Somatic embryogenesis and flow cytometric assessment of nuclear genetic stability for Sansevieria spp.: an approach for in vitro regeneration of ornamental plants

Sansevieria Thunb. species are traditionally known as succulent ornamental plants world- wide. They are also cultivated for medicinal, fodder, soil conservation and fiber uses, and for their capacity to reduce environmental pollution. Sansevieria sexual propagation is limited by the lack of viable seeds, and reproduction is largely made via vegetative propagation by suckers or cuttings. For these reasons, genetic improvement by conventional breeding is limited. To overcome this problem and to address the increasing demand from customers for novel Sansevieria varieties, many commercial companies regularly use in vitro propagation, as is the case in the breeding process of several ornamental plants. In this paper, for the first time, we report a procedure for in vitro somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration starting from three flower explants for seven different Sansevieria genotypes. Regeneration was attempted using stigmas/styles, anther/filament, and ovary which were cultured on a Murashige and Skoog solidified medium under three different plant growth regulator combinations. A good regeneration rate was obtained with all genotypes used under all culture conditions tested from every explant type, with percentages ranging from 0 to 73.3%. “Genetic stability” assessment of regenerated plants in respect to their mother plants was verified through flow cytometry analysis showing a high degree of uniformity, with only S. parva exhibiting a different level of DNA fluorescence among in vitro regenerated plants. This is an interesting achievement in the aim to produce true-to-type plants and new variants with desirable characteristics, both of which are desired features in ornamentals improvement

Motivation and Knowledge Sharing through Social Media within Danish Organizations

Part 3: Creating Value through ApplicationsInternational audienceBased on an empirical quantitative study, this article investigates employee motivation in Danish companies and aims at determining which factors affect employees’ knowledge sharing through social media in a working environment. Our findings pinpoint towards the potential social media have for enhancing internal communication, knowledge sharing and collaboration in organizations, but the adoption is low, at this point, due to mainly organizational and individual factors. Technological factors do not seem to affect employees’ motivation for knowledge sharing as much as previous research has found, but it is the influence from the combination of individual and organizational factors, which affect the adoption of the platforms. A key finding in the study is that knowledge sharing is not a ‘social dilemma’ as previous studies have found. The study shows a positive development in employees’ willingness to share knowledge, because knowledge sharing is considered more beneficial than to hoard it

Factors affecting adherence to guidelines for antithrombotic therapy in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation admitted to internal medicine wards

Current guidelines for ischemic stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation or flutter (AFF) recommend Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for patients at high-intermediate risk and aspirin for those at intermediate-low risk. The cost-effectiveness of these treatments was demonstrated also in elderly patients. However, there are several reports that emphasize the underuse of pharmacological prophylaxis of cardio-embolism in patients with AFF in different health care settings. AIMS: To evaluate the adherence to current guidelines on cardio-embolic prophylaxis in elderly (> 65 years old) patients admitted with an established diagnosis of AFF to the Italian internal medicine wards participating in REPOSI registry, a project on polypathologies/polytherapies stemming from the collaboration between the Italian Society of Internal Medicine and the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research; to investigate whether or not hospitalization had an impact on guidelines adherence; to test the role of possible modifiers of VKAs prescription. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed registry data collected from January to December 2008 and assessed the prevalence of patients with AFF at admission and the prevalence of risk factors for cardio-embolism. After stratifying the patients according to their CHADS(2) score the percentage of appropriateness of antithrombotic therapy prescription was evaluated both at admission and at discharge. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to verify whether or not socio-demographic (age >80years, living alone) and clinical features (previous or recent bleeding, cranio-facial trauma, cancer, dementia) modified the frequency and modalities of antithrombotic drugs prescription at admission and discharge. RESULTS: Among the 1332 REPOSI patients, 247 were admitted with AFF. At admission, CHADS(2) score was ≥ 2 in 68.4% of patients, at discharge in 75.9%. Among patients with AFF 26.5% at admission and 32.8% at discharge were not on any antithrombotic therapy, and 43.7% at admission and 40.9% at discharge were not taking an appropriate therapy according to the CHADS(2) score. The higher the level of cardio-embolic risk the higher was the percentage of antiplatelet- but not of VKAs-treated patients. At admission or at discharge, both at univariable and at multivariable logistic regression, only an age >80 years and a diagnosis of cancer, previous or active, had a statistically significant negative effect on VKAs prescription. Moreover, only a positive history of bleeding events (past or present) was independently associated to no VKA prescription at discharge in patients who were on VKA therapy at admission. If heparin was considered as an appropriate therapy for patients with indication for VKAs, the percentage of patients admitted or discharged on appropriate therapy became respectively 43.7% and 53.4%. CONCLUSION: Among elderly patients admitted with a diagnosis of AFF to internal medicine wards, an appropriate antithrombotic prophylaxis was taken by less than 50%, with an underuse of VKAs prescription independently of the level of cardio-embolic risk. Hospitalization did not improve the adherence to guideline

