The evidence on the role of particular lifestyles, smoking, binge drinking, lack of physical activity, and poor health care seeking, in increased risks for mortality and morbidity is compelling . UnderstExtant research on behaviour change interventions highlights the importance of structural support and a range of requisites such as capability, motivation, and opportunities . Taking  avant-garde research across the various levels of the behaviour change research cycle.Through this special issue, robust research on behaviour change, as envisaged and implemented across the range of public health disciplines, is presented to enhance our understanding of how behaviour change research could inform public health practice at local, regional, and global levels. The selected papers in this issue provide motivators of certain behaviours is presented through three studies included in this special issue. W. Liang and T. Chikritzhs explore survey data and find a significant association between heavy alcohol use and risk of violence. Likewise, pro- and antitobacco imagery as seen in media and other outlets appear to be an important determinant of the attitudes towards and uptake of smoking among adolescents. G. Waqa et al. conclude therefore that public health warnings can work in real life. Most behaviour change (positive or negative) happens when individuals find themselves in a completely new context and this hypothesis is demonstrated in the study conducted with Filipino migrants by D. Maneze et al. where competing priorities of daily living were perceived by study participants as a key barrier to their health-seeking behaviour.Research on role of technology in supporting behaviour change is increasingly important although the evidence remains sparse. In their systematic review, J. L. Watterson, et al. focus on the mobile health  technologies in low- and middle-income settings to improve behaviours related to maternal and child health. They find some evidence of effectiveness in changing behaviour to improve antenatal/postnatal care attendance or childhood immunisation rates. Likewise, “nudging” through a smartphone application, SmartAPPetite, is the subject of a study by J. Gilliland et al. in which they find the application was effective in increasing a sense of improved awareness and consumption of healthy foods. The use of technology as a research tool is also an increasingly valuable innovation and is explored in the study by E. Bisung et al. using “photovoice.” The method employs the use of photography as an effective participatory research tool to understand behaviours, create awareness, and support sanitation and hygiene related behaviour change at community levels.Theexotic” public health practice. It is exotic in the sense that implementing behaviour change can often cross the boundaries of national health services and this can happen at home, as demonstrated by E. L. Melbye and H. Hansen in relation to prevention focused feeding strategies, as well as at school classroom as investigated by M. Bronikowski et al. They test the hypothesis whether support given through teachers and peers can have positive effect on stimulating adolescents' physical activity levels.The real-life evidence presented in this special issue offers an interesting notion of “Other real-life evaluations include studies by A. Gigantesco et al. on school-based mental health programme, by B. AM Schutte et al. on BeweegKuur lifestyle intervention implemented in Dutch primary healthcare settings, by H. Limm et al. on a health promotion program based on a train-the-trainer approach, and by L. H. Norton et al. on pedometer or instructor-led group protocol to increase physical activity levels. How socioeconomics can impact lifestyle risk factors is the subject of enquiry in the study by S. Streel et al. while P. Sedlak et al. present long term lifestyle changes in preschool children. stakeholder engagement. A.-M. Hendriks et al. provide a policy analysis of local decision making in Fiji. Obesity prevention has been difficult to implement and major impediments include power inequalities across various actors due to lack of engagement. A. Linden provides an informative analysis of the missing data generated as the unintended consequence of lack of patient (or service users) engagement in public health research. Stakeholder engagement throughout and beyond the research process therefore seems inevitable for a successful behaviour change agenda.Finally, implementing behaviour change is replete with challenges not least of which is Subhash  Pokhrel   Nana  K. Anokye   Daniel  D.  Reidpath   Pascale  Allotey


Reducing the frequency of milk recording decreases the costs of official milk recording. However, this approach can negatively affect the accuracy of predicting daily yields. Equations to predict daily yield from morning or evening data were developed in this study for fatty milk components from traits recorded easily by milk recording organizations. The correlation values ranged from 96.4% to 97.6% (96.9% to 98.3%) when the daily yields were estimated from the morning (evening) milkings. The simplicity of the proposed models which do not include the milking interval should facilitate their use by breeding and milk recording organizations.Reducing the frequency of milk recording would help reduce the costs of official milk recording. However, this approach could also negatively affect the accuracy of predicting daily yields. This problem has been investigated in numerous studies. In addition, published equations take into account milking intervals (MI), and these are often not available and/or are unreliable in practice. The first objective of this study was to propose models in which the MI was replaced by a combination of data easily recorded by dairy farmers. The second objective was to further investigate the fatty acids (FA) present in milk. Equations to predict daily yield from AM or PM data were based on a calibration database containing 79,971 records related to 51 traits . These equations were validated using two distinct external datasets. The results obtained from the proposed models were compared to previously published results for models which included a MI effect. The corresponding correlation values ranged from 96.4% to 97.6% when the daily yields were estimated from the AM milkings and ranged from 96.9% to 98.3% when the daily yields were estimated from the PM milkings. The simplicity of these proposed models should facilitate their use by breeding and milk recording organizations. This dataset contained observed yields from consecutive AM and PM milkings. Daily yields were also calculated. These samples were analyzed by MIR spectrometry using a FOSS Milkoscan FT6000 . FA content (g/dL of milk) was estimated by applying the MIR calibration equations described in The second validation dataset included milk samples composed of 50% morning milk and 50% evening milk. These samples were collected from 138,141 Holstein cows belonging to 1291 herds that participated in the Walloon milk recording system from October 2007 to June 2012.Samples were collected from all of the cows milked in the herds on a given test day, and these samples were analyzed using MIR spectrometry  according to the normal milk recording procedure . The fincis-9.Models were developed to investigate whether daily yields can be estimated by replacing the MI effect  with difi.e., the sum of the squared differences between each observation and its predicted value) for the estimated model.The accuracy of the AM-PM predictions was evaluated using two criteria. First, root mean squared error (RMSE) was calculated (Equation (4)), which represents the SD of the difference between observed and estimated daily yields. The model with the smallest RMSE and the highest coefficient of determination (or correlation) was considered to provide the best fit.The second criterion was R², defined as the coefficient of determination. The square root of this value is the correlation  which represents the relationship between the observed and predicted values. Statistical parameters were calculated using the GLMSELECT procedure in the SAS/STAT software package .A validation was applied on the best fitted model using the two available validation sets. The estimated statistical parameters were RMSE, the standard deviation of prediction (σŷ) and Ry,ŷ.et al. [In the calibration set, the average milk production between October 2007 and April 2013  was 26.3et al.  from theet al. [et al. [et al.  from fat [et al.  observedCorrelations between milking and daily yield traits varied from 92.4%  to 97.9% . The strong positive correlations between daily and AM or PM yields observed in et al. [et al. [et al. [et al. [et al. [et al. [et al. [The FAT content and FAT yield correlation values were similar than those observed by Liu et al. . These a [et al.  found 90 [et al.  were oft [et al. . For mil [et al.  found 85 [et al.  and Liu  [et al.  or our set al. [et al. [As also shown by Liu et al.  and Berr [et al.  for milket al. [et al. [The PROC GLMSELECT procedure selected always combined effects. There were not individual effects such as only DIM or only lactation number in the selected equations. Such complexity of equations was not mentioned in previous studies ,10,13. Het al. [In order to appreciate the good fitting of a model, Liu et al.  indicateet al. [et al. [Except for milk yield, the observed correlations suggested that the estimations of daily yield were better when PM milking data were used. Indeed, the calibration correlation values were found to range from 96.4% to 97.6%, and from 96.9% and 98.3%, when estimations were realized from AM or PM milkings, respectively . Except et al.  and Berr [et al. . Howeveret al. [vs. 97.7% and 96.5% vs. 97.4% for the AM and PM milking data, respectively)   . The σŷ ctively) .et al. [vs. 94.3% and 96.8% vs. 94.0% for Ry,ŷ, respectively; and 90.52 vs. 106.0 g/day and 85.49 vs. 109.0 g/day for RMSE, respectively). The σŷ values were slightly higher in the present study   .et al. [et al. [Better AM/PM predictions were observed for milk yield compared to fat content and yield. It was also observed by Liu et al.  and Berr [et al. . These lObserved AM/PM calibration Ry,ŷ values for fatty acid traits were all within the same range and were higher than 96% suggesting a good prediction.i.e., real observed data) were bigger than the WAL validation set . One hypothesis is that these differences were due to the initial step used to predict AM/PM values for the calibration set. A potential confirmation of this hypothesis comes from the fact that small differences were observed between the RMSE or Ry,ŷ observed from the first and second validation data sets for the equations predicting daily milk yield whose AM and PM milk records were always observed. However, the predictability stayed good with Ry,ŷ never lower than 92.0%.As expected, validation Ry,ŷ values obtained from the two validation sets were lower than calibration Ry,ŷ values. Validation RMSE values were higher than the observed calibration RMSE values . Howeveri.e., these results were predicted using the same methodology as the one used for the calibration set) suggest a good robustness of the developed equations which was the main interest of the proposed methodology to build the calibration dataset. Indeed, as the first validation set which was composed of real records, was not large enough to cover the entire lactation, many parities, herds or cows, the theory of selection index was used to predict AM–PM records from 50% AM/50% PM collected records. Better results could be obtained by using only real observations but a large sampling procedure (larger than the one conducted for the LUX data) should be conducted to present a sufficient variability for DIM, parity, month of test as well as studied traits. The advantage of the selection index theory applied in this study is to use data routinely available at large scale to build the predictive models and, therefore, to require a smaller dataset containing real observations to validate the obtained models.Small differences observed between calibration and WAL validation results . The obtained results show the interest to use the theory of the selection index to construct the calibration set in order to have more robust equations thanks to a large calibration set. With validation Ry,ŷ higher than 92% obtained from observed records for all studied traits, the results are promising, although further studies are needed to confirm these results by using a larger database. Moreover, the results obtained also shows that it is possible to replace the MI parameter with a combination of more reliable parameters such as: milk production and fat content, stage of lactation classes, the test month, and calving month. The application of the models developed in this study has the potential to reduce the number of collected samples per test-day , thereby reducing the costs associated with official milk recording , while still maintaining a high accuracy of predicted daily yields.The main objective of this study was to propose a practical, simple, and robust method for accurately estimating daily FA yields from a single milking (


Y chromosome is a superb tool for inferring human evolution and recent demographic history from a paternal perspective. However, Y chromosomal substitution rates obtained using different modes of calibration vary considerably, and have produced disparate reconstructions of human history. Here, we discuss how substitution rate and date estimates are affected by the choice of different calibration points. We argue that most Y chromosomal substitution rates calculated to date have shortcomings, including a reliance on the ambiguous human-chimpanzee divergence time, insufficient sampling of deep-rooting pedigrees, and using inappropriate founding migrations, although the rates obtained from a single pedigree or calibrated with the peopling of the Americas seem plausible. We highlight the need for using more deep-rooting pedigrees and ancient genomes with reliable dates to improve the rate estimation. The paternally inherited Y chromosome has been widely applied in anthropology and population genetics to better describe the demographic history of human populations . In partet al. screened three Y chromosome genes  for sequence variation in a worldwide sample set, using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) [-9 per site per year  was not given in [et al. attempted to address this in 2006, by sequencing nearly 13 Mb (more than 20% of the whole chromosome) of the male-specific region of the chimpanzee Y chromosome. Their analysis yielded a slightly higher rate, at 1.5 × 10-9 , despite also using a chimpanzee-human calibration time that was 20% older than the previous study (6 million years) [In 2000, Thomson  (DHPLC) . In ordegiven in ). Using given in . A weaknWhat is hopefully clear from the above, is that although direct comparisons of human and chimpanzee Y chromosomes offer us a powerful means to better understand the evolutionary process in our sex chromosomes during the past 5 to 6 million years, the process is clearly susceptible to a number of assumptions that need to be made. First, there is uncertainty over the exact timing of the human-chimpanzee divergence, as fossil records and genetic evidence have given a range of 4.2 to 12.5 million years ago , which wGiven the above, a variety of other methods have been proposed, including Y chromosome base-substitution rate measured in a deep-rooting pedigree, adjusted from autosomal mutation rates, and based on archaeological evidence of founding migrations. We address each of these in turn.et al. [-9 per site per year (95% CI: 3.0 × 10-10-2.5 × 10-9) under the assumption that the generation time is 30 years. It is notable that this pedigree-based estimate overlaps with the evolutionary rates estimated from human and chimpanzee comparisons. For pedigree-based substitution rate estimation, there are at least two criteria to be taken into careful consideration. First, the pedigree must be biologically true and the generation information validated. The pedigree used by Xue et al. is a Chinese family carrying the DFNY1 Y-linked hearing-impairment mutation. The same Y-linked disease-related mutation has validated the authenticity of their genealogy. Second, the detected mutations must be true. In this regard, Xue et al. used a variety of methods to verify the candidate mutations, thus validity of the rate: The Y chromosomes of the two individuals were sequenced to an average depth of 11× or 20×, respectively, thus mitigating the possibility of sequencing and assembling errors; they also reexamined the candidate mutations using capillary sequencing.In 2009, Xue et al.  sequenceet al. [et al. [et al. [This pedigree-based rate has been widely used in Y chromosome demographic and lineage dating. Cruciani et al.  applied  [et al.  also use [et al.  used thiet al. is O3a; however, other haplogroups probably have experienced very different demographic history and selection process, and might have different substitution rates as compared with haplogroup O3a. Second, the substitution rate was estimated using two individuals separated only 13 generations, thus, the question is whether the substitution rate estimated at relatively short time spans could be used in long-term human population demographic analysis without considering natural selection and genetic drift. Actually, many studies have noted that molecular rates observed on genealogical timescales are greater than those measured in long-term evolution scales [Although this pedigree-based substitution rate is widely accepted, some concerns have also been raised. First, the mutation process of Y chromosome is highly stochastic, and the rate based on a single pedigree and only four mutations might not be suitable for all the situations. For instance, the haplogroup of the pedigree used in rate estimation of Xue n scales .et al. [-10 per site per year . Strikingly, this substitution rate is only approximately half of the previous evolutionary rates and pedigree rate, although is very similar to estimates of autosomal rate [et al.’s pedigree rate and Mendez et al.’s rate which was also obtained from pedigree analysis. Mendez et al. [et al. [In 2013, in collaboration with the FamilyTreeDNA Company, Mendez et al.  identifiet al. ,7 or froet al. ; insteadmal rate . In partz et al. . While M [et al. . Several [et al. . Using t [et al. -9, whichet al. [et al. [. Mendez et al. [et al. [Elhaik et al.  also cri [et al. . Mendez z et al.  assumed z et al. . Rather z et al. . The unr [et al.  seem to et al. [-9 per site per year (95% CI: 0.72 × 10-9 to 0.92 × 10-9), and estimated the TMRCA of Y chromosomes to be 120–156 kya (haplogroup A1b1-L419). In comparison, the mitochondrial genome TMRCA was 99 to 148 kya. Thus the authors concluded that the coalescence times of Y chromosomes and mitochondrial genomes are not significantly different, which disagrees with the conventional suggestion the common ancestor of male lineages lived considerably more recently than that of female lineages [et al.’s calibration method, Francalacci et al. [et al. [-9 per site per year (95% CI: 0.42 × 10-9 to 0.70 × 10-9). This rate is extremely low and only half of the pedigree-based rate.In 2013, Poznik et al.  reportedet al. . A key ai et al.  also use [et al.  generateet al., how do they know the Q-M3 and Q-L54*(×M3) diverged at the exact same time of initial peopling of Americas? In fact, individuals belonging to haplogroup Q-M3 have also been found in Siberia [et al. [et al. In Francalacci et al.’s case, the current Sardinian people might be directly descended from that initial expansion 7.7 kya, but there is also possibility that they are descended from a later successful founder population. If the latter is true, Francalacci et al. [The main concern of the above two rates is the calibration point. In Poznik  Siberia , suggest Siberia . Y chrom [et al.  estimatei et al.  have undAlthough using the archaeological evidence for calibration in Y chromosomal substitution rate estimation is correct in principle, we have to pay great attention to whether the calibration point is reliable and suitable or not. In addition, more calibration dates could lead to more robust estimates. Besides the initial peopling of Americas and the initial expansion of the Sardinian population, the peopling of Oceania might be another good calibration point.To simply illustrate the considerable effect of using the different proposed Y chromosomal substitution rates for me estimation, we used the Y chromosome dataset of 1000 Genome Project  to calcuSome of the most widely-cited Y chromosomal substitution rate estimates have several shortcomings, including a reliance on the ambiguous human-chimpanzee divergence time, insufficient sampling of deep-rooting pedigrees, and using inappropriate founding migrations. Here, we propose two possible approaches to obtain greater precision in measuring Y chromosomal substitution rate. First is the pedigree-based analysis, we can collect and sequence some reliable deep-rooting pedigrees representing a broad spectrum of worldwide Y chromosomal lineages or at least common haplogroups of East Asia. Recording the family trees has been a religious tradition of Han Chinese, and some family trees even span more than 100 generations, linking the contemporary individuals to their ancestors over 2 to 3 kya, although their authenticity requires careful validation ,30. Morebp: base pairs; CI: confidence interval; DHPLC: denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography; kya: thousand years ago; SNP: single nucleotide polymorphism; TMRCA: time to the most recent common ancestor.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.CCW conceived of the study, performed data analysis and wrote the manuscript. HL supervised the study and assisted in drafting and revising the manuscript. MTPG, LJ are involved in the discussion and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.


