Cat attacks towards people and/or animals, an educational pending task on pet’s owners?

This study aimed to explore the context and the characteristics of domestic cats’ (Felis catus) attacking their owners or other pets and their probable risk factors. A survey was targeted to persons perceiving that their cat attacked to people or/and animals. Only no‑stray, healthy cats’ information were included. 48 questions covered general information of the owners, and type of house; age sex, color, and medical record of cats; the context on which the aggression to people or other pet took place; handling habitudes in owner‑cat interaction. Chi‑square and Fisher test were used to compare the frequency of cat’s characteristics between cats with and without attacks towards people and/or animals. Risk factors analysis was made with WinEpi©. The information of 154 cats was obtained, the 91.5% of owners declared to play with their cats, 63 cats performed attacks to people and/or animals in the past three months. 8 (5.2%) cats perceived by their owners as non‑aggressive, in fact performed attacks towards people and/or animals. The most commons wounds reported were scratches and bites (68.2%), largely considered by owners (76.2%) as no needing medical revision. 62% of aggression events were preceded by vocalization and/or body posture changes of cats. A significant higher proportion of cats combining < 2years, and with nonexclusive litter box performed aggressions. Cats of age of < 2 years resulted with 4.7 to 32.2 more probabilities to perform aggression. The absence of other animals also resulted as risk factor. Owner attitudes minimizing cat aggression could imply the maintenance of unwanted behaviors in cats, also accidental aggression during human‑animal interaction deserve deeper studies due to possible zoonosis risk to owners

Elaboración Sostenible de Harina de Chile Jalapeño (Capsicum annuum L.) Mediante Secado Solar Tecnificado

Jalapeño pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is a crop in protected natural areas of Tabasco, Mexico. Solar drying is a non-polluting energy that is applicable to food processing. This paper focuses on comparing the microbiological quality of dehydrated jalapeño peppers by means of three methods: direct solar (SD), electric stove (EE), and experimental solar dryer (SSE). SD drying was carried out in zinc sheet by conduction. The drying in EE was at a temperature of 70°C and the SSE has an internal temperature of 43 ° C ± 2 ° C. The dehydrated chiles were crushed in artisanal equipment, and the flour was stored in tightly closed glass containers at room temperature (22-28 ° C). The drying time was lower in the EE (7 h), followed by the SSE (8 h) and the SD (18 h). With EE, the lowest microbial load was obtained and with SD, the highest was obtained. The flour obtained with the SSE presented a concentration of microorganisms within the Mexican norms: total coliforms (25 CFU / g), Staphylococcus aureus (62 CFU / g), and aerobic mesophiles (57 CFU / g). Although the drying time and the microbial load were lower with the EE, the SSE allowed the elaboration of jalapeño pepper flour with the microbiological quality required for human consumption. Technified solar drying is a sustainable alternative for the dehydration of foods in tropical countries

Furanoditerpenes from Spongia (Spongia) tubulifera Display Mitochondrial-Mediated Neuroprotective Effects by Targeting Cyclophilin D

Neuroprotective properties of five previously described furanoditerpenes 1–5, isolated from Spongia (Spongia) tubulifera, were evaluated in an in vitro oxidative stress model in SH-SY5Y cells. Dose–response treatments revealed that 1–5 improved cell survival at nanomolar concentrations through the restoration of mitochondrial membrane potential and the reduction of reactive oxygen species. Their ability to prevent the mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening was also assessed, finding that 4 and 5 inhibited the channel at 0.001 μM. This inhibition was accompanied by a decrease in the expression of cyclophilin D, the main regulator of the pore, which was also reduced by 1 and 2. However, the activation of ERK and GSK3β, upstream modulators of the channel, was not affected by compounds. Therefore, their ability to bind cyclophilin D was evaluated by surface plasmon resonance, observing that 2–5 presented equilibrium dissociation constants in the micromolar range. All compounds also showed affinity for cyclophilin A, being 1 selective toward this isoform, while 2 and 5 exhibited selectivity for cyclophilin D. When the effects on the intracellular expression of cyclophilins A–C were determined, it was found that only 1 decreased cyclophilin A, while cyclophilins B and C were diminished by most compounds, displaying enhanced effects under oxidative stress conditions. Results indicate that furanoditerpenes 1–5 have mitochondrial-mediated neuroprotective properties through direct interaction with cyclophilin D. Due to the important role of this protein in oxidative stress and inflammation, compounds are promising drugs for new therapeutic strategies against neurodegenerationThe research leading to these results has received funding from the following FEDER cofunded grants: from Conselleria de Cultura, Educacion e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia, GRC (ED431C 2021/01), and GRC2018/039; from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación IISCIII/PI19/001248 and PID 2020-11262RB-C21; from European Union Interreg AlertoxNet EAPA-317-2016 and Interreg Agritox EAPA-998-2018 and H2020 778069-EMERTOX; and from BLUEBIOLAB (0474_BLUEBIOLAB_1_E), Programme INTERREG V A of Spain-Portugal (POCTEP). R.A. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from Xunta de Galicia (ED481B-2021-038), Spain. D.P-P. received a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) of MexicoS

Functional characterization of SlscADH1, a fruit-ripening associated short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase of tomato

A tomato short-chain dehydrogenase-reductase (SlscADH1) is preferentially expressed in fruit with a maximum expression at the breaker stage while expression in roots, stems, leaves and flowers is very weak. It represents a potential candidate for the formation of aroma volatiles by interconverting alcohols and aldehydes. The SlscADH1 recombinant protein produced in Escherichia coli exhibited dehydrogenase-reductase activity towards several volatile compounds present in tomato flavour with a strong preference for the NAD/NADH co-factors. The strongest activity was observed for the reduction of hexanal (Km = 0.175 mM) and phenylacetaldehyde (Km = 0.375 mM) in the presence of NADH. The oxidation process of hexanol and 1-phenylethanol was much less efficient (Kms of 2.9 and 23.0 mM, respectively), indicating that the enzyme preferentially acts as a reductase. However activity was observed only for hexanal, phenylacetaldehyde, (E)-2-hexenal and acetaldehyde and the corresponding alcohols. No activity could be detected for other aroma volatiles important for tomato flavour, such as methyl-butanol/methyl-butanal, 5-methyl-6-hepten-2-one/5-methyl-6-hepten-2-ol, citronellal/citronellol, neral/nerol, geraniol. In order to assess the function of the SlscADH1 gene, transgenic plants have been generated using the technique of RNA interference (RNAi). Constitutive down-regulation using the 35S promoter resulted in the generation of dwarf plants, indicating that the SlscADH1 gene, although weakly expressed in vegetative tissues, had a function in regulating plant development. Fruitspecific down-regulation using the 2A11 promoter had no morphogenetic effect and did not alter the aldehyde/alcohol balance of the volatiles compounds produced by the fruit. Nevertheless, SlscADH1-inhibited fruit unexpectedly accumulated higher concentrations of C5 and C6 volatile compounds of the lipoxygenase pathway, possibly as an indirect effect of the suppression of SlscADH1 on the catabolism of phospholipids and/or integrity of membranes

The Gould's Belt Very Large Array Survey II: The Serpens region

We present deep ($\sim 17~\mu$Jy) radio continuum observations of the Serpens molecular cloud, the Serpens south cluster, and the W40 region obtained using the Very Large Array in its A configuration. We detect a total of 146 sources, 29 of which are young stellar objects (YSOs), 2 are BV stars and 5 more are associated with phenomena related to YSOs. Based on their radio variability and spectral index, we propose that about 16 of the remaining 110 unclassified sources are also YSOs. For approximately 65% of the known YSOs detected here as radio sources, the emission is most likely non-thermal, and related to stellar coronal activity. As also recently observed in Ophiuchus, our sample of YSOs with X-ray counterparts lies below the fiducial G\"udel & Benz relation. Finally, we analyze the proper motions of 9 sources in the W40 region. This allows us to better constrain the membership of the radio sources in the region.Comment: Accepted in The Astrophysical Journa

La formación de los futuros profesionales de los grados de Educación, de Infantil y Primaria, mediante la fase de formación en prácticas y sus destrezas de enseñanza efectiva

En este estudio se relaciona la significatividad de las prácticas supervisadas de formación de los Grados de Educación Infantil y Primaria, en las cohortes 2016-2017 y 2017-2018, con la autovaloración de la generación de las Destrezas –percibidas de Enseñanza Efectiva (EE). Se emplean mecanismos de Evaluación, de 360 grados, desde los aspectos del; Contexto, Entrada, Proceso y Producto, Modelo CIPP. Se realizan acciones con el fin de determinar y juzgar la eficacia de dicho proceso de formación en el perfil de competencias del profesional docente en los niveles mencionados.This study relates the significance of the supervised training practices of the Degrees of Preschool and Primary Education, in the cohorts 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, with the self-assessment of the generation of the Skills-perceived of Effective Teaching (EE). Evaluation mechanisms are used, of 360 degrees, from the aspects of; Context, Input, Process and Product, CIPP Model. Actions are carried out in order to determine and judge the effectiveness of said training process in the professors’ competency profile at the aforementioned levels.peerReviewe

Challenges in the development of digital competence in secondary school teachers

Currently, due to emerging paradigms of teaching and learning as a result of health contingency, digital competence has become a necessity in educational centers. Furthemore, the new teaching role is no longer just that of being a facilitator of face-to-face learning, but now it generates knowledge, communicates and transmits emotions through various virtual environments. This paper has as aim to identify the level of digital competence in secondary level teachers, as well as the factors associated with it. The study has a quantitative approach, with a correlational scope, transactional temporality, with an observational prediction control and a retrospective chronological order of events. As a result of the research, a low level of digital competence was identified among secondary school teachers in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. There was evidence that the factors that were significantly associated with this competence were age and training in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This sets the foundations for the design of teacher training proposals focused on the development of their digital competence

