Population Shifts Research Articles

64 Driving positive ageing at home: older adults’ engagement with ALONE support services

Abstract Background It is estimated that by 2050 approximately 1.6 million Irish people will be aged 65 or over. This dramatic shift in population highlights the importance of supporting positive ageing, and the need to develop medical and non-medical infrastructure and services that can meet the needs of this growing age group. ALONE is a national organisation that aims to transform ageing in Ireland, by supporting older adults to age within their own homes and communities positively and securely. This research aims to provide a descriptive portrayal of the response of older adults to ALONE’s services. Specifically, this study examined the demographic and clinical characteristics of older adults who seek support from ALONE and described the implications of these findings for policy and service delivery. Methods Data from older people who engage with ALONE services are captured through an online system designed to record salient clinical and service delivery information. Data analysed for this study included demographic characteristics, presenting needs, and nature, duration, and frequency of service engagement. Results Most older people engaging with ALONE were female, aged 76–85 years and were referred to ALONE from the HSE, hospitals and primary care centres. Older people living in non-owner occupied homes, and reporting a recent fall and mobility issues were overrepresented in the data whilst social isolation, physical health issues and housing needs were commonly reported. Visitation support and befriending represented the highest area of need among older people, who generated an average of 3.4 interventions. Conclusion The findings from this research provide insights into older people’s needs and contribute to our understanding of emerging features of innovative health service delivery for older people. These findings will support policymakers and service providers in creating and implementing integrated psychosocial and medical community services for older people.

Training Pathways in Critical Care Cardiology: Competencies and Considerations for Cardiologists.

Critical care cardiology (CCC) is a rapidly developing field undergoing a renaissance of interest and growth to meet the well-documented population shift in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). With this has come the emergence of novel training paradigms that seek to combine specialties with meaningful overlap. The benefit of having critical care expertise in the CICU has been clearly established; however, there is no formal or uniform CCC training pathway. Contemporary approaches seek to provide appropriate clinical and procedural experience while minimizing opportunity cost. The combination of additional cardiology subspecialties, specifically advanced heart failure or interventional cardiology, has been demonstrated. Educational tracks that integrate critical care training have generated interest but have not yet manifested. CCC training strives to meet the needs of an increasingly sick and diverse patient population while preparing trainees for fulfilling and meaningful careers. The hope is for ongoing development of novel training pathways to satisfy evolving needs.

Simulations of a protein fold switch reveal crowding-induced population shifts driven by disordered regions

Macromolecular crowding effects on globular proteins, which usually adopt a single stable fold, have been widely studied. However, little is known about crowding effects on fold-switching proteins, which reversibly switch between distinct folds. Here we study the mutationally driven switch between the folds of GA and GB, the two 56-amino acid binding domains of protein G, using a structure-based dual-basin model. We show that, in the absence of crowders, the fold populations PA and PB can be controlled by the strengths of contacts in the two folds, κA and κB. A population balance, PA ≈ PB, is obtained for κB/κA = 0.92. The resulting model protein is subject to crowding at different packing fractions, ϕc. We find that crowding increases the GB population and reduces the GA population, reaching PB/PA ≈ 4 at ϕc = 0.44. We analyze the ϕc-dependence of the crowding-induced GA-to-GB switch using scaled particle theory, which provides a qualitative, but not quantitative, fit of our data, suggesting effects beyond a spherical description of the folds. We show that the terminal regions of the protein chain, which are intrinsically disordered only in GA, play a dominant role in the response of the fold switch to crowding effects.

Promoting Health Equity Through Holistic Admissions in Occupational Therapy Education.

As the U.S. population shifts away from a White majority, it is imperative that the health care workforce reflect the diversity of client populations served. Increased diversity in the health care workforce fosters access to more personalized, culturally responsive, and client-centered care, thereby facilitating improved outcomes and reduced health disparities. Occupational therapy education programs function as gatekeepers for diversity and need to be accountable for representation in the profession and to produce graduates who reflect the diversity of the broader population. Holistic admission practices, which ensure that no single factor excludes an applicant from admission, are recognized as a meaningful strategy for increasing student diversity in higher education and provide a pathway to create a representative workforce with the ability to improve care disparities and client outcomes. As one of the largest occupational therapy programs in the country, and located in a diverse urban area, the University of Southern California's Mrs. T. H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy has embraced the profession's responsibility toward greater health equity through holistic admissions. In this column, we discuss holistic admission best practices and report diversity outcomes resulting from enactment of these practices within our occupational therapy education program.

