Complex and reticulate origin of edible roses (Rosa, Rosaceae) in China

While roses are today among the most popular ornamental plants, the petals and fruits of some cultivars have flavored foods for millennia. The genetic origins of these edible cultivars remain poorly investigated. We collected the major varieties of edible roses available in China, assembled their plastome sequences, and phased the haplotypes for internal transcribed spacers (ITS1/ITS2) of the 18S-5.8S-26S nuclear ribosomal cistron. Our phylogenetic reconstruction using 88 plastid genomes, of primarily maternal origin, uncovered well-supported genetic relationships within Rosa, including all sections and all subgenera. We phased the ITS sequences to identify potential donor species ancestral to the development of known edible cultivars. The tri-parental Middle-Eastern origin of R. × damascena, the species most widely used in perfume products and food additives, was confirmed as a descendent of past hybridizations among R. moschata, R. gallica, and R. majalis/R. fedtschenkoana/R. davurica. In contrast, R. chinensis, R. rugosa, and R. gallica, in association with six other wild species, were the main donors for fifteen varieties of edible roses. The domesticated R. rugosa ‘Plena’ was shown to be a hybrid between R. rugosa and R. davurica, sharing a common origin with R. ‘Fenghua’. Only R. ‘Jinbian’ and R. ‘Crimson Glory’ featured continuous flowering. All remaining cultivars of edible roses bloomed only once a year. Our study provides important resources for clarifying the origin of edible roses and suggests a future for breeding new cultivars with unique traits, such as continuous flowering.

Designing Potential Donor Materials Based on DRCN5T with Halogen Substitutions: A DFT/TDDFT Study

Experimental researchers have found that the organic solar cell (OSC) based on DRCN5T (an oligothiophene) possesses excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.1%. However, to date, there have been few studies about halogenation of DRCN5T, and its effects on photovoltaic properties of halogenated DRCN5T are still not clear. In the present work, we first perform benchmark calculations and effectively reproduce experimental results. Then, eight halogenated DRCN5T molecules are designed and investigated theoretically by using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT. The dipole moments, frontier molecular orbital energies, absorption spectra, exciton binding energy (Eb), singlet–triplet energy gap (ΔEST), and electrostatic potential (ESP) of these molecules, and the estimated open circuit voltages (VOCs) of the OSCs with PC71BM as acceptor are presented. We find that (1) generally, halogen substitutions would increase VOC; (2) Eb rises with more fluorine substitutions, but for Cl and Br substitutions, Eb increases firstly and then drops; (3) ΔEST keeps increasing with more halogen substitutions; (4) except for Br substitutions, the averaged ESP arises along with more halogen substitutions; (5) the absorption strength of UV–Vis spectra of DRCN5T2F, DRCN5T4F, DRCN5T6F, and DRCN5T2Cl in the visible region is enhanced with respect to DRCN5T. Based on these results, overall, DRCN5T2Cl, DRCN5T4F, and DRCN5T6F may be promising donors.

Increasing access to allotransplants in the United States: the impact of race, geography, and socioeconomics

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is particularly susceptible to racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in access and outcomes given its specialized nature and its availability in select centers in the United States. Nearly all patients who need HCT have a potential donor in the current era, but racial minority populations are less likely to have an optimal donor and often rely on alternative donor sources. Furthermore, prevalent health care disparity factors are further accentuated and can be barriers to access and referral to a transplant center. Research has primarily focused on defining and quantifying a variety of social determinants of health and their association with access to allogeneic HCT, with a focus on race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. However, research on interventions is lacking and is an urgent unmet need. We discuss the role of racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in access to allogeneic HCT, along with policy changes to address and mitigate them and opportunities for future research.

