The Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation. II. Stellar Mass Models

We present new color-ϒ* (mass-to-light ratio) models to convert Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer W1 fluxes into stellar masses. We outline a range of possible star formation histories and chemical evolution scenarios to explore the confidence limits of stellar population models on the value of ϒ*. We conclude that the greatest uncertainties (around 0.1 dex in ϒ*) occur for the bluest galaxies with the strongest variation in recent star formation. For high-mass galaxies, the greatest uncertainty arises from the proper treatment of bulge-disk separation in which to apply different ϒ* relations appropriate for those differing underlying stellar populations. We compare our deduced stellar masses with those deduced from Spitzer Space Telescope 3.6 μm fluxes and stellar mass estimates in the literature using optical photometry and different ϒ* modeling. We find the correspondence to be excellent, arguing that rest-frame near-IR photometry is still more advantageous than other wavelengths

Disparities in Dysphagia Care Among Head and Neck Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective: To investigate the incidence of dysphagia among head and neck cancer (HNC) patients and assess disparities in utilization of speech-language pathology (SLP) services across different demographic groups. Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Analysis of data from the TriNetX global health network, comprising over 125 million deidentified electronic health records worldwide. Methods: HNC patients diagnosed with oral, oropharyngeal, laryngeal, or nasopharyngeal cancer with and without dysphagia between January 1, 2004 and October 30, 2024 were identified. Patients were divided into two cohorts for comparison: those who received SLP services after dysphagia diagnosis and those who did not. The association of demographic characteristics (sex, ethnicity, and race) with SLP services were analyzed. Results: Of 269,629 HNC patients, 28.8% (n = 77,562) were diagnosed with dysphagia. Significant disparities were found: female and non-White patients were less likely to be diagnosed with dysphagia. Once diagnosed, female, Hispanic/Latino, and non-White patients were also significantly less likely to receive SLP services compared to female, Hispanic/Latino, and non-White patients. Overall, only 38.8% of patients with dysphagia received SLP services. Conclusion: This study highlights significant sex, ethnic, and racial disparities in dysphagia diagnosis and SLP service utilization among HNC patients. Furthermore, SLP services are underutilized. There is a need for targeted interventions to increase dysphagia prevention and surveillance and ensure equitable access to dysphagia care, improving outcomes for all HNC survivors

Elevation in White Blood Cell Count After Corticosteroid Use in Noninfected Hospitalized Patients

Background: It is widely accepted that corticosteroids cause leukocytosis. Clinicians must decide whether a rise in white blood cell (WBC) count is due to steroids versus other processes like developing infection. Objective: The objective of this study is to measure the increase in white blood cell count after corticosteroid administration in hospitalized patients without malignancy, infection, or immune dysfunction. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study from 2017 to 2018 in a single large healthcare system. We analyzed the trajectory of WBC count stratified by steroid dose. The study included nonsurgical patients admitted with at least two complete blood count measurements. Patients were excluded if they had immunosuppression, infection, malignancy, or steroid use within 2 weeks before admission. The main outcome was mean WBC count by day following corticosteroid administration. Results: Our sample included 28,425 patients with at least two WBC measurements, 1608 (5.7%) of which received steroids. WBC response peaked at 48 h after steroid administration with a mean increase of 2.4 × 10⁹/L WBCs. In all patients on steroids, across doses, the mean increase was 0.3 × 10⁹/L WBCs, 1.7 × 10⁹/L WBCs, and 4.84 × 10⁹/L WBCs in low, medium, and high dose groups, respectively. For patients not on steroids, the mean WBC count decreased during hospitalization. Conclusions: When interpreting WBC counts after initiating steroids, increases of up to 4.84 × 10⁹/L cells may be seen within 48 h after high-dose steroids. Larger increases, and any increase after low-dose steroids, suggest other causes of leukocytosis

Behavior of Rio Sao Francisco Piranhas in Response to Changes in Space and Density

Previous observations of Rio Sao Francisco piranhas (Pygocentrus piraya) at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo revealed frequent aggressive interactions, which were associated with the injury and death of some individuals. Fishes are known to increase aggressive behavior when available space is limited. We compared the behavior of the piranhas longitudinally across three different space/density conditions: (1) in a group held in a small aquarium before the death of one individual, (2) in the same group after the death of one individual, (3) and in one individual of the group after it was later moved into a larger, multispecies aquarium. In the smaller aquarium, individuals maintained stable positions in the tank and remained inactive except to behave aggressively toward each other, retreat, or feed when food was offered. After the death of one individual, aggression decreased significantly but so did overall activity, including swimming behavior. After one individual was moved to a larger aquarium, it exhibited a striking increase in the amount of time spent swimming. Our data suggest that the well-being of P. piraya, and possibly other species of piranhas, might be better in large aquariums than in the small single-species exhibits often used in zoos and public aquariums. This study takes an important step in addressing the psychological and social well-being of bony fishes, an underrepresented area of research in zoos and aquariums

Understanding Redox Organic Behavior in Deep Eutectic Solvents: Considerations for Molecular Design

Electrolytes based on deep eutectic solvents (DESs) coupled with redox active organic molecules have shown potential as a versatile and energy dense electrochemical energy storage system. However, progress in these systems has been held back by a lack of understanding of the irregular behavior displayed when redox active organic molecules are transitioned from other solvent systems. In this work, the hydrogen bonding characteristics of a series of redox organic molecules were investigated through infrared spectroscopy and molecular modeling. New understanding of these interactions was then used to explain their electrochemical behavior in a DES electrolyte. A model was used to predict the behavior of new derivatives towards the design of an optimized redox organic-DES system. Hydrogen bonding between the redox molecules and the solvent was found to significantly shift the potential of a redox reaction more positive when a hydrogen bond forms at the redox active site. It was predicted that functionalizing a molecule with electron withdrawing groups to lower the electron density of the redox active functional group lowers the strength of the hydrogen bond and thus alleviates the undesirable potential shift. This hypothesis was demonstrated by the addition of nitro groups to fluorenones

An Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Laser Energy Deposition in an Over-Expanded Jet

This experimental investigation focuses on understanding the influence of perturbations due to short-duration energy deposition on the shock train structure and flow dynamics in an axisymmetric over-expanded Mach 2.52 jet. The flow is perturbed by localized laser-induced breakdown at various locations within the jet, creating a shock wave and a high-temperature plasma zone in the shock train. A high-speed self-aligning focusing schlieren system is used to visualize the flow and characterize the shock train dynamics and the flow structure recovery process by measuring the distance to the first shock reflection point from the nozzle exit. The response of the jet flow is similar for cases with the perturbation at the nozzle exit and the pre-reflection point across a range of jet total pressures, but the response is qualitatively different when the perturbation occurs downstream of the first shock reflection in the jet, with the flow structures being forced upstream toward the nozzle. The frequency of the oscillations of the shock height is found to be the same for all cases, approximately 10 kHz, independent of the jet total pressure, laser energy, and deposition location. The oscillations reduce in magnitude over time, and the damping ratio for cases with the energy deposition at the pre-reflection point and nozzle exit is found to be nearly constant with respect to jet total pressure and deposition energy, varying within the range of 0.06–0.12, whereas it is dependent on the jet chamber pressure for the post-reflection case, varying from 0.07 to 0.14

Redefining Cell Culture Using a 3D Flipwell Co-Culture System: A Mimetic for Gut Architecture and Dynamics In Vitro

