Reductions in Eastern North Pacific gray whale blubber quality during unusual mortality events measured via adipocyte abundance and total lipid content

Cetacean nutritional physiology has been difficult to investigate due to the free ranging nature of these animals, however, evaluation of dead animals might provide further insights. Dead Eastern North Pacific gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) could provide that context with the ongoing unusual mortality event (UME), declared in 2019, allowing for a comparison between normal and anomalous years. Here we examined full blubber thickness samples through adipocyte area and total lipid percent from dead gray whales that stranded within UMEs as wellas non-UME years. The blubber was divided into four sections, following the normal striation pattern, targeting the outer, mid superficial, mid deep and inner layers for evaluation. We foundthe adipocyte area was lower in the outer, mid superficial and mid deep layer in UME years and higher in non-UME years. We also found similar findings for the total lipid percent with the midsuperficial, mid deep and inner blubber layer being lower in UME verses non-UME years. Evaluation of these two blubber attributes can serve as a template for other mysticete species to provide insight into the nutritional physiology during mortality events, thereby pinpointing key evaluation locations within the blubber for future study

Heirloom and Hybrid Corn in the American Corn Belt: an Ethnography of Seed Saving Practices

This ethnographic study examines the practices and context of contemporary heirloom corn seed saving practices and projects in the American Corn Belt. It examines heirloom corn conservation and hand pollination practices at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa in 2015. From there the study extends to interviews with heirloom farmers, breeders and gardeners in Wisconsin and Illinois. The findings indicate that the lines between the mainstream and the margins of corn production are highly blurred, and that there is a considerable amount of cross-pollination of ideas and practices between alternative corn farming and dominant industrial hybrid production in the American Corn Belt as they exist in proximity and utilize similar public spaces and resources. The results of these cross-pollinations of ideas are differing visions of sustainability that farmers, breeders and seed savers use to frame their heirloom corn growing projects and maintain the marginal spaces required for them to grow in the Corn Belt. The author explores the histories of hybrids and heirlooms in the Corn Belt and the contemporary evolution of USDA Organic Corn Production to illustrate this point

Alternate Phrase Suggestions from Voice Input

Techniques to improve the process of correcting text transcription of a voice input are described. Words or phrases of the voice input that are not recognized with sufficient confidence are identified and displayed in a manner that distinguishes such phrases from the rest of the transcribed text. Alternatives for the low confidence terms are determined and displayed as suggestions. The user can view and select one or more of the alternative suggestions to replace the low confidence terms

Intuitive scrolling for feed-based applications

This disclosure describes techniques to perform adaptive scrolling based on input gestures provided by a user. Input provided by the user is categorized as scroll, small fling, or big fling. The categorization is based on device-independent velocity thresholds. When the input is classified as scroll, e.g., a slow swipe gesture, a feed interface that scrolls over items is provided. When the input is classified as a small fling, the item list snaps to the item that is adjacent to a current item in the view, determined based on the direction of the swipe. When the input is classified as a big fling, the item list scrolls and skips items based on the gesture and snaps to the item that is nearest to the location where the scroll concludes, as determined based on the input. Such adaptive behavior that combines natural scrolling with snapping behavior improves recall and allows users to focus on each content item and provides a flexible browsing mechanism

Utilization of time-driven activity-based costing and process simulation in cost management of organization

The deployment of information and communication technologies in organizations is on the rise. Many organizations consider the application of technologies to be a crucial key to improve their processes. However, traditional costing systems are not suitable for cost estimation of business processes due to the use of volume-based cost drivers, which are often not adequate for the structure of today’s organizations. In this research, we present an overview of how the TDABC (time-driven activity-based costing) model can be combined with process mining and business process simulation for cost estimation of such processes. The objective of this paper is to use the cost dimension as a major attribute for the potential implementation of robotic process automation (RPA) in companies. However, information and communication technologies could be considered in general. We demonstrate our approach in a case study that takes advantage of a real-life event log containing transactional data representing the loan application process in an insurance company. The event log is analyzed and processed using process mining techniques. Based on the preprocessing, a simulation model representing the original loan application process is designed. The designed simulation model is then used for simulation of partial and full implementation of RPA through separate scenarios. Then, we add the cost dimension to the simulation by enriching the event log with cost data based on a formalized cost model. We show that even though partial implementation of RPA might not deliver significant increase in efficiency in the process, it might still represent significant cost savings

Can Vitex Agnus Castus be Used for the Treatment of Mastalgia? What is the Current Evidence?

There have been many treatments suggested for the management of mastalgia; one of these is the fruit extract of Vitex Agnus castus L. commonly known as Agnus castus, an extract of a deciduous shrub native to Mediterranean Europe and Central Asia. It is postulated that A. castus suppresses the stress-induced latent hyperprolactinemia which is a release of supra-physiological levels of prolactin in some patients in response to stressful stimuli. It is postulated that A. castus could be effective in the treatment of cyclical mastalgia by inhibiting the release of excess prolactin by blocking Dopamine-2 receptor type on pituitary. The adverse events following A. castus treatment are mild and reversible. The aim of this review is assess the efficacy of A. castus in the treatment of mastalgia. Data from randomized and non-randomized studies regarding the efficacy and safety of A. castus is reviewed in a systematic fashion. It is concluded that A. castus can be considered as an efficient alternative phytotherapeutic agent in the treatment of mastalgia

Pregnancy and Cancer : the INCIP Project

Purpose of Review: Cancer diagnosis in young pregnant women challenges oncological decision-making. The International Network on Cancer, Infertility and Pregnancy (INCIP) aims to build on clinical recommendations based on worldwide collaborative research. Recent Findings: A pregnancy may complicate diagnostic and therapeutic oncological options, as the unborn child must be protected from potentially hazardous exposures. Pregnant patients should as much as possible be treated as non-pregnant patients, in order to preserve maternal prognosis. Some approaches need adaptations when compared with standard treatment for fetal reasons. Depending on the gestational age, surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are possible during pregnancy. A multidisciplinary approach is the best guarantee for experience-driven decisions. A setting with a high-risk obstetrical unit is strongly advised to safeguard fetal growth and health. Research wise, the INCIP invests in clinical follow-up of children, as cardiac function, neurodevelopment, cancer occurrence, and fertility theoretically may be affected. Furthermore, parental psychological coping strategies, (epi)genetic alterations, and pathophysiological placental changes secondary to cancer (treatment) are topics of ongoing research. Summary: Further international research is needed to provide patients diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy with the best individualized management plan to optimize obstetrical and oncological care

Persistent contaminants and herpesvirus OtHV1 are positively associated with cancer in wild California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

This work was funded by the Geoffrey Hughes Fellowship, the National Institutes of Health (Fogarty International Center) and National Science Foundation joint program for the Ecology of Infectious Disease, the National Marine Fisheries Service Marine Mammal Heath and Stranding Program, and the Natural Environment Research Council grant number NE/R015007/.The prevalence of cancer in wild California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) is one of the highest amongst mammals, with 18–23% of adult animals examined post-mortem over the past 40 years having urogenital carcinoma. To date, organochlorines, genotype and infection with Otarine herpesvirus-1 (OtHV-1) have been identified in separate studies using distinct animals as associated with this carcinoma. Multi-year studies using large sample sizes to investigate the relative importance of multiple factors on marine mammal health are rare due to logistical and ethical challenges. The objective of this study was to use a case control approach with samples from 394 animals collected over 20 years in a multifactorial analysis to explore the relative importance of distinct factors identified to date as associated with sea lion cancer in the likelihood of sea lion carcinoma. Stepwise regression indicated that the best model to explain carcinoma occurrence included herpesvirus status, contaminant exposure, and blubber depth, but not genotype at a single microsatellite locus, PV11. The odds of carcinoma was 43.57 times higher in sea lions infected with OtHV-1 (95% CI 14.61, 129.96, p <0.001), and 1.48 times higher for every unit increase in the loge[contaminant concentrations], ng g–1 (an approximate tripling of concentration), in their blubber (95% CI 1.11, 1.97, p <0.007), after controlling for the effect of blubber depth. These findings demonstrate the importance of contaminant exposure combined with OtHV1 infection, in the potential for cancer occurrence in wild sea lions.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe