Picacismo na espécie Agapornis spp. : percepção dos detentores e influência das condições de maneio no seu desenvolvimento

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária. Área Científica - ClínicaO picacismo constitui uma das síndromes mais frustrantes que um veterinário especialista em medicina de aves pode encontrar (Kennedy & Draper, 1990; Lamberski, 1995). Esta alteração do comportamento não ocorre na Natureza, pelo que é inerente ao ambiente em cativeiro, tal como outras alterações comportamentais observadas em psitacídeos. Assim, o presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a perceção dos detentores de Agapornis spp. sobre esta alteração, assim como as condições ambientais e de maneio que são fornecidas aos respetivos animais através de inquéritos dirigidos aos detentores de Agapornis spp. com história clínica de picacismo no Centro Veterinário de Exóticos do Porto. Foram realizados 28 inquéritos sobre a perceção dos detentores relativamente ao picacismo, e 26 inquéritos sobre as condições de maneio oferecidas aos Agapornis spp. destes mesmos detentores. A ambos foi aplicado um sistema de pontuação, de forma a classificar o nível de perceção dos detentores sobre o picacismo em “Baixo”, “Médio” e “Elevado”, assim como o maneio em “Muito mau”, “Mau”, “Aceitável” e “Bom”. Relativamente ao primeiro, observou-se que 14,3% da amostra apresenta um nível de perceção baixo (n=4), 82,1% apresenta um nível médio (n=23) e apenas 3,6% apresenta um nível elevado (n=1). Já no segundo inquérito, observou-se que 19,2% dos inquiridos aplica um muito mau maneio (n=5), 30,8% utilizam um mau maneio (n=8), 50% aplica um maneio aceitável (n=13) e nenhum dos inquiridos obteve uma classificação correspondente a um bom maneio. Foi encontrada uma relação estatisticamente significativa entre a classificação final do inquérito sobre as condições ambientais e de maneio e a realização, ou não, de pesquisa sobre os requisitos ideais de manutenção da espécie e respetivo comportamento natural (p=0,008), sendo que as classificações mais baixas correspondiam aos detentores que afirmaram não ter realizado qualquer pesquisa antes de adquirir um Agapornis spp. como animal de companhia.ABSTRACT - FEATHER PICKING IN AGAPORNIS SPP. – OWNER’S PERCEPTION AND THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT ON ITS DEVELOPMENT - Feather picking is one of the most frustrating syndromes a veterinarian specializing in psittacine medicine can find (Kennedy & Draper, 1990; Lamberski, 1995). This behavioral disorder does not occur in nature, so it is exclusive in the captive environment, as are other behavioral changes seen in psittacines. Thus, this study aimed to assess the perception of Agapornis spp.’s owners about this disorder, as well as the environmental conditions and husbandry that are provided to the respective animals, through surveys directed at the owners of Agapornis spp. with a clinical history of feather picking at the Centro Veterinário de Exóticos do Porto. Twenty-eight surveys (n=28) were carried out on the perception of the owners regarding feather picking, and twenty-six surveys (n=26) on the husbandry conditions offered to Agapornis spp. of these same owners. A scoring system was applied to both, in order to classify the level of knowledge of the owners about feather picking in "Low", "Medium" and "High", as well as the husbandry in "Very bad", "Bad", “Acceptable” and “Good”. Concerning the first, it was observed that 14.3% of all individual’s survey has a low level of perception (n=4), 82.1% has a medium level (n=23) and only 3.6% has a high level (n=1). In the second survey, it was observed that 19.2% of respondents applied a very poor husbandry (n=5), 30.8% used a poor one (n=8), 50% applied an acceptable husbandry (n=13) and none of the respondents obtained a rating corresponding to a good one. A statistically significant relationship was found between the final classification of the survey on husbandry practices and the performance, or not, of research on the ideal requirements for an optimal husbandry of the species and its natural behavior (p=0.008), with the lower classifications corresponding to the owners that stated that they had not carried out any research before acquiring an Agapornis spp. as a companion animal.N/

Novel ocellatin peptides mitigate LPS-induced ROS formation and NF-kB activation in microglia and hippocampal neurons

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Cre-ative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not per-mitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Cutaneous secretions of amphibians have bioactive compounds, such as peptides, with potential for biotechnological applications. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the primary structure and investigate peptides obtained from the cutaneous secretions of the amphibian, Leptodactylus vastus, as a source of bioactive molecules. The peptides obtained possessed the amino acid sequences, GVVDILKGAAKDLAGH and GVVDILKGAAKDLAGHLASKV, with monoisotopic masses of [M + H]± = 1563.8 Da and [M + H]± = 2062.4 Da, respectively. The molecules were characterized as peptides of the class of ocellatins and were named as Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21). Functional analysis revealed that Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) showed weak antibacterial activity. However, treatment of mice with these ocellatins reduced the nitrite and malondialdehyde content. Moreover, superoxide dismutase enzymatic activity and glutathione concentration were increased in the hippocampus of mice. In addition, Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) were effective in impairing lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and NF-kB activation in living microglia. We incubated hippocampal neurons with microglial conditioned media treated with LPS and LPS in the presence of Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) and observed that both peptides reduced the oxidative stress in hippocampal neurons. Furthermore, these ocellatins demonstrated low cytotoxicity towards erythrocytes. These functional properties suggest possible to neuromodulatory therapeutic applications.Alexandra Plácido is a recipient of a post-doctoral grant from the project FCT (PTDC/BII-BIO/31158/2017). Renato Socodato and Camila Cabral Portugal hold postdoctoral fellowships from FCT (Refs: SFRH/BPD/91833/2012 and FRH/BPD/91962/2012, respectively). This work was funded through project UID/QUI/50006/2013-POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 (LAQV/REQUIMTE) with financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT 2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The presence of depressive symptoms and cognitive performance among older individuals with and without self-reported chronic diseases

ABSTRACT. Dementias secondary to cardiovascular diseases are the second cause of neurogenerative diseases. These conditions can be prevented by controlling risk factors, and it is necessary to observe the relationship between chronic diseases. Objective: to know the influence of chronic non-communicable diseases on cognition and depressive symptoms in the elderly, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: 578 older adults were evaluated using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Brazilian Telephone version of the Mini Mental State Examination (Braztel-MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and an open questionnaire related to NCDs. Results: the association of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) with age, depressive symptoms and schooling was confirmed. Conclusion: no association with cognitive decline was evident due to the relationship of high schooling of participants and control of NCDs

