Suchergebnisse

Jinjin Wang,1,2,* Fanhui Meng,3,* Wen Song,3,* Jingyi Jin,2 Qianli Ma,2 Dongdong Fei,1 Liang Fang,2 Lihua Chen,2 Qintao Wang,1 Yumei Zhang3 1State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Shaanxi Engineering Research Center for Dental Materials and Advanced Manufacture, Department of Periodontology, School of Stomatology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shannxi Province, China; 2Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shannxi Province, China; 3State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Department of Prosthodontics, School of Stomatology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shannxi Province, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Introduction: Fabricating nanostructured surface topography represents the mainstream approach to induce osteogenesis for the next-generation bone implant. In the past, the bone implant was designed to minimize host repulsive reactions in order to acquire biocompatibility. However, increasing reports indicate that the absence of an appropriate immune response cannot acquire adequate osseointegration after implantation in vivo. Materials and methods: We prepared different topographies on the surface of titanium (Ti) specimens by grinding, etching and anodizing, and they were marked as polished specimen (P), specimen with nanotubes (NTs) in small diameters (NT-30) and specimen with NTs in large diameters (NT-100). We evaluated the ability of different topographies of the specimen to induce osteogenic differentiation of mice bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in vitro and to induce osseointegration in vivo. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of different topographies on the polarization and secretion of macrophages, and the effect of macrophage polarization on topography-induced osteogenic differentiation of mice BMSCs. Finally, we verified the effect of macrophage polarization on topography-induced osseointegration in vivo by using Cre*RBP-Jfl/fl mice in which classically activated macrophage was restrained. Results: The osteogenic differentiation of mice BMSCs induced by specimen with different topographies was NT-100>NT-30>P, while the osseointegration induced by specimen with different topographies in vivo was NT-30>NT-100>P. In addition, specimen of NT-30 could induce more macrophages to M2 polarization, while specimen of P and NT-100 could induce more macrophages to M1 polarization. When co-culture mice BMSCs and macrophages on specimen with different topographies , the osteogenic differentiation of mice BMSCs was NT-30>NT-100≥P. The osseointegration induced by NT-100 in Cre*RBP-Jfl/fl mice was much better than that of wild type mice. Conclusion: It is suggested that the intrinsic immunomodulatory effects of nanomaterials are not only crucial to evaluate the in vivo biocompatibility but also required to determine the final osseointegration. To clarify the immune response and osseointegration may be beneficial for the designation and optimization of the bone implant. Keywords: nanomaterials, topography, immunomodulatory effects, macrophage polarization, osseointegration

Die menschliche Plazenta, meist nur als klinisches Abfallprodukt angesehen, stellt bei jährlich rund 5 Millionen Geburten in Europa eine vielversprechende Quelle für humanes Gewebe dar [1], welches ohne Schaden für die Spenderin in großen Mengen gewonnen werden kann. Die Plazenta setzt sich aus verschiedenen Gewebsschichten zusammen. Diese können im Bereich der Geweberegeneration unterschiedlich genutzt werden. Außerdem wird diesem Gewebe durch Ursprung und Beschaffenheit eine besonders hohe Qualität zugesagt. Im Rahmen dieser Studie wurde ein Verfahren zur Isolation und Dezellularisation von Blutgefäßen mit einem Innendurchmesser von weniger als 5 mm aus dem Plazenta Chorion etabliert. Eine besondere Herausforderung bei der Dezellularisation von biologischem Gewebe ist es, sämtliche Zellbestandteile aus der extrazellulären Matrix (ECM) zu lösen, ohne dabei großen Schaden an ihrer Grundstruktur zu verursachen. Hierbei wurden enzymatische, chemische, und mechanische Methoden kombiniert, um optimale Ergebnisse zu erzielen. Als Kontrolle wurden spezielle histologische und biochemische Analyseverfahren sowie mechanische Tests durchgeführt. In einem ersten Experiment wurden Stücke aus dezellularisierten Einzelgefäßen mit Endothelzellen reendothelialisiert und in eine Fibrinmatrix gemeinsam mit Fettstammzellen (ASC) eingebettet. Durch das verwendete Co-Kultursystem wird das Wachstum neuer Kapillargefäße induziert, welche in die Fibrinmatrix einwachsen. Dieser sogenannte "dual-level approach" repräsentiert eine neue Strategie zur Neovaskularisation im Bereich des Tissue Engineering. Für eine mögliche Entwicklung eines Gefäßtransplantats wurden Oberflächenmodifikationen mit Heparin an dezellularisierten Blutgefäßen durchgeführt und erste Tests für eine zukünftige klinische Anwendung gemacht. ^Im Zuge dieser Arbeit wurden zusätzlich Kollagenproben, isoliert aus dem Basalgewebe der Plazenta, charakterisiert. Ihre Sekundärstruktur und Reinheit wurde mittels Zirkulardichroismus Spektroskopie bestimmt und erste Tests in einem Zellkultursytem mit primären Hepatozyten durchgeführt. Diese Studie setzt weitere Schritte zur Nutzbarmachung von Plazentagewebe für klinische Anwendungen oder als Grundlage für Zellkultursysteme in der Forschung. ; The placenta is normally deemed as clinical waste. Due to the amount of over 5 million births per year in the European Union [1], the placenta is likely the most easily accessible human tissue of consistent quality that does not cause any additional harm to the donor. Furthermore, the placenta develops together, from the mother and with the baby, during pregnancy. This fetal or neonatal origin of the tissue could have a positive impact on the quality of graft material. In this work, we established a decellularization procedure for small-diameter human vascular scaffolds harvested from placenta chorion. The scaffolds were characterized biochemically, histologically and examined for their cytocompatibility with endothelial cells. The ability to decellularize the vascular tissue using this protocol, and the demonstrated ability to recellularize indicates the ability of the material to function as a versatile tool for novel tissue engineering approaches and regenerative medicine. With our experiments we demonstrate the biocompatibility of decellularized vascular tissue from the human placenta. The tissue was successfully recellularized with endothelial cells (ECs), which, in co-culture with ASCs, displayed vascular tube formation from the scaffold. A prospective target of this project will be to facilitate a complete re-endothelialization of human vascular grafts with endothelial cells for further applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Our dual-level approach should ensure oxygen and nutrient supply in varying tissue sizes and thus represent a novel vascularization strategy. Initial experiments were performed to evaluate the quality of decellularized vascular grafts to be used in clinical applications as small diameter vascular grafts. Therefore, the anticoagulant heparin was covalently linked to the collagen matrix of the decellularized vessel graft. Furthermore, to determine the potential of placental substances, pure collagen isolated from human placenta tissue was characterized. Circular Dichroism (CD) Spectroscopy analysis of collagen isolated from the human placenta confirmed a natural secondary structure of the purified molecules. Moreover, using this collagen for cell cultivation showed no cytotoxicity and a supporting effect on cell adhesion and proliferation of primary hepatocytes in vitro. ; eingereicht von Dipl.-Ing. Karl Heinrich Schneider ; Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des Verfassers ; Zusammenfassung in deutscher Sprache ; Kerndaten auch erschienen in Acta Biomater. 2016 Jan 1;29:125-34. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2015.09.038. Epub 2015 Sep 30 ; Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Dissertation, 2016 ; OeBB ; (VLID)1931609

Silver nanoparticles are used in a wide range of consumer products such as clothing, cosmetics, household goods, articles of daily use and pesticides. Moreover, the use of a nanoscaled silver hydrosol has been requested in the European Union for even nutritional purposes. However, despite the wide applications of silver nanoparticles, there is a lack of information concerning their impact on human health. In order to investigate the eVects of silver nanoparticles on human intestinal cells, we used the Caco-2 cell line and peptide-coated silver nanoparticles with deWned colloidal, structural and interfacial properties. The particles display core diameter of 20 and 40 nm and were coated with the small peptide L-cysteine L-lysine L-lysine. Cell viability and proliferation were measured using Promegas CellTiter-Blue-« Cell Viability assay, DAPI staining and impedance measurements. Apoptosis was determined by Annexin-V/7AAD staining and FACS analysis, membrane damage with Promegas LDH assay and reactive oxygen species by dichloroXuorescein assay. Exposure of proliferating Caco-2 cells to silver nanoparticle induced decreasing adherence capacity and cytotoxicity, whereby the formation of reactive oxygen species could be the mode of action. The eVects were dependent on particle size (20, 40 nm), doses (5-100 ++g/mL) and time of incubation (4-48 h). Apoptosis or membrane damage was not detected.

APPROVED ; This thesis offers a re-evaluation of the activities and mindset of a community of natural philosophers who described themselves as curious: the members of the Dublin Philosophical Society (1683?1709) (DPS) and their circle in Ireland and further afield. Although they sometimes perceived themselves as being on the periphery of the learned world, members of the DPS engaged self-consciously and with reflection in that world, and with emerging findings in natural history, cosmology and chymistry. The thesis argues that the DPS, along with like-minded individuals in Ireland and abroad, participated in the making of knowledge in ways that they regarded as new. By way of a series of case studies, influences on the DPS are delineated, the workings of the society are detailed, and the reception of its outputs by peers in the learned world are discussed. In both rhetoric and experimental activity, the members of the DPS rejected speculation and promoted the search for ?matters of fact?. Yet later historians have sometimes characterised the society as too often concerned with the bizarre and claimed that their experiments lacked system and purpose. The impetus for the present thesis was provided as much by an apparent disparity between the representation of the activities of the DPS in its own time and the subsequent evaluation of those activities by historians as by an enduring curiosity as to how and why these people had thought and acted as they did. Historians of science have become increasingly aware of topics significant in the seventeenth century but excluded from the modern account. While alchemy has been fully re-integrated into views of chymistry as a totality of laboratory practice, the detailed seventeenth-century enquiry into the nature of the earth and the reliability of biblical texts and chronologies has relatively recently found a more thorough integration into the wider views of history of science. This thesis argues that inclusion of these less prominent topics in the narrative, as well as less prominent individuals and groups such as the DPS, permits a more nuanced description of the processes of intellectual change. Similarly, attention to individuals, and their confessional, social, and political context, is necessary to present a rounded view of the motivations and outcomes of processes of intellectual change. The narrative presented in the thesis supports this more complex view, showing how a community could listen with apparently equal interest to an account of acid and alkali and to a commentary on the authenticity of the biblical texts of the Old Testament. It draws upon case studies of topics in natural history, in cosmology, and in laboratory investigations to show how the interests of the DPS and their circle intersected with the concepts generated by major figures and groupings in the learned world. In particular, the thesis finds a significant role for the DPS in the reception of concepts advanced by the highly influential Irish chymist Robert Boyle. It explores the role of the community in the spreading of conviction regarding matters of fact, and the making of knowledge from report. Roles and experimental styles taken up by those who, like the members of the DPS, found themselves on a geographical, if not an intellectual, periphery, were found to vary according to the topic under investigation. Observations in natural history were broadly descriptive and those in astronomy, broadly collaborative, while it was in laboratory studies that the practice of the members of the DPS was shown to be strongly influenced by Boyle, in terms both of his concepts of the corpuscular nature of matter and of his use of systematic experiment both in vitro and in vivo. The record of the activities of the DPS has been examined several times since its own day. It was significant enough to attract the attention of Sir William Wilde in the nineteenth century. It has since been studied primarily because of the connections of individual members with particular major figures (William Molyneux with John Locke, for example) and almost equally because of the intimate connections between the DPS and its more famous model, the Royal Society. For this thesis, the interest lies in the individuals as people formed in a culture and their interactions as a community of inquiry. The case studies presented re-evaluate the activities of the circle of the curious in early modern Dublin as they witnessed matters of fact. By repeating and extending observations, they convinced themselves and their correspondents as to the knowledge they had accumulated, contributing to the dissemination of the matters of facts themselves, and a culture of regard for those facts. Evidence presented in the case studies of topics in natural history, in cosmology, and in laboratory investigations shows the intersection of the views of the DPS with the concepts developed by more prominent figures and groups in the learned world. Support is offered for the proposal that a search for reproducibility and a pattern of self-correction characterised the philosophical community as a whole, contributing to the process of intellectual change over time.

My research analyzes how the remaking anew of tradition—the return to"traditional" birthing arts (home birth, midwife-assisted birth, water birth, "natural" birth)—has resulted in the commodification of indigenous culture and the re-inscription of racial inequalities on the one hand, and, despite feminist rhetoric about women's liberation from (masculine) biomedical hegemony, the reconfiguring of parent-child bonds in ways that again place the burden of correctly producing future bioconsumers on women's shoulders. I focus on the extremes of contemporary Mexican society—disenfranchised indigenous families and members of the global meritocracy—and in doing so, I demonstrate how citizenship retains value for some while being rendered an inadequate analytical frame for others. More specifically, I argue that the privileged do not position themselves as citizens through claims to public resources; instead, they accumulate cultural capital through privatized services. Through an examination of processes of racialization and patterns of bioconsumption, I critique the broad application of the concept of citizenship, and make a case for the consideration of the bioconsumer (individuals for whom market-based consumption of medical services plays a formative role in how their identities are syncretically portrayed and perceived). The main stakes of bioconsumption are the presentation of self and accrual of cultural capital. Furthermore, I demonstrate how what is under negotiation in the alternative birth movement is the social-moral body onto which identities get mapped. Close ethnographic study reveals how the so-called "humanization" of birth and the reduction of maternal and infant mortality are distant projects that are collapsed onto one another and produce an emerging ideology of "good parenthood." In this ideology, children represent parents' stake in the contemporary global meritocracy. This work therefore uncovers how traditional ways of birthing are being destroyed and reinvented through racialized class privilege, which is based on a model of neoliberal consumption that simultaneously promotes "humanity" and reinforces inequality by infusing transnational movements with reified class logics and racialization. I thus consider Mexican traditional midwivery as a unique lens for examining how indigeneity becomes an object of consumption via ethnomedical piracy within a transnational racialized economy. Through 28 months of in-depth, multi-sited research across Mexico, from October 2010 to November 2013, this dissertation analyzes the physical and social mobility of some individuals, and the relative immobility of others, through the lens of humanized birth. In writing this dissertation, I aim to make the following interventions:First, I disrupt notions of citizenship-making by placing under the same lens those for whom citizenship is always just out of reach and those for whom citizenship is not a concern as their privileged access to privatized markets allows for a supra-state existence. I offer the concept of "supranationalism" as a contribution to emerging literature that rethinks states as the consolidation of territory and government, thus opening up other ways of conceptualizing polity and geography. I use the topic of birth to provide ethnographic evidence of how biopower is not only imposed by states upon citizen-subjects; but by powerful, extra-governmental, social and economic forces operating in the context of neoliberalism, thus resulting in real material consequences and shaping health outcomes. Second, I deploy the concepts of racialization and power when I critique the ways in which the global alternative birth movement inadvertently appropriates and commodifies indigenous culture. When "indigeneity" is invoked in the realm of so-called "humanized" birth, the object is fetishized, separated entirely from its cultural, socioeconomic, and geographical context, and repackaged for popular consumption—leading me to rethink the relationship between neoliberal citizenship and consumerism. I use the example of midwifery in Mexico to examine racialized identities-turned-merchandise, with real effects for the bodies of women. Building upon studies that explore the political economy of the body under contemporary global capitalism, I use a transnational context to analyze the political economy of identities vis-à-vis the body.In this dissertation, I examine the disparate and unequal distribution of "traditional," and ethnomedical forms of "natural" birth among social collectivities. The dissertation examines the mobility of humanized birth practitioners and participants who travel across borders to contribute to ideology and practices being produced transnationally, while comparatively immobile women are socially situated in ways that preclude their participation in medical migrations. Thus, while my ethnographic research provides detailed examples of how humanized birth is reshaped and reconstituted in sites that bear stark contrast to the social and geographic locations where the humanized birth model was originally produced, I am more concerned with how politic economic terrains are not only traversed, but are themselves transformed by medical migration. Finally, I complexify notions of feminist liberation by asking how humanized birth may be the first step within a new regime of pressures and "requirements" presented by modern-day "good parenting." I resist viewing children only as commodities; however, I do argue that children represent parents' stake in our contemporary meritocracy—a system that naturalizes extreme inequality by allowing us to believe in democratic structures and the idea that education and proper preparation will open doors for children to a brilliant future. Furthermore, I suggest that meritocratic structures exert pressure in the womb. The difference between a privatized and public childhood begins in vitro with prenatal care.

La vainilla (Vanilla planifolia), es una orquídea cuyo fruto es altamente valorado en el mercado nacional e internacional. Su centro de origen y distribución es México y parte de Centro América. En nuestro país, ha sido intensamente aprovechada desde la época precolombina, por lo que su extracción desmedida, así como la reducción de la variabilidad genética y la fragmentación de su hábitat, han provocado la disminución de las poblaciones naturales. Actualmente se encuentra citada en la Norma Oficial Mexicana 059 (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010), bajo la categoría de Protección Especial. La producción de vainilla ha generado expectativas económicas, pues su alto valor en el mercado incentiva el establecimiento del cultivo, y se espera que genere ingresos que incidan en la calidad de vida de los productores locales. En la última década, se han canalizado diversos esfuerzos para incrementar la superficie sembrada y la productividad del cultivo. Las instituciones gubernamentales han destinado recursos económicos a la adquisición de material vegetativo y el establecimiento de nuevas plantaciones, así como a la capacitación y asistencia técnica. Por su parte, las instituciones de investigación, han dirigido sus esfuerzos en satisfacer las demandas del agro, particularmente en áreas como la reproducción de la especie, la caída del fruto, el bajo rendimiento y la conservación. En San Luis Potosí, desde el año 2002 se han aprobado diversos proyectos dirigidos al establecimiento de sistemas de producción, y al acompañamiento técnico productivo y empresarial. En la Huasteca potosina, la vainilla se cultiva en trece municipios de la región centro-sur, bajo tres principales sistemas de producción: la casa malla sombra, la asociación con cítricos y los sistemas agroforestales tradicionales. Las políticas agrícolas han incentivado el desarrollo de sistemas de producción simplificados como la casa malla sombra y los monocultivos, proyectando una alta productividad en pequeñas superficies, pero cuyos resultados no han sido los esperados. Aunado a lo anterior, los costos son poco accesibles para pequeños productores. Son además sistemas vulnerables desde el enfoque socioambiental; susceptibles a los fenómenos meteorológicos y a la presencia de plagas o enfermedades, con escasos reservorios de biodiversidad, de manera que impacta en la seguridad y la soberanía alimentaria, ya que entonces el productor depende del ingreso que le provea la cosecha de una sola especie, para satisfacer sus bienes y servicios. En contraste con los sistemas simplificados, existen también sistemas de producción tradicionales, como el sistema agroforestal. Los sistemas agroforestales tradicionales (SAT) guardan semejanza con un ecosistema natural, porque son altamente biodiversos y el manejo es mínimo, por lo que son considerados de bajo impacto. Son además valorados por los conocimientos bioculturales entorno a ellos. Establecer vainilla en estos sistemas, implica un menor costo y menor riesgo de plagas y daños naturales. Entre sus fortalezas también se encuentra el contar con individuos silvestres o "asilvestrados" de vainilla que, bajo un apropiado manejo, pueden ser plantas apropiadas para el cultivo. El rendimiento entre los diferentes sistemas de producción sigue siendo escaso y muy semejante, de manera que se observan muchas más ventajas en un sistema de producción tradicional, económico, resiliente y menos vulnerable, que además ha permanecido por siglos en la región. En la región, se requiere incrementar las superficies y la densidad de siembra con planta saludable y adaptada a la región. Considerando las bondades del sistema tradicional, éste ha sido seleccionado como objeto de estudio y se pretende satisfacer las siguientes interrogantes: • ¿cuál es el potencial para la conservación de la vainilla local? • ¿de qué manera influyen los factores sociopolíticos-económicos-culturales en el gradiente de producción de vainilla en el sistema tradicional? • ¿qué implicaciones tendría la micropropagación de vainilla con sustratos orgánicos para satisfacer la demanda de material vegetativo? Los objetivos de la investigación fueron identificar la distribución actual y potencial de Vanilla planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews. y diseñar acciones para su conservación; caracterizar los sistemas agroforestales donde se produce la vainilla, para tipificarlos con base en sus particularidades de manejo y establecer un protocolo de regeneración in vitro de V. planifolia a través del uso de extractos naturales en la Huasteca Potosina. Para ello, se realizaron consultas en herbarios, recorridos de campo, entrevistas con los productores de vainilla y talleres participativos con habitantes locales. Se llevó a cabo un análisis espacial basado en sistemas de información geográfica, para conocer las características ambientales de los sitios con presencia de la especie y se modelizó su distribución potencial. Asimismo, se analizaron 355 casos, obteniéndose 135 variables agronómicas y de características del productor. La información se complementó con un análisis espacial basado en un SIG para definir patrón espacial de distribución de dichos sistemas. Para la tipología se aplicó el análisis de conglomerado en dos fases. Finalmente, se cultivaron semillas estériles en medio sin reguladores de crecimiento vegetal para obtener protocormos como explantes. Una vez formados los protocormos, estos se sembraron en los medios de cultivo suplementados con los extractos orgánicos de piña, plátano y agua de coco y un medio control, el cual no contenía la adición de ningún extracto. En la Huasteca Potosina, se ubicaron 28 sitios con presencia del taxón bajo estudio, la mayoría en sistemas agroforestales tradicionales y, menor proporción, en los relictos de selva mediana que aún persisten en la región, anclados a los tutores que les proveen el soporte necesario. Su distribución potencial se estimó en 85.5 km2. El germoplasma sin procesos de domesticación y adaptado a las condiciones ambientales que se identificó, tiene posibilidades de ser conservado. Los poseedores de este recurso genético, consideran que una Unidad de Manejo de la Vida Silvestre sería la forma más adecuada para lograr su conservación in situ. En la región existen tres grupos de productores, que se diferencian por la cantidad de actividades realizadas para la producción de vainilla, el número de tutores empleados y la pertenencia a un grupo étnico. Los sistemas de la etnia Tének presentan menos modificaciones comparados con los sistemas nahuas. Éstos últimos, incluso comienzan a especializarse en el manejo de especies comerciales, pero aún conservan algunos rasgos de los sistemas originales. Los tratamientos de germinación mostraron que el mejor tratamiento fue el medio con extracto de piña, en donde se observó la formación de 5.7 ± 3.5 brotes de 36.9 ± 7.3 mm de altura, y la formación de 2.2 ± 0.5 yemas por brote. Además, se logró la formación de 13.0 ± 1.1 raíces por brote con la adición de 0.5 mg L-1 de AIA y la preaclimatación de las plantas in vitro. ; Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), is an orchid whose fruit is highly valued in the national and international market. Its center of origin and distribution is Mexico and part of Central America. In our country, it has been intensely exploited since the pre- Columbian era, so its excessive extraction, as well as the reduction of genetic variability, and the fragmentation of its habitat, have caused the decrease of natural populations. It is currently cited in Official Mexican Standard 059 (NOM-059- SEMARNAT-2010), in the category of Subject to Special Protection. Vanilla production has generated economic expectations, since its high market value encourages the establishment of the crop, and it is expected to generate income that improves the quality of life of local producers. In the last decade, various efforts have been channeled to increase the planted area and crop productivity. Government institutions have allocated financial resources to the acquisition of vegetative material and the establishment of new plantations, as well as to training and technical assistance. For their part, research institutions have directed their efforts to meet the demands of agriculture, such as the reproduction of the species, the fall of the fruit, the low yield and conservation. In San Luis Potosí, since 2002 several projects have been approved aimed at the establishment of production systems, and technical and productive technical support. In the Huasteca potosina, vanilla is grown in thirteen municipalities in the central-south region, under three main production systems: the shadow mesh house, the association with citrus fruits and traditional agroforestry systems. Agricultural policies have encouraged the development of simplified production systems such as the shadow mesh house and monocultures, projecting high productivity in small areas, but whose results have not been as expected. In addition to the above, the costs are not very accessible for small producers. They are also vulnerable systems from the socio-environmental approach; susceptible to meteorological phenomena and the presence of pests or diseases, reduce biodiversity reservoirs and ecosystem services, so that impacts on food security and sovereignty, since then the producer depends on the income provided by the crop to satisfy Your goods and services. In contrast to simplified systems, there are also traditional production systems, such as the agroforestry system. Traditional agroforestry systems (SAT) are similar to a natural ecosystem, because they are highly biodiverse and management is minimal, so they are considered low impact. They are also valued for the biocultural knowledge around them. To establish vanilla in these systems, implies a lower cost and less risk of plagues and natural damages. Among its strengths is also having wild or "feral" vanilla individuals that, under proper management, can be appropriate plants for cultivation. The yield between the different production systems remains scarce and very similar, so that many more advantages are observed in a traditional, economic, resilient and less vulnerable production system, which has also remained for centuries in the region. In the region, it is necessary to increase the areas and planting density with a healthy plant adapted to the region. Considering the benefits of the traditional system, it has been selected as an object of study and is intended to satisfy the following questions: • What is the potential for the conservation of local vanilla? • How do sociopolitical-economic-cultural factors influence the gradient of vanilla production in the traditional system? • What implications would vanilla micropropagation with organic substrates have to meet the demand for vegetative material? The objectives of the investigation were to identify the current and potential distribution from Vanilla planifolia Jacks. former Andrews., design actions for its conservation, characterize the agroforestry systems where vanilla is produced, to typify them based on its management characteristics and establish a protocol for in vitro regeneration of V. planifolia through the use of natural extracts in the Huasteca Potosina. To do this, consultations were conducted in herbariums, field trips, interviews with vanilla producers and participatory workshops with local inhabitants. It took carry out a spatial analysis based on geographic information systems, to know the environmental characteristics of the sites with the presence of the species and He modeled his potential distribution. Likewise, 355 cases were analyzed, obtaining 135 agronomic variables and characteristics of the producer. The information was complemented with a spatial analysis based on a GIS to define the spatial pattern of distribution of these systems. For the typology, the two-stage cluster analysis was applied. Finally, sterile seeds were grown in medium without plant growth regulators to obtain protoorms as explants. Once the protoorms were formed, they were sown in the culture media supplemented with the organic extracts of pineapple, banana and coconut water and a control medium, which did not contain the addition of any extract. In Huasteca Potosina, 28 sites were located with the presence of the taxon under study, the majority in traditional agroforestry systems and, to a lesser extent, in the relics of medium forest that still persist in the region, anchored to the tutors who. They provide the necessary support. Its potential distribution was estimated at 85.5 km2. The Germplasm without domestication processes and adapted to the environmental conditions that were identified, has the possibility of being conserved. The holders of this genetic resource, they consider a Wildlife Management Unit It would be the most appropriate way to achieve its conservation in situ. In the region there are three groups of producers, which are differentiated by the amount of activities carried out for the production of vanilla, the number of tutors employed and belonging to an ethnic group. The systems of the Tének ethnic group present less modifications compared to the Nahua systems. The latter even begin to specialize in the management of commercial species, but still retain some features of the original systems. Germination treatments showed that the best treatment was the medium with pineapple extract, where the formation of 5.7 ± 3.5 shoots of 36.9 ± 7.3 mm in height was observed, and the formation of 2.2 ± 0.5 buds per bud. In addition, the formation of 13.0 ± was achieved 1.1 roots per outbreak with the addition of 0.5 mg L-1 of AIA and pre-acclimatization of in vitro plants.

