960 research outputs found
Morphological and Behavioral Changes of Salamanders Infected with Amphibian Chytrid Fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis)
Morphological and Behavioral Changes of Salamanders Infected with Amphibian Chytrid Fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis)
Developing a Primary Source Lab Series: A Collaboration Between Special Collections and Subject Collections Librarians
In 2014 librarians at the Claremont Colleges Library piloted a 2-part workshop series that gave graduate students the opportunity to closely read a primary source as artifact, explore related digital primary sources, identify interesting research questions, and find secondary scholarship that spoke to those questions. This Primary Source Workshop series was developed collaboratively by special collections librarians, subject liaison librarians, and graduate faculty. The series has since been adapted for a variety of graduate and undergraduate classes. As a sequence, the workshops emphasize the continuity from paper sources to digital sources and the interrelationships of primary and secondary sources in the scholarly conversation. This chapter, in the book Collaborating for Impact: Special Collections and Liaison Librarian Partnerships (American Library Association, 2016), traces the development of the workshop series and the holistic view the workshops present of the process of research, while emphasizing the collaboration between special collections librarians and subject liaison libraria
Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Ozark Zigzag Salamanders to Stimuli from an Invasive Predator: The Armadillo
When new predators invade a habitat, either through range extensions or introductions, prey may be at a high risk because they do not recognize the predators as dangerous. The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has recently expanded its range in North America. Armadillos forage by searching soil and leaf litter, consuming invertebrates and small vertebrates, including salamanders. We tested whether Ozark zigzag salamanders (Plethodon angusticlavius) from a population coexisting with armadillos for about 30 years exhibit antipredator behavior in the presence of armadillo chemical cues and whether they can discriminate between stimuli from armadillos and a nonpredatory sympatric mammal (white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus). Salamanders appeared to recognize substrate cues from armadillos as a threat because they increased escape behaviors and oxygen consumption. When exposed to airborne cues from armadillos, salamanders also exhibited an antipredator response by spending more time in an inconspicuous posture. Additionally, individually consistent behaviors across treatments for some response variables suggest the potential for a behavioral syndrome in this species
Naltrexone Implant for Opioid Use Disorder
The continued rise in the availability of illicit opioids and opioid-related deaths in the United States has left physicians, researchers, and lawmakers desperate for solutions to this ongoing epidemic. The research into therapeutic options for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) began with the introduction of methadone in the 1960s. The approval of oral naltrexone initially showed much promise, as the drug was observed to be highly potent in antagonizing the effects of opioids while producing no opioid agonist effects of its own and having a favorable side effect profile. Patients that routinely take their naltrexone reported fewer days of heroin use and had more negative drug tests than those without treatment. Poor outcomes in OUD patients treated with naltrexone have been directly tied to short treatment time. Studies have shown that naltrexone given orally vs. as an implant at the 6-month interval showed a higher non-compliance rate among those who used oral medications at the 6-month mark and a slower return to use rate. There were concerns that naltrexone could possibly worsen negative symptoms seen in opiate use disorder related to blockade of endogenous opioids that are important for pleasurable stimuli. Studies have shown that naltrexone demonstrated no increase in levels of anxiety, depression and anhedonia in participants and another study found that those treated with naltrexone had a significant reduction in mental health-related hospitalizations. The latter study also concluded that there was no increased risk for mental health-related incidents in patients taking naltrexone via a long-acting implant. Although not yet FDA approved in the United States, naltrexone implant has shown promising results in Europe and Australia and may provide a novel treatment option for opioid addiction
The Paradox of Power in CSR: A Case Study on Implementation
Purpose Although current literature assumes positive outcomes for stakeholders resulting from an increase in power associated with CSR, this research suggests that this increase can lead to conflict within organizations, resulting in almost complete inactivity on CSR.
Methods A single in-depth case study, focusing on power as an embedded concept.
Results Empirical evidence is used to demonstrate how some actors use CSR to improve their own positions within an organization. Resource dependence theory is used to highlight why this may be a more significant concern for CSR.
Conclusions Increasing power for CSR has the potential to offer actors associated with it increased personal power, and thus can attract opportunistic actors with little interest in realizing the benefits of CSR for the company and its stakeholders. Thus power can be an impediment to furthering CSR strategy and activities at the individual and organizational level
All-cause hospitalisation among people living with HIV according to gender, mode of HIV acquisition, ethnicity, and geographical origin in Europe and North America: findings from the ART-CC cohort collaboration
BACKGROUND: Understanding demographic disparities in hospitalisation is crucial for the identification of vulnerable populations, interventions, and resource planning. METHODS: Data were from the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC) on people living with HIV in Europe and North America, followed up between January, 2007 and December, 2020. We investigated differences in all-cause hospitalisation according to gender and mode of HIV acquisition, ethnicity, and combined geographical origin and ethnicity, in people living with HIV on modern combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Analyses were performed separately for European and North American cohorts. Hospitalisation rates were assessed using negative binomial multilevel regression, adjusted for age, time since cART intitiaion, and calendar year. FINDINGS: Among 23â594 people living with HIV in Europe and 9612 in North America, hospitalisation rates per 100 person-years were 16·2 (95% CI 16·0-16·4) and 13·1 (12·8-13·5). Compared with gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, rates were higher for heterosexual men and women, and much higher for men and women who acquired HIV through injection drug use (adjusted incidence rate ratios ranged from 1·2 to 2·5 in Europe and from 1·2 to 3·3 in North America). In both regions, individuals with geographical origin other than the region of study generally had lower hospitalisation rates compared with those with geographical origin of the study country. In North America, Indigenous people and Black or African American individuals had higher rates than White individuals (adjusted incidence rate ratios 1·9 and 1·2), whereas Asian and Hispanic people living with HIV had somewhat lower rates. In Europe there was a lower rate in Asian individuals compared with White individuals. INTERPRETATION: Substantial disparities exist in all-cause hospitalisation between demographic groups of people living with HIV in the current cART era in high-income settings, highlighting the need for targeted support. FUNDING: Royal Free Charity and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Systems Biology Approach to Late-Onset Alzheimer\u27s Disease Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Novel Candidate Genes Validated Using Brain Expression Data and \u3cem\u3eCaenorhabditis elegans\u3c/em\u3e Experiments
IntroductionâWe sought to determine whether a systems biology approach may identify novel late-onset Alzheimer\u27s disease (LOAD) loci.
MethodsâWe performed gene-wide association analyses and integrated results with human protein-protein interaction data using network analyses. We performed functional validation on novel genes using a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans AÎČ proteotoxicity model and evaluated novel genes using brain expression data from people with LOAD and other neurodegenerative conditions.
ResultsâWe identified 13 novel candidate LOAD genes outside chromosome 19. Of those, RNA interference knockdowns of the C. elegans orthologs of UBC, NDUFS3, EGR1, and ATP5H were associated with AÎČ toxicity, and NDUFS3, SLC25A11, ATP5H, and APP were differentially expressed in the temporal cortex.
