Pathways From Socioeconomic Factors to Major Cardiovascular Events Among Postmenopausal Veteran and Nonveteran Women: Findings From the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a leading cause of death for women in the United States, with veterans being at potentially higher risk than their nonveteran counterparts due to accelerated aging and distinct biopsychosocial mechanisms. We examined pathways between selected indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) such as education, occupation, household income, and neighborhood SES and major CVD events through lifestyle and health characteristics among veteran and nonveteran postmenopausal women.

Methods And Results: A total of 121 286 study-eligible WHI (Women's Health Initiative) participants (3091 veterans and 118 195 nonveterans) were prospectively followed for an average of 17 years, during which 16 108 major CVD events were documented.

Electrospun single-phase spinel magnetic high entropy oxide nanoparticles low-temperature ambient annealing.

High entropy oxide nanoparticles (HEO NPs) with multiple component elements possess improved stability and multiple uses for functional applications, including catalysis, data memory, and energy storage. However, the synthesis of homogenous HEO NPs containing five or more immiscible elements with a single-phase structure is still a great challenge due to the strict synthetic conditions. In particular, several synthesis methods of HEO NPs require extremely high temperatures.

A new species of (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) from central Panama.

A new species of Laurenti, 1768, from Central Panama is described based on molecular analyses, hemipenial morphology, and external characters. This is the sixth species of to be described for the country; the snake has been suspected to exist since 1977 and has not been thoroughly studied until now. Additionally, morphological comparations including scale counts are done with other species within the genus, and the current geographic distribution of (Werner, 1909), the sister species, is updated.

Integrating multiple sign types to improve occupancy estimation for inconspicuous species.

Standard occupancy models enable unbiased estimation of occupancy by accounting for observation errors such as missed detections (false negatives) and, less commonly, incorrect detections (false positives). Occupancy models are fitted to data from repeated site visits in which surveyors record evidence of species presence. Use of indirect sign (e.

Policy learning and change during crisis: COVID-19 policy responses across six states.

Whereas policy change is often characterized as a gradual and incremental process, effective crisis response necessitates that organizations adapt to evolving problems in near real time. Nowhere is this dynamic more evident than in the case of COVID-19, which forced subnational governments to constantly adjust and recalibrate public health and disease mitigation measures in the face of changing patterns of viral transmission and the emergence of new information. This study assesses (a) the extent to which subnational policies changed over the course of the pandemic; (b) whether these changes are emblematic of policy learning; and (c) the drivers of these changes, namely changing political and public health conditions.

Moving in the right direction: tobacco packaging and labeling in the Americas.

Objectives: To assess the adoption of tobacco packaging and labeling policies based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)'s Article 11 guidelines, in the WHO Region of the Americas (AMRO).

Methods: We reviewed tobacco control laws in AMRO from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' Tobacco Control Laws database. We analyzed four sub-policy areas for smoked and smokeless tobacco products: 1) health warning labels (HWLs), 2) constituents and emissions (C&Es), 3) misleading tobacco packaging and labeling, and 4) standardized "plain" packaging.

Progress in adopting bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship in the Americas: lessons from Uruguay and Argentina.

Objective: To assess progress in and barriers to implementing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) in Uruguay, which has a complete ban, and Argentina, with a partial ban.

Methods: Legislation on TAPS bans in Uruguay and Argentina was reviewed and relevant published literature, news stories, civil society reports and tobacco industry reports retrieved to analyze progress in implementing TAPS bans.

Results: In Uruguay, the complete TAPS ban, which includes standardized tobacco packaging, maintains high compliance and severely limits exposure of TAPS, despite a few problems with corporate social responsibility, social media, and transnational advertising.

Non-native grazers affect physiological and demographic responses of greater sage-grouse.

Non-native ungulate grazing has negatively impacted native species across the globe, leading to massive loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Despite their pervasiveness, interactions between non-native grazers and native species are not fully understood. We often observe declines in demography or survival of these native species, but lack understanding about the mechanisms underlying these declines.

Climate Signatures on Lake And Wetland Size Distributions in Arctic Deltas.

Understanding how thermokarst lakes on arctic river deltas will respond to rapid warming is critical for projecting how carbon storage and fluxes will change in those vulnerable environments. Yet, this understanding is currently limited partly due to the complexity of disentangling significant interannual variability from the longer-term surface water signatures on the landscape, using the short summertime window of optical spaceborne observations. Here, we rigorously separate perennial lakes from ephemeral wetlands on 12 arctic deltas and report distinct size distributions and climate trends for the two waterbodies.

Estimating survival and adoption rates of dependent juveniles.

Population growth and fitness are typically most sensitive to adult survival in long-lived species, but variation in recruitment often explains most of the variation in fitness, as past selection has canalized adult survival. Estimating juvenile survival until age of independence has proven challenging, because marking individuals in this age class may directly affect survival. For Greater Sage-grouse, uniquely marking juveniles in the first days of life likely results in adverse effects to survival, detection of juveniles is not perfect, and females adopt juveniles from other parents.

Effects of perceived scarcity on COVID-19 consumer stimulus spending: The roles of ontological insecurity and mutability in predicting prosocial outcomes.

In 2021, the United States government provided a third economic impact payment (EIP) for those designated as experiencing greater need due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a particular focus on scarcity and ontological insecurity, we collected time-separated data prior to, and following, the third EIP to examine how these variables shape consumer allocation of stimulus funds. We find that scarcity is positively associated with feelings of ontological insecurity, which, interestingly, correlates to a allocation of stimulus funds toward charitable giving.

On the evolution of mimicry in avian nestlings.

