The chronology of the human colonization of the Canary Islands.

The human colonization of the Canary Islands represents the sole known expansion of Berber communities into the Atlantic Ocean and is an example of marine dispersal carried out by an African population. While this island colonization shows similarities to the populating of other islands across the world, several questions still need to be answered before this case can be included in wider debates regarding patterns of initial colonization and human settlement, human-environment interactions, and the emergence of island identities. Specifically, the chronology of the first human settlement of the Canary Islands remains disputed due to differing estimates of the timing of its first colonization. This absence of a consensus has resulted in divergent hypotheses regarding the motivations that led early settlers to migrate to the islands, e.g., ecological or demographic. Distinct motivations would imply differences in the strategies and dynamics of colonization; thus, identifying them is crucial to understanding how these populations developed in such environments. In response, the current study assembles a comprehensive dataset of the most reliable radiocarbon dates, which were used for building Bayesian models of colonization. The findings suggest that i) the Romans most likely discovered the islands around the 1st century BCE; ii) Berber groups from western North Africa first set foot on one of the islands closest to the African mainland sometime between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE; iii) Roman and Berber societies did not live simultaneously in the Canary Islands; and iv) the Berber people rapidly spread throughout the archipelago.

Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles reveal geographic chemotypes in stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini).

Cuticular hydrocarbon (CHCs) variation has been detected in various insect taxa, but the potential contribution of cuticular compounds for analyzing intraspecific diversity at the population level has been little explored. Here we assess for the first time intraspecific variation in the CHC profile of stingless bees, using the species Melipona beecheii and Nannotrigona perilampoides. The objective is determining whether intraspecific variation can be useful for population identification. We found species-specific chemical patterns and extensive variation within each species. Notably, chemotypes were significantly associated to geographic origin in N. perilampoides but less so in M. beecheii and we discuss possible explanations for these patterns. Our results support the use of CHCs in conjunction with other methods in emerging problems such as undetected colony mobilization across regions. As CHCs are involved in several aspects of stingless bee recognition and interactions, it would be essential to unravel how these chemical signatures evolve across populations.

Shaping the curve from the microscopic transsphenoidal to the endoscopic endonasal approach for the sellar region.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the limitations, barriers, and complications in the early transition from the microscopic transsphenoidal approach (MTA) to the endonasal endoscopic approach (EEA) to the skull base in our institution. METHODS: Technical challenges, as well as clinical features and complications, were compared between MTA, EEA, and mixed cases during the early surgical curve. RESULTS: The period from the early learning curve was 1 year until the EEA protocol was used routinely. A total of 34 patients registered a resection using a transsphenoidal approach. Eighteen patients underwent EEA, 11 underwent MTA, and five underwent a mixed endonasal and microscopic approach. Non-significant differences were found in endocrine outcomes between the three groups. Patients with unchanged or improved visual function were higher in the EEA group (p = 0.147). Non-significant differences were found in terms of the extent of resection (EOR) between groups (p = 0.369). Only 1 (2.9%) patient in the whole series developed a post-operative CSF leaking that resolved with medical management, belonging to the EEA group (5.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The early phase of the learning curve did not affect our series significantly in terms of the EOR, endocrine status, and visual outcomes.

OBJETIVO: Investigar las limitaciones, las barreras y las complicaciones en la transición del abordaje transesfenoidal microscópico (ATM) al abordaje endonasal endoscópico (AEE) para la base del cráneo en nuestra institución. MÉTODO: Se compararon las características clínicas y las complicaciones entre ATM, AEE y casos mixtos durante la curva quirúrgica temprana. RESULTADOS: El periodo desde la curva de aprendizaje inicial fue de 1 año hasta que se utilizó el protocolo AEE de forma sistemática. Un total de 34 pacientes tuvieron una resección por vía transesfenoidal. A 18 pacientes se les realizó AEE, a 11 ATM y a 5 abordaje mixto endonasal y microscópico. Se encontraron diferencias no significativas en los resultados endocrinos entre los tres grupos. Los pacientes con función visual sin cambios o mejorada fueron más en el grupo AEE (p = 0.147). No se encontraron diferencias significativas respecto a la extensión de la resección (p = 0.369). Solo 1 (2.9%) paciente desarrolló una fístula de líquido cefalorraquídeo que se resolvió con manejo médico, perteneciente al grupo AEE (5.5%). CONCLUSIONES: La fase inicial de la curva de aprendizaje no afectó significativamente a nuestra serie en términos de extensión de la resección, estado endocrino y resultados visuales.

