Gasoline Prices and Their Relationship to Drunk-Driving Crashes

his study investigates the relationship between changing gasoline prices and drunk-driving crashes. Specifically, we examine the effects of gasoline prices on drunk-driving crashes in Mississippi by age, gender, and race from 2004Ð2008, a period experiencing great fluctuation in gasoline prices. An exploratory visualization by graphs shows that higher gasoline prices are generally associated with fewer drunk-driving crashes. Higher gasoline prices depress drunk- driving crashes among younger and older drivers, among male and female drivers, and among white, black, and Hispanic drivers. The statistical results suggest that higher gasoline prices lead to lower drunk-driving crashes for female and black drivers. However, alcohol consumption is a better predictor of drunk-driving crashes, especially for male, white, and older drivers.Drunk-driving crashes, gasoline prices, alcohol consumption, Mississippi

Carrières criminelles collectives : évolution d’une population délinquante (groupes de motards)

Co-offending has not been a major area of research for students of crime careers. This paper, however, offers a preliminary analysis of an extensive set of intelligence files gathered by law enforcement agencies on biker groups over a 14 year period (1974-1988). Data has been collected on size, location, network status, life span and degree of crime involvement of 62 criminally involved adult biker groups having operated in Eastern Canada (Quebec) during that period. Findings show a substantial drop in participating groups. Further, remaining groups have not become larger as shown by the equally substantial drop in the overall core underworld biker population. Alternative explanatory accounts for this overall drop are considered

Distinct Genomic Features Characterize Two Clades of <i>Corynebacterium diphtheriae</i>: Proposal of <i>Corynebacterium diphtheriae</i> Subsp. <i>diphtheriae</i> Subsp. nov. and <i>Corynebacterium diphtheriae</i> Subsp. <i>lausannense</i> Subsp. nov.

&lt;i&gt;Corynebacterium diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; is the etiological agent of diphtheria, a disease caused by the presence of the diphtheria toxin. However, an increasing number of records report non-toxigenic &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; infections. Here, a &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; strain was recovered from a patient with a past history of bronchiectasis who developed a severe tracheo-bronchitis with multiple whitish lesions of the distal trachea and the mainstem bronchi. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS), performed in parallel with PCR targeting the toxin gene and the Elek test, provided clinically relevant results in a short turnaround time, showing that the isolate was non-toxigenic. A comparative genomic analysis of the new strain (CHUV2995) with 56 other publicly available genomes of &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; revealed that the strains CHUV2995, CCUG 5865 and CMCNS703 share a lower average nucleotide identity (ANI) (95.24 to 95.39%) with the &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; NCTC 11397 &lt;sup&gt;T&lt;/sup&gt; reference genome than all other &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; genomes (&gt;98.15%). Core genome phylogeny confirmed the presence of two monophyletic clades. Based on these findings, we propose here two new &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; subspecies to replace the lineage denomination used in previous multilocus sequence typing studies: &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; subsp. &lt;i&gt;lausannense&lt;/i&gt; subsp. nov. (instead of lineage-2), regrouping strains CHUV2995, CCUG 5865, and CMCNS703, and &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; subsp. &lt;i&gt;diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; subsp. nov, regrouping all other &lt;i&gt;C. diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; in the dataset (instead of lineage-1). Interestingly, members of subspecies &lt;i&gt;lausannense&lt;/i&gt; displayed a larger genome size than subspecies &lt;i&gt;diphtheriae&lt;/i&gt; and were enriched in COG categories related to transport and metabolism of lipids (I) and inorganic ion (P). Conversely, they lacked all genes involved in the synthesis of pili (SpaA-type, SpaD-type and SpaH-type), molybdenum cofactor and of the nitrate reductase. Finally, the CHUV2995 genome is particularly enriched in mobility genes and harbors several prophages. The genome encodes a type II-C CRISPR-Cas locus with 2 spacers that lacks &lt;i&gt;csn2&lt;/i&gt; or &lt;i&gt;cas4&lt;/i&gt; , which could hamper the acquisition of new spacers and render strain CHUV2995 more susceptible to bacteriophage infections and gene acquisition through various mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer

Saliva from obese individuals suppresses the release of aroma compounds from wine.

BackgroundRecent evidence suggests that a lower extent of the retronasal aroma release correspond to a higher amount of ad libitum food intake. This has been regarded as one of the bases of behavioral choices towards food consumption in obese people. In this pilot study we investigated the hypothesis that saliva from obese individuals could be responsible for an alteration of the retro-nasal aroma release. We tested this hypothesis in vitro, by comparing the release of volatiles from a liquid food matrix (wine) after its interaction with saliva from 28 obese (O) and 28 normal-weight (N) individuals.Methods and findingsAmplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 region indicated that Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were more abundant in O, while Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria dominated in N. Streptococcaceae were significantly more abundant in the O subjects and constituted 34% and 19% on average of the saliva microbiota of O and N subjects, respectively. The Total Antioxidant Capacity was higher in O vs N saliva samples. A model mouth system was used to test whether the in-mouth wine aroma release differs after the interaction with O or N saliva. In O samples, a 18% to 60% significant decrease in the mean concentration of wine volatiles was detected as a result of interaction with saliva, compared with N. This suppression was linked to biochemical differences in O and N saliva composition, which include protein content.ConclusionMicrobiological and biochemical differences were found in O vs N saliva samples. An impaired retronasal aroma release from white wine was detected in vitro and linked to compositional differences between saliva from obese and normal-weight subjects. Additional in vivo investigations on diverse food matrices could contribute to understanding whether a lower olfactory stimulation due to saliva composition can be a co-factor in the development/maintenance of obesity

Thick blood film examination for Plasmodium falciparum malaria has reduced sensitivity and underestimates parasite density

BACKGROUND: Thick blood films are routinely used to diagnose Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Here, they were used to diagnose volunteers exposed to experimental malaria challenge. METHODS: The frequency with which blood films were positive at given parasite densities measured by PCR were analysed. The poisson distribution was used to calculate the theoretical likelihood of diagnosis. Further in vitro studies used serial dilutions to prepare thick films from malaria cultures at known parasitaemia. RESULTS: Even in expert hands, thick blood films were considerably less sensitive than might have been expected from the parasite numbers measured by quantitative PCR. In vitro work showed that thick films prepared from malaria cultures at known parasitaemia consistently underestimated parasite densities. CONCLUSION: It appears large numbers of parasites are lost during staining. This limits their sensitivity, and leads to erroneous estimates of parasite density

Prospectus, August 17, 2005

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2005/1030/thumbnail.jp

poolMC: Smart pooling of mRNA samples in microarray experiments

Background: Typically, pooling of mRNA samples in microarray experiments implies mixing mRNA from several biological-replicate samples before hybridization onto a microarray chip. Here we describe an alternative smart pooling strategy in which different samples, not necessarily biological replicates, are pooled in an information theoretic efficient way. Further, each sample is tested on multiple chips, but always in pools made up of different samples. The end goal is to exploit the compressibility of microarray data to reduce the number of chips used and increase the robustness to noise in measurements. Results: A theoretical framework to perform smart pooling of mRNA samples in microarray experiments was established and the software implementation of the pooling and decoding algorithms was developed in MATLAB. A proof-of-concept smart pooled experiment was performed using validated biological samples on commercially available gene chips. Conclusions: The theoretical developments and experimental demonstration in this paper provide a useful starting point to investigate smart pooling of mRNA samples in microarray experiments. Important conditions for its successful implementation include linearity of measurements, sparsity in data, and large experiment size.

Positives and negatives: reclaiming the female body and self-deprecation in stand-up comedy

Drawing on existing research into feminist humour, this article argues that many of the functions of self-deprecation within comic performance that have been identified and explored in relation to the American context of the late 90s and early 2000s are still evident on the current UK circuit. Self-deprecation in stand-up comedy by women continues to be understood as both positive (as part of the rise of popular feminisms) and negative (as reinforcing patriarchal norms). These contradictory understandings of self-deprecation in stand-up comedy are always inextricably linked to the identities of the audiences for such humour. I consider how emergent female stand-up performers may rationalise and understand the role self-deprecation plays within their own work in the current British context. I then discuss the work of stand-up comedian Luisa Omielan as an example of the rejection of self-deprecatory address. I make the argument that self-deprecation cannot function simply as positive or negative in the current UK context, but must always be considered (for both audiences and performers) as challenging and reinforcing restrictive patriarchal attitudes towards women simultaneously

Network analysis of host-virus communities in bats and rodents reveals determinants of cross-species transmission.

Bats are natural reservoirs of several important emerging viruses. Cross-species transmission appears to be quite common among bats, which may contribute to their unique reservoir potential. Therefore, understanding the importance of bats as reservoirs requires examining them in a community context rather than concentrating on individual species. Here, we use a network approach to identify ecological and biological correlates of cross-species virus transmission in bats and rodents, another important host group. We show that given our current knowledge the bat viral sharing network is more connected than the rodent network, suggesting viruses may pass more easily between bat species. We identify host traits associated with important reservoir species: gregarious bats are more likely to share more viruses and bats which migrate regionally are important for spreading viruses through the network. We identify multiple communities of viral sharing within bats and rodents and highlight potential species traits that can help guide studies of novel pathogen emergence.This work was supported by the Research and Policy for Infectious Disease Dynamics (RAPIDD) program of the Science and Technology Directorate (US Department of Homeland Security) and the Fogarty International Center (National Institutes of Health). D.T.S.H. acknowledges funding from a David H. Smith post-doctoral fellowship. A.A.C. is partially funded by a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit award, and J.L.N.W. is supported by the Alborada Trust. Thanks to Paul Cryan and Michael O'Donnell of the USGS Fort Collins Science Center for help with species distribution analyses.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.1249