Diversity arrays technology (DArT) genomic libraries were developed from
H. chilense
accessions to support robust genotyping of this species and a novel crop comprising
H. chilense
genome (e.g., ...tritordeums). Over 11,000 DArT clones were obtained using two complexity reduction methods. A subset of 2,209 DArT markers was identified on the arrays containing these clones as polymorphic between parents and segregating in a population of 92 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) developed from the cross between
H. chilense
accessions H1 and H7. Using the segregation data a high-density map of 1,503 cM was constructed with average inter-bin density of 2.33 cM. A subset of DArT markers was also mapped physically using a set of wheat–
H. chilense
chromosome addition lines. It allowed the unambiguous assignment of linkage groups to chromosomes. Four segregation distortion regions (SDRs) were found on the chromosomes 2H
ch
, 3H
ch
and 5H
ch
in agreement with previous findings in barley. The new map improves the genome coverage of previous
H. chilense
maps.
H. chilense
-derived DArT markers will enable further genetic studies in ongoing projects on hybrid wheat, seed carotenoid content improvement or tritordeum breeding program. Besides, the genetic map reported here will be very useful as the basis to develop comparative genomics studies with barley and model species.
Congenital defects affecting the auditory and visual capacity of newborns represent a public health problem as they result in substantial disability, directly impacting the quality of life of ...newborns and their families.
To evaluate risk factors associated with congenital defects that alter hearing or vision in newborns in the city of Bogotá between 2002 and 2016.
Data from the Bogotá Birth Defects Surveillance and Follow-up Program was used, which consolidated data regarding 167 ECLAMC study (Estudio Colaborativo Latino Americano de Malformaciones Congénitas, in spanish) variables in a case-control design to identify risk factors for birth defects after parents provided signed informed consent. Cases were defined as any newborn (alive or stillborn) with a weight greater than 500 g with any visual or hearing abnormality. Controls were defined as newborn in the same hospital and month with no birth defects. Groups were formed according to the case presentation as follows: isolated eye anomaly, isolated ear anomaly, polymalformative, syndromic, and teratogenic.
In total, 402,657 births were reviewed, of which 968 cases had some congenital defects that alter hearing or vision. An association was found between the presence of defects and prematurity, as well as between syndromic cases and increasing maternal age. When comparing cases and controls with the risk of having a birth defect, multiparity had an odds ratio (OR) of 1.47 (95% CI: 1.27–1.71), acute respiratory infection had an OR of 2.41 (95% CI: 1.04–5.58), low maternal education level had an OR of 1.34 (95% CI:1.10–1.62), low paternal education had an OR of 1.42, (95% CI:1.17–1.73), manual labor in the maternal occupation had an OR of 1.31 (95% CI:1.03–1.67), and a history of congenital anomalies in the family had an OR of 1.55 (95% CI:1.19–2.00).
This research allowed the identification of epidemiological data and significant risk factors for congenital defects that alter hearing or vision in the population of Bogotá.
The publication of reports on geo-political risks in the world sponsored by intelligence agencies, university institutes and think tanks are valuable instruments in societies that are being ...increasingly exposed to the effects of globalisation. Although all express mention of geo-political risks of a maritime nature is absent from these documents, it is an interesting exercise to determine: i) Which geo-political risks or threats have a maritime dimension or imply derivations whose occurrence may be linked to maritime space? ii) Which processes or tendencies in the use, occupation and governance of maritime space can fall into the category of geo-political risk? The basic aim is to address the forms that instability and geo-political risks take in the ocean world. If the risks stated in the chosen literature are examined from the maritime perspective, it is possible to perceive ‘secondary’ risks whose size and reach can become major contingencies for international stability. They therefore should not be ignored in the prognosis and evaluation of geo-political risks. In as much as societies' political organisation continues to rest on the nation-State, the dominance of the maritime component in the territorial basis is a permanent source of tensions and conflicts. In parallel with this, the displacement of economic expectations and the supply of traditional and new resources to the marine environment broadens the spectrum of risks and threats.
•Geopolitical risks can lead to restrictions on ocean governance.•The emergence of maritime States is a source of tensions and conflicts.•The blue growth boom shifts the creation of geopolitical risks to the oceans.
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Background and objective
Severe alpha1 antitrypsin deficiency has been clearly associated with pulmonary emphysema, but its relationship with bronchial asthma remains controversial. Some deficient ...alpha 1 antitrypsin (AAT) genotypes seem to be associated with asthma development. The objective of this study was to analyze the distribution of AAT genotypes in asthmatic patients allergic to house dust mites (HDM), and to asses a possible association between these genotypes and severe asthma.
Methods
A cross‐sectional cohort study of 648 patients with HDM allergic asthma was carried out. Demographic, clinical and analytical variables were collected. PI*S and PI*Z AAT deficient alleles of the SERPINA1 gene were assayed by real‐time PCR.
Results
Asthma was intermittent in 253 patients and persistent in 395 patients (246 mild, 101 moderate and 48 severe). One hundred and forty‐five asthmatic patients (22.4%) with at least one mutated allele (S or Z) were identified. No association between the different genotypes and asthma severity was found. No significant differences in all clinical and functional tests, as well as nasal eosinophils, IgA and IgE serum levels were observed. Peripheral eosinophils were significantly lower in patients with the PI*MS genotype (p = 0.0228). Neither association between deficient AAT genotypes or serum ATT deficiency (AATD) and development of severe asthma, or correlation between ATT levels and FEV1 was observed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the distribution of AAT genotypes in HDM allergic asthmatic patients did not differ from those found in Spanish population. Neither severe ATTD or deficient AAT genotypes appear to confer different clinical expression of asthma.
Human retroviruses HIV and HTLV share transmission routes. HIV widely spread in Spain during the 80 s through injection drug use and sex, and nowadays HIV rates in Spain account for one of the ...largest in Europe. In contrast, HTLV-1 is not endemic in Spain, despite hosting huge numbers of migrants from highly endemic regions. Herein, we report the rate and main features of the HIV-HTLV co-infected population in Spain.
A national registry exists in Spain for HTLV since year 1989. Data from standardized case report forms and one centralized lab repository were reviewed, especially for the subset with HTLV-HIV co-infection.
Up to December 2018, a total of 369 individuals with HTLV-1 had been diagnosed in Spain. 64% of the population were females, and Latin American individuals accounted for 64.5%. Classical HTLV-associated illnesses were found in 12.7% (myelopathy) and 7.6% (leukemia).
HIV coinfection was found in 12 (3.2%). Of those, 3 patients (25%) were female and 39 (75%) were of non-Spanish origin. All but two harbored HIV-1 subtype B, being non-B variants found in the two West Africans. Exposure had been sexual in most cases, being 4 homosexual men. Seven HTLV-HIV co-infected patients had developed AIDS and two had developed myelopathy. There was no evidence for increased HTLV-1 clinical pathogenicity due to HIV coinfection.
HIV coinfection is infrequent (<5%) among HTLV-1 carriers in Spain. More than half of co-infected patients come from Latin America. Sexual contact is the most frequent risk behavior, being MSM one third of cases. Late diagnosis explains the high rate (9/12) of clinical manifestations in our HIV-HTLV co-infected population.
The current need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is pushing the incorporation of technologies to achieve industrial decarbonisation in Europe. The present work develops a techno-economic tool that ...analyses different scenarios to assess microalgae production in some foreseeable situations, and determines the ones in which the contribution of CO2 biofixation would be relevant. The biomass production cost ranged between 0.41 and 13.06 €/kg. It was also possible to recover 0.03–0.1 €/kg CO2 depending on its temporal variation and the amount of biomass produced. This analysis aims to identify the technologies and operational conditions viable for the different applications. According to the scenarios considered, microalgae technology could be competitive if the emission rights market reaches expected costs of approximately 50 €/t CO2 in the near future (2030). Otherwise, microalgae related processes can be also reliable for different medium- and high-value applications, but only if adequate technologies and operational conditions are considered. The information here provided supports decision making processes for microalgae based processes.
•Techno-economic tool identifies suitable microalgae related processes.•Open raceway and closed photobioreactors area suitable for different markets•CO2 allowances give a real opportunity to widespread microalgae market.•Flue gases and low valuable products are adequate to CO2 bio-fixation technology.
KRAS mutation is a negative prognostic factor for colorectal liver metastases. Several studies have investigated the resection margins according to KRAS status, with conflicting results. The aim of ...the study was to assess the oncologic outcomes of R0 and R1 resections for colorectal liver metastases according to KRAS status.
All patients who underwent resection for colorectal liver metastases between 2010 and 2015 with available KRAS status were enrolled in this multicentric international cohort study. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the outcomes of R0 and R1 colorectal liver metastases resections according to KRAS status: wild type versus mutated. The primary outcomes were overall survival and disease-free survival.
The analysis included 593 patients. KRAS mutation was associated with shorter overall survival (40 vs 60 months; P = .0012) and disease-free survival (15 vs 21 months; P = .003). In KRAS-mutated tumors, the resection margin did not influence oncologic outcomes. In multivariable analysis, the only predictor of disease-free survival and overall survival was primary tumor location (P = .03 and P = .03, respectively). In KRAS wild-type tumors, R0 resection was associated with prolonged overall survival (74 vs 45 months, P < .001) and disease-free survival (30 vs 17 months, P < .001). The multivariable model confirmed that R0 resection margin was associated with prolonged overall survival (hazard ratio = 1.43, 95% confidence interval: 1.01–2.03) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio = 1.42; 95% confidence interval: 1.06–1.91).
KRAS-mutated colorectal liver metastases showed more aggressive tumor biology with inferior overall survival and disease-free survival after liver resection. Although R0 resection was not associated with improved oncologic outcomes in the KRAS-mutated tumors group, it seems to be of paramount importance for achieving prolonged long-term survival in KRAS wild-type tumors.
ANRIL (Antisense Noncoding RNA in the INK4 Locus), also named CDKN2B-AS1, is a long non-coding RNA with outstanding functions that regulates genes involved in atherosclerosis development. ANRIL ...genotypes and the expression of linear and circular isoforms have been associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). The CDKN2A and the CDKN2B genes at the CDKN2A/B locus encode the Cyclin-Dependent Kinase inhibitor protein (CDKI) p16INK4a and the p53 regulatory protein p14ARF, which are involved in cell cycle regulation, aging, senescence, and apoptosis. Abnormal ANRIL expression regulates vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression, and upregulated Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) promotes angiogenesis by activating the NF-κB signaling pathway. Here, we explored associations between determinations of the linear, circular, and linear-to-circular ANRIL gene expression ratio, CDKN2A, VEGF and its receptor kinase insert domain-containing receptor (KDR) and cardiovascular risk factors and all-cause mortality in high-risk coronary patients before they undergo coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG). We found that the expression of ANRIL isoforms may help in the prediction of CAD outcomes. Linear isoforms were correlated with a worse cardiovascular risk profile while the expression of circular isoforms of ANRIL correlated with a decrease in oxidative stress. However, the determination of the linear versus circular ratio of ANRIL did not report additional information to that determined by the evaluation of individual isoforms. Although the expressions of the VEFG and KDR genes correlated with a decrease in oxidative stress, in binary logistic regression analysis it was observed that only the expression of linear isoforms of ANRIL and VEGF significantly contributed to the prediction of the number of surgical revascularizations.
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