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Showing papers by "University of Costa Rica published in 2019"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This assessment, the most comprehensive for any nation to-date, demonstrates the potential of conservation and restoration of VCE to underpin national policy development for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Abstract: Policies aiming to preserve vegetated coastal ecosystems (VCE; tidal marshes, mangroves and seagrasses) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions require national assessments of blue carbon resources. Here, we present organic carbon (C) storage in VCE across Australian climate regions and estimate potential annual CO2 emission benefits of VCE conservation and restoration. Australia contributes 5–11% of the C stored in VCE globally (70–185 Tg C in aboveground biomass, and 1,055–1,540 Tg C in the upper 1 m of soils). Potential CO2 emissions from current VCE losses are estimated at 2.1–3.1 Tg CO2-e yr-1, increasing annual CO2 emissions from land use change in Australia by 12–21%. This assessment, the most comprehensive for any nation to-date, demonstrates the potential of conservation and restoration of VCE to underpin national policy development for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Policies aiming to preserve vegetated coastal ecosystems (VCE) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions require national assessments of blue carbon resources. Here the authors assessed organic carbon storage in VCE across Australian and the potential annual CO2 emission benefits of VCE conservation and find that Australia contributes substantially the carbon stored in VCE globally.

1,462 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Reconstructions and simulations qualitatively agree on the amplitude of the unforced global mean multidecadal temperature variability, thereby increasing confidence in future projections of climate change on these timescales.
Abstract: Multi-decadal surface temperature changes may be forced by natural as well as anthropogenic factors, or arise unforced from the climate system. Distinguishing these factors is essential for estimating sensitivity to multiple climatic forcings and the amplitude of the unforced variability. Here we present 2,000-year-long global mean temperature reconstructions using seven different statistical methods that draw from a global collection of temperature-sensitive paleoclimate records. Our reconstructions display synchronous multi-decadal temperature fluctuations, which are coherent with one another and with fully forced CMIP5 millennial model simulations across the Common Era. The most significant attribution of pre-industrial (1300-1800 CE) variability at multi-decadal timescales is to volcanic aerosol forcing. Reconstructions and simulations qualitatively agree on the amplitude of the unforced global mean multi-decadal temperature variability, thereby increasing confidence in future projections of climate change on these timescales. The largest warming trends at timescales of 20 years and longer occur during the second half of the 20th century, highlighting the unusual character of the warming in recent decades.

221 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The antimicrobial potential of insect-associated Streptomyces is uncovered and a compound, cyphomycin, active against multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens is identified, indicating host microbiomes are feasible sources for drug discovery.
Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance is a global health crisis and few novel antimicrobials have been discovered in recent decades. Natural products, particularly from Streptomyces, are the source of most antimicrobials, yet discovery campaigns focusing on Streptomyces from the soil largely rediscover known compounds. Investigation of understudied and symbiotic sources has seen some success, yet no studies have systematically explored microbiomes for antimicrobials. Here we assess the distinct evolutionary lineages of Streptomyces from insect microbiomes as a source of new antimicrobials through large-scale isolations, bioactivity assays, genomics, metabolomics, and in vivo infection models. Insect-associated Streptomyces inhibit antimicrobial-resistant pathogens more than soil Streptomyces. Genomics and metabolomics reveal their diverse biosynthetic capabilities. Further, we describe cyphomycin, a new molecule active against multidrug resistant fungal pathogens. The evolutionary trajectories of Streptomyces from the insect microbiome influence their biosynthetic potential and ability to inhibit resistant pathogens, supporting the promise of this source in augmenting future antimicrobial discovery.

197 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This Review conceptualizes the spatiotemporal dimensions, diversity, functions and organismic interactions of fungi in structuring aquatic food webs and focuses on currently unexplored aquatic fungal diversity, highlighting poorly understood ecosystems, including emerging artificial aquatic habitats.
Abstract: Fungi are phylogenetically and functionally diverse ubiquitous components of almost all ecosystems on Earth, including aquatic environments stretching from high montane lakes down to the deep ocean. Aquatic ecosystems, however, remain frequently overlooked as fungal habitats, although fungi potentially hold important roles for organic matter cycling and food web dynamics. Recent methodological improvements have facilitated a greater appreciation of the importance of fungi in many aquatic systems, yet a conceptual framework is still missing. In this Review, we conceptualize the spatiotemporal dimensions, diversity, functions and organismic interactions of fungi in structuring aquatic food webs. We focus on currently unexplored fungal diversity, highlighting poorly understood ecosystems, including emerging artificial aquatic habitats.

181 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, 1-benzyl-4-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazole was prepared using an environmental friendly and facile synthetic procedure and its performance as an organic corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in 1.0

158 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
09 Oct 2019-Nature
TL;DR: High-quality multilayer capacitors of a perovskite oxide show that large electric-field-driven caloric effects could improve solid-state refrigeration technology and challenge today’s standard (based on magnetocaloric effects in gadolinium).
Abstract: Heat pumps based on magnetocaloric and electrocaloric working bodies—in which entropic phase transitions are driven by changes of magnetic and electric field, respectively—use displaceable fluids to establish relatively large temperature spans between loads to be cooled and heat sinks1,2. However, the performance of prototypes is limited because practical magnetocaloric working bodies driven by permanent magnets3–5 and electrocaloric working bodies driven by voltage6–16 display temperature changes of less than 3 kelvin. Here we show that high-quality multilayer capacitors of PbSc0.5Ta0.5O3 display large electrocaloric effects over a wide range of starting temperatures when the first-order ferroelectric phase transition is driven supercritically (as verified by Landau theory) above the Curie temperature of 290 kelvin by electric fields of 29.0 volts per micrometre. Changes of temperature in the large central area of the capacitor peak at 5.5 kelvin near room temperature and exceed 3 kelvin for starting temperatures that span 176 kelvin (complete thermalization would reduce these values from 5.5 to 3.3 kelvin and from 176 to 73 kelvin). If magnetocaloric working bodies were to be replaced with multilayer capacitors of PbSc0.5Ta0.5O3, then the established design principles behind magnetocaloric heat pumps could be repurposed for better performance without bulky and expensive permanent magnets. High-quality multilayer capacitors of a perovskite oxide show that large electric-field-driven caloric effects could improve solid-state refrigeration technology and challenge today’s standard (based on magnetocaloric effects in gadolinium).

150 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a consensus assessment and recommendations on the current state of and opportunities for advancing global marine macrophyte observations, integrating contributions from a community of researchers with broad geographic and disciplinary expertise.
Abstract: In coastal waters around the world, the dominant primary producers are benthic macrophytes, including seagrasses and macroalgae, that provide habitat structure and food for diverse and abundant biological communities and drive ecosystem processes. Seagrass meadows and macroalgal forests play key roles for coastal societies, contributing to fishery yields, storm protection, biogeochemical cycling and storage, and important cultural values. These socio-economically valuable services are threatened worldwide by human activities, with substantial areas of seagrass and macroalgal forests lost over the last half-century. Tracking the status and trends in marine macrophyte cover and quality is an emerging priority for ocean and coastal management, but doing so has been challenged by limited coordination across the numerous efforts to monitor macrophytes, which vary widely in goals, methodologies, scales, capacity, governance approaches, and data availability. Here, we present a consensus assessment and recommendations on the current state of and opportunities for advancing global marine macrophyte observations, integrating contributions from a community of researchers with broad geographic and disciplinary expertise. With the increasing scale of human impacts, the time is ripe to harmonize marine macrophyte observations by building on existing networks and identifying a core set of common metrics and approaches in sampling design, field measurements, governance, capacity building, and data management. We recommend a tiered observation system, with improvement of remote sensing and remote underwater imaging to expand capacity to capture broad-scale extent at intervals of several years, coordinated with stratified in situ sampling annually to characterize the key variables of cover and taxonomic or functional group composition, and to provide ground-truth. A robust networked system of macrophyte observations will be facilitated by establishing best practices, including standard protocols, documentation, and sharing of resources at all stages of workflow, and secure archiving of open-access data. Because such a network is necessarily distributed, sustaining it depends on close engagement of local stakeholders and focusing on building and long-term maintenance of local capacity, particularly in the developing world. Realizing these recommendations will produce more effective, efficient, and responsive observing, a more accurate global picture of change in vegetated coastal systems, and stronger international capacity for sustaining observations.

