Genetic diversity and introgression by AFLP analisys in Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Phaseolus vulgaris L. is an economically important species whose origin is in the America continent where domestication took place and diverged in Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools. After Columbus’s voyage common bean was introduced into the Iberian Peninsula from which this species spread into the European countries and around the world. In this study investigate the extent of diversity of European germplasm compared to the American germplasm and to define the level of introgression between the European Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools are investigated. 68 accessions representative of Mesoamerican and Andean American gene pools and 241 accessions from 24 different countries belonging to an European bean core collection were analysed for three morphologic quantitative (length, height and width ) and 4 qualitative (shape, lighter colour, darker colour and coat pattern of seed) seed characters and for 4 AFLP primer combinations: E-AGT/MGAC, E-AGT/M-GTA, E-ACC/M-AGA and E-ACC/M-ATG. A total of 138 polymorphic bands were scored among the 309 accessions analysed. The European and the Mesoamerican gene pools had a number of common and very common AFLP polymorphic bands higher than the American and the Andean gene pools. The European accessions moreover were used for Structure and cpSSR analysis to identify pure and introgressed lines. These groups were compared for morphological traits and AFLP profiles. Results showed significative differences among diverse groups for morphological traits and for AFLP band frequencies, even though the diversity index were the same (He = 0.23). Hypothesis of introgression among American and European, Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools are discussed

Nagy-Soper subtraction scheme for multiparton final states

In this work, we present the extension of an alternative subtraction scheme for next-to-leading order QCD calculations to the case of an arbitrary number of massless final-state partons. The scheme is based on the splitting kernels of an improved parton shower and comes with a reduced number of final state momentum mappings. While a previous publication including the setup of the scheme has been restricted to cases with maximally two massless partons in the final state, we here provide the final state real emission and integrated subtraction terms for processes with any number of massless partons. We apply our scheme to three jet production at lepton colliders at next-to-leading order and present results for the differential C parameter distribution.Comment: 45 pages, 5 figures v2: several references added; v3: title changed, references and a discussion of further scaling improvement added. Corresponds to published journal versio

Introduction bottleneck and the contribute of Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools to common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) diversity in Europe.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., 2n = 2x = 22) is the most important edible food legume for direct human consumption in Europe and in the world as it represents a valuable source of proteins, vitamins, fibres, and minerals. Genetic and archaeological studies have shown that domestication of P. vulgaris was originated and domesticated in the New World and has two major gene pools, the Andean and the Mesoamerican, based on their centers of origin in South and Central America, respectively. After the first voyages of Columbus (1492) common bean was brought to Europe but historical and linguistic sources provide little evidence of the introduction and expansion of common bean in Europe. In common bean a large number of nuclear microsatellite markers (nuSSRs) have been already developed and mapped that show relatively high levels of polymorphism, thus providing an attractive choice for describing population structure. However, to the best of our knowledge, population studies of the European common bean, using nuSSRs, so far have been performed with only a small number of landraces or a small number of samples from a few geographic regions. In the present study, we used thirteen highly polymorphic nuSSRs to assess the genetic structure and level of diversity of a large collection of European landraces (256 individuals), in comparison with a representative American sample (89 individuals). Moreover, to obtain a detailed picture and to elucidate the effects of bottleneck of introduction and selection for adaptation during the expansion of common bean over the whole Europe, we also complemented the nuSSRs analysis by information provided by a Bayesian analysis implemented in STRUCTURE. Here, we present and discuss the role that inter-gene pool hybridization have had in shaping the genetic structure of the European bean landraces. The implication for evolution and the advantages for common bean breeding are also discussed

Free and underfit-scavenger river dynamics dominate the large Amazonian Pacaya-Samiria wetland structure

