Records on the food plants used by two indigenous Mbyá - Guaraní communities at the San Rafael National Park Reserve, Itapúa – Paraguay

La biodiversidad vegetal representa la riqueza de especies de un determinado lugar y está relacionada con términos como florística, taxonomía y sistemática. Desde el enfoque etnobotánico se abordan las interrelaciones establecidas entre el hombre y las plantas, se interpreta la biodiversidad vegetal como parte de la diversidad biocultural o biodiversidad cultural. Los Mbyá ? Guaraní son una parcialidad indígena perteneciente a la familia lingüística Tupí Guaraní que tradicionalmente habita en el Bosque Atlántico del Alto Paraná ? BAAPA. El presente estudio se realizó en dos comunidades Mbyá - Guaraní de la Reserva para Parque San Rafael, el cual constituye uno de los últimos remanentes del BAAPA. El objetivo de este trabajo fue registrar los conocimientos sobre las plantas utilizadas en la alimentación, de la flora local nativa y exótica, dando un enfoque principal a las especies nativas silvestres comestibles. Fueron identificadas 100 especies vegetales vinculadas a la alimentación, distribuidas en 41 familias botánicas y 83 géneros.The plant biodiversity represents the species richness of a particular place and is related to terms like floristics, taxonomy and systematics. From an ethnobotanical standpoint, in which the established relationships between man and plants are addressed, this plant biodiversity is interpreted as part of the biocultural diversity or cultural biodiversity. The Mbyá - Guaraní are an ethnic group that belongs to the Tupí Guaraní indigenous language family, and traditionally inhabits the Atlantic Forest of Alto Paraná – BAAPA (for its acronym in spanish). This study was conducted in two Mbyá - Guaraní communities at the San Rafael National Park Reserve, which constitutes one of the last remnants of BAAPA. The aim of this study was to record the knowledge on exotic and native plants used as food, and give primary focus to native wild edible species. We identified 100 plant species used as food, distributed in 41 botanical families and 83 generaFil: Dujak, M.. Universidad Nacional de Asuncion; ParaguayFil: Ferrucci, María Silvia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Nordeste. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste (i); ArgentinaFil: Vera Jiménez, M.. Universidad Nacional de Asuncion; ParaguayFil: Pineda, J.. Universidad Nacional de Asuncion; ParaguayFil: Chaparro, E.. Universidad Nacional de Asuncion; ParaguayFil: Brítez, M.. Universidad Nacional de Asuncion; Paragua

Facial expressions depicting compassionate and critical emotions: the development and validation of a new emotional face stimulus set

Attachment with altruistic others requires the ability to appropriately process affiliative and kind facial cues. Yet there is no stimulus set available to investigate such processes. Here, we developed a stimulus set depicting compassionate and critical facial expressions, and validated its effectiveness using well-established visual-probe methodology. In Study 1, 62 participants rated photographs of actors displaying compassionate/kind and critical faces on strength of emotion type. This produced a new stimulus set based on N = 31 actors, whose facial expressions were reliably distinguished as compassionate, critical and neutral. In Study 2, 70 participants completed a visual-probe task measuring attentional orientation to critical and compassionate/kind faces. This revealed that participants lower in self-criticism demonstrated enhanced attention to compassionate/kind faces whereas those higher in self-criticism showed no bias. To sum, the new stimulus set produced interpretable findings using visual-probe methodology and is the first to include higher order, complex positive affect displays

Gender and observed complexity in palliative home care : A prospective multicentre study using the hexcom model

This study analyses gender differences in the complexity observed in palliative home care through a multicentre longitudinal observational study of patients with advanced disease treated by palliative home care teams in Catalonia (Spain). We used the HexCom model, which includes six dimensions and measures three levels of complexity: high (non-modifiable situation), medium (difficult) and low. Results: N = 1677 people, 44% women. In contrast with men, in women, cancer was less prevalent (64.4% vs. 73.9%) (p < 0.001), cognitive impairment was more prevalent (34.1% vs. 26.6%; p = 0.001) and professional caregivers were much more common (40.3% vs. 24.3%; p < 0.001). Women over 80 showed less complexity in the following subareas: symptom management (41.7% vs. 51,1%; p = 0.011), emotional distress (24.5% vs. 32.8%; p = 0.015), spiritual distress (16.4% vs. 26.4%; p = 0.001), socio-familial distress (62.7% vs. 70.1%; p = 0.036) and location of death (36.0% vs. 49.6%; p < 0.000). Men were more complex in the subareas of "practice" OR = 1.544 (1.25-1.90 p = 0.000) and "transcendence" OR = 1.52 (1.16-1.98 p = 0.002). Observed complexity is related to male gender in people over 80 years of age. Women over the age of 80 are remarkably different from their male counterparts, showing less complexity regarding care for their physical, psycho-emotional, spiritual and socio-familial needs

