A preliminary study of the manufacturing of breech faces.

Firearm examiners may face challenges with subclass characteristics. Subclass characteristics have the potential to be confused with individual characteristics if a careful analysis for the presence of subclass characteristics is not performed. Several case studies are reported in the literature that discuss the presence of subclass characteristics and advise firearm examiners to disregard these characteristics for identification purposes.

Aqueous extract from urucum ( L.): antimicrobial, antioxidant, and healing activity.

Annatto was obtained from seed (urucum) and is commonly used in food and cosmetic industries. The objective of this study was to identify the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the aqueous extract from urucum seeds and its skin healing potential in exposed cutaneous lesions in rats treated with the gel containing the extract. Three types of extracts from seeds were made using chloroform, sodium hydroxide, water, and estimated bixin and norbixin.

Mental Health Factors That Guide Individuals to Engage in Overconsumption Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Cultural Study Between USA and Ecuador.

Background: This study tests a framework that examines the role of several mental health factors (mood, wellbeing, health consciousness, and hoarding) on individuals' overconsumption behavior under the novel coronavirus context. This examination is relevant to public health literature because it increases our knowledge on how the context of COVID-19 pandemic affects people's mental health and provides answers to why individuals engage in overconsumption behavior. Additionally, this research also follows a cross-cultural perspective aiming to understand how individuals from different cultural orientations cope with the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Integrated photothermal decontamination device for N95 respirators.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for the COVID-19 global pandemic has infected over 25 million people worldwide and resulted in the death of millions. The COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in many regions around the world, particularly in middle- and low-income countries. The shortages of PPE, such as N95 respirators, is something that will persist until an effective vaccine is made available.

Epigenetic homogeneity in histone methylation underlies sperm programming for embryonic transcription.

Sperm contributes genetic and epigenetic information to the embryo to efficiently support development. However, the mechanism underlying such developmental competence remains elusive. Here, we investigated whether all sperm cells have a common epigenetic configuration that primes transcriptional program for embryonic development.