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We have attempted to re-establish bay scallops to the Virginia, U.S.A. coastal bays and document the dynamics of the restoration effort. Bay scallops ( Argopecten irradians ) once flourished in the eelgrass ( Zostera marina ) of the Virginia coastal bays. Eelgrass wasting disease led to declines, and both eelgrass and scallops were completely lost after a 1933 hurricane. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) led a su...
Interpretable deep learning reveals spatiotemporal MRI features of brain aging that align with neurodegenerationNARA Subscribed
Cortical thinning and atrophy are hallmarks of brain aging that have been characterized using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Brain aging involves many neuroanatomic features whose effects on brain structure remain unexplored. To address this challenge, we trained interpretable deep neural networks (DNNs) to estimate brain age (BA) from T 1 -weighted ( T 1 w) MRI. By identifying MRI features unapparent to humans, DNNs can fi...
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) disproportionately affects women and carriers of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE4), yet little is known about how sex and APOE interact to influence white matter (WM) integrity during disease progression. We integrated diffusion MRI and matched blood transcriptomic data to investigate these interactions and their underlying biological mechanisms. WM microstructure was quantified using diffusion te...
Marine megafauna species are affected by a wide range of anthropogenic threats. To evaluate the risk of such threats, species’ vulnerability to each threat must first be determined. We build on the existing threats classification scheme and ranking system of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species by assessing the vulnerability of 256 marine megafauna species to 23 at‐sea threat...
Predicting the progression of MCI and Alzheimer’s disease on structural brain integrity and other features with machine learningNARA Subscribed
Machine learning (ML) on structural MRI data shows high potential for classifying Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression, but the specific contribution of brain regions, demographics, and proteinopathy remains unclear. Using Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) data, we applied an extreme gradient-boosting algorithm and SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) values to classify cognitively normal (CN) older adults, th...
Positive Feedback on Climate Warming by Stream Microbial Decomposers Indicated by a Global Space‐For‐Time Substitution StudyNARA Subscribed
Decomposition of plant litter is a key ecological process in streams, whose contribution to the global carbon cycle is large relative to their extent on Earth. We examined the mechanisms underlying the temperature sensitivity (TS) of instream decomposition and forecast effects of climate warming on this process. Comparing data from 41 globally distributed sites, we assessed the TS of microbial and total decomposition using lit...
Global Marine Flyways Identified for Long‐Distance Migrating Seabirds From Tracking DataNARA Subscribed
Aim To identify the broad‐scale oceanic migration routes (‘marine flyways’) used by multiple pelagic, long‐distance migratory seabirds based on a global compilation of tracking data. Location Global. Time Period 1989–2023. Major Taxa Studied Seabirds (Families: Phaethontidae, Hydrobatidae, Diomedeidae, Procellariidae, Laridae and Stercorariidae). Methods We collated a comprehensive global tracking dataset that included the mig...
Unbound Brain-to-Plasma Partition Coefficient, Kp,uu,brain—a Game Changing Parameter for CNS Drug Discovery and DevelopmentNARA Subscribed
Purpose More than 15 years have passed since the first description of the unbound brain-to-plasma partition coefficient (K p,uu,brain ) by Prof. Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes, which was enabled by advancements in experimental methodologies including cerebral microdialysis. Since then, growing knowledge and data continue to support the notion that the unbound (free) concentration of a drug at the site of action, such as the brai...
Machine Learning Can Assign Geologic Basin to Produced Water Samples Using Major Ion GeochemistryNARA Subscribed
Understanding the geochemistry of waters produced during petroleum extraction is essential to informing the best treatment and reuse options, which can potentially be optimized for a given geologic basin. Here, we used the US Geological Survey’s National Produced Waters Geochemical Database (PWGD) to determine if major ion chemistry could be used to classify accurately a produced water sample to a given geologic basin based on...
Sustainability and comanagement of subsistence hunting in an indigenous reserve in GuyanaNARA Subscribed
Although hunting is a key component of subsistence strategies of many Amazonians, it is also one of the greatest threats to wildlife. Because indigenous reserves comprise over 20% of Amazonia, effective conservation often requires that conservation professionals work closely with indigenous groups to manage resource use. We used hunter‐generated harvesting data in spatially explicit biodemographic models to assess the sustaina...
Delayed life history effects, multilevel selection, and evolutionary trade‐offs in the California tiger salamanderNARA Subscribed
Delayed life history effects (DLHEs) occur when fitness in one life stage affects fitness in subsequent life stages. Given their biphasic life cycle, pond‐breeding amphibians provide a natural system for studying DLHEs, although these effects are not restricted to species with biphasic life histories. In this study, we used multiple mark–recapture techniques enabled by a large trapping array to monitor components of fitness an...
Calculating Biologically Accurate Mitigation Credits: Insights from the California Tiger SalamanderNARA Subscribed
Current conservation mitigation plans often fail to ensure full in‐kind habitat replacement for endangered species, which suggests the need for improved methods for calculating mitigation credits. A simple, yet biologically meaningful method for calculating mitigation credits would be to let the number of mitigation credits assigned to a parcel of land scale with the reproductive value of the individuals occupying that parcel....