Preoperative Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Risk of Postoperative Complications: A Single Center Observational Cohort Bayesian Analysis.

Background: While exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution (PM ) is known to cause adverse health effects, its impact on postoperative outcomes in US adults remains understudied. Perioperative exposure to PM may induce inflammation that interacts insidiously with the surgical stress response, leading to higher postoperative complications.

Methods: We conducted a single center, retrospective cohort study using data from 49,615 surgical patients living along Utah's Wasatch Front and who underwent elective surgical procedures at a single academic medical center from 2016-2018.

Employee Group Coaching Program for University and Hospital Employees During COVID-19: A Feasibility Study.

Background: Workplace wellbeing programs can be beneficial but range widely in approach. A group coaching model offers numerous benefits.

Objective: To evaluate feasibility of group coaching for employees during COVID-19.

Stan and BART for Causal Inference: Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Using the Power of Stan and the Flexibility of Machine Learning.

A wide range of machine-learning-based approaches have been developed in the past decade, increasing our ability to accurately model nonlinear and nonadditive response surfaces. This has improved performance for inferential tasks such as estimating average treatment effects in situations where standard parametric models may not fit the data well. These methods have also shown promise for the related task of identifying heterogeneous treatment effects.

Antiemetic Prophylaxis as a Marker of Health Care Disparities in the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry.

Background: US health care disparities persist despite repeated countermeasures. Research identified race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status as factors, mediated through individual provider and/or systemic biases; little research exists in anesthesiology. We investigated antiemetic prophylaxis as a surrogate marker for anesthesia quality by individual providers because antiemetics are universally available, indicated contingent on patient characteristics (gender, age, etc), but independent of comorbidities and not yet impacted by regulatory or financial constraints.

A pragmatic trial to improve adherence with scheduled appointments in an inner-city pain clinic by human phone calls in the patient's preferred language.

Study Objective: We investigated if human reminder phone calls in the patient's preferred language increase adherence with scheduled appointments in an inner-city chronic pain clinic. We hypothesized that language and cultural incongruence is the underlying mechanism to explain poor attendance at clinic appointments in underserved Hispanic populations.

Design: Pragmatic randomized controlled clinical trial SETTING: Innercity academic chronic pain clinic with a diverse, predominantly African-American and Hispanic population PATIENTS: All (n=963) adult patients with a scheduled first appointment between October 2014 and October 2015 at the Montefiore Pain Center in the Bronx, New York were enrolled.

Stan: A Probabilistic Programming Language.

Stan is a probabilistic programming language for specifying statistical models. A Stan program imperatively defines a log probability function over parameters conditioned on specified data and constants. As of version 2.

Genetic variation in Pinus strobiformis growth and drought tolerance from southwestern US populations.

The persistence of some tree species is threatened by combinations of novel abiotic and biotic stressors. To examine the hypothesis that Pinus strobiformis Engelm., a tree threatened by an invasive forest pathogen and a changing climate, exhibits intraspecific genetic variation in adaptive traits, we conducted a common garden study of seedlings at one location with two watering regimes using 24 populations.

Computational Ranking of Yerba Mate Small Molecules Based on Their Predicted Contribution to Antibacterial Activity against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

The aqueous extract of yerba mate, a South American tea beverage made from Ilex paraguariensis leaves, has demonstrated bactericidal and inhibitory activity against bacterial pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of two unique fractions of yerba mate aqueous extract revealed 8 identifiable small molecules in those fractions with antimicrobial activity. For a more comprehensive analysis, a data analysis pipeline was assembled to prioritize compounds for antimicrobial testing against both MRSA and methicillin-sensitive S.

Discontinuity in the cancer slope factor as it passes from high to low exposure levels--arsenic in the BFD-endemic area.

Background: The ingestion of inorganic arsenic causes bladder and lung cancers demonstrably at >400-500ug/L but questionably below 100-200ug/L. Using the standard 42-village cancer mortality dataset from the Blackfoot-disease (BFD) endemic area of southwest Taiwan (Wu et al., 1989), we examined the risk from low exposures by excluding the high exposures.

