Determining the Provenance of Traded Wildlife in the Philippines.

The illegal wildlife trade is a significant threat to global biodiversity, often targeting already threatened species. In combating the trade, it is critical to know the provenance of the traded animal or part to facilitate targeted conservation actions, such as education and enforcement. Here, we present and compare two methods, portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and stable isotope analysis (SIA), to determine both the geographic and source provenance (captive or wild) of traded animals and their parts.

The Australian Shark-Incident Database for quantifying temporal and spatial patterns of shark-human conflict.

We describe the Australian Shark-Incident Database, formerly known as the Australian Shark-Attack File, which contains comprehensive reports of 1,196 shark bites that have occurred in Australia over 231 years (1791-2022). Data were collated by the Taronga Conservation Society Australia using purpose-designed questionnaires provided to shark-bite victims or witnesses, media reports, and information provided by the department responsible for fisheries in each Australian state (including the Northern Territory). The dataset includes provoked and unprovoked bites from fresh, brackish, and marine waters in Australia.

MiR-30 promotes fatty acid beta-oxidation and endothelial cell dysfunction and is a circulating biomarker of coronary microvascular dysfunction in pre-clinical models of diabetes.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with coronary microvascular dysfunction, which is thought to contribute to compromised diastolic function, ultimately culminating in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood, and no early diagnostics are available. We sought to gain insight into biomarkers and potential mechanisms of microvascular dysfunction in obese mouse (db/db) and lean rat (Goto-Kakizaki) pre-clinical models of T2D-associated diastolic dysfunction.

The Goto Kakizaki rat: Impact of age upon changes in cardiac and renal structure, function.

Background: Patients with diabetes are at a high risk for developing cardiac dysfunction in the absence of coronary artery disease or hypertension, a condition known as diabetic cardiomyopathy. Contributing to heart failure is the presence of diabetic kidney disease. The Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat is a non-obese, non-hypertensive model of type 2 diabetes that, like humans, shares a susceptibility locus on chromosome 10.