From Mexico to Michigan and back: An international collaboration investigating primate behavior, ecology, and evolution from multiple perspectives

Evolutionary research benefits form the integration of laboratory and field components to determine factors and processes that affect the evolutionary trajectories of species. Our shared interest in understanding hybridization with genetic admixture as a process that may impact social, behavioral, and ecological features of primates, brought us together in a collaborative project aimed at addressing how vocal variation in two species of howler monkeys in Mexico affects and is affected by hybridization. To achieve this goal, we joined our academic expertise in studying primate genetics, ecology, and behavior under different natural and experimental conditions. We took advantage of decades of experience studying and handing wild howler monkeys for translocation projects to safely sample and study wild populations for this project. Here, we describe the history of our collaboration highlighting how our different perspectives, academic realities, and individual strengths built the foundation for our successful collaboration. We also share our perspectives on how this collaboration opened up new academic venues, broadened our individual perspectives on the integration of different research approaches to address a complex topic, and allowed us to recognize the strength of international collaboration.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149745/1/ajp22992_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149745/2/ajp22992.pd

Neurocisticercosis : nuevos estudios en el avance de esta parasitosis.

75 p.La Neurocisticercosis es el resultado de la invasión del cisticerco al Sistema Nervioso Central. La Cisticercosis es la infección en el hombre, y se produce por ingerir huevos o quistes de la Taenia del cerdo o Taenia solium. La forma de ingerirlos es a través do alimentos o agua contaminada con material fecal o por contaminación directa a través de la boca (ano-mano-boca). En el cerdo la infección se facilita debido a sus hábitos coprofágicos. El cisticerco se desarrolla primariamente en el músculo, resultando infectivo para el hombre en aproximadarnente 10 semanas. Se revisa el ciclo biológico de la Taenia solium en donde los humanos son los únicos huéspedes definitivos, en tanto que los cerdos y humanos pueden actuar coma huéspedes intermediarios. Se compara la epidemiología de esta parasitosis, que es considerada un serio problema de salud pública, afectando a distintos países de África, Asia y América Latina. Se analizan las causas de esta parasitosis, en donde las condiciones sociales. Económicas y culturales están intrínsecamente vinculadas con esta zoonosis, ya que en cada uno de los momentos del cielo de vida del parasito existen actividades humanas involucradas en su reproducción. En primer lugar, puesto que la taeniasis es una enfermedad exclusiva del humano, este es el único responsable de la dispersión de los huevos del parasito; así, la defecación al aire libre y/o la inadecuada eliminación de excretas es la primera práctica de riesgo. En segundo lugar, una crianza de los cerdos que tolere o promueva el contacto de estos con el excremento humano permite la infección del cerdo. La falta de control sanitario de la carne de cerdo, su manejo y los hábitos de alimentación que incluyen el consume de esta carne en forma poco cocida o cruda. También son prácticas que contribuyen a la infección. La falta de higiene personal especialmente los hábitos relacionados con el lavado de manos antes de comer y después de ir al baño, el consumo de agua sin hervir y de alimentos sin lavar, así como su exposición a agentes que dispersan los huevos son practicas que posibilitan la ingestión de estos por el humano. Se revisan los signos y síntomas de la enfermedad, según el sitio de daño del sistema nervioso podrán presentarse cuadros de deterioro intelectual, deterioro el estado despierto, trastornos conductuales, debilidad de una o varias extremidades, alteraciones de la sensibilidad en diferentes panes del cuerpo, defectos en la coordinación, alteración de la marcha, alteración en los signos vitales condicionados por una lesión cerebral o trastornos en la capacidad visual, auditiva, en la gesticulación de la cara, defectos en la deglución o en la capacidad de articulación de as palabras. Siempre el tipo de manifestación clínica esta en directa relación con el tipo de lesión cerebral. Se actualizan los criterios diagnósticos, el que se realiza por la identificación de proglótidas expulsadas en el excremento, o bien, por análisis de los huevos mediante técnicas coproparasitarias. Actualmente el diagnostico se debe apoyar con estudios de imágenes: la Tomografía Computarizada, así coma la Resonancia Magnética. Esta ultima es considerada como la técnica de elección en la practica clínica Desafortunadamente estas técnicas de imagen no son accesibles para la mayor parte de la población que padece la enfermedad, por ello se han desarrollado pruebas diagnosticas económicas orientadas a la identificación de anticuerpos del cisticerco Las terapéuticas actuales mas efectivas en el tratamiento de la NCC son la administración de Praziquantel y Albendazol, debido a que son bien tolerados ,tienen una toxicidad baja, mínimos efectos secundarios. Se analiza la realidad que afecta a la Sexta y Séptima región en cuanto a esta parasitosis; los casos con Neurocisticercosis de los que se tienen antecedentes en el Hospital de Talca y el porcentaje de bovinos y porcinos decomisados en los Mataderos de la Región del Maule afectados con cisticercosis