DiscussionâNetwork analyses identified novel LOAD candidate genes. We demonstrated a functional role for four of these in a C. elegans model and found enrichment of differentially expressed genes in the temporal cortex
Longitudinal trends in causes of death among adults with HIV on antiretroviral therapy in Europe and North America from 1996 to 2020: a collaboration of cohort studies
Background Mortality rates among people with HIV have fallen since 1996 following the widespread availability of effective antiretroviral therapy (ART). Patterns of cause-specific mortality are evolving as the population with HIV ages. We aimed to investigate longitudinal trends in cause-specific mortality among people with HIV starting ART in Europe and North America. Methods In this collaborative observational cohort study, we used data from 17 European and North American HIV cohorts contributing data to the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration. We included data for people with HIV who started ART between 1996 and 2020 at the age of 16 years or older. Causes of death were classified into a single cause by both a clinician and an algorithm if International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision or Tenth Revision data were available, or independently by two clinicians. Disagreements were resolved through panel discussion. We used Poisson models to compare cause-specific mortality rates during the calendar periods 1996-99, 2000-03, 2004-07, 2008-11, 2012-15, and 2016-20, adjusted for time-updated age, CD4 count, and whether the individual was ART -naive at the start of each period. Findings Among 189 301 people with HIV included in this study, 16 832 (8 center dot 9%) deaths were recorded during 1 519 200 person-years of follow-up. 13 180 (78 center dot 3%) deaths were classified by cause: the most common causes were AIDS (4203 deaths; 25 center dot 0%), non-AIDS non -hepatitis malignancy (2311; 13 center dot 7%), and cardiovascular or heart-related (1403; 8 center dot 3%) mortality. The proportion of deaths due to AIDS declined from 49% during 1996-99 to 16% during 2016-20. Rates of all-cause mortality per 1000 person-years decreased from 16 center dot 8 deaths (95% CI 15 center dot 4-18 center dot 4) during 1996-99 to 7 center dot 9 deaths (7 center dot 6-8 center dot 2) during 2016-20. Rates of all-cause mortality declined with time: the average adjusted mortality rate ratio per calendar period was 0 center dot 85 (95% CI 0 center dot 84-0 center dot 86). Rates of cause-specific mortality also declined: the most pronounced reduction was for AIDS-related mortality (0 center dot 81; 0 center dot 79-0 center dot 83). There were also reductions in rates of cardiovascular-related (0 center dot 83, 0 center dot 79-0 center dot 87), liver-related (0 center dot 88, 0 center dot 84-0 center dot 93), non-AIDS infectionrelated (0 center dot 91, 0 center dot 86-0 center dot 96), non-AIDS-non-hepatocellular carcinoma malignancy-related (0 center dot 94, 0 center dot 90-0 center dot 97), and suicide or accident-related mortality (0 center dot 89, 0 center dot 82-0 center dot 95). Mortality rates among people who acquired HIV through injecting drug use increased in women (1 center dot 07, 1 center dot 00-1 center dot 14) and decreased slightly in men (0 center dot 96, 0 center dot 93-0 center dot 99). Interpretation Reductions of most major causes of death, particularly AIDS-related deaths among people with HIV on ART, were not seen for all subgroups. Interventions targeted at high-risk groups, substance use, and comorbidities might further increase life expectancy in people with HIV towards that in the general population. Funding US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Copyright (c) 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license
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Shifty salamanders: transient trophic polymorphism and cannibalism within natural populations of larval ambystomatid salamanders
INTRODUCTION: Many species of ambystomatid salamanders are dependent upon highly variable temporary wetlands
for larval development. High larval densities may prompt the expression of a distinct head morphology that may
facilitate cannibalism. However, few studies have characterized structural cannibalism within natural populations of
larval salamanders. In this study we used two species of larval salamanders, long-toed (Ambystoma macrodactylum)
and ringed salamanders (A. annulatum). Head morphometrics and stable isotopic values of carbon (ÎŽÂčÂłC) and
nitrogen (ÎŽÂčâ”N) were used to identify the presence or absence of structural cannibalism. Weather conditions were
also analyzed as a potential factor associated with the expression of cannibalistic morphology.
RESULTS: Populations of salamander larvae did not consistently exhibit cannibalistic morphologies throughout
collection periods. Larval long-toed salamanders exhibited trophic polymorphisms when relatively lower precipitation
amounts were observed. Larval ringed salamanders were observed to be cannibalistic but did not exhibit polymorphisms
in this study.
CONCLUSIONS: Structural cannibalism may be transient in both species; however in long-toed salamanders this
morphology is necessary for cannibalism. Ringed salamanders can be cannibalistic without morphological adaptations;
however the cannibal morph may prolong the viable time period for cannibalism. Additionally, weather conditions may
alter pond hydroperiod, subsequently influencing head morphology and cannibalism.Keywords: Nitrogen-15, Trophic polymorphism, Carbon-13, Larval salamander, Stable isotope, Cannibalis
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