Genetic studies in sunflower broomrape

Much research has been conducted to identify sources of genetic resistance to sunflower broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) and to study their mode of inheritance. However, studies on the parasite have been scarce. This manuscript reviews three genetic studies in sunflower broomrape. First, the inheritance of the absence of pigmentation in a natural mutant of this species with yellow plant color phenotype was studied. In a first stage, lines from the unpigmented mutant and a normally pigmented population were developed by several generations of self-pollination. Plants of both lines were crossed and the F1, F2, and F3 generations were evaluated. The results indicated that plant pigmentation is controlled by a partially dominant allele at a single locus. Second, the unpigmented mutant was used to evaluate outcrossing potential of the species. Two experiments in which single unpigmented plants were surrounded by normally pigmented plants were conducted under pot and field conditions. The cross-fertilization rate was estimated as the percentage of F1 hybrids in the progenies of unpigmented plants, which averaged 21.5% in the pot and 28.8% in the field experiment. The results indicated that, under the conditions of this study, the species was not strictly self-pollinated. Finally, the inheritance of avirulence was studied in crosses of plants from lines of O. cumana races E and F, developed by several generations of self-pollination. The F1 and F3 generations were evaluated on the differential line P-1380 carrying the race-E resistance gene Or5. The results suggested that race E avirulence and race F virulence on P-1380 are allelic and controlled by a single locus, which confirmed the gene-for-gene theory for the O. cumana-sunflower interaction.The manuscript reviews research partially funded by Fundación Ramón Areces, Madrid. The contribution of Dr. Enrique Quesada Moraga, entomologist from the University of Córdoba, Spain, to taxonomic classification of pollinators is gratefully acknowledged. R. Pineda-Martos was the recipient of a PhD fellowship from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (JAEPre_08_00370)Peer Reviewe

NO2 climatology in the northern subtropical region: diurnal, seasonal and interannual variability

Daily NO2 vertical column density (VCD) has been routinely measured by zenith sky spectroscopy at the subtropical station of Izaña (28° N, 16° W) since 1993 in the framework of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). Based on 14 years of data the first low latitude NO2 VCD climatology has been established and the main characteristics from short timescales of one day to interannual variability are presented. Instrumental descriptions and different sources of errors are described in detail. The observed diurnal cycle follows that expected by gas-phase NOx chemistry, as can be shown by the good agreement with a vertically integrated chemical box model, and is modulated by solar radiation. The seasonal evolution departs from the phase of the hours of daylight, indicating the signature of upper stratospheric temperature changes. From the data record (1993–2006) no significant long-term trends in NO2 VCD can be inferred. Comparison of the ground-based data sets with nadir-viewing satellite spectrometers shows excellent agreement for SCIAMACHY with differences between both datasets of 1.1%. GOME displays unrealistic features with the largest discrepancies during summer. The ground-based data are compared with long-term output of the SLIMCAT 3-D chemical transport model (CTM). The basic model, forced by ECMWF (ERA-40) analyses, captures the observed NO2 annual cycle but significantly underestimates the spring/summer maximum (by 12% at sunset and up to 25% at sunrise). In a model run which uses assimilation of satellite CH4 profiles to constrain the model long-lived tracers the agreement is significantly improved. This improvement in modelled column NO2 is due to better modelled NOy profiles and points to transport errors in the ECMWF ERA-40 reanalyses.Routine measurements have been possible thanks to the funding provided by the projects QUILT (EU EVK2-CT2000-0059) SCOUT-O3 (EU 505390-GOCE-CT-2004), TROMPETA (MCyT CGL2004-03669) and is on-going through GEOMON (EU FP6-2005-Global-4- 036677)

The K2-ESPRINT Project. I. Discovery of the Disintegrating Rocky Planet K2-22b with a Cometary Head and Leading Tail