Absentee Landlords and Agriculture -- Access to Land and the Right to Food -- Aesthetic Value, Art, and Food -- Africa, Food, and Agriculture -- African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN) -- Agrarianism and the Ethics of Eating -- Agricultural and Food Products in Preferential Trade Agreements -- Agricultural Cooperatives -- Agricultural Ethics -- Agricultural Science and Ethics -- Agricultural Sciences and Ethical Controversies of Biofuels -- Agriculture and Ethical Change -- Agriculture and Finance -- Agriculture of the Middle -- Alcohol Abstinence and Sobriety -- Alcohol as Food and the Good Life -- Alimentary Delinquency -- American Cuisine, Existence Of -- American Food Rhetoric -- Ancestral Cuisine and Cooking Rituals -- Animal Agriculture and Welfare Footprints -- Animal Welfare in the Context of Animal Production -- Animal Welfare: A Critical Examination of the Concept -- Aroid Production and Postharvest Practices -- Artisanal Food Production and Craft -- Asian Cuisine: Ethical Considerations -- Authenticity in Food -- Beef Production: Ethical Issues -- Biodiversity -- Biodiversity and Global Development -- Biodynamic Agriculture -- Bioethics at Purdue University -- Biofuels: Ethical Aspects -- Biopharming -- Biosecurity and Food Systems -- Biotechnology and Food Policy, Governance -- Body Image, Gender, and Food -- Brazilian Agriculture -- Brillat-Savarin and Food -- Buddhism, Cooking, and Eating -- Buddhist Perspectives on Food and Agricultural Ethics -- Canada, US-EU Beef Hormone Dispute -- Cannibalism -- Carbon Farming -- Carnism -- Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics -- Child Nutrition Guidelines and Gender -- Chinese Agriculture -- Chocolate: Ethical Dimensions -- Christian Ethics and Vegetarianism -- Christian Mysticism and Food -- Christian Perspectives on Food and Agricultural Ethics -- Christian Stewardship in Agriculture -- Christianity and Food -- Civic Agriculture -- Climate Change, Ethics, and Food Production -- Community-Supported Agriculture -- Company Identity in the Food Industry -- Conservation Agriculture: Farmer Adoption and Policy Issues -- Conventionalization Hypothesis -- Cooking Tools and Techniques: Ethical Issues -- Cooking, Food Consumption, and Globalization: Ethical Considerations -- Corporate Farms -- Corporate Social Responsibility and Food -- Cosmopolitanism, Localism and Food -- Cross-Contamination of Crops in Horticulture -- Cuban Agriculture -- Culinary Cosmopolitanism -- Culinary Tourism -- Derrida and Eating -- East European Agriculture -- Eating Disorders -- Eating Disorders and Disturbed Eating -- Eating Etiquette -- Eating and Nutrition -- Eating Invasive Species -- Eating, Feeding and the Human Life Cycle -- Eating, Feeding, and Disability -- Ecofeminist Food Ethics -- Economy of Agriculture and Food -- Ecosystems, Food, Agriculture, and Ethics -- Ecotopia -- Egg Production: Ethical Issues -- Emergency Food System: Soup Kitchens and Food Pantries -- Environmental and Animal Pragmatism -- Environmental Ethics -- Environmental Justice and Food -- Epicureanism and Food -- Equipment Sharing in Agriculture -- Escoffier -- Ethical Activism with Consideration of the Routine of Food Culture -- Ethical Assessment of Dieting, Weight Loss, and Weight Cycling -- Ethical Matrix and Agriculture -- Ethics and Food Taste -- Ethics of Agricultural Development and Food Rights in International Organizations -- Ethics of Dietitians -- Ethics of Nutrigenomics -- Ethics in Food and Agricultural Sciences -- Ethnicity, Ethnic Identity, and Food -- EU Regulatory Conflicts over GM Food -- European Cuisine: Ethical Considerations -- Expertise in Agriculture: Scientific and Ethical Issues -- Extraterritorial Obligations of States and the Right to Food -- Fair Trade in Food and Agricultural Products -- Farm Management -- Farmer Types and Motivation -- Farmers' Markets -- Farmer-Scientist Knowledge Exchange -- Farms: Small Versus Large -- Fasting -- Feeding Children -- Food "Porn" in Media -- Food Addiction -- Food Additives and International Trade -- Food Advertising to Children: Policy, Health, and Gender -- Food Allergies: Ethical Issues -- Food and Agricultural Trade and National Sovereignty -- Food and Agriculture in Bangladesh -- Food and Choice -- Food and Class -- Food and Health Policy -- Food and Life Chances -- Food and Place -- Food and Poverty in High Income Countries -- Food Rituals -- Food and the Avant-Garde -- Food Animal Production, Ethics, and Quality Assurance -- Food Assistance and International Trade -- Food Boycotts -- Food Culture and Chefs -- Food Deserts -- Food Ethics and Policies -- Food in Ancient Indian Philosophy -- Food Labeling -- Food Legislation and Regulation: EU, UN, WTO and Private Regulation -- Food Miles -- Food Not Bombs -- Food Preparation, Cooking, and Ritual in Judaism -- Food Riots, Historical Perspectives -- Food Risk Communication -- Food Risks -- Food Safety -- Food Security -- Food Security and International Trade -- Food 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Slaughter Association -- Hunting -- Hybridity in Agriculture -- In Vitro Meat -- Industrial Food Animal Production Ethics -- Industrialized Slaughter and Animal Welfare -- Infant Feeding -- Informed Food Choice -- Institute Technology-Theology-Natural Sciences (TTN), Munich -- Institutional Food Service -- Intellectual Property and Food -- Intellectual Property Rights and Trade in the Food and Agricultural Sectors -- International Food Quality Standards -- Islam and Food -- Islam and Food and Agricultural Ethics -- Jainism and Food -- Jefferson's Moral Agrarianism -- Judaism and Food -- Kristeva and Food -- Land Acquisitions for Food and Fuel -- Law and Regulatory Mechanisms for Food and Agriculture Research -- Literature, Food, and Gender -- Local and Regional Food Systems -- Local Food Procurement -- Marketing, Food Policy, Diet, and Health -- Meat: Ethical Considerations -- Medicalization of Eating and Feeding -- Metaphysics of Natural Food -- Molecular Gastronomy -- Montaigne and Food -- Multifunctional Agriculture -- Multifunctionality of Agriculture and International Trade -- Multilateral Trade Organizations, Food, and Agriculture -- NAFTA and the Food and Agricultural Industries -- Nanotechnology in Agriculture -- National Courts and the Right to Food -- Natural Food -- Nietzsche and Food -- Obesity and Consumer Choice -- Obesity and Responsibility -- Occupational Risks in Agriculture -- Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics -- Permaculture -- Pest Control -- Peter Singer and Food -- Plant-Based Diets and Scientific Value Judgments -- Plato and Food -- Political Agronomy -- Political Consumerism: Consumer Choice, Information, and Labeling -- Population Growth -- Pork Production: Ethical Issues -- Poverty and Basic Needs -- Pregnancy and Food -- Private Food Governance -- Provision of Agricultural Ecosystem Services -- Public Institutional Foodservice -- Punishment and Food -- Race, Racial Identity, and Eating -- Recipes -- Resource Conflict, Food, and Agriculture -- Responsible Innovation in the Food Sector -- Restaurant Reviewing -- Restaurant Workers -- Right to Food in International Law -- Rousseau and Food -- Saving Seeds -- School Lunch and Gender -- Seed Banking, Seed Saving, and Cultivating Local Varieties -- Slash-and-Burn Agriculture -- Slow Food -- Sub-Saharan African Agriculture -- Substantial Equivalence -- Sustainability and Animal Agriculture -- Sustainability of Food Production and Consumption -- Sustainable Consumption and Gender -- Synthetic Biology and Biofuels -- Synthetic Meat -- Systemic Ethics to Support Well being -- Taste, Distaste, and Food -- Technologies used for Animal Breeding, Ethical Issues -- Telos and Farm Animal Welfare -- The 2003–2006 WTO GMO Dispute: Implications for the SPS Agreement -- Trade and Development in the Food and Agricultural Sectors -- Trade Policies and Animal Welfare -- Trade Policies and Organic Food -- Transgenic Crops -- Urban Agriculture -- Vegetarianism -- Vertical Farms in Horticulture -- Vertical Integration and Concentration in US Agriculture -- Virtue Theory, Food, and Agriculture -- War and Food -- Waste and Food -- Water, Food, and Agriculture -- WTO Dispute Settlement and Food and Agricultural Trade -- You Are What You Eat -- Youth Food Activism

BACKGROUND: Dietary high salt (HS) is a leading risk factor for mortality and morbidity. Serum sodium transiently increases postprandially but can also accumulate at sites of inflammation affecting differentiation and function of innate and adaptive immune cells. Here, we focus on how changes in extracellular sodium, mimicking alterations in the circulation and tissues, affect the early metabolic, transcriptional, and functional adaption of human and murine mononuclear phagocytes.METHODS: Using Seahorse technology, pulsed stable isotope-resolved metabolomics, and enzyme activity assays, we characterize the central carbon metabolism and mitochondrial function of human and murine mononuclear phagocytes under HS in vitro. HS as well as pharmacological uncoupling of the electron transport chain under normal salt is used to analyze mitochondrial function on immune cell activation and function (as determined by Escherichia coli killing and CD4(+) T cell migration capacity). In 2 independent clinical studies, we analyze the effect of a HS diet during 2 weeks (URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.Unique identifier: NCT02509962) and short-term salt challenge by a single meal (URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.Unique identifier: NCT04175249) on mitochondrial function of human monocytes in vivo.RESULTS: Extracellular sodium was taken up into the intracellular compartment, followed by the inhibition of mitochondrial respiration in murine and human macrophages. Mechanistically, HS reduces mitochondrial membrane potential, electron transport chain complex II activity, oxygen consumption, and ATP production independently of the polarization status of macrophages. Subsequently, cell activation is altered with improved bactericidal function in HS-treated M1-like macrophages and diminished CD4(+) T cell migration in HS-treated M2-like macrophages. Pharmacological uncoupling of the electron transport chain under normal salt phenocopies HS-induced transcriptional changes and bactericidal function of human and murine mononuclear phagocytes. Clinically, also in vivo, rise in plasma sodium concentration within the physiological range reversibly reduces mitochondrial function in human monocytes. In both a 14-day and single meal HS challenge, healthy volunteers displayed a plasma sodium increase of (x) over tilde = 2mM and (x) over tilde = 2.3mM, respectively, that correlated with decreased monocytic mitochondrial oxygen consumption.CONCLUSIONS: Our data identify the disturbance of mitochondrial respiration as the initial step by which HS mechanistically influences immune cell function. Although these functional changes might help to resolve bacterial infections, a shift toward proinflammation could accelerate inflammatory cardiovascular disease. ; S.G. was supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung funding MSTARS (Multimodal Clinical Mass Spectrometry to Target Treatment Resistance). D.N.M., H.B., N.W., and S.K.F. were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation; Projektnummer 394046635 - SFB 1365). D.N.M. was supported by the Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislauf-Forschung (DZHK, 81Z0100106). J.J. received funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (JA1993/6-1), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft SFB 1350 grant (project No. 387509280, TPB5) and the Bavarian Ministry of Science and the Arts in the framework of the Bavarian Research Network "New Strategies Against Multi-Resistant Pathogens by Means of Digital Networking – bayresq.net." M.K. and N.W. were supported by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (M.K.: 640116; N.W.: 852796). M.K. was further supported by a Strategic Action Plan for Limburg (Strategisch Actieplan voor Limburg in het Kwadraat, SALK) grant from the government of Flanders, Belgium, and by an Odysseus grant from the Research Foundation Flanders. N.W. is supported by a grant from the Corona-Stiftung. N.W. is participant in the Clinician Scientist Program funded by the Berlin Institute of Health. S.K. was supported by Impuls und Vernetzungsfond Aging and Metabolic Programming (AMPro, ZT-0026, Helmholtz Association). Acknowledgments The authors thank Jana Czychi, Gabriele N'diaye, Juliane Anders, Ute Gerhardt, May-Britt Köhler, and Fardad Ramezani for assistance. S.G. led and conceived the project, designed and performed most experiments, and analyzed and interpreted the data. H.B. conducted the clinical study, and performed PBMC isolation and flow-cytometric analysis together with S.G. P.N. performed murine BMDM and human peripheral blood monocyte bacterial killing and growth experiments. R.W., D.S., and A.G. performed analyses of ATP, tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester, gene expression, and T cell migration in human macrophages. C.Z. together with S.G. measured and analyzed pulsed stable isotope-resolved metabolomics experiments. T.B. and E.T. performed sectioned transmission electron microscopy imaging and 3-dimensional reconstruction. V.M.P. performed mitochondrial isolation and ETC complex assays together with S.G. L.K. performed peripheral blood monocyte bacterial killing and cell culture experiments in human monocytes for intracellular Na+ measurement. M.V. performed intracellular Na+ quantifications. A. Maifeld, A. Mähler, and N.W. performed the clinical study, which was reanalyzed by S.G. and H.B. S.K.F. performed statistical analyses. K.B., J.S., and R.D. gave major conceptual input. D.N.M., S.K., J.J., and M.K. supervised the experiments and interpreted the data. S.G. and D.N.M. wrote the article with key editing by S.K., H.B., and M.K. and further input from all authors.

Growth of shallot plants could be increased through good plant cultivation such as using organic materials that can improve physical, chemical and biological properties in the soil and contain macro and micronutrients so that organic matter is needed in the form of municipal waste compost. The research objective was to study the responsiveness of the growth of onion varieties due to the application of municipal waste compost. This research was carried out in the Bandar Senembah village Binjai district Barat in February-March 2019. The study used a randomized block design (RAK) with 2 factors and 3 blocks. The first factor is the variety (V) and the second factor is Municipal waste compost (K). The results showed that that the best varieties are varieties Bima Brebes. Where the variety showed the highest leaf length per sample and highest number of tillers per sample while the application of municipal waste compost does not show a significant effect on parameters of leaf length per sample but for the number of tillers per sample shows a significant effect where the best results in the application of 3 kg/m2 (plot) municipal waste compost. REFERENCES Ahmed, M. E., El-Kader, N. I. A. & Derbala, A.A.E. (2009). Effect of Irrigation Frequency and Potassium Source on the Productivity, Quality, and Storability of Garlic. Australian Journal Of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(4), 4490–4497. Alfian, D. F., Nelvia & Yetti, H. (2015). The Effect of Potassium Fertilizer and Compost Mixture of Oil Palm Empty Bunches with Boiler Ash on Growth and Yield of Onion (Allium ascalonicum L.). Jurnal Agroekoteknologi, 5(2), 1-6. Amiroh, A. (2017). Pengaplikasian dosis pupuk bokashi dan KNO3 terhadap pertumbuhan dan hasil tanaman melon (Cucumis melo L.). Jurnal Saintis, 9(1), 25 - 36. Arisha, H. M. E.,. Ibraheim, S. K. A & El-Sarkassy, N. M. (2017). The response of garlic (Allium sativum L.) yield, volatile oil, and nitrate content to foliar and soil application of potassium fertilizer under sandy soil conditions. Middle East Journal of Applied Sciences, 7(1), 44-56. Aslamiah, I. D., dan Sularno. (2017). The response of growth and production of peanut plants of the addition of organic fertilizer concentration and reduction of an organic fertilizer dosage. Prosiding Seminas Nasional Fakultas Pertanian UMJ. BPS. (2018). Statistik Indonesia. Badan Pusat Statistik Republik Indonesia, Jakarta. Gunadi, N. (2009). Kalium sulfat dan kalium klorida sebagai sumber pupuk kalium pada tanaman bawang merah. Jurnal Hortikultura, 19(2),174-185. Hickey, M. (2012). Growing Garlic in NSW Second Edition. Primefact 259. Department of Primary Industries. NSW Government. Australia. Hilal, M.H., Selim, A.M. & El-Neklawy, A.S. (1992). Enhancing and retarding effect of combined sulfur and fertilizer applications on crop production in different soils. In Proceedings Middle East Sulphur Symposium 12-16 February, Cairo, Egypt. Marschner, P.( 2012). Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants Third Edition. Elsevier Ltd. Oxford. Nainwal, R. C., Sigh, D., Katiyar, R. S., Sharma, I & Tewari, S. K. (2015). The response of garlic to integrated nutrient management practices in a sodic soil of Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops, 24(1), 33-36. Putra, A. A. G. (2013). Kajian aplikasi dosis pupuk ZA dan kalium pada tanaman bawang putih (Allium sativum L.). Jurnal Ganec Swara, 7(2), 10–18. Setiawati, W., Murtiningsih, R., Sopha, G. A & Handayani, T. (2007). Petunjuk Teknis Budidaya Tanaman Sayuran. Balai Penelitian Tanaman Sayuran. Shafeek, M. R., Nagwa, M. H., Singer, S. M., & El-Greadly, N. H. (2013). Effect of potassium fertilizer and foliar spraying with Ethereal on plant development, yield, and bulb quality of onion plants (Allium cepa L). Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 9(2), 1140-1146. Sholihin, Y., Suminar, E., Rizky, W.H. & Pitaloka, G.G. (2016). Meristem explants growth of garlic (Allium sativum L.) Cv. tawangmangu on various compositions of kinetin and ga3 in vitro. Jurnal Kultivasi, 15(3), 172–179. Sulichantini, E. D. (2016). Effect of plant growth regulator Concentration Against Regeneration Garlic (Allium sativum L) In the Tissue Culture. Jurnal Agrifor, 15(1), 29–38. Suminarti, N.E. (2010). The Effects of N and K Fertilization on the Growth and Yield of Taro on Dry Land. Akta Agrosia, 13(1), 1–7. Uke, K. H. Y., Barus, H & Madauna, I. W. (2015). Effect of Tuber Sizes and Potassium Dosages on Growth and Production of Shallots var. Lembah Palu. Jurnal Agrotekbis, 3(6), 655 - 661. Utomo, P.S & Suprianto, A. (2019). Respon pertumbuhan dan produksi tanaman bawang merah (Allium ascalonicum L.) varietas thailand terhadap perlakuan dosis pupuk kusuma bioplus dan KNO3 putih. Jurnal Ilmiah Hijau Cendekia, 4(1), 28–34. Wu, C., Wang, M., Cheng, Z & Meng, H. (2016). The response of garlic (Allium sativum L.) bolting and bulbing to temperature and photoperiod treatments. Biol Open, 5(4), 507-518.

1 The Morphology of Barley; the Vegetative Phase -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 The quiescent barley grain -- 1.3 Changes in the germinating grain -- 1.4 The growth of the stem and leaves -- 1.5 The root system -- 1.6 Plant morphology and lodging -- References -- 2 The Morphology of the Reproductive Parts in Barley -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 The development of the ear -- 2.3 Variations in the form of grains -- 2.4 The ear -- 2.5 Some implications of the wide variety of forms of barley -- References -- 3 The Origin and Classification of Barleys -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Classifications of barleys -- 3.3 The position of barley within the Gramineae -- 3.4 The origin of cultivated barley -- References -- 4 The Biochemistry of Barley -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Carbohydrates -- 4.3 The glycolytic sequence, the pentose phosphate shunt and the tricarboxylic acid cycle -- 4.4 Barley lipids -- 4.5 Photosynthesis and photorespiration -- 4.6 The formation of porphyrins -- 4.7 Phenolic and aromatic substances -- 4.8 Amino acid metabolism -- 4.9 The metabolism of some amines -- 4.10 Nucleic acids, and some other nitrogenous substances -- 4.11 Barley proteins -- References -- 5 Grain Quality and Germination -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Sampling tests with small numbers of grains -- 5.3 Grain evaluation -- 5.4 The penetration of water, and other substances, into grain -- 5.5 Testing for grain germinability -- 5.6 Vigour -- 5.7 Dormancy -- 5.8 The gas exchange of germinating grains -- 5.9 The chemical composition of the quiescent grain -- 5.10 Biochemical changes in germinating grain -- 5.11 Embryo culture in vitro -- 5.12 The mobilization of the endosperm reserves -- References -- 6 The Growth of the Barley Plant -- 6.1 The description of growth -- 6.2 Sequential changes in the growth of the plant -- 6.3 The composition of the growing plant -- 6.4 The composition of the growing grain -- 6.5 Root growth -- 6.6 Water supplies -- 6.7 Water stress -- 6.8 Mineral requirements -- 6.9 The uptake and release of substances by roots -- 6.10 Coleoptile growth and gravity perception -- 6.11 Leaf unrolling and greening -- 6.12 Leaf senescence -- 6.13 Growth regulation -- 6.14 Temperature and growth -- 6.15 Cold hardiness -- 6.16 Vernalization -- 6.17 Some effects of light -- 6.18 Some factors that control yield -- References -- 7 Agricultural Practices and Yield -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Soil preparation -- 7.3 The choice of seed; sowing -- 7.4 Nutrient supply and barley yield -- 7.5 Some chemical treatments -- 7.6 Damaging factors -- 7.7 Water supplies and yield -- 7.8 Barley as forage -- 7.9 Harvesting the grain -- 7.10 Actual and potential yields -- References -- 8 Production and Harvesting Machinery -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Irrigation and drainage -- 8.3 Tillage -- 8.4 Sowing -- 8.5 Post-sowing treatments -- 8.6 Harvesting and threshing barley -- 8.7 Straw -- 8.8 Harvesting the whole plant -- 8.9 Conclusions -- References -- 9 Weeds, Pests and Diseases in the Growing Crop -- 9.1 Weeds and the need to control them -- 9.2 Weed control -- 9.3 The economics of weed control -- 9.4 Nematode pests -- 9.5 Molluscs -- 9.6 Birds and mammals -- 9.7 Insect and some other pests -- 9.8 Virus diseases of barley -- 9.9 Bacterial diseases -- 9.10 Fungal diseases -- 9.11 Some general considerations -- References -- 10 The Reception and Storage of Whole Plants and Grain. The Micro-organisms and Pests of Stored Grain -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Barley hay -- 10.3 Straw -- 10.4 Barley silage -- 10.5 Grain reception -- 10.6 Handling grain -- 10.7 Weighers -- 10.8 Cleaning and grading grain -- 10.9 Drying principles -- 10.10 Grain drying in practice -- 10.11 Grain storage facilities -- 10.12 Seed longevity and grain deterioration -- 10.13 Micro-organisms in grain -- 10.14 Insects and mites -- 10.15 The mites of stored grain -- 10.16 Insecticides and fumigants -- 10.17 Rodents and their control -- References -- 11 Barley Genetics -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 The inheritance of 'distinct' factors -- 11.3 Cytology and chromosome behaviour -- 11.4 Chromosomal abnormalities -- 11.5 Ploidy levels -- 11.6 Mutations and mutagenesis -- 11.7 The expression of some mutant and other genes -- 11.8 The genetics of complex characters -- References -- 12 Barley Improvement -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Plant introductions, and adapted forms -- 12.3 Plant selections -- 12.4 Mutation breeding -- 12.5 Hybridization -- 12.6 Crossing barley -- 12.7 The choice of parents -- 12.8 Selection sequences applied to hybrid progenies -- 12.9 Competition and 'natural selection' in barley -- 12.10 Breeding for quality -- 12.11 Some other objectives in breeding -- 12.12 Breeding for higher yields -- 12.13 The quantitative evaluation of parents -- 12.14 'Hybrid' barley -- 12.15 Trial procedures -- 12.16 The multiplication of seed -- 12.17 Conclusion -- References -- 13 Some Actual and Potential Uses of Barley -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 Barley grain; a source of starch and protein -- 13.3 Minor uses of straw -- 13.4 Straw in building -- 13.5 Animal bedding, litter, farmyard manure and compost -- 13.6 Soil protection, conditioning, or replacement -- 13.7 Some industrial uses of barley -- 13.8 Paper, cardboard and millboard -- References -- 14 Barley for Animal and Human Food -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 The nutritional requirements of animals -- 14.3 Forage and hay -- 14.4 Silage -- 14.5 Barley straw -- 14.6 Barley grain -- 14.7 By-products for animal feed, derived from barley -- 14.8 Non-alcoholic beverages -- 14.9 Other potential feeding stuffs -- 14.10 The technology of preparing grain for food -- 14.11 Future uses of barley as food -- References -- 15 Malting -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 The selection and acceptance of malting barley -- 15.3 Barley handling -- 15.4 Steeping -- 15.5 Germination equipment -- 15.6 Kilns and kilning -- 15.7 Malt analyses -- 15.8 Changes that occur in the malting grain -- References -- 16 Some Uses of Barley Malt -- 16.1 Introduction -- 16.2 Mashing -- 16.3 Some aspects of yeast metabolism -- 16.4 Malt extracts and barley syrups -- 16.5 Brewing beer -- 16.6 Malt vinegar -- 16.7 Distilled 'potable spirits' -- References.

The purpose of this research was to assess the effect of different potassium doses and fertilizer sources on growth rate and time of bulb formation of garlic (Allium sativum L.). The research was conducted in April to Agustus 2019 in Sidomukti Village, Bandungan District, Semarang Regency and at Ecology and Crop Production Laboratory, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Diponegoro University, Semarang. The research used a factorial randomized block design with three groups. The first factor was the dose of potassium fertilizer which consisted of a dose of 60 kg K2O/ha, 120 kg K2O/ha, 180 kg K2O/ha, and 240 kg K2O/ha. The second factor was the source of potassium fertilizer which consisted of KCl, ZK, and KNO3. Parameters that collect were time of bulb formation, growth rate, relative growth rate, and potassium absorption of bulb. The data obtained were analyzed by analysis of variance and obtained further by the Duncan test (Duncan's Multiple Range Test) at a significance level of 5%. The results showed that the application of ZK and KNO3 fertilizers at 240 kg K2O/ha had been able to increase the growth rate and the relative growth rate. The higher dose of fertilizer was increasing of potassium absorption of the bulb and made time of bulb formation getting slower. References Ahmed, M. E., El-Kader, N. I. A. & Derbala, A.A.E. (2009). Effect of Irrigation Frequency and Potassium Source on the Productivity, Quality, and Storability of Garlic. Australian Journal Of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(4), 4490–4497. Alfian, D. F., Nelvia & Yetti, H. (2015). The Effect of Potassium Fertilizer and Compost Mixture of Oil Palm Empty Bunches with Boiler Ash on Growth and Yield of Onion (Allium ascalonicum L.). Jurnal Agroekoteknologi, 5(2), 1-6. Amiroh, A. (2017). Pengaplikasian dosis pupuk bokashi dan KNO3 terhadap pertumbuhan dan hasil tanaman melon (Cucumis melo L.). Jurnal Saintis, 9(1), 25 - 36. Arisha, H. M. E.,. Ibraheim, S. K. A & El-Sarkassy, N. M. (2017). Response of garlic (Allium sativum L.) yield, volatile oil, and nitrate content to foliar and soil application of potassium fertilizer under sandy soil conditions. Middle East Journal of Applied Sciences, 7(1), 44-56. Aslamiah, I. D., dan Sularno. (2017). Response of growth and production of peanut plants of the addition of organic fertilizer concentration and reduction of an organic fertilizer dosage. Prodising Seminas Nasional Fakultas Pertanian UMJ. BPS. (2018). Statistik Indonesia. Badan Pusat Statistik Republik Indonesia, Jakarta. Gunadi, N. (2009). Kalium sulfat dan kalium klorida sebagai sumber pupuk kalium pada tanaman bawang merah. Jurnal Hortikultura, 19(2),174-185. Hickey, M. (2012). Growing Garlic in NSW Second Edition. Primefact 259. Department of Primary Industries. NSW Government. Australia. Hilal, M.H., Selim, A.M. & El-Neklawy, A.S. (1992). Enhancing and retarding effect of combined sulfur and fertilizer applications on crop production in different soils. In Proceedings Middle East Sulphur Symposium 12-16 February, Cairo, Egypt. Marschner, P.( 2012). Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants Third Edition. Elsevier Ltd. Oxford. Nainwal, R. C., Sigh, D., Katiyar, R. S., Sharma, I & Tewari, S. K. (2015). The response of garlic to integrated nutrient management practices in a sodic soil of Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops, 24(1), 33-36. Putra, A. A. G. (2013). Kajian aplikasi dosis pupuk ZA dan kalium pada tanaman bawang putih (Allium sativum L.). Jurnal Ganec Swara, 7(2), 10–18. Setiawati, W., Murtiningsih, R., Sopha, G. A & Handayani, T. (2007). Petunjuk Teknis Budidaya Tanaman Sayuran. Balai Penelitian Tanaman Sayuran. Shafeek, M. R., Nagwa, M. H., Singer, S. M., & El-Greadly, N. H. (2013). Effect of potassium fertilizer and foliar spraying with Ethereal on plant development, yield, and bulb quality of onion plants (Allium cepa L). Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 9(2), 1140-1146. Sholihin, Y., Suminar, E., Rizky, W.H. & Pitaloka, G.G. (2016). Meristem explants growth of garlic (Allium sativum L.) Cv. tawangmangu on various compositions of kinetin and ga3 in vitro. Jurnal Kultivasi, 15(3), 172–179. Sulichantini, E. D. (2016). Effect of plant growth regulator Concentration Against Regeneration Garlic (Allium sativum L) In the Tissue Culture. Jurnal Agrifor, 15(1), 29–38. Suminarti, N.E. (2010). The Effects of N and K Fertilization on the Growth and Yield of Taro on Dry Land. Akta Agrosia, 13(1), 1–7. Uke, K. H. Y., Barus, H & Madauna, I. W. (2015). Effect of Tuber Sizes and Potassium Dosages on Growth and Production of Shallots var. Lembah Palu. Jurnal Agrotekbis, 3(6), 655 - 661. Utomo, P.S & Suprianto, A. (2019). Respon pertumbuhan dan produksi tanaman bawang merah (Allium ascalonicum L.) varietas thailand terhadap perlakuan dosis pupuk kusuma bioplus dan KNO3 putih. Jurnal Ilmiah Hijau Cendekia, 4(1), 28–34. Wu, C., Wang, M., Cheng, Z & Meng, H. (2016). The response of garlic (Allium sativum L.) bolting and bulbing to temperature and photoperiod treatments. Biol Open, 5(4), 507-518.

Neural circuits in the cerebral cortex consist of excitatory pyramidal cells and inhibitory interneurons. These two main classes of cortical neurons follow largely different genetic programs, yet they assemble into highly specialized circuits during development following a very precise choreography. Previous studies have shown that signals produced by pyramidal cells influence the migration of cortical interneurons, but the molecular nature of these factors has remained elusive. Here, we identified Neuregulin 3 (Nrg3) as a chemoattractive factor expressed by developing pyramidal cells that guides the allocation of cortical interneurons in the developing cortical plate. Gain- and loss-of-function approaches reveal that Nrg3 modulates the migration of interneurons into the cortical plate in a process that is dependent on the tyrosine kinase receptor ErbB4. Perturbation of Nrg3 signaling in conditional mutants leads to abnormal lamination of cortical interneurons. Nrg3 is therefore a critical mediator in the assembly of cortical inhibitory circuits. ; uterus, and 1 m g/ m L pCAG - Gfp or Nrg3 (kindly provided by C. Lai, Indiana Uni- versity, Bloomington, and subcloned into pCAGGS) plasmids were injected into the lateral ventricle of the telencephalon through the uterine wall. Square electric pulses of 45 V and 50 ms were passed through the uterus five times, spaced 950 ms, using a square pulse electroporator. The uterine horns were placed back in the abdominal cavity, which was then suture closed, and the female was allowed to recover. Explant Cultures For COS cell confrontation assays, COS7 cells were transfected with plasmids encoding Rfp alone, Rfp and Cxcl12 , Rfp and Nrg3 , Rfp and CRD-Nrg1 ,or Rfp and Ig-Nrg1 , and cell aggregates were prepared by diluting transfected cells with Matrigel in a 1:1 proportion. After jellification, COS cell aggregates were cut with a scalpel in small rectangular prisms of approximately 400 3 400 3 800 m m and confronted to MGE explants obtained from GFP-expressing trans- genic mice in 3D Matrigel pads. The cDNA used for expression of Cxcl12 was obtained from Invitrogen (clone number: 3483088; accession number: BC006640). Nrg3 was kindly provided by Cary Lai (Indiana University, Bloo- mington). The sequences used for expression of type I NRG1 ( Ig-Nrg1 ) and type III NRG1 ( CRD-Nrg1 ) correspond to the accession numbers AY648976 and AY648975, respectively. For Cxcl12 chemokine-blocking experiments, SU6656 (Sigma; 330161-87-0) was added to the medium at a final concentra- tion of 15 m M. Previous worked has shown that Src functions downstream of Cxcr4 activation ( Cabioglu et al., 2005 ). In Vitro Focal Electroporation Coronal slice cultures were obtained as described previously ( Anderson et al., 1997 ). A pCAGG-based dsRed plasmid was pressure injected focally into the MGE of coronal slice cultures by a Pneumatic PicoPump through a glass micropipette. Slices were then electroporated within a setup of two hor- izontally oriented platinum electrodes powered by a Electro-Square-Porator, as described before ( Flames et al., 2004 ). Time-Lapse Videomicroscopy Slices were transferred to the stage of an upright Leica DMLFSA or inverted Leica DMIRE2 microscope coupled to a confocal spectral scanning head (Leica; TCS SL) and viewed through 10–60 3 water immersion or 20 3 oil objec- tives. Slices were continuously superfused with warmed (32 C) artificial cere- brospinal fluid at a rate of 1 mL/min or maintained in supplemented Neurobasal medium. To block Cxcl12 function, SU6656 (Sigma; 330161-87-0) was added to the medium at a final concentration of 15 m M. Stripe Assay Purified CXCL12 protein was obtained from PeproTech (250-20A) and used at 1 ng/ m L. GST and EGF-Nrg3-GST were purified using standard protocols and used at 10 m g/mL. Alternating lanes, 50 m m wide, were laid down on a poly- lysine-coated plastic dish. Alexa 555-labeled anti-rabbit IgGs were added to the GST, EGF-Nrg3-GST, and CXCL12 protein solution for lane identification. The lanes were further coated with laminin. MGE explants were dissected out of GFP + brain slices, plated on top of the protein stripes, and incubated in methylcellulose-containing Neurobasal medium for 48 hr. FACS We dissected the sensorimotor cortex of E17.5 embryos and P4 pups following in utero electroporation at E14.5. Cortical tissue was dissociated as described previously ( Catapano et al., 2001 ). GFP + cells were purified using fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACSARIA III; BD Biosciences), and the re- sulting pellet was kept at 80 C. TaqMan Gene Expression Assays We isolated GFP + pyramidal cells by FACS at E17.5 and P4 after in utero elec- troporation at E14.5. mRNA was then extracted using the RNeasy Micro Kit (QIAGEN) according to the manufacturer's instructions. RNA quality was as- sessed using a bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies) and then retro-transcribed into single-stranded cDNA. The RNA was sent to Unidad Geno ́ mica (Funda- cio ́ n Parque Cientı ́fico de Madrid) for quality control and retro-transcription. Relative gene expression levels from three independent samples were analyzed using custom designed TaqMan low-density array (TLDA) plates (Micro Fluidic Cards; Applied Biosystems). Each plate contained duplicates for all the genes shown in Table S1 . Data were collected and analyzed using the threshold cycle (Ct) relative quantification method. The housekeeping gene 18 RNA was included in the array for assessing RNA quality and sample normalization. Western Blot Cortical lysates were prepared from P30 control and Nestin-Cre;Nrg3 F/F and Nex-Cre;Nrg3 F/F mutants as described before ( Fazzari et al., 2010; Vullhorst et al., 2009 ) and blotted using mouse anti- b -Actin (1:4,000; Sigma) and rabbit anti-Nrg3 (1:500; Abcam). Signals were detected with a luminescent image analyzer (LAS-1000PLUS; Fujifilm) and quantified with Quantity One 1D Anal- ysis Software (Bio-Rad Laboratories). Image Analysis and Quantification Images were acquired using fluorescence microscopes (DM5000B, CTR5000, and DMIRB from Leica, or Apotome.2 from Zeiss) coupled to digital cameras (DC500 or DFC350FX, Leica; OrcaR2, Hamamatsu), or in an inverted Leica TCS SP8 confocal microscope. All images were analyzed with ImageJ (Fiji). For the quantification of migration in MGE explants, the distance migrated by the30furthestcellswasmeasured.Forthequantificationofshort-rangechemo- attraction, the colocalizing area between MGE and COS cells was measured. For the analysis of the interneuron angle of migration, we draw a grid of virtual radial lines (lines perpendicular to the ventricular zone and the pial surface) and oriented each cell in relation to the most adjacent ''radial line.'' Cells that deviated less than 25 from radial lines were considered as radially oriented; those that deviate more than 25 were designated as tangentially oriented. We systematically exclude from this analysis those cells located in the more lateral or medial regions of the cortex, so that the curvature of the slice in those regions would not interfere with our analysis ( Martini et al., 2009 ). For the quan- tification of cell migration in MGE explants, we measured the distance migrated by the30furthest cellsand normalized theaverage migrateddistance tothedis- tancebetweenMGEandCOSexplants.Forthequantificationofthecolocalizing area between migrating interneurons and COS cells in the short-distance confrontation assays, we quantified the colocalizing area using ImageJ (Fiji). Stripes were quantified by counting thenumber of neuronscontained in a virtual grid containing five black and five red lines. The same area was used for all explants. Sections from control and mutant mice were imaged during the same imaging session. Data acquisition was performed using the same laser power, photomultiplier gain, pinhole, and detection filter settings (1,024 3 1,024 resolution; 12 bits). Quantifications were done using ImageJ (Fiji). Layers were drawn following nuclear staining. For in situ hybridization, the area quanti- fied was divided in ten equal bins, and the percentage of cells in each bin was calculated. The bins were then matched to the appropriate layers. Statistical Analyses Statistical analysis was carried out in SPSS (SPSS, Inc.). The p values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Data are presented as mean and SEM throughout the manuscript ( Table S3 We thank I. Andrew, S. Bae, M.A. Casillas, M. Ferna ́ndez, and T. Gil for excel-lent technical assistance and laboratory support; A. Caler for excellent support with FACS experiments; G. Expo ́sito for support with imaging; L. Lim for help with quantitative methods; V. Borrell, R. Hevner, C. Lai, V. Pachnis, C. Redies,B. Rico, J.L.R. Rubenstein, and M. Tessier-Lavigne for plasmids and anti-bodies; and A. Barco, M.A. Nieto, and K. Nave for mouse strains. We are grateful to members of the Flames, O.M., and Rico laboratories for stimulating dis- cussions and ideas. This work was supported by grants from European Research Council (ERC-2011-AdG 293683) and the Spanish Government (CSD2007-00023 and SAF2011-28845) to O.M. O.M. is a Wellcome Trust Investigator. ; Sí

Esta tesis doctoral se ha realizado dentro del marco de un acuerdo de co-tutela entre la Universidad de Zaragoza (Universidad de origen), la Universidad de Calabria (Universidad anfitriona) y la Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnología de la Universidad NOVA de Lisboa (FCT NOVA) (Universidad anfitriona). El trabajo de investigación se ha llevado a cabo dentro del programa de Doctorado en Ingeniería de Membranas Erasmus Mundus (EUDIME), (FPA 2011-0014), financiado por la Unión Europea. La tesis se centró principalmente en el uso de la técnica de electrohilado para producir diferentes tipos de membranas que puedan ser utilizadas en distintas aplicaciones biomédicas. Se sintetizaron y produjeron nanopartículas orgánicas e inorgánicas para ser utilizadas como rellenos o como portadores (sistema de administración de fármacos), así como membranas nanofibrosas electrohiladas. Este trabajo se llevó a cabo en el Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón (INA), específicamente en el grupo de Nanostructured Films and Particles (NFP) bajo la supervisión de la profesora Silvia Irusta y la Dra. Gracia Mendoza. Una parte importante de la caracterización físico-química se realizó en el INA. En la Universidad de Calabria se trabajó bajo la supervisión de la Dra. Loredana de Bartolo en el Instituto de Tecnología de Membranas (ITM). Allí se utilizaron técnicas específicas tanto para la caracterización como para estudiar diferentes señales biológicas producidas por las membranas sintetizadas, bajo la supervisión. Por otro lado, la movilidad llevada a cabo en la Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnología (FCT NOVA) de la Universidade NOVA (FCT NOVA) bajo la supervisión de la profesora Ana Isabel Aguiar-Ricardo, permitió realizar una caracterización completa de dos membranas asimétricas siguiendo diferentes Normas Internacionales que establecen diferentes ensayos a realizar en apósitos primarios utilizados en heridas. El desarrollo de nuevos scaffolds cargados con proteínas morfogenéticas o antibióticos es de gran interés en el campo de la ingeniería de tejidos óseos. Scaffolds electrohilados con una microporosidad mejorada puede ser beneficioso para mejorar la viabilidad celular debido a que una alta porosidad junto a la presencia de microporos puede proporcionar un entorno tridimensional (3D) que no solamente facilita la siembra y difusión celular sino también proporciona una mejor difusión de los nutrientes y residuos a través del scaffolds. La adición de cerámica de fosfato de calcio ha sido ampliamente investigada para fabricar scaffolds altamente porosos para la ingeniería de tejidos óseos debido a que presentan una composición muy similar al hueso, incluyendo excelentes propiedades de biocompatibilidad, osteoinductivas y osteoconductoras. Partículas cargadas con proteínas morfogenéticas de hueso distribuidas homogéneamente en el scaffolds podrían asegurar una liberación continua del factor de crecimiento proporcionando de esta forma las señales bioquímicas necesarias para la reparación y regeneración ósea. Los scaffolds cargados con antibióticos pueden proporcionar una liberación sostenida del fármaco en el sitio de interés, así como el mantenimiento de propiedades osteogénicas mejoradas para la regeneración exitosa del hueso. Evitando de esta forma que se alcancen niveles de toxicidad o niveles ineficaces en la zona de interés, así como la aparición de efectos secundarios indeseados en los pacientes que provocan un rechazo a los tratamientos prolongados de fármacos por vía sistemática (vía oral e intravenosa). Otra aplicación biomédica interesante de las membranas electrohiladas es la fabricación de apósitos inteligentes eficientes para el tratamiento de heridas. Para lograr una curación rápida de la herida es necesario desarrollar membranas apropiadas con poros interconectados capaces de prevenir la deshidratación rápida y la penetración de bacterias. Para mantener un ambiente húmedo en el lecho de la herida se necesita una alta capacidad de absorción y una adecuada transmisión de vapor de agua. Además, si la membrana electrohilada presenta propiedades bactericidas facilitará el proceso de curación. El objetivo principal de esta tesis fue el desarrollo mediante electrohilado de membranas fibrosas con las características apropiadas para ser utilizadas en la ingeniería de tejidos óseos o como apósito para heridas. En los Capítulos II al V se plantean una serie de objetivos específicos con el fin de cumplir el objetivo principal. Este documento de tesis se dividió en las siguientes secciones:  CAPÍTULO I, corresponde a la introducción general donde se describen los conceptos de biomateriales, scaffolds, ingeniería de tejidos y el objetivo principal de los sistemas de liberación de fármacos. Así como, la clasificación de los biomateriales y la ingeniería de tejidos según el origen de los materiales. Además se ponen de manifiesto todos los factores que deben tenerse en cuenta para desarrollar y aplicar adecuadamente los apósitos para heridas. Se mencionaron las diferentes técnicas utilizadas en la literatura haciendo énfasis en el uso de electrohilado y electropulverización para producir scaffolds o membranas para su uso en la ingeniería del tejido óseo y como apósitos para heridas.  CAPÍTULO II, se enfoca en el desarrollo y mejora de andamios 3D capaces de promover una eficiente regeneración ósea junto con la liberación de antibióticos dirigidos para prevenir la colonización de bacterias. El objetivo de este trabajo fue sintetizar y caracterizar un sistema de liberación de fármacos que consiste en nanofibras electrohiladas de policaprolactona (PCL) decoradas con partículas de poli (ácido láctico-coglicólico) (PLGA) cargadas con rifampicina (RFP). Este material debe promover la reparación ósea evitando el deterioro del scaffolds provocado por una infección. Se realizó la evaluación in vitro de la capacidad bactericida del material electrohilado sintetizado contra bacterias Gram positivas (Staphylococcus aureus) y Gram negativas (Escherichia coli), así como su citocompatibilidad en cultivos 3D con osteoblastos humanos. Estos resultados se enviaron a la Revista de farmacia "International Journal of Pharmaceuitics" para su publicación en formato de artículo y está bajo revisión.  CAPÍTULO III, se describe la síntesis y caracterización de membranas con estructura de núcleo-envoltura de PCL y acetato de polivinilo (PVAc) obtenidas por electrohilado. Las fibras se cargaron con nanopartículas de hidroxiapatita sintética (HAn) para aumentar la bioactividad de los materiales. Los scaffolds desarrollados se trataron con ablación láser para crear características topográficas deseadas a nivel micrométrico con el objetivo de favorecer la adhesión y crecimiento celular. Todas las membranas obtenidas presentaron una estructura de poros tridimensionalmente interconectados y el tratamiento con láser provocó un aumento en la viabilidad y densidad celular. Además, el aumento en la biocompatibilidad de los scaffolds sugiere que los microporos pequeños favorecen la adhesión y proliferación celular. Estos resultados fueron publicados en el artículo titulado "Laser-treated electrospun fibers loaded with nano-hydroxyapatite for bone tissue engineering". Javier Aragon, Nuria Navascues, Gracia Mendoza, Silvia Irusta. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 525,112–122, 2017. DOI:10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.04.022.  CAPÍTULO IV, se refiere al desarrollo de un scaffold electrohilado compuesto por fibras con estructura de núcleo-cubierta de PCL o PCL/PVAc cargado con HAn sintética. Estas fibras se decoraron con partículas de PLGA cargadas con proteína morfogenética ósea 2 (BMP2) mediante el uso simultaneo de electrohilado coaxial y electropulverización. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar las propiedades estructurales y físico-químicas así como el proceso de biodegradación de los nuevos scaffolds desarrollados y su capacidad para abordar las características arquitectónicas, bioquímicas y funcionales del tejido óseo. Para esto, se probó la bioactividad del scaffold mediante el cultivo de osteoblastos humanos sobre ellos y se monitoreo de la viabilidad celular durante 4 semanas. Se evaluó la actividad osteogénica in vitro de las células sembradas sobre los scaffolds determinando la actividad de la fosfatasa alcalina (ALP) y la expresión de osteocalcina (OCN) y osteopontina (OPN) como proteínas osteogénicas. Estos resultados fueron publicados en el artículo titulado "Polymeric electrospun scaffolds for bone morphogenetic protein 2 delivery in bone tissue engineering". Javier Aragón, Simona Salerno, Loredana De Bartolo, Silvia Irusta and Gracia Mendoza. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 531 (2018) 126–137. DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2018.07.029.  El CAPÍTULO V, describe la síntesis de un apósito antimicrobiano para heridas, con una resistencia mecánica adecuada que es capaz de absorber exudados y evitar la deshidratación rápida de una herida. Se prepararon membranas asimétricas de PCL/PVAc cargadas con carvacrol (CRV) mediante el uso simultáneo de electrohilado y electropulverización. Las membranas constan de dos capas; la primera es una capa de PCL electrohilado; la segunda, una lámina de PVAc que estaría en contacto con la piel liberando a su vez el compuesto antimicrobiano. Se demostró que el uso de diferentes disolventes pueden dar lugar a la obtención de diferentes morfologías de la capa PVAc-CRV. Los valores obtenidos de elongación máxima de las membranas antes de romperse son adecuados para ser utilizados como apósitos para heridas ya que están en el mismo rango reportado de elongaciones en la piel humana. Las membranas presentan una tasa óptima de Transmisión de vapor de agua (WVTR) con valores que se encuentran en el rango requerido para mantener un buen balance entre humedad y pérdida de agua en la herida. En la primera semana, se liberó más del 60 % del CRV cargado, mientras que después de tres semanas, las membranas liberaron entre el 85 y el 100 % del CRV cargado mediante la contribución de un proceso de difusión de tipo Fickiano y la relajación delas cadenas poliméricas. Las membranas sintetizadas son candidatas potenciales para ser utilizadas como apósitos para heridas. El manuscrito que resume estos resultados se envió a la revista "Materials Science and Engineering C" y está bajo revisión (MSEC_2018_3013).  CAPÍTULO VI, resume las conclusiones generales del trabajo de tesis.  APÉNDICE 1, describe las principales técnicas de caracterización y los métodos para evaluar diferentes propiedades en función de las posibles aplicaciones.  APÉNDICE 2, resume los artículos publicados y la participación en foros científicos durante el período de tesis. 1 The current Doctoral Thesis work has been performed under a co-supervision agreement between University of Zaragoza (Home University), University of Calabria (Host University) and Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the NOVA University of Lisbon (FCT NOVA) (Host University). This research has been carried out inside the Erasmus Mundus Doctorate in Membrane Engineering program (EUDIME), (FPA 2011-0014), funded by the European Union. This thesis focused mainly on the use of the electrospinning technique to produce different kind of membranes for biomedical applications. In particular, it described the synthesis and production of inorganic and organic nanoparticles to be used as fillers or as carriers (drug delivery system) as well as the production of electrospun nanofibrous membranes. This work was carried out within the Institute of Nanoscience of Aragon (INA), specifically in the Nanostructured Films and Particles (NFP) group under the supervision of the Professor Silvia Irusta and Dr Gracia Mendoza. Also an important part of the physico-chemical characterization was done at INA. The study of different biological signals and the use of specific techniques for membrane characterization were acquired at the University of Calabria under the supervision of Dr. Loredana De Bartolo in the Institute on Membrane Technology of the National Research Council of Italy (ITM-CNR). On the other hand, the mobility carried out at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology (FCT NOVA) of Universidade NOVA (FCT NOVA) under the supervision of Professor Ana Isabel Aguiar-Ricardo, allowed a total characterization of two asymmetric membranes following different International Standards to accomplish testing for primary wound dressing. The development of novel membranes loaded with morphogenetic proteins or antibiotic are of great interest in the field of bone tissue engineering. To promote the cellular viability and extracellular matrix production, electrospun membranes with enhanced porosity and micro-scale pores could be beneficial since increased porosity and pore size can provide a three-dimensional (3D) environment that not only facilitates cell seeding/diffusion but also provides better diffusion of nutrients and waste throughout the membranes. The addition of calcium phosphate ceramics has been extensively investigated to fabricate highly porous membranes to bone tissue engineering due to their close similar composition of bone, including excellent biocompatibility, osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties. A homogeneous distribution of the bone morphogenetic protein-loaded particles along the entire membrane could be ensuring a continuous release of the growth factor to provide the necessary biochemical cues for bone repair and regeneration. Antibiotic-loaded membranes may provide drug targeted and sustained release, avoiding the long-term oral and intravenous systematic multidrug administration, which implies toxic side effects, low delivery to the target site and low patient adherence to the treatment. Therefore, membranes loaded with antibiotics can overcome the drawbacks of the traditional therapy sustaining enhanced osteogenic properties for the successful regeneration of the bone. Another interesting biomedical application of electrospun membranes is the fabrication of efficient smart dressings for the treatment of wounds. A rapid wound healing requires developing appropriate membranes with interconnected pores that allow the oxygen diffusion and transport of metabolic waste, as well as an adequate pore size to prevent rapid dehydration and bacteria penetration. A high absorption capacity and adequate water vapor transmission will be necessary to keep a moist environment in the wound bed. Besides, if the electrospun membrane has some bactericidal properties will be better for the healing process. The main goal of this thesis was the development of fibrous membranes by electrospinning with the appropriate characteristics to be used in bone tissue engineering or as wound dressing materials. To achieve this target, several specific objectives were defined, which are described in Chapters II to V. The thesis was divided in the following sections: CHAPTER I, is an introduction where the concepts of biomaterials, scaffolds and tissue engineering and the main target of drug delivery systems are described. The chapter includes the classification of biomaterials according to the origin of the materials and tissue engineering is also described as well as all the factors that must be taken into account to develop and properly apply a wound dressing are discussed. Different kind of techniques used in the literature to produce scaffolds or membranes for bone tissue engineering and wound dressings are mentioned, focusing on the use of electrospinning and electrospray to produce them. CHAPTER II, focuses on the development of enhanced 3D membranes able to promote efficient bone regeneration together with targeted antibiotic release to prevent bacteria colonization. The aim of this work was to synthesize and characterize a drug delivery system consisting of polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun nanofibers decorated with rifampicin (RFP) loaded into poly(lactic-coglicolic acid) (PLGA) particles. This material would promote bone repair avoiding the impairment of the membrane mediated by infection. The bactericidal ability of the synthesized electrospun material was assessed In vitro against gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria, as well as its cytocompatibility in human osteoblasts 3D cultures. These results are included in the accepted article entitled "Composite scaffold obtained by electro-hydrodynamic technique for infection prevention and treatment in bone repair". Javier Aragon, Sergio Feoli, Gracia Mendoza, Silvia Irusta. International Journal of Pharmaceutics. CHAPTER III, describes the synthesis and characterization of core-shell membranes of PCL and polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) obtained by electrospinning. The fibers were loaded with synthetic hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAn) to increase the bioactivity of the materials. The prepared membranes were then treated by laser ablation to create desired microscale topographical features in order to favor cell adhesion and growth. All prepared membranes exhibited a three-dimensional network structure with interconnected pores; the laser treatment has modified the structural characteristics of the membrane causing an increase the cell viability and cell density. The materials biocompatibility is affected by the structural properties of the membranes, indeed smaller micropore sizes favor cell adhesion and proliferation. These results are published in the article entitled "Laser-treated electrospun fibers loaded with nano-hydroxyapatite for bone tissue engineering". Javier Aragon, Nuria Navascues, Gracia Mendoza, Silvia Irusta. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 525,112–122, 2017. DOI:10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.04.022. CHAPTER IV, refers to the development of a composite electrospun membrane of PCL or PCL/PVAc core–shell fibers loaded with synthetic HAn. These fibers were decorated with bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) loaded in/into PLGA particles via simultaneous electrospraying and coaxial electrospinning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the structural and physico-chemical properties and biodegradation processes of the newly developed membranes assessing their ability to address the architectural, biochemical, and functional features of bone tissue. For this purpose, the membrane bioactivity was tested by culturing human osteoblasts on the membranes and by monitoring cell viability up to 4 weeks. The In vitro osteogenic activity of cells seeded onto the membranes was evaluated by assessing alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and the expression of osteogenic proteins osteocalcin (OCN) and osteopontin (OPN). These results are published in the article "Polymeric electrospun scaffolds for bone morphogenetic protein 2 delivery in bone tissue engineering". Javier Aragón, Simona Salerno, Loredana De Bartolo, Silvia Irusta and Gracia Mendoza. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 531 (2018) 126–137. DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2018.07.029. CHAPTER V, describes the synthesis of an antimicrobial wound dressing material, with appropriate mechanical resistance avoiding rapid dehydration and absorbing exudates. PCL/PVAc asymmetric membranes loaded with carvacrol (CRV) were prepared by electrospinning and electrospraying simultaneously. The membranes consist of two layers: the first is an electrospun PCL sheet, the second a PVAc sheet that would be in contact with the skin releasing the antimicrobial compound. The use of different solvents results in different morphologies for the PVAc-CRV layer. The membranes exhibit mechanical properties with strain to failure values that are in the range of human skin, being adequate to be deposited over a wound surface. The samples present Water Vapor Transmission (WVTR) values in the required range to keep good moisture balance with water loss from the wound at the optimal rate. In the first week, more than 60 % of the loaded CRV was released while after three weeks membranes released between 85 to 100 % of the loaded CRV through a Fickian diffusion and diffusion due to polymer relaxation. The synthesized membranes are potential candidates to be used for wound dressing applications. The manuscript summing up these results has been submitted to a scientific journal and is currently under review. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS, summarizes the conclusions of the thesis work. APPENDIX 1, describes the main characterization techniques and the methods to evaluate different properties according to the possible applications. APPENDIX 2, summarizes the articles published and the participation in scientific forums during the thesis period.

It has been estimated that at least 99 % of the world's microbial biomass exists in form of biofilm, a complex differentiated surface-associated community embedded in a self-produced polymeric matrix enabling microorganisms to develop coordinated and efficient survival strategies. Biofilm formation is a dynamic and cyclical process involving attachment, maturation and a final dispersal phase, and these steps are initiated by a variety of signals. Despite their positive effects in some cases, biofilms can be detrimental in different environmental domains since microorganisms are able to colonize almost all types of surfaces both abiotic and biotic, leading to consequences in terms of social and economic impact. These include human tissues, implantable medical devices, natural aquatic systems, plants, food and industrial lines. Once biofilm is formed, its eradication becomes difficult because its resilience to environmental stresses, disinfectants, and antimicrobial treatments. Plants support a diverse array of microorganisms that exist in form of biofilms. Even if in some cases the association with plants leads to beneficial interactions promoting plant growth, inducing plant defense mechanisms and preventing the deleterious effects of pathogenic microorganisms, in other cases they have a significant negative impact. For instance, in agriculture, plant colonization of fungi and bacteria in form of biofilm is a cause of plant diseases, affecting crop quality and productivity. Indeed, despite the planktonic growth, biofilm lifestyle improves microbial resistance to antimicrobials up to several orders of magnitude, often reducing the possibility of treating biofilm effectively. In addition, due to the worrisome consequences related to the use of these substances on human health and on their persistence in the environment, increasingly regulations are arising to limit antimicrobial application. Furthermore, in addition to the principles of integrated pest management (IPM) embraced by the worldwide legislation aims to recommend alternative approaches to the application of pesticides, an innovative approach could be the use of biocide-free bioactive compounds characterized by novel targets, unique modes of action and properties that are separate from those currently highlighted in the use of antimicrobials. Indeed, the application of non-lethal doses of bio-inspired molecules able to interfere with specific key-steps involved in the biofilm formation process has been suggested as a complementary/alternative strategy to hinder biofilm formation. In addition, this approach also lead to deprive microorganisms of their virulence factors without affecting their viability and decreasing the selection pressure for biocides resistance. In this PhD thesis, the in vitro effects of non-lethal concentrations of several bioactive compounds were evaluated on the biofilm formation of different plant-associated microorganisms. Specifically, the aim of this work was to provide new effective preventive or integrated solutions against bacterial and fungal biofilm formation. In chapter III, the methanol extracts obtained by different plant portions of three seagrass species collected in Vietnam and in India (Enhalus acoroides, Halophila ovalis and Halodule pinifolia) were investigated for their effects in mediating non-lethal interactions on sessile Escherichia coli and Candida albicans cultures taken as models of bacterial and fungal biofilms respectively. The study was focused on anti-biofilm activities of seagrass extracts, without killing cells. Seagrass extracts appeared to be more effective in deterring microbial adhesion on hydrophobic surfaces than on hydrophilic. Results revealed that E. acoroides leaf extract proved to be the most promising extract among those tested. Indeed, the selected non-lethal concentrations of E. acoroides leaf extract were found to exert an anti-biofilm effect on C. albicans and E. coli biofilm in the first phase of biofilm genesis, opening up the possibility of developing preventive strategies to hinder the adhesion of microbial cells to surfaces. The leaf extract also affected the dispersion and maturation steps in C. albicans and E. coli respectively, suggesting an important role in cell signaling processes. Methanolic extracts were characterized and major phenolic compounds were identified by MS/MS analysis, showing the unique profile of the E. acoroides leaf extract. In chapter IV, two essential oils (PK and PK-IK) derived from two cultivars of Perilla frutescens, an annual short day plant widely used in therapeutics in the traditional medicine as well as in food preparations in Asian countries. Essential oils were extracted from the leaves and were characterized. Subsequeltly, their ability to affect biofilm formation of the phytopathogenic model fungi Colletotrichum musae, Fusarium dimerum and F. oxysporum have been studied. PK and PK-IK neither inhibited fungal growth nor were they utilized as a carbon energy source. In addition, PK and PK-IK essential oils showed excellent anti-biofilm performances inhibiting conidia germination and reducing conidia adhesion. Furthermore, they revealed a magnificent anti-biofilm effect even during biofilm maturation, affecting biofilm structural development, with a reduction of dried weight, extracellular polysaccharides and proteins. In all cases PK-IK displayed better activity than PK. Thus, the anti-biofilm effects were exploited with a non-lethal mechanism. This research supported the spreading of PK and PK-IK essential oils as biocide-free agents suitable for a preventive or integrative approach for sustainable crop protection. Lastly, in chapter V, a non-lethal concentration of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) was evaluated on the biofilm formation of Xylella fastidiosa, a phytopathogen bacterium that causes a range of economically important plant diseases worldwide and that has been recently found in Italy in olive plants, where it causes the olive quick decline syndrome (OQSD). NAC is a naturally occurring compound found in several vegetables (including garlic, onion, peppers and asparagus) and it is mostly known in clinical area, in which it is employed at lethal concentrations in the treatment of human diseases due to its ability to reduce bacterial adhesion, inhibit the production of extracellular polysaccharides and promote the dispersion of pre-formed mature biofilms. In this study, N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) was tested for its ability to affect biofilm response of X. fastidiosa CoDiRO strain, mimicking a preventive, a curative and a combination of both approaches. The not-lethal dose 0.08 mg/ml was chosen as representative of plant concentration after its application. NAC did not alter planktonic bacterial growth but promoted biofilm formation in terms of biofilm biomass (above 62 %) and matrix polysaccharides (above 53%) through a ROS-mediated mechanism. Additionally, NAC was not able to destroy X. fastidiosa biofilm when already established on the surface but rather, it was suitable to contain the biofilm infection limiting biofilm dispersal. On the contrary, a combination of both preventive and curative approach has been found promising in biofilm dissolving making it more vulnerable.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein). ; Background: Genome-wide association studies conducted on QRS duration, an electrocardiographic measurement associated with heart failure and sudden cardiac death, have led to novel biological insights into cardiac function. However, the variants identified fall predominantly in non-coding regions and their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Results: Here, we identify putative functional coding variation associated with changes in the QRS interval duration by combining Illumina HumanExome BeadChip genotype data from 77,898 participants of European ancestry and 7695 of African descent in our discovery cohort, followed by replication in 111,874 individuals of European ancestry from the UK Biobank and deCODE cohorts. We identify ten novel loci, seven within coding regions, including ADAMTS6, significantly associated with QRS duration in gene-based analyses. ADAMTS6 encodes a secreted metalloprotease of currently unknown function. In vitro validation analysis shows that the QRS-associated variants lead to impaired ADAMTS6 secretion and loss-of function analysis in mice demonstrates a previously unappreciated role for ADAMTS6 in connexin 43 gap junction expression, which is essential for myocardial conduction. Conclusions: Our approach identifies novel coding and non-coding variants underlying ventricular depolarization and provides a possible mechanism for the ADAMTS6-associated conduction changes. ; Funding This work was funded by a grant to YJ from the British Heart Foundation (PG/12/38/29615). AGES: This study has been funded by NIH contracts N01-AG-1-2100 and 271201200022C, the NIA Intramural Research Program, Hjartavernd (the Icelandic Heart Association), and the Althingi (the Icelandic Parliament). The study is approved by the Icelandic National Bioethics Committee, VSN: 00–063. The researchers are indebted to the participants for their willingness to participate in the study. ARIC: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study is carried out as a collaborative study supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute contracts (HHSN268201100005C, HHSN268201100006C, HHSN268201100007C, HHSN268201100008C, HHSN268201100009C, HHSN268201100010C, HHSN268201100011C, and HHSN268201100012C), R01HL087641, R01HL59367, and R01HL086694; National Human Genome Research Institute contract U01HG004402; and National Institutes of Health contract HHSN268200625226C. The authors thank the staff and participants of the ARIC study for their important contributions. Infrastructure was partly supported by Grant Number UL1RR025005, a component of the National Institutes of Health and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Funding support for "Building on GWAS for NHLBI-diseases: the U.S. CHARGE consortium" was provided by the NIH through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (5RC2HL102419). BRIGHT: The Exome Chip genotyping was funded by Wellcome Trust Strategic Awards (083948 and 085475). This work was also supported by the Medical Research Council of Great Britain (Grant no. G9521010D); and by the British Heart Foundation (Grant no. PG/02/128). AFD was supported by the British Heart Foundation (Grant nos. RG/07/005/23633 and SP/08/005/25115); and by the European Union Ingenious HyperCare Consortium: Integrated Genomics, Clinical Research, and Care in Hypertension (grant no. LSHM-C7–2006-037093). The BRIGHT study is extremely grateful to all the patients who participated in the study and the BRIGHT nursing team. We would also like to thank the Barts Genome Centre staff for their assistance with this project. CHS: This Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) research was supported by NHLBI contracts HHSN268201800001C, HHSN268201200036C, HHSN268200800007C, N01HC55222, N01HC85079, N01HC85080, N01HC85081, N01HC85082, N01HC85083, N01HC85086; and NHLBI grants R01HL068986, U01HL080295, R01HL087652, R01HL105756, R01HL103612, R01HL120393, and U01HL130114 with additional contribution from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Additional support was provided through R01AG023629 from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). A full list of principal CHS investigators and institutions can be found at CHS-NHLBI.org. The provision of genotyping data was supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, CTSI grant UL1TR001881, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Diabetes Research Center (DRC) grant DK063491 to the Southern California Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. ERF: The ERF study as a part of EUROSPAN (European Special Populations Research Network) was supported by European Commission FP6 STRP grant number 018947 (LSHG-CT-2006-01947) and also received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/grant agreement HEALTH-F4–2007-201413 by the European Commission under the programme "Quality of Life and Management of the Living Resources" of 5th Framework Programme (no. QLG2-CT-2002-01254). The ERF study was further supported by ENGAGE consortium and CMSB. High-throughput analysis of the ERF data was supported by joint grant from Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (NWO-RFBR 047.017.043). We are grateful to all study participants and their relatives, general practitioners, and neurologists for their contributions to the ERF study and to P Veraart for her help in genealogy, J Vergeer for the supervision of the laboratory work, and P Snijders for his help in data collection. FHS: The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) research reported in this article was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), HL120393. Generation Scotland: Generation Scotland received core support from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates (CZD/16/6) and the Scottish Funding Council (HR03006). Genotyping of the Generation Scotland and Scottish Family Health Study samples was carried out by the Genetics Core Laboratory at the Clinical Research Facility, Edinburgh, Scotland and was funded by the UK's Medical Research Council. GOCHA: The Genetics of Cerebral Hemorrhage with Anticoagulation was carried out as a collaborative study supported by grants R01NS073344, R01NS059727, and 5K23NS059774 from the NIH–National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH-NINDS). GRAPHIC: The GRAPHIC Study was funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF/RG/2000004). NJS and CPN are supported by the British Heart Foundation and is a NIHR Senior Investigator. This work falls under the portfolio of research supported by the NIHR Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research. INGI-FVG: This study has been funded by Regione FVG (L.26.2008). INTER99: The Inter99 was initiated by Torben Jørgensen (PI), Knut Borch-Johnsen (co-PI), Hans Ibsen and Troels F. Thomsen. The steering committee comprises the former two and Charlotta Pisinger. The study was financially supported by research grants from the Danish Research Council, the Danish Centre for Health Technology Assessment, Novo Nordisk Inc., Research Foundation of Copenhagen County, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Health, the Danish Heart Foundation, the Danish Pharmaceutical Association, the Augustinus Foundation, the Ib Henriksen Foundation, the Becket Foundation, and the Danish Diabetes Association. The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research is an independent Research Center at the University of Copenhagen partially funded by an unrestricted donation from the Novo Nordisk Foundation (www.metabol.ku.dk). JHS: We thank the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) participants and staff for their contributions to this work. The JHS is supported by contracts HHSN268201300046C, HHSN268201300047C, HHSN268201300048C, HHSN268201300049C, HHSN268201300050C from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Wilson is supported by U54GM115428 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. KORA: The KORA study was initiated and financed by the Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and by the State of Bavaria. Furthermore, KORA research was supported within the Munich Center of Health Sciences (MC-Health), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, as part of LMUinnovativ. Korcula: This work was funded by the Medical Research Council UK, The Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (grant 216–1080315-0302), the Croatian Science Foundation (grant 8875), the Centre of Excellence in Personalized health care, and the Centre of Competencies for Integrative Treatment, Prevention and Rehabilitation using TMS. LifeLines: The LifeLines Cohort Study and generation and management of GWAS genotype data for the LifeLines Cohort Study are supported by The Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research NWO (grant 175.010.2007.006), the Economic Structure Enhancing Fund (FES) of the Dutch government, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports, the Northern Netherlands Collaboration of Provinces (SNN), the Province of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, the University of Groningen, Dutch Kidney Foundation, and Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation. Niek Verweij is supported by NWO-VENI (016.186.125) and Marie Sklodowska-Curie GF (call: H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, Project ID: 661395). UHP: Folkert W. Asselbergs is supported by UCL Hospitals NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. Ilonca Vaartjes is supported by a Dutch Heart Foundation grant DHF project "Facts and Figures." MGH-CAMP: Dr. Patrick Ellinor is funded by NIH grants (2R01HL092577, 1R01HL128914, R01HL104156, and K24HL105780) and American Heart Association Established Investigator Award 13EIA14220013 (Ellinor). Dr. Steve Lubitz is funded by NIH grants K23HL114724 and a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Clinical Scientist Development Award 2014105. NEO: The authors of the NEO study thank all individuals who participated in the Netherlands Epidemiology in Obesity study, all participating general practitioners for inviting eligible participants, and all research nurses for collection of the data. We thank the NEO study group, Pat van Beelen, Petra Noordijk, and Ingeborg de Jonge for the coordination, lab, and data management of the NEO study. We also thank Arie Maan for the analyses of the electrocardiograms. The genotyping in the NEO study was supported by the Centre National de Génotypage (Paris, France), headed by Jean-Francois Deleuze. The NEO study is supported by the participating Departments, the Division and the Board of Directors of the Leiden University Medical Center, and by the Leiden University, Research Profile Area Vascular and Regenerative Medicine. Dennis Mook-Kanamori is supported by Dutch Science Organization (ZonMW-VENI Grant 916.14.023). RS-I: The generation and management of the Illumina Exome Chip v1.0 array data for the Rotterdam Study (RS-I) was executed by the Human Genotyping Facility of the Genetic Laboratory of the Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Exome chip array dataset was funded by the Genetic Laboratory of the Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, from the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI)/Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)-sponsored Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging (NCHA; project nr. 050–060-810); the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO; project number 184021007); and by the Rainbow Project (RP10; Netherlands Exome Chip Project) of the Biobanking and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure Netherlands (BBMRI-NL; www.bbmri.nl). We thank Ms. Mila Jhamai, Ms. Sarah Higgins, and Mr. Marijn Verkerk for their help in creating the exome chip database, and Carolina Medina-Gomez, MSc, Lennard Karsten, MSc, and Linda Broer PhD for QC and variant calling. Variants were called using the best practice protocol developed by Grove et al. as part of the CHARGE consortium exome chip central calling effort. The Rotterdam Study is funded by Erasmus Medical Center and Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands Organization for the Health Research and Development (ZonMw), the Research Institute for Diseases in the Elderly (RIDE), the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports, the European Commission (DG XII), and the Municipality of Rotterdam. The authors are grateful to the study participants, the staff from the Rotterdam Study, and the participating general practitioners and pharmacists. The work of Bruno H. Stricker is supported by grants from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) (Priority Medicines Elderly 113102005 to ME and DoelmatigheidsOnderzoek 80–82500–98-10208 to BHS). The work of Mark Eijgelsheim is supported by grants from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) (Priority Medicines Elderly 113102005 to ME and DoelmatigheidsOnderzoek 80–82500–98-10208 to BHS). SHIP: SHIP is supported by the BMBF (grants 01ZZ9603, 01ZZ0103, and 01ZZ0403) and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [DFG]; grant GR 1912/5–1). SHIP and SHIP-TREND are part of the Community Medicine Research net (CMR) of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald (EMAU) which is funded by the BMBF as well as the Ministry for Education, Science and Culture and the Ministry of Labor, Equal Opportunities, and Social Affairs of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. The CMR encompasses several research projects that share data from SHIP. The EMAU is a member of the Center of Knowledge Interchange (CKI) program of the Siemens AG. SNP typing of SHIP and SHIP-TREND using the Illumina Infinium HumanExome BeadChip (version v1.0) was supported by the BMBF (grant 03Z1CN22). We thank all SHIP and SHIP-TREND participants and staff members as well as the genotyping staff involved in the generation of the SNP data. TWINSUK: TwinsUK is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, European Union, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded BioResource, Clinical Research Facility and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. UKBB: This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource (application 8256 - Understanding genetic influences in the response of the cardiac electrical system to exercise) and is supported by Medical Research Council grant MR/N025083/1. We also wish to acknowledge the support of the NIHR Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit at Barts and Queen Mary University of London, UK. PD Lambiase acknowledges support from the UCLH Biomedicine NIHR. MO is supported by an IEF 2013 Marie Curie fellowship. JR acknowledges support from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under REA grant agreement no. 608765. YFS: The Young Finns Study has been financially supported by the Academy of Finland: grants 286284, 134309 (Eye), 126925, 121584, 124282, 129378 (Salve), 117787 (Gendi), and 41071 (Skidi); the Social Insurance Institution of Finland; Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility area of Kuopio, Tampere and Turku University Hospitals (grant X51001); Juho Vainio Foundation; Paavo Nurmi Foundation; Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research; Finnish Cultural Foundation; Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation; Emil Aaltonen Foundation; Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation; Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation; and Diabetes Research Foundation of Finnish Diabetes Association. The expert technical assistance in the statistical analyses by Irina Lisinen is gratefully acknowledged. Cell culture and biochemistry: Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health (Program of Excellence in Glycoscience award HL107147 to SSA and F32AR063548 to TJM) and the David and Lindsay Morgenthaler Postdoctoral Fellowship (to TJM) and by the Allen Distinguished Investigator Program, through support made by The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group and the American Heart Association (to SSA). Mutant mouse model: Adamts6 mutant mice were generated and further propagated and analyzed by funding provided by NIH grants HL098180 and HL132024 (to CWL) and by the Allen Distinguished Investigator Program, through support made by The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group and the American Heart Association (to SSA). ; Peer Reviewed