Resting state networks in patients with acute disorders of consciousness after severe traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to describe resting state networks (RSN) in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC)s after acute severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: Adult patients with TBI with a GCS score <8 who remained in a coma, minimally conscious state (MCS), or unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), between 2017 and 2020 were included. Blood-oxygen-level dependent imaging was performed to compare their RSN with 10 healthy volunteers. RESULTS: Of a total of 293 patients evaluated, only 13 patients were included according to inclusion criteria: 7 in coma (54%), 2 in MCS (15%), and 4 (31%) had an UWS. RSN analysis showed that the default mode network (DMN) was present and symmetric in 6 patients (46%), absent in 1 (8%), and asymmetric in 6 (46%). The executive control network (ECN) was present in all patients but was asymmetric in 3 (23%). The right ECN was absent in 2 patients (15%) and the left ECN in 1 (7%). The medial visual network was present in 11 (85%) patients. Finally, the cerebellar network was symmetric in 8 patients (62%), asymmetric in 1 (8%), and absent in 4 (30%). CONCLUSIONS: A substantial impairment in activation of RSN is demonstrated in patients with DOC after severe TBI in comparison with healthy subjects. Three patterns of activation were found: normal/complete activation, 2) asymmetric activation or partially absent, and 3) absent activation.

Dominance of African racial ancestry in honey bee colonies of Mexico 30 years after the migration of hybrids from South America.

The Africanized honey bee, a hybrid of Apis mellifera scutellata from Africa with European subspecies, has been considered an invasive species and a problem for beekeeping. Africanized bees arrived in Mexico in 1986, 30 years after their accidental release in Brazil. Although government programs were implemented for its eradication, Africanized populations persist in Mexico, but precise information on the patterns of genetic introgression and racial ancestry is scarce. We determined maternal and parental racial ancestry of managed and feral honey bees across the five beekeeping regions of Mexico, using mitochondrial (mtDNA, COI-COII intergenic region) and nuclear markers (94 ancestrally informative SNPs), to assess the relationship between beekeeping management, beekeeping region, altitude, and latitude with the distribution of maternal and parental racial ancestry. Results revealed a predominantly African ancestry in the Mexican honey bees, but the proportion varied according to management, beekeeping regions, and latitude. The Mexican honey bees showed 31 haplotypes of four evolutionary lineages (A, M, C, and O). Managed honey bees had mitochondrial and nuclear higher proportions of European ancestry than feral honey bees, which had a higher proportion of African ancestry. Beekeeping regions of lower latitudes had higher proportions of African nuclear ancestry. Managed and feral honey bees showed differences in the proportion of maternal and nuclear racial ancestry. Managed honey bees from the Yucatan Peninsula and feral honey bees had a higher mtDNA than nuclear proportions of African ancestry. Managed honey bees, except those on the Yucatan Peninsula, had a higher nuclear than mtDNA proportion of African ancestry. Our study demonstrates that Africanized honey bee populations are genetically diverse and well established in Mexico, which highlights the limitations of management and government programs to contain the Africanization process and demands the incorporation of this lineage in any breeding program for sustainable beekeeping.

El Hierro Genome Study: A Genomic and Health Study in an Isolated Canary Island Population.

