Rice diversity panel provides accurate genomic predictions for complex traits in the progenies of biparental crosses involving members of the panel.

KEY MESSAGE: Rice breeding programs based on pedigree schemes can use a genomic model trained with data from their working collection to predict performances of progenies produced through rapid generation advancement. So far, most potential applications of genomic prediction in plant improvement have been explored using cross validation approaches. This is the first empirical study to evaluate the accuracy of genomic prediction of the performances of progenies in a typical rice breeding program. Using a cross validation approach, we first analyzed the effects of marker selection and statistical methods on the accuracy of prediction of three different heritability traits in a reference population (RP) of 284 inbred accessions. Next, we investigated the size and the degree of relatedness with the progeny population (PP) of sub-sets of the RP that maximize the accuracy of prediction of phenotype across generations, i.e., for 97 F5-F7 lines derived from biparental crosses between 31 accessions of the RP. The extent of linkage disequilibrium was high (r 2 = 0.2 at 0.80 Mb in RP and at 1.1 Mb in PP). Consequently, average marker density above one per 22 kb did not improve the accuracy of predictions in the RP. The accuracy of progeny prediction varied greatly depending on the composition of the training set, the trait, LD and minor allele frequency. The highest accuracy achieved for each trait exceeded 0.50 and was only slightly below the accuracy achieved by cross validation in the RP. Our results thus show that relatively high accuracy (0.41-0.54) can be achieved using only a rather small share of the RP, most related to the PP, as the training set. The practical implications of these results for rice breeding programs are discussed.

Emissions from the combustion of eucalypt and pine chips in a fluidized bed reactor.

Interest in renewable energy sources has increased in recent years due to environmental concerns about global warming and air pollution, reduced costs and improved efficiency of technologies. Under the European Union (EU) energy directive, biomass is a suitable renewable source. The aim of this study was to experimentally quantify and characterize the emission of particulate matter (PM2.5) resulting from the combustion of two biomass fuels (chipped residual biomass from pine and eucalypt), in a pilot-scale bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) combustor under distinct operating conditions. The variables evaluated were the stoichiometry and, in the case of eucalypt, the leaching of the fuel. The CO and PM2.5 emission factors were lower when the stoichiometry used in the experiments was higher (0.33±0.1 g CO/kg and 16.8±1.0 mg PM2.5/kg, dry gases). The treatment of the fuel by leaching before its combustion has shown to promote higher PM2.5 emissions (55.2±2.5 mg/kg, as burned). Organic and elemental carbon represented 3.1 to 30 wt.% of the particle mass, while carbonate (CO3(2-)) accounted for between 2.3 and 8.5 wt.%. The particulate mass was mainly composed of inorganic matter (71% to 86% of the PM2.5 mass). Compared to residential stoves, BFB combustion generated very high mass fractions of inorganic elements. Chloride was the water soluble ion in higher concentration in the PM2.5 emitted by the combustion of eucalypt, while calcium was the dominant water soluble ion in the case of pine.

Determining the Aethalometer multiple scattering enhancement factor C from the filter loading parameter.

Light-absorbing aerosols heat the atmosphere; an accurate quantification of their absorption coefficient is mandatory. However, standard reference instruments (CAPS, MAAP, PAX, PTAAM) are not always available at each measuring site around the world. By integrating all previous published studies concerning the Aethalometers, the AE33 filter loading parameter, provided by the dual-spot algorithm, were used to determine the multiple scattering enhancement factor from the Aethalometer itself (hereinafter CAE) on an yearly and a monthly basis. The method was developed in Milan, where Aethalometer measurements were compared with MAAP data; the comparison showed a good agreement in terms of equivalent black carbon (R2 = 0.93; slope = 1.02 and a negligible intercept = 0.12 µg m-3) leading to a yearly experimental multiple scattering enhancement factor of 2.51 ± 0.04 (hereinafter CMAAP). On a yearly time base the CAE values obtained using the new approach was 2.52 ± 0.01, corresponding to the experimental one (CMAAP). Considering the seasonal behavior, higher experimental CMAAP and computed CAE values were found in summer (2.83 ± 0.12) whereas, the lower ones in winter/early-spring (2.37 ± 0.03), in agreement with the single scattering albedo behavior in the Po Valley. Overall, the agreement between the experimental CMAAP and CAE showed a root mean squared error (RMSE) of just 0.038 on the CMAAP prediction, characterized by a slope close to 1 (1.001 ± 0.178), a negligible intercept (-0.002 ± 0.455) and a high degree of correlation (R2 = 0.955). From an environmental point of view, the application of a dynamic (space/time) determination of CAE increases the accuracy of the aerosol heating rate (compared to applying a fixed C value) up to 16 % solely in Milan, and to 114 % when applied in the Arctic at 80°N.