Batesian mimicry (BM), where a nontoxic species resembles a toxic species with aposematic coloring, has been recently described for a Neotropical species of the suboscine passerine (). Understanding the order and series in which these characteristics evolved is unknown and requires character information from closely related taxa. Here, we trace the origin of mimetic traits and how they evolved by examining antipredator characteristics using images and other field-collected trait data from nest and nestlings along with data available in the literature for the Laniisominae clade and closely related taxa.

Linking behavioral states to landscape features for improved conservation management.

A central theme for conservation is understanding how animals differentially use, and are affected by change in, the landscapes they inhabit. However, it has been challenging to develop conservation schemes for habitat-specific behaviors.Here we use behavioral change point analysis to identify behavioral states of golden eagles ( ) in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the southwestern United States, and we identify, for each behavioral state, conservation-relevant habitat associations.

Recolonizing carnivores: Is cougar predation behaviorally mediated by bears?

Conservation and management efforts have resulted in population increases and range expansions for some apex predators, potentially changing trophic cascades and foraging behavior. Changes in sympatric carnivore and dominant scavenger populations provide opportunities to assess how carnivores affect one another. Cougars () were the apex predator in the Great Basin of Nevada, USA, for over 80 years.

Isomerization of -3-methylglutaconic acid.

3-Methylglutaconic (3MGC) aciduria is a common phenotypic feature of a growing number of inborn errors of metabolism. "Primary" 3MGC aciduria is caused by deficiencies in leucine pathway enzymes while "secondary" 3MGC aciduria results from inborn errors of metabolism that impact mitochondrial energy production. The metabolic precursor of 3MGC acid is -3MGC CoA, an intermediate in the leucine catabolism pathway.

The influence of cultural food security on cultural identity and well-being: a qualitative comparison between second-generation American and international students in the United States.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of cultural food insecurity on identity and well-being in second-generation American and international university students. Thirty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted from January-April 2020. Audio transcripts were analyzed using continuous and abductive thematic analysis.

Thermal decomposition and diffusion of methane in clathrate hydrates from quantum mechanics simulations.

Clathrate hydrates are ice-like crystalline substances in which small gas molecules are trapped inside the polyhedral cavities of water molecules. They are of great importance in both scientific research and the petroleum industry because of their applications in modern energy and environmental technologies. To achieve an atomistic-level understanding of the diffusion and decomposition of trapped molecules in clathrate hydrate, we used methane hydrates (MHs) as the prototype system and examined the methane diffusion and decomposition mechanism by employing quantum mechanics (QM) and quantum mechanics molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations.

Environmental archives of atmospheric Hg deposition - A review.

Environmental archives offer an opportunity to reconstruct temporal trends in atmospheric Hg deposition at various timescales. Lake sediment and peat have been the most widely used archives; however, new records from ice, tree rings, and the measurement of Hg stable isotopes, are offering new insights into past Hg cycling. Preindustrial Hg deposition has been studied over decadal to millennial timescales extending as far back as the late Pleistocene.

Hunting and mountain sheep: Do current harvest practices affect horn growth?

The influence of human harvest on evolution of secondary sexual characteristics has implications for sustainable management of wildlife populations. The phenotypic consequences of selectively removing males with large horns or antlers from ungulate populations have been a topic of heightened concern in recent years. Harvest can affect size of horn-like structures in two ways: (a) shifting age structure toward younger age classes, which can reduce the mean size of horn-like structures, or (b) selecting against genes that produce large, fast-growing males.

From canopy to seed: Loss of snow drives directional changes in forest composition.

Climate change is altering the conditions for tree recruitment, growth, and survival, and impacting forest community composition. Across southeast Alaska, USA, and British Columbia, Canada, (Alaska yellow-cedar) is experiencing extensive climate change-induced canopy mortality due to fine-root death during soil freezing events following warmer winters and the loss of insulating snowpack. Here, we examine the effects of ongoing, climate-driven canopy mortality on forest community composition and identify potential shifts in stand trajectories due to the loss of a single canopy species.

Changes in behavior are unable to disrupt a trophic cascade involving a specialist herbivore and its food plant.

Changes in ecological conditions can induce changes in behavior and demography of wild organisms, which in turn may influence population dynamics. Black brant () nesting in colonies on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) in western Alaska have declined substantially (~50%) since the turn of the century. Black brant are herbivores that rely heavily on (Hoppner's sedge) during growth and development.

Complex immune responses and molecular reactions to pathogens and disease in a desert reptile ().

Immune function plays an important role in an animal's defense against infectious disease. In reptiles, immune responses may be complex and counterintuitive, and diagnostic tools used to identify infection, such as induced antibody responses are limited. Recent studies using gene transcription profiling in tortoises have proven useful in identifying immune responses to various intrinsic and extrinsic stressors.

Timing of precipitation in an arid environment: Effects on population performance of a large herbivore.

Climate models predict that shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns are likely to occur across the globe. Changing climate will likely have strong effects on arid environments as a result of increased temperatures, increasing frequency and intensity of droughts, and less consistent pulses of rainfall. Therefore, understanding the link between patterns of precipitation, temperature, and population performance of species occupying these environments will continue to increase in importance as climatic shifts occur within these natural ecosystems.

Chronic disease in the Mojave desert tortoise: Host physiology and recrudescence obscure patterns of pathogen transmission.

A seminatural, factorial-design experiment was used to quantify dynamics of the pathogen and upper respiratory tract disease in the Mojave desert tortoise () over 2 years. Groups of initially healthy animals were separated into serologically positive (seropositive), seronegative, and artificially infected groups and paired into 23 pens. We found no evidence of long-term immune protection to or of immunological memory.