El Hierro is the smallest and westernmost island of the Canary Islands, whose population derives from an admixture of different ancestral components and that has been subjected to genetic isolation. We established the "El Hierro Genome Study" to characterize the health status and the genetic composition of ~10% of the current population of the island, accounting for a total of 1054 participants. Detailed demographic and clinical data and a blood sample for DNA extraction were obtained from each participant. Genomic genotyping was performed with the Global Screening Array (Illumina). The genetic composition of El Hierro was analyzed in a subset of 416 unrelated individuals by characterizing the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome haplogroups and performing principal component analyses (PCAs). In order to explore signatures of isolation, runs of homozygosity (ROHs) were also estimated. Among the participants, high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes were the most prevalent conditions. The most common mtDNA haplogroups observed were of North African indigenous origin, while the Y-chromosome ones were mainly European. The PCA showed that the El Hierro population clusters near 1000 Genomes' European population but with a shift toward African populations. Moreover, the ROH analysis revealed some individuals with an important portion of their genomes with ROHs exceeding 400 Mb. Overall, these results confirmed that the "El Hierro Genome" cohort offers an opportunity to study the genetic basis of several diseases in an unexplored isolated population.

Transcriptomic analysis of N-terminal mutated Trypanosoma cruzi UBP1 knockdown underlines the importance of this RNA-binding protein in parasite development.

BACKGROUND: During its life cycle, the human pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi must quickly adapt to different environments, in which the variation in the gene expression of the regulatory U-rich RNA-binding protein 1 (TcUBP1) plays a crucial role. We have previously demonstrated that the overexpression of TcUBP1 in insect-dwelling epimastigotes orchestrates an RNA regulon to promote differentiation to infective forms. METHODS: In an attempt to generate TcUBP1 knockout parasites by using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, in the present study, we obtained a variant transcript that encodes a protein with 95% overall identity and a modified N-terminal sequence. The expression of this mutant protein, named TcUBP1mut, was notably reduced compared to that of the endogenous form found in normal cells. TcUBP1mut-knockdown epimastigotes exhibited normal growth and differentiation into infective metacyclic trypomastigotes and were capable of infecting mammalian cells. RESULTS: We analyzed the RNA-Seq expression profiles of these parasites and identified 276 up- and 426 downregulated genes with respect to the wildtype control sample. RNA-Seq comparison across distinct developmental stages revealed that the transcriptomic profile of these TcUBP1mut-knockdown epimastigotes significantly differs not only from that of epimastigotes in the stationary phase but also from the gene expression landscape characteristic of infective forms. This is both contrary to and consistent with the results of our recent study involving TcUBP1-overexpressing cells. CONCLUSION: Together, our findings demonstrate that the genes exhibiting opposite changes under overexpression and knockdown conditions unveil key mRNA targets regulated by TcUBP1. These mostly encompass transcripts that encode for trypomastigote-specific surface glycoproteins and ribosomal proteins, supporting a role for TcUBP1 in determining the molecular characteristics of the infective stage.

Effects of Zilpaterol Hydrochloride with a Combination of Vitamin D3 on Feedlot Lambs: Growth Performance, Dietary Energetics, Carcass Traits, and Meat Quality.

This study evaluated the impact of supplementing ZH in combination with D3 on the growth performance, energy efficiency, carcass traits, and meat quality of feedlot lambs. Thirty-two Dorper × Katahdin cross lambs (37.3 ± 5.72 kg) were utilized in a 29 d experiment in a completely randomized block design with a 2 × 2 factorial structure consisting of two levels of ZH for 26 d (0 and 0.20 mg/kg PV-1) and two levels of D3 for 7 d (0 and 1.5 × 106 IU/d-1). ZH improved (p ≤ 0.05) the average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency by 9.9% and 17.8%, respectively, as well as hot carcass weight (HCW) and dressing carcass by 4.3% and 2.6%, respectively. (p ≤ 0.03). However, ZH increased (p < 0.01) muscle pH and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) (2.5 and 23.0%, respectively). D3 supplementation negatively affected (p ≤ 0.02) dry matter intake (DMI) (last 7 d) and ADG by 15.7% and 18.1%. On the other hand, D3 improved the pH of the longissimus thoracis muscle by 1.7% (p = 0.03) without affecting WBSF. When D3 was supplemented in combination with ZH, it was observed that meat quality was improved by reducing muscle pH compared to lambs treated only with ZH. However, D3 did not improve the meat tenderness negatively affected by ZH supplementation.