147 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This Position Statement has been endorsed by the International Menopause Society, the Endocrine Society of Australia, and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Abstract: This Position Statement has been endorsed by the International Menopause Society, The Endocrine Society, The European Menopause and Andropause Society, The International Society for Sexual Medicine, The International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health, The North American Menopause Society, The Federacion Latinoamericana de Sociedades de Climaterio y Menopausia, The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, The International Society of Endocrinology, The Endocrine Society of Australia, and The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

121 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a global overview of children's television advertising exposure to healthy and unhealthy products, using the 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) Europe Nutrient Profile Model (should be permitted/not permitted to be advertised).
Abstract: Restricting children's exposures to marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages is a global obesity prevention priority. Monitoring marketing exposures supports informed policymaking. This study presents a global overview of children's television advertising exposure to healthy and unhealthy products. Twenty‐two countries contributed data, captured between 2008 and 2017. Advertisements were coded for the nature of foods and beverages, using the 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) Europe Nutrient Profile Model (should be permitted/not‐permitted to be advertised). Peak viewing times were defined as the top five hour timeslots for children. On average, there were four times more advertisements for foods/beverages that should not be permitted than for permitted foods/beverages. The frequency of food/beverages advertisements that should not be permitted per hour was higher during peak viewing times compared with other times (P < 0.001). During peak viewing times, food and beverage advertisements that should not be permitted were higher in countries with industry self‐regulatory programmes for responsible advertising compared with countries with no policies. Globally, children are exposed to a large volume of television advertisements for unhealthy foods and beverages, despite the implementation of food industry programmes. Governments should enact regulation to protect children from television advertising of unhealthy products that undermine their health.

121 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work proposes a framework to automatically analyse these reviews, transforming negative and positive user opinions in a quantitative score, and ranks the best products by price alongside their respective sentiment value and the 5-Star score.

109 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
M. Ades1, Robert F. Adler2, Laura S. Aldeco, G. Alejandra  +497 moreInstitutions (149)
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the seccion c. Central America and the Caribbean del capitulo 7. Regional Climates (CACC) and the corresponding geographical conditions.
Abstract: El documento contiene la seccion c. Central America and the Caribbean del capitulo 7. Regional Climates

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2019-Brain
TL;DR: T tandem repeat variants at this locus are identified, and show that a three-repeat allele is associated with reduced somatic expansion, delayed onset and slower progression in Huntington’s disease and myotonic dystrophy type 1.
