Valuing the benefits of reducing firearm violence in the United States.

Justifying a proposed government regulation intended to reduce firearm violence requires a conceptually sound estimate of the monetized value of that impact and how that value is distributed across the population. Some previous estimates do not serve as a valid basis for policy evaluation or are out of date. A nationally representative survey was conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in August 2022 (n = 660).

Abrupt transformation of west Greenland lakes following compound climate extremes associated with atmospheric rivers.

Arctic ecosystems are affected by accelerated warming as well as the intensification of the hydrologic cycle, yet understanding of the impacts of compound climate extremes (e.g., simultaneous extreme heat and rainfall) remains limited, despite their high potential to alter ecosystems.

Nav1.8, an analgesic target for nonpsychotomimetic phytocannabinoids.

Pain impacts billions of people worldwide, but treatment options are limited and have a spectrum of adverse effects. The search for safe and nonaddictive pain treatments has led to a focus on key mediators of nociceptor excitability. Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels in the peripheral nervous system-Nav1.

Phase formation and phase stability for the homogenous and heterogeneous amorphous metals versus the crystalline phase.

From molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of melt-quenching and thermal aging procedures in pure Ag, Cu, Ag-Cu binary alloys, and Cu-Zr binary alloys, we have identified two distinct amorphous phases for a metastable undercooled liquid: the homogeneous L-phase with low shear rigidity and the heterogenous G-phase with much higher shear rigidity and a heterogeneity length scale Λ. Here, we examine two-phase equilibration studies showing that the G-phase melts to form the L-phase above ~1,000 K, which then transforms to form the crystal (X) phase; however, below the melting point of the G-Phase (~990 K), the X- and G-phases do not transform into each other. We suggest the presence of a G-phase is likely responsible for embrittlement often observed in metallic glasses.

The evolution of signaling and monitoring in plant-fungal networks.

Experiments have shown that when one plant is attacked by a pathogen or herbivore, this can lead to other plants connected to the same mycorrhizal network up-regulating their defense mechanisms. It has been hypothesized that this represents signaling, with attacked plants producing a signal to warn other plants of impending harm. We examined the evolutionary plausibility of this and other hypotheses theoretically.

Nanoscopic acoustic vibrational dynamics of a single virus captured by ultrafast spectroscopy.

The natural vibrational frequencies of biological particles such as viruses and bacteria encode critical information about their mechanical and biological states as they interact with their local environment and undergo structural evolution. However, detecting and tracking these vibrations within a biological context at the single particle level has remained elusive. In this study, we track the vibrational motions of single, unlabeled virus particles under ambient conditions using ultrafast spectroscopy.

Advancing forecasting capabilities: A contrastive learning model for forecasting tropical cyclone rapid intensification.

Tropical cyclones (TCs), particularly those that rapidly intensify (RI), pose a significant threat due to the uncertainty in forecasting them. RI TC periods, which intensify by at least 13 m/s within 24 h, remain challenging to forecast accurately. Existing models achieve a probability of detection (POD) of 82.

Dispersal of influenza virus populations within the respiratory tract shapes their evolutionary potential.

Viral infections are characterized by dispersal from an initial site to secondary locations within the host. How the resultant spatial heterogeneity shapes within-host genetic diversity and viral evolutionary pathways is poorly understood. Here, we show that virus dispersal within and between the nasal cavity and trachea maintains diversity and is therefore conducive to adaptive evolution, whereas dispersal to the lungs gives rise to population heterogeneity.

Gesture counteracts gender stereotypes conveyed through subtle linguistic cues.

Despite increased attempts to express equality in speech, biases often leak out through subtle linguistic cues. For example, the subject-complement statement (SCS, "Girls are as good as boys at math") is used to advocate for equality but often reinforces gender stereotypes (boys are the standard against which girls are judged). We ask whether stereotypes conveyed by SCS can be counteracted by gesture.

Global urban greening and its implication for urban heat mitigation.

Urban vegetation provides essential ecosystem services and benefits to support biodiversity and human well-being in urban areas. However, the dynamic trends, driving factors, and their implications to urban heat mitigation at the global scale remain largely unclear. Here, we used a high-resolution enhanced vegetation index (EVI) dataset to examine the vegetation dynamics in 11,235 urban areas worldwide, identify the driving factors behind its changes, and estimate the potential urban heat mitigation benefits of these changes.

Falling racial inequality and rising educational inequality in US prison admissions for drug, violent, and property crimes.

