Mapping spot blotch resistance genes in four barley populations

Bipolaris sorokiniana (teleomorph: Cochliobolus sativus) is the fungal pathogen responsible for spot blotch in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and occurs worldwide in warmer, humid growing conditions. Current Australian barley varieties are largely susceptible to this disease and attempts are being made to introduce sources of resistance from North America. In this study we have compared chromosomal locations of spot blotch resistance reactions in four North American two-rowed barley lines; the North Dakota lines ND11231-12 and ND11231-11 and the Canadian lines TR251 and WPG8412-9-2-1. Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT)-based PCR, expressed sequence tag (EST) and SSR markers have been mapped across four populations derived from crosses between susceptible parental lines and these four resistant parents to determine the location of resistance loci. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) conferring resistance to spot blotch in adult plants (APR) were detected on chromosomes 3HS and 7HS. In contrast, seedling resistance (SLR) was controlled solely by a locus on chromosome 7HS. The phenotypic variance explained by the APR QTL on 3HS was between 16 and 25% and the phenotypic variance explained by the 7HS APR QTL was between 8 and 42% across the four populations. The SLR QTL on 7HS explained between 52 to 64% of the phenotypic variance. An examination of the pedigrees of these resistance sources supports the common identity of resistance in these lines and indicates that only a limited number of major resistance loci are available in current two-rowed germplasm

Effective and Efficient Similarity Index for Link Prediction of Complex Networks

Predictions of missing links of incomplete networks like protein-protein interaction networks or very likely but not yet existent links in evolutionary networks like friendship networks in web society can be considered as a guideline for further experiments or valuable information for web users. In this paper, we introduce a local path index to estimate the likelihood of the existence of a link between two nodes. We propose a network model with controllable density and noise strength in generating links, as well as collect data of six real networks. Extensive numerical simulations on both modeled networks and real networks demonstrated the high effectiveness and efficiency of the local path index compared with two well-known and widely used indices, the common neighbors and the Katz index. Indeed, the local path index provides competitively accurate predictions as the Katz index while requires much less CPU time and memory space, which is therefore a strong candidate for potential practical applications in data mining of huge-size networks.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

Anthocyanin-rich New Zealand blackcurrant extract enhances whole-body resting fat oxidation in physically active males

Background: New Zealand blackcurrant extract has been shown to enhance exercise-induced fat oxidation during walking and cycling. We examined the effects of 14-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract on the metabolic and physiological responses during supine rest in males. Methods: Healthy physically active males (n=16, age: 24±6 yr, body mass: 78±16 kg, height 178±6 cm, BMI: 24.7±4.1 kg·m-2 (8 normal weight, 7 overweight, 1 obese), body fat: 15±6%) volunteered. Participants were tested at baseline (no supplementation) and after 14-days intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract in a randomized, crossover design. Two capsules of New Zealand blackcurrant extract (600 mg containing 210 mg of anthocyanins) were consumed every morning with breakfast. The last 2 capsules were taken two hours before the visit with one slice of bread and water 3 hours before the visits. There were no differences for carbohydrate, fat, and protein intake between the visits. Resting expired air was collected for two times for 10 min with Douglas bags and recording of heart rate. Rates of whole-body resting fat and carbohydrate oxidation were calculated. Responses for the 10 min with the lowest minute ventilation were analysed. Results: During supine rest, there was no effect on heart rate (baseline: 61±10, 14-day: 61±10 beats·min-1, P=0.96), minute ventilation (baseline: 8.10±1.43, 14-day: 7.82±0.98 L·min-1, (P=0.38), oxygen uptake (baseline: 0.293±0.060, 14-day: 0.285±0.057 L·min-1, P=0.43), carbon dioxide production (baseline: 0.245±0.051, 14-day: 0.233±0.041 L·min-1, P=0.24) and energy expenditure (baseline: 1.49±0.30, 14-day: 1.44±0.27 kcal·min-1, P=0.33). Lower respiratory exchange ratio (baseline: 0.840±0.045, 14-day: 0.820±0.058, P=0.03), higher fat oxidation (baseline: 0.078±0.031, 14-day: 0.088±0.043 g·min-1, P=0.05), and lower carbohydrate oxidation (baseline: 0.168±0.062, 14-day: 0.134±0.066 g·min-1, P=0.03) were observed with 14-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract during supine rest. Twelve participants (75%) had higher fat oxidation during supine rest with for those an increase of 21±17%. Conclusions: Whole-body fat oxidation during supine rest was enhanced by 14-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract in males. Enhanced whole-body resting fat oxidation may be due to combined effects of an increase in lipolysis, an increase in blood flow, and increased metabolic handling of fatty acids in the muscle. Our observations on resting substrate oxidation in the present study may indicate that New Zealand blackcurrant extract has application for weight management. However, the dosing strategy to maximize whole-body resting fat oxidation with intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract is not known. Acknowledgements: Supplementation was provided by Health Currancy Ltd (United Kingdom) and CurraNZ Ltd (New Zealand). Financial support for conference attendance was obtained from Blackcurrant New Zealand Inc (New Zealand)

Effects of intermittent and daily intake of anthocyanin-rich New Zealand blackcurrant extract on cardiovascular function during supine rest in healthy males

Background: Intake of polyphenols results in plasma bioavailability of metabolites that can last for days. Studies have mostly employed dosing protocols that examined observations following acute or daily prolonged intake. We examined the effects of intermittent and daily intake of New Zealand blackcurrant (NZBC) extract over a 14-day period on cardiovascular function during supine rest. Methods: Healthy physically active males (n=15, age: 24±6 yr, body mass: 78±16 kg, height 177±7 cm, BMI: 24.7±4.3 kg·m-2 (8 normal weight, 6 overweight, 1 obese), body fat: 15±5%) volunteered. Participants visits included resting measurements at baseline (no supplementation), after 14-day intermittent intake (14-I, i.e. every other day) and 14-day daily intake (14-D) of two NZBC extract capsules (210 mg of anthocyanins for two capsules). Last dose was consumed one hour after breakfast of one slice of bread and water and 2 hours before visiting the laboratory. Cardiovascular measurements were obtained with a beat-to-beat blood pressure monitoring system (Portapres® Model 2, Finapres Medical Systems BV, Enschede, The Netherlands). Expired air was collected for two times for 10 min with Douglas bags and volumes measured. Cardiovascular observations during the 10 min with the lowest minute ventilation were analysed. Result: During supine rest, there was no effect on heart rate and systolic blood pressure. Lower diastolic blood pressure was recorded and similar for intake conditions [baseline: 70±7, 14-I: 64±5 (P<0.01, d= -0.99), 14-D: 63±9 mmHg (P<0.05, d= -0.87)]. Lower mean arterial pressure was recorded and similar for intake conditions [baseline: 87±7, 14-I: 81±6 (P<0.01, d= -0.92), 14-D: 81±9 mmHg (P=0.03, d= -0.74)]. Higher stroke volume was recorded only for 14-day daily intake [baseline: 94.9±13.4, 14-I: 100.0±14.3, 14-D: 103.1±18.1 mL (P=0.01, d=0.51)]. Cardiac output was higher with a trend for change at 14-day intermittent and a change with 14-day daily intake [baseline: 5.68±0.71, 14-I: 6.15±0.90 (P=0.05, d=0.58), 14-D: 6.14±0.88 L·min-1 (P=0.02, d=0.58)]. Total peripheral resistance was reduced and similar for intake conditions (baseline: 15.67±2.85, 14-I: 13.59±2.50 (P<0.01, d= -0.78), 14-D: 13.43±2.61 mmHg·min·L-1 (P<0.01, d= -0.82)]. Conclusions: Beneficial effects of intake of anthocyanin-rich NZBC extract on resting cardiovascular function can be obtained by intermittent (i.e. every other day) intake of 210 mg of anthocyanins. Future work may want to address the effects of longer intermittent intake than the 2-weeks employed in our study. It would also be of interest to examine plasma bioavailability of anthocyanin-derived metabolites with intermittent intake of NZBC extract. Acknowledgements: Supplementation was provided by Health Currancy Ltd (United Kingdom) and CurraNZ Ltd (New Zealand). Financial support for conference attendance was obtained from Blackcurrant New Zealand Inc (New Zealand)

Acute effects of anthocyanin-rich New Zealand blackcurrant extract on cardiovascular function during supine rest in healthy males

Background: Polyphenols in fruits and vegetables provide anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects. Reduced risk for cardiovascular disease is likely associated with the effects by polyphenols on blood pressure and arterial stiffness. Studies with 7-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract showed changes during supine rest for cardiovascular parameters. We examined the effects of an acute intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract on cardiovascular function during supine rest in healthy males. Methods: Healthy physically active males (n=15, age: 24±6 yr, body mass: 78±16 kg, height 177±7 cm, BMI: 24.7±4.3 kg·m-2 (8 normal weight, 6 overweight, 1 obese), body fat: 15±5%) volunteered. Participants visited the laboratory for resting measurements at baseline (no supplementation) and 2 hours after intake of two capsules with New Zealand blackcurrant extract (600 mg containing 210 mg of anthocyanins). Capsules were taken one hour after breakfast of one slice of bread and water and 2 hours before testing. After being seated in a chair for 10 min, participants were asked to lie horizontally on a massage table for resting measurements. Whole body cardiovascular measurements were obtained with a beat-to-beat blood pressure monitoring system (Portapres® Model 2, Finapres Medical Systems BV, Enschede, The Netherlands). Expired air was collected for two times for 10 min with Douglas bags and volume measured. Cardiovascular observations during the 10 min with the lowest minute ventilation were analysed. Results: At supine rest, there was no effect on heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure and stroke volume. However, 10 out of 15 participants had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure values with acute intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract. There was a trend for cardiac output to be higher by 5% (baseline: 5.68±0.71, NZBC: 5.99±0.98 L·min-1, P=0.09, d=0.36). Total peripheral resistance was reduced by 7% (baseline: 15.67±2.85, NZBC: 14.45±3.04 mmHg·min·L-1, P<0.05, d= -0.41). Conclusions: In previous work, we observed with 7- and 14-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract larger changes in cardiac output and total peripheral resistance than in the present study. Our observations indicate only a moderate effect on cardiovascular function at rest with acute intake. Future studies need to address whether an acute intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract is effective in people with hypertension or peripheral arterial disease. Acknowledgements: Supplementation was provided by Health Currancy Ltd (United Kingdom) and CurraNZ Ltd (New Zealand). Financial support for conference attendance was obtained from Blackcurrant New Zealand Inc (New Zealand)

Escaping the Big Brother: an empirical study on factors influencing identification and information leakage on the Web

This paper presents a study on factors that may increase the risks of personal information leakage, due to the possibility of connecting user profiles that are not explicitly linked together. First, we introduce a technique for user identification based on cross-site checking and linking of user attributes. Then, we describe the experimental evaluation of the identification technique both on a real setting and on an online sample, showing its accuracy to discover unknown personal data. Finally, we combine the results on the accuracy of identification with the results of a questionnaire completed by the same subjects who performed the test on the real setting. The aim of the study was to discover possible factors that make users vulnerable to this kind of techniques. We found out that the number of social networks used, their features and especially the amount of profiles abandoned and forgotten by the user are factors that increase the likelihood of identification and the privacy risks

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine: Brussels, Belgium. 15-18 March 2016.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

Wheat-barley hybridization – the last forty years

Abstract Several useful alien gene transfers have been reported from related species into wheat (Triticum aestivum), but very few publications have dealt with the development of wheat/barley (Hordeum vulgare) introgression lines. An overview is given here of wheat 9 barley hybridization over the last forty years, including the development of wheat 9 barley hybrids, and of addition and translocation lines with various barley cultivars. A short summary is also given of the wheat 9 barley hybrids produced with other Hordeum species. The meiotic pairing behaviour of wheat 9 barley hybrids is presented, with special regard to the detection of wheat– barley homoeologous pairing using the molecular cytogenetic technique GISH. The effect of in vitro multiplication on the genome composition of intergeneric hybrids is discussed, and the production and characterization of the latest wheat/barley translocation lines are presented. An overview of the agronomical traits (b-glucan content, earliness, salt tolerance, sprouting resistance, etc.) of the newly developed introgression lines is given. The exploitation and possible use of wheat/barley introgression lines for the most up-to-date molecular genetic studies (transcriptome analysis, sequencing of flow-sorted chromosomes) are also discussed

Fast Multi-contrast MRI Reconstruction

Abstract. This paper proposes an efficient algorithm to simultaneously reconstruct multiple T1/T2-weighted images of the same anatomical cross section from partially sampled k-space data. The simultaneous re-construction problem is formulated as minimizing a linear combination of three terms corresponding to a least square data fitting, joint total-variation (TV) and group wavelet-sparsity regularization. It is rooted in two observations: 1) the variance of image gradients should be similar for the same spatial position across multiple contrasts; 2) the wavelet coeffi-cients of all images from the same anatomical cross section should have similar sparse modes. To efficiently solve this formulation, we decompose it into group sparsity and joint TV regularization subproblems, respec-tively. Finally, the reconstructed image is obtained from the weighted average of solutions from two subproblems in an iterative framework. We compare the proposed algorithm with previous methods on SRT24 multi-channel Brain Atlas Data. Experiments demonstrate its superior performance for multi-contrast MR image reconstruction.

Validation of deep learning techniques for quality augmentation in diffusion MRI for clinical studies

The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of deep learning (DL) techniques in improving the quality of diffusion MRI (dMRI) data in clinical applications. The study aims to determine whether the use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods in medical images may result in the loss of critical clinical information and/or the appearance of false information. To assess this, the focus was on the angular resolution of dMRI and a clinical trial was conducted on migraine, specifically between episodic and chronic migraine patients. The number of gradient directions had an impact on white matter analysis results, with statistically significant differences between groups being drastically reduced when using 21 gradient directions instead of the original 61. Fourteen teams from different institutions were tasked to use DL to enhance three diffusion metrics (FA, AD and MD) calculated from data acquired with 21 gradient directions and a b-value of 1000 s/mm2. The goal was to produce results that were comparable to those calculated from 61 gradient directions. The results were evaluated using both standard image quality metrics and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) to compare episodic and chronic migraine patients. The study results suggest that while most DL techniques improved the ability to detect statistical differences between groups, they also led to an increase in false positive. The results showed that there was a constant growth rate of false positives linearly proportional to the new true positives, which highlights the risk of generalization of AI-based tasks when assessing diverse clinical cohorts and training using data from a single group. The methods also showed divergent performance when replicating the original distribution of the data and some exhibited significant bias. In conclusion, extreme caution should be exercised when using AI methods for harmonization or synthesis in clinical studies when processing heterogeneous data in clinical studies, as important information may be altered, even when global metrics such as structural similarity or peak signal-to-noise ratio appear to suggest otherwise