family traditionally puts together over the holidays the French impressionist rendition of a flower shop interior in all it’s bright colorful confusion this season I didn’t work the puzzle quite as enthusiastically... and for good reason this year I know pieces are missing where the orchids used to be "So?" says I to myself "You’re still here to smell the roses." *** January 13, 2000 Real bad news! At the third routine follow-up appointment. My urologist informs me that my PSA has started rising again. The orchectomy and Casodex are no longer keeping the cancer in remission. In the vernacular, I have become "hormone refractory" and there was nothing more he, as a urologist could do for me. An appointment with a local oncologist was arranged and another bone scan scheduled. The "T" word having finally been said the ostrich pulled his head from the sand and began looking around. Knowing what I know now, I’m still annoyed at my urologist for not telling me when I was first diagnosed to either join a support group and radically change my diet or find another urologist. I immediately did both - becoming vegan and finding help on-line as well as at the local Prostate Cancer Support Group. This during the endless eighteen day wait before the oncologist could fit me in. *** IRON SOCKS time now for a bit of reverse prejudice I once purchased some stockings called "Iron Socks" guaranteed to last for five years they lasted ten! but when I went back for another pair the clerk had never heard of them as a cancer survivor… so far in an over populated world I consider the multi-billion dollar medical and pharmaceutical industries realizing that there is absolutely no incentive to come up with a permanent cure *** From here on, I’ll let the poems document the part of the journey that brings us up to the present. A place where I can say — spiritually speaking, that the best thing that ever happened to me is metastatic hormone refractory advanced prostate cancer. *** SUPPORT GROUPS included in this close fraternity... in this room full of brotherly love I wonder where I’ve been for the last 11 months no — that’s not quite right… I know where I’ve been I’ve been in denial after the shock of diagnosis the rude indignity of castration the quick fix of a Casodex why would I want to hang out with a bunch of old duffers dying of prostate cancer? ignoring the fact that everybody dies we all know it but few of us believe it those who do, however rack up more precious moments than the entire citizenry of the fools paradise not to mention studies showing that those who do choose to join a support group on average live years longer than the stiff upper lip recluse and while I’m on the subject I wonder where I’d be without the internet and the dear supportive spirits met there in cyber-space a place where aid care and concern are not determined by age, gender, race, physical appearance, economic situation or geological location and this from a die-hard like me who not ten years ago held the computer in great disdain convinced that poetry should be composed on the back of envelopes with a blunt pencil while riding on trains thank god I’m past these hang-ups because without a support system I doubt if this recent malignant flare-up could have been withstood how terrifying… the thought of being at my writing desk alone… disconnected typing out memos to myself on my dead father’s ancient Underwood *** PC SPES in the sea that is me the hormone blockade fails my urologist handing me over to a young oncologist who recently began practicing locally having retired from the stainless steel and white enamel of the high tech Stanford medical machine in the examination room numbly thumbing through a magazine I wait expecting to be treated like a link of sausage another appointment ground out in a fifteen minute interval what I got was an 18th century throw back a hands-on horse and buggy physician with seemingly all the time in the world it was decided that for the next three weeks (between blood tests) all treatment would cease to determine how my PSA was behaving this done, at the next appointment the next step would be decided upon and after more than an hour of genial give and take with every question answered all options covered it was I who stood up first to go for me a most unique experience in the annals of the modern medicine show however condemned to three weeks in limbo knowing the cancer was growing had me going online reaching out into cyberspace to see what I could find and what I found was PC SPES a botanical herbal alternative medicine well documented and researched but not approved by the FDA aware that the treatment was not one my doctor had mentioned (I have since learned that to do so would make him legally vulnerable) I decided to give it a try on my own sending off for a ten day supply taking the first dose as close after the second blood test as I could two days later back in the doctors office I confess expecting a slap on the wrist instead I receive a bouquet for holding off until after the second PSA then taking the PC SPES container from my hand and like a Native American medicine man he holds it high over his head shaking it "Okay then, this approach gets the first ride!" at the receptionist desk scheduling my next appointment I thought about how difficult it must be out here on the frontier practicing medicine with your hands tied *** PREJUDICE "It's a jungle out there!" Dr. J. George Taylor was fond of saying "And all chiropractors are quacks! Manipulating pocket pickers!" the old physician exposing his daughter to a prejudice so infectious I suspect it became part of her DNA and she a wannabe doctor herself infects me her son with the notion that if it wasn’t performed or prescribed by a licensed M.D. it had to be Medicine Show hoopla or snake oil elixir certainly today’s countless array of practitioners and patent remedies has both of them spinning in their grave