QTL Analysis of Shading Sensitive Related Traits in Maize under Two Shading Treatments

During maize development and reproduction, shading stress is an important abiotic factor influencing grain yield. To elucidate the genetic basis of shading stress in maize, an F2:3 population derived from two inbred lines, Zhong72 and 502, was used to evaluate the performance of six traits under shading treatment and full-light treatment at two locations. The results showed that shading treatment significantly decreased plant height and ear height, reduced stem diameter, delayed day-to-tassel (DTT) and day-to-silk (DTS), and increased anthesis-silking interval (ASI). Forty-three different QTLs were identified for the six measured traits under shading and full light treatment at two locations, including seven QTL for plant height, nine QTL for ear height, six QTL for stem diameter, seven QTL for day-to-tassel, six QTL for day-to-silk, and eight QTL for ASI. Interestingly, three QTLs, qPH4, qEH4a, and qDTT1b were detected under full sunlight and shading treatment at two locations simultaneously, these QTL could be used for selecting elite hybrids with high tolerance to shading and high plant density. And the two QTL, qPH10 and qDTS1a, were only detected under shading treatment at two locations, should be quit for selecting insensitive inbred line in maize breeding procedure by using MAS method

Effects of Once-Weekly Exenatide on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes.

Abstract BACKGROUND: The cardiovascular effects of adding once-weekly treatment with exenatide to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes are unknown. METHODS: We randomly assigned patients with type 2 diabetes, with or without previous cardiovascular disease, to receive subcutaneous injections of extended-release exenatide at a dose of 2 mg or matching placebo once weekly. The primary composite outcome was the first occurrence of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. The coprimary hypotheses were that exenatide, administered once weekly, would be noninferior to placebo with respect to safety and superior to placebo with respect to efficacy. RESULTS: In all, 14,752 patients (of whom 10,782 [73.1%] had previous cardiovascular disease) were followed for a median of 3.2 years (interquartile range, 2.2 to 4.4). A primary composite outcome event occurred in 839 of 7356 patients (11.4%; 3.7 events per 100 person-years) in the exenatide group and in 905 of 7396 patients (12.2%; 4.0 events per 100 person-years) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83 to 1.00), with the intention-to-treat analysis indicating that exenatide, administered once weekly, was noninferior to placebo with respect to safety (P<0.001 for noninferiority) but was not superior to placebo with respect to efficacy (P=0.06 for superiority). The rates of death from cardiovascular causes, fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction, fatal or nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for heart failure, and hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome, and the incidence of acute pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, medullary thyroid carcinoma, and serious adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes with or without previous cardiovascular disease, the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events did not differ significantly between patients who received exenatide and those who received placebo. (Funded by Amylin Pharmaceuticals; EXSCEL ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01144338 .)

Development of a method for managing quality at the project definition stage

In times of intense global competition and increasing customer demands, car manufacturers are forced to launch new products at regular intervals to remain competitive. As the costs of developing a vehicle are immense, these products must be successful in the market, which means that they need to be of high product quality. To invest in the right development projects, it is necessary to evaluate as early as possible in the development process the quality, and with that the potential success of a new product in the market. lt is therefore the objective of this thesis to establish criteria which allow the assessment of the Product Quality in the Definition Stage. Hereby a method shall be developed which supports project leaders in managing and assessing the quality of future products at the very beginning of the design phase. This thesis starts with an analysis of the current situation of the global motor industry and an overview of the historical evolution of quality. A description of the Definition Stage in development projects and its uncertainty factors follows, as well as an analysis of its objectives, tasks and ideal process procedures. To dene the quality in the Definition Phase, the author analysed the project management literature concerning its influencing factors. lt showed that there are parameters that have an influence on the success of a product development project. In the next stage, the objective of the Definition Stage was defined, to reach Safety of Targets. By analysing this objective, the author detected a strong influence between the Product Quality and Project Quality in this early phase. To evaluate Safety of Targets, the author detected that these criteria are not measurable. Therefore the author developed substitute parameters in close contact with design teams. The author claimed that these factors allow the evaluation of Product and Project Quality in the Definition Stage. The factors are compared with the success factors in literature and the parameters of the European. Business Excellence Model. The results confirm the findings of this thesis. Based on these results, the author developed a two-step evaluation procedure. lt contains a Self-Assessment approach for project teams to evaluate the quality in the Definition Stage. This procedure is followed by a Project Audit, where an external audit team evaluates the quality status of a project. This procedure was developed by working closely with teams and is used in several projects, which apply the method also in the downstream development stages. Even if the general applicability of the success factors and the methods could not be demonstrated, the author recommends to expand the evaluation procedure also to other industries, where the project managers find themselves in same situation as in product development projects in the motor industry