Cognitive and functional differences in aging with and without intellectual disabilities: Observational study

The lifespan of people with cognitive disabilities (ID) has increased significantly, but the cognitive aspects together with the functional ones comparing normal aging and those with intellectual disabilities had not been previously studied. Objective: This study analyzed the cognitive and functional differences in older adults aging with ID (and with DS), compared with their peers without disabilities, in order to identify the most adapted interventions. Methodology: This study evaluated the outcome variables of MEC, Set-Test, Barthel, Lawton–Brody, and Tinetti with 247 participants: 146 without ID and 101 ID (29 with DS and 72 without DS). Results: At the cognitive level, older people with ID presented lower scores both in MEC (p < 0.01), globally and in each cognitive domain (except in short-term memory), and in verbal fluency (Set-Test) than older people without ID; however, the diagnosis of cognitive impairment and dementia is higher in people without ID. At the functional level, there are no differences in ABDL, but there are in AIDL and Tinetti (p < 0.01), where participants without ID obtain higher scores. The most frequent pathologies in people with ID were obesity and epilepsy. Conclusions: The lower cognitive and functional performance in ID is associated with the disability itself, the low educational level, the neurocognitive underdiagnosis, and the use of poorly adapted assessment tools. The cognitive and functional results indicated the importance of interventions adapted to the characteristics of this population, in their aging process. © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Salt Stress in Cultivated Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and in S. insanum L., a Close Wild Relative

[EN] Eggplant (Solanum melongena) has been described as moderately sensitive to salinity. We characterised the responses to salt stress of eggplant andS. insanum, its putative wild ancestor. Young plants of two accessions of both species were watered for 25 days with an irrigation solution containing NaCl at concentrations of 0 (control), 50, 100, 200, and 300 mM. Plant growth, photosynthetic activity, concentrations of photosynthetic pigments, K+, Na+, and Cl(-)ions, proline, total soluble sugars, malondialdehyde, total phenolics, and total flavonoids, as well as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione reductase specific activities, were quantified. Salt stress-induced reduction of growth was greater inS. melongenathan inS. insanum.The photosynthetic activity decreased in both species, except for substomatal CO2 concentration (Ci) inS. insanum, although the photosynthetic pigments were not degraded in the presence of NaCl. The levels of Na+ and Cl(-)increased in roots and leaves with increasing NaCl doses, but leaf K(+)concentrations were maintained, indicating a relative stress tolerance in the two accessions, which also did not seem to suffer a remarkable degree of salt-induced oxidative stress. Our results suggest that the higher salt tolerance ofS. insanummostly lies in its ability to accumulate higher concentrations of proline and, to a lesser extent, Na(+)and Cl-. The results obtained indicate thatS. insanumis a good candidate for improving salt tolerance in eggplant through breeding and introgression programmes.This work was undertaken as part of the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing CropWild Relatives", which is supported by the Government of Norway and managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust. For further information, see the project website: http://cwrdiversity.org/. Funding was also received from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant RTI-2018-094592-B-100 from MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 677379 (Linking genetic resources, genomes, and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops; G2P-SOL) and Vicerrectorado de Investigacion, Innovacion y Transferencia de la Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Ayuda a Primeros Proyectos de Investigacion; PAID-06-18). Mariola Plazas is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for a post-doctoral grant (APOSTD/2018/014). Marco Brenes is indebted to the Faculty of Biology of the Costa Rica Institute of Technology for partially supporting his stay in Valencia ("Fondo Solidario y Desarrollo Estudiantil").Brenes, M.; Solana, A.; Boscaiu, M.; Fita, A.; Vicente, O.; Calatayud, Á.; Prohens Tomás, J.... (2020). 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Genetic characterization of Carnivore Parvoviruses in Spanish wildlife reveals domestic dog and cat-related sequences

The impact of carnivore parvovirus infection on wild populations is not yet understood; disease signs are mainly developed in pups and assessing the health of litters in wild carnivores has big limitations. This study aims to shed light on the virus dynamics among wild carnivores thanks to the analysis of 213 samples collected between 1994 and 2013 in wild ecosystems from Spain. We determined the presence of carnivore parvovirus DNA by real‐time PCR and sequenced the vp2 gen from 22 positive samples to characterize the strains and to perform phylogenetic analysis. The presence of carnivore parvovirus DNA was confirmed in 18% of the samples, with a higher prevalence detected in wolves (Canis lupus signatus, 70%). Fourteen sequences belonging to nine wolves, three Eurasian badgers (Meles meles), a common genet (Genetta genetta) and a European wildcat (Felis silvestris) were classified as canine parvovirus 2c (CPV‐2c); five sequences from three wolves, a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and a stone marten (Martes foina) as CPV‐2b; and three sequences from a badger, a genet and a stone marten as feline parvovirus (FPV). This was the first report of a wildcat infected with a canine strain. Sequences described in this study were identical or very close related to others previously found in domestic carnivores from distant countries, suggesting that cross‐species transmission takes place and that the parvovirus epidemiology in Spain, as elsewhere, could be influenced by global factors

Self-assembly, binding ability and magnetic properties of dicopper(ii) pyrazolenophanes

A novel series of dinuclear copper(II) pyrazolenophanes of the formula [Cu-2(mu-4-Mepz)(2)(mu-ClO4)(ClO4)(bpm)(2)] (1), [Cu-2(mu-pz)(2)(mu-H2O)(ClO4)(4,7-Me(2)phen)(2)]ClO4 center dot H2O center dot CH3CN (2), [Cu-2(mu-pz)(2)(mu-H2O)(ClO4)(3/2)(H2O)(1/2)(phen)(2)](2)[Cu-2(mu-pz)(2)(mu-ClO4)(ClO4)(2)(phen)(2)]center dot 8H(2)O (3), and [Cu-2(mu-pz)(2)(CH3CN)(2)(3,4,7,8-Me(4)phen)(2)](ClO4)(2) (4) (Hpz = pyrazole, H-4-Mepz = 4-methylpyrazole, bpm = 2,2'-bipyrimidine, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, 4,7-Me(2)phen = 4,7-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline, and 3,4,7,8-Me(4)phen = 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline) have been synthesized and magneto-structurally investigated. The crystal structures of 1-4 contain bis(pyrazolate)(perchlorate)-(1 and 3), bis(pyrazolate)(aqua)-(2 and 3), or bis(pyrazolate)-bridged (4) dicopper(II) entities of the metallacyclophane-type with bpm (1), 4,7-Me(2)phen (2), phen (3), and 3,4,7,8-Me(4)phen (4) as blocking bidentate ligands. All of them exhibit a saddle conformation with an overall not planar but bent, six-membered Cu-(N-N')(2)-Cu metallacyclic core with relatively short intermetallic distances across the bis(pyrazolate)(perchlorate) [r = 3.3076(5) (1) and 3.382(1) angstrom (3)], bis(pyrazolate)(aqua) [r = 3.383(1) (2) and 3.357(1) angstrom (3)], and bis(pyrazolate) bridges [r = 3.098(1) angstrom (4)]. The analyses of the variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility of 1-4 reveal the occurrence of a moderately strong antiferromagnetic coupling across the bis(pyrazolate)(perchlorate) [-J = 228 (1) and 193 cm(-1) (3)], bis(pyrazolate)(aqua) [-J = 189 (2) and 221 cm(-1) (3)], and bis(pyrazolate) bridges [-J = 197 cm(-1) (4)] (the spin Hamiltonian being defined as H = -JS(1).S-2 with S-1 = S-2 = S-Cu = 1/2).A novel series of dinuclear copper(II) pyrazolenophanes of the formula [Cu2(μ-4-Mepz)2(μ-ClO4)(ClO4)(bpm)2] (1), [Cu2(μ-pz)2(μ-H2O)(ClO4)(4,7-Me2phen)2]ClO4·H2O·CH3CN (2), [Cu2(μ-pz)2(μ-H2O)(ClO4)3/2(H2O)1/2(phen)2]2[Cu2(μ-pz)2(μ-ClO4)(ClO4)2(phen)2]·8H2O183437449COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESsem informaçãoThis work was supported by the Ministerio Español de Economía y Competitividad (Project CTQ2013-44844P and Unidad de Excelencia MDM-2015-0538) and the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII/2014/070). We also acknowledge the financial support from Brazilian

