Search results for " World"
showing 10 items of 461 documents
The Lewinskya affinis complex (Orthotrichaceae) revisited: species description and differentiation
2020
In a recent integrative taxonomy study, we verified that the previously accepted concept of Lewinskya affinis (≡ Orthotrichum affine) actually comprises a complex of sibling lineages encompassing both known, accepted species (L. affinis s.str., L. praemorsa and L. tortidontia), recovered synonyms (L. fastigiata and L. leptocarpa), and four species yet unpublished. In the present work, we present detailed descriptions of the previously identified species and the new species, L. scissa from the Canary Islands, and the North American L. arida, L. pacifica and L. pseudoaffinis. In addition, we provide a key to the species in the complex, and discuss the morphological distinction of the species …
Are there autochthonous Ferrissia (Mollusca: Planorbidae) in the Palaearctic? Molecular evidence of a widespread North American invasion of the Old W…
2017
In the last few decades, findings of freshwater limpets belonging to the genus Ferrissia have been frequent and widely distributed throughout the Palaearctic and beyond. The widespread presence of a Nearctic alien taxon was proved, but no consensus was achieved about the possible existence of autochthonous Ferrissia taxa in the area, an occurrence which would be supported by the presence of gastropod fossils attributed to the genus throughout Eurasia and North Africa. In order to test the hypothesis of a possible persistence of autochthonous Ferrissia taxa in the Palaearctic to the present day, all the published data on the genetic diversity of Ferrissia populations occurring in the area we…
Watermarking for ontologies
2011
In this paper, we study watermarking methods to prove the ownership of an ontology. Different from existing approaches, we propose to watermark not by altering existing statements, but by removing them. Thereby, our approach does not introduce false statements into the ontology. We show how ownership of ontologies can be established with provably tight probability bounds, even if only parts of the ontology are being re-used. We finally demonstrate the viability of our approach on real-world ontologies.
Cytoplasmic incompatibility between Old and New World populations of a tramp ant
2020
Reproductive manipulation by endosymbiotic Wolbachia can cause unequal inheritance, allowing the manipulator to spread and potentially impacting evolutionary dynamics in infected hosts. Tramp and invasive species are excellent models to study the dynamics of host-Wolbachia associations because introduced populations often diverge in their microbiomes after colonizing new habitats, resulting in infection polymorphisms between native and introduced populations. Ants are the most abundant group of insects on earth, and numerous ant species are classified as highly invasive. However, little is known about the role of Wolbachia in these ecologically dominant insects. Here, we provide the first d…
Measles in Italy: Viral strains and crossing borders
2019
In 2017, Italy experienced one of the largest outbreaks of measles in recent years, with 5404 notified cases and 4347 confirmed cases. A further 2029 cases were notified during the first 6 months of 2018, and 1516 of them were laboratory-confirmed. The B3 and D8 genotypes were identified as those responsible for the outbreak. Possible transmission routes can be established by monitoring the circulating measles virus strains in support of the national health authorities to warn people and travellers. Keywords: Outbreak, Measles, Genotype identification, Surveillance
Somatic copy number alterations are associated with EGFR amplification and shortened survival in patients with primary glioblastoma.
2019
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant primary tumor of the central nervous system. With no effective therapy, the prognosis for patients is terrible poor. It is highly heterogeneous and EGFR amplification is its most frequent molecular alteration. In this light, we aimed to examine the genetic heterogeneity of GBM and to correlate it with the clinical characteristics of the patients. For that purpose, we analyzed the status of EGFR and the somatic copy number alterations (CNAs) of a set of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes. Thus, we found GBMs with high level of EGFR amplification, low level and with no EGFR amplification. Highly amplified tumors showed histological features of…
Impact of COVID-19 on global HCV elimination efforts.
2021
Background & Aims COVID-19 has placed significant strain on national healthcare systems at a critical moment in the context of hepatitis elimination. Mathematical models can be used to evaluate the possible impact of programmatic delays on hepatitis disease burden. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the incremental change in hepatitis C liver-related deaths and liver cancer, following a 3-month, 6-month, or 1-year hiatus in hepatitis elimination program progress. Methods Previously developed models were adapted for 110 countries to include a status quo or “no delay” scenario and a “1-year delay” scenario assuming significant disruption in interventions (screening, diagnosis and …
Identification of novel compounds against three targets of SARS CoV-2 coronavirus by combined virtual screening and supervised machine learning.
2021
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a major threat worldwide due to its fast spreading. As yet, there are no established drugs available. Speeding up drug discovery is urgently required. We applied a workflow of combined in silico methods (virtual drug screening, molecular docking and supervised machine learning algorithms) to identify novel drug candidates against COVID-19. We constructed chemical libraries consisting of FDA-approved drugs for drug repositioning and of natural compound datasets from literature mining and the ZINC database to select compounds interacting with SARS-CoV-2 target proteins (spike protein, nucleocapsid protein, and 2′-o-ribose methyltransferase). Supported by…
CD38-Specific Biparatopic Heavy Chain Antibodies Display Potent Complement-Dependent Cytotoxicity Against Multiple Myeloma Cells
2018
CD38 is overexpressed by multiple myeloma cells and has emerged as a target for therapeutic antibodies. Nanobodies are soluble single domain antibody fragments derived from the VHH variable domain of heavy chain antibodies naturally occurring in camelids. We previously identified distinct llama nanobodies that recognize three non-overlapping epitopes of the extracellular domain of CD38. Here, we fused these VHH domains to the hinge, CH2, and CH3 domains of human IgG1, yielding highly soluble chimeric llama/human heavy chain antibodies (hcAbs). We analyzed the capacity of these hcAbs to mediate complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) to CD38-expressing human multiple myeloma and Burkitt lymp…
Guía para la incorporación de la perspectiva de género en la docencia en Sociología, Economía y Ciencias Políticas
2019
Sociology has constructed a male worldview that entails a biased interpretation of social reality. For its part, the traditional economy has made invisible the dependence of the commercial sphere of the domestic sphere. And in the field of political science, we also find many gender biases in basic concepts such as justice, equality or citizenship. This article, based on the work done by the authors in the Guia per a una docència universitària amb perspectiva de gènere de Sociologia, Economia i Ciència Política, offers some proposals, teaching resources and consultation tools to introduce the gender perspective in teaching, knowledge transfer and research in these disciplines.