USDA Plant Genome Research Program

The U.S. Congress appropriated funds in 1991 for the USDA Plant Genome Research Program, four years after its initial conception in 1987. The goal of the USDA Plant Genome Research Program is to improve plants (agronomic, horticultural, and forest tree species) by locating marker DNA or genes on chromosomes, determining gene structure, and transferring genes to improve plant performance with accompanying reduced environmental impact to meet marketplace needs and niches. The Plant Genome Research Program is one program with two parts: National Research Initiative and Plant Genome Database (PGD). The PGD is now a real and functioning information and data resource for agricultural and other plant science genome researchers, and it is in the public domain. Additional progress is given according to major plant groups. The PGD is a suite of several information products produced at the National Agricultural Library (NAL) in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Service and Forest Service species coordinators

THU0366 SYSTEMATIC CORONARY RISK EVALUATION (SCORE) MISCLASSIFIES CARDIOVASCULAR RISK IN ANTISYNTHETASE SYNDROME: RESULTS OF THE PILOT MULTICENTRIC STUDY RI.CAR.D.A.

Background:Antisynthetase Syndrom (ASyS) is an autoimmune overlap disease characterized by antiaminoacyl-tRNA-synthetase (anti-ARS) antibodies and the classic triad of arthritis, myositis and interstitial lung disease (ILD) (1). Markers of cardiovascular (CV) or cerebrovascular (CVB) risk have never been examined in ASyS.Objectives:Aim of this study (RIsk of CARdiovascular Disease in ASyS: RI.CAR.D.A.) was to test the ability of an established traditional CV risk prediction score (Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation-SCORE) and its EULAR modified version (mSCORE) to identify ASyS patients at high CV risk. Moreover, we sought to examine for the first time associations of CV surrogate markers with clinical and immunological ASyS parameters.Methods:SCORE/mSCORE and the gold standard marker of aortic stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity-cfPWV) were examined in patients with ASyS and healthy controls in a multicenter setting (6 Rheumatology Centers). Moreover, sonography of the common- (CCA), internal- (ICA) and external- (ECA) carotid arteries was performed in subsets of both groups, evaluating carotid intima-media-thickness (cIMT), plaques and duplex-sonographic indices of CBV risk such as the resistance- (RI) and pulsatility-index (PI).Figure 1.Carotid Doppler surrogate markers of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk in controls and ASyS (case).cIMTCarotid intima media thickness;CAA(common-),ICA(internal),ECA(external) carotid artery;RIresistance index;PIpulsatility index. (all;p0.9 mm) (SCA) in85.7%of the patients respectively. ROC analyses showed similarly poor diagnostic performances of SCORE/mSCORE in comparison to cfPWV(>10 m/s) and SAC by areas under the curve (AUC) of0.56 (95%CI=0.39-0.73) and0.63 (95%CI=0.3-0.96),respectively. cfPWV and SCA were higher in ASyS patients compared to controls (padj=0.021andp=0.003, respectively). cfPWV and cIMT correlated in the patient group significantly with age (r=0.679; p<0.001 and r=0.664; p<0.001,respectively).Moreover, cfPWV correlated with BMI (padj=0.001) and diabetes(padj=0.043). ACC-RI and ACC-PI showed significant associations with a marker of myositis activity [creatine phosphokinase (CPK):r=0.629;p=0.012andr=0.574;p=0.032, respectively]. Finally, ACI-RI and ACI-PI values were higher in patients with ILD (both;p=0.039).Conclusion:This is the first report of higher aortic stiffness and SCA in ASyS patients compared to controls. Active myositis and presence of ILD were associated with higher CVB risk parameters. Furthermore, SCORE/mSCORE performed poorly in identifying patients at high CV risk and carotid arteriosclerosis compared to cfPWV and CS respectively. Thus, cfPWV and CS could improve CV and CBV screening in ASyS patients.References:[1]Cavagna L, et al. Clinical Spectrum Time Course in Anti Jo-1 Positive Antisynthetase Syndrome.Medicine2015;94:1144.Disclosure of Interests:None declare

Successful network inference from time-series data using Mutual Information Rate

This work uses an information-based methodology to infer the connectivity of complex systems from observed time-series data. We first derive analytically an expression for the Mutual Information Rate (MIR), namely, the amount of information exchanged per unit of time, that can be used to estimate the MIR between two finite-length low-resolution noisy time-series, and then apply it after a proper normalization for the identification of the connectivity structure of small networks of interacting dynamical systems. In particular, we show that our methodology successfully infers the connectivity for heterogeneous networks, different time-series lengths or coupling strengths, and even in the presence of additive noise. Finally, we show that our methodology based on MIR successfully infers the connectivity of networks composed of nodes with different time-scale dynamics, where inference based on Mutual Information fails

Liver Resection for Primary Hepatic Neoplasms.

Subtotal hepatic resection was performed in 356 patients; 87 had primary hepatic malignancies, 108 had metastatic tumors, and 161 had benign lesions including 8 traumatic injuries. The global mortality was 4.2%. The experience has elucidated the role of subtotal hepatic resection both for benign and malignant neoplasms

Linear-response theory and lattice dynamics: a muffin-tin orbital approach

A detailed description of a method for calculating static linear-response functions in the problem of lattice dynamics is presented. The method is based on density functional theory and it uses linear muffin-tin orbitals as a basis for representing first-order corrections to the one-electron wave functions. As an application we calculate phonon dispersions in Si and NbC and find good agreement with experiments.Comment: 18 pages, Revtex, 2 ps figures, uuencoded, gzip'ed, tar'ed fil

'Dressage Is Full of Queens!' Masculinity, Sexuality and Equestrian Sport

Attitudes towards sexuality are changing and levels of cultural homophobia decreasing, yet there remain very few openly gay men within sport. As a proving ground for heteromasculinity, sport has traditionally been a hostile environment for gay men. This article is based on an ethnographic study within a sporting subworld in which gay men do appear to be accepted: equestrian sport. Drawing on inclusive masculinity theory, equestrian sport is shown to offer an unusually tolerant environment for gay men in which heterosexual men of all ages demonstrate low levels of homophobia. Inclusive masculinity theory is a useful framework for exploring the changing nature of masculinities and this study demonstrates that gay men are becoming increasingly visible and accepted within once unreceptive locales, such as sport and rural communities. However, this more tolerant attitude is purchased at the expense of a subordinated feminine Other, perpetuating the dominance of men within competitive sport. © The Author(s) 2012

Measurement of the Beam Asymmetry Σ\Sigma in the Forward Direction for pi0 Photoproduction

Photoproduction of neutral pions has been studied with the CBELSA/TAPS detector for photon energies between 0.92 and 1.68~GeV at the electron accelerator ELSA. The beam asymmetry~$\Sigma$ has been extracted for $115^\circ < \theta_{\rm c.m.} < 155^\circ$ of the $\pi^0$~meson and for $\theta_{\rm c.m.} < 60^\circ$. The new beam asymmetry data improve the world database for photon energies above 1.5~GeV and, by covering the very forward region, extend previously published data for the same reaction by our collaboration. The angular dependence of $\Sigma$ shows overall good agreement with the SAID parameterization.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, published in Phys. Rev. C, included LEPS data and MAID 2007 predictions for comparison with our dat

Photoproduction of Neutral Pions off Protons

Photoproduction of neutral pions has been studied with the CBELSA/TAPS detector in the reaction $\gamma p\to p\pi^0$ for photon energies between 0.85 and 2.50 GeV. The $\pi^0$ mesons are observed in their dominant neutral decay mode: $\pi^0\to\gamma\gamma$. For the first time, the differential cross sections cover the very forward region, $\theta_{\rm c.m.}<60^\circ$. A partial-wave analysis of these data within the Bonn-Gatchina framework observes the high-mass resonances $G_{17}$(2190), $D_{13}$(2080), and $D_{15}$(2070).Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, minor modifications to PWA sectio