Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Mechanisms driving cerebrovascular decline during Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are poorly understood. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an enzyme in the folate/methionine pathway. Variants in MTHFR, notably 677C>T, are associated with ADRD.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Fundamental questions remain about the key mechanisms that initiate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the factors that promote its progression. Here we report the successful generation of the first genetically-engineered marmosets that carry knock-in (KI) point mutations in the presenilin-1 (PSEN1) gene that can be studied from birth throughout lifespan.

Method: CRISPR/Cas9 was used to generate marmosets with C410Y or A426P point mutations in PSEN1.

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Background: Altered lipid profiles and lipid processing genes are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is a reported genetic interaction between the AD risk gene APOE and cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP). Mice lack functional CETP which is critical to the balance of circulating lipoproteins; this imparts cardioprotective effects and may make mice resistant to AD.

Micromorphological features of brown rotted wood revealed by broad argon ion beam milling.

Brown rot fungi, the major decomposers in the boreal coniferous forests, cause a unique wood decay pattern but many aspects of brown rot decay mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, decayed wood samples were prepared by cultivation of the brown rot fungi Gloeophyllum trabeum and Coniophora puteana on Japanese coniferous wood of Cryptomeria japonica, and the cutting planes were prepared using broad ion beam (BIB) milling, which enables observation of intact wood, in addition to traditional microtome sections. Samples were observed using field-emission SEM revealing that areas inside the end walls of ray parenchyma cells were the first to be degraded.

PARylation facilitates the DNA damage repair of Phytophthora sojae in response to host ROS stress.

Host plants and various fungicides combat plant pathogens by triggering the release of excessive ROS, leading to DNA damage and subsequent cell death. The mechanisms by which the Phytophthora sojae mitigates ROS stress induced by plant immune responses and fungicides are not well understood. This study investigates the role of PsPARP1A-mediated poly (ADP-ribosylation) (PARylation) in ROS-induced DNA damage responses (DDR).

Cleaner cuts: Farmed fish and skin-off fillets are lower in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

The ubiquitous occurrence and persistence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in all environmental matrices and biota poses significant health risks to humans. Fish consumption is one of the main pathways humans are exposed to PFAS, yet general patterns in factors influencing PFAS content in fish fillets remain unknown. We assembled information on PFAS content (total quantified PFAS, PFOS, PFOA, and others) in fish fillets to assess the effect of fish origin (marine, freshwater, wild, or farmed), fillet type (skin-on or skin-off), and lipid content on PFAS variation across environments at a global scale.

Utilizing Rhythmic Haptic Cueing in Arm Swing Training to Improve Gait Speed Among Older Adults.

Purpose: Current gait rehabilitation protocols for older adults typically attempt to effect changes in leg movements, while the role of arm movements is often ignored despite evidence of the neurological coupling of the upper and lower extremities. In the present work, we examine the effectiveness of a novel wearable haptic cueing system that targets arm swing to improve various gait parameters in older adults.

Methods: Twenty participants (  years) were recruited to analyze their gait during normal and fast walking without haptic cueing.

Cluster Headache and Hypoxia: Breathing New Life into an Old Theory, with Novel Implications.

Cluster headache is a severe, poorly understood disorder for which there are as yet virtually no rationally derived treatments. Here, Lee Kudrow's 1983 theory, that cluster headache is an overly zealous response to hypoxia, is updated according to current understandings of hypoxia detection, signaling, and sensitization. It is shown that the distinctive clinical characteristics of cluster headache (circadian timing of attacks and circannual patterning of bouts, autonomic symptoms, and agitation), risk factors (cigarette smoking; male gender), triggers (alcohol; nitroglycerin), genetic findings (GWAS studies), anatomical substrate (paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, solitary tract nucleus/NTS, and trigeminal nucleus caudalis), neurochemical features (elevated levels of galectin-3, nitric oxide, tyramine, and tryptamine), and responsiveness to treatments (verapamil, lithium, melatonin, prednisone, oxygen, and histamine desensitization) can all be understood in terms of hypoxic signaling.

Social, environmental, and developmental factors affect the microbiota of barn owls (Tyto alba) in a cross-fostering experiment.

Background: Species host diverse microbial communities that can impact their digestion and health, which has led to much interest in understanding the factors that influence their microbiota. We studied the developmental, environmental, and social factors that influence the microbiota of nestling barn owls (Tyto alba) through a partial cross-fostering experiment that manipulated the social and nest environment of the nestlings. We then examined the nestling microbiota before and three weeks after the exchange of nestlings between nests, along with the microbiota of the adults at the nest and nestlings in unmanipulated nests.

High diversity of crustose coralline algae microbiomes across species and islands, and implications for coral recruits.

Background: Crustose Coralline Algae (CCA) play a crucial role in coral reef ecosystems, contributing significantly to reef formation and serving as substrates for coral recruitment. The microbiome associated with CCAs may promote coral recruitment, yet these microbial communities remain largely understudied. This study investigates the microbial communities associated with a large number of different CCA species across six different islands of French Polynesia, and assess their potential influence on the microbiome of coral recruits.

Role of the Southern Annular Mode in the sea level over the southern Blue Amazon.

Regional sea level rise varies from the global average and is influenced by climate variability. We studied sea level anomalies in southern Brazil from 1993 to 2022, finding increasing trend from 1993 to 2022. We used oceanic and atmospheric dynamics to understand the rapid sea level rise.

Glaciochemistry and environmental interpretation of a snow core from West Antarctica.

