Human migration and the spread of malaria parasites to the New World

We examined the mitogenomes of a large global collection of human malaria parasites to explore how and when Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax entered the Americas. We found evidence of a significant contribution of African and South Asian lineages to present-day New World malaria parasites with additional P. vivax lineages appearing to originate from Melanesia that were putatively carried by the Australasian peoples who contributed genes to Native Americans. Importantly, mitochondrial lineages of the P. vivax-like species P. simium are shared by platyrrhine monkeys and humans in the Atlantic Forest ecosystem, but not across the Amazon, which most likely resulted from one or a few recent human-to-monkey transfers. While enslaved Africans were likely the main carriers of P. falciparum mitochondrial lineages into the Americas after the conquest, additional parasites carried by Australasian peoples in pre-Columbian times may have contributed to the extensive diversity of extant local populations of P. vivax

Palatability of horse diets containing citrus pulp (Citrus sinensis) through the preference test

The aim of this study was to evaluate the acceptance of concentrates containing increasing levels of citrus pulp (7, 14, 21 and 28%) and the most preferred level of inclusion, observing the first action and the palatability using the preference test. Ten healthy mares, averaging 500 kg live weigh (LW), were housed in individual pens, where the four experimental concentrates were offered simultaneously, in a linear and continuous feeder for horses, for a period of 15 min. During this period, the first action (smelling or eating), the first choice (first concentrate effectively ingested) and the intake ratio (intake of each concentrate in relation to the total concentrate intake) were observed. Effect of inclusion on first action was observed (P<0.01), once 80% of animals fed promptly the concentrate and only 20% smelled it before the choice. The concentrate with 7% of citrus pulp presented the highest intake ratio (0.4425; P<0.01). For the first choice variable, there was no difference (P>0.05), however the concentrate with 7% was the most preferred (36.67%). Citrus pulp can be used as concentrate feed for horses. Therefore, low levels of inclusion in the concentrate, close to 7%, are recommended when the concentrate is based on corn, wheat bran, soybean meal, with no flavour agents like molasses

Exploratory Systematic Review of Mixed Martial Arts: An Overview of Performance of Importance Factors with over 20,000 Athletes

This review aimed to analyze the findings in the literature related to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) through an exploratory systematic review and to present the state of the art from a multifactorial perspective. The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement, with a search performed in the Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. Participants were competitive athletes (amateurs or professionals) of regional, national, or international levels. Of the 2763 registries identified, 112 studies met the eligibility criteria. The pooled sample size and age were 20,784 participants, with a mean age of 27.7 ± 6 years for male and 28.9 ± 3 years for female, with the vast majority of athletes being male (94.9%). MMA athletes were 17.2% amateurs, 73.8% professionals, and 9% were not reported. The scientific literature related to MMA reported injuries (n = 28), weight loss (n = 21), technical and tactical analysis (n = 23), physical fitness (n = 8), physiological responses and training characteristics (n = 13), psychobiological parameters (n = 12), and interventions applied to MMA athletes (n = 7). Therefore, this exploratory systematic review presents practitioners and researchers with seven broad summaries of each facet of performance of importance in this population of athletes