Using administrative and survey data, we show that there has been a sea change in the contours of American imprisonment. At the end of the twentieth century, inequality in the prison admission rates of Black and White Americans was comparable to inequality in the prison admission rates of people with and without a college education. However, educational inequality is now much greater than racial inequality in prison admissions for all major crime types.

Adenosine diphosphate stimulates VEGF-independent choroidal endothelial cell proliferation: A potential escape from anti-VEGF therapy.

We hypothesized that a strategy employing tissue-specific endothelial cells (EC) might facilitate the identification of tissue- or organ-specific vascular functions of ubiquitous metabolites. An unbiased approach was employed to identify water-soluble small molecules with mitogenic activity on choroidal EC. We identified adenosine diphosphate (ADP) as a candidate, following biochemical purification from mouse EL4 lymphoma extracts.

Cortical reorganization following dorsal spinal injuries in newborn monkeys reveals a critical period in the development of the somatosensory cortex.

Lesions of the dorsal columns of the spinal cord in adult macaque monkeys lead to the loss of hand inputs and large-scale expansion of the face inputs in the hand region of the somatosensory cortex. Inputs from alternate spinal pathways do not reactivate the deafferented regions of area 3b. Here, we determined how transections of the dorsal columns done within a few days after birth affect the developing somatosensory cortex.

Identification of (PDZ-RhoGEF) as an in vivo regulator of synapses and cognition.

Given the influence of cognitive abilities on life outcomes, there is inherent value in identifying genes involved in controlling learning and memory. Further, cognitive dysfunction is a core feature of many neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, we use a combinatory in silico approach to identify human gene targets that will have an especially high likelihood of individually and directly impacting cognition.

Postdoc publications and citations link to academic retention and faculty success.

Postdoctoral training is a career stage often described as a demanding and anxiety-laden time when many promising PhDs see their academic dreams slip away due to circumstances beyond their control. We use a unique dataset of academic publishing and careers to chart the more or less successful postdoctoral paths. We build a measure of academic success on the citation patterns two to five years into a faculty career.

Safety and Tolerability of Pivmecillinam During More Than Four Decades of Clinical Experience: A Systematic Review.

The recent US Food and Drug Administration approval of pivmecillinam-an oral prodrug of the amidinopenicillin antibiotic mecillinam-presents a valuable opportunity to address the need for new treatments for uncomplicated urinary tract infection (uUTI). We report findings of a systematic literature review of the safety profile of pivmecillinam/mecillinam based on more than 40 years' experience, mainly in Europe and Canada, to describe its tolerability profile and identify any important safety signals. In total, 110 eligible publications were identified describing use of pivmecillinam/mecillinam as monotherapy or in combination, for treatment of uUTI or other infectious conditions.

Bone-Induced Her2 Promotes Secondary Metastasis in HR+/Her2- Breast Cancer.

Bone metastases can disseminate to secondary sites and promote breast cancer progression creating additional clinical challenges. The mechanisms contributing to secondary metastasis are barely understood. Here, we evaluate the prediction power of Her2-expressing (Her2E) circulating tumor cells (CTCs) after analyzing over 13,000 CTCs from a cohort of 137 metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients with initial HR+/Her2- status and employ preclinical models of bone metastasis (BM) to validate the role of Her2E CTCs in multi-organ metastases.

Endopiriform neurons projecting to ventral CA1 are a critical node for recognition memory.

The claustrum complex is viewed as fundamental for higher-order cognition; however, the circuit organization and function of its neuroanatomical subregions are not well understood. We demonstrated that some of the key roles of the CLA complex can be attributed to the connectivity and function of a small group of neurons in its ventral subregion, the endopiriform (EN). We identified a subpopulation of EN neurons by their projection to the ventral CA1 (EN.

Paradoxical dominant negative activity of an immunodeficiency-associated activating variant.

encodes three regulatory subunits of class IA phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), each associating with any of three catalytic subunits, namely p110α, p110β, or p110δ. Constitutional mutations cause diseases with a genotype-phenotype relationship not yet fully explained: heterozygous loss-of-function mutations cause SHORT syndrome, featuring insulin resistance and short stature attributed to reduced p110α function, while heterozygous activating mutations cause immunodeficiency, attributed to p110δ activation and known as APDS2. Surprisingly, APDS2 patients do not show features of p110α hyperactivation, but do commonly have SHORT syndrome-like features, suggesting p110α hypofunction.