Contractile responses of engineered human myometrium to prostaglandins and inflammatory cytokines.

Preterm labor is a prevalent public health problem and occurs when the myometrium, the smooth muscle layer of the uterus, begins contracting before the fetus reaches full term. Abnormal contractions of the myometrium also underlie painful menstrual cramps, known as dysmenorrhea. Both disorders have been associated with increased production of prostaglandins and cytokines, yet the functional impacts of inflammatory mediators on the contractility of human myometrium have not been fully established, in part due to a lack of effective model systems.

The evolution of a placenta accelerates the evolution of post-copulatory reproductive isolation.

The evolution of placentation is predicted to intensify intergenomic conflicts between mothers and offspring over optimal levels of maternal investment by providing offspring opportunities to manipulate mothers into allocating more resources. Parent-offspring conflicts can result in the evolution of reproductive isolation among populations when conflicts resolve in different ways. Postzygotic reproductive isolation is hypothesized to evolve more rapidly following the evolution of placentation due to the predicted increase in conflict.

Emerging threat of artemisinin partial resistance markers (pfk13 mutations) in Plasmodium falciparum parasite populations in multiple geographical locations in high transmission regions of Uganda.

Background: Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is currently recommended for treatment of uncomplicated malaria. However, the emergence and spread of partial artemisinin resistance threatens their effectiveness for malaria treatment in sub-Saharan Africa where the burden of malaria is highest. Early detection and reporting of validated molecular markers (pfk13 mutations) in Plasmodium falciparum is useful for tracking the emergence and spread of partial artemisinin resistance to inform containment efforts.

Accounting for extinction dynamics unifies the geological and biological histories of Indo-Australian Archipelago.

Biogeographical reconstructions of the Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA) have suggested a recent spread across the Sunda and Sahul shelves of lineages with diverse origins, which appears to be congruent with a geological history of recent tectonic uplift in the region. However, this scenario is challenged by new geological evidence suggesting that the Sunda shelf was never submerged prior to the Pliocene, casting doubt on the interpretation of recent uplift and the correspondence of evidence from biogeography and geology. A mismatch between geological and biogeographical data may occur if analyses ignore the dynamics of extinct lineages, because this may add uncertainty to the timing and origin of clades in biogeographical reconstructions.

Bayesian Hierarchical Models for Subgroup Analysis.

In conventional subgroup analyses, subgroup treatment effects are estimated using data from each subgroup separately without considering data from other subgroups in the same study. The subgroup treatment effects estimated this way may be heterogenous with high variability due to small sample sizes in some subgroups and much different from the treatment effect in the overall population. A Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM) can be used to derive more precise, and less heterogenous estimates of subgroup treatment effects that are closer to the treatment effect in the overall population.

Different patterns of coupled predator-prey dynamics when the same species interact in different locations.

Individual predator and prey species exhibit coupled population dynamics in simple laboratory systems and simple natural communities. It is unclear how often such pairwise coupling occurs in more complex communities, in which an individual predator species might feed on several prey species and an individual prey species might be attacked by several predators. To examine this problem, we applied multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) models to 5-year time-series of monthly surveys of a predatory fish, the eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), and its littoral zone prey species, the least killifish (Heterandria formosa), in three locations in north Florida.

The vault guy.

Leonard Rome's lab discovered an odd, abundant component of cells in the 1980s-and he's still trying to figure out what it does.

Phenotypic plasticity in the sailfin molly III: Geographic variation in reaction norms of growth and maturation to temperature and salinity.

Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of a single genotype to produce different phenotypes under different environmental conditions, plays a profound role in several areas of evolutionary biology. One important role is as an adaptation to a variable environment. While plasticity is extremely well documented in response to many environmental factors, there is controversy over how much of that plasticity is adaptive.

Workforce Engagement for Compassionate Advocacy, Resilience, and Empowerment (WE CARE): An Evidence-Based Wellness Program.

Poor well-being and burnout among the nursing workforce were heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to deliver, spread, and sustain an evidence-based wellness program, Workforce Engagement for Compassionate Advocacy, Resilience, and Empowerment (WE CARE), for nurse leaders, staff registered nurses (RNs), and patient care technicians (PCTs) to ameliorate or prevent burnout, promote resilience, and improve the work environment. The program included Community Resiliency Model (CRM) training provided by a certified 6-member wellness team.

Rapid and non-invasive detection of malaria parasites using near-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning.

Background: Novel and highly sensitive point-of-care malaria diagnostic and surveillance tools that are rapid and affordable are urgently needed to support malaria control and elimination.

Methods: We demonstrated the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique to detect malaria parasites both, in vitro, using dilutions of infected red blood cells obtained from Plasmodium falciparum cultures and in vivo, in mice infected with P. berghei using blood spotted on slides and non-invasively, by simply scanning various body areas (e.

Integrating learning into animal range dynamics under rapid human-induced environmental change.

Human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) is creating environments deviating considerably from natural habitats in which species evolved. Concurrently, climate warming is pushing species' climatic envelopes to geographic regions that offer novel ecological conditions. The persistence of species is likely affected by the interplay between the degree of ecological novelty and phenotypic plasticity, which in turn may shape an organism's range-shifting ability.

Limited threat of Plasmodium falciparum pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 gene deletion to the utility of HRP2-based malaria RDTs in Northern Uganda.

Background: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) that detect Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein-2 (PfHRP2) are exclusively deployed in Uganda, but deletion of the pfhrp2/3 target gene threatens their usefulness as malaria diagnosis and surveillance tools.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at 40 sites across four regions of Uganda in Acholi, Lango, W. Nile and Karamoja from March 2021 to June 2023.

Regulation of oxytocin-induced calcium transients and gene expression in engineered myometrial tissues by tissue architecture and matrix rigidity.

The uterus is susceptible to benign tumors known as fibroids, which have been associated with many pregnancy complications, including preterm labor. However, the impact of fibrotic tissue remodeling on the physiology of the myometrium, the smooth muscle layer of the uterus, is poorly understood, in large part due to a lack of model systems. In this study, we engineered healthy-like and fibrotic-like myometrium by culturing human myometrial smooth muscle cells on polyacrylamide hydrogels micropatterned with fibronectin to independently tune matrix rigidity and tissue alignment, respectively.

Poly[[(μ-adamantane-1,3-di-acetato)[μ--(pyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide]-nickel(II)] monohydrate], a layered coordination polymer with triangular (3,6) topology.

The title compound, {[Ni(CHO)(CHNO)]·HO}, contains octa-hedrally coordinated Ni ions ligated by 1,3-adamantanedi-acetato (ada) ligands and -(pyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide (3-pina) ligands, to form coordination polymer layers with a triangular (3,6) grid topology based on [Ni(OCO)] dimeric units. The diperiodic layer motifs stack in an pattern mediated by C-H⋯O supra-molecular inter-actions between ada ligands and water mol-ecules of crystallization to form the full triperiodic crystal structure of the title compound.

Poly[[(μ-adamantane-1,3-di-carboxyl-ato)aqua-[μ--(pyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide]-nickel(II)] monohydrate], a layered coordination polymer with (4,4) topology.

The title com-pound, {[Ni(CHO)(CHNO)(HO)]·HO}, contains octa-hedrally coordinated Ni ions ligated by adamantane-1,3-di-carboxyl-ate (adc) and -(pyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide (3-pina) ligands forming coordination polymer layers with a (4,4) grid topology. These diperiodic layer motifs aggregate in an pattern mediated by supra-molecular C-H⋯O inter-actions to form the full triperiodic crystal structure of the title com-pound.

Population Regulation and Density-Dependent Demography in the Trinidadian Guppy.

AbstractClassic theory for density-dependent selection for delayed maturation requires that a population be regulated through some combination of adult fecundity and/or juvenile survival. We tested whether those demographic conditions were met in four experimental populations of Trinidadian guppies in which delayed maturation of males evolved when the densities of those populations became high. We used monthly mark-recapture data to examine population dynamics and demography in these populations.

Knowledge and identity antecedents of COVID-19 vaccine status: a study of South Carolina residents.

Introduction: Despite over three years of learning about SARS-CoV-2 and extensive work to develop vaccines, vaccination rates remain suboptimal, thereby preventing our society from reaching herd immunity.

Purpose: Extant literature on vaccine hesitancy led us to hypothesize that specific socio/political variables may be contributing to low vaccination rates, particularly in South Carolina.

Methods: By use of Qualtrics surveys, we collected data from people across all counties in South Carolina regarding vaccine status, plans to vaccinate, and a host of demographics.

Toward a Typology of Counterproductive Employees: A Person-Oriented Investigation of Counterproductive Work Behavior.

The study of counterproductive work behavior (CWB), intentional actions by employees that are deleterious to the organization and/or its stakeholders, has produced research on the dimensionality of CWB, as well as its situational and dispositional antecedents. Absent from these advancements have been investigations into the potential utility of a taxonomy of counterproductive employee types-a "person-oriented" approach. Our latent profile analysis ( = 522) suggested a four-profile solution which included one profile with uniformly low rates across CWBs (here termed "Angels;" 14% of the sample), and three profiles with higher CWB rates but which were distinguishable by different CWBs being most frequent in each group.

How a geneticist led an effort to free a convicted serial murderer.

"Science has been heard," says Carola Vinuesa after mother jailed for killing her four kids was pardoned and released.

Plastic maternal effects of social density on reproduction and fitness in the least killifish, .

Environmental parental effects, also known as transgenerational plasticity, are widespread in plants and animals. Less well known is whether those effects contribute to maternal fitness in the same manner in different populations. We carried out a multigenerational laboratory experiment with females drawn from two populations of the least killifish, to assess transgenerational plasticity in reproductive traits in response to differences in social density and its effects on maternal fitness.