It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, November 10, 2025
Evolution of firearm mortality as the leading cause of death in the US pediatric population
JAMA Pediatrics
About The Study:
U.S. individuals ages 1 to 19 are now more likely to die by firearm injury than any other cause. While this national shift occurred in 2019, Alaska had already flipped as early as 2004. Over the past 2 decades, more states flipped to firearm mortality as the predominant cause of death in this age group, including nearly half of the states in the most recent era reviewed.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Michael L. Nance, MD, email nance@chop.edu.
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
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About The Study: In this cross-sectional study of homicides among women, state-level firearm ownership was significantly associated with all-cause and firearm-specific homicide among pregnant women, independent of state-level factors. These results suggest that homicide prevention interventions should focus on women, especially during the increased risk period of pregnancy.
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
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About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.
Journal
JAMA Network Open
DICKENSIAN AMERIKA
Child abuse and neglect rates in the U.S. are dropping, but disparities exist
Poverty is a main driver of maltreatment, and benefits programs—which are currently in jeopardy—can help reduce disparities
Investigators at Mass General Brigham have found that cases of child abuse and neglect in the United States have declined overall over the last decade, but disparities have persisted and in some cases widened. Poverty, which likely underlies much of the observed gaps, was highlighted as a critically important target for intervention. The research is published in JAMA Pediatrics.
“Poverty is a relentless source of stress that permeates families, creating an environment where the struggles for survival may overshadow the nurturing needs of children,” said lead author Richard T. Liu, PhD, director of Suicide Research in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and of Big Data Studies in the Depression Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Our study highlights that progress is needed in combating drivers of maltreatment, particularly poverty, and in targeting differential barriers in access to public health benefits programs.”
For their study, Liu and colleagues tallied confirmed and referred cases of emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect by race, ethnicity, and sex, based on all Child Protective Services cases across the U.S. in 2012–2023. This included 7,326,987 confirmed cases and 32,980,613 referrals.
Overall, confirmed cases of all forms of maltreatment declined, except for sexual abuse, and remained unchanged for referrals. Disparities persisted over time, and incidence was lowest among Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (approximately 19 out of every 10,000 children in 2012 compared with 15 in 2023) and generally highest among Black children (approximately 119 of 10,000 children in 2012 to 110 in 2023). Female children experienced more maltreatment, with disparities largest and widening over time for sexual abuse.
“Studies have shown that expansion in Medicaid, SNAP, and other benefits programs are associated with reductions in child maltreatment and related emergency department visits,” said Liu. “Strengthening government financial assistance programs can serve as a crucial intervention, addressing underlying challenges of poverty and fostering safer environments for children in need."
Authorship: In addition to Liu, authors include Rachel Y. Levin and Margarid R. Turnamian.
Paper cited: Liu RT et al. “A whole-population study of national trends in child abuse and neglect by sex, race, and ethnicity in the U.S. JAMA Pediatrics DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.4487
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About Mass General Brigham
Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. For more information, please visit massgeneralbrigham.org.
A new native bee species with tiny devil-like “horns” named Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer has been discovered in Western Australia’s Goldfields, highlighting how much remains unknown about Australia’s native pollinators.
The striking new bee was found during surveys of a critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius that grows only in the Bremer Range region, which is between the towns of Norseman and Hyden.
Lead author Curtin Adjunct Research Fellow Dr Kit Prendergast, from the Curtin School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said the female bee’s unusual horned face inspired its name lucifer – Latin for “light-bringer,” but also a playful nod to the devilish look.
“I discovered the species while surveying a rare plant in the Goldfields and noticed this bee visiting both the endangered wildflower and a nearby mallee tree,” Dr Prendergast said.
“The female had these incredible little horns on her face. When writing up the new species description I was watching the Netflix show Lucifer at the time, and the name just fit perfectly. I am also a huge fan of the Netflix character Lucifer so it was a no-brainer.
“DNA barcoding confirmed the male and female were the same species and that it didn’t match any known bees in DNA databases, nor did the specimens I had collected morphologically match any in museum collections.
“It’s the first new member of this bee group to be described in more than 20 years, which really shows how much life we still have to discover – including in areas that are at risk of mining, such as the Goldfields.”
Dr Prendergast said the discovery highlighted the importance of understanding native bees before their habitats are disturbed.
“Because the new species was found in the same small area as the endangered wildflower, both could be at risk from habitat disturbance and other threatening processes like climate change,” Dr Prendergast said.
“Many mining companies still don’t survey for native bees, so we may be missing undescribed species, including those that play crucial roles in supporting threatened plants and ecosystems.
“Without knowing which native bees exist and what plants they depend on, we risk losing both before we even realise they’re there.”
The publication of the research coincides with Australian Pollinator Week, an annual celebration of the crucial role bees, butterflies and other insects play in maintaining healthy ecosystems and food production.
The research was supported by the Atlas of Living Australia, the Goldfields Environmental Management Group and the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
Published in the ‘Journal of Hymenoptera Research’, the full paper, ‘Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), a new megachilid with demon-like horns that visits the Critically Endangered Marianthus aquilonaris (Pittosporaceae)’, is available here: doi.org/10.3897/jhr.98.166350
Edit Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), a new megachilid with demon-like horns that visits the Critically Endangered Marianthus aquilonaris (Pittosporaceae)
Article Publication Date
11-Nov-2025
Identification of the sex-determination gene in bees and ants
Most species on Earth exist as two biological sexes, and the exchange of genes between males and females is vital for their survival. Yet, what actually determines whether an individual develops into a male or female varies widely across species.
In humans, sex is determined by the X and Y chromosomes: individuals with XY become male, while those with XX become female. A single gene on the Y chromosome, SRY, acts as the switch that triggers male development.
However, for many other species, the mechanism is completely different. Among insects such as bees, wasps, and ants, sex is determined through a system known as haplodiploidy, which is found in around 12% of animal species. In this mechanism of sex determination, females develop from fertilized eggs and have two sets of chromosomes, while males develop from unfertilized eggs and possess only one set.
In honeybees, researchers discovered more than two decades ago that a gene called csd controls this remarkable process. Individuals carrying two different versions of csd develop into females, whereas those with only one version become males. Yet until now, it was unclear whether the other 20,000 species of bee use the same genetic switch.
To uncover this mystery, Matthew Webster's research group at Uppsala University sequenced the entire genome of the red mason bee (Osmia bicornis), a common species frequently found in bee hotels in gardens across Europe. They carefully screened hundreds of nests to identify unusually large males—rare individuals that carry two identical copies of the sex-determining gene. By comparing their genomes, they were able to pinpoint the exact location of the gene responsible for sex determination in this species. Their findings are published this week in the journal PLoS Biology.
They were surprised to find that the gene identified, ANTSR, is the same one that was recently shown to control sex in a species of ant. ANTSR is a long-noncoding RNA gene, which means it is not converted into a protein. Depending on the number of copies present, it acts as a switch to initiate the developmental process towards male or female. The finding that this gene has a conserved function in bees and ants suggests that it has been working as a sex-determination gene for more than 150 million years.
"This is really suprising because it means ANTSR could be the main sex-determining gene used by more than 150,000 species of bees, wasps and ants" said Matthew Webster, senior author of the study. "We still don't understand how variation in this gene generates the signal triggering male or female development. The reason why honeybees use a different sex-determining gene is also still a mystery."
This discovery brings researchers a major step closer to understanding how sex-determination systems evolved across bees and ants, and the molecular mechanisms underpinning the haplodiploid system of sex determination. This is relevant for understanding how genetic diversity within these systems helps maintain healthy populations. The findings may also have implications for bee conservation and breeding programs, as they provide key insights into the genetics underlying reproduction in these essential pollinators.
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