Centre for Research in Anthropology

UNLABELLED: Since its discovery in the early 2000s, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex 398 (CC398) has become a rapidly emerging cause of human infections, most often associated with livestock exposure. We applied whole-genome sequence typing to characterize a diverse collection of CC398 isolates (n = 89), including MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) from animals and humans spanning 19 countries and four continents. We identified 4,238 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among the 89 core genomes. Minimal homoplasy (consistency index = 0.9591) was detected among parsimony-informative SNPs, allowing for the generation of a highly accurate phylogenetic reconstruction of the CC398 clonal lineage. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that MSSA from humans formed the most ancestral clades. The most derived lineages were composed predominantly of livestock-associated MRSA possessing three different staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec element (SCCmec) types (IV, V, and VII-like) including nine subtypes. The human-associated isolates from the basal clades carried phages encoding human innate immune modulators that were largely missing among the livestock-associated isolates. Our results strongly suggest that livestock-associated MRSA CC398 originated in humans as MSSA. The lineage appears to have undergone a rapid radiation in conjunction with the jump from humans to livestock, where it subsequently acquired tetracycline and methicillin resistance. Further analyses are required to estimate the number of independent genetic events leading to the methicillin-resistant sublineages, but the diversity of SCCmec subtypes is suggestive of strong and diverse antimicrobial selection associated with food animal production. IMPORTANCE: Modern food animal production is characterized by densely concentrated animals and routine antibiotic use, which may facilitate the emergence of novel antibiotic-resistant zoonotic pathogens. Our findings strongly support the idea that livestock-associated MRSA CC398 originated as MSSA in humans. The jump of CC398 from humans to livestock was accompanied by the loss of phage-carried human virulence genes, which likely attenuated its zoonotic potential, but it was also accompanied by the acquisition of tetracycline and methicillin resistance. Our findings exemplify a bidirectional zoonotic exchange and underscore the potential public health risks of widespread antibiotic use in food animal production.

CONTEXT: Time spent in sedentary behaviours (SB) is associated with poor health, irrespective of the level of physical activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of interventions which included SB as an outcome measure in adults. METHODS: Thirteen databases, including The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and SPORTDiscus, trial registers and reference lists, were searched for randomised controlled trials until January 2014. Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently. Primary outcomes included SB, proxy measures of SB and patterns of accumulation of SB. Secondary outcomes were cardiometabolic health, mental health and body composition. Intervention types were categorised as SB only, physical activity (PA) only, PA and SB or lifestyle interventions (PA/SB and diet). RESULTS: Of 8087 records, 51 studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis of 34/51 studies showed a reduction of 22 min/day in sedentary time in favour of the intervention group (95% CI -35 to -9 min/day, n=5868). Lifestyle interventions reduced SB by 24 min/day (95% CI -41 to -8 min/day, n=3981, moderate quality) and interventions focusing on SB only by 42 min/day (95% CI -79 to -5 min/day, n=62, low quality). There was no evidence of an effect of PA and combined PA/SB interventions on reducing sedentary time. CONCLUSIONS: There was evidence that it is possible to intervene to reduce SB in adults. Lifestyle and SB only interventions may be promising approaches. More high quality research is needed to determine if SB interventions are sufficient to produce clinically meaningful and sustainable reductions in sedentary time.

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the prevalence of personal weight control attempts (weight loss and/or maintenance) worldwide and to identify correlates, personal strategies used and the underlying motives. We included epidemiological/observational studies of adults (≥18 years) reporting prevalence of weight control attempts in the past-year. Seventy-two studies (n = 1,184,942) met eligibility criteria. Results from high quality studies showed that 42% of adults from general populations and 44% of adults from ethnic-minority populations reported trying to lose weight, and 23% of adults from general populations reported trying to maintain weight annually. In general population studies, higher prevalence of weight loss attempts was observed in the decade of 2000-2009 (48.2%), in Europe/Central Asia (61.3%) and in overweight/obese individuals and in women (p < 0.01). Of the 37 strategies (grouped in 10 domains of the Oxford Food and Activity Behaviours Taxonomy) and 12 motives reported for trying to control weight, exercising and dieting (within the energy compensation and restraint domains, respectively) and wellbeing and long-term health were the most prevalent. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review to investigate weight control attempts worldwide. Key strategies and motives were identified which have implications for future public health initiatives on weight control.

