Micronucleus analysis in a portuguese population exposed to pesticides:preliminary survey

The general population is exposed in their everyday life to different chemicals namely to pesticides. Many of these compounds are capable of inducing mutations in DNA and lead to several diseases including cancer. With this study we intended to evaluate DNA damage inflicted by pesticide exposure in a population occupationally exposed to those chemicals by means of the micronucleus (MN) test. The obtained results showed a significant increase in MN frequency in occupationally exposed individuals (po0.001) compared with the control group. Higher frequencies of MN were associated with a specific workplace (greenhouses) and the lack of protective measures (gloves) during labour activities. These results reinforce that conditions in workplace should be improved to minimize exposure to these chemicals. This study also emphasizes the need to reinforce the good practices campaigns in order to enlighten those who work with pesticides on the potential hazard of occupational exposure and the importance of using protective measures

Exposição profissional ao chumbo: análise da indução de efeitos genotóxicos

RESUMO - A exposição contínua a substâncias químicas tem consequências para a saúde humana, algumas das quais não estão ainda totalmente estabelecidas. A toxicologia ocupacional é uma área interdisciplinar que envolve conhecimentos de higiene e de medicina ocupacional, de epidemiologia e de toxicologia e que tem por principal objectivo prevenir a ocorrência de efeitos adversos decorrentes do ambiente ocupacional sendo um dos seus principais papéis fornecer o máximo de dados que possam contribuir para o conhecimento dos potenciais efeitos na saúde. O chumbo é um tóxico de características cumulativas que provoca na saúde efeitos principalmente sistémicos, ou seja, o efeito tóxico manifesta-se em locais afastados do contacto inicial que resultam essencialmente de exposições crónicas, resultantes de períodos de exposição mais ou menos longos ao metal (entre meses e anos). Pode interagir com diferentes órgãos e tecidos, ligando-se a moléculas e constituintes celulares. Uma vez que não possui qualquer função fisiológica, a presença do chumbo no organismo humano resulta numa série de efeitos prejudiciais que afectam diversos órgãos e sistemas. A toxicidade do chumbo manifesta-se em diversos órgãos e tecidos, nomeadamente no sistema hematopoiético, no sistema nervoso, no rim, no aparelho reprodutor, no sistema cardiovascular, no sistema endócrino e no sistema imunitário. Da interferência do chumbo com o funcionamento de alguns sistemas biológicos resultam um conjunto de alterações fundamentais ao nível dos processos de transporte através das membranas, da integridade estrutural e funcional das enzimas e de várias vias metabólicas, em especial da fosforilação oxidativa e da síntese do heme sendo os primeiros efeitos bioquímicos do chumbo detectados a partir de valores de plumbémia inferiores a 10 μg/dL. As medidas de higiene e segurança actualmente em vigor nos países desenvolvidos asseguram que os casos de intoxicação grave são cada vez menos frequentes. No entanto, o risco de exposição a nível ocupacional existe em todas as actividades que envolvem materiais que o contenham como as explorações mineiras, as fundições primária e secundária, a produção de baterias de chumbo ácido, a produção de vidro com pigmentos de chumbo, as soldaduras de reparação automóvel e a instrução de tiro. Desde 2006 o chumbo é considerado pela International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) uma substância carcinogénica do grupo 2A (provável carcinogénio para o ser humano). Considera-se, assim, que o chumbo tem, inequivocamente, capacidade de induzir cancro em animais experimentais mas que, embora haja fortes indícios de que os mecanismos que medeiam a carcinogénese desses compostos ocorrem no ser humano, os dados disponíveis ainda não podem assegurar essa relação. Com este estudo pretendeu-se contribuir para o conhecimento da toxicidade do chumbo através do estudo da exposição ao chumbo e da influência da susceptibilidade individual (em industrias sem co-exposição significativa a outros agentes conhecidos ou suspeitos de serem carcinogénicos). Pretendeu-se estudar o caso através de uma abordagem múltipla que permitisse relacionar diferentes tipos de marcadores biológicos uma vez que a monitorização biológica integra todas as possíveis vias de entrada no organismo (para além da via respiratória), eventuais exposições fora do contexto estritamente profissional assim como uma série de factores intrínsecos individuais (relacionados