Genetic mapping and candidate gene identification of BoGL5, a gene essential for cuticular wax biosynthesis in broccoli

Background The aerial organs of most terrestrial plants are covered by cuticular waxes, which impart plants a glaucous appearance and play important roles in protecting against various biotic and abiotic stresses. Despite many glossy green (wax-defective) mutants being well characterized in model plants, little is known about the genetic basis of glossy green mutant in broccoli. Results B156 is a spontaneous broccoli mutant showing a glossy green phenotype. Detection by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed that B156 is a cuticular wax-defective mutant, lacking waxes mostly longer than C28. Inheritance analysis revealed that this trait was controlled by a single recessive gene, BoGL5. Whole-genome InDel markers were developed, and a segregating F2 population was constructed to map BoGL5. Ultimately, BoGL5 was mapped to a 94.1 kb interval on C01. The BoCER2 gene, which is homologous to the Arabidopsis CER2 gene, was identified as a candidate of BoGL5 from the target interval. Sequence analyses revealed that Bocer2 in B156 harbored a G-to-T SNP mutation at the 485th nucleotide of the CDS, resulting in a W-to-L transition at the 162nd amino acid, a conserved site adjacent to an HXXXD motif of the deduced protein sequence. Expression analysis revealed that BoCER2 was significantly down-regulated in the leaves, stems, and siliques of B156 mutant than that of B3. Last, ectopic expression of BoCER2 in A. thaliana could, whereas Bocer2 could not, rescue the phenotype of cer2 mutant. Conclusions Overall, this study mapped the locus determining glossy phenotype of B156 and proved BoCER2 is functional gene involved in cuticular wax biosynthesis which would promotes the utilization of BoCER2 to enhance plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and breeding of B. oleracea cultivars with glossy traits.

A SCALABLE HYBRID MODEL FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATION DETECTION

In this work, a scalable hybrid model is proposed for the purpose of screening and continuous monitoring of atrial fibrillation (AF) using electrocardiogram (ECG) signals collected from wearable ECG devices. The time series of RR intervals (with units in seconds) extracted from the ECG signal is fed into a recurrent neural network (RNN), and the bandpass filtered and scaled signal itself is fed into a convolutional neural network (CNN). At the post-processing stage, these two predictions are merged. An additional logistic regression model using statistical features of “pseudo” PR interval sequence is applied to aid making the final prediction. The proposed model is trained and validated on several datasets from PhysioNet and achieves a precision of 98.28% and a specificity of 99.82% on a dataset collected from several PhysioNet databases. This hybrid model has already been deployed through a WeChat applet, providing services those using wearable ECG devices, thus helping the screening and continuous out-of-hospital monitoring of the disease of AF.

A 24,482-bp Deletion Increases Seed Weight Through Multiple Pathways in Rapeseed (Brassica Napus L.)

Exploration of the genes controlling seed weight is critical to improve crop yield and understand the mechanisms underlying seed formation in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). We previously identified the quantitative trait locus (QTL) qSW.C9, for the thousand-seed weight (TSW) trait, in a double haploid population constructed from F1 hybrids between the parental accessions HZ396 and Y106. Here, we confirmed the phenotypic effects associated with qSW.C9 in BC3F2 populations and fine-mapped the candidate causal locus to a 266-kb interval. Sequence and expression analyses revealed that a 24,482-bp deletion in HZ396 containing six predicted genes most likely underlies qSW.C9. Differential gene expression analysis and cytological observations suggested that qSW.C9 affects both cell proliferation and cell expansion through multiple signaling pathways. After genotyping a rapeseed diversity panel to define their haplotype structure, we suggest that the selection of germplasm carrying two specific markers may be effective in improving seed weight in rapeseed. This study provides a solid foundation for the identification of the causal gene of qSW.C9 and offers an attractive target for breeding higher-yielding rapeseed.

Implicit Learning of the Time Interval Sequence

The article considers the studies performed in the «Sequence Learning» paradigm. A special case of this experimental approach is the method of temporal sequences memorization. The elements of such sequences are time intervals instead of stimulus or their spatial localization. The item of the conducted and described study was implicit learning of the time interval sequence. The goal of the experiment was to check the possibility of unconscious acquisition of the temporal sequences, not related to the sequences of another type of organization. To process the obtained results, mixed linear models were used. It was found that the learning of time interval sequences can occur regardless of the presence of regularity in the reaction order (motor sequence) and without rules in stimuli organization (structural sequence) or in the order of their localization (spatial sequence).

Interactional synchrony: signals, mechanisms and benefits

Many group-living animals, humans included, occasionally synchronize their behavior with that of conspecifics. Social psychology and neuroscience have attempted to explain this phenomenon. Here we sought to integrate results around three themes: the stimuli, the mechanisms and the benefits of interactional synchrony. As regards stimuli, we asked what characteristics, apart from temporal regularity, prompt synchronization and found that stimulus modality and complexity are important. The high temporal resolution of the auditory system and the relevance of socio-emotional information endow auditory, multimodal, emotional and somewhat variable and adaptive sequences with particular synchronizing power. Looking at the mechanisms revealed that traditional perspectives emphasizing beat-based representations of others’ signals conflict with more recent work investigating the perception of temporal regularity. Timing processes supported by striato-cortical loops represent any kind of repetitive interval sequence fairly automatically. Additionally, socio-emotional processes supported by posterior superior temporal cortex help endow such sequences with value motivating the extent of synchronizing. Synchronizing benefits arise from an increased predictability of incoming signals and include many positive outcomes ranging from basic information processing at the individual level to the bonding of dyads and larger groups.

P1887Development and validation of a novel premature ventricular contraction detector in an insertable cardiac monitor

Background High premature ventricular contraction (PVC) burden may increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias, PVC-induced cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Purpose We developed and validated an algorithm for continuous long-term monitoring of PVC burden in implantable loop recorders or insertable cardiac monitors (ICM). Methods The PVC algorithm uses long-short-long RR interval sequence and similarity and differences in r-wave morphology for three consecutive beats to detect the occurrence of a single PVC beat. Various threshold combinations were used for long-short-long RR interval sequence and degree of difference and similarity of R-wave morphology to be able to detect various types of PVCs including monomorphic, polymorphic, bigeminal, trigeminal, and interpolated PVCs. For example, a high degree of difference in R-wave morphology only required the short interval to be less than the longer interval by a smaller amount. The algorithm was designed with the intention to achieve minimum over reporting of PVC burden, i.e. maximum specificity. The algorithm was developed and validated using ECG strips stored in an ICM from real world patients. Gross, patient average and generalized estimating equation (GEE) estimates for sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value are reported. Results The PVC detection algorithm was developed using 87 2-minute ECG strips recorded by an ICM containing 2129 single PVC beats and 12,402 non-PVC beats to obtain a gross sensitivity and specificity of 75.9% and 98.8%. The validation data cohort consisted of 787 ICM recorded ECG strips 7–10 minutes in duration from 134 patients, providing over 460,000 beats of which 439,106 (94%) were normal beats, 8398 (2%) single PVC beats and 16,634 (4%) noisy beats. Couplets and triplets were excluded. Table 1 shows the performance results of the PVC detection algorithm in this validation set. Performance of PVC detector Gross Patient average GEE (95% CI) Sensitivity 75.2% 69.9% 72.5% (65.8–78.3) Specificity 99.6% 99.4% 99.4% (99.2–99.6) Positive Predictive Value (PPV) 75.9% 40.6% 40.6% (33.6–48.0) Negative Predictive Value (NPV) 99.5% 99.6% 99.6% (99.3–99.7) Conclusions The PVC detection algorithm was able to achieve a high specificity, which ensures that 99.6% of the normal events are not incorrectly identified as PVCs, while detecting 75% of PVCs on a continuous long-term basis in insertable cardiac monitors. The accuracy of PVC burden estimates during continuous monitoring using this algorithm needs further validation using Holter studies. Acknowledgement/Funding Medtronic Plc

An Efficient and Effective Index Structure for Query Evaluation in Search Engines

In this chapter, the authors discuss an efficient and effective index mechanism for search engines to support both conjunctive and disjunctive queries. The main idea behind it is to decompose an inverted list into a collection of disjoint sub-lists. The authors associate each word with an interval sequence, which is created by applying a kind of tree coding to a trie structure constructed over all the word sequences in a database. Then, attach each interval, instead of a word, with an inverted sub-list. In this way, both set intersection and union can be conducted by performing a series of simple interval containment checks. Experiments have been conducted, which shows that the new index is promising. Also, how to maintain indices, when inserting or deleting documents, is discussed in great detail.

Serialism/Twelve-Tone Technique

Serialism or the twelve-tone technique is a way of composing music that involves replacing major and minor scales with a fixed ordering of the pitches in the chromatic scale. This generates a structure that, in principle, remains in place throughout the composition in question. Prior to the modernist age, the idea that a musical composition should establish a fixed order of pitches, intervals, rhythmic values, and dynamic values would have seemed intolerably restrictive and mechanical. The additional requirement that a composition must maintain specific serial ordering throughout, either through literal repetition or by using any of the possible transpositions of the chosen series (thereby changing the pitch sequence while retaining the interval sequence) would have reinforced such negative conclusions and connotations. In earlier music, such fixed ordering applied only when motifs or themes were stated and literally repeated. Earlier music generally featured an interest more in the transformation and development of multiple, contrasting themes than in the reiteration of a single musical idea. Music preceding modernism made use of a major/minor key system based on a ‘‘common practice’’ of harmonic identities and functions. While distinct from a composition’s thematic material, this gave composers a comprehensive set of musical procedures from which to create coherent thematic processes.