The sodium transporter encoded by the HKT1;2 gene modulates sodium/potassium homeostasis in tomato shoots under salinity

[EN] Excessive soil salinity diminishes crop yield and quality. In a previous study in tomato, we identified two closely linked genes encoding HKT1-like transporters, HKT1;1 and HKT1;2, as candidate genes for a major quantitative trait locus (kc7.1) related to shoot Na+/K+ homeostasis - a major salt tolerance trait - using two populations of recombinant inbred lines (RILs). Here, we determine the effectiveness of these genes in conferring improved salt tolerance by using two near-isogenic lines (NILs) that were homozygous for either the Solanum lycopersicum allele (NIL17) or for the Solanum cheesmaniae allele (NIL14) at both HKT1 loci; transgenic lines derived from these NILs in which each HKT1;1 and HKT1;2 had been silenced by stable transformation were also used. Silencing of ScHKT1;2 and SlHKT1;2 altered the leaf Na+/K+ ratio and caused hypersensitivity to salinity in plants cultivated under transpiring conditions, whereas silencing SlHKT1;1/ScHKT1;1 had a lesser effect. These results indicate that HKT1;2 has the more significant role in Na+ homeostasis and salinity tolerance in tomato.We thank Dr Espen Granum for critically reading the manuscript, Maria Isabel Gaspar Vidal and Elena Sanchez Romero for technical assistance, the Instrumental Technical Service at EEZ-CSIC for DNA sequencing and ICP-OES mineral analysis and Michael O'Shea for proofreading the text. In addition, we thank Dr Ana P. Ortega who assisted in preliminary experiments. This work was supported by ERDF-cofinanced grants, AGL2010-17090 and AGL2013-41733-R (A.B.), AGL2015-64991-C3-3-R (V.M.) and AGL2014-56675-R (M.J.A.) from the Spanish "Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad'; CVI-7558, Proyecto de Excelencia, from Junta de Andalucia (A.B); and the Australian Research Council (ARC) for Centre of Excellence (CE14010008) and Future Fellowship (FT130100709) funding (M.G.). N.J-P. was supported by an FPI program BES-2011-046096 and her stay in M.G.'s lab by a short-stay EEBB-I-14-08682, both from the Spanish from "Ministerio de Economia Industria y Competitividad'. The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.Jaime-Perez, N.; Pineda Chaza, BJ.; García Sogo, B.; Atarés Huerta, A.; Athman, A.; Byrt, CS.; Olias, R.... (2017). The sodium transporter encoded by the HKT1;2 gene modulates sodium/potassium homeostasis in tomato shoots under salinity. Plant Cell & Environment. 40(5):658-671. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12883S65867140

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Facilities in laboratory for the benchmarking of products for new services over NB-PLC

The use of higher frequencies is a promising feature for NB-PLC technologies since the speed of the communications and, hence, the efficiency of telemanagement services can be notably improved. Additionally, new services can emerge when using these extended bands. However, the electricity network is a hostile environment that hampers the on-field studies due to the variability of the conditions of the grid and the presence of wide types of noises, among others. Hence, the replication of representative real scenarios in controlled environments is an added value towards the characterization and modelling of NB-PLC, specially above 150 kHz. In this sense, this paper presents some laboratory facilities to benchmark the performance of NB-PLC up to 500 kHz in a controlled network. The work includes the identification of the most important parameters to be considered, the description of the facilities and a practical implementation of a real scenario.ACKNOWLEDGMENT COM4RED project has been funded by the Basque Government (ELKARTEK KK-2017/00071). The authors would like also to thank Iberdrola for their support both during the development of the COM4RED project and in the elaboration of field measurements that allow continuing with PLC studies

Two closely linked tomato HKT coding genes are positional candidates for the major tomato QTL involved in Na+/K+ homeostasis

The location of major quantitative trait loci (QTL) contributing to stem and leaf [Na+] and [K+] was previously reported in chromosome 7 using two connected populations of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of tomato. HKT1;1 and HKT1;2, two tomato Na+-selective class I-HKT transporters, were found to be closely linked, where the maximum logarithm of odds (LOD) score for these QTLs located. When a chromosome 7 linkage map based on 278 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was used, the maximum LOD score position was only 35kb from HKT1;1 and HKT1;2. Their expression patterns and phenotypic effects were further investigated in two near-isogenic lines (NILs): 157-14 (double homozygote for the cheesmaniae alleles) and 157-17 (double homozygote for the lycopersicum alleles). The expression pattern for the HKT1;1 and HKT1;2 alleles was complex, possibly because of differences in their promoter sequences. High salinity had very little effect on root dry and fresh weight and consequently on the plant dry weight of NIL 157-14 in comparison with 157-17. A significant difference between NILs was also found for [K+] and the [Na+]/[K+] ratio in leaf and stem but not for [Na+] arising a disagreement with the corresponding RIL population. Their association with leaf [Na+] and salt tolerance in tomato is also discussed

RENACER study: Assessment of 12-month efficacy and safety of 168 certolizumab PEGol rheumatoid arthritis-treated patients from a Spanish multicenter national database

Objective: To assess effectiveness and safety of certolizumab PEGol (CZP) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients after 12 months of treatment and to detect predictors of response.Methods: Observational longitudinal prospective study of RA patients from 35 sites in Spain. Variables (baseline, 3- and 12-month assessment): sociodemographics, previous Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug (DMARD) and previous Biological Therapies (BT) use; TJC, SJC, ESR, CRP, DAS28, SDAI. Response variables: TJC, SJC, CRP, ESR, and steroids dose reductions, EULAR Moderate/Good Response, SDAI response and remission, DAS28 remission. Safety variables: discontinuation due to side-effects. Descriptive, comparative and Logistic regression analyses were performed.Results: We included 168 patients: 79.2% women, mean age 54.5 years (+/- 13.2 SD), mean disease duration 7.5 years (+/- 7.3 SD). Mean number of prior DMARD: 1.4 (+/- 1.2 SD), mean number of prior BT was 0.8 (+/- 1.1). Mean time on CZP was 9.8 months (+/- 3.4 SD). A total of 71.4% were receiving CZP at 12-month assessment. Baseline predictors of response: lower prior number DMARD; low number prior BT; higher CRP, ESR, TJC, SJC, DAS28 and SDAI (

Immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: Secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE database

Background: The aim of this study was to describe data on epidemiology, ventilatory management, and outcome of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in immunocompromised patients. Methods: We performed a post hoc analysis on the cohort of immunocompromised patients enrolled in the Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (LUNG SAFE) study. The LUNG SAFE study was an international, prospective study including hypoxemic patients in 459 ICUs from 50 countries across 5 continents. Results: Of 2813 patients with ARDS, 584 (20.8%) were immunocompromised, 38.9% of whom had an unspecified cause. Pneumonia, nonpulmonary sepsis, and noncardiogenic shock were their most common risk factors for ARDS. Hospital mortality was higher in immunocompromised than in immunocompetent patients (52.4% vs 36.2%; p &lt; 0.0001), despite similar severity of ARDS. Decisions regarding limiting life-sustaining measures were significantly more frequent in immunocompromised patients (27.1% vs 18.6%; p &lt; 0.0001). Use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) as first-line treatment was higher in immunocompromised patients (20.9% vs 15.9%; p = 0.0048), and immunodeficiency remained independently associated with the use of NIV after adjustment for confounders. Forty-eight percent of the patients treated with NIV were intubated, and their mortality was not different from that of the patients invasively ventilated ab initio. Conclusions: Immunosuppression is frequent in patients with ARDS, and infections are the main risk factors for ARDS in these immunocompromised patients. Their management differs from that of immunocompetent patients, particularly the greater use of NIV as first-line ventilation strategy. Compared with immunocompetent subjects, they have higher mortality regardless of ARDS severity as well as a higher frequency of limitation of life-sustaining measures. Nonetheless, nearly half of these patients survive to hospital discharge. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073. Registered on 12 December 2013

Immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome : Secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE database

The aim of this study was to describe data on epidemiology, ventilatory management, and outcome of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in immunocompromised patients. Methods: We performed a post hoc analysis on the cohort of immunocompromised patients enrolled in the Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (LUNG SAFE) study. The LUNG SAFE study was an international, prospective study including hypoxemic patients in 459 ICUs from 50 countries across 5 continents. Results: Of 2813 patients with ARDS, 584 (20.8%) were immunocompromised, 38.9% of whom had an unspecified cause. Pneumonia, nonpulmonary sepsis, and noncardiogenic shock were their most common risk factors for ARDS. Hospital mortality was higher in immunocompromised than in immunocompetent patients (52.4% vs 36.2%; p < 0.0001), despite similar severity of ARDS. Decisions regarding limiting life-sustaining measures were significantly more frequent in immunocompromised patients (27.1% vs 18.6%; p < 0.0001). Use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) as first-line treatment was higher in immunocompromised patients (20.9% vs 15.9%; p = 0.0048), and immunodeficiency remained independently associated with the use of NIV after adjustment for confounders. Forty-eight percent of the patients treated with NIV were intubated, and their mortality was not different from that of the patients invasively ventilated ab initio. Conclusions: Immunosuppression is frequent in patients with ARDS, and infections are the main risk factors for ARDS in these immunocompromised patients. Their management differs from that of immunocompetent patients, particularly the greater use of NIV as first-line ventilation strategy. Compared with immunocompetent subjects, they have higher mortality regardless of ARDS severity as well as a higher frequency of limitation of life-sustaining measures. Nonetheless, nearly half of these patients survive to hospital discharge. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073. Registered on 12 December 2013

Make EU trade with Brazil sustainable

Brazil, home to one of the planet's last great forests, is currently in trade negotiations with its second largest trading partner, the European Union (EU). We urge the EU to seize this critical opportunity to ensure that Brazil protects human rights and the environment

Outcome of acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure: insights from the LUNG SAFE Study

Background: Current incidence and outcome of patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU) are unknown, especially for patients not meeting criteria for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Methods: An international, multicentre, prospective cohort study of patients presenting with hypoxaemia early in the course of mechanical ventilation, conducted during four consecutive weeks in the winter of 2014 in 459 ICUs from 50 countries (LUNG SAFE). Patients were enrolled with arterial oxygen tension/inspiratory oxygen fraction ratio ≤300 mmHg, new pulmonary infiltrates and need for mechanical ventilation with a positive end-expiratory pressure of ≥5 cmH2O. ICU prevalence, causes of hypoxaemia, hospital survival and factors associated with hospital mortality were measured. Patients with unilateral versus bilateral opacities were compared. Findings: 12 906 critically ill patients received mechanical ventilation and 34.9% with hypoxaemia and new infiltrates were enrolled, separated into ARDS (69.0%), unilateral infiltrate (22.7%) and congestive heart failure (CHF; 8.2%). The global hospital mortality was 38.6%. CHF patients had a mortality comparable to ARDS (44.1% versus 40.4%). Patients with unilateral-infiltrate had lower unadjusted mortality, but similar adjusted mortality compared to those with ARDS. The number of quadrants on chest imaging was associated with an increased risk of death. There was no difference in mortality comparing patients with unilateral-infiltrate and ARDS with only two quadrants involved. Interpretation: More than one-third of patients receiving mechanical ventilation have hypoxaemia and new infiltrates with a hospital mortality of 38.6%. Survival is dependent on the degree of pulmonary involvement whether or not ARDS criteria are reached