Abstract: The mismatch repair gene MSH3 has been implicated as a genetic modifier of the CAG·CTG repeat expansion disorders Huntington’s disease and myotonic dystrophy type 1. A recent Huntington’s disease genome-wide association study found rs557874766, an imputed single nucleotide polymorphism located within a polymorphic 9 bp tandem repeat in MSH3/DHFR, as the variant most significantly associated with progression in Huntington’s disease. Using Illumina sequencing in Huntington’s disease and myotonic dystrophy type 1 subjects, we show that rs557874766 is an alignment artefact, the minor allele for which corresponds to a three-repeat allele in MSH3 exon 1 that is associated with a reduced rate of somatic CAG·CTG expansion (P = 0.004) and delayed disease onset (P = 0.003) in both Huntington’s disease and myotonic dystrophy type 1, and slower progression (P = 3.86 × 10−7) in Huntington’s disease. RNA-Seq of whole blood in the Huntington’s disease subjects found that repeat variants are associated with MSH3 and DHFR expression. A transcriptome-wide association study in the Huntington’s disease cohort found increased MSH3 and DHFR expression are associated with disease progression. These results suggest that variation in the MSH3 exon 1 repeat region influences somatic expansion and disease phenotype in Huntington’s disease and myotonic dystrophy type 1, and suggests a common DNA repair mechanism operates in both repeat expansion diseases.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A gloomy future for angiosperms remaining in fragmented habitats is revealed as fewer sired progeny of lower quality may decrease recruitment of plant populations, thereby increasing their probability of extinction.
Abstract: Most of the world's land surface is currently under human use and natural habitats remain as fragmented samples of the original landscapes. Measuring the quality of plant progeny sired in these pervasive environments represents a fundamental endeavour for predicting the evolutionary potential of plant populations remaining in fragmented habitats and thus their ability to adapt to changing environments. By means of hierarchical and phylogenetically independent meta-analyses we reviewed habitat fragmentation effects on the genetic and biological characteristics of progenies across 179 plant species. Progeny sired in fragmented habitats showed overall genetic erosion in contrast with progeny sired in continuous habitats, with the exception of plants pollinated by vertebrates. Similarly, plant progeny in fragmented habitats showed reduced germination, survival and growth. Habitat fragmentation had stronger negative effects on the progeny vigour of outcrossing- than mixed-mating plant species, except for vertebrate-pollinated species. Finally, we observed that increased inbreeding coefficients due to fragmentation correlated negatively with progeny vigour. Our findings reveal a gloomy future for angiosperms remaining in fragmented habitats as fewer sired progeny of lower quality may decrease recruitment of plant populations, thereby increasing their probability of extinction.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, structural equation models (SEM) were used to explore the relationship among various satisfaction latent constructs, such as overall satisfaction and loyalty, and the concept of Critical Incidents (CI), which represents the intent to recommend the service.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is contended that microbiology literacy in society is indispensable for informed personal decisions, as well as for policy development in government and business, and for knowledgeable input of societal stakeholders in such policymaking.
Abstract: Microbes and their activities have pervasive, remarkably profound and generally positive effects on the functioning, and thus health and well-being, of human beings, the whole of the biological world, and indeed the entire surface of the planet and its atmosphere. Collectively, and to a significant extent in partnership with the sun, microbes are the life support system of the biosphere. This necessitates their due consideration in decisions that are taken by individuals and families in everyday life, as well as by individuals and responsible bodies at all levels and stages of community, national and planetary health assessment, planning, and the formulation of pertinent policies. However, unlike other subjects having a pervasive impact upon humankind, such as financial affairs, health, and transportation, of which there is a widespread understanding, knowledge of relevant microbial activities, how they impact our lives, and how they may be harnessed for the benefit of humankind - microbiology literacy - is lacking in the general population, and in the subsets thereof that constitute the decision makers. Choices involving microbial activity implications are often opaque, and the information available is sometimes biased and usually incomplete, and hence creates considerable uncertainty. As a consequence, even evidence-based 'best' decisions, not infrequently lead to unpredicted, unintended, and sometimes undesired outcomes. We therefore contend that microbiology literacy in society is indispensable for informed personal decisions, as well as for policy development in government and business, and for knowledgeable input of societal stakeholders in such policymaking. An understanding of key microbial activities is as essential for transitioning from childhood to adulthood as some subjects currently taught at school, and must therefore be acquired during general education. Microbiology literacy needs to become part of the world citizen job description. To facilitate the attainment of microbiology literacy in society, through its incorporation into education curricula, we propose here a basic teaching concept and format that are adaptable to all ages, from pre-school to high school, and places key microbial activities in the contexts of how they affect our everyday lives, of relevant Grand Challenges facing humanity and planet Earth, and of sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals. We exhort microbiologists, microbiological learned societies and microbiology-literate professionals, to participate in and contribute to this initiative by helping to evolve the basic concept, developing and seeking funding to develop child-friendly, appealing teaching tools and materials, enhancing its impact and, most importantly, convincing educators, policy makers, business leaders and relevant governmental and non-governmental agencies to support and promote this initiative. Microbiology literacy in society must become reality. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A variety of effects of MP pollution from the microbial ecology perspective are examined, whose repercussions on aquatic ecosystems begin to be unraveled.
Abstract: Microplastics (MP) provide a unique and extensive surface for microbial colonization in aquatic ecosystems. The formation of microorganism-microplastic complexes, such as biofilms, maximizes the degradation of organic matter and horizontal gene transfer. In this context, MP affect the structure and function of microbial communities, which in turn render the physical and chemical fate of MP. This new paradigm generates challenges for microbiology, ecology, and ecotoxicology. Dispersal of MP is concomitant with that of their associated microorganisms and their mobile genetic elements, including antibiotic resistance genes, islands of pathogenicity, and diverse metabolic pathways. Functional changes in aquatic microbiomes can alter carbon metabolism and food webs, with unknown consequences on higher organisms or human microbiomes and hence health. Here, we examine a variety of effects of MP pollution from the microbial ecology perspective, whose repercussions on aquatic ecosystems begin to be unraveled.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Analysis of observable and latent variables indicate that early-life stress impairs the arousal-inhibition system leading to augmented and persistent responses towards novel, rewarding, and mildly-threatening stimuli, accompanied by lower body-weight gain.
Abstract: The chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) paradigm is extensively used in preclinical research. However, CUS exhibits translational inconsistencies, some of them resulting from the use of adult rodents, despite the evidence that vulnerability for many psychiatric disorders accumulates during early life. Here, we assessed the validity of the CUS model by including ethologically-relevant paradigms in juvenile rats. Thus, socially-isolated (SI) rats were submitted to CUS and compared with SI (experiment 1) and group-housed controls (experiment 1 and 2). We found that lower body-weight gain and hyperlocomotion, instead of sucrose consumption and preference, were the best parameters to monitor the progression of CUS, which also affected gene expression and neurotransmitter contents associated with that CUS-related phenotype. The behavioural characterisation after CUS placed locomotion and exploratory activity as the best stress predictors. By employing the exploratory factor analysis, we reduced each behavioural paradigm to few latent variables which clustered into two general domains that strongly predicted the CUS condition: (1) hyper-responsivity to novelty and mild threats, and (2) anxiety/depressive-like response. Altogether, the analyses of observable and latent variables indicate that early-life stress impairs the arousal-inhibition system leading to augmented and persistent responses towards novel, rewarding, and mildly-threatening stimuli, accompanied by lower body-weight gain.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of the present understanding of the spin structure of protons and neutrons, the fundamental building blocks of nuclei collectively known as nucleons, can be found in this article.
Abstract: We review the present understanding of the spin structure of protons and neutrons, the fundamental building blocks of nuclei collectively known as nucleons. The field of nucleon spin provides a critical window for testing Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the gauge theory of the strong interactions, since it involves fundamental aspects of hadron structure which can be probed in detail in experiments, particularly deep inelastic lepton scattering on polarized targets. QCD was initially probed in high energy deep inelastic lepton scattering with unpolarized beams and targets. With time, interest shifted from testing perturbative QCD to illuminating the nucleon structure itself. In fact, the spin degrees of freedom of hadrons provide an essential and detailed verification of both perturbative and nonperturbative QCD dynamics. Nucleon spin was initially thought of coming mostly from the spin of its quark constituents, based on intuition from the parton model. However, the first experiments showed that this expectation was incorrect. It is now clear that nucleon physics is much more complex, involving quark orbital angular momenta as well as gluonic and sea quark contributions. Thus, the nucleon spin structure remains a most active aspect of QCD research, involving important advances such as the developments of generalized parton distributions (GPD) and transverse momentum distributions (TMD). Elastic and inelastic lepton-proton scattering, as well as photoabsorption experiments provide various ways to investigate non-perturbative QCD. Fundamental sum rules-such as the Bjorken sum rule for polarized photoabsorption on polarized nucleons-are also in the non-perturbative domain. This realization triggered a vigorous program to link the low energy effective hadronic description of the strong interactions to fundamental quarks and gluon degrees of freedom of QCD. This has also led to advances in lattice gauge theory simulations of QCD and to the development of holographic QCD ideas based on the AdS/CFT or gauge/gravity correspondence, a novel approach providing a well-founded semiclassical approximation to QCD. Any QCD-based model of the nucleon's spin and dynamics must also successfully account for the observed spectroscopy of hadrons. Analytic calculations of the hadron spectrum, a long sought goal of QCD research, have now being realized using light-front holography and superconformal quantum mechanics, a formalism consistent with the results from nucleon spin studies. We begin this review with a phenomenological description of nucleon structure in general and of its spin structure in particular, aimed to engage non-specialist readers. Next, we discuss the nucleon spin structure at high energy, including topics such as Dirac's front form and light-front quantization which provide a frame-independent, relativistic description of hadron structure and dynamics, the derivation of spin sum rules, and a direct connection to the QCD Lagrangian. We then discuss experimental and theoretical advances in the nonperturbative domain-in particular the development of light-front holographic QCD and superconformal quantum mechanics, their predictions for the spin content of nucleons, the computation of PDFs and of hadron masses.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-analysis of published evidence on the effects of temperature in school classrooms on children's performance in school is presented, which shows that the performance of psychological tests and school tasks can be expected to increase on average by 20% if classroom temperatures are lowered from 30°C to 20°C and that the temperature for optimal performance is lower than 22°C.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A phylovenomics approach is applied to compare the venom proteomes of Russell's vipers from the three corners of the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South India/Sri Lanka, and has assessed the in vitro (third-generation antivenomics) and in vivo preclinical efficacy of a panel of homologous antivenoms.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Global Consensus Position Statement on the use of Testosterone Therapy for Women Susan R. Davisa, Rodney Baberb,o, Nicholas Panayc, p, Johannes Bitzerd,q, Sonia Cerdas Pereze,r, Rakibul M. Islama,p, Andrew M. Kingsbergg,t, Irene Lambrinoudakih,u, James Liui,s, Sharon J. Parishj,v, JoAnn Pinkertonk
Abstract: This Position Statement has been endorsed by the International Menopause Society, The Endocrine Society, The European Menopause and Andropause Society, The International Society for Sexual Medicine...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that temporal and spatial characteristics of the host’s macro-environment mediate microbial diversity in amphibian skin bacterial communities, and more diverse skin microbiomes in environments with colder winters and less stable thermal conditions are found.
Abstract: Animal-associated microbiomes are integral to host health, yet key biotic and abiotic factors that shape host-associated microbial communities at the global scale remain poorly understood. We investigated global patterns in amphibian skin bacterial communities, incorporating samples from 2,349 individuals representing 205 amphibian species across a broad biogeographic range. We analysed how biotic and abiotic factors correlate with skin microbial communities using multiple statistical approaches. Global amphibian skin bacterial richness was consistently correlated with temperature-associated factors. We found more diverse skin microbiomes in environments with colder winters and less stable thermal conditions compared with environments with warm winters and less annual temperature variation. We used bioinformatically predicted bacterial growth rates, dormancy genes and antibiotic synthesis genes, as well as inferred bacterial thermal growth optima to propose mechanistic hypotheses that may explain the observed patterns. We conclude that temporal and spatial characteristics of the host's macro-environment mediate microbial diversity.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The most recent achievements in antivenom research include the application of new biotechnologies, the development of the first human monoclonal antibodies that can neutralize animal toxins, and efforts toward creating fully recombinant antivenoms.
