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The importance of the distribution of accommodation businesses over a certain area has grown remarkably, especially if such distribution is mapped using tools and techniques that utilize the territory as a variable in the analysis. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate, by means of a geographical information system (GIS) and spatial statistics, that it is possible to better define the groupings of rural accommodation available in Extremadura, Spain, especially if these are conceptualized by dint of their lodging capacity. To do so, two specific techniques have been used: hotspot analysis and outlier analysis, which yield results that prove the existence of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups of accommodation businesses, based not only on their spatial proximity but also on their lodging capacity. On the basis of this analysis, the regional administration can devise tourist policies and strategic plans in order to improve the management and efficiency of each business. Despite the applicability of the present results, this study also addresses the difficulties in using these techniques—Where establishing the spatial relationships and the boundary distance are key concepts. In the case study here, the ideal configuration utilizes a fixed distance of six miles.

One of the characteristics of prions is their ability to infect some species but not others and prion resistant species have been of special interest because of their potential in deciphering the determinants for susceptibility. Previously, we developed different in vitro and in vivo models to assess the susceptibility of species that were erroneously considered resistant to prion infection, such as members of the Leporidae and Equidae families. Here we undertake in vitro and in vivo approaches to understand the unresolved low prion susceptibility of canids. Studies based on the amino acid sequence of the canine prion protein (PrP), together with a structural analysis in silico, identified unique key amino acids whose characteristics could orchestrate its high resistance to prion disease. Cell- and brain-based PMCA studies were performed highlighting the relevance of the D163 amino acid in proneness to protein misfolding. This was also investigated by the generation of a novel transgenic mouse model carrying this substitution and these mice showed complete resistance to disease despite intracerebral challenge with three different mouse prion strains (RML, 22L and 301C) known to cause disease in wild-type mice. These findings suggest that dog D163 amino acid is primarily, if not totally, responsible for the prion resistance of canids.

Tumour progression and therapy tolerance are highly regulated and complex processes largely dependent on the plasticity of cancer cells and their capacity to respond to stress. The higher plasticity of cancer cells highlights the need for identifying targetable molecular pathways that challenge cancer cell survival. Here, we show that N 7 -guanosine methylation (m 7 G) of tRNAs, mediated by METTL1, regulates survival to stress conditions in cancer cells. Mechanistically, we find that m 7 G in tRNAs protects them from stress-induced cleavage and processing into 5’ tRNA fragments. Our analyses reveal that the loss of tRNA m 7 G methylation activates stress response pathways, sensitising cancer cells to stress. Furthermore, we find that the loss of METTL1 reduces tumour growth and increases cytotoxic stress in vivo. Our study uncovers the role of m 7 G methylation of tRNAs in stress responses and highlights the potential of targeting METTL1 to sensitise cancer cells to chemotherapy.

Prion diseases, particularly sporadic cases, pose a challenge due to their complex nature and heterogeneity. The underlying mechanism of the spontaneous conversion from PrP C to PrP Sc , the hallmark of prion diseases, remains elusive. To shed light on this process and the involvement of cofactors, we have developed an in vitro system that faithfully mimics spontaneous prion misfolding using minimal components. By employing this PMSA methodology and introducing an isoleucine residue at position 108 in mouse PrP, we successfully generated recombinant murine prion strains with distinct biochemical and biological properties. Our study aimed to explore the influence of a polyanionic cofactor in modulating strain selection and infectivity in de novo -generated synthetic prions. These results not only validate PMSA as a robust method for generating diverse bona fide recombinant prions but also emphasize the significance of cofactors in shaping specific prion conformers capable of crossing species barriers. Interestingly, once these conformers are established, our findings suggest that cofactors are not necessary for their infectivity. This research provides valuable insights into the propagation and maintenance of the pathobiological features of cross-species transmissible recombinant murine prion and highlights the intricate interplay between cofactors and prion strain characteristics.

Areas with low levels of transformation are alternative destinations for tourists who prefer to visit nonmassified places and have singular experiences. The benefits of these microdestinations are their local populations, traditional products, landscapes, and heritage, which, in turn, allow the cultural and gastronomic roots to be witnessed. Based on this assumption, the present research investigated landscape preferences in the Tejo/Tajo International Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Portugal/Spain), where Dehesa/Montado and traditional olive groves play important economic and sociocultural roles. This investigation sought to compare the opinions of those who live there with those who visit the territory in terms of landscape and agritourism experience preferences. To this, 439 interviews were conducted, and the results were extracted through descriptive analysis techniques and parametric and nonparametric tests to understand the different opinions. The main results were that agricultural landscapes are among the most preferred, and visitors tend to give the landscape higher scores, while the local population has some ignorance of its potential. The potential of agritourism was revealed through the motivation expressed by the demand to participate in gastronomic experiences and have contact with local products, followed by participation in activities that allow people to enjoy the agricultural landscape and rural traditions. The results revealed that the agritourism concept is often confused with rural tourism and nature tourism. Thus, it is necessary to develop a strategy to support the tourism supply according to the concept of authentic agritourism. In this way, agricultural activity has an important role in driving sustainable tourism dynamics in cross-border regions and boosting new products based on the culture, nature, and biodiversity characteristics of a protected area.

Mediterranean areas will likely undergo climate shifts in the near future that modify the water resources for vegetation. However, in some regions of southwestern Spain, such as Extremadura, the impact of different future scenarios on the water resources for vegetation has not been studied extensively. This study focused on the quantification and spatial distribution of water resources for vegetation covers in Extremadura and analyzed the impact of future climate change scenarios on those water resources. For this, five downscaled global climate models from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) were used in four future periods (from 2021 to 2100) following two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP-2.45 and SSP-5.85). These projections were compared with a historical baseline period (1970–2000) to obtain the variation of water resources. The results showed decreases in the water resources for all the scenarios and periods analyzed compared to those observed in the historical baseline period. The smallest decreases were noted over 2041–2060 for SSP2-4.5, with almost 74% of the region decreasing between 15 and 18% (with an average of 16.4%). The greatest decreases were over 2081–2100 for SSP5-8.5, in which 90% of the region displayed water resource declines of greater than 50%. In this last situation, the three more widespread vegetation covers (agrosilvopastoral systems of dehesas, grasslands, and crops) underwent similar declines of around 55% of their water resources (from ≈203 to ≈93 mm), while the fourth widely spread vegetation cover, forests, declined by 49% (from ≈261 to ≈133 mm). If any of these future projections occur, the decline in water resources could modify the forest composition and structure of these water-dependent ecosystems, compromising their maintenance and ecological, cultural, and economic functions.

The cohesin complex is a ring‐shaped proteinaceous structure that entraps the two sister chromatids after replication until the onset of anaphase when the ring is opened by proteolytic cleavage of its α‐kleisin subunit (RAD21 at mitosis and REC8 at meiosis) by separase. RAD21L is a recently identified α‐kleisin that is present from fish to mammals and biochemically interacts with the cohesin subunits SMC1, SMC3 and STAG3. RAD21L localizes along the axial elements of the synaptonemal complex of mouse meiocytes. However, its existence as a bona fide cohesin and its functional role awaits in vivo validation. Here, we show that male mice lacking RAD21L are defective in full synapsis of homologous chromosomes at meiotic prophase I, which provokes an arrest at zygotene and leads to total azoospermia and consequently infertility. In contrast, RAD21L‐deficient females are fertile but develop an age‐dependent sterility. Thus, our results provide in vivo evidence that RAD21L is essential for male fertility and in females for the maintenance of fertility during natural aging. The first mouse knockout analysis of RAD21L, only recently identified as a meiosis‐specific cohesin subunit in vertebrates, reveals its importance in germ cell formation—with unexpected sex‐specific differential requirements.

Interspecies transmission of prions is a well-established phenomenon, both experimentally and under field conditions. Upon passage through new hosts, prion strains have proven their capacity to change their properties and this is a source of strain diversity which needs to be considered when assessing the potential risks associated with consumption of prion contaminated protein sources. Rabbits were considered for decades to be a prion resistant species until proven otherwise recently. To determine the extent of rabbit susceptibility to prions and to assess the effects of passage of different prion strains through this species a transgenic mouse model overexpressing rabbit PrPC was developed (TgRab). Intracerebral challenges with prion strains originating from a variety of species including field isolates (ovine SSBP/1 scrapie, Nor98- scrapie; cattle BSE, BSE-L and cervid CWD), experimental murine strains (ME7 and RML) and experimentally obtained ruminant (sheepBSE) and rabbit (de novo NZW) strains were performed. On first passage TgRab were susceptible to the majority of prions (Cattle BSE, SheepBSE, BSE-L, de novo NZW, ME7 and RML) tested with the exception of SSBP/1 scrapie, CWD and Nor98 scrapie. Furthermore, TgRab were capable of propagating strain-specific features such as differences in incubation periods, histological brain lesions, abnormal prion (PrPd) deposition profiles and proteinase-K (PK) resistant western blotting band patterns. Our results confirm previous studies proving that rabbits are not resistant to prion infection and show for the first time that rabbits are susceptible to PrPd originating in a number of other species. This should be taken into account when choosing protein sources to feed rabbits.

The dehesa, as a socio-ecological system and cultural landscape, is a strategic resource for environmental education, territorial sustainability, and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. This study analyzes the perception of primary school students in Extremadura regarding this environment, using a mixed methodology that combines statistical, semantic, and spatial analysis. The results show a generally positive assessment of the dehesa heritage, although accompanied by a disconnect between this symbolic assessment and direct experience of the territory, especially in urban contexts. It identifies significant differences between students from rural and urban environments in terms of their knowledge of trades, products, and dehesa spaces, as well as their preferred activities in the dehesa. While rural students show greater interest in operational activities and direct contact with the environment (such as feeding livestock and milking), urban students lean toward sensory or symbolic experiences (such as consuming products or occasional harvesting), reflecting different ways of connecting with the territory. Spatial analysis reveals that more than 80% of schools are located less than 5 km from well-preserved dehesa areas, which represents an opportunity to integrate these landscapes into formal education. However, inequalities in access from special education centers have been detected, posing challenges in terms of territorial and educational equity. This study concludes that the dehesa should be recognized as an open classroom, capable of fostering roots, ecological literacy, and cultural sustainability through contextualized and territory-sensitive pedagogical approaches.

There are different methodologies to assess landscape preferences, however there is no consensual methodology that can be replicated to identify their tourism potential. Recent studies have focused on agricultural landscape preferences due to their cultural characteristics. Although agricultural activity conflicts with the management models of natural protected areas, traditional models and sustainable practices reveal opportunities to boost tourism in this area, both for their aesthetic value, and for the opportunity to preserve biodiversity and maintain “lively landscapes”. The present study focuses on a double approach to collect data to measure the preferences for landscape typologies to realize outdoor/recreative activities in Tagus International Nature Reserve (TINR), among them, agricultural landscapes, such as the agro-silvopastural system “Dehesa/Montado” or olive grove. The preference of the landscapes were evaluated through photographs with pairwise comparison and without photographs observation, in which 174 respondents were consulted with. The different methodologies applied allowed for the extraction of different results, which led to the assumption that in fact there is no single methodology to assess preferences. However, the application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology with photographical pairwise comparison allowed for the extraction of more robust results when considering attractions with tourism typologies, revealing that “Cultural tourism/Rural mixed” and “Agritourism” were the most valued. This information is pertinent to support TINR managers and local tourism promoters to plan and structure products and services based on button-up methodologies.