title: PeerJ description: Articles published in PeerJ link: https://peerj.com/articles/index.rss3?journal=peerj&page=348 creator: info@peerj.com PeerJ errorsTo: info@peerj.com PeerJ language: en title: Critical areas for sea turtles in Northeast Brazil: a participatory approach for a data-poor context link: https://peerj.com/articles/17109 last-modified: 2024-03-25 description: Fishing is one of the main threats to sea turtles due to the risk of entanglement in lost nets, vessel collision and mortality due to incidental catches. In Brazil, most of the studies regarding fishing interactions with sea turtles are focused on pelagic longline fisheries in the South and Southeast regions. However, their main reproductive areas in Southwest Atlantic RMU occur in Northeast Brazil, which overlaps small-scale coastal gillnet fisheries. Here, we aimed to use ethnobiology and participatory approaches as simple and cost-effective methods to identify areas for sea turtle conservation where impacts from small-scale fisheries are most likely. Expert captains were trained to recording sea turtle sightings during navigations from the landing port to the fishing grounds, informing their folk nomenclatures. By interpolation of environmental data (chlorophyll and bathymetry) and ecological data, we predicted habitats of 3,459.96 km² for Caretta caretta, Chelonia mydas, and Eretmochelys imbricata and fishing zones of 1,087 km² for management in 20 m and 50 m depths. Our results contributes to ongoing discussions of bycatch mitigation for sea turtle species and identification of habitats. We highlights the importance of considering particularities of overlapped areas in marine spatial planning and co-management arrangements. creator: Yedda Christina Bezerra Barbosa de Oliveira creator: Douglas Nazareth Rivera creator: Luciano Carramaschi de Alagão Querido creator: José da Silva Mourão uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17109 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Oliveira et al. title: Validation of the questionnaire “Pregnancy Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (pVHS)” toward COVID-19 vaccine for Malaysian pregnant women link: https://peerj.com/articles/17134 last-modified: 2024-03-25 description: BackgroundPregnancy is one of the risks for severe COVID-19 infection, and receiving a vaccination is one of the effective methods to reduce disease severity. However, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women remains an issue. This study aims to develop and validate the pregnancy Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (pVHS) toward COVID-19 vaccine for Malaysian pregnant women.MethodAn 8-item Malay language pregnancy Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (pVHS-M) for COVID-19 was adapted from the adult Vaccine Hesitancy Scale and validated using Exploratory Factor Analysis. Six expert panels were involved in content validity, and ten pregnant women were involved in face validity. A cross-sectional study on 200 pregnant women was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan.ResultThe item-level content validity index is 1.00, demonstrating good relevance of the eight items used to assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The item-level face validity index obtained is 0.99, indicating that the items were clear and comprehensible. The Cronbach alpha score was 0.944, with factor loadings ranging from 0.79 to 0.89.ConclusionThe pVHS-M demonstrated good internal consistency, indicating that it is a valid and reliable tool for assessing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women. creator: Nur Azreen Che Mood creator: Zainab Mat Yudin creator: Wan Muhamad Amir W Ahmad creator: Azidah Abdul Kadir creator: Mohd Noor Norhayati creator: Noorfaizahtul Hanim Md Nawawi creator: Erinna Mohamad Zon creator: Norsiah Ali uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17134 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Che Mood et al. title: Curd, seed yield and disease resistance of cauliflower are enhanced by oligosaccharides link: https://peerj.com/articles/17150 last-modified: 2024-03-25 description: BackgroundOligosaccharides have been demonstrated as promoters for enhancing plant growth across several crops by elevating their secondary metabolites. However, the exploration of employing diverse oligosaccharides for qualitative trait improvements in cauliflower largely unknown. This study was intended to uncover the unexplored potential, evaluating the stimulatory effects of three oligosaccharides on cauliflower’s curd and seed production.MethodsTwo experiments were initiated in the early (15 September) and mid-season (15 October). Four treatments were implemented, encompassing a control (water) alongside chitosan oligosaccharide (COS 50 mg.L–1) with a degree of polymerization (DP) 2–10, oligo galacturonic acid (OGA 50 mg.L−1) with DP 2–10 and alginate oligosaccharide (AOS 50 mg.L−1) with DP 2–7.ResultsOligosaccharides accelerated plant height (4–17.6%), leaf number (17–43%), curd (5–14.55%), and seed yield (17.8–64.5%) in both early and mid-season compared to control. These enhancements were even more pronounced in the mid-season (7.6–17.6%, 21.37–43%, 7.27–14.55%, 25.89–64.5%) than in the early season. Additionally, three oligosaccharides demonstrated significant disease resistance against black rot in both seasons, outperforming the control. As a surprise, the early season experienced better growth parameters than the mid-season. However, performance patterns remained more or less consistent in both seasons under the same treatments. COS and OGA promoted plant biomass and curd yield by promoting Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) value and phenol content. Meanwhile, AOS increased seed yield (56.8–64.5%) and elevated levels of chlorophyll, ascorbic acid, flavonoids, while decreasing levels of hydrogen per oxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde (MDA), half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50), and disease index. The correlation matrix and principal component analysis (PCA) supported these relations and findings. Therefore, COS and OGA could be suggested for curd production and AOS for seed production in the early season, offering resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses for cauliflower cultivation under field conditions. creator: Md. Mijanur Rahman Rajib creator: Hasina Sultana creator: Jin Gao creator: Wenxia Wang creator: Heng Yin uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17150 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Rajib et al. title: Recent genetic, phenetic and ecological divergence across the Mesoamerican highlands: a study case with Diglossa baritula (Aves: Thraupidae) link: https://peerj.com/articles/16797 last-modified: 2024-03-22 description: The topographical, geological, climatic and biodiversity complexity of Mesoamerica has made it a primary research focus. The Mesoamerican highlands is a region with particularly high species richness and within-species variation. The Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer, Diglossa baritula (Wagler, 1832), is a species endemic to the Mesoamerican highlands, with three allopatric subspecies currently recognized. To characterize divergence within this species, we integrated genomics, morphology, coloration and ecological niche modeling approaches, obtained from sampling individuals across the entire geographic distribution of the species. Our results revealed a clear genomic divergence between the populations to the east versus the west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. In contrast to the genomic results, morphology and coloration analyses showed intermediate levels of differentiation, indicating that population groups within D. baritula have probably been under similar selective pressures. Our morphology results indicated that the only sexually dimorphic morphological variable is the wing chord, with males having a longer wing chord than females. Finally, ecological data indicated that there are differences in ecological niche within D. baritula. Our data suggest that D. baritula could contain two or more incipient species at the intermediate phase of the speciation continuum. These results highlight the importance of the geographical barrier of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and Pleistocene climatic events in driving isolation and population divergence in D. baritula. The present investigation illustrates the speciation potential of the D. baritula complex and the capacity of Mesoamerican highlands to create cryptic biodiversity and endemism. creator: Alondra K. Terrones-Ramírez creator: Sahid M. Robles-Bello creator: Melisa Vázquez-López creator: Sandra M. Ramírez-Barrera creator: Luz E. Zamudio-Beltrán creator: Anuar López López creator: Maria del Coro Arizmendi creator: Ana Paula Durán-Suárez del Real creator: Luis E. Eguiarte creator: Blanca E. Hernández-Baños uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16797 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Terrones-Ramírez et al. title: Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in ITLN1 gene with ischemic stroke risk in Xi’an population, Shaanxi province link: https://peerj.com/articles/16934 last-modified: 2024-03-22 description: BackgroundIschemic stroke (IS) is the main cause of death and adult disability. However, the pathogenesis of this complicated disease is unknown. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between ITLN1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the susceptibility to IS in Xi’an population, Shaanxi province.MethodsIn this study, we designed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers located at −3,308 bp upstream of the transcription initiation site within promoter region of the ITLN1 gene. The target fragment was amplified by PCR and identified by agarose gel electrophoresis. Sanger sequencing was then performed in the samples extracted from a cohort comprising 1,272 participants (636 controls and 636 cases), and the obtained sequences were compared with the reference sequences available on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website to detect SNPs in the ITLN1 gene promoter region. Logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the relationship between ITLN1 polymorphisms and IS risk, with adjustments for age and gender. Significant positive results were tested by false-positive report probability (FPRP) and false discovery rate (FDR). The interaction among noteworthy SNPs and their predictive relationship with IS risk were explored using the Multi-Factor Dimensionality Reduction (MDR) software.ResultsThe results of Sanger sequencing were compared with the reference sequences on the NCBI website, and we found 14 SNPs in ITLN1 gene promoter satisfied Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). Logistic regression analysis showed that ITLN1 was associated with a decreased risk of IS (rs6427553: Homozygous C/C: adjusted OR: 0.69, 95% CI [0.48–0.97]; Log-additive: adjusted OR: 0.83, 95% CI [0.70–0.98]; rs7411035: Homozygous G/G: adjusted OR: 0.66, 95% CI [0.47–0.94]; Dominant G/T-G/G: adjusted OR: 0.78, 95% CI [0.62–0.98]; Log-additive: adjusted OR: 0.81, 95% CI [0.69–0.96]; rs4656958: Heterozygous G/A: adjusted OR: 0.74, 95% CI [0.59–0.94]; Homozygous A/A: adjusted OR: 0.51, 95% CI [0.31–0.84]; Dominant G/A-A/A: adjusted OR: 0.71, 95% CI [0.57–0.89]; Recessive A/A: adjusted OR: 0.59, 95% CI [0.36–0.96]; Log-additive: adjusted OR: 0.73, 95% CI [0.61–0.88]), especially in people aged less than 60 years and males.ConclusionsIn short, our study revealed a correlation between ITLN1 variants (rs6427553, rs7411035 and rs4656958) and IS risk in Xi’an population, Shaanxi province, laying a foundation for ITLN1 gene as a potential biomarker for predicting susceptibility to IS. creator: Wenzhen Shi creator: Qi Zhang creator: Ying Lu creator: Jie Liu creator: Xiaojuan Ma creator: Zhen Xie creator: Gejuan Zhang creator: Mingze Chang creator: Ye Tian uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16934 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Shi et al. title: Coupling effect of key factors on ecosystem services in border areas: a study of the Pu’er region, Southwestern China link: https://peerj.com/articles/17015 last-modified: 2024-03-22 description: The coupling effects created by transboundary and local factors on ecosystem services are often difficult to determine. This poses great challenges for ecosystem protection and management in border areas. To decrease uncertainty, it is crucial to quantify and spatialize the impact multiple factors have on ecosystem services within different scenarios. In this study, we identified key transboundary and local factors from a set of 15 sorted factors related to four main ecosystem services. We employed a Bayesian Network—Geographic Information System (BN-GIS) model to simulate 90 scenarios with multiple factors combinations, quantifying and spatializing the coupling effects on the main ecosystem services. These simulations were conducted in the Pu’er region, which is situated alongside three countries, and serves as a representative border area in southwest China. The results showed that: (1) The coupling effects of multiple factors yield significant variations when combined in different scenarios. Managers can optimize ecosystem services by strategically regulating factors within specific areas through the acquisition of various probabilistic distributions and combinations of key factors in positive coupling effect scenarios. The outcome is a positive coupling effect. (2) Among the four main ecosystem services in the Pu’er region, food availability and biodiversity were affected by key transboundary and local factors. This suggests that the coupling of transboundary and local factors is more likely to have a significant impact on these two ecosystem services. Of the 45 combination scenarios on food availability, the majority exhibit a negative coupling effect. In contrast, among the 45 combination scenarios on biodiversity, most scenarios have a positive coupling effect. This indicates that food availability is at a higher risk of being influenced by the coupling effects of multiple factors, while biodiversity faces a lower risk. (3) Transboundary pests & diseases, application of pesticides, fertilizer & filming , population density, and land use were the key factors affecting food availability. Bio-invasion, the normalized differential vegetation index, precipitation, and the landscape contagion index were the key factors affecting biodiversity. In this case, focusing on preventing transboundary factors such as transboundary pests & disease and bio-invasion should be the goal. (4) Attention should also be paid to the conditions under which these transboundary factors combine with local factors. In the areas where these negative coupling effects occur, enhanced monitoring of both transboundary and local factors is essential to prevent adverse effects. creator: Ruijing Qiao creator: Jie Li creator: Xiaofei Liu creator: Mengjie Li creator: Dongmei Lei creator: Yungang Li creator: Kai Wu creator: Pengbo Du creator: Kun Ye creator: Jinming Hu uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17015 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Qiao et al. title: Irritant and repellent behaviors of sterile male Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes are crucial in the development of disease control strategies applying sterile insect technique link: https://peerj.com/articles/17038 last-modified: 2024-03-22 description: The mosquito Aedes aegypti, known to transmit important arboviral diseases, including dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever. Given the importance of this disease vector, a number of control programs have been proposed involving the use of the sterile insect technique (SIT). However, the success of this technique hinges on having a good understanding of the biology and behavior of the male mosquito. Behavioral responses of Ae. aegypti male populations developed for SIT technology were tested under laboratory conditions against chemical and natural irritants and repellents using an excito-repellency (ER) chamber. The results showed that there were no significant behavioral escape responses in any of the radiation-sterilized male Ae. aegypti test populations when exposed to citronella, DEET, transfluthrin, and deltamethrin, suggesting that SIT did not suppress the expected irritancy and repellency (avoidance) behaviors. The type of information reported in the current study is vital in defining the effects of SIT on vector behavior and understanding how such behavior may influence the success of SIT technology with regard to other vector control interventions. creator: Wasana Boonyuan creator: Amonrat Panthawong creator: Thodsapon Thannarin creator: Titima Kongratarporn creator: Vararas Khamvarn creator: Theeraphap Chareonviriyaphap creator: Jirod Nararak uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17038 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Boonyuan et al. title: Comprehensive analysis of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors to predict the drug resistance, immune microenvironment, and prognosis in stomach adenocarcinomas link: https://peerj.com/articles/17082 last-modified: 2024-03-22 description: BackgroundPeroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) exert multiple functions in the initiation and progression of stomach adenocarcinomas (STAD). This study analyzed the relationship between PPARs and the immune status, molecular mutations, and drug therapy in STAD.MethodsThe expression profiles of three PPAR genes (PPARA, PPARD and PPARG) were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset to analyze their expression patterns across pan-cancer. The associations between PPARs and clinicopathologic features, prognosis, tumor microenvironment, genome mutation and drug sensitivity were also explored. Co-expression between two PPAR genes was calculated using Pearson analysis. Regulatory pathways of PPARs were scored using gene set variation analysis (GSVA) package. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Western blot, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and transwell assay were conducted to analyze the expression and function of the PPAR genes in STAD cell lines (AGS and SGC7901 cells).ResultsPPARA, PPARD and PPARG were more abnormally expressed in STAD samples and cell lines when compared to most of 32 type cancers in TCGA. In STAD, the expression of PPARD was higher in Grade 3+4 and male patients, while that of PPARG was higher in patient with Grade 3+4 and age > 60. Patients in high-PPARA expression group tended to have longer survival time. Co-expression analysis revealed 6 genes significantly correlated with the three PPAR genes in STAD. Single-sample GSEA (ssGSEA) showed that the three PPAR genes were enriched in 23 pathways, including MITOTIC_SPINDLE, MYC_TARGETS_V1, E2F_TARGETS and were closely correlated with immune cells, including NK_cells_resting, T_cells_CD4_memory_resting, and macrophages_M0. Immune checkpoint genes (CD274, SIGLEC15) were abnormally expressed between high-PPAR expression and low-PPAR expression groups. TTN, MUC16, FAT2 and ANK3 genes had a high mutation frequency in both high-PPARA/PPARG and low-PPARA/PPARG expression group. Fourteen and two PPARA/PPARD drugs were identified to be able to effectively treat patients in high-PPARA/PPARG and low-PPARA/PPARG expression groups, respectively. We also found that the chemotherapy drug Vinorelbine was positively correlated with the three PPAR genes, showing the potential of Vinorelbine to serve as a treatment drug for STAD. Furthermore, cell experiments demonstrated that PPARG had higher expression in AGS and SGC7901 cells, and that inhibiting PPARG suppressed the viability, migration and invasion of AGS and SGC7901 cells.ConclusionsThe current results confirmed that the three PPAR genes (PPARA, PPARD and PPARG) affected STAD development through mediating immune microenvironment and genome mutation. creator: Qing Jia creator: Baozhen Li creator: Xiulian Wang creator: Yongfen Ma creator: Gaozhong Li uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17082 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 Jia et al. title: Malaria: biochemical, physiological, diagnostic, and therapeutic updates link: https://peerj.com/articles/17084 last-modified: 2024-03-22 description: BackgroundMalaria has been appraised as a significant vector-borne parasitic disease with grave morbidity and high-rate mortality. Several challenges have been confronting the efficient diagnosis and treatment of malaria.MethodGoogle Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, and the Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) were all used to gather articles.ResultsDiverse biochemical and physiological indices can mirror complicated malaria e.g., hypoglycemia, dyslipidemia, elevated renal and hepatic functions in addition to the lower antioxidant capacity that does not only destroy the parasite but also induces endothelial damage. Multiple trials have been conducted to improve recent points of care in malaria involving biosensors, lap on-chip, and microdevices technology. Regarding recent therapeutic trials, chemical falcipain inhibitors and plant extracts with anti-plasmodial activities are presented. Moreover, antimalaria nano-medicine and the emergence of nanocarrier (either active or passive) in drug transportation are promising. The combination therapeutic trials e.g., amodiaquine + artemether + lumefantrine are presented to safely counterbalance the emerging drug resistance in addition to the Tafenoquine as a new anti-relapse therapy.ConclusionRecognizing the pathophysiology indices potentiate diagnosis of malaria. The new points of care can smartly manipulate the biochemical and hematological alterations for a more sensitive and specific diagnosis of malaria. Nano-medicine appeared promising. Chemical and plant extracts remain points of research. creator: Enas El Saftawy creator: Mohamed F. Farag creator: Hossam H. Gebreil creator: Mohamed Abdelfatah creator: Basma Emad Aboulhoda creator: Mansour Alghamdi creator: Emad A. Albadawi creator: Marwa Ali Abd Elkhalek uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17084 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2024 El Saftawy et al. title: Exploring the relationships between pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, and nutritional intake: a real-world investigation in Shandong, China link: https://peerj.com/articles/17099 last-modified: 2024-03-22 description: This study investigated the associations between gestational weight gain (GWG), pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), and prenatal diet quality in pregnant women from Shandong, China. We analyzed a sample of 532 early-stage pregnant women registered at an outpatient clinic. Diet quality was evaluated using the Chinese Healthy Dietary Index for Pregnancy (CHDI-P), encompassing three dimensions: diversity, adequacy, and limitation, with an overall score out of 100. Dietary intake was documented via 24-h dietary recalls spanning three consecutive days and subsequently translated to a CHDI-P score. At the time of enrollment, BMI was measured on-site and classified as underweight (<18.5), normal weight (18.5–24.9), overweight (25.0–29.9), and obese (≥30.0). Pregnant women were also categorized into inadequate, adequate, and excessive weight gain groups based on their GWG. We employed a Tukey-adjusted generalized linear model to compare the CHDI-P scores between the pre-pregnancy BMI groups and GWG groups. The results revealed that the underweight group had significantly higher total scores and limitation total scores on the CHDI-P (p < 0.001). Conversely, the overweight and obese groups were more susceptible to suboptimal dietary quality. Notably, the inadequate weight gain group displayed significantly elevated food adequacy scores compared to the other two groups (p < 0.05). This indicates that greater GWGs do not necessarily align with principles of adequate nutrition. creator: Juan Zhang creator: Xue Wang creator: Ping Zhu creator: Xiaoge Huang creator: Xingru Cao creator: Junmin Li uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17099 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2024 Zhang et al.