Surprisingly, the magnitude of heterosis has not changed during the hybrid era (Duvick, 1999), even though mean Although heterosis in maize (Zea mays L.) has been studied since commercial maize grain yield in the USA and Canada the early 1900s, very little is known about how heterosis affects the physiological components of grain yield. The objective of this study has substantially increased during this time (Troyer, 1990; was to quantify the physiological basis of heterosis for grain yield in Tollenaar and Wu, 1999). maize by examining maize hybrids and their parental inbred lines inAlthough several economically important crops beneterms of grain yield and its component processes, dry matter accumulafit from the manifestation of heterosis, both the genetic tion (DMA) at maturity, and the partitioning of DMA to the grain and physiological mechanisms underlying this phenom-(i.e., harvest index), as well as in terms of the physiological processes enon are still unexplained. Two major hypotheses have underlying those two components. The genetic material consisted of been proposed regarding the genetics underlying heter-12 maize hybrids and seven parental inbred lines. Experiments were osis: (i) dominance hypothesis and (ii) overdominance conducted from 2000 to 2002 at the Elora Research Station, ON, hypothesis. The dominance hypothesis attributes heter-Canada. Data were recorded on grain yield, DMA at four stages of osis to the accumulation of favorable dominant genes or development, harvest index, leaf area index (LAI), final leaf number, leaf width and length, rate of leaf appearance, stay green, ear number, masking of deleterious recessives in the hybrid. This thekernel number and weight, and number of days to silking and physio-ory is consistent with recent genomic evidence of differlogical maturity. Mean heterosis across the 3 yr was 167% for grain ences in genic content between maize inbred lines (Fu yield and 85 and 53% for its two component processes, DMA at and Dooner, 2002), and has been demonstrated as the maturity and harvest index, respectively. Results show that heterosis underlying cause of a heterotic response for grain yield for grain yield in maize can be attributed to (i) heterosis for DMA in a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping study (Grabefore silking, which results mainly from greater light interception ham et al., 1997). The other hypothesis, overdominance, due to increased leaf size; (ii) heterosis for DMA during the grainargues that the heterozygous combination of the alleles filling period, which results from greater light interception due to at a single locus is superior to either of the homozygous greater maximum LAI and increased stay green, and (iii) heterosis combinations. There is no direct evidence in support of for harvest index.

Five hundred milligrams per day quercetin supplementation for 8 weeks resulted in significant improvements in clinical symptoms, disease activity, hs-TNFα, and HAQ in women with RA.

With regard to the high prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in patients with SLE, it is of paramount importance to emphasize early detection of these lesions as a mean of diagnosis of disease and faster initiation of treatment.

Background Olfactory dysfunction has shown to accompany COVID-19. There are varying data regarding the exact frequency in the various study population. The outcome of the olfactory impairment is also not clearly defined. Objective To find the frequency of olfactory impairment and its outcome in hospitalized patients with positive swab test for COVID-19. Methods This is a prospective descriptive study of 100 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, randomly sampled, from February to March 2020. Demographics, comorbidities, and laboratory findings were analyzed according to the olfactory loss or sinonasal symptoms. The olfactory impairment and sinonasal symptoms were evaluated by 9 Likert scale questions asked from the patients. Results Ninety-two patients completed the follow-up (means 20.1 (± 7.42) days). Twenty-two (23.91%) patients complained of olfactory loss and in 6 (6.52%) patients olfactory loss was the first symptom of the disease. The olfactory loss was reported to be completely resolved in all but one patient. Thirty-nine (42.39%) patients had notable sinonasal symptoms while rhinorrhea was the first symptom in 3 (3.26%). Fifteen patients (16.3%) had a taste impairment. Patients with sinonasal symptoms had a lower age (p = 0.01). There was no significant relation between olfactory loss and sinonasal symptoms (p = 0.07). Conclusions Sudden olfactory dysfunction and sinonasal symptoms have a considerable prevalence in patients with COVID-19. No significant association was noted between the sinonasal symptoms and the olfactory loss, which may suggest that other mechanisms beyond upper respiratory tract involvement are responsible for the olfactory loss.

BackgroundThis study aimed to compare efficacy and safety of test-adalimumab (CinnoRA®, CinnaGen, Iran) to the innovator product (Humira®, AbbVie, USA) in adult patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).MethodsIn this randomized, double-blind, active-controlled, non-inferiority trial, a total of 136 patients with active RA were randomized to receive 40 mg subcutaneous injections of either CinnoRA® or Humira® every other week, while receiving methotrexate (15 mg/week), folic acid (1 mg/day), and prednisolone (7.5 mg/day) over a period of 24 weeks. Physical examinations, vital sign evaluations, and laboratory tests were conducted in patients at baseline and at 12-week and 24-week visits. The primary endpoint in this study was the proportion of patients achieving moderate and good disease activity score in 28 joints-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR)-based European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response. The secondary endpoints were the proportion of patients achieving American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for 20% (ACR20), 50% (ACR50), and 70% (ACR70) responses along with the disability index of health assessment questionnaire (HAQ), and safety.ResultsPatients who were randomized to CinnoRA® or Humira® arms had comparable demographic information, laboratory results, and disease characteristics at baseline. The proportion of patients achieving good and moderate EULAR responses in the CinnoRA® group was non-inferior to the Humira® group at 12 and 24 weeks based on both intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) populations (all p values >0.05). No significant difference was noted in the proportion of patients attaining ACR20, ACR50, and ACR70 responses in the CinnoRA® and Humira® groups (all p values >0.05). Further, the difference in HAQ scores and safety outcome measures between treatment arms was not statistically significant.ConclusionCinnoRA® was shown to be non-inferior to Humira® in terms of efficacy at week 24 with a comparable safety profile to the reference product.Trial registrationIRCT.ir, IRCT2015030321315N1. Registered on 5 April 2015.