Burden of non-communicable diseases among adolescents and young adults aged 10-24 years in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Although non-communicable diseases (NCDs) remain the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide, little comprehensive or recent evidence of the burden of NCDs among adolescents and young adults in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions is available. We aimed to report population shifts in people aged 10-24 years and their NCD burden from 1990 to 2019 using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019. We retrieved data from GBD 2019 for people aged 10-24 years in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions from 1990 to 2019. We presented population shifts and analysed deaths, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for NCDs. We also quantified the associations of deaths and DALYs with the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) effective coverage index using Spearman correlation and linear regression analyses. Percentages are reported to 1 decimal place and rates are reported to 2 decimal places. In 2019, there were 559·2 million young people aged 10-24 years in the South-East Asia region and 335·0 million in the Western Pacific region; India and China remained the countries with greatest number of this age group. In 1990-2019, India had an absolute increase of 139·4 million adolescents, while China had a decrease of 134·3 million. In 2019, NCDs accounted for 27·3% (95% uncertainty interval 25·1 to 29·2) and 34·6% (33·5 to 36·1) of total deaths, and 49·8% (45·3 to 54·4) and 65·1% (60·6 to 69·3) of total DALYs in the South-East Asia and the Western Pacific regions, respectively. Neoplasms, cardiovascular diseases, and mental disorders were the leading causes of NCD burden in 42 countries. Kiribati had the highest rates of deaths (62·82 [50·77 to 76·11] per 100 000 population), YLLs (4364·73 [3545·04 to 5275·63] per 100 000 population), and DALYs (9368·73 [7713·65 to 11340·99] per 100 000 population) for NCDs, whereas Australia (6976·51 [5044·46 to 9190·01] per 100 000 population) and New Zealand (6716·81 [4827·25 to 8827·69] per 100 000 population) had the largest rates of YLDs due to NCDs. From 1990 to 2019 across both regions, the rate of death due to NCDs declined by over a third (-32·8% [-41·1 to -22·9] in the South-East Asia region and -40·0% [-48·6 to -30·4] in the Western Pacific region), and DALYs decreased by about 12% (-12·0% [-16·8 to -7·7] in the South-East Asia region and -12·8% [-17·7 to -8·7] in the Western Pacific region), whereas the proportion of NCD burden relative to all-cause burden increased (45·7% [32·9 to 61·7] for deaths and 41·2% [35·2 to 48·8] for DALYs in the South-East Asia region; 11·8% [7·1 to 21·5] for deaths and 18·2% [14·6 to 22·0] for DALYs in the Western Pacific region). The rate of deaths and DALYs due to NCDs decreased monotonically alongside increases in SDI (rs=-0·57 [95% CI -0·81 to -0·32] for deaths and rs=-0·30 [-0·61 to 0·03] for DALYs). The rate of deaths (rs=-0·89 [95% CI -0·97 to -0·80]) and DALYs (rs=-0·67 [-0·93 to -0·41]) due to NCDs also decreased alongside increases in the UHC effective coverage index. Specific preventive and health service measures are needed for adolescents and young adults in countries with different levels of socioeconomic development to reduce the burden from NCDs. National Natural Science Foundation of China. For the Chinese translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

A comparative study of urban land use efficiency of the cities of Hai Phong and Can Tho, Vietnam

Abstract The process of urbanisation involves shifts in space and population, and other socio-economic factors, and has far-reaching effects on the use of urban land. Governing affects the process of urbanisation. This study aimed to compare the results of urban land use of two large cities in Vietnam, Hai Phong and Can Tho. To accomplish this, the research used input data from JAXA land cover maps and population data from GSO in order to compute indicators on the effectiveness of urban land use (ULUE) between the years 2000 to 2020. The results indicate that the amount of land used for urban development has increased significantly in both of these locations, whereas the amount of land used for rice cultivation and agricultural purposes has decreased. In particular, the proportions of these two types of land have a greater tendency to decrease in Hai Phong than in Can Tho. In addition, urban land use has not yet achieved efficiency in either of these localities; however, urban land use in Hai Phong demonstrates a significantly higher level of efficiency when compared to that of Can Tho.

