scholarly journals Genetic Technologies for Sustainable Management of Insect Pests and Disease Vectors

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5653
Author(s):  
Silvia Grilli ◽  
Roberto Galizi ◽  
Chrysanthi Taxiarchi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Disease Vectors ◽  
Molecular Tools ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Genetic Technologies ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Genome Modifications ◽  
Vast Range

Recent advancements in genetic and genome editing research, augmented by the discovery of new molecular tools such as CRISPR, have revolutionised the field of genetic engineering by enabling precise site-specific genome modifications with unprecedented ease. These technologies have found a vast range of applications, including the development of novel methods for the control of vector and pest insects. According to their genetic makeup and engineering, these tools can be tuned to impose different grades of impact on the targeted populations. Here, we review some of the most recent genetic control innovations under development, describing their molecular mechanisms and performance, highlighting the sustainability potentials of such interventions.

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Functions of Cellular Markers Associated with the Phenotype of Cancer Stem Cells

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 405-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Alvarado-Ortiz ◽  
Miguel Á. Sarabia-Sánchez ◽  
Alejandro García-Carrancá
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Tumor Biology ◽  
Molecular Tools ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Cellular Population ◽  
Cellular Markers ◽  
A Minor

Cancer Stem Cells (CSC) generally constitute a minor cellular population within tumors that exhibits some capacities of normal Stem Cells (SC). The existence of CSC, able to self-renew and differentiate, influences central aspects of tumor biology, in part because they can continue tumor growth, give rise to metastasis, and acquire drug and radioresistance, which open new avenues for therapeutics. It is well known that SC constantly interacts with their niche, which includes mesenchymal cells, extracellular ligands, and the Extra Cellular Matrix (ECM). These interactions regularly lead to homeostasis and maintenance of SC characteristics. However, the exact participation of each of these components for CSC maintenance is not clear, as they appear to be context- or cell-specific. In the recent past, surface cellular markers have been fundamental molecular tools for identifying CSC and distinguishing them from other tumor cells. Importantly, some of these cellular markers have been shown to possess functional roles that affect central aspects of CSC. Likewise, some of these markers can participate in regulating the interaction of CSC with their niche, particularly the ECM. We focused this review on the molecular mechanisms of surface cellular markers commonly employed to identify CSC, highlighting the signaling pathways and mechanisms involved in CSC-ECM interactions, through each of the cellular markers commonly used in the study of CSC, such as CD44, CD133, CD49f, CD24, CXCR4, and LGR5. Their presence does not necessarily implicate them in CSC biology.

Remote Thermal Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics: Turning Data Into Knowledge

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaomo Jiang ◽  
Craig Foster
Keyword(s):  
Anomaly Detection ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Maintenance Schedule ◽  
Effectiveness Monitoring ◽  
And Performance

Gas turbine simple or combined cycle plants are built and operated with higher availability, reliability, and performance in order to provide the customer with sufficient operating revenues and reduced fuel costs meanwhile enhancing customer dispatch competitiveness. A tremendous amount of operational data is usually collected from the everyday operation of a power plant. It has become an increasingly important but challenging issue about how to turn this data into knowledge and further solutions via developing advanced state-of-the-art analytics. This paper presents an integrated system and methodology to pursue this purpose by automating multi-level, multi-paradigm, multi-facet performance monitoring and anomaly detection for heavy duty gas turbines. The system provides an intelligent platform to drive site-specific performance improvements, mitigate outage risk, rationalize operational pattern, and enhance maintenance schedule and service offerings via taking appropriate proactive actions. In addition, the paper also presents the components in the system, including data sensing, hardware, and operational anomaly detection, expertise proactive act of company, site specific degradation assessment, and water wash effectiveness monitoring and analytics. As demonstrated in two examples, this remote performance monitoring aims to improve equipment efficiency by converting data into knowledge and solutions in order to drive value for customers including lowering operating fuel cost and increasing customer power sales and life cycle value.

MODEL-BASED IDENTIFICATION AND ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF THE CORE MODULE IN A TYPICAL CELL CYCLE PATHWAY VIA NETWORK AND SYSTEM CONTROL THEORIES

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. 21-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
BINHUA TANG ◽  
LI HE ◽  
QING JING ◽  
BAIRONG SHEN
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Adaptive Control ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
System Control ◽  
Core Module ◽  
Typical Cell ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Control Theories

The loss of cell cycle control is often associated with cancers and other different diseases. With the accumulation of omics data, the network for molecule interactions in the cell cycle process will become much clearer. The identification of the crucial modules in a giant network and investigation of inherent control relations are very important to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of diseases for new drug design. The paper proposes novel techniques in analyzing such core regulatory modules based on network and system control theories. We initially define the degree of participation (DOP) and the rate of activity (ROA) for indentifying core module components, and then the diverse contribution elasticity functions for quantifying pairwise regulatory or control activities between those components, thus facilitating the decomposition of expanded core modules and the formation of feedback loops within the control schema. Motivated by the inherent regulatory mechanisms, we expound a kind of multiphase nonlinear adaptive control algorithm in repelling abnormal genetic mutations, which directly and indirectly impact cancer development in biological cells and organs. Experimental predictions are also elucidated within the work, helping those in vivo design, verification and performance evaluation.

scholarly journals Towards a New Pacific Theatre: Practice‐Led Enquiry into a Model of Theatre Making that Relates  to the Geography, Cultures and Spiritual Values of  Aotearoa/New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bert Van Dijk
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Specific Work ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Devised Theatre ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Intercultural Performance ◽  
Time Space ◽  
And Performance

<p>This practice‐led research enquiry sets out to develop and test a model of theatre practice that relates to the unique geographic, cultural and spiritual dimensions of Aotearoa/New Zealand. In this practice, actors are connected with their body and the earth (they have feet), archetypal qualities inherent in nature and culture are incorporated into training and performance (return of the gods), a sense of adventure and risk‐taking is emphasized, and the practice relates to the multiple cultures and communities of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Presence, defined as the ability to be sensorially alive in the moment, and site‐specific performance, a creative response to locality, emerged as two of the key strategies to connect with self, other and the environment.  By investigating selected principles, strategies and values from the indigenous, pre‐European, Māori performing arts (whare tapere), devised theatre, the Michael Chekhov technique, and Japanese Noh theatre, an intercultural approach to site specific theatre evolved that interweaves the four pathways of collaboration, connection, exploration and transformation and their corresponding values. After considering the political and ethical issues of intercultural performance a number of principles to guide the process of intercultural exchange were formulated and tested. A vital component of this study was the creative development and performance of Ex_isle of Strangers – a site‐specific work developed in response to the tangible and intangible dimensions of Matiu/Somes Island. The research generated moments of practice that investigated the creative potential of residential devising processes and the transformative value of audience mobility in performances that involve physical and metaphorical journeying. These moments provided the participants (performers and spectators) time, space and opportunity to interact with one another and with the site they occupied, thus significantly increasing their level of physical and mental engagement with the work.</p>

Raising the ghosts of justice: Staging time and the memory of Empire inThe Trial of Governor Eyre

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-259
Author(s):  
Jason Allen-Paisant
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
African Diaspora ◽  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Problem Space ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Experience Of Time ◽  
Specific Performance ◽  
Colonial Violence ◽  
And Performance ◽  
A Site

I examine the staging of time, justice and performance in The Trial of Governor Eyre, investigating what this site-specific performance reveals about the experience of time in the context of colonial violence. In doing so, I show that the work’s discourse on temporality reflects a vital sense of performativity within an Afro-diasporic context. The work’s use of temporality, besides reflecting a cultural adaptation, allows for a remoulding of forms, coupling law and theatre in confronting Eyre’s mass executions of 1865. This remoulding of forms (law as theatre, theatre as law) provides a potential for postcolonial witnessing not available when either performance protocol is used on its own. Using Blazevic’s and Cale Feldman’s concept of ‘misperformance’, I argue that this play-trial arises out of a Benjaminian sense of historicity, providing an experience of inchoate justice that finds fulfilment in the present. The Trial of Governor Eyre points, more broadly, to a new ‘problem-space’ in African diaspora political theory, where resistance against colonial structures of oppression is increasingly mounted on the ground of justice itself and through which the legal apparatuses of colonialism become a site of critical memory. Through the play’s deployment of ritual and its plastic moulding of time, 1865 is enlisted as a key historical conjuncture for thinking through the cultural disenchantment of race, but also of the formalist, creative resources that can be mobilised for reimagining humanness in the contemporary moment.

scholarly journals Attracting European Funds in the Romanian Economy and Leverage Points for Securing their Sustainable Management: A Critical Auditing Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 5458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin-Marian Antohi ◽  
Monica Laura Zlati ◽  
Romeo Victor Ionescu ◽  
Mihaela Neculita ◽  
Raluca Rusu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Structural Fund ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Literature Reviews ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Audit Reports ◽  
Error Risk ◽  
Flexible Model ◽  
The Eu

Against the backdrop of Romania’s successive negative performance in attracting European funds (coming last in the EU top), as indicated by audit reports for projects that have been funded so far, this paper proposes a new approach in relation to analysis and performance improvement in securing EU funds, while identifying viable solutions for the betterment of the current situation. Furthermore, the authors develop a new audit performance analysis model (NOP), described as a dynamic and flexible model, based on reducing the fraud and error risk in the structural fund management of European-funded projects. The analysis methods encompass literature reviews, observational studies, database management, statistical analysis, and the synthesis of the whole findings. The main conclusion of the analysis is the critical necessity of integrity improvement in the context of managing the non-reimbursable funds through audit activities based on ISA805, the international standard on auditing European-funded projects.

scholarly journals Paving the Way to Unveil the Diversity and Evolution of Phage Genomes

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 905
Author(s):  
Alejandro Reyes ◽  
Martha J. Vives
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Evolution ◽  
Host Range ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Bacterial Resistance ◽  
Viral Pathogenesis ◽  
Resistance Mechanisms ◽  
Molecular Tools ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Bacterial Host ◽  
Host Interactions

Phage biology has been developing for the last hundred years, and the potential of phages as tools and treatments has been known since their early discovery. However, the lack of knowledge of the molecular mechanisms coded in phage genomes hindered the development of the field. With current molecular methods, the last decade has been a resurgence of the field. The Special Issue on “Diversity and Evolution of Phage Genomes” is a great example with its 17 manuscripts published. It covers some of the latest methods to sample and characterize environmental and host associated viromes, considering experimental biases and computational developments. Furthermore, the use of molecular tools coupled with traditional methods has allowed to isolate and characterize viruses from different hosts and environments with such diversity that even a new viral class is being proposed. The viruses described cover all different phage families and lifestyles. However, is not only about diversity; the molecular evolution is studied in a set of manuscripts looking at phage-host interactions and their capacity to uncover the frequency and type of mutations behind the bacterial resistance mechanisms and viral pathogenesis, and such methods are opening new ways into identifying potential receptors and characterizing the bacterial host range.

The potential of new genetic technologies in selecting for stress resistance in pigs

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 775
Author(s):  
C. A. Kerr ◽  
B. M. Hines
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Resistance ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Genetic Technologies ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Commercial Environment

This paper examines the potential for breeding stress resistance in pigs through an understanding of the physiology of the stress response and its associated genetic basis. Pigs reared in commercial units can encounter numerous concurrent stressors that can have a negative impact on performance and welfare. Stress induces physiological and behavioural responses that are multidimensional, consisting of a complex neuroendocrine and immune signalling milieu. Some stress-related genetic parameters have been identified using conventional genetic approaches applied in experimental models. However, these traits do not capture the complexity of the stress response. As a result, the molecular mechanisms underlying the variation associated with stress resistance in pigs in a commercial environment is poorly understood. Gene expression profiling is a powerful tool that can be applied to systematically elucidate stress response pathways and networks. Consequently, gene expression technologies have been applied to identify some putative stress-regulated genes. Further application of these and more traditional technologies will aid in elucidating stress resistance using gene expression as a measure of phenotypic variation at a molecular level. It is envisaged that in the future, tools for selecting for stress resistance could eventually be applied on-farm to enhance production, health and welfare status.

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