The carbon isotope ratio of breath is elevated by short-term and long-term added sugar and animal protein intake in a controlled feeding study.

Background: The breath carbon isotope ratio (CIR) was recently identified as a noninvasive candidate biomarker of short-term added sugars (AS) intake.

Objectives: This study aimed to better understand the potential of the breath CIR as a dietary biomarker. We evaluated the effects of short-term and long-term intakes of AS, animal protein (AP), and related variables on breath CIR, in the context of typical dietary intake patterns.

Enhanced aqueous formation and neutralization of fine atmospheric particles driven by extreme cold.

The prevailing view for aqueous secondary aerosol formation is that it occurs in clouds and fogs, owing to the large liquid water content compared to minute levels in fine particles. Our research indicates that this view may need reevaluation due to enhancements in aqueous reactions in highly concentrated small particles. Here, we show that low temperature can play a role through a unique effect on particle pH that can substantially modulate secondary aerosol formation.

Muscle protein catabolism and splanchnic arginine consumption drive arginine dysregulation during induced early acute sepsis in swine.

Human sepsis is characterized by increased protein breakdown and changes in arginine and citrulline metabolism. However, it is unclear whether this is caused by changes in transorgan metabolism. We therefore studied in a induced pig sepsis model the changes in protein and arginine related metabolism on whole body (Wb) and transorgan level.

Abnormal low-magnitude seismicity preceding large-magnitude earthquakes.

Unraveling the precursory signals of potentially destructive earthquakes is crucial to understand the Earth's crust dynamics and to provide reliable seismic warnings. Earthquake precursors are ambiguous, but recent experimental studies suggest that robust warning signs may precede large seismic events in the short (day-to-months) term. Here, we show that the M6.

Initial development of the Sugar-Sweetened Fruit Drink Questionnaire for examining beliefs, knowledge, and behaviors in an intervention to reduce sugar-sweetened fruit drink intake in Alaska Native children.

Objective: Alaska Native children may be at increased risk for dental caries because of added sugar intake from sugar-sweetened fruit drinks. This study describes development of a questionnaire to (a) assess Alaska Native caregivers' beliefs, knowledge, and behaviors regarding sugar-sweetened fruit drinks, and (b) describe behavior changes within a community-based intervention.

Methods: Questionnaire development was conducted in three phases with Yup'ik Alaska Native caregivers in Southwest Alaska: (1) initial selection and adaptation of questionnaire items; (2) cognitive testing; and (3) data collection.

Genomic signatures of cold adaptation in the family Colwelliaceae.

Psychrophily is a phenotype describing microbial growth at low temperatures; elucidating the biomolecular and genomic adaptations necessary for survival in the cold is important for understanding life in extreme environments on Earth and in outer space. We used comparative genomics and temperature growth experiments of bacteria from the family Colwelliaceae to identify genomic factors correlated with optimal growth temperature (OGT). A phylogenomic analysis of 67 public and 39 newly sequenced strains revealed three main clades of Colwelliaceae.

Implementing a Metabolism-informed approach for smoking cessation in an Alaska Tribal health system: study protocol for a single-arm implementation pilot trial.

Background: Individualized treatment for commercial tobacco smoking cessation, such as through the utilization of the nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR), offers potential clinical benefit. NMR is a metabolism-informed biomarker that can be used to guide medication selection. NMR testing is particularly promising for tobacco cessation efforts in populations with high rates of smoking, such as some Alaska Native and American Indian (AN/AI) communities.

Revisiting the ecology and evolution of burying beetle behavior (Staphylinidae: Silphinae).

Investigating fundamental processes in biology requires the ability to ground broad questions in species-specific natural history. This is particularly true in the study of behavior because an organism's experience of the environment will influence the expression of behavior and the opportunity for selection. Here, we provide a review of the natural history and behavior of burying beetles of the genus to provide the groundwork for comparative work that showcases their remarkable behavioral and ecological diversity.

Primary Sulfate Is the Dominant Source of Particulate Sulfate during Winter in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Within and surrounding high-latitude cities, poor air quality disturbs Arctic ecosystems, influences the climate, and harms human health. The Fairbanks North Star Borough has wintertime particulate matter (PM) concentrations that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) threshold for public health. Particulate sulfate (SO ) is the most abundant inorganic species and contributes approximately 20% of the total PM mass in Fairbanks, but air quality models underestimate observed sulfate concentrations.

Influences on COVID-19 vaccine Decision-Making: A Qualitative Study With Urban Indigenous and Rural Adults.

Despite the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, public hesitancy about receiving vaccination remains strong among disproportionately affected populations in the United States. To design more locally and culturally appropriate strategies, research is needed to explore the qualitative characteristics of vaccine hesitancy in these populations. Thus, we conducted in-depth interviews with 19 Indigenous and 20 rural participants and utilized a grounded theory approach to identify factors associated with their COVID-19 vaccine decision making.

