A reference genome for pea provides insight into legume genome evolution.

We report the first annotated chromosome-level reference genome assembly for pea, Gregor Mendel's original genetic model. Phylogenetics and paleogenomics show genomic rearrangements across legumes and suggest a major role for repetitive elements in pea genome evolution. Compared to other sequenced Leguminosae genomes, the pea genome shows intense gene dynamics, most likely associated with genome size expansion when the Fabeae diverged from its sister tribes.

Performing optimal transcatheter aortic valve implantation: The need for tailored use of transcatheter valves.

Background: Despite the worldwide development of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) over the last decade, strategies that take patient characteristics into account to guide the choice of transcatheter heart valve have not been evaluated.

Aim: To evaluate the immediate results of TAVI using a tailored choice of balloon-expandable or self-expanding transcatheter heart valve, according to each patient's clinical and anatomical characteristics.

Methods: This single-centre observational study included all patients treated with TAVI from 2012 to 2017.

Compliance to oral nutritional supplementation decreases the risk of hospitalisation in malnourished older adults without extra health care cost: Prospective observational cohort study.

Background & Aims: Malnutrition affects 5-10% of elderly people living in the community. A few studies suggest that nutritional intervention may reduce health care costs. The present study included malnourished elderly patients living at home.

Impact of magnetic nanoparticle surface coating on their long-term intracellular biodegradation in stem cells.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) internalized within stem cells have paved the way for remote magnetic cell manipulation and imaging in regenerative medicine. A full understanding of their interactions with stem cells and of their fate in the intracellular environment is then required, in particular with respect to their surface coatings. Here, we investigated the biological interactions of MNPs composed of an identical magnetic core but coated with different molecules: phosphonoacetic acid, polyethylene glycol phosphonic carboxylic acid, caffeic acid, citric acid, and polyacrylic acid.

Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (WBMT) recommendations for establishing a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation program in countries with limited resources (Part II): Clinical, technical and socio-economic considerations.

The development of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) programs can face significant challenges in most developing countries because such endeavors must compete with other government health care priorities, including the delivery of basic services. While this is may be a limiting factor, these countries should prioritize development of the needed expertise to offer state of the art treatments including transplantation, by providing financial, technological, legal, ethical and other needed support. This would prove beneficial in providing successful programs customized to the needs of their population, and potentially provide long-term cost-savings by circumventing the need for their citizens to seek care abroad.

Age at menopause and lung function: a Mendelian randomisation study.

In observational studies, early menopause is associated with lower forced vital capacity (FVC) and a higher risk of spirometric restriction, but not airflow obstruction. It is, however, unclear if this association is causal. We therefore used a Mendelian randomisation (MR) approach, which is not affected by classical confounding, to assess the effect of age at natural menopause on lung function.

The Polycomb protein LHP1 regulates Arabidopsis thaliana stress responses through the repression of the MYC2-dependent branch of immunity.

Polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs) have been traditionally associated with the regulation of developmental processes in various organisms, including higher plants. However, similar to other epigenetic regulators, there is accumulating evidence for their role in the regulation of stress and immune-related pathways. In the current study we show that the PRC1 protein LHP1 is required for the repression of the MYC2 branch of jasmonic acid (JA)/ethylene (ET) pathway of immunity.

CT and MR imaging of chemotherapy-induced hepatopathy.

Chemotherapy-induced hepatopathy includes a wide variety of parenchymal and vascular hepatic changes on imaging, including diffuse or focal hepatopathies (i.e. hepatitis, steatosis, fibrosis, pseudocirrhosis, or sinusoidal obstruction).

Early Detection of Localized Immunity in Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis Using [Tc]Fucoidan SPECT.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the ability of technetium-99m-fucoidan ([Tc]fucoidan), a molecular imaging agent specific for selectins, in the assessment of early localized immunity in a rat model of experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM).

Procedures: EAM was induced in Lewis rats and troponin T; brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and anti-myosin antibodies were measured in plasma. Separately, [Tc]fucoidan single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/x-ray computed tomography (CT) was performed in the very early phase of myocarditis at 10, 15, and 21 days after immunization.

Chemotherapy in Resected Neuroendocrine Carcinomas of the Digestive Tract: A National Study from the French Group of Endocrine Tumours.

Background: Neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) of the digestive tract are rare and aggressive tumours. In localised disease the treatment is surgery. Based on expert consensus, international guidelines recommend the administration of adjuvant chemotherapy combining etoposide and platinum derivatives, justified by the high risk of metastatic relapse.

Disagreement between capillary blood glucose and flash glucose monitoring sensor can lead to inadequate treatment adjustments during pregnancy.

Objective: Continuous glucose monitoring tends to replace capillary blood glucose (CBG) self-monitoring. Our aim was to determine the agreement between CBG and a flash glucose monitoring system (Flash-GMS) in treatment decision-making during pregnancy.

Research Design And Methods: Insulin-treated women with either type 1 (n=25), type 2 (n=4) or gestational diabetes (n=4) were included.

MiR-574-5p: A Circulating Marker of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm.

Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) can lead to fatal complications such as aortic dissection. Since aneurysm dimension poorly predicts dissection risk, microRNAs (miRNAs) may be useful to diagnose or risk stratify TAA patients. We aim to identify miRNAs associated with TAA pathogenesis and that are possibly able to improve TAA diagnosis.

Nilotinib efficacy, safety, adherence and impact on quality of life in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia in chronic phase: a prospective observational study in daily clinical practice.

This observational, prospective study assessed, in a daily clinical practice, the molecular response, safety, quality of life (QoL) and treatment adherence in 183 patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia in chronic phase (CML-CP), receiving nilotinib as first-line treatment. Premature study termination before 24 months of follow-up occurred in 61 patients (33·3%), and was essentially due to nilotinib treatment discontinuation (n = 53; 29%), motivated by treatment intolerance (n = 29; 15·8%) and inefficacy (n = 19; 10·4%). After 24 months of treatment, 112/122 patients (91·8%) had a molecular assessment, 95·5% of whom achieved a major molecular response (MMR), 32·1% achieved uMR , defined as an undetectable molecular disease with 4-log molecular response sensitivity (≥10 000 ABL1 transcripts).

Conjugated Estrogens and Bazedoxifene Improve Cell Function in Obese Menopausal Women.

Context: Studies suggest that menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) prevents type 2 diabetes (T2D). The combination of conjugated estrogens (CE) with the selective estrogen receptor modulator bazedoxifene (BZA) is an MHT that improves obesity and T2D in preclinical models of menopausal metabolic syndrome. The effect of CE/BZA on adiposity and glucose homeostasis in obese postmenopausal women is unknown.

Characteristics and management of giant cell arteritis in France: a study based on national health insurance claims data.

Objective: Few data are available on the epidemiology and management of GCA in real life. We aimed to address this situation by using health insurance claims data for France.

Methods: This retrospective study used the Echantillon Généraliste de Bénéficiaires (EGB) database, a 1% representative sample of the French national health insurance system.

Influence of pretreatment tumor growth rate on objective response of hepatocellular carcinoma treated with transarterial chemoembolization.

Background And Aim: The study aims to assess the influence of pretreatment tumor growth rate (TGR) on modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (mRECIST) objective response (OR) after a first session of selective transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: One hundred fifteen patients (101 men [88%], mean 65.1 ± 10.

Management of patients with rare blood groups in maternity.

We report on our experiences since 2010 with pregnant women with rare blood types. The lack of compatible blood is a challenge for the anaesthetist whose priority is to prevent and treat anaemia in late pregnancy in order to avoid immunisation after transfusion of incompatible blood. In our hospital, the blood type is checked during the first obstetric consult, which is variable, starting from the fourth month of pregnancy.

Validation of discrete time-to-event prediction models in the presence of competing risks.

Clinical prediction models play a key role in risk stratification, therapy assignment and many other fields of medical decision making. Before they can enter clinical practice, their usefulness has to be demonstrated using systematic validation. Methods to assess their predictive performance have been proposed for continuous, binary, and time-to-event outcomes, but the literature on validation methods for discrete time-to-event models with competing risks is sparse.

Oscillatory surface rheotaxis of swimming E. coli bacteria.

Bacterial contamination of biological channels, catheters or water resources is a major threat to public health, which can be amplified by the ability of bacteria to swim upstream. The mechanisms of this 'rheotaxis', the reorientation with respect to flow gradients, are still poorly understood. Here, we follow individual E.

Clinical impact of a new cone beam CT angiography respiratory motion artifact reduction algorithm during hepatic intra-arterial interventions.

Objectives: To assess the impact of recently developed respiratory motion correction software on contrast-enhanced cone beam CT angiography (CBCT-a) for intraprocedural image guidance during intra-arterial liver-directed therapy.

Methods: From 2015 to 2017, two groups of patients who underwent intra-arterial liver-directed therapy with (breathing, n = 30) or without (still, n = 30) significant respiratory motion artifacts were retrospectively included. All CBCT-a were processed with and without dedicated respiratory motion correction software.

Induced membrane maintains its osteogenic properties even when the second stage of Masquelet's technique is performed later.

Purpose: Previous clinical studies have shown the effectiveness of bone repair using two-stage surgery called the induced membrane (IM) technique. The optimal wait before the second surgery is said to be 1 month. We have been successfully performing the IM technique while waiting an average of 6 months to carry out the second stage.

Meta-analysis of GWA studies provides new insights on the genetic architecture of skin pigmentation in recently admixed populations.

Background: Association studies in recently admixed populations are extremely useful to identify the genetic architecture of pigmentation, due to their high genotypic and phenotypic variation. However, to date only four Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have been carried out in these populations.

Results: We present a GWAS of skin pigmentation in an admixed sample from Cuba (N = 762).

Weekly intramuscular progesterone for luteal phase support in women receiving oocyte donation is associated with a decreased miscarriage rate.

Research Question: To determine whether adding intramuscular to vaginal administration of progesterone reduces miscarriage rates compared with those of vaginal administration alone for luteal phase support in women receiving oocyte donation and to determine the best time to introduce intramuscular progesterone.

Design: Retrospective analysis of miscarriage rates in women receiving oocyte donation. Recipients underwent endometrial preparation by hormone replacement treatment.