Arabidopsis genes involved in the control of lateral root initiation. This close relationship stresses the conservation among plant species of an auxin responsive core gene regulatory network involved in the control of post-embryonic root initiation. In addition, we report on several genetic regulatory pathways that have been described only in rice. The complementarities and the expected convergence of the direct and reverse genetic approaches used to decipher the genetic determinants of root development in rice are discussed in regards to the high diversity characterizing this species and to the adaptations of rice root system architecture to different edaphic environments.In this review, we report on the recent developments made using both genetics and functional genomics approaches in the discovery of genes controlling root development in rice. QTL detection in classical biparental mapping populations initially enabled the identification of a very large number of large chromosomal segments carrying root genes. Two segments with large effects have been positionally cloned, allowing the identification of two major genes. One of these genes conferred a tolerance to low phosphate content in soil, while the other conferred a tolerance to drought by controlling root gravitropism, resulting in root system expansion deep in the soil. Findings based on the higher-resolution QTL detection offered by the development of association mapping are discussed. In parallel with genetics approaches, efforts have been made to screen mutant libraries for lines presenting alterations in root development, allowing for the identification of several genes that control different steps of root development, such as crown root and lateral root initiation and emergence, meristem patterning, and the control of root growth. Some of these genes are closely phylogenetically related to The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12284-014-0030-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Roots are essential organs for exploring and exploiting soil resources, such as water and mineral nutrients. Different root architecture ideotypes that are adapted to different soil mineral nutrient balances or water statuses have been proposed. It is generally acknowledged that a deeper, thicker and more branched root system with a high root to shoot ratio can enhance the tolerance of rice to water deficits  for thoO. sativa, which induces high risk of false-positive associations, the analyses were conducted on panels composed of accessions belonging to a single varietal group. This type of panel gives access to new varietal group-specific QTLs that cannot be detected by classical mapping in indica x japonica populations. However, even if the resolution on QTL position is clearly improved in GWAS compared with mapping populations, the number of possible candidate genes is still large and requires complementary evidence to determine the functional gene(s).The main limitation with QTL detection in these mapping populations is the large size of the confidence interval. Even meta-analyses, on average, did not enable a decrease in the meta-QTL confidence intervals to less than half the original size of the segment . GenomePHOSPHORUS UPTAKE 1 (PUP1), a QTL contributing to phosphorus (P) uptake in low P content soils. The gene underlying the QTL, later termed PHOSPHORUS-STARVATION TOLERANCE 1 (PSTOL1), was cloned and appeared to encode a receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase . The geDEEPER ROOTING 1 (DRO1), which controls root growth angle and enhances deep rooting  transcription factors. DRO1 modulates root gravitropic response, likely via a modulation of epidermal cell elongation that enables roots to orientate their growth relative to the pull of gravity. The expression of DRO1 in the IR64 background increases the angle between roots and the horizontal axis, inducing deeper rooting. Compared to IR64, the near isogenic lines carrying DRO1 showed less deleterious effects, such as leaf wilting or delayed flowering, under moderate to severe drought stresses and better yield under stress, with no yield penalty under no stress conditions.Another cloned gene related to a root development QTL is a et al. ). DRO1 ePSTOL1 in the reference cultivar Nipponbare. A final reason is that many genes do not have an assigned function. For example, the DRO1 product has no similarity to known proteins  and, wia et al. ). For thThe sequencing and annotation of the rice genome  mutant is impaired in OsGNOM1, which encodes a membrane-associated guanine-nucleotide exchange factor for the ADP-ribosylation factor G protein  and NAL3, a pair of duplicated genes. The nal2/nal3 double mutant shows a complex phenotype, with altered development of different parts of the plant and, notably, a strong reduction of the density of lateral roots. This latter effect is associated with an increase in root hair number and length  and AUXIN SIGNALING F-BOX2 (AFB2), are negatively regulated by OsMir393a and OsMir393b  regulatory protein  ubiquitin ligase, which ubiquitinates the AUX/IAA protein, targeting it for degradation. These interactions require other chaperone and co-chaperone proteins (Guilfoyle and Hagen [Oscyclophilin2 (Oscyp2) and lateral rootless2 (lrl2), which are characterized by an absence of lateral roots and are caused by mutations in the same gene  transcription factor belonging to a specific clade regrouping LBD proteins involved in the control of post-embryonic root initiation in different species  that interacts in vitro with the OsARF16 transcription factor . This li et al. ; Liu et i et al. ; Steinmai et al. ). Crl4 ai et al. ). This ro et al. ). In nalo et al. ). OsTIR1n et al. ; Xia et n et al. ). Plantsn et al. ; Xia et n et al. ). AUX/IAnd Hagen ; Vannestnd Hagen ; Mockaitnd Hagen ; Lavenusnd Hagen ). In ricg et al. ; Zheng eg et al. ). In addg et al. ). OsCYP2g et al. ). OsIAA1g et al. ; Zhu et g et al. ). OsIAA1i et al. ) and advu et al. ) mutantst et al. ). Crl1 ai et al. ). Taken i et al. ; Lavenusi et al. ; Hochholi et al. ). In rici et al. ).crown root less5 (crl5) mutant exhibits a reduced number of crown roots due to a reduction in crown root initiation  transcription factor. Its expression is induced by auxin via an ARF transcription factor. Cytokinins negatively regulate the initiation of crown and lateral roots in rice  that are repressors of cytokinin signaling . CRL5 ei et al. ; Kitomi i et al. ), but plo et al. ). Similao et al. ). WOX11 HEME OXYGENASE 1 (HOX1) gene controls the formation of lateral roots via the production of carbon monoxide. HOX1 is regulated by auxin and stress related signals, such as jasmonate and nitric oxide , which QUIESCENT CENTER HOMEOBOX (QHB) gene is an ortholog to the WUSCHEL-related WOX5, a QC-specific gene in Arabidopsis that contributes to QC and root stem cell maintenance  CLV1 , which is composed of a small number of mitotically inactive cells, is indispensable for the maintenance of the undifferentiated status of the surrounding stem cells from which root tissues are produced . The maa et al. ; Breunina et al. ; Ditengoa et al. ). QHB isi et al. ; Ni et ai et al. ; Kamiya i et al. ; Liu et i et al. ). The CLu et al. ; Suzaki u et al. ). This rr et al. ). In ricu et al. ). Nevertu et al. ).Arabidopsis, SCARECROW (SCR), a transcription factor from the GRAS family, also contributes to the specification of the QC , encodes an LRR RLK protein . In rici et al. ). The exu et al. ). Togetho et al. ; Cui et o et al. ). In ric et al., ). In add et al., ; Ni et a et al., ; Kamiya  et al., ). Rice r et al., ; Coudert et al., ). An alug et al. ). In thig et al. ). This rOscand1 mutant, crown root meristems are properly initiated and formed but do not emerge  SCFTIR1 ubiquitin ligase involved in the degradation of AUX/IAA in response to auxin  knock-down plants, the emergence of lateral roots is blocked due to a perturbation of cell cycle activity in newly formed lateral root meristems  or the root  tissues. Crown root emergence is stimulated by submergence. This stimulation is mediated by ethylene, which induces the expression of cell cycle regulatory genes in crown root meristems and promotes, in synergy with gibberellic acid, the death of epidermal cells at the site of root emergence . In Arag et al. ). In then et al. ). OsORC3OsDGL1 encodes DOLICHYL DIPHOSPHOOLIGOSACCHARIDE-PROTEIN GLYCOSYLTRANSFERASE 48 kDa subunit precursor necessary for the proper structuration of the polysaccharide matrix of root cell walls. Osdgl1 mutant plants exhibit a short root phenotype due to a defect in root cell elongation and division  is specifically expressed in root tips  mutant also exhibits a short root phenotype that is due to defective root cell elongation and is characterized by a perturbation in iron homeostasis  mutant, the elongation of root cells is strongly inhibited under salt stress conditions, resulting in a short root phenotype  transcription factors OsNAC5, OsNAC9 and OsNAC10 in roots enhances the water stress tolerance of plants . Anotheg et al. ). In Osgg et al. ). Expansn et al. ). Plantsa et al. ). This pa et al. ). OsSPR1a et al. ). RSS3 ia et al. ). RSS1 pg et al. ; Redillag et al. ; Jeong eg et al. ). The ovOsiaa13, c68 or crl1  encodes a component of the CHROMATIN ASSEMBLY FACTOR1 that contributes to crown root formation . Data ci et al. ). In thee et al. ). It is DRO1 and PSTOL1, with functions related to drought tolerance or adaptation to soil with low phosphate content, respectively . The idThese approaches  need to be more closely linked to accelerate the discovery of new genetic determinants, which will result in the generation of varieties with improved root architecture. We hope that this review helps to link the data obtained by these complementary approaches.SUB1, a gene controlling submergence tolerance, in various Asian countries . In less et al. ). DRO1 a


The aim was to study the associated factors and extent of short lactations in Sahiwal cattle maintained under organized herd.The present study was conducted on Sahiwal cattle (n=530), utilizing 1724 lactation records with respect to lactation length (LL), spread over a period of 15 years (1997-2011), maintained at Livestock Research Center, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. Observations of LL were analyzed by descriptive statistical analysis in order to know the extent of short lactation of animals in the herd. Paternal Half sib method was used to estimate the genetic parameters, i.e., heritability, genetic, and phenotypic correlation. The influence of various non-genetic factors  on LL was studied by least squares analysis of variance technique.The least squares means for LL was found to be 215.83±3.08 days. Only 32.48% of total lactation records were fell in the range of 251-350 days of LL, while more than three-fourth (76%) of total observations were failed to reach the standard level of 305 milking days. LL class ranges from 251 to 300 days accommodated maximum number of observations (19.2%). The heritability estimate of LL was 0.22±0.07. Positive correlations were found between LL and service period, LL and 305 or less days milk yield, LL and calving interval; whereas dry period was negatively correlated with the LL. The least squares analysis had shown that LL was significantly (p<0.01) influenced by the period of calving, type of calving, and season of drying. Significantly higher LL (276.50±7.21 days) was found in animals calved in the first period than those calved in other periods. The cows dried during summer season had the shortest LL (188.48±7.68 days) as compared to other seasons.Present findings regarding short lactations occurrence may be alarming for the indigenous herd, demanding comprehensive study with the larger data set. Since LL was influenced by various environmental factors suggesting better managerial tools, besides special attention on the milch animals going to dry during the summer season. In the present scenario, dairying has emerged as a constant source of income for millions of rural families round the year thus plays a significant role in the Indian agricultural economy. Sahiwal is the best milch breed in the tropics including India . This daThough India is top milk producer (133 million tons) in the world . This miIt has been stated that most of the indigenous cattle were found with average lactation length (LL) below 305 days  and EthiTherefore, it is most important to improve the production performance of our native stock to meet the expanding demand of milk and milk products for vigorously growing the population of our country. Keeping the above intricacies, the present study has been designed to assess the probable causes and extent of short lactations in Sahiwal cattle maintained under organized herd.The present investigation did not require ethical approval as only phenotypic records obtained from history sheets were used for investigation.viz. winter (December to March), summer (April to June), rainy (July to September), and autumn (October and November). A subtropical climate with maximum air temperature during summer about 45-48°C and minimum temperature during winter near to 1-4°C prevails in the area. In the study area relative humidity ranges between 41% and 85% and annual rainfall between 760 mm and 960 mm.The present investigation was conducted on Sahiwal cattle (n=530) maintained at Livestock Research Centre of National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana. Study area is located at 29°42′N latitude and 72° 02′E longitude with an altitude of 250 m above the mean sea level in the bed of Indo-Gangetic alluvial plain. There are four major seasons in the year The data for the present study were collected from history sheets of Sahiwal cattle maintained at dairy cattle breeding Division of National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. The data comprising of 1724 lactation records of Sahiwal cattle (n=530) spread over a period of 15 years (1997-2011) were utilized for this study. Incomplete lactations, i.e., transfer, sale or death of an animal during lactation were not included in the present study.th parity, further lactation records were grouped together in a single class.Observations of LL were analyzed by descriptive statistical analysis in order to know the extent of short lactation of animals in the herd. For this purpose, all lactation records were grouped into different classes, keeping a class interval of 50 days. Paternal half-sib method, as described by Becker , was useFor heritability:ij = μ + Si + eijYwhere,ij = Adjusted value of jth progeny of ith sireYμ = Overall meani = Effect of ith sireSij = Random error, NID eFor least squares analysis:where,μ = Overall meani = Effect of ith season of calvingSj = Effect of jth period of cavingPk = Effect of kth parityAl = Effect of lth type of calvingTm = Effect of mth season of dryingDijklmn = Random error, NID ei, Pj, Ak, Tl, and Dm are fixed effectsSLeast squares analysis revealed an average LL of 215.83±3.08 days, which is far below than the standard 305-days of milking days. Lower LL values were recorded as 204.33±70.35 days reported in local cows in Ethiopia ; 213.90±et al. [et al. [It was quite clear from et al.  stated t [et al.  that mayet al. [et al. [et al. [et al. [et al. [The heritability estimate of LL was 0.22±0.07. The findings of this study were near to the findings of Goshu et al.  and Endr [et al. , whose h [et al.  in HF in [et al. , Kathira [et al.  observedGenetic and phenotypic correlation between LL and other traits have been presented in et al. [et al. [In this study, the genetic correlation of LL with SP was non-estimable as the estimate was greater than unity. High and positive estimate of genetic correlation 0.62±0.18) between LL and SP in Sahiwal cattle was observed by Kumar ; whereaset al. ; whereas between et al. [et al. [Genetic correlation of LL with 305 DMY was obtained high, positive (0.85±0.05), and significant (p<0.01) in the present study. High and positive (0.95±0.09) genetic correlation between above traits were also repsorted by Manoj . Whereaset al.  reportedet al.  and Rehmet al. , whose e [et al.  and Kath [et al. , whose eet al. [et al. [et al. [et al. [The results of the present study revealed that there is high, negative (−0.71±0.61), genetic correlation between LL with DP which is statistically non-significant. Negative genetic correlations between above traits have also reported by Goshu et al. , Kathiraet al. , and Kumet al. , whose eet al.  and Moge [et al. , which w [et al.  and Kuma [et al. , whose e [et al.  and Moge [et al.  obtainedet al. [et al. [Genetic correlation of LL with CI was obtained high, positive (0.73±0.16), and significant (p<0.01). High and positive estimates of above correlation were also reported by Moges et al.  and Kumaet al. , whose e [et al.  and Kuma [et al. , whose eet al. [et al. [The results of the present study revealed that the influence of season of calving on LL was statistically non-significant. Similar findings were also reported by Habib et al. , Nawaz e [et al.  and Raja [et al. ; whereas [et al. ,10,12.et al. [et al. [st period (1997-1999) and lowest (182.60±5.93 days) for the period of 2003-2005 , which is supported by most researchers ,15,19. Het al.  and Endr [et al. . The ave003-2005 . Averageet al. [The effect of parity on LL was non-significant, which is supported by Habib et al. ; whereaset al. .The results of the present study revealed that the effect of type of calving on LL was statistically significant (p<0.01). Significantly higher LL (217.52±3.17 days) was observed in normal calver than cows with abnormal calving (185.21±11.48 days) which might be due to uterine disorders and low body condition owing to poor feed intake in affected cows .Effect of season of drying was found to be significant (p<0.01) on LL. Animal which dry during the autumn season were reported with significantly longer LL (241.78±7.88 days) as compared to those which dry in summer and rainy seasons  . The finThe findings of this study reflected that short lactation problem may be alarming for the indigenous herd. Since LL is mainly influenced by environmental factors, therefore proper management measures and good feeding practices are of paramount importance to reduce the occurrence of short lactation in Sahiwal cows. Furthermore, a study on large-scale data is pertinent to assess the problem of short lactation in real sense, which may pave the way for ameliorative actions needed to increase milking days of indigenous milch animals in years to come.USN, RKM, and SSL designed the study. USN conducted the study and analyzed the data. RNY contributed in the data collection. KKV and AKV revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Childhood exposure to lead remains a critical health control problem in the US. Integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into childhood lead exposure studies significantly enhanced identifying lead hazards in the environment and determining at risk children. Research indicates that the toxic threshold for lead exposure was updated three times in the last four decades: 60 to 30 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) in 1975, 25 µg/dL in 1985, and 10 µb/dL in 1991. These changes revealed the extent of lead poisoning. By 2012 it was evident that no safe blood lead threshold for the adverse effects of lead on children had been identified and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) currently uses a reference value of 5 µg/dL. Review of the recent literature on GIS-based studies suggests that numerous environmental risk factors might be critical for lead exposure. New GIS-based studies are used in surveillance data management, risk analysis, lead exposure visualization, and community intervention strategies where geographically-targeted, specific intervention measures are taken. The use of GIS in environmental risk factor studies on childhood lead exposure became a focus of research activity in the late 1990s. This prompted the CDC to develop a guideline for the use of GIS in childhood lead poisoning studies in 2004 . FundingEcological studies focusing on the distribution of blood lead levels, susceptible populations, and exposure sources have been cited to address childhood lead exposure. Identification of environmental risk factors and understanding of the distribution of the lead in the environment is important for health departments in better targeting at risk populations ,7,8,9. EDespite being a preventable environmental problem, lead poisoning remains a major health threat and a persistent source of illness in the United States. Its estimated cost is $50.9 billion . ChangesIn lead poisoning studies, GIS was used in various stages from data preparation, to multivariate mapping of BLLs with their risk factors, to spatial and statistical analysis. At the data preparation stage, address geocoding is the most used tool to transfer tabular data sets, such as screened children addresses, into GIS ,18,19,23A review of GIS-utilized studies on childhood lead poisoning has not been conducted. There are some non-GIS based reviews on lead poisoning in relation to cardiovascular diseases , resuspeet al. [Navas-Acien et al.  studied et al. published two reviews about the relationship between lead in soil and children blood lead levels in 2008 and 2011 [et al. [vs. “blood lead” studies. They created a statistical model in order to investigate the atmospheric soil seasonality and the prediction model for atmospheric soil in the US. In terms of soil lead topology, they reviewed studies indicating that lead in soil decayed exponentially away from the historical main roads [et al. [et al. [Laidlaw and 2011 ,60. In 2 [et al.  claimed in roads ,62. Anot [et al.  also suget al. [et al. found that children on the Mexican side of US-Mexico border had higher BLLs compared to the children who lived in the US side of the border. However, poverty could be a confounding factor in the area [Brown et al.  presentethe area . Anotherthe area  in theirthe area ,66. In tet al. published two reviews about environmental aspects of lead poisoning in consecutive years 2010 and 2011 [et al. investigated the effect of traffic on lead poisoning regarding lead emissions and additives used in eight California urbanized areas. The authors used three datasets in order to show the gasoline lead contribution in the environment; annual lead amounts from 1927 to 1984, 1982 lead additive quantities for eight urbanized areas in California, and California fuel consumption data from 1950 to 1982. The review showed that there was a correlation between the lead amount in soil and size of the cities. Community location was also related to the lead amount. Inner cities where high traffic volume occurs had higher amounts of leaded soil compared to the suburbs. The review also showed that the distance decay characteristics of lead in soil were similar throughout the US. There was a strong correlation between children BLLs and lead in soil. Mielke’s review confirmed the relationship between children BLLs and seasonality. Mielke et al. found a negative relationship between lead in soil and school erformance of children. In their second review in 2011, they expanded their previous California study to 90 urbanized areas throughout the US. Their findings corroborated the previous findings.Mielke and 2011 ,59. In tA literature search was conducted to identify recent articles discussing childhood lead poisoning and the use of GIS and risk modeling. Several online databases were queried, including JSTOR, CINAHL, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and PubMed. The following key words were used individually and in combination as inclusion criteria for articles to be considered for this review; children, childhood, pediatric, Pb, lead, poisoning, toxicity, geographic, information, systems, and GIS. Our review covers a 21 year period which includes GIS-based studies published since 10 µg/dL thresholds were first introduced in 1991 until the new threshold of 5 µg/dL in 2012. Initial searches yielded approximately 981 results. The abstracts of these papers were reviewed to confirm applicability. After considering additional exclusion criteria , 23 papers remained.Reviewed articles were summarized and grouped into five categories: screening methodology design, risk modeling studies, environmental risk factors, spatial analysis of genetic variation, and political ecology. All of the reviewed articles obtained their lead toxicity data from health departments. In these studies, blood lead screening data was collected by clinics or health workers without GIS. Data collection methods may vary among states.et al. in 1998, Reissman et al. in 2001, Roberts et al. in 2003, and Vaidyanathan et al. in 2009 [Studies on childhood lead poisoning surveillance that used GIS include Lutz  in 2009 ,7,8,9. T in 2009 . The guiet al. [et al. found that the screening data thoroughly represents the targeted population in Knoxville, TN.The questions included in the questionnaire are: “Does your child live in or regularly visit a house that was built before 1950?”; “Does your child live or regularly visit a house built before 1978 with recent or ongoing renovations or remodeling within the last six months?”; and “Does your child have siblings or playmate who has or did have lead poisoning?” Some states had additional questions added to the CDC questionnaire. Lutz et al.  defined et al. ,69. Lutzet al. [et al. study [et al. considered the “at-risk” population as children between 6 and 35 months of age who reside in a home built before 1950 or live in a target zone where more than 27% of houses were built before 1950. The authors compared the percentage of screened children with corresponding target zones by both census tracts and ZIP codes. The study found that the percentage of children with EBLLs is strongly associated with old housing. The study also showed that the significant numbers of children who live in at risk areas were not being tested throughout the county. The second part of the study mapped the children who are younger than 7 years old with confirmed BLL ≥20 µg/dL and the houses where more than one child resides with confirmed BLL ≥20 µg/dL.Reissman et al.  used GISl. study , Reissmaet al. [et al. [et al. [Roberts et al.  conducte [et al.  and Reis [et al. , the autet al. [et al. study, all of the studies in this section demonstrate that corresponding health departments failed to account for “at-risk” populations. The studies also demonstrate that GIS could be an effective tool to target “at-risk” neighborhoods by health departments.Vaidyanathan et al.  developeet al. [This section refers to nine articles on risk model development for childhood lead poisoning ,16,17,18et al.  conducteet al. [et al. also prioritized the Durham, NC region in four risk areas: (1) predicted parcels which are most likely to contain leaded paint; (2) predicted parcels which are less likely to contain leaded paint; (3) predicted parcels which are lesser likely to contain leaded paint; and (4) predicted parcels which are least likely to contain leaded paint. Unlike the Sargent et al. study, Miranda et al. found that the dependent variable is correlated with the percentage of the African American population as well as median income and construction year of housings. One major shortcoming of the model is missing data since address geocoding rates may be under 50%. This study was later updated by Kim et al. [et al. [et al. [et al. also deployed an address geocoding based on the cadastral parcel reference system. Also similar to the Miranda et al. study [et al. [Miranda et al.  used a tm et al.  in 2008. [et al. , Griffit [et al.  and Kim l. study , the geo [et al.  study anet al. [i.e., census block group, census tract, and ZIP code) to monitor social inequalities in childhood lead poisoning. The authors used blood lead level screenings of children who live in Rhode Island. The screening period was between 1994 and 1996. Different from Miranda et al. [et al. used a street reference system  dataset) for their address geocoding process. Street reference systems generally produce higher geocoding success rates compared to cadastral parcel reference systems. For instance, the Kriger et al. study produced more than 90% of geocoding success in all geographic units, census block groups, census tracts, and ZIP codes. However, one potential weakness of the method is that street geocoding results may be distant from the actual location of houses since the method uses a linear interpolation on street segments in the reference file. The authors found that the choice of measure and the level of geography matter. Census tract and census block group socioeconomic measures detected stronger socioeconomic gradients than the zip code units. The results indicate that BLLs are strongly associated with poverty but not education level, occupation, and wealth. A similar sensitivity analysis was conducted by Kaplowitz et al. [et al. assessed predictive validity of different geographic units for their risk assessment. According to their study, census block groups explain more variance in BLL than high and low risk ZIP codes. Their study confirmed that children’s BLL is more closely associated with characteristics of their immediate environment than with characteristics of a larger area such as a census tract or ZIP code.Kriger et al.  examineda et al. , Kriger z et al.  in 2010.et al. [Haley and Talbot  presenteet al. , this stet al. [et al., on the other hand, used cadastral parcels as the reference files. Geocoding success rate is generally much higher in geocoding process with street reference files than ones with cadastral parcel reference files. However, cadastral parcel reference files provide more precise geocoding results and the construction year of housing units. The authors compared cadastral and TIGER based geocoded addresses in three sections including, census tract, census block group, and census blocks of 1990 and 2000 census demographics. The study shows that there is a noticeable but not considerably high positional error difference in their spatial statistical analyses using the two methods. The regression analysis in the study was employed in two different BLL thresholds, 5 and 10 µg/dL. Regardless of the threshold level, the results indicate that EBLLs are significantly associated with the percentage of the African American population and average house value in the census block and census block group analyses.Griffith et al.  conducteet al. [et al. uses a GIS scripting tool to deduplicate pediatric blood data. This study also differs from others by producing a kriging map for the area. The kriging map of Chicago shows that Westside area has the highest risk of EBLLs in the city. The authors also used TerraSeer’s Space-Time Intelligence Systems (STIS) to explore the krigged prevalence rates in order to analyze spatial patterns [Using descriptive discriminant and odds ratio analyses, Oyana et al. ,18 creatpatterns . Moran’spatterns  and LISApatterns  were useet al. [et al. used command line address matching software, which is one of the oldest address geocoding engines. In terms of environmental factors, Mielke et al. [This section discusses eight studies that address environmental risk factors ,24,25,26et al.  conductee et al.  studied et al. [et al., and Mielke et al. [et al. also showed that BLLs are correlated with percentage of children at risk, population density, mean housing value, and percentage of the African American population.Griffith et al.  employede et al. ,58,59. Iet al. [et al. mapped the distribution of these 76 point sources as well as five point sources containing 19 soil samples with the values ranging from 100 to 7870 µg/g soil lead. They compared the children BLLs with Bocco and Sachez [Gonzalez et al.  investigd Sachez  study’s et al. [In 2007, Miranda et al.  exploredet al. [et al. used GIS to show children locations in a jittered representation even though they run the statistical model based on actual point locations. Using the geocoded locations, Miranda et al. was able to join children locations and buffer zones, which were created from the airport boundaries. The authors assigned dummy variables to children locations based on the boundaries mentioned above and seasons for the screening time. The model includes the age of housing, screening season, and demographic variables. The authors also used inverse population weights to eliminate the possible bias caused by high numbers of screening cases on parcels. The study found a significant positive association between logged BLLs and the distances to the airport locations. It further shows that seasonality is an important factor in estimating BLLs. In fall, spring, and summer seasons, children were found having higher BLLs on average compared to winter season screenings. Age of housing was negatively associated with BLLs while the median household income and minority neighborhoods had positive associations with BLLs.Another environmental study by Miranda et al.  conducteet al. [Mielke et al.  conducteet al. [et al. [In 2013, Mielke et al.  analyzed [et al. , this stet al. [One of the reviewed studies focused on the genetic variation of childhood lead poisoning problems . Since oet al. , which gHanchette’s study focused on the political ecology aspect of childhood lead toxicity. The author used Moran’s I  and LISAThis article reviewed twenty-three GIS-based studies examining spatial modeling of childhood lead poisoning and risk factors that were published after 1991, the year the CDC’s threshold updated to10 µg/dL. GIS use in lead studies revealed greater detail about the magnitude of lead poisoning within populations. Reviewed articles indicate that surveillance and screening practices have extended considerable amount of importance in targeting “at-risk” populations. However, the literature shows that some health departments failed to account for “at-risk” populations ,8,9. ThiRisk factors for childhood lead poisoning  have been thoroughly parsed out in childhood lead poisoning research. Unfortunately, address geocoding methods, the parameters used, and the uncertainties they presented were not included in a similar level of detail in the research. Most of the reviewed studies did not provide the input parameters such as the reference system and the match rate. Since these parameters have a direct impact on results of the spatial analyses, this makes it difficult to conduct legitimate comparisons among the various articles.Even though to date no safe blood lead thresholds for the adverse effects of lead on children have been identified , data reFuture lead poisoning studies should also be concerned with data aggregation and the choice of geographical analysis. Data aggregation is done for two reasons: to link socio-economic and environmental measures to lead data and to ensure data confidentiality. In the former case, geocoded addresses may fall far away from their actual locations resulting in boundary problems during data aggregation to census block groups, census tracts, or ZIP code areas. Very few studies examined these aggregation problems and spatial scale effects to monitor risk factors . Studieset al. [et al. [et al. [Environmental studies on lead paint usage before 1978 have shown a link between house age and elevated BLLs. Soil studies can also reveal sources of lead toxicity. Several studies have shown that the distribution of lead toxicity among young children can be explained by proximity to high volume traffic areas. The relationship of vehicular lead deposits and children with elevated BLLs is contentious. Griffith et al.  found no [et al. ,24,26 fo [et al.  also fouThe environmental studies in this review also indicate a correlation between BLLs and African American populations. However, very few studies investigated the individual characteristics of children . The his


Science and knowledge progress rapidly. How to make something out of huge data sets, large amounts of information that comes on a daily base to us through various sources? Although the bias of hypothesis-driven research may indeed prevent to discover the unusual, the downside of it is that just finding significant correlations overflows the literature . This rThe NF-kB pathway is activated in several lymphoma types. De Oliveira et al.  analyzedPaydas et al.  describeH. Pylori (HP) infection, but most patients who have HP gastritis will not develop a lymphoma or carcinoma. Gossmann et al. [Helicobacter felis (H. felis). In contrast to their hypothesis, Plcg2Ali5/+ mice developed ENMZL less frequently than the WT littermates after long-term infection of 16 months. Infected Plcg2Ali5/+ mice showed downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreased H. felis-specific IgG1 and IgG2a antibody responses. These results suggested a blunted immune response of Plcg2Ali5/+ mice towards H. felis infection. Intriguingly, Plcg2Ali5/+ mice harbored higher numbers of CD73 expressing regulatory T cells (Tregs), possibly responsible for impaired immune response towards Helicobacter infection. They suggest that Plcg2Ali5/+ mice may be protected from developing gastric ENMZL as a result of elevated Treg numbers, reduced response to H. felis, and decrease of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Of course, it would be interesting to see whether such differences exist between individuals with HP gastritis with and without ENMZL.Gastric extranodal marginal zone lymphoma (ENMZL) is a consequence of n et al.  used BALCui et al.  investigBroutier et al.  use knowHigh expression of the forkhead box P1 (FOXP1) transcription factor distinguishes the more aggressive ABC-DLBCL subtype from germinal center (GC)-DLBCL subtype and is correlated with poor outcomes. Dekker et al.  show thaHafsi et al.  show thaNairismägi et al.  used whoA whole other approach was chosen by Hao et al. . BecauseAnaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a peripheral T cell lymphoma presenting mostly in children and young adults. Malcolm et al.  present Perry et al.  describeIt is now well known that rare cancers are common, but hard to study. O’Suoji et al.  used datn = 1), histologic transformation (n = 2), and intercurrent deaths (n = 2). The estimated 10-year overall survival was 94.0 % and the 10-year progression-free survival 76 %. A similar study was performed by Kenderian et al. [Population-based data are very relevant to get a good idea on the features of rare diseases, since centers will have a selection of patients resulting in a certain bias. Strobbe et al.  made usen et al.  with a fAcquired C1-inhibitor (C1-INH) deficiency (C1-INH-AAE) is a rare condition resulting in acquired angioedema (AAE) and about 33 % of the patients develop NHL. Castelli et al.  report tA subset of DLBCL is CD30 positive. Gong et al.  studied Journal of Hematopathology by van den Brand et al. [BCL2 rearrangement, which was strongly overlapping with the morphological features of NMZL. This study raises the hypothesis that a subset of LG B-NHL with a follicular growth pattern but without a BCL2 translocation actually represents NMZL.An interesting hypothesis was put forward in the previous issue of the d et al. : quite sBatlle-López et al.  used thrLu et al.  approachRoth et al.  describeMoench et al.  investigTanaka et al.  investigThe splicing factor neuro-oncological ventral antigen 1 (NOVA1) is present in T cells of tertiary lymphoid structures. Kim et al.  found thDobashi et al.  investigAdult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is a rare T cell neoplasm caused by human T cell leukemia virus type 1 occurring in specific regions on the world. Tobayashi et al.  analyzedLee et al.  investigThe diagnosis of panniculitis-like T cell lymphoma (SPTCL) can be difficult. Especially, cases of SPTCL and lupus erythematosus panniculitis (LEP) can have clinical and histopathologic overlap, raising the possibility that they represent opposite ends of a disease spectrum. SPTCL, however, is typically associated with greater morbidity and risk for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). LeBlanc et al.  present Lorenzi et al.  report tInitially MYD88 mutations were seen as typical for lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL) but the spectrum has expanded. Rovira et al.  describeMost of the post-transplant lymphoproliferative diseases (PTLD) are EBV driven, but a subset is EBV negative. Finalet Ferreiro et al.  performeAs I wrote in my editorial , we knowJain et al.  incidentKi-67 has been shown to be a good prognostic marker in MCL. Hoster et al.  comparedAll in all, the briefest paragraph on prognostic factors in the series of review, you can read the argumentation in the previous issue .Bone marrow biopsies are slowly being replaced by other methods for staging. Cho et al.  investigDi Martino et al.  comparedSometimes a complete new technique that is simple but really different comes up and it is interesting to see if the promise becomes real (remember AGNORs…..). Aesif et al.  describeIt is now well demonstrated that free circulating DNA is partially derived from neoplastic cells and contains at least part of the genetic alterations present in the tumor. Camus et al.  developeLee et al.  used theDubois et al.  describeGene alterations are important, but proteins do the work. Wu et al.  applied And finally, stop grading FL by eye, use FLAGS !