Absolute Configuration by Vibrational Circular Dichroism of Anti-inflammatory Macrolide Briarane Diterpenoids From the Gorgonian Briareum Asbestinum

[Abstract] The four new briarane diterpenoids 2-butyryloxybriarane B-3 (2), 9-acetylbriarenolide S (3), briarenolide W (4), and 12-isobriarenolide P (5), along with briarane B-3 (1) and the five known diterpenes 6–10 were isolated from the gorgonian coral Briareum asbestinum collected from the Mexican Caribbean Sea. The structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR and MS measurements. Since the structure of briarane B-3 (1) was only suggested and published without any spectroscopic support, it was herein confirmed, and the supporting data are now provided. In addition, 1 provided the opportunity to explore the sensitivity of vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) to determine the configuration of a single stereogenic center in the presence of eight other stereogenic centers in a molecule possessing a highly flexible ten-member ring. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction study, in which the Flack and Hooft parameters of 1 were determined, further confirmed that briarane B-3 is (1S,2S,6S,7R,8R,9S,10S,11R,17R)-1. This paper reports for first time the use of VCD in briarane diterpenes and with the presence of chlorine atoms. Biological evaluation of seven isolated compounds evidenced a moderate anti-inflammatory activity for compounds 6 and 9 but it did not show any cytotoxic, antiviral, antibacterial, and topoisomerase inhibitory activity.This work was supported by Grants RTI2018-093634-B-C22 (AEI/FEDER, EU) from the State Agency for Research (AEI) of Spain, co-funded by the FEDER Programme from the European Union. We thank to Xunta de Galicia for the support of Grants GRC2018/039 and ED431E 2018/03 for CICA-INIBIC strategic group and BLUEBIOLAB (o474_BLUEBIOLAB_1_E, Programme INTERREG V A of Spain-Portugal (POCTEP). JR, CJ, and D.P.-P. acknowledge CESGA for the use of the computational facilities. PJ-N acknowledges partial financial support from CONACYT-Mexico Grant No. 284194. D.P.-P. received a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) of Mexico. The work was also supported by UIDB/50006/2020 with funding from FCT/MCTES through national fundsXunta de Galicia; GRC2018/039Xunta de Galicia; ED431E 2018/03México. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología; 284194Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; UIDB/50006/202

Relevance of Individual Data When Assessing the Gastrointestinal Nematode Infection Level, Nutritional and Productive Variables in a Tropical Farm Context: The Median Isn’t the Message

We evaluated the relationship between individual and herd GIN infection level, nutrition, production performance and anemia parameters in a tropical farm context. Fifty-four female goats were monitored to assess their body condition score (BCS, nutritional status indicator), live weight (LW) and LW gain (LWG, both used as production level indicators), FAMACHA© and hematocrit (HT, both used as anemia indicators). Goats browsed for 4 h in a tropical forest and received balanced feed and chopped grass. The eggs per gram of feces (EPG) indicated the GIN burden, with fecal samples obtained at 7:00 (AM) and 15:00 h (PM.) from each goat at six sampling points during the study. The variables and their relationship with GIN burdens were analyzed using Kruskall–Wallis, ANOVA and Friedman tests and Spearman correlations. The fecal samples obtained in the AM and PM can be equally representative of parasitic burdens (similar and highly correlated). However, the EPG of individual goats from periods of 30 days apart can be considered independent. The BCS and LWG varied between sampling times (p \u3c 0.05), whereas EPG, LW and HT did not (p \u3e 0.05). The GIN burden was negatively correlated with HT and BCS (−0.21, p = 0.01 for each one). The individual pattern of infection demonstrates the true impact of GINs on their hosts. Additionally, feeding and nutritional status may present important variations influencing the performance of the goats more than the impact of GINs under the farm conditions of the present study. However, GIN infection contributed to the variation in goat health and productivity in this tropical farm

Capgras syndrome as a psychiatric manifestation in Parkinson’s disease: a case report and literature review

We present the case of a 58-year-old male patient who had symptoms of anxiety after witnessing a case of social violence in his community in 2005. After that, he presented symptoms of Parkinson Disease and in 2006 we established this as the main diagnosis. In 2009 he presented neuropsychiatric symptoms such as apathy, anhedonia, social isolation, blunted affect, visual and auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusions, soliloquies, and the false belief that his wife and daughter had been replaced by identical impostors. We established the diagnosis of Capgras Syndrome. This case is clinically relevant because of the presentation of its symptoms, its evolution and its presenting comorbidity