The genetics of symbiotic nitrogen fixation: comparative genomics of 14 Rhizobia Strains by resolution of protein clusters.

The symbiotic relationship between legumes and nitrogen fixing bacteria is critical for agriculture, as it may have profound impacts on lowering costs for farmers, on land sustainability, on soil quality, and on mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. However, despite the importance of the symbioses to the global nitrogen cycling balance, very few rhizobial genomes have been sequenced so far, although there are some ongoing efforts in sequencing elite strains. In this study, the genomes of fourteen selected strains of the order Rhizobiales, all previously fully sequenced and annotated, were compared to assess differences between the strains and to investigate the feasibility of defining a core ?symbiome??the essential genes required by all rhizobia for nodulation and nitrogen fixation. Comparison of these whole genomes has revealed valuable information, such as several events of lateral gene transfer, particularly in the symbiotic plasmids and genomic islands that have contributed to a better understanding of the evolution of contrasting symbioses. Unique genes were also identified, as well as omissions of symbiotic genes that were expected to be found. Protein comparisons have also allowed the identification of a variety of similarities and differences in several groups of genes, including those involved in nodulation, nitrogen fixation, production of exopolysaccharides, Type I to Type VI secretion systems, among others, and identifying some key genes that could be related to host specificity and/or a better saprophytic ability. However, while several significant differences in the type and number of proteins were observed, the evidence presented suggests no simple core symbiome exists. A more abstract systems biology concept of nitrogen fixing symbiosis may be required. The results have also highlighted that comparative genomics represents a valuable tool for capturing specificities and generalities of each genome.bitstream/item/74069/1/ID-34062.pd

Luxación inveterada del codo en niños: a propósito de un caso

La luxación no reducida del codo es rara y no suele verse en los países desarrollados, salvo en grupos sociales marginados y de forma excepcional. La luxación más frecuentemente es posterior. Entre las 3 semanas y 3 meses, el tratamiento cerrado suele fracasar puesto que la interposición de tejido de granulación y fibroso intraarticular y la retracción de los tejidos blandos, impiden una reducción incruenta y estable. Nosotros recomendamos para luxaciones inveteradas, vistas en este período de tiempo, el abordaje posterior con sección del tendón del músculo tríceps y la reconstrucción de estructuras blandas periarticulares. Presentamos el caso de un niño tratado mediante reducción quirúrgica y cuyo resultado final fue muy bueno.Neglected dislocation of the elbow is a rare entity, very unfrequent in developed countries, affecting mostly marginated groups. The posterior type is the most frequent neglected dislocation of the elbow. When attempted 3 weeks after dislocation, close reduction usually fails or is very unstable due to the interposition of granulomatous or scar tissue within the joint and the retraction of periarticular soft tissues. For neglected dislocations treated from 3 weeks to 3 months after the injury, we recommended open reduction through a posterior approach, including section of the triceps tendon, and reconstruction of the periarticular structures. We present one case of a 10-year-old boy, with neglected dislocation of the left elbow treated procedure and showing a very satisfactory outcome

On the solvability of the Birkhoff interpolation problem

AbstractA univariate Birkhoff interpolation problem is considered and the smallest N, namely N̄, for which the Birkhoff interpolation problem is always solvable is given. In particular, for Pólya matrices E with n ones we obtain N̄⩽n+p, where p is the number of odd supported sequences in E, and show that the preceding bound is the best possible

A new web-based genomics resource for bioinformatics analysis of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus: CattleTickBase

No abstract availabl

Hybrid Flooding Scheme for Mobile Wireless Networks

A hybrid broadcast scheme for mobile wireless networks is proposed in this letter. The main objective is to combine different flooding schemes in order to solve the broadcast storm issue encountered by the simple flooding scheme. For this purpose, the density of nodes is taken into account using a density metric called expansion metric. In addition, in order to reduce the broken links due to mobility of nodes and increasing dissimilarity among the intermediate nodes, a forwarding zone criterion is included in the proposed schemes. The proposed approaches have been implemented and compared with pure probabilistic flooding, and simple flooding schemes

Runtime Distributions and Criteria for Restarts

Randomized algorithms sometimes employ a restart strategy. After a certain number of steps, the current computation is aborted and restarted with a new, independent random seed. In some cases, this results in an improved overall expected runtime. This work introduces properties of the underlying runtime distribution which determine whether restarts are advantageous. The most commonly used probability distributions admit the use of a scale and a location parameter. Location parameters shift the density function to the right, while scale parameters affect the spread of the distribution. It is shown that for all distributions scale parameters do not influence the usefulness of restarts and that location parameters only have a limited influence. This result simplifies the analysis of the usefulness of restarts. The most important runtime probability distributions are the log-normal, the Weibull, and the Pareto distribution. In this work, these distributions are analyzed for the usefulness of restarts. Secondly, a condition for the optimal restart time (if it exists) is provided. The log-normal, the Weibull, and the generalized Pareto distribution are analyzed in this respect. Moreover, it is shown that the optimal restart time is also not influenced by scale parameters and that the influence of location parameters is only linear

Hybrid Flooding Scheme for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

A hybrid broadcast scheme for mobile wireless networks is proposed in this letter. The main objective is to combine different flooding schemes in order to solve the broadcast storm issue encountered by the simple flooding scheme. For this purpose, the density of nodes is taken into account using a density metric called expansion metric. In addition, in order to reduce the broken links due to mobility of nodes and increasing dissimilarity among the intermediate nodes, a forwarding zone criterion is included in the proposed schemes. The proposed approaches have been implemented and compared with pure probabilistic flooding, and simple flooding schemes

Influence of noise level and seniority in the workplace on the SAL, ELI and percentage of hearing loss indices in the diagnosis and prevention of hearing loss in the working population

Introduction: This research relates the most important work-related factors affecting the development of hearing loss to the main methods used as medical assessment criteria in the diagnosis of occupational deafness. These criteria are the Speech Average Loss Index (SAL), the Early Loss Index (ELI) and the Percentage of Hearing Loss, and are applied to data obtained from audiograms performed on workers in occupational medical examinations. Method: Depending on the assessment method selected, these often return different results in grading an individual's hearing status and predicting how it will evolve. To address this problem, medical examinations (including audiograms) were carried out on a heterogeneous sample of 1,418 workers in Spain, from which demographic or personal data (gender, age, etc.), occupational data (noise level to which each individual is exposed, etc.) and other non-work-related factors (exposure to noise outside work, family history, etc.) were also gathered. Using Bayesian Networks, the conditional probability of an individual developing hearing loss was obtained taking into account all these factors and, specifically, noise level and length of service in the workplace. Sensitivity analyses were also carried out using the three scales (SAL, ELI and Percentage Hearing Loss Index), proving their suitability as tools the diagnosis and prediction of deafness. These networks were validated under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (ROC) criterion and in particular by the Area Under the Curve (AUC). Results: The results show that all three methods are deficient in so far as detecting preventive hearing problems related to noise in most workplaces. Conclusions: The most restrictive methods for detecting possible cases of deafness are the SAL index and the Percentage Loss Index. The ELI index is the least restrictive of the three methods, but it is not able to discriminate the causes of hearing problems in an individual caused by exposure to noise, either by its intensity level or by the time of exposure to noise. Practical Applications: The use of the three methods in the field of occupational risk prevention is extremely limited and it seems reasonable to think that there is a need for the construction of new scales to correct or improve the existing ones

3D bioprinting for orthopaedic applications: Current advances, challenges and regulatory considerations

In the era of personalised medicine, novel therapeutic approaches raise increasing hopes to address currently unmet medical needs by developing patient-customised treatments. Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is rapidly evolving and has the potential to obtain personalised tissue constructs and overcome some limitations of standard tissue engineering approaches. Bioprinting could support a wide range of biomedical applications, such as drug testing, tissue repair or organ transplantation. There is a growing interest for 3D bioprinting in the orthopaedic field, with remarkable scientific and technical advances. However, the full exploitation of 3D bioprinting in medical applications still requires efforts to anticipate the upcoming challenges in translating bioprinted products from bench to bedside. In this review we summarised current trends, advances and challenges in the application of 3D bioprinting for bone and cartilage tissue engineering. Moreover, we provided a detailed analysis of the applicable regulations through the 3D bioprinting process and an overview of available standards covering bioprinting and additive manufacturing

Lipid remodelling: unravelling the response to cold stress in Arabidopsis and its extremophile relative Eutrema salsugineum

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Crown Copyright © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.Environmental constraints limit the geographic distribution of many economically important crops. Cold stress is an important abiotic stress that affects plant growth and development, resulting in loss of vigour and surface lesions. These symptoms are caused by, among other metabolic processes, the altered physical and chemical composition of cell membranes. As a major component of cell membranes lipids have been recognized as having a significant role in cold stress, both as a mechanical defence through leaf surface protection and plasma membrane remodelling, and as signal transduction molecules. We present an overview integrating gene expression and lipidomic data published so far in Arabidopsis and its relative the extremophile Eutrema salsugineum. This data enables a better understanding of the contribution of the lipidome in determining the ability to tolerate suboptimal temperature conditions. Collectively this information will allow us to identify the key lipids and pathways responsible for resilience, enabling the development of new approaches for crop tolerance to stress.Peer reviewe