Phenotypic characteristics and genetic diversity of new broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck) varieties in China

Due to its high nutritional value, broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck) is one of the most popular vegetables worldwide. This study assessed 36 phenotypic characteristics of 111 broccoli varieties to understand the phenotypic diversity of new broccoli varieties and improve their breeding speed with advantages and characteristics in China, including 108 new varieties and three varieties of common knowledge. The genetic diversity, the principal component, and the cluster of phenotypic characteristics of broccoli varieties were further investigated. The results showed that the coefficients of variation of 36 characteristics ranged between 11.18 % and 94.99 %, with their diversity index between 0.26 and 1.82. The 111 broccoli varieties were further classified into eight groups, primarily attributed to the differences in phenotypic characteristics, including curd weight, main stem thickness, plant development degree, plant height, and anthocyanin coloration. The cumulative contribution rate of the first five principal components reached 81.186 %, corresponding to 12 representative phenotypic traits. The analysis indicated that the phenotypic characteristics of broccoli were rich in diversity, especially for several characteristics appreciated by the market, such as weight, curd firmness, and anthocyanin coloration. This study revealed the basic information on the genetic diversity of new broccoli varieties in China from 2017 to 2019 and provided potential breeding strategies for broccoli to meet diverse market demands.

Visual Modeling: A Socialization-Based Intervention to Improve Nutritional Intake Among Nursing Home Residents.

Purpose Malnutrition is a widespread, dangerous, and costly condition among institutionalized older adults and can be both a contributor to and consequence of dysphagia for individuals with cognitive impairment. However, interventions to maximize intake in individuals with dementia are limited and frequently problematic, with negative implications for independence and quality of life. The goal of this study was to examine a novel, socialization-grounded intervention based on visual modeling, utilizing the theoretical underpinnings of motor resonance and mimicry. Method To examine the impact of environment on intake, data were collected from four nursing home residents (M age = 83.5 years, SD = 4.2; three women) with dementia. Weight of food and liquid intake was measured across 15 meals and three different mealtime conditions: the "baseline condition" in which the individual ate alone, the "watch condition" in which the individual ate in the company of a "mealtime buddy," and the "eat" condition in which the individual consumed a meal while the "mealtime buddy" did the same. Results Data visualization supported a weak functional relation between eating environment and amount of intake consumed across participants. Log response ratio estimates suggested a trend for increased weight of food consumed during the eat condition as compared to baseline and the eat condition as compared to the watch condition for some participants. Conclusions These results preliminarily support the benefit of a visual model for increased consumption in some individuals with dementia. The presence and magnitude of the effect across conditions varied based on individual-level factors, such as cognitive status, which has implications for implementation. Overall, this study provides initial proof of concept regarding the use of visual modeling as an intervention approach, laying the foundation for larger scale future studies.

Day-1 PELOD-2 and day-1 quick PELOD-2 scores in children with sepsis in the PICU / Desempenhos dos escores PELOD-2 no dia 1 e quick PELOD-2 no dia 1 em crianças com sepse na UTIP

Abstract Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the day-1 PELOD-2 and day-1 "quick" PELOD-2 (qPELOD-2) scores for in-hospital mortality in children with sepsis in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a developing country. Methods: The data of 516 children diagnosed as sepsis were retrospectively analyzed. The children were divided into survival group and non-survival group, according to the clinical outcome 28 days after admission. Day-1 PELOD-2, day-1 qPELOD-2, pediatric SOFA (pSOFA), and P-MODS were collected and scored. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted, and the efficiency of the day-1 PELOD-2, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS for predicting death were evaluated by the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Results: The day-1 PELOD-2 score, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS in the non-survivor group were significantly higher than those in the survivor group. ROC curve analysis showed that the AUCs of the day-1 PELOD-2 score, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS for predicting the prognosis of children with sepsis in the PICU were 0.916, 0.802, 0.937, and 0.761, respectively (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Both the day-1 PELOD-2 score and day-1 qPELOD-2 score were effective and able to assess the prognosis of children with sepsis in a PICU of a developing country. Additionally, the day-1 PELOD-2 score was superior to the day-1 qPELOD-2 score. Further studies are needed to verify the usefulness of the day-1 qPELOD-2 score, particularly outside of the PICU.

