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This paper aims to understand the impacts of global climate change (GCC) on the distribution of dangerous venomous snakes and snakebite risk in Mozambique, as a contribution to the enhancement of public health policies and snake conservation. We modelled current and future distribution of all 13 dangerous snakes occurring in Mozambique using ecological niche models to assess the likely impacts of climate change estimated as the difference between lost and gained climatic suitable area per species. In addition, we developed a normalized index of snakebite risk based on species diversity and species-specific traits for each time slice. We then superimposed our index to data on human population density to identify areas most prone to this burden. Our findings suggest considerable future reduction in climatically suitable area for nine out of 13 species, with species experiencing a north-south range shift and high rates of species turnover in northern Mozambique. We also found that GCC might alter the spatial patterns of snakebite risk in the country, with considerable increase in the future, affecting most areas in central and southern regions. This finding suggests that GCC will be harmful to venomous snakes in Mozambique with potentially adverse effects on public health. As GCC might induce the approximation of snake climatic suitable areas to highly populated areas, efforts are needed to increase human knowledge of snakebite prevention measures and increase awareness of the relative safety and attacking behaviour associated with some of the snakes studied here ensuring reduction in snakebites and improving species conservation.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a highly invasive species native to North America that is rapidly spreading to other parts of the world. Since its first discovery outside its native range, the species has rapidly spread to more than 26 countries in Africa and has been recently discovered in India, demonstrating its high potential to spread and invade. This species can have massive damage to crops, especially maize, posing major socioeconomic challenges. While its spread is attributed to transportation in fruits and vegetables, its invasiveness is attributed to its high capacity to adapt in different environments. With expected climate change scenarios, it is possible that this species will invade other areas to the planet, thus increasing the damage to major agricultural crops. This paper aims to understand the global potential for the spread of the species and its associated impacts on major host plants, globally. For this, the article is based on modelling the distribution of species, combining records of occurrence of species globally and bioclimatic variables to identify the areas that are climatically suitable for species in present and future scenarios under climate change. Simulations indicate that there is an enormous climatic potential for the spread of the species, with potential increases between 12 and 44% in the future, mostly affecting border areas between the USA and Canada, Sub-Saharan Africa and central Europe. This spread will increase the potential for interactions between the fall armyworm and its main host plants, thus increasing the potential crop damage globally.

PurposeThis paper aims to understand the vulnerability of community livelihoods (human, social, financial, natural and physical assets) at a coastal environment in southern Mozambique, considering the level of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted the sustainable livelihoods approach. Data were collected through distribution of a structured questionnaire to 476 randomly selected households at the municipality of Inhambane. The questionnaire assessed all capital assets, covering 14 indicators and 43 sub-indicators of vulnerability, derived from published literature.FindingsResults indicate that overall community vulnerability is largely derived from the vulnerability of physical, financial and social capitals, illustrated by declared food shortage, low nutrition levels, weak social networks, high level of biomass utilization and lack of financial resources due to unemployment. These aspects largely influence the noticed reduced adaptive capacity of surveyed households.Practical implicationsThe study identified the need to improve the overall process of natural resources appropriation and utilization and the improvement of the governance capacity at the local targeting infrastructure, community structure and networks and capacity building that might enhance community livelihoods in changing scenarios.Originality/valueThe study is a contribution to the overall understanding of how livelihoods are exposed to climate change and variability in coastal settings.

Political polarization is a growing phenomenon that intensifies social divisions, potentially influencing how individuals perceive and categorize others. This study aimed to investigate the impact of information about an individual’s political orientation on the racialized social group categorization attributed to them. The hypothesis tested was that political statements (left vs. right) could alter racial perceptions of mixed-race candidates. In Study 1, 576 participants evaluated a male photo, and in Study 2, 400 evaluated a female photo. Participants were exposed to political scenarios and answered questions about political position, racialized categorization, and political identification. The results indicated that mixed-race candidates with left-wing statements are perceived as Blacker. Gender (Study 1) and age (Study 2) influenced this categorization. It is concluded that political orientation impacts racial categorization and warrants further investigation, especially regarding these interactions.

In this paper we review the conservation genetics of African savannah elephants, aiming to understand the spatio-temporal research trends and their underlying factors. As such, we explore three questions associated to the conservation genetics and molecular ecology of these elephants: (1) what are the research trends concerning the conservation genetics of ? (2) Do richer countries conduct more research on the genetics of African elephants? (3) Which attributes influence where scholars conduct their research? We examined available peer-reviewed publications from 1993 to 2014 in complementary online databases, including the ISI/Web of Science (WoS), Scopus and Google Scholar (GS), and searched for publications in scientific journals as well as in the reference section of these publications. We analyzed the annual trend of publications in this field of research, including the number of authors, levels of collaboration among authors, year of publication, publishing journal and the countries from where genetic samples were collected. Additionally, we identified main research clusters, authors, and institutional collaborations, based on co-citation and co-occurrence networks. We found that during the study period there was a positive trend in the number of publications and a reduction in the number of authors per paper. Twenty-five countries contributed, with the majority of publications authored by researchers in the USA, Kenya and South Africa. The majority of samples were collected in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Research outputs are associated with the existence of long-term conservation/research projects and research potential as measured by the literacy rate and the number of higher education institutions in a country. Five research clusters were identified, focusing on the origin and evolution of the species, methodological issues and the relatedness among elephant species. Research in this field should be expanded to additional countries harboring elephant populations to enable a more comprehensive understanding of the population structure and genetic differentiation of the species, and to cope with challenges associated with the conservation of the species such as illegal hunting, habitat fragmentation, species reintroduction and climate change.

The intensive deforestation, together with the projections of climate change, indicates severe effects of human actions on biodiversity in the Amazon, especially on species that depend on forest cover, such as primates. In this research, we identified priority areas for the conservation of 12 primate species endemic to the eastern Amazon. We created habitat suitability models for each species based on climatic conditions and deforestation under current and future scenarios (2050). We compared possible losses or gains of potential distribution areas in the present and future, based on climate change and loss of forest cover. Our results show that 11 of the 12 species could lose an area of climate suitability in the future, and more than 30% of them might lose over 90% of their range. Considering both climate change and deforestation, 8 out of 12 endemic primate species from the eastern Amazon could have their distribution area reduced by over 90% by 2050. About 25% of these species could become extinct in the next 30 years, with a predicted decrease of more than 98% in their distribution. However, this pessimistic scenario could be assuaged with an increase of 2 to 10% of protected areas, placed in specific prioritized areas, as we defined in our study as a high conservation priority, especially in the northeast of the eastern Amazon. The current scenario of devastation in the Amazon needs to be immediately reversed in time to recover native environments that promote the conservation of biodiversity. Our research tries to point out a strategy directed to conserving the Amazon primates and their habitats.

This paper attempts to understand the potential effects of historical climate changes on the distribution of the wattled crane (Bugeranus carunculatus). The potential distribution in past and present climatic scenarios is investigated through ensemble distribution modelling of 232 independent and sparsely distributed occurrence records. Potential effects of climate change were evaluated by means on niche overlap and niche gains and losses across time scales. Massive range expansion was observed from the Last Interglacial (LIG) era to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), with loss of suitability in most areas of western Africa and an increase in suitability across southern and eastern Africa. From the LGM, climate suitability tended to establish in southern and eastern Africa with slight disjunction in the mid-Holocene, a trend that was maintained through current distribution. Results indicate the presence of southern and northern refugia, with massive range expansion in central populations. These results support the idea that the current disjunct distribution of the wattled crane is driven by climate oscillations during the Pleistocene that generated range expansion and retraction of the species and also support the hypothesis that the current occurrence of the species is driven by other factors such as food and habitat availability.

ObjectivesA EULAR task force was convened to develop points to consider (PtC) for patient education in physical activity and self-management of pain in young people with juvenile-onset rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases during transitional care.MethodsA task force of 26 people from 10 European countries followed the EULAR Standardised Operating Procedures to establish overarching principles (OAPs) and PtC based on a literature review and expert consensus. Level of evidence (LoE), grade of recommendation (GoR) and level of agreement (LoA) were determined.ResultsTwo OAPs and seven PtC were formulated. The OAPs highlight the importance of personalised transitional care in rheumatology, ideally based on shared decision-making and incorporate interactive education to empower young individuals in managing their physical activity and pain. The PtC emphasise the clinical importance of patient education in these areas to improve readiness to transfer from paediatric to adult care. For two PtC, the GoR was moderate (grade B), based on individual cohort study (LoE 2b). For the remaining five PtC, the GoR was weak (grade D), based on expert opinion (LoE 5). The LoA among the task force was high, ranging from 9.4 to 9.8, except for one PtC that was 8.7.ConclusionThese EULAR PtC establish guidance on best practices for delivering patient education in physical activity and self-management of pain during transitional care in rheumatology. The adoption of these PtC in clinical settings is recommended to standardise and optimise transitional care across European healthcare systems. Additionally, the task force expects that these PtC will drive future research and potentially shape policies across Europe.

Bartonella spp. are opportunistic, vectorborne bacteria that can cause disease in both animals and humans. We investigated the molecular occurrence of Bartonella spp. in 634 phlebotomine sand fly specimens, belonging to 44 different sand fly species, sampled during 2017-2021 in north and northeastern Brazil. We detected Bartonella sp. DNA in 8.7% (55/634) of the specimens by using a quantitative real-time PCR targeting the 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer intergenic region. Phylogenetic analysis positioned the Lutzomyia longipalpis sand fly-associated Bartonella gltA gene sequence in the same subclade as Bartonella ancashensis sequences and revealed a Bartonella sp. sequence in a Dampfomyia beltrani sand fly from Mexico. We amplified a bat-associated Bartonella nuoG sequence from a specimen of Nyssomyia antunesi sand fly. Our findings document the presence of Bartonella DNA in sand flies from Brazil, suggesting possible involvement of these insects in the epidemiologic cycle of Bartonella species.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease caused by a variety of alterations in transcription factors, epigenetic regulators and signaling molecules. To determine how different mutant regulators establish AML subtype–specific transcriptional networks, we performed a comprehensive global analysis of cis-regulatory element activity and interaction, transcription factor occupancy and gene expression patterns in purified leukemic blast cells. Here, we focused on specific subgroups of subjects carrying mutations in genes encoding transcription factors (RUNX1, CEBPα), signaling molecules (FTL3-ITD, RAS) and the nuclear protein NPM1). Integrated analysis of these data demonstrates that each mutant regulator establishes a specific transcriptional and signaling network unrelated to that seen in normal cells, sustaining the expression of unique sets of genes required for AML growth and maintenance. Integrated analysis of transcriptome, open chromatin region and chromatin conformation capture data from subjects with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harboring defined transcription factor and signaling molecule alterations provide insights into the subtype-specific regulatory network in AML.