but Ma you and Grandpa never heard the words hormone-refractory even the great white hunters of our prestigious cancer clinics don't know how to stop the tiger that is stalking me and so with a PSA rising again to 11.9 I get my oncologist to let me try PC SPES a Chinese herbal formula yes, the desperate do become gullible me, reading and re-reading the promotional material dutifully dosing myself between blood tests and this against the smirk of disapproval mother and grandfather wagging their heads in unison: "It won’t work." "It won’t work." having condemned myself beforehand the moment of truth finally arrives I pace the floor nervously the doctor appears at the door "How does it feel to be a man with a PSA falling to 4.8?" it seems that for the time being at least the tiger is content to play a waiting game which is simply great! Mother tell Grandpa I just may escape our families bigotry before it’s too late *** HELPLINE HARRY "Hi, how are you?" these days I'm never sure how to field routine grounders like this am I simply being greeted? or does the greeter actually want a list of grisly medical details my wife says it's easy she just waits to see if the "How is he?" is followed by a hushed "I mean… really?" for the former a simple "Fine, and how are you?" will do for the latter the news isn't great indications are that the miracle herbal treatment is beginning to fail my oncologist offering up a confusing array of clinical trials and treatments that flirt seductively but speak in a foreign language I don't fully understand so Harry, once again I call on you a savvy old tanker who has maneuvered his battle scared machine through years of malignant mine fields and metastatic mortar attacks true five star Generals know much about winning wars and such but the Command Post is usually so far removed from the front lines I suspect they haven't a clue as to what the dog-faces are going through down here in the trenches it's the seasoned campaigners who have my ear the tough tenacious lovable old survivors like you *** "POOR DEVIL!" in my early twenties I went along with Dylan Thomas boasting that I wanted to go out not gently but raging shaking my fist staring death down however this daring statement was somewhat revised when in my forties I realized that death does the staring I do the down so I began hoping it would happen to me like it happened to the sentry in all those John Wayne Fort Apache movies found dead in the morning face down — an arrow in the back "Poor devil." the Sergeant always said "Never knew what hit him." at the time I liked that... the end taking me completely by surprise the bravado left in the hands of a hard drinking Welshman still wet behind the ears older and wiser now over seventy and with a terminal disease the only thing right about what the Sergeant said was the "Poor devil" part "Poor devil" never used an opening to tell loved ones he loved them never seized the opportunity to give praise for the sun rise or drink in a sunset moment after moment passing him by while he marched through life staring straight ahead believing in tomorrow "Poor devil!" how much fuller richer and pleasing life becomes when you are lucky enough to see the arrow coming *** END LINE (Dedicated to Jim Fulks.) I’ve always been a yin / yang - life / death - up / down clear / blur - front / back kind of guy my own peculiar duality being philosopher slash hypochondriac win win characteristics when you’ve been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer finally the hypochondriac has something more than windmills to tilt with the philosopher arming himself with exactly the proper petard an anonymous statement found in an e-mail message beneath the signature of a cancer survivor’s name a perfect end line wily and wise quote: I ask God: "How much time do I have before I die?" "Enough to make a difference." God replies *** STRUM lived experience taught them most of what they know so MD's treating men diagnosed with androgen-independent advanced prostate cancer tend to put us on death row and taking the past into account this negativity is understandable… these good hearted doctors watching us come and go honestly doing what they can like kindly prison guards attempting to make the life we have left as pleasant as possible to be otherwise a physician would have to be a bit delusional evangelical even… to work so diligently for and believe so completely in the last minute reprieve for those of us confined on cell block PC doing time with an executioner stalking it is exhilarating to find an oncologist willing to fly in the face of history refusing to call the likes of me "Dead man walking." *** BAG OF WOE there are always moments when I can almost hear the reader asking: "How can you use that as grist for your poetry mill? How can you dwell on such private property, at least without masking the details?" well... for the feedback of course the war stories that my stories prompt you to tell but perhaps the question can best be answered by the ‘bag of woe’ parable the "Once Upon a Time" tale about the troubled village of Contrary its harried citizens and the magical mystical miracle worker who showed up one dreary day saying: I am aware of your torment and woe and I am here to lighten your load! he then instructed the beleaguered citizens to go home and rummage through their harried lives bag up your troubles he said both large and small stuff them all in a sack and drag them down to the town square and stack them around on the wall and when everyone was back and every bag was there the magical mystical miracle worker said: "It’s true, just as I promised. You won’t have to take your sack of troubles home leave it behind when you go however, you will have to take along somebody’s bag of woe so the citizens of Contrary all went to find their own bag and shouldering the load discovered that it was magically and mystically much easier to carry --- End ---