Asymmetric fusion between protoplasts of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and gamma-irradiated protoplasts of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.): the effects of gamma irradiation

This paper describes the aggregation of nuclei in heterokaryons of tomato and unirradiated or irradiated potato protoplasts and the effects of gamma irradiation of potato and tomato protoplasts on single- and double-stranded DNA fragmentation, DNA repair and DNA synthesis as revealed by alkaline and pulsed field gel electrophoresis and an immunocytochemical technique. The prospects for obtaining highly asymmetric somatic hybrids of tomato and gamma-irradiated potato are discussed.     

Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Cell Therapy: Safety and Feasibility in Different "Hospital Exemption" Clinical Applications

Based on immunomodulatory, osteogenic, and pro-angiogenic properties of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), this study aims to assess the safety and efficacy of ASC-derived cell therapies for clinical indications. Two autologous ASC-derived products were proposed to 17 patients who had not experienced any success with conventional therapies: (1) a scaffold-free osteogenic three-dimensional graft for the treatment of bone non-union and (2) a biological dressing for dermal reconstruction of non-healing chronic wounds. Safety was studied using the quality control of the final product (genetic stability, microbiological/mycoplasma/endotoxin contamination) and the in vivo evaluation of adverse events after transplantation. Feasibility was assessed by the ability to reproducibly obtain the final ASC-based product with specific characteristics, the time necessary for graft manufacturing, the capacity to produce enough material to treat the lesion, the surgical handling of the graft, and the ability to manufacture the graft in line with hospital exemption regulations. For 16 patients (one patient did not undergo grafting because of spontaneous bone healing), in-process controls found no microbiological/mycoplasma/endotoxin contamination, no obvious deleterious genomic anomalies, and optimal ASC purity. Each type of graft was reproducibly obtained without significant delay for implantation and surgical handling was always according to the surgical procedure and the implantation site. No serious adverse events were noted for up to 54 months. We demonstrated that autologous ASC transplantation can be considered a safe and feasible therapy tool for extreme clinical indications of ASC properties and physiopathology of disease.     

Virtual brain endocast of Antifer (Mammalia: Cervidae), an extinct large cervid from South America

A diverse fossil record of Cervidae (Mammalia) has been documented in the South American Pleistocene, when these animals arrived during the Great American Biotic Interchange. Using computed tomography-scanning techniques, it is possible to access the endocranial morphology of extinct species. Here, we studied the brain endocast of the extinct late Pleistocene cervid Antifer ensenadensis from southern Brazil, one of the largest forms that lived on this continent, using comparative morphology, geometric morphometrics, and encephalization quotients. The analyzed endocasts demonstrate that A. ensenadensis had a gyrencephalic brain, showing a prominent longitudinal sinus (=sagittal superior sinus), which is also observed in the large South American cervid Blastocerus dichotomus. The encephalization quotient is within the variation of extant cervids, suggesting maintenance of the pattern of encephalization from at least the late Pleistocene. Geometric morphometric analysis suggested a clear and linear allometric trend between brain endocast size and shape, and highlights A. ensenadensis as an extreme form within the analyzed cervids regarding brain morphology.     

Sagittal Abdominal Diameter as a Surrogate Marker of Insulin Resistance in an Admixtured Population—Brazilian Metabolic Syndrome Study (BRAMS)

BackgroundSagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) has been proposed as a surrogate marker of insulin resistance (IR). However, the utilization of SAD requires specific validation for each ethnicity. We aimed to investigate the potential use of SAD, compared with classical anthropometrical parameters, as a surrogate marker of IR and to establish the cutoff values of SAD for screening for IR.MethodsA multicenter population survey on metabolic disorders was conducted. A race-admixtured sample of 824 adult women was assessed. The anthropometric parameters included: BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio and SAD. IR was determined by a hyperglycemic clamp and the HOMA-IR index.ResultsAfter adjustments for age and total body fat mass, SAD (r = 0.23 and r = -0.70) and BMI (r = 0.20 and r = -0.71) were strongly correlated with the IR measured by the HOMA-IR index and the clamp, respectively (p < 0.001). In the ROC analysis, the optimal cutoff for SAD in women was 21.0 cm. The women with an increased SAD presented 3.2 (CI 95%: 2.1-5.0) more likelihood of having IR, assessed by the HOMA-IR index compared with those with normal SAD (p < 0.001); whereas women with elevated BMI and WC were 2.1 (95% CI: 1.4-3.3) and 2.8 (95% CI: 1.7-4.5) more likely to have IR (p < 0.001), respectively. No statistically significant results were found for waist-to-hip ratio.ConclusionsSAD can be a suitable surrogate marker of IR. Understanding and applying routine and simplified methods is essential because IR is associated with an increased risk of obesity-related diseases even in the presence of normal weight, slight overweight, as well as in obesity. Further prospective analysis will need to verify SAD as a determinant of clinical outcomes, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular events, in the Brazilian population.     

The Intensity of Victimization: Associations with Children's Psychosocial Well-Being and Social Standing in the Classroom

The association between experienced victimization and students'' psychological and social adjustment depends on the intensity of victimization. We examined how frequency and multiplicity of victimization, and the number of bullies involved, account for differences in students’ psychosocial well-being and social standing in the classroom. Multilevel analyses were conducted on the control group of an intervention study among students in grades 3–6 of Dutch elementary schools (N = 2859 students from 124 classes and 33 schools; ages 8–12; 49.6% boys). It was found that victims of frequent and multiple victimization, and victims who were victimized by several bullies, had higher levels of psychosocial adjustment problems than victims of less frequent and non-multiple victimization, and victims with only one bully. Moreover, these more severe victims turned out to be least accepted and most rejected among their classmates. The findings illustrate that it can be fruitful to use several measures of victimization so that (differences in) adjustment problems can be better understood. Moreover, the results suggest that it is important to find out who is victimized, in what ways, and by whom. Anti-bullying interventions should provide resources to do this.