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Breeding of apple (Malus × domestica) remains a slow process because of protracted generation cycles. Shortening the juvenile phase to achieve the introgression of traits from wild species into prebreeding material within a reasonable time frame is a great challenge. In this study, we evaluated early flowering transgenic apple lines overexpressing the BpMADS4 gene of silver birch with regard to tree morphology in glasshouse conditions. Based on the results obtained, line T1190 was selected for further analysis and application to fast breeding. The DNA sequences flanking the T-DNA were isolated and the T-DNA integration site was mapped on linkage group 4. The inheritance and correctness of the TDNA integration were confirmed after meiosis. A crossbred breeding programme was initiated by crossing T1190 with the fire blight-resistant wild species Malus fusca. Transgenic early flowering F₁ seedlings were selected and backcrossed with 'Regia' and 98/6-10 in order to introgress the apple scab Rvi2, Rvi4 and powdery mildew Pl-1, Pl-2 resistance genes and the fire blight resistance quantitative trait locus FB-F7 present in 'Regia'. Three transgenic BC' 1 seedlings pyramiding Rvi2, Rvi4 and FB-F7, as well as three other BC'1 seedlings combining Pl-1 and Pl-2, were identified. Thus, the first transgenic early flowering-based apple breeding programme combined with marker-assisted selection was established.

Les Jawi musulmans témoignent du monde malais ancien. Avec des évocations comparatives ouvrant des pistes de recherche, la description de quelques-unes de leurs mesures à valeur augurale ou propitiatoire, pour la construction de maisons ou de bateaux et la forge d’armes blanches ou d’outils, pose la question de l’existence d’un fonds archaïque commun à toute l’Asie du Sud-Est. Ce fonds, qui peut être qualifié de proto-indo-chinois au sens propre, est probablement antérieur à l’influence de grands courants culturels extérieurs sur cette aire caractérisée par ses civilisations du végétal, comme les a décrites le géographe Pierre Gourou.

ObjectiveTo assess the diagnostic accuracy of iodine map computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA), for segment-based evaluation of lung perfusion in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE), using perfusion single-photon emission CT (SPECT) imaging as a reference standard.MethodsThirty participants who have been diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism on CTPA underwent perfusion SPECT/CT within 24 h. Perfusion SPECT and iodine map were independently interpreted by 2 nuclear medicine physicians and 2 radiologists. For both modalities, each segment was classified as normoperfused or hypoperfused, as defined by a perfusion defect of more than 25% of a segment. The primary end point was the diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) of iodine map for segment-based evaluation of lung perfusion, using perfusion SPECT imaging as a reference standard. Following blinded interpretation, a retrospective explanatory analysis was performed to determine potential causes of misinterpretation.ResultsThe median time between CTPA with iodine maps and perfusion SPECT was 14 h (range 2–23 h). A total of 597 segments were analyzed. Sensitivity and specificity of iodine maps with CTPA for the detection of segmental perfusion defects were 231/284 = 81.3% (95% CI 76.4 to 85.4%) and 247/313 = 78.9% (95% CI 74.1 to 83.1%), respectively. In retrospect, false results were explained in 48.7%.ConclusionIodine map CTPA showed promising results for the assessment of pulmonary perfusion in patients with acute PE, with sensitivity of 81.3% and specificity of 78.9%, respectively. Recognition of typical pitfalls such as atelectasis, fissures, or beam-hardening artifacts may further improve the accuracy of the test.Key Points• Sensitivity and specificity of iodine subtraction maps for the detection of segmental perfusion defects were 81.3% (95% CI 76.4 to 85.4%) and 78.9% (95% CI 74.1 to 83.1%), respectively.• Recognition of typical pitfalls such as atelectasis, fissures, or beam-hardening artifacts may further improve the diagnostic accuracy of the test.

Purpose Point-spread function (PSF) or PSF + time-of-flight (TOF) reconstruction may improve lesion detection in oncologic PET, but can alter quantitation resulting in variable standardized uptake values (SUVs) between different PET systems. This study aims to validate a proprietary software tool (EQ.PET) to harmonize SUVs across different PET systems independent of the reconstruction algorithm used. Methods NEMA NU2 phantom data were used to calculate the appropriate filter for each PSF or PSF+TOF reconstruction from three different PET systems, in order to obtain EANM compliant recovery coefficients. PET data from 517 oncology patients were reconstructed with a PSF or PSF+TOF reconstruction for optimal tumour detection and an ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM3D) reconstruction known to fulfil EANM guidelines. Post-reconstruction, the proprietary filter was applied to the PSF or PSF+TOF data (PSF EQ or PSF+TOF EQ ). SUVs for PSF or PSF+TOF and PSF EQ or PSF+TOF EQ were compared to SUVs for the OSEM3D reconstruction. The impact of potential confounders on the EQ.PET methodology including lesion and patient characteristics was studied, as was the adherence to imaging guidelines. Results For the 1380 tumour lesions studied, Bland-Altman analysis showed a mean ratio between PSF or PSF+TOF and OSEM3D of 1.46 (95 %CI: 0.86–2.06) and 1.23 (95 %CI: 0.95–1.51) for SUV max and SUV peak , respectively. Application of the proprietary filter improved these ratios to 1.02 (95 %CI: 0.88–1.16) and 1.04 (95 %CI: 0.92–1.17) for SUV max and SUV peak , respectively. The influence of the different confounding factors studied (lesion size, location, radial offset and patient’s BMI) was less than 5 %. Adherence to the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) guidelines for tumour imaging was good. Conclusion These data indicate that it is not necessary to sacrifice the superior lesion detection and image quality achieved by newer reconstruction techniques in the quest for harmonizing quantitative comparability between PET systems.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a severe complication of pulmonary embolism (PE), often diagnosed late due to nonspecific symptoms and limitations of current screening tools like V/Q scintigraphy. This study investigated whether computational fluid dynamics (CFD)‐derived hemodynamic parameters, specifically time‐averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS) and oscillatory shear index (OSI), in the proximal pulmonary arteries could serve as noninvasive biomarkers for CTEPH and chronic thromboembolic disease without pulmonary hypertension (CTEPD, non‐CTEPH with V/Q mismatches). We retrospectively analyzed 90 patients (30 CTEPH, 30 CTEPD, and 30 controls without mismatch) using patient‐specific 3D CFD models reconstructed from CTPA, with RCR boundary conditions tuned to RHC data. We found significantly reduced median TAWSS in CTEPH (16.5 dyn/cm 2 ) and CTEPD (27.5 dyn/cm 2 ) groups compared to controls (42.0 dyn/cm 2 ) ( p  < 0.001), with TAWSS also significantly lower in CTEPH versus CTEPD. OSI showed no significant inter‐group differences. Importantly, TAWSS exhibited a strong inverse correlation with V/Q mismatch status ( ρ  = −0.673, p  < 0.001). ROC analysis revealed that TAWSS accurately predicted perfusion mismatches (AUC = 0.918), with an optimal cutoff of 27.0 dyn/cm 2 yielding 100.0% specificity and 70.0% sensitivity. These findings demonstrate that CFD‐derived proximal pulmonary artery TAWSS is a promising noninvasive indicator of chronic thromboembolic burden, including subclinical perfusion abnormalities, offering a potential tool to enhance early detection and management of CTEPH.

