ANALYSIS OF GENOTYPE X ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION BY GRAPHICAL TECHNIQUES

Genotype x Environment interactions results from the changes in the magnitude of differences among genotypes (non-crossover or quantitative interactions) or changes in the relative ranking of the genotypes (crossover or qualitative interactions) in different environments. Non-crossover interactions are usually associated with variance heterogeneity and non-additivity. The analysis of variance combined with joint regression analysis failed to differentiate between the crossover and non-crossover interactions. Tedious computations are necessary in comparisons of all possible pairs of genotypes in all possible pairs of environments in the crossover detection tests. Therefore, differentiating the non-crossover interaction caused by variance heterogeneity and non-additivity from crossover interaction by simple but effective methods such as exploratory data analysis should be carried out before assessing the stability in GEl studies. The effectiveness of the four graphical methods i) variance heterogeneity diagnostic plot (Box et al. 1978), ii) transformable non-additivity diagnostic plot, (Box et al. 1978) iii) Emerson and Hoaglin\u27s (1983) non-additivity diagnostic plot, and iii) Gabriel\u27s bi-plot (1971) in detecting non-crossover interactions resulting from variance heterogeneity and nonadditivity are presented in this paper. Baker\u27s (1990) three simulated and the spring wheat data sets were used to evaluate the effectiveness of these four graphical techniques

Cultivation and anaerobic digestion of Scenedesmus spp. grown in a pilot-scale open raceway

Digestibility of a micro-algal mixture was evaluated by mesophilic anaerobic digestion in continuously-stirred tank reactors. The culture consisted primarily of Scenedesmus spp. continuously cultivated over a 6-month period in a 100 m2 raceway reactor instrumented to record pH, dissolved oxygen and temperature. The raceway received supplementary carbon in the form of flue gas from a diesel boiler (10% CO2) injected into a 1-m deep sump to control pH in the range 7.8–8.0. Dilution was optimised to biomass productivity and gave values of 10–15 and 20–25 g total suspended solids (TSS) m? 2 day? 1 in winter (December–February) and spring (April–May), respectively. The culture for the anaerobic digestion trial was harvested in February by centrifugation to give an algal paste containing 4.3% volatile solids (VS). Semi-continuous digestion at organic loading rates of 2.00, 2.75 and 3.50 g VS l? 1 day? 1 gave volumetric biogas productions of ~ 0.66, ~ 0.83 and ~ 0.99 l l? 1 day? 1, respectively. Specific methane yield ranged from 0.13 to 0.14 l CH4 g? 1 VSadded with biogas methane content ~ 62%. Overall the digestion process was stable, but only ~ 30% VS destruction was achieved indicating low biodegradability, due to the short retention times and the recalcitrant nature of this type of biomas

Pharmacovigilance: an evaluation on the practice of pharmacists acting in pharmacies and drugstores

Pharmacists acting in pharmacies and drugstores stores are some of the most accessible healthcare providers and the last to intervene before the patient takes their medicine. This puts the pharmacist in a position of authority that should be harnessed for the benefit of health. Thus, this professional is strategic for performing pharmacovigilance. Our objective of this study was to interrogate the practice of pharmacists in relation to pharmacovigilance activities, and to identify difficulties and possible stimuli for the improvement these activities in pharmacies and drugstores. The information was collected through an online questionnaire via Survey Monkey®. The data were analyzed statistically using SPSS software. Responses were received from 5174 pharmacists: mostly young women within five years of graduation and experience in pharmaceutical retail. 81% of them reported having identified suspected substandard medicines, but only 16% used the Brazilian notification system Notivisa. More than 85% of pharmacists agreed with the importance of pharmacovigilance and the recognition of reporting services as part of pharmacist duties and pharmaceutical care. The main barriers to making notifications were the lack of access and knowledge about Notivisa. Pharmacists agreed that simplifying the system would be a stimulus for notifications, and requested more feedback from notifications, as well as material and courses to understand the notification process. Pharmacists have important data to feed into pharmacovigilance systems, recognize their responsibilities and are willing to contribute, but still demonstrate low compliance. Simplification of the system and training on it are likely to increase notifications

