22 research outputs found
Advances in Rootstock Breeding of Nut Trees: Objectives and Strategies
The production and consumption of nuts are increasing in the world due to strong economic returns and the nutritional value of their products. With the increasing role and importance given to nuts (i.e., walnuts, hazelnut, pistachio, pecan, almond) in a balanced and healthy diet and their benefits to human health, breeding of the nuts species has also been stepped up. Most recent fruit breeding programs have focused on scion genetic improvement. However, the use of locally adapted grafted rootstocks also enhanced the productivity and quality of tree fruit crops. Grafting is an ancient horticultural practice used in nut crops to manipulate scion phenotype and productivity and overcome biotic and abiotic stresses. There are complex rootstock breeding objectives and physiological and molecular aspects of rootstockâscion interactions in nut crops. In this review, we provide an overview of these, considering the mechanisms involved in nutrient and water uptake, regulation of phytohormones, and rootstock influences on the scion molecular processes, including long-distance gene silencing and trans-grafting. Understanding the mechanisms resulting from rootstock Ă scion Ă environmental interactions will contribute to developing new rootstocks with resilience in the face of climate change, but also of the multitude of diseases and pests.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
SARS-CoV-2 Catalonia contact tracing program : evaluation of key performance indicators
Background: Guidance on SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing indicators have been recently revised by international public health agencies. The aim of the study is to describe and analyse contact tracing indicators based on Catalonia's (Spain) real data and proposing to update them according to recommendations. Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis including Catalonia's contact tracing dataset from 20 May until 31 December 2020. Descriptive statistics are performed including sociodemographic stratification by age, and differences are assessed over the study period. Results: We analysed 923,072 contacts from 301,522 SARS-CoV-2 cases with identified contacts (67.1% contact tracing coverage). The average number of contacts per case was 4.6 (median 3, range 1-243). A total of 403,377 contacts accepted follow-up through three phone calls over a 14-day quarantine period (84.5% of contacts requiring follow-up). The percentage of new cases declared as contacts 14 days prior to diagnosis evolved from 33.9% in May to 57.9% in November. All indicators significantly improved towards the target over time (p < 0.05 for all four indicators). Conclusions: Catalonia's SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing indicators improved over time despite challenging context. The critical revision of the indicator's framework aims to provide essential information in control policies, new indicators proposed will improve system delay's follow-up. The study provides information on COVID-19 indicators framework experience from country's real data, allowing to improve monitoring tools in 2021-2022. With the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic being so harmful to health systems and globally, is important to analyse and share contact tracing data with the scientific community
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:<65âŻyears,65 to 80âŻyears,andâŻâ„âŻ80âŻyears.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 (1327âŻ<âŻ65âŻyears;1291 65-80âŻyears;502âŻâ„âŻ80âŻyears) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients â„80âŻyears who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%,65âŻyears; 20.5%,65-79âŻyears; 31.3%,â„80âŻyears). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%,<65âŻyears;30.1%,65-79âŻyears;34.7%,â„80âŻyears;pâŻ<âŻ0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65âŻyears; 5.5%, 65-80âŻyears;7.6%,â„80âŻyears; pâŻ=âŻ0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were ageâŻâ„âŻ80âŻyears (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32â3.34), CCIâŻâ„âŻ3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39â1.88),and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16â1.58).When the three age groups were compared,the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65âŻyears(pâŻ<âŻ0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality.
[Conclusion]: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. AgeâŻâ„âŻ80âŻyears, 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
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Dietary αâLinolenic Acid, Marine Ïâ3 Fatty Acids, and Mortality in a Population With High Fish Consumption: Findings From the PREvenciĂłn con DIeta MEDiterrĂĄnea (PREDIMED) Study
Background: Epidemiological evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of αâlinolenic acid (ALA), a plantâderived Ïâ3 fatty acid. It is unclear whether ALA is beneficial in a background of high marine Ïâ3 fatty acids (longâchain nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) intake. In persons at high cardiovascular risk from Spain, a country in which fish consumption is customarily high, we investigated whether meeting the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommendation for dietary ALA (0.7% of total energy) at baseline was related to allâcause and cardiovascular disease mortality. We also examined the effect of meeting the society's recommendation for longâchain nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (â„500 mg/day). Methods and Results: We longitudinally evaluated 7202 participants in the PREvenciĂłn con DIeta MEDiterrĂĄnea (PREDIMED) trial. Multivariableâadjusted Cox regression models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. ALA intake correlated to walnut consumption (r=0.94). During a 5.9ây followâup, 431 deaths occurred (104 cardiovascular disease, 55 coronary heart disease, 32 sudden cardiac death, 25 stroke). The hazard ratios for meeting ALA recommendation (n=1615, 22.4%) were 0.72 (95% CI 0.56â0.92) for allâcause mortality and 0.95 (95% CI 0.58â1.57) for fatal cardiovascular disease. The hazard ratios for meeting the recommendation for longâchain nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n=5452, 75.7%) were 0.84 (95% CI 0.67â1.05) for allâcause mortality, 0.61 (95% CI 0.39â0.96) for fatal cardiovascular disease, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29â0.99) for fatal coronary heart disease, and 0.49 (95% CI 0.22â1.01) for sudden cardiac death. The highest reduction in allâcause mortality occurred in participants meeting both recommendations (hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI 0.45â0.87]). Conclusions: In participants without prior cardiovascular disease and high fish consumption, dietary ALA, supplied mainly by walnuts and olive oil, relates inversely to allâcause mortality, whereas protection from cardiac mortality is limited to fishâderived longâchain nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.Controlled-trials.com/. Unique identifier: ISRCTN35739639