Biochemical and computational approaches to understand venom toxin-toxin interaction.

Snake venoms are mainly composed of proteins and peptides (venom toxins). The venom transcriptomes and proteomes have been extensively investigated; however, venom toxin-toxin interactions remain poorly characterized. We detected the interaction of venom Asp49-PLA and 3FTx using biochemical and computational approaches.

Turtling the Salamander: Tail Movements Mitigate Need for Kinematic Limb Changes during Walking in Tiger Salamanders ( with Restricted Lateral Movement.

Lateral undulation and trunk flexibility offer performance benefits to maneuverability, stability, and stride length (via speed and distance traveled). These benefits make them key characteristics of the locomotion of tetrapods with sprawling posture, with the exception of turtles. Despite their bony carapace preventing lateral undulations, turtles are able to improve their locomotor performance by increasing stride length via greater limb protraction.

Intervention Strategies and Lessons Learned From a Student-Led Initiative to Support Lactating Women in the University Setting.

The benefits of breastfeeding for mother and baby are strongly supported by research. However, lactating parents who return to school or work soon after delivery face many barriers to continued breastfeeding. This article presents a student-led initiative to support lactation at a large public university that emerged from advocacy efforts of student mothers of color.

Tiger Salamanders () Increase Foot Contact Surface Area on Challenging Substrates During Terrestrial Locomotion.

Animals live in heterogeneous environments must navigate in order to forage or capture food, defend territories, and locate mates. These heterogeneous environments have a variety of substrates that differ in their roughness, texture, and other properties, all of which may alter locomotor performance. Despite such natural variation in substrate, many studies on locomotion use noncompliant surfaces that either are unrepresentative of the range of substrates experienced by species or underestimate maximal locomotor capabilities.

Impact of Aging on Empathy: Review of Psychological and Neural Mechanisms.

Empathy in aging is a key capacity because it affects the quality of older adults' relationships and reduced levels are associated with greater loneliness. Many older adults also find themselves in the role of a caregiver to a loved one, and thus empathy is critical for the success of the caregiver-patient relationship. Furthermore, older adults are motivated to make strong emotional connections with others, as highlighted in the socioemotional selectivity theory.