Metapopulation dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a small-scale Amazonian society
by Thomas S. Kraft, Edmond Seabright, Sarah Alami, Samuel M. Jenness, Paul Hooper, Bret Beheim, Helen Davis, Daniel K. Cummings, Daniel Eid Rodriguez, Maguin Gutierrez Cayuba, Emily Miner, Xavier de Lamballerie, Lucia Inchauste, St éphane Priet, Benjamin C. Trumble, Jonathan Stieglitz, Hillard Kaplan, Michael D. Gurven
The severity of infectious disease outbreaks is governed by patterns of human contact, which vary by geography, social organization, mobility, access to technology and healthcare, economic development, and culture. Whereas globalized societies and urban centers exhibit characteristics that can heighten vul...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - August 22, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Thomas S. Kraft Source Type: research
Cultural similarities and specificities of finger counting and montring: Evidence from Amazon Tsimane' people
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2023 Aug 14;239:104009. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTNumerical cognition might be embodied, that is, grounded in bodily actions. This claim is supported by the observation that, potentially due to our shared biology, finger counting is prevalent among a variety of cultures. Differences in finger counting are apparent even within Western cultures. Relatively few indigenous cultures have been systematically analyzed in terms of traditional finger counting and montring (i.e., communicating numbers with fingers) routines. Even fewer studies used the same protocols across...
Source: Acta Psychologica - August 16, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Krzysztof Cipora Venera Gashaj Annabel S Gridley Mojtaba Soltanlou Hans-Christoph Nuerk Source Type: research
Cultural similarities and specificities of finger counting and montring: Evidence from Amazon Tsimane' people
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2023 Aug 14;239:104009. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTNumerical cognition might be embodied, that is, grounded in bodily actions. This claim is supported by the observation that, potentially due to our shared biology, finger counting is prevalent among a variety of cultures. Differences in finger counting are apparent even within Western cultures. Relatively few indigenous cultures have been systematically analyzed in terms of traditional finger counting and montring (i.e., communicating numbers with fingers) routines. Even fewer studies used the same protocols across...
Source: Acta Psychologica - August 16, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Krzysztof Cipora Venera Gashaj Annabel S Gridley Mojtaba Soltanlou Hans-Christoph Nuerk Source Type: research
Brazil ’s Amazon Summit falls short on charting meaningful goals to protect forest, researchers say
While the presidents of eight South American nations met this week to discuss an alliance to protect the world’s largest forest, thousands of activists took to the streets outside the convention center in Belém do Pará, Brazil. Holding up signs that read “Amazon free of oil,” and “Our future is not for sale,” they demanded a joint pledge to end deforestation and fossil fuel extraction in the Amazon. But those hopes didn’t come to pass: When the heads of state released their Amazon Summit declaration on Tuesday, it was devoid of any firm commitment or quantifiable goals.
“Given the urgency of the clima...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - August 10, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Gene variant that raises Alzheimer's risk may boost fertility in women
The genetic variant APOE4 substantially raises the risk of Alzheimer ' s disease, but it has also been linked to women having more children in an Indigenous group in Bolivia (Source: New Scientist - Health)
Source: New Scientist - Health - August 9, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: research
Common Alzheimer ’s disease gene may have helped our ancestors have more kids
Roughly one in five people are born with at least one copy of a gene variant called
APOE4
that makes them more prone to heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease in old age. That the variant is so common poses an evolutionary mystery: If it decreases our fitness, why hasn’t
APOE4
been purged from the human population over time?
Now, a study of nearly 800 women in a traditional society in the Amazon finds that those with the disease-promoting variant had slightly more children. Such a fertility benefit may have allowed the gene to persist during human evolution despite its harmful effects for older...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - August 9, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Rio Negro Virus Infection, Bolivia, 2021
Emerg Infect Dis. 2023 Aug;29(8):1705-1708. doi: 10.3201/eid2908.221885.ABSTRACTIn May 2021, an agricultural worker originally from Trementinal, Argentina, sought treatment for febrile illness in Tarija, Bolivia, where he resided at the time of illness onset. The patient tested negative for hantavirus RNA, but next-generation sequencing of a serum sample yielded a complete genome for Rio Negro virus.PMID:37486719 | DOI:10.3201/eid2908.221885 (Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases)
Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases - July 24, 2023 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Roxana Loayza Mafayle Maria E Morales-Betoulle Shannon Whitmer Caitlin Cossaboom Jimmy Revollo Nelly Mendoza Loayza Hilary Aguilera M éndez Joel Alejandro Chuquimia Valdez Freddy Armijo Subieta Maya Xochitl Espinoza Morales Mar ía Valeria Canedo Sánche Source Type: research
A Multi-epitope Vaccine Candidate Against Bolivian Hemorrhagic fever Caused by Machupo Virus
In this study, GPC protein was considered to design a multi-epitope, multivalent vaccine containing antigenic and immunogenic CTL and HTL epitopes. Different structural validations and physicochemical properties were analysed to validate the vaccine. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to understand the interactions of the vaccine with various immune receptors. Finally, the vaccine was codon optimised in silico and along with which immune simulation studies was performed in order to evaluate the vaccine's effectiveness in triggering an efficacious immune response against MACV.PMID:37479961 | DOI:10.10...
Source: Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - July 21, 2023 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Zeeshan Ali Jyothsna Volisha Cardoza Srijita Basak Utkarsh Narsaria Surjit Bhattacharjee Unnati Meher G Samuel Paul Isaac Tanos C C Franca Steven R LaPlante Sudhan S George Source Type: research
A Multi-epitope Vaccine Candidate Against Bolivian Hemorrhagic fever Caused by Machupo Virus
In this study, GPC protein was considered to design a multi-epitope, multivalent vaccine containing antigenic and immunogenic CTL and HTL epitopes. Different structural validations and physicochemical properties were analysed to validate the vaccine. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to understand the interactions of the vaccine with various immune receptors. Finally, the vaccine was codon optimised in silico and along with which immune simulation studies was performed in order to evaluate the vaccine's effectiveness in triggering an efficacious immune response against MACV.PMID:37479961 | DOI:10.10...
Source: Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - July 21, 2023 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Zeeshan Ali Jyothsna Volisha Cardoza Srijita Basak Utkarsh Narsaria Surjit Bhattacharjee Unnati Meher G Samuel Paul Isaac Tanos C C Franca Steven R LaPlante Sudhan S George Source Type: research
A Multi-epitope Vaccine Candidate Against Bolivian Hemorrhagic fever Caused by Machupo Virus
In this study, GPC protein was considered to design a multi-epitope, multivalent vaccine containing antigenic and immunogenic CTL and HTL epitopes. Different structural validations and physicochemical properties were analysed to validate the vaccine. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to understand the interactions of the vaccine with various immune receptors. Finally, the vaccine was codon optimised in silico and along with which immune simulation studies was performed in order to evaluate the vaccine's effectiveness in triggering an efficacious immune response against MACV.PMID:37479961 | DOI:10.10...
Source: Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - July 21, 2023 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Zeeshan Ali Jyothsna Volisha Cardoza Srijita Basak Utkarsh Narsaria Surjit Bhattacharjee Unnati Meher G Samuel Paul Isaac Tanos C C Franca Steven R LaPlante Sudhan S George Source Type: research
Chagas disease is related to structural changes of the gut microbiota in adults with chronic infection (TRIPOBIOME Study)
ConclusionsWe found a detectable effect of Chagas disease on overall microbiota structure with several potential disease biomarkers, which warrants further research in this field. The analysis of bacterial diversity could prove to be a viable target to improve the prognosis of this prevalent and neglected disease. (Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases)
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - July 21, 2023 Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Jos é A. Pérez-Molina Source Type: research
People can use the placement of objects to infer communicative goals
Cognition. 2023 Jul 12;239:105524. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105524. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBeyond words and gestures, people have a remarkable capacity to communicate indirectly through everyday objects: A hat on a chair can mean it is occupied, rope hanging across an entrance can mean we should not cross, and objects placed in a closed box can imply they are not ours to take. How do people generate and interpret the communicative meaning of objects? We hypothesized that this capacity is supported by social goal inference, where observers recover what social goal explains an object being placed in a particular ...
Source: Cognition - July 14, 2023 Category: Neurology Authors: Michael Lopez-Brau Julian Jara-Ettinger Source Type: research
People can use the placement of objects to infer communicative goals
Cognition. 2023 Jul 12;239:105524. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105524. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBeyond words and gestures, people have a remarkable capacity to communicate indirectly through everyday objects: A hat on a chair can mean it is occupied, rope hanging across an entrance can mean we should not cross, and objects placed in a closed box can imply they are not ours to take. How do people generate and interpret the communicative meaning of objects? We hypothesized that this capacity is supported by social goal inference, where observers recover what social goal explains an object being placed in a particular ...
Source: Cognition - July 14, 2023 Category: Neurology Authors: Michael Lopez-Brau Julian Jara-Ettinger Source Type: research
Molecules, Vol. 28, Pages 5408: Chemical and Biological Aspects of Different Species of the Genus Clinanthus Herb. (Amaryllidaceae) from South America
orras-Claveria
The genus Clinanthus Herb. is found in the Andes Region (South America), mainly in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. These plants belong to the Amaryllidaceae family, specifically the Amaryllidoideae subfamily, which presents an exclusive group of alkaloids known as Amaryllidaceae alkaloids that show important structural diversity and pharmacological properties. It is possible to find some publications in the literature regarding the botanical aspects of Clinanthus species, although there is little information available about their chemical and biological activities. The aim of this work was to obtain the alka...
Source: Molecules - July 14, 2023 Category: Chemistry Authors: Mar ía Lenny Rodríguez-Escobar Luciana R. Tallini Julia Lisa-Molina Strahil Berkov Francesc Viladomat Alan Meerow Jaume Bastida Laura Torras-Claveria Tags: Article Source Type: research
Characterization of Latin American migrants at risk for < i > Trypanosoma cruzi < /i > infection in a non-endemic setting. Insights into initial evaluation of cardiac and digestive involvement
ConclusionsWe still observe many Latin American individuals who were at risk ofT.cruzi infection in highly endemic areas in their countries of origin, and who have not been previously tested forT.cruzi infection. In fact, even in Spain, a country with one of the highest proportion of diagnosis of Latin American populations,T.cruzi infection remains underdiagnosed. The screening of Latin American populations presenting with a similar profile as reported here should be promoted. ECG is considered necessary to assess Chagasic cardiomyopathy in positive individuals, but echocardiograms should also be considered as a diagnostic...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Pedro Laynez-Rold án Source Type: research
