A comprehensive meta-QTL analysis for yield-related traits of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) grown under different water regimes.

Abiotic stress strongly affects yield-related traits in durum wheat, in particular drought is one of the main environmental factors that have effect on grain yield and plant architecture. In order to obtain new genotypes well adapted to stress conditions, the highest number of desirable traits needs to be combined in the same genotype. In this context, hundreds of quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been identified for yield-related traits in different genetic backgrounds and environments. Meta-QTL (MQTL) analysis is a useful approach to combine data sets and for creating consensus positions for the QTL detected in independent studies for the reliability of their location and effects. MQTL analysis is a useful method to dissect the genetic architecture of complex traits, which provide an extensive allelic coverage, a higher mapping resolution and allow the identification of putative molecular markers useful for marker-assisted selection (MAS). In the present study, a complete and comprehensive MQTL analysis was carried out to identify genomic regions associated with grain-yield related traits in durum wheat under different water regimes. A total of 724 QTL on all 14 chromosomes (genomes A and B) were collected for the 19 yield-related traits selected, of which 468 were reported under rainfed conditions, and 256 under irrigated conditions. Out of the 590 QTL projected on the consensus map, 421 were grouped into 76 MQTL associated with yield components under both irrigated and rainfed conditions, 12 genomic regions containing stable MQTL on all chromosomes except 1A, 4A, 5A, and 6B. Candidate genes associated to MQTL were identified and an in-silico expression analysis was carried out for 15 genes selected among those that were differentially expressed under drought. These results can be used to increase durum wheat grain yields under different water regimes and to obtain new genotypes adapted to climate change.

Selective capsulotomies of the expanded breast as a remodelling method in two-stage breast reconstruction.

The two-stage breast reconstruction with tissue expander and prosthesis is nowadays a common method for achieving a satisfactory appearance in selected patients who had a mastectomy, but its most common aesthetic drawback is represented by an excessive volumetric increment of the superior half of the reconstructed breast, with a convexity of the profile in that area. A possible solution to limit this effect, and to fulfil the inferior pole, may be obtained by reducing the inferior tissue resistance by means of capsulotomies. This study reports the effects of various types of capsulotomies, performed in 72 patients after removal of the mammary expander, with the aim of emphasising the convexity of the inferior mammary aspect in the expanded breast. According to each kind of desired modification, possible solutions are described. On the basis of subjective and objective evaluations, an overall high degree of satisfaction has been evidenced. The described selective capsulotomies, when properly carried out, may significantly improve the aesthetic results in two-stage reconstructed breasts, with no additional scars, with minimal risks, and with little lengthening of the surgical time.

The role of carbon dioxide therapy in the treatment of chronic wounds.

A wound is defined as chronic when it does not heal according to the normal repair times and mechanisms. This particular condition may be principally due to local hypoxia. Carbon dioxide (CO(2)) therapy refers to the transcutaneous or subcutaneous administration of CO(2) for therapeutical effects on both microcirculation and tissue oxygenation. In this study, we report the clinical and instrumental results of the application of CO(2) in the therapy of chronic wounds. The study included 70 patients affected by chronic ulcers. The patients were selected by aetiology and wound extension and equally divided into two homogeneous groups. In group A, CO(2) therapy was used in addition to the routine methods of treatment for such lesions (surgical and/or chemical debridement, advanced dressings according to the features of each lesion). In group B, patients were treated using routine methods alone. Both groups underwent to instrumental (laser doppler flow, measurement of TcPO(2)), clinical and photographic evaluation. In the group that underwent subcutaneous treatment with CO(2) therapy, the results highlighted a significant increase in tissue oxygenation values, which was confirmed by greater progress of the lesions in terms of both healing and reduction of the injured area. Considering the safety, efficacy and reliability of this method, even if further studies are necessary, we believe that it is useful to include subcutaneous carbon dioxide therapy in the treatment of wounds involving hypoxia-related damage.

Cell morphodynamics visualization from images of zebrafish embryogenesis.

Laser scanning microscopy provides high-resolution nondestructive in vivo imaging to capture specific structures that have been fluorescently labeled, such as cellular nuclei and membranes, throughout early zebrafish embryogenesis. An increasingly challenging problem biologists must face is how to effectively explore, follow, and study the thousands of cells contained in the resulting time-varying volume data that are large in space, time, and variable domain. Visual data explorations, such as direct volume rendering, have been successfully used for the analysis of volumetric data. However, visualizing large-scale time-varying fields remains a challenging problem. In this paper we present a novel Focus+Context animated volume rendering. The technique is based on the distance map of objects of interest and on a scene graph architecture. We demonstrate that distance map driven volume rendering, implemented in modern graphics hardware, is suited to generate run time and interactive representations such as ghosted rendering and cut-away rendering. The experimental results on zebrafish embryogenesis data demonstrate that the technique is suited to uncover and to analyze biological events, such as organogenesis, contained in time-varying volumetric dataset.

Methods toward in vivo measurement of zebrafish epithelial and deep cell proliferation.

We present a strategy for automatic classification and density estimation of epithelial enveloping layer (EVL) and deep layer (DEL) cells, throughout zebrafish early embryonic stages. Automatic cells classification provides the bases to measure the variability of relevant parameters, such as cells density, in different classes of cells and is finalized to the estimation of effectiveness and selectivity of anticancer drug in vivo. We aim at approaching these measurements through epithelial/deep cells classification, epithelial area and thickness measurement, and density estimation from scattered points. Our procedure is based on Minimal Surfaces, Otsu clustering, Delaunay Triangulation, and Within-R cloud of points density estimation approaches. In this paper, we investigated whether the distance between nuclei and epithelial surface is sufficient to discriminate epithelial cells from deep cells. Comparisons of different density estimators, experimental results, and extensively accuracy measurements are included.

Cells segmentation from 3-D confocal images of early zebrafish embryogenesis.

We designed a strategy for extracting the shapes of cell membranes and nuclei from time lapse confocal images taken throughout early zebrafish embryogenesis using a partial-differential-equation-based segmentation. This segmentation step is a prerequisite for an accurate quantitative analysis of cell morphodynamics during embryogenesis and it is the basis for an integrated understanding of biological processes. The segmentation of embryonic cells requires live zebrafish embryos fluorescently labeled to highlight sub-cellular structures and designing specific algorithms by adapting classical methods to image features. Our strategy includes the following steps: the signal-to-noise ratio is first improved by an edge-preserving filtering, then the cell shape is reconstructed applying a fully automated algorithm based on a generalized version of the Subjective Surfaces technique. Finally we present a procedure for the algorithm validation either from the accuracy and the robustness perspective.

Cells tracking in a live zebrafish embryo.

We designed a set of procedures for achieving the tracking of cell nuclei and the identification of cell divisions in live zebrafish embryos using 3D+time images acquired by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Our strategy includes image signal enhancement with feature preserving denoising algorithm, automated identification of the nuclei position, extraction of the optical flow from 3D images sequences and tracking of nuclei.

Segmentation of cells from 3-D confocal images of live zebrafish embryo.

In this paper, we use partial-differential-equation-based segmentation to accurately extract the shapes of membranes and nuclei from time lapse confocal microscopy images, taken throughout early Zebrafish embryogenesis. This strategy is a prerequisite for an accurate quantitative analysis of cell shape and morphodynamics during organogenesis and is the basis for an integrated understanding of biological processes. This data will also serve for the measurement of the variability between individuals in a population. The segmentation of cellular structures is achieved by first using an edge-preserving image filtering method for noise reduction and then applying an algorithm for cell shape reconstruction based on the Subjective Surfaces technique.

3-D zebrafish embryo image filtering by nonlinear partial differential equations.

We discuss application of nonlinear PDE based methods to filtering of 3-D confocal images of embryogenesis. We focus on the mean curvature driven and the regularized Perona-Malik equations, where standard as well as newly suggested edge detectors are used. After presenting the related mathematical models, the practical results are given and discussed by visual inspection and quantitatively using the mean Hausdorff distance.