Modified Borggreve-Van Nes-Winkelmann rotationplasty for surgery in developing countries.

BACKGROUND: Amputation is still the most common therapy for patients suffering from osteosarcoma in Myanmar, despite the fact that limb salvage surgery e.g. Borggreve-Van Nes-Winkelmann rotationplasty for malignant tumors located within the distal femur or proximal tibia is the current state-of-the-art reconstructive procedure. A safe and reliable operation technique is crucial in order to perform a complex surgical procedure like the rotationplasty in lower-middle income economies with limited infrastructure and resources. The authors present seven cases of patients with osteosarcomas that received a Borggreve-Van Nes-Winkelmann rotationplasty with an evaluation of the procedures focusing on safety and sustainability. METHODS: From 2019 until 2020, seven young patients with osteosarcomas of the distal femur or proximal tibia were treated with Borggreve-Van Nes-Winkelmann rotationplasties in the Orthopaedic Hospital in Mandalay, Myanmar. As modification of the standard procedure the dissection and subsequent clamping of the femoral artery in order to minimize blood loss as well as the formation of an adipocutaneous flap that minimizes swelling and decreases the pressure on the vessels were successfully performed. This modified procedure resembles a safe and simplified surgical technique that is feasible under the circumstances of lower-middle income economies with good outcomes. RESULTS: All patients showed good functional and aesthetic results. One of the seven patients needed secondary wound closure due to wound dehiscence. CONCLUSIONS: A simplified and safe operation technique for the performance of the Van Nes-Borggreve rotationplasty was adapted to the given constraints in lower-middle income economies and proved to be successful. Trial registration All patients approved to participate in the study and have given consent to publication.

A pH switchable hydrophilic fluorescent BODIPY sodium disulfonate for Fe3+ multicolor detection: Experimental and DFT studies.

BODIPY-based chemosensors are widely used owing to merits like good selectivity, high fluorescence quantum yield, and excellent optical stability. As such, a pH-switchable hydrophilic fluorescent probe, BODIPY-PY-(SO3Na)2, was developed for detection of Fe3+ ion in aqueous solutions. BODIPY-PY-(SO3Na)2 revealed strong fluorescence intensity and was responsive to pH value in the range of 6.59-1.96. Additionally, BODIPY-PY-(SO3Na)2 showed good selectivity and sensitivity towards Fe3+. A good linear relationship for Fe3+ detection was obtained from 0.0 µM to 50.0 µM with low detecting limit of 6.34 nM at pH 6.59 and 2.36 nM at pH 4.32, respectively. The response to pH and detection of Fe3+ induced obvious multicolor changes. BODIPY-PY-(SO3Na)2 can also be utilized to quantitatively detect Fe3+ in real water sample. Different mechanisms of Fe3+ detection at investigated pH values were unraveled through relativistic density functional theory (DFT) calculations in BODIPY-PY-(SO3Na)2 and experiments of coexisting cations, anions and molecules. These results enabled us to gain a deeper understanding of the interactions between BODIPY-PY-(SO3Na)2 and Fe3+ and provide valuable fundamental information for design of efficient multicolor chemosensors for Fe3+ as well.

Adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures among residents in selected townships, Yangon Region, Myanmar: a community-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: To fight the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, many countries have implemented various mitigation measures to contain the spread of the disease. By engaging with health service providers, the community's participation in adherence to preventive measures is certainly required in the implementation of COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and its associated factors among the residents, Yangon Region, Myanmar. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 636 residents in Yangon Region, Myanmar, from October to December 2021. A multistage non-probability sampling method, purposively selected for three townships in Yangon Region and convenience sampling for 212 participants from each township, was applied and the data were collected by face-to-face interviews using structured and pretested questionnaires. Data were entered, coded, and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25.0. Simple and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the significant variables of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. RESULTS: As a level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures, the proportion of residents who had good adherence was 39.3% (95% CI 35.5-43.2%), moderate adherence was 37.6% (95% CI 33.8-41.5%), and poor adherence was 23.1% (95% CI 19.9-26.6%). The age group of 31-40 years (AOR: 3.13, 95% CI 1.62-6.05), 30 years and younger (AOR: 3.22, 95% CI 1.75-5.92), Burmese ethnicity (AOR: 2.52, 95% CI 1.44-4.39), own business (AOR: 3.19, 95% CI 1.15-8.87), high school education level and below (AOR: 1.64, 95% CI 1.02-2.69), less than 280.90 USD of monthly family income (AOR: 1.51, 95% CI 1.01-2.29), low knowledge about COVID-19 (AOR: 1.90, 95% CI 1.26-2.88) were significantly associated with poor adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, nearly one-fourth of the residents were experiencing poor adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Therefore, building up the risk communication through the community using widely used mainstream media, the continuation of disease surveillance and announcement of updated information or advice for the public to increase awareness towards COVID-19, and enforcement to follow the recommended directions and regulations of health institutions are vital to consider for improving the adherence to preventive measures against COVID-19 among the residents.

