In Norway spruce stands, Heterobasidion parviporum is more

likely to spread to neighbouring trees from stumps with a large diameter than from small stumps. However, H. annosum sensu stricto does not appear to share this pattern of infection. Given that the ratio of heartwood to NCT-501 sapwood varies depending on the size of the stump, we investigated the role of heartwood and sapwood in stump infection by H. parviporum and H. annosum s.s. To determine whether heartwood sapwood susceptibility was different in different host species, both Norway spruce and Scots pine stumps were included in the study. Sapwood, heartwood and the border zone between sapwood and heartwood of spruce stumps and the heartwood and sapwood of pine stumps were artificially inoculated with different genotypes of H. annosum as. and H. parviporum. Only one zone was inoculated per stump. Infection was assessed 2 and 10 months after inoculation at 5 and 30 cm below the point of inoculation. BI 6727 On spruce stumps, H. parviporum and H. annosum s.s. were mostly confined to the heartwood. The area infected by H. annosum s.s. was smaller than that infected by H. parviporum. Both sapwood and border infections tended to grow towards the heartwood, whereas heartwood inoculations tended to remain in the heartwood, indicating that heartwood was more favourable

for H. parviporum and H. annosum s.s. colonisation Selleck AG-881 in spruce stumps. On pine, heartwood colonisation failed and only H. annosum s.s. was found in the sapwood. Our results suggest a possible association between the size of the stump and the spread of H. annosum s.s. to neighbouring trees mediated by the heartwood content, suggesting that screening for heartwood resistance could be

a potentially interesting direction for future research. Treating stumps at final felling would be advisable owing to the large area of heartwood exposed by this operation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Background Medical tourism involves patients travelling internationally to receive medical services. This practice raises a range of ethical issues, including potential harms to the patient’s home and destination country and risks to the patient’s own health. Medical tourists often engage the services of a facilitator who may book travel and accommodation and link the patient with a hospital abroad. Facilitators have the potential to exacerbate or mitigate the ethical concerns associated with medical tourism, but their roles are poorly understood.\n\nMethods 12 facilitators were interviewed from 10 Canadian medical tourism companies.\n\nResults Three themes were identified: facilitators’ roles towards the patient, health system and medical tourism industry. Facilitators’ roles towards the patient were typically described in terms of advocacy and the provision of information, but limited by facilitators’ legal liability.