The magnitude of legal wildlife trade and implications for species survival.

The unsustainable use of wildlife is a primary driver of global biodiversity loss. No comprehensive global dataset exists on what species are in trade, their geographic origins, and trade's ultimate impacts, which limits our ability to sustainably manage trade. The United States is one of the world's largest importers of wildlife, with trade data compiled in the US Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS).

Neighborhood Crime Risk and Racial/Ethnic Differences in Children's Neural Reactivity to Emotional Stimuli.

Research has shown that exposure to higher rates of neighborhood disadvantage and contextual threat increases risk for the development of psychopathology in youth, with some evidence that these effects may differ across racial/ethnic groups. Although studies have shown that direct exposure to stress impacts neural responses to threat-relevant stimuli, less is known about how neighborhood characteristics more generally (e.g.

Efficacy of Behavioral Intervention, Text Messaging, and Extended Intervention to Address Alcohol Misuse in Sexual Minority Men with HIV: A Factorial Randomized Clinical Trial.

This clinical trial examined the individual and combined effects of three different approaches to reducing alcohol misuse among a sample of sexual minority men (SMM) with HIV. Specifically, we used a 2 × 2 × 2 randomized factorial design to compare: (a) behavioral intervention based in motivational interviewing (MI) vs. brief intervention (BI), (b) interactive text messaging (ITM) for alcohol use vs.

Nucleus accumbens myocyte enhancer factor 2C mediates the maintenance of peripheral nerve injury-induced physiological and behavioral maladaptations.

Preclinical and clinical work has demonstrated altered plasticity and activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) under chronic pain states, highlighting critical therapeutic avenues for the management of chronic pain conditions. In this study, we demonstrate that myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C), a master regulator of neuronal activity and plasticity, is repressed in NAc neurons after prolonged spared nerve injury (SNI). Viral-mediated overexpression of Mef2c in NAc neurons partially ameliorated sensory hypersensitivity and emotional behaviors in mice with SNI, while also altering transcriptional pathways associated with synaptic signaling.

The child who lived: Down syndrome among Neanderthals?

Caregiving for disabled individuals among Neanderthals has been known for a long time, and there is a debate about the implications of this behavior. Some authors believe that caregiving took place between individuals able to reciprocate the favor, while others argue that caregiving was produced by a feeling of compassion related to other highly adaptive prosocial behaviors. The study of children with severe pathologies is particularly interesting, as children have a very limited possibility to reciprocate the assistance.

A practical guide to cross-cultural and multi-sited data collection in the biological and behavioural sciences.

Researchers in the biological and behavioural sciences are increasingly conducting collaborative, multi-sited projects to address how phenomena vary across ecologies. These types of projects, however, pose additional workflow challenges beyond those typically encountered in single-sited projects. Through specific attention to cross-cultural research projects, we highlight four key aspects of multi-sited projects that must be considered during the design phase to ensure success: (1) project and team management; (2) protocol and instrument development; (3) data management and documentation; and (4) equitable and collaborative practices.

"…"-Socio-cultural construction of intimate partner violence and traditional birth attendants: implications for maternal & child health in rural communities in Hohoe, Ghana.

Introduction: Most research on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) focuses on the physical, sexual and psychological abuse, with less focus on the financial abuse. This study explores nursing mothers' experiences and perceptions of financial and material support from their significant others and traditional birth attendants' (TBA) observations of support to nursing mothers in their communities.

Methods: Using purposive sampling, focus groups and interviews were conducted primarily in Ewe language among nursing mothers and TBAs in rural communities in Hohoe, Volta region, Ghana.

Kappa-opioid receptor stimulation in the nucleus accumbens shell and ethanol drinking: Differential effects by rostro-caudal location and level of drinking.

Although the kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) and its endogenous ligand, dynorphin, are believed to be involved in ethanol drinking, evidence on the direction of their effects has been mixed. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell densely expresses KORs, but previous studies have not found KOR activation to influence ethanol drinking. Using microinjections into the NAc shell of male and female Long-Evans rats that drank under the intermittent-access procedure, we found that the KOR agonist, U50,488, had no effect on ethanol drinking when injected into the middle NAc shell, but that it promoted intake in males and high-drinking females in the caudal NAc shell and high-drinking females in the rostral shell, and decreased intake in males and low-drinking females in the rostral shell.

Models of Cell Processes are Far from the Edge of Chaos.

Complex living systems are thought to exist at the "edge of chaos" separating the ordered dynamics of robust function from the disordered dynamics of rapid environmental adaptation. Here, a deeper inspection of 72 experimentally supported discrete dynamical models of cell processes reveals previously unobserved order on long time scales, suggesting greater rigidity in these systems than was previously conjectured. We find that propagation of internal perturbations is transient in most cases, and that even when large perturbation cascades persist, their phenotypic effects are often minimal.

Maternal and infant predictors of proinflammatory milk immune activity in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

Objectives: The immune system of milk (ISOM) creates a mother-infant immune axis that plays an important role in protecting infants against infectious disease (ID). Tradeoffs in the immune system suggest the potential for both protection and harm, so we conceive of two dimensions via which the ISOM impacts infants: promotion of protective activity and control of activity directed at benign targets. High variability in ISOM activity across mother-infant dyads suggests investment the ISOM may have evolved to be sensitive to maternal and/or infant characteristics.

The IAAM LTBP4 Haplotype is Protective Against Dystrophin-Deficient Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major complication of, and leading cause of mortality in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Its severity, age at onset, and rate of progression display wide variability, whose molecular bases have been scarcely elucidated. Potential DCM-modifying factors include glucocorticoid (GC) and cardiological treatments, DMD mutation type and location, and variants in other genes.

A computational study of electron transport in dynamic tetrahydrofuran and ethylene carbonate solvents on a Ca metal anode.

Calcium-ion batteries offer many advantages to the current lithium-ion technology in terms of cost, sourcing materials, and potential for higher energy density. However, calcium-ion batteries suffer from lack of a stable electrolyte due to reduction from the anode. Building off of our recent work investigating the stability of two representative electrolyte solvents, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and ethylene carbonate (EC), we now use molecular dynamics (AIMD) and the non-equilibrium Green's function technique in conjunction with density functional theory (NEGF-DFT) to investigate charge transport as the solvent molecules dynamically interact with the anode surface.

Toxoplasma membrane inositol phospholipid binding protein TgREMIND is essential for secretory organelle function and host infection.

Apicomplexan parasites possess specialized secretory organelles called rhoptries, micronemes, and dense granules that play a vital role in host infection. In this study, we demonstrate that TgREMIND, a protein found in Toxoplasma gondii, is necessary for the biogenesis of rhoptries and dense granules. TgREMIND contains a Fes-CIP4 homology-Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (F-BAR) domain, which binds to membrane phospholipids, as well as a novel uncharacterized domain that we have named REMIND (regulator of membrane-interacting domain).

Prefrontal cortex glutamatergic adaptations in a mouse model of alcohol use disorder.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) produces cognitive deficits, indicating a shift in prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. PFC glutamate neurotransmission is mostly mediated by α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid-type ionotropic receptors (AMPARs); however preclinical studies have mostly focused on other receptor subtypes. Here we examined the impact of early withdrawal from chronic ethanol on AMPAR function in the mouse medial PFC (mPFC).

Transposition, duplication, and divergence of the telomerase RNA underlies the evolution of telomeres.

Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes with a crucial role of protecting chromosome ends. It consists of simple repeat sequences and dedicated telomere-binding proteins. Because of its vital functions, components of the telomere, for example its sequence, should be under strong evolutionary constraint.

Development and Initial Testing of a Brief, Integrated Intervention Aimed at Reducing Heavy Alcohol Use and PTSD among Military Veterans in Primary Care.

There is a need for integrated treatment approaches that address heavy alcohol use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) concurrently among Veterans as interactions between heavy drinking and PTSD are frequent. Veteran engagement in specialty mental health services after referral is limited with poorer outcomes following empirically-supported, exposure-based PTSD treatments that do not explicitly address alcohol use. The current project aimed to incorporate two evidenced-based interventions: Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) with Prolonged Exposure for Primary Care (PE-PC) for Veterans with heavy drinking and PTSD.

MYC expression and fatty acid oxidation in EGFR-TKI acquired resistance.

This report expands on our previous research, highlighting a unique inverse correlation between MYC expression in tumor cells and immune cells during the development of EGFR-TKI resistance. It is observed that MYC expression and fatty acid oxidation (FAO) metabolism in tissue-resident memory (TRM) CD8 + T cells are significantly impaired. These findings offer new insights into the mechanisms of TKI resistance.

Adolescent ethanol exposure promotes mechanical allodynia and alters dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens shell.

Excessive alcohol consumption in adolescence can disrupt neural development and may augment pain perception. Recent studies have shown that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell is involved in mediating pain sensitivity after peripheral inflammation in rodent models of chronic pain and alcohol use disorder. Interestingly, there have been very few studies examining the impact of chronic ethanol exposure during adolescence on pain sensitivity in adulthood.