Resistance to eyespot (Pseudocercosporella herpotricoides) and distribution of biochemical markers in hexaploid lines derived from double cross (Triticum turgidum x Aegilops ventricosa) x T. aestivum

There are not good intraspecific sources of resistance to the eyespot disea se of wheat, aaused by Cercosporella herpotrichoides Fvon . The -ínterspecifia transfer of genes for resistanoe from Aegitops ventricosa into hexaploid wheat has been only partially achieved, because the degree of resistanoe attained is not as high as that of the donor. We report here on the transfer of resistanoe in a double oross (Triticum turgidum var. rubroatrwv H-1-1 x Ae.ventricosa AP-D x T.aestivum cv. Almatense H-10-15. The high level of resistanoe in a high proportion of the lines strongly suggests a simple genetic control for this oharacter (possibly by one major gene). The gene(s) responsible for resistanoe in the selected lines must be associa ted with the D genome of Aegilops ventricosa on the basis of a detailed study of the distribution of biochemioal markers in the H-93 lines. These results do not exelude that genes with similar effeets might be looated in the M° genome

Index of T-wave variation as a predictor of sudden cardiac death in chronic heart failure patients with atrial fibrillation

Chronic heart failure (CHF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are worldwide leading causes of morbidity and mortality in elders, a large part due to sudden cardiac deaths (SCD). The high irregularity of ventricular response in AF patients makes the use of standard SCD-risk markers inappropriate in this target population. The aim of this study was twofold: i) to propose a new index, suitable for AF patients, able to quantify ventricular repolarization changes; and ii) to evaluate its prognostic value in a CHF population with AF. Holter ECG recordings from 176 consecutive CHF patients with AF (22 SCD) were analyzed. The index of T-wave variation (ITV), quantifying the average T-wave changes in pairs of consecutive beats under stable rhythm conditions, was computed using a fully-automatic method. Survival analysis was performed considering SCD as an independent endpoint. ITVwas higher for SCD than non-SCD victims (median (Q1;Q3): 24.9 (14.4;85.4) μV vs 17.1 (11.3;28.2) μV, p=0.06). In a survival analysis where the threshold was set on the third quartile of ITVvalues, ITV(+) outcome was successfully associated to SCD (Hazard Ratio (CI):3.22 (1.36, 7.58)per μV, p=0.008). In conclusion, we show in this work that Ijy stratifies CHF patients with AF according to their risk of SCD, with larger ITVassociated to lower survival probability

Index of T-wave variation as a predictor of sudden cardiac death in chronic heart failure patients with atrial fibrillation

Chronic heart failure (CHF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are worldwide leading causes of morbidity and mortality in elders, a large part due to sudden cardiac deaths (SCD). The high irregularity of ventricular response in AF patients makes the use of standard SCD-risk markers inappropriate in this target population. The aim of this study was twofold: i) to propose a new index, suitable for AF patients, able to quantify ventricular repolarization changes; and ii) to evaluate its prognostic value in a CHF population with AF. Holter ECG recordings from 176 consecutive CHF patients with AF (22 SCD) were analyzed. The index of T-wave variation (ITV), quantifying the average T-wave changes in pairs of consecutive beats under stable rhythm conditions, was computed using a fully-automatic method. Survival analysis was performed considering SCD as an independent endpoint. ITV was higher for SCD than non-SCD victims (median (Q1;Q3): 24.9 (14.4;85.4) µV vs 17.1 (11.3;28.2) µV, p=0.06). In a survival analysis where the threshold was set on the third quartile of ITV values, ITV (+) outcome was successfully associated to SCD (Hazard Ratio (CI):3.22 (1.36, 7.58)per µV, p=0.008). In conclusion, we show in this work that Ijy stratifies CHF patients with AF according to their risk of SCD, with larger ITV associated to lower survival probability

Synchronization of fluctuating delay-coupled chaotic networks

We study the synchronization of chaotic units connected through time-delayed fluctuating interactions. Focusing on small-world networks of Bernoulli and Logistic units with a fixed chiral backbone, we compare the synchronization properties of static and fluctuating networks in the regime of large delays. We find that random network switching may enhance the stability of synchronized states. Synchronization appears to be maximally stable when fluctuations are much faster than the time-delay, whereas it disappears for very slow fluctuations. For fluctuation time scales of the order of the time-delay, we report a resynchronizing effect in finite-size networks. Moreover, we observe characteristic oscillations in all regimes, with a periodicity related to the time-delay, as the system approaches or drifts away from the synchronized state

Van Kampen's expansion approach in an opinion formation model

We analyze a simple opinion formation model consisting of two parties, A and B, and a group I, of undecided agents. We assume that the supporters of parties A and B do not interact among them, but only interact through the group I, and that there is a nonzero probability of a spontaneous change of opinion (A->I, B->I). From the master equation, and via van Kampen's Omega-expansion approach, we have obtained the "macroscopic" evolution equation, as well as the Fokker-Planck equation governing the fluctuations around the deterministic behavior. Within the same approach, we have also obtained information about the typical relaxation behavior of small perturbations.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, submited to Europ.Phys.J.

Multifunctional Eu-doped NaGd(MoO4)(2) nanoparticles functionalized with poly(L-lysine) for optical and MRI imaging

A method for the synthesis of non-aggregated and highly uniform Eu3+ doped NaGd(MoO4)(2) nanoparticles is reported for the first time. The obtained particles present tetragonal structure, ellipsoidal shape and their size can be varied by adjusting the experimental synthesis parameters. These nanoparticles, which were coated with citrate anions and functionalised with PLL, have also been developed in order to improve their colloidal stability in physiological medium (2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid, MES). A study of the luminescent dynamics of the samples as a function of the Eu doping level has been conducted in order to find the optimum nanophosphors, whose magnetic relaxivity and cell viability have also been evaluated for the first time for this system, in order to assess their suitability as multifunctional probes for optical (in vitro) and magnetic bioimaging applications

Inflation and Nonsingular Spacetimes of Cosmic Strings

Inflation of cosmic gauge and global strings is investigated by numerically solving the combined Einstein and field equations. Above some critical symmetry-breaking scales, the strings undergo inflation along the radial direction as well as the axial direction at the core. The nonsingular nature of the spacetimes around supercritical gauge and global strings is discussed and contrasted to the singular static solutions that have been discussed in the literature.Comment: 22 pages, REVTeX, 7 PostScript figure

Entanglement hamiltonian and entanglement contour in inhomogeneous 1D critical systems

Inhomogeneous quantum critical systems in one spatial dimension have been studied by using conformal field theory in static curved backgrounds. Two interesting examples are the free fermion gas in the harmonic trap and the inhomogeneous XX spin chain called rainbow chain. For conformal field theories defined on static curved spacetimes characterised by a metric which is Weyl equivalent to the flat metric, with the Weyl factor depending only on the spatial coordinate, we study the entanglement hamiltonian and the entanglement spectrum of an interval adjacent to the boundary of a segment where the same boundary condition is imposed at the endpoints. A contour function for the entanglement entropies corresponding to this configuration is also considered, being closely related to the entanglement hamiltonian. The analytic expressions obtained by considering the curved spacetime which characterises the rainbow model have been checked against numerical data for the rainbow chain, finding an excellent agreement

Molecular impact of launch related dynamic vibrations and static hypergravity in planarians

Although many examples of simulated and real microgravity demonstrating their profound effect on biological systems are described in literature, few reports deal with hypergravity and vibration effects, the levels of which are severely increased during the launch preceding the desired microgravity period. Here, we used planarians, flatworms that can regenerate any body part in a few days. Planarians are an ideal model to study the impact of launch-related hypergravity and vibration during a regenerative process in a “whole animal” context. Therefore, planarians were subjected to 8.5 minutes of 4 g hypergravity (i.e. a human-rated launch level) in the Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) and/or to vibrations (20–2000 Hz, 11.3 Grms) simulating the conditions of a standard rocket launch. The transcriptional levels of genes (erg-1, runt-1, fos, jnk, and yki) related with the early stress response were quantified through qPCR. The results show that early response genes are severely deregulated after static and dynamic loads but more so after a combined exposure of dynamic (vibration) and static (hypergravity) loads, more closely simulating real launch exposure profiles. Importantly, at least four days after the exposure, the transcriptional levels of those genes are still deregulated. Our results highlight the deep impact that short exposures to hypergravity and vibration have in organisms, and thus the implications that space flight launch could have. These phenomena should be taken into account when planning for well-controlled microgravity studies

Euclidean Black Hole Vortices

We argue the existence of solutions of the Euclidean Einstein equations that correspond to a vortex sitting at the horizon of a black hole. We find the asymptotic behaviours, at the horizon and at infinity, of vortex solutions for the gauge and scalar fields in an abelian Higgs model on a Euclidean Schwarzschild background and interpolate between them by integrating the equations numerically. Calculating the backreaction shows that the effect of the vortex is to cut a slice out of the Euclidean Schwarzschild geometry. Consequences of these solutions for black hole thermodynamics are discussed.Comment: 24 page