Multivariate Interaction Analysis of Winter Wheat Grown in Environment of Limited Soil Conditions

The less productive soils present one of the major problems in wheat production. Because of unfavorable conditions, halomorphic soils could be intensively utilized using ameliorative measures and by selecting suitable stress tolerant wheat genotypes. This study examined the responses of ten winter wheat cultivars on stressful conditions of halomorphic soil, solonetz type in Banat, Serbia. The wheat genotypes were grown in field trails of control and treatments with two soil amelioration levels using phosphor gypsum, in amounts of 25 and 50 tha(-1). Across two vegetation seasons, phenotypic variability and genotype by environment interaction (GEI) for yield traits of wheat were studied. The additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) models were used to study the GEI. AMMI analyses revealed significant genotype and environmental effects, as well as GEI effect. Analysis of GEI using the IPCA (Interaction Principal Components) analysis showed a statistical significance of the first two main components, IPCA1 and IPCA2 for yield, which jointly explained 70% of GEI variation. First source of variation IPCA1 explained 41.15% of the GEI for the grain weight per plant and 78.54% for the harvest index. The results revealed that wheat genotypes responded differently to stressful conditions and ameliorative measures

Phosphorus Deficiency Induced Silicon Mobilization in Grapevine Rhizosphere: A Field Study

Silicon (Si) uptake by crops is well studied and Si transporters have been characterized in various crop species, including grapevine. However, information on the rhizosphere mobilization of Si is still lacking and virtually no information is available on grapevine. Our previous study showed that grapevine is a phosphorus (P)-efficient species with a high root capacity to mobilize P from the rhizosphere by the released of organic anions (mainly citrate). The field experiment was established in 12-y-old vineyard with the cultivar ‘Chardonnay’, grafted on 5BB rootstock under extremely low P conditions (Olsen P < 3 mg kg-1). Four own-designed rhizotrons (80 cm depth) were installed in a vineyard enabling easy access to the new intact roots. The following treatments were performed: –P/–Si, +P/–Si, –P/+Si (soil application) and –P/+Si (foliar application). The samples of rhizosphere and bulk soils, root exudates from intact root tips and vine tissues (root and leaves) were collected at different growth stages according to Eichhorn-Lorentz (E-L) system: flowering (E-L stage 23), berries pea-size (E-L stage 31), and veraison (E-L stage 35). In addition to Si and P concentrations in the tissues, the expressions of VvALMT, VvMATE (encoding efflux transporters for malate and citrate, respectively), and VvNIP2.1 (encoding Si influx transporter) were also determined. Phosphate fertilization decreased, while low soil P and Si fertilization increased Si availability in the rhizosphere. At the flowering stage, –P plants accumulated more Si than the P-fertilized ones and was comparable to the Si-fertilized plants. Foliar application of Si was less effective in comparison with soil application unless at the veraison stage. The leaf Si concentrations showed a clear seasonal pattern being the highest at the veraison stage. Exudation rate of citrate also showed a clear seasonal pattern and was significantly higher in the –P/–Si than in +P/–Si plants, which was followed by an increased Si availability in the vine rhizosphere. Overall, low P conditions induced Si accumulation in the leaves due to increased exudation of organic anions that can also mobilize Si in the rhizosphere, thereby increasing Si uptake by grapevine

Duration of priming with silicon modulates antioxidative response of wheat to salinity stress

