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Abstract Delayed gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) imaging requires novel and time-efficient approaches to characterize the myocardial substrate associated with ventricular arrhythmia in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Using a translational approach in pigs and patients with established myocardial infarction, we tested and validated a novel 3D methodology to assess ventricular scar using custom transmural criteria and a semiautomatic approach to obtain transmural scar maps in ventricular models reconstructed from both 3D-acquired and 3D-upsampled-2D-acquired LGE-CMR images. The results showed that 3D-upsampled models from 2D LGE-CMR images provided a time-efficient alternative to 3D-acquired sequences to assess the myocardial substrate associated with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Scar assessment from 2D-LGE-CMR sequences using 3D-upsampled models was superior to conventional 2D assessment to identify scar sizes associated with the cycle length of spontaneous ventricular tachycardia episodes and long-term ventricular tachycardia recurrences after catheter ablation. This novel methodology may represent an efficient approach in clinical practice after manual or automatic segmentation of myocardial borders in a small number of conventional 2D LGE-CMR slices and automatic scar detection.

Abstract Effective management of exploited populations is based on an understanding of population dynamics and evolutionary processes. In spatially structured populations, dispersal is a central process that ultimately can affect population growth and viability. It can be influenced by environmental conditions, individual phenotypes, and stochastic factors. However, we have a limited knowledge of the relative contribution of these components and its interactions, and which traits can be used as reliable predictors of the dispersal ability. Here, we conducted a longitudinal field experiment aimed to identify traits which can be used as proxy for dispersal in juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta L.). We measured body size and standard metabolic rates, and estimated body shapes for 212 hatchery-reared juvenile fish that were marked with individual codes and released in a small coastal stream in northwest Spain. We registered fish positions and distances to the releasing point after 19, 41, 60 and 158 days in the stream. We detected a high autocorrelation of dispersal distances, demonstrating that most individuals settle down relatively soon and then hold stable positions over the study period. Body size and fish shape were reliable predictors of dispersal, with bigger and more robust-set individuals being more likely to settle closer to the release site than smaller and more elongated fish. In addition, the analysis of spacing and spatial patterns indicated that the dispersal of introduced fish could affect the distribution of resident conspecifics. All together, these results suggest that stocking programs aimed to the enhancement of overexploited populations at fine spatial scales can be optimized by adjusting the size and shape of the introduced fish to specific management targets and environmental conditions.

Abstract Late onset Pompe disease (LOPD) is a slow, progressive disorder characterized by skeletal and respiratory muscle weakness. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) slows down the progression of muscle symptoms. Reliable biomarkers are needed to follow up ERT-treated and asymptomatic LOPD patients in clinical practice. In this study, 32 LOPD patients (22 symptomatic and 10 asymptomatic) underwent muscle MRI using 3-point Dixon and were evaluated at the time of the MRI with several motor function tests and patient-reported outcome measures, and again after one year. Muscle MRI showed a significant increase of 1.7% in the fat content of the thigh muscles in symptomatic LOPD patients. In contrast, there were no noteworthy differences between muscle function tests in the same period of time. We did not observe any significant changes either in muscle MRI or in muscle function tests in asymptomatic patients over the year. We conclude that 3-point Dixon muscle MRI is a useful tool for detecting changes in muscle structure in symptomatic LOPD patients and could become part of the current follow-up protocol in daily clinics.

Abstract Glyphosate has been used for more than 15 years for weed management in citrus groves in the Gulf of Mexico, at up to 3–4 applications per year. Goosegrass (Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn.) control has sometimes failed. In this research, the mechanisms governing three goosegrass biotypes (Ein-Or from an orange grove, and Ein-Pl1 and Ein-Pl2 from Persian lime groves) with suspected resistance to glyphosate were characterized and compared to a susceptible biotype (Ein-S). Dose-response and shikimate accumulation assays confirmed resistance of the resistant (R) biotypes. There were no differences in glyphosate absorption, but the R biotypes retained up to 62–78% of the herbicide in the treated leaf at 96 h after treatment (HAT), in comparison to the Ein-S biotype (36%). The 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) activity in the Ein-Or and Ein-S biotypes was over 100-fold lower than the Ein-Pl1 and Ein-Pl2 ones. The latter showed a high EPSPS-basal activity, a mutation at Pro-106-Ser position in the EPSPS gene, and EPSPS overexpression. The EPSPS basal and EPSPS overexpression were positively correlated. The R goosegrass biotypes displayed poor glyphosate translocation. Furthermore, this grassweed showed, for the first time, two mechanisms at the target-site level (Pro-106-Ser mutation + EPSPS overexpression) acting together simultaneously against glyphosate.