Chemically tunable ionic liquids with aprotic heterocyclic anion (AHA) for CO(2) capture.

Ionic liquids (ILs) with aprotic heterocyclic anions, or AHAs, can bind CO2 with reaction enthalpies that are suitable for gas separations and without suffering large viscosity increases. In the present work, we have synthesized ILs bearing an alkyl-phosphonium cation with indazolide, imidazolide, pyrrolide, pyrazolide and triazolide-based anions that span a wide range of predicted reaction enthalpies with CO2. Each AHA-based IL was characterized by NMR spectroscopy and their physical properties (viscosity, glass transition, and thermal decomposition temperature) determined.

Integrating landscape genomics and spatially explicit approaches to detect loci under selection in clinal populations.

Uncovering the genetic basis of adaptation hinges on the ability to detect loci under selection. However, population genomics outlier approaches to detect selected loci may be inappropriate for clinal populations or those with unclear population structure because they require that individuals be clustered into populations. An alternate approach, landscape genomics, uses individual-based approaches to detect loci under selection and reveal potential environmental drivers of selection.

The influence of socioeconomic markers on the association between fine particulate matter and hospital admissions for respiratory conditions among children.

Objectives: We evaluated the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on hospital admissions for respiratory conditions associated with ambient particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) in children aged 1 to 9 years in 12 California counties, from 2000 to 2005.

Retail firewood can transport live tree pests.

Untreated firewood can harbor destructive insects and pathogens and transport them to uninfested areas. In a national survey of retail locations selling firewood in 18 states, over half (52%) of the firewood was from sources out of the purchase state and 50% showed evidence of insect infestation. In a three state survey of southern Rocky Mountain retailers, the most common retailer types carrying firewood were grocery stores and department or big box stores followed by gas stations or convenience stores.

Integrating risk context into risk assessments: the Risk Context Scale.

The context in which offenders are released is an important component of conducting risk assessments. A sample of 257 supervised male parolees were followed in the community (M = 870 days) after an initial risk assessment. Drawing on community-based information, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the recently developed Risk Context Scale.

Effect of water and temperature on absorption of CO2 by amine-functionalized anion-tethered ionic liquids.

Amine-functionalized anion-tethered ionic liquids (ILs) trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium asparaginate [P(66614)][Asn], glutaminate [P(66614)][Gln], lysinate [P(66614)][Lys], methioninate [P(66614)][Met], prolinate [P(66614)][Pro], taurinate [P(66614)][Tau], and threoninate [P(66614)][Thr] were synthesized and investigated as potential absorbents for CO(2) capture from postcombustion flue gas. Their physical properties, including density, viscosity, glass transition temperature, and thermal decomposition temperature were determined. Furthermore, the CO(2) absorption isotherms of [P(66614)][Lys], [P(66614)][Tau], [P(66614)][Pro], and [P(66614)][Met] were measured using a volumetric method, and the results were modeled with two different Langmuir-type absorption models.

We do, therefore we think: time, motility, and consciousness.

This article is a philosopher's expanded review of two recent books on neurophysiology: Rodolfo Llinás's I of the Vortex and György Buszáki's Rhythms of the Brain. Researchers such as these are converging on a view of consciousness as originating in motility and as inherently temporal due to the brainwave oscillations that underlay it. Most current discussions of consciousness include implicit philosophical presuppositions inherited from the canon of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant, e.

Equimolar CO(2) absorption by anion-functionalized ionic liquids.

Amino acid ionic liquid trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium methioninate [P(66614)][Met] and prolinate [P(66614)][Pro] absorb CO(2) in nearly 1:1 stoichiometry, surpassing by up to a factor of 2 the CO(2) capture efficiency of previously reported ionic liquid and aqueous amine absorbants for CO(2). Room temperature isotherms are obtained by barometric measurements in an accurately calibrated stirred cell, and the product identity is confirmed using in situ IR. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations support the 1:1 reaction stoichiometry and predict reaction enthalpies in good agreement with calorimetric measurements and isotherms.

