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Abstract Background A utility value is a health-related quality of life metric (HRQoL) metric used in a cost-effectiveness analysis. While utilities as outcomes in the treatment of advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) with deep brain stimulation (DBS) are available, they do not currently exist for PD with early motor complications. The objectives of this study were to predict utilities from observed disease-specific HRQoL data using two mapping algorithms, and investigate their performance in terms of longitudinal changes within and between treatment groups, and distribution by PD severity. Methods This is a post hoc analysis of data from the EARLYSTIM trial of DBS compared with best medical therapy (BMT) in PD patients with early motor complications We used two published algorithms comprising ordinal and multinomial regression models to map EQ-5D-3L utilities from observed PD-specific 39 item Questionnaire (PDQ-39) scores in EARLYSTIM. Utilities were calculated using the predicted functioning levels of EQ-5D-3L dimensions and the established EQ-5D-3L UK tariffs. Statistical analyses (analysis of variance, two-tailed Student’s t-test) were used to test the change from baseline within groups and difference in change from baseline between groups in utilities. Boxplots were developed to investigate the distribution of predicted utilities by PD severity, measured using the Hoehn and Yahr scale. Results The change from baseline in predicted mean utilities was statistically significant at all visits up to 24 months for the DBS group (p

Extended Abstract Background: Wheat is the key crop in many parts of the world that has the largest cultivated area. As much as 30% of all grains produced in the country belong to wheat, which is known as the main food of half of the world's people. At the same time, environmental stresses, including biotic stresses, have been one of the most important factors in reducing wheat yield in recent years. Powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici) is one of the important diseases of wheat that causes great losses to wheat production every year. On the other hand, the resistance of resistant wheat genotypes is not constant over time, and the resistance of almost all resistance genes commonly used in the world has been broken by new pathogenic strains of powdery mildew. This is because research has shown that the high pressure imposed by resistance genes on disease-causing populations has caused the rapid evolution of new pathogenic races, resulting in the loss of resistance. For this reason, one of the most effective and logical methods of controlling this disease, which is most compatible with the environment and sustainable agriculture, is the identification and production of resistant cultivars. Methods: In the present study, 32 different bread wheat genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.) available in the Genetics Research Department and National Plant Gene Bank of Iran, Seedling and Seed Breeding Research Institute, exposed to 10 different pathotypes (Maghan 1, Maghan 2, Maghan 3, Maghan 4, Mughan 5, Gorgan 1, Gorgan 2, Sari 1, Sari 2, and Gonbad) of this mushroom were assessed for their resistance level in the two-leaf stage under greenhouse conditions. The investigated pathotypes of powdery mildew, collected from disease-prone areas of Iran, included five pathotypes from Mughan, two pathotypes from Gorgan, two pathotypes from Sari, and one pathotype from Gonbed Kavus. The disease isolates were propagated on the sensitive Bolani variety, which lacks the Pm gene. Genotypes were inoculated with single-cloned isolates by the rubbing method. One week after inoculation, the reaction of differential cultivars toward the disease was examined based on a scale of 0-4 according to the Mains and Dietz method. Based on this scale, pollution types zero, one, and two are in the resistant group, and pollution types three and four are in the sensitive group. In this research, the Bolani variety was determined as a sensitive control to powdery mildew disease. Results: Among the 10 powdery mildew pathotypes collected from important contamination centers in Iran, the examined genotypes showed the highest resistance to the Mughan5 pathotype. Genotypes TN127, TN79, TN7, TN180, and TN72 showed the highest resistance to 10 pathotypes on average. In total, the comparison of different powdery mildew pathotypes revealed that the Mughan5 and Sari1 pathotypes showed the lowest and the highest pathogenicity, respectively. In addition, the correlation between pathotypes was estimated to identify pathotypes with similar pathogenic power, indicating that the Mughan5 pathotype showed the lowest correlation with the other pathotypes, which probably uses a different mechanism for pathogenicity. Mughan2 presented the highest significant correlation, with Mughan3 (0.87) and Gorgan2 (0.81), which indicates the similarity of the pathogenic mechanism in these three pathotypes. On the other hand, the results of the cluster analysis divided the genotypes into two separate groups in terms of resistance to powdery mildew, and many of the investigated genotypes were included in the susceptible Bolani cultivar group. In addition, cluster analysis for powdery mildew pathotypes showed that the Mughan5 pathotype was in one group, and the rest of the pathotypes were in another group. Bi-plot and three-dimensional analyses based on the data analysis into principal components for the first and second components (87.95% of the total variance changes) showed that the Moghan 5 pathotype had a lower correlation with the other pathotypes. The negative side of the first component and the negative side of the second component showed the resistance of the genotypes. Thus, the resistant genotypes were placed in area 1. Conclusion: The genotypes examined in this research have not been evaluated so far for resistance to powdery mildew. Therefore, sources of resistance identified in this way are reported for the first time. In general, a potential variation was observed among the genotypes with respect to different pathotypes. In terms of pathogenicity, the Mughan5 pathotype showed the least pathogenicity among the examined genotypes. Resistant genotypes in this research can be used as promising genotypes in wheat breeding programs. Overall, the findings of this research indicate a desirable diversity among the genotypes studied in terms of resistance to various strains of the disease. However, since identifying the resistance of mature plants requires screening the genotypes under field conditions and takes a considerable amount of time, it is suggested to utilize molecular markers associated with resistance to powdery mildew in future research.

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most widely grown crop worldwide. Powdery mildew caused by fungal pathogen Blumeria graminis is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat. The present study aimed to identify differentially expressed genes and investigate their expression in response to B. graminis in susceptible (Bolani) and resistant (KC2306) wheat genotypes, using publicly available microarray data set and qRT-PCR analysis. A total of 5760 and 5315 probe sets were detected which 5427 and 4630 by adjusted P-value < 0.05 and 168 and 144 genes based on e-value < 1 × 10–5 cut-off were differentially expressed in susceptible and resistant wheat genotypes, respectively. Among exclusively up regulated genes in the resistant genotype 12 hpi compared to its control, fifteen potential genes that may be responsible for B. graminis inoculation resistance were detected. The results of real time PCR for the candidate genes showed that the genes were upregulated in the resistant genotype 12 hpi compared to its control, which validated the results of microarray analysis. The bZIP, ERF, and ARF1 genes may play an important role in B. graminis resistance. The powdery mildew responsive genes identified in the present study will give us a better understanding on molecular mechanisms involved in B. graminis resistance in different wheat genotypes.