How are armadillos, the leprosy bacterium, and organ regeneration connected? In a recent study, researchers found that leprosy infection causes armadillo livers to grow, offering clues to organ regeneration.

Read more at The Science Journal for Kids: Can armadillos show us how to regrow a liver?

Pinyon jays and Clark’s nutcrackers share habitat in the southwestern U.S., and both rely heavily on thousands of cached pine seeds over the winter. But the two species differ when it comes to their social structures: Pinyon jays are highly social, while Clark’s nutcrackers are more solitary. Researchers investigated how this difference in sociality influences their caching behavior when being observed by a bird of their own kind or a different species.

Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Hiding Seeds? It Depends Who’s Watching.

In my latest article for the Science Journal for Kids, I took on a paper in which researchers detailed how glassfrogs turn transparent to avoid detection by predators. It’s all about hiding those red blood cells!

Read the article here: How Do Glassfrogs Become Transparent?

The Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit (YCSU) is an inpatient psychiatric setting at Nationwide Children’s for children and adolescents experiencing a mental health crisis. Over the last 12 years, the YCSU has grown from a two-bed unit housed within a general emergency department to a 16-bed unit designed specifically with the needs of youths and families in crisis in mind. In a new book chapter, clinicians and researchers from Nationwide Children’s detail why the unit was established, how it has grown and why it is a promising alternative psychiatric intervention to traditional inpatient hospitalization.

Read more here: Evolution of the Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit.

In a new case series, researchers from Nationwide Children’s report using deep brain stimulation (DBS) to help manage tremor due to a genetic movement disorder in two brothers. The report, published in the journal Pediatric Neurology, suggests DBS may be useful in treating medically resistant tremor in pediatric patients with related disorders.

Read more at Pediatrics Nationwide: Deep Brain Stimulation Ameliorates Symptoms of Genetic Movement Disorder.