scholarly journals Current and Forthcoming Approaches for Benchmarking Genetic and Genomic Diversity

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia C. García ◽  
W. Douglas Robinson

The current attrition of biodiversity extends beyond loss of species and unique populations to steady loss of a vast genomic diversity that remains largely undescribed. Yet the accelerating development of new techniques allows us to survey entire genomes ever faster and cheaper, to obtain robust samples from a diversity of sources including degraded DNA and residual DNA in the environment, and to address conservation efforts in new and innovative ways. Here we review recent studies that highlight the importance of carefully considering where to prioritize collection of genetic samples (e.g., organisms in rapidly changing landscapes or along edges of geographic ranges) and what samples to collect and archive (e.g., from individuals of little-known subspecies or populations, even of species not currently considered endangered). Those decisions will provide the sample infrastructure to detect the disappearance of certain genotypes or gene complexes, increases in inbreeding levels, and loss of genomic diversity as environmental conditions change. Obtaining samples from currently endangered, protected, and rare species can be particularly difficult, thus we also focus on studies that use new, non-invasive ways of obtaining genomic samples and analyzing them in these cases where other sampling options are highly constrained. Finally, biological collections archiving such samples face an inherent contradiction: their main goal is to preserve biological material in good shape so it can be used for scientific research for centuries to come, yet the technologies that can make use of such materials are advancing faster than collections can change their standardized practices. Thus, we also discuss current and potential new practices in biological collections that might bolster their usefulness for future biodiversity conservation research.

2015 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Syarifah Noor Syakiylla Sayed Daud ◽  
Rubita Sudirman

There has been a lot of research on the study of the human brain. Many modalities such as medical resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), electroencephalography (EEG) and etc. has been invented. However, between this modality the electroencephalography widely chosen by researchers due to it is low cost, non-invasive techniques, and safely use. One of the major problems, the signal is corrupted by artifacts, whether to come from the muscle movement (electromyography artifact), eye blink and movement (electrooculography artifact) and power line interference. Filtering technique is applied to the signal in order to remove these artifacts. Wavelet approach is one of the technique that can filter out the artifact. This paper aim to determine which decomposition level is suitable for filtering EEG signal at channel Fp1, Fz, F8, Pz, O1 and O2 use stationary wavelet transform filter at db3 mother wavelet. Eight different decomposition levels have been selected and analyze based on mean square error (MSE) parameter. The Neurofax 9200 was used to record the brain signal at selected channel. Result shows that the decomposition at level 5 is suitable for filtering process using this stationary wavelet transform approach without losing important information.


2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-45
Author(s):  
Nigel North

Managing the implementation of new technology in a pharmaceutical development environment has provided challenges and opportunities to obtain benefits from technologies, e.g. laboratory automation. Successful application of new techniques requires a dedicated resource. Within Pharmaceutical Technologies, this was initially a single person, who has since evolved into a team dedicated to the investigation and development of robotics and non-invasive analytical techniques. Pharmaceutical development is an important interface between research and commercial manufacturing. In research, the success of genomics and combinatorial chemistry will result in a significant increase in the number of development compounds, and this, combined with the desire of commercial manufacturing to move towards parametric release, puts an emphasis on the need for rapid analytical methods. Some ideas on the techniques that will be required to meet these goals will be described together with their impact on automation.


Author(s):  
Vatsal Patel ◽  
Maahi Patel

The ancient way of sign language is most natural forms of communication. The recognition of sign is place a key role in research field. The development and improvement on this kind of work need more and more new techniques to analyze the accurate results. Many people don't know it and interpreters are hard to come by, we developed a real-time technique for finger spelling-based American Sign Language using neural networks. In our technique, the hand is first sent through a filter, and then it is passed through a classifier, which analyses the class of hand movements. For each alphabet the proposed model has a 96 percent accuracy rate. This model mainly implemented for Dumb and Deaf people for communication.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nkafu Bechem Ndemazie ◽  
Andriana Inkoom ◽  
Ellis Fualefeh Morfaw ◽  
Taylor Smith ◽  
Monica Aghimien ◽  
...  

Abstract Drug delivery into the brain has for long been a huge challenge as the blood–brain barrier (BBB) offers great resistance to entry of foreign substances (with drugs inclusive) into the brain. This barrier in healthy individuals is protective to the brain, disallowing noxious substances present in the blood to get to the brain while allowing for the exchange of small molecules into the brain by diffusion. However, BBB is disrupted under certain disease conditions, such as cerebrovascular diseases including acute ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage, and neurodegenerative disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and cancers. This review aims to provide a broad overview of present-day strategies for brain drug delivery, emphasizing novel delivery systems. Hopefully, this review would inspire scientists and researchers in the field of drug delivery across BBB to uncover new techniques and strategies to optimize drug delivery to the brain. Considering the anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiological functioning of the BBB in health and disease conditions, this review is focused on the controversies drawn from conclusions of recently published studies on issues such as the penetrability of nanoparticles into the brain, and whether active targeted drug delivery into the brain could be achieved with the use of nanoparticles. We also extended the review to cover novel non-nanoparticle strategies such as using viral and peptide vectors and other non-invasive techniques to enhance brain uptake of drugs. Graphical abstract


Author(s):  
A. Weigert ◽  
A. Dhanda ◽  
J. Cano ◽  
C. Bayod ◽  
S. Fai ◽  
...  

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Digital tools have brought new techniques for recording and fabrication allowing for the augmentation of traditional processes in repairs and restorations. Traditional mechanical and chemical techniques require physical contact to the artefacts of interest, while LiDAR Scanning, photogrammetry and structured light scanning provide non-invasive solutions. Analog recording technologies have always informed fabrication processes, but contemporary digital recording can produce complete geometry for fabrication. In this paper, we discuss recording and fabrication technologies and how they have been applied for heritage conservation.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambre Chapuis ◽  
Elizabeth Ballou ◽  
Donna MacCallum

Traditional in vivo investigation of fungal infection and new antifungal therapies in mouse models is usually carried out using post mortem methodologies. However, biomedical imaging techniques focusing on non-invasive techniques using bioluminescent and fluorescent proteins have become valuable tools. These new techniques address ethical concerns as they allow reduction in the number of animals required to evaluate new antifungal therapies. They also allow better understanding of the growth and spread of the pathogen during infection. In this review, we concentrate on imaging technologies using different fungal reporter proteins. We discuss the advantages and limitations of these different reporters and compare the efficacy of bioluminescent and fluorescent proteins for fungal research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Paraskevaidi ◽  
David Allsop ◽  
Salman Karim ◽  
Francis L. Martin ◽  
StJohn Crean

Studies in the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have shown the emergence of biomarkers in biologic fluids that hold great promise for the diagnosis of the disease. A diagnosis of AD at a presymptomatic or early stage may be the key for a successful treatment, with clinical trials currently investigating this. It is anticipated that preventative and therapeutic strategies may be stage-dependent, which means that they have a better chance of success at a very early stage—before critical neurons are lost. Several studies have been investigating the use of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood as clinical samples for the detection of AD with a number of established core markers, such as amyloid beta (Aβ), total tau (T-tau) and phosphorylated tau (P-tau), being at the center of clinical research interest. The use of oral samples—including saliva and buccal mucosal cells—falls under one of the least-investigated areas in AD diagnosis. Such samples have great potential to provide a completely non-invasive alternative to current CSF and blood sampling procedures. The present work is a thorough review of the results and analytical approaches, including proteomics, metabolomics, spectroscopy and microbiome analyses that have been used for the study and detection of AD using salivary samples and buccal cells. With a few exceptions, most of the studies utilizing oral samples were performed in small cohorts, which in combination with the existence of contradictory results render it difficult to come to a definitive conclusion on the value of oral markers. Proteins such as Aβ, T-tau and P-tau, as well as small metabolites, were detected in saliva and have shown some potential as future AD diagnostics. Future large-cohort studies and standardization of sample preparation and (pre-)analytical factors are necessary to determine the use of these non-invasive samples as a diagnostic tool for AD.


Światowit ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 207-222
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Misiewicz ◽  
Jamel Hajji ◽  
Tomasz Waliszewski

The objective of the first step of the non-invasive survey carried out on the Mustis site described herein was to verify the possibility of locating archaeological remains and to detect the location of the supposed remains by geophysical measurements (magnetic and electric methods). Magnetic measurements were made with Geometrics G-858 Cesium magnetometer with two probes located on the same horizontal level at 0.5 m distance or on the same vertical level at 0.5 m and 0.75 m above the ground level. The instrument recorded the values of the total vector of the magnetic field strength and made it possible to calculate the pseudo-gradient of its components (horizontal or vertical). Electric measurements were made by means of axial dipole-dipole electrode configurations (parallel) with AB current electrodes with spacing of one metre and electrodes of potential MN (identical spacing) at equal distance D at 4 and 6 metres, which made it possible to record values of apparent resistivity of the subsoil, with the penetration depth of the current of c. 2.0 and 3.5 m, respectively, below the current ground level. At the time of the data interpretation, the suspected locations of the remains causing the anomalies were indicated by means of dashes of different colours and thicknesses (depending on the assumed depth of the structures). These indications, transferred on maps, can serve as a starting point for extensive analyses of the entire site and its surrounding area. The first non-invasive surveys carried out in Mustis have demonstrated the usefulness of magnetic and electric methods in mapping the preserved remains both inside and around the city. The obtained results enabled elaborating a strategy for the work to come. It is quite probable that the magnetic method will prove capable of indicating places where vestiges of constructions are preserved, while the electric method will determine the depth and conditions of deposition of localised structures.


2012 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 321-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Fabbri ◽  
R. Caniglia ◽  
Nadia Mucci ◽  
H.P. Thomsen ◽  
K. Krag ◽  
...  

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which represent the most widespread source of sequence variation in genomes, are becoming a routine application in several fields such as forensics, ecology and conservation genetics. Their use, requiring short amplifications, may allow a more efficient genotyping of degraded DNA. We provide the first application of SNP genotyping in an Italian non-invasive genetic monitoring project of the wolf. We compared three different techniques for genotyping SNPs: pyrosequencing, SNaPshot? and TaqMan? Probe Assay in Real-Time PCR. We successively genotyped nine SNPs using the TaqMan Probe Assay in 51 Italian wolves, 57 domestic dogs, 15 wolf x dog hybrids and 313 wolf scats collected in the northern Apennines. The obtained results were used to estimate genetic variability and PCR error rates in SNP genotyping protocols compared to standard microsatellite analysis. We evaluated the cost, laboratory effort and reliability of these different markers and discuss the possible future use of VeraCode, SNPlex and Fluidigm EP1 system in wild population monitoring.


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