Global Picture of Genetic Relatedness and the Evolution of Humankind

We performed an exhaustive pairwise comparison of whole-genome sequences of 3120 individuals, representing 232 populations from all continents and seven prehistoric people including archaic and modern humans. In order to reveal an intricate picture of worldwide human genetic relatedness, 65 million very rare single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) alleles have been bioinformatically processed. The number and size of shared identical-by-descent (IBD) genomic fragments for every pair of 3127 individuals have been revealed. Over 17 million shared IBD fragments have been described. Our approach allowed detection of very short IBD fragments (<20 kb) that trace common ancestors who lived up to 200,000 years ago. We detected nine distinct geographical regions within which individuals had strong genetic relatedness, but with negligible relatedness between the populations of these regions. The regions, comprising nine unique genetic components for mankind, are the following: East and West Africa, Northern Europe, Arctica, East Asia, Oceania, South Asia, Middle East, and South America. The level of admixture in every studied population has been apportioned among these nine genetic components. Genetically, long-term neighboring populations are strikingly similar to each other in spite of any political, religious, and cultural differences. The topmost admixture has been observed at the center of Eurasia. These admixed populations (including Uyghurs, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, and Iranians) have roughly equal genetic contributions from the Middle East, Europe, China, and India, with additional significant traces from Africa and Arctic. The entire picture of relatedness of all the studied populations unfolds and presents itself in the form of shared number/size of IBDs.

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E-Infrastructures for International Cooperation

Computational and Data Grids ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-113-9.ch006 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 141-193

Author(s):

Giuseppe Andronico ◽

Antun Balaž ◽

Tiwonge Msulira Banda ◽

Roberto Barbera ◽

Bruce Becker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Middle East ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Asia Pacific ◽

East Europe ◽

Comprehensive View ◽

South East Europe ◽

The World ◽

Sub Saharan

E-infrastructures are becoming in Europe and in other regions of the world standard platforms to support e-Science and foster virtual research communities. This chapter provides the reader with a comprehensive view of the developments of e-Infrastructures in China, India, Asia-Pacific, Mediterranean, Middle-East, Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Europe and Latin America and with an outlook on the very important issue of their long term sustainability.

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E-Infrastructures for International Cooperation

Cyber Behavior ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-5942-1.ch022 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 380-430

Author(s):

Giuseppe Andronico ◽

Antun Balaž ◽

Tiwonge Msulira Banda ◽

Roberto Barbera ◽

Bruce Becker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Middle East ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Asia Pacific ◽

East Europe ◽

Comprehensive View ◽

South East Europe ◽

The World ◽

Sub Saharan

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Sprawozdanie z międzynarodowej doktoranckiej konferencji pt. International Conference of Young Historians: Middle-East Europe in historical research of PhD students, Poznań, 26–27 V 2017 r.

Historia Slavorum Occidentis ◽

10.15804/hso170410 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 131-132

Author(s):

Jakub Wojtczak ◽

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Historical Research ◽

East Europe ◽

International Conference

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The Mortality Rate of COVID-19 in Iraq Compare with Iran and Turkey, its Association with the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine and the Iraqi Preparedness Plan Prior to Pandemics. (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.20052 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Rawand Essa

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Mortality Rate ◽

Daily Basis ◽

Bcg Vaccine ◽

Critical Position ◽

Preparedness Plan ◽

Contagious Diseases ◽

History Of ◽

The Government

BACKGROUND In the span of COVID-19, the mortality rate has been different from one country to another. As a country in the Middle East Iraq has a critical position, lies between Iran and Turkey while both countries coronavirus cases increase on daily basis, while Iranian mortality rate record is high similar to Turkey. After Wuhan city of China, Lombard of Italy, Qum city in Iran has the highest number of COVID-19 as a first country in the Middle East. OBJECTIVE aim of this study is to show the effect of BCG vaccine during pandemic diseases, especially nowadays at the time of COVID-19. One of the crucial observations is the government preparedness and strategic planning prior pandemics, in which the BCG vaccine is an attenuated live vaccine for control of tuberculosis (TB). BCG vaccine has a non-specific immune effect that is used against pathogens like bacteria and viruses, through the promotion of pro-inflammatory cytokines' secretion. METHODS An epidemiological study has been performed, and it shows that some countries are more prone to contagious diseases like COVID-19, regardless of the main cultural, religious, societal similarities among the three mentioned countries. The information data has been collected from WHO reports and worldometer in 18 February 2020 to 10 May 2020. Regarding the efficacy of the BCG vaccine, relevant data has been retrieved from Google scholar, Pub-med and BCG world-atlas. RESULTS COVID-19 mortality rates are at peak in Iran and Turkey while the mortality rate is very low in Iraq, while the patients that died in Iraq all had history of other long-term diseases as heart disease, blood pressure, cancer etc. CONCLUSIONS From the experiences of the three countries in the life span of COVID-19, the historical plan of BCG vaccine in Iraq in cooperation with WHO since the last decades it shows that COVID-19 mortality rate is lower than other countries due to the early vaccination of the Iraqis, otherwise Iraq is more fragile than Iran and Turkey due to the poor conditions of Iraq in terms of economics, politics, war and other aspects.

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Influence of the ICCPR in the Middle East

10.1093/oso/9780198825890.003.0007 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Başak Çali

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Legal Status ◽

Political Rights ◽

Reporting Practices ◽

Rights Protection ◽

Liberal Democratic ◽

East Region ◽

Civil And Political Rights ◽

State Responses

This chapter surveys the legal influence of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on the domestic laws of States in the Middle East region. It analyses ratification, reservation, and reporting practices, the domestic legal status of the ICCPR, and State responses to the Human Rights Committee’s concluding observations. The chapter argues that the ICCPR’s legal influence in the region is structurally hampered due to its lack of authoritative legal status and the dominance of defensive domestic legalism. A significant gap remains between the HRC’s vision of civil and political rights protection grounded in the entrenchment of liberal, democratic, and multicultural laws and the region’s authoritarian or majoritarian political structures that foreground security and treat non-majority identities as threats. The influence of the ICCPR on domestic laws in the Middle East remains a long-term battle, whereby small gains under limited legal opportunity structures remain the overarching norm.

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Prediction of Genetic Contributions and Generation Intervals in Populations With Overlapping Generations Under Selection

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/151.3.1197 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 151 (3) ◽

pp. 1197-1210 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Piter Bijma ◽

John A Woolliams

Keyword(s):

Gene Flow ◽

Overlapping Generations ◽

Selective Advantage ◽

Turnover Time ◽

Breeding Value ◽

Age Classes ◽

Generation Interval ◽

Young Parents ◽

Genetic Contributions

Abstract A method to predict long-term genetic contributions of ancestors to future generations is studied in detail for a population with overlapping generations under mass or sib index selection. An existing method provides insight into the mechanisms determining the flow of genes through selected populations, and takes account of selection by modeling the long-term genetic contribution as a linear regression on breeding value. Total genetic contributions of age classes are modeled using a modified gene flow approach and long-term predictions are obtained assuming equilibrium genetic parameters. Generation interval was defined as the time in which genetic contributions sum to unity, which is equal to the turnover time of genes. Accurate predictions of long-term genetic contributions of individual animals, as well as total contributions of age classes were obtained. Due to selection, offspring of young parents had an above-average breeding value. Long-term genetic contributions of youngest age classes were therefore higher than expected from the age class distribution of parents, and generation interval was shorter than the average age of parents at birth of their offspring. Due to an increased selective advantage of offspring of young parents, generation interval decreased with increasing heritability and selection intensity. The method was compared to conventional gene flow and showed more accurate predictions of long-term genetic contributions.

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Predicting Rates of Inbreeding in Populations Undergoing Selection

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/154.4.1851 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 154 (4) ◽

pp. 1851-1864 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

John A Woolliams ◽

Piter Bijma

Keyword(s):

Overlapping Generations ◽

Linear Models ◽

Selection Process ◽

Correction Term ◽

Random Mating ◽

Nonrandom Mating ◽

Selection Processes ◽

Genetic Contributions ◽

The Relationship

AbstractTractable forms of predicting rates of inbreeding (ΔF) in selected populations with general indices, nonrandom mating, and overlapping generations were developed, with the principal results assuming a period of equilibrium in the selection process. An existing theorem concerning the relationship between squared long-term genetic contributions and rates of inbreeding was extended to nonrandom mating and to overlapping generations. ΔF was shown to be ~¼(1 − ω) times the expected sum of squared lifetime contributions, where ω is the deviation from Hardy-Weinberg proportions. This relationship cannot be used for prediction since it is based upon observed quantities. Therefore, the relationship was further developed to express ΔF in terms of expected long-term contributions that are conditional on a set of selective advantages that relate the selection processes in two consecutive generations and are predictable quantities. With random mating, if selected family sizes are assumed to be independent Poisson variables then the expected long-term contribution could be substituted for the observed, providing ¼ (since ω = 0) was increased to ½. Established theory was used to provide a correction term to account for deviations from the Poisson assumptions. The equations were successfully applied, using simple linear models, to the problem of predicting ΔF with sib indices in discrete generations since previously published solutions had proved complex.

