Spectroscopy of high-lying resonances in 9 Be by the measurement of ( p , p ), ( p , d ), and ( p , α ) reactions with a radioactive 8 Li beam

We measured the 8 Li ( p , p ) 8 Li , 8 Li ( p , d ) 7 Li , and 8 Li ( p , α ) 5 He reactions at low energies using the thick target inverse kinematics method, with a polyethylene [ CH 2 ] n target and a radioactive 8 Li beam available at the Radioactive Ion Beams in Brazil facility of São Paulo. By measuring simultaneously several reaction channels ( p , p ) , ( p , d ) , and ( p , α ) , the still uncertain high-lying resonances of 9 Be , close to the proton threshold, can be studied and their parameters, such as energy, width, and spin parity can be more reliably determined. The experimental excitation functions of the reactions 8 Li ( p , p ) 8 Li , 8 Li ( p , d ) 7 Li , and 8 Li ( p , α ) 5 He were analyzed using the R -matrix theory, which allows us to infer the properties of the resonances. Multichannel R -matrix analysis provides evidence for a significant clustering in the ( p , d ) channel. The experimental data and the multichannel R -matrix analysis will be presented.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo. Brasil. (FAPESP) 2011/15904-7, 2013/22100-7 y 2016/21434-7VI Plan Propio de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla. España. (2017–2018

Use of the design III with molecular markers for the genetic analysis of grain yield and its components in maize.

O delineamento III foi proposto para estimar as variâncias aditivas e de dominância e o grau médio de dominância de caracteres quantitativos. Com o advento dos marcadores moleculares, Cockerham & Zeng (1996) desenvolveram uma metodologia genético-estatística associando o delineamento III com marcadores moleculares. Esta metodologia foi proposta visando estimar, com o uso de quatro contrastes ortogonais, os efeitos aditivos, dominantes e epistáticos dos QTLs ligados a marcadores moleculares. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi usar ambas as metodologias para análise genética da produção de grãos, componentes da produção e número de ramificações do pendão em uma população referência F2 de milho. Duzentos e cinqüenta progênies F2:3 foram retrocruzadas com ambas linhagens genitoras, dando origem a 500 progênies de retrocruzamento. Estas progênies foram alocadas em cinco látices 10x10 e avaliadas em seis ambientes em três estações experimentais próximas a Piracicaba, SP, com duas repetições por ambientes. Estimativas de variância aditiva e de dominância, assim como o grau médio de dominância dos caracteres avaliados, apresentaram magnitudes similares às reportadas em populações de milho temperado para todos os caracteres. Estimativas do grau médio de dominância foram inferiores a um para o diâmetro da espiga, número de fileiras, peso de 500 grãos e número de ramificações do pendão, mostrando que os efeitos aditivos foram mais importantes que os efeitos de dominância para estes caracteres. Para prolificidade, comprimento da espiga e número de grãos por fileira, o grau médio de dominância não diferiu de dominância completa, sugerindo que os efeitos de dominância foram importantes para estes caracteres. Para produção de grãos, o resultado do grau médio de dominância sugeriu sobredominância. Porém, como é conhecido, o desequilíbrio de ligação causa viéses nas estimativas de grau médio de dominância e, conseqüentemente, estas estimativas podem ser menores, sendo que, provavelmente tenha ocorrido pseudo-sobredominância para produção de grãos. A análise do delineamento III com marcadores moleculares mostrou que os QTLs estão distribuídos em todos os cromossomos para todos caracteres. As somas em módulo dos efeitos dos QTLs mostraram que para produção de grãos, prolificidade, comprimento da espiga, e número de grãos por fileira, os efeitos de dominância foram superiores aos efeitos aditivos, e estes superiores aos efeitos epistáticos; para diâmetro da espiga, peso de 500 grãos, número de fileiras, e número ramificações do pendão, os efeitos aditivos foram maiores que os efeitos de dominância, e estes superiores aos efeitos epistáticos, exceto para número de fileiras em que os efeitos epistáticos foram maiores que os efeitos de dominância. Os efeitos epistáticos foram detectados para todos caracteres e contribuíram mais para os componentes da produção que para a produção de grãos per se. A análise clássica do delineamento III e a associada a marcadores moleculares forneceram resultados de grande utilidade, mas o delineamento III com marcadores permitiu a estimação dos efeitos genéticos de regiões específicas do genoma e sugeriu que os efeitos epistáticos foram muito importantes na expressão e na herança dos caracteres analisados.The Design III was proposed to estimate additive and dominance variances, and the average levels of dominance of quantitative traits. With the advent of the molecular markers, Cockerham & Zeng (1996) developed a genetic-statistical procedure using the Design III with molecular markers. This procedure was designed to estimate additive, dominance and epistatic effects of the QTLs linked to molecular markers from four orthogonal contrasts. The objectives of this research were to use both methodologies for the genetic analysis of grain yield, yield components, and number of tassel branches in an F2 reference maize population. Two-hundred and fifty F2:3 progenies were backcrossed to the two parental inbred lines, which gave rise to 500 backcrossed progenies. These progenies were allocated in five 10x10 lattices design, and evaluated in six environments in three experimental stations near Piracicaba, SP, with two replications per environment. Estimates of additive and dominance variances, as well as the average levels of dominance for the traits evaluated, had magnitudes similar to those already reported for temperate maize populations for all traits. Estimates of the average level of dominance were lower than one for ear diameter, kernel row number, weight of 500 kernels, and tassel branches number, showing that the additive effects were more important than the dominance effects for these traits. For prolificacy, ear length, and kernels per row number, the average levels of dominance did not differ from complete dominance, suggesting that the dominance effects were important for these traits. For grain yield, the result suggested overdominance as the average level of dominance. However, as is well-known, linkage disequilibrium causes biases in the estimates of the average levels of dominance and, therefore, these estimates could be lower, and probably for grain yield a pseudo-overdominance was detected. The analysis of the Design III with molecular markers showed that QTLs were distributed in all chromosomes for all traits. The sum in module of the QTLs effects showed that for grain yield, prolificacy, ear length, and kernels per row number, dominance effect was greater than additive effect, and the latter greater than epistatic effect; whereas for ear diameter, weight of 500 kernels, kernel row number, and tassel branches number, additive effect was greater than dominance effect, and the latter greater than epistatic effect, except for kernel row number where epistatic effect was greater than dominance effect. Epistatic effects were detected for all traits, and had higher contribution for the yield components than for yield per se. Both traditional and QTL analysis of the Design III presented very useful results, but the Design III with molecular markers allowed the estimation of the genetic effects from specific genomic regions, and suggested that the epistatic effects play a very important role for the expression and inheritance of the traits assessed

Genetic analysis of kernel oil content in tropical maize with design III and QTL mapping

Oil content and grain yield in maize are negatively correlated, and so far the development of high-oil high-yielding hybrids has not been accomplished. Then a fully understand of the inheritance of the kernel oil content is necessary to implement a breeding program to improve both traits simultaneously. Conventional and molecular marker analyses of the design III were carried out from a reference population developed from two tropical inbred lines divergent for kernel oil content. The results showed that additive variance was quite larger than the dominance variance, and the heritability coefficient was very high. Sixteen QTL were mapped, they were not evenly distributed along the chromosomes, and accounted for 30.91% of the genetic variance. The average level of dominance computed from both conventional and QTL analysis was partial dominance. The overall results indicated that the additive effects were more important than the dominance effects, the latter were not unidirectional and then heterosis could not be exploited in crosses. Most of the favorable alleles of the QTL were in the high-oil parental inbred, which could be transferred to other inbreds via marker-assisted backcross selection. Our results coupled with reported information indicated that the development of high-oil hybrids with acceptable yields could be accomplished by using marker-assisted selection involving oil content, grain yield and its components. Finally, to exploit the xenia effect to increase even more the oil content, these hybrids should be used in the Top Cross((TM)) procedure.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnologicoConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico [CNPq-308499/2006-9]Department of Genetics at the Agriculture College Luiz de Queiroz/University of Sao PauloDepartment of Genetics at the Agriculture College "Luiz de Queiroz"/University of Sao Paul

Stress neuropeptide levels in adults with chest pain due to coronary artery disease: potential implications for clinical assessment

: Substance P (SP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are neuropeptides involved in nociception. The study of biochemical markers of pain in communicating critically ill coronary patients may provide insight for pain assessment and management in critical care. Purpose of the study was to to explore potential associations between plasma neuropeptide levels and reported pain intensity in coronary critical care adults, in order to test the reliability of SP measurements for objective pain assessment in critical care