Connectedness to Nature, Well-Being and Presence of Birds

Connectedness to Nature represents a growing area of interest in the latest years because it could have implications in human behavior. In addition, another type of implications studied in people have been the sounds of birds. The aim of this literature review was to analyze the state of knowledge about Connectedness to Nature and birds, as well as its link with variables related to well-being to identify gaps and directions for further research. We reviewed 41 papers published between 2011 and 2021. Papers were found in 29 journals with studies from 16 countries. Eighty-five percent of the papers used an experimental design and there is a trend of increasing publications over time. Our results show that Connectedness to Nature is linked to variables related to well-being, and the presence of birds (or their perception) contributes to explain the relationship. Therefore, more research on the subject is needed because there is evidence that contradicts some findings. Also, research is needed in different bird species, sounds, different cultures and local contexts, thus, it is necessary to study rural and urban areas. In addition, research is needed in children and teenagers who have been very little represented. Finally, it is necessary to have more information from Latin American countries as they represent the most diverse in bird species and to be able to compare with more studied regions like Europe and North America.A A conexão com a natureza representa uma área de interesse crescente nos últimos anos, pois poderia ter implicações no comportamento humano. Além disso, outro tipo de implicações estudadas nas pessoas têm sido os sons das aves. O objetivo desta revisão da literatura foi analisar o estado do conhecimento sobre a Conectividade com a Natureza e as aves, bem como sua ligação com variáveis relacionadas ao bem-estar para identificar lacunas e direções para pesquisas posteriores. Revisamos 41 artigos publicados entre 2011 e 2021. Foram encontrados artigos em 29 periódicos com estudos de 16 países. Oitenta e cinco por cento dos artigos utilizaram um desenho experimental e há uma tendência de aumento das publicações ao longo do tempo. Nossos resultados mostram que a conexão com a natureza está ligada a variáveis relacionadas ao bem-estar, e a presença de aves (ou sua percepção) contribui para explicar a relação. Portanto, mais pesquisas sobre o assunto são necessárias porque há evidências que contradizem algumas descobertas. Além disso, a pesquisa é necessária em diferentes espécies de aves, sons, diferentes culturas e contextos locais, portanto, é necessário estudar as áreas rurais e urbanas. Além disso, a pesquisa é necessária em crianças e adolescentes que têm sido muito pouco representados. Finalmente, é necessário ter mais informações dos países latino-americanos, pois eles representam as mais diversas espécies de aves e poder comparar com regiões mais estudadas como a Europa e a América do Norte

Enhancing security in ROS

In recent years, we observed a growth of cybersecurity threats, especially due to the ubiquitous of connected and autonomous devices commonly defined as Internet of Things (IoT). These devices, designed to handle basic operations, commonly lacks security measurements. In this paper we want to tackle how we could, by design, apply static and dynamic security solutions for those devices and define security measurements without degrading overall the performance

Hierarchical and stage-specific regulation of murine cardiomyocyte maturation by serum response factor

After birth, cardiomyocytes (CM) acquire numerous adaptations in order to efficiently pump blood throughout an animal’s lifespan. How this maturation process is regulated and coordinated is poorly understood. Here, we perform a CRISPR/Cas9 screen in mice and identify serum response factor (SRF) as a key regulator of CM maturation. Mosaic SRF depletion in neonatal CMs disrupts many aspects of their maturation, including sarcomere expansion, mitochondrial biogenesis, transverse-tubule formation, and cellular hypertrophy. Maintenance of maturity in adult CMs is less dependent on SRF. This stage-specific activity is associated with developmentally regulated SRF chromatin occupancy and transcriptional regulation. SRF directly activates genes that regulate sarcomere assembly and mitochondrial dynamics. Perturbation of sarcomere assembly but not mitochondrial dynamics recapitulates SRF knockout phenotypes. SRF overexpression also perturbs CM maturation. Together, these data indicate that carefully balanced SRF activity is essential to promote CM maturation through a hierarchy of cellular processes orchestrated by sarcomere assembly

Bursts and Isolated Spikes Code for Opposite Movement Directions in Midbrain Electrosensory Neurons

Directional selectivity, in which neurons respond strongly to an object moving in a given direction but weakly or not at all to the same object moving in the opposite direction, is a crucial computation that is thought to provide a neural correlate of motion perception. However, directional selectivity has been traditionally quantified by using the full spike train, which does not take into account particular action potential patterns. We investigated how different action potential patterns, namely bursts (i.e. packets of action potentials followed by quiescence) and isolated spikes, contribute to movement direction coding in a mathematical model of midbrain electrosensory neurons. We found that bursts and isolated spikes could be selectively elicited when the same object moved in opposite directions. In particular, it was possible to find parameter values for which our model neuron did not display directional selectivity when the full spike train was considered but displayed strong directional selectivity when bursts or isolated spikes were instead considered. Further analysis of our model revealed that an intrinsic burst mechanism based on subthreshold T-type calcium channels was not required to observe parameter regimes for which bursts and isolated spikes code for opposite movement directions. However, this burst mechanism enhanced the range of parameter values for which such regimes were observed. Experimental recordings from midbrain neurons confirmed our modeling prediction that bursts and isolated spikes can indeed code for opposite movement directions. Finally, we quantified the performance of a plausible neural circuit and found that it could respond more or less selectively to isolated spikes for a wide range of parameter values when compared with an interspike interval threshold. Our results thus show for the first time that different action potential patterns can differentially encode movement and that traditional measures of directional selectivity need to be revised in such cases

Hierarchical and stage-specific regulation of murine cardiomyocyte maturation by serum response factor

After birth, cardiomyocytes (CM) acquire numerous adaptations in order to efficiently pump blood throughout an animal’s lifespan. How this maturation process is regulated and coordinated is poorly understood. Here, we perform a CRISPR/Cas9 screen in mice and identify serum response factor (SRF) as a key regulator of CM maturation. Mosaic SRF depletion in neonatal CMs disrupts many aspects of their maturation, including sarcomere expansion, mitochondrial biogenesis, transverse-tubule formation, and cellular hypertrophy. Maintenance of maturity in adult CMs is less dependent on SRF. This stage-specific activity is associated with developmentally regulated SRF chromatin occupancy and transcriptional regulation. SRF directly activates genes that regulate sarcomere assembly and mitochondrial dynamics. Perturbation of sarcomere assembly but not mitochondrial dynamics recapitulates SRF knockout phenotypes. SRF overexpression also perturbs CM maturation. Together, these data indicate that carefully balanced SRF activity is essential to promote CM maturation through a hierarchy of cellular processes orchestrated by sarcomere assembly

Unexpected High Digestion Rate of Cooked Starch by the Ct-Maltase-Glucoamylase Small Intestine Mucosal α-Glucosidase Subunit

For starch digestion to glucose, two luminal α-amylases and four gut mucosal α-glucosidase subunits are employed. The aim of this research was to investigate, for the first time, direct digestion capability of individual mucosal α-glucosidases on cooked (gelatinized) starch. Gelatinized normal maize starch was digested with N- and C-terminal subunits of recombinant mammalian maltase-glucoamylase (MGAM) and sucrase-isomaltase (SI) of varying amounts and digestion periods. Without the aid of α-amylase, Ct-MGAM demonstrated an unexpected rapid and high digestion degree near 80%, while other subunits showed 20 to 30% digestion. These findings suggest that Ct-MGAM assists α-amylase in digesting starch molecules and potentially may compensate for developmental or pathological amylase deficiencies

Capital rural y turismo: ordenamiento territorial participativo en una comunidad forestal del Centro de México

Desde hace varias décadas, mucho se ha hablado, a nivel mundial, de la importancia que juega el ambiente en el desarrollo de las actividades humanas y cómo éstas, a lo largo de la historia de la humanidad, han modificado notablemente su funcionamiento. Una de las principales actividades humanas que mayor impacto han causado sobre el ambiente es el crecimiento acelerado y desordenado de la población, el cual, año con año, demanda nuevos espacios para el establecimiento de viviendas, zonas industriales, áreas comerciales, espacios recreativos y la apertura de zonas agrícolas y de pastoreo para la generación de productos agroalimentarios que satisfagan las necesidades habitacionales, económicas, recreativas y alimenticias de la población (PNUMA, 2000; Juan et al., 2010).El presente trabajo constituye un estudio de caso que desarrolla aspectos cuantitativos y cualitativos sobre la relación entre capital rural y turismo en una comunidad forestal del centro de México. Se observa que la vinculación entre el conocimiento institucionalizado, provisto por las universidades, y los saberes ecológicos tradicionales propios de las comunidades rurales es una condición insoslayable para la gestión turística sustentable de los espacios rurales ambientalmente conservados. El trabajo emplea la estadística descriptiva, el análisis multicriterio y el enfoque participativo como propuestas metodológicas para cumplir con el objetivo general de identificar, proponer y evaluar una estrategia de desarrollo local sustentable, basada en el aprovechamiento turístico del capital rural. Los resultados revelan que cinco de los ocho circuitos construidos en esta investigación son viables para su desarrollo. Se concluye que los Circuitos Turísticos Rurales son una alternativa sustentable para el desarrollo e implementación de actividades turísticas dentro del territorio de manera planificada y ordenada

UNIVERSIDAD PÚBLICA, ORGANIZACIÓN COMUNITARIA Y AMBIENTE: ONCE ESTUDIOS DE DESARROLLO ALTERNATIVO EN MÉXICO

Desde hace varias décadas, mucho se ha hablado, a nivel mundial, de la importancia que juega el ambiente en el desarrollo de las actividades humanas y cómo éstas, a lo largo de la historia de la humanidad, han modificado notablemente su funcionamiento. Una de las principales actividades humanas que mayor impacto han causado sobre el ambiente es el crecimiento acelerado y desordenado de la población, el cual, año con año, demanda nuevos espacios para el establecimiento de viviendas, zonas industriales, áreas comerciales, espacios recreativos y la apertura de zonas agrícolas y de pastoreo para la generación de productos agroalimentarios que satisfagan las necesidades habitacionales, económicas, recreativas y alimenticias de la población (PNUMA, 2000; Juan et al., 2010).El presente trabajo constituye un estudio de caso que desarrolla aspectos cuantitativos y cualitativos sobre la relación entre capital rural y turismo en una comunidad forestal del centro de México. Se observa que la vinculación entre el conocimiento institucionalizado, provisto por las universidades, y los saberes ecológicos tradicionales propios de las comunidades rurales es una condición insoslayable para la gestión turística sustentable de los espacios rurales ambientalmente conservados. El trabajo emplea la estadística descriptiva, el análisis multicriterio y el enfoque participativo como propuestas metodológicas para cumplir con el objetivo general de identificar, proponer y evaluar una estrategia de desarrollo local sustentable, basada en el aprovechamiento turístico del capital rural. Los resultados revelan que cinco de los ocho circuitos construidos en esta investigación son viables para su desarrollo. Se concluye que los Circuitos Turísticos Rurales son una alternativa sustentable para el desarrollo e implementación de actividades turísticas dentro del territorio de manera planificada y ordenada