com modos de via, de natureza fisiológica e comportamentais). Sendo a co-exposição a outros compostos com propriedades genotóxicas e carcinogénicas uma questão difícil de tornear quando se quer avaliar o potencial genotóxico do chumbo em populações expostas, ocupacional ou ambientalmente este estudo tem a vantagem de ter sido efectuado em populações sem co-exposição conhecida a outras substâncias deste tipo, permitindo concluir sobre os efeitos resultantes apenas da exposição a chumbo na população humana, contribuindo para explicar algumas das aparentes inconsistências e contradições entre diferentes estudos sobre este tema. Os indicadores de exposição usados foram: indicadores de dose interna (doseamento de chumbo e de PPZ no sangue), indicadores de efeitos adversos no heme e genotóxicos (actividade da ALAD, teste do cometa e mutação em TCR) e indicadores de susceptibilidade (polimorfismos genéticos de ALAD e VDR) através de uma abordagem estatística de comparação directa de sub-grupos previamente definidos na população e da aplicação de um modelo de regressão múltipla. Este estudo revelou que os níveis de plumbémia na população portuguesa baixaram significativamente nos últimos 10 anos, tanto na população ocupacionalmente exposta como na população em geral e que a presença do genótipo B-B (do gene VDR) é preditiva das variações de plumbémia, quando comparada com o genótipo mais frequente na população, B-b; ao contrário, o genótipo b-b não aparenta ter influência em nenhum dos marcadores estudados. No que diz respeito a efeitos genotóxicos concluiu-se que estes não se manifestaram na população estudada, levando a concluir que nos níveis de exposição estudados, o chumbo não tem capacidade de induzir este tipo de efeitos per si levando ao reforço da hipótese, já levantada por outros autores, de que o mecanismo de genotoxicidade do chumbo seja essencialmente de promoção de processos de genotoxicidade desencadeados por outros agentes. A realização de estudos de efeitos genotóxicos e de stress oxidativo desenhados de forma a comparar grupos de trabalhadores expostos apenas a chumbo com grupos de trabalhadores com o mesmo nível de exposição a chumbo, mas com co-exposição a outros agentes reconhecidamente carcinogénicos poderá ajudar a aumentar o conhecimento deste efeito do chumbo na saúde humana.ABSTRACT - Continuous exposure to chemical substances affects human health, and some of those effects haven’t been totally established yet. Occupational toxicology is an interdisciplinary area involving knowledge concerning occupational hygiene and medicine, epidemiology and toxicology. This area main goal is to prevent the occurrence of adverse effects derived from the occupational environment, being one of its primary roles to provide the maximum amount of data that may contribute to get to know the potential effects on health. Lead is a toxic of cumulative characteristics whose effects on health are mainly systemic. This means that the toxic effect appears in spots far from the initial contact which essentially derive from chronic exposures, resulting from more or less long periods of exposure to the metal (months or years). It may interact with different organs and tissues, binding itself to molecules and cellular constituents. As it doesn’t have any physiological function, lead in the human body results in a series of harmful effects that affect several organs and systems. Lead toxicity builds up in various organs and tissues, namely in the hematopoietic system, in the nervous system, in the kidneys, in the reproductive system, in the cardiovascular system, in the endocrinal system and in the immunitary system. When lead interferes with some biological systems operation there is a set of fundamental changes in membrane transportation processes, in the enzyme and several metabolic pathways structural and functional integrity, especially in the oxidative phosphorylation and in heme synthesis, being the first lead biochemical effects detected through blood lead values up to 10 μg/dL. Present hygiene and safety measures in the developed countries assure serious intoxication cases to be less and less frequent. Nevertheless, there is a risk of exposure at an occupational level in all those activities involving materials with lead, such as mining, primary and secondary foundries, the production of acid lead batteries, the production of lead-pigmented glass, welding for car repairing and fire arms training. Since 2006 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has considered lead to be a carcinogenic substance from group 2A (probable carcinogenic for the human being). Therefore, lead is considered to have, undeniably, the capability to induce cancer in laboratory animals; however, despite the strong evidence that the mechanisms involved in the carcinogenesis of those compounds occur in the human being, the available data is not enough to ensure that relation. This study is intended to be a contribution to lead toxicity knowledge by studying the exposure to lead and the influence of individual susceptibility (in industries without a significant co-exposure to other agents either known or suspect of being carcinogenic). It was intended to study the case by using a multiple approach that would allow relating different types of biological markers. This because biological monitoring integrates all the possible entry pathways in the body (besides the breathing pathway), eventual exposure out of the strictly professional context as well as a series of inherent individual factors (related with physiological and behavioural living habits). Being co-exposure to other compounds with genotoxic and carcinogenic properties a difficult issue to be ignored when evaluating lead genotoxic potential in exposed populations, either occupationally or environmentally, this study has the advantage of having been performed in populations that have not been exposed to other substances of this kind. This fact has enabled to conclude over the effects that have resulted only from human population exposure to lead, contributing to explain some of the apparent inconsistencies and contradictions between different studies about the same theme. The used exposure indicators were internal dose indicators (lead and PPZ blood levels), heme and genotoxic adverse effects indicators (ALAD activity, comet test and mutation in TCR) and susceptibility indicators (ALAD and VDR genetic polymorphisms) by a direct comparison statistical approach of pre-defined sub-groups in the population and by the appliance of a multiple regression model. This study revealed that the blood lead levels in the Portuguese population significantly decreased in the last 10 years both in the occupationally exposed population and in the general population, and that the presence of B-B genotype (from VDR gene) predicts blood lead variations when compared to the most frequent genotype in the population, B-b; on the contrary, the b-b genotype doesn’t seem to have influence on any of the studied markers. As far as genotoxic effects are concerned, it was concluded that these did not appear in the studied population. This led to the conclusion that in the studied exposure levels the lead is not capable of inducing this type of effects per si, thus emphasising the hypothesis, which was already raised by other authors, that lead genotoxicity mechanism is essentially the promotion of genotoxicity processes triggered by other agents. Developing genotoxic effects and oxidative stress studies drawn to compare groups of workers exposed only to lead with groups of workers with the same level of lead exposure, but with co-exposure to other recognised carcinogenic agents, may help to enlarge the knowledge about this lead effect on human health.RÉSUMÉ - Une exposition continue à des substances chimiques a des conséquences sur la santé humaine. Certaines d’entre elles ne sont pas encore totalement établies. La toxicologie occupationnelle relève d’un domaine interdisciplinaire qui regroupe les connaissances d’hygiène et de médecine occupationnelles, d’épidémiologie et de toxicologie. Elle a comme principal objectif de prévenir l’apparition d’effets adverses provenant de l’environnement occupationnel; l’un de ses principaux rôles est de fournir un maximum de données pouvant contribuer à la connaissance d’éventuelles répercussions sur la santé. Le plomb est un toxique aux caractéristiques cumulatives qui provoque des effets particulièrement systémiques sur la santé. Ainsi, l’effet toxique se manifeste dans des espaces distants du contact initial et se doit particulièrement à des expositions chroniques et à des périodes d’exposition au métal plus ou moins longues (durant des mois ou des années). Il peut interagir avec divers organes et tissus et se lier à des molécules et constituants cellulaires. Dépourvue de toute fonction physiologique, la présence du plomb dans l’organisme humain résulte d’une série d’effets nocifs qui affectent divers organes et systèmes. La toxicité du plomb se manifeste dans divers organes et tissus, notamment dans le système hématopoïétique, dans le système nerveux, dans la fonction rénale, dans l’appareil reproducteur, dans le système cardiovasculaire, dans le système endocrinien et dans le système immunitaire. L’interférence du plomb dans le fonctionnement de certains