Gregor Mendel’s meeting with Pope Pius IX: the truth in the story.

According to Hugo Iltis, Mendel had made a journey to Italy in the 1860s, not knowing when or for what purpose. Mendel might then have also paid a visit to Pope Pius IX, and become acquainted with the “later” Cardinal Teodolfo Mertel. Oswald Richter had already discovered that Mendel had received a 3-months pass for the Italian states in mid-August 1863. In this article, I put forward new evidence and arguments that it is very likely that Mendel took part in a three weeks’ organized group tour to Italy in September 1863. This tour was organized by the same entrepreneurs as Mendel’s group tour to the International Exhibition in London a year earlier. In Rome, the group was received by the Pope. Furthermore, there were stays of several days in Naples and Florence. Because Mertel had already become Cardinal four years before this trip, this part of the story about Mertel cannot be correct. I argue that it is likely that the high dignitary whom Mendel met was Karl von Hefele, professor of church history, spokesman for the group at the meeting with the Pope. It is striking that in 1862 and 1863, Mendel could make expensive international trips, which were only affordable to the societal elite. These major international journeys illustrate Mendel’s broad interest in the world and the society of his days and contrast the view that he was a monk in recluse

A precious metal alloy for construction of MR imaging-compatible balloon-expandable vascular stents

The authors developed ABI alloy, which mechanically resembles stainless steel 316. The main elements of ABI alloy are palladium and silver. Magnetic resonance (MR) images and radiographs of ABI alloy and stainless steel 316 stent models and of nitinol, tantalum, and Elgiloy stents were compared. ABI alloy showed the least MR imaging artifacts and was more radiopaque than stainless steel 316. ABI alloy has the potential to replace stainless steel 316 for construction of balloon-expandable MR imaging-compatible stents

Mendel’s journey to Paris and London: context and significance for the origin of genetics.

From a letter Gregor Mendel wrote to his brother-in-law, and a photograph of a large group of people in Paris, it is known that Mendel visited the International Exhibition in London in August 1862. There has been speculation about the status and composition of this travel group; for example, whether it was an official delegation from the city of Brünn. There has also been speculation on whether Mendel visited Charles Darwin on that occasion. We have now found a partial list of participants of the second 1862 pleasure train (Vergnügungszug) from Vienna to Paris and London, which includes Mendel’s name. The names of 158 participants make a partial reconstruction of the travel group possible. Digital newspapers were researched to get more insight into the status, residence, and profession of the participants. Most belonged to the upper-class of the Austrian Empire, among them several citizens of Brünn. Such luxurious all-inclusive pleasure trains were a new phenomenon in Vienna at the time and received much attention in the newspapers. Gregor Mendel was one of the first to participate in this expensive new trend. The person next to Mendel in the photograph shows a clear resemblance with Johann Nave in the photograph of the founding members of the Natural Science Society of Brünn the same year (see Figs. 1 and 5). The newspaper lists of arrivals in Viennese hotels shows that Johann Nave, was in Vienna when the pleasure train departed. Johann Nave was an internationally acknowledged algae expert with interest in plant reproductive processes. In 1858 Mendel had nominated Nave as a new member of the scientific section of the Agricultural Society. A scientific connection between Mendel and Nave has been conjectured previously; however, evidence was lacking so far. After his early death in 1864, Nave’s scientific library was acquired by the Natural Science Society. It contained books about the latest insights on plant fertilization, and since Mendel’s 1866-paper contains a lengthy footnote about this topic, Mendel and Nave likely discussed this area of Mendel’s research. This may also have been the case during their journey to Paris and London because it was in 1862 that Mendel conducted the final crossing experiments to test his hypothesis about the composition and the random union of pollen and egg cells

Mendel’s journey to Paris and London: context and significance for the origin of genetics.

From a letter Gregor Mendel wrote to his brother-in-law, and a photograph of a large group of people in Paris, it is known that Mendel visited the International Exhibition in London in August 1862. There has been speculation about the status and composition of this travel group; for example, whether it was an official delegation from the city of Brünn. There has also been speculation on whether Mendel visited Charles Darwin on that occasion. We have now found a partial list of participants of the second 1862 pleasure train (Vergnügungszug) from Vienna to Paris and London, which includes Mendel’s name. The names of 158 participants make a partial reconstruction of the travel group possible. Digital newspapers were researched to get more insight into the status, residence, and profession of the participants. Most belonged to the upper-class of the Austrian Empire, among them several citizens of Brünn. Such luxurious all-inclusive pleasure trains were a new phenomenon in Vienna at the time and received much attention in the newspapers. Gregor Mendel was one of the first to participate in this expensive new trend. The person next to Mendel in the photograph shows a clear resemblance with Johann Nave in the photograph of the founding members of the Natural Science Society of Brünn the same year (see Figs. 1 and 5). The newspaper lists of arrivals in Viennese hotels shows that Johann Nave, was in Vienna when the pleasure train departed. Johann Nave was an internationally acknowledged algae expert with interest in plant reproductive processes. In 1858 Mendel had nominated Nave as a new member of the scientific section of the Agricultural Society. A scientific connection between Mendel and Nave has been conjectured previously; however, evidence was lacking so far. After his early death in 1864, Nave’s scientific library was acquired by the Natural Science Society. It contained books about the latest insights on plant fertilization, and since Mendel’s 1866-paper contains a lengthy footnote about this topic, Mendel and Nave likely discussed this area of Mendel’s research. This may also have been the case during their journey to Paris and London because it was in 1862 that Mendel conducted the final crossing experiments to test his hypothesis about the composition and the random union of pollen and egg cells

Mendel’s journey to Paris and London: context and significance for the origin of genetics.

From a letter Gregor Mendel wrote to his brother-in-law, and a photograph of a large group of people in Paris, it is known that Mendel visited the International Exhibition in London in August 1862. There has been speculation about the status and composition of this travel group; for example, whether it was an official delegation from the city of Brünn. There has also been speculation on whether Mendel visited Charles Darwin on that occasion. We have now found a partial list of participants of the second 1862 pleasure train (Vergnügungszug) from Vienna to Paris and London, which includes Mendel’s name. The names of 158 participants make a partial reconstruction of the travel group possible. Digital newspapers were researched to get more insight into the status, residence, and profession of the participants. Most belonged to the upper-class of the Austrian Empire, among them several citizens of Brünn. Such luxurious all-inclusive pleasure trains were a new phenomenon in Vienna at the time and received much attention in the newspapers. Gregor Mendel was one of the first to participate in this expensive new trend. The person next to Mendel in the photograph shows a clear resemblance with Johann Nave in the photograph of the founding members of the Natural Science Society of Brünn the same year (see Figs. 1 and 5). The newspaper lists of arrivals in Viennese hotels shows that Johann Nave, was in Vienna when the pleasure train departed. Johann Nave was an internationally acknowledged algae expert with interest in plant reproductive processes. In 1858 Mendel had nominated Nave as a new member of the scientific section of the Agricultural Society. A scientific connection between Mendel and Nave has been conjectured previously; however, evidence was lacking so far. After his early death in 1864, Nave’s scientific library was acquired by the Natural Science Society. It contained books about the latest insights on plant fertilization, and since Mendel’s 1866-paper contains a lengthy footnote about this topic, Mendel and Nave likely discussed this area of Mendel’s research. This may also have been the case during their journey to Paris and London because it was in 1862 that Mendel conducted the final crossing experiments to test his hypothesis about the composition and the random union of pollen and egg cells

Mendel’s journey to Paris and London: context and significance for the origin of genetics.

From a letter Gregor Mendel wrote to his brother-in-law, and a photograph of a large group of people in Paris, it is known that Mendel visited the International Exhibition in London in August 1862. There has been speculation about the status and composition of this travel group; for example, whether it was an official delegation from the city of Brünn. There has also been speculation on whether Mendel visited Charles Darwin on that occasion. We have now found a partial list of participants of the second 1862 pleasure train (Vergnügungszug) from Vienna to Paris and London, which includes Mendel’s name. The names of 158 participants make a partial reconstruction of the travel group possible. Digital newspapers were researched to get more insight into the status, residence, and profession of the participants. Most belonged to the upper-class of the Austrian Empire, among them several citizens of Brünn. Such luxurious all-inclusive pleasure trains were a new phenomenon in Vienna at the time and received much attention in the newspapers. Gregor Mendel was one of the first to participate in this expensive new trend. The person next to Mendel in the photograph shows a clear resemblance with Johann Nave in the photograph of the founding members of the Natural Science Society of Brünn the same year (see Figs. 1 and 5). The newspaper lists of arrivals in Viennese hotels shows that Johann Nave, was in Vienna when the pleasure train departed. Johann Nave was an internationally acknowledged algae expert with interest in plant reproductive processes. In 1858 Mendel had nominated Nave as a new member of the scientific section of the Agricultural Society. A scientific connection between Mendel and Nave has been conjectured previously; however, evidence was lacking so far. After his early death in 1864, Nave’s scientific library was acquired by the Natural Science Society. It contained books about the latest insights on plant fertilization, and since Mendel’s 1866-paper contains a lengthy footnote about this topic, Mendel and Nave likely discussed this area of Mendel’s research. This may also have been the case during their journey to Paris and London because it was in 1862 that Mendel conducted the final crossing experiments to test his hypothesis about the composition and the random union of pollen and egg cells

Genetic fine-mapping of DIPLOSPOROUS in Taraxacum (dandelion; Asteraceae) indicates a duplicated DIP-gene

Background DIPLOSPOROUS (DIP) is the locus for diplospory in Taraxacum, associated to unreduced female gamete formation in apomicts. Apomicts reproduce clonally through seeds, including apomeiosis, parthenogenesis, and autonomous or pseudogamous endosperm formation. In Taraxacum, diplospory results in first division restitution (FDR) nuclei, and inherits as a dominant, monogenic trait, independent from the other apomixis elements. A preliminary genetic linkage map indicated that the DIP-locus lacks suppression of recombination, which is unique among all other map-based cloning efforts of apomeiosis to date. FDR as well as apomixis as a whole are of interest in plant breeding, allowing for polyploidization and fixation of hybrid vigor, respectively. No dominant FDR or apomixis genes have yet been isolated. Here, we zoom-in to the DIP-locus by largely extending our initial mapping population, and by analyzing (local) suppression of recombination and allele sequence divergence (ASD). Results We identified 24 recombinants between two most closely linked molecular markers to DIP in an F1-population of 2227 plants that segregates for diplospory and lacks parthenogenesis. Both markers segregated c. 1:1 in the entire population, indicating a 1:1 segregation rate of diplospory. Fine-mapping showed three amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) closest to DIP at 0.2 cM at one flank and a single AFLP at 0.4 cM at the other flank. Our data lacked strong evidence for ASD at marker regions close to DIP. An unexpected bias towards diplosporous plants among the recombinants (20 out of 24) was found. One third of these diplosporous recombinants showed incomplete penetrance of 50-85% diplospory. Conclusions Our data give interesting new insights into the structure of the diplospory locus in Taraxacum. We postulate a locus with a minimum of two DIP-genes and possibly including one or two enhancers or cis-regulatory elements on the basis of the bias towards diplosporous recombinants and incomplete penetrance of diplospory in some of them. We define the DIP-locus to 0.6 cM, which is estimated to cover ~200-300 Kb, with the closest marker at 0.2 cM. Our results confirm the minor role of suppression of recombination and ASD around DIP, making it an excellent candidate to isolate via a chromosome-walking approach.

Course of body weight before and after the initiation of insulin therapy in type 2 diabetes mellitus:Retrospective inception cohort study (ZODIAC 58)

Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the effect of insulin treatment initiation on weight by taking weight change prior to initiation into account. Materials and methods: We performed an observational retrospective inception cohort study, concerning Dutch primary care. We identified all patients that initiated insulin treatment (n = 7967) and individually matched patients with a reference patient (n = 5213 pairs). We obtained estimated mean weight changes in the five years prior to five years post insulin therapy. We applied linear regression analysis on weight change in the first year after insulin therapy (T0 to T+1), with matched group as primary determinant adjusted for pre-insulin weight change and additional covariates. Results: Estimated mean weight increased in the five consecutive years prior to insulin therapy (-0.23 kg in year T-5 to T-4, 0.01 kg in year T-4 to T-3, 0.07 kg in year T-3 to T-2, 0.24 kg in year T-2 to T-1, and 0.46 kg in year T-1 to T0) and continued to increase in the first year after, that is T0 to T+1, at a slightly lower rate (0.31 ± 3.9 kg). Pre-insulin weight change had the highest explained variance and was inversely and independently associated with weight change (p < .001). Starting insulin was associated with weight increase, independent of pre-insulin weight change (β-adjusted 1.228, p < .001). Stratification revealed that despite having a more or less similar baseline BMI, patients with substantial weight increase showed higher estimated mean BMI's followed by weight loss pre-insulin. In matched references, estimated mean weight changes were negative in all years concerning the study period, indicating consistent weight loss. Conclusions: Initiation of insulin therapy was independently associated with weight increase; however, overall effect on weight was small and subject to substantial variation. Pre-insulin weight change is identified as a relatively strong inverse determinant of weight change after insulin initiation