Comprehensive view of suicide:A neuro-immune-endocrine approach

Suicide is defined as the act of a person attempting to take their own life by causing death.Suicide is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by a multitude of factors,including psychosocial,cultural,and religious aspects,as well as genetic,biochemical,and environmental factors.From a biochemical perspective,it is crucial to consider the communication between the endocrine,immune,and nervous systems when studying the etiology of suicide.Several pathologies involve the bidirectional communication between the peripheral activity and the central nervous system by the action of molecules such as cytokines,hormones,and neurotransmitters.These humoral signals,when present in optimal quantities,are responsible for maintaining physiological homeostasis,including mood states.Stress elevates the cortisol and proinflammatory cytokines levels and alter neurotransmitters balance,thereby increasing the risk of developing a psychiatric disorder and subsequently the risk of suicidal behavior.This review provides an integrative perspective about the neurochemical,immunological,and endocrinological disturbances associated with suicidal behavior,with a particular focus on those alterations that may serve as potential risk markers and/or indicators of the state preceding such a tragic act.

Multiple Indicators&Multiple Cause of Public Administration of Zoos in the Sustainable Development Goals

Zoo management has been approached from its financial guidelines in accordance with the SDGs,but without considering its adjustment to the SDGs.Therefore,the objective of this work was to compare the theoretical structure reported in the literature with respect to the observations of this work.A cross-sectional and retrospective study was carried out with a sample of administrative managers linked to zoos committed to the implementation of the SDGs.The results suggest that age and gender determine the financial factor.In relation to the state of the art where dimensions related to learning financial administration are reported,this work suggests that age is a determinant of social responsibility.

Ontogeny of rat chondrocyte proliferation:studies in embryo,adult and osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage

The aim of this work was to study the ontogeny of chondrocyte cell division using embryo, adult and osteoarthritic(OA) cartilage. We searched for mitosis phases and performed a comparative evaluation of mitotic index, basic fibro-blast growth factor b (FGFb), transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) receptors, cyclin dependent kinase (CDK1)and Cyclin-B expression in fetal, neonate, 3, 5, 8 weeks old rats and experimental OA. Our results showed that mitosisphases were observed in all normal cartilage studied, although, we found a decrease in mitotic index in relation to tissuedevelopment. No mitosis was detected in OA cartilage. We also found a statistical significant reduction in cell number inOA cartilage, compared with the normal tissue. Furthermore, FGFb and TGF-β1 receptors diminished in relation totissue development, and were very scarce in experimental OA. Western blot assays showed CDK-1 expression in allcases, including human-OA cartilage. Similar results were observed for Cyclin-B, except for 8 weeks, when it was notexpressed. Our results suggest that cell division seems to be scarce, if not absent within the OA cartilage studied.Nevertheless, the existence of factors essential for cell division leaves open the question concerning chondrocyteproliferation in OA cartilage, which is likely to be present in the early stages of the disease.

Quality of life of patients with brucellosis in an endemic area of Mexico

The aim of this study was to evaluate quality of life of patients infected with brucellosis compared to a control population from the same geographic region. The quality of life of brucellosis positive and brucellosis negative individuals from rural and urban areas of Mexico was evaluated using the Short-Form SF-36 Health Survey. This survey is a generic measure of physical and mental health-related quality of life. Data analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance and the Tukey test. Brucellosis patients had lower overall quality of life compared with the controls. Brucellosis patients from rural areas had lower overall quality of life (P < 0.05) compared with brucellosis patients from urban areas. In conclusion, human brucellosis affects quality of life, with patients living in rural areas most severely impacted. This may be due to the lack of local public policies and programs for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of brucellosis.

Adherence of a Clinical Strain of Mycoplasma fermentans to Human Cultured Epithelial Cells

This study compares the kinetics of adherence of both the prototype strain PG-18 and the recently clinically isolated strain P-140 of Mycoplasma fermentans to HEp-2 cells. M. fermentans may induce respiratory and genitourinary tract infections. We investigated the presence of putative adhesins from strain P-140. A surface protein of 47 kDa, labeled SP47, isolated from M. fermentans P-140, seems to be involved in acterial adherence on HEp-2 cells;this study could allow helping understand the interaction between mycoplasmas and their hosts. Anti-SP47 antibodies inhibited the formation of bacterial clusters and adherence to cultured cells, quantified by ELISA. M. fermentans P-140 was more efficient at adhering to cultured HEp-2 cells than PG-18.