일본의 한국 지역연구 동향

This paper aims to analyze the trends of Korea area studies in Japan, with a focus on the Korean Regional Research Association. Firstly, examining the current status of regional research-related conferences in Japan, such conferences were established in the 1980s and continued until the 2000s, but their numbers sharply declined in the 2010s. The Modern Korean Chosun Society, founded in 2000, is a relatively new society comprising members from various academic disciplines, including law, politics, international relations, economics, business administration, sociology, social welfare, journalism and communication research, pedagogy, cultural anthropology, ethnography, folklore, history, literature, and language. Korean political research tends to describe political dynamics based on different regimes, while political history often focuses on individual figures. Much of the Korean economic research has centered on analyzing the impact of the IMF economic crisis on Korean society. Additionally, Korean social research has examined various topics, such as changes in employment structures resulting from job insecurity in the labor market, the rapid aging of the population, and shifts in population and family structures due to trends like unmarried and late marriage.

"We're Not Patients. We're Inmates": Older Black Women's Experience of Aging, Health, and Illness During and After Incarceration.

The incarcerated population is growing older and by the year 2030, more than one third of people incarcerated in the United States will be over the age of 55. This population shift will have a profound impact on correctional health care systems as older incarcerated people often have multiple chronic illnesses and correctional institutions were not designed with aging and disability in mind. Black women experience greater burdens of comorbid conditions and are disproportionately represented among incarcerated women. We utilized Black Feminist Epistemological Methodology to explore the intersection of aging, chronic illness, and mass incarceration via in-depth interviews with 13 formerly incarcerated older Black women. First, participants described needing to prove themselves to be trustworthy prior to becoming ill in order to be believed and granted access to care when they report symptoms. Next, participants report being treated, not as patients, but as "inmates." The punitive nature of prison health care disrupted the patient-provider relationship and complicated the ability of patients to maintain autonomy in health care interactions. Finally, I describe how carceral health extends beyond the walls of both the clinic and the institution. For older Black women, medical care and decision making inside prisons occur within a punitive context, which presents unique barriers when seeking care. Their experiences of health and illness while incarcerated may continue to influence if and how they seek care as they age in the community and thus must be interrogated when discussing aging in the Black community.

B vitamins supplementation induced shifts in phytoplankton dynamics and copepod populations in a subtropical coastal area

IntroductionB vitamins play a crucial role in shaping phytoplankton and zooplankton communities in marine ecosystems, yet their impact on community dynamics remains poorly understood.MethodsWe carried out in situ incubation experiments of B vitamins supplementation to explore the response pattern of phytoplankton and zooplankton community compositions.ResultsThe results showed that vitamins B1, B2, B6 and B12 promoted the growth of phytoplankton, and the total Chl α in 87.5% of the supplemented B vitamin treatments showed a significant positive response (p < 0.05). Supplementation with these B vitamins significantly altered the community composition of phytoplankton, and 75% of the B vitamin-supplemented treatments showed an increase in the relative abundance of Minutocellus, Thalassiosirales, Odontella, Prymnesiales and Ditylum, considered mainly to be the result of B vitamin auxotrophy. In contrast, a significant decrease in Copepoda, including Calanoida and Cyclopoida, was observed in 87.5% of treatments. The observed shifts in community composition were attributed to the auxotrophy of certain diatoms and Prymnesiales for B vitamins. These shifts subsequently led to negative correlations (Spearman Rho < -0.8) between the abundance of these phytoplankton species and Copepoda populations.DiscussionThese findings advance our understanding of the complex interactions between micronutrient availability and plankton community dynamics.

The elderly in the post-anesthesia care unit.

It is increasingly conceivable that elderly patients will be treated in perioperative settings as the world's population shifts toward an older age distribution. They are more prone to a variety of unfavorable outcomes as a consequence of the physiological changes that accompany aging and the coexistence of multiple medical conditions. Postoperative complications in elderly patients are linked to a large increase in morbidity and mortality and the burden placed on the healthcare system. Our goal is to determine how elderly patients' recovery after anesthesia differs from that of younger patients. In addition, we will discuss the main postoperative complications experienced by elderly patients and the measures that are utilized to limit the risk of these complications developing.

Differential shifts in microbiome and pathogen populations associated with suppressive soil in long-term continuous corn field compared to rotation corn field

