Newborns physiological differences in low- and high-altitude settings of Ecuador

Newborns show physiological differences in low- and high-altitude settings of Ecuador; those differences are especially relevant because most important cities in Ecuador are located at high altitude, above 2500 m. This study is an epidemiological, observational, and cross-sectional research performed at San Francisco Hospital in Quito (at 2850 m) and General Hospital in Manta (at 6 m) in the Manabí province. We studied 204 full-term newborns, healthy without any prenatal comorbidities, singleton pregnancy, mestizos, and born of healthy parents born. We found significant differences between the values of red blood cells (RBC), leucocytes, hematocrit, and hemoglobin. There was a difference of 27% more in RBC, 3% at hematocrit, and 0.4 g at hemoglobin in the high-altitude cohort. The leucocyte difference is 1270 cells/µl, which means a difference of 6%. At high-altitude settings, the mean pH was lower than normal values and pO2, pCO2, and HCO3. High-altitude newborns showed RBC of > 4,500,000 cells/µl; leukocytes > 19,000; pO2 ≤ 72 mm Hg; hemoglobin > 17.50 g/dl; and hematocrit > 54%. Both cohorts showed physiological changes of transition to extrauterine life. We observed higher polycythemia, respiratory acidosis, and hypoxemia among high-altitude newborns. High-altitude setting intensifies the physiological changes in hematological and arterial blood gases parameters.

Animal Personality and Conservation: Basics for Inspiring New Research

The number of animal species threatened with extinction are increasing every year, and biologists are conducting animal translocations, as one strategy, to try to mitigate this situation. Furthermore, researchers are evaluating methods to increase translocation success, and one area that shows promise is the study of animal personality. Animal personality can be defined as behavioral and physiological differences between individuals of the same species, which are stable in time and across different contexts. In the present paper, we discuss how animal personality can increase the success of translocation, as well as in the management of animals intended for translocation by evaluating personality characteristics of the individuals. Studies of the influence of birthplace, parental behavior, stress resilience, and risk assessment can be important to select the most appropriate individuals to be released. Finally, we explain the two methods used to gather personality data.

Seeds of change

Intervocalic /s/ voicing is of much interest recently in Hispanic Linguistics for two principal reasons: this feature has been attested in diverse dialects of Spanish, and it has been shown to correlate in production and perception with social factors (Davidson 2014; Chappell 2016; García 2019; among others). One finding that often surfaces is that male speakers voice more than female speakers, and recent studies consider whether this may be due to physiological differences (File-Muriel, Brown, and Gradoville 2015; Chappell and García 2017). The present study examines the interaction of gender, age, and interspeaker variation in the voicing of intervocalic /s/ in the speech of 31 natives of Loja, Ecuador. While variationist studies overwhelmingly show women leading change in progress, I argue that young men are leading voicing in Lojano Spanish and that this study of a smaller, non-English speaking community further elucidates the intricacies of gender and linguistic change.

Scaling Invariance of Sports Sex Gap

The controversy over the evolution of sex gap in sports stems from the reported that women’s performance will 1 day overtake men’s in the journal Nature. After debate, the recent studies suggest that the sports sex gap has been stable for a long time, due to insurmountable physiological differences. To find a mathematical model that accurately describes this stable gap, we analyze the best annual records of men and women in 25 events from 1992 to 2017, and find that power-law relationship could be acted as the best choice, with an R-squares as high as 0.999 (p ≤ 0.001). Then, based on the power law model, we use the records of men in 2018 to predict the performance of women in that year and compare them with real records. The results show that the deviation rate of the predicted value is only about 2.08%. As a conclusion, it could be said that there is a constant sex gap in sports, and the records of men and women evolve in parallel. This finding could serve as another quantitative rule in biology.

Sex-dependent alterations in the physiology of entorhinal cortex neurons in old heterozygous 3xTg-AD mice

While the higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in women is clear, studies suggest that biological sex may also influence AD pathogenesis. However, mechanisms behind these differences are not clear. To investigate physiological differences between sexes at the cellular level in the brain, we investigated the intrinsic and synaptic properties of entorhinal cortex neurons in heterozygous 3xTg-AD mice of both sexes at the age of 20 months. This brain region was selected because of its early association with AD symptoms. First, we found physiological differences between male and female non-transgenic mice, providing indirect evidence of axonal alterations in old females. Second, we observed a transgene-dependent elevation of the firing activity, post-burst afterhyperpolarization (AHP), and spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) activity, without any effect of sex. Third, the passive properties and the hyperpolarization-activated current (Ih) were altered by transgene expression only in female mice, whereas the paired-pulse ratio (PPR) of evoked EPSC was changed only in males. Fourth, both sex and transgene expression were associated with changes in action potential properties. Consistent with previous work, higher levels of Aβ neuropathology were detected in 3xTg-AD females, whereas tau deposition was similar. In summary, our results support the idea that aging and AD neuropathology differentially alter the physiology of entorhinal cortex neurons in males and females.

Know your patient: an introduction to the nursing care of donkeys

With approximately 44 million of them worldwide, it is important that veterinary professionals can treat and care for donkeys effectively. In the UK, a decreased workload and nutrient-rich diet can cause donkeys to become metabolically unstable and develop debilitating disease. Donkeys are very resilient and have the ability to mask signs of pain and distress. This often results in veterinary surgeons being presented with donkeys that are already compromised and require high levels of intervention. Most donkeys living in temperate climates are working animals, so there is little research specific to donkeys kept as companion animals, which can be problematic for veterinary professionals working in farm or equine practice in the UK. To deliver the most appropriate diagnoses, treatments and care for donkeys, and to fully support owners, veterinary surgeons and nurses must understand the physiological differences and management requirements of donkeys, compared to horses or ponies. Appropriate care is essential when nursing donkeys and should include all aspects of a holistic approach.