The ethical indefensibility of heartbeat bills.

Recently, several states in the United States have sought to adopt more restrictive abortion policies. Most have tried to enact "heartbeat bills" that prohibit most abortions once a fetal heartbeat becomes detectable. This article explores this question: Are heartbeat bills ethically defensible? I argue that they are not.

Dissolution from Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Copolymer Long-Acting Implants: Effect of Model Active Ingredient Size and Shape.

In recent pharmaceutical applications, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) can be mixed with a polymer material to yield a composite long-acting drug-delivery device. These devices boast higher patient compliance, localized drug delivery, and lower dosage concentrations, which can increase patient safety. As a laboratory-safe option, calcium carbonate (CaCO) was used as a drug surrogate to mimic the release kinetics of a low-solubility API.

Size Exclusion Chromatography for Separating Extracellular Vesicles from Conditioned Cell Culture Media.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized lipid-membrane bound structures that are released from all cells, are present in all biofluids, and contain proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids that are reflective of the parent cell from which they are derived. Proper separation of EVs from other components in a sample allows for characterization of their associated cargo and lends insight into their potential as intercellular communicators and non-invasive biomarkers for numerous diseases. In the current study, oligodendrocyte derived EVs were isolated from cell culture media using a combination of state-of-the-art techniques, including ultrafiltration and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) to separate EVs from other extracellular proteins and protein complexes.

Perceived access, fear, and preventative behavior: Key relationships for positive outcomes during the COVID-19 health crisis.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reduced real and perceived access to healthcare services, exacerbating pandemic fear, and thus influencing consumers' adoption of preventative health behaviors. Extending the EHBM, results from two studies show that perceived access to health services and pandemic fear impact an individual's general and COVID-preventative health behaviors. High perceived access reduces pandemic fear through its buffering effects on perceived health vulnerability and pandemic-related health system concern, especially with telehealth usage during the pandemic.

Feasibility and Acceptability of an Internet-Based Intervention for Young Adults with ADHD.

Unlabelled: Internet-based interventions (IBIs) to treat psychological disorders are available, but accessibility to these to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young adult populations is quite limited. The current study examined the feasibility of a proposed IBI for ADHD and participant perceptions regarding treatment and , and outcome Participants ( = 235; aged 18-35) with a prior ADHD diagnosis were recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and were provided with a proposed IBI and explanatory outlines of treatment module content. Participants in the cross-sectional study were randomly assigned to either a tailored (i.

HerbKG: Constructing a Herbal-Molecular Medicine Knowledge Graph Using a Two-Stage Framework Based on Deep Transfer Learning.

Recent advances have witnessed a growth of herbalism studies adopting a modern scientific approach in molecular medicine, offering valuable domain knowledge that can potentially boost the development of herbalism with evidence-supported efficacy and safety. However, these domain-specific scientific findings have not been systematically organized, affecting the efficiency of knowledge discovery and usage. Existing knowledge graphs in herbalism mainly focus on diagnosis and treatment with an absence of knowledge connection with molecular medicine.

Accurate delivery of chemicals to a small target using a pressure-driven valved micropipette.

We describe a new method for accurately and reproducibly delivering a minute amount of a chemical to a small target in an aqueous environment. Our method is based on a micropipette with a check valve at its tip that can be opened and closed on demand. We demonstrate that this device can produce a flux of 10 l in a short pulse lasting less than 100 ms.

SentiMedQAer: A Transfer Learning-Based Sentiment-Aware Model for Biomedical Question Answering.

Recent advances have witnessed a trending application of transfer learning in a broad spectrum of natural language processing (NLP) tasks, including question answering (QA). Transfer learning allows a model to inherit domain knowledge obtained from an existing model that has been sufficiently pre-trained. In the biomedical field, most QA datasets are limited by insufficient training examples and the presence of factoid questions.

Integrating theoretical and empirical approaches for a robust understanding of endocrine flexibility.

There is growing interest in studying hormones beyond single 'snapshot' measurements, as recognition that individual variation in the endocrine response to environmental change may underlie many rapid, coordinated phenotypic changes. Repeated measures of hormone levels in individuals provide additional insight into individual variation in endocrine flexibility - that is, how individuals modulate hormone levels in response to the environment. The ability to quickly and appropriately modify phenotype is predicted to be favored by selection, especially in unpredictable environments.

Cigarette smoke-induced extracellular vesicles from dendritic cells alter T-cell activation and HIV replication.

Despite decreased rates of tobacco smoking in many areas, cigarette smoking remains a major contributor to many health problems. Cigarette smoking can reduce immune system functioning while concurrently increasing inflammation. Dendritic cells in the lung exposed to cigarette smoke become stimulated and go on to activate T-cells.

Are There Long-Term Effects of Behavior Therapy for Adolescent ADHD? A Qualitative Study.

We utilized qualitative methodology to characterize potential long-term effects (therapeutic and iatrogenic) of behavior therapy for adolescents with ADHD. Forty-two in-depth interviews were conducted with adolescents with ADHD and parents, 4 years post-treatment. Grounded theory methods identified and reported prevalence of themes.

Traumatic stress symptoms predict restraint incidents in children and adolescents in psychiatric residential treatment.