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Genetic components of human pain sensitivity: a protocol for a genome-wide association study of experimental pain in healthy volunteers

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025530 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. e025530 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Annina B Schmid ◽

Kaustubh Adhikari ◽

Luis Miguel Ramirez-Aristeguieta ◽

Juan-Camilo Chacón-Duque ◽

Giovanni Poletti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Latin American ◽

Pain Sensitivity ◽

Genome Wide Association ◽

Genome Wide Association Studies ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Genetic Components ◽

Genome Wide ◽

A Genome ◽

The University ◽

Genetic Contributions

IntroductionPain constitutes a major component of the global burden of diseases. Recent studies suggest a strong genetic contribution to pain susceptibility and severity. Whereas most of the available evidence relies on candidate gene association or linkage studies, research on the genetic basis of pain sensitivity using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is still in its infancy. This protocol describes a proposed GWAS on genetic contributions to baseline pain sensitivity and nociceptive sensitisation in a sample of unrelated healthy individuals of mixed Latin American ancestry.Methods and analysisA GWAS on genetic contributions to pain sensitivity in the naïve state and following nociceptive sensitisation will be conducted in unrelated healthy individuals of mixed ancestry. Mechanical and thermal pain sensitivity will be evaluated with a battery of quantitative sensory tests evaluating pain thresholds. In addition, variation in mechanical and thermal sensitisation following topical application of mustard oil to the skin will be evaluated.Ethics and disseminationThis study received ethical approval from the University College London research ethics committee (3352/001) and from the bioethics committee of the Odontology Faculty at the University of Antioquia (CONCEPTO 01–2013). Findings will be disseminated to commissioners, clinicians and service users via papers and presentations at international conferences.

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Expected Genetic Contributions and Their Impact on Gene Flow and Genetic Gain

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/153.2.1009 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 153 (2) ◽

pp. 1009-1020 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

J A Woolliams ◽

P Bijma ◽

B Villanueva

Keyword(s):

Gene Flow ◽

Genetic Gain ◽

Overlapping Generations ◽

Predictive Accuracy ◽

Index Theory ◽

Previous Theory ◽

Selection Indices ◽

Breeding Groups ◽

Genetic Contributions

Abstract Long-term genetic contributions (ri) measure lasting gene flow from an individual i. By accounting for linkage disequilibrium generated by selection both within and between breeding groups (categories), assuming the infinitesimal model, a general formula was derived for the expected contribution of ancestor i in category q (μi(q)), given its selective advantages (si(q)). Results were applied to overlapping generations and to a variety of modes of inheritance and selection indices. Genetic gain was related to the covariance between ri and the Mendelian sampling deviation (ai), thereby linking gain to pedigree development. When si(q) includes ai, gain was related to E[μi(q)ai], decomposing it into components attributable to within and between families, within each category, for each element of si(q). The formula for μi(q) was consistent with previous index theory for predicting gain in discrete generations. For overlapping generations, accurate predictions of gene flow were obtained among and within categories in contrast to previous theory that gave qualitative errors among categories and no predictions within. The generation interval was defined as the period for which μi(q), summed over all ancestors born in that period, equaled 1. Predictive accuracy was supported by simulation results for gain and contributions with sib-indices, BLUP selection, and selection with imprinted variation.

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No Justice Without Peace, But What Peace Is on Offer?

Journal of International Criminal Justice ◽

10.1093/jicj/mqaa050 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mark Kersten

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

International Criminal Court ◽

International Criminal ◽

Criminal Court ◽

Term Stability ◽

Long Term Stability ◽

Peace Processes ◽

Lasting Peace ◽

Made In

Abstract Does the potential investigation into Palestine by the International Criminal Court (ICC) threaten the chances of a lasting ‘peace’ between Israel and Palestine? This article endeavours to answer that question and critically assesses claims that the Court could undermine peace in the Middle East. I first examine the key claims made in the so-called ‘peace versus justice’ debate. I then outline some of the specific arguments made in the context of a possible ICC investigation in Palestine that touch upon concerns over the Court’s impacts on peace processes and negotiations. Following this, I try to assess critically the validity of these claims, arguing that while it would be wrong to conclude that the ICC will invariably have positive impacts on efforts to establish peace, there is no evidence that the Court will undermine whatever ‘peace’ is currently on offer for Palestinians and Israelis. On the contrary, this ‘peace’ may itself be a threat to resolving the conflict peaceably and to long-term stability in the region. Finally, I conclude the article with some reflections on the peace-justice debate and its applicability to the Israel–Palestine situation.

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