The gain-of-function mutation blf13 in the barley orthologue of the rice growth regulator NARROW LEAF1 is associated with increased leaf width.

Canopy architecture in cereals plays an important role in determining yield. Leaf width represents one key aspect of this canopy architecture. However, our understanding of leaf width control in cereals remains incomplete.

Screening for late-onset gestational diabetes: Are there any clinical benefits?

Objective: To determine whether screening for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in the third trimester and managing those who are screen positive on a diabetes pathway affects obstetric and neonatal outcomes.

Design: Retrospective study of prospectively collected data.

Setting: London Teaching Hospital.

Whole Exome Sequencing-Based Identification of a Novel Gene Involved in Root Hair Development in Barley ( L.).

Root hairs play a crucial role in anchoring plants in soil, interaction with microorganisms and nutrient uptake from the rhizosphere. In contrast to Arabidopsis, there is a limited knowledge of root hair morphogenesis in monocots, including barley ( L.).

Study on Possible Application of Rubber Granulate from the Recycled Tires as an Elastic Cover of Prototype Rail Dampers, with a Focus on Their Operational Durability.

This study is an attempt to investigate possible applications of rubber granulate SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) produced from recycled waste tires as an elastic cover for prototype rail dampers, which are aimed at reducing the level of railway noise emitted in the environment. The authors present laboratory procedures and discuss the results of several experimental tests performed on seven different SBR materials with the following densities: 1100, 1050, 1000, 850, 750, 700 and 650 kg/m. It is proven that rubber granulate SBR produced from recycled waste tires, can be used as an elastic cover in steel inserts in rail dampers, provided that the material density is not lower than 1000 kg/m.

Global changes in maternity care provision during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on healthcare systems globally, with a worrying increase in adverse maternal and foetal outcomes. We aimed to assess the changes in maternity healthcare provision and healthcare-seeking by pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of the effects of the pandemic on provision of, access to and attendance at maternity services (CRD42020211753).

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and perinatal outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on health-care systems and potentially on pregnancy outcomes, but no systematic synthesis of evidence of this effect has been undertaken. We aimed to assess the collective evidence on the effects on maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes of the pandemic.

Methods: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on the effects of the pandemic on maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes.

Changes in plastid biogenesis leading to the formation of albino regenerants in barley microspore culture.

Background: Microspore embryogenesis is potentially the most effective method of obtaining doubled haploids (DH) which are utilized in breeding programs to accelerate production of new cultivars. However, the regeneration of albino plants significantly limits the exploitation of androgenesis for DH production in cereals. Despite many efforts, the precise mechanisms leading to development of albino regenerants have not yet been elucidated.

Presentation of an open entry technique for laparoscopy through a congenital defect in the umbilical fascia.

Objective: We present and describe a modification of the Hasson open entry technique to gain access to the abdominal cavity for laparoscopy in which a congenital defect in the umbilical fascia is identified for entry into the peritoneum and insertion of the primary port.

Methods: A single centre, prospective, observational, pilot study has been conducted with no change in clinical practice. Data regarding the success of the technique, time to laparoscope insertion, complications and patient risk factors were collected and presented.

Plastid differentiation during microgametogenesis determines green plant regeneration in barley microspore culture.

Developing plants from in vitro culture of microspores or immature pollen grains (androgenesis) is a highly genotype-dependent process whose effectiveness in cereals is significantly reduced by occurrence of albino regenerants. Here, we examined a hypothesis that the molecular differentiation of plastids in barley microspores prior to in vitro culture affects the genotype ability to regenerate green plants in culture. At the mid-to-late uninucleate (ML) stage, routinely used to initiate microspore culture, the expression of most genes involved in plastid transcription, translation and starch synthesis was significantly higher in microspores of barley cv.

TILLUS-A Rich and Renewable Source of Induced Mutations for Forward/Reverse Genetics and Pre-breeding Programs in Barley ( L.).

TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) is a strategy used for functional analysis of genes that combines the classical mutagenesis and a rapid, high-throughput identification of mutations within a gene of interest. TILLING has been initially developed as a discovery platform for functional genomics, but soon it has become a valuable tool in development of desired alleles for crop breeding, alternative to transgenic approach. Here we present the TILLUS ( -ING-niversity of ilesia) population created for spring barley cultivar "Sebastian" after double-treatment of seeds with two chemical mutagens: sodium azide (NaN) and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU).

Root Hair Mutations Displace the Barley Rhizosphere Microbiota.

The rhizosphere, the thin layer of soil surrounding and influenced by plant roots, defines a distinct and selective microbial habitat compared to unplanted soil. The microbial communities inhabiting the rhizosphere, the rhizosphere microbiota, engage in interactions with their host plants which span from parasitism to mutualism. Therefore, the rhizosphere microbiota emerges as one of the determinants of yield potential in crops.

Morphological, genetic and molecular characteristics of barley root hair mutants.

Root hairs are tubular outgrowths of specialized epidermal cells called trichoblasts. They affect anchoring plants in soil, the uptake of water and nutrients and are the sites of the interaction between plants and microorganisms. Nineteen root hair mutants of barley representing different stages of root hair development were subjected to detailed morphological and genetic analyses.

Pattern of adverse events of antiepileptic drugs: results of the aESCAPE study in Poland.

Introduction: The Adverse Event Scale in Patients With Epilepsy (aESCAPE) European study (NCT00394927) explored and analyzed adverse events (AEs) and reasons for modifying treatment in patients treated with newer and older antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) used in monotherapy or polytherapy. The present analysis concerns the results of patients recruited in Poland.

Material And Methods: Multicentre, international, observational, cross-sectional study investigating AEs in patients with epilepsy (aged ≥ 4 years), on stable AED treatment with one or two AED(s) for ≥ 3 months, using standardized questionnaires completed by a physician during a single study visit.