Uso de subproductos de planta de algodón como fuente de fibra en dietas de engorde a corral

Los residuos de cosecha del cultivo de algodón disponibles en el norte argentino son una fuente alternativa de fibra larga (FL) para el reemplazo de forraje voluminoso de mayor costo (ej., heno de alfalfa o ensilajes de gramíneas) en dietas de alta concentración energética. El objetivo de este experimento fue evaluar el efecto de la sustitución de una fuente de FL, heno de alfalfa, por subproducto de planta de algodón (SPA) sobre el aumento medio diario (AMD), el consumo diario de materia seca (CMS) y la conversión (CMS/AMD) en dietas de engorde a corral. Se utilizaron 104 animales (Cruza Braford; 220 ± 4 kg PV) asignados al azar a 12 corrales (8 o 9 animales/corral) durante 68 días. El experimento se dividió en dos etapas de evaluación: adaptación (días 0 a 19), y terminación (días 20 a 68). Los tratamientos (4) consistieron en el reemplazo de heno de alfalfa (12,9% PB, 65,5% FDN) por SPA (7,2% PB, 71,4% FDN): 100% Alfalfa (SPA0), 66% Alfalfa: 33% SPA (SPA33); 33% Alfalfa: 66% SPA (SPA67); y 100% SPA (SPA100). El peso promedio inicial (día 0; P = 0,92), al final de la adaptación (día 19; P = 0,26) y final (día 68; P = 0,37) no difirió significativamente entre tratamientos. El AMD (P > 0,43), CMS (P >= 0,23) y CMS/AMD (P = > 0,50) no fueron afectados por los tratamientos en ninguna de las etapas evaluadas. Los resultados obtenidos en este experimento demuestran que el reemplazo total o parcial de heno de alfalfa de mediana calidad por SPA en dietas altas en concentrados (>89%) no afecta negativamente la ganancia de peso ni la conversión de la ración.Cotton fibre co-products available in northern Argentina are a source of effective fiber to replace high cost roughage (e.i., alfalfa hay or silage or grasses) in finishing diets. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of replacing roughage sources (alfalfa hay) by cotton plant byproduct (SPA) on average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI) and feed efficiency (DMI/ADG) in feedlot diets. One hundred and four (220 ± 4 kg PV) were assigned to 12 pens (8 or 9 head/per pens) for 68 days on feed. The experiment was divided in two feeding periods: adaptation (days 0 to 19) and finishing (days 20 to 68). Treatments consisted of replacing the roughage portion of the diet (alfalfa hay; 12.9% CP, 65.5% NDF) by SPA (7.2% CP, 71.4% NDF): 100% alfalfa (SPA0); 66% alfalfa: 33% SPA (SPA33); 33% alfalfa: 66% SPA (SPA67); and 100% SPA (SPA100). Initial (day 0; P = 0.92), adaptation (day 19; P = 0.26) and final (day 68; P = 0.37) average live weight did not significantly differ among treatments. Moreover, ADG (P > 0.43), DMI (P > 0.23) and DMI/ADG (P > 0.50) were not affected by treatments for both feeding periods. Results show that total or partial replacement of alfalfa roughage by SPA in high concentrate diets (>89%) do not adversely affect live weight gain and feed efficiency.EEA Santiago del EsteroFil: Arroquy, Jose Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santiago del Estero. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santiago del Estero; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Agronomía y Agroindustrias; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santiago del Estero; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Fernandez, C.J. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Agronomía y Agroindustrias; ArgentinaFil: López, Agustín. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santiago del Estero; Argentin

