Alq mutation increases fruit set rate and allows the maintenance of fruit yield under moderate saline conditions

[EN] Arlequin (Alq) is a gain-of-function mutant whose most relevant feature is that sepals are able to become fruit-like organs due to the ectopic expression of the ALQ-TAGL1 gene. The role of this gene in tomato fruit ripening was previously demonstrated. To discover new functional roles for ALQ-TAGL1, and most particularly its involvement in the fruit set process, a detailed characterization of Alq yield-related traits was performed. Under standard conditions, the Alq mutant showed a much higher fruit set rate than the wild type. A significant percentage of Alq fruits were seedless. The results showed that pollination-independent fruit set in Alq is due to early transition from flower to fruit. Analysis of endogenous hormones in Alq suggests that increased content of cytokinins and decreased level of abscisic acid may account for precocious fruit set. Comparative expression analysis showed relevant changes of several genes involved in cell division, gibberellin metabolism, and the auxin signalling pathway. Since pollination-independent fruit set may be a very useful strategy for maintaining fruit production under adverse conditions, fruit set and yield in Alq plants under moderate salinity were assessed. Interestingly, Alq mutant plants showed a high yield under saline conditions, similar to that of Alq and the wild type under unstressed conditions.This work was supported by the research grants AGL2015-64991-C3-3-R and AGL2015-64991-C3-1-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO/FEDER). The PhD grant to CRA (BES-2013-063778) was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.The authors thank Dr Isabel Lopez-Diaz and Dr Esther Carrera for their help in hormone quantification carried out at the Plant Hormone Quantification Service, IBMCP,Valencia, Spain. The authors thank David Harry Rhead for reviewing the manuscript in the English language.Ribelles Alfonso, C.; García Sogo, B.; Yuste-Lisbona, FJ.; Atarés Huerta, A.; Castañeda, L.; Capel, C.; Lozano, R.... (2019). Alq mutation increases fruit set rate and allows the maintenance of fruit yield under moderate saline conditions. Journal of Experimental Botany. 70(20):5731-5744. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erz342S57315744702

Problemas de fugas a través del karst en la Presa de Tous (España) (Análisis estructural, previsión del comportamiento y recomendeciones)

In the present work, the problems of leakages happened in Tous’s dam (Valencia-Spain) are studied. Tous’s dam is built on karstic terrains with the existence of caverns and strike-slip faults that at the same time become karstic. In this study the techniques of structural geology are applied, so, we deduct the karstic drainage directions, by using determined hypothesis of work. The confirmation of these hypotheses in the course of our fieldwork has permitted to quantify the probability of those leakages for each direction we found. This circumstance has permitted to foretell the places where it would be possible to expect leakages with the increase of the height of the dam foreseen for a second phase of building

Kinetics of humoral immune response over 17 months of COVID-19 pandemic in a large cohort of healthcare workers in Spain : the ProHEpiC-19 study

Understanding the immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus is critical for efficient monitoring and control strategies. The ProHEpic-19 cohort provides a fine-grained description of the kinetics of antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 infection with an exceptional resolution over 17 months. We established a cohort of 769 healthcare workers including healthy and infected with SARS-CoV-2 in northern Barcelona to determine the kinetics of the IgM against the nucleocapsid (N) and the IgG against the N and spike (S) of SARS-CoV-2 in infected healthcare workers. The study period was from 5 May 2020 to 11 November 2021.We used non-linear mixed models to investigate the kinetics of IgG and IgM measured at nine time points over 17 months from the date of diagnosis. The model included factors of time, gender, and disease severity (asymptomatic, mild-moderate, severe-critical) to assess their effects and their interactions. 474 of the 769 participants (61.6%) became infected with SARS-CoV-2. Significant effects of gender and disease severity were found for the levels of all three antibodies. Median IgM(N) levels were already below the positivity threshold in patients with asymptomatic and mild-moderate disease at day 270 after the diagnosis, while IgG(N and S) levels remained positive at least until days 450 and 270, respectively. Kinetic modelling showed a general rise in both IgM(N) and IgG(N) levels up to day 30, followed by a decay with a rate depending on disease severity. IgG(S) levels remained relatively constant from day 15 over time. IgM(N) and IgG(N, S) SARS-CoV-2 antibodies showed a heterogeneous kinetics over the 17 months. Only the IgG(S) showed a stable increase, and the levels and the kinetics of antibodies varied according to disease severity. The kinetics of IgM and IgG observed over a year also varied by clinical spectrum can be very useful for public health policies around vaccination criteria in adult population. Regional Ministry of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Call COVID19-PoC SLT16_04; NCT04885478). The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-022-07696-6

Synergias el primer mercado de contenidos on-line de habla hispana

The combination of the traditional models of operation of contents, along with other emergents like the syndication, the affiliation programs, e-commerce contextual, the payment by use or vision, make possible the creation of new scenes that alter to the chain of value of the information contributing important advantages

[Poema al Sacratisimo Corazón de Jesús] [Material gráfico] / Litografía del Depósito General De la Guerra ; dirigida por J. Ribelles año 1823

Inscripción: "Versos compuestos por S.M. la Reyna de España Dña. Maria Josefa Amalia (QDG) al Sacratisimo Corazon de Ntro. Señor Jesucristo..."Poema manuscrito litografíado con tinta or

Problemas de fugas a través del karst en la Presa de Tous (España) (Análisis estructural, previsión del comportamiento y recomendeciones)

In the present work, the problems of leakages happened in Tous’s dam (Valencia-Spain) are studied. Tous’s dam is built on karstic terrains with the existence of caverns and strike-slip faults that at the same time become karstic. In this study the techniques of structural geology are applied, so, we deduct the karstic drainage directions, by using determined hypothesis of work. The confirmation of these hypotheses in the course of our fieldwork has permitted to quantify the probability of those leakages for each direction we found. This circumstance has permitted to foretell the places where it would be possible to expect leakages with the increase of the height of the dam foreseen for a second phase of building

Problemas de fugas a través del karst en la Presa de Tous (España) (Análisis estructural, previsión del comportamiento y recomendeciones)

In the present work, the problems of leakages happened in Tous’s dam (Valencia-Spain) are studied. Tous’s dam is built on karstic terrains with the existence of caverns and strike-slip faults that at the same time become karstic. In this study the techniques of structural geology are applied, so, we deduct the karstic drainage directions, by using determined hypothesis of work. The confirmation of these hypotheses in the course of our fieldwork has permitted to quantify the probability of those leakages for each direction we found. This circumstance has permitted to foretell the places where it would be possible to expect leakages with the increase of the height of the dam foreseen for a second phase of building

Phenotypic and genetic characterization of tomato mutants provides new insights into leaf development and its relationship to agronomic traits

Abstract Background Tomato mutants altered in leaf morphology are usually identified in the greenhouse, which demands considerable time and space and can only be performed in adequate periods. For a faster but equally reliable scrutiny method we addressed the screening in vitro of 971 T-DNA lines. Leaf development was evaluated in vitro in seedlings and shoot-derived axenic plants. New mutants were characterized in the greenhouse to establish the relationship between in vitro and in vivo leaf morphology, and to shed light on possible links between leaf development and agronomic traits, a promising field in which much remains to be discovered. Results Following the screening in vitro of tomato T-DNA lines, putative mutants altered in leaf morphology were evaluated in the greenhouse. The comparison of results in both conditions indicated a general phenotypic correspondence, showing that in vitro culture is a reliable system for finding mutants altered in leaf development. Apart from providing homogeneous conditions, the main advantage of screening in vitro lies in the enormous time and space saving. Studies on the association between phenotype and nptII gene expression showed co-segregation in two lines (P > 99%). The use of an enhancer trap also allowed identifying gain-of-function mutants through reporter expression analysis. These studies suggested that genes altered in three other mutants were T-DNA tagged. New mutants putatively altered in brassinosteroid synthesis or perception, mutations determining multiple pleiotropic effects, lines affected in organ curvature, and the first tomato mutant with helical growth were discovered. Results also revealed new possible links between leaf development and agronomic traits, such as axillary branching, flower abscission, fruit development and fruit cracking. Furthermore, we found that the gene tagged in mutant 2635-MM encodes a Sterol 3-beta-glucosyltransferase. Expression analysis suggested that abnormal leaf development might be due to the lack-off-function of this gene. Conclusion In vitro culture is a quick, efficient and reliable tool for identifying tomato mutants altered in leaf morphology. The characterization of new mutants in vivo revealed new links between leaf development and some agronomic traits. Moreover, the possible implication of a gene encoding a Sterol 3-beta-glucosyltransferase in tomato leaf development is reported

MRI fused with prone FDG PET/CT improves the primary tumour staging of patients with breast cancer

Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fused with prone 2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in primary tumour staging of patients with breast cancer. Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 45 women with 49 pathologically proven breast carcinomas. MRI and prone PET-CT scans with time-of-flight and point-spread-function reconstruction were performed with the same dedicated breast coil. The studies were assessed by a radiologist and a nuclear medicine physician, and evaluation of fused images was made by consensus. The final diagnosis was based on pathology (90 lesions) or follow-up ≥ 24 months (17 lesions). Results: The study assessed 72 malignant and 35 benign lesions with a median size of 1.8 cm (range 0.3-8.4 cm): 31 focal, nine multifocal and nine multicentric cases. In lesion-by-lesion analysis, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 97%, 80%, 91% and 93% for MRI, 96%, 71%, 87%, and 89% for prone PET, and 97%. 94%, 97% and 94% for MRI fused with PET. Areas under the curve (AUC) were 0.953, 0.850, and 0.983, respectively (p < 0.01). Conclusions: MRI fused with FDG-PET is more accurate than FDG-PET in primary tumour staging of breast cancer patients and increases the specificity of MRI

Different Pathological Complete Response Rates According to PAM50 Subtype in HER2+ Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Neoadjuvant Pertuzumab/Trastuzumab vs. Trastuzumab Plus Standard Chemotherapy: An Analysis of Real-World Data.

Background: Double blockade with pertuzumab and trastuzumab combined with chemotherapy is the standard neoadjuvant treatment for HER2-positive early breast cancer. Data derived from clinical trials indicates that the response rates differ among intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer. The aim of this study is to determine if these results are valid in real-world patients. Methods: A total of 259 patients treated in eight Spanish hospitals were included and divided into two cohorts: Cohort A (132 patients) received trastuzumab plus standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), and Cohort B received pertuzumab and trastuzumab plus NAC (122 patients). Pathological complete response (pCR) was defined as the complete disappearance of invasive tumor cells. Assignment of the intrinsic subtype was realized using the research-based PAM50 signature. Results: There were more HER2-enriched tumors in Cohort A (70 vs. 56%) and more basal-like tumors in Cohort B (12 vs. 2%), with similar luminal cases in both cohorts (luminal A 12 vs. 14%; luminal B 14 vs. 18%). The overall pCR rate was 39% in Cohort A and 61% in Cohort B. Better pCR rates with pertuzumab plus trastuzumab than with trastuzumab alone were also observed in all intrinsic subtypes (luminal PAM50 41 vs. 11.4% and HER2-enriched subtype 73.5 vs. 50%) but not in basal-like tumors (53.3 vs. 50%). In multivariate analysis the only significant variables related to pCR in both luminal PAM50 and HER2-enriched subtypes were treatment with pertuzumab plus trastuzumab (Cohort B) and histological grade 3. Conclusions: With data obtained from patients treated in clinical practice, it has been possible to verify that the addition of pertuzumab to trastuzumab and neoadjuvant chemotherapy substantially increases the rate of pCR, especially in the HER2-enriched subtype but also in luminal subtypes, with no apparent benefit in basal-like tumors