The cyanobacterial β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (L-BMAA) is described as a low-potency excitotoxin, possibly a factor in the increased incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinsonism-dementia complex (PDC) in Guam. The latter association is intensively disputed, as L-BMAA concentrations required for toxic effects exceed those assumed to occur via food. The question thus was raise...

• Novel eDNA survey for detecting critically endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks. Enables the first detection of hammerheads in Guam since 1971. A single-day sampling effort outperforms five decades visual surveys. The method is non-invasive, cost-effective, and user friendly. Survey application allows rapid data generation science-based conservation. Among sharks, ( Sphyrna lewini ) have un...

Annonaceae (custard-apple family) canang odorant (French); chiráng, irang (Palau); derangerang, derangirang (Nauru); ilahnglahng, ilanlang (Kosrae); ilang-ilang, alang-ilang (Guam, CNMI); ilangilang, lengileng, alangilang, pur-n-wai, pwurenwai, seir en wai (Pohnpei); ilanilan (Marshall Islands); lanalana (Hawai‘i); makosoi, mokohoi, makasui, mokosoi (Fiji); mohokoi (Tonga); moso‘oi (Samoa); mot...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) occurred on the island of Guam with unusually high incidence rates for many years but began to disappear with the island's westernization after WW II. The authors document these changes and suggest that they support a hypothesis that cultural changes could be responsible for both the virtual disappearance of this chronic degenerative neurologic disease as wel...

Protein homeostasis (proteostasis), the correct balance between production and degradation of proteins, is essential for the health and survival of cells. Proteostasis requires an intricate network of protein quality control pathways (the proteostasis network) that work to prevent protein aggregation and maintain proteome health throughout the lifespan of the cell. Collapse of proteostasis has ...

The endemic diplommatinid land snails (Caenogastropoda: Mollusca) of Belau (Republic of Palau, Micronesia) are an exceptionally diverse group of largely undescribed species distributed among rock and leaf litter habitats on most of Belau's 586 islands. Diplommatinid shell morphology (e.g. shell sculpture) reflects habitat type. In this study, I analysed a subset of the 90 diplommatinid species ...

Western organizations have led the globalization of business operations, especially in the deployment of multi-domestic strategy. The decentralized organizational control and customized operations support the fast penetration of huge global markets. Western management theory considers information the lifeblood of organization. The sharing of information lubricates the interlocking divisions wit...

Diverse species of cyanobacteria have recently been discovered to produce the neurotoxic non-protein amino acid beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). In Guam, BMAA has been studied as a possible environmental toxin in the diets of indigenous Chamorro people known to have high levels of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/ Parkinsonism Dementia Complex (ALS/PDC). BMAA has been found to accumulate in brai...