Hidden Markov Model Analysis of Maternal Behavior Patterns in Inbred and Reciprocal Hybrid Mice

Individual variation in maternal care in mammals shows a significant heritable component, with the maternal behavior of daughters resembling that of their mothers. In laboratory mice, genetically distinct inbred strains show stable differences in maternal care during the first postnatal week. Moreover, cross fostering and reciprocal breeding studies demonstrate that differences in maternal care between inbred strains persist in the absence of genetic differences, demonstrating a non-genetic or epigenetic contribution to maternal behavior. In this study we applied a mathematical tool, called hidden Markov model (HMM), to analyze the behavior of female mice in the presence of their young. The frequency of several maternal behaviors in mice has been previously described, including nursing/grooming pups and tending to the nest. However, the ordering, clustering, and transitions between these behaviors have not been systematically described and thus a global description of maternal behavior is lacking. Here we used HMM to describe maternal behavior patterns in two genetically distinct mouse strains, C57BL/6 and BALB/c, and their genetically identical reciprocal hybrid female offspring. HMM analysis is a powerful tool to identify patterns of events that cluster in time and to determine transitions between these clusters, or hidden states. For the HMM analysis we defined seven states: arched-backed nursing, blanket nursing, licking/grooming pups, grooming, activity, eating, and sleeping. By quantifying the frequency, duration, composition, and transition probabilities of these states we were able to describe the pattern of maternal behavior in mouse and identify aspects of these patterns that are under genetic and nongenetic inheritance. Differences in these patterns observed in the experimental groups (inbred and hybrid females) were detected only after the application of HMM analysis whereas classical statistical methods and analyses were not able to highlight them

The composition of the protosolar disk and the formation conditions for comets

Conditions in the protosolar nebula have left their mark in the composition of cometary volatiles, thought to be some of the most pristine material in the solar system. Cometary compositions represent the end point of processing that began in the parent molecular cloud core and continued through the collapse of that core to form the protosun and the solar nebula, and finally during the evolution of the solar nebula itself as the cometary bodies were accreting. Disentangling the effects of the various epochs on the final composition of a comet is complicated. But comets are not the only source of information about the solar nebula. Protostellar disks around young stars similar to the protosun provide a way of investigating the evolution of disks similar to the solar nebula while they are in the process of evolving to form their own solar systems. In this way we can learn about the physical and chemical conditions under which comets formed, and about the types of dynamical processing that shaped the solar system we see today. This paper summarizes some recent contributions to our understanding of both cometary volatiles and the composition, structure and evolution of protostellar disks.Comment: To appear in Space Science Reviews. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11214-015-0167-

Smallholder Farmers’ Perspectives on Climatic Variability and Adaptation Strategies in East Africa: The Case of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Taita and Machakos Hills in Kenya

Climate change is expected to have serious economic and social impacts in East Africa, particularly on rural farmers whose livelihoods largely depend on rain-fed agriculture, hence adaptation is required to offset projected drawbacks of climate change on crop productivity. This paper examines farmers' perceptions and understanding of climatic variability, coping strategies adopted and factors that influence the choice of a particular adaptation. The study uses cross section data collected from 510 farmers in three mountain gradients sites, namely; Mount Kilimanjaro of Tanzania, Taita and Machakos Hills of Kenya. Farmers’ perceptions were compared to actual trend in meteorological records over the last thirty years (1981-2010). The result revealed that farmers in East Africa were partly aware of climate variability, mainly in temperature and rainfall patterns. Many respondents reported that conditions are drier and rainfall timing is becoming less predictable. The perception of farmers on temperature and rainfall were in line with recorded meteorological data, but contrary with that of recorded rainfall in Machakos which was perceived to be decreasing by the farmers. Farmers perceived changes in rainfall and temperature to have negative effects on the production and management of crops. The common adaptation strategies used by farmers include water harvesting, soil conservation techniques and shifting of planting periods. The most important variables affecting farmers choices in regards to adaptation option were, lack of access to credit, farming experience and household size. As a conclusion, there is a need for these factors to be taken into account in the development and implementation of smallholder farmers’ adaptation strategies to climate variability in East Africa. Additionally, dedicated capacity building and extensive outreach initiatives on adaptation through governments, researchers, policy-makers and the farmers groups themselves are needed to achieve large scale success