Metabolic engineering of rice endosperm towards higher vitamin B1 accumulation

Rice is a major food crop to approximately half of the human population. Unfortunately, the starchy endosperm, which is the remaining portion of the seed after polishing, contains limited amounts of micronutrients. Here, it is shown that this is particularly the case for thiamin (vitamin B1). Therefore, a tissue-specific metabolic engineering approach was conducted, aimed at enhancing the level of thiamin specifically in the endosperm. To achieve this, three major thiamin biosynthesis genes, THIC, THI1 and TH1, controlled by strong endosperm-specific promoters, were employed to obtain engineered rice lines. The metabolic engineering approaches included ectopic expression of THIC alone, in combination with THI1 (bigenic) or combined with both THI1 and TH1 (trigenic). Determination of thiamin and thiamin biosynthesis intermediates reveals the impact of the engineering approaches on endosperm thiamin biosynthesis. The results show an increase of thiamin in polished rice up to threefold compared to WT, and stable upon cooking. These findings confirm the potential of metabolic engineering to enhance de novo thiamin biosynthesis in rice endosperm tissue and aid in steering future biofortification endeavours

A SUSY SU(5) Grand Unified Model of Tri-Bimaximal Mixing from A4

We discuss a grand unified model based on SUSY SU(5) in extra dimensions and on the flavour group A4xU(1) which, besides reproducing tri-bimaximal mixing for neutrinos with the accuracy required by the data, also leads to a natural description of the observed pattern of quark masses and mixings.Comment: 19 page

25th-order high-temperature expansion results for three-dimensional Ising-like systems on the simple cubic lattice

25th-order high-temperature series are computed for a general nearest-neighbor three-dimensional Ising model with arbitrary potential on the simple cubic lattice. In particular, we consider three improved potentials characterized by suppressed leading scaling corrections. Critical exponents are extracted from high-temperature series specialized to improved potentials, obtaining $\gamma=1.2373(2)$, $\nu=0.63012(16)$, $\alpha=0.1096(5)$, $\eta=0.03639(15)$, $\beta=0.32653(10)$, $\delta=4.7893(8)$. Moreover, biased analyses of the 25th-order series of the standard Ising model provide the estimate $\Delta=0.52(3)$ for the exponent associated with the leading scaling corrections. By the same technique, we study the small-magnetization expansion of the Helmholtz free energy. The results are then applied to the construction of parametric representations of the critical equation of state, using a systematic approach based on a global stationarity condition. Accurate estimates of several universal amplitude ratios are also presented.Comment: 40 pages, 15 figure

Critical exponents and equation of state of the three-dimensional Heisenberg universality class

We improve the theoretical estimates of the critical exponents for the three-dimensional Heisenberg universality class. We find gamma=1.3960(9), nu=0.7112(5), eta=0.0375(5), alpha=-0.1336(15), beta=0.3689(3), and delta=4.783(3). We consider an improved lattice phi^4 Hamiltonian with suppressed leading scaling corrections. Our results are obtained by combining Monte Carlo simulations based on finite-size scaling methods and high-temperature expansions. The critical exponents are computed from high-temperature expansions specialized to the phi^4 improved model. By the same technique we determine the coefficients of the small-magnetization expansion of the equation of state. This expansion is extended analytically by means of approximate parametric representations, obtaining the equation of state in the whole critical region. We also determine a number of universal amplitude ratios.Comment: 40 pages, final version. In publication in Phys. Rev.

The Cholecystectomy As A Day Case (CAAD) Score: A Validated Score of Preoperative Predictors of Successful Day-Case Cholecystectomy Using the CholeS Data Set

Background Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables. Methods Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set. Results Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Weak Ferromagnetism and Magnetoelectric Coupling through the Spin-lattice Coupling in (1−x) Pb(Fe2/3W1/3) O3-(x) BiFeO3 (x = 0.1 and 0.4) Solid Solution

We report on the structure, spin-lattice and magneto-electric coupling in (1−x)Pb(Fe2/3W1/3)O3-(x)BiFeO3(where x = 0.1 and 0.4) (PBFW) solid solution synthesized through two-step solid-state reaction method. The room temperature (RT) crystallographic studies were carried out using x-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction measurements which show a single-phase Pseudocubic crystal system with Pm-3m space group. Rietveld refinement was carried out to obtain the structural parameters using Fullprof software and the observed structural parameters are in good agreement with the previous reports. Temperature-dependent neutron diffraction measurements reveal the presence of commensurate G-type antiferromagnetic structure. The magnetic structure was analyzed using the propagation wave vector k ∼ ( ) for both the solid solutions. The obtained lattice constants increase linearly and the magnetic moment decrease with temperature, which shows a remarkable anomaly around the magnetic (TN ∼ 405 K for x = 0.1 and 531 K for x = 0.4) transition temperatures. This anomaly clearly indicates the existence of spin-lattice and magnetoelectric coupling. The magnetic susceptibility (ZFC and FC at 500 Oe) and M-H hysteresis loop measurements show spontaneous magnetic moment due to the Fe3+-O2−-Fe3+ superexchange interaction coexisting with the weak ferromagnetism. Bifurcation of ZFC and FC curve reveals the strong anisotropic nature. Astonishingly, magnetic measurements show the non-zero magnetic moment above TN and broadening of the magnetic transition indicates the presence of short-range uncompensated sublattice weak ferromagnetic clusters in the paramagnetic region. The Mossbauer spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance studies exhibit the RT magnetically ordered system and confirm the +3 state of Fe along with the fraction of Fe2+ ions