We present the discovery of a transiting exoplanet candidate in the K2 Field-1 with an orbital period of 9.1457 hr: K2-22b. The highly variable transit depths, ranging from $\sim$0\% to 1.3\%, are suggestive of a planet that is disintegrating via the emission of dusty effluents. We characterize the host star as an M-dwarf with $T_{\rm eff} \simeq 3800$ K. We have obtained ground-based transit measurements with several 1-m class telescopes and with the GTC. These observations (1) improve the transit ephemeris; (2) confirm the variable nature of the transit depths; (3) indicate variations in the transit shapes; and (4) demonstrate clearly that at least on one occasion the transit depths were significantly wavelength dependent. The latter three effects tend to indicate extinction of starlight by dust rather than by any combination of solid bodies. The K2 observations yield a folded light curve with lower time resolution but with substantially better statistical precision compared with the ground-based observations. We detect a significant "bump" just after the transit egress, and a less significant bump just prior to transit ingress. We interpret these bumps in the context of a planet that is not only likely streaming a dust tail behind it, but also has a more prominent leading dust trail that precedes it. This effect is modeled in terms of dust grains that can escape to beyond the planet's Hill sphere and effectively undergo `Roche lobe overflow,' even though the planet's surface is likely underfilling its Roche lobe by a factor of 2.Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures. Final version accepted to Ap

Effect of COMBinAtion therapy with remote ischemic conditioning and exenatide on the Myocardial Infarct size: a two-by-two factorial randomized trial (COMBAT-MI)

Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) and the GLP-1 analog exenatide activate different cardioprotective pathways and may have additive effects on infarct size (IS). Here, we aimed to assess the efficacy of RIC as compared with sham procedure, and of exenatide, as compared with placebo, and the interaction between both, to reduce IS in humans. We designed a two-by-two factorial, randomized controlled, blinded, multicenter, clinical trial. Patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction receiving primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) within 6 h of symptoms were randomized to RIC or sham procedure and exenatide or matching placebo. The primary outcome was IS measured by late gadolinium enhancement in cardiac magnetic resonance performed 3–7 days after PPCI. The secondary outcomes were myocardial salvage index, transmurality index, left ventricular ejection fraction and relative microvascular obstruction volume. A total of 378 patients were randomly allocated, and after applying exclusion criteria, 222 patients were available for analysis. There were no significant interactions between the two randomization factors on the primary or secondary outcomes. IS was similar between groups for the RIC (24 ± 11.8% in the RIC group vs 23.7 ± 10.9% in the sham group, P = 0.827) and the exenatide hypotheses (25.1 ± 11.5% in the exenatide group vs 22.5 ± 10.9% in the placebo group, P = 0.092). There were no effects with either RIC or exenatide on the secondary outcomes. Unexpected adverse events or side effects of RIC and exenatide were not observed. In conclusion, neither RIC nor exenatide, or its combination, were able to reduce IS in STEMI patients when administered as an adjunct to PPCI

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. Methods: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015. Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years, 65 to 80 years, and = 80 years.The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated to quantify the diagnostic accuracy of the CCI to predict mortality risk. Results: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327 < 65 years;1291 65-80 years;502 = 80 years) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients =80 years who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%, 65 years; 20.5%, 65-79 years; 31.3%, =80 years). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%, <65 years;30.1%, 65-79 years;34.7%, =80 years;p < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65 years; 5.5%, 65-80 years;7.6%, =80 years; p = 0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were age = 80 years (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32–3.34), CCI = 3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39–1.88), and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16–1.58).When the three age groups were compared, the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65 years(p < 0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. Conclusion: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age = 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI), and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in the <65-year group

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Interleukin-10 promoter polymorphisms in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus from the Canary Islands

The purpose of this study was to examine whether several allelic variants in the polymorphic interleukin (IL)-10 promoter region were related with an increased risk of developing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Spanish patients from Canary Islands. Microsatellites (MS) at positions –4000 and –1200 (IL10R and IL10G, respectively) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (MS) at positions –1082G/A, –819C/T and –592C/A of the IL-10 promoter were analysed in patients with SLE and healthy controls from Canary Islands (Spain). We found that SNPs but not MS were associated with SLE. The GCC haplotype frequency was significantly higher in SLE patients (0.43) than in healthy donors (0.33) [P = 0.02; OR = 1.50 (95% CI = 1.06–2.14)], whereas the ACC haplotype was less represented in patients (0.28 vs. 0.37) [P = 0.02; OR = 0.64 (95% CI = 0.44–0.92)]. To assess the functional role of genotypes, serum IL-10 levels from patients and controls were quantified by ELISA. Also, the lipopolysaccharide-induced IL-10 secretion by monocytes from healthy controls was evaluated in vitro. Serum IL-10 levels were higher in patients [median (interquartile range) = 2.8 pg/mL (1.8–4.2)] than in controls [0.9 pg/mL (0–3.5)] (P = 0.02), but no association was observed between serum IL-10 levels or lipopolysaccharide-induced IL-10 secretion and the IL-10 promoter haplotypes. These data suggest that the IL-10 promoter haplotype that produces higher levels of cytokine is associated with SLE in patients from Canary Islands.This project was supported by Fundacion LAIR (8108) and Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (AP2000-2160)

Effectiveness of a strategy that uses educational games to implement clinical practice guidelines among Spanish residents of family and community medicine (e-EDUCAGUIA project):A clinical trial by clusters

This study was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias FIS Grant Number PI11/0477 ISCIII.-REDISSEC Proyecto RD12/0001/0012 AND FEDER Funding.Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed with the aim of helping health professionals, patients, and caregivers make decisions about their health care, using the best available evidence. In many cases, incorporation of these recommendations into clinical practice also implies a need for changes in routine clinical practice. Using educational games as a strategy for implementing recommendations among health professionals has been demonstrated to be effective in some studies; however, evidence is still scarce. The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a teaching strategy for the implementation of CPGs using educational games (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) to improve knowledge and skills related to clinical decision-making by residents in family medicine. The primary objective will be evaluated at 1 and 6months after the intervention. The secondary objectives are to identify barriers and facilitators for the use of guidelines by residents of family medicine and to describe the educational strategies used by Spanish teaching units of family and community medicine to encourage implementation of CPGs. Methods/design: We propose a multicenter clinical trial with randomized allocation by clusters of family and community medicine teaching units in Spain. The sample size will be 394 residents (197 in each group), with the teaching units as the randomization unit and the residents comprising the analysis unit. For the intervention, both groups will receive an initial 1-h session on clinical practice guideline use and the usual dissemination strategy by e-mail. The intervention group (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) strategy will consist of educational games with hypothetical clinical scenarios in a virtual environment. The primary outcome will be the score obtained by the residents on evaluation questionnaires for each clinical practice guideline. Other included variables will be the sociodemographic and training variables of the residents and the teaching unit characteristics. The statistical analysis will consist of a descriptive analysis of variables and a baseline comparison of both groups. For the primary outcome analysis, an average score comparison of hypothetical scenario questionnaires between the EDUCAGUIA intervention group and the control group will be performed at 1 and 6months post-intervention, using 95% confidence intervals. A linear multilevel regression will be used to adjust the model. Discussion: The identification of effective teaching strategies will facilitate the incorporation of available knowledge into clinical practice that could eventually improve patient outcomes. The inclusion of information technologies as teaching tools permits greater learning autonomy and allows deeper instructor participation in the monitoring and supervision of residents. The long-term impact of this strategy is unknown; however, because it is aimed at professionals undergoing training and it addresses prevalent health problems, a small effect can be of great relevance. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02210442.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Virtualización del Título Propio en Olivicultura y Elaiotecnia. Elaboración de Materiales

Es conocido que España es primer país productor de aceite de oliva del mundo, con un 40 % de la producción mundial y el 50 % de la producción de la Unión Europea, siendo la provincia de Jaén, con el 38,4 % de la producción española, la mayor zona productora del mundo en aceite de oliva. Sin embargo, se trata de un sector en el que la escasa profesionalización es, tal vez, su mayor debilidad.La Universidad de Jaén, consciente del importante papel que ha de jugar como Institución dinamizadora del desarrollo de su entorno, en el que el sector del olivar y del aceite de oliva tiene una enorme importancia, considera que es urgente formar titulados universitarios de grado superior que posean conocimientos integrales y solventes en olivicultura y elaiotecnia de modo que incorporados a las empresas del sector del olivar y el aceite de oliva o creando las suyas propias, lo modernicen y desarrollen, contribuyendo a dotarlo de cultura empresarial y al desarrollo socioeconómico y, por ende, al bienestar de los ciudadanos de la provincia