Understanding how genetic variants influence disease risk through molecular mechanisms remains a central challenge in complex disease genetics. Nonsyndromic orofacial clefts (OFCs) exemplify this challenge, with most risk loci residing in non-coding regions. We hypothesized that common genetic variants influence OFC risk by modulating DNA methylation at regulatory elements through methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs)....

Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona infections cause periodic outbreaks in California sea lions (CSLs; Zalophus californianus ) and sporadic deaths in phocids. However, the frequency of infection and associated health impacts remain uncharacterized in sympatric threatened southern sea otters (SSOs; Enhydra lutris nereis ), which serve as important sentinels of coastal health. Given the broad impacts of L. interrogans on othe...

Understanding the organization and function of thalamic pulvinar projections to the amygdala is of interest due to the proposal that this projection provides the amygdala with short-latency visual sensory input that eludes conscious awareness. However, most reports in primates have emphasized a projection from the multimodal medial pulvinar—a pulvinar division unique to primates—versus projections from visual pulvinar division...

The effectiveness of marine conservation networks depends on their ability to manage and safeguard against the many overlapping human activities and stressors influencing marine ecosystems. Cumulative impact mapping (CIM) combines information on the intensity and location of stressors with the spatial extent and vulnerability of marine habitats to generate a single, relative cumulative impact (CI) score. Despite its potential...

The 39.8 ka Campanian Ignimbrite eruption from Campi Flegrei, Italy, emplaced voluminous Plinian fallout and deposits from dilute pyroclastic density currents. Elevated concentrations of magmatic volatiles have been proposed as a gas source for particle dilution of these pyroclastic density currents. Trace, major, and volatile element concentrations measured in 51 clinopyroxene-hosted melt inclusions from six Campanian Ignimbr...

There is a global increase in the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas (O&G) infrastructure at the end of its operating lifetime. However, there is strikingly limited empirical evidence for the environmental and ecological impacts of decommissioning. Here, we employed a meta‐analytical approach on an industry benthic monitoring database to investigate the benthic biodiversity and food web properties of structures sampled in...

Few published studies of moth mating behavior provide adequate details about the lighting conditions under which observations are optimal whilst not disturbing the insects. Fewer than 32% ( n =420) of publications detailed specifics about the light type, color or the output used, and of those that did ( n =133) more than half reported on only one of these aspects. Eueupithecia vollonoides moths are exceptionally sensitive to h...

A checklist collating records of New Zealand’s benthic and epiphytic dinoflagellate species was published on‐line in 2018 [Rhodes L, Smith KF. 2019. A checklist of the benthic and epiphytic marine dinoflagellates of New Zealand, including Rangitāhua/Kermadec Islands. N Z J Mar Freshw Res. 53:258–277. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2018.1492425 ]. Over the last six years, seventeen species from nine genera (three newly reported genera)...

Identifying populations at highest risk from climate change is a critical component of conservation efforts. However, vulnerability assessments are usually applied at the species level, even though intraspecific variation in exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity play a crucial role in determining vulnerability. Genomic data can inform intraspecific vulnerability by identifying signatures of local adaptation that reflect...

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are key ocean conservation tools that can safeguard the diversity and function of marine ecosystems in the face of an increasing footprint and intensity of human activities. To be effective, MPA design, implementation, and management must consider not only individual, but also cumulative effects of historical, current and foreseeable future activities both within and outside MPA boundaries. Cumula...