Will climate warming amplify the effects of a range-expanding marine predator?

The effects of climate warming on the distribution of range-expanding species are well documented, but the interactive effects of climate warming and range-expanding species on recipient communities remain understudied. With climate warming, range-expanding species may threaten local biodiversity due to their relatively stronger competitive or predatory effects on potentially weakened, or less well-adapted recipient communities. Acanthinucella spirata is a predatory marine gastropod that has expanded its distribution north along the California coast since the Pleistocene via a poleward range shift, tracking climatic warming.

Machine learning in the prediction of human wellbeing.

Subjective wellbeing data are increasingly used across the social sciences. Yet, despite the widespread use of such data, the predictive power of approaches commonly used to model wellbeing is only limited. In response, we here use tree-based Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to provide a better understanding of respondents' self-reported wellbeing.

Association between five novel anthropometric indices and erectile dysfunction in US adults from NHANES database.

Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is the leading cause of sexual dysfunction affecting hundreds of millions of men worldwide, and has been described as an important public health problem. The association of five novel anthropometrics related to obesity, lipids and glucose with ED remains unclear. To investigate the association of lipid accumulation products index (LAP), triglyceride glucose index (TyG), waist triglyceride index (WTI), weight-adjusted-waist index (WWI) and a body shape index (ABSI) with ED.

Click hydrogels to assess stiffness-induced activation of pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts and its impact on cancer cell spreading.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is marked by significant desmoplastic reactions, or the accumulation of excessive extracellular matrices. PDAC stroma has abnormally high stiffness, which alters cancer cell behaviors and creates a barrier for effective drug delivery. Unfortunately, clinical trials using a combination of chemotherapy and matrix-degrading enzyme have led to disappointing results, as the degradation of stromal tissue likely accelerated the dissemination of cancer cells.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A narrative synthesis of its hallmarks for palliative care clinicians.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a life-limiting condition and the third leading cause of death worldwide. People with COPD experience physical and psychological symptoms and functional limitations that impair their quality of life. Their caregivers face adverse clinical outcomes due to personal, social, and financial demands.

On-Demand Selection of the Latent Domain Orientation in Spray-Deposited Block Copolymer Thin Films.

With their ability to self-assemble spontaneously into well-defined nanoscale morphologies, block copolymer (BCP) thin films are a versatile platform to fabricate functional nanomaterials. An important challenge to wider deployment of BCPs in nanofabrication is combining precise control over the nanoscale domain orientation in BCP assemblies with scalable deposition techniques that are applicable to large-area, curved, and flexible substrates. Here, we show that spray-deposited smooth films of a nominally disordered BCP exhibit latent orientations, which can be prescriptively selected by controlling solvent evaporation during spray casting.

Mechanism of Amplified Photoacoustic Effect for Silica-Coated Spherical Gold Nanoparticles.

Plasmonic nanomaterials are effective photoacoustic (PA) contrast agents with diverse biomedical applications. While silica coatings on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been demonstrated to increase PA efficiency, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we systematically investigated the impact of silica coatings on PA generation under picosecond and nanosecond laser pulses.

The Use of Glycan Ensemble Structures and Nonpolar Surface Area Distributions for Correlating with Liquid Chromatography Retention Times.

The separation and structural identification of glycans are of great bioanalytical importance. To obtain a good understanding of the structural flexibility of glycans, replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations were used based on AMBER force field calculations to create ensembles of glycan structures. Nonpolar surface area (NPSA) calculations based on continuum solvation (CS) models (Dhakal, R.

Calcium calmodulin kinase IV deficiency in podocytes prevents the development of lupus nephritis.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by widespread organ involvement including the kidney. Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMK4) has been shown to conrol immune cell nad podocyte function. To address the effect of genetic podocyte-specific CaMK4 deficiency on systemic autoimmunity and kidney pathology in lupus-prone mice we generated B6.

Female Syrian hamster analyses of bremelanotide, a US FDA approved drug for the treatment of female hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is the most reported sexual dysfunction among premenopausal women worldwide. Bremelanotide, trade name Vyleesi, has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat HSDD. However, despite approval, very little is known about its neurobiological mechanism of action.

Respiratory and hematological physiology of day 15 chicken embryos (Gallus gallus domesticus) during water submergence and air recovery: Implications for bird embryos experiencing nest inundation.

Bird nests of coastal or inland breeding birds can temporarily flood during high tides or storms. However, respiratory physiological disruption of such water submersion and implications for post-submergence survival are poorly understood. We hypothesized that respiratory physiological disturbances caused by submersion would be rapidly corrected following return to normal gas exchange across the eggshell, thus explaining survival of nest inundation in the field.

Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Electrophile Coupling of Aryl Triflates with Alkyl Halides: Mechanism-Informed Design of More General Conditions.

Aryl triflates make up a class of aryl electrophiles that are available in a single step from the corresponding phenol. Despite the known reactivity of nickel complexes for aryl C-O bond activation of phenol derivatives, nickel-catalyzed cross-electrophile coupling using aryl triflates has proven challenging. Herein, we report a method to form C(sp)-C(sp) bonds by coupling aryl triflates with alkyl bromides and chlorides using phenanthroline (phen) or pyridine-2,6-bis(-cyanocarboxamidine) (PyBCam)-ligated nickel catalysts.

Short-Lived Neutralizing Antibody Responses to Monkeypox Virus in Smallpox Vaccine-Naive Persons after JYNNEOS Vaccination.

JYNNEOS, a third-generation smallpox vaccine, is integral to monkeypox virus (MPXV) control efforts, but the durability of this modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) vaccine's effectiveness is undefined. We optimized and used a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) with authentic clade IIa MPXV and vaccinia virus to assess antibody responses over 12 months in 8 donors vaccinated with 2 doses of JYNNEOS. One donor previously received the ACAM2000 vaccine; 7 donors were smallpox vaccine-naive.

Optimizing hepatitis B virus seroprotection in thoracic organ transplantation: The role of HepB-CpG (Heplisav-B) vaccination schedule.

Introduction: Heplisav-B, a CpG-adjuvanted recombinant hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine, has a higher seroprotection rate and immunogenicity than the conventional HBV vaccine. This study aimed to identify the predictors of HBV seroprotection post-transplantation in thoracic organ transplant recipients who received Heplisav-B.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of adult thoracic organ (heart and lung) transplant recipients at Mayo Clinic sites in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida between January 2020 and August 2023.

Drivers of forest productivity in two regions of the United States: Relative impacts of management and environmental variables.

Climate, environmental conditions, and management strategies are key factors affecting forest net ecosystem production (NEP). However, little is known about the relationship between management approaches and regional to continental-scale forest productivity. In this study, we utilized forests of the U.

Radiosynthesis and evaluation of novel F labeled PET ligands for imaging monoacylglycerol lipase.

Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is a 33 kDa cytosolic serine hydrolase that is widely distributed in the central nervous system and peripheral tissues. MAGL hydrolyzes monoacylglycerols into fatty acids and glycerol, playing a crucial role in endocannabinoid degradation. Inhibition of MAGL in the brain elevates levels of 2-arachidonoylglycerol and leads to decreased pro-inflammatory prostaglandin and thromboxane production.

Cognitive restraint and body dissatisfaction are more strongly related to muscle building behaviors for men than women.

Muscle building behaviors are an understudied eating disorder (ED) symptom increasing in prevalence, especially among men. However, little is known about the cognitive ED correlates that may underlie muscle building behaviors and whether these associations differ by gender. We examined associations between cognitive ED symptoms and muscle building behaviors, and whether these associations differ between men and women.

Early bedtime routines and behavioral outcomes among children from low-income families: Mediating role of emotion regulation.

The establishment of early bedtime routine is essential for children's emotion and behavioral outcomes. Less is known, however, about the longitudinal effects and mechanisms predicting behavioral outcomes through early bedtime routine and emotion regulation in school-age children from low-income families. Thus, the present study examined emotion regulation at age three as a potential mediator in the longitudinal links between early bedtime routine and behavioral outcomes among racially diverse school age children from low-income families.

The Availability of Paternity Leave in US Surgical Residencies: A Study of Program Websites.

Introduction: As family dynamics evolve, an increasing number of male residents are embracing parenthood during their training. Consequently, paternity leave has emerged as a crucial consideration. The aim of this study was to determine the gap in public availability of paternity leave policies in surgical residency programs across the United States.

Partially temporally constrained modeling of speeding crash-injury severities on freeways and non-freeways before, during, and after the stay-at-home order.

Speeding crashes remain high injury severities after the stay-at-home order in California, highlighting a need for further investigation into the fundamental cause of this increment. To systematically explore the temporal impacts of the stay-at-home order on speeding behaviors and the corresponding crash-injury outcomes, this study utilizes California-reported single-vehicle speeding crashes on freeways (access-controlled) and non-freeways (non-access-controlled) before, during, and after the order. Significant injury factors and in-depth heterogeneity across observations are identified by random parameter logit models with heterogeneity in means and variances.

Sustainable poultry education for undergraduate students.

Sustainable poultry production can help address many critical socio- and environmental issues, including food insecurity, climate crisis, and loss of biodiversity. The education of undergraduate students in poultry science helps prepare a future workforce in poultry production and to develop responsible citizens for global engagement. The University of Connecticut has a poultry project, funded by U.

Poly(curcumin-co-poly(ethylene glycol)) films provide neuroprotection following reactive oxygen species insult in vitro.

Curcumin is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecule that may provide neuroprotection following central nervous system (CNS) injury. However, curcumin is hydrophobic, limiting its ability to be loaded and then released from biomaterials for neural applications. We previously developed polymers containing curcumin, and these polymers may be applied to neuronal devices or to neural injury to promote neuroprotection.

Dynamic treeline and cryosphere response to pronounced mid-Holocene climatic variability in the US Rocky Mountains.

Climate-driven changes in high-elevation forest distribution and reductions in snow and ice cover have major implications for ecosystems and global water security. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of the Rocky Mountains (United States), recent melting of a high-elevation (3,091 m asl) ice patch exposed a mature stand of whitebark pine () trees, located ~180 m in elevation above modern treeline, that date to the mid-Holocene (c. 5,950 to 5,440 cal y BP).