Continuous-Time Model Identification of the Subglottal System.

Mathematical models that accurately simulate the physiological systems of the human body serve as cornerstone instruments for advancing medical science and facilitating innovative clinical interventions. One application is the modeling of the subglottal tract and neck skin properties for its use in the ambulatory assessment of vocal function, by enabling non-invasive monitoring of glottal airflow via a neck surface accelerometer. For the technique to be effective, the development of an accurate building block model for the subglottal tract is required. Such a model is expected to utilize glottal volume velocity as the input parameter and yield neck skin acceleration as the corresponding output. In contrast to preceding efforts that employed frequency-domain methods, the present paper leverages system identification techniques to derive a parsimonious continuous-time model of the subglottal tract using time-domain data samples. Additionally, an examination of the model order is conducted through the application of various information criteria. Once a low-order model is successfully fitted, an inverse filter based on a Kalman smoother is utilized for the estimation of glottal volume velocity and related aerodynamic metrics, thereby constituting the most efficient execution of these estimates thus far. Anticipated reductions in computational time and complexity due to the lower order of the subglottal model hold particular relevance for real-time monitoring. Simultaneously, the methodology proves efficient in generating a spectrum of aerodynamic features essential for ambulatory vocal function assessment.

Unearthing the soil-borne microbiome of land plants.

Plant-soil biodiversity interactions are fundamental for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, the existence of a set of globally distributed topsoil microbial and small invertebrate organisms consistently associated with land plants (i.e., their consistent soil-borne microbiome), together with the environmental preferences and functional capabilities of these organisms, remains unknown. We conducted a standardized field survey under 150 species of land plants, including 58 species of bryophytes and 92 of vascular plants, across 124 locations from all continents. We found that, despite the immense biodiversity of soil organisms, the land plants evaluated only shared a small fraction (less than 1%) of all microbial and invertebrate taxa that were present across contrasting climatic and soil conditions and vegetation types. These consistent taxa were dominated by generalist decomposers and phagotrophs and their presence was positively correlated with the abundance of functional genes linked to mineralization. Finally, we showed that crossing environmental thresholds in aridity (aridity index of 0.65, i.e., the transition from mesic to dry ecosystems), soil pH (5.5; i.e., the transition from acidic to strongly acidic soils), and carbon (less than 2%, the lower limit of fertile soils) can result in drastic disruptions in the associations between land plants and soil organisms, with potential implications for the delivery of soil ecosystem processes under ongoing global environmental change.

Efficient coding of natural images in the mouse visual cortex.

How the activity of neurons gives rise to natural vision remains a matter of intense investigation. The mid-level visual areas along the ventral stream are selective to a common class of natural images-textures-but a circuit-level understanding of this selectivity and its link to perception remains unclear. We addressed these questions in mice, first showing that they can perceptually discriminate between textures and statistically simpler spectrally matched stimuli, and between texture types. Then, at the neural level, we found that the secondary visual area (LM) exhibited a higher degree of selectivity for textures compared to the primary visual area (V1). Furthermore, textures were represented in distinct neural activity subspaces whose relative distances were found to correlate with the statistical similarity of the images and the mice's ability to discriminate between them. Notably, these dependencies were more pronounced in LM, where the texture-related subspaces were smaller than in V1, resulting in superior stimulus decoding capabilities. Together, our results demonstrate texture vision in mice, finding a linking framework between stimulus statistics, neural representations, and perceptual sensitivity-a distinct hallmark of efficient coding computations.

RNA-seq data exploration after trypanosome RNA-binding protein UBP1 expression is altered by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and overexpression.

Previous studies have shown that overexpression of the Trypanosoma cruzi U-rich RNA-binding protein 1 (TcUBP1) in insect-dwelling epimastigotes results in a gene expression pattern resembling that of the infective form of the pathogen. Here, we used CRISPR-Cas9-induced edition of TcUBP1 and full-length protein overexpression in epimastigote cells to monitor transcriptomic changes during the epimastigote-to-metacyclic trypomastigote stage transition of T. cruzi. This dataset includes the bioinformatics analysis of three different RNA-seq samples, each with three biological replicates, showing differential mRNA abundances. The current transcriptome report has the potential to shed light on the quantitative variances in the expression of significant up- or down-regulated mRNAs as a consequence of the levels of the UBP1 protein. Raw data files were deposited at the NCBI Sequence Read Archive - SRA at http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Traces/sra/sra.cgi with accession numbers PRJNA907231 and PRJNA949967.

Proteomic data of the Trypanosoma cruzi insect-dwelling epimastigotes overexpressing the RNA-binding protein UBP1.

We present data on the proteome of the Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote cells overexpressing the U-rich RNA-binding protein 1 (UBP1). The role of this regulatory protein during the epimastigote-to-metacyclic trypomastigote stage transition was clearly established by our group at the transcriptome level; nevertheless, the impact of UBP1 overexpression on protein synthesis is not known. To address this question, we performed shotgun label-free quantification proteomics using an in vitro system based on the tetracycline-inducible expression of TcUBP1 and epimastigote wildtype cells. Using tryptic peptide digestion and LC-MS/MS analysis with Orbitrap technology, this data file describes the proteome of three biological samples per condition and yields 1637 correctly quantified proteins. The statistical comparisons of the two analyzed groups within the Proteome Discoverer platform identified 379 differentially expressed proteins, with 207 being up-regulated and 172 being down-regulated. In addition, profile plots and heatmap analysis to visualize the distribution of protein abundances within replicates are also presented. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD047761.

Gene therapy with AAV9-SGPL1 in an animal model of lung fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive scarring disease of the lung that leads rapidly to respiratory failure. Novel approaches to treatment are urgently needed. The bioactive lipid sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is increased in IPF lungs and promotes proinflammatory and profibrotic TGF-ß signaling. Hence, decreasing lung S1P represents a potential therapeutic strategy for IPF. S1P is degraded by the intracellular enzyme S1P lyase (SPL). Here we find that a knock-in mouse with a missense SPL mutation mimicking human disease resulted in reduced SPL activity, increased S1P, increased TGF-ß signaling, increased lung fibrosis, and higher mortality after injury compared to wild type (WT). We then tested adeno-associated virus 9 (AAV9)-mediated overexpression of human SGPL1 (AAV-SPL) in mice as a therapeutic modality. Intravenous treatment with AAV-SPL augmented lung SPL activity, attenuated S1P levels within the lungs, and decreased injury-induced fibrosis compared to controls treated with saline or only AAV. We confirmed that AAV-SPL treatment led to higher expression of SPL in the epithelial and fibroblast compartments during bleomycin-induced lung injury. Additionally, AAV-SPL decreased expression of the profibrotic cytokines TNFα and IL1ß as well as markers of fibroblast activation, such as fibronectin (Fn1), Tgfb1, Acta2, and collagen genes in the lung. Taken together, our results provide proof of concept for the use of AAV-SPL as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of IPF. © 2024 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

PHARMACOKINETICS OF SINGLE INTRAMUSCULAR ADMINISTRATION OF CEFTIOFUR CRYSTALLINE FREE ACID IN AMERICAN ALLIGATORS (ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS).

A pharmacokinetic study of ceftiofur crystalline free acid sterile oil suspension (CCFA) was performed in six apparently healthy juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). A single intramuscular dose of 30 mg/kg was administered in the triceps muscle. Blood samples were collected prior to treatment and at 4, 12, 24, 48, 72, 120, 144, 192, 288, and 366 h post administration. Plasma samples were analyzed for ceftiofur equivalent concentrations using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined by noncompartmental analysis. Mean peak plasma concentration was 23.2 µg/ml (range, 16.0-27.9), median time to maximum concentration was 72 h (range, 72-120), mean area under the curve from 0 to 366 h postdose was 4.24 h · mg/ml (range, 3.54-4.97), and mean terminal half-life was 143 h (range, 90.8-220). Plasma concentrations were maintained above the minimum inhibitory concentration for this study of 2.0 µg/ml, which was established from similar CCFA pharmacokinetic studies in other reptilian species, through the end of the data collection of 366 h. Because of prolonged plasma concentrations, a dosing interval could not be established in this study. Future studies should include extended collection time points and multidose studies to determine dosing regimens.

Glottal Airflow Estimation using Neck Surface Acceleration and Low-Order Kalman Smoothing.

The use of non-invasive skin accelerometers placed over the extrathoracic trachea has been proposed in the literature for measuring vocal function. Glottal airflow is estimated using inverse filtering or Bayesian techniques based on a subglottal impedance-based model when utilizing these sensors. However, deviations in glottal airflow estimates can arise due to sensor positioning and model mismatch, and addressing them requires a significant computational load. In this paper, we utilize system identification techniques to obtain a low order state-space representation of the subglottal impedance-based model. We then employ the resulting low order model in a Kalman smoother to estimate the glottal airflow. Our proposed approach reduces the model order by 94% and requires only 1.5% of the computing time compared to previous Bayesian methods in the literature, while achieving slightly better accuracy when correcting for glottal airflow deviations. Additionally, our Kalman smoother approach provides a measure of uncertainty in the airflow estimate, which is valuable when measurements are taken under different conditions. With its comparable accuracy in signal estimation and reduced computational load, the proposed approach has the potential for real-time estimation of glottal airflow and its associated uncertainty in wearable voice ambulatory monitors using neck-surface acceleration.

Enhanced expression of natural cytotoxicity receptors on cytokine-induced memory-like natural killer cells correlates with effector function.

Introduction: Natural killer (NK) cells are a key component of the innate immune system, involved in defending the host against virus-infected cells and tumor immunosurveillance. Under in vitro culture conditions, IL-12/15/18 can induce a memory-like phenotype in NK cells. These cytokine-induced memory-like (CIML) NK cells possess desirable characteristics for immunotherapies, including a longer lifespan and increased cytotoxicity. Methods: In this study, NK cells were isolated from peripheral blood of healthy donors and stimulated with IL-12/15/18 to induce a memory-like phenotype or with IL-15 alone as a control. After seven days of culture, multiparametric flow cytometry analysis was performed to evaluate the phenotypic and functional profiles of CIML and control NK cells. Results: Our results showed a significantly higher expression of CD25, CD69, NKG2D, NKp30, NKp44, NKp46, TACTILE, and Granzyme B in CIML NK cells compared to control NK cells. In contrast, KIR2D expression was significantly lower in CIML NK cells than in control NK cells. Moreover, functional experiments demonstrated that CIML NK cells displayed enhanced degranulation capacity and increased intracellular IFN-γ production against the target cell line K562. Interestingly, the degranulation capacity of CIML NK cells was positively correlated with the expression of the activating receptors NKp46 and NKp30, as well as with the inhibitory receptor TACTILE. Discussion: In conclusion, this study provides a deep phenotypic characterization of in vitro-expanded CIML NK cells. Moreover, the correlations found between NK cell receptors and degranulation capacity of CIML NK cells allowed the identification of several biomarkers that could be useful in clinical settings.

Integrated global assessment of the natural forest carbon potential.

Forests are a substantial terrestrial carbon sink, but anthropogenic changes in land use and climate have considerably reduced the scale of this system1. Remote-sensing estimates to quantify carbon losses from global forests2-5 are characterized by considerable uncertainty and we lack a comprehensive ground-sourced evaluation to benchmark these estimates. Here we combine several ground-sourced6 and satellite-derived approaches2,7,8 to evaluate the scale of the global forest carbon potential outside agricultural and urban lands. Despite regional variation, the predictions demonstrated remarkable consistency at a global scale, with only a 12% difference between the ground-sourced and satellite-derived estimates. At present, global forest carbon storage is markedly under the natural potential, with a total deficit of 226 Gt (model range = 151-363 Gt) in areas with low human footprint. Most (61%, 139 Gt C) of this potential is in areas with existing forests, in which ecosystem protection can allow forests to recover to maturity. The remaining 39% (87 Gt C) of potential lies in regions in which forests have been removed or fragmented. Although forests cannot be a substitute for emissions reductions, our results support the idea2,3,9 that the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of diverse forests offer valuable contributions to meeting global climate and biodiversity targets.

Successful Treatment of a Cervical Injury and Myopathy Using Integrative Medicine Techniques in an Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus roratus) Following Cervical Entrapment.

A 2-year-old female eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus) was presented for suspected cervical myopathy due to trauma. Severe ventroflexion of the cervical spine and mental depression were identified during the physical examination. The bird was responsive to stimuli but otherwise quiet. Plasma biochemistry results were suggestive of a myopathy, based on marked elevations of both aspartate transaminase (25 652 U/L) and creatine kinase (253 240 U/L). Whole-body radiographic images were unremarkable. Treatment was initiated with supportive therapy for presumptive shock, dehydration, pain, myopathy, and possible spinal swelling. Allopathic therapy included subcutaneous fluids; vitamins A, D, and E; dexamethasone sodium phosphate; hydromorphone; and gavage feeding to treat the acute inflammatory process and provide nutritional support during healing. Supportive care through the Integrative Medicine Department (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA) was also performed on the patient. Photobiomodulation, acupuncture, Tui-na massage, and rehabilitation exercises were instituted to provide adjunct treatment for relieving pain, promoting muscle healing, improving patient demeanor, and improving cervical mobility. Integrative therapies were well tolerated by the patient, with no sedation required. By day 3, mentation had subjectively improved by 50% despite the persistent cervical ventroflexion. By day 8, the elevated serum enzyme activities had decreased, the patient could eat and drink on its own, and it could readily step up and seek attention during handling. The bird was able to lift its head and could hold it at approximately 50% of normal posture. Integrative therapies were continued throughout hospitalization. The bird was released from the hospital 20 days after initial intake, with head carriage in approximately 80% of the expected normal position and no apparent cervical pain based on palpation. This case demonstrates the benefits of integrative therapies as an adjunct treatment for cervical pain and myopathy in a psittacine species.

Novel Lactone-Based Insecticides and Drosophila suzukii Management: Synthesis, Potential Action Mechanisms and Selectivity for Non-Target Parasitoids.

Drosophila suzukii, an invasive insect pest, poses a significant threat to various fruit crops. The use of broad-spectrum insecticides to control this pest can reduce the effectiveness of biological control agents, such as the parasitoid Trichopria anastrephae. Here, we evaluated the toxicity of newly synthesized lactone derivatives on D. suzukii and their selectivity towards T. anastrephae. We used in silico approaches to identify potential targets from the most promising molecules in the D. suzukii nervous system and to understand potential differences in susceptibilities between D. suzukii and its parasitoid. Of the nine molecules tested, (rac)-8 and compound 4 demonstrated efficacy against the fly. Exposure to the estimated LC90 of (rac)-8 and compound 4 resulted in a mortality rate of less than 20% for T. anastrephae without impairing the parasitoid's functional parasitism. The in silico predictions suggest that (rac)-8 and compound 4 target gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) receptors and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels of D. suzukii. However, only the reduced interaction with TRP channels in T. anastrephae demonstrated a potential reason for the selectivity of these compounds on the parasitoid. Our findings suggest the potential for integrating (rac)-8 and compound 4 into D. suzukii management practices.