Gut mucosae are composed of stratified layers of microbes, a selectively permeable mucus, an epithelial lining, and connective tissue homing immune cells. Studying cellular and chemical interactions between the gut mucosal components has been limited without a good model system. We have engineered a three-dimensional (3D) multi-cellular co-culture system we coined “3D Flipwell system” using cell culture inserts stacked against each other. This system allows an assessment of the impact of a gut mucosal environmental change on interactions between gut bacteria, epithelia, and immune cells. As such, this system can be utilized in examining the effects of exogenous stimuli, such as dietary nutrients, bacterial infection, and drugs, on the gut mucosa that could predetermine how these stimuli might influence the rest of body. Here, we describe the methods of construction and application of the new 3D Flipwell system we utilized previously in assessing the crosstalk between the gut mucosa and macrophage polarization. We demonstrate the physiological responses of different components of the co-cultures to Sepiapterin (SEP), the precursor of the nitric oxide synthase cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH₄). We reported previously that SEP induces a pro-immunogenic shift of macrophages having acquired an immune suppressive phenotype. We also showed that SEP induces a defense mechanism of commensal gut bacteria. The protocol describing the assembly and use of the 3D Flipwell co-culture system herein would grant its utility in evaluating the concurrent effects of pharmacologic and microbiologic stimuli on gut mucosal components. © 2025 The Author(s). Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: 3D Flipwell construction, assembly, and collagen coating. Basic Protocol 2: Flipwell cell seeding and cell culture. Basic Protocol 3: Addition of bacterial culture to the Flipwell system. Basic Protocol 4: Flipwell disassembly for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. Basic Protocol 5: Immunofluorescence antibody staining for confocal microscopy

Living Nondirected Kidney Donation: A Psychoanalytic Case-Based Investigation of Altruism and its Implications for Psychosocial Evaluation Guidelines

Why donate a kidney to a stranger? The history of living nondirected kidney donation, so-called altruistic or Good Samaritan donation, is notable for its associated skepticism if not outright rejection. Since its possibility, transplantation institutes have been concerned over the motives of individuals who present to their clinics with the wish to donate a kidney to a stranger. Are these motives pure? Might there be ulterior motives or secondary gain? Or might these motives be pathological, derivative from a psychiatric disease or syndrome? Although attitudes toward the nondirected donor have improved, skepticism remains: Why, after all, benefit another in this way? This article begins with a case study, a subject who sat down for three interviews to speak freely about his reasons for donating a kidney nondirectedly. It then turns to the background of living kidney donation and a review of pertinent psychoanalytic theories of altruism, rescue fantasies, and the secret benefactor. It concludes with a discussion of the case and its implications for psychosocial evaluation guidelines for nondirected kidney donation. The hypothesis is that the motives behind nondirected kidney donation are likely multitudinous (altruistic and egoistic) and, sometimes, unconscious, yet the risks, despite current evaluation guidelines, may be no greater for that

Non-Finite Clause Use in Disciplinary Research Writing: A Formulaic Sequence-Based Functional Comparison Between Expert and Student Writers

Non-finite clauses (NFCs), despite their increasingly recognized role in second language (L2) acquisition and academic writing as part of a multidimensional conceptualization of syntactic complexity, have not been analyzed in functional and discipline-specific perspectives. This study addresses this gap by providing a linguistic-descriptive account of NFC use in expert and advanced student English research writing. Using a 2.26-million-word corpus of published research articles and student manuscripts in Agricultural Science, this study profiles the distribution of NFC subtypes and identifies frequent discoursal functions realized by non-finite verb-centered formulaic sequences. The findings reveal significant differences in NFC use across writer groups, with student writers utilizing NFCs less overall and in the majority of structural subtypes. Functional analyses further demonstrate that advanced student writers employed a narrower range of formulaic frames for a narrower range of discoursal functions, highlighting both a reduced lexical repertoire and a rhetorically less sophisticated style, in regard to NFCs. Findings underscore the importance of considering a full range of lexical/phraseological and discourse-functional patterns of clause-level linguistic features, such as NFCs, in order to gain a more pedagogically interpretable understanding of syntactic complexity in L2 and academic writing