Genomic prediction of preliminary yield trials in chickpea: Effect of functional annotation of SNPs and environment.

Achieving yield potential in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is limited by many constraints that include biotic and abiotic stresses. Combining next-generation sequencing technology with advanced statistical modeling has the potential to increase genetic gain efficiently.

Optical manipulation: advances for biophotonics in the 21st century.

Significance: Optical trapping is a technique capable of applying minute forces that has been applied to studies spanning single molecules up to microorganisms.

Aim: The goal of this perspective is to highlight some of the main advances in the last decade in this field that are pertinent for a biomedical audience.

Approach: First, the direct determination of forces in optical tweezers and the combination of optical and acoustic traps, which allows studies across different length scales, are discussed.

Screening fertilizers for their phosphorus runoff risk using laboratory methods.

Losses of phosphorus (P) from fertilized fields may result in degradation of water quality. Various initiatives are under evaluation to minimize water contamination, including the adoption of less soluble or coated P fertilizer formulations aiming to mitigate losses of P in runoff. Field-based rainfall simulators are traditionally used to evaluate P runoff, but using these is time consuming, labor intensive, and costly given the complex apparatus and analyses involved.

Enrichment of Antioxidant Capacity and Vitamin E in Pita Made from Barley.

This study aimed to enhance total antioxidant and vitamin E content of pita bread, by replacing 50% of the standard baker's flour with flours milled from covered (WI2585 and Harrington) or hulless (Finniss) barley genotypes, previously shown to have high antioxidant and vitamin E levels at harvest. Pita breads were made from either 100% baker's flour (control) or 50% malt flour, whole-grain flour, or flour from barley grains pearled at 10%, 15%, and 20% grain weight. Antioxidant capacity and vitamin E content of flours and pitas were determined by their ability to scavenge 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals and high performance liquid chromatography, respectively.

Effects of variations in intragastric volume on blood pressure and splanchnic blood flow during intraduodenal glucose infusion in healthy older subjects.

The postprandial reduction in blood pressure (BP) is triggered by the interaction of nutrients with the small intestine and associated with an increase in splanchnic blood flow. Gastric distension may attenuate the postprandial fall in BP. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of differences in intragastric volume, including distension at a low (100 ml) volume, on BP and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) blood flow responses to intraduodenal glucose in healthy older subjects.

The effect of dietary fat content on phospholipid fatty acid profile is muscle fiber type dependent.

A high-saturated-fat diet (HFD) induces obesity and insulin resistance (IR). IR has been linked to alterations and increased saturation in the phospholipid composition of skeletal muscles. We aimed to determine whether HFD feeding affects fatty acid (FA) membrane profile in a muscle fiber type-specific manner.

Vitamin K promotes mineralization, osteoblast-to-osteocyte transition, and an anticatabolic phenotype by {gamma}-carboxylation-dependent and -independent mechanisms.

The vitamin K family members phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and the menaquinones (vitamin K2) are under study for their roles in bone metabolism and as potential therapeutic agents for skeletal diseases. We have investigated the effects of two naturally occurring homologs, phytonadione (vitamin K1) and menatetrenone (vitamin K2), and those of the synthetic vitamin K, menadione (vitamin K3), on human primary osteoblasts. All homologs promoted in vitro mineralization by these cells.

Comparative transcriptomics in the Triticeae.

Background: Barley and particularly wheat are two grass species of immense agricultural importance. In spite of polyploidization events within the latter, studies have shown that genotypically and phenotypically these species are very closely related and, indeed, fertile hybrids can be created by interbreeding. The advent of two genome-scale Affymetrix GeneChips now allows studies of the comparison of their transcriptomes.

Comparative effects of oral and intraduodenal glucose on blood pressure, heart rate, and splanchnic blood flow in healthy older subjects.

Postprandial hypotension occurs frequently, particularly in the elderly. The magnitude of the fall in blood pressure (BP) and rise in heart rate (HR) in response to enteral glucose are greater when gastric emptying (GE) or small intestinal infusion are more rapid. Meal ingestion is associated with an increase in splanchnic blood flow.

Sex-specific alterations in placental 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 activity and early postnatal clinical course following antenatal betamethasone.

Placental 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-2 (11betaHSD2) limits fetal glucocorticoid exposure and is associated with physiological stability in the premature newborn infant. Antenatal betamethasone alters 11betaHSD2 activity and confers sex-specific advantages in neonatal outcome. We investigated the influence of betamethasone and sex on 11betaHSD2 activity, neonatal adrenal function and clinical course in 24- to 36-wk gestation neonates from birth to day 5 of life.

Voluntary movement and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over human motor cortex.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can induce short-term reorganization of human motor cortex. Here, we investigated the effect of rTMS during relaxation and weak voluntary muscle contraction on motor cortex excitability and hand function. Subjects (n = 60) participated in one of four studies.

Dose-dependent effects of cholecystokinin-8 on antropyloroduodenal motility, gastrointestinal hormones, appetite, and energy intake in healthy men.

CCK mediates the effects of nutrients on gastrointestinal motility and appetite. Intravenously administered CCK stimulates pyloric pressures, increases plasma PYY, and suppresses ghrelin, all of which may be important in the regulation of appetite and energy intake. The dose-related effects of exogenous CCK on gastrointestinal motility and gut hormone release, and the relationships between these effects and those on energy intake, are uncertain.

