Biolistic-mediated genetic transformation of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and stable Mendelian inheritance of transgenes.

We describe a novel system of exploiting the biolistic process to generate stable transgenic cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) plants. The system is based on combining the use of the herbicide imazapyr to select transformed meristematic cells after physical introduction of the mutated ahas gene (coding for a mutated acetohydroxyacid synthase, under control of the ahas 5' regulatory sequence) and a simple tissue culture protocol. The gus gene (under control of the act2 promoter) was used as a reporter gene.

Treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and hipoapnea syndrome with oral appliances.

Unlabelled: Obstructive sleep apnea and hipoapnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a disorder that affects about 4% of the adult population, and besides the social problems associated to snoring and extreme day time sleepiness, it is preoccupying since it may cause pulmonary hypertension and cardiac failure.

Review And Discussion: Through a literature review, we discuss the use of oral appliances to treat this condition, in regards of therapy effectiveness and limitations, main clinical symptoms, major occlusal side effects, rate of improvement and patient satisfaction.

Conclusions: We concluded that the use of oral appliances should be a first choice treatment for mild to moderate OSAHS, being dental, joint and muscular discomforts, hypersalivation and xerostomia, the most frequent clinical symptoms, with light occlusal side effects that normally do not bother the patients, with a good degree of improvement and high satisfaction index.