SOSORT 2012 consensus paper: reducing x-ray exposure in pediatric patients with scoliosis

This 2012 Consensus paper reviews the literature on side effects of x-ray exposure in the pediatric population as it relates to scoliosis evaluation and treatment. Alternative methods of spinal assessment and imaging are reviewed, and strategies for reducing the number of radiographs are developed. Using the Delphi technique, SOSORT members developed consensus statements that describe how often radiographs should be taken in each of the pediatric and adolescent sub-populations

Synonymous but not the same: the causes and consequences of codon bias

Despite their name, synonymous mutations have significant consequences for cellular processes in all taxa. As a result, an understanding of codon bias is central to fields as diverse as molecular evolution and biotechnology. Although recent advances in sequencing and synthetic biology have helped resolve longstanding questions about codon bias, they have also uncovered striking patterns that suggest new hypotheses about protein synthesis. Ongoing work to quantify the dynamics of initiation and elongation is as important for understanding natural synonymous variation as it is for designing transgenes in applied contexts

Genetics and molecular breeding in Lolium/Festuca grass species complex

Perennial ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ) and Italian ryegrass ( L. multiflorum ) are regarded as ideal grass species for use as animal forage in temperate grassland agriculture. Ryegrasses establish and grow quickly and provide dense swards of highly nutritious and easily digestible forage that can be turned into healthy meat and animal products for human consumption. However, their use is restricted as they lack persistency, especially in marginal areas and locations that are subject to summer and winter stresses and drought stress. Close relative species from within genus Festuca are much better adapted to such abiotic stresses but, by contrast, do not compare well in animal forage provision to Lolium species as they show poor establishment and comparatively lower quality characteristics. Lolium and Festuca species hybridize naturally and exhibit high frequencies of gene exchange in the hybrid condition. Intergeneric hybrids ( Festulolium ) between Lolium and Festuca species are being used to broaden the gene pool and to provide the plant breeder with options to combine high quality traits with broad adaptations to a range of environmental constraints. Festulolium varieties have promise as novel grasses with high forage quality and resistance to environmental stress and can thereby improve grassland productivity, persistency and benefit incomes. Recent progress on Festulolium breeding programs is described here. Conventional forage grass breeding programs rely on basis observable phenotypes using the natural genetic variation found between and within varieties or ecotypes. Genetic improvement of forage grasses by conventional breeding programs is very slow due to the obligate outbreeding and perennial nature of grasses. Advances in genomics and gene manipulation can complement and enhance conventional plant breeding programs. Many studies concerning the implementation of DNA markers, high-throughout gene discovery, genome-wide gene expression analysis and gene manipulation are currently being conducted for forage grasses. Recent progress on molecular and genomic research activity in the genus Lolium and Festuca is reviewed