Research on public opinion towards affirmative action shows that citizens often support the principle of equality while simultaneously rejecting policies that promote it in a pattern described as the ...“principle‐policy puzzle.” The scholarship also shows that ideology and prejudice towards the targeted group explain the puzzle with respect to racial affirmative action. In this article, we use unique survey questions included in the 2014 round of the AmericasBarometer in Brazil to show that citizens tend to support electoral gender quotas while rejecting gender‐based egalitarianism in a reversed version of the “principle‐policy puzzle.” We argue that a different type of gender attitudes, namely benevolent sexism, shapes support for gender quotas as well as for the principle of equality. While benevolent sexists tend to reject gender equality based on views about gender complementarity and stereotypes about women's purity, they also support quotas as policies to foster such values. Our findings suggest that even though the political and scholarly debates can provide sound normative reasons for the adoption of quotas across different contexts, public support for them often relies on paternalistic views and expectations about the role of women in politics.
The impact of quarantine in older adults have been reported in several studies with contradictory results, reporting from negative effects to no significant outcomes or even beneficial consequences. ...Heterogeneity in aging plays a role in each region, the aim of this study is to analyze the impact of quarantine on health conditions (physical and mental) and lifestyle in older adults in five Centro American countries during COVID-19 pandemic.
In this cross-sectional study, n = 712 older adults 60 years and older from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica were assessed by telephone. Sociodemographic data, physical and mental health, lifestyle and quarantine conditions were asked previous informed consent.
In general, mean of days in quarantine at the moment of the study was 142 days (approximately four months and three weeks). In the analysis of the impact of the days in quarantine effects were found on the frequency of falls, functional ability in Activities of Daily Living (ADL), general cognitive function, memory, orientation, language, frequency of drinking alcohol, having a balanced diet, and being active cognitively. Some differences were found between countries.
Effects of quarantine on older adults in Centro America, requires attention of governments and healthcare to prevent long term morbidity and disability, and to promote healthy aging.
Immunoglobulin A is the dominant antibody isotype found in mucosal secretions and enforces host-microbiota symbiosis in mice, yet selective IgA-deficiency (sIgAd) in humans is often described as ...asymptomatic. Here, we determined the effects of IgA deficiency on human gut microbiota composition and evaluated the possibility that mucosal secretion of IgM can compensate for a lack of secretory IgA. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing and bacterial cell sorting to evaluate gut microbiota composition and taxa-specific antibody coating of the gut microbiota in 15 sIgAd subjects and matched controls. Despite the secretion of compensatory IgM into the gut lumen, sIgAd subjects displayed an altered gut microbiota composition as compared to healthy controls. These alterations were characterized by a trend towards decreased overall microbial diversity as well as significant shifts in the relative abundances of specific microbial taxa. While secretory IgA in healthy controls targeted a defined subset of the microbiota via high-level coating, compensatory IgM in sIgAd subjects showed less specificity than IgA and bound a broader subset of the microbiota. We conclude that IgA plays a critical and non-redundant role in controlling gut microbiota composition in humans and that secretory IgA has evolved to maintain a diverse and stable gut microbial community.
BB0405 is a surface exposed Borrelia burgdorferi protein and its vaccination protected mice against B. burgdorferi infection. As BB0405 is highly conserved across different B. burgdorferi sensu lato ...species, we investigated whether vaccination with recombinant BB0405 or through intradermal bb0405 DNA tattoo vaccination could provide protection against different Borrelia species, specifically against Borrelia afzelii, the predominant B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies causing Lyme borreliosis across Eurasia. We immunized C3H/HeN mice with recombinant BB0405 or with a codon-optimized bb0405 DNA vaccine using the pVAC plasmid and immunized corresponding control groups mice with only adjuvant or empty vectors. We subsequently subjected these immunized mice to a tick challenge with B. afzelii CB43-infected Ixodes ricinus nymphs. Upon vaccination, recombinant BB0405 induced a high total IgG response, but bb0405 DNA vaccination did not elicit antibody responses. Both vaccine formulations did not provide protection against Borrelia afzelii strain CB43 after tick challenge. In an attempt to understand the lack of protection of the recombinant vaccine, we determined expression of BB0405 and showed that B. afzelii CB43 spirochetes significantly and drastically downregulate the expression of BB0405 protein at 37 °C compared to 33 °C, where as in B. burgdorferi B31 spirochetes expression levels remain unaltered. Vaccination with recombinant BB0405 was previously shown to protect against B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. Here we show that vaccination with either recombinant BB0405 (or non-immunogenic bb0405 DNA), despite being highly conserved among B. burgdorferi sl genospecies, does not provide cross-protection against B. afzelii, mostly likely due to downregulation of this protein in B. afzelii in the mammalian host.
ABSTRACT We report magnetic field measurements for κ1 Cet, a proxy of the young Sun when life arose on Earth. We carry out an analysis of the magnetic properties determined from spectropolarimetric ...observations and reconstruct the large-scale surface magnetic field to derive the magnetic environment, stellar winds, and particle flux permeating the interplanetary medium around Cet. Our results show a closer magnetosphere and mass-loss rate of , i.e., a factor of 50 times larger than the current solar wind mass-loss rate, resulting in a larger interaction via space weather disturbances between the stellar wind and a hypothetical young-Earth analogue, potentially affecting the planet's habitability. Interaction of the wind from the young Sun with the planetary ancient magnetic field may have affected the young Earth and its life conditions.
The present study aimed to investigate the influence of ripening on the physicochemical, microbiological aspects, and fatty acid profile of Artisanal Coalho Cheeses and to detect if there are ...peptides with bioactive potential in their composition. Artisanal Coalho Cheese samples were kindly provided by a dairy farm located in Brazil in the Rio Grande do Norte state. A completely randomized design was adopted, with four maturation periods (0, 30, 45, and 60 days). Physicochemical traits (pH, total solids, moisture, non-fat solids, fat in total solids, protein, ash, fatty acid profile) and microbiological characterization (Salmonella sp, Listeria monocytogenes, total and thermotolerant coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus) were analyzed on cheese samples. Additionally, assays were performed for antioxidant and antihypertensive bioactivity through ACE and antimicrobial inhibition of the peptides extracted from the samples. There was a linear increase in total solids and ash content and a decrease in moisture content with increasing maturation time. The matured cheese samples had a lower pH than fresh Artisanal Coalho Cheese. Twenty-seven fatty acids were identified in the cheeses: 15 saturated, 07 monounsaturated, and 05 polyunsaturated, with a linear reduction of essential fatty acids (n6 and n3) during maturation. The microbiological quality of the cheeses was satisfactory, with an absence of undesirable bacteria in 92% of the cheese samples. Water-soluble peptide fractions from all periods tested showed antioxidant and antihypertensive potential with ACE control, and the maturation process potentiated these capacities, with a decline in these activities observed at 60 days. The antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria increased with maturation, reaching better results until 60 days. The maturation process on wooden planks in the periods of 30, 45, and 60 days allows the production of Artisanal Coalho Cheese of an innovative character, safe to consumers from the microbiological point of view, with differentiated physicochemical and functional characteristics and good quality of lipid fraction compared to fresh cheese, enabling the addition of value to the dairy chain.
Data mining has been recognized by many researchers as a hot topic in different areas. In the post-genomic era, the growing number of sequences deposited in databases has been the reason why these ...databases have become a resource for novel biological information. In recent years, the identification of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in databases has gained attention. The identification of unannotated AMPs has shed some light on the distribution and evolution of AMPs and, in some cases, indicated suitable candidates for developing novel antimicrobial agents. The data mining process has been performed mainly by local alignments and/or regular expressions. Nevertheless, for the identification of distant homologous sequences, other techniques such as antimicrobial activity prediction and molecular modelling are required. In this context, this review addresses the tools and techniques, and also their limitations, for mining AMPs from databases. These methods could be helpful not only for the development of novel AMPs, but also for other kinds of proteins, at a higher level of structural genomics. Moreover, solving the problem of unannotated proteins could bring immeasurable benefits to society, especially in the case of AMPs, which could be helpful for developing novel antimicrobial agents and combating resistant bacteria.
•This review brings the state-of-the-art methods to identify AMPs in databases.•Approaches for antimicrobial activity and structure prediction are described.•The limitations of each method are discussed along prospects for future works.
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant clinical isolates and the decreased rate of development of new antibiotics are a constant threat to human health. In this context, the therapeutic value of ...mastoparan (MP), a toxin from wasp venom, has been extensively studied. However, since MP shows significant cytotoxic activities, further optimization is needed. Here we evaluated the antimicrobial and cytolytic activities of an MP analog created by Ala-substitution in positions 5 and 8, named I5, R8 mastoparan (I5, R8 MP). We found that I5, R8 MP displayed a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi (MIC in the range 3–25μM), without being hemolytic or cytotoxic toward HEK-293 cells. In addition, I5, R8 MP-amide was highly potent (MIC=3μM) against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The interaction with microbial membranes was investigated revealing that I5, R8 MP is able to form an active amphipathic α-helix conformation and to disturb membranes causing lysis and cell death. Based on our findings, we hypothesize that I5, R8 MP follows a mechanism of action similar to that proposed for MP, where the pore-forming activity leads to cell death. Our results indicate that hydrophobic moment modified by amino acid substitution may enhance MP selectivity.
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•Amino acid substitutions enhance MP antimicrobial potency and membrane selectivity.•I5, R8 MP adopts an amphipathic α-helix structure indicated by molecular modeling.•I5, R8 MP affects permeability and membrane potential of bacteria.•High-resolution SEM-FEG images showed bacterial and fungal membrane damage.•I5, R8 MP caused rapid complete killing of E. coli within 15min.
Antimicrobial resistance is an ever-increasing problem throughout the world and has already reached severe proportions. Bacteria can develop ways to render traditional antibiotics ineffective, ...raising a crucial need to find new antimicrobials with novel mode of action. We demonstrate here a novel class of pyrazine functionalized Ag(I) and Au(I)-NHC complexes as antibacterial agents against human pathogens that are resistant to several antibiotics. Complete synthetic and structural studies of Au(I) and Ag(I) complexes of 2-(1-methylimidazolium) pyrimidinechloride (L-1), 2,6-bis(1-methylimidazol)pyrazinechloride (L-2) and 2,6-bis(1-methyl imidazol) pyrazinehexa-fluorophosphate (L-3) are reported herein. Chloro2,6-bis(1-methyl imidazol)pyrazinegold(I), 2b and chloro 2,6-bis(1-methyl imidazol)pyrazinesilver(I), 2a complexes are found to have more potent antimicrobial activity than other synthesized compounds and several conventionally used antibiotics. Complexes 2b and 2a also inhibit the biofilm formation by Gram-positive bacteria, Streptococcus mutans and Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli, causing drastic damage to the bacterial cell wall and increasing membrane permeability. Complexes 2b and 2a strongly binds to both Lys and Dap-Type peptidoglycan layers, which may be the reason for damage to the bacterial cell wall. Theoretical studies of all the complexes reveal that 2b and 2a are more reactive than other complexes, and this may be the cause of differences in antibacterial activity. These findings will pave the way towards developing a new class of antibiotics against different groups of conventional antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The antimicrobial peptides (AMP) have been proposed as an alternative to control resistant pathogens. However, due to multifunctional properties of several AMP classes, until now there has been no ...way to perform efficient AMP identification, except through in vitro and in vivo tests. Nevertheless, an indication of activity can be provided by prediction methods. In order to contribute to the AMP prediction field, the CS-AMPPred (Cysteine-Stabilized Antimicrobial Peptides Predictor) is presented here, consisting of an updated version of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) model for antimicrobial activity prediction in cysteine-stabilized peptides. The CS-AMPPred is based on five sequence descriptors: indexes of (i) α-helix and (ii) loop formation; and averages of (iii) net charge, (iv) hydrophobicity and (v) flexibility. CS-AMPPred was based on 310 cysteine-stabilized AMPs and 310 sequences extracted from PDB. The polynomial kernel achieves the best accuracy on 5-fold cross validation (85.81%), while the radial and linear kernels achieve 84.19%. Testing in a blind data set, the polynomial and radial kernels achieve an accuracy of 90.00%, while the linear model achieves 89.33%. The three models reach higher accuracies than previously described methods. A standalone version of CS-AMPPred is available for download at <http://sourceforge.net/projects/csamppred/> and runs on any Linux machine.
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