Category: Featured Database

Author: Gohir, W., Ratcliffe, E. M., & Sloboda, D. M. Description: Chronic disease risk is inextricably linked to our early-life environment, where maternal, fetal, and childhood factors predict disease risk later in life. Currently, maternal obesity is a key predictor of childhood obesity and metabolic complications in adulthood. Although the mechanisms are unclear, new and emerging evidence points to our microbiome, where the bacterial composition of the gut modulates the weight gain and altered metabolism that drives obesity. Over the course of pregnancy, maternal bacterial load increases, and gut bacterial…

Author: Borre, Y. E., Moloney, R. D., Clarke, G., Dinan, T. G., & Cryan, J. F. Description: There is increasing evidence that host-microbe interactions play a key role in maintaining homeostasis. Alterations in gut microbial composition is associated with marked changes in behaviors relevant to mood, pain and cognition, establishing the critical importance of the bi-directional pathway of communication between the microbiota and the brain in health and disease. Dysfunction of the microbiome-brain-gut axis has been implicated in stress-related disorders such as depression, anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome and neurodevelopmental…

Author: Johnson, K. V.-A., & Foster, K. R. Description: Growing evidence indicates that the mammalian microbiome can affect behaviour, and several symbionts even produce neurotransmitters. One common explanation for these observations is that symbionts have evolved to manipulate host behaviour for their benefit. Here, we evaluate the manipulation hypothesis by applying evolutionary theory to recent work on the gut-brain axis. Although the theory predicts manipulation by symbionts under certain conditions, these appear rarely satisfied by the genetically diverse communities of the mammalian microbiome. Specifically, any symbiont investing its resources to…

Author: Robinson, C., Dilkina, B., & Moreno-Cruz, J. Description: Sea level rise in the United States will lead to large scale migration in the future. We propose a framework to examine future climate migration patterns using models of human migration. Our framework requires that we distinguish between historical versus climate driven migration and recognizes how the impacts of climate change can extend beyond the affected area. We apply our framework to simulate how migration, driven by sea level rise, differs from baseline migration patterns. Specifically, we couple a sea level…

Author: Yin, J., Griffies, S. M., Winton, M., Zhao, M., & Zanna, L. Description: Storm surge and coastal flooding caused by tropical cyclones (hurricanes) and extratropical cyclones (nor’easters) pose a threat to communities along the Atlantic coast of the United States. Climate change and sea level rise are altering the statistics of these extreme events in a rather complex fashion. Here we use a fully coupled global weather/climate modeling system (GFDL CM4) to study characteristics of extreme daily sea level (ESL) along the U.S. Atlantic coast and their response to…

Author: Scheele, B. C., Pasmans, F., Skerratt, L. F., Berger, L., Martel, A., Beukema, W., Acevedo, A. A., Burrowes, P. A., Carvalho, T., Catenazzi, A., De la Riva, I., Fisher, M. C., Flechas, S. V., Foster, C. N., Frías-Álvarez, P., Garner, T. W. J., Gratwicke, B., Guayasamin, J. M., Hirschfeld, M., Kolby, J. E., Kosch, T. A., La Marca, E., Lindenmayer, D. B., Lips, K. R., Longo, A. V., Maneyro, R., McDonald, C. A., Mendelson, J., Palacios-Rodriguez, P., Parra-Olea, G., Richards-Zawacki, C. L., Rödel, M.-O., Rovito, S. M., Soto-Azat, C.,…

Author: Turnwald, B. P., Goyer, J. P., Boles, D. Z., Silder, A., Delp, S. L., & Crum, A. J. Description: Millions of people now access personal genetic risk estimates for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, cancer and obesity. While this information can be informative, research on placebo and nocebo effects suggests that learning of one’s genetic risk may evoke physiological changes consistent with the expected risk profile. Here we tested whether merely learning of one’s genetic risk for disease alters one’s actual risk by making people more likely to exhibit the…

Author: Kaushal, S. S., Likens, G. E., Pace, M. L., Utz, R. M., Haq, S., Gorman, J., & Grese, M. Description: Salt pollution and human-accelerated weathering are shifting the chemical composition of major ions in fresh water and increasing salinization and alkalinization across North America. We propose a concept, the freshwater salinization syndrome, which links salinization and alkalinization processes. This syndrome manifests as concurrent trends in specific conductance, pH, alkalinity, and base cations. Although individual trends can vary in strength, changes in salinization and alkalinization have affected 37% and 90%,…

Author: Moreno-Jiménez, E. P., Flor-García, M., Terreros-Roncal, J., Rábano, A., Cafini, F., Pallas-Bazarra, N., Ávila, J., & Llorens-Martín, M. Description: The hippocampus is one of the most affected areas in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Moreover, this structure hosts one of the most unique phenomena of the adult mammalian brain, namely, the addition of new neurons throughout life. This process, called adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN), confers an unparalleled degree of plasticity to the entire hippocampal circuitry. Nonetheless, direct evidence of AHN in humans has remained elusive. Thus, determining whether new neurons are…

Author: Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., & Law, K. L. Description: Plastics have outgrown most man-made materials and have long been under environmental scrutiny. However, robust global information, particularly about their end-of-life fate, is lacking. By identifying and synthesizing dispersed data on production, use, and end-of-life management of polymer resins, synthetic fibers, and additives, we present the first global analysis of all mass-produced plastics ever manufactured. We estimate that 8300 million metric tons (Mt) of virgin plastics have been produced to date. As of 2015, approximately 6300 Mt of plastic…