Identification of grape cultivars from Liguria (north-western Italy)

In order to identify grape varieties from Liguria (north-western Italy), 51 accessions (major, minor and neglected cultivars) were compared to those present in the grape collections of the neighbouring regions. Synonyms were confirmed by SSR markers (9 loci). Only 36 unique genetic profiles were found within grapes from Liguria, demonstrating the occurrence of synonyms with cultivars either from the same region or from other grape growing areas. Six evident misnames were found as well as homonyms. Four unexpected synonyms provided an opportunity to trace the likely origin and/or the movement of ancient cultivars, including ‘Vernaccia di San Gimignano’.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG supplementation on eradication rate and dyspepsia in Helicobacter pylori infection treated with three-in-one bismuth quadruple therapy

IntroductionHelicobacter pylori (Hp)-related dyspepsia has been related to gastroduodenal dysbiosis. The role of probiotic supplementation in the clinical management of Hp infection has been the object of several studies in terms of improvement of efficacy and tolerability of eradication treatments but data on their effects on the outcomes of post-eradication dyspepsia are lacking. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) supplementation on bismuth quadruple therapy (BQT) in the clinical management of Hp-related infection both in terms of efficacy and tolerability and persistence of post-treatment dyspepsia. MethodsA total of 164 (121 women) Hp-positive adult patients were enrolled in this pilot study and assigned to two different treatment regimens: group A received BQT for 10 days (three capsules qid, IPP bid) and group B received BQT for 10 days in combination with 6 x 10(9)CFU LGG (ATCC53103) taken for 24 days (7 days before, 10 days during, and 7 days after therapy). Eradication was assessed after 45 days using the C-13-urea breath test (C-13-UBT). Dyspepsia, distinguished into postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) and epigastric pain syndrome (EPS), was assessed at the time of enrollment and 6 months after eradication. ResultsApproximately 98 patients were enrolled in group A and 66 patients in group B. At the enrollment, dyspepsia was present in 76.5% of group A and 86.5% of group B. No significant differences were observed in eradication rate between the 2 groups, both in intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis (82.3 vs. 75.0%) and per-protocol (PP) analysis (95 vs. 96%), and in the presence of side effects during the treatment (70.6 vs. 65.4%). At 6 months after eradication of Hp infection, the persistence of dyspepsia was statistically higher in patients of group A than in group B (38.8 vs. 16.1%; p = 0.032). The positive influence of LGG supplementation in improving post-eradication dyspepsia resulted in statistically more effectiveness in PDS dyspepsia, whose remission was 41.7% in group A and 84% in group B patients (p = 0.011). ConclusionIn conclusion, LGG supplementation during Hp eradication therapy, even if not affecting eradication rates and therapy-related side effects, significantly impacts the remission of dyspepsia

Corrigendum

Identification of grape cultivars from Liguria (north-western Italy)Vitis 48 (4),175-183 (2009

MIDEX Advanced Modular and Distributed Spacecraft Avionics Architecture

MIDEX (Medium Class Explorer) is the newest line in NASA's Explorer spacecraft development program. As part of the MIDEX charter, the MIDEX spacecraft development team has developed a new modular, distributed, and scaleable spacecraft architecture that pioneers new spaceflight technologies and implementation approaches, all designed to reduce overall spacecraft cost while increasing overall functional capability. This resultant "plug and play" system dramatically decreases the complexity and duration of spacecraft integration and test, providing a basic framework that supports spacecraft modularity and scalability for missions of varying size and complexity. Together, these subsystems form a modular, flexible avionics suite that can be modified and expanded to support low-end and very high-end mission requirements with a minimum of redesign, as well as allowing a smooth, continuous infusion of new technologies as they are developed without redesigning the system. This overall approach has the net benefit of allowing a greater portion of the overall mission budget to be allocated to mission science instead of a spacecraft bus. The MIDEX scaleable architecture is currently being manufactured and tested for use on the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP), an inhouse program at GSFC

The AGN fuelling/feedback cycle in nearby radio galaxies - III. 3D relative orientations of radio jets and CO discs and their interaction

This is the third paper of a series exploring the multifrequency properties of a sample of eleven nearby low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) in the southern sky. We are conducting an extensive study of different galaxy components (stars, dust, warm and cold gas, radio jets) with the aim of better understanding the AGN fuelling/feedback cycle in LERGs. Here, we present new, deep, sub-kpc resolution Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) data for five sample sources at 10 GHz. Coupling these data with previously acquired Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) CO(2–1) observations and measurements of comparable quality from the literature, we carry out for the first time a full 3D analysis of the relative orientations of jet and disc rotation axes in six FR I LERGs. This analysis shows (albeit with significant uncertainties) that the relative orientation angles span a wide range (≈30○–60○). There is no case where both axes are accurately aligned and there is a marginally significant tendency for jets to avoid the disc plane. Our study also provides further evidence for the presence of a jet-CO disc interaction (already inferred from other observational indicators) in at least one source, NGC 3100. In this case, the limited extent of the radio jets, along with distortions in both the molecular gas and the jet components, suggest that the jets are young, interacting with the surrounding matter and rapidly decelerating