Relación entre el bienestar y el rendimiento académico en alumnos de primer año de medicina

Background: Stress may affect the sense of wellbeing and academic achievement of university students. Aim: To assess the relationship of academic engagement and burnout with academic achievement among first year medical students. Material and Methods: The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student and Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey (MBI-SS) were applied to 277 first year medical students of four universities. Their results were correlated with the grades obtained in the different courses. Results: Moderately high engagement and low burnout levels were detected. There was a high level of satisfaction with studies and a moderate exhaustion level. Academic achievement was associated with the degree of engagement with studies but not with burnout. Conglomerate analysis detected a group of students with high levels of wellbeing, characterized by high levels of academic engagement and low burnout. Other group had moderate levels of engagement and lack of personal fulfilment. Other group, identified as extenuated, had high levels of personal exhaustion and depersonalization. Finally the disassociated group had a low academic engagement, low emotional exhaustion, high levels of depersonalization and lack of personal fulfillment. Conclusions: Academic achievement is associated with the level of engagement with studies but not with burnout

Estructura factorial de la escala DREEM en estudiantes de medicina chilenos

Indexación: ScieloBackground: The entry to a University requires an adaptation process that not all students solve with the same kind of success. Even though students’ social adaptation and emotional skills are essential, the educational environmental that they perceive has a significant influence in their academic life. Aim: To describe the changes in the perception about academic environment that medical students experience during the first three years of undergraduate career. Material and Methods: The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) scale was applied to 525 first to third year medical students and an exploratory factorial analysis was made. Results: Four factors were identified: Academic Perception: academic quality that students attribute to the process in which they take part, as well as to the assessment that they do of their learning outcomes (coefficient α = 0.85); Academic Experience: refers to positive emotions that students experience during the career such as confidence, pleasure and energy (coefficient α = 0.76); Atmosphere Perception, comfort and calm that students experiment during their academic activities (coefficient α = 0.79); Teachers Perception: the perception that students have of teachers about their interest and disposition towards students (coefficient α = 0.50). Conclusions: The assessment of academic environment quality is inversely associated with the lapse that the students have spent in their undergraduate careers. Key words: Education, Medical; Psychometrics; Students, medical; Undergraduate

Assessment of psychometric properties of the academic involvement questionnaire, expectations version

Indexación: Web of Science; Scielo.Background: Academic Involvement Questionnaire, Expectations version (CIA-A), assesses the expectations of involvement in studies. It is a relevant predictor of student success. However, the evidence of its validity and reliability in Chile is low, and in the case of Medical students, there is no evidence at all. Aim: To evaluate the factorial structure and internal consistency of the CIA-A in Chilean Medical school freshmen. Material and Methods: The survey was applied to 340 Medicine freshmen, chosen by non-probability quota sampling. They answered a back-translated version of CIA-A from Portuguese to Spanish, plus a sociodemographic questionnaire. For psychometric analysis of the CIA-A, an exploratory factor analysis was carried on, the reliability of the factors was calculated, a descriptive analysis was conducted and their correlation was assessed. Results: Five factors were identified: vocational, institutional and social involvement, use of resources and student participation. Their reliabilities ranged between Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.71 to 0.87. Factors also showed statistically significant correlations between each other. Conclusions: Identified factor structure is theoretically consistent with the structure of original version. It just disagrees in one factor. In addition, the factors’ internal consistency were adequate for using them in research. This supports the construct validity and reliability of the CIA-A to assess involvement expectations in medical school freshmen.http://ref.scielo.org/r2sn6

Alouatta pigra males ignore A. palliata loud calls: A case of failed rival recognition?