Monitoring surface water chemistry near magnesium chloride dust suppressant treated roads in Colorado.

Magnesium chloride (MgCl2)-based dust suppression products are commonly used throughout western United States on nonpaved roads for dust suppression and road stabilization by federal, state, and county transportation agencies. The environmental implications of annually applying these products throughout spring and summer months on adjacent stream chemistry are not known. Sixteen streams were monitored biweekly for 1 to 2 yr in two Colorado counties for a suite of water quality variables up and downstream of nonpaved roads treated with MgCl2-based dust suppression products.

Volatile compounds from excreta of laboratory mice (Mus musculus) : Preliminary examination of composition and effects on behavior.

Volatile components of all the excretory products deposited by house mice may contribute to their ability to identify their own territories. When mice were placed on a clean surface, they deposited feces, secretions discharged from the anus (anal secretion) and urine. Exposure to several clean surfaces in succession caused a decline in the number of fecal pellets and urine spots deposited and an increase in the number of anal smears.

Volatiles from feces of wild male house mice : Chemistry and effects on behavior and heart Rate.

Volatile compounds from the fecal pellets deposited by a house mouse could be used for the purpose of communication with conspecifics. Analysis of volatiles from fresh and aged pellets by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry showed that many compounds were present and that ketones, alcohols, and carboxylic acids were the most common. Introducing volatiles from the fecal pellets of strange males into the territory of a singly housed male altered the site at which the resident mouse deposited most of its feces, and introducing the fecal pellets of a male mouse into the environment where it encountered a conspecific improved its success in an encounter with a stranger.

Microflora and volatile fatty acids present in inguinal pouches of the wild rabbit,Oryctolagus cuniculus, in Australia.

Contents of inguinal pouches of the wild rabbit,Oryctolagus cuniculus, have been examined for the presence of microorganisms and volatile fatty acids. A total of 245 isolates were made from 167 samples taken from 75 rabbits, and microorganisms were obtained from 93% of individuals. The most common microorganism encountered wasStaphylococcus aureus, followed by the yeastCandida kruzei.

Effect of volatiles collected above fecal pellets on behavior of the rabbit,Oryctolagus cuniculus, tested in an experimental chamber : II. Gas chromatographic fractionation of trapped volatiles.

Gas chromatographic techniques were used to trap and fractionate the volatile substances emanating from the fecal pellets of wild rabbits,Oryctolagus cuniculus, which incorporate the odor of the anal gland secretion. The volatiles were bubbled through water, trapped on Chromosorb 105, transferred to Silicone SF96 traps, passed through a GC capillary column, and retrapped on SF96. The behavioral effect of trapped and fractionated volatiles was determined in four series of bioassays involving 51 adult, male, wild-type rabbits in 112, ten-minute tests.

The ovipositional response of the Australian sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina, to fleece-rot odours.

The ovipositional response of Lucilia cuprina flies to odours emanating from fleece-rot lesions of greasy wool in which Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria proliferated, was studied. Fractionation of the fleece-rot odours was carried out by bubbling the volatile components through hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide solutions to remove basic odours and acidic odours respectively. It was found that the acidic/neutral odours of fleece-rot wool, when perfused into wet, greasy wool stimulated L.

Identification of some volatile compounds in the odor of fecal pellets of the rabbit,Oryctolagus cuniculus.

A study has been made of the volatile constituents in the vapors collected from fecal pellets of wild rabbits,Oryctolagus cuniculus. Measurements of changes in the heart rates of adult male rabbits exposed to the effluent of a gas chromatographic capillary column were used to indicate the presence of compounds which may be of behavioral significance. Combined with the use of high-resolution columns in gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, this approach has implicated several classes of compounds, including volatile fatty acids and phenols, which in certain absolute or relative concentrations may be involved in the formation of signals of territorial importance.