Vulnerabilidad de la flora y vegetación españolas ante el cambio climático
Vulnerabilidad de la flora y vegetación españolas ante el cambio climático. En este artículo se presentan los resultados de un proyecto que incide en la vulnerabilidad de la flora. La construcción de modelos de distribución potencial basados en el nicho climático actual y su proyección a escenarios futuros permitió estimar la evolución de las zonas potenciales para 75 especies forestales y 145 de flora amenazada. Los resultados mostraron que un 23% de las primeras y un 43% de las segundas tienen una vulnerabilidad crítica o muy alta.
Á.M. Felicísimo, J. Muñoz, R.G. Mateo, C.J. Villalba
Asociación Española de Ecología Terrestre
Chiroptera as a Potential Reservoir of Dangerous for Humans Viruses in the Territory of the Republic of Guinea. Part 2
chiropterans, filoviruses, lissaviruses, nipah virus, MERS, SARS, Republic of Guinea
Among the viruses transmitted by Chiroptera, filoviruses, lissaviruses, henipaviruses, and coronaviruses pose the major threat to humans. The featured review is devoted to the analysis of the results of studies on the role of African Chiropterans in the circulation sustenance of the viruses. Chronology of investigations on the search of natural reservoir of Filoviruses and the evidence of Chiroptera participation in their circulation are described in the paper. Presented are summarized data on the involvement of chiropterans in the circulation of lissaviruses on the African continent. Given is the information concerning the role of African species of Chiroptera in the circulation of henipaviruses - dangerous for humans viruses of Paramyxoviridae family, associated with chiropterans of South-Eastern Asia. Considered is the possibility of SARS and MERS-like coronaviruses circulation in the populations of certain species of African Chiroptera. Engagement of the Chiroptera from Guinean Republic in maintenance of circulation of the mentioned above viruses in potential natural foci in the territory of the country and possibility of occurrence of dangerous human infection outbreaks is also assessed. The necessity for further investigation of the role of Chiroptera as carriers of the stated viruses to clarify the current epidemiological and epizootiological situation on the viral pathogens in the Republic of Guinea is substantiated.
A.M. Porshakov, Yu. V. Kononova, V. B. Loktev, M. I. Boiro
Federal Government Health Institution, Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe”
Chiroptera as a Potential Reservoir of Dangerous for Humans Viruses in the territory of the Republic of Guinea. Part 1
chiropterans, fruit bats, space telemetry, Ebolavirus Zaire, Republic of Guinea
Chiroptera is one of the largest in numbers orders of mammals which can take on the role of natural host and vector of various viruses, bacteria, and pathogenic fungi. Over the period of 2007–2013, 248 new viruses pertaining to 24 families were detected in chiropterans. Lately, a range of novel infections that provoked severe diseases in humans were associated with bats-carriers. Presently they are viewed as a potential reservoir of Ebola, Marburg, and Hendra viruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome agents, as well as many other lethal diseases. Chiropterans started drawing particular attention after establishment of the fact that they are involved in circulation of ebolavirus Zaire and possibly participate in the formation of natural foci of this infection. Currently chiropterans are considered to be natural reservoirs of ebolavirus Zaire and some other filoviruses (Filoviridae). Accept from filoviruses, other significant for public healthcare viruses were isolated from chiropterans on the African continent – lyssaviruses (Rhabdoviridae, Lyssavirus), henipaviruses (Paramixoviridae, Henipavirus), and coronaviruses (Coronaviridae, Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus) that can also circulate among chiropterans in West Africa. The data available from literature sources on dissemination of chiropterans in the territory of the African continent, their species diversity, peculiarities of ecology and behavior are analyzed in this paper. The information on the infections for which chiropterans can serve as potential reservoirs is also provided. Specifics of interaction between the population residing on African continent and bats of different species are described too. The review is devoted to the assessment of results of studies on population, ecological, and epidemiological factors contributing to maintenance of circulation of a number of dangerous for humans viruses (filoviruses, lyssaviruses, henipaviruses, and coronaviruses) among African chiropterans. The need for further investigation of the mentioned factors affecting chiropteran populations in the Republic of Guinea is substantiated.
Uso da água nas terras secas da Iberoamérica: indicadores de eficiência hidro-ambiental e sócio-econômica
Las tierras secas comprenden una superficie sustancial de Iberoamérica (25% de América Latina y el Caribe, o más de la mitad del estado español). En este contexto, Brasil posee una porción significativa de los recursos hídricos superficiales y subterráneos. Sin embargo, en su territorio se encuentran áreas semi-áridas, con extrema escasez hídrica, que comprenden 1300 municipios (cerca del 25% del total de municipios del país), distribuidos en 9 estados, en los que viven más de 22,5 millones de habitantes. Estos se encuentran afectados directa o indirectamente por una situación de severa escasez de recursos hídricos agravada por cambiosclimáticos, consecuencia del calentamiento global. Resulta importante conocer el acervo de tecnologías tradicionales y no tradicionales para captar, almacenar, y utilizar el agua, adaptadas a las diferentes situaciones socio-económicas e hidro-ambientales, así como indicadores del uso eficiente del agua, validados y homologados como herramienta estratégica de gestión en políticas y programas de seguridad hídrica. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo conocer el estado de nuestro conocimiento sobre dichos indicadores y discutir el caso del semi-árido brasileño en el contexto de las tierras secas de Iberoamérica, y del Plan Nacional de Recursos Hídricos del Estado de Bahía.
A.P. Carneiro, H.P. da Silva, E. Abraham, J. Morató, A. Subirana, M. Tomasoni
http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=54017107
EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNATIONAL HEALTH REGULATIONS IN PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS OF SANITARY-EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTER
IHR (2005), emergency situation of sanitary-epidemiological (biological) character of international concern, ebola fever epidemic in west africa, methodology of ihr (2005) implementation on the national level
The paper describes the International Health Regulations (2005), hereinafter referred as IHR (2005), by the example of SARS, A/H5N1/, A/H1N1/09, Zika fever, and MERS-CoV control as an effective tool for prevention and control of public health emergences (ES of sanitary-epidemiological character) of international concern. Late detection of Ebola fever epidemic in West Africa (2013–2016) and announcement of public health emergency of international concern at the time when epidemic up-scaled to a threat to national security of the affected countries and high-priority threat to global community (ES of biological character) is attributed to non-use of methodological capacities of IHR (2005) on verification of ES at an early stage of epidemic development because of unpreparedness of local, regional, national and international public health services to such an epidemic situation. WHO plans to achieve scientifically-based reduction of the time from the onset of epidemic events to the effective response measures. Russian Federation, scientifically implementing IHR (2005) from the very beginning and having devised methodology of IHR implementation on the national level, has a strong premise for scientific provision of this process.
A.Yu. Popova, V.P. Toporkov, V.Yu. Smolensky, N. D. Pakskina, S. K. Udovichenko, I. G. Karnaukhov, A. E. Shiyanova, S.A. Shcherbakova, V. V. Kutyrev
¿Qué minería aurífera, por quiénes y con fines de qué desarrollo? Una mirada a la minería aurífera en la Zona Minera Indígena Remanso Chorrobocón
Este artículo cuestiona el discurso de desarrollo extractivista facilitado por marcos jurídicos de ilegalidad, discurso que colisiona con visiones y prácticas de desarrollo local en la Zona Minera Indígena Remanso Chorrobo-cón. El marco conceptual intersecta estudios críticos del desarrollo, ecología política y plu-ralismo legal, y la metodología complementa la revisión de cubrimiento de medios, marcos normativos, literatura primaria y secundaria, observación participante, y una visita de cam-po a Inírida y a la Zona Minera Indígena.
Aída Sofía Rivera Sotelo, Luis Álvaro Pardo Becerra
Political science, Political institutions and public administration (General)
Bibliometric analysis of journals, authors, and topics related to COVID-19 and Islamic finance listed in the Dimensions database by Biblioshiny
Bibliometrics, covid-19, Islamic finance, R
Purpose This bibliometric study investigated the current state of documents on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Islamic finance published by digital object identifierequipped journals listed in the Dimensions database. The analysis focused on describing the characterictics and trends of the keywords, authors, and journals. Methods The data analyzed were from 149 research publications in Dimensions. The search tems were “COVID” and “Islamic finance.” The searches used to establish the study dataset were last updated on August 27, 2020. Descriptive statistical methods were used, and a bibliometric analysis was conducted using Biblioshiny, an R-based app, to generate a bibliometric map. Results The number of articles discussing the theme of COVID-19 and Islamic finance was quite large in recent months, with more than 100 articles published. The most popular keywords used were “COVID,” “food,” and “pandemic,” although there were also many keywords that related more specifically to the field of Islamic finance, namely “banks,” “markets,” “health,” “debt,” “equity,” “management,” and “stock.” Conclusion This study provides an overview of trends in the most popular keywords, journals, and authors of articles on the topic of COVID-19 and Islamic finance, which has been quite a popular theme in recent months, thereby providing information for researchers specializing in the field of Islamic finance. This theme has the potential to continue to be developed.
Riqueza de especies y abundancia de aves residentes y migratorias en parques urbanos de San José, Costa Rica
Aves migratorias, Ecología urbana, aves residentes, biodiversidad urbana, parque urbano, Áreas verdes
Con la excepción de unas pocas ciudades grandes, hay poco conocimiento sobre las aves urbanas de América Latina. Utilicé transectos lineales en 15 parques urbanos en la ciudad de San José entre setiembre y diciembre de 2009 y encontré 40 especies, la mayoría Tyrannidae (n=10) y Parulidae (n=9). Hubo 23 residentes (principalmente Tyrannidae), 15 migrantes del norte (en su mayoría Parulidae) y un migrante del sur. Las especies más representativas fueron Contopus sp. y Setophaga petechia. Zenaida asiatica, Turdus grayi y Quiscalus mexicanus estaban muy extendidos, al igual que la paloma Columba livia, que podía llegar a 122 individuos por parque. La diversidad y la abundancia fueron determinadas por el tamaño del parque, la complejidad de la vegetación y la proximidad a los fragmentos de vegetación. Los parques urbanos están siendo utilizados como áreas transitorias y permanentes por las aves migratorias y las características biofísicas de algunos parques favorecen a Columba livia y Quiscalus mexicanus, generando competencia, depredación y desplazamiento de otra especie, así como daños a la infraestructura. Estas áreas verdes podrían usarse para la observación y educación de aves.
https://revistas.uned.ac.cr/index.php/cuadernos/article/view/2037
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is tragic, yet we can still learn a great deal about the virus and its effects. The biochemistry of the virus is rather interesting despite its ill effects, and it is important to know how it works in order to understand how to defeat it. In the spring 2020 semester, I was teaching a senior level Biochemistry course that would normally cover topics of DNA replication, RNA replication, protein synthesis, gene regulation, and other biomolecular metabolic pathways. Upon the first call for suspending face-to-face classroom study, my course, with the enthusiastic support of the students in the course, changed our focus to understand these topics in relation to viruses. The course structure was modified to include online quizzes, instead of a written exam, and five minute videos made by each student describing the biochemical nature of a virus of their choosing, instead of a traditional presentation. The class met through synchronous Zoom meetings to discuss topics of virus structure, genomes, replication, and potential treatments and prevention methods such as how vaccines are made. This format allowed both myself and the students in the course to learn a great deal about this current threat and treatments in modern medicine. Concepts and ideas learned here will hopefully plant the seed in the students’ minds so they will be strong advocates for science and education.
K-mer Content, Correlation, and Position Analysis of Genome DNA Sequences for the Identification of Function and Evolutionary Features
k-mer, k-mer analysis, Sequence analysis, alignment-free, positional features
In genome analysis, k-mer-based comparison methods have become standard tools. However, even though they are able to deliver reliable results, other algorithms seem to work better in some cases. To improve k-mer-based DNA sequence analysis and comparison, we successfully checked whether adding positional resolution is beneficial for finding and/or comparing interesting organizational structures. A simple but efficient algorithm for extracting and saving local k-mer spectra (frequency distribution of k-mers) was developed and used. The results were analyzed by including positional information based on visualizations as genomic maps and by applying basic vector correlation methods. This analysis was concentrated on small word lengths (1 ≤ k ≤ 4) on relatively small viral genomes of Papillomaviridae and Herpesviridae, while also checking its usability for larger sequences, namely human chromosome 2 and the homologous chromosomes (2A, 2B) of a chimpanzee. Using this alignment-free analysis, several regions with specific characteristics in Papillomaviridae and Herpesviridae formerly identified by independent, mostly alignment-based methods, were confirmed. Correlations between the k-mer content and several genes in these genomes have been found, showing similarities between classified and unclassified viruses, which may be potentially useful for further taxonomic research. Furthermore, unknown k-mer correlations in the genomes of Human Herpesviruses (HHVs), which are probably of major biological function, are found and described. Using the chromosomes of a chimpanzee and human that are currently known, identities between the species on every analyzed chromosome were reproduced. This demonstrates the feasibility of our approach for large data sets of complex genomes. Based on these results, we suggest k-mer analysis with positional resolution as a method for closing a gap between the effectiveness of alignment-based methods (like NCBI BLAST) and the high pace of standard k-mer analysis.
Aaron Sievers, Katharina Bosiek, Marc Bisch, Chris Dreessen, Jascha Riedel, Patrick Froß, Michael Hausmann, Georg Hildenbrand