Evaluation of the chemical and nutritional properties of tunisian almond cultivars

The aim of this research was to evaluate for the first time protein, oil content, fatty acid profile and sugar composition for the main commercial almond cultivars in Tunisia in comparison to foreigners. Thus, fruits from twelve locals and five introduced cultivars from France, Italy and Spain were analyzed over two years. In fact, total oil content varied from 52.28% ("Blanco") to 60.95% ("Lsen Asfour") in the first year and from 47.75% ("Zahaaf") to 56.15% ("Mahsouna") in the second. However, the highest oleic acid content was noted in "Francoli" (76.2%) for both years. It was followed by "Sahnoun" (75.11%) firstly and "Abiodh" (73.02%) secondly. Likewise, the highest linoleic acid content was observed in "Porto" for both studied years (22.87% and 23.67%). The highest palmitic acid content was detected in "Porto" (7.02%) and in "Tuono" for the consecutive years. Sugars profile was quite distinctive among cultivars. The cultivar "Porto" presented the highest total sugars (5.8 g/100g DW) and sucrose contents (4.96 g/100g DW). Nevertheless, protein content doesn"t show extreme values. For both years, the local cultivar "Zahaaf" presented the highest protein content (27 g/100g DW) while introduced French cultivar "Fournat de Breznaud" presented the lowest protein content (17 g/100g DW). All the analyzed components were different significantly according to cultivar and year effects. Results evidenced that the local Tunisian cultivars are highly rich in oil and fatty acids particularly oleic and linoleic acids, confirm the almond kernel as a high nutritional dietetic source and underline the high adaptability of some introduction

Mapping the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) Generic Core Scales onto the Child Health Utility Index–9 Dimension (CHU-9D) Score for Economic Evaluation in Children

Background: The Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) questionnaire is a widely used, generic instrument designed for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL); however, it is not preference-based and therefore not suitable for cost–utility analysis. The Child Health Utility Index–9 Dimension (CHU-9D), however, is a preference-based instrument that has been primarily developed to support cost–utility analysis. Objective: This paper presents a method for estimating CHU-9D index scores from responses to the PedsQL™ using data from a randomised controlled trial of prednisolone therapy for treatment of childhood corticosteroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome. Methods: HRQoL data were collected from children at randomisation, week 16, and months 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48. Observations on children aged 5 years and older were pooled across all data collection timepoints and were then randomised into an estimation (n = 279) and validation (n = 284) sample. A number of models were developed using the estimation data before internal validation. The best model was chosen using multi-stage selection criteria. Results: Most of the models developed accurately predicted the CHU-9D mean index score. The best performing model was a generalised linear model (mean absolute error = 0.0408; mean square error = 0.0035). The proportion of index scores deviating from the observed scores by 13 years) or patient groups with particularly poor quality of life. ISRCTN Registry No: 1664524

Assessment of genetic diversity and relatedness among Tunisian almond germplasm using SSR markers

10 Pag., 3 Tabl., 2 Fig.Genetic diversity of 50 Tunisian almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.) genotypes and their relationships to European and American cultivars were studied. In total 82 genotypes were analyzed using ten genomic SSRs. A total of 159 alleles were scored and their sizes ranged from 116 to 227 bp. The number of alleles per locus varied from 12 to 23 with an average of 15.9 alleles per locus. Mean expected and observed heterozygosities were 0.86 and 0.68, respectively. The total value for the probability of identity was 4 × 10−13. All SSRs were polymorphic and they were able all together to distinguish unambiguously the 82 genotypes. The Dice similarity coefficient was calculated for all pair wise and was used to construct an UPGMA dendrogram. The results demonstrated that the genetic diversity within local almond cultivars was important, with clear geographic divergence between the northern and the southern Tunisian cultivars. The usefulness of SSR markers for almond fingerprinting, detection of synonyms and homonyms and evaluation of the genetic diversity in the Tunisian almond germplasm was also discussed. The results confirm the potential value of genetic diversity preservation for future breeding programs.This research was supported in part by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (A/5339/06 and A/8334/07), the Spanish MICINN (Ministry of Science and Innovation) grants AGL2008-00283/AGR, and the Regional Government of Aragon funds (A44).Peer reviewe