Understanding and explaining small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) growth is important for sustainability from multiple perspectives. Research indicates that SMEs comprise more than 80% of most economies, and their cumulative impact on sustainability considerations is far from trivial. In addition, for sustainability concerns to be prioritized, an SME has to be successful over time. In most developing countries, SMEs play a major role in solving socio-economic challenges. SMEs are an active research topic within the information systems (IS) discipline, often within the enterprise architecture (EA) domain. EA fundamentally adopts a systems perspective to describe the essential elements of a socio-technical organization and their relationships to each other and to the environment in order to understand complexity and manage change. However, despite rapid adoption originally, EA research and practice often fails to deliver on expectations. In some circles, EA became synonymous with projects that are over-budget, over-time and costly without the expected return on investment. In this paper, we argue that EA remains indispensable for understanding and explaining enterprises and that we fundamentally need to revisit some of the applications of EA. We, therefore, executed a research study in two parts. In the first part, we applied IS theory perspectives and adopted the taxonomy and structural components of theory to argue that EA, as represented by the Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture (ZFEA), could be adopted as an explanatory IS theory. In the second part of the study, we subsequently analysed multiple case studies from this theoretical basis to investigate whether distinguishable focus patterns could be detected during SME growth. The final results provide evidence that EA, represented through an appropriate framework like the ZFEA, could serve as an explanatory theory for SMEs during start-up, growth and transformation. We identified focus patterns and from these results, it should be possible to understand and explain how SMEs grow. Positioning the ZFEA as explanatory IS theory provides insight into the role and purpose of the ZFEA (and by extension EA), and could assist researchers and practitioners with mediating the challenges experienced by SMEs, and, by extension, enhance sustainable development.

There has been a proliferation of studies seeking to understand the relationship between remittances and economic growth albeit with contradicting outcomes. The study evaluated the impact of remittance inflows on economic growth in Zimbabwe. The Autoregressive Distributed lag model with time series data from 1980 to 2020 was utilised. Apart from remittance inflows the model also included other variables that impact economic growth. Variables such as fixed capital formation, private consumption, foreign direct investment, and private consumption were included as explanatory variables. The results indicated that remittance inflows positively impact economic growth in the short and long run. Fixed capital formation hurts economic growth in the short run, while private consumption was found to have a negative impact on economic growth both in the long run and short run. As the results indicated that remittance inflows spur economic growth, policy concern should focus on increasing remittance inflows in Zimbabwe to promote economic growth.

The study investigates the long run relationship and causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in the BRICS countries during the period 1990–2018. The Pedroni panel co-integration method is applied to analyse the co-integration relationship among the variables. The causality relationship among the variables is analysed using Pair-wise Granger-causality technique. The study’s results reveal that there is a long run relationship between economic growth, energy consumption, employment and trade openness in Brics countries. The research outcome further detected a unidirectional causality flowing from economic growth to energy consumption. This implies that the conservation policies that curb unnecessary loss in energy could be implemented in the BRICS countries without adversely affecting economic growth.

The stock market plays an important role in economic development by promoting capital formation and enhancing economic growth. The stock market is among the main sources of financing in the critical sector of the economy. Trading of securities on the Zimbabwe stock exchange facilitates savers and users of capital by fund pooling, risk sharing and transferring wealth. One of the important sectors of the Zimbabwean economy devoid of adequate financing is the agricultural sector. This sector has been experiencing several challenges over the period 2002 -2022 mostly from lack of sustainable finance especially from private investment. It is assumed that lack of funding is due to volatility of stock prices. The objective of the study is to analyze different factors affecting share price of agriculture sector listed firm on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange using the panel regression model. Based on the random effect the study established that share prices are determined by earnings per share, price earnings ratio and return on equity positively impacts stock prices in Zimbabwe. The government should control inflation to ensure price stability to aid in easy financial planning.   Further the governments should promote agricultural growth initiatives and strategies which would stimulate demand for agricultural oriented stocks.