Aerosol source apportionment uncertainty linked to the choice of input chemical components.

For a Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) aerosol source apportionment (SA) studies there is no standard procedure to select the most appropriate chemical components to be included in the input dataset for a given site typology, nor specific recommendations in this direction. However, these choices are crucial for the final SA outputs not only in terms of number of sources identified but also, and consequently, in the source contributions estimates. In fact, PMF tends to reproduce most of PM mass measured independently and introduced as a total variable in the input data, regardless of the percentage of PM mass which has been chemically characterized, so that the lack of some specific source tracers (e.g. levoglucosan) can potentially affect the results of the whole source apportionment study. The present study elaborates further on the same concept, evaluating quantitatively the impact of lacking specific sources' tracers on the whole source apportionment, both in terms of identified sources and source contributions. This work aims to provide first recommendations on the most suitable and critical components to be included in PMF analyses in order to reduce PMF output uncertainty as much as possible, and better represent the most commons PM sources observed in many sites in Western countries. To this aim, we performed three sensitivity analyses on three different datasets across EU, including extended sets of organic tracers, in order to cover different types of urban conditions (Mediterranean, Continental, and Alpine), source types, and PM fractions. Our findings reveal that the vehicle exhaust source resulted to be less sensitive to the choice of analytes, although source contributions estimates can deviate significantly up to 44 %. On the other hand, for the detection of the non-exhaust one is clearly necessary to analyze specific inorganic elements. The choice of not analysing non-polar organics likely causes the loss of separation of exhaust and non-exhaust factors, thus obtaining a unique road traffic source, which provokes a significant bias of total contribution. Levoglucosan was, in most cases, crucial to identify biomass burning contributions in Milan and in Barcelona, in spite of the presence of PAHs in Barcelona, while for the case of Grenoble, even discarding levoglucosan, the presence of PAHs allowed identifying the BB factor. Modifying the rest of analytes provoke a systematic underestimation of biomass burning source contributions. SIA factors resulted to be generally overestimated with respect to the base case analysis, also in the case that ions were not included in the PMF analysis. Trace elements were crucial to identify shipping emissions (V and Ni) and industrial sources (Pb, Ni, Br, Zn, Mn, Cd and As). When changing the rest of input variables, the uncertainty was narrow for shipping but large for industrial processes. Major and trace elements were also crucial to identify the mineral/soil factor at all cities. Biogenic SOA and Anthropogenic SOA factors were sensitive to the presence of their molecular tracers, since the availability of OC alone is unable to separate a SOA factor. Arabitol and sorbitol were crucial to detecting fungal spores while odd number of higher alkanes (C27 to C31) for plant debris.

Adiponectin in outpatients with coronary artery disease: independent predictors and relationship with heart failure.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Chronic heart failure (HF) is characterised by a neurohormonal dysfunction associated with chronic inflammation. A role of metabolic derangement in the pathophysiology of HF has been recently reported. Adiponectin, an adipose-tissue-derived cytokine, seems to play an important role in cardiac dysfunction. We investigated the variation of circulating adiponectin in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), with or without HF, in order to identify its independent predictors. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 107 outpatients with CAD were enrolled in the study and divided into three groups: CAD without left ventricular systolic dysfunction (group 1); CAD with left ventricular dysfunction without HF symptoms (group 2) and CAD with overt HF (group 3). Plasma adiponectin was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Adiponectin concentrations increased progressively from group 1 (7.6 ± 3.6 ng ml⁻¹) to group 2 (9.1 ± 6.7 ng ml⁻¹) and group 3 (13.7 ± 7.6 ng ml⁻¹), with the difference reaching statistical significance in group 3 versus 1 and 2 (p < 0.001). A multivariable model of analysis demonstrated that the best predictors of plasma adiponectin were body mass index, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. However, even after adjusting for all three independent predictors, the increase of adiponectin in group 3 still remained statistically significant (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Our data confirm the rise of adiponectin in overt HF. The levels of circulating adipokine seem to be mainly predicted by the metabolic profile of patients and by biohumoral indicators, rather than by clinical and echocardiographic indexes of HF severity.

Spatial and temporal variability of carbonaceous aerosols: Assessing the impact of biomass burning in the urban environment.

Biomass burning (BB) is a significant source of atmospheric particles in many parts of the world. Whereas many studies have demonstrated the importance of BB emissions in central and northern Europe, especially in rural areas, its impact in urban air quality of southern European countries has been sparsely investigated. In this study, highly time resolved multi-wavelength absorption coefficients together with levoglucosan (BB tracer) mass concentrations were combined to apportion carbonaceous aerosol sources. The Aethalometer model takes advantage of the different spectral behavior of BB and fossil fuel (FF) combustion aerosols. The model was found to be more sensitive to the assumed value of the aerosol Ångström exponent (AAE) for FF (AAEff) than to the AAE for BB (AAEbb). As result of various sensitivity tests the model was optimized with AAEff=1.1 and AAEbb=2. The Aethalometer model and levoglucosan tracer estimates were in good agreement. The Aethalometer model was further applied to data from three sites in Granada urban area to evaluate the spatial variation of CMff and CMbb (carbonaceous matter from FF or BB origin, respectively) concentrations within the city. The results showed that CMbb was lower in the city centre while it has an unexpected profound impact on the CM levels measured in the suburbs (about 40%). Analysis of BB tracers with respect to wind speed suggested that BB was dominated by sources outside the city, to the west in a rural area. Distinguishing whether it corresponds to agricultural waste burning or with biomass burning for domestic heating was not possible. This study also shows that although traffic restrictions measures contribute to reduce carbonaceous concentrations, the extent of the reduction is very local. Other sources such as BB, which can contribute to CM as much as traffic emissions, should be targeted to reduce air pollution.

Disentangling the initiation from the response in joint attention: an eye-tracking study in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders.

Joint attention (JA), whose deficit is an early risk marker for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), has two dimensions: (1) responding to JA and (2) initiating JA. Eye-tracking technology has largely been used to investigate responding JA, but rarely to study initiating JA especially in young children with ASD. The aim of this study was to describe the differences in the visual patterns of toddlers with ASD and those with typical development (TD) during both responding JA and initiating JA tasks. Eye-tracking technology was used to monitor the gaze of 17 children with ASD and 15 age-matched children with TD during the presentation of short video sequences involving one responding JA and two initiating JA tasks (initiating JA-1 and initiating JA-2). Gaze accuracy, transitions and fixations were analyzed. No differences were found in the responding JA task between children with ASD and those with TD, whereas, in the initiating JA tasks, different patterns of fixation and transitions were shown between the groups. These results suggest that children with ASD and those with TD show different visual patterns when they are expected to initiate joint attention but not when they respond to joint attention. We hypothesized that differences in transitions and fixations are linked to ASD impairments in visual disengagement from face, in global scanning of the scene and in the ability to anticipate object's action.

Gamete intrafallopian transfer: prospective randomized comparison between hysteroscopic and laparoscopic transfer techniques.

OBJECTIVE: To test the efficiency and overall acceptability of hysteroscopic GIFT when compared with laparoscopic GIFT. DESIGN: We performed a randomized comparison between these techniques as regards pregnancy rate (PR), implantation rate, miscarriage rate, and ectopic pregnancy rate (ectopic PR). SETTING: All patients were enrolled for GIFT procedures in our Reproductive Medicine Unit. PATIENTS: We enrolled 133 patients showing documented tubal patency at a previous diagnostic laparoscopy. INTERVENTIONS: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog and FSH were administered to induce superovulation in all patients, who were then randomized for hysteroscopic GIFT or laparoscopic GIFT. Laparoscopic GIFT was performed under general anesthesia while, during hysteroscopic GIFT, oocyte retrievals were transvaginal ultrasound guided and transfers were performed by cannulating tubal ostia after hysteroscopic visualization. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The efficacy was evaluated comparing PR, implantation rate, miscarriage rate, and ectopic PR. RESULTS: Pregnancy rate and implantation rate of hysteroscopic GIFT procedures (29.8% and 9%, respectively) are not significantly different from those obtained with laparoscopic GIFT (43.3% and 14%). CONCLUSIONS: Hysteroscopic GIFT is safe and easy and quick to perform. Moreover, it does not require hospital admission, general anesthesia, or the operating theater, reducing costs and assuring advantages in terms of low psychophysical involvement and repeatability.

Fricke gel dosimetry in boron neutron capture therapy.

Gel dosimetry allows three-dimensional (3D) measurement of absorbed dose in tissue-equivalent dosemeter phantoms. Gel phantoms are imaged using optical techniques. In neutron capture therapy (NCT), properly designed gel dosemeters can give 3D dose distributions, due to the various components of the secondary radiation, in phantoms exposed in the thermal or epithermal column of a nuclear reactor. In addition to the therapeutic dose arising from the reaction 10B(n,alpha)7Li, the other dose components are also obtainable, i.e. the gamma dose (due to reactor background and to the reaction 1H(n,gamma)2H of thermal neutrons with hydrogen, the dose due to protons emitted in the reaction 14N(n,p)14C of thermal neutrons with nitrogen and the dose due to recoil protons resulting from elastic scattering of epithermal neutrons.

Epigenetic regulation of nuclear PI-PLCbeta1 signaling pathway in low-risk MDS patients during azacitidine treatment.

Phosphoinositide-phospholipase C (PI-PLC) beta1 can be considered a specific target for demethylating therapy in high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients, as azacitidine treatment has been associated with a PI-PLCbeta1-specific promoter demethylation, and induction of PI-PLCbeta1 gene and protein expression. However, little is known about the molecular effect of azacitidine in low-risk MDS or the functional mechanisms linked with azacitidine effect on PI-PLCbeta1 promoter. In the present study, we further investigated the role of epigenetic regulation of PI-PLCbeta1, mainly focusing on the structure of the PI-PLCbeta1 promoter. We first examined the effect of azacitidine on PI-PLCbeta1 promoter methylation and gene expression in low-risk MDS. Moreover, we studied the expression of key molecules associated with the nuclear inositide signaling pathways, such as cyclin D3. By applying a chromatin immunoprecipitation method, we also studied the correlation between the demethylating effect of azacitidine and the degree of recruitment to PI-PLCbeta1 promoter of some transcription factors implicated in hematopoietic stem cell proliferation and differentiation, as well as of the methyl-CpG-binding domain proteins, which specifically interact with methylated DNA. Taken together, our results hint at a specific involvement of PI-PLCbeta1 in epigenetic mechanisms, and are particularly consistent with the hypothesis of a role for PI-PLCbeta1 in azacitidine-induced myeloid differentiation.

[Deep hypothermia for the correction of a congenital cardiac defect complete with atrioventricular block]. / Ipotermia profonda di superficie per la correzione di una cardiopatia complessa con BAV completo congenito.

The techniques of deep hypothermia for correction of congenital cardiac defects are well known in many cardiac centers and many cases can be treated even if there are pre-existing rhythm troubles. Our patient had the following diagnosis: left atrial isomerism, dextrocardia; left sided azygos continuation of inferior vena cava; left and right superior venae cavae, hepatic veins, pulmonary veins, all draining into a common atrium; d-loop with normally related ventricles; ventriculo-arterial concordance, small VSD. In addition complete a-v block was present. The patient, 40 days old and 3.4 kg., in heart failure, was paced with a temporary transvenous catheter at 130/min and, afterwards, catheterized. Surgery was undertaken three days post-catheterization using surface deep hypothermia. A Mustard operation, including enlargement of the new left atrium with PTFE (Goretex), was performed during total circulatory arrest. At the end, a permanent pacemaker was positioned in the abdomen and epicardial wires were left on the right ventricle. The postoperative period was uneventful and the patient is doing well 3 months latter. The interest of the case is that even in a complex congenital cardiac malformation with complete a-v block, the technique of surface deep hypothermia can be used because all the physiological parameters remain stable during the procedure in spite of the very low heart rate.

Comparison between depot leuprorelin and daily buserelin in IVF.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effects of depot and daily forms of GnRH analogs in IVF programs. METHODS: One hundred seventeen patients undergoing IVF, with no severe male factor, were randomized between two treatment groups. Pituitary desensitization was obtained in group 1 (60 patients) with a single IM injection of leuprorelin (3.75 mg), and in group 2 (57 patients) with buserelin (0.3 mg SC twice daily). In a subgroup of 10 patients (5 for the depot form and 5 for the daily form) several GnRH tests were performed to investigate pituitary desensitization. RESULTS: No differences were found in the time to reach desensitization. Resumption of pituitary activity occurred in 7 days with the daily form and in about 2 months with the depot form. No significant differences were found in the stimulation pattern, oocyte quality, percentage of fertilization. The pregnancy rate per transfer was slightly, but not significantly, better in the depot group (29.4% vs 25.9%). Implantation rate (11.9% vs 12.3%) and the percentage of miscarriages (26.6% vs 28.5%) were similar. CONCLUSION: Depot and daily forms of GnRH analogs are equally effective in superovulation induction for IVF. Considering improved patient compliance and preference, depot forms are advantageous.

Transfusion-dependent homozygous beta-thalassaemia major: successful twin pregnancy following in-vitro fertilization and tubal embryo transfer.

Homozygous beta-thalassaemia (thalassaemia major) is a severe, transfusion-dependent anaemia that also causes infertility due to endocrine impairment. Very few pregnancies are reported among such patients and there is only one report in the literature referring to a pregnancy achieved with ovulation induction and intra-uterine insemination. We report here the first successful twin pregnancy following in-vitro fertilization and tubal embryo transfer in a transfusion-dependent homozygous beta-thalassaemic woman with an oligoasthenozoospermic partner. Prior to ovarian stimulation, desferrioxamine was discontinued due to potential fetotoxicity. Pre-gestational transfusional and chelating therapies were resumed after delivery. In such patients, ovulation induction and assisted reproductive techniques appear crucial in achieving pregnancy with concurrent haematological balance without desferrioxamine administration.