The early identification of youth at risk for restraint incidents is an important next step to reducing the likelihood of such incidents. Yet, the extant research has not comprehensively investigated the idiographic factors that contribute to the restraint of youth in psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTFs). The current study investigated client-level predictors of restraint incidents, with specific emphasis on youth client trauma history and traumatic stress symptoms as assessed at admission.

A comparison of activated carbon remediation success in floodplain soils contaminated with DDT and its metabolites using ex situ and in situ experimentation.

Remediation of hydrophobic organic contaminants using activated carbon is an effective means by which to clean up contaminated areas. Predicting remediation success using laboratory experimentation with soil, however, is unclear. Current remediation efforts involving activated carbon addition to floodplain soils downstream of the Velsicol Chemical Corporation Superfund Site (VCCSS) have offered the opportunity to directly compare in situ activated carbon remediation with laboratory experimentation.

Why Inconsistency Arguments Matter.

Abortion opponents are sometimes accused of having inconsistent beliefs, actions, and/or priorities. If they were consistent, they would regard spontaneous abortions to be a greater moral tragedy, or they would adopt more frozen in vitro fertilization embryos, or they would support more robust social welfare programmes for children and single parents, or so on and so forth. Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce Blackshaw, and Daniel Rodger have recently argued that such inconsistency arguments 'fail en masse.

Global meta-analysis of microplastic contamination in reservoirs with a novel framework.

Microplastic contamination in reservoirs is receiving increasing attention worldwide. However, a holistic understanding of the occurrence, drivers, and potential risks of microplastics in reservoirs is lacking. Building on a systematic review and meta-analysis of 30 existing publications, we construct a global microplastic dataset consisting of 440 collected samples from 43 reservoirs worldwide which we analyze through a framework of Data processing and Multivariate statistics (DM).

Networks of ADHD and SCT Symptoms in Emerging Adulthood.

Objective: Emerging adulthood (18-25 years) is a transitional and understudied developmental period. Yet, little is known about how specific symptoms of ADHD, as well as those from the related SCT domain, may differentially relate to one another during this period, if there are differences based on biological sex, or how closely results will align with adulthood.

Methods: We used network analysis techniques to explore the structure of ADHD and SCT symptoms within emerging adulthood, with additional comparisons between sexes as well as between emerging adulthood and adulthood.

The Type 9 Secretion System Is Required for Biofilm Formation.

forms biofilms in low nutrient conditions. Protein secretion and cell motility may have roles in biofilm formation. The type IX secretion system (T9SS) is important for both secretion and motility.

Mathematical modeling reveals how the speed of endocrine regulation should affect baseline and stress-induced glucocorticoid levels.

Unpredictable environmental changes displace individuals from homeostasis and elicit a stress response. In vertebrates, the stress response is mediated mainly by glucocorticoids (GCs) which initiate physiological changes while minimizing allostatic overload. Individuals and species vary consistently in baseline and stress-induced GC levels and the speed with which GC levels can be upregulated or downregulated, but the extent to which variation in hormone regulation influences baseline and stress-induced GC levels is unclear.

Multi-factor association dependence modelling for project risk analysis.

This article presents an analytic (non-simulation) dependence model for quantitative project risk analysis. The multi-factor association model (MFAM) accounts for multiple association factors in typical project settings and provides a closed-form solution to a complete and mathematically consistent correlation matrix. Given standardized, ubiquitous project plans (e.

Gender, Myths, and Assumptions: Correlates of Risk Perception in Sexual Assault Scenarios.

Sexual violence continues to plague college campuses even with the implementation of bystander intervention programs. Previous research has demonstrated that diminished situational risk recognition increases the risk for sexual assault victimization. However, there is a paucity of research comparing men's and women's risk perception in sexual assault scenarios, risk perception from a victim or perpetrator perspective, or the role of previous sexual violence history, rape myth acceptance, and world assumptions on sexual risk perception.

Comparison of glucose concentrations in canine whole blood, plasma, and serum measured with a veterinary point-of-care glucometer.

Previous studies have determined that, compared to whole blood, serum or plasma used in a portable blood glucometer (PBG) may provide more accurate results. We investigated the accuracy of a veterinary PBG (AlphaTRAK 2; Zoetis) for the measurement of glucose concentrations in serum, plasma, and whole blood compared to plasma glucose concentration measured by a biochemical analyzer. Blood samples from 53 client-owned dogs were collected.

Anchoring and Judgment Bias: Disregarding Under Uncertainty.

The current investigation examined the nature of the cognitive processes that underlie decision-making behavior. The focus of this project centered on the effects of utilizing heuristics that pertain to the availability of information stored in memory. Anchoring effects demonstrate that people will use any available information sampled from memory as a reference for making judgments of frequency.

Meta-Analysis of the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Adults With Comorbid Severe Mental Illness.

To evaluate the efficacy of psychosocial treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among individuals with a comorbid severe mental illness (SMI; ie, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder). PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library were searched from January 1998 to March 2020 using keywords related to PTSD, treatment, and severe mental illness. All clinical trials for PTSD psychotherapy among individuals with SMI were included.