Disentangling potential genotypes for macro and micro nutrients and polymorphic markers in Chickpea

Background- The present investigation was conducted to assess the nutritional diverseness and identify novel genetic resources to be utilized in chickpea breeding for macro and micro nutrients. Methods-The plants were grown in randomized block design. Nutritional and phytochemical properties of nine chickpea genotypes were estimated. The EST sequences from NCBI database were downloaded in FASTA format, clustered into contigs using CAP3, mined for novel SSRs using TROLL analysis and primer pairs were designed using Primer 3 software. Jaccard’s similarity coefficients were used to compare the nutritional and molecular indexes followed by dendrograms construction employing UPGMA approach. Results- The genotypes PUSA-1103, K-850, PUSA-1108, PUSA-1053 and the EST-SSR markers ICCeM012, ICCeM0049, ICCeM0070, ICCeM0078, SVP55, SVP95, SVP96, SVP146, SVP213 & SVP217 were found as potential donor / marker resources for the macro-micro nutrients. The genotypes differed (p<0.05) for nutritional properties. Amongst newly designed primers, 6 were found polymorphic with median PIC (0.46). The alleles per primer ranged 1 to 8. Cluster analysis based on nutritional and molecular diversities partially matched to each other in principle. Conclusion-The identified novel genetic resources may be used to widen the germplasm base, prepare maintainable catalogue and identify systematic blueprints for future chickpea breeding strategies targeting macro-micro nutrients.

Transcriptome based identification and validation of heat stress transcription factors in wheat progenitor species Aegilops speltoides

Wheat, one of the major cereal crops worldwide, get adversely affected by rising global temperature. We have identified the diploid B genome progenitor of wheat, Aegilops speltoides (SS), as a potential donor for heat stress tolerance. Therefore, the present work was planned to study the total transcriptome profile of heat stress-tolerant Ae. speltoides accession pau3809 (AS3809) and compare with that of tetraploid and hexaploid wheat cultivars PDW274 and PBW725, respectively. The comparative transcriptome was utilized to identify and validate heat stress transcription factors (HSFs), the key genes involved in imparting heat stress tolerance. Transcriptome analysis led to the identification of a total of 74 K, 68 K, and 76 K genes in AS3809, PDW274, and PBW725, respectively. There was a high uniformity of GO profiles under the biological, molecular, and cellular functions across the three wheat transcriptomes, suggesting the conservation of gene function. Twelve HSFs having the highest FPKM value were identified in the AS3809 transcriptome data, while six of these HSFs namely HSFA3, HSFA5, HSFA9, HSFB2a, HSFB2b, and HSFC1b, were validated with qRT PCR. These six HSFs were identified as an important component of thermotolerance in AS3809 as evident from their comparative higher expression under heat stress.

Machine learning support for decision making in kidney transplantation: step-by-step development of a technological solution (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment option for patients with end-stage renal disease. To maximize patient and graft survival, the allocation of donor organs to potential recipients requires careful consideration. OBJECTIVE To develop an innovative technological solution to enable better prediction of kidney transplant survival for each potential donor-recipient pair. METHODS We used de-identified data on past organ donors, recipients and transplant outcomes in the United States from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). To predict transplant outcomes for potential donor-recipient pairs, we used several survival analysis models, including regression analysis (Cox Proportional Hazards), Random Survival Forests (RSF) and several artificial neural networks (DeepSurv, DeepHit, Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN)). We evaluated the performance of each model on their ability to predict the probability of graft survival after kidney transplantation from deceased donors. Three metrics were employed: the C-index, the Integrated Brier Score and the Integrated Calibration Index (ICI), along with calibration plots. RESULTS Based on the C-index metrics, the neural network-based models (DeepSurv, DeepHit, RNN) had better discriminative ability than the Cox model and RSF (0.650, 0.661, 0.659 vs 0.646 and 0.644, correspondingly). The proposed RNN model offered a compromise between the good discriminative ability and calibration and was implemented in a technological solution of TRL-4. CONCLUSIONS Our technological solution based on RNN model can effectively predict kidney transplant survival and provide support for medical professionals and candidate recipients in determining the most optimal donor-recipient pair. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable.

The Diagnosis of Brain Death

Organ transplantation is impossible without donation which is performed both intra vitam and posthumously. Each case of multi-organ collection provides help to 4 to 6 patients. We believe that presentation of modern algorithms for diagnosing brain death is quite feasible, and such information can be useful not only for anesthesiologists, but also for doctors of other specialties. This paper presents materials related to organ donation. Diagnostic criteria for human brain death, as well as the procedure for ascertaining human brain death and the actions of doctors of healthcare institutions in relation to persons who are in these institutions and who have clinical indications for the diagnosis of brain death, are determined by "The procedure for cancellation of active measures to maintain the patient's life…". Active measures (ventilation, infusion therapy and vasopressor support, etc.) to support the patient's life are cancelled after the patient's brain death is ascertained, except for cases where the deceased person is considered a potential donor. Verification of the human brain death is carried out by the case management team of the healthcare institution involving, if necessary, members of consultative and diagnostic mobile team, specialists of other healthcare institutions. The head of the healthcare institution is responsible for timely and proper engagement and work of the case management team. The responsible person determines the membership of the case management team by making an appropriate entry in the case record and is responsible for its work. An anesthesiologist and a neurologist (neurosurgeon) who have at least 5 years of practical experience in the specialty are engaged in the case management team to ascertain brain death in persons over 18 years of age. Physicians involved in the removal of human anatomical materials and transplantation thereof, as well as transplant coordinator, may not be included in the case management team.

Knowledge of the health team about brain death protocol and maintenance of potential donor / Conhecimento da equipe de saúde sobre protocolo de morte encefálica e manutenção do potencial doador

Objetivo: analisar o conhecimento da equipe de saúde da Unidade de Terapia Intensiva de adulto sobre protocolo de morte encefálica e manutenção do potencial doador de órgãos e tecidos para transplantes. Método: estudo transversal, observacional, analítico desenvolvido na unidade de terapia intensiva adulto, de um hospital de alta complexidade do Nordeste brasileiro, no período de julho a setembro de 2019. A amostra foi de conveniência, formada por 22 profissionais, enfermeiros, médicos e fisioterapeutas. Resultados: a maioria apresentou conhecimento adequado sobre os procedimentos necessários para abertura do protocolo de morte encefálica, entretanto, não sabe quais profissionais têm competência para abertura do protocolo, desconhece quando deve ser iniciado o processo de manutenção do potencial doador de órgãos, apresentaram déficit de conhecimentos sobre suas atribuições. Conclusão: identificamos a necessidade de capacitação da equipe de saúde sobre o protocolo de morte encefálica, doação de órgãos e tecidos, com foco na manutenção do potencial doador.

Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Organ Donation and Transplantation Activities in Iran

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a great impact on reducing organ transplantation activities. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the donation and transplantation activities before and after COVID-19 outbreak in Iran. Methods: This retrospective study compared the donation and transplantation activities in two specific 9-month periods (December 2018 to March 2019 vs. March-December 2020). The questionnaire included the numbers of brain death confirmations, family consents, organ recoveries, and transplanted solid organs. The questionnaire was sent by email to the chief executive of the organ procurement unit. Results: A total of 15 organ procurement units responded to the survey. The largest reduction was seen in tissue transplantations (62.5%) during two time intervals. Brain death due to head trauma significantly decreased in two time intervals and suicide increased by 14.44% during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 2018-2019 period. Significant reductions between the median of donation (P = 0.0187), median of potential donor (P = 0.005), median of family consent (P = 0.002), and median of eligible donor (P = 0.009) were observed during the two time periods. Conclusions: A significant reduction was observed in organ donation and transplantation during COVID-19 pandemic. Developing protocols and establishing new strategies for evaluation of organ donation to ensure the safety of organ recipients and medical staff is necessary.