A comparative analysis of proteins that accumulate during the initial stage of root hair development in barley root hair mutants and their parent varieties.

The mechanisms of root hair formation have been studied extensively in Arabidopsis but knowledge about these processes in monocot species is still limited, especially in relation to the proteome level. The aim of this study was to identify the proteins that are involved in the initiation and the early stage of root hair tip growth in barley using two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. A comparison of proteins that accumulate differentially in two root hair mutants and their respective parent varieties resulted in the identification of 13 proteins that take part in several processes related to the root hair morphogenesis, such as the control of vesicular trafficking, ROS signalling and homeostasis, signal transduction by phospholipids metabolism and ATP synthesis.

GABI-balance--a non-interventional observational study on the effectiveness of tiagabine in add-on therapy in partial epilepsy.

Background And Purpose: Effectiveness of tiagabine (TGB) in open-label studies tends to be higher than in controlled, especially premarketing, studies. This article presents results of an open-label prospective study GABI-balance carried out in Poland and designed to evaluate effectiveness of TGB in add-on therapy of refractory partial and/or secondarily generalized epilepsy.

Material And Methods: Data of 1979 patients (54%--M, 46%--F, mean age 39.

Progression of preexisting trigeminalgia to Tolose-Hunt-like syndrome. The importance of neuroimaging for early differential diagnosis.

Recurrent unbearable, paroxysmal, unilateral facial pain in the distribution of one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve often provoked by sensory stimuli is typical for idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia. The less frequent localization in the area of ophthalmic branch (5%) is particularly controversial and should be distinguished from pathological lesions in the brainstem and middle and posterior cranial fossa and from diseases of the orbit and eye. This case study presents a 79-year-old woman with typical clinical features of 1st division trigeminalgia without any neurological loss and with normal results of laryngological, ophthalmological, and stomatological examinations as well as neuroimaging CT, and MR /MRA evaluation.

Effectiveness of adjunctive therapy with tiagabine in mentally disabled patients with epilepsy.

Previous reports justified positive impact of tiagabine, a new-generation antiepileptic drug on neuropsychological functioning as well as minimal risk of psychiatric exacerbations. In this prospective, open, observational, non-comparative, short-term--6 months' study we evaluated efficacy and tolerability of tiagabine as add-on in polytherapy in 30 young adults with both refractory epilepsy and mild or moderate mental retardation. About 40% of patients experienced improvement in seizure frequency of 50% or more and none complained of seizure deterioration.

The effect of epilepsy on emotional state in Hamilton and Beck questionnaire studies.

Patients with epilepsy present higher rate of psychological and psychiatric problems and emotional disturbances are estimated as the most frequent ones with prevalence of depression about tree times higher than it was observed in general population. In the presented study the occurrence of depressive symptoms was compared in a total of 60 adult patients with newly recognized and chronic epilepsy during remission of illness as well as pharmacoresistant. 21-items Hamilton Depressive Scale and Beck Depressive Inventory were applied once in each testified patient, consecutively by a physician or a patient himself during interictal period.

Long-term monotherapy with lamotrigine in newly diagnosed epilepsy in adults.

Lamotrigine (LTG) as both effective against a wide range of seizure types and epileptic syndromes and well tolerated drug is being used in mono--as well as in polytherapy of pharmacoresistant epilepsy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, safety and neuropsychological functioning after LTG (mean daily dose: 316 mg) as long-term monotherapy (12 mo) in 24 young adult out-patients (22.5 ys) with newly recognised and not-previously treated epilepsy in an open, non-comparative trial.

Clinical evaluation of Gabitril and Lamictal for drug-resistant epilepsy in adults.

Second generation antiepileptics lamotrigine (LTG) and tiagabine (TGB) were primarily licensed for adjunctive treatment of simple and complex partial seizures with/without secondary generalisation as similarly effective drugs. Reduction of seizures frequency is the most important index of drug efficacy, but overall therapeutic benefit estimated as a quality of life is nowadays the target goal of management. In this study efficacy and tolerability of LTG or TGB as short-term add-on treatment in patients with refractory complex partial seizures were assessed by the use of both physician-rated measures (mean monthly seizure frequency, responders rate, adverse events, clinical biochemistry) and patients perceived change in their own quality of life estimation (descriptive scale and visual analogue scale-VAS).

[Gabaergic hypothesis of epilepsy and clinical experience: controversial actions of the new generation gabamimetic antiepileptic drugs].

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in CNS can elevate level of neuronal excitability by the mechanisms of hyperpolarization. Gabaergic hypothesis of epileptogenesis influenced development of a group of gabamimetic antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Powerful conventional AEDs barbiturates and benzodiazepines can directly activate GABA-A receptor but their usefulness is limited by development of dependence and tolerance to antiseizure activity.

[Usefulness of current and retrospective markers of glycemia for early prognostication of ischemic stroke in diabetics and non-diabetics].

Diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased incidence of ischaemic stroke but it is not established whether it may exacerbate its clinical course and prognosis. In the study we have assessed relations of fasting (1st-2nd day of illness) and pre-stroke glycaemia (measured as HbA1 and FA) with recent clinical manifestation and outcome within one month in 22 diabetics and 37 non-diabetics with ischaemic brain infarction in the internal carotid territory. Merely enhanced HbA1 in the majority of non-diabetic stroke patients confirmed impaired pre-stroke glucose tolerance but did not influence severity of hemiparesis and further prognosis.

[The role of gamma-aminobutyric acid in the mechanism of action of anticonvulsant drugs].

Decreased activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in CNS can be epileptogenic. Manipulation of the GABA system has been a target for development of antiepileptic drugs. The different ways for augmenting gabaergic inhibition by conventional and new AEDs are presented in this paper.