Time resolved amplified FRET identifies protein kinase B activation state as a marker for poor prognosis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Purpose Clear cell Renal Cell Carcinomas (ccRCC), the largest group of renal tumours, are resistant to classical therapies. The determination of the functional state of actionable biomarkers for the assessment of these adenocarcinomas is essential. The dysregulation of the oncoprotein, PKB/Akt has been linked with poor prognoses in human cancers. Material & methods We analysed the status of the PKB/Akt pathway in a representative tumour tissue microarray obtained from the primary tumours and their metastases in 60 ccRCC with long term follow up. We sought to define the evolution of this pathway from the primary tumour to the metastatic event and to know the impact of its functional state in tumour aggressiveness and patient survival. Two-site time resolved amplified FRET (A-FRET) was utilised for assessing the activation state of PKB/Akt and this was compared to conventional immunohistochemistry measurements. Results Activation state of PKB/Akt in primary tumours defined by A-FRET correlated with poorer overall survival (hazard ratio 0.228; p = 0.002). Whereas, increased protein expression of phosphoPKB/Akt, identified using classical immunohistochemistry, yielded no significant difference (hazard ratio 1.390; p = 0.548). Conclusions Quantitative determination of PKB/Akt activation in ccRCC primary tumours alongside other diagnostics tools could prove key in taking oncologists closer to an efficient personalised therapy in ccRCC patients. General significance The quantitative imaging technology based on Amplified-FRET can rapidly analyse protein activation states and molecular interactions. It could be used for prognosis and assess drug function during the early cycles of chemotherapy. It enables evaluation of clinical efficiency of personalised cancer treatment

Magnetic Nanoparticles for Power Absorption: optimizing size, shape and magnetic properties

We present a study on the magnetic properties of naked and silica-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles with sizes between 5 and 110 nm. Their efficiency as heating agents was assessed through specific power absorption (SPA) measurements as a function of particle size and shape. The results show a strong dependence of the SPA with the particle size, with a maximum around 30 nm, as expected for a Neel relaxation mechanism in single-domain particles. The SiO2 shell thickness was found to play an important role in the SPA mechanism by hindering the heat outflow, thus decreasing the heating efficiency. It is concluded that a compromise between good heating efficiency and surface functionality for biomedical purposes can be attained by making the SiO2 functional coating as thin as possible.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

A highly divergent Encephalomyocarditis virus isolated from nonhuman primates in Singapore

10.1186/1743-422X-10-248Virology Journal10

Understanding clinical and biological heterogeneity to advance precision medicine in paediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome

Paediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome that is associated with high rates of mortality and long-term morbidity. Factors that distinguish PARDS from adult acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) include changes in developmental stage and lung maturation with age, precipitating factors, and comorbidities. No specific treatment is available for PARDS and management is largely supportive, but methods to identify patients who would benefit from specific ventilation strategies or ancillary treatments, such as prone positioning, are needed. Understanding of the clinical and biological heterogeneity of PARDS, and of differences in clinical features and clinical course, pathobiology, response to treatment, and outcomes between PARDS and adult ARDS, will be key to the development of novel preventive and therapeutic strategies and a precision medicine approach to care. Studies in which clinical, biomarker, and transcriptomic data, as well as informatics, are used to unpack the biological and phenotypic heterogeneity of PARDS, and implementation of methods to better identify patients with PARDS, including methods to rapidly identify subphenotypes and endotypes at the point of care, will drive progress on the path to precision medicine.</p

Cosmic Chronometers: Constraining the Equation of State of Dark Energy. I: H(z) Measurements

We present new determinations of the cosmic expansion history from red-envelope galaxies. We have obtained for this purpose high-quality spectra with the Keck-LRIS spectrograph of red-envelope galaxies in 24 galaxy clusters in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 1.0. We complement these Keck spectra with high-quality, publicly available archival spectra from the SPICES and VVDS surveys. We improve over our previous expansion history measurements in Simon et al. (2005) by providing two new determinations of the expansion history: H(z) = 97 +- 62 km/sec/Mpc at z = 0.5 and H(z) = 90 +- 40 km/sec/Mpc at z = 0.8. We discuss the uncertainty in the expansion history determination that arises from uncertainties in the synthetic stellar-population models. We then use these new measurements in concert with cosmic-microwave-background (CMB) measurements to constrain cosmological parameters, with a special emphasis on dark-energy parameters and constraints to the curvature. In particular, we demonstrate the usefulness of direct H(z) measurements by constraining the dark- energy equation of state parameterized by w0 and wa and allowing for arbitrary curvature. Further, we also constrain, using only CMB and H(z) data, the number of relativistic degrees of freedom to be 4 +- 0.5 and their total mass to be < 0.2 eV, both at 1-sigma.Comment: Submitted to JCA