The Peruvian Amazon is known for harboring the greatest biodiversity on the planet, with a world record for biodiversity per unit area. Previous studies suggested that the high ecological value depends on correlations between ecosystem functionality and seasonal inundation control vegetation patches. However, the knowledge on how river morphodynamics and its complex erosion-depositional processes influence the aquatic mosaic and fishing activity in the region is still incipient. This study examines the hydrogeomorphology of the Peruvian tropical wetland of Pacaya Samiria, located in Western Amazonia, and its role in the distribution of aquatic habitats. By using remote sensing techniques, the hydrogeomorphological connectivity that bounds the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve is characterized by ancient to modern river processes. Additionally, river signatures developed by the Ucayali, Marañon, Huallaga, Pacaya, and Samiria Rivers overlap with fish extraction and dominant vegetation to describe how geomorphology is associated with the spatial distribution of fishing zones. Results indicated that paleochannels regulate wetland drainage within the Ucamara Depression, supporting stational water stagnation, vegetation cover, and formation of carbon rich detritus, relevant aspects to understand fish traits. Moreover, the Ucayali River dominates river dynamics in the Pacaya Samiria wetland, thus playing a pivotal role in shaping the complexity of streams and lakes. Furthermore, underfit-scavenger meandering rivers are observed in areas where paleochannels from large rivers are found. A geomorphological characterization of drainage patterns in freshwater environments, such as Amazonian wetlands, is crucial to develop sound management strategies. This methodological approach is expected to support decision-making in conservation actions in Amazonian environments based on understanding wetland connectivity and hydrogeomorphological behavior and their influence on commercial fisheries

Microsimulation model for the health economic evaluation of osteoporosis interventions: Study protocol

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease that is characterised by reduced bone strength and increased fracture risk. Osteoporosis-related fractures impose enormous disease and economic burden to the society. Although many treatments and health interventions are proven effective to prevent fractures, health economic evaluation adds evidence to their economic merits. Computer simulation modelling is a useful approach to extrapolate clinical and economic outcomes from clinical trials and it is increasingly used in health economic evaluation. Many osteoporosis health economic models have been developed in the past decades; however, they are limited to academic use and there are no publicly accessible health economic models of osteoporosis. Methods and analysis: We will develop the Australian osteoporosis health economic model based on our previously published microsimulation model of osteoporosis in the Chinese population. The development of the model will follow the recommendations for the conduct of economic evaluations in osteoporosis by the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases and the US branch of the International Osteoporosis Foundation. The model will be a state-transition semiMarkov model with memory. Clinical parameters in the model will be mainly obtained from the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study and the health economic parameters will be collected from the Australian arm of the International Costs and Utilities Related to Osteoporotic Fractures Study. Model transparency and validates will be tested using the recommendations from Good Research Practices in Modelling Task Forces. The model will be used in economic evaluations of osteoporosis interventions including pharmaceutical treatments and primary care interventions. A user-friendly graphical user interface will be developed, which will connect the user to the calculation engine and the results will be generated. The user interface will facilitate the use of our model by people in different sectors. Ethics and dissemination: No ethical approval is needed for this study. Results of the model validation and future economic evaluation studies will be submitted to journals. The user interface of the health economic model will be publicly available online accompanied with a user manual

Pair approximation for a model of vertical and horizontal transmission of parasites.

We apply Stochastic Dynamics method for a differential equations model, proposed by Marc Lipsitch and collaborators (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 260, 321, 1995), for which the transmission dynamics of parasites occurs from a parent to its offspring (vertical transmission), and by contact with infected host (horizontal transmission). Herpes, Hepatitis and AIDS are examples of diseases for which both horizontal and vertical transmission occur simultaneously during the virus spreading. Understanding the role of each type of transmission in the infection prevalence on a susceptible host population may provide some information about the factors that contribute for the eradication and/or control of those diseases. We present a pair mean-field approximation obtained from the master equation of the model. The pair approximation is formed by the differential equations of the susceptible and infected population densities and the differential equations of pairs that contribute to the former ones. In terms of the model parameters, we obtain the conditions that lead to the disease eradication, and set up the phase diagram based on the local stability analysis of fixed points. We also perform Monte Carlo simulations of the model on complete graphs and Erdös-Rényi graphs in order to investigate the influence of population size and neighborhood on the previous mean-field results; by this way, we also expect to evaluate the contribution of vertical and horizontal transmission on the elimination of parasite. Pair Approximation for a Model of Vertical and Horizontal Transmission of Parasites