Social Media Data Can Be Used to Understand Tourists’ Preferences for Nature-Based Experiences in Protected Areas

Can social media data be used as an alternative to traditional surveys to understand tourists’ preferences for nature-based experiences in protected areas? We explored this by comparing preferences for biodiversity obtained from a traditional survey conducted in Kruger National Park, South Africa, with observed preferences assessed from over 13,600 pictures shared on Instagram and Flickr by tourists visiting the park in the same period. We found no significant difference between the preferences of tourists as stated in the surveys and the preferences revealed by social media content. Overall, large-bodied mammals were found to be the favorite group, both in the survey and on social media platforms. However, Flickr was found to better match tourists’ preference for less-charismatic biodiversity. Our findings suggest that social media content can be used as a cost-efficient way to explore, and for more continuous monitoring of, preferences for biodiversity and human activities in protected areas.Peer reviewe

Genotoxic mechanisms for the carcinogenicity of the environmental pollutants and carcinogens o-anisidine and 2-nitroanisole follow from adducts generated by their metabolite N-(2-methoxyphenyl)-hydroxylamine with deoxyguanosine in DNA

An aromatic amine, o-anisidine (2-methoxyaniline) and its oxidative counterpart, 2-nitroanisole (2-methoxynitrobenzene), are the industrial and environmental pollutants causing tumors of the urinary bladder in rats and mice. Both carcinogens are activated to the same proximate carcinogenic metabolite, N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine, which spontaneously decomposes to nitrenium and/or carbenium ions responsible for formation of deoxyguanosine adducts in DNA in vitro and in vivo. In other words, generation of N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine is responsible for the genotoxic mechanisms of the o-anisidine and 2-nitroanisole carcinogenicity. Analogous enzymes of human and rat livers are capable of activating these carcinogens. Namely, human and rat cytochorme P4502E1 is the major enzyme oxidizing o-anisidine to N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine, while xanthine oxidase of both species reduces 2-nitroanisole to this metabolite. Likewise, O-demethylation of 2-nitroanisole, which is the detoxication pathway of its metabolism, is also catalyzed by the same human and rat enzyme, cytochorme P450 2E1. The results demonstrate that the rat is a suitable animal model mimicking the fate of both carcinogens in humans and suggest that both compounds are potential carcinogens also for humans

Cytochrome P450-mediated metabolism of N-(2-methoxyphenyl)-hydroxylamine, a human metabolite of the environmental pollutants and carcinogens o-anisidine and o-nitroanisole

N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine is a human metabolite of the industrial and environmental pollutants and bladder carcinogens 2-methoxyaniline (o-anisidine) and 2-methoxynitrobenzene (o-nitroanisole). Here, we investigated the ability of hepatic microsomes from rat and rabbit to metabolize this reactive compound. We found that N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine is metabolized by microsomes of both species mainly to o-aminophenol and a parent carcinogen, o-anisidine, whereas 2-methoxynitrosobenzene (o-nitrosoanisole) is formed as a minor metabolite. Another N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine metabolite, the exact structure of which has not been identified as yet, was generated by hepatic microsomes of rabbits, but its formation by those of rats was negligible. To evaluate the role of rat hepatic microsomal cytochromes P450 (CYP) in N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine metabolism, we investigated the modulation of its metabolism by specific inducers of these enzymes. The results of this study show that rat hepatic CYPs of a 1A subfamily and, to a lesser extent those of a 2B subfamily, catalyze N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine conversion to form both its reductive metabolite, o-anisidine, and o-aminophenol. CYP2E1 is the most efficient enzyme catalyzing conversion of N-(2-methoxyphenyl)hydroxylamine to o-aminophenol

Auditory and Visual Electrophysiology of Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants: Implications for Cross-modal Plasticity

Deaf children who receive a cochlear implant early in life and engage in intensive oral/aural therapy often make great strides in spoken language acquisition. However, despite clinicians’ best efforts, there is a great deal of variability in language outcomes. One concern is that cortical regions which normally support auditory processing may become reorganized for visual function, leaving fewer available resources for auditory language acquisition. The conditions under which these changes occur are not well understood, but we may begin investigating this phenomenon by looking for interactions between auditory and visual evoked cortical potentials in deaf children. If children with abnormal auditory responses show increased sensitivity to visual stimuli, this may indicate the presence of maladaptive cortical plasticity. We recorded evoked potentials, using both auditory and visual paradigms, from 25 typical hearing children and 26 deaf children (ages 2–8 years) with cochlear implants. An auditory oddball paradigm was used (85% /ba/ syllables vs. 15% frequency modulated tone sweeps) to elicit an auditory P1 component. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded during presentation of an intermittent peripheral radial checkerboard while children watched a silent cartoon, eliciting a P1–N1 response. We observed reduced auditory P1 amplitudes and a lack of latency shift associated with normative aging in our deaf sample. We also observed shorter latencies in N1 VEPs to visual stimulus offset in deaf participants. While these data demonstrate cortical changes associated with auditory deprivation, we did not find evidence for a relationship between cortical auditory evoked potentials and the VEPs. This is consistent with descriptions of intra-modal plasticity within visual systems of deaf children, but do not provide evidence for cross-modal plasticity. In addition, we note that sign language experience had no effect on deaf children’s early auditory and visual ERP responses