1,721,076 research outputs found
Global Gene Expression Analysis of Canine Cutaneous Mast Cell Tumour
No full textIntroduction:
Currently, prognostic and therapeutic determinations for canine cutaneous mast cell tumors (MCTs) are primarily based on the histological grade. However, the prognostic value of this latter is still highly questionable. In the present study, MCT transcriptome was characterized to identify a set of candidate genes potentially useful for MCT classification and prognosis prediction.
Materials and Methods:
Fifty-two canine MCT biopsies were enrolled in the study. Isolated and purified total RNAs were individually hybridized to the Agilent Canine V2 4x44k DNA microarray. Normalized data were analyzed by using SAM (Significant Analysis of Microarray), PAM (Prediction Analysis of Microarray) and TMeV tools. Furthermore, a Functional Annotation bioinformatic tool (DAVID) was used to classify modulated genes.
Results:
PAM identified 14 transcripts providing the greatest accuracy of class prediction into two classes (mostly referable to High and Low grade MCTs) with a misclassification error equal to 0. The functional analysis of genes differentially expressed (597) between the aforementioned two groups provided evidence that they were involved in cell cycle, DNA replication, p53 signaling pathway, nucleotide excision repair and pyrimidine metabolism. The PCA of all samples, made by using this same panel of genes, clearly identified two clusters (the first two components accounted for the 90.9% of total variance).
Conclusions:
The molecular characterization of canine MCT transcriptome allowed the identification of a gene set that clearly separate differentiated and undifferentiated MCTs. This might potentially be helpful for MCT classification and prognosis.
Supporting grants: RC IZS VE 04/1
Network for Monitoring Honey Bee Mortality and Colony Losses in Italy as a Part of the APENET Research Project
No full textHoney bee and colony mortality have
been reported for several years in many
countries as well as in Italy. In the last years
this phenomenon has become increasingly
serious, and several hypotheses have been
proposed to explain honey bee and colony
losses. These hypotheses relate to pests and
diseases, pesticides, apicultural practices, climate change, electromagnetic fields, GMO
crops, etc. Honey bee colony losses are being
surveyed in several European countries, but
these surveys are not sufficiently structured.
Based on beekeepers’ reports, honey bee
losses in Italy follow a clear seasonal pattern:
a) during spring and summer colonies lose
many foragers due to agrochemicals (bee
losses); b) from late summer to winter, the
impact of pests (including Varroa) and
pathogens becomes more important (colony
losses). To assess the extent and investigate
the possible causes of honey bee and colony
losses in Italy a national monitoring network
needs to be established. Target apiaries will
be distributed in selected sites (modules),
ideally one per region, to cover the national
territory. Each module, composed of five
apiaries with ten non-migratory colonies
each, will be chosen based on environmental
characteristics with a distance to the center
of the module of about 50 km. Colonies will
be visually inspected four times a year (right
after winter, spring, summer and just before
winter). In each inspection several parameters of each colony will be considered—
health and nutritional condition, number of
bees and brood, and queen’s age. The person
in charge of each module will input the information obtained in a real-time database
available on the Internet. In addition, dead
and live bees, as well as several beehive matrices (brood, pollen, wax) will be collected
during each inspection for chemical, pollen
and disease analyses. The information collected through this honey-bee monitoring
network will provide a broad database from
which to explore patterns of disease, toxic
exposure and management practices that
may be linked to the occurrence of honey
bee and colony losses. APENET aims at providing an accurate assessment of the overall
health condition of honey bees at the national
level
First report in Italy of the dusky sap beetle, Carpophilus lugubris, a new potential pest for Europe
No full textFollowing a report submitted by a beekeeper to Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, in Padua province (Borgoricco, Veneto, NE Italy), the authors discovered in April 2011 several specimens of the dusky sap beetle Carpophilus lugubris Murray 1864 (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae) on the bottom board of some beehives. At a later time (May 2012), an isolated specimen was also collected within a Natural Reserve in Belluno province (Feltre, Veneto, NE Italy). These specimens represent the first known records of this species in Italy or Europe as a whole. This is also the first record of the species associated with beehives. This discovery led us to review the available bionomical and faunistic data for this widespread Nearctic and Neotropical species. C. lugubris is a recognized pest of corn, therefore is very important monitoring its possible dispersal into cornfields, beehives, and other agricultural regions of NE Italy and southern Europe over the next few years
A scientific note on rapid host shift of the invasive dusky sap beetle (Carpophilus lugubris) in Italian beehives: new commensal or potential threat for European apiculture?
No full text[No abstract available
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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