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)....

Global spread of animal pathogens has contributed to species declines and extinctions. In regions where a particular disease is enzootic, pathogen inhibition may arise through protection provided by host‐associated microbiomes. Amphibians skin microbiomes can inhibit growth of the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), preventing emergence of disease through a range of microbe‐mediated antifungal mechanisms, allo...

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 Asia region harbors exceptional chondrichthyan (shark, ray, and chimaera) diversity but faces intense fishing pressure. The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) process provides a collaborative, evidence-based framework to identify critical habitats and inform spatial management. We assessed ISRAs across the Bay of Bengal, Southeast Asia, and the Northwest Pacific to characterize their extent, ecological significance, and...

Rationale The impact of cannabis use patterns on pain perception during abstinence remains unclear. Objectives This study examined whether cannabis use frequency and weekly delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) exposure are associated with pain perception and circulating cannabinoid levels during biochemically verified brief abstinence. Methods Healthy adults ( N = 75; 29 females, 46 males; ages 21–55) reporting past-month cannab...

Predation risk induces a myriad of behavioral antipredator responses of prey. However, different antipredator behaviors exhibit different degrees of flexibility within a single prey species. Moreover, how predator species composition and traits interact with the flexibility of particular antipredator behaviors to determine spatiotemporal activity patterns of prey remains unknown. We examined geographic variation in multiple be...

Ageism refers to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination based on age. Ageism negatively impacts physical and mental health across the lifespan, yet knowledge about the experience of ageism in Singapore is limited. This study evaluated the prevalence of experienced ageism in Singapore and identified its key determinants within a nationally representative cohort. In the cross-sectional HEalthy LOngevity (HELO) survey ( N = 3...

Complex landscapes are challenging to study because both the higher level contextual and interacting lower level mechanistic processes underpinning their ecological characteristics occur simultaneously. However, food‐web structures can provide process insight in such landscapes by identifying these processes in specific contexts. Here, we used stable isotopes to identify spatially separate resources and infer resource flows un...

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...