Identification of grape cultivars by seed image analysis

Background and Aims The Sardinian wine heritage consists of 151 cultivars; however, because of the different dialects within the same region, many of these cultivars can be considered as false attributions (synonyms/homonyms). The aim of this study was to use seed morpho-colorimetric features to discriminate among the grapevine cultivars and identify synonymy groups. Methods and Results Over two seasons, 230 grapevine accessions belonging to 115 Sardinian native cultivars (54 black berries and 61 white berries) were collected. Seed images were acquired and analysed. Thirty-three morpho-colorimetric attributes and 80 elliptic Fourier descriptors were assessed. The data were analysed by applying linear discriminant analysis to implement statistical classifiers able to identify the landraces. Fourteen black berry synonymy groups and eight independent cultivars, and 15 white berry synonymy groups and nine independent cultivars, were identified. Conclusions These results confirmed the synonymy groups previously proposed and improved some of them with other local cultivars. Significance of the Study Despite different historical and cultural consumption purposes, some cultivars belong to the same synonymy groups, causing apparent incongruence. Nevertheless, the results are consistent with the geographical distribution of the cultivars and with the historical and cultural knowledge in Sardinia

Predictive method for correct identification of archaeological charred grape seeds: Support for advances in knowledge of grape domestication process

The identification of archaeological charred grape seeds is a difficult task due to the alteration of the morphological seeds shape. In archaeobotanical studies, for the correct discrimination between Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris and Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera grape seeds it is very important to understand the history and origin of the domesticated grapevine. In this work, different carbonisation experiments were carried out using a hearth to reproduce the same burning conditions that occurred in archaeological contexts. In addition, several carbonisation trials on modern wild and cultivated grape seeds were performed using a muffle furnace. For comparison with archaeological materials, modern grape seed samples were obtained using seven different temperatures of carbonisation ranging between 180 and 340°C for 120 min. Analysing the grape seed size and shape by computer vision techniques, and applying the stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA) method, discrimination of the wild from the cultivated charred grape seeds was possible. An overall correct classification of 93.3% was achieved. Applying the same statistical procedure to compare modern charred with archaeological grape seeds, found in Sardinia and dating back to the Early Bronze Age (2017-1751 2σ cal. BC), allowed 75.0% of the cases to be identified as wild grape. The proposed method proved to be a useful and effective procedure in identifying, with high accuracy, the charred grape seeds found in archaeological sites. Moreover, it may be considered valid support for advances in the knowledge and comprehension of viticulture adoption and the grape domestication process. The same methodology may also be successful when applied to other plant remains, and provide important information about the history of domesticated plant

Effects of metformin and exercise training, alone or in association, on cardio-pulmonary performance and quality of life in insulin resistance patients

BACKGROUND: Metformin (MET) therapy exerts positive effects improving glucose tolerance and preventing the evolution toward diabetes in insulin resistant patients. It has been shown that adding MET to exercise training does not improve insulin sensitivity. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of MET and exercise training alone or in combination on maximal aerobic capacity and, as a secondary end-point on quality of life indexes in individuals with insulin resistance. METHODS: 75 insulin resistant patients were enrolled and subsequently assigned to MET (M), MET with exercise training (MEx), and exercise training alone (Ex). 12-weeks of supervised exercise-training program was carried out in both Ex and MEx groups. Cardiopulmonary exercise test and SF-36 to evaluate Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) was performed at basal and after 12-weeks of treatment. RESULTS: Cardiopulmonary exercise test showed a significant increase of peak VO2 in Ex and MEx whereas M showed no improvement of peak VO2 (∆ VO2 [CI 95%] Ex +0.26 [0.47 to 0.05] l/min; ∆ VO2 MEx +0.19 [0.33 to 0.05] l/min; ∆ VO2 M -0.09 [-0.03 to -0.15] l/min; M vs E p < 0.01; M vs MEx p < 0.01; MEx vs Ex p = ns). SF-36 highlighted a significant increase in general QoL index in the MEx (58.3 ± 19 vs 77.3 ± 16; p < 0.01) and Ex (62.1 ± 17 vs 73.7 ± 12; p < 0.005) groups. CONCLUSIONS: We evidenced that cardiopulmonary negative effects showed by MET therapy may be counterbalanced with the combination of exercise training. Given that exercise training associated with MET produced similar effects to exercise training alone in terms of maximal aerobic capacity and HRQoL, programmed exercise training remains the first choice therapy in insulin resistant patients

Effects of metformin and exercise training, alone or in combination, on cardiac function in individuals with insulin resistance

Introduction: In patients affected by insulin resistance (IR), metformin (MET) therapy has been shown to exert its positive effects by improving glucose tolerance and preventing the evolution to diabetes. Recently, it was shown that the addition of metformin to physical training did not improve sensitivity to insulin or peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2). The purpose of this study was to establish the effect of metformin and exercise, separately or in combination, on systolic left ventricular (LV) function in individuals with IR. Methods: Seventy-five patients with IR were enrolled and subsequently assigned to MET, combination MET and exercise, or exercise alone. The LV systolic and diastolic functions were evaluated with standard echocardiography tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and speckle tracking echocardiography at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment. Results: MET, administered alone or in association with exercise, improved longitudinal LV function, as evidenced by an increase in systolic (S) wave on TDI, alongside increases in longitudinal global strain and strain rate in comparison to the group undergoing physical training alone. The traditional echocardiographic parameters showed no statistically significant differences among the three groups before or after the different cycles of therapy. Conclusions: Treatment with MET, either with or without exercise, but not exercise alone, produced a significant increase in global longitudinal LV systolic function at rest. These findings validate the observation that the use of MET alone or in association with exercise has a crucial role to counteract the negative effects of IR on cardiovascular function

Telomere length shortening is associated with treatment-free remission in chronic myeloid leukemia patients

We studied telomere length in 32 CML patients who discontinued imatinib after achieving complete molecular remission and 32 age-sex-matched controls. The relative telomere length (RTL) was determined by q-PCR as the telomere to single copy gene (36B4) ratio normalized to a reference sample (K-562 DNA). Age-corrected RTL (acRTL) was also obtained. The 36-month probability of treatment-free remission (TFR) was 59.4 %. TFR patients showed shorter acRTL compared to relapsed (mean ± SD = 0.01 ± 0.14 vs 0.20 ± 0.21; p = 0.01). TFR was significantly higher in CML patients with acRTL ≤0.09 (78.9 vs 30.8 %, p = 0.002). CML stem cells harboring longer telomeres possibly maintain a proliferative potential after treatment discontinuation

"Delirium Day": A nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

Background: To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy. Methods: This is a point prevalence study (called "Delirium Day") including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints. Results: The mean sample age was 82.0 \ub1 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12-1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41-4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45-2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11-5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06-1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30-2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40-2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), while admission to other settings was not. Conclusions: Delirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The "Delirium Day" project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys

Studio pedologico-forestale dei boschi ripariali del Sulcis (Sardegna Sud-Occidentale)

This paper presents the first results of the sinecological study of edaphohygrophycal vegetation series in the Sulcis area (southwestern Sardinia, Italy). The research defined forest soils and phytosociology of riparian woods and shrubs. Ten main coenosis were recognised and related with 2 different groups of vegetation. The first group includes 7 formations ascribed to the Salici purpureae-Populetea nigrae class; the second one includes 3 groupments ascribed to the Nerio-Tamaricetea class. Soils are always characterised by limited pedogenesis and are generally poorly developed (Typic Xerofluvents, Typic Fluvaquents and Typic Xerorthents). Only on the relatively more stable alluvial terraces, a moderate development is present (Fluventic Haploxerepts and Typic Haploxerepts). The coenosis of the first group are more related to the presence of water than those of the second group. Humus forms, when observed, are classified as Mullmoders

Studio pedologico-forestale dei boschi e delle boscaglie ripariali del Sulcis (Sardegna sud-occidentale)

This paper presents the first results of the sinecological study of edaphohygrophycal vegetation series in the Sulcis area (southwestern Sardinia, Italy). The research defined forest soils and phytosociology of riparian woods and shrubs. Ten main coenosis were recognised and related with 2 different groups of vegetation. The first group includes 7 formations ascribed to the Salici purpureae-Populetea nigrae class; the second one includes 3 groupments ascribed to the Nerio-Tamaricetea class. Soils are always characterised by limited pedogenesis and are generally poorly developed (Typic Xerofluvents, Typic Fluvaquents and Typic Xerorthents). Only on the relatively more stable alluvial terraces, a moderate development is present (Fluventic Haploxerepts and Typic Haploxerepts). The coenosis of the first group are more related to the presence of water than those of the second group. Humus forms, when observed, are classified as Mullmoders