Experimental evidence of physiological and behavioral effects of microplastic ingestion in Sparus aurata.

Increasing global research has identified microplastics (MPs) to be impacting marine organisms. The present work aimed at investigating the physiological and behavioral effects of thirty-six juvenile Sparus aurata exposed to control, virgin and weathered MPs enriched diets during a 21-day period under controlled conditions. Physiological effects were assessed in liver and brain using the following biomarkers: activities of the antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GRd), the detoxifying enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST) and malondialdehyde (MDA) as indicative of lipid peroxidation. Individuals were recorded for behavior analysis (i.e. social interactions and feeding behavior). Results revealed an increase in cellular stress from control to weathered fish groups, with the virgin group showing intermediate levels in all quantified biomarkers. Significant differences were found in the liver for all biomarkers except for MDA, suggesting that exposure time to MPs in this experiment is long enough to trigger the activation of antioxidant enzymes but not to produce cell damage by lipid peroxidation. In brain tissue samples, fish from the weathered group presented significantly higher values for CAT and SOD, highlighting its function as primary antioxidants. Regarding behavioral effects, results showed that the two MPs enriched groups were significantly bolder during social interactions and, although no significantly, tended to be more active during feeding. In conclusion, MPs which have been weathered in marine environmental conditions produces a higher physiological response than virgin MPs but also, a physiological response is variable depending on the tissue analyzed. In addition, a short period to MP exposure seems to affect overall social and feeding behavior but, further research is needed to assess long-term effects of MP ingestion and its potential consequences on fish populations.

Ciberacoso y ciberviolencia de pareja: ¿fenómenos relacionados? / Cyberbullying and cyberintimate partner violence: related phenomen

Este estudio se centra en analizar diferentes cuestiones relacionadas con la violencia, como son la presencia de la violencia a través de internet, el fenómeno del ciberacoso y su relación con la perpetración de violencia hacia la pareja, también a través de las tecnologías de la información (TIC). Se tiene en cuenta el tipo de violencia ejercida a través de las TIC, ya sea violencia ejercida hacia el grupo de pares, como violencia ejercida hacia la pareja. La muestra se compone de 639 adolescentes, entre 12 y 18 años, que cursan estudios en cuatro centros educativos de enseñanza secundaria. Los resultados muestran que existe una relación entre el ejercicio de ambas modalidades de violencia a través de internet. Se puede inferir que, aquellos adolescentes que ejercen violencia hacia sus iguales a través de las redes sociales, tienen una mayor probabilidad de agredir a través de este mismo canal a su pareja. Por último, se discuten las implicaciones prácticas de estos resultados (AU)

This study focuses on analyzing different issues related to violence, such as the presence of violence through the Internet, the phenomenon of Cyberbullying and its relationship with the perpetration of violence against the partner, also through information technologies (ICT). The study takes into account the type of violence exercised through ICT, whether it is violence against the peer group, or violence against the partner. The sample is made up of 639 adolescents, between 12 and 18 years old, studying at four high schools. The results show that there is a relationship between the exercise of both forms of violence through the Internet. It can be inferred that those adolescents who exert violence towards their peers through social networks have a greater probability of attacking their partners through this same channel. Finally, the practical implications of these results are discussed (AU)

La covitalidad como factor protector ante problemas interiorizados y exteriorizados en adolescentes españoles / Covitality as a protective factor against internalizing and externalizing problems in Spanish adolescents

El modelo de covitalidad considera que la acción conjunta de determinadas competencias socioemocionales amortigua el impacto de eventos estresantes psicosociales previniendo el desarrollo de problemas de salud mental. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el papel protector de las competencias socioemocionales del modelo de covitalidad ante problemas interiorizados y exteriorizados en adolescentes españoles. Se aplicaron el "Cuestionario de fortalezas y dificultades" y la "Encuesta de salud socioemocional" a 438 adolescentes (53,20% hombres) de 12 a 18 años (M= 15,04; DT= 1,54) de edad. El 20,6% superó los puntos de corte en problemas psicológicos, con mayor sintomatología emocional en mujeres. En fortalezas psicológicas, las mujeres destacaron en competencia social y los hombres en habilidades de autorregulación emocional. Se encontró una tendencia a presentar mayor sintomatología y menor competencia socioemocional a mayor edad. La covitalidad explicó hasta el 30,6%, 30,9% y 23,8% (p< 0,001) de la sintomatología general, interiorizada y exteriorizada, respectivamente. Este trabajo aporta pruebas sobre la importancia de implementar programas de desarrollo de competencias socioemocionales de manera transversal en el ámbito educativo

The covitality model considers that the joint action of certain socialemotional competences cushions the impact of psychosocial stressful events by preventing the development of mental health problems. The objective of the present study was to analyze the protective role of social-emotional competences of the covitality model in the face of internalizing and externalizing problems in Spanish adolescents. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Social Emotional Health Survey were applied to 438 adolescents (53.2% men) between 12 and 18 years old (M= 15.04, SD= 1.54). 20.6% Surpassed cut-off points in psychological problems, with higher emotional symptoms in women. For psychological strengths, women stood out in social competence and men in emotional self-regulation skills. There was a tendency to present more symptoms and less social-emotional competence at an older age. Covitality explained up to 30.6%, 30.9% and 23.8% (p< .001) of general, internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, respectively. This work provides evidence on the importance of implementing programs to develop of social-emotional competences in a transversal way in the educational context

EsPal: one-stop shopping for Spanish word properties.

This article introduces EsPal: a Web-accessible repository containing a comprehensive set of properties of Spanish words. EsPal is based on an extensible set of data sources, beginning with a 300 million token written database and a 460 million token subtitle database. Properties available include word frequency, orthographic structure and neighborhoods, phonological structure and neighborhoods, and subjective ratings such as imageability. Subword structure properties are also available in terms of bigrams and trigrams, biphones, and bisyllables. Lemma and part-of-speech information and their corresponding frequencies are also indexed. The website enables users either to upload a set of words to receive their properties or to receive a set of words matching constraints on the properties. The properties themselves are easily extensible and will be added over time as they become available. It is freely available from the following website: http://www.bcbl.eu/databases/espal/ .

Mayaro virus: imported cases of human infection in São Paulo State, Brazil.

Mayaro virus (MAYV) is an arbovirus (Togaviridae: Alphavirus) enzootic in tropical South America and maintained in a sylvan cycle involving wild vertebrates and Haemagogus mosquitoes. MAYV cases occur sporadically in persons with a history of recent activities inside or around forests. This paper reports three cases of MAYV fever detected in men infected in Camapuã, MS, Brazil. Serum samples collected at four days and two months after the onset of the symptoms and examined by hemagglutination inhibition test, revealed monotypic seroconversion to MAYV. Isolation of the virus was obtained from one of the samples by inoculation of the first blood samples into newborn mice. A suspension of the infected mouse brain was inoculated into C6/36 cells culture and the virus was identified by indirect immunofluorescent assay with alphavirus polyclonal antibodies. RT-PCR, performed with RNA extracted from the supernatant of C6/36 infected cells in the presence of alphavirus generic primers as well as specific MAYV primers, confirmed these results. The reported cases illustrate the importance of laboratory confirmation in establishing a correct diagnosis. Clinical symptoms are not always indicative of a disease caused by an arbovirus. Also MAYV causes febrile illness, which may be mistaken for dengue.

Mayaro virus: imported cases of human infection in São Paulo State, Brazil

Mayaro virus (MAYV) is an arbovirus (Togaviridae: Alphavirus) enzootic in tropical South America and maintained in a sylvan cycle involving wild vertebrates and Haemagogus mosquitoes. MAYV cases occur sporadically in persons with a history of recent activities inside or around forests. This paper reports three cases of MAYV fever detected in men infected in Camapuã, MS, Brazil. Serum samples collected at four days and two months after the onset of the symptoms and examined by hemagglutination inhibition test, revealed monotypic seroconversion to MAYV. Isolation of the virus was obtained from one of the samples by inoculation of the first blood samples into newborn mice. A suspension of the infected mouse brain was inoculated into C6/36 cells culture and the virus was identified by indirect immunofluorescent assay with alphavirus polyclonal antibodies. RT-PCR, performed with RNA extracted from the supernatant of C6/36 infected cells in the presence of alphavirus generic primers as well as specific MAYV primers, confirmed these results. The reported cases illustrate the importance of laboratory confirmation in establishing a correct diagnosis. Clinical symptoms are not always indicative of a disease caused by an arbovirus. Also MAYV causes febrile illness, which may be mistaken for dengue.

O vírus Mayaro (MAYV) é um arbovírus do gênero Alphavirus, família Togaviridae, enzoótico na América do Sul, sendo mantido em ciclo silvestre envolvendo vertebrados e mosquitos Haemagogus. Casos de MAYV são esporádicos e ocorrem em pessoas com história de recentes atividades dentro ou próximo a florestas. Este artigo relata infecção por MAYV detectada em três pacientes, infectados em Camapuã, MS, Brasil. Amostras de sangue, coletadas no 4° dia e no 2° mês após o início dos sintomas, foram usadas para teste de inibição da hemaglutinação, que revelou soroconversão monotípica para MAYV. O isolamento do vírus foi obtido somente de uma das amostras, por inoculação em camundongos lactentes. Suspensão de cérebro de camundongo infectado foi inoculada em cultura de células C6/36 e o vírus foi identificado por imunofluorescência indireta com anticorpos policlonais para alphavirus. RT-PCR realizado com RNA extraído do sobrenadante de células C6/36 infectadas, na presença de "primers" genéricos para alphavirus assim como "primers" para MAYV, confirmou os resultados. Os casos relatados ilustram a importância da confirmação laboratorial em estabelecer um diagnóstico correto. Os sintomas clínicos não são sempre indicativos de uma doença causada por arbovírus. MAYV causa doença febril, que pode ser confundida com dengue.

St. Louis encephalitis virus: first isolation from a human in São Paulo State, Brazil.

This paper reports the isolation of St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) from a febrile human case suspected to be dengue, in São Pedro, São Paulo State. A MAC-ELISA done on the patient's acute and convalescent sera was inconclusive and hemagglutination inhibition test detected IgG antibody for flaviviruses. An indirect immunofluorescent assay done on the C6/36 cell culture inoculated with the acute serum was positive for flaviviruses but negative when tested with dengue monoclonal antibodies. RNA extracted from the infected cell culture supernatant was amplified by RT-PCR in the presence of NS5 universal flavivirus primers and directly sequenced. Results of BLAST search indicated that this sequence shares 93% nucleotide similarity with the sequence of SLEV (strain-MSI.7), confirmed by RT-PCR performed with SLEV specific primers. Since SLEV was identified as the cause of human disease, it is necessary to improve surveillance in order to achieve early detection of this agent in the state of São Paulo and in Brazil. This finding is also an alert to health professionals about the need for more complete clinical and epidemiological investigations of febrile illnesses as in the reported case. SLEV infections can be unrecognized or confused with other ones caused by an arbovirus, such as dengue.

St. Louis encephalitis vírus: first isolation from a human in São Paulo state, Brasil

O presente estudo relata o isolamento do vírus da encefalite São Luis (SLEV) de um caso febril humano suspeito de dengue, em São Pedro, Estado de São Paulo. MAC-ELISA realizado com soros das fases aguda e convalescente foi inconclusivo e anticorpos IgG foram detectados por inibição da hemaglutinação para flavivirus. Imunofluorescência indireta com cultura de células C6/36 inoculadas com soro da fase aguda foi positivo para flavivirus mas negativo quando testado com anticorpos monoclonais para dengue. O RNA extraído de cultura de células infectadas foi amplificado na presença de primers universais para o gênero Flavivirus, deduzidos de uma região da proteína não estrutural 5 e diretamente sequenciado. Os resultados da pesquisa no BLAST indicaram que a seqüência apresenta 93% de similaridade de nucleotídeos com a seqüência de SLEV (cepa MS1.7), confirmado por RT-PCR, realizado com primers específicos para SLEV. O fato de SLEV ter sido identificado como a causa de doença humana indica a necessidade de aprimorar a vigilância a fim de detectar precocemente esse agente no Estado de São Paulo e no Brasil. Esse caso é também um alerta para os profissionais de saúde sobre a necessidade de investigações clínicas e epidemiológicas mais completas sobre doenças febris como no caso relatado. Infecções por SLEV podem não ser reconhecidas ou confundidas com outras causadas por arbovírus como a dengue.