Genetic and genomic analyses of musculoskeletal differences between BEH and BEL strains

Berlin high (BEH) and Berlin low (BEL) strains selected for divergent growth differ 3-fold in body weight. We aimed at examining muscle mass, which is a major contributor to body weight, by exploring anatomical characteristics of the soleus muscle, its fiber numbers and their cross sectional area (CSA), by analysing transcriptome of the gastrocnemius and by initiating quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. BEH muscles were 4-to-8 times larger compared to BEL strain. In sub-strain BEH+/+, mutant myostatin was replaced with a wild type allele, however, BEH+/+muscles still were 2-to-4 times larger compared to the BEL strain. BEH soleus contained 2-times more (P<0.0001) and 2-times larger in CSA (P<0.0001) fibers compared to BEL strain. In addition, soleus femoral attachment anomaly (SFAA) was observed in all BEL mice. One significant (chromosome 1) and four suggestive (chromosomes 3, 4, 6 and 9) muscle weight QTLs were mapped in 21-day old F2 intercross (n=296) between BEH and BEL strains. The frequency of SFAA incidence in the F2 and in the backcross to BEL strain (BCL) suggested the presence of more than one causative gene. Two suggestive SFAA QTLs were mapped in BCL, however, their peak markers were not associated with the phenotype in F2. RNA-Seq analysis revealed 2,148 differentially expressed (P<0.1) genes and 45,673 SNPs and >2,000 indels between BEH+/+ and BEL males. In conclusion, contrasting muscle traits, genomic and gene expression differences between BEH and BEL strains provide a promising model for the search of genes involved in muscle growth and musculoskeletal morphogenesis.

Nota preliminare sui nuovi scavi a Monte Ingino - La Rocca Posteriore sul Monte Ingino di Gubbio. (Campagne di scavo 1975-77):"La Nuova Italia

Flavell, P., C.A.T. Malone, and S.K.F. Stoddart, (eds.)..( ed.). G. Meloni. 1987," Editrice - Regione dell'Umbria, : Firenze - Perugia.

Exploring consumer's preferences for farmed sea bream

Sea bream (Sparus aurata) production plays a significant part in Italian aquaculture, contributing to almost 18% of national pisciculture sales revenue. In recent years, Italian firms faced higher competition from countries with lower production costs. This prompted responses toward both cost reduction and product differentiation. The objective of this study was to investigate the preferences of Italian consumers for sea bream from fish farms, with a focus on aspects of product differentiation as gleaned from the analysis of the market situation: price, product origin, type and place of fish farming, and, in particular, type of feed. Data were collected with a consumers’ survey using personal interviews conducted on a questionnaire that included a choice experiment. Consumer preferences were analyzed with choice models based on stated preference data. The models made it possible to evaluate the potential of products with different combinations of attributes for which there is currently no market information available. In particular, the country of origin emerged as an important element of consumer choice, and to a lesser degree, organic certification and fish farming in marine cages also play a relevant role and may command a price premium.

Real-Time Face Recognition from Surveillance Video

This chapter describes an experimental system for the recognition of human faces from surveillance video. In surveillance applications, the system must be robust to changes in illumination, scale, pose and expression. The system must also be able to perform detection and recognition rapidly in real time. Our system detects faces using the Viola-Jones face detector, then extracts local features to build a shape-based feature vector. The feature vector is constructed from ratios of lengths and differences in tangents of angles, so as to be robust to changes in scale and rotations in-plane and out-of-plane. Consideration was given to improving the performance and accuracy of both the detection and recognition steps.

‘Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt’: Solidarity between generations in the Irish crisis

Ireland has gained a reputation for peaceable acceptance of austerity following a European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout in 2010. While proponents of austerity praise Ireland’s stoicism, critics of global capitalism argue that individuals and families are paying for mistakes made by elites. However, little is known about the strategies people adopt to cope with cutbacks to welfare entitlements. Drawing on a study of solidarity between generations living in Ireland in 2011–12, this article explores the lived experience of economic crisis and austerity. One hundred interviews with people of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds are analysed using constructivist grounded theory. Data show how austerity impacts differentially according to socio-economic status. While solidarity between generations leads to re-distribution of resources within families, providing some security for people with access to family resources, it reinforces inequality at societal level. We conclude that reliance on family promotes ‘coping’ rather than ‘protesting’ responses to austerity.

Prior Autoimmune Disease and Risk of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance and Multiple Myeloma:A Systematic Review

Background: Several observational studies have investigated autoimmune disease and subsequent risk of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and multiple myeloma. Findings have been largely inconsistent and hindered by the rarity and heterogeneity of the autoimmune disorders investigated. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to evaluate the strength of the evidence linking prior autoimmune disease and risk of MGUS/multiple myeloma.

Methods: A broad search strategy using key terms for MGUS, multiple myeloma, and 50 autoimmune diseases was used to search four electronic databases (PubMed, Medline, Embase, and Web of Science) from inception through November 2011.

Results: A total of 52 studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 32 were suitably comparable to perform a meta-analysis. “Any autoimmune disorder” was associated with an increased risk of both MGUS [n = 760 patients; pooled relative risk (RR) 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14–1.75] and multiple myeloma (n>2,530 patients; RR 1.13, 95% CI, 1.04–1.22). This risk was disease dependent with only pernicious anemia showing an increased risk of both MGUS (RR 1.67; 95% CI, 1.21–2.31) and multiple myeloma (RR 1.50; 95% CI, 1.25–1.80).

Conclusions: Our findings, based on the largest number of autoimmune disorders and patients with MGUS/multiple myeloma reported to date, suggest that autoimmune diseases and/or their treatment may be important in the etiology of MGUS/multiple myeloma. The strong associations observed for pernicious anemia suggest that anemia seen in plasma cell dyscrasias may be of autoimmune origin.

Impact: Underlying mechanisms of autoimmune diseases, general immune dysfunction, and/or treatment of autoimmune diseases may be important in the pathogenesis of MGUS/multiple myeloma. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(2); 332–42. ©2014 AACR.