Prickly Connections: Sociodemographic Factors Shaping Attitudes, Perception and Biological Knowledge about the European Hedgehog

The modern lifestyle of humans is leading to a limited exposure to nature. While several wild species are adapting and thriving in anthropic environments, natural history knowledge is declining, and positive attitudes and behaviours towards nature are facing challenges. Because anticipating attitudes and engendering broad-based support for nature-related measures requires a good grasp of social contexts, we set out to evaluate the sociodemographic factors driving the perception, attitudes towards, and natural history knowledge of a keystone species—the European hedgehog. In 2022, we conducted a questionnaire answered by 324 Portuguese adults. We found generally positive feelings and attitudes towards this species. A higher degree of academic qualifications and previous personal experience with the species seem to play a role in (i) people’s perception about human impacts on hedgehogs and (ii) positive attitudes, especially during encounters where the animals were in difficulty. Despite this, the extent of natural history knowledge was low overall, and the study population was self-aware of this. Our insights underline the need to tailor educational programmes if we are to encourage people to re-establish meaningful connections with nature, to foster social support for biodiversity stewardship, and to implement the One Health approach in a way that resonates with distinct social groups.We thank Clarisse Rodrigues from Centro de Recuperação e Interpretação do Ouriço (CRIDO) and all the staff at Centro de Recuperação de Animais Selvagens da Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (CRAS-HVUTAD). We extend our gratitude to Associação Social e Cultural de Louredo, Associação de Solidariedade Social de Nespereira, Associação de Apoio à 3.ª Idade S. Miguel de Beire and Centro Social e Paroquial de Sousela for their willingness to help us with the elderly participants. Micaela Rodrigues participated in this study in the context of her final internship in veterinary nursing licentiate degree. We acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the financial support to CISAS (UIDB/05937/2020 and UIDP/05937/2020). Three anonymous reviewers are thanked for their helpful insights

A Preliminary Investigation of Salmonella Populations in Indigenous Portuguese Layer Hen Breeds

The sustainability of agroecological systems, biodiversity protection, animal welfare, and consumer demand for higher quality products from alternative and extensive farming methods have reinforced interest in local breeds that are well adapted to low-input environments. However, food safety needs to be safeguarded to reinforce consumer confidence. The aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation on the occurrence of Salmonella spp. in eggshells, hen’s cloaca, and litter materials from autochthonous Portuguese laying hens raised in a semi-extensive system for small-scale production. A total of 279 samples from 31 flocks belonging to 12 farms were obtained, with 63 samples from the “Preta Lusitânica” breed, and 72 samples each from the remaining autochthonous breeds, namely, “Branca”, “Amarela”, and “Pedrês Portuguesa”. None (0%) of the samples analyzed were positive for Salmonella spp. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first results of Salmonella evaluation from hen’s cloaca, eggshells, and litter materials in autochthonous Portuguese chickens, suggesting that a semi-extensive production system can contribute to better food security and a lower risk to public health and the environment. © 2023 by the authors.This research was funded by CESPU-Cooperativa de Ensino Superior Politécnico e Universitário, under the SALMYTH_GI2-CESPU_2022 project, entitled “Small scale autochthonous chicken productions-the salmonella myth”. This work was financed by National Funds through FCT/MCTES–Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the projects UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020, UIDB/05937/2020 and UIDP/05937/2020. The participation of M.V.P. was supported by the projects UIDB/CVT/00772/2020 and LA/P/0059/2020 funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The participation of S.B. was supported by the project NORTE-06-3559-FSE-000204 (NUTRIR) funded by the NORTE 2020-FSE

aeGEPUCI: a database of gene expression in the dengue vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Aedes aegypti </it>is the principal vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses. The availability of the sequenced and annotated genome enables genome-wide analyses of gene expression in this mosquito. The large amount of data resulting from these analyses requires efficient cataloguing before it becomes useful as the basis for new insights into gene expression patterns and studies of the underlying molecular mechanisms for generating these patterns.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We provide a publicly-accessible database and data-mining tool, aeGEPUCI, that integrates 1) microarray analyses of sex- and stage-specific gene expression in <it>Ae. aegypti</it>, 2) functional gene annotation, 3) genomic sequence data, and 4) computational sequence analysis tools. The database can be used to identify genes expressed in particular stages and patterns of interest, and to analyze putative <it>cis</it>-regulatory elements (CREs) that may play a role in coordinating these patterns. The database is accessible from the address <url>http://www.aegep.bio.uci.edu</url>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The combination of gene expression, function and sequence data coupled with integrated sequence analysis tools allows for identification of expression patterns and streamlines the development of CRE predictions and experiments to assess how patterns of expression are coordinated at the molecular level.</p

Atypical audiovisual speech integration in infants at risk for autism

The language difficulties often seen in individuals with autism might stem from an inability to integrate audiovisual information, a skill important for language development. We investigated whether 9-month-old siblings of older children with autism, who are at an increased risk of developing autism, are able to integrate audiovisual speech cues. We used an eye-tracker to record where infants looked when shown a screen displaying two faces of the same model, where one face is articulating/ba/and the other/ga/, with one face congruent with the syllable sound being presented simultaneously, the other face incongruent. This method was successful in showing that infants at low risk can integrate audiovisual speech: they looked for the same amount of time at the mouths in both the fusible visual/ga/− audio/ba/and the congruent visual/ba/− audio/ba/displays, indicating that the auditory and visual streams fuse into a McGurk-type of syllabic percept in the incongruent condition. It also showed that low-risk infants could perceive a mismatch between auditory and visual cues: they looked longer at the mouth in the mismatched, non-fusible visual/ba/− audio/ga/display compared with the congruent visual/ga/− audio/ga/display, demonstrating that they perceive an uncommon, and therefore interesting, speech-like percept when looking at the incongruent mouth (repeated ANOVA: displays x fusion/mismatch conditions interaction: F(1,16) = 17.153, p = 0.001). The looking behaviour of high-risk infants did not differ according to the type of display, suggesting difficulties in matching auditory and visual information (repeated ANOVA, displays x conditions interaction: F(1,25) = 0.09, p = 0.767), in contrast to low-risk infants (repeated ANOVA: displays x conditions x low/high-risk groups interaction: F(1,41) = 4.466, p = 0.041). In some cases this reduced ability might lead to the poor communication skills characteristic of autism

Nearly Monodispersion CoSm Alloy Nanoparticles Formed by an In-situ Rapid Cooling and Passivating Microfluidic Process

An in siturapid cooling and passivating microfluidic processhas been developed for the synthesis of nearly monodispersed cobalt samarium nanoparticles (NPs) with tunable crystal structures and surface properties. This process involves promoting the nucleation and growth of NPs at an elevated temperature and rapidly quenching the NP colloids in a solution containing a passivating reagent at a reduced temperature. We have shown that Cobalt samarium NPs having amorphous crystal structures and a thin passivating layer can be synthesized with uniform nonspherical shapes and size of about 4.8 nm. The amorphous CoSm NPs in our study have blocking temperature near 40 K and average coercivity of 225 Oe at 10 K. The NPs also exhibit high anisotropic magnetic properties with a wasp-waist hysteresis loop and a bias shift of coercivity due to the shape anisotropy and the exchange coupling between the core and the thin oxidized surface layer

Neuronal circuitry for pain processing in the dorsal horn

Neurons in the spinal dorsal horn process sensory information, which is then transmitted to several brain regions, including those responsible for pain perception. The dorsal horn provides numerous potential targets for the development of novel analgesics and is thought to undergo changes that contribute to the exaggerated pain felt after nerve injury and inflammation. Despite its obvious importance, we still know little about the neuronal circuits that process sensory information, mainly because of the heterogeneity of the various neuronal components that make up these circuits. Recent studies have begun to shed light on the neuronal organization and circuitry of this complex region

Histone deacetylases as new therapy targets for platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer

Introduction: In developed countries, ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Due to the nonspecific symptomatology associated with the disease many patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed late, which leads to significantly poorer prognosis. Apart from surgery and radiotherapy, a substantial number of ovarian cancer patients will undergo chemotherapy and platinum based agents are the mainstream first-line therapy for this disease. Despite the initial efficacy of these therapies, many women relapse; therefore, strategies for second-line therapies are required. Regulation of DNA transcription is crucial for tumour progression, metastasis and chemoresistance which offers potential for novel drug targets. Methods: We have reviewed the existing literature on the role of histone deacetylases, nuclear enzymes regulating gene transcription. Results and conclusion: Analysis of available data suggests that a signifant proportion of drug resistance stems from abberant gene expression, therefore HDAC inhibitors are amongst the most promising therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Together with genetic testing, they may have a potential to serve as base for patient-adapted therapies