Tent-roosting may have driven the evolution of yellow skin coloration in Stenodermatinae bats

The recent discovery of the first mammal that deposits significant amounts of carotenoid pigments in the skin (the Honduran white bat Ectophylla alba) has highlighted the presence of conspicuous yellow coloration in the bare skin of some bats. This is patent in the subfamily Stenodermatinae, where many species build tents with plant leaves for communal roosting at daytime. On the basis that tents offer rich light conditions by partly allowing sunlight to pass through the leaves and this makes that yellow coloration probably provides camouflage benefits to tent-roosting bats, that gregariousness facilitates visual communication, and that all Stenodermatinae bats possess retinal L-cones that allow the perception of long-wavelength light and have a frugivorous diet from which carotenoids are obtained, we hypothesized that tent-roosting may have driven the evolution of yellow skin coloration in this group of bats. We tested this prediction in 71 species within Stenodermatinae. Reconstructions of ancestral states showed that the common ancestor was most likely not colorful and did not roost in tents, but both traits early appeared in the first phylogenetic ramification. Phylogenetically controlled analyses showed that, as predicted, yellow skin coloration and tent-roosting coevolved after their appearance. This is the first explanation for the evolution of body coloration in nocturnal mammals. As the light environment of nocturnal forests is dominated by yellow-green wavelengths that coincide with the spectral sensitivity of some bats, nocturnal light conditions may have acted jointly with diurnal light conditions in tents to favor the evolution of yellow skin coloration in these animals

Rediscovery, ecology, and identification of rare free-tailed bats (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in Costa Rica

Five new specimens ofthe poorly known Sanborn's bonneted bat, Eumops hansae (Chiroptera: Molossidae), are reported for Costa Rica's central and northern Pacific lowlands based on a subadult male collected in 1990 and four adult females collected in 2003. We also report the second known specimen of Eumops underwoodi from Costa Rica and additional specimens of Cynomops mexicanus, Eumops glaucinus, Molossus molossus, and Molossus pretiosus. Most of the females captured in August and April were either lactating or pregnant, suggesting that parturition in these molossids occurs in the late dry season and the early to middle rainy season, periods when insects are especially abundant in this dry forest. Characters used previously to distinguish between the similar-sized E. hansae and E. nanus are evaluated, and external and cranial measurements for the specimens of E. hansae are provided. The best single character for distinguishing the two species is size and shape of the upper incisors. In E. hansae, the upper incisors are thin and recurved, whereas they are thick, straight, and slightIy procumbent in E. nanus. The six sympatric species of free-tailed bat found in the gallery forest along the Rio Enmedio vary in size, jaw thickness, and wing shape suggesting coexistence through resource partitioning in this molossid bat assemblage

Views on sustainability and the willingness to adopt an environmental management system in the Mexican vegetable sector

In Mexico, agriculture’s main environmental problems are related to water resources, deforestation and soil erosion. These problems are more acute in arid or semiarid regions such as in the state of Zacatecas. Environmental management systems (EMS) can be an alternate means for improving environmental conditions. In this study, factors that determine willingness to adopt an EMS in the vegetable production units of the state of Zacatecas were identified. We also analysed views on sustainability and production practices oriented toward environmental management and care of natural resources, as well as drivers and barriers to EMS adoption. Factors determining EMS adoption were level of education, awareness of the importance of caring for and protecting natural resources, application of agricultural practices oriented toward protecting the environment, and ignorance of environmental problems

La imagen y la narrativa como herramientas para el abordaje psicosocial en escenarios de violencia. Bogotá, D.C., Colombia

El desarrollo del presente trabajo pretende evidenciar la construcción académica y el aprendizaje otorgado en el Diplomado de Profundización Acompañamiento Psicosocial en Escenarios de Violencia, desde el enfoque narrativo, el simbolismo con el que se aborda la construcción de la memoria histórica, la impresión subjetiva del individuo inmerso en el conflicto armado y el abordaje de la imagen y la narrativa nos permite identificar la serie de instrumentos que aportan en la caracterización de variables psicosociales en contextos de violencia. Cantera, L. (2009). Menciona la foto intervención como una forma de visibilizar realidades sociales, surgiendo en el ejercicio desarrollado la reflexión constante identificando que la construcción social se relaciona con la intersubjetividad, interacción, la particularidad que con la que debe verse la cultura que da sentido y configura la colectividad, a su vez la construcción de identidad que en escenarios de violencia propician perspectivas de convergencia desde la intersubjetividad y divergencia en el abordaje poco eficiente que acentúa la re victimización. El caso de Carlos Arturo, quien hace parte de las víctimas del conflicto armado en Colombia, permite visibilizar el proceso por el cual una víctima con multidimensionales construye su historia y da sentido a la misma desde narrativa, siendo esta última caracterizada por una perspectiva resiliente y esperanzadora; De la misma manera, se analiza el caso de Peñas Coloradas, una comunidad azotada por el conflicto armado en el que se propiciaron escenarios de desplazamiento, vulneración de derechos en su máxima expresión, estableciendo desde el ejercicio profesional y la proyección del rol del psicólogo la construcción de diferentes acciones de apoyo y estrategias psicosociales. La narrativa, como herramienta, dentro del presente trabajo, permite la realización de un análisis reflexivo, esta estrategia según De la Ossa y Herrera (2013), se conoce como la “esencia ontológica de la vida social y, a la vez, como método para adquirir conocimiento” (p. 620). A través de este diplomado de profundización se realiza el desarrollo y construcción de habilidades propias a la corriente psicosocial en los escenarios de violencia del territorio colombiano en búsqueda del empoderamiento de sus pobladores víctimas de los sucesos de guerra.The development of this work aims to show, as part of the academic construction of the Diploma of Psychosocial Accompaniment in Scenarios of Violence, from the narrative approach, the problems of the armed conflict and the victims it has left with the passage of time. In this way, a Photovoice tool is integrated as a psychosocial strategy, which seeks the analysis of different cases of people who have lived through violence, where physical and psychological sequels have been left, as is the case of Carlos Arturo, a victim of the armed conflict in Colombia, who suffers an accident due to the explosion of a bomb has left in him different physical and psychological sequels that little by little he tries to overcome, also the sequels that were left in his family and community, those stories of pain and suffering, which at the same time has had a process, accompanied by his family, on resilience. 6 In the same way, we intend to analyze the case of Peñas Coloradas, a small town where the war came to take everything from them, to displace them and violate their rights from every point of view. In this work we will propose different support actions and psychosocial strategies from our role as Psychologists in training. Narrative, as a tool, within the present work, allows the realization analysis, this strategy according to De la Ossa and Herrera (2013), is known as the "ontological essence of social life and, at the same time, as a method to acquire knowledge" (p. 620). Through this in-depth diploma course, the development and construction of psychosocial skills is carried out in the scenarios of violence in the Colombian territory in search of the empowerment of its inhabitants, victims of the events of war

Notes on the geographic range and distribution of two free-tailed bat species (Chiroptera, Molossidae) in Costa Rica

Nyctinomops laticaudatus (É. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1805) and Eumops nanus (Miller, 1900) are 2 species with distributions that are expected for Costa Rica. However, voucher specimens that confirm the presence of these species in the country are absent or missing in museum collections. Here we document voucher specimens and present data that confirm the presence of N. laticaudatus and E. nanus in Costa Rica

Clinical Relevance of Medicinal Plants and Foods of Vegetal Origin on the Activity of Cytochrome P450

Drug metabolism is a pharmacokinetic process whose main objective is to modify the chemical structure of drugs to easily excretable compounds. This process is carried out through phase I and phase II reactions. The enzymes of cytochrome P450 (CYP450) participate in phase I reactions, and their activity can be inhibited or induced by xenobiotics. The aim of this chapter is to study the clinical relevance of the induction and inhibition of CYP450, by describing the effect that some bioactive compounds present in medicinal plants or foods can modify, either increasing or decreasing the activity of CYP450 enzymes and with it modify the bioavailability and depuration of drugs. Examples will be described on the interaction of medicinal plants and foods of vegetal origin that when combined with some drugs can generate toxicity or therapeutic failure; this will allow gathering relevant information on the adequate pharmacological management in different clinical situations

Estudio de mutantes resistentes a los antiretrovirales en pacientes con VIH con falla terapeutica y efecto de los factores de riesgo en el tratamiento

INTRODUCTION: Information about HIV phenotypes of resistant to available ART and the influence of different risk factors on virological failures (VF) in Costa Rican HIV positive patients prior or during HAART is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty nine samples, 72 VF and 17 basal (before treatment) were analyzed by examining resistant mutants in reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease (PT) regions using Trugene or LIPA genotyping kits. Sixty eight control patients were selected and relevant information was collected in a questionnaire. RESULTS: Poor adherence, presence of resistant mutations and number of treatment's changes were the only significant factors found (p = 0.006, 0.04 and 0.01 respectively). From 66 sequenced samples, 78%, 50% and 50% showed resistance to NRTI (nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors), NNRT (non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors) and PI (protease inhibitors), respectively. The most frequent mutations were M41L, M184V, and T215FY in RT and L62PI, L10FIRV and M36I in PT. DISCUSSION: The most important factor related to treatment response in this study was adherence to treatment. Mutations in RT were related to the treatment failure while the ones found in PT were secondary mutations which have been previously described to influence the selection of primary resistance mutations in these regions. The study reveals the urgency to detect resistant mutations in VF to be considered by physicians for selection of treatment schedule, to analyze basal HIV patients for monitoring of the spread of resistant mutations and the importance to reinforce the adherence in the patients for overall treatment outcome.En Costa Rica no se tiene información a cerca de genotipos de resistencia para los tratamientos anti-retrovirales disponibles y la influencia de diferentes factores de riego en la falla virológica (FV) de pacientes VIH positivos previo o durante su tratamiento. Ochenta y nueve muestras, 72 FV y 17 basales, fueron analizadas con Trugene o LIPA para la detección de mutantes de resistencia en la transcriptasa reversa (TR) y en la proteasa (PT) del VIH. Se seleccionaron sesenta y ocho controles y se recolectó información relevante en un cuestionario. La mala adherencia, la presencia de mutaciones y el número de cambios de tratamiento fueron los únicos factores con significancia encontrados. (p = 0.03, 0.04 and 0.04 respectively). De 66 muestras secuenciadas, 78%, 50% y 50% mostraron resistencia a los inhibidores análogos y no análogos de nucleótidos para la TR y la PT respectivamente. La mutaciones más frecuentes fueron M41L, M184V, y T215FY en la TR y L62PI, L10FIRV y M36I en la PT. La adherencia fue el factor más importante relacionado con la respuesta al tratamiento. Las mutaciones encontradas en la TR estaban relacionadas al tratamiento mientras que las de la PT fueron mutaciones secundarias que propician la aparición de las mutaciones asociadas a resistencia en esa región. Este estudio revela la necesidad de detectar mutantes de resistencia en pacientes con FV y de estudiar las muestras basales. Además la importancia de reforzar la adherencia en los pacientes para una mejor respuesta al tratamiento