Specularly reflected whistler: A low-latitude channel to couple lightning energy to the magnetosphere.

Lightning-generated whistlers profoundly affect the energetic particle population in Earth's radiation belts, influencing space weather and endangering astronauts and satellites. We report the discovery of specularly reflected (SR) whistler in which the lightning energy injected into the ionosphere at low latitudes reaches the magnetosphere after undergoing a specular reflection in the conjugate ionosphere, contradicting previous claims that lightning energy injected at low latitudes cannot escape the ionosphere. SR whistlers provide a low-latitude channel to transport lightning energy to the magnetosphere.

A long section of serpentinized depleted mantle peridotite.

The upper mantle is critical for our understanding of terrestrial magmatism, crust formation, and element cycling between Earth's solid interior, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Mantle composition and evolution have been primarily inferred by surface sampling and indirect methods. We recovered a long (1268-meter) section of serpentinized abyssal mantle peridotite interleaved with thin gabbroic intrusions.

Tissue Distribution and Toxicological Risk Assessment of Mercury and Other Elements in Northern Populations of Wolverine (Gulo gulo).

Wolverines are facultative scavengers that feed near the top of terrestrial food chains. We characterized concentrations of mercury and other trace elements in tissues of wolverine from a broad geographic area, representing much of their contemporary distribution in northwestern North America. We obtained tissues from 504 wolverines, from which mercury was measured on muscle (n = 448), kidney (n = 222), liver (n = 148), hair (n = 130), and brain (n = 52).

The Carbon Isotope Ratio as an Objective Biomarker of Added Sugar Intake: A Scoping Review of Current Evidence in Human Nutrition.

Objective biomarkers of dietary intake are needed to advance nutrition research. The carbon isotope ratio (C/C; CIR) holds promise as an objective biomarker of added sugar (AS) and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake. This systematic scoping review presents the current evidence on CIRs from human studies.

Association of microbial community structure with gill disease in marine-stage farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar); a yearlong study.

Background: Understanding the relationship between resident microbiota and disease in cultured fish represents an important and emerging area of study. Marine gill disorders in particular are considered an important challenge to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) aquaculture, however relatively little is known regarding the role resident gill microbiota might play in providing protection from or potentiating different gill diseases. Here, 16S rRNA sequencing was used to examine the gill microbiome alongside fish health screening in farmed Atlantic salmon.

Salmon hatchery strays can demographically boost wild populations at the cost of diversity: quantitative genetic modelling of Alaska pink salmon.

Hatcheries are vital to many salmon fisheries, with inherent risks and rewards. While hatcheries can increase the returns of adult fish, the demographic and evolutionary consequences for natural populations interacting with hatchery fish on spawning grounds remain unclear. This study examined the impacts of stray hatchery-origin pink salmon on natural population productivity and resilience.

N-cyclohexyladenosine is better than meperidine and buspirone at suppressing metabolism during TTM32 but does not improve outcome after cardiac arrest.

N-clyclohexyladenosine (CHA) is an adenosine A receptor agonist that inhibits thermogenesis. Cardiovascular side effects however, limit use of CHA as a therapeutic. We and others have shown that this can be reversed by administering 8-p-(sulfophenyl)theophylline (8-SPT), a nonspecific antagonist that does not cross the BBB.

Warming sea surface temperatures are linked to lower shorebird migratory fuel loads.

Warming sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are altering the biological structure of intertidal wetlands at a global scale, with potentially serious physiological and demographic consequences for migratory shorebird populations that depend on intertidal sites. The effects of mediating factors, such as age-related foraging skill, in shaping the consequences of warming SSTs on shorebird populations, however, remain largely unknown. Using morphological measurements of Dunlin fuelling for a >3000 km transoceanic migration, we assessed the influence of climatic conditions and age on individuals' migratory fuel loads and performance.

Hydroxymethanesulfonate and Sulfur(IV) in Fairbanks Winter During the ALPACA Study.

Hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) in fine aerosol particles has been reported at significant concentrations along with sulfate under extreme cold conditions (-35 °C) in Fairbanks, Alaska, a high latitude city. HMS, a component of S(IV) and an adduct of formaldehyde and sulfur dioxide, forms in liquid water. Previous studies may have overestimated HMS concentrations by grouping it with other S(IV) species.

Protozoan communities serve as a strong indicator of water quality in the Nile River.

The relationship between the protozoan communities and environmental variables was studied in the Nile River to evaluate their potential as water quality indicators. Protozoans were sampled monthly at six sampling sites in the Nile's Damietta Branch across a spatial gradient of environmental conditions during a 1-year cycle (February 2016-January 2017). The Protozoa community was comprised of 54 species belonging to six main heterotrophic Protozoa phyla.