Unraveling soil suppressiveness and the involvement of microbiome could provide the insight needed to advance development of cost-effective and eco-friendly alternatives for managing plant diseases. This could enhance global crops and subsequent food production without large-scale use of pesticides, which may cause pollution and negatively affect human health. The goal of this study was to evaluate changes in the microbiome and diversity of beneficial microbial communities in soils suppressive to soilborne pathogens under long-term continuous corn cultivation compared to rotation corn fields. Samples were collected three times during the year from four locations in Nebraska. Sequencing was conducted on the paired-end Illumina HiSeq platform with three primer sets, including 515F/806R, 1737F/2043R, and 1380F/1510R. Parameters evaluated for microbial activity showed a consistent pattern where they were significantly (p = 0.05) greater in continuous corn than rotation in one region of the state but no differences in another region. There were relatively higher operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for the potential biocontrol agents Bacillus, Paenibacillus, Massilia, Pseudomonas, and Sphingomonas in the long-term continuous corn field compared to the other three locations. This study identified certain microbial populations which appeared to drive community activities, the link between pathogens and beneficial organisms, the effect of soil nutrients, and the net feedback that played important roles in the development of soil suppressive properties. Additional research is needed to unravel the mechanisms and to fast-track the time required to attain soil suppressiveness.

Learning to be consumers of “smart” retail channels: The baby boomer experience

ABSTRACT A global shift in aging populations points to greying consumers as an important market for retailers and an underserved segment for researchers. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital expansion in the marketplace, innovated new industries, and encouraged new participants. This acceleration provides significant implications for the greying population whereby the adoption of smart-enabled platforms and channels becomes essential. Most of the digital and smart-consumer socialization research has focused exclusively on younger generations because of their digital nativity. This study aims to expand our understanding of baby boomer consumers’ attitudes and behaviors in the smart retail context using a consumer socialization framework. Findings suggest that perceived usefulness, ease of use, reliability, and fun were significant influences on global attitudes toward shopping in smart retail channels. Global attitudes toward shopping in smart retail channels significantly influenced behavioral intention and digital mass media exposure significantly influenced all dimensions of attitudes toward shopping in smart retail channels suggesting interest and engagement in smart retail channel participation among older adults.

Clinical application of radiological AI for pulmonary nodule evaluation: Replicability and susceptibility to the population shift caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

Purposereplicability and generalizability of medical AI are the recognized challenges that hinder a broad AI deployment in clinical practice. Pulmonary nodes detection and characterization based on chest CT images is one of the demanded use cases for automatization by means of AI, and multiple AI solutions addressing this task are becoming available. Here, we evaluated and compared the performance of several commercially available radiological AI with the same clinical task on the same external datasets acquired before and during the pandemic of COVID-19. Approach5 commercially available AI models for pulmonary nodule detection were tested on two external datasets labelled by experts according to the intended clinical task. Dataset1 was acquired before the pandemic and did not contain radiological signs of COVID-19; dataset2 was collected during the pandemic and did contain radiological signs of COVID-19. ROC-analysis was applied separately for the dataset1 and dataset2 to select probability thresholds for each dataset separately. AUROC, sensitivity and specificity metrics were used to assess and compare the results of AI performance. ResultsStatistically significant differences in AUROC values were observed between the AI models for the dataset1. Whereas for the dataset2 the differences of AUROC values became statistically insignificant. Sensitivity and specificity differed statistically significantly between the AI models for the dataset1. This difference was insignificant for the dataset2 when we applied the probability threshold initially selected for the dataset1. An update of the probability threshold based on the dataset2 created statistically significant differences of sensitivity and specificity between AI models for the dataset2. For 3 out of 5 AI models, the update of the probability threshold was valuable to compensate for the degradation of AI model performances with the population shift caused by the pandemic. ConclusionsPopulation shift in the data is able to deteriorate differences of AI models performance. Update of the probability threshold together with the population shift seems to be valuable to preserve AI models performance without retraining them.

Deep insights into the population shift of n-DAMO and Anammox in granular sludge: From sidestream to mainstream

Granular sludge combined n-DAMO and Anammox (n-D/A) is an energy-efficient biotechnique for the simultaneous removal of nitrogen and dissolved methane from wastewater. However, the lack of knowledge so far about the metabolic interactions between n-DAMO and Anammox in response to operation condition in granular sludge restrains the development of this biotechnology. To address this gap, three independent membrane granular sludge reactors (MGSRs) were designed to carry out the granule-based n-D/A process under different conditions. We provided the first deep insights into the metabolic interactions between n-DAMO and Anammox in granular sludge via combined metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses. Our study unveiled a clear population shift of n-DAMO community from Candidatus Methanoperedens to Candidatus Methylomirabilis from sidestream to mainstream. Candidatus Methanoperedens with relative abundance of 25.2% played the major role in nitrate reduction and methane oxidation under sidestream condition, indicated by the high expression activities of mcrA and narG. Candidatus Methylomirabilis dominated the microbial community under mainstream condition with relative abundance of 32.1%, supported by the high expression activities of pmoA and hao. Furthermore, a transition of Anammox population from Candidatus Kuenenia to Candidatus Brocadia was also observed from sidestream to mainstream. Candidatus Kuenenia and Candidatus Brocadia jointly contributed to the primary anaerobic ammonium oxidation suggested by the high expression value of hdh and hzs. Candidatus Methylomirabilis was speculated to perform ammonium oxidation mediated by pMMO under mainstream condition. These findings might help to reveal the microbial interactions and ecological niches of n-DAMO and Anammox microorganisms, shedding light on the optimization and management of the granule-based n-D/A system.

Genomic epidemiological analysis of county-scale Yersinia pestis spread pattern over 50 years in a Southwest Chinese prefecture.

Plague, one of the most devastating infectious diseases in human history, is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Since the 1950s, the Dehong Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture (DH) in Yunnan Province, China, has recorded plague outbreaks that have resulted in 1,153 human cases and 379 deaths. The genetic diversity and transmission characteristics of Y. pestis strains in this region remain unknown. Here, we performed high-resolution genomic epidemiological analysis of 175 Y. pestis strains isolated from five counties and 19 towns in DH between 1953 and 2007. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that most DH strains were located in lineage 1.ORI2, which could be further subdivided into seven sub-phylogroups (SPG1-SPG7). The dominant sub-phylogroups of Y. pestis in DH varied during different periods and presented a population shift. Genomic evidence showed that plague might have emerged from the southwest of DH (e.g., Longchuan or Ruili counties) or its bordering countries, and subsequently spread to the northeast in multiple waves between 1982 and 2007. Our study infers a fine-scale phylogeny and spread pattern of the DH Y. pestis population, which extends our knowledge regarding its genetic diversity and provides clues for the future prevention and control of plague in this region.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Hyperthyroidism: Age, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities

Objective: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) affects 2.6% of adults and 36% of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Several case reports and small case series suggested a hyperthyroidism-PAH association.
 Design: Retrospective chart review.
 Methods: We undertook a retrospective chart review (1982–2018) to assess PAH prevalence in a multi-ethnic convenience sample of hyperthyroid adults with multiple etiologies. We calculated associations of pulmonary artery maximum systolic pressure (PSAPmax) with subject age, and maximum serum triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), free T3, and T4, minimum serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and thyroid antibody titers, comparing PAH prevalence and the odds of being undiagnosed as to hyperthyroidism etiology by gender and ethnicity/race.
 Results: We found a high prevalence of PAH in hyperthyroid people, like that reported for people with COPD. We found no significant association between PSAPmax and any thyroid function test or thyroid antibody titer. As reported more recently in the general population, PSAPmax significantly correlated with age in hyperthyroid people. There was no significant disparity in the prevalence of PAH among White, non-Hispanic Black, and Latinx hyperthyroid people or between genders. The percentage of patients whose hyperthyroidism etiology was undiagnosed was high with significant disparity only between non-Hispanic Black and White people and between men and women. PAH was common in hyperthyroid subjects with any hyperthyroidism etiology.
 Conclusions: 2D-echocardiography should be performed in all hyperthyroid people because PAH is common, especially in older people because of their co-morbidities and poorer prognoses. Further research is needed regarding demographic disparities in being undiagnosed as to hyperthyroidism etiology.
 Principal Verdicts/Significance Statement: We reconfirmed the high PAH incidence in hyperthyroidism, previously reported, but profoundly under-recognized by physicians, to patients’ detriment. Further, we found that the shift in the general PAH population from younger to older individuals is mirrored in hyperthyroid people with PAH. This is concerning because older people have more co-morbidities and worse prognoses, necessitating early, effective intervention. PAH was present with diverse hyperthyroidism etiologies, suggesting that it is multicausal, resulting from autoimmunity, thyroid hormone excess, and goitrous upper airway obstruction and should be considered, regardless of etiology. Our observations that many subjects had no established hyperthyroidism etiology and that males and Blacks were likelier to be undiagnosed are concerning, warranting further study.

The impact of perfluorooctanoic acid shock on hydrogen-driven nitrate and arsenate removal

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a type of toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) commonly found in groundwater due to its use in firefighting and industrial applications. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of PFOA shock on the biological performance of a hydrogen-driven bioreactor for nitrate and arsenate removal. Four hydrogen-driven removal reactors (HdBRs) used for the simultaneous removal of nitrate and arsenal were operated with concentrations of either 0, 1, 5, and 10 mg/L of PFOA to induce shock on the systems and examine the corresponding bacterial response. Our results showed that PFOA shock inhibited and decreased the maximum hydrogen-driven arsenate removal rate. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) confirmed that this performance decrease occurred due to a bacterial strike triggered by PFOA shock. PFOA toxicity also led to protein secretion and sludge density decreases. Bacterial analyses showed shifts in the community population due to PFOA shock. The dominant bacteria phylum Proteobacteria became more abundant, from 41.24% originally to 48.29% after exposure to 10 mg/L of PFOA. Other phyla, such as Euryarchaeota and Bacteroidetes, were more tolerant to PFOA shock. Although some of the predominant species within the sludge of each HdBR exhibited a decline, other species with similar functions persisted and assumed the functional responsibilities previously held by the dominant species.

Ontogenetic differences in the response of the cold-water coral Caryophyllia huinayensis to ocean acidification, warming and food availability

Cold-water corals (CWCs) are considered vulnerable to environmental changes. However, previous studies have focused on adult CWCs and mainly investigated the short-term effects of single stressors. So far, the effects of environmental changes on different CWC life stages are unknown, both for single and multiple stressors and over long time periods. Therefore, we conducted a six-month aquarium experiment with three life stages of Caryophyllia huinayensis to study their physiological response (survival, somatic growth, calcification and respiration) to the interactive effects of aragonite saturation (0.8 and 2.5), temperature (11 and 15 °C) and food availability (8 and 87 μg C L−1). The response clearly differed between life stages and measured traits. Elevated temperature and reduced feeding had the greatest effects, pushing the corals to their physiological limits. Highest mortality was observed in adult corals, while calcification rates decreased the most in juveniles. We observed a three-month delay in response, presumably because energy reserves declined, suggesting that short-term experiments overestimate coral resilience. Elevated summer temperatures and reduced food supply are likely to have the greatest impact on live CWCs in the future, leading to reduced coral growth and population shifts due to delayed juvenile maturation and high adult mortality.

Musashi Exerts Control of Gonadotrope Target mRNA Translation During the Mouse Estrous Cycle.

The anterior pituitary controls key biological processes, including growth, metabolism, reproduction, and stress responses through distinct cell types that each secrete specific hormones. The anterior pituitary cells show a remarkable level of cell type plasticity that mediates the shifts in hormone-producing cell populations that are required to meet organismal needs. The molecular mechanisms underlying pituitary cell plasticity are not well understood. Recent work has implicated the pituitary stem cell populations and specifically, the mRNA binding proteins of the Musashi family in control of pituitary cell type identity. In this study we have identified the target mRNAs that mediate Musashi function in the adult mouse pituitary and demonstrate the requirement for Musashi function in vivo. Using Musashi RNA immunoprecipitation, we identify a cohort of 1184 mRNAs that show specific Musashi binding. Identified Musashi targets include the Gnrhr mRNA, which encodes the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR), and the Fshb mRNA, encoding follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Reporter assays reveal that Musashi functions to exert repression of translation of the Fshb mRNA, in addition to the previously observed repression of the Gnrhr mRNA. Importantly, mice engineered to lack Musashi in gonadotropes demonstrate a failure to repress translation of the endogenous Gnrhr and Fshb mRNAs during the estrous cycle and display a significant heterogeneity in litter sizes. The range of identified target mRNAs suggests that, in addition to these key gonadotrope proteins, Musashi may exert broad regulatory control over the pituitary proteome in a cell type-specific manner.

Southern Red-backed Vole (Myodes gapperi) habitat associations in northern New England forests

Abstract Understanding habitat selection is fundamental to addressing the response of a species to disturbance. Because resources are unevenly distributed across the landscape, habitat selection occurs at multiple scales. We used capture–mark–recapture and radiotelemetry techniques to quantify the macrohabitat and microhabitat associations that define space use of the Southern Red-backed Vole (Myodes gapperi) in northeastern forests. Macrohabitat characteristics were evaluated at the scale of the forest stand by comparing conditions between visited and unvisited trap stations and suggest red-backed voles have an affinity for locations with higher basal area of Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and more coarse woody material. For microhabitat characteristics we modeled the influence of forest structure, ground cover, and geographic features on home range, specifically core area placement. We found that Southern Red-backed Vole core areas were associated with higher Red Maple (Acer rubrum) basal area, deeper leaf litter, greater density of hemlock stems, and closer proximity to water. The affinity of southern red-backed voles for eastern hemlock raises questions about population persistence and shifts in distribution as eastern hemlock stands are replaced by hardwood stands following infestation by Hemlock Woolly Adelgid.