Virology under the microscope—a call for rational discourse

Viruses have brought humanity many challenges: respiratory infection, cancer, neurological impairment and immunosuppression to name a few. Virology research over the last 60+ years has responded to reduce this disease burden with vaccines and antivirals. Despite this long history, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented attention to the field of virology. Some of this attention is focused on concern about the safe conduct of research with human pathogens. A small but vocal group of individuals has seized upon these concerns – conflating legitimate questions about safely conducting virus-related research with uncertainties over the origins of SARS-CoV-2. The result has fueled public confusion and, in many instances, ill-informed condemnation of virology. With this article, we seek to promote a return to rational discourse. We explain the use of gain-of-function approaches in science, discuss the possible origins of SARS-CoV-2 and outline current regulatory structures that provide oversight for virological research in the United States. By offering our expertise, we – a broad group of working virologists – seek to aid policy makers in navigating these controversial issues. Balanced, evidence-based discourse is essential to addressing public concern while maintaining and expanding much-needed research in virology

Design of a quality management system based on the ISO 9001:2015 Standard for the recycled bottle treatment company.

El presente trabajo investigativo se desempeñó en una propuesta de un sistema de gestión de calidad basado en la norma ISO 9001:2015 para un proceso de transformación de botella a escama, siendo analizado un total de 53 ítems de las cláusulas 4,5,6,7,8,9 y 10 con el fin de ayudar a la misma a mejorar de forma continua la calidad de sus productos y servicios. Para llevar a cabo lo planteado se estableció una auditoría de diagnóstico con el fin de reconocer aquellas cláusulas con un porcentaje de incumplimiento menor al 80%, un mapa de procesos, diagramas de flujo, FODA de los procesos estratégicos, el uso de un BSC(Balanced Scorecard) además de un diagrama de Pareto para identificar irregularidades de la norma, la elaboración de una lista maestra en la que constan manuales, procedimientos, instructivos, registros y de un manual general en el que se señalaron puntos claves para un correcto desempeño. Como producto de la auditoria de verificación el porcentaje de cumplimiento ha sido solventado en un rango del 80% al 100%, generando así satisfacer las expectativas y necesidades de sus clientes aportando a un mejor posicionamiento en el mercado frente a la competencia en el que temas como control de la información, documentación y funcionamiento de la organización sigan encaminados por una cultura basada en la mejora continua guiados por la misión, visión y valores empresariales que ayuden a cumplir con los objetivos y metas propuestas establecidas desde la alta gerencia como los respectivos responsables de llevar a cabo el sistema de gestión y la divulgación del mismo con cada miembro de la empresa

Heritability estimates of antler and body traits in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from genomic-relatedness matrices.

Estimating heritability (h²) is required to predict the response to selection and is useful in species that are managed or farmed using trait information. Estimating h² in free-ranging populations is challenging due to the need for pedigrees; genomic-relatedness matrices (GRMs) circumvent this need and can be implemented in nearly any system where phenotypic and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data are available. We estimated the heritability of 5 body and 3 antler traits in a free-ranging population of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada. We generated classic and robust GRMs from >10,000 SNPs: hind foot length, dressed body mass, and peroneus muscle mass had high h² values of 0.62, 0.44, and 0.55, respectively. Heritability in male-only antler features ranged from 0.07 to 0.33. We explored the influence of filtering by minor allele frequency and data completion on h²: GRMs derived from fewer SNPs had reduced h² estimates and the relatedness coefficients significantly deviated from those generated with more SNPs. As a corollary, we discussed limitations to the application of GRMs in the wild, notably how skewed GRMs, specifically many unrelated individuals, can increase variance around h² estimates. This is the first study to estimate h² on a free-ranging population of white-tailed deer and should be informative for breeding designs and management as these traits could respond to selection

Data from: Habitat selection predicts genetic relatedness in an alpine ungulate

Landscape heterogeneity plays an integral role in shaping ecological and evolutionary processes. Despite links between the two disciplines, ecologists and population geneticists have taken different approaches to evaluating habitat selection, animal movement, and gene flow across the landscape. Ecologists commonly use statistical models such as resource selection functions (RSFs) to identify habitat features disproportionately selected by animals, while population genetic approaches model genetic differentiation according to the distribution of habitat variables. We combined ecological and genetic approaches by using RSFs and step-selection functions (SSFs) to predict genetic relatedness across a heterogeneous landscape. We constructed sex and season-specific resistance surfaces based on RSFs and SSFs estimated using data from 102 GPS radiocollared mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) in southeast Alaska. Based on mountain goat ecology, we hypothesized that summer and male surfaces would be the best predictors of relatedness. All individuals were genotyped at 22 microsatellite loci, which we used to estimate genetic relatedness. Summer resistance surfaces derived from RSFs were the best predictors of genetic relatedness, and winter models the poorest. Male and female specific surfaces were similar, except for winter where male habitat selection better predicted genetic relatedness. The null models of isolation-by-distance and barrier only outperformed the winter models. This study merges high-resolution individual locations through GPS telemetry and genetic data, that can be used to validate and parameterize landscape genetics models, and further elucidates the relationship between landscape heterogeneity and genetic differentiation