Priming with silicon (Si) may increase plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, in particular in conjunction with its subsequent application. Yet, the very effect of the duration of priming with Si is less understood. Here, we investigated the effect of the duration of priming with Si on components of the antioxidative response of wheat exposed to a gradient of salinity stress. After priming with 1.5 mM Si(OH)4 (0, 1, and 3 days), wheat seedlings were exposed to different NaCl levels (0, 30, and 60 mM) without (-Si) or with (+Si) supply of 1.5 mM Si(OH)4. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured in shoots and roots after 1 and 5 days of NaCl treatments. Interaction of priming duration and addition of Si on antioxidative variables were analyzed using general regression model. Overall, priming had no influence on -Si plants under salt stress. On the day 1 of NaCl exposure, priming duration did not affect SOD and APX activities neither in roots nor in shoots. However, on the day 5 of NaCl exposure longer priming with Si significantly increased the activities of APX and SOD in both roots and shoots. The activity of CAT showed no response to priming with Si and subsequent Si supply in both plant organs irrespectively of the duration of NaCl exposure. Interestingly, in both organs the concentrations of MDA as a proxy for oxidative damage of plant membranes were very clearly and consistently lower after 3 days of priming with Si (compared to 1 day or no priming) during the whole period of NaCl exposure. This study demonstrated that longer priming with Si can enhance the ameliorative effect of Si supply on the antioxidative response of wheat plants to a gradient of salinity stress

Gene Mutation Profiles in Primary Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma of Central Nervous System: Next Generation Sequencing Analyses

The existence of a potential primary central nervous system lymphoma-specific genomic signature that differs from the systemic form of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has been suggested, but is still controversial. We investigated 19 patients with primary DLBCL of central nervous system (DLBCL CNS) using the TruSeq Amplicon Cancer Panel (TSACP) for 48 cancer-related genes. Next generation sequencing (NGS) analyses have revealed that over 80% of potentially protein-changing mutations were located in eight genes (CTNNB1, PIK3CA, PTEN, ATM, KRAS, PTPN11, TP53 and JAK3), pointing to the potential role of these genes in lymphomagenesis. TP53 was the only gene harboring mutations in all 19 patients. In addition, the presence of mutated TP53 and ATM genes correlated with a higher total number of mutations in other analyzed genes. Furthermore, the presence of mutated ATM correlated with poorer event-free survival (EFS) (p = 0.036). The presence of the mutated SMO gene correlated with earlier disease relapse (p = 0.023), inferior event-free survival (p = 0.011) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.017), while mutations in the PTEN gene were associated with inferior OS (p = 0.048). Our findings suggest that the TP53 and ATM genes could be involved in the molecular pathophysiology of primary DLBCL CNS, whereas mutations in the PTEN and SMO genes could affect survival regardless of the initial treatment approach

Clinical Trial Protocol for Analyzing the Effect of the Intensity of FES-Based Therapy on Post-stroke Foot Drop

Publisher Copyright: © Springer International Publishing AG 2017.Positive assistive and therapeutic effects of FES have been proved for post-stroke subjects suffering from foot drop. However, the published studies are very heterogeneous in terms of methodology, therapy duration, session duration and session frequency, where most studies rely on intensive FES-based therapy. In this document a clinical protocol is proposed for analyzing the effect of medium and low intensity of FES-based therapy. The protocol is designed to be used with a surface multi-field FES system and it is based on available studies on literature and preliminary results with chronic post-stroke subjects. The proposed clinical trials could help determining the minimum necessary FES-based therapy intensity for obtaining positive therapeutic results.Acknowledgments This work has been supported by grants of the Basque Government (PI2013-10) and the ERA-NET EU/MINECO project (INDIGO-DBT2-051).Peer reviewe

Design and Fabrication of Printed Human Skin Model Equivalent Circuit: A Tool for Testing Biomedical Electrodes without Human Trials

Within the efforts of developing a new generation of biomedical electrodes with embedded switching logics, developing safe and simple procedures for testing these novel systems is tackled. The development and demonstration of an all-printed flexible testbed for automated validation and testing of multi pad systems is presented. The system is based on a Human model equivalent circuit (HMEC), which, when connected to the electrical stimulation system, mirrors the electrical behavior of biomedical electrodes and their specific interface material as if they are placed on a human subject. A simulation model of the electrical stimulation system components was developed based on the experimental data, in order to optimize printed electronic components’ characteristics and design. The testbed is composed of five layers of different conductive and dielectric materials screen-printed on a flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrate. The system was prototyped with the characteristic values of the HMEC matching the average experimental data acquired from human subjects. Thus, it is demonstrated that an all printed flexible HMEC is a feasible approach to enabling the functional testing of transcutaneous electrical stimulation devices required for their fabrication, evaluation and optimization, reducing the need for tests on human subjects in the development phase of new systems.Basque Government Industry and Education Departments PIBA‐2018‐0

Electrotactile Stimulation, A New Feedback Channel for First Responders

This paper presents the early results of research aiming to develop a novel system for unobtrusive and intuitive electrotactile feedback for first responders. The system leverages the multi-pad stimulation technology based on spatiotemporal modulation of the stimuli. Two-point discrimination threshold mapping was performed in potential electrode placement locations, defined from the usability perspective by the first responders in initial co-development sessions. Based on these results a custom electrode design was proposed and validated in six healthy volunteers. Psychometric testing was conducted to determine spatial discrimination between stimuli produced by the multi-pad electrode. The average success rate of 80% indicates that the proposed approach is feasible.The work presented in this paper was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 883315

Crude bacterial extracts of two new Streptomyces sp isolates as bio-colorants for textile dyeing

Renewed demand for incorporation of natural dyes (bio-colorants) in textile industry could be met through biotechnological production of bacterial pigments. Two new Streptomyces strains (NP2 and NP4) were isolated for the remarkable ability to produce diffusible deep blue and deep red pigment into fermentation medium. Crude mycelial extracts of both strains were used as bio-colorants in conventional textile dyeing procedures avoiding downstream purification procedures. The yields of bio-colorants obtained in this way were 62 and 84 mg per g of mycelia for Streptomyces sp. NP2 and Streptomyces sp. NP4, respectively. Through nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of crude extracts before and after dyeing procedures, it was shown that both extracts contained prodigiosin-like family of compounds that exhibited different dyeing capabilities towards different textile fibers. Polyamide and acrylic fibers were colored to the deepest shade, polyester and triacetate fibers to a noticeable, but much lower shade depth, while cotton and cellulosic fibers stained weakly. These results confirmed that crude bacterial extracts had the characteristics similar to those of ionic and disperse dyes, which was consistent with the identified polypyrrolic prodigiosin-like structures

Design and fabrication of printed human skin model equivalent circuit: a tool for testing biomedical electrodes without human trials

Within the efforts of developing a new generation of biomedical electrodes with embedded switching logics, the present work focuses on developing safe and simple procedures for testing these novel systems. An all-printed testbed for automated validation of multi-pad systems is presented based on a Human model equivalent circuit (HMEC), a device that, when connected to the electrical stimulation system, mirrors the electrical behavior of electrodes and their specific interface material as if they are placed on a human subject. In the case of transcutaneous electrical stimulation, after a simulation of the different components of the system to optimize printed component characteristics, the fabricated testbed is composed of five flexible screen-printed layers of different materials (conductors and dielectrics) on flexible PET substrate. Electronic components have been developed and integrated, including capacitors and resistances with the defined HMEC characteristic values, matching the average experimental data acquired from human subjects. Thus, an all printed flexible HMEC is provided allowing the suitable evaluation and optimization of skin stimulation devices, reducing the need for tests on human subjects during developing technological stages.We acknowledge the receipt of funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme for Research, ICT-02-2018 – Flexible and Wearable Electronics, Grant agreement no. 824339 – WEARPLEX. The authors thank the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) for financial support under the framework of Strategic Funding grants UID/FIS/04650/2020. Vitor Correia thanks FCT for the junior researcher contract (DL57 / 2016) and within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020. Financial support from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERFD) through the project PID2019-106099RB C43/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and from the Basque Government Industry and Education Departments under the Elkartek, Hazitek and PIBA (PIBA-2018-06) programs, respectively, area also acknowledged. The authors thank for technical and human support provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU/ERDF)