Orthodontic patients show high prevalence of tooth-size discrepancy. This study investigates the possible association between arch form, clinically significant tooth-size discrepancy, and sagittal molar relationship.Pretreatment orthodontic casts of 230 Saudi patients were classified into one of three arch form types  using digitally scanned images of the mandibular arches. Bolton ratio was calculated, sagittal molar relationship was defined according to Angle classification, and correlations were analyzed using ANOVA, chi-square, and t-tests.No single arch form was significantly more common than the others. Furthermore, no association was observed between the presence of significant Bolton discrepancy and the sagittal molar relationship or arch form. Overall Bolton discrepancy is significantly more prevalent in males.Arch form in a Saudi patient group is independent of gender, sagittal molar relationship, and Bolton discrepancy. Orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning require properly trimmed study casts in order to analyze dental relationships. One of these measurements is tooth-size discrepancy, which is defined as disproportionate sizing of opposing teeth . Bolton Many investigators evaluated the effect of tooth-size discrepancy on occlusion among different malocclusion groups, sexes, and ethnicities. Nie and Lin showed that tooth-size discrepancy was highly prevalent in Class III and uncommon in Class II . Araujo et al. found that male crown measurements are slightly larger and show higher variability than female measurements, which in turn demonstrates differences in tooth-size discrepancy (TSD) between sexes [et al. showed significant sex differences for overall ratio among normal occlusion subjects [et al. [et al. [et al. [Lavelle found that overall and anterior ratios are higher among males than females, regardless of race . Santoroen sexes . Uysal esubjects . Howeversubjects , Araujo subjects , Akyalci [et al. , Basaran [et al. , Nie and [et al. , Al-Tami [et al. , and End [et al.  reportedet al. found that African American subjects had higher prevalence of clinically significant anterior tooth-size discrepancies than did Caucasians and Hispanics; and discrepancies among Hispanic patients were more likely due to mandibular anterior excess [et al. reported that Bolton ratios apply to white women only but are not applicable to white men, blacks, or Hispanics [Ethnicity is a factor in tooth-size ratios. Individuals of African ethnic background have been reported to have larger teeth than Caucasian individuals . Dominicr excess . The matr excess . Howeverispanics . Other sispanics , 17. Howet al. investigated the possibility of an ideal orthodontic arch form that might be identified for treated and untreated individuals, but found no a specific arch form [et al. found five predominant mandibular dental arch forms  in their sample of French individuals with normal occlusion [et al. compared morphological difference between Caucasian and Japanese mandibular arches and concluded that no single arch form is specific to any Angle classification or ethnic group [et al., Gafni et al., and Bayome et al. followed the method prescribed by Nojima et al. to determine the arch forms in different populations [et al. evaluated longitudinal arch width and form and concluded that maxillary arch forms were mostly tapered, and that mandibular arches were tapered and narrow-tapered [Preformed archwires are commonly used in orthodontic practice . Severalrch form . Raberincclusion . Nojima ic group . Kook etulations –25. Tane-tapered .et al. identified 23 mandibular arch forms in a Brazilian group and concluded that a single arch form cannot represent the normal dental arch [Trivino tal arch .et al. found that preformed archwires were significantly narrower than normal dental arches [et al. developed a method to classify dental arch forms to ensure both goodness of fit and pragmatic clinical application [et al. concluded that smaller teeth were associated with “wide” or “pointed” maxillary arch forms and “flat” mandibular arch forms [Oda l arches . Subjectl arches . Recentllication . In an ach forms .Few studies have explored the predominant arch forms and the prevalence of Bolton tooth-size discrepancy among Saudi patients. Thus, this study examines the arch form distribution in a sample of Saudi orthodontic patients, to evaluate the percentage of patients who present with a significant tooth-size discrepancy, and to investigate the possible association between arch form, clinically significant tooth-size discrepancy, and sagittal molar relationship.All available pretreatment orthodontic records of patients who attended the orthodontic clinics at the College of Dentistry, King Saud University, and a private orthodontic clinic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were reviewed, and orthodontic casts from 230 patients matching the following selection criteria were included: Good-quality pretreatment study casts; fully erupted permanent teeth at least from first molar to first molar; absence of tooth crown size alteration ; no history of trauma or orthodontic treatment; and Saudi ethnicity. Ethical approval was obtained from the College of Dentistry Research Center (Registration No. NF 2271).Molar relationship  was assessed according to Angle’s definition. Molar Class I was defined as occurring where the mesiobuccal cusp of the upper first molar occluded with the mesiobuccal groove of the lower first molar, or within less than half a cusp width anteriorly or posteriorly. Mismatched right and left molar classifications were considered “asymmetric”.Mandibular models were digitally scanned  and a ruler was used for size calibration. The most facial aspect of 13 proximal contact areas around the arch was digitized using AutoCAD software . The clinical bracket point for each tooth was located facially via a line perpendicular to that connecting the mesial and distal contact points of each tooth , 23, 32.A digital caliper was used to measure the mesiodistal crown diameters of all teeth (from first molar to first molar) to the nearest 0.01 mm . The widError of method: for intra-examiner reliability, measurements were compared via coefficient of reliability and kappa statistics. Within a two-week period, the mesiodistal widths of 10 pairs of casts were re-measured by the same investigator, and a high coefficient of reliability was observed (r = 0.936). Arch forms were re-determined by the same investigator for 19 lower casts and perfect agreement was observed between the first and second evaluations (kappa score of 1).Descriptive analysis including the prevalence of Bolton discrepancy and distribution of arch form types among the sample.t-test, and ANOVA were used to evaluate the presence of an association.Chi-square, Data were evaluated using PASW® Statistics 18 , and the level of significance was set at p < 0.05. The following tests were used:The demographic characteristics of the sample group and the distribution of sagittal molar classes and arch forms are shown in Table Approximately half 49.1 %) of the sample showed an anterior Bolton tooth-size discrepancy i.e. exceeding ±1 standard deviation (SD) (<75.55 or >78.85), while only 39.1 % showed an overall Bolton discrepancy (<89.39 or >93.21)  . No assot-test results showed a significant difference in the prevalence of overall Bolton discrepancy between males (mean = 92.306) and females (mean = 91.545) (p = 0.013). No significant difference was observed in the anterior ratio between males (mean = 77.883) and females (mean = 77.329) (p = 0.08).ANOVA showed no significant difference in anterior ratio or overall ratio by sagittal molar class or arch form for the study sample as a whole. However, The distribution of the cases based on the amount of tooth-size correction required to balance the anterior Bolton discrepancy in the maxillary teeth (reduction or addition) is shown in Fig. Previous studies have reported significant differences in head form and arch form between various ethnic groups , 36–38. et al., who reported little difference in arch forms between malocclusions groups [Our Saudi group showed a significantly different distribution of arch forms compared with Egyptian, Caucasian , Israelis groups . Howevers groups , 23. Egys groups .Table 4TSimilarly to previous studies, our group showed no sex differences in arch form , 39–42. et al. (28 %), and American population reported by Freeman et al. (30.6 %) [A large proportion of orthodontic patients present with tooth-size discrepancy. Those who have anterior or overall ratios beyond 2 SDs are considered to have a significant Bolton discrepancy. In the Saudi sample, 17.4 % of patients had significant anterior tooth-size discrepancy. This figure matches the findings for a British orthodontic population (17.4 %) and a Croatian population (16.28 %) but was lower than the prevalence in a Turkish population reported by Uysal and Sari (21.3 %), Dominican American population reported by Santoro (30.6 %) –45. The (30.6 %) .et al. in an Irish population [et al. [et al. in Saudi population and Croatian populations respectively [In the present study, sagittal molar classification was not related to the distribution of the tooth-size discrepancy groups. This was in agreement with the findings of Uysal and Sari, who reported no difference in tooth-size ratios between malocclusion groups in a Turkish population, the findings of Crosby and Alexander in an American population, and O’Mahony pulation , 47, 48. [et al. , 5. Thisectively , 45. In Most prior studies reported no significant differences in anterior or overall tooth-size ratio between males and females , 43, 48.Arch form types were not related to the presence of tooth-size discrepancy. Therefore, arch form is likely determined by patient-specific genetic and environmental factors, and orthodontists need to recognize the uniqueness of each case in their treatment planning.In Saudis, there were more ovoid cases forms than tapered and square but no single arch form was significantly more common.Arch form types were not associated with gender, sagittal molar relationship, or the presence of tooth-size discrepancy.Sexual dimorphism was evident in the prevalence of overall Bolton tooth-size discrepancy.Based on the results of the present study, the following conclusions can be drawn:


