Natural History Of Tricuspid Regurgitant Jet Velocity And A New Association With Proteinuria In Children With Sickle Cell Disease

Given the morbidity and mortality associated with pulmonary hypertension and progressive renal failure in sickle cell disease, recognition of both organ dysfunctions during childhood should allow for improved management of patients and early treatment for both. The definitive diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension is made on cardiac catheterization, however measurement of tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity (TRV) on echocardiogram can be used to estimate pulmonary artery systolic pressures and can be used as a screening modality for pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension is defined as TRV ≥2.5m/sec and occurs in 16-30% of children with sickle cell disease on screening echocardiograms. Two studies were conducted on a cohort of children from the sickle cell program at Yale New Haven Children\u27s Hospital. The first study was conducted to determine the longitudinal natural history of TRV in untreated children with sickle cell disease (N=100 patients). A detailed retrospective chart review was conducted on all sickle cell patients screened with echocardiograms from June 2005 to November 2012. Patients aged 6-21 years were included, 87 with HbSS and 13 with β° thalassemia. At baseline, 67% of patients (N=67) had normal TRV \u3c2.5 m/sec and 33% of patients (N=33) had elevated TRV ≥2.5 m/sec on screening echocardiogram. Follow up echocardiograms were available for 82% of patients (82 of 100), and the median follow up time was 3.59 years. On follow up, 61.40% (N=35) of patients with baseline normal TRV continued to have normal TRV on all subsequent echocardiograms, whereas 38.60% (N=22) of patients had at least 1 echocardiogram with an elevated TRV. Risk factors associated with TRV conversion were baseline low O2 saturation, low hemoglobin and high reticulocyte count (all P \u3c0.05). On follow up, 32% (N=25) of patients with elevated TRV at baseline continued to have elevated TRV on all subsequent echocardiograms, whereas 68% (N=17) of patients had at least 1 echocardiogram with normal TRV without intervention. Risk factors associated with persistent TRV elevation were baseline elevated TRV, low hemoglobin, and high white blood count (all P \u3c0.05). Three of the 100 patients died during the follow up period, one with elevated TRV. A second study was conducted to determine whether elevated TRV was associated with proteinuria in children with sickle cell disease (N=85 patients). A detailed chart review was conducted on sickle cell patients screened with both echocardiograms and urinalysis from June 2005 to July 2010. Longitudinal data from subsequent echocardiograms and urine analyses were also collected. On initial echocardiograms, 32.9% (N=28) had an elevated TRV ≥2.5 m/sec. At initial screening 7.14% (N=2) of these patients with elevated TRV had proteinuria, compared to only 1.75% (N=1) without elevated TRV (P=0.25). On follow up, 19.08% of repeat urinalysis showed proteinuria in patients with elevated baseline TRV compared to 12.35% in patients with normal baseline TRV (P=0.04). Our first study revealed that patients with elevated TRV should be followed longitudinally prior to initiating treatment, as many patients will have normalization of TRV without intervention. The first study also showed that patients with high hemolytic rate as evidenced by low hemoglobin and high reticulocyte count are at high risk of TRV conversion and should be monitored closely. Our second study found a new association between elevated TRV and proteinuria in children with sickle cell disease followed longitudinally

Novel Uses of Turfgrasses for Equine Operations

Dry lots, or small paddocks bare of vegetation, are commonly used to manage over- conditioned equids in order to restrict the diet by offering hay lower in digestible energy and non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) compared to unrestricted pasture access. However, the lack of vegetation in dry lots often caused by overgrazing and heavy traffic has been associated with negative environmental impacts such as soil erosion. Turfgrasses may be suitable as ground cover in dry lots because they are tolerant of traffic and close mowing (e.g. grazing) and may be low to moderate in both yield and NSC. The objective of this body of work was to 1) characterize the prevalence of over-conditioned equids in MD and whether dry lots were being used for their management, and 2) to assess the relative traffic tolerance, nutritional composition, and palatability of commercially available seeded cultivars of cool- season (CS) and warm-season (WS) turfgrasses for their potential use on horse farms. An online survey of licensed stable operators revealed that ~ 40% of horses in MD were over-conditioned and feeding hay in dry lots was a preferred practice despite requiring more maintenance and management time. Two additional studies evaluating wear tolerance of 8 CS and 6 WS cultivars exposed to either no, low, or high simulated horse traffic found that soil compaction increased as treatment level increased in CS and WS traffic trials (P <0.0001). Persistence was reduced in response to traffic in CS cultivars (P = 0.0003), but not in WS cultivars. Overall, tall fescue and zoysiagrass cultivars were most traffic tolerant, but only zoysiagrass had a more ideal NSC concentration. In the final study, horses exhibited no grazing preference among CS cultivars, whereas among WS cultivars they prefered common bermudagrass and crabgrass (P < 0.02). Several cultivars, including Maestro and Regenerate tall fescue, Zenith zoysiagrass, and Riviera bermudagrass cultivars were closest to meeting desired goals of being traffic tolerant, moderate in yield, and relatively low in NSC, and are thus recommended to be evaluated in future studies for on-farm persistence in dry lots and heavy use areas and for long-term effects of grazing by equids

High-resolution genetic mapping of chromosome 1 in maize through increased recombination from ten generations of recurrent intermating

Additional generations of random mating in a mapping population increase the probability of observing a recombination event between linked loci. Genetic maps of maize chromosome 1 were created to examine the affect of increased generations of random mating in two mapping populations and to compare recombination fractions between the populations. The two mapping populations were IBM syn4, with four generations of random intermating after the F2, and IBM syn10, with ten generations of random mating intermating after the F2. Segregation data for 94 IBM syn4 lines and for 94 IBM syn10 lines were collected at 75 SSR loci dispersed along chromosome 1. The best loci order was estimated using MapMaker and recombination fractions were calculated and adjusted to a single meiosis basis. A 1.53-fold increase in recombination fractions was observed in the syn10 population compared to the syn4. The SSR loci formed fewer linkage groups within chromosome 1 in the IBM syn4 population (three linkage groups for syn4 vs. ten linkage groups for syn10), but the IBM syn10 population had a better ability to order the loci, with 10% more loci having significant map order. Because of increased recombination between linked loci, the IBM syn10 population is suitable for projects needing higher-resolution mapping, such as positional cloning and marker-assisted selection. To maximize the potential of the IBM syn10 population, however, it requires either a higher marker density or to be used in conjunction with framework map information from a lower resolution map

The maize brown midrib6 (bm6) mutation encodes a functional GTP Cyclohydrolase1

Brown midrib mutations in maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) alter lignin composition and enhance cell wall digestibility. These mutations are prime candidates for silage breeding. Six brown midrib mutants are currently known, brown midrib1 (bm1) to brown midrib6 (bm6). The bm1 and bm3 mutations are being used commercially for silage. The underlying genes responsible for five of the six bm mutations in maize (bm1, bm2, bm3, bm4, and bm5) are known. Chen and co-workers (2012) characterized the bm6 mutation, demonstratingthat bm6 increases cell wall digestibility and physically mapped bm6 within a 180 kilobase region on chromosome 2. The present investigation utilized map-based cloning to identify the candidate gene responsible for the bm6 phenotype as GTP Cyclohydrolase1 (GCH1) and validated the candidate gene through reverse genetics. Orthologs of bm6 include at least one paralogous gene in maize on chromosome 10 and various homologs in other grasses and dicots. The discovery that GCH1 is  responsible for the maize bm6 phenotype suggests that GCH1 plays a role in the tetrahydrofolate biosynthetic process

牛山英治が編纂した山岡鉄舟の伝記について

Table S8. Comparison of GD in different studies. MICN is an abbreviation of Modified introduction in China; TS is an abbreviation of Tropical/Subtropical; SS is an abbreviation of Stiff Stalk; NSS is an abbreviation of non-Stiff Stalk; HZS is an abbreviation of Huangzaosi. (XLSX 11 kb

Discovery of genes involved in maize cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) fertility restoration

Commercial hybrid corn production provides high yielding seed corn; however, it requires detasseling of female parent plants within the production fields or an alternate mode of tassel sterility. Cytoplasmic Male Sterility (CMS) is a maternally inherited trait caused by chimeric open reading frames in mitochondrial DNA. Female plants with CMS cytoplasm do not produce functional pollen and do not need to be manually or mechanically detasseled. Nuclear restoration of fertility (Rf) genes carried by the male parent plants reduce the effect of the chimeric mitochondrial gene products and restore functional pollen in the hybrid plants. Two systems of CMS are used in commercial hybrid corn production, CMS-C and CMS-S. CMS-C is more widely used in the industry than CMS-S because CMS-C is more environmentally stable. The major restoring locus for CMS-C is Rf4 and for CMS-S is Rf3, although both systems have additional partial restoring loci. This study aims to explore the gene networks responsible for CMS-C and CMS-S fertility restoration. My first research project investigated the functional allele of Rf4 associated with CMS-C restoration. The Rf4 gene was fine mapped to a small map based cloning interval containing a transcription factor. I predicted the Y187F substitution was associated with restoring ability and then created a CRISPR-edited isoline for this variant. This variant showed the restoring trait was associated with the amino acid substitution. Using structural modeling, I predicted this Y187F substitution was in a critical hetero-dimer interface. I calculated the allele frequency of the restoring allele among heterotic groups in a diversity panel and determined the restoring allele was in 64% of Non-Stiff Stalk material and the non-restoring allele was in 83% of Stiff Stalk material. Through my study of Rf4 alleles, I discovered that some inbreds contained the restoring Rf4 allele yet were incapable of restoration. My second research project sought to explore the genetic cause of this failure to restore phenotype. Through QTL mapping, I found the trait mapped to a PPR gene cluster on chromosome 2. Through fine-mapping and genomic analysis, I identified three candidate genes that I used for transgenic complementation tests. The complementation tests showed the causal gene, PPR153, is involved in Rf4 restoration; however, PPR153 is unable to restore CMS-C independent of Rf4. My final research project aimed to identify the causal Rf3 gene associated with CMS-S restoration. I used fine-mapping and genomic analysis to identify two candidate genes for Rf3. Using gene complementation tests of the candidate genes, I determined PPRK2 had partial restoration but was unable to generate viable pollen. Using RT-PCR for the sterility inducing factor, I showed PPRK2 reduced the transcript amount. These three research projects together improved our understanding of maize CMS/Rf systems and allow for increased usage of CMS in hybrid seed production

