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[...]hybrid cultures (Garcia Canclini 1989) or process of hybridization have taken place as part of entering modernity, even if modernity has not fully arrived in Latin America (and other regions) as Global South. [...]the connection between colonization, neocolonialism and migrations is instrumental for our decolonizing efforts; in this respect, Mignolo affirmed “the problem of immigration today is inseparable from the interstate organization of the modern/colonial world (2003: 34) (my translation). According to Bashi “decolonizing thought, a useful effort for academics committed to social justice and equity, requires examining the colonial and imperial premises undergirding scholarship and teaching” (2023: 886). [...]it aligns with critical migration studies that enhance the voice of migrants, displaced populations and refugees, while paying attention to the decolonial autochthonous production of knowledge. [...]the overrepresentation of studies performing post-colonial analysis should be deconstructed and contextualized.

Background Studies of the relationship between diverse populations, healthcare access and health outcomes have been dominated by approaches focusing on ethno-national groups or specific healthcare sectors. Healthcare bricolage conceptualises the processes by which individuals use multiple resources to address health concerns. It is relevant in superdiverse neighbourhoods with complex populations. This paper is original in its application of mixed methods to examine the extent to which, and the reasons why, individuals engage in healthcare bricolage. Methods The study utilized a parallel sequential methodology. Eight superdiverse neighbourhoods were selected, two in each of Bremen, Birmingham, Lisbon and Uppsala. Ethnographic research scoping the nature of each healthcare ecosystem was followed by 160 interviews (20 each neighbourhood) with a maximum variation sample of residents undertaken October 2015 to December 2016. Interviewees were asked to recall a health concern and describe actions taken to attempt resolution. Data was coded with a MAXQDA codebook checked for inter-coder reliability. Interview findings enabled identification of five types of bricolage, the nature of healthcare resources utilised and the factors which influenced residents’ tactics. Results were used to design a household survey using new questions and validated epidemiological instruments implemented January to October 2017. Respondents were identified using random address files and interviewed in person or by telephone. Multinomal logistic regressions were used to estimate the effect of changing the values of determinants on the probability of observing an outcome. Results Age, gender, level of education, migration background and extent of functional limitation were associated with bricolage tactics. Individuals demonstrating high levels of agency were more likely than those with low levels to engage in bricolage. Residents with high levels of trust in physicians were less likely to bricolage than those with lower levels of trust. Levels of health literacy showed no significant effects. Conclusions The nature and severity of health concern, trust in physicians and agency shaped residents’ bricolage tactics. The concept of bricolage enabled us to make visible the actions and resources utilised around public healthcare systems that would otherwise remain outwith healthcare access research. Actions were frequently undertaken via networks offering insights into healthcare-seeking behaviour.

Nowadays it is widely accepted that non-Saccharomyces yeasts, which prevail during the early stages of alcoholic fermentation, contribute significantly to the character and quality of the final wine. Among these yeasts, Wickerhamomyces anomalus (formerly Pichia anomala, Hansenula anomala, Candida pelliculosa) has gained considerable importance for the wine industry since it exhibits interesting and potentially exploitable physiological and metabolic characteristics, although its growth along fermentation can still be seen as an uncontrollable risk. This species is widespread in nature and has been isolated from different environments including grapes and wines. Its use together with Saccharomyces cerevisiae in mixed culture fermentations has been proposed to increase wine particular characteristics. Here, we review the ability of W. anomalus to produce enzymes and metabolites of oenological relevance and we discuss its potential as a biocontrol agent in winemaking. Finally, biotechnological applications of W. anomalus beyond wine fermentation are briefly described.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a defining global health crisis of our time. While the impact of COVID-19, including its mental health impact, is increasingly being documented, there remain important gaps regarding the specific consequences of the pandemic on particular population groups, including refugees and migrants. This study aims to uncover the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of refugees and migrants worldwide, disentangling the possible role of social and daily stressors, i.e., experiences of discrimination and daily living conditions. Descriptive analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the responses of N = 20,742 refugees and migrants on the self-reporting global ApartTogether survey. Survey findings indicated that the mental health of refugees and migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly impacted, particularly for certain subgroups, (i.e., insecure housing situation and residence status, older respondents, and females) who reported experiencing higher levels of increased discrimination and increases in daily life stressors. There is a need to recognize the detrimental mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on particular refugee and migrant groups and to develop interventions that target their unique needs.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) involves the nonsexual transmission of genetic material across species boundaries. Although often detected in prokaryotes, examples of HGT involving animals are relatively rare, and any evolutionary advantage conferred to the recipient is typically obscure. We identified a gene (HhMAN1) from the coffee berry borer beetle, Hypothenemus hampei, a devastating pest of coffee, which shows clear evidence of HGT from bacteria. HhMAN1 encodes a mannanase, representing a class of glycosyl hydrolases that has not previously been reported in insects. Recombinant HhMAN1 protein hydrolyzes coffee berry galactomannan, the major storage polysaccharide in this species and the presumed food of H. hampei. HhMAN1 was found to be widespread in a broad biogeographic survey of H. hampei accessions, indicating that the HGT event occurred before radiation of the insect from West Africa to Asia and South America. However, the gene was not detected in the closely related species H. obscurus (the tropical nut borer or \"false berry borer\"), which does not colonize coffee beans. Thus, HGT of HhMAN1 from bacteria represents a likely adaptation to a specific ecological niche and may have been promoted by intensive agricultural practices.

This paper applies, for the first time, the concept of bricolage to understand the experiences of superdiverse urban populations and their practices of improvisation in accessing health services across healthcare ecosystems. By adopting the concept of healthcare bricolage and an ecosystem approach, we render visible the agency of individuals as they creatively mobilise, utilise, and re-use resources in the face of constraints on access to healthcare services. Such resources include multiple knowledges, ideas, materials, and networks. The concept of bricolage is particularly useful given that superdiverse populations are by definition heterogeneous, multilingual and transnational, and frequently in localities characterised as ‘resource-poor’, in which bricolage may be necessary to overcome such constraints, and where mainstream healthcare providers have limited understanding of the challenges that populations experience in accessing services. The ‘politics of bricolage’ as neoliberal strategies of self-empowerment legitimising the withdrawal of the welfare state are critically discussed. Conflicting aspects of bricolage are made explicit in setting out tactics of relevance to researching the practices of bricolage.

Background Studies of factors associated with the use of Internet-based health information generally focus on general, rather than migrant populations. This study looked into the reasons why Internet-based health information is used and the effects of migration-related factors, other socio-demographic characteristics and health-related factors on the tendency to consult the Internet. Methods In a cross-sectional survey conducted in eight superdiverse neighbourhoods - two each in Birmingham, United Kingdom; Bremen, Germany; Lisbon, Portugal and Uppsala, Sweden - participants were presented with six scenarios and asked to indicate the resources they most relied on when addressing a health concern from a given list. The scenarios included establishing the underlying causes of a health concern and seeking information about prescription drugs, treatments and services available as part of the public healthcare system. The list of resources included the public healthcare system, alternative medicine, family and friends, and the Internet. Frequencies for which the Internet was consulted for each different scenario were calculated and compared across the participating cities. The association between consulting Internet-based health information and migration-related factors, and further socio-demographic characteristics as well as health-related factors such as self-reported health and health literacy was assessed using multivariable logistic regressions. Results Of the 2570 participants from all four cities who were included in the analyses, 47% had a migrant background and 35% originated from non-EU countries. About a third reported relying on Internet-based health information for at least one of the given scenarios. The two most frequently chosen scenarios were to find out about other possible treatments and prescription drugs. Generally, using Internet-based health information was negatively associated with being a first generation migrant (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.46–0.93), having poor local language competency (OR 0.25; 95% CI 0.14–0.45), older age (≥60 years, OR 0.21; 95% CI 0.15–0.31), low education (OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.24–0.50) and positively associated with low trust in physicians (OR 2.13; 95% CI 1.47–3.10). Conclusion Our findings indicate the need to consider migration background and language competency when promoting the provision of healthcare services via the Internet so that information and services are widely accessible.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionately hard impact on refugees and other migrants who are often exposed to the virus with limited means to protect themselves. We tested the hypothesis that during the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees and other migrants have suffered a negative impact on mental health and have been unjustly discriminated for spreading the disease in Europe (data collection from April to November 2020). Methods Participants in the ApartTogether Survey ( N =  8297, after listwise deletion of missing items final N =  3940) provided data regarding to their difficulties to adhere to preventive recommendations against COVID-19 infection (CARE), self-perceived stigmatization (SS), and psychological distress (PD). Structural Equation Modeling was used to investigate PD as a mediator in the pathway linking CARE to SS, while adjusting for the housing and residence status. To improve confidence in the findings, single hold-out sample cross-validation was performed using a train/test split ratio of 0.8/0.2. Results In the exploratory set ( N =  3159) SS was associated with both CARE (B = 0.200, p <  0.001) and PD (B = 0.455, p <  0.001). Moreover, PD was also associated with CARE (B = 0.094, p  = 0.001) and mediated the effect of CARE on SS (proportion mediated = 17.7%, p = 0.001). The results were successfully replicated in the confirmation set ( N =  781; total effect = 0.417, p <  0.001; proportion mediated = 29.7%, p <  0.001). Follow-up analyses also found evidence for an opposite effect (i.e., from SS to CARE, B = 0.132; p <  0.001), suggesting that there might be a vicious circle between the self-perceived stigmatization and the access to health care and the use of preventive measures against COVID-19 infection. Conclusions Refugees and other migrants who had more difficulties in accessing health care and preventive measures against COVID-19 infection experienced worse mental health and increased discrimination. These negative effects appeared to be stronger for those with more insecure housing and residence status, highlighting from one side the specific risk of insecure housing in the impact of COVID-19 upon mental health and infection protection, and for another side the need to proper housing as a strategy to prevent both COVID-19 and mental distress.

Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and cats (Felis catus) in natural reserves can affect wild mammal populations through predation, diseases, and disturbance, particularly when habitat patches are small. In Estero El Salado, a remnant mangrove in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, we used camera trapping to obtain independent observations (n = 1224) to determine abundance, spatial overlap, and activity of medium-sized mammals (domestic dog, domestic cat, northern raccoon [Procyon lotor], Virginia opossum [Didelphis virginiana], gray fox [Urocyon cinereoargenteus], nine-banded armadillo [Dasypus novemcinctus], and jaguarundi [Herpailurus yagouaroundi]). Our efforts constitute the first photographic record for the reserve. Relative abundance (capture frequency referred to 100 trap-days) was largest for raccoons (62.11), followed by dogs (13.31) and cats (5.28). Racoons and cats showed large spatial overlap (0.951), as did nine-banded armadillo and foxes (0.973). Dogs and cats showed different activity patterns from all wild species (P < 0.05) but were similar to each other (P = 0.408), with large temporal overlap (82.8%). Wild species also displayed large temporal overlap (i.e., opossums–raccoons, 80.6%). Wild mammals were predominantly nocturnal, whereas dogs were active throughout the 24-h day/night cycle and cats were mainly crepuscular, suggesting that wild species might avoid domestic species by displaying differential activity patterns. We propose control measures within and around the reserve and an investigation of the possible effects of domestic species on wild species through studies of diet and parasites.

Coffee berry borer—CBB ( Hypothenemus hampei ) is a globally important economic pest of coffee ( Coffea spp.). Despite current insect control methods for managing CBB, development of future control strategies requires a better understanding of its biology and interaction with its host plant. Towards this objective, we performed de novo CBB genome and transcriptome sequencing, improved CBB genome assembly and predicted 18,765 protein-encoding genes. Using genome and transcriptome data, we annotated the genes associated with chemosensation and found a reduced gene repertoire composed by 67 odorant receptors (ORs), 62 gustatory receptors (GRs), 33 ionotropic receptors (IRs) and 29 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs). In silico transcript abundance analysis of these chemosensory genes revealed expression enrichment in CBB adults compared with larva. Detection of differentially expressed chemosensory genes between males and females is likely associated with differences in host-finding behavior between sexes. Additionally, we discovered male-specific genome content and identified candidate male-specific expressed genes on these scaffolds, suggesting that a Y-like chromosome may be involved in the CBB’s functional haplodiploid mechanism of sex determination.