systèmes biologiques provoque d’importantes altérations au niveau des mécanismes de transport à travers les membranes, l’intégrité structurale et fonctionnelle des enzymes et diverses voies métaboliques, en particulier la phosphorylation oxydative et la synthèse de l’hème. Ce sont les premiers effets biochimiques du plomb détectés à partir de taux de plombémie dans le sang inférieurs à 10 μg/dL. Les mesures d’hygiène et de sécurité actuellement en vigueur dans les pays développés contribuent à la réduction de cas d’intoxication grave. Cependant, le risque d’exposition au niveau occupationnel existe dans toutes les activités en contact avec des matériaux contenant du plomb, comme les explorations minières, les fonderies primaire et secondaire, la production de batteries en plomb acide, la fabrication du verre avec des pigments de plomb, la soudure en réparation automobile et l’instruction au tir. Depuis 2006 le plomb est considéré par l’International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) comme une substance carcinogénique du groupe 2A (éventuel carcinogène pour l’être vivant). On considère ainsi que le plomb peut provoquer le cancer sur les animaux expérimentaux. Bien qu’il y ait de forts indices pour que les mécanismes qui mesurent la carcinogénèse de ces composés surviennent chez l’être humain, les données disponibles ne peuvent toutefois pas encore prouver cette relation. A travers cette étude, nous avons cherché à contribuer à la connaissance de la toxicité du plomb à partir de l’analyse de l’exposition au plomb et de l’influence de la susceptibilité individuelle (en industries sans co-exposition significative à d’autres agents connus ou susceptibles d’être carcinogènes). Nous avons voulu étudier le cas à travers une approche multiple à fin de mettre en relation divers types de marqueurs biologiques sachant que la monitorisation biologique intègre toutes les voies possibles de l’entrée dans l’organisme (en plus de la voie respiratoire), d’éventuelles expositions en dehors du contexte strictement professionnel ainsi qu’un ensemble de facteurs intrinsèques individuels (en rapport avec des modes de vie, de nature physiologique et comportemental). La co-exposition à d’autres composés aux propriétés génotoxiques est une question difficile à délimiter quand on cherche à évaluer le potentiel génotoxique du plomb sur des populations exposées, de façon occupationnelle ou environnementale. Aussi, cette étude a-t-elle l’avantage d’avoir été réalisée sur des populations sans co-exposition connue à d’autres substances de ce type, nous permettant de conclure sur les effets résultants à peine de l’exposition au plomb dans la population humaine, contribuant à l’explication de certaines inconsistances et contradictions apparentes que nous rencontrons dans diverses études sur ce thème. Les indicateurs d’exposition utilisés ont été les indicateurs de dose interne (taux de plomb et de PPZ dans le sang), les indicateurs d’effets adverses sur l’hème et génotoxiques (activité de l’ALAD, test de la comète et mutation en TCR) et les indicateurs de susceptibilité (polymorphismes génétiques d’ALAD et VDR) à travers une approche statistique de comparaison directe de sous-groupes définis par avance dans la population et de l’application d’un modèle de régression multiple. Cette étude a révélé que les niveaux de plombémie dans la population portugaise ont fortement baissé durant les dix dernières années, aussi bien dans la population avec une exposition occupationnelle que dans la population en général et que la présence du génotype B-B (du gène VDR) dépend des variations de plombémie, quand elle est comparée au génotype le plus fréquent dans la population, B-b; en revanche, le génotype b-b ne semble influencer aucun des marqueurs étudiés. En ce qui concerne les effets génotoxiques, nous avons observé que ces derniers ne se sont pas manifestés dans la population étudiée, ce qui nous a amené à conclure que dans les niveaux d’exposition étudiés, le plomb n’a pas la capacité d’induire ce type d’effets en soi ce qui nous a conduit à renforcer l’hypothèse, déjà soulevée par d’autres auteurs, selon laquelle le mécanisme de génotoxité du plomb est essentiellement une promotion de processus de génotoxité provoqués par d’autres agents. La réalisation d’études sur les effets génotoxiques et le stress oxydatif établies de manière à comparer des groupes de travailleurs exposés uniquement au plomb avec des groupes de travailleurs exposés à un même taux de plomb mais avec une co-exposition à d’autres agents reconnus carcinogéniques pourra contribuer à approfondir la connaissance de l’effet du plomb sur la santé humaine

Preserved imitation of known gestures in children with high-functioning autism

It has been suggested that children with autism are particularly deficient at imitating novel gestures or gestures without goals. In the present study, we asked high-functioning autistic children and age-matched typically developing children to imitate several types of gestures that could be either already known or novel to them. Known gestures either conveyed a communicative meaning (i.e., intransitive) or involved the use of objects (i.e., transitive). We observed a significant interaction between gesture type and group of participants, with children with autism performing known gestures better than novel gestures. However, imitation of intransitive and transitive gestures did not differ across groups. These findings are discussed in light of a dual-route model for action imitation. Copyright \ua9 2013 Joana C. Carmo et al

Occurrence of non-toxic bioemulsifiers during polyhydroxyalkanoate production by Pseudomonas strains valorizing crude glycerol by-product

While screening for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) producing strains, using glycerol rich byproduct as carbon source, it was observed that extracellular polymers were also secreted into the culture broth. The scope of this study was to characterize both intracellular and extracellular polymers, produced by Pseudomonas putida NRRL B 14875 and Pseudomonas chlororaphis DSM 50083, mostly focusing on those novel extracellular polymers. It was found that they fall into the class of bioemulsifiers (BE), as they showed excellent emulsion stability against different hydrocarbons/oils at various pH conditions, temperature and salinity concentrations. Cytotoxicity tests revealed that BE produced by P. chlororaphis inhibited the growth of highly pigmented human melanoma cells (MNT-1) by 50% at concentrations between 150-200 μg/mL, while no effect was observed on normal skin primary keratinocytes and melanocytes. This is the first study reporting mcl-PHA production by P. putida NRRL B-14785 and bioemulsifier production from both P. putida and P. chlororaphis strains

Single-cell profiling of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma reveals RAS pathway inhibitors as cell-fate hijackers with therapeutic relevance

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a group of pediatric cancers with features of developing skeletal muscle. The cellular hierarchy and mechanisms leading to developmental arrest remain elusive. Here, we combined single-cell RNA sequencing, mass cytometry, and high-content imaging to resolve intratumoral heterogeneity of patient-derived primary RMS cultures. We show that the aggressive alveolar RMS (aRMS) subtype contains plastic muscle stem-like cells and cycling progenitors that drive tumor growth, and a subpopulation of differentiated cells that lost its proliferative potential and correlates with better outcomes. While chemotherapy eliminates cycling progenitors, it enriches aRMS for muscle stem-like cells. We screened for drugs hijacking aRMS toward clinically favorable subpopulations and identified a combination of RAF and MEK inhibitors that potently induces myogenic differentiation and inhibits tumor growth. Overall, our work provides insights into the developmental states underlying aRMS aggressiveness, chemoresistance, and progression and identifies the RAS pathway as a promising therapeutic target

Boron clusters (ferrabisdicarbollides) shaping the future as radiosensitizers for multimodal (chemo/radio/PBFR) therapy of glioblastoma

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and fatal primary brain tumor, and is highly resistant to conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Therefore, the development of multidrug resistance and tumor recurrence are frequent. Given the poor survival with the current treatments, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Radiotherapy (RT) is a common cancer treatment modality for GBM. However, there is still a need to improve RT efficiency, while reducing the severe side effects. Radiosensitizers can enhance the killing effect on tumor cells with less side effects on healthy tissues. Herein, we present our pioneering study on the highly stable and amphiphilic metallacarboranes, ferrabis(dicarbollides) ([o-FESAN]- and [8,8'-I2-o-FESAN]-), as potential radiosensitizers for GBM radiotherapy. We propose radiation methodologies that utilize secondary radiation emissions from iodine and iron, using ferrabis(dicarbollides) as iodine/iron donors, aiming to achieve a greater therapeutic effect than that of a conventional radiotherapy. As a proof-of-concept, we show that using 2D and 3D models of U87 cells, the cellular viability and survival were reduced using this treatment approach. We also tested for the first time the proton boron fusion reaction (PBFR) with ferrabis(dicarbollides), taking advantage of their high boron (11B) content. The results from the cellular damage response obtained suggest that proton boron fusion radiation therapy, when combined with boron-rich compounds, is a promising modality to fight against resistant tumors. Although these results are encouraging, more developments are needed to further explore ferrabis(dicarbollides) as radiosensitizers towards a positive impact on the therapeutic strategies for GBM.The authors received support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (PID2019-106832RB-100), the Generalitat de Catalunya (2017SGR1720), FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, in the scope of the project UID/Multi/04349/2019 and the projects LISBOA-01-0247-FEDER-045904 and UTAP-EXPL/FMT/0020/2021 of Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares/IST, PTDC/BTM-TEC/29256/2017, UIDP/04565/2020 of iBB/IST, UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences – UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy – i4HB. The Metrology Laboratory of Ionizing Radiation team of Centro Tecnológico e Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico (CTN/IST) is acknowledged for their support in the irradiation setups. Miquel Nuez-Martínez is enrolled in the PhD program of the UAB. MQM and VMA acknowledge financial support by the Spanish Government MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (project 2019-108434GB-I00 to VMA and project IJC2018-035283-I to MQM), and Universitat Jaume I (project UJI-B2018-53 to V. M. A. and project UJI-A2020-21 to MQM). SV thanks Croatian Science Foundation (project IP-2018-01-3168). Catarina I.G. Pinto is enrolled in the PhD scholarship 689 DFA/BD/07119/2020.With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000917-S).Peer reviewe

Psycho-social factors associated with mental resilience in the Corona lockdown.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is not only a threat to physical health but is also having severe impacts on mental health. Although increases in stress-related symptomatology and other adverse psycho-social outcomes, as well as their most important risk factors have been described, hardly anything is known about potential protective factors. Resilience refers to the maintenance of mental health despite adversity. To gain mechanistic insights about the relationship between described psycho-social resilience factors and resilience specifically in the current crisis, we assessed resilience factors, exposure to Corona crisis-specific and general stressors, as well as internalizing symptoms in a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 24 languages during the most intense phase of the lockdown in Europe (22 March to 19 April) in a convenience sample of N = 15,970 adults. Resilience, as an outcome, was conceptualized as good mental health despite stressor exposure and measured as the inverse residual between actual and predicted symptom total score. Preregistered hypotheses (osf.io/r6btn) were tested with multiple regression models and mediation analyses. Results confirmed our primary hypothesis that positive appraisal style (PAS) is positively associated with resilience (p < 0.0001). The resilience factor PAS also partly mediated the positive association between perceived social support and resilience, and its association with resilience was in turn partly mediated by the ability to easily recover from stress (both p < 0.0001). In comparison with other resilience factors, good stress response recovery and positive appraisal specifically of the consequences of the Corona crisis were the strongest factors. Preregistered exploratory subgroup analyses (osf.io/thka9) showed that all tested resilience factors generalize across major socio-demographic categories. This research identifies modifiable protective factors that can be targeted by public mental health efforts in this and in future pandemics

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications