Nitrates in Drinking Water

Nitrate poisoning in livestock is a recurring problem. In ruminants the bacteria are able to convert nitrates (NO3) to nitrites (NO2) in the gastrointestinal tract. If nitrite is present in large amounts it converts hemoglobin to methemoglobin, which has little or no oxygen- carrying capacity. The result in severe cases is asphyxiation. It is not known what effects nitrates may have on swine. Nitrate levels as high as 700 parts per million (ppm ) have been found in water samples from South Dakota. The probable ways nitrates get into drinking water are by natural means and pollution. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effects these nitrates in the drinking water have on the performance of growing-finishing pigs

Perceptions and experiences with eating disorder treatment in the first year of COVID-19: A longitudinal qualitative analysis

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic created significant challenges in accessing and receiving treatment for individuals with eating disorders (EDs). The purpose of this study is to explore perceptions of and experiences with ED treatment during the first year of the pandemic among individuals with past and self-reported EDs in the United States. Methods: Online surveys were administered to adults (N = 510) with a past or current self-reported ED at 13 timepoints between April 2020 and May 2021. Using longitudinal qualitative analysis, 5651 free-text responses were examined to capture experiences with ED treatment and generate inferences of change over time. Results: We categorized results into four sequential, temporal quarters and identified patterns that explained participants' perceptions of facilitators, barriers, and experiences with ED treatment over time: Quarter 1. Treatment Disruption and Reorienting Recovery; Quarter 2. Accumulating COVID-19 Stress and Virtual Treatment Woes; Quarter 3. A Continuation of Inadequate Care; and Quarter 4. Ongoing Adaptation and Adjustment to Uncertainty. Participant experiences were marked by numerous barriers to accessing care, challenges adjusting to virtual treatment, unmet treatment needs, and beginning acceptance of telehealth. Discussion: Our findings present a timeline to help evaluate challenges related to navigating the switch to virtual care which created significant disruption to ED recovery. Participants spent much of the first year trying to adjust to unemployment, loss of insurance, and lack of access to in-person treatment. Future research should identify additional strategies to improve the receipt and experience of care for EDs. Public Significance: Our findings suggest that individuals with eating disorders were significantly challenged by accumulating COVID-19 stress, worsening symptomatology, and limited access to effective treatment during the first year of the pandemic. This knowledge can guide clinicians, treatment centers, and policy makers in addressing the behavioral health needs of individuals impacted by disordered eating amidst emergent public health crises

Targeting Conservation Investments in Heterogeneous Landscapes: A distance function approach and application to watershed management

To achieve a given level of an environmental amenity at least cost, decision-makers must integrate information about spatially variable biophysical and economic conditions. Although the biophysical attributes that contribute to supplying an environmental amenity are often known, the way in which these attributes interact to produce the amenity is often unknown. Given the difficulty in converting multiple attributes into a unidimensional physical measure of an environmental amenity (e.g., habitat quality), analyses in the academic literature tend to use a single biophysical attribute as a proxy for the environmental amenity (e.g., species richness). A narrow focus on a single attribute, however, fails to consider the full range of biophysical attributes that are critical to the supply of an environmental amenity. Drawing on the production efficiency literature, we introduce an alternative conservation targeting approach that relies on distance functions to cost-efficiently allocate conservation funds across a spatially heterogeneous landscape. An approach based on distance functions has the advantage of not requiring a parametric specification of the amenity function (or cost function), but rather only requiring that the decision-maker identify important biophysical and economic attributes. We apply the distance-function approach empirically to an increasingly common, but little studied, conservation initiative: conservation contracting for water quality objectives. The contract portfolios derived from the distance-function application have many desirable properties, including intuitive appeal, robust performance across plausible parametric amenity measures, and the generation of ranking measures that can be easily used by field practitioners in complex decision-making environments that cannot be completely modeled. Working Paper # 2002-01

Physics of Solar Prominences: I - Spectral Diagnostics and Non-LTE Modelling

This review paper outlines background information and covers recent advances made via the analysis of spectra and images of prominence plasma and the increased sophistication of non-LTE (ie when there is a departure from Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium) radiative transfer models. We first describe the spectral inversion techniques that have been used to infer the plasma parameters important for the general properties of the prominence plasma in both its cool core and the hotter prominence-corona transition region. We also review studies devoted to the observation of bulk motions of the prominence plasma and to the determination of prominence mass. However, a simple inversion of spectroscopic data usually fails when the lines become optically thick at certain wavelengths. Therefore, complex non-LTE models become necessary. We thus present the basics of non-LTE radiative transfer theory and the associated multi-level radiative transfer problems. The main results of one- and two-dimensional models of the prominences and their fine-structures are presented. We then discuss the energy balance in various prominence models. Finally, we outline the outstanding observational and theoretical questions, and the directions for future progress in our understanding of solar prominences.Comment: 96 pages, 37 figures, Space Science Reviews. Some figures may have a better resolution in the published version. New version reflects minor changes brought after proof editin

MASTL promotes cell contractility and motility through kinase-independent signaling

Microtubule-associated serine/threonine-protein kinase-like (MASTL) is a mitosis-accelerating kinase with emerging roles in cancer progression. However, possible cell cycle-independent mechanisms behind its oncogenicity remain ambiguous. Here, we identify MASTL as an activator of cell contractility and MRTF-A/SRF (myocardin-related transcription factor A/serum response factor) signaling. Depletion of MASTL increased cell spreading while reducing contractile actin stress fibers in normal and breast cancer cells and strongly impairing breast cancer cell motility and invasion. Transcriptome and proteome profiling revealed MASTL-regulated genes implicated in cell movement and actomyosin contraction, including Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 2 (GEF-H1, ARHGEF2) and MRTF-A target genes tropomyosin 4.2 (TPM4), vinculin (VCL), and nonmuscle myosin IIB (NM-2B, MYH10). Mechanistically, MASTL associated with MRTF-A and increased its nuclear retention and transcriptional activity. Importantly, MASTL kinase activity was not required for regulation of cell spreading or MRTF-A/SRF transcriptional activity. Taken together, we present a previously unknown kinase-independent role for MASTL as a regulator of cell adhesion, contractility, and MRTF-A/SRF activity. [Abstract copyright: © 2020 Taskinen et al.

Identification of a Rare Coding Variant in Complement 3 Associated with Age-related Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration is a common cause of blindness in the elderly. To identify rare coding variants associated with a large increase in risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), we sequenced 2,335 cases and 789 controls in 10 candidate loci (57 genes). To increase power, we augmented our control set with ancestry-matched exome sequenced controls. An analysis of coding variation in 2,268 AMD cases and 2,268 ancestry matched controls revealed two large-effect rare variants; previously described R1210C in the CFH gene (fcase = 0.51%, fcontrol = 0.02%, OR = 23.11), and newly identified K155Q in the C3 gene (fcase = 1.06%, fcontrol = 0.39%, OR = 2.68). The variants suggest decreased inhibition of C3 by Factor H, resulting in increased activation of the alternative complement pathway, as a key component of disease biology