Ex vivo, in situ perfusion protocol for human brain fixation compatible with microscopy, MRI techniques, and anatomical studies

We present a method for human brain fixation based on simultaneous perfusion of 4% paraformaldehyde through carotids after a flush with saline. The left carotid cannula is used to perfuse the body with 10% formalin, to allow further use of the body for anatomical research or teaching. The aim of our method is to develop a vascular fixation protocol for the human brain, by adapting protocols that are commonly used in experimental animal studies. We show that a variety of histological procedures can be carried out (cyto- and myeloarchitectonics, histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, intracellular cell injection, and electron microscopy). In addition, ex vivo, ex situ high-resolution MRI (9.4T) can be obtained in the same specimens. This procedure resulted in similar morphological features to those obtained by intravascular perfusion in experimental animals, provided that the postmortem interval was under 10 h for several of the techniques used and under 4 h in the case of intracellular injections and electron microscopy. The use of intravascular fixation of the brain inside the skull provides a fixed whole human brain, perfectly fitted to the skull, with negligible deformation compared to conventional techniques. Given this characteristic of ex vivo, in situ fixation, this procedure can probably be considered the most suitable one available for ex vivo MRI scans of the brain. We describe the compatibility of the method proposed for intravascular fixation of the human brain and fixation of the donor’s body for anatomical purposes. Thus, body donor programs can provide human brain tissue, while the remainder of the body can also be fixed for anatomical studies. Therefore, this method of human brain fixation through the carotid system optimizes the procurement of human brain tissue, allowing a greater understanding of human neurological diseases, while benefiting anatomy departments by making the remainder of the body available for teaching purposes.This work was supported in part by the National Institute of Health (Grant R01 AG056014-R01), a UCLM travel grant (to RI), a UCLM research grant to Human Neuroanatomy Laboratory (2020-GRIN-28837), and project EQC2019-006341-P (AEI/FEDER UE)

Isolation, Characterization and Lipid-Binding Properties of the Recalcitrant FtsA Division Protein from Escherichia coli

We have obtained milligram amounts of highly pure Escherichia coli division protein FtsA from inclusion bodies with an optimized purification method that, by overcoming the reluctance of FtsA to be purified, surmounts a bottleneck for the analysis of the molecular basis of FtsA function. Purified FtsA is folded, mostly monomeric and interacts with lipids. The apparent affinity of FtsA binding to the inner membrane is ten-fold higher than to phospholipids, suggesting that inner membrane proteins could modulate FtsA-membrane interactions. Binding of FtsA to lipids and membranes is insensitive to ionic strength, indicating that a net contribution of hydrophobic interactions is involved in the association of FtsA to lipid/membrane structures

ICES. 2020. Working Group on Acoustic and Egg Surveys for Sardine and Anchovy in ICES areas 7, 8 and 9

