Vlaamse decreetgever hertekent het fiscaal kader voor de overdracht van familiebedrijven – eerste verkenning van de nieuwe regeling en evaluatie vanuit de beleidsdoelstellingen

Het nieuwe jaar bracht naar goede gewoonte ook in 2012 enkele nieuwe fiscale wijzigingen met zich mee. De Vlaamse decreetgever liet zich niet onbetuigd en voerde met ingang 1 januari 2012 enkele opvallende wijzigingen door inzake de overdracht van familiebedrijven

Effect of physiological determinants and cardiac disease on plasma adiponectin concentration in dogs

Background: In humans, a high concentration of adiponectin is associated with a favorable cardiovascular risk profile whereas, in patients with heart failure (HF), a high concentration of adiponectin is associated with a less favorable prognosis. Hypothesis/Objectives: To evaluate the physiological determinants of plasma adiponectin concentration in dogs and the influence of heart disease, myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Animals: One hundred and fourteen client-owned dogs and 9 Beagles from the research colony of the Clinical Veterinary Unit of the University of Liège. Methods: We prospectively measured circulating adiponectin concentration in healthy control dogs (n = 77), dogs with MMVD (n = 22) and dogs with DCM (n = 15) of various degrees of severity. Diagnosis was confirmed by Doppler echocardiography. Plasma adiponectin concentration was measured by a canine-specific sandwich ELISA kit. Results: An analysis of covariance showed an association between adiponectin concentration and age, neuter status, and heart disease. No association between adiponectin concentration and class of HF, sex, body condition score, body weight, circadian rhythm, or feeding was found. Plasma adiponectin concentration was negatively correlated with age (P =.001). Adiponectin was lower in neutered (P =.008) compared to intact dogs. Circulating adiponectin concentration was increased in dogs with DCM compared to healthy dogs (P =.018) and to dogs with MMVD (P =.014). Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Age and neutering negatively influence circulating adiponectin concentration. Plasma adiponectin concentration increased in dogs with DCM. Additional research is required to investigate if this hormone is implicated in the pathophysiology of DCM and associated with clinical outcome.SCOPUS: ar.jSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Arabidopsis ULTRAVIOLET-B-INSENSITIVE4 maintains cell division activity by temporal inhibition of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome

The anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) is a multisubunit ubiquitin ligase that regulates progression through the cell cycle by marking key cell division proteins for destruction. To ensure correct cell cycle progression, accurate timing of APC/C activity is important, which is obtained through its association with both activating and inhibitory subunits. However, although the APC/C is highly conserved among eukaryotes, no APC/C inhibitors are known in plants. Recently, we have identified ULTRAVIOLET-B-INSENSITIVE4 (UVI4) as a plant-specific component of the APC/C. Here, we demonstrate that UVI4 uses conserved APC/C interaction motifs to counteract the activity of the CELL CYCLE SWITCH52 A1 (CCS52A1) activator subunit, inhibiting the turnover of the A-type cyclin CYCA2;3. UVI4 is expressed in an S phase-dependent fashion, likely through the action of E2F transcription factors. Correspondingly, uvi4 mutant plants failed to accumulate CYCA2; 3 during the S phase and prematurely exited the cell cycle, triggering the onset of the endocycle. We conclude that UVI4 regulates the temporal inactivation of APC/C during DNA replication, allowing CYCA2;3 to accumulate above the level required for entering mitosis, and thereby regulates the meristem size and plant growth rate

Selection for improved energy use efficiency and drought tolerance in canola results in distinct transcriptome and epigenome changes

To increase both the yield potential and stability of crops, integrated breeding strategies are used that have mostly a direct genetic basis, but the utility of epigenetics to improve complex traits is unclear. A better understanding of the status of the epigenome and its contribution to agronomic performance would help in developing approaches to incorporate the epigenetic component of complex traits into breeding programs. Starting from isogenic canola (Brassica napus) lines, epilines were generated by selecting, repeatedly for three generations, for increased energy use efficiency and drought tolerance. These epilines had an enhanced energy use efficiency, drought tolerance, and nitrogen use efficiency. Transcriptome analysis of the epilines and a line selected for its energy use efficiency solely revealed common differentially expressed genes related to the onset of stress tolerance-regulating signaling events. Genes related to responses to salt, osmotic, abscisic acid, and drought treatments were specifically differentially expressed in the drought-tolerant epilines. The status of the epigenome, scored as differential trimethylation of lysine-4 of histone 3, further supported the phenotype by targeting drought-responsive genes and facilitating the transcription of the differentially expressed genes. From these results, we conclude that the canola epigenome can be shaped by selection to increase energy use efficiency and stress tolerance. Hence, these findings warrant the further development of strategies to incorporate epigenetics into breeding

Migraine-Associated TRESK Mutations Increase Neuronal Excitability through Alternative Translation Initiation and Inhibition of TREK

Mutations in ion channels contribute to neurological disorders, but determining the basis of their role in pathophysiology is often unclear. In humans, 2 mutations have been found to produce a dominant negative for TRESK, a two-pore-domain K+ channel implicated in migraine: TRESK-MT, a 2 bp frameshift mutation (F139WfsX24) and TRESK-C110R, a missense mutation. Despite the fact that both mutants strongly inhibit TRESK, only TRESK-MT leads to an increase in sensory neuron excitability and is associated with a migraine phenotype. Here, we identify a new mechanism, termed frameshift mutation induced Alternative Translation Initiation (fsATI) that may explain why TRESK-MT but not TRESK-C110R is associated with migraine disorder. fsATI leads, from the same TRESK-MT mRNA, to two proteins: TRESK-MT1 and TRESK-MT2. We show that by co-assembling with and inhibiting TREK1 and TREK2, another subfamily of K2P channels, overexpression of TRESK-MT2 increases trigeminal sensory neuron excitability, a key component of migraine induction, leading to a migraine-like phenotype. This finding identifies TREK as a potential molecular target in migraine pathophysiology and resolves the contradictory lack of effect of TRESK-C110R which targets only TRESK and not TREK. Finally, taking into account the potential for fsATI allowed us to identify a new migraine-related TRESK mutant, Y121LfsX44, which also leads to the production of two TRESK fragments, indicating that this mechanism may be widespread. Together, our results suggest that genetic analysis of disease-related mutations should consider fsATI as a distinct class of mutations

Translation and Validation of the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey in Dutch

Objective: The Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey is a validated instrument for patients undergoing rhinoplasty surgery. The aim of this study was to validate a Dutch-language version of the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey.Methods: The Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey was translated and back-translated and 10 Dutch-speaking rhinoplasty patients were interviewed to evaluate the translation. The translated version was administered to 25 rhinoplasty patients (cases) and 25 controls at 2-week intervals. The internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and factor structure of Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey were measured.Results: Both the obstructive domain of the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey and the cosmetic domain showed a high internal consistency, alpha 0.94 and 0.95, respectively. The Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey was reliable showing very strong test–retest correlations of 0.93 for Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey-obstructive domain and 0.94 for Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey-cosmetic domain, respectively. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test showed a significant difference between cases and controls for the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey-cosmetic domain (P =.0001) but not for the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey-obstructive domain (P =.14). Exploratory factor analysis showed unidimensionality for both the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey-cosmetic domain and the Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey-obstructive domain.Conclusion: The Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey was successfully translated, culturally adopted, and validated for its use in a Dutch-speaking population of rhinoplasty patients.</p

Regulation of tomato fruit pericarp development by an interplay between CDKB and CDKA1 cell cycle genes

Growth of tomato fruits is determined by cell division and cell expansion, which are tightly controlled by factors that drive the core cell cycle. The cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and their interacting partners, the cyclins, play a key role in the progression of the cell cycle. In this study the role of CDKA1, CDKB1, and CDKB2 in fruit development was characterized by fruit-specific overexpression and down-regulation. CDKA1 is expressed in the pericarp throughout development, but is strongly up-regulated in the outer pericarp cell layers at the end of the growth period, when CDKB gene expression has ceased. Overexpression of the CDKB genes at later stages of development and the down-regulation of CDKA1 result in a very similar fruit phenotype, showing a reduction in the number of cell layers in the pericarp and alterations in the desiccation of the fruits. Expression studies revealed that CDKA1 is down-regulated by the expression of CDKB1/2 in CDKB1 and CDKB2 overexpression mutants, suggesting opposite roles for these types of CDK proteins in tomato pericarp development