Abstract: Each year, millions of humans fall victim to animal envenomings, which may either be deadly or cause permanent disability to the effected individuals. The Nobel Prize-winning discovery of serum therapy for the treatment of bacterial infections (tetanus and diphtheria) paved the way for the introduction of antivenom therapies for envenomings caused by venomous animals. These antivenoms are based on polyclonal antibodies derived from the plasma of hyperimmunized animals and remain the only specific treatment against animal envenomings. Following the initial development of serum therapy for snakebite envenoming by French scientists in 1894, other countries with high incidences of animal envenomings, including Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Mexico, started taking up antivenom production against local venomous animals over the course of the twentieth century. These undertakings revolutionized envenoming therapy and have saved innumerous patients worldwide during the last 100 years. This review describes in detail the above-mentioned historical events surrounding the discovery and the application of serum therapy for envenomings, as well as it provides an overview of important developments and scientific breakthroughs that were of importance for antibody-based therapies in general. This begins with discoveries concerning the characterization of antibodies, including the events leading up to the elucidation of the antibody structure. These discoveries further paved the way for other milestones in antibody-based therapies, such as the introduction of hybridoma technology in 1975. Hybridoma technology enabled the expression and isolation of monoclonal antibodies, which in turn formed the basis for the development of phage display technology and transgenic mice, which can be harnessed to directly obtain fully human monoclonal antibodies. These developments were driven by the ultimate goal of producing potent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies with optimal pharmacokinetic properties and low immunogenicity. This review then provides an outline of the most recent achievements in antivenom research, which include the application of new biotechnologies, the development of the first human monoclonal antibodies that can neutralize animal toxins, and efforts toward creating fully recombinant antivenoms. Lastly, future perspectives in the field of envenoming therapies are discussed, including rational engineering of antibody cross-reactivity and the use of oligoclonal antibody mixtures.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work examines internal impacts and local spillovers for Brazilian Amazon federal and state agencies and suggests that agencies’ objectives and capacities are critical parts of the contexts for conservation strategies.
Abstract: Protected areas (PAs) are the leading tools to conserve forests. However, given their mixed effectiveness, we want to know when they have impacts internally and, if they do, when they have spillovers. Political economy posits roles for the level of government. One hypothesis is that federal PAs avoid more internal deforestation than state PAs since federal agencies consider gains for other jurisdictions. Such political differences as well as economic mechanisms can cause PA spillovers to vary greatly, even from “leakage,” more deforestation elsewhere, to “blockage,” less deforestation elsewhere. We examine internal impacts and local spillovers for Brazilian Amazon federal and state agencies. Outside the region’s “arc of deforestation,” we confirm little internal impact and show no spillovers. In the “arc,” we test impacts by state, as states are large and feature considerably different dynamics. For internal impacts, estimates for federal PAs and indigenous lands are higher than for state PAs. For local spillover impacts, estimates for most arc states either are not significant or are not robust; however, for Para, federal PAs and indigenous lands feature both internal impacts and local spillovers. Yet, the spillovers in Para go in opposite directions across agencies, leakage for indigenous lands but blockage for federal PAs, suggesting a stronger external signal from the environmental agency. Across all these tools, only federal PAs lower deforestation internally and nearby. Results suggest that agencies’ objectives and capacities are critical parts of the contexts for conservation strategies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work postulates the existence of a Maslow's hierarchy of transit needs, with three types of attributes: functional, security and hedonic, and provides direct policy recommendations by constructing a set of priorities, concerning reliability, safety, customer services and comfort, which is generalisable to any PT system setting.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The findings suggest that NCu can increase the persistence of ATZ in soil, which may be mostly associated to physical-chemical interaction with soil particles more than a microbial impact.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The isotopic evolution of a tropical cyclone is studied in detail which helps disentangle the key processes governing rainfall isotope variability in the region.
Abstract: The Mesoamerican and Caribbean (MAC) region is characterized by tropical cyclones (TCs), strong El Nino-Southern Oscillation events, and climate variability that bring unique hazards to socio-ecological systems. Here we report the first characterization of the isotopic evolution of a TC (Hurricane Otto, 2016) in the MAC region. We use long-term daily rainfall isotopes from Costa Rica and event-based sampling of Hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017), to underpin the dynamical drivers of TC isotope ratios. During Hurricane Otto, rainfall exhibited a large isotopic range, comparable to the annual isotopic cycle. As Hurricane Otto organized into a Category 3, rapid isotopic depletion coupled with a decrease in d-excess indicates efficient isotopic fractionation within ~200 km SW of the warm core. Our results shed light on key processes governing rainfall isotope ratios in the MAC region during continental and maritime TC tracks, with applications to the interpretation of paleo-hydroclimate across the tropics.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The purpose of this review is to discuss the metabolism of zeaxanthin, including digestion, absorption, transport, and uptake by tissues, as well as the dietary or other factors which affect zexanthin bioavailability.
Abstract: Zeaxanthin, a non-provitamin A carotenoid that belongs to the xanthophyll family, has been less studied than its isomer lutein. However, zeaxanthin has also been shown to have a number of beneficial effects for human health due to its ability to quench free radicals, exert antioxidant effects, as well as decrease inflammation. It is the purpose of this review to discuss the metabolism of zeaxanthin, including digestion, absorption, transport, and uptake by tissues, as well as the dietary or other factors which affect zeaxanthin bioavailability. In addition, this review also focuses on specific effects of this carotenoid on eye, skin, liver, and cardiovascular health. Data derived from human interventions, animal models of research, and in vitro and cell studies are discussed in this review.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Kinship was predictive of social association among individuals of the same sex in a few species, but largely independent of the occurrence of complex behaviors, such as dominance among males or cooperation among females, according to network analysis and genetic data.
Abstract: Among mammals, bats exhibit extreme variation in sociality, with some species living largely solitary lives while others form colonies of more than a million individuals. Some tropical species form groups during the day that persist throughout the year while many temperate species only gather into groups during hibernation or parturition. How groups form and then persist has now been described for a number of species, but the degree to which kinship explains patterns of association has never been quantified across species. Here, we use social network analysis and genetic data to determine the extent to which relatedness contributes to associations among individuals estimated from free-ranging animals across nine species from four families of bats. Network analysis reveals that all species show evidence of emergent social structure. Variation in the strength of the relationship between genetic relatedness and social association appears to be related to the degree of roost switching, i.e., species in which individuals change roosts frequently tend to exhibit higher levels of association among relatives. Sex-biased dispersal determines whether associations were between male or female relatives. The strength of associations among kin does not predict known occurrence of complex behaviors, such as dominance or various types of cooperation, indicating that kinship is not a prerequisite for social complexity in bats. The number of differentiated relationships has been proposed as a way to measure social complexity. Among primates, relationships can be differentiated on the basis of rank, age, kinship, or association. Application of this approach to other groups of mammals that vary in sociality could help reveal ecological, behavioral, or cognitive similarities and differences between species. As a first step toward this approach, we used social network analysis on long-term individual records and estimated relatedness using genetic markers for nine species of bats. We confirmed nonrandom emergent social structure in all species. Kinship was predictive of social association among individuals of the same sex in a few species, but largely independent of the occurrence of complex behaviors, such as dominance among males or cooperation among females. Complex social behavior in bats appears to require frequent interactions among a small number of individuals that roost together for multiple years.