ObjectivesWhen closely related species overlap geographically, selection may favor speciesâ specific mate recognition traits to avoid hybridization costs. Conversely, the need to recognize potential sameâ sex rivals may select for lower specificity, creating the possibility that selection in one domain constrains evolution in the other. Despite a wealth of data on mate recognition, studies addressing rival recognition between hybridizing species are limited to a few bird species. Using naïve populations, we examine the extent to which failed rival recognition might have affected hybridization patterns when two species of howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra and A. palliata) first met after diverging in allopatry.MethodsWe simulated first contact between naïve subjects using playback experiments in allopatric populations of the two purebred species. Using linear mixed models, we compared their look, move, and vocal responses to conspecific and heterospecific loud calls.ResultsAlthough not different in overall response strength to playbacks, the two species differed in reaction to heterospecific callers. Male A. pigra ignored calls from male A. palliata, but the reverse was not true.DiscussionDespite striking differences in vocalizations, A. palliata respond equally to calls from both species whereas A. pigra respond only to conspecifics. This apparent failure of A. pigra males to recognize interspecific rivals might have biased hybridization (F1 hybridsâ =â male A. palliata x female A. pigra), a pattern previously hypothesized based on genetic analysis of hybrids. Given that A. pigra males could be losing reproductive opportunities to heterospecific males, our findings add to growing evidence of potential costs for overly specific species recognition.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144221/1/ajpa23443.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144221/2/ajpa23443_am.pd

Primates in Peril: The world's 25 most endangered primates 2008-2010

Introduction Here we report on the fifth iteration of the biennial listing of a consensus of 25 primate species considered to be amongst the most endangered worldwide and the most in need of urgent conservation measures. The first was drawn up in 2000 by the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, together with Conservation International (Mittermeier et al. 2000). The list was subsequently reviewed and updated in 2002 during an open meeting held during the 19th Congress of the International Primatological Society (IPS) in Beijing, China (Mittermeier et al. 2002). That occasion provided for debate among primatologists working in the field who had first-hand knowledge of the causes of threats to primates, both in general and in particular with the species or communities they study. The meeting and the review of the list of the World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates resulted in its official endorsement by the IPS, and became as such a combined endeavor of the Primate Specialist Group, the IPS, and Conservation International. A third revision was carried out at a meeting in August 2004, at the 20th Congress of the IPS in Torino, Italy (Mittermeier et al. 2006). The fourth, covering the biennium 2006–2008, was the result of a meeting held during the 21st Congress of the International Primatological Society (IPS), in Entebbe, Uganda, 26–30 June 2006 (Mittermeier et al. 2007)

News and Perspectives: Words matter in primatology

Postings on social media on Twitter (now X), BioAnthropology News (Facebook), and other venues, as well as recent publications in prominent journals, show that primatologists, ecologists, and other researchers are questioning the terms “Old World” and “New World” due to their colonial implications and history. The terms are offensive if they result in erasing Indigenous voices and history, ignoring the fact that Indigenous peoples were in the Americas long before European colonization. Language use is not without context, but alternative terminology is not always obvious and available. In this perspective, we share opinions expressed by an international group of primatologists who considered questions about the use of these terms, whether primatologists should adjust language use, and how to move forward. The diversity of opinions provides insight into how conventional terms used in primatological research and conservation may impact our effectiveness in these domains

Ancient DNA of the pygmy marmoset type specimen Cebuella pygmaea (Spix, 1823) resolves a taxonomic conundrum

The pygmy marmoset, the smallest of the anthropoid primates, has a broad distribution in Western Amazonia. Recent studies using molecular and morphological data have identified two distinct species separated by the Napo and Solimões-Amazonas rivers. However, reconciling this new biological evidence with current taxonomy, i.e., two subspecies, Cebuella pygmaea pygmaea (Spix, 1823) and Cebuella pygmaea niveiventris (Lönnberg, 1940), was problematic given the uncertainty as to whether Spix's pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea pygmaea) was collected north or south of the Napo and Solimões-Amazonas rivers, making it unclear to which of the two newly revealed species the name pygmaea would apply. Here, we present the first molecular data from Spix's type specimen of Cebuella pygmaea, as well as novel mitochondrial genomes from modern pygmy marmosets sampled near the type locality (Tabatinga) on both sides of the river. With these data, we can confirm the correct names of the two species identified, i.e., C. pygmaea for animals north of the Napo and Solimões-Amazonas rivers and C. niveiventris for animals south of these two rivers. Phylogenetic analyses of the novel genetic data placed into the context of cytochrome b gene sequences from across the range of pygmy marmosets further led us to reevaluate the geographical distribution for the two Cebuella species. We dated the split of these two species to 2.54 million years ago. We discuss additional, more recent, subdivisions within each lineage, as well as potential contact zones between the two species in the headwaters of these rivers