Resumo Objetivos: A finalidade de nosso estudo foi avaliar a validade preditiva dos escores PELOD-2 no dia 1 e "quick" PELOD-2 no dia 1 com relação à mortalidade hospitalar em crianças com sepse em uma UTIP de um país em desenvolvimento. Métodos: Foram analisados retrospectivamente os dados de 516 crianças diagnosticadas com sepse. As crianças foram divididas em grupo sobrevida e grupo não sobrevida de acordo com o desfecho clínico de 28 dias após internação. Foram coletadas e pontuadas as variáveis PELOD-2 no dia 1, qPELOD-2 no dia 1, pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA) e Pediatric Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score (P-MODS). A curva da característica de operação do receptor (ROC) foi plotada e a eficiência preditiva do PELOD-2 no dia 1, o escore qPELOD-2 no dia 1, pSOFA, P-MODS com relação a óbito foram avaliados pela área abaixo da curva (AUC) da curva ROC. Resultados: O escore PELOD-2 no dia 1, escore qPELOD-2 no dia 1, pSOFA e P-MODS no grupo não sobrevida foram significativamente maiores do que os no grupo sobrevida. A análise preditiva da curva ROC mostrou que as AUCs do escore PELOD-2 no dia 1, escore qPELOD-2 no dia 1, pSOFA e P-MODS com relação ao prognóstico de crianças com sepse na UTIP foi 0,916, 0,802, 0,937 e 0,761, respectivamente (todas p < 0,05). Conclusões: Tanto o escore PELOD-2 no dia 1 e o escore qPELOD-2 no dia 1 foram válidos e conseguiram avaliar o prognóstico de crianças com sepse em uma UTIP de um país em desenvolvimento. Além disso, o escore PELOD-2 no dia 1 foi superior ao escore qPELOD-2 no dia 1. São necessários estudos adicionais para verificar a utilidade do escore qPELOD-2 no dia 1, principalmente fora da UTIP.

Day-1 PELOD-2 and day-1 "quick" PELOD-2 scores in children with sepsis in the PICU.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the day-1 PELOD-2 and day-1 "quick" PELOD-2 (qPELOD-2) scores for in-hospital mortality in children with sepsis in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a developing country. METHODS: The data of 516 children diagnosed as sepsis were retrospectively analyzed. The children were divided into survival group and non-survival group, according to the clinical outcome 28 days after admission. Day-1 PELOD-2, day-1 qPELOD-2, pediatric SOFA (pSOFA), and P-MODS were collected and scored. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted, and the efficiency of the day-1 PELOD-2, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS for predicting death were evaluated by the area under the ROC curve (AUC). RESULTS: The day-1 PELOD-2 score, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS in the non-survivor group were significantly higher than those in the survivor group. ROC curve analysis showed that the AUCs of the day-1 PELOD-2 score, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS for predicting the prognosis of children with sepsis in the PICU were 0.916, 0.802, 0.937, and 0.761, respectively (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both the day-1 PELOD-2 score and day-1 qPELOD-2 score were effective and able to assess the prognosis of children with sepsis in a PICU of a developing country. Additionally, the day-1 PELOD-2 score was superior to the day-1 qPELOD-2 score. Further studies are needed to verify the usefulness of the day-1 qPELOD-2 score, particularly outside of the PICU.

Family-based exome-wide association study of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia among Hispanics confirms role of ARID5B in susceptibility.

We conducted an exome-wide association study of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) among Hispanics to confirm and identify novel variants associated with disease risk in this population. We used a case-parent trio study design; unlike more commonly used case-control studies, this study design is ideal for avoiding issues with population stratification bias among this at-risk ethnic group. Using 710 individuals from 323 Guatemalan and US Hispanic families, two inherited SNPs in ARID5B reached genome-wide level significance: rs10821936, RR = 2.31, 95% CI = 1.70-3.14, p = 1.7×10-8 and rs7089424, RR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.64-3.01, p = 5.2×10-8. Similar results were observed when restricting our analyses to those with the B-ALL subtype: ARID5B rs10821936 RR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.63-3.02, p = 9.63×10-8 and ARID5B rs7089424 RR = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.57-2.88, p = 2.81×10-7. Notably, effect sizes observed for rs7089424 and rs10821936 in our study were >20% higher than those reported among non-Hispanic white populations in previous genetic association studies. Our results confirmed the role of ARID5B in childhood ALL susceptibility among Hispanics; however, our assessment did not reveal any strong novel inherited genetic risks for acute lymphoblastic leukemia among this ethnic group.

Crystal structures and mutational analyses of acyl-CoA carboxylase beta subunit of Streptomyces coelicolor.

The first committed step of fatty acid and polyketides biosynthesis, the biotin-dependent carboxylation of an acyl-CoA, is catalyzed by acyl-CoA carboxylases (ACCases) such as acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and propionyl-CoA carboxylase (PCC). ACC and PCC in Streptomyces coelicolor are homologue multisubunit complexes that can carboxylate different short chain acyl-CoAs. While ACC is able to carboxylate acetyl-, propionyl-, or butyryl-CoA with approximately the same specificity, PCC only recognizes propionyl- and butyryl-CoA as substrates. How ACC and PCC have such different specificities toward these substrates is only partially understood. To further understand the molecular basis of how the active site residues can modulate the substrate recognition, we mutated D422, N80, R456, and R457 of PccB, the catalytic beta subunit of PCC. The crystal structures of six PccB mutants and the wild type crystal structure were compared systematically to establish the sequence-structure-function relationship that correlates the observed substrate specificity toward acetyl-, propionyl-, and butyryl-CoA with active site geometry. The experimental data confirmed that D422 is a key determinant of substrate specificity, influencing not only the active site properties but further altering protein stability and causing long-range conformational changes. Mutations of N80, R456, and R457 lead to variations in the quaternary structure of the beta subunit and to a concomitant loss of enzyme activity, indicating the importance of these residues in maintaining the active protein conformation as well as a critical role in substrate binding.

ACCase 6 is the essential acetyl-CoA carboxylase involved in fatty acid and mycolic acid biosynthesis in mycobacteria.

Mycolic acids are essential for the survival, virulence and antibiotic resistance of the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Inhibitors of mycolic acid biosynthesis, such as isoniazid and ethionamide, have been used as efficient drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. However, the increase in cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has prompted a search for new targets and agents that could also affect synthesis of mycolic acids. In mycobacteria, the acyl-CoA carboxylases (ACCases) provide the building blocks for de novo fatty acid biosynthesis by fatty acid synthase (FAS) I and for the elongation of FAS I products by the FAS II complex to produce meromycolic acids. By generating a conditional mutant in the accD6 gene of Mycobacterium smegmatis, we demonstrated that AccD6 is the essential carboxyltransferase component of the ACCase 6 enzyme complex implicated in the biosynthesis of malonyl-CoA, the substrate of the two FAS enzymes of Mycobacterium species. Based on the conserved structure of the AccD5 and AccD6 active sites we screened several inhibitors of AccD5 as potential inhibitors of AccD6 and found that the ligand NCI-172033 was capable of inhibiting AccD6 with an IC(50) of 8 microM. The compound showed bactericidal activity against several pathogenic Mycobacterium species by producing a strong inhibition of both fatty acid and mycolic acid biosynthesis at minimal inhibitory concentrations. Overexpression of accD6 in M. smegmatis conferred resistance to NCI-172033, confirming AccD6 as the main target of the inhibitor. These results define the biological role of a key ACCase in the biosynthesis of membrane and cell envelope fatty acids, and provide a new target, AccD6, for rational development of novel anti-mycobacterial drugs.