he Working Group on Acoustic and Egg Surveys (WGACEGG) coordinates pelagic surveys for a number of stocks and provides monitoring for the two major sardine and anchovy stocks in ICES areas 6, 7, 8, and 9. The group evaluated small pelagic fish biomass indices derived from acoustic and Daily Egg Production Method (DEPM) surveys in ICES areas 6, 7, 8 and 9. These indices have been provided to the ICES Working Group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy and Sardine (WGHANSA), the Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE) and the Herring Assessment Working Group for the Area South of 62ºN (HAWG) stock assessment group, to serve as fishery-independent input for analytical assessment purposes. DEPM and acoustic indices were derived based on data collected using independent methods. Acoustic- and DEPM-derived biomass indices from quasi-synoptic surveys conducted in the Bay of Biscay in spring were compared, to assess the presence of potential bias and to improve the precision of fish stock biomass estimates. The DEPM-based anchovy biomass index was 22% higher than the acoustic index in 2019. Unusual concentrations of anchovy in Eastern Cantabrian Sea, an area not covered by the acoustic survey, and the presence near the sea surface of actively spawning individuals possibly under-sampled by acoustics in central Bay of Bay had been postulated as potential causes of this discrepancy. No significant difference was found between sardine biomass indices derived from DEPM and acoustics in 2019. The group has updated its database of standard gridded maps covering the European Atlantic area. This initiative continues to inform on the spatial dynamics of various parameters collected during the surveys coordinated under the auspices of the group (fish acoustic densities, anchovy and sardine egg abundance, surface temperature and salinity). Results of an analysis of the time series of gridded maps (anchovy and sardine acoustic density, surface salinity and temperature) showed quantitative changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of anchovy and sardine over the last 15 years, and further define their habitats in European Atlantic waters in spring. The timing and spatial coverage of DEPM and acoustic surveys that will be conducted by group members in 2020 were planned to optimise the monitoring of anchovy and sardine populations and their pelagic environment in the European Atlantic area. The synoptic nature of the survey components has been assessed for each target species. A manual describing the protocols used during the DEPM surveys coordinated by the WGACEGG group was reviewed, and writing of a manual of WGACEGG acoustic surveys continued. Both manuals will be available in 2020. The final results of the 2017 sardine DEPM assessment were endorsed by the group

Cross-protection of the Bivalent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Against Variants of Genetically Related High-Risk HPV Infections

BackgroundResults from the Costa Rica Vaccine Trial (CVT) demonstrated partial cross-protection by the bivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which targets HPV-16 and HPV-18, against HPV-31, -33, and -45 infection and an increased incidence of HPV-51 infection.MethodsA study nested within the CVT intention-to-treat cohort was designed to assess high-risk HPV variant lineage-specific vaccine efficacy (VE). The 2 main end points were (1) long-term incident infections persisting for ≥2 years and/or progression to high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (ie, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2/3 [CIN 2/3]) and (2) incident transient infections lasting for &lt;2 years. For efficiency, incident infections due to HPV-16, -18, -31, -33, -35, -45, and -51 resulting in persistent infection and/or CIN 2/3 were matched (ratio, 1:2) to the more-frequent transient viral infections, by HPV type. Variant lineages were determined by sequencing the upstream regulatory region and/or E6 region.ResultsVEs against persistent or transient infections with HPV-16, -18, -33, -35, -45, and -51 did not differ significantly by variant lineage. As the possible exception, VEs against persistent infection and/or CIN 2/3 due to HPV-31 A/B and HPV-31C variants were -7.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], -33.9% to 0%) and 86.4% (95% CI, 65.1%-97.1%), respectively (P = .02 for test of equal VE). No difference in VE was observed by variant among transient HPV-31 infections (P = .68).ConclusionsOverall, sequence variation at the variant level does not appear to explain partial cross-protection by the bivalent HPV vaccine

Diagnosis of Cystic Echinococcosis, Central Peruvian Highlands

High prevalence was confirmed by ultrasonography, radiography, and 2 serologic tests, although usefulness of serologic testing in the field was limited

Temperature effects on energy production by salinity exchange

This is an unedited version of this paper. The publisher version can be reached in this URL: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es500634fIn recent years, the capacitance of the interface between charged electrodes and ionic solutions (the electric double layer) has been investigated as a source of clean energy. Charge is placed on the electrodes either by means of ion-exchange membranes or of an external power source. In the latter method, net energy is produced by simple solution exchange in open circuit, due to the associated decrease in the capacitance of the electric double layer. In this work, we consider the change in capacitance associated with temperature variations: the former decreases when temperature is raised, and, hence, a cycle is possible in which some charge is put on the electrode at a certain potential and returned at a higher one. We demonstrate experimentally that it is thus viable to obtain energy from electric double layers if these are successively contacted with water at different temperatures. In addition, we show theoretically and experimentally that temperature and salinity variations can be conveniently combined to maximize the electrode potential increase. The resulting available energy is also estimated.Departamento de Física AplicadaThe research leading to these results received funding from the European Union 7th Frame-work Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under agreement No. 256868. Further Financial supports from Junta de Andalucía, project FQM 694, and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain), project FIS2013-47666-C3-1-R

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes