Abnormal hedgehog pathway in myelodysplastic syndrome and its impact on patients' outcome

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Simple Dynamics on the Brane

We apply methods of dynamical systems to study the behaviour of the Randall-Sundrum models. We determine evolutionary paths for all possible initial conditions in a 2-dimensional phase space and we investigate the set of accelerated models. The simplicity of our formulation in comparison to some earlier studies is expressed in the following: our dynamical system is a 2-dimensional Hamiltonian system, and what is more advantageous, it is free from the degeneracy of critical points so that the system is structurally stable. The phase plane analysis of Randall-Sundrum models with isotropic Friedmann geometry clearly shows that qualitatively we deal with the same types of evolution as in general relativity, although quantitatively there are important differences.Comment: an improved version, 34 pages, 9 eps figure

Investigation of the level of knowledge in different countries about edible insects : cluster segmentation

This study aimed to investigate the level of knowledge about edible insects (EIs) in a sample of people from thirteen countries (Croatia, Greece, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey). Data collection was based on a questionnaire survey applied through online tools between July and November 2021. For data analysis, techniques such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, and chi-square tests were used, with a significance level of 5%. A total of 27 items were used to measure knowledge on a five-point Likert scale. Applying factor analysis with principal components and Varimax rotation, a solution that explains about 55% of variance was obtained. This accounts for four factors that retained 22 of the 27 initial items: F1 = Sustainability (8 items), F2 = Nutrition (8 items), F3 = Production Factors (2 items), and F4 = Health Concerns (4 items). Internal consistency was evaluated through Cronbach’s alpha. The cluster analysis consisted of the application of hierarchical methods followed by k-means and produced three clusters (1—‘fearful’, 2—‘farming,’ and 3—‘ecological’ individuals). The characterisation of the clusters revealed that age did not influence cluster membership, while sex, education, country, living environment, professional area, and income all influenced the composition of the clusters. While participants from Mexico and Spain were fewer in the ‘fearful’ cluster, in those from Greece, Latvia, Lebanon, and Turkey, the situation was opposed. Participants from rural areas were mostly in cluster 2, which also included a higher percentage of participants with lower income. Participants from professional areas linked with biology, food, and nutrition were mostly in cluster 3. In this way, we concluded that the level of knowledge about EIs is highly variable according to the individual characteristics, namely that the social and cultural influences of the different countries lead to distinct levels of knowledge and interpretation of information, thus producing divergent approaches to the consumption of insects—some more reluctant and measuring possible risks. In contrast, others consider EIs a good and sustainable protein-food alternative.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Validation of the scale knowledge and perceptions about edible insects through structural equation modelling

Edible insects have been suggested as a more sustainable source of protein, but their consumption varies according to geographical and sociocultural influences. Focusing on the different aspects that can influence people’s attitudes towards edible insects (EI), this work aimed to carry out the statistical validation of an instrument aimed at assessing different dimensions of this field: the KPEI (knowledge and perceptions about EI) scale. The instrument consists of 64 questions distributed by the following dimensions: Culture and Tradition, Gastronomic Innovation and Gourmet Kitchen, Environment and Sustainability, Economic and Social Aspects, Commercialization and Marketing, Nutritional Characteristics, and Health Effects. The data were collected in 13 countries (Croatia, Greece, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey). The validation of the KPEI scale was made through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results revealed two acceptable models, both retaining 37 of the 64 initial items, distrusted by the seven dimensions as: Culture and Tradition (5 items), Gastronomic Innovation and Gourmet Kitchen (5 items), Environment and Sustainability (8 items), Economic and Social Aspects (5 items), Commercialisation and Marketing (4 items), Nutritional Aspects (6 items), Health Effects (4 items). Both multifactorial models resulting from the CFA/SEM analyses showed approximately equal goodness of statistical fit indices with values of Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), Root Mean Square Residual (RMR), and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) partially zero and values of Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) approximately one, i.e., very close to a perfect fit. For the first-order model, the ratio between chi-square and degrees of freedom is χ 2/df = 13.734, GFI = 0.932, CFI = 0.930, RMSEA = 0.043, RMR = 0.042, SRMR = 0.042; and for the second-order model χ 2/df = 14.697, GFI = 0.926, CFI = 0.923, RMSEA = 0.045, RMR = 0.047, SRMR = 0.046). The values of composite reliability (CR = 0.967) and mean extracted variance (MEV = 0.448) are indicative of a good fit. Finally, the reliability analysis indicated a very good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.941). These results confirm the successful validation of the KPEI scale, making it a valuable instrument for future application at the international level.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

“Out of the Can”: A Draft Genome Assembly, Liver Transcriptome, and Nutrigenomics of the European Sardine, Sardina pilchardus

Clupeiformes, such as sardines and herrings, represent an important share of worldwide fisheries. Among those, the European sardine (Sardina pilchardus, Walbaum 1792) exhibits significant commercial relevance. While the last decade showed a steady and sharp decline in capture levels, recent advances in culture husbandry represent promising research avenues. Yet, the complete absence of genomic resources from sardine imposes a severe bottleneck to understand its physiological and ecological requirements. We generated 69 Gbp of paired-end reads using Illumina HiSeq X Ten and assembled a draft genome assembly with an N50 scaffold length of 25,579 bp and BUSCO completeness of 82.1% (Actinopterygii). The estimated size of the genome ranges between 655 and 850 Mb. Additionally, we generated a relatively high-level liver transcriptome. To deliver a proof of principle of the value of this dataset, we established the presence and function of enzymes (Elovl2, Elovl5, and Fads2) that have pivotal roles in the biosynthesis of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, essential nutrients particularly abundant in oily fish such as sardines. Our study provides the first sustainableomics datasetexploitation.from a valuable economic marine teleost species, the European sardine, representing an essential resource for their effective conservation, management, and sustainable exploitation. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: We acknowledge the North Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) that supported this research through the Coral—Sustainable Ocean Exploitation (reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000036). R.R.d.F. thanks the Danish National Research Foundation for its support of the Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate (grant DNRF96). Acknowledgments: Some computational work was performed on the Abel Supercomputing Cluster (Norwegian metacenter for High Performance Computing (NOTUR) and the University of Oslo) operated by the Research Computing Services group at USIT, the University of Oslo IT-department (http://www.hpc.uio.no/). We would like to thank Jette Bornholdt, Amal Al-Chaer and George Pacheco for help with laboratory procedures, and the Bioinformatics Center of the University of Copenhagen for providing laboratory space. This work is part of the CIIMAR-lead initiative Portugal-Fishomics

Genomic insights into the origin and diversification of late maritime hunter-gatherers from the Chilean Patagonia.

Patagonia was the last region of the Americas reached by humans who entered the continent from Siberia ∼15,000-20,000 y ago. Despite recent genomic approaches to reconstruct the continental evolutionary history, regional characterization of ancient and modern genomes remains understudied. Exploring the genomic diversity within Patagonia is not just a valuable strategy to gain a better understanding of the history and diversification of human populations in the southernmost tip of the Americas, but it would also improve the representation of Native American diversity in global databases of human variation. Here, we present genome data from four modern populations from Central Southern Chile and Patagonia ( <i>n</i> = 61) and four ancient maritime individuals from Patagonia (∼1,000 y old). Both the modern and ancient individuals studied in this work have a greater genetic affinity with other modern Native Americans than to any non-American population, showing within South America a clear structure between major geographical regions. Native Patagonian Kawéskar and Yámana showed the highest genetic affinity with the ancient individuals, indicating genetic continuity in the region during the past 1,000 y before present, together with an important agreement between the ethnic affiliation and historical distribution of both groups. Lastly, the ancient maritime individuals were genetically equidistant to a ∼200-y-old terrestrial hunter-gatherer from Tierra del Fuego, which supports a model with an initial separation of a common ancestral group to both maritime populations from a terrestrial population, with a later diversification of the maritime groups