Publications by authors named "Lucas H Viscardi"

In this study, we analyzed associations between vaccination knowledge, vaccination intention, political ideology, and belief in conspiracy theories before and during the 2020 Sars-Cov-2 pandemic in the Brazilian population. It was conducted a longitudinal study into three data collections. Participants responded to the Flexible Inventory of Conspiracy Suspicions (FICS), questionnaires measuring their knowledge, and opinion about vaccines, and sociodemographic data.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Akinetopsia is a rare neurological syndrome characterized by an impaired perception of movement, often resulting from brain damage due to ischemia, epilepsy, or medication. It is also known as visual motion blindness, and patients with this condition are unable to perceive motion normally even with perfect visual acuity. This report aims to present a case of a patient in their late 40 s who developed akinetopsia and also an impairment in movement perception of objects without emitting sounds, after experiencing a late relapse of breast cancer with the occurrence of multiple brain metastases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sapajus libidinosus members of the Pedra Furada group, living in the Serra da Capivara National Park, use stone tools in a wider variety of behaviors than any other living animal, except humans. To rescue the evolutionary history of the Caatinga S. libidinosus and identify factors that may have contributed to the emergence and maintenance of their tool-use culture, we conducted fieldwork seasons to obtain biological samples of these capuchin monkeys.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study looks at special protein variants in primates related to the AVPR2 receptor, which helps manage water in the body.
  • The researchers found that some parts of this protein show changes that might help explain a rare kidney problem in humans that causes too much water loss.
  • They also discovered that how these proteins evolved is linked to other important proteins, but the changes didn’t seem to depend on the different climates where these primates live.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: HIV disproportionately affects people who inject drugs, transgender people, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and incarcerated people. Recognized as key populations (KP), these groups face increased impact of HIV infection and reduced access to health assistance. In 1990, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention organized technical guidance on HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT-HIV), with subsequent trials comparing intervention methodologies, no longer recommending this strategy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The intracellular domain of the PRL receptor (PRLR-ICD) plays a key role in regulating the PRLR gene's expression, with differences noted between eutherian and metatherian mammals but many conserved aspects across mammals.
  • * Some specific genetic changes in PRLR-ICD, especially in primates, show signs of selection, suggesting these motifs may contribute to unique adaptations without disrupting the hormone's fundamental roles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Scientists studied how nervous systems started and found that it’s mostly about how brain signals travel through tiny gaps called synapses.
  • They noticed that some important genes are similar in different creatures that don’t have nervous systems, which made them curious about how these connections developed.
  • By looking at many different species, they discovered that a common ancestor of humans and jellyfish had a lot of new genes important for brain signaling, leading to more complex nervous systems in animals like fish, birds, and mammals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Platyrrhini, or New World monkeys, exhibit unique traits like social monogamy, direct paternal care, and twin births, making their study crucial for understanding genetic factors behind these behaviors.
  • - Recent findings highlight the conservation of vasopressin (AVP) sequences and variability in oxytocin (OXT) among these monkeys; the interaction of these hormones with their receptors is central to their social behaviors.
  • - Analysis of the AVPR1b gene in 20 NWm species reveals evidence of positive selection and relaxed constraints, suggesting that changes in this gene may influence social behaviors and neuroendocrine functions linked to stress and parenting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Domestication is of unquestionable importance to the technological revolution that has given rise to modern human societies. In this study, we analyzed the DNA and protein sequences of six genes of the oxytocin and arginine vasopressin systems (OXT-OXTR; AVP-AVPR1a, AVPR1b and AVPR2) in 40 placental mammals. These systems play an important role in the control of physiology and behavior.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hominin evolution is characterized by adaptive solutions often rooted in behavioral and cognitive changes. If balancing selection had an important and long-lasting impact on the evolution of these traits, it can be hypothesized that genes associated with them should carry an excess of shared polymorphisms (trans- SNPs) across recent Homo species. In this study, we investigate the role of balancing selection in human evolution using available exomes from modern (Homo sapiens) and archaic humans (H.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The FOXP subfamily is probably the most extensively characterized subfamily of the forkhead superfamily, playing important roles in development and homeostasis in vertebrates. Intrinsically disorder protein regions (IDRs) are protein segments that exhibit multiple physical interactions and play critical roles in various biological processes, including regulation and signaling. IDRs in proteins may play an important role in the evolvability of genetic systems.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oxytocin receptor (OXTR) and arginine vasopressin receptors (AVPR1a, AVPR1b, and AVPR2) are paralogous genes that emerged through duplication events; along the evolutionary timeline, owing to speciation, numerous orthologues emerged as well. In order to elucidate the evolutionary forces that shaped these four genes in placental mammals and to reveal specific aspects of their protein structures, 35 species were selected. Specifically, we investigated their molecular evolutionary history and intrinsic protein disorder content, and identified the presence of short linear interaction motifs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The availability of the full genomes of Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis, and Denisovans, as well as modern bioinformatic tools, are opening new possibilities for the understanding of the differences and similarities present in these taxa.

Methods: We searched for cognitive genes, examined their status in the genomes of these three entities. All substitutions present among them were retrieved.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

After a brief review of the most recent findings in the study of human evolution, an extensive comparison of the complete genomes of our nearest relative, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), of extant Homo sapiens, archaic Homo neanderthalensis and the Denisova specimen were made. The focus was on non-synonymous mutations, which consequently had an impact on protein levels and these changes were classified according to degree of effect. A total of 10,447 non-synonymous substitutions were found in which the derived allele is fixed or nearly fixed in humans as compared to chimpanzee.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF