Flying under the radar - impact and factors influencing asymptomatic DENV infections

The clinical outcome of DENV and other Flaviviruses infections represents a spectrum of severity that ranges from mild manifestations to severe disease, which can ultimately lead to death. Nonetheless, most of these infections result in an asymptomatic outcome that may play an important role in the persistent circulation of these viruses. Also, although little is known about the mechanisms that lead to these asymptomatic infections, they are likely the result of a complex interplay between viral and host factors. Specific characteristics of the infecting viral strain, such as its replicating efficiency, coupled with host factors, like gene expression of key molecules involved in the immune response or in the protection against disease, are among crucial factors to study. This review revisits recent data on factors that may contribute to the asymptomatic outcome of the world's widespread DENV, highlighting the importance of silent infections in the transmission of this pathogen and the immune status of the host.The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Project ref.PTDC/SAU-INF/30440/2017). Paulo Henriques was suported by ARDITI (Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação) through a PhD Grant (M1420-09-5369-FSE-000001)

'Pêra' orange coating with whey protein concentrate film associated to plasticizers

O objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar o efeito de coberturas à base de concentrado protéico de soro de leite (CPSL), associadas a dois tipos de plastificantes (glicerol e sorbitol), em laranja 'Pêra'. As frutas foram lavadas e higienizadas de acordo com os padrões comerciais e submetidas à aplicação das coberturas. As coberturas à base de CPSL não foram eficientes na redução da perda de massa fresca da laranja 'Pera', independentemente do plastificante utilizado. Depois de 11 dias de armazenagem, as laranjas cobertas com solução filmogênica de 6% de proteína e 6% de glicerol, e laranjas cobertas com solução de 4% de proteína e 8% de sorbitol perderam menos massa, quando comparadas às outras combinações de proteína e plastificante. As coberturas não interferiram nas características físico-químicas das laranjas.The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of whey protein coating plasticized with glycerol and sorbitol in 'Pêra' oranges. Fruits were washed and sanitized, according to trade pattern, and then coated. Whey protein coatings was not effective in avoiding oranges weight reduction, independently of plasticizing. After 11 days of storage, the oranges coated with 6% protein and 6% glycerol, and with 4% protein and 8% sorbitol, lost less weight than other treatments. Coating did not modify physico-chemical characteristics of the oranges

Creative tourism on islands : a review of the literature

In the last two decades, creative tourism has evolved as a burgeoning field, encompassing a wide range of concepts and practices, in di_erent places around the world. From the very beginning, however, creative tourism has aimed to contribute to sustainable development and increased community wellbeing, as an alternative to mass cultural tourism. With this review article, our main objective is to identify and analyze a body of literature that specifically addresses creative tourism in islands, contributing to fill a gap in the knowledge since no reviews with this focus have yet been undertaken. Our aim is to provide a critical overview of creative tourism experiences at island destinations worldwide, addressing the plurality of empirical contexts and methodological approaches found in academic research. This review highlights the key trends in creative tourism, pointing out two distinct approaches: creative tourism in urban contexts, based on creative events, “cultural clusters” or Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), versus community-focused small-scale tourism experiences in rural contexts. This paper also provides an opportunity to assess the evolution of sustainable creative tourism approaches in islands.CREATOUR AZORES project, funded by FEDER through the operational program AZORES 2020 and by regional funds through the Regional Directorate of Science and Technology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainable creative tourism on islands and the pandemic: The Creatour Azores project

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt worldwide, the tourism sector was forced to seek ways of reinventing itself. Two decades prior to this crisis, in varied rural areas and island contexts, small-scale, community-based creative tourism had appeared as a sustainable place-making solution to foster place vitality, competitive distinctiveness, regenerative development and destination resilience. From an island perspective, this article presents the theoretical framework, methodological approaches, and empirical practices of the Creatour Azores project, which was carried out in the North Atlantic archipelago of the Azores from 2019-2022. Given this timeframe, the investigators and pilot projects that implemented this research-practice project were confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic, which accentuated the isolation and remoteness that tend to characterize islandscapes, especially peripheral islands such as the Azores. At the same time, however, this devastating global pandemic, which impacted the tourism sector especially, ended up offering unexpected opportunities along with special challenges, seeming to underscore the relevance of studies focused on the isolation and remoteness that characterize islandscapes. After describing the project methodologies and practices, as well as the adjustments adopted due to the pandemic, this article considers future possibilities for creative tourism on islands, in general, and in the Azores.N/

Flying under the radar – impact and factors influencing asymptomatic DENV infections

The clinical outcome of DENV and other Flaviviruses infections represents a spectrum of severity that ranges from mild manifestations to severe disease, which can ultimately lead to death. Nonetheless, most of these infections result in an asymptomatic outcome that may play an important role in the persistent circulation of these viruses. Also, although little is known about the mechanisms that lead to these asymptomatic infections, they are likely the result of a complex interplay between viral and host factors. Specific characteristics of the infecting viral strain, such as its replicating efficiency, coupled with host factors, like gene expression of key molecules involved in the immune response or in the protection against disease, are among crucial factors to study. This review revisits recent data on factors that may contribute to the asymptomatic outcome of the world’s widespread DENV, highlighting the importance of silent infections in the transmission of this pathogen and the immune status of the host

Prenatal diagnosis of a partial dup (16p) due to a rare recombinant resulting from a paternal intrachromosomal insertion

Poster: 10.P7Chromosomal rearrangements involving three break-points are relatively rare, about 1/5,000 live births. When a chromosomal segment is moved from one part of a chromosome into another part of the same chromosome, it is considered an intrachromosomal insertion; the orientation of the inserted material in relation to the centromere may remain the same, resulting in a direct insertion, or reversed, resulting in an inverted insertion. A single crossover in the gametogenesis between any of the three breakpoints may result in unbalanced recombinants, leading to phenotypic consequences in the offspring. Partial trisomy 16p is a rare chromosomal imbalance characterized by mental retardation, prenatal and post-natal growth deficiency, facial anomalies, cleft palate, congenital heart defects, and urogenital anomalies. Previous studies have established that the phenotype of this condition is not related to the extension of the duplicated segment and that the region 16p13.1–p13.3 is critical in determining this disorder. We report on a prenatal diagnosis performed at 14 weeks. The fetus presented with an increased fetal nuchal translucency and thus was referred for con- ventional cytogenetic studies. The chromosomal analysis of the amniotic fluid cells revealed a structurally abnormal chromosome 16, with additional material on 16q. The maternal karyotype was normal, but the father carried an intrachromosomal insertion in chromosome 16: a between-arm insertion of a small segment of the short arm into the distal region of the long arm. To characterize the extension of the imbalance in the fetus, chromosome comparative genomic hybridization (cCGH) analysis was performed. Fetus karyotype: 46,XY,rec(16)dup(16p)ins(16) (q24p13.2p13.3)pat.ish cgh dup(16)(p13.2p13.3). The authors emphasize the rarity of this case, explain its possible formation mechanism and compare the fetal phenotype (available after autopsy) with similar cases described in the literatur

Adaptation to the driving simulator and prediction of the braking time performance, with and without distraction, in older adults and middle-aged adults

Context: Many studies show the importance of evaluating the adaptation time of subjects in a virtual driving environment, looking forwards to a response as closest as a possible real vehicle. Objectives This study aimed to identify and analyze the adaptation to the driving simulator in older adults and middle-aged adults with and without a distraction, and a secondary aim was to identify predictors of safe performance for older adults' drives. Design: Male and female middle-aged adults (n = 62, age = 30.3 ± 7.1 years) and older adults (n = 102, age = 70.4 ± 5.8 years) were evaluated for braking time performance in a driving simulator; cognition performance assessment included the Mini-Mental State Examination; motor evaluation included ankle flexor muscle strength with the isokinetic dynamometer and handgrip strength; the postural balance was evaluated with Timed Up and Go test, with and without a cognitive distraction task. Results: Older adults (men and women) and middle-aged adult women require more time to adapt to the driving simulator. The distractor increases the adaptation time for all groups. The main predictors of braking time for older women are age, muscle strength, and postural balance associated with distraction, and for older men, muscle strength. Conclusions: Age, sex, and distractor interfere in the adaptation of the virtual task of driving in a simulator. The evaluation model developed with multi-domains demonstrated the ability to predict which skills are related to braking time with and without the presence of the distractor

Biomolecular insights into North African-related ancestry, mobility and diet in eleventh-century Al-Andalus.

Funder: Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental HealthFunder: Leverhulme TrustHistorical records document medieval immigration from North Africa to Iberia to create Islamic al-Andalus. Here, we present a low-coverage genome of an eleventh century CE man buried in an Islamic necropolis in Segorbe, near Valencia, Spain. Uniparental lineages indicate North African ancestry, but at the autosomal level he displays a mosaic of North African and European-like ancestries, distinct from any present-day population. Altogether, the genome-wide evidence, stable isotope results and the age of the burial indicate that his ancestry was ultimately a result of admixture between recently arrived Amazigh people (Berbers) and the population inhabiting the Peninsula prior to the Islamic conquest. We detect differences between our sample and a previously published group of contemporary individuals from Valencia, exemplifying how detailed, small-scale aDNA studies can illuminate fine-grained regional and temporal differences. His genome demonstrates how ancient DNA studies can capture portraits of past genetic variation that have been erased by later demographic shifts-in this case, most likely the seventeenth century CE expulsion of formerly Islamic communities as tolerance dissipated following the Reconquista by the Catholic kingdoms of the north