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The digestive enzymes–polyphenolic compounds (PCs) interactions behind the inhibition of these enzymes have not been completely studied. The existing studies have mainly analyzed polyphenolic extracts and reported inhibition percentages of catalytic activities determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. Recently, pure PCs and new methods such as isothermal titration calorimetry and circular dichroism have been applied to describe these interactions. The present review focuses on PCs structural characteristics behind the inhibition of digestive enzymes, and progress of the used methods. Some characteristics such as molecular weight, number and position of substitution, and glycosylation of flavonoids seem to be related to the inhibitory effect of PCs; also, this effect seems to be different for carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes and proteases. The digestive enzyme–PCs molecular interactions have shown that non-covalent binding, mostly by van der Waals forces, hydrogen binding, hydrophobic binding, and other electrostatic forces regulate them. These interactions were mainly associated to non-competitive type inhibitions of the enzymatic activities. The present review emphasizes on the digestive enzymes such as α-glycosidase (AG), α-amylase (PA), lipase (PL), pepsin (PE), trypsin (TP), and chymotrypsin (CT). Existing studies conducted in vitro allow one to elucidate the characteristics of the structure–function relationships, where differences between the structures of PCs might be the reason for different in vivo effects.

Background The role of PPARα in gene regulation in mouse liver is well characterized. However, less is known about the role of PPARα in human liver. The aim of the present study was to better characterize the impact of PPARα activation on gene regulation in human liver. To that end, chimeric mice containing hepatocyte humanized livers were given an oral dose of 300 mg/kg fenofibrate daily for 4 days. Livers were collected and analyzed by hematoxilin and eosin staining, qPCR, and transcriptomics. Transcriptomics data were compared with existing datasets on PPARα activation in normal mouse liver, human primary hepatocytes, and human precision cut liver slices. Results Of the different human liver models, the gene expression profile of hepatocyte humanized livers most closely resembled actual human liver. In the hepatocyte humanized mouse livers, the human hepatocytes exhibited excessive lipid accumulation. Fenofibrate increased the size of the mouse but not human hepatocytes, and tended to reduce steatosis in the human hepatocytes. Quantitative PCR indicated that induction of PPARα targets by fenofibrate was less pronounced in the human hepatocytes than in the residual mouse hepatocytes. Transcriptomics analysis indicated that, after filtering, a total of 282 genes was significantly different between fenofibrate- and control-treated mice ( P  < 0.01). 123 genes were significantly lower and 159 genes significantly higher in the fenofibrate-treated mice, including many established PPARα targets such as FABP1 , HADHB , HADHA , VNN1 , PLIN2 , ACADVL and HMGCS2 . According to gene set enrichment analysis, fenofibrate upregulated interferon/cytokine signaling-related pathways in hepatocyte humanized liver, but downregulated these pathways in normal mouse liver. Also, fenofibrate downregulated pathways related to DNA synthesis in hepatocyte humanized liver but not in normal mouse liver. Conclusion The results support the major role of PPARα in regulating hepatic lipid metabolism, and underscore the more modest effect of PPARα activation on gene regulation in human liver compared to mouse liver. The data suggest that PPARα may have a suppressive effect on DNA synthesis in human liver, and a stimulatory effect on interferon/cytokine signalling.

Premise of the Study Both incomplete lineage sorting and reticulation have been proposed as causes of phylogenetic incongruence. Disentangling these factors may be most difficult in long‐lived, wind‐pollinated plants with large population sizes and weak reproductive barriers. Methods We used solution hybridization for targeted enrichment and massive parallel sequencing to characterize low‐copy‐number nuclear genes and high‐copy‐number plastomes (Hyb‐Seq) in 74 individuals of Pinus subsection Australes, a group of ~30 New World pine species of exceptional ecological and economic importance. We inferred relationships using methods that account for both incomplete lineage sorting and reticulation. Key Results Concatenation‐ and coalescent‐based trees inferred from nuclear genes mainly agreed with one another, but they contradicted the plastid DNA tree in recovering the Attenuatae (the California closed‐cone pines) and Oocarpae (the egg‐cone pines of Mexico and Central America) as monophyletic and the Australes sensu stricto (the southern yellow pines) as paraphyletic to the Oocarpae. The plastid tree featured some relationships that were discordant with morphological and geographic evidence and species limits. Incorporating gene flow into the coalescent analyses better fit the data, but evidence supporting the hypothesis that hybridization explains the non‐monophyly of the Attenuatae in the plastid tree was equivocal. Conclusions Our analyses document cytonuclear discordance in Pinus subsection Australes. We attribute this discordance to ancient and recent introgression and present a phylogenetic hypothesis in which mostly hierarchical relationships are overlain by gene flow.

Objectives This research simulates an adaptive version of the IDAS‐II (IDAS‐CAT). Methods 2021 participants from both community (n = 1692) and patients (n = 329) samples completed the IDAS‐II. Item response theory metric properties of the IDAS‐II full test and the 20‐items of the general depression (GD) scale were obtained. The efficiency and accuracy of different computerized adaptive algorithms were simulated. Different subsamples completed additional external measures in order to gather evidence of validity of the scores estimated with the simulated adaptive algorithms selected. Results Both unidimensional computerized adaptive testing algorithm selected for the GD scale and the bifactor model chosen for the full test, allow 70% reduction in the length of administration, maintaining a measurement error below 0.30 on the general and 0.50 on the specific factors. Results show high correlations of the scores estimated with the adaptive algorithms and the estimates based on the full test, as well as correlations with external criteria almost equal to those generated with the full test. Conclusions IDAS‐CAT could be a reliable and fast tool for measuring internalizing spectrum.

Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an endocrine disease related to impaired/absent insulin signaling. Dietary habits can either promote or mitigate the onset and severity of T2DM. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables have been correlated with a decreased incidence of T2DM, apparently due to their high polyphenol content. Polyphenols are compounds of plant origin with several documented bioactivities related to health promotion. The present review describes the antidiabetic effects of polyphenols, specifically related to the secretion and effects of insulin and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1), an enteric hormone that stimulates postprandial insulin secretion. The evidence suggests that polyphenols from various sources stimulate L-cells to secrete GLP1, increase its half-life by inhibiting dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4), stimulate β-cells to secrete insulin and stimulate the peripheral response to insulin, increasing the overall effects of the GLP1-insulin axis. The glucose-lowering potential of polyphenols has been evidenced in various acute and chronic models of healthy and diabetic organisms. Some polyphenols appear to exert their effects similarly to pharmaceutical antidiabetics; thus, rigorous clinical trials are needed to fully validate this claim. The broad diversity of polyphenols has not allowed for entirely describing their mechanisms of action, but the evidence advocates for their regular consumption.

Aim In the face of global environmental change, identifying the factors that shape the ecological niches of species and understanding the mechanisms behind them can help to draft effective conservation plans. The differences in the ecological factors that shape species distributions may then help to highlight differences between closely related taxa. We investigate the applicability of ecological niche modelling and the comparison of species distributions in ecological niche space to detect areas with priority for biodiversity conservation and to analyse differences in the ecological niche spaces used by closely related taxa. Location United States of America, Mexico and Central America. Methods We apply ordination and ecological niche modelling techniques to assess the main environmental drivers of the distribution of Mexican white pines (Pinus: Pinaceae). Furthermore, we assess the similarities and differences of the ecological niches occupied by closely related taxa. We analyse whether Mexican white pines occupy similar or equivalent ecological niches. Results All the studied taxa presented different responses to the environmental factors, resulting in a unique combination of niche conditions. Our stacked habitat suitability maps highlighted regions in southern Mexico and northern Central America as highly suitable for most species and thus with high conservation value. By quantitatively assessing the niche overlap, similarity and equivalency of Mexican white pines, our results prove that the distribution of one species cannot be implied by the distribution of another, even if these taxa are considered closely related. Main conclusions The fact that each Mexican white pine is constrained by a unique set of environmental conditions, and thus, their non-equivalence of ecological niches has direct implications for conservation as this highlights the inadequacy of one-fits all type of conservation measure.

Recent diversification followed by secondary contact and hybridization may explain complex patterns of intra- and interspecific morphological and genetic variation in the North American hard pines (Pinus section Trifoliae), a group of approximately 49 tree species distributed in North and Central America and the Caribbean islands. We concatenated five plastid DNA markers for an average of 3.9 individuals per putative species and assessed the suitability of the five regions as DNA bar codes for species identification, species delimitation, and phylogenetic reconstruction. The ycf1 gene accounted for the greatest proportion of the alignment (46.9%), the greatest proportion of variable sites (74.9%), and the most unique sequences (75 haplotypes). Phylogenetic analysis recovered clades corresponding to subsections Australes, Contortae, and Ponderosae. Sequences for 23 of the 49 species were monophyletic and sequences for another 9 species were paraphyletic. Morphologically similar species within subsections usually grouped together, but there were exceptions consistent with incomplete lineage sorting or introgression. Bayesian relaxed molecular clock analyses indicated that all three subsections diversified relatively recently during the Miocene. The general mixed Yule-coalescent method gave a mixed model estimate of only 22 or 23 evolutionary entities for the plastid sequences, which corresponds to less than half the 49 species recognized based on morphological species assignments. Including more unique haplotypes per species may result in higher estimates, but low mutation rates, recent diversification, and large effective population sizes may limit the effectiveness of this method to detect evolutionary entities.

Male intrasexual competition has shaped the evolution of sexually dimorphic traits, influencing both physical and cognitive mechanisms for assessing physical dominance and formidability. While previous research has examined static visual cues such as height and upper body musculature to male formidability, the role of dynamic cues remains underexplored. We used 3D motion capture to investigate biomechanical markers that drive perceptions of male physical dominance. Fifty-two male participants’ walking gaits were recorded, and their upper-body strength, anthropometric measures, and self-reported aggression were assessed. A separate group of 137 raters evaluated the dominance of these walking patterns. Results revealed that one dynamic cue, lateral torso oscillation (sway) and one postural cue, shoulder abduction, were correlated with physical dominance as well as with anthropometric measures (e.g., height, chest size) and trait aggression scores. A linear mixed-effects model demonstrated that sway, shoulder abduction and body size/strength all contributed independently to predicting physical dominance, suggesting that gait dynamics provide robust social signals beyond static morphology. These findings highlight the adaptive significance of human locomotion in competitive social interactions. Future research should investigate the potential for a trade-off between static and dynamic cues to dominance, particularly in situations where static cues might be obscured.

The beneficial health effect of red wine depends on its phenolic content and the phenolic content in red wines is affected by ecological, agricultural, and enological practices. Enriched wines have been proposed as an alternative to increase the phenolic content in wines. Nevertheless, phenolic compounds are related to the sensory characteristics of red wines, so enrichment of red wines requires a balance between phenolic content and sensory characteristics. In the present study, a Merlot red wine was enriched with a phenolic extract obtained from Cabernet Sauvignon grape pomace. Two levels of enrichment were evaluated: 4 and 8 g/L of total phenolic content (gallic acid equivalents, GAE). Wines were evaluated by a trained panel to determine their sensory profile (olfactive, visual, taste, and mouthfeel phases). The bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds from enriched red wines was evaluated using an in vitro digestive model and phenolic compounds were quantified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Enrichment increased mainly flavonols and procyanidins. Such an increase impacted astringency and sweetness perceived by judges. This study proposes an alternative to increase the phenolic content in wines without modifying other main sensory characteristics and offers a potential beneficial effect on the health of consumers.

Reliable estimates of population density are essential for the conservation of apex predators such as the jaguar (Panthera onca), particularly in peripheral regions of their distribution where existing data are insufficient to guide effective management. In Mexico, northeastern landscapes remain underrepresented in jaguar research, limiting the development of context‐specific conservation strategies. To address this gap, we conducted a camera trap survey in the El Cielo–Sierra de Tamalave biological corridor, a transitional zone located at the northeasternmost limit of the species' range. Over a 91‐day sampling period, we deployed 104 cameras across 52 paired stations and applied a random thinning spatial capture–recapture model (rt‐SCR), which integrates both identified and unidentified photographic detections. This represents the first application of rt‐SCR to jaguar data in Mexico. The model yielded a density estimate of 1.29 (0.93–1.70) individuals per 100 km2, with adequate goodness‐of‐fit across multiple detection metrics. Despite low detection rates, the rt‐SCR framework allowed for robust inference by maximizing data use and mitigates the loss of precision associated with excluding unidentified detections. Our findings provide a baseline for future monitoring in northeastern Mexico and demonstrate the utility of rt‐SCR models in data‐limited contexts. These results support the implementation of localized conservation actions and long‐term monitoring programs in peripheral jaguar habitats, where population viability may depend on maintaining ecological continuity and minimizing anthropogenic pressures. This study presents the first estimate of jaguar density in northeastern Mexico using a spatial capture–recapture model with random thinning, which incorporates both identified and unidentified camera trap detections. Conducted over 91 days with 104 cameras, the model yielded a density of 1.29 individuals per 100 km2 in the El Cielo–Sierra de Tamalave corridor. The results provide a baseline for monitoring and support conservation efforts in peripheral habitats with limited data availability.