The association between hormonal contraceptive use and smoking, negative affect, and cessation attempts in college females.

Exogenous and endogenous female hormones influence nicotine use and cessation, potentially through mechanisms such as anxiety and negative affect. In the present study, college females using all types of hormonal contraceptives (HC) were compared to those not using HC to determine the potential influence on current smoking, negative affect, and current and past cessation attempts. Differences between progestin-only and combination HC were also examined.

New Species of (Myristicaceae) from South America.

With about 70 species , is the largest genus of Myristicaceae in the Neotropics, the genus ranked in the top ten genera of abundance across Amazonia. Ten new species are proposed in this striking genus, which are described based on morphology, and are illustrated. The new species were discovered thanks to herbarium specimens collected mainly in the 1980s and 1990s when field documentations were more active.

Exploring the experiences of pregnant women in the U.S. during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this paper, we integrate the stress process model with symbolic interactionism to frame our analysis of interviews with 35 women who were pregnant and/or gave birth during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. We detail three stressors, highlight their variation, and discuss how they coped with these stressors. Women reported having to navigate contradictory information about the public health crisis, but Black participants simultaneously endured added strain from a heightened awareness of racialized violence.

Using pictographs as traits to explore morphological diversity in sharks.

Body shape is a foundational trait on the differences between species. However, morphological measurements can be simplifying and, for many taxa, can be distorted upon preservation or are difficult to collect due to a species' habit or size. Scientific illustrations, or pictographs, provide information on a species' morphology but are rarely used as traits.

Sport specialization in Swedish football players: Investigating a model of antecedents and outcomes.

Drawing on data from the present and former football players (= 1026) selected to a national football talent programme at the age of 15, this study explores a model of sport specialisation. We examined three specific aspects of sport specialisation including early football specialisation, participation in youth elite football training environments (i.e.

Deep ecomorphological and genetic divergence in Steller's Jays (, Aves: Corvidae).

The relationship between ecology and morphology is a cornerstone of evolutionary biology, and quantifying variation across environments can shed light on processes that give rise to biodiversity. Three morphotypes of the Steller's Jay () occupy different ecoregions in western North America, which vary in climate and landcover. These morphotypes (Coastal, Interior, Rocky Mountain) differ in size, plumage coloration, and head pattern.

Hyphema and secondary glaucoma as a presenting complaint in a dog with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

A 5-year-old Pomeranian was diagnosed with anterior uveitis, hyphema, and secondary glaucoma OD. Concurrent retinal hemorrhage, perivascular sheathing, and papilledema were identified OS. Work-up identified small cell lymphocytosis (>900 × 10/L), anemia, and thrombocytopenia.

Resolution and Resolving Power in Mass Spectrometry.

The term resolution is one of the most important in mass spectrometry because it describes the ability to separate peaks in mass spectra. The term resolving power is often used to describe the ability of a mass spectrometer to resolve adjacent peaks in a mass spectrum and is often used interchangeably with resolution. The separation of peaks for singly charged ions can be expressed as a mass difference and the ratio is often given as a quantitative measure of the ability of a mass spectrometer to separate ions.

Learning by Doing: Student & Faculty Reflections on a Collaborative Model for Conducting and Publishing Mixed Methods Research in a Graduate Course.

Due to time constraints and faculty resources, one-semester research methods courses, especially mixed methods, often do not result in meaningful student-produced work that contributes to scholarly literature. As publishing increasingly becomes expected for graduate students, instructors may seek ways to incorporate publishing opportunities into course curriculum. This case study presents one instructor's collaborative teaching and publishing model along with graduate student feedback and recommendations for reproducibility of the course model.

Hyperspectral dark field optical microscopy for orientational imaging of a single plasmonic nanocube using a physics-based learning method.

Rotational dynamics at the molecular level could provide additional data regarding protein diffusion and cytoskeleton formation at the cellular level. Due to the isotropic emission pattern of fluorescence molecules, it is challenging to extract rotational information from them during imaging. Metal nanoparticles show a polarization-dependent response and could be used for sensing rotational motion.

Multiple-Inputs Convolutional Neural Network for COVID-19 Classification and Critical Region Screening From Chest X-ray Radiographs: Model Development and Performance Evaluation.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is becoming one of the largest, unprecedented health crises, and chest X-ray radiography (CXR) plays a vital role in diagnosing COVID-19. However, extracting and finding useful image features from CXRs demand a heavy workload for radiologists.

Objective: The aim of this study was to design a novel multiple-inputs (MI) convolutional neural network (CNN) for the classification of COVID-19 and extraction of critical regions from CXRs.

Spatiotemporal patterns of male and female white-tailed deer on a hunted landscape.

Resource selection in sexually dimorphic ungulates is at least partially explained by sex-specific resource requirements and risk aversion strategies. Females generally spend more time in areas with less risk and abundant, high-quality forage due to their smaller body size. However, demographically variable responses to risk are context dependent, and few have concurrently quantified male and female behavior within areas with the same resource base.

A modular surgical simulator for microlaryngoscopy using standard instruments and the carbon dioxide laser.

Objective: Build a microlaryngoscopy surgical simulator for endoscopic laryngeal surgery using standard microsurgical instruments and a CO laser.

Study Design: Anatomical modeling, CAD design and 3D printed manufacturing.

Subjects And Methods: We created a modular design for a microlaryngoscopy simulator in CAD software.

ALPACA: A fast and accurate computer vision approach for automated landmarking of three-dimensional biological structures.

Landmark-based geometric morphometrics has emerged as an essential discipline for the quantitative analysis of size and shape in ecology and evolution. With the ever-increasing density of digitized landmarks, the possible development of a fully automated method of landmark placement has attracted considerable attention. Despite the recent progress in image registration techniques, which could provide a pathway to automation, three-dimensional (3D) morphometric data are still mainly gathered by trained experts.

Alluvial connectivity in multi-channel networks in rivers and estuaries.

Channels in rivers and estuaries are the main paths of fluvial and tidal currents that transport sediment through the system. While network representations of multi-channel systems and their connectivity are quite useful for characterisation of braiding patterns and dynamics, the recognition of channels and their properties is complicated because of the large bed elevation variations, such as shallow shoals and bed steps that render channels visually disconnected. We present and analyse two mathematically rigorous methods to identify channel networks from a terrain model of the river bed.

Thunderstorms Producing Sferic-Geolocated Gamma-Ray Flashes Detected by TETRA-II.

The terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF) and Energetic Thunderstorm Rooftop Array (TETRA-II) detected 22 X-ray/gamma-ray flash events associated with lightning between October 2015 and March 2019 across three ground-based detector locations in subtropical and tropical climates in Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and Panama. Each detector array consists of a set of bismuth germanate scintillators that record X-ray and gamma-ray bursts over the energy range 50 keV-6 MeV (million electron volts). TETRA-II events have characteristics similar to both X-ray bursts associated with lightning leaders and TGFs: sub-millisecond duration, photons up to MeV energies, and association with nearby lightning (typically within 3 km).

The History of Water in Martian Magmas From Thorium Maps.

Water inventories in Martian magmas are poorly constrained. Meteorite-based estimates range widely, from 10 to >10 ppm HO, and are likely variably influenced by degassing. Orbital measurements of H primarily reflect water cycled and stored in the regolith.

Quantum mechanical effects in acid-base chemistry.

Acid-base chemistry has immense importance for explaining and predicting the chemical products formed by an acid and a base when mixed together. However, the traditional chemistry theories used to describe acid-base reactions do not take into account the effect arising from the quantum mechanical nature of the acidic hydrogen shuttling potential and its dependence on the acid base distance. Here, infrared and NMR spectroscopies, in combination with first principles simulations, are performed to demonstrate that quantum mechanical effects, including electronic and nuclear quantum effects, play an essential role in defining the acid-base chemistry when 1-methylimidazole and acetic acid are mixed together.

Synthesis, characterization and biological evaluation of dipicolylamine sulfonamide derivatized platinum complexes as potential anticancer agents.

Three new Pt complexes, [PtCl(N(SO(2-nap))dpa)], [PtCl(N(SO(1-nap))dpa)] and [PtCl(N(SOpip)dpa)], containing a rare 8-membered ring were synthesized in good yield and high purity by utilizing the ligands N(SO(2-nap))dpa, N(SO(1-nap))dpa and N(SOpip)dpa, which contain a dipicolylamine moiety. Structural studies of all three complexes confirmed that the ligands are bound in a bidentate mode Pt-N bonds forming a rare 8-membered ring. The intense fluorescence displayed by the ligands is quenched upon coordination to Pt.

Understanding the ionic activity and conductivity value differences between random copolymer electrolytes and block copolymer electrolytes of the same chemistry.

Herein, a systematic study where the macromolecular architectures of poly(styrene--2-vinyl pyridine) block copolymer electrolytes (BCE) are varied and their activity coefficients and ionic conductivities are compared and rationalized a random copolymer electrolyte (RCE) of the same repeat unit chemistry. By performing quartz crystal microbalance, ion-sorption, and ionic conductivity measurements of the thin film copolymer electrolytes, it is found that the RCE has higher ionic activity coefficients. This observation is ascribed to the fact that the ionic groups in the RCE are more spaced out, reducing the overall chain charge density.

Singing strategies are linked to perch use on foraging territories in heart-nosed bats.

Acoustic communication allows animals to coordinate and optimize resource utilization in space. , the heart-nosed bat, is one of the few species of bats known to sing during nighttime foraging. Previous research found that heart-nosed bats react aggressively to song playback, supporting the territorial defense hypothesis of singing in this species.

The dynamics of introgression across an avian radiation.

Hybridization and resulting introgression can play both a destructive and a creative role in the evolution of diversity. Thus, characterizing when and where introgression is most likely to occur can help us understand the causes of diversification dynamics. Here, we examine the prevalence of and variation in introgression using phylogenomic data from a large (1300+ species), geographically widespread avian group, the suboscine birds.

Peptides and peptidomimetics as therapeutic agents for Covid-19.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) Covid-19 pandemic has caused high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Virus entry into cells can be blocked using several strategies, including inhibition of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between the viral spike glycoprotein and cellular receptors, as well as blocking of spike protein conformational changes that are required for cleavage/activation and fusogenicity. The spike-mediated viral attachment and entry into cells via fusion of the viral envelope with cellular membranes involve PPIs mediated by short peptide fragments exhibiting particular secondary structures.

Dehydrated Human Amniotic-Chorionic Membrane Reduces Incisional Hernia Formation in an Animal Model.

Background: Currently there are no standard of care treatment strategies for IH prevention (IHP). Dehydrated human amnion-chorion (dHACM) is a healing adjunct that elutes growth factors including several that have reduced IH in animal models. We therefore performed a double-blinded, prospective randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the hypothesis that dHACM significantly reduces IH formation in a well-studied animal model of acute IH.

No escape: The influence of substrate sodium on plant growth and tissue sodium responses.

As an essential micronutrient for many organisms, sodium plays an important role in ecological and evolutionary dynamics. Although plants mediate trophic fluxes of sodium, from substrates to higher trophic levels, relatively little comparative research has been published about plant growth and sodium accumulation in response to variation in substrate sodium. Accordingly, we carried out a systematic review of plants' responses to variation in substrate sodium concentrations.