A discrete-time localization method for capsule endoscopy based on on-board magnetic sensing

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[Heart ischemia and psychosomatics: the role of stressful events and lifestyles].

Objective: the aim of our study was to evaluate the role of stressful events, lifestyles and various socio-environmental factors in the beginning of ischemic cardiac diseases, together with cardiovascular factors. Materials and methods: 64 patients with recent cardiac ischemia and 64 controls matched 1:1, according to their sex and age, have been evaluated. The study required the filling in of clinico-anamnestic reports and the evaluation of stressful events, using the Holmes Rahe scale. Results: in the 44% of the patients who had a heart ischemia, an emotional striking event occurred few days before, with a 28% incidence of work and family problems. The mean score of the Holmes Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale was statistically significantly higher among cases (p<0,05). The percentage of the subjects who experienced a stressful event during the last year was significantly higher among those with an ischemic event even though the heart disease factors were similar in the 2 groups of cases and controls. Conclusions: although the known heart risk factors predispose to ischemic event, our results suggest that stressful and emotional factors play a fundamental role in increasing the risk

A genome-wide perspective about the diversity and demographic history of seven Spanish goat breeds

Altres ajuts: Félix Goyache is supported by Grant FICYT GRUPIN14-113. Valentin Balteanu is the recipient of a grant awarded under the frame of the European Social Fund, Human Resources Development Operational Program 2007-2013, Project No. POSDRU/159/1.5/S/132765.Background: The main goal of the current work was to infer the demographic history of seven Spanish goat breeds (Malagueña, Murciano-Granadina, Florida, Palmera, Mallorquina, Bermeya and Blanca de Rasquera) based on genomewide diversity data generated with the Illumina Goat SNP50 BeadChip (population size, N = 176). Five additional populations from Europe (Saanen and Carpathian) and Africa (Tunisian, Djallonké and Sahel) were also included in this analysis (N = 80) for comparative purposes. Results: Our results show that the genetic background of Spanish goats traces back mainly to European breeds although signs of North African admixture were detected in two Andalusian breeds (Malagueña and MurcianoGranadina). In general, observed and expected heterozygosities were quite similar across the seven Spanish goat breeds under analysis irrespective of their population size and conservation status. For the Mallorquina and Blanca de Rasquera breeds, which have suffered strong population declines during the past decades, we observed increased frequencies of large-sized (ROH), a finding that is consistent with recent inbreeding. In contrast, a substantial part of the genome of the Palmera goat breed comprised short ROH, which suggests a strong and ancient founder effect. Conclusions: Admixture with African goats, genetic drift and inbreeding have had different effects across the seven Spanish goat breeds analysed in the current work. This has generated distinct patterns of genome-wide diversity that provide new clues about the demographic history of these populations

Technical note: Advantages and limitations of authenticating Palmera goat dairy products by pyrosequencing the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene

Open Archive in partnership with American Dairy Science Association (ADSA).Inferring the breed of origin of dairy products can be achieved through molecular analysis of genetic markers with a population-specific pattern of segregation. The goal of the current work was to generate such markers in goats by resequencing several pigmentation genes [melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), v-kit Hardy-Zuckerman 4 feline sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KIT), tyrosinase (TYR), and tyrosinase-related protein 2 (TYRP2)]. This experiment revealed 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), including 5 missense mutations and 1 nonsense mutation. These markers were genotyped in 560 goats from 18 breeds originally from Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary Islands, and North Africa. Although the majority of SNP segregated at moderate frequencies in all populations (including 2 additional markers that were used as a source of information), we identified a c.764G>A SNP in MC1R that displayed highly divergent allelic frequencies in the Palmera breed compared with the Majorera and Tinerfeña breeds from the Canary Islands. Thus, we optimized a pyrosequencing-based technique that allowed us to estimate, very accurately, the allele frequencies of this marker in complex DNA mixtures from different individuals. Once validated, we applied this method to generating breed-specific DNA profiles that made it possible to detect fraudulent cheeses in which Palmero cheese was manufactured with milk from Majorera goats. One limitation of this approach, however, is that it cannot be used to detect illegal manufacturing where Palmero dairy products are produced by mixing milk from Palmera and Majorera goats, because the c.764G>A SNP segregates in both breeds.This research was partially funded by a grant (RZ2007-00005-C02-01) from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (Spain).Peer reviewe

Detecting the existence of gene flow between Spanish and North African goats through a coalescent approach

Human-driven migrations are one of the main processes shaping the genetic diversity and population structure of domestic species. However, their magnitude and direction have been rarely analysed in a statistical framework. We aimed to estimate the impact of migration on the population structure of Spanish and African goats. To achieve this goal, we analysed a dataset of 1,472 individuals typed with 23 microsatellites. Population structure of African and Spanish goats was moderate (mean FST=0.07), with the exception of the Canarian and South African breeds that displayed a significant differentiation when compared to goats from North Africa and Nigeria. Measurement of gene flow with Migrate-n and IMa coalescent genealogy samplers supported the existence of a bidirectional gene flow between African and Spanish goats. Moreover, IMa estimates of the effective number of migrants were remarkably lower than those calculated with Migrate-n and classical approaches. Such discrepancies suggest that recent divergence, rather than extensive gene flow, is the main cause of the weak population structure observed in caprine breeds.

Expression patterns and genetic variation of the ovine skeletal muscle transcriptome of sheep from five Spanish meat breeds

The goal of the current study is to analyse the gene expression profile of the ovine skeletal muscle as well as to characterize the genetic variation of transcripts expressed in such tissue. This aim has been achieved by sequencing the longissimus dorsi transcriptomes of 50 sheep distributed in five pools representing the Canaria de Pelo, Roja Mallorquina, Gallega, Xisqueta and Ripollesa Spanish autochthonous breeds. Approximately, 363 million reads per pool have been produced and 71.9-82.9% have been successfully mapped to the ovine genome in a paired-end mode (2 X 75 bp). The 200 most expressed muscle transcripts (-1% of the total transcript count) account for 51% (Canaria de Pelo) to 67% (Gallega) of the total ovine skeletal muscle mRNA expression. These highly expressed genes play key roles in pathways related with striated muscle contraction, gluconeogenesis, glycolysis, citric acid cycle and respiratory electron transport. RNA-Sequencing of muscle transcripts has also revealed that -72% of the SNPs detected with this approach are shared by at least two pools, and 10% of them segregate in the five pools under analysis. Most of the substitutions detected by RNA-Seq are synonymous or missense and only a minority are predicted to have consequences on protein function