Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the McAllen metro area from 1950 to 2025.

The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) in South Texas has one of the highest prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the United States (US). We report for the first time the T2D prevalence in persons with HIV (PWH) in the RGV and the interrelationship between T2D, cardiometabolic risk factors, HIV-related indices, and antiretroviral therapies (ART). The PWH in this study received medical care at Valley AIDS Council (VAC) clinic sites located in Harlingen and McAllen, Texas. Henceforth, this cohort will be referred to as Valley AIDS Council Cohort (VACC). Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using retrospective data obtained from 1,827 registries. It included demographic and anthropometric variables, cardiometabolic traits, and HIV-related virological and immunological indices. For descriptive statistics, we used mean values of the quantitative variables from unbalanced visits across 20 months. Robust regression methods were used to determine the associations. For comparisons, we used cardiometabolic trait data obtained from HIV-uninfected San Antonio Mexican American Family Studies (SAMAFS; N = 2,498), and the Mexican American population in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES; N = 5,989). The prevalence of T2D in VACC was 51% compared to 27% in SAMAFS and 19% in HHANES, respectively. The PWH with T2D in VACC were younger (4.7 years) and had lower BMI (BMI 2.43 units less) when compared to SAMAFS individuals. In contrast, VACC individuals had increased blood pressure and dyslipidemia. The increased T2D prevalence in VACC was independent of BMI. Within the VACC, ART was associated with viral load and CD4+ T cell counts but not with metabolic dysfunction. Notably, we found that individuals with any INSTI combination had higher T2D risk: OR 2.08 (95%CI 1.67, 2.6; p < 0.001). In summary, our results suggest that VACC individuals may develop T2D at younger ages independent of obesity. The high burden of T2D in these individuals necessitates rigorously designed longitudinal studies to draw potential causal inferences and develop better treatment regimens.

We captured 235 Gray Hawks (Buteo plagiatus) in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Hidalgo, Willacy, and Cameron counties) of Texas from 6 February 2003 to 8 April 2023. We identified birds in five molt cycles: 115 birds in their first cycle, 16 in their second cycle, 73 in at least their second cycle, 19 in at least their third cycle, and 12 in at least their fourth cycle. Of these, we documented 15 instances of preformative molt, six instances where birds had an incomplete second prebasic molt, resulting in one to three retained juvenile rump feathers and/or wing coverts, and 18 instances where incomplete prebasic molts resulted in birds with multiple generations of flight feathers. We also present morphometric data from 144 Gray Hawks (nestlings and first-cycle birds captured prior to 1 October excluded). These results from the Lower Rio Grande Valley, on both molting strategies and measurements, differed in some respects from other sources based on the entire Gray Hawk population, most notably that birds from this northern and non-migratory population may show lower incidence of Stafflemauser molting patterns, and that they are heavier, which supports Bergmann’s rule. Methods We primarily used bal-chatri traps with 8–10 cm nooses made from 13.6 kg test monofilament fishing line to capture free-flying Gray Hawks (Bub 1991). We also used phai traps, bow net, and mist nets with a mounted Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) lure near nest sites (Bloom et al. 2007). We fit Gray Hawks with individually numbered U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) aluminum bands, and birds banded after November 2019 also received an aluminum color band (Acraft Sign and Nameplate Co. Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Anillas Talismán S. L., Madrid, Spain). We recorded hallux claw length, tail length, mass, wing chord, and exposed culmen length for each bird (Hull and Bloom 2001, Pyle 2008). Measurements were obtained using digital scales and calipers, clear plastic rulers, and metal wing rules with a 90-degree stop following the techniques outlined in Pyle (2008). We did not measure tarsus length because this was too difficult to standardize among multiple banders. Measurements on 196 birds were performed by WSC or MTS, with ten banders performing measurements on the remaining 39 birds under their direct supervision. We initially categorized birds as in their first year (juvenile or formative plumage) or as adults (basic plumage) based on the criteria of Pyle (2008). We also categorized birds as actively molting flight feathers or not molting. First-year birds were examined for preformative molt, i.e., newer gray formative body feathers contrasting with juvenile feathers. Preformative molt occurs prior to the onset of the second prebasic molt, as documented and discussed for Gray Hawk and other raptors in Pyle (2005a). Adults were examined for retained, worn, brown juvenile or moderately worn, gray, basic flight feathers. We ensured that our findings were based on molt by examining replacement patterns on both wings, and not adventitious replacement, which is not symmetrical between wings. We categorized molt and plumage cycles using Humphrey-Parkes-Howell terminology, and age classes according to molt cycle (Howell et al. 2003, Clark and Pyle 2015, Pyle et al. 2021). We separated age classes into local (nestlings, unable to fly), first cycle (between fledging and dropping the first primary during the second prebasic molt, or HY/SY in calendar-based terms), second cycle (between this and dropping the first primary during the third prebasic molt, or SY/TY), minimum second cycle (AHY/ASY), minimum third cycle (ASY/ATY) , and minimum fourth cycle (ATY/A4Y). When examining flight feathers, we looked for “sets” of sequentially replaced feathers between distally oriented wavesof molt (Pyle 2006, 2008). Sets are defined by an older, more worn primary distal to an adjacent newer primary, each set showing a cline in freshness from older inner to newer outer feathers, although a cline may not be even due to differing generations or molt suspensions; the number of these sets was used to determine minimum age for birds beyond third cycle (Pyle 2006, 2008). Open-wing images showing front and back of an extended wing were taken for archival purposes and to study molting patterns.

