RNA N4-acetylcytidine modification and its role in health and diseases.

N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) modification is a crucial RNA modification widely present in eukaryotic RNA. Previous studies have demonstrated that ac4C plays a pivotal role in viral infections. Despite numerous studies highlighting the strong correlation between ac4C modification and cancer progression, its detailed roles and molecular mechanisms in normal physiological processes and cancer progression remain incompletely understood.

Analyses of mitochondrial metabolism in diseases: a review on C magnetic resonance tracers.

Metabolic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases have become a global health concern due to their widespread prevalence and profound impact on life expectancy, healthcare expenditures, and the overall economy. Devising effective treatment strategies and management plans for these diseases requires an in-depth understanding of the pathophysiology of the metabolic abnormalities associated with each disease. Mitochondrial dysfunction is intricately linked to a wide range of metabolic abnormalities and is considered an important biomarker for diseases.

Factors Affecting Mammalian Occupancy and Species Richness in Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal.

Species richness is an important metric used for undertaking conservation management decisions. However, species richness estimates are influenced by species detection probabilities, with potential to entirely overlook species during surveys. Occupancy models which account for imperfect detection provide unbiased estimates, ensuring accurate estimates of richness.

Precipitation Drives Frugivory in a Subtropical Generalist Herbivore, the Gopher Tortoise, and Alters Its Functional Role as a Seed Disperser.

Consumers employ a variety of foraging strategies, and oftentimes the foraging strategy employed is related to resource availability. As consumers acquire resources, they may interact with their resource base in mutualistic or antagonistic ways-falling along a mutualism-antagonism continuum-with implications for ecological processes such as seed dispersal. However, patterns of resource use vary temporally, and textbook herbivores may switch foraging tactics to become more frugivorous in periods of greater fleshy fruit availability.

Integrating Systematic Surveys With Historical Data to Model the Distribution of , a Vector of Epidemiological Concern in North America.

Globally, vector-borne diseases are increasing in distribution and frequency, affecting humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Science-based management and prevention of these diseases requires a sound understanding of the distribution and environmental requirements of the vectors and hosts involved in disease transmission. Integrated Species Distribution Models (ISDM) account for diverse data types through hierarchical modeling and represent a significant advancement in species distribution modeling.

Impact of implementing stricter criteria for blood transfusion in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing free tissue transfer.

Objective: Recent literature studying the impact of blood transfusion on outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) have shown that blood transfusions are associated with increased risk of death and higher wound infection rates. The purpose of this study was to implement a lower transfusion threshold while comparing outcomes of free flap patients following initiation of a new transfusion guideline.

Methods: A retrospective study of all patients at a tertiary care academic center who underwent free tissue transfer after HNC resection between July 17, 2007 and June 7, 2021.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi and the nitrogen economy of in southern Patagonia.

Subantarctic forests are the southernmost forests in the world, with negligible atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition. Most paradigms about the role of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi in N cycling and plant N uptake at high latitudes have been tested in boreal coniferous forests, while in the southern hemisphere, ECM hosts are primarily angiosperms. Using ITS1 meta-barcoding, we characterized ECM and saprotrophic fungal communities in evergreen and deciduous forests forming monodominant and mixed stands in the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego (Chile and Argentina).

The influence of sample size and sampling design on estimating population-level intra specific trait variation (ITV) along environmental gradients.

Understanding the relationship between intraspecific trait variability (ITV) and its biotic and abiotic drivers is crucial for advancing population and community ecology. Despite its importance, there is a lack of guidance on how to effectively sample ITV and reduce bias in the resulting inferences. In this study, we explored how sample size affects the estimation of population-level ITV, and how the distribution of sample sizes along an environmental gradient (i.

Advances and challenges in ecological connectivity science.

Maintaining and restoring ecological connectivity will be key in helping to prevent and reverse the loss of biodiversity. Fortunately, a growing body of research conducted over the last few decades has advanced our understanding of connectivity science, which will help inform evidence-based connectivity conservation actions. Increases in data availability and computing capacity have helped to dramatically increase our ability to model functional connectivity using more sophisticated models.

Code sharing in ecology and evolution increases citation rates but remains uncommon.

Biologists increasingly rely on computer code to collect and analyze their data, reinforcing the importance of published code for transparency, reproducibility, training, and a basis for further work. Here, we conduct a literature review estimating temporal trends in code sharing in ecology and evolution publications since 2010, and test for an influence of code sharing on citation rate. We find that code is rarely published (only 6% of papers), with little improvement over time.

Early-stage biosynthesis of phenalinolactone diterpenoids involves sequential prenylation, epoxidation, and cyclization.

The chemical logic associated with assembly of many bacterial terpenoids remains poorly understood. We focused our efforts on the early-stage biosynthesis of the phenalinolactone diterpenoids, demonstrating that the -perhydrophenanthrene core is constructed by sequential prenylation, epoxidation, and cyclization. The functions and timing of PlaT1-PlaT3 were assigned by comprehensive heterologous reconstitution.

Functional measures and AD biomarkers among Hispanic and White non-Hispanic older adults.

Introduction: Poorer baseline functioning is associated with long-term cognitive decline among Hispanic older adults, but little is known about associations of these factors with Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuroimaging biomarkers.

Methods: A total of 461 Hispanic and White non-Hispanic (NHW) older adults who are cognitively normal ( = 76), had impaired cognition without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) ( = 41), or carried a diagnosis of MCI ( = 253) or dementia ( = 91) completed neuropsychological and functional assessment, genetic testing, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine predictive associations between functional and cognitive measures of AD neuroimaging biomarkers.

Consequences of gene editing of on thermotolerance, growth, and male reproduction in cattle.

Global warming is a major challenge to the sustainable and humane production of food because of the increased risk of livestock to heat stress. Here, the example of the prolactin receptor () gene is used to demonstrate how gene editing can increase the resistance of cattle to heat stress by the introduction of mutations conferring thermotolerance. Several cattle populations in South and Central America possess natural mutations in that result in affected animals having short hair and being thermotolerant.

Patient perspectives on incretin-based weight loss medications and relationship with demographic factors.

Objective: Treatment of obesity has been transformed by the recent approval of incretin-based therapies for weight loss (e.g., glucagon-like peptide 1 agonist semaglutide), but little is known about patient perspectives on these medications.

A rapid inventory of amphibians, squamates, and bats of Mata de Plátano Field Station and Nature Reserve, Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico harbors a diverse vertebrate fauna with high levels of endemism. However, while several books for vertebrate diversity and local checklists for birds have been published, checklists of amphibians, reptiles, and bats are lacking or nonexistent at both local and regional scales. In this study, we documented the amphibian, reptile, and bat faunas at Mata de Plátano Field Station and Nature Reserve, in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

Innovations report: A grading committee for a required fourth-year emergency medicine clerkship.

Background: Assessment of medical students in the clinical learning environment is fraught with challenges. Seemingly small variations in clinical clerkship evaluation can significantly impact a student's future. As such, the integrity of the grade selection process must be heavily scrutinized.

Pine trees structure plant biodiversity patterns in savannas.

Overstory trees serve multiple functions in grassy savannas. Past research has shown that understory species can vary along gradients of canopy cover and basal area in savannas. This variation is frequently associated with light availability but could also be related to other mechanisms, such as heterogeneity in soil and litter depth and fire intensity.

Plasma p-tau217 concordance with amyloid PET among ethnically diverse older adults.

Introduction: Commercially available plasma p-tau217 biomarker tests are not well studied in ethnically diverse samples.

Methods: We evaluated associations between ALZPath plasma p-tau217 and amyloid-beta positron emission tomography (Aβ-PET) in Hispanic/Latino (88% of Cuban or South American ancestry) and non-Hispanic/Latino older adults. One- and two-cutoff ranges were derived and evaluated to assess agreement with Aβ-PET.