Publications by authors named "L M LeBlanc"

Two previously undescribed species of Bactrocera Macquart with distinct orange medial stripes on the scutum were collected in multi-lure traps baited with cue-lure during a fruit fly survey carried out in the Philippines in 2019. We describe Bactrocera youngi sp. n.

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Substance use disorders (SUDs) affect millions and have substantial negative consequences for individuals and society. Social incentives that leverage social networks for reinforcement or feedback have been used to improve health behaviors such as physical activity. This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of a novel digital social incentive system embedded into a web- and smartphone-based platform for SUD recovery.

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Article Synopsis
  • Refrigerated storage slows down the metabolism of donated red blood cells (RBCs), but they still age and change in structure during storage, which impacts transfusion effectiveness.
  • A specific type of aged RBC, called storage-induced microerythrocytes (SMEs), shows significant metabolic and protein changes that lead to their clearance from the bloodstream after a transfusion.
  • The study found that SMEs have reduced energy and antioxidant levels, irreversible protein damage, and decreased ability to deform, which makes them more prone to being removed from circulation compared to younger RBCs.
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The utility of a universal DNA 'barcode' fragment (658 base pairs of the Cytochrome C Oxidase I [COI] gene) has been established as a useful tool for species identification, and widely criticized as one for understanding the evolutionary history of a group. Large amounts of COI sequence data have been produced that hold promise for rapid species identification, for example, for biosecurity. The fruit fly tribe Dacini holds about a thousand species, of which 80 are pests of economic concern.

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Transcriptional regulation controls cellular functions through interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and their chromosomal targets. However, understanding the fate conversion potential of multiple TFs in an inducible manner remains limited. Here, we introduce iTF-seq as a method for identifying individual TFs that can alter cell fate toward specific lineages at a single-cell level.

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