Algunos hallazgos notables dentro de la subtribu Helophilina (Diptera, Syrphidae) de la isla de Menorca, España

This research was funded by the ‘Fauna Ibérica’ project (PGC2018-095851-A-C65) of the ‘Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades’. Antonio Ricarte’s position at the University of Alicante (Ref. UATALENTO17-08) is funded by the ‘Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento’. Pablo Aguado-Aranda’s position is funded by the ‘FPI’ national fellowship program (Ref. PRE2019-087508)

The fauna of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of Vojvodina province, Serbia

Many hoverfly species of faunal and zoogeographical interest are found in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina due to the diversity of its biotopes. In this paper, the presence of 252 species of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) from 69 genera is documented. Five species are here recorded for the first time in Serbia: Anasimyia contracta Claussen & Torp Pedersen, 1980; Anasimyia transfuga (Linnaeus, 1758); Eristalinus megacephalus (Rossi, 1794); Helophilus hybridus Loew, 1846; and Mallota fuciformis (Fabricius, 1794). One species is recorded for the first time in Vojvodina: Cheilosia brunnipennis (Becker, 1894). The records of 12 species from Vojvodina Province are the only ones on the Balkan Peninsula, while the records of 15 species are the only ones in Serbia

Studija prevalencije antitela u Vojvodini (Srbija) nakon pandemije gripa A-(H1N1)v 2009. godine

Introduction. The seroprevalence study was performed in Vojvodina during May and June 2010 in order to asses the effects of the 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1)v epidemic on herd immunity. It was a part of the Serbian Ministry of Health funded nationwide study. Objective. Prevalence of antibodies against 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1)v was determined in a 1% sample of the population monitored for influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infections in Vojvodina through sentinel surveillance system. Methods. The study sample involved a total of 1004 inhabitants of Vojvodina. The control group consisted of randomly selected and age-adjusted 1054 sera collected in the pre-pandemic period. Sera were tested by the reaction of hemagglutination inhibition using influenza A/California/7/2009 (H1N1) antigen in dilution from 1:8 to 1:256. Antibody titers ≥1:32 and ≥1:8 were considered protective and diagnostic, respectively. Results. The differences between control and study sera in all age groups were significant for both diagnostic ≥1/8 and protective titres ≥1/32 of hemagglutination inhibition antibodies (chi square test, p lt 0.001). The highest percentage of seropositive subjects was registered in the age group 15-19 years followed by children aged 5-14 years. Both diagnostic and protective titres were about twice higher in the vaccinated as compared to the non-vaccinated group. There were no statistically significant differences in seroprevalence between seven districts of Vojvodina. Conclusion. The 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1)v epidemic significantly influenced the herd immunity in our population regardless of low immunization coverage with highest immunity levels in adolescents aged 15-19 years and with similar herd immunity levels in all the regions in the province six months after the outbreak.Uvod. Studija prevalencije antitela izvedena je u Vojvodini tokom maja i juna 2010. godine, kako bi se procenili efekti epidemije izazvane pandemijskim virusom gripa A­(H1N1)v iz 2009. godine na imunitet stanovništva. Studija je bila sastavni deo nacionalne studije koju je finansiralo Ministarstvo zdravlja Republike Srbije. Cilj rada. Prevalencija antitela protiv pandemijskog virusa gripa A­(H1N1)v je utvrđivana na jednoprocentnom uzorku populacije praćene sentinelnim nadzorom nad oboljenjima sličnim gripu i akutnim respiratornim infekcijama u Vojvodini radi procene imuniteta stanovništva Vojvodine. Metode rada. Ispitivanjem su obuhvaćena 1.004 stanovnika Vojvodine čiji serum je dat na analizu (studijska grupa). Kontrolnu grupu činio je uzorak seruma iz prepandemijskog perioda 1.054 nasumično odabrane osobe sličnog uzrasta. Serološko ispitivanje vršeno je reakcijom inhibicije hemaglutinacije antigenom virusa gripa A/Kalifornija/7/2009 (H1N1). Serumi su testirani u razblaženju od 1:8 do 1:256. Titar antitela u razblaženju većem od 1:32 smatrao se zaštitnim titrom, a u razblaženju većem od 1:8 dijagnostičkim. Rezultati. Utvrđena je visoko statistički značajna razlika (p lt 0,001) u prevalenciji antitela između studijske i kontrolne grupe, kako u dijagnostičkom (≥1:8), tako i u zaštitnom titru (≥1:32) hemaglutinin-inhibirajućih antitela. Najveći procenat seropozitivnih ispitanika otkriven je u dobnoj grupi 15–19 godina, a zatim u grupi 5–14 godina. Prevalencija antitela i u dijagnostičkom i u zaštitnom titru bila je dva puta veća kod vakcinisanih osoba u odnosu na nevakcinisane. Nije utvrđena statistički značajna razlika u seroprevalenciji između pojedinih okruga Vojvodine. Zaključak. Utvrđen je visok kolektivni imunitet, bez teritorijalnih razlika, prema pandemijskom virusu gripa A­(H1N1)v iz 2009. godine uprkos slabom obuhvatu stanovništva imunizacijom. Najveće vrednosti su zabeležene kod adolescenata uzrasta od 15 do 19 godina

An exploratory survey and assessment of the hoverfly diversity (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Pyrenees of Girona, Spain

Syrphidae are pollinators, pest predators and decomposers in European ecosystems. Camprodon (Girona province, Spain) is a valley with rich vegetation and high habitat diversity in the eastern Pyrenees. However, hoverfly biodiversity in this valley was poorly known. To explore the high potential of this area for Syrphidae, a survey with hand-net was undertaken in July/August 2020 in the valley. The list of Syrphidae species from the valley increases to 88, whilst that of the Girona province now extends to 119 species. Chrysotoxum lessonae is reported for the first time from the Iberian Peninsula. The specimens of Xylota tarda and Cheilosia hypena () represent the first documented records of these species for the Iberian Peninsula and Spain, respectively; i.e. these two species were known to occur in the Iberian Peninsula and Spain but without further locality details. A total of 19 species were new to the region of Catalonia and 23 to the Girona province. Cheilosia was the genus with the highest number of species recorded, as expected from the combination of mountains, diversity of forest vegetation, and presence of rivers/streams of the Camprodon valley. Faunistic results from this fieldwork are relevant to knowledge of Diptera from Catalonia, a region of Spain where this insect family is understudied.Antonio Ricarte’s position (Ref. UATALENTO17-08) at the University of Alicante is funded by the “Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento”. This research was funded by the Fauna Iberica Project PGC2018-095851-A-C65 of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities

Molecular Docking Analysis of Novel Thiourea Derivatives of Naproxen with Potential Antitumor Activity

Naproxen, as a propionic acid derivative, causes serious gastrointestinal side effects due to the presence of free carboxylic group. In that sense, masking of carboxylic group with other pharmacophores may be a promising strategy to decrease gastrointestinal toxicity. Thiourea derivatives have been intensively investigated as potential antitumor drugs, whereby their activity is based on potential inhibition of protein kinases, topoisomerases, carbonic anhydrase and sirtuins. In addition, it was shown that inhibition of certain protein kinases might reverse resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs by enhancing the cell death in the presence of low concentrations of drug. Twenty new thiourea derivatives of naproxen were designed and their binding to four selected protein kinases involved in tumor multidrug resistance (AKT2, mTOR, EGFR and VEGFR1) was estimated using two molecular docking programs (AutoDock Vina and OEDocking). According to OEDocking, the highest potential to inhibit AKT2 and mTor has derivative 1, while derivative 20 demonstrates the highest potential towards EGFR and VEGFR1. According to AutoDock Vina, the highest potential for inhibition of EGFR, AKT2 and VEGFR1 have derivatives 16 and 17. Therefore, derivatives 1, 16, 17 and 20 are potentially the most potent protein kinase inhibitors that could be further synthesized and tested for anticancer activity

Upotreba mobilnih tehnologija u srednjoškolskom obrazovanju

Cilj ovog rada je analiza načina i preferencija upotrebe mobilnih tehnologija i, u okviru njih, posebno, društvenih mreža, za potrebe obrazovanja među srednjoškolskom populacijom u Srbiji. U okviru rada predstavljeno je istraživanje sprovedeno u aprilu 2016. godine, o u potrebi mobilnih tehnologija od strane učenika Pete ekonomske škole iz Beograda. Dobijeni rezultati pokazali su da trendovi korišćenja informacionih tehnologija u domaćim srednjim školama na približno istom nivou kao i u sličnim istraživanjima sprovedenim u drugim državama. Takođe, rezultati istraživanja pokazuju i da postoji prostor za unapređenje primene savremenih informacionih tehnologija u procesu obrazovanja

High Phenotypic Diversity Does Not Always Hide Taxonomic Diversity: A Study Case with Cheilosia soror (Zetterstedt, 1843) (Diptera: Syrphidae) in the Iberian Peninsula

Comprising nearly 500 species worldwide, Cheilosia Meigen is the largest genus of Syrphidae in the Palaearctic region. Within Cheilosia, phenotypic diversity has been assessed in different species groups, including the group of Cheilosia longula (Zetterstedt, 1838). However, the phenotypic variability of Cheilosia soror (Zetterstedt, 1843), a highly variable member of the C. longula group, has never been assessed in western Europe. In the present work, morphological and molecular analyses were conducted to assess the phenotypic variability found in 300+ specimens of C. soror from the Iberian Peninsula. A total of 16 variable characters were identified and defined for the C. soror morphology, with the highest variation found in the colour of the mesonotum pilosity and the metatibia colour. Morphological variation was assessed against molecular variation based on two molecular markers, one mitochondrial, the 5 end of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI-5), and one nuclear, the large subunit ribosomal DNA (28S). Phylogenetic analyses rendered trees with topologies in disagreement with the defined morphological variation. Two haplotypes were identified amongst the analysed specimens of C. soror, together with a haplotypic variant exclusive to the Iberian region. Potential distributions were used to identify unexplored areas of occurrence of C. soror and other species of the C. longula group in the Iberian Peninsula. Unassessed areas of occurrence of C. soror should be surveyed in the future to confirm the absence of hidden taxonomic diversity within the range of phenotypic variation for this species. Phenotypic variation of the other two Iberian species of the C. longula group, C. longula and C. scutellata (Fallén, 1817), was also assessed to find that they are species with less-variable morphology than C. soror and with molecular characters in accordance with other conspecific populations in Europe. New distributional data are provided for C. soror and C. scutellata from Spain, and a leg abnormality is identified for the first time in C. soror.This research was funded by the “Fauna Ibérica” project (PGC2018-095851-A-C65) of the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, Spain. Antonio Ricarte’s position (Ref. UATALENTO17-08) at the University of Alicante is funded by the “Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento.” The positions of Zorica Nedeljković and Iván Ballester-Torres at the University of Alicante are funded by the above-mentioned Fauna Ibérica project

Insurance contract as the basis for the safety of agricultural producers in the Republic of Srpska

The aim of the paper is to point out the impact of the insurance contract on the safety of agricultural producers in the Republic of Srpska, based on the assumption that the insurance of crops, fruits and animals is a factor that implies elimination of harmful consequences in case of damage. This attitude of the authors is based on the fact that with the conclusion of an insurance contract in agriculture, the part of the responsibility is transferred to the state (by participation in the co-financing of the insurance premium), then to the insurance company (by claiming the damage from the insurance) and finally to the agricultural producers. Bearing in mind that insurance is very present in all segments of the modern society, which implies a great variety of forms of insurance, the authors of this paper start by presenting a general structure and classification of insurance, which also includes the insurance for agricultural purposes. In order to get a realistic picture of the current state of insurance in agriculture in the Republic of Srpska, an analysis of the legal regulation that regulates the mentioned issues was carried out. The authors also conducted a survey among agricultural producers to analyze the reasons why they have a negative interest for this segment of insurance and thus a small number of closed insurance policies with insurance companies. Based on these findings, this paper gives recommendations for the improvement of the situation and proposals for better solutions which would raise the safety of agricultural producers to a higher level

Assessing the Diversity and Systematics of Brachyopini Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) in the Iberian Peninsula, Including the Descriptions of Two New Species

Five genera of Brachyopini, Chrysogaster Meigen, 1800, Melanogaster Rondani, 1857, Lejogaster Rondani, 1857, Orthonevra Macquart, 1829 and Riponnensia Maibach et al. 1994a are here revised from the Iberian region. Two new species, Melanogaster baetica Ricarte and Nedeljković, sp. n. and Orthonevra arcana Ricarte and Nedeljković sp. n., are described from Spain, and a third species, Chrysogaster coerulea Strobl in Czerny and Strobl, 1909 stat. n., is reinstated as valid and redescribed. A lectotype is designated for Orthonevra plumbago (Loew, 1840). The holotype of Orthonevra incisa (Loew, 1843) and the lectotype of O. plumbago are described in detail and illustrated. Melanogaster baetica sp. n. is similar to Melanogaster parumplicata (Loew, 1840) in male genitalia morphology, while O. arcana sp. n. is similar to O. incisa in the entirely-pollinose sternum I and the conspicuous incision on the posterior margin of tergum V in female. The first Iberian record of Chrysogaster rondanii Maibach and Goeldlin de Tiefenau, 1995 is provided, whilst Melanogaster aerosa is removed from the Iberian checklist of Syrphidae. Identification keys are presented to the five Brachyopini genera and 18 species now reported from the Iberian Peninsula (Chrysogaster, 6 spp.; Lejogaster, 2 spp.; Melanogaster, 3 spp.; Orthonevra, 5 spp.; Riponnensia, 2 spp.). COI (Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) barcodes of the two new species plus C. coerulea, Chrysogaster solstitialis (Fallén, 1817), Orthonevra nobilis (Fallén, 1817) and Orthonevra frontalis (Loew, 1843) were successfully obtained from Spanish specimens. A COI-based tree was produced to locate these taxa in a wider systematic framework within the tribe.This study was funded by the ‘Fauna Ibérica’ project (PGC2018-095851-A-C65) of the ‘Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades’ and the ‘Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento’ through Antonio Ricarte’s position grant (Ref. UATALENTO17-08). Pablo Aguado-Aranda’s fellowship at the University of Alicante is funded by the ‘FPI’ national fellowship program (Ref. PRE2019-087508). Zorica Nedeljković’s position at the University of Alicante is funded by the above-mentioned ‘Fauna Ibérica’ project. APC were covered with funds of the research group ‘Biodiversidad y Biotecnología aplicadas a la Biología de la Conservación’ (CIBIO Institute)

New records and molecular data of Merodon constans (Rossi, 1794) and Rhingia borealis Ringdahl, 1928 (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Iberian Peninsula

This research was funded by the ‘Fauna Ibérica’ project (PGC2018-095851-A-C65) of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities and the ‘FPI’ national fellowship program (Ref. PRE2019-087508, Pablo Aguado-Aranda’ fellowship). Antonio Ricarte’s position (Ref. UATALENTO17-08) at the University of Alicante is funded by the “Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento”