A Physiological Approach to Explore How Thioredoxin-Glutathione Reductase (TGR) and Peroxiredoxin (Prx) Eliminate H2O2 in Cysticerci of Taenia.

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) and glutathione peroxidases (GPxs) are the main enzymes of the thiol-dependent antioxidant systems responsible for reducing the H2O2 produced via aerobic metabolism or parasitic organisms by the host organism. These antioxidant systems maintain a proper redox state in cells. The cysticerci of Taenia crassiceps tolerate millimolar concentrations of this oxidant. To understand the role played by Prxs in this cestode, two genes for Prxs, identified in the genome of Taenia solium (TsPrx1 and TsPrx3), were cloned. The sequence of the proteins suggests that both isoforms belong to the class of typical Prxs 2-Cys. In addition, TsPrx3 harbors a mitochondrial localization signal peptide and two motifs (-GGLG- and -YP-) associated with overoxidation. Our kinetic characterization assigns them as thioredoxin peroxidases (TPxs). While TsPrx1 and TsPrx3 exhibit the same catalytic efficiency, thioredoxin-glutathione reductase from T. crassiceps (TcTGR) was five and eight times higher. Additionally, the latter demonstrated a lower affinity (>30-fold) for H2O2 in comparison with TsPrx1 and TsPrx3. The TcTGR contains a Sec residue in its C-terminal, which confers additional peroxidase activity. The aforementioned aspect implies that TsPrx1 and TsPrx3 are catalytically active at low H2O2 concentrations, and the TcTGR acts at high H2O2 concentrations. These results may explain why the T. crassiceps cysticerci can tolerate high H2O2 concentrations.

Inhibiting orofacial mimicry affects authenticity perception in vocal emotions.

Although emotional mimicry is ubiquitous in social interactions, its mechanisms and roles remain disputed. A prevalent view is that imitating others' expressions facilitates emotional understanding, but the evidence is mixed and almost entirely based on facial emotions. In a preregistered study, we asked whether inhibiting orofacial mimicry affects authenticity perception in vocal emotions. Participants listened to authentic and posed laughs and cries, while holding a pen between the teeth and lips to inhibit orofacial responses (n = 75), or while responding freely without a pen (n = 75). They made authenticity judgments and rated how much they felt the conveyed emotions (emotional contagion). Mimicry inhibition decreased the accuracy of authenticity perception in laughter and crying, and in posed and authentic vocalizations. It did not affect contagion ratings, however, nor performance in a cognitive control task, ruling out the effort of holding the pen as an explanation for the decrements in authenticity perception. Laughter was more contagious than crying, and authentic vocalizations were more contagious than posed ones, regardless of whether mimicry was inhibited or not. These findings confirm the role of mimicry in emotional understanding and extend it to auditory emotions. They also imply that perceived emotional contagion can be unrelated to mimicry. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Development of a novel tool to investigate human laughter behaviour and experience.

We present a questionnaire exploring everyday laughter experience. We developed a 30-item questionnaire in English and collected data on an English-speaking sample (N = 823). Based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA), we identified four dimensions which accounted for variations in people's experiences of laughter: laughter frequency ('Frequency'), social usage of laughter ('Usage'), understanding of other people's laughter ('Understanding'), and feelings towards laughter ('Liking'). Reliability and validity of the LPPQ were assessed. To explore potential similarities and differences based on culture and language, we collected data with Mandarin Chinese-speaking population (N = 574). A PCA suggested the extraction of the same four dimensions, with some item differences between English and Chinese versions. The Laughter Production and Perception Questionnaire (LPPQ) will advance research into the experience of human laughter, which has a potentially crucial role in everyday life.

Music Training and Nonmusical Abilities.

Music training is generally assumed to improve perceptual and cognitive abilities. Although correlational data highlight positive associations, experimental results are inconclusive, raising questions about causality. Does music training have far-transfer effects, or do preexisting factors determine who takes music lessons? All behavior reflects genetic and environmental influences, but differences in emphasis-nature versus nurture-have been a source of tension throughout the history of psychology. After reviewing the recent literature, we conclude that the evidence that music training causes nonmusical benefits is weak or nonexistent, and that researchers routinely overemphasize contributions from experience while neglecting those from nature. The literature is also largely exploratory rather than theory driven. It fails to explain mechanistically how music-training effects could occur and ignores evidence that far transfer is rare. Instead of focusing on elusive perceptual or cognitive benefits, we argue that it is more fruitful to examine the social-emotional effects of engaging with music, particularly in groups, and that music-based interventions may be effective mainly for clinical or atypical populations.

The genetic legacy of the expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples in Africa.

The expansion of people speaking Bantu languages is the most dramatic demographic event in Late Holocene Africa and fundamentally reshaped the linguistic, cultural and biological landscape of the continent1-7. With a comprehensive genomic dataset, including newly generated data of modern-day and ancient DNA from previously unsampled regions in Africa, we contribute insights into this expansion that started 6,000-4,000 years ago in western Africa. We genotyped 1,763 participants, including 1,526 Bantu speakers from 147 populations across 14 African countries, and generated whole-genome sequences from 12 Late Iron Age individuals8. We show that genetic diversity amongst Bantu-speaking populations declines with distance from western Africa, with current-day Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo as possible crossroads of interaction. Using spatially explicit methods9 and correlating genetic, linguistic and geographical data, we provide cross-disciplinary support for a serial-founder migration model. We further show that Bantu speakers received significant gene flow from local groups in regions they expanded into. Our genetic dataset provides an exhaustive modern-day African comparative dataset for ancient DNA studies10 and will be important to a wide range of disciplines from science and humanities, as well as to the medical sector studying human genetic variation and health in African and African-descendant populations.

Blindness influences emotional authenticity perception in voices: Behavioral and ERP evidence.

The ability to distinguish spontaneous from volitional emotional expressions is an important social skill. How do blind individuals perceive emotional authenticity? Unlike sighted individuals, they cannot rely on facial and body language cues, relying instead on vocal cues alone. Here, we combined behavioral and ERP measures to investigate authenticity perception in laughter and crying in individuals with early- or late-blindness onset. Early-blind, late-blind, and sighted control participants (n = 17 per group, N = 51) completed authenticity and emotion discrimination tasks while EEG data were recorded. The stimuli consisted of laughs and cries that were either spontaneous or volitional. The ERP analysis focused on the N1, P2, and late positive potential (LPP). Behaviorally, early-blind participants showed intact authenticity perception, but late-blind participants performed worse than controls. There were no group differences in the emotion discrimination task. In brain responses, all groups were sensitive to laughter authenticity at the P2 stage, and to crying authenticity at the early LPP stage. Nevertheless, only early-blind participants were sensitive to crying authenticity at the N1 and middle LPP stages, and to laughter authenticity at the early LPP stage. Furthermore, early-blind and sighted participants were more sensitive than late-blind ones to crying authenticity at the P2 and late LPP stages. Altogether, these findings suggest that early blindness relates to facilitated brain processing of authenticity in voices, both at early sensory and late cognitive-evaluative stages. Late-onset blindness, in contrast, relates to decreased sensitivity to authenticity at behavioral and brain levels.

The ancestry and geographical origins of St Helena's liberated Africans.

The island of St Helena played a crucial role in the suppression of the transatlantic slave trade. Strategically located in the middle of the South Atlantic, it served as a staging post for the Royal Navy and reception point for enslaved Africans who had been "liberated" from slave ships intercepted by the British. In total, St Helena received approximately 27,000 liberated Africans between 1840 and 1867. Written sources suggest that the majority of these individuals came from West Central Africa, but their precise origins are unknown. Here, we report the results of ancient DNA analyses that we conducted as part of a wider effort to commemorate St Helena's liberated Africans and to restore knowledge of their lives and experiences. We generated partial genomes (0.1-0.5×) for 20 individuals whose remains had been recovered during archaeological excavations on the island. We compared their genomes with genotype data for over 3,000 present-day individuals from 90 populations across sub-Saharan Africa and conclude that the individuals most likely originated from different source populations within the general area between northern Angola and Gabon. We also find that the majority (17/20) of the individuals were male, supporting a well-documented sex bias in the latter phase of the transatlantic slave trade. The study expands our understanding of St Helena's liberated African community and illustrates how ancient DNA analyses can be used to investigate the origins and identities of individuals whose lives were bound up in the story of slavery and its abolition.

Is musical expertise associated with self-reported foreign-language ability?

Many claims have been made about links between musical expertise and language ability. Rhythm ability, in particular, has been shown to predict phonological, grammatical, and second-language (L2) abilities, whereas music training often predicts reading and speech-perception skills. Here, we asked whether musical expertise-musical ability and/or music training-relates to L2 (English) abilities of Portuguese native speakers. Participants (N = 154) rated their L2 ability on seven 7-point scales, one each for speaking, reading, writing, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and accent. They also completed a test of general cognitive ability, an objective test of musical ability with melody and rhythm subtests, and a questionnaire that measured music training and other aspects of musical behaviors. L2 ability correlated positively with education and cognitive ability but not with music training. It also had no association with musical ability or with self-reports of musical behaviors. Moreover, Bayesian analyses provided evidence for the null hypotheses (i.e., no link between L2 and rhythm ability, no link between L2 and years of music lessons). In short, our findings-based on participants' self-reports of L2 ability-raise doubts about proposed associations between musical and second-language abilities, which may be limited to specific populations or measures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessment of cecal microbiota modulation from piglet dietary supplementation with copper.

BACKGROUND: Swine production expanded in the last decades. Efforts have been made to improve meat production and to understand its relationship to pig gut microbiota. Copper (Cu) is a usual supplement to growth performance in animal production. Here, two performance studies were conducted to investigate the effects of three different sources of Cu on the microbiota of piglets. A total of 256 weaned piglets were randomly allocated into 4 treatments (10 replicates per treatment of 4 piglets per pen in Trial 1 and 8 replicates of 3 piglets per pen in Trial 2). Treatments included a control group (fed 10 mg/kg of Cu from CuSO4), a group fed at 160 mg/kg of Copper (II) sulfate (CuSO4) or tri-basic copper chloride (TBCC), and a group fed with Cu methionine hydroxy analogue chelated (Cu-MHAC) at 150, 80, and 50 mg/kg in Phases 1 (24-35 d), 2 (36-49 d), and 3 (50-70 d), respectively. At 70 d, the cecum luminal contents from one pig per pen were collected and polled for 16 S rRNA sequencing (V3/V4 regions). Parameters were analyzed in a completely randomized block design, in which each experiment was considered as a block. RESULTS: A total of 1337 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) were identified. Dominance and Simpson ecological metrics were statistically different between control and treated groups (P < 0.10) showing that different Cu sources altered the gut microbiota composition with the proliferation of some bacteria that improve gut health. A high abundance of Prevotella was observed in all treatments while other genera were enriched and differentially modulated, according to the Cu source and dosage. The supplementation with Cu-MHAC can modify a group of bacteria involved in feed efficiency (FE) and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) production (Clostridium XIVa, Desulfovibrio, and Megasphera). These bacteria are also important players in the activation of ghrelin and growth hormones that were previously reported to correlate with Cu-MHAC supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that some genera seem to be directly affected by the Cu source offered to the animals. TBCC and Cu-MHAC (even in low doses) can promote healthy modifications in the gut bacterial composition, being a promising source of supplementation for piglets.

A genetic and linguistic analysis of the admixture histories of the islands of Cabo Verde.

From the 15th to the 19th century, the Trans-Atlantic Slave-Trade (TAST) influenced the genetic and cultural diversity of numerous populations. We explore genomic and linguistic data from the nine islands of Cabo Verde, the earliest European colony of the era in Africa, a major Slave-Trade platform between the 16th and 19th centuries, and a previously uninhabited location ideal for investigating early admixture events between Europeans and Africans. Using local-ancestry inference approaches, we find that genetic admixture in Cabo Verde occurred primarily between Iberian and certain Senegambian populations, although forced and voluntary migrations to the archipelago involved numerous other populations. Inter-individual genetic and linguistic variation recapitulates the geographic distribution of individuals' birth-places across Cabo Verdean islands, following an isolation-by-distance model with reduced genetic and linguistic effective dispersals within the archipelago, and suggesting that Kriolu language variants have developed together with genetic divergences at very reduced geographical scales. Furthermore, based on approximate bayesian computation inferences of highly complex admixture histories, we find that admixture occurred early on each island, long before the 18th-century massive TAST deportations triggered by the expansion of the plantation economy in Africa and the Americas, and after this era mostly during the abolition of the TAST and of slavery in European colonial empires. Our results illustrate how shifting socio-cultural relationships between enslaved and non-enslaved communities during and after the TAST, shaped enslaved-African descendants' genomic diversity and structure on both sides of the Atlantic.

A Population Genetic Perspective on Subsistence Systems in the Sahel/Savannah Belt of Africa and the Historical Role of Pastoralism.

This review focuses on the Sahel/Savannah belt, a large region of Africa where two alternative subsistence systems (pastoralism and agriculture), nowadays, interact. It is a long-standing question whether the pastoralists became isolated here from other populations after cattle began to spread into Africa (~8 thousand years ago, kya) or, rather, began to merge with other populations, such as agropastoralists, after the domestication of sorghum and pearl millet (~5 kya) and with the subsequent spread of agriculture. If we look at lactase persistence, a trait closely associated with pastoral lifestyle, we see that its variants in current pastoralists distinguish them from their farmer neighbours. Most other (mostly neutral) genetic polymorphisms do not, however, indicate such clear differentiation between these groups; they suggest a common origin and/or an extensive gene flow. Genetic affinity and ecological symbiosis between the two subsistence systems can help us better understand the population history of this African region. In this review, we show that genomic datasets of modern Sahel/Savannah belt populations properly collected in local populations can complement the still insufficient archaeological research of this region, especially when dealing with the prehistory of mobile populations with perishable material culture and therefore precarious archaeological visibility.

Systemic oxalosis in a free-ranging green turtle (Chelonia mydas).

A female juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas), found alive in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was weak, dehydrated and cachectic, with a healed fracture in the caudal portion of the carapace. Despite supportive treatment, the animal died after 9 days. At necropsy the main lesions were pallor of visceral organs, arthritis and deposits of whitish granular material in the wall of large arteries and the trachea. Histopathological analysis revealed mild to severe deposition of crystals, consistent with calcium oxalate, in both kidneys and the spleen, heart, small intestine, pancreas, thymus and salt gland, as well as bacterial meningitis, septic arthritis, spirorchidiasis and a fibropapilloma on the nictitating membrane. The main pathological findings were suggestive of septic shock, mainly due to the bacterial meningitis and septic arthritis, with systemic oxalosis and spirorchidiasis as contributing lesions. Although renal oxalosis has been described in green turtles as an incidental finding, presumably due to ingestion of oxalate-containing plants, this turtle had an unusual systemic deposition of oxalate crystals.

Individual differences in musical ability among adults with no music training.

Good musical abilities are typically considered to be a consequence of music training, such that they are studied in samples of formally trained individuals. Here, we asked what predicts musical abilities in the absence of music training. Participants with no formal music training (N = 190) completed the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index, measures of personality and cognitive ability, and the Musical Ear Test (MET). The MET is an objective test of musical abilities that provides a Total score and separate scores for its two subtests (Melody and Rhythm), which require listeners to determine whether standard and comparison auditory sequences are identical. MET scores had no associations with personality traits. They correlated positively, however, with informal musical experience and cognitive abilities. Informal musical experience was a better predictor of Melody than of Rhythm scores. Some participants (12%) had Total scores higher than the mean from a sample of musically trained individuals (⩾6 years of formal training), tested previously by Correia et al. Untrained participants with particularly good musical abilities (top 25%, n = 51) scored higher than trained participants on the Rhythm subtest and similarly on the Melody subtest. High-ability untrained participants were also similar to trained ones in cognitive ability, but lower in the personality trait openness-to-experience. These results imply that formal music training is not required to achieve musician-like performance on tests of musical and cognitive abilities. They also suggest that informal music practice and music-related predispositions should be considered in studies of musical expertise.

The loss of biodiversity in Madagascar is contemporaneous with major demographic events.

Only 400 km off the coast of East Africa, the island of Madagascar is one of the last large land masses to have been colonized by humans. While many questions surround the human occupation of Madagascar, recent studies raise the question of human impact on endemic biodiversity and landscape transformation. Previous genetic and linguistic analyses have shown that the Malagasy population has emerged from an admixture that happened during the last millennium, between Bantu-speaking African populations and Austronesian-speaking Asian populations. By studying the sharing of chromosome segments between individuals (IBD determination), local ancestry information, and simulated genetic data, we inferred that the Malagasy ancestral Asian population was isolated for more than 1,000 years with an effective size of just a few hundred individuals. This isolation ended around 1,000 years before present (BP) by admixture with a small African population. Around the admixture time, there was a rapid demographic expansion due to intrinsic population growth of the newly admixed population, which coincides with extensive changes in Madagascar's landscape and the extinction of all endemic large-bodied vertebrates. Therefore, our approach can provide new insights into past human demography and associated impacts on ecosystems.

Music Listening, Emotion, and Cognition in Older Adults.

Using the arousal and mood hypothesis as a theoretical framework, we examined whether community-dwelling older adults (N = 132) exhibited cognitive benefits after listening to music. Participants listened to shorter (≈2.5 min) or longer (≈8 min) excerpts from recordings of happy- or sad-sounding music or from a spoken-word recording. Before and after listening, they completed tasks measuring visuospatial working memory (WM), cognitive flexibility and speed, verbal fluency, and mathematical ability, as well as measures of arousal and mood. In general, older adults improved from pre- to post-test on the cognitive tasks. For the test of WM, the increase was greater for participants who heard happy-sounding music compared to those in the other two groups. The happy-sounding group also exhibited larger increases in arousal and mood, although improvements in mood were evident only for the long-duration condition. At the individual level, however, improvements in WM were unrelated to changes in arousal or mood. In short, the results were partially consistent with the arousal and mood hypothesis. For older adults, listening to happy-sounding music may optimize arousal levels and mood, and improve performance on some cognitive tasks (i.e., WM), even though there is no direct link between changes in arousal/mood and changes in WM.

Effect of Yerba Mate Extract as Feed Additive on Ruminal Fermentation and Methane Emissions in Beef Cattle.

The inclusion of plant extracts that contain secondary compounds with the potential to modulate rumen fermentation and improve animal performance has gained attention in recent years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of yerba mate extract (Ilex paraguariensis ST. Hilaire) (YME) on the ruminal parameters. Eight castrated cattle were divided into four groups, a control without YME (0%) and three treatment groups with 0.5, 1 and 2% inclusion of YME in the dry matter. The inclusion of YME did not show differences in ruminal methane emissions (CH4), and total apparent digestibility (p = 0.54). Likewise, YME did not modify ruminal pH, but positively affected NH3-N, which decreased linearly as the extract level in the diet increased (p = 0.01). No short chain fatty acids (SCFA) were influenced by YME, except isovaleric acid (p = 0.01), which showed a lower concentration in the inclusion of 2% YME. Our results show that up to 2% YME does not affect digestibility, ruminal fermentation parameters, or the concentration of short-chain fatty acids in the rumen.

Demographic and Selection Histories of Populations Across the Sahel/Savannah Belt.

The Sahel/Savannah belt harbors diverse populations with different demographic histories and different subsistence patterns. However, populations from this large African region are notably under-represented in genomic research. To investigate the population structure and adaptation history of populations from the Sahel/Savannah space, we generated dense genome-wide genotype data of 327 individuals-comprising 14 ethnolinguistic groups, including 10 previously unsampled populations. Our results highlight fine-scale population structure and complex patterns of admixture, particularly in Fulani groups and Arabic-speaking populations. Among all studied Sahelian populations, only the Rashaayda Arabic-speaking population from eastern Sudan shows a lack of gene flow from African groups, which is consistent with the short history of this population in the African continent. They are recent migrants from Saudi Arabia with evidence of strong genetic isolation during the last few generations and a strong demographic bottleneck. This population also presents a strong selection signal in a genomic region around the CNR1 gene associated with substance dependence and chronic stress. In Western Sahelian populations, signatures of selection were detected in several other genetic regions, including pathways associated with lactase persistence, immune response, and malaria resistance. Taken together, these findings refine our current knowledge of genetic diversity, population structure, migration, admixture and adaptation of human populations in the Sahel/Savannah belt and contribute to our understanding of human history and health.