Evolutionary radiation of the Eurasian Pinus species under pervasive gene flow.

Evolutionary radiation, a pivotal aspect of macroevolution, offers valuable insights into evolutionary processes. The genus Pinus is the largest genus in conifers with 90% of the extant species emerged in the Miocene, which signifies a case of rapid diversification. Despite this remarkable history, our understanding of the mechanisms driving radiation within this expansive genus has remained limited.

Scots pine - panmixia and the elusive signal of genetic adaptation.

Scots pine is the foundation species of diverse forested ecosystems across Eurasia and displays remarkable ecological breadth, occurring in environments ranging from temperate rainforests to arid tundra margins. Such expansive distributions can be favored by various demographic and adaptive processes and the interactions between them. To understand the impact of neutral and selective forces on genetic structure in Scots pine, we conducted range-wide population genetic analyses on 2321 trees from 202 populations using genotyping-by-sequencing, reconstructed the recent demography of the species and examined signals of genetic adaptation.

Barcoding High Resolution Melting (Bar-HRM) enables the discrimination between toxic plants and edible vegetables prior to consumption and after digestion.

The consumption of poisonous plants can lead to serious health problems or even casualties due to various factors, including easy access to poisonous plants due to their common distribution, co-occurrence and resemblance with edible plants, and the lack of regulation in the food product supply chain. Clinical diagnosis of intoxications usually relies on the availability of the plant consumed by the patient and on the morphology of the plant parts found in the patient's stomach. Therefore, given the fragmented nature of ingested plant material, species identification may face serious difficulties, can be inaccurate, and time-consuming.

Genomic Signatures of Sexual Selection on Pollen-Expressed Genes in Arabis alpina.

Fertilization in angiosperms involves the germination of pollen on the stigma, followed by the extrusion of a pollen tube that elongates through the style and delivers two sperm cells to the embryo sac. Sexual selection could occur throughout this process when male gametophytes compete for fertilization. The strength of sexual selection during pollen competition should be affected by the number of genotypes deposited on the stigma.

Demography and mating system shape the genome-wide impact of purifying selection in .

Plant mating systems have profound effects on levels and structuring of genetic variation and can affect the impact of natural selection. Although theory predicts that intermediate outcrossing rates may allow plants to prevent accumulation of deleterious alleles, few studies have empirically tested this prediction using genomic data. Here, we study the effect of mating system on purifying selection by conducting population-genomic analyses on whole-genome resequencing data from 38 European individuals of the arctic-alpine crucifer We find that outcrossing and mixed-mating populations maintain genetic diversity at similar levels, whereas highly self-fertilizing Scandinavian show a strong reduction in genetic diversity, most likely as a result of a postglacial colonization bottleneck.

Ethanol combined with heparin as a locking solution for the prevention of catheter related blood stream infections in hemodialysis patients: A prospective randomized study.

Introduction: Ethanol lock solution has been mainly administered in paediatric and home parenteral nutrition patients in order to prevent catheter related blood stream infections (CRBSI). Its utility in hemodialysis (HD) patients with non-tunneled-uncuffed catheter (NTC) has been poorly explored.

Methods: We conducted a prospective randomized study in chronic HD patients requiring a newly inserted NTC-while awaiting for the maturation of an already established arteriovenous fistula (AVF) or arteriovenous graft (AVG) or tunneled-cuffed catheter insertion.

Local Adaptation in European Firs Assessed through Extensive Sampling across Altitudinal Gradients in Southern Europe.

Background: Local adaptation is a key driver of phenotypic and genetic divergence at loci responsible for adaptive traits variations in forest tree populations. Its experimental assessment requires rigorous sampling strategies such as those involving population pairs replicated across broad spatial scales.

Methods: A hierarchical Bayesian model of selection (HBM) that explicitly considers both the replication of the environmental contrast and the hierarchical genetic structure among replicated study sites is introduced.

Acute respiratory failure due to Nicotiana glauca ingestion.

Background: A variety of organisms produce potent toxins that impact human health through compromising respiratory function.

Case Report: We describe a rare case of abrupt respiratory failure afterNicotiana glaucaingestion in a previously healthy sixty years old female patient. She presented complaining for gait instability and malaise after ingestion of cooked leaves of the wild plant and two hours after the onset she developed respiratory failurefor which she was intubated and mechanically ventilated for two days.

Molecular- and pollen-based vegetation analysis in lake sediments from central Scandinavia.

Plant and animal biodiversity can be studied by obtaining DNA directly from the environment. This new approach in combination with the use of generic barcoding primers (metabarcoding) has been suggested as complementary or alternative to traditional biodiversity monitoring in ancient soil sediments. However, the extent to which metabarcoding truly reflects plant composition remains unclear, as does its power to identify species with no pollen or macrofossil evidence.

Strong correlation of B2-microglobulin (B2-m) with procalcitonin (PCT) in the serum of chronic hemodialysis patients: a role for infections in the dialysis-related amyloidosis?

Introduction: Infections trigger the activation of defensive cells capable to produce and release B(2)-microglobulin (B(2)-m). Procalcitonin (PCT), secreted by a wide range of human cells, included the aforementioned defensive cells, is generally considered a sensitive and specific marker of infection. In this prospective study, we examined the possibility that infections, as detected by increased levels of PCT, increase the serum levels of B(2)-m in chronic hemodialysis (CHD) patients, possibly affecting the rate of progression of dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA).