The Impact of Loneliness and Social Anxiety on Casual Social Contacts.

Introduction In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness and social isolation have become major public health crises. Loneliness has reached epidemic levels and negatively impacts both health and quality of life. "Casual contacts" is a developing line of research that may hold promise in stemming the current crisis.

Lyssa excreta: Defining parameters for fecal samples as a rabies virus surveillance method.

It is not possible to systematically screen the environment for rabies virus (RABV) using current approaches. We sought to determine under what conditions RABV is detectable from feces and other accessible samples from infected wildlife to broaden the number of biological samples that could be used to test for RABV. We employed a recently-developed quantitative RT-PCR assay called the "LN34 panlyssavirus real-time RT-PCR assay", which is highly sensitive and specific for all variants of RABV.

Endangered Nectar-Feeding Bat Detected by Environmental DNA on Flowers.

(the Mexican long-nosed bat) is an endangered nectar-feeding bat species that follows "nectar corridors" as it migrates from Mexico to the southwestern United States. Locating these nectar corridors is key to their conservation and may be possible using environmental DNA (eDNA) from these bats. Hence, we developed and tested DNA metabarcoding and qPCR eDNA assays to determine whether could be detected by sampling the agave flowers on which it feeds.

A randomized controlled trial of a gender-focused addiction model versus 12-step facilitation for women veterans.

Background And Objectives: Substance use disorder (SUD) has increased among women, including military veterans, yet SUD treatment was historically designed for males. This randomized controlled trial compared 12 individual sessions of a gender-focused SUD recovery model, A Woman's Path to Recovery (WPR) to an evidence-based, non-gender-focused SUD model, 12-Step Facilitation (TSF) for 66 women veterans with current severe SUD.

Methods: The primary outcome was substance use; secondary outcomes were associated problems (e.