Metabolic homeostasis in mice with disrupted Clock gene expression in peripheral tissues.

The role of peripheral vs. central circadian rhythms and Clock in the maintenance of metabolic homeostasis and with aging was examined by using Clock(Delta19)+MEL mice. These have preserved suprachiasmatic nucleus and pineal gland rhythmicity but arrhythmic Clock gene expression in the liver and skeletal muscle.

Role of 5-hydroxytryptamine mechanisms in mediating the effects of small intestinal glucose on blood pressure and antropyloroduodenal motility in older subjects.

Postprandial hypotension is an important clinical problem, particularly in the elderly. 5-Hydroxytryptamine3 (5-HT3) mechanisms may be important in the regulation of splanchnic blood flow and blood pressure (BP), and in mediating the effects of small intestinal nutrients on gastrointestinal motility. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of the 5-HT3 antagonist granisetron on the BP, heart rate (HR), and antropyloroduodenal (APD) motility responses to intraduodenal glucose in healthy older subjects.

Eccentric exercise increases EMG amplitude and force fluctuations during submaximal contractions of elbow flexor muscles.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of eccentric exercise on the ability to exert steady submaximal forces with muscles that cross the elbow joint. Eight subjects performed two tasks requiring isometric contraction of the right elbow flexors: a maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) and a constant-force task at four submaximal target forces (5, 20, 35, 50% MVC) while electromyography (EMG) was recorded from elbow flexor and extensor muscles. These tasks were performed before, after, and 24 h after a period of eccentric (fatigue and muscle damage) or concentric exercise (fatigue only).

Prolactin and the expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 in the sheep adrenal gland before birth.

The fetal pituitary-adrenal axis plays a key role in the fetal response to intrauterine stress and in the timing of parturition. The fetal sheep adrenal gland is relatively refractory to stimulation in midgestation (90-120 days) before the prepartum activation, which occurs around 135 days gestation (term=147+/-3 days). The mechanisms underlying the switch from adrenal quiescence to activation are unclear.

Passive pericardial constraint protects against stretch-induced vulnerability to atrial fibrillation in rabbits.

Atrial fibrillation is more common in conditions with elevated atrial pressure and can be induced experimentally with acute increases in atrial pressure. We examined the effect of increased atrial pressure with and without pericardial constraint to better separate the effects of increased pressure and atrial stretch. In Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts with intact pericardium, after ligating the pulmonary and caval veins, intra-atrial pressures were increased in a stepwise manner by adjusting the pulmonary outflow cannula.

Low-intensity repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation decreases motor cortical excitability in humans.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex (rTMS) can be used to modify motor cortical excitability in human subjects. At stimulus intensities near to or above resting motor threshold, low-frequency rTMS (approximately 1 Hz) decreases motor cortical excitability, whereas high-frequency rTMS (5-20 Hz) can increase excitability. We investigated the effect of 10 min of intermittent rTMS on motor cortical excitability in normal subjects at two frequencies (2 or 6 Hz).

micro-XANES and micro-XRF investigations of metal binding mechanisms in biosolids.

Micro-X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) microprobe analysis and micro-X-ray absorption near-edge structure (micro-XANES) spectroscopy were employed to identify Fe and Mn phases and their association with selected metals in two biosolids (limed composted [LC] and Nu-Earth) before and after treatment to remove organic carbon (OC). Spatial correlations derived from elemental mapping of XRF images showed strong correlations between Fe and Cd, Cr, Pb, or Zn (r2= 0.65-0.

Role of nitric oxide mechanisms in gastric emptying of, and the blood pressure and glycemic responses to, oral glucose in healthy older subjects.

The primary aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) on gastric emptying (GE) of, and the blood pressure (BP), glycemic, insulin, and incretin responses to, oral glucose in older subjects. Eight healthy subjects (4 males and 4 females, aged 70.9 +/- 1.

Advanced solid-state carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic studies of sewage sludge organic matter: detection of organic "domains".

Two novel solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques, PSRE (proton spin relaxation editing) and RESTORE [Restoration of Spectra via T(CH) and T(1rho)H (T One Rho H) Editing], were used to provide detailed chemical characterization of the organic matter from six Australian sewage sludges. These methods were used to probe the submicrometer heterogeneity of sludge organic matter, and identify and quantify spatially distinct components. Analysis of the T1H relaxation behavior of the sludges indicated that each sludge contained two types of organic domains.

Characterization of sewage sludge organic matter using solid-state carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Six sewage sludges from five sewage treatment plants in Australia were characterized using solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Spectra were acquired both before and after removal of mineral components through treatment with hydrofluoric acid (HF). Carbon mass balance indicated that little organic matter was lost on HF treatment, which significantly improved NMR sensitivity and spectral resolution, and decreased acquisition time and hence cost of NMR analysis.

The effects of O-(beta-hydroxy-ethyl)-rutosides (HR) on acute lymphoedema in rats' thighs, with and without macrophages.

The effect of O-(beta-hydroxy-ethyl)-rutosides (HR), injected subcutaneously, was investigated on experimental acute lymphoedema in rat thighs. The oedema was reduced from a 30% increase over the normal weight, to one of 13%. When the macrophages were destroyed by the intraperitoneal injection of silica (for eight days before the initiation of lymphoedema) the oedema of the thigh increased to 41% - thus showing the importance of these cells in limiting high-protein oedemas.