EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL WEEDINESS AND BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF TRANSGENIC RICE WITH GLU-1DX5 GENE

A Glu-1Dx5 allele, encoding for a high molecular weight glutenin sub unit Dx5, has been experimentally proven to be a major determinant for dough elasticity and functionality of bread wheat. Considering its important role, this gene has been successfully transferred to rice cv Fatmawati using particle bombardment. Some promising lines derived from consecutive generations have been obtained, however early biosafety assessment for transgenic plant is required in order to scientifically evaluate the equality of transgenic rice lines to their counterpart.Two promising lines (T3-19 and T3-20) which are supposed to be homozygous were subjected to weediness and biochemical evaluation. The evaluation of invasiveness as a measure of weediness was carried out in biosafety containment of BB Biogen, Bogor by growing a mixture of transgenic and non­transgenic. Biochemical testing was evaluated for nitrogen, carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, ash, minerals (Ca and Mg), and 17 amino acids. Weediness testing revealed that competitiveness of transgenic rice plants grown in screen house as well as biosafety containment was equal with those of non transgenic plants, suggesting that transgenic rice plants have not high potency to be invasive. Transgenic rice seed had equal nutritive value with those of counterpart. These results indicate that transgenic rice plants (seeds) are substantially equivalent to non transgenic original lines except for the presence of Glu-1Dx5 gene.Keywords: Glutenin, Invasiveness, Nutrient composition, Transgenic rice

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Epigenetics of Autoimmune Diseases

This chapter provides several examples of epigenetic deregulation in autoimmune diseases, a heterogeneous group of human conditions characterized by a deregulated immune response against the body own organs and tissues. Early studies based on the candidate gene approach have been flanked by genomewide screenings in the last few years, revealing global changes in DNA methylation or histone tail modifications, as well as deregulated methylation and/or expression of hundreds of genes and microRNAs in cells from patients affected by those disorders. This chapter will focus on epigenetic deregulations observed in systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s syndrome, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, systemic sclerosis, and autoimmune thyroid diseases, even though epigenetic modifications are increasingly being observed in many other autoimmune diseases. By contrast, only a few environmental factors have been shown or suspected to induce the observed epigenetic changes. Epigenetic drugs and RNA silencing experiments have often reversed autoimmune disease-like phenotypes in rodents or cell cultures, leading researchers to debate on their potential use in the treatment of these human conditions