This study investigated the chemical content of a shallow snow core (4.95 m) named TT 6, collected during a Brazilian traverse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the 2014/2015 Austral summer. Stable isotope ratios (δD and δ18O) and ionic content, determined at the Centro Polar e Climático of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (CPC/UFRGS), were used to date the core and reconstruct the climatic conditions at the site.

"1-800-Help-Me-With-Open-Science-Stuff": A Qualitative Examination of Open Science Practices in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of communication sciences and disorders (CSD) assistant professors in the United States related to barriers and facilitators to engaging in open science practices and identify opportunities for improving open science training and support in the field.

Method: Thirty-five assistant professors (16 from very high research activity [R1] institutions, 19 from institutions with other Carnegie classifications) participated in one 1-hr virtual focus group conducted via Zoom recording technology. The researchers used a conventional content analysis approach to analyze the focus group data and develop categories from the discussions.

Complications of Estimating Hatchery Introgression in the Face of Rapid Divergence: A Case Study in Brook Trout ().

Fish stocking has been utilized for over a century to offset extirpations or declines in abundance of many native species. These historical declines and hatchery contributions have led to uncertainty surrounding whether many contemporary populations are native, introgressed with hatchery sources, or entirely of hatchery origin. Such uncertainty is problematic for the conservation of native biodiversity as it hampers management agencies' ability to prioritize the conservation of indigenous locally adapted populations.

The Professional Identity of STEM Faculty as Instructors of Course-based Research Experiences.

The professional identity of scientists has historically been cultivated to value research over teaching, which can undermine initiatives that aim to reform science education. Course-Based Research Experiences (CRE) and the inclusive Research and Education Communities (iREC) are two successful and impactful reform efforts that integrate research and teaching. The aim of this study is to explicate the professional identity of instructors who implement a CRE within an established iREC and to explore how this identity contributes to the success of these programs.

Pharmacogenetic and microRNA mechanisms of beta blocker use on bone.

Motivated by studies showing an association between beta blocker (BB) use and positive bone outcomes, a pilot randomized control trial (RCT) was performed at the Mayo Clinic which randomized postmenopausal women to placebo, propranolol (40 or 80 mg twice daily), atenolol (50 mg/day), or nebivolol (5 mg/day) to determine changes in bone turnover markers (BTMs) and in bone mineral density (BMD) over 20 weeks. Pharmacogenetic effects and microRNA-mediated mechanisms involving beta adrenergic receptor and related genes have previously been found. We sought to validate these effects and discover new candidates in an ancillary study to the pilot clinical trial.

On the potential of glaciochemical analysis of Joinville Island firn core for the sea ice reconstruction around the northern Antarctic Peninsula.

The Antarctic Peninsula is undergoing rapid climate changes, impacting its surrounding marine ecosystem. At that site, sea ice plays a crucial role in this ecosystem by serving as a habitat for organisms and influencing primary productivity. Studying sea ice variability and primary productivity is essential for understanding environmental changes in Antarctica.

NOISe: Nuclei-Aware Osteoclast Instance Segmentation for Mouse-to-Human Domain Transfer.

Osteoclast cell image analysis plays a key role in osteoporosis research, but it typically involves extensive manual image processing and hand annotations by a trained expert. In the last few years, a handful of machine learning approaches for osteoclast image analysis have been developed, but none have addressed the full instance segmentation task required to produce the same output as that of the human expert led process. Furthermore, none of the prior, fully automated algorithms have publicly available code, pretrained models, or annotated datasets, inhibiting reproduction and extension of their work.

Do the hormetic effects of chlorogenic acid mediate some of the beneficial effects of coffee?

The present paper provides the first documentation and assessment of the capacity of chlorogenic acid to induce hormetic dose-response relationships. The findings suggest that chlorogenic acid may induce anabolic (i.e.

Description of Branchiobdella turkestanensis n. sp. (Annelida: Clitellata) following a reexamination of specimens in the Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria.

A new species of branchiobdellidan annelid, Branchiobdella turkestanensis, is described having been removed from a specimen of Pontastacus kessleri (Schimkewitsch, 1886), reportedly from Turkestan but collected from the headwaters of the Syr Darya which is in the Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan, and deposited in the Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria. Specimens of its sister species, Branchiobdella kozarovi Subchev, 1978, from its type area were examined and key morphological features were reported to justify naming the new species. The size, length and shape of the spermatheca and male reproductive organs in Branchiobdella turkestanensis are approximately half the size of those in B.

Roles of host and environment in shift of primary anthrax host species in Kruger National Park.

Environmental and climatic factors, as well as host demographics and behaviour, significantly influence the exposure of herbivorous mammalian hosts to pathogens such as Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. Until the early 1990s in Kruger National Park (KNP), kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) was the host species most affected by anthrax, with outbreaks occurring predominantly in the dry season, particularly during drought cycles. However, the most affected host species has shifted to impala (Aepyceros melampus), with more frequent anthrax outbreaks during the wet season.

The early transition to cold-induced browning in mouse subcutaneous white adipose tissue (scWAT) involves proteins related to nerve remodeling, cytoskeleton, mitochondria, and immune cells.

White adipose tissue (WAT) is a dynamic organ capable of remodelling in response to metabolic state. For example, in response to stimuli such as cold exposure, WAT can develop inducible brown adipocytes ('browning') capable of non-shivering thermogenesis, through concurrent changes to mitochondrial content and function. This is aided by increased neurite outgrowth and angiogenesis across the tissue, providing the needed neurovascular supply for uncoupling protein 1 activation.