DNA metabarcoding reveals seasonal changes in diet composition across four arthropod-eating lizard species(Phrynosomatidae:Sceloporus)

Diet composition and its ecological drivers are rarely investigated in coexisting closely related species.We used a molecular approach to characterize the seasonal variation in diet composition in four spiny lizard species inhabiting a mountainous ecosystem.DNA metabarcoding revealed that the lizards Sceloporus aeneus,S.bicanthalis,S.grammicus,and S.spinosus mostly consumed arthropods of the orders Hemiptera,Araneae,Hymenoptera,and Coleoptera.The terrestrial lizards S.aeneus and S.bicanthalis mostly predated ants and spiders,whereas the arboreal–saxicolous S.grammicus and saxicolous S.spinosus largely consumed grasshoppers and leafhoppers.The taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of the prey was higher during the dry season than the rainy season,likely because reduced prey availability in the dry season forced lizards to diversify their diets to meet their nutritional demands.Dietary and phylogenetic composition varied seasonally depending on the species,but only dietary composition varied with altitude.Seasonal dietary turnover was greater in S.spinosus than in S.bicanthalis,suggesting site-specific seasonal variability in prey availability;no other differences among species were observed.S.bicanthalis,which lives at the highest altitude in our study site,displayed interseasonal variation in diet breadth.Dietary differences were correlated with the species’feeding strategies and elevational distribution,which likely contributed to the coexistence of these lizard species in the studied geographic area and beyond.

Unravelling host-mediated effects on hemiparasitic Mexican mistletoe Psittacanthus calyculatus(DC.)G.Don traits linked to mutualisms with pollinators and seed dispersers

Aims While the influence of mistletoe-host interactions on each other’s evolution is well-recognized,the role of interactions between mis-tletoes and its mutualistic pollinators and seed dispersers mediated by host species is relatively unexplored.Methods Here,we examine the effects of host species(Mexican hawthorn Crataegus mexicana DC,black cherry Prunus serotina Ehrh.,leather-leaf Mexican oak Quercus crassipes Bonpl.)on flower morphology,nectar production,pollinator visitation rate and female reproduct-ive fitness in hemiparasitic Mexican mistletoe Psittacanthus caly-culatus(DC.)G.Don(Loranthaceae)populations at three different locations.We first measured the lengths of corolla,style,stamen,exerted stamen and anther,the length and width of the ovary and nectar availability for mistletoe flowers in natural populations.Then,we evaluated flower visitation and measured(length and width)and weighed the fruits and its seeds of mistletoes growing on each of the three host species.Finally,we evaluated the effects of host species,location and flower traits on fruit or seed size variation(both as proxies of reproductive fitness).Important Findings We found mistletoes growing on natural hosts P.serotina and Q.crassipes produced larger flowers,fruits and seeds than mistle-toes on cultivated C.mexicana.However,these differences varied across space.The amount of available nectar and hummingbird vis-itation rates in flowers of mistletoes on C.mexicana was higher at the three sites than in flowers of mistletoes on P.serotina or Q.cras-sipes.The effects of host species,study site and floral trait covariates affected significantly all fitness measures,indicating that mistletoes’reproductive fitness is affected differently depending on the host species and their site of occurrence.These host-associated differ-ences in reproduction might have implications for interactions with mutualistic vectors.

Comparative analysis of two nonlethal methods for the study of the gut bacterial communities in wild lizards

Fecal samples or cloacal swabs are preferred over lethal dissections to study vertebrate gut microbiota for ethical reasons,but it remains unclear which nonlethal methods provide more accurate information about gut microbiota.We compared the bacterial communities of three gastrointestinal tract(GIT)segments,that is,stomach,small intestine(midgut),and rectum(hindgut)with the bacterial communities of the cloaca and feces in the mesquite lizard Sceloporus grammicus.The hindgut had the highest taxonomic and functional alpha diversity,followed by midgut and feces,whereas the stomach and cloaca showed the lowest diversities.The taxonomic assemblages of the GIT segments at the phylum level were strongly correlated with those retrieved from feces and cloacal swabs(rs>0.84 in all cases).The turnover ratio of Amplicon Sequence Variants(ASVs)between midgut and hindgut and the feces was lower than the ratio between these segments and the cloaca.More than half of the core-ASVs in the midgut(24 of 32)and hindgut(58 of 97)were also found in feces,while less than 5 were found in the cloaca.At the ASVs level,however,the structure of the bacterial communities of the midgut and hindgut were similar to those detected in feces and cloaca.Our findings suggest that fecal samples and cloacal swabs of spiny lizards provide a good approximation of the taxonomic assemblages and beta diversity of midgut and hindgut microbiota,while feces better represent the bacterial communities of the intestinal segments at a single nucleotide variation level than cloacal swabs.

Biodiversity studies of myxomycetes in Madagascar

The results of the first comprehensive study of myxomycetes from the island of Madagascar,a world biodiversity hotspot,are reported in this paper.The island is of continental origin,the fourth largest in the world,and has been geographically isolated for more than 160 million years,since its separation from Gondwanaland.The isolation,size and topography of Madagascar have triggered the development of a great variety of different habitats and favoured multiple evolutionary pathways,resulting in many animals and plants that exist nowhere else on earth.Fieldwork for the biodiversity survey of the central and southern parts of the island took place in May 2009,to coincide with the end of the rainy season.Tropical moist forest,sclerophyll forest and dry forest were selected for sampling in Ranomafana,Andringitra,Andohahela and L’Isalo National Parks.Some unique vegetation was sampled in the spiny dry forest and succulent scrub with plants from the genera Alluaudia,Euphorbia,Kalanchoe and Pachypodium.The survey produced 124 species from 22 different genera in more than 750 myxomycete collections.In this paper one species,Perichaena madagascariensis,is described as new to science,21 species are new records for Africa,and 106 are reported for the first time from Madagascar.Some unusual collections included Physarum lakhanpalii that appeared on Ravenala madagascariensis,Fuligo intermedia and Licea nannengae found on Adansonia grandidieri,Perichaena pulcherrima,Physarum dictyosporum,and P.echinosporum on Euphorbia and Licea rufocuprea on bark.The scope,methods and results of this survey are included in this paper,and comments are made on the ecology,distribution and substrate association of the myxomycetes of these areas of Madagascar.Macrographs,micrographs and SEM images of interesting species are included.The results indicate that the island of Madagascar has a unique assemblage of species of myxomycetes,different from neighbouring islands and from similar but distant environments.

Resting metabolic rates increase with elevation in a mountain-dwelling lizard

ndividuals that inhabit broad elevational ranges may experience unique environmental challenges.Because temperature decreases with increased elevation,the ectotherms living at high elevations have to manage limited activity time and high thermoregulatory effort.The resting metabolic rate(RMR)of a postabsorptive animal is related to its total energy requirements as well as many other fitness traits.Mesquite lizards(Sceloporus grammicus)living on La Malinche Volcano,Mexico,inhabit a wide elevational range with some populations apparently thriving above the tree line.We measured the RMR of lizards from different elevations(i.e.,2,600,3,200,and 4,100 m)at four ecologically relevant temperatures(i.e.,15,25,30,and 35°C)and found that RMR of mesquite lizards increased with temperature and body mass.More importantly,lizards from the high-elevation population had mass specific RMR that was higher at all temperatures.While the higher RMRs of high-elevation populations imply higher metabolic costs at a given temperature these lizards were also smaller.Both of these traits may allow these high elevation populations to thrive in the face of the thermal challenges imposed by their environment.

Bacterial and archaeal communities in saline soils from a Los Negritos geothermal area in Mexico

In recent years,there has been a growing need to understand how salinity affects microbial communities in agricultural soils.Archaeal and bacterial community diversities and structures were investigated by high-throughput sequencing analysis of their 16S rRNA in two arable soils with low electrical conductivity(EC)(2.3 and 2.6 dS m^(-1))and a saline soil(EC=17.6 dS m^(-1)).The dominant bacterial phyla in the soils were Proteobacteria(relative abundance(RA)=46.2%),followed by Acidobacteria(RA=13.1%)and Actinobacteria(RA=10.0%),whereas Serratia(RA=6.0%)and Bacillus(RA=4.0%)were the dominant bacterial genera.Candidatus Nitrososphaera(53.5%)was the dominant archaeal phylotype in the arable soils,whereas Nitrosopumilus(RA=0.4%)dominated in the saline soil.The archaeal and bacterial community structures were different between the soils and significantly correlated with soil sand,arsenic,barium,and antimony contents,but not with soil salinity.

Biogeographic patterns of the myxomycete biota of the Americas using a parsimony analysis of endemicity

Myxomycetes are microorganisms frequently considered to be of cosmopolitan distribution,however as studies in unexplored areas have intensified,more information has become available on the patterns of distribution of these organisms,but no historical or cladistic biogeographic approaches have been applied to understand such patterns.In this study a parsimony analysis of endemicity(PAE)was used in order to generate a preliminary hypothesis on the biogeographic relationships of 13 American areas in which a well-known myxomycete biota exists.In general terms the hypotheses of the relationship between the myxomycete assemblages of areas used in this study agree with those reported for other groups of organisms.They appear to show that a historical-geographic pattern influences the distribution of myxomycetes as much as environmental factors.Three main clades were found in the analysis,with the first one including the two subantarctic localities,the second one representing the South American transition zone and the last one including all the Neotropical and Nearctic areas,but arranged into two subclades,one with the arid areas and the other with the tropical and temperate humid areas.Each clade or subclade in the cladogram is supported by the presence of several morphospecies,some of which appear to represent endemic species restricted to specific geographic areas.The results of this analysis are proposed as a working hypothesis that can perhaps be supported in the future with new data from other complementary regions of America or with more intense surveys in the areas already explored.They are inconsistent with the hypothesis of cosmopolitan distribution for these microorganisms,as they appear to indicate groups of species that are restricted to certain geographic areas,some of which may be endemic,such as those from the subantarctic forests of South America,those found exclusively in the South American arid areas or those that have been recently described from arid areas of North America.