(S)-2-(1H-Imidazol-1-yl)succinic acid

The title compound, C7H8N2O4, is a zwitterion, [formal name = (S)-3-carb­oxy-2-(imidazol-3-ium-1-yl)propano­ate], in which the deproton­ated negatively charged carboxyl­ate end shows almost identical C—O bond distances [1.248 (4) and 1.251 (4) Å] due to resonance. The mol­ecules are involved in inter­molecular O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which define a tightly bound three-dimensional structure

Detection of Leishmania DNA in wild foxes and associated ticks in Patagonia, Argentina, 2000 km south of its known distribution area

Indexación: Web of Science; PubMedBackground: Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis (ZVL) is a vector-borne disease affecting humans and other mammals and caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum (syn. L. chagasi), belonging to the L. donovani complex. The regions in Northern Argentina (above 32 degrees S) are its southern distribution limit in South America. Results: We detected Leishmania sp. DNA (most likely belonging to the L. donovani complex) in 37.5 % of 32 grey foxes (Pseudalopex griseus) captured in Argentinean Patagonia (48 degrees S and 50 degrees S). Eleven monosexual pools of Amblyomma tigrinum ticks from eight different foxes (six grey foxes and two culpeo foxes P. culpaeus) were also positive. The southernmost known distribution limit for L. infantum, and the southernmost reported capture of a phlebotominae, had previously been 2000 and 750 km north of our study area, respectively. Conclusions: This finding is significant because it markedly extends the distribution area of leishmaniasis; supports the existence of a sylvatic cycle in the absence of dogs; and has implications in transmission, indicating that either sand fly distribution is broader than currently thought or non-sand fly Leishmania maintenance is possible. Additional molecular, parasitological, epidemiological and entomological studies are still needed.http://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-016-1515-

A legal-ecological understanding of favorable conservation status for species in Europe

Legislation for the preservation of biodiversity has been instrumental to the recovery of multiple species and habitats. The European Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC is one of the strongest legal tools in nature conservation. This Directive seeks to achieve its biodiversity goals by requiring EU Member States to take measures to reach or maintain favorable conservation status (FCS) of natural habitats and species in Europe. FCS is a legal concept, but must be understood and applied by scientists, managers, and policy makers, and therefore a proper interpretation of this concept is crucial for biodiversity conservation and wildlife management. However, its definition contains several aspects that can lead to misinterpretation, forming the core of controversies in determining whether or not populations have reached FCS. In this review, we provide legal and ecological clarifications of the most contested aspects of FCS that have not yet been conclusively settled by analyzing and weighing a variety of sources

The Hubble Tension Survey: A Statistical Analysis of the 2012-2022 Measurements

In order to investigate the potential Hubble tension, we compile a catalogue of 216 measurements of the Hubble--Lema\^itre constant $H_0$ between 2012 and 2022, which includes 109 model-independent measurements and 107 $\Lambda$CDM model-based measurements. Statistical analyses of these measurements show that the deviations of the results with respect to the average $H_0$ are far larger than expected from their error bars if they follow a Gaussian distribution. We find that $x\sigma$ deviation is indeed equivalent in a Gaussian distribution to $x_{\rm eq}\sigma$ deviation in the frequency of values, where $x_{\rm eq}=0.72x^{0.88}$. Hence, a tension of 5$\sigma$, estimated between the Cepheid-calibrated type Ia supernovae and cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, is indeed a 3$\sigma$ tension in equivalent terms of a Gaussian distribution of frequencies. However, this recalibration should be independent of the data whose tension we want to test. If we adopt the previous analysis of data of 1976-2019, the equivalent tension is reduced to $2.25\sigma$. Covariance terms due to correlations of measurements do not significantly change the results. Nonetheless, the separation of the data into two blocks with $H_0<71$ and $H_0\ge 71$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ finds compatibility with a Gaussian distribution for each of them without removing any outlier. These statistical results indicate that the underestimation of error bars for $H_0$ remains prevalent over the past decade, dominated by systematic errors in the methodologies of CMB and local distance ladder analyses.Comment: Accepted to be published in MNRA

Is it necessary managing carnivores to reverse the decline of endangered prey species? Insights from a removal experiment of mesocarnivores to benefit demographic parameters of the pyrenean capercaillie

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.Mesopredator control has long been used to alleviate the effect of elevated predation pressure on vulnerable, threatened or valuable species. However, the convenience of using mesopredator controls is technically questionable and scientifically-sound research is therefore required to evaluate the impact of predation on prey case by case. In this study we evaluated the effect of the alteration of terrestrial mesopredator dynamics on the demographic parameters of a relict capercaillie Tetrao urogallus aquitanicus population currently in decline for which the impact of predation has not previously been assessed. We used a six-year mesocarnivore removal experiment (2008-2013) together with seven-years of previous demographic information on capercaillies (1999-2007) within a before-after controlimpact (BACI) design to evaluate the effect of mesocarnivore removal on capercaillie demographic parameters and on spatial behaviour of the most frequent predatory mesocarnivores of the capercaillie (Martes spp. and red fox Vulpes vulpes). Using a dynamic siteoccupancy approach, the reduction of mesocarnivore population levels as a result of removal was clear for marten species, mainly during key months for capercaillie reproduction, but not for the red fox. Our results show that the breeding success of capercaillies was enhanced in areas where carnivores were removed and was inversely related to the occupation level of the studied mesocarnivores, although being only significant for Martes spp. Moreover, capercaillie predation rates were lower and adult survival seemingly higher in treatment during the removal phase. Cost-effective, long-term management interventions to ensure the recovery of this threatened capercaillie population are discussed in the light of the results. At our study area, the decision for implementing predation management should be included within a broader long-term conservation perspective. In this regard, a more feasible and sustainable management intervention in ecological and economic terms may be to balance the impact of mesocarnivores on capercaillies through the recovery of apex predators.The present work was commissioned by the Spanish Ministry of Environment, and the GALLIPYR-POCTEFA 2007 cofunded by the Generalitat de Catalunya and the European Union, who provided support in the form of salaries for authors [RM-O, IA, JP, JM-I], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. JVLB received a postdoctoral grant “Juan de la Cierva” from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.”Peer Reviewe

Intensity of Territorial Marking Predicts Wolf Reproduction: Implications for Wolf Monitoring

BACKGROUND: The implementation of intensive and complex approaches to monitor large carnivores is resource demanding, restricted to endangered species, small populations, or small distribution ranges. Wolf monitoring over large spatial scales is difficult, but the management of such contentious species requires regular estimations of abundance to guide decision-makers. The integration of wolf marking behaviour with simple sign counts may offer a cost-effective alternative to monitor the status of wolf populations over large spatial scales. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used a multi-sampling approach, based on the collection of visual and scent wolf marks (faeces and ground scratching) and the assessment of wolf reproduction using howling and observation points, to test whether the intensity of marking behaviour around the pup-rearing period (summer-autumn) could reflect wolf reproduction. Between 1994 and 2007 we collected 1,964 wolf marks in a total of 1,877 km surveyed and we searched for the pups' presence (1,497 howling and 307 observations points) in 42 sampling sites with a regular presence of wolves (120 sampling sites/year). The number of wolf marks was ca. 3 times higher in sites with a confirmed presence of pups (20.3 vs. 7.2 marks). We found a significant relationship between the number of wolf marks (mean and maximum relative abundance index) and the probability of wolf reproduction. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This research establishes a real-time relationship between the intensity of wolf marking behaviour and wolf reproduction. We suggest a conservative cutting point of 0.60 for the probability of wolf reproduction to monitor wolves on a regional scale combined with the use of the mean relative abundance index of wolf marks in a given area. We show how the integration of wolf behaviour with simple sampling procedures permit rapid, real-time, and cost-effective assessments of the breeding status of wolf packs with substantial implications to monitor wolves at large spatial scales

Magnetic molecularly imprinted stirring bar for isolation of patulin using grafting technique

The 19th International Electronic Conference on Synthetic Organic Chemistry session Polymer and Supramolecular ChemistryMycotoxins are low-molecular-weight natural products with great structural diversity produced as secondary metabolites by fungi. One of the principal toxic fungal metabolites is patulin (PAT), produced by over 30 genera of mold including species as Penicillium expansum or Penicillium griseofulvum, and normally related to vegetable-based products and fruit, mainly apple. These mold grow easily in damaged fruit or in derived-product as juices if storage conditions are deficient. Some of the most serious effects of PAT ingestion are agitation, convulsions, edema, ulceration intestinal, inflammation and vomiting. Thus, European Regulation 1881/2006 established a maximum content of 10 ppb in infant fruit juices, 50 ppb for fruit juices in adults and 25 ppb in fruit-derived products. Nowadays, the official analytical method for food adopted by AOAC International is HPLC with UV detection, using clean-up with ethyl acetate and sodium carbonate. However, the diverse drawbacks of this method (poor stability of PAT under alkaline extraction, poor resolution between PAT and co-extracted hydroxymethylfurfural) have originated interest in alternative options, such as LC methods coupled to mass spectrometry. In the last years, purification with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) started to be used, and are becoming promising materials for extracting different analytes present in food. Mycotoxins are too toxic or too expensive to be used as template molecules in MIP preparation. Template “bleeding” may be an additional problem, especially when dealing with very low detection levels. In the present work, a rapid and selective method based on magnetic molecularly imprinted stir-bar (MMIB) extraction has been developed for the isolation of PAT. A structural analogue, 2-oxindole, was used as dummy template. The polymer was grafted to the silanized glass surface of the stir ba

Development of a novel molecularly imprinted stir-bar for isolation of aflatoxins

The 19th International Electronic Conference on Synthetic Organic Chemistry session Polymer and Supramolecular ChemistryMycotoxins are natural substances produced as secondary metabolites by a wide variety of different species of filamentous fungi. One of the most important groups in terms of occurrence and toxicity, is the group of aflatoxins (AFs). The major members of this group are aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2, M1 and M2. Exposure to AFs can cause chronic and acute toxic effects or death, as they can be carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and immunosuppressive. AFB1 is considered as the strongest carcinogen of natural origin and it is normally predominant in crops as well as in food products. Aflatoxin M1 is a major metabolite of aflatoxin B1 in humans and animals and it may be present in milk from animals fed with contaminated feed. Although the toxicity of M1 is about ten times lower than B1, it is known for its hepatotoxic and carcinogenic effects. Solid phase extraction (SPE) or the clean-up with organic solvents or immunoaffinity columns (IAC) have been frequently applied in the analysis of mycotoxins from cereals and/or milk. IAC in combination with HPLC are increasingly used as reference method due to their high selectivity and good elimination of matrix interferences. However, the cost of analysis is usually high. In recent years, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) have been become very popular and promising materials for extracting different analytes. AFs are too toxic to be used in MIP preparation and template bleeding may be an additional problem, especially when dealing with very low levels. For this reason, a dummy template was preferred for MIP synthesis. A rapid and selective extraction method based on magnetic MIP (MMIP) has been developed for the isolation of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2, M1) using a combination of imprinted polymer and magnetite. The successful MMIP stirring “cake” (used as a stir-bar) has been combined with HPLC-MS/MS for the determination of AFM1 in milk powder (infant formulas) to demonstrate its applicability to real sample

Revisiting constraints on the photon rest mass with cosmological fast radio bursts

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) have been suggested as an excellent celestial laboratory for testing the zero-mass hypothesis of the photon. In this work, we use the dispersion measure (DM)--redshift measurements of 23 localized FRBs to revisit the photon rest mass $m_{\gamma}$. As an improvement over previous studies, here we take into account the more realistic probability distributions of DMs contributed by the FRB host galaxy and intergalactic medium (IGM) from the IllustrisTNG simulation. To better account for the systematic uncertainty induced by the choices of priors of cosmological parameters, we also combine the FRB data with the cosmic microwave background data, the baryon acoustic oscillation data, and type Ia supernova data to constrain the cosmological parameters and $m_{\gamma}$ simultaneously. We derive a new upper limit of $m_{\gamma}\le3.8\times 10^{-51}\;\rm{kg}$, or equivalently $m_{\gamma}\le2.1 \times 10^{-15} \, \rm{eV/c^2}$ ($m_{\gamma} \le 7.2 \times 10^{-51} \, \rm{kg}$, or equivalently $m_{\gamma}\le4.0 \times 10^{-15} \, \rm{eV/c^2}$) at $1\sigma$ ($2\sigma$) confidence level. Meanwhile, our analysis can also lead to a reasonable estimation for the IGM baryon fraction $f_{\rm IGM}=0.873^{+0.061}_{-0.050}$. With the number increment of localized FRBs, the constraints on both $m_{\gamma}$ and $f_{\rm IGM}$ will be further improved. A caveat of constraining $m_{\gamma}$ within the context of the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model is also discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, 3 table