Lost Highways: An Examination of the Question of Risk Involved in Sexual Homicides of Hitchhiking Victims.

Despite cultural references to the dangers of hitchhiking, particularly for sexual homicide, no published research investigates these incidents from both an offender and crime scene perspective. Using the Sexual Homicide International Database (SHIelD), we explore lifestyle risk by comparing sexual homicide cases involving hitchhiking victims to those involving victims engaged in sex trade work. The results, based on the use of bivariate and multivariate statistics, indicate that offenders view hitchhiking victims as opportunities for confinement without physical restraint, often engaging in sexual acts and theft.

Impact of driver licensing renewal policies on older driver crash involvement and injury rates in 13 states, 2000-2019.

Background: Motor vehicle crashes are the second leading cause of injury death among adults aged 65 and older in the U.S., second only to falls.

Lack of thermal acclimation in multiple indices of climate vulnerability in bumblebees.

Indices of climate vulnerability are used to predict species' vulnerability to climate change based on intrinsic physiological traits, such as thermal tolerance, thermal sensitivity and thermal acclimation, but rarely is the consistency among indices evaluated simultaneously. We compared the thermal physiology of queen bumblebees between a species experiencing local declines () and a species exhibiting continent-wide increases (). We conducted a multi-week acclimation experiment under simulated climate warming to measure critical thermal maximum (CT), critical thermal minimum (CT), the thermal sensitivity of metabolic rate and water loss rate and acclimation in each of these traits.

Prenatal stress alters mouse offspring dorsal striatal development and placental function in sex-specific ways.

Prenatal stress is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, how early stress modification of brain development contributes to this pathophysiology is poorly understood. Ventral forebrain regions such as dorsal striatum are of particular interest: dorsal striatum modulates movement and cognition, is altered in NDDs, and has a primarily GABAergic population.

Optimizing automated photo identification for population assessments.

Several legal acts mandate that management agencies regularly assess biological populations. For species with distinct markings, these assessments can be conducted noninvasively via capture-recapture and photographic identification (photo-ID), which involves processing considerable quantities of photographic data. To ease this burden, agencies increasingly rely on automated identification (ID) algorithms.

Addressing the Shortage of Academic Nurse Educators: An Opportunity for Collaboration Between Academic and Healthcare Organization Leaders.

Background: The numbers of nursing school admissions and, thus, future nursing graduates are directly affected by the lack of qualified ANEs.

Methods: A consortium of diverse ANEs was formed to research these questions using the nominal group technique.

Results: Two central themes emerged from the consortium: support and collaboration.

AAPM Truth-based CT (TrueCT) reconstruction grand challenge.

Background: This Special Report summarizes the 2022, AAPM grand challenge on Truth-based CT image reconstruction.

Purpose: To provide an objective framework for evaluating CT reconstruction methods using virtual imaging resources consisting of a library of simulated CT projection images of a population of human models with various diseases.

Methods: Two hundred unique anthropomorphic, computational models were created with varied diseases consisting of 67 emphysema, 67 lung lesions, and 66 liver lesions.

July effect in hospitalized cirrhosis patients: A US nationwide study using difference-in-differences analysis.

Background: The July effect in US teaching hospitals has been studied with conflicting results. We aimed to evaluate the effect of physician turnover in July on the clinical outcomes of patients hospitalized with cirrhosis.

Methods: We utilized the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database (2016-2019) to identify patients hospitalized with cirrhosis and liver-related complications (variceal bleeding, hepatorenal syndrome, acute-on-chronic liver failure).

Data reuse in agricultural genomics research: challenges and recommendations.

The scientific community has long benefited from the opportunities provided by data reuse. Recognizing the need to identify the challenges and bottlenecks to reuse in the agricultural research community and propose solutions for them, the data reuse working group was started within the AgBioData consortium framework. Here, we identify the limitations of data standards, metadata deficiencies, data interoperability, data ownership, data availability, user skill level, resource availability, and equity issues, with a specific focus on agricultural genomics research.

Mitochondrial Complex I and ROS control synapse function through opposing pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms.

Neurons require high amounts energy, and mitochondria help to fulfill this requirement. Dysfunctional mitochondria trigger problems in various neuronal tasks. Using the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) as a model synapse, we previously reported that Mitochondrial Complex I (MCI) subunits were required for maintaining NMJ function and growth.

Single-base mA epitranscriptomics reveals novel HIV-1 host interaction targets in primary CD4 T cells.

-methyladenosine (mA) is the most prevalent cellular mRNA modification and plays a critical role in regulating RNA stability, localization, and gene expression. mA modification plays a vital role in modulating the expression of viral and cellular genes during HIV-1 infection. HIV-1 infection increases cellular RNA mA levels in many cell types, which facilitates HIV-1 replication and infectivity in target cells.

Nerve Growth Factor Signaling Tunes Axon Maintenance Protein Abundance and Kinetics of Wallerian Degeneration.

Neurotrophic factors are critical for establishing functional connectivity in the nervous system and sustaining neuronal survival through adulthood. As the first neurotrophic factor purified, nerve growth factor (NGF) is extensively studied for its prolific role in axon outgrowth, pruning, and survival. Applying NGF to diseased neuronal tissue is an exciting therapeutic option and understanding how NGF regulates local axon susceptibility to pathological degeneration is critical for exploiting its full potential.

Factors That Affect the Adoption of Fertilizer Among Cocoa Farmers in Developing Countries: A Review.

Sub-Saharan Africa's adoption of inorganic fertilizer lags behind other developing nations, creating limitations for small-holder cocoa producers. Using the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) Theory, articles assessing inorganic fertilizer (non)adoption by cocoa producers in Sub-Saharan Africa are reviewed. Factors influencing adoption fell into two major categories: socioeconomic characteristics of the potential adopter and characteristics of the innovation itself.

Discovery and mechanism of a highly selective, antifungal acetyl CoA synthetase inhibitor.

Acetyl CoA synthetases (ACS) have emerged as drug targets for the treatment of cancer, metabolic diseases as well as fungal and parasitic infections. Although a variety of small molecule ACS inhibitors have been discovered, the systematic optimization of these molecules has been slowed by a lack of structural information regarding their mechanism of inhibition. Through a chemical genetic-based, synthetic lethal screen of the human fungal pathogen , we identified an isoxazole-based ACS inhibitor with antifungal activity and exquisite selectivity for the Acs1 relative to human ACSS2 as well as other fungal ACSs.

Associations of fire smoke and other pollutants with incident rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease.

Objective: Determine whether pollutants such as fire smoke-related particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM) are associated with incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and RA-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD).

Methods: This case-control study used Veterans Affairs data 10/1/2009-12/31/2018.

CFTR mutation is associated with bone differentiation abnormalities in cystic fibrosis.

Background: Cystic Fibrosis-related Bone Disease is an emerging challenge faced by 50 % of adult people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The multifactorial causes of this comorbidity remain elusive. However, congenital bone defects have been observed in animal models with CFTR mutations, suggesting its importance.

Predicting admission for fall-related injuries in older adults using artificial intelligence: A proof-of-concept study.

Aim: Pre-injury frailty has been investigated as a tool to predict outcomes of older trauma patients. Using artificial intelligence principles of machine learning, we aimed to identify a "signature" (combination of clinical variables) that could predict which older adults are at risk of fall-related hospital admission. We hypothesized that frailty, measured using the 5-item modified Frailty Index, could be utilized in combination with other factors as a predictor of admission for fall-related injuries.

Use of period- or fertility-tracking technologies pre- and post-Dobbs.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether use of period- or fertility-tracking technologies decreased from pre- to post-Dobbs, and to identify user characteristics and changes in reasons for use.

Study Design: We used data from the Surveys of Women, population-based surveys on reproductive health among self-identified women aged 18-44 years, conducted in five states. We compared prevalence of use of period- or fertility-tracking technologies and reasons for use pre-Dobbs (2018-2019 in Iowa and Ohio; 2019-2020 in Arizona, New Jersey, and Wisconsin) and post-Dobbs (2022-2023 in all five states), overall and stratified by state.

Potentiating the effect of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer using gas-entrapping materials.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) show limited success in treating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), largely due to immune evasion mechanisms, including downregulating expression of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I). Our retrospective analysis demonstrated that smoking - a state of elevated CO exposure - is correlated with increased MHC I expression in pancreatic tumors. Here we tested our hypothesis that introducing exogenous CO augments the anti-cancer effects of immunotherapy.

High-Frequency Ultrasound for Detecting Periodontal Inflammation: A Preclinical Diagnostic Accuracy Study.

Aim: Ultrasonography (US) has shown accuracy in imaging healthy periodontium. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of US for estimating dimensions of inflamed periodontium induced by ligature and bacteria.

Methods: Periodontal tissues of maxillary as well as mandibular premolars and molars in six female mini pigs were treated with ligature and three strains of bacteria for 4-10 weeks.