Caffeine inheritance in interspecific hybrids of Coffea arabica x Coffea canephora (Gentianales, Rubiaceae)

Caffeine inheritance was investigated in F2 and BC1F1 generations between Coffea arabica var. Bourbon Vermelho (BV) and Coffea canephora var. Robusta 4x (R4x). The caffeine content of seeds and leaves was determined during 2004 and 2005. Microsatellite loci-markers were used to deduce the meiotic pattern of chromosome pairing of tetraploid interspecific hybrids. Genetic analysis indicated that caffeine content in seeds was quantitatively inherited and controlled by genes with additive effects. The estimates of broad-sense heritability of caffeine content in seeds were high for both generations. In coffee leaves, the caffeine content (BSH) from the same populations showed transgressive segregants with enhanced levels and high BSH. Segregation of loci-markers in BC1F1 populations showed that the ratios of the gametes genotype did not differ significantly from those expected assuming random associations and tetrasomic inheritance. The results confirm the existence of distinct mechanisms controlling the caffeine content in seeds and leaves, the gene exchange between the C. arabica BV and C. canephora R4x genomes and favorable conditions for improving caffeine content in this coffee population312498504CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQsem informaçã

Salivary molecular spectroscopy : a sustainable, rapid and non-invasive monitoring tool for diabetes mellitus during insulin treatment

Monitoring of blood glucose is an invasive, painful and costly practice in diabetes. Consequently, the search for a more cost-effective (reagent-free), non-invasive and specific diabetes monitoring method is of great interest. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy has been used in diagnosis of several diseases, however, applications in the monitoring of diabetic treatment are just beginning to emerge. Here, we used ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to evaluate saliva of non-diabetic (ND), diabetic (D) and insulin-treated diabetic (D+I) rats to identify potential salivary biomarkers related to glucose monitoring. The spectrum of saliva of ND, D and D+I rats displayed several unique vibrational modes and from these, two vibrational modes were pre-validated as potential diagnostic biomarkers by ROC curve analysis with significant correlation with glycemia. Compared to the ND and D+I rats, classification of D rats was achieved with a sensitivity of 100%, and an average specificity of 93.33% and 100% using bands 1452 cm-1 and 836 cm-1, respectively. Moreover, 1452 cm-1 and 836 cm-1 spectral bands proved to be robust spectral biomarkers and highly correlated with glycemia (R2 of 0.801 and 0.788, P < 0.01, respectively). Both PCA-LDA and HCA classifications achieved an accuracy of 95.2%. Spectral salivary biomarkers discovered using univariate and multivariate analysis may provide a novel robust alternative for diabetes monitoring using a non-invasive and green technology

Research priorities in the field of posttraumatic pain and disability: Results of a transdisciplinary consensus-generating workshop

© Copyright 2016 David M.Walton et al. Background. Chronic or persistent pain and disability following noncatastrophic \u27musculoskeletal\u27 (MSK) trauma is a pervasive public health problem. Recent intervention trials have provided little evidence of benefit from several specific treatments for preventing chronic problems. Such findings may appear to argue against formal targeted intervention for MSK traumas. However, these negative findings may reflect a lack of understanding of the causal mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic pain, rendering informed and objective treatment decisions difficult. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute ofMusculoskeletalHealth and Arthritis (IMHA) has recently identified better understanding of causalmechanisms as one of three priority foci of their most recent strategic plan. Objectives. A 2-day invitation-only active participation workshop was held inMarch 2015 that included 30 academics, clinicians, and consumers with the purpose of identifying consensus research priorities in the field of trauma-relatedMSK pain and disability, prediction, and prevention. Methods. Conversations were recorded, explored thematically, and member-checked for accuracy. Results. From the discussions, 13 themes were generated that ranged from a focus on identifying causal mechanisms and models to challenges with funding and patient engagement. Discussion. Novel priorities included the inclusion of consumer groups in research from the early conceptualization and design stages and interdisciplinary longitudinal studies that include evaluation of integrated phenotypes and mechanisms

Factors affecting the electrocardiographic QT interval in malaria: A systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data.

BACKGROUND: Electrocardiographic QT interval prolongation is the most widely used risk marker for ventricular arrhythmia potential and thus an important component of drug cardiotoxicity assessments. Several antimalarial medicines are associated with QT interval prolongation. However, interpretation of electrocardiographic changes is confounded by the coincidence of peak antimalarial drug concentrations with recovery from malaria. We therefore reviewed all available data to characterise the effects of malaria disease and demographic factors on the QT interval in order to improve assessment of electrocardiographic changes in the treatment and prevention of malaria. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data. We searched clinical bibliographic databases (last on August 21, 2017) for studies of the quinoline and structurally related antimalarials for malaria-related indications in human participants in which electrocardiograms were systematically recorded. Unpublished studies were identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) Evidence Review Group (ERG) on the Cardiotoxicity of Antimalarials. Risk of bias was assessed using the Pharmacoepidemiological Research on Outcomes of Therapeutics by a European Consortium (PROTECT) checklist for adverse drug events. Bayesian hierarchical multivariable regression with generalised additive models was used to investigate the effects of malaria and demographic factors on the pretreatment QT interval. The meta-analysis included 10,452 individuals (9,778 malaria patients, including 343 with severe disease, and 674 healthy participants) from 43 studies. 7,170 (68.6%) had fever (body temperature ≥ 37.5°C), and none developed ventricular arrhythmia after antimalarial treatment. Compared to healthy participants, patients with uncomplicated falciparum malaria had shorter QT intervals (-61.77 milliseconds; 95% credible interval [CI]: -80.71 to -42.83) and increased sensitivity of the QT interval to heart rate changes. These effects were greater in severe malaria (-110.89 milliseconds; 95% CI: -140.38 to -81.25). Body temperature was associated independently with clinically significant QT shortening of 2.80 milliseconds (95% CI: -3.17 to -2.42) per 1°C increase. Study limitations include that it was not possible to assess the effect of other factors that may affect the QT interval but are not consistently collected in malaria clinical trials. CONCLUSIONS: Adjustment for malaria and fever-recovery-related QT lengthening is necessary to avoid misattributing malaria-disease-related QT changes to antimalarial drug effects. This would improve risk assessments of antimalarial-related cardiotoxicity in clinical research and practice. Similar adjustments may be indicated for other febrile illnesses for which QT-interval-prolonging medications are important therapeutic options

The role of protected areas in the avoidance of anthropogenic conversion in a high pressure region : a matching method analysis in the core region of the brazilian cerrado

Global efforts to avoid anthropogenic conversion of natural habitat rely heavily on the establishment of protected areas. Studies that evaluate the effectiveness of these areas with a focus on preserving the natural habitat define effectiveness as a measure of the influence of protected areas on total avoided conversion. Changes in the estimated effectiveness are related to local and regional differences, evaluation methods, restriction categories that include the protected areas, and other characteristics. The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of protected areas to prevent the advance of the conversion of natural areas in the core region of the Brazil’s Cerrado Biome, taking into account the influence of the restriction degree, governmental sphere, time since the establishment of the protected area units, and the size of the area on the performance of protected areas. The evaluation was conducted using matching methods and took into account the following two fundamental issues: control of statistical biases caused by the influence of covariates on the likelihood of anthropogenic conversion and the non-randomness of the allocation of protected areas throughout the territory (spatial correlation effect) and the control of statistical bias caused by the influence of auto-correlation and leakage effect. Using a sample design that is not based on ways to control these biases may result in outcomes that underestimate or overestimate the effectiveness of those units. The matching method accounted for a bias reduction in 94–99% of the estimation of the average effect of protected areas on anthropogenic conversion and allowed us to obtain results with a reduced influence of the auto-correlation and leakage effects. Most protected areas had a positive influence on the maintenance of natural habitats, although wide variation in this effectiveness was dependent on the type, restriction, governmental sphere, size and age group of the unit

Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to TeV photon emission from the Large Magellanic Cloud

A deep survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud at ∼0.1-100 TeV photon energies with the Cherenkov Telescope Array is planned. We assess the detection prospects based on a model for the emission of the galaxy, comprising the four known TeV emitters, mock populations of sources, and interstellar emission on galactic scales. We also assess the detectability of 30 Doradus and SN 1987A, and the constraints that can be derived on the nature of dark matter. The survey will allow for fine spectral studies of N 157B, N 132D, LMC P3, and 30 Doradus C, and half a dozen other sources should be revealed, mainly pulsar-powered objects. The remnant from SN 1987A could be detected if it produces cosmic-ray nuclei with a flat power-law spectrum at high energies, or with a steeper index 2.3-2.4 pending a flux increase by a factor of &gt;3-4 over ∼2015-2035. Large-scale interstellar emission remains mostly out of reach of the survey if its &gt;10 GeV spectrum has a soft photon index ∼2.7, but degree-scale 0.1-10 TeV pion-decay emission could be detected if the cosmic-ray spectrum hardens above &gt;100 GeV. The 30 Doradus star-forming region is detectable if acceleration efficiency is on the order of 1−10 per cent of the mechanical luminosity and diffusion is suppressed by two orders of magnitude within &lt;100 pc. Finally, the survey could probe the canonical velocity-averaged cross-section for self-annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles for cuspy Navarro-Frenk-White profiles

Diversity of Staphylococcus aureus Isolates in European Wildlife

Staphylococcus aureus is a well-known colonizer and cause of infection among animals and it has been described from numerous domestic and wild animal species. The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular epidemiology of S. aureus in a convenience sample of European wildlife and to review what previously has been observed in the subject field. 124 S. aureus isolates were collected from wildlife in Germany, Austria and Sweden; they were characterized by DNA microarray hybridization and, for isolates with novel hybridization patterns, by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). The isolates were assigned to 29 clonal complexes and singleton sequence types (CC1, CC5, CC6, CC7, CC8, CC9, CC12, CC15, CC22, CC25, CC30, CC49, CC59, CC88, CC97, CC130, CC133, CC398, ST425, CC599, CC692, CC707, ST890, CC1956, ST2425, CC2671, ST2691, CC2767 and ST2963), some of which (ST2425, ST2691, ST2963) were not described previously. Resistance rates in wildlife strains were rather low and mecA-MRSA isolates were rare (n = 6). mecC-MRSA (n = 8) were identified from a fox, a fallow deer, hares and hedgehogs. The common cattle- associated lineages CC479 and CC705 were not detected in wildlife in the present study while, in contrast, a third common cattle lineage, CC97, was found to be common among cervids. No Staphylococcus argenteus or Staphylococcus schweitzeri-like isolates were found. Systematic studies are required to monitor the possible transmission of human- and livestock- associated S. aureus/MRSA to wildlife and vice versa as well as the possible transmission, by unprotected contact to animals. The prevalence of S. aureus/MRSA in wildlife as well as its population structures in different wildlife host species warrants further investigation