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

COMPLICAÇÕES DA DERIVAÇÃO VENTRÍCULO-PERITONEAL EM PACIENTES PEDIÁTRICOS: UMA REVISÃO INTEGRATIVA

Introduction: Hydrocephalus is characterized by the accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the cerebral ventricular system, leading to increased intracranial pressure and dilatation of the ventricles. In children, it is manifested by irritability, accelerated growth of the head circumference, and signs of intracranial hypertension. Ventriculoperitoneal shunt (PVD) is a common surgical technique for CSF drainage. Objective: To analyze the complications associated with PVD in pediatric patients, identifying risk factors, patterns of occurrence, and clinical outcomes, to improve care and clinical outcomes. Methodology: An integrative review was carried out in consultation with PubMed and SciELO. Descriptors such as "ventriculoperitoneal shunt," "complications," "hydrocephalus," "infection," and "malfunction" were used. Articles from the last five years, in Portuguese and English, addressing complications of PVD were included. Out-of-scope, full-text, and duplicate studies were excluded. A total of 11 articles were selected for analysis. Results: We included 11 articles that highlighted complications such as infections, device malfunctions, obstructions, and abdominal complications. Shunt infections occur in up to 15% of pediatric cases, often within the first 6 to 12 months postoperatively. Distal catheter malfunction is common and requires frequent surgical revisions. Rare complications include abdominal pseudocysts, distal catheter extrusion, and gram-negative bacterial infections, with high rates in the first few days after shunt insertion. Frequent revisions increase the risk of complications. Conclusions: PVD, although effective, has several complications that impact the quality of life of pediatric patients. Infections and system malfunctions are the most common complications. Multidisciplinary management and preventive strategies are essential to optimize clinical outcomes and quality of life for patients.Introducción: La hidrocefalia se caracteriza por la acumulación de líquido cefalorraquídeo (LCR) en el sistema ventricular cerebral, lo que conduce a un aumento de la presión intracraneal y a la dilatación de los ventrículos. En los niños, se manifiesta por irritabilidad, crecimiento acelerado de la circunferencia cefálica y signos de hipertensión intracraneal. La derivación ventriculoperitoneal (PVD, por sus siglas en inglés) es una técnica quirúrgica común para el drenaje del LCR. Objetivo: Analizar las complicaciones asociadas a la EVP en pacientes pediátricos, identificando factores de riesgo, patrones de ocurrencia y resultados clínicos, para mejorar la atención y los resultados clínicos. Metodología: Se realizó una revisión integradora en consulta con PubMed y SciELO. Se utilizaron descriptores como "derivación ventriculoperitoneal", "complicaciones", "hidrocefalia", "infección" y "disfunción". Se incluyeron artículos de los últimos cinco años, en portugués e inglés, que abordaron las complicaciones de la EVP. Se excluyeron los estudios fuera de alcance, de texto completo y duplicados. Se seleccionaron un total de 11 artículos para el análisis. Resultados: Se incluyeron 11 artículos que destacaron complicaciones como infecciones, mal funcionamiento del dispositivo, obstrucciones y complicaciones abdominales. Las infecciones por derivación ocurren hasta en el 15% de los casos pediátricos, a menudo dentro de los primeros 6 a 12 meses después de la operación. El mal funcionamiento del catéter distal es común y requiere revisiones quirúrgicas frecuentes. Las complicaciones raras incluyen pseudoquistes abdominales, extrusión de catéter distal e infecciones bacterianas gramnegativas, con tasas altas en los primeros días después de la inserción de la derivación. Las revisiones frecuentes aumentan el riesgo de complicaciones. Conclusiones: La EVP, aunque efectiva, tiene varias complicaciones que impactan en la calidad de vida de los pacientes pediátricos. Las infecciones y el mal funcionamiento del sistema son las complicaciones más comunes. El manejo multidisciplinario y las estrategias preventivas son esenciales para optimizar los resultados clínicos y la calidad de vida de los pacientes.Introdução: A hidrocefalia é caracterizada pelo acúmulo de líquido cefalorraquidiano (LCR) no sistema ventricular cerebral, levando ao aumento da pressão intracraniana e dilatação dos ventrículos. Em crianças, manifesta-se por irritabilidade, crescimento acelerado do perímetro cefálico e sinais de hipertensão intracraniana. A derivação ventrículo-peritoneal (DVP) é uma técnica cirúrgica comum para drenagem do LCR. Objetivo: Analisar as complicações associadas à DVP em pacientes pediátricos, identificando fatores de risco, padrões de ocorrência e desfechos clínicos, para melhorar os cuidados e resultados clínicos. Metodologia: Realizou-se uma revisão integrativa consultando PubMed e SciELO. Utilizaram-se descritores como "ventriculoperitoneal shunt," "complications," "hydrocephalus," "infection," e "malfunction". Foram incluídos artigos dos últimos cinco anos, em português e inglês, abordando complicações da DVP. Excluíram-se estudos fora do escopo, não disponíveis em texto completo e duplicados. Selecionaram-se 11 artigos para análise. Resultados: Foram integrados 11 artigos que destacaram complicações como infecções, mau funcionamento do dispositivo, obstruções e complicações abdominais. Infecções de shunt ocorrem em até 15% dos casos pediátricos, frequentemente nos primeiros 6 a 12 meses pós-cirurgia. O mau funcionamento do cateter distal é comum e requer revisões cirúrgicas frequentes. Complicações raras incluem pseudocistos abdominais, extrusão distal do cateter e infecções bacterianas gram-negativas, com altas taxas nos primeiros dias após a inserção do shunt. Revisões frequentes aumentam o risco de complicações. Conclusões: A DVP, embora eficaz, apresenta várias complicações que impactam a qualidade de vida dos pacientes pediátricos. Infecções e mau funcionamento do sistema são as complicações mais comuns. A gestão multidisciplinar e estratégias preventivas são essenciais para otimizar os resultados clínicos e a qualidade de vida dos pacientes

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

ATLANTIC-PRIMATES: a dataset of communities and occurrences of primates in the Atlantic Forests of South America

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2 ± 1 species (range = 1–6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N = 2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N = 1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N = 35), Leontopithecus caissara (N = 38), and Sapajus libidinosus (N = 41) were the species with the least records. Recorded primate densities varied from 0.004 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta guariba at Fragmento do Bugre, Paraná, Brazil) to 400 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta caraya in Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Our dataset reflects disparity between the numerous primate census conducted in the Atlantic Forest, in contrast to the scarcity of estimates of population sizes and densities. With these data, researchers can develop different macroecological and regional level studies, focusing on communities, populations, species co-occurrence and distribution patterns. Moreover, the data can also be used to assess the consequences of fragmentation, defaunation, and disease outbreaks on different ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, species invasion or extinction, and community dynamics. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this Data Paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data. © 2018 by the The Authors. Ecology © 2018 The Ecological Society of Americ