University of the Algarve

About: University of the Algarve is a education organization based out in Faro, Portugal. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Tourism. The organization has 3649 authors who have published 10303 publications receiving 233536 citations.

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

Abstract: In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.

GENCLONE : a computer program to analyse genotypic data, test for clonality and describe spatial clonal organization

Abstract: GENCLONE 1.0 is designed for studying clonality and its spatial components using genotype data with molecular markers from haploid or diploid organisms. GENCLONE 1.0 performs the following tasks. (i) discriminates distinct multilocus genotypes (MLGs), and uses permutation and resampling approaches to test for the reliability of sets of loci and sampling units for estimating genotypic and genetic diversity (a procedure also useful for nonclonal organisms); (ii) computes statistics to test for clonal propagation or clonal identity of replicates; (iii) computes various indices describing genotypic diversity; and (iv) summarizes the spatial organization of MLGs with adapted spatial autocorrelation methods and clonal subrange estimates.

Quantization of diffeomorphism invariant theories of connections with local degrees of freedom

Abstract: Quantization of diffeomorphism invariant theories of connections is studied and the quantum diffeomorphism constraint is solved. The space of solutions is equipped with an inner product that is shown to satisfy the physical reality conditions. This provides, in particular, a quantization of the Husain–Kuchař model. The main results also pave the way to quantization of other diffeomorphism invariant theories such as general relativity. In the Riemannian case (i.e., signature ++++), the approach appears to contain all the necessary ingredients already. In the Lorentzian case, it will have to be combined in an appropriate fashion with a coherent state transform to incorporate complex connections.