Potential of Pasture Grasses to Reduce Soil Runoff in Simulated Spring Seeding Applications

Declines in surface water quality has emerged as one of the foremost environmental, social, and political issues in the Midwestern United States over the past several decades. One of the leading causes of water quality issues in this region has been linked to non-point source surface runoff of soil, nutrients, and chemicals from primarily agricultural landscapes. Surface runoff negatively affects water by facilitating eutrophic conditions and additionally, negatively impacts landscapes by reducing the organic and top soil layers leading to production declines. Thus, best management practices that focus on reducing runoff rates in agricultural acreage are a high priority. The objective of this research project was to evaluate the use of forage grasses for reducing runoff. We simulated pasture establishment using a series of replicated indoor grow trays which included bare soil (control) as well as cool and warm-season pasture mixes. Upon exposure of experimental trays to a standard 2-inch spring rain, it was found that the bare soil exhibited the highest runoff potential with the two warm and cool-season treatments exhibiting increasingly less runoff. The implications of this research are important as this work provides insight into agricultural pasture establishment methodology that benefits environmental stewardship.https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/lake_research_symposium_abstracts/1025/thumbnail.jp

High-resolution genetic mapping of chromosome 1 in maize through increased recombination from ten generations of recurrent intermating

Additional generations of random mating in a mapping population increase the probability of observing a recombination event between linked loci. Genetic maps of maize chromosome 1 were created to examine the affect of increased generations of random mating in two mapping populations and to compare recombination fractions between the populations. The two mapping populations were IBM syn4, with four generations of random intermating after the F2, and IBM syn10, with ten generations of random mating intermating after the F2. Segregation data for 94 IBM syn4 lines and for 94 IBM syn10 lines were collected at 75 SSR loci dispersed along chromosome 1. The best loci order was estimated using MapMaker and recombination fractions were calculated and adjusted to a single meiosis basis. A 1.53-fold increase in recombination fractions was observed in the syn10 population compared to the syn4. The SSR loci formed fewer linkage groups within chromosome 1 in the IBM syn4 population (three linkage groups for syn4 vs. ten linkage groups for syn10), but the IBM syn10 population had a better ability to order the loci, with 10% more loci having significant map order. Because of increased recombination between linked loci, the IBM syn10 population is suitable for projects needing higher-resolution mapping, such as positional cloning and marker-assisted selection. To maximize the potential of the IBM syn10 population, however, it requires either a higher marker density or to be used in conjunction with framework map information from a lower resolution map.</p

Potential of Pasture Grasses to Reduce Soil Runoff in Simulated Spring Seeding Applications

Declines in surface water quality has emerged as one of the foremost environmental, social, and political issues in the Midwestern United States over the past several decades. One of the leading causes of water quality issues in this region has been linked to non-point source surface runoff of soil, nutrients, and chemicals from primarily agricultural landscapes. Surface runoff negatively affects water by facilitating eutrophic conditions and additionally, negatively impacts landscapes by reducing the organic and top soil layers leading to production declines. Thus, best management practices that focus on reducing runoff rates in agricultural acreage are a high priority. The objective of this research project was to evaluate the use of forage grasses for reducing runoff. We simulated pasture establishment using a series of replicated indoor grow trays which included bare soil (control) as well as cool and warm-season pasture mixes. Upon exposure of experimental trays to a standard 2-inch spring rain, it was found that the bare soil exhibited the highest runoff potential with the two warm and cool-season treatments exhibiting increasingly less runoff. The implications of this research are important as this work provides insight into agricultural pasture establishment methodology that benefits environmental stewardship