Parameter estimates and robust standard errors of most supported model describing diurnal habitat selection by sandhill cranes on their primary wintering area, the Middle Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico.

SWPA_alvbsn is a vector dataset of alluvial-fill basin statistics for the Southwest United States. Statistics for each basin include physical details such as area, landcover, elevation, slope and precipitation. Anthropogenic data for basin include landuse, population, and wateruse.

Unisexual vertebrates typically form through hybridization events between sexual species in which reproductive mode transitions occur in the hybrid offspring. This evolutionary history is thought to have important consequences for the ecology of unisexual lineages and their interactions with congeners in natural communities. However, these consequences have proven challenging to study owing to uncertainty about patterns of population genetic diversity in unisexual lineages. Of particular interest is resolving the contribution of historical hybridization events vs. postformational mutation to patterns of genetic diversity in nature. Here we use restriction site associated DNA genotyping to evaluate genetic diversity and demographic history in Aspidoscelis laredoensis, a diploid unisexual lizard species from the vicinity of the Rio Grande River in southern Texas and northern Mexico. The sexual progenitor species from which one or more lineages are derived also occur in the Rio Grande Valley region, although patterns of distribution across individual sites are quite variable. Results from population genetic and phylogenetic analyses resolved the major axes of genetic variation in this species and highlight how these match predictions based on historical patterns of hybridization. We also found discordance between results of demographic modelling using different statistical approaches with the genomic data. We discuss these insights within the context of the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that generate and maintain lineage diversity in unisexual species. As one of the most dynamic, intriguing, and geographically well investigated groups of whiptail lizards, these species hold substantial promise for future studies on the constraints of diversification in unisexual vertebrates.

This dataset includes the magnetotelluric (MT) sounding data collected in 2006 in the Southern San Luis Valley, Colorado. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a series of multidisciplinary studies, including MT surveys, in the San Luis Valley to improve understanding of the hydrogeology of the Santa Fe Group and the nature of the sedimentary deposits comprising the principal groundwater aquifers of the Rio Grande rift. The shallow unconfined and the deeper confined Santa Fe Group aquifers in the San Luis Basin are the main sources of municipal water for the region. The population of the San Luis Valley region is growing rapidly and water shortfalls could have serious consequences. Future growth and land management in the region depend on accurate assessment and protection of the region's groundwater resources.

Estimates of Φst underlined in bold indicate population pairs for which Snn indicates significant differentiation (Sidak adjusted α = 0.00038). Row headings indicate sample sizes; column headings, number of haplotypes present in the population.Labels for population samples: BR = Bitterroot Ranges; CR = Cascade Ranges/Klamath River Basin; CRD = Columbia River Drainage; ES = Eastern Sierra Nevada; EB = Escalante Breaks; FR = Front Range; MSI = Madrean Sky Islands; N-CA = Northern California; OH = Ohio; PA = Pennsylvania; NRGV = Northern Rio Grande Valley; SM = Sacramento Mountains; S-CA = Southern California; TN = Tennessee; VA = Virginia; WR = Wasatch Range; W-NM = Western New Mexico.Genetic differentiation among regional populations of Pityophthorus junglandis expressed as the average number of pairwise nucleotide differences (k) in a 627 bp stretch of COI (above the diagonal), and pairwise estimates of Φst (below the diagonal).