Impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the growth and rhizobium symbioses development in kabuli and desi chickpeas grown under drought stress conditions

Non-Peer ReviewedArbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have induced drought tolerance in several plants and could increase chickpea yield under semiarid climates. Desi chickpea are more drought tolerant than Kabuli suggesting a weak mycorrhizal symbiosis in this chickpea type. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to assess the extent and the impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis on the growth and yield in Kabuli and Desi chickpea cultivars under well watered and drought stress conditions and on their association with Mesorhizobium cicer. The experiment had a split-plot design with two water levels, 30% of field capacity (deficient water) and 70% of field capacity (sufficient water) randomized in main plots. Two inoculation treatments, M. cicer + AMF and M. cicer only, were applied to chickpea (Kabuli, CDC Frontier and CDC Xena; Desi, CDC Anna, and CDC Nika). The factorial combinations of inoculation and cultivar were randomized in the subplots. There were four repetitions. One set of plants was harvested at the time of symbioses development and another set was harvested at seed maturation. The data was analyzed with ANOVA. Results indicated that the Kabuli and Desi chickpea mycorrhizal symbioses are not different, as indicated by the absence of a cultivar by inoculation interaction on shoot and root growth, nodulation and nitrogen fixation. AM Fungi inoculation delayed nodule development but had no effect on grain yield. CDC Frontier had 4 times more nodules and 6 times more nitrogenase activity than CDC Anna, Nika and Xena

Bortezomib Augments Natural Killer Cell Targeting of Stem-Like Tumor Cells.

Tumor cells harboring stem-like/cancer stem cell (CSC) properties have been identified and isolated from numerous hematological and solid malignancies. These stem-like tumor cells can persist following conventional cytoreductive therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, thereby repopulating the tumor and seeding relapse and/or metastasis. We have previously shown that natural killer (NK) cells preferentially target stem-like tumor cells via non- major histocompatibility complex (MHC) restricted mechanisms. Here, we demonstrated that the proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib, augments NK cell targeting of stem cell-like tumor cells against multiple solid human tumor-derived cancer lines and primary tissue samples. Mechanistically, this was mediated by the upregulation of cell surface NK ligands MHC class I chain-related protein A and B (MICA and MICB) on aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH)-positive CSCs. The increased expression of MICA and MICB on CSC targets thereby enhanced NK cell mediated killing in vitro and ex vivo from both human primary tumor and patient-derived xenograft samples. In vivo, the combination of bortezomib and allogeneic NK cell adoptive transfer in immunodeficient mice led to increased elimination of CSCs as well as tumor growth delay of orthotopic glioblastoma tumors. Taken together, our data support the combination bortezomib and NK transfer as a strategy for both CSC targeting and potentially improved outcomes in clinical cancer patients

Prevalence of hemoglobin variants in a diabetic population at high risk of hemoglobinopathies and optimization of HbA1c monitoring by incorporating HPLC in the laboratory workup

Background: In Tunisia, diabetes mellitus and hemoglobinopathies are major public health problems. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is  recommended for long-term monitoring of diabetes mellitus, but the presence of hemoglobin variants may interfere with HbA1c measurement. The aim was to determine the prevalence of hemoglobin variants in Tunisian diabetics and optimize the monitoring of diabetics using HbA1c.Methods: The study enrolled 9,792 Tunisian diabetic patients. HbA1c was measured by cation-exchange highpressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). All the chromatograms were analyzed for the presence of Hbvariants.Results: We identified 228 cases (2.33%) of Hb variants with D-10 HPLC (Bio-Rad): 191 with HbA/S trait, 27 with HbA/C trait, and 10 hemoglobin variants with the mention ‘Variant-Window’ on the chromatograms and subsequently identified as HbA/S on Variant I HPLC (Bio-Rad). Thus, the prevalence of HbS was 2.05%. We did not find any homozygous variant. All HbA1c results were reported to the treating physician.Conclusions: To evaluate glycated hemoglobin in populations with a high prevalence of hemoglobinopathies, we should use the HPLC method, which is easy, economical, and reliable. Based on an algorithm, hemoglobinvariants visualized on HPLC should be reported to the physician to improve the management of patients.Keywords: hemoglobinopathies; HbA1c; HPLC; diabetes mellitus; prevalence; Tunisi

Feed rate modeling in circular–circular interpolation discontinuity for high-speed milling

In this paper, a modeling approach is presented in order to evaluate feed rate during a circular interpolation in high-speed milling. The developed model depends on the type of discontinuity and the kinematic performance of the machine tool. To begin with, a feed rate modeling for circular interpolation with continuity in tangency is developed. After, the discontinuity in tangency between two circular interpolations is replaced by discontinuity in curvature by adding a fillet which is in relation to the functional tolerance ε imposed in the part design. An experimental study has been carried out to validate the models

Rumen fermentation pattern and blood metabolites of lambs from three breeds reared on pasture or feedlot

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Le Développement du Raisonnement et de la pensée réflexive chez les Étudiants de Sciences Infirmières au Maroc: Étude Quantitative Pilote

Le raisonnement est une compétence transversale qui permet aux soignants de prendre les bonnes décisions cliniques au bon moment. La formation à cette compétence permet aux stagiaires de répondre de efficacement aux besoins des patients et de contribuer positivement à l'avancement des pratiques de santé. L’objectif de ce travail est de développer un schéma conceptuel des méthodes pédagogiques permettant le développement du raisonnement clinique chez les étudiants en sciences infirmières.  Les données nécessaires ont été collectées à l’aide d’un questionnaire et ont fait l’objet d’un traitement statistique. Les  résultats montrent que les enseignants éprouvent des difficultés dans l’enseignement du raisonnement et qu'il existe une confusion entre le raisonnement et la démarche de soins. De même, les stratégies d'enseignement actives basées sur la résolution du problème, la simulation, la réflexion à haute voix, le jeu de rôle et le Wiki-soins ont été révélé les plus utilisées dans la formation professionnelle des infirmiers. Préparer des soignants  nous interpelle à repenser la formation infirmière au Maroc et à intégrer la formation au raisonnement clinique dans le dispositif de formation et d'évaluation des soignants pour soutenir leur développement professionnel capables de faire face aux défis du marché de soins de qualité

Genetic Association of rs1021188 and DNA Methylation Signatures of TNFSF11 in the Risk of Conductive Hearing Loss

Otosclerosis (OTSC) is a complex bone disorder of the otic capsule, which causes conductive hearing impairment in human adults. The dysregulation of the signaling axis mediated by the receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa-B (RANK), RANK ligand (RANKL), and osteoprotegerin has been widely attributed to the context of metabolic bone disorders. While genetic associations and epigenetic alterations in the TNFSF11 gene (RANKL) have been well-linked to metabolic bone diseases of the skeleton, particularly osteoporosis, they have never been addressed in OTSC. This study aimed to assess whether the genetic association of rs1021188 polymorphism in the upstream of TNFSF11 and the DNA methylation changes in its promoter CpG-region reveal the susceptibility of OTSC. Peripheral blood DNA samples were collected from unrelated Tunisian-North African subjects for genotyping (109 cases and 120 controls) and for DNA methylation analysis (40 cases and 40 controls). The gender-stratified analysis showed that the TNFSF11 rs1021188 C/T was associated with OTSC in men (p = 0.023), but not in women (p = 0.458). Individuals with CC genotype were more susceptible to OTSC, suggesting an increased risk to disease development. Using publicly available data, the rs1021188 was within a cluster grouping the subpopulations with African ethnicity. Moreover, 26 loci in the TNFSF11 gene were in linkage disequilibrium with rs1021188, revealing relative similarities between different populations. Significant differences in both DNA methylation and unmethylation status were detected with 4.53- and 4.83-fold decreases in the global DNA methylation levels in female and male OTSC groups, respectively. These changes could contribute to an increased risk of OTSC development. Bioinformatic analyses indicated that each of the rs1021188 variations and the DNA methylation changes in the promoter CpG-sites within TNFSF11 may play an important role in its transcription regulation. To our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates an independent effect of the rs1021188 polymorphism and DNA hypomethylation of TNFSF11 promoter in OTSC. Genetic and epigenetic changes in the regulatory regions of TNFSF11 could offer new molecular insights into the understanding of the complexity of OTSC

Pattern formation

The Pattern Formation problem is one of the most important coordination problem for robotic systems. Initially the entities are in arbitrary positions; within finite time they must arrange themselves in the space so to form a pattern given in input. In this chapter, we will mainly deal with the problem in the OBLOT model