Sex-Differences in the Pattern of Comorbidities, Functional Independence, and Mortality in Elderly Inpatients: Evidence from the RePoSI Register

Background: The RePoSi study has provided data on comorbidities, polypharmacy, and sex dimorphism in hospitalised elderly patients. Methods: We retrospectively analysed data collected from the 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 data sets of the RePoSi register. The aim of this study was to explore the sex-differences and to validate the multivariate model in the entire dataset with an expanded follow-up at 1 year. Results: Among 4714 patients, 51% were women and 49% were men. The disease distribution showed that diabetes, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, and malignancy were more frequent in men but that hypertension, anaemia, osteoarthritis, depression, and diverticulitis disease were more common in women. Severity and comorbidity indexes according to the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS-s and CIRS-c) were higher in men, while cognitive impairment, mood disorders, and disability in daily life measured by the Barthel Index (BI) were worse in women. In the multivariate analysis, BI, CIRS, and malignancy significantly increased the risk of death in men at the 1-year follow-up, while age was independently associated with mortality in women. Conclusions: Our study highlighted the relevance and the validity of our previous predictive model in the identification of sex dimorphism in hospitalised elderly patients underscoring the need of sex-personalised health-care

CITES and Cacti a user's guide

This user’s guide covers the widely traded cactus family and how it is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The guide explores the major groups of cacti in trade, their distribution, conservation status, use and levels of trade as well as the likelihood of illegal trade. All CITES Appendix I taxa and a wide selection of Appendix II taxa are covered in detail. Major exemptions from CITES regulations are also outlined, including cacti not covered by CITES. The guide includes a fully illustrated PowerPoint training presentation with comprehensive speaker notes on CD-ROM

우리말 번역: 국립생물자원관 (Cites and Cacti: a user's guide)

이 책자는 CITES에 대한 슬라이드와 상세 설명으로 이루어져 있다. 다섯 개의 소주제(서론, 부속서 I 등재 선인 장류, 부속서 II 등재 선인장류, CITES의 적용을 받지 않는 선인장류, 선인장 거래와 CITES 이행)를 다루어 관심 분야와필요에따라내용을쉽게찾고이용할수있다.또한본책자가장기간사용될수있도록최대한일반적인 용어를 사용하였다. 매 슬라이드마다 2012년 7월 기준으로 적용되고 있는 상세한 설명을 수록하였다(역자 주 2018년 12월 현재 적용되 는 주요 변경 사항은 역자 주로 추가 설명하였다.). 저자들은 이 책자의 독자들이 본 슬라이드의 내용을 적정하게 편집, 이용하여 필요에 맞게 활용할 수 있기를 기대한다. 예를 들어 독자들이 본 책자의 슬라이드에 자신의 경험이 나 이미지를 추가하여 고유의 슬라이드를 만들어 자신의 발표에 사용할 수 있으며, 참고 자료로 청중들에게 배포 할 수 있을 것이다. 이를 위하여 슬라이드가 담긴 파워포인트 프레젠테이션과 슬라이드와 설명이 모두 담긴 pdf 파 일을 동봉된 USB에 담아 제공하였다