The 8-Odorant Barcelona Olfactory Test (BOT-8): Validation of a New Test in the Spanish Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19; Pèrdua d'olfacte; Prova de l'olfacteCOVID-19; Loss of smell; Smell testCOVID-19; Pérdida de olfato; Prueba del olfatoBackground and objective: Most smell tests are difficult to implement in daily clinical practice owing to their long duration. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a short, easy-to-perform, and reusable smell test to be implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study population comprised 120 healthy adults and 195 patients with self-reported olfactory dysfunction (OD). The 8-Odorant Barcelona Olfactory Test (BOT-8) was used for detection, memory/recognition, and forced-choice identification. In addition, a rose threshold test was performed, and a visual analog scale was applied. The Smell Diskettes Olfaction Test (SDOT) was used for correlation in healthy volunteers, and the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) was used for patients with OD to establish cut-offs for anosmia and hyposmia. In order to take account of the COVID-19 pandemic, disposable cotton swabs with odorants were compared with the original test. Results: In healthy persons, the mean (SD) BOT-8 score was 100% for detection, 94.5% (1.07) for memory/recognition, and 89.6% (0.86) for identification. In patients with OD, the equivalent values were 86% (32.8), 73.2% (37.9), and 77.1% (34.2), respectively. BOT-8 demonstrated good test-retest reliability, with agreement of 96.7% and a quadratic k of 0.84 (P<.001). A strong correlation was observed between BOT-8 and SDOT (r=0.67, P<.001) and UPSIT (r=0.86, P<.001). Agreement was excellent for disposable cotton swabs, with a k of 0.79 compared with the original test. The cut-off point for anosmia was ≤3 (area under the curve, 0.83; sensitivity, 0.673; specificity, 0.993). Conclusion: BOT-8 offers an efficient and fast method for assessment of smell threshold, detection, memory, and identification in daily clinical practice. Disposable cotton swabs with odorants proved to be useful and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic

Paediatric Barcelona Olfactory Test-6 (pBOT-6): Validation of a Combined Odour Identification and Threshold Screening Test in Healthy Spanish Children and Adolescents

Background: Few odour tests have been created for children. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a simple and quick olfactory test, suitable for the evaluation of odour identification and threshold in a Spanish paediatric population, the paediatric Barcelona Olfactory Test-6 (pBOT-6).The pBOT-6 consisted in a set of 6 odorants for a forced-choice identification test (IT), and a 6 dilutions phenyl ethyl alcohol geometric series for the threshold test (TT). The pBOT-6 was compared with the U-sniff test (a validated international paediatric smell test) in 131 Spanish healthy volunteers aged 6-17 years. A Bland-Altman plot was used to determine the agreement between two tests. Reliability was analyzed in fifteenvolunteers using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Normative data was obtained and 8 children diagnosed with subjective smell loss were tested for validation.Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated a minimal bias of -1.71% with upper and lower limit of agreement of -31.1% and 27.6%, respectively. The ICC was 0.83 (95% CI 0.6-0.96) for the IT and 0.73 (95% CI 0.36-0.9) for the TT, showing excellent and good consistency between measurements over time. Mean pBOT-6 scores were significantly higher in healthy volunteers compared with patients with smell loss. Discrimination between normosmia and smell loss was achieved with a sensitivity of 96.9% and a specificity of 100%.The pBOT-6 offers an effectiveand fast method useful in clinical routine to distinguish, with high sensitivity and specificity, between paediatric patients with normosmia and those with smell dysfunction

Barcelona Olfactory Test - 8: validation of a new test on Spanish population during COVID-19 pandemic

In daily clinical practice, most smell tests are difficult to implement due to their long duration. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a short, easy to perform, and reusable smell test to be implemented during COVID-19 pandemic.120 healthy adults and 195 patients with self-reported olfactory dysfunction (OD) were included. Barcelona Olfactory Test (BOT-8) was used for detection, memory/recognition, and forced-choice identification. In addition, rose threshold test and VAS was performed. The Smell Diskettes Olfaction test (SDOT) was used for correlation in healthy volunteers, and UPSITTM for patients with OD to stablish an anosmia and hyposmia cut-off point. Considering COVID-19 pandemic disposable cotton swabs with odorants were compared with the original test.In healthy population, BOT-8 mean scores for detection was 100%, memory/recognition was 94.5% (SD=1.07), and identification was 89.6% (SD=0.86). In OD patients was 86% (SD=32.8), 73.2% (SD=37.9) and 77.1% (SD=34.2), respectively. BOT-8 demonstrated good test-retest reliability with a 96.7% of observed agreement and a quadratic kappa of 0.84 (p<0.001). Strong correlation was observed for BOT-8 with SDOT (r=0.67, p<0.001) and UPSITTM (r=0.86, p<0.001). Disposable cotton swabs showed an excellent agreement with a kappa of 0.79 compared to the original test. The cut-off point for anosmia was ? 3 (AUC=0.83, Se= 0.673, Sp=0.993).BOT-8 offers an efficient and fast method to be used in clinical routine to assess the smell threshold, detection, memory, and identification. Disposable cotton swabs with odorants are a useful and safe method during the COVID-19 pandemic

The ECOTRANS Project: unraveling the trophic pathways and energy transfer from small pelagic fish to top predators in the Mediterranean Sea

Peer Reviewe

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data

Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil

Abstract An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora