\n\nResults: The GPCOG-It, total score and two-stage method, were at least equivalent in detecting dementia to the MMSE using the standard 24/25 or the Italian 26/27 cut-offs.

The two-stage method of administering the GPCOG-It (cognitive testing followed by informant questions if necessary) had a sensitivity of 82%, a specificity of 92%, a misclassification rate of 17.4%) and positive predictive value of 95%. Patient interviews took less than 4 minutes to administer and informant interviews less than 2 minutes, half the time needed YM155 cell line for MMSE administration.\n\nConclusions: GPCOG-It maintains the same psychometric features and time efficiency as the original English version. Despite methodological limitations (i.e. use of defined samples), the GPCOG-It performed well in detecting clear cut and borderline cognitively impaired patients and

can be introduced in the daily practice of Italian GPs.”
“We propose a stochastic individual-based model of graph-structured population, viewed as a simple model of clonal plants. The dynamics is modeled in continuous time and space, and focuses on the effects of the network structure of the plant on the growth strategy of ramets. This model is coupled with an explicit advection-diffusion dynamics for resources. After giving a simulation scheme of the model, the capacity of CBL0137 price the model to reproduce specific features of clonal plants, such as their efficiency to forage resources and colonize an empty field by means of phalanx or guerrilla strategies, is numerically studied. Next, we propose a large population approximation of the model for phalanx-type populations, taking the form of an advection-diffusion partial differential equation for population densities, where the influence of the local graph structure of the plant takes the form of a nonlinear dependence in the gradient of resources. (C) 2012 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.”
“This paper describes a micropropagation protocol for in vitro propagation of mature Stone Pine trees. Axillary bud development was

achieved by culturing bud explants in media containing various cytokinins. Experiments were conducted to test the effect of asepsis conditions, Selleckchem GDC-0068 type and concentration of cytokinin and rooting protocol. Four cytokinins were tested, namely, benzyladenine, meta-topolin, N-benzyl-9-(2-tetrahydropyranyl)-adenine and thidiazuron (TDZ) of which TDZ gave the best results, as 59% shoot development was obtained following the application of 1 mu M TDZ to the culture medium. The shoot development was significantly influenced by the genotype of the tree, but was effective in explants from all 20 genotypes used in the trial. In vitro rooting was, however, difficult to achieve and could only be induced at low rates. This protocol represents the first successful biotechnological approach to the micropropagation of adult Pinus pinea trees.