Trypanosoma cruzi, member of Trypanosomatidae family, Kinetoplastida order. Chagas disease is recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the main neglected tropical diseases, affecting about 8–15 million individuals in 18 countries in Central and South America, where it is endemic, as well as countries in North America and Europe (Chagas disease was discovered by Carlos Chagas in Brazil in 1909 (d Europe . At leasd Europe .Trypanosoma cruzi presents a complex life cycle both in the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, involving dramatic changes in cell shape (ll shape . Its lifT. cruzi to penetrate into host cells. In the first article, de Souza and de Carvalho (T. cruzi always penetrates the host cell through an endocytic process with the formation of a transient parasitophorous vacuole. The second article by Barrias et al. (T. cruzi with cardiomyocytes, an important host cell, because in vivo many of the parasite strains have a tropism for the heart. In the fourth article, Tonelli et al. (T. cruzi are represented by trans-sialidases. These proteins are involved in parasite–host cell recognition, infectivity, and survival. The sixth and seventh articles by Nde et al. (T. cruzi with the host cells. Infective trypomastigotes up-regulate the expression of laminin-gamma−1 and thrombospondin to facilitate recruitment of parasites to enhance cell infection. The extracellular matrix interactome network seems to be regulated by T. cruzi and its gp 83 ligand. The eighth article by Maeda et al. (T. cruzi trypomastigotes elicit an inflammatory edema that stimulates protective type-1 effector cells through the activation of the kallikrein–kinin system, providing a framework to investigate the intertwined proteolytic circuits that couple the anti-parasite immunity to inflammation and fibrosis.This thematic issue deals with the ability of Carvalho  make a rs et al.  reviews s et al.  analyze i et al.  call thei et al.  point oue et al.  and Ferre et al.  respectia et al.  reviews a et al.  initiallThe author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


Vermeulen et al. 2014 found a statistically significant dose–response association and described elevated lung cancer risks even at very low exposures.Vermeulen et al. 2014 published a meta-regression analysis of three relevant epidemiological US studies  that estimated the association between occupational diesel engine exhaust (DEE) exposure and lung cancer mortality. The DEE exposure was measured as cumulative exposure to estimated respirable elemental carbon in μg/mWe performed an extended re-analysis using different modelling approaches  and explored the impact of varying input data .P = 0.6). A (non-significant) threshold estimate for the cumulative DEE exposure was found at 150 μg/m3-years when extending the meta-analyses of the three studies by hockey-stick regression modelling . The data used by Vermeulen and colleagues led to the highest relative risk estimate across all sensitivity analyses performed. The lowest relative risk estimate was found after exclusion of the explorative study by Steenland et al. 1998 in a meta-regression analysis of Garshick et al. 2012 (modified), Silverman et al. 2012  and Möhner et al. 2013. The meta-coefficient was estimated to be about 10–20 % of the main effect estimate in Vermeulen et al. 2014 in this analysis.We reproduced the individual and main meta-analytical results of Vermeulen et al. 2014. However, our analysis demonstrated a heterogeneity of the baseline relative risk levels between the three studies. This heterogeneity was reduced after the coefficients of Garshick et al. 2012 were modified while the dose coefficient dropped by an order of magnitude for this study and was far from being significant (The findings of Vermeulen et al. 2014 should not be used without reservations in any risk assessments. This is particularly true for the low end of the exposure scale. The authors reported that some of them worked as members of the IARC Working Group , which oup (see  aimed to3 for DEEE (diesel engine exhaust emissions), measured as elemental carbon. This recommendation is not health-based but reflects mainly socio-economic considerations. Cherrie et al. 3P = 0.63Another aspect is important for correct evaluation of the Garshick study . Thus, the US mining study is particularly relevant for the meta-analysis. Critical comments and a list of open questions were published [The highest exposure value included in the meta-study came from the DEMS case–control study by Silverman et al. : 1036 μgublished  on the Dublished , 12, to ublished . Howeverublished  and K. Cublished ). It is ublished  team wasublished  and publublished , 30.In a Letter to the Editor on Vermeulen et al. , Crump  reportedMoolgavkar et al.  re-analy1) Time-dependent factors are superimposed, so that model coefficients should not be estimated without considering the interaction with age. Accordingly, stating an isolated risk coefficient – as described in Attfield et al.  – does n2) One mine (limestone mine) is an outlier in the data. The DEE exposures in this mine are the lowest, but the risk estimates are the highest of all the mines. A Cox regression analysis of the data  shows tP-value of P = 0.001 . The analyses by Crump et al. [P ≥ 0.65 or the trend is negative. The authors wrote: “Most importantly, we used the radon concentration data for the DEMS cohort provided by the DEMS investigators. When adjustment was made for radon, a known human lung carcinogen, the effect of REC on the association with lung cancer mortality was confined to only the three DEMS REC estimates. Most notably, there was no evidence of an association with any of the six alternate REC estimates, including REC6. When T2 trend tests were conducted, based on the use of individual worker REC estimates, the results were less statistically significant and in many cases the trends were negative. Indeed, for miners who always worked underground, five of the six REC metrics exhibited negative trends.”Crump et al.  re-analyp et al.  , i.e., less certain than in the original data analysis (P < 0.000001).If the paper by Crump et al.   nor the individual data for this research project were available. Threshold analyses for dust should focus on a concentration threshold [see the discussion in The limitations mentioned affect the analysis by Vermeulen et al.  and our The meta-regressions performed here show significant variations in the results, depending on the study data incorporated or the analytical methods applied. The data used by Vermeulen and colleagues led to the highest risk estimates in our meta-analysis . After excluding the explorative study by Steenland et al. , the lowToxicological results of the current ACES study from controlled long-term experiments on rats with new technology diesel exhaust (NTDE) did not exhibit tumour growth or precancerous conditions , by contRegardless of the fundamental restrictions mentioned above, the present re-analysis also revealed that the results of the meta-regression study by Vermeulen et al.  should nVermeulen et al.  publisheThe present re-analysis largely succeeded in reproducing the individual cohort results and main meta-findings of Vermeulen et al.  from theTherefore, the results of the meta-regression analysis by Vermeulen et al.  should n


Stimulation by fluoxetine of the astrocytic 5-HT2B receptor causes a multitude of effects that in astrocyte cultures could be prevented by drug- or siRNA-induced 5-HT2B receptor inhibition  or differentiated serotonergic neurons. They allege that these data rule out that the antidepressant effects of fluoxetine or BW723C86 could be SERT-independent (as claimed by us) and show that serotonergic neurons expressing SERT are necessary for the 5-HT2B receptor effects exerted by fluoxetine (and other 5-HT2B receptor agonists). They further remind us that Launay et al.  and subsequent arachidonic acid release and metabolism seen in normal mice is abolished in mice lacking SERT. There is no information in the literature that DOI should interact with SERT. Although Qu et al. indicated DOI as a 5-HT2A∕C agonist it also activates the 5-HT2B receptor (Pineda-Farias et al., 2B receptors in cultured astrocytes (Li et al., 2 activity is potently stimulated by the SSRI sertraline in yeast (Rainey et al., not prove fluoxetine dependence on SERT in adult brain.We were well aware of the lack of antidepressant effect in SERT knock-outs described by Diaz et al.  and of t2B receptor in mature individuals, because Homberg et al. (With respect to the paper by Launay et al. it g et al.  and Sarkg et al.  have shoKi values based on the graph and the concentrations of mesulergine. The Zhang et al. (2B receptors is invalidated by the observation by Li et al. (2 receptor antagonist, and in 5-HT2B receptor-depleted cells (see Figure 2A or 5-HT2C receptor antagonists.” Fluoxetine stimulation of astrocytic 5-HT2B receptors was confirmed by Qiao et al. (Banas et al. also claim we changed results. However, the figure in Hertz et al.  and in Kg et al.  paper, ri et al.  that “ERo et al. . The “puo et al. .The commentary by Banas et al. has accordingly not altered our original conclusions but rather strengthened it.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.