Hyperglycaemia-Related Visual Seizure.

Introduction: Visual seizure is one of the rare complications of poorly controlled chronic hyperglycaemia. This condition can be debilitating for patients. Early recognition and careful control of hyperglycaemia is vital. Case description: A middle-aged female was found collapsed at her home after missing insulin for several days. She was found to have diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) and she was started on treatment for DKA. She reported visual hallucinations in the right side of her visual field for a week. Further assessment with EEG and brain MRI suggested an occipital seizure consistent with metabolic disturbances. She was initially started on antiepileptic medication. After strict diabetes control, her symptoms resolved, and she no longer needed antiepileptic treatment. Conclusion: Experiencing diabetes-related seizures can be terrifying both for patients and their family. Early recognition and quick control of hyperglycaemia is important in treating these patients. LEARNING POINTS: Hyperglycaemia can present with different symptoms of osmotic imbalance including seizures.All patients presenting with visual seizures should be investigates for all metabolic abnormalities including hyperglycaemia.Correction of hyperglycaemia can improve clinical symptoms as well as physical and psychological well-being of patients.

Cor Triatriatum and Recurrent Thromboembolic Stroke.

A woman with recurrent thromboembolic stroke was found to also have cor triatriatum. When the patient first presented with weakness, she was thought to have ischaemic stroke because she had conventional risk factors, but she was later confirmed to have cor triatriatum. The main method of treatment is surgery. However, if surgery is contraindicated, anticoagulation can be used as second-line treatment, but this can be difficult. This report describes the follow-up of a middle-aged female patient with cor triatriatum over 6 years during which she experienced multiple strokes despite different methods of anticoagulation. LEARNING POINTS: Cor triatriatum is a rare heart condition which may not be detected by routine transthoracic echocardiography and so requires transthoracic echocardiography and CT angiography.Surgical membrane resection is the main treatment option but thromboembolic stroke should be considered when surgery is not possible.Anticoagulation may not be as effective at preventing embolic stroke in this rare heart defect as it is in other conditions.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Myanmar Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties Using DArTseq-Based SNP and SilicoDArT Markers.

Myanmar is well known as a primary center of plant genetic resources for rice. A considerable number of genetic diversity studies have been conducted in Myanmar using various DNA markers. However, this is the first report using DArTseq technology for exploring the genetic diversity of Myanmar rice. In our study, two ultra-high-throughput diversity array technology markers were employed to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of local rice varieties in the Ayeyarwady delta, the major region of rice cultivation. The study was performed using 117 rice genotypes with 7643 SNP and 4064 silicoDArT markers derived from the DArT platform. Genetic variance among the genotypes ranged from 0 to 0.753 in SNPs, and from 0.001 to 0.954 in silicoDArT. Two distinct population groups were identified from SNP data analysis. Cluster analysis with both markers clearly separated traditional Pawsan varieties and modern high-yielding varieties. A significant divergence was found between populations according to the Fst values (0.737) obtained from the analysis of molecular variance, which revealed 74% genetic variation at the population level. These findings support rice researchers in identifying useful DNA polymorphisms in genes and pinpointing specific genes conferring desirable phenotypic traits for further genome-wide association studies and parental selection for recombination breeding to enhance rice varietal development and release.

Multiple Genome Wide Association Mapping Models Identify Quantitative Trait Nucleotides for Brown Planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) Resistance in MAGIC Indica Population of Rice.

Brown planthopper (BPH), one of the most important pests of the rice (Oryza sativa) crop, becomes catastrophic under severe infestations and causes up to 60% yield loss. The highly disastrous BPH biotype in the Indian sub-continent is Biotype 4, which also known as the South Asian Biotype. Though many resistance genes were mapped until now, the utility of the resistance genes in the breeding programs is limited due to the breakdown of resistance and emergence of new biotypes. Hence, to identify the resistance genes for this economically important pest, we have used a multi-parent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) panel consisting of 391 lines developed from eight indica founder parents. The panel was phenotyped at the controlled conditions for two consecutive years. A set of 27,041 cured polymorphic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) and across-year phenotypic data were used for the identification of marker-trait associations. Genome-wide association analysis was performed to find out consistent associations by employing four single and two multi-locus models. Sixty-one SNPs were consistently detected by all six models. A set of 190 significant marker-associations identified by fixed and random model circulating probability unification (FarmCPU) were considered for searching resistance candidate genes. The highest number of annotated genes were found in chromosome 6 followed by 5 and 1. Ninety-two annotated genes identified across chromosomes of which 13 genes are associated BPH resistance including NB-ARC (nucleotide binding in APAF-1, R gene products, and CED-4) domain-containing protein, NHL repeat-containing protein, LRR containing protein, and WRKY70. The significant SNPs and resistant lines identified from our study could be used for an accelerated breeding program to develop new BPH resistant cultivars.

Exploring genetic architecture of grain yield and quality traits in a 16-way indica by japonica rice MAGIC global population.

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) has been a challenge for complex traits due to the use of populations with narrow genetic base. Most of QTL mapping studies were carried out from crosses made within the subspecies, either indica × indica or japonica × japonica. In this study we report advantages of using Multi-parent Advanced Generation Inter-Crosses global population, derived from a combination of eight indica and eight japonica elite parents, in QTL discovery for yield and grain quality traits. Genome-wide association study and interval mapping identified 38 and 34 QTLs whereas Bayesian networking detected 60 QTLs with 22 marker-marker associations, 32 trait-trait associations and 65 marker-trait associations. Notably, nine known QTLs/genes qPH1/OsGA20ox2, qDF3/OsMADS50, PL, QDg1, qGW-5b, grb7-2, qGL3/GS3, Amy6/Wx gene and OsNAS3 were consistently identified by all approaches for nine traits whereas qDF3/OsMADS50 was co-located for both yield and days-to-flowering traits on chromosome 3. Moreover, we identified a number of candidate QTLs in either one or two analyses but further validations will be needed. The results indicate that this new population has enabled identifications of significant QTLs and interactions for 16 traits through multiple approaches. Pyramided recombinant inbred lines provide a valuable source for integration into future breeding programs.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping in a Rice MAGIC Plus Population Detects QTLs and Genes Useful for Biofortification.

The development of rice genotypes with micronutrient-dense grains and disease resistance is one of the major priorities in rice improvement programs. We conducted Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using a Multi-parent Advanced Generation Inter-Cross (MAGIC) Plus population to identify QTLs and SNP markers that could potentially be integrated in biofortification and disease resistance breeding. We evaluated 144 MAGIC Plus lines for agronomic and biofortification traits over two locations for two seasons, while disease resistance was screened for one season in the screen house. X-ray fluorescence technology was used to measure grain Fe and Zn concentrations. Genotyping was carried out by genotype by sequencing and a total of 14,242 SNP markers were used in the association analysis. We used Mixed linear model (MLM) with kinship and detected 57 significant genomic regions with a -log10 (P-value) ≥ 3.0. The PH 1.1 and Zn 7.1 were consistently identified in all the four environments, ten QTLs qDF 3.1, qDF 6.2 qDF 9.1 qPH 5.1 qGL 3.1, qGW 3.1, qGW 11.1, and qZn 6.2 were detected in two environments, while two major loci qBLB 11.1 and qBLB 5.1 were identified for Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) resistance. The associated SNP markers were found to co-locate with known major genes and QTLs such as OsMADS50 for days to flowering, osGA20ox2 for plant height, and GS3 for grain length. Similarly, Xa4 and xa5 genes were identified for BLB resistance and Pi5(t), Pi28(t), and Pi30(t) genes were identified for Blast resistance. A number of metal homeostasis genes OsMTP6, OsNAS3, OsMT2D, OsVIT1, and OsNRAMP7 were co-located with QTLs for Fe and Zn. The marker-trait relationships from Bayesian network analysis showed consistency with the results of GWAS. A number of promising candidate genes reported in our study can be further validated. We identified several QTLs/genes pyramided lines with high grain Zn and acceptable yield potential, which are a good resource for further evaluation to release as varieties as well as for use in breeding programs.

Approaches in Characterizing Genetic Structure and Mapping in a Rice Multiparental Population.

Multi-parent Advanced Generation Intercross (MAGIC) populations are fast becoming mainstream tools for research and breeding, along with the technology and tools for analysis. This paper demonstrates the analysis of a rice MAGIC population from data filtering to imputation and processing of genetic data to characterizing genomic structure, and finally quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping. In this study, 1316 S6:8 indica MAGIC (MI) lines and the eight founders were sequenced using Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS). As the GBS approach often includes missing data, the first step was to impute the missing SNPs. The observable number of recombinations in the population was then explored. Based on this case study, a general outline of procedures for a MAGIC analysis workflow is provided, as well as for QTL mapping of agronomic traits and biotic and abiotic stress, using the results from both association and interval mapping approaches. QTL for agronomic traits (yield, flowering time, and plant height), physical (grain length and grain width) and cooking properties (amylose content) of the rice grain, abiotic stress (submergence tolerance), and biotic stress (brown spot disease) were mapped. Through presenting this extensive analysis in the MI population in rice, we highlight important considerations when choosing analytical approaches. The methods and results reported in this paper will provide a guide to future genetic analysis methods applied to multi-parent populations.