In the last years it has become increasingly clear that the mammalian transcriptome is highly complex and includes a large number of small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Here we review the biogenesis pathways of the three classes of sncRNAs, namely short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). These ncRNAs have been extensively studied and are involved in pathways leading to specific gene silencing and the protection of genomes against virus and transposons, for example. Also, lncRNAs have emerged as pivotal molecules for the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression which is supported by their tissue-specific expression patterns, subcellular distribution, and developmental regulation. Therefore, we also focus our attention on their role in differentiation and development. SncRNAs and lncRNAs play critical roles in defining DNA methylation patterns, as well as chromatin remodeling thus having a substantial effect in epigenetics. The identification of some overlaps in their biogenesis pathways and functional roles raises the hypothesis that these molecules play concerted functions in vivo, creating complex regulatory networks where cooperation with regulatory proteins is necessary. We also highlighted the implications of biogenesis and gene expression deregulation of sncRNAs and lncRNAs in human diseases like cancer.

Abstract This paper assesses the fiscal consequences of migration to the UK from the Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union in May 2004 (A8 countries). We show that A8 immigrants who arrived after EU enlargement in 2004 and who have at least one year of residence, and are therefore legally eligible to claim benefits, are 59 per cent less likely than natives to receive state benefits or tax credits and 57 per cent less likely to live in social housing. Furthermore, even if A8 immigrants had the same demographic characteristics as natives, they would still be 13 per cent less likely to receive benefits and 29 per cent less likely to live in social housing. We go on to compare the net fiscal contribution of A8 immigrants with that of individuals born in the UK, and find that in each fiscal year since enlargement in 2004, irrespective of the way that the net fiscal contribution is defined, A8 immigrants made a positive contribution to the public finances despite the fact that the UK has been running a budget deficit over the last few years. This is because they have a higher labour force participation rate, pay proportionately more in indirect taxes and make much less use of benefits and public services.

Recent and long-term sympatries between humans and nonhuman primates (hereafter primates) are central to the behavioral ecology, conservation, and evolutionary trajectories of numerous primate species. Ethnoprimatology emphasizes that interconnections between humans and primates should be viewed as more than just disruptions of a "natural" state, and instead anthropogenic contexts must be considered as potential drivers for specific primate behavioral patterns. Rather than focusing solely on the behavior and ecology of the primate species at hand, as in traditional primatology, or on the symbolic meanings and uses of primates, as in socio-cultural anthropology, ethnoprimatology attempts to merge these perspectives into a more integrative approach. As human pressures on environments continue to increase and primate habitats become smaller and more fragmented, the need for a primatology that considers the impact of human attitudes and behavior on all aspects of primate lives and survival is imperative. In this special issue, we present both data-driven examples and more general discussions that describe how ethnoprimatological approaches can be both a contribution to the core theory and practice of primatology and a powerful tool in our goal of conservation action.

African swine fever (ASF) is a lethal and highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, listed as a notifiable disease reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Despite its limited host range and absent zoonotic potential, the socio-economic and environmental impact of ASF is very high, representing a serious threat to the global swine industry and the many stakeholders involved. Currently, only control and eradication measures based mainly on early detection and strict stamping-out policies are available, however, the rapid spread of the disease in new countries, and in new regions in countries already affected, show these strategies to be lacking. In this review, we discuss approaches to ASF vaccinology, with emphasis on the advances made over the last decade, including the development of virulence-associated gene deleted strains such as the very promising ASFV-G-ΔI177L/ΔLVR, that replicates efficiently in a stable porcine epithelial cell line, and the cross-protecting BA71ΔCD2 capable of stably growing in the commercial COS-1 cell line, or the naturally attenuated Lv17/WB/Rie1 which shows solid protection in wild boar. We also consider the key constraints involved in the scale-up and commercialization of promising live attenuated and virus-vectored vaccine candidates, namely cross-protection, safety, lack of suitable animal models, compatibility with wildlife immunization, availability of established and licensed cell lines, and differentiating infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) strategy.

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra-West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe.

Increased human population growth and more conversions of natural habitat to agricultural land have resulted in greater proximity between humans and nonhuman primate species. Consequent increases in resource competition including crop-raiding are a by-product of both natural resources becoming less available and the nutritional benefits of cultivated foods becoming more known to the nonhuman primates. Chimpanzees at Bossou in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, consume 17 different types of cultivated foods that are grown extensively throughout their small, fragmented home range. Direct observations of feeding behavior conducted over an 18-month period revealed that during specific months crops account for up to one quarter of chimpanzee feeding time, with higher overall crop-raiding levels throughout the periods of wild fruit scarcity. Some cultivated foods, especially sugar fruits, are mostly fallback foods, whereas others, such as rice pith (Oryza sp.) and maize (Zea mays), are consumed according to their availability even when wild foods are abundant. These findings highlight the importance of both crop choice by farmers and a thorough understanding of the ecology of resident primate species when establishing land management techniques for alleviating human-primate conflict.

In animals, the population genomic literature is dominated by two taxa, namely mammals and drosophilids, in which fully sequenced, well-annotated genomes have been available for years. Data from other metazoan phyla are scarce, probably because the vast majority of living species still lack a closely related reference genome. Here we achieve de novo, reference-free population genomic analysis from wild samples in five non-model animal species, based on next-generation sequencing transcriptome data. We introduce a pipe-line for cDNA assembly, read mapping, SNP/genotype calling, and data cleaning, with specific focus on the issue of hidden paralogy detection. In two species for which a reference genome is available, similar results were obtained whether the reference was used or not, demonstrating the robustness of our de novo inferences. The population genomic profile of a hare, a turtle, an oyster, a tunicate, and a termite were found to be intermediate between those of human and Drosophila, indicating that the discordant genomic diversity patterns that have been reported between these two species do not reflect a generalized vertebrate versus invertebrate gap. The genomic average diversity was generally higher in invertebrates than in vertebrates (with the notable exception of termite), in agreement with the notion that population size tends to be larger in the former than in the latter. The non-synonymous to synonymous ratio, however, did not differ significantly between vertebrates and invertebrates, even though it was negatively correlated with genetic diversity within each of the two groups. This study opens promising perspective regarding genome-wide population analyses of non-model organisms and the influence of population size on non-synonymous versus synonymous diversity.

Enthesopathies, in the guise of musculoskeletal skeletal stress markers (MSM), have been widely used to reconstruct activity levels in human skeletal populations. In general, studies have focused on their presence in the upper limb, which is used in the majority of daily activities. The aim of this study was to use some of the attachment sites on the humerus to explore the relationship between enthesopathy formation, activity, and the ageing process. The skeletal sample used in this study comprised male adult skeletons with known age-at-death and known occupations from the late-19th and early-20th century cemeteries in Portugal. The enthesopathies were recorded as either present or absent. Statistical analysis using Fishers exact tests and logistic regression was undertaken to determine whether associations could be found between specific activities or socioeconomic status (manual or nonmanual workers), and age and enthesopathy presence. Left and right sides were analyzed separately. Fisher's exact tests were used to determine the relationship between activity and enthesopathy, and they demonstrated no association between activity and enthesopathies (P > 0.01). The results of the logistic regression established that age was the single most significant factor in enthesopathy formation (P > 0.05). This study found that, in these samples, age-at-death, and therefore age-related degeneration rather than degeneration caused by activities, was the primary cause of enthesopathy formation. Considering the difficulties of reliably ageing adult human skeletal remains, this is a major issue for studies of activity using enthesopathies.

BACKGROUND: More than ever, the current increasing need for palliative care leads to health professionals providing this type of care which further leads to multiple challenges, and stressful and demanding situations. The multiple challenges of working in palliative care put health professionals working in this context at the risk of burnout. OBJECTIVES: To examine the evidence on the prevalence of burnout among health professionals working in palliative care. INCLUSION CRITERIA TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS: The current review included studies that encompass qualified health professionals working in palliative care, caring for patients 18 years of age or older. CONDITION: The current review considered studies reporting on the point prevalence of burnout, measured by a burnout scale, such as, but not limited to, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Burnout Measure and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. CONTEXT: The current review considered studies conducted in the context of specialist palliative care, more specifically, palliative care units, specialized palliative home care or hospices. TYPES OF STUDIES: The current review considered observational study designs, including prospective and retrospective cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies. SEARCH STRATEGY: An initial search of MEDLINE (via PubMed) and CINAHL was undertaken, followed by a second search for published and unpublished studies since 1975 in major healthcare-related electronic databases. Studies written in English, Spanish and Portuguese were included. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: Two independent reviewers assessed the methodological quality of studies using the standardized critical appraisal instrument from the Joanna Briggs Institute. No studies were excluded from the review based on the methodological appraisal. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted using a data extraction table, taking into account the review questions. DATA SYNTHESIS: Significant differences were found between condition measures, thus we were unable to perform a meta-analysis. RESULTS: Eight cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria, with a total of 1406 health professionals. The sample was limited to nurses, physicians and social workers. None of the included articles presented data about other health professionals. Seven of the included studies assessed the prevalence of burnout using the same instrument - the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Data revealed a prevalence of burnout of 17.3% among health professionals. Personal Accomplishment was the sub-scale from the Maslach Burnout Inventory that had the highest prevalence (19.5%). Nurses had higher levels of Emotional Exhaustion (19.5%) and Depersonalization (8.2%), and physicians had lower levels of Personal Accomplishment (41.2%). The prevalence of burnout was, however, higher in social workers (27%). The palliative care context with the highest prevalence of burnout was home care (19.6%). CONCLUSION: The current systematic review contributes to a body of empirical knowledge that can facilitate the professional development of palliative care teams by highlighting the prevalence of burnout in health professionals, which staff category is the most affected (social workers), and which palliative care context has the highest prevalence (home care).

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shaped higher education and seen the distinct rise of e-learning as a compulsory element of the modern educational landscape. Accordingly, this study highlights the factors which have influenced how students perceive their academic performance during this emergency changeover to e-learning. The empirical analysis is performed on a sample of 10,092 higher education students from 10 countries across 4 continents during the pandemic's first wave through an online survey. A structural equation model revealed the quality of e-learning was mainly derived from service quality, the teacher's active role in the process of online education, and the overall system quality, while the students' digital competencies and online interactions with their colleagues and teachers were considered to be slightly less important factors. The impact of e-learning quality on the students' performance was strongly mediated by their satisfaction with e-learning. In general, the model gave quite consistent results across countries, gender, study fields, and levels of study. The findings provide a basis for policy recommendations to support decision-makers incorporate e-learning issues in the current and any new similar circumstances.

BACKGROUND: Despite effective national immunisation programmes in Europe, some groups remain incompletely or un-vaccinated ('under-vaccinated'), with underserved minorities and certain religious/ideological groups repeatedly being involved in outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases (VPD). Gaining insight into factors regarding acceptance of vaccination of 'under-vaccinated groups' (UVGs) might give opportunities to communicate with them in a trusty and reliable manner that respects their belief system and that, maybe, increase vaccination uptake. We aimed to identify and describe UVGs in Europe and to describe beliefs, attitudes and reasons for non-vaccination in the identified UVGs. METHODS: We defined a UVG as a group of persons who share the same beliefs and/or live in socially close-knit communities in Europe and who have/had historically low vaccination coverage and/or experienced outbreaks of VPDs since 1950. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO databases using specific search term combinations. For the first systematic review, studies that described a group in Europe with an outbreak or low vaccination coverage for a VPD were selected and for the second systematic review, studies that described possible factors that are associated with non-vaccination in these groups were selected. RESULTS: We selected 48 articles out of 606 and 13 articles out of 406 from the first and second search, respectively. Five UVGs were identified in the literature: Orthodox Protestant communities, Anthroposophists, Roma, Irish Travellers, and Orthodox Jewish communities. The main reported factors regarding vaccination were perceived non-severity of traditional "childhood" diseases, fear of vaccine side-effects, and need for more information about for example risk of vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Within each UVG identified, there are a variety of health beliefs and objections to vaccination. In addition, similar factors are shared by several of these groups. Communication strategies regarding these similar factors such as educating people about the risks associated with being vaccinated versus not being vaccinated, addressing their concerns, and countering vaccination myths present among members of a specific UVG through a trusted source, can establish a reliable relationship with these groups and increase their vaccination uptake. Furthermore, other interventions such as improving access to health care could certainly increase vaccination uptake in Roma and Irish travellers.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes This editorial and most articles in this special issue use the terms children, youth and young people interchangeably to refer to people under the age of 25 years (United Nations 1989 United Nations, 1989. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child [online]. Available from: http://www.unchchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm [Accessed 17 December 2002]. [Google Scholar]). The seeds for this special issue were sown some time back at a seminar hosted by the Centre for Child-Focussed Anthropological Research at Brunel University, 'Emerging Perspectives on the Anthropology of Childhood' in May 2008. This led, a year later, to a panel at the European Conference on African Studies in Leipzig, organised by Lorenzo Bordonaro, focussing on the 'deviant' children of Africa. We use the term 'social interventions' to refer to all kinds of programmes and policies, usually delivered by NGOs, governments and international development agencies, aimed at children and youth, in practice, at the grassroots. The notion of a 'global childhood' is based on an alleged natural and universal distinction between children and adults and has been formed in Western world imaginations and exported through processes of colonialism, the forces of globalisation, international development organisations and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Boyden 1990 Boyden, J. 1990. "A comparative perspective on the globalisation of childhood". In Constructing and reconstructing childhood: contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood, Edited by: James, A. and Prout, A. 190–225. London: Falmer Press. [Google Scholar]). Whilst it is, therefore, limited in its understanding and conceptualisation of childhood (Stephens 1995 Stephens, S. 1995. Children and the politics of culture, Princetown: Princetown University Press. [Google Scholar], Burman 1996 Burman, E. 1996. Local, global or globalised? Child development and international child rights legislation. Childhood, 3(19): 45–66. (doi:10.1177/0907568296003001004)[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], White 1996 White, B. 1996. Globalisation and the child labour problem. Journal of international development, 8(6): 829–839. (doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(199611)8:6<829::AID-JID404>3.0.CO;2-Z)[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 1999 White, B. 1999. Defining the intolerable: child work, global standards and cultural relativism. Childhood, 6(1): 133–144. (doi:10.1177/0907568299006001010)[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Nieuwenhuys 1998 Nieuwenhuys, O. 1998. Global childhood and the politics of contempt. Alternatives, 23(3): 124–145. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], Bessell 1999 Bessell, S. 1999. Constructing the ideal childhood. CWA newsletter, 15(3) Available from: http://www.cwa.tnet.co.th/V15-3/susan.htm [Accessed 18 January 2003] [Google Scholar], Katz 2004 Katz, C. 2004. Growing up global: economic restructuring and children's everyday lives, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]); it has nonetheless become an ideal against which all childhoods should be measured (Stephens 1995 Stephens, S. 1995. Children and the politics of culture, Princetown: Princetown University Press. [Google Scholar], Bessell 1999 Bessell, S. 1999. Constructing the ideal childhood. CWA newsletter, 15(3) Available from: http://www.cwa.tnet.co.th/V15-3/susan.htm [Accessed 18 January 2003] [Google Scholar]).

With the exception of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, feline lungworms have been poorly studied. Information on their distribution is patchy and mostly limited to case reports. In this study, the occurrence of feline lungworms and co-infecting gastrointestinal parasites has been investigated in 12 European countries (i.e. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom). An average of 10 domestic cats, with regular outdoor access, was sampled each month for 12months, and freshly passed faeces were collected. Stools were processed using a McMaster assay and a quantitative Baermann-Wetzel method. Animals positive for lungworms and/or gastrointestinal parasites were treated with a formulation containing fipronil, (S)-methoprene, eprinomectin, and praziquantel (Broadline®, Merial), and re-sampled 28days post-treatment. The association between lungworm infection and risk factors was analysed using statistical medians/means and the efficacy of the treatment against each lungworm species was assessed. Of 1990 cats sampled, 613 (30.8%) were positive for at least one parasite, while 210 (10.6%) were infected by lungworms. The prevalence of lungworm infection varied between the sampled sites, with the highest recorded in Bulgaria (35.8%) and the lowest in Switzerland (0.8%). None of the cats from Austria or the United Kingdom were infected by lungworms. Aelurostrongylus abstrusus was the species most frequently detected (78.1%), followed by Troglostrongylus brevior (19.5%), Eucoleus aerophilus (14.8%) and Oslerus rostratus (3.8%). The overall efficacy of the treatment was 99% for A. abstrusus and 100% for T. brevior, O. rostratus and E. aerophilus. Data presented provide a comprehensive account of the diagnosis, epidemiology and treatment of feline lungworms in Europe, as well as of the occurrence of co-infections by gastrointestinal parasites.

The potential of edible mushrooms as an unexploited treasure trove, although rarely included in known food guidelines, is highlighted. Their role in shielding people against the side effects of an unhealthy stylish diet is reviewed. Mushrooms complement the human diet with various bioactive molecules not identified or deficient in foodstuffs of plant and animal sources, being considered a functional food for the prevention of several human diseases. Mushrooms have been widely used as medicinal products for more than 2,000 years, but globally the potential field of use of wild mushrooms has been untapped. There is a broad range of edible mushrooms which remain poorly identified or even unreported which is a valuable pool as sources of bioactive compounds for biopharma utilization and new dietary supplements. Some unique elements of mushrooms and their role in preventative healthcare are emphasized, through their positive impact on the immune system. The potential of mushrooms as antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-neoplastic, and other health concerns is discussed. Mushrooms incorporate top sources of non-digestible oligosaccharides, and ergothioneine, which humans are unable to synthesize, the later a unique antioxidant, cytoprotective, and anti-inflammatory element, with therapeutic potential, approved by world food agencies. The prebiotic activity of mushrooms beneficially affects gut homeostasis performance and the balance of gut microbiota is enhanced. Several recent studies on neurological impact and contribution to the growth of nerve and brain cells are mentioned. Indeed, mushrooms as functional foods' nutraceuticals are presently regarded as next-generation foods, supporting health and wellness, and are promising prophylactic or therapeutic agents.

Introduction and objective: Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease with a high impact on self-esteem and patients’ health-related quality of life. In the last decades some studies have pointed out mental disorders associated with psoriasis and the etiopathogenic mechanisms behind that co-existence. This work compiles psychopathology associated with psoriasis and further analyzes the etiopathogenesis of psoriasis and mental disorders. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and using the “5S” levels of organization of evidence from healthcare research, as previously described. Results: Psoriasis is linked with many mental disorders, both in the psychotic and neurotic sprectrum. Chronic stress diminishes hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and upregulates sympathetic-adrenal-medullary responses, stimulating pro-inflammatory cytokines. Then, it maintains and exacerbates psoriasis and some of its mental disorders. High levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines connect psoriasis, psychiatric conditions, and other comorbidities of psoriasis (such as atherosclerosis) within a vicious cycle. Furthermore, the etiopathogenesis of the link between each psychiatric comorbidity and psoriasis has its own subtleties, including the cooccurrence of other comorbidities, the parts of the body affected by psoriasis, treatments, and biological and psychosocial factors. Conclusion: The study of psychopathology can amplify our understanding about the etiopathogenesis of psoriasis and associated mental disorders. Patients would benefit from a psychodermatologic approach. The adequate treatment should take into account the mental disorders associated with psoriasis as well as the circumstances under which they occur.

Animal diseases constitute a continuing threat to animal health, food safety, national economy, and the environment. Among those, African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most devastating viruses affecting pigs and wild suids due to the lack of vaccine or effective treatment. ASF is endemic in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but since its introduction to the Caucasus region in 2007, a highly virulent strain of ASF virus (ASFV) has continued to circulate and spread into Eastern Europe and Russia, and most recently into Western Europe, China, and various countries of Southeast Asia. Given the importance of this disease, this review will highlight recent discoveries in basic virology with special focus on proteomic analysis, replication cycle, and some recent data on genes involved in cycle progression and viral-host interactions, such as I215L (E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme), EP402R (CD2v), A104R (histone-like protein), QP509L, and Q706L (RNA helicases) or P1192R (Topoisomerase II). Taking into consideration the large DNA genome of ASFV and its complex interactions with the host, more studies and new approaches are to be taken to understand the basic virus-host interaction for ASFV. Proteomic studies are just paving the way for future research.

Crop-raiding is a major source of conflict between people and wildlife globally, impacting local livelihoods and impeding conservation. Conflict mitigation strategies that target problematic wildlife behaviours such as crop-raiding are notoriously difficult to develop for large-bodied, cognitively complex species. Many crop-raiders are generalist feeders. In more ecologically specialised species crop-type selection is not random and evidence-based management requires a good understanding of species' ecology and crop feeding habits. Comprehensive species-wide studies of crop consumption by endangered wildlife are lacking but are important for managing human-wildlife conflict. We conducted a comprehensive literature search of crop feeding records by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), a ripe-fruit specialist. We assessed quantitatively patterns of crop selection in relation to species-specific feeding behaviour, agricultural exposure, and crop availability. Crop consumption by chimpanzees is widespread in tropical Africa. Chimpanzees were recorded to eat a considerable range of cultivars (51 plant parts from 36 species). Crop part selection reflected a species-typical preference for fruit. Crops widely distributed in chimpanzee range countries were eaten at more sites than sparsely distributed crops. We identified 'high' and 'low' conflict crops according to their attractiveness to chimpanzees, taking account of their importance as cash crops and/or staple foods to people. Most (86%) high conflict crops were fruits, compared to 13% of low conflict crops. Some widely farmed cash or staple crops were seldom or never eaten by chimpanzees. Information about which crops are most frequently consumed and which are ignored has enormous potential for aiding on-the-ground stakeholders (i.e. farmers, wildlife managers, and conservation and agricultural extension practitioners) develop sustainable wildlife management schemes for ecologically specialised and protected species in anthropogenic habitats. However, the economic and subsistence needs of local people, and the crop-raiding behaviour of sympatric wildlife, must be considered when assessing suitability of particular crops for conflict prevention and mitigation.