Impact of contraception and IVF hormones on metabolic, endocrine, and inflammatory status

Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) represent commonly utilized management strategies for infertility with multifactorial causes (including genetically predisposed diseases). Amongst ART, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most popular. IVF treatment may predispose the mother to increased risks and complications during pregnancy, and there may be adverse fetal outcomes. Hormonal therapies, including oral contraceptives, may impair glucose and lipid metabolism, and promote insulin resistance and inflammation. IVF treatment involves administration of reproductive hormones, similar in composition but in much higher doses than those used for oral contraception. The provision of IVF reproductive hormones to mice associates with glucose intolerance. In addition, the physiological and hormonal changes of pregnancy can trigger an inflammatory response, and metabolic and endocrine changes. There is controversy regarding the potential effects of IVF hormonal therapies in the promotion of diabetogenic and inflammatory states, additional to those that occur during pregnancy, and which may therefore predispose women with IVF-conceived pregnancies to adverse obstetric outcomes compared with women with spontaneously conceived pregnancies. This review summarizes the limited published evidence regarding the effect of IVF-based fertility therapies on glucose homeostasis, insulin resistance, cardio-metabolic profile, and markers of inflammation

Semantic HMC for Big Data Analysis

Analyzing Big Data can help corporations to im-prove their efficiency. In this work we present a new vision to derive Value from Big Data using a Semantic Hierarchical Multi-label Classification called Semantic HMC based in a non-supervised Ontology learning process. We also proposea Semantic HMC process, using scalable Machine-Learning techniques and Rule-based reasoning

The Magic School Bus

This report recreates the Fairey Rotodyne in modern, electric form. Extensive research into the market requirements and history of the autogiro are presented as justification for the implementation of such a design. The design criteria and mission profile are selected in order to compete with inter-city commuting in the range of 20 to 30 statute miles or with longer range travel at roughly 100 miles. Cost estimations are also made in order to gauge the feasibility of this design from an economic standpoint. Achieving the design criteria and desired mission profile are done through numerical integration and analysis through CFD to optimize the initial design detailed below. The results that we found show that this is a feasible design worthy of further investigation

The Social Cost of Near-Rational Investment

We show that the stock market may fail to aggregate information even if it appears to be efficient; the resulting collapse in the dissemination of information may drastically reduce welfare. We solve a macroeconomic model in which information about fundamentals is dispersed and households make small, correlated errors around their optimal investment policies. As information aggregates in the market, these errors amplify and crowd out the information content of stock prices. When stock prices reflect less information, the perceived and the actual volatility of stock returns rise. This increase in financial risk makes holding stocks unattractive, distorts the long-run level of capital accumulation, and causes costly ( first-order) distortions in the long-run level of consumption

Representative bureaucracy, role congruence, and Kenya’s gender quota

This article examines the subnational determinants of descriptive representation. Agency managers may be hesitant to hire women uniformly across all localities if they perceive geographic variation in role congruence, or the degree to which a position’s duties match gender roles. We expect managerial perceptions to affect hiring patterns even after the adoption of a gender quota intended to improve descriptive representation, as managers will differentially hire women to meet the quota in localities where they perceive role congruence to be highest. Evidence from Kenya’s most important security agency after the adoption of a gender quota supports the theory. Broadly, this article shows that aggregate quotas are at risk of being implemented in a way that undermines the spirit of the law. Slack in oversight pushes implementation to subnational areas where managers perceive the quota will be least disruptive, and ultimately, have the smallest effects on passive, let alone active, representation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162706/2/gove12480.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162706/1/gove12480_am.pd

Dictators and their Secret Police: Coercive Institutions and State Violence. Sheena Chestnut Greitens. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2016. 336 pp. $99.99 (cloth)

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138362/1/gove12306.pd

Application of Laser Assisted Ultrasonic Nanocrystal Surface Modification on Aluminum and 3D Printed Titanium

A novel surface treatment, laser assisted ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (LA-UNSM), has proved effective in increasing surface hardness, and fatigue life. The objective of this research is to determine the effectiveness of this process on components created with additive manufacturing. To accomplish this, we investigated the effectiveness of LA-UNSM treatment on aluminum, a common 3d printed metal, and the effectiveness of LA-UNSM processing on 3d printed titanium. We first conducted our own literature review to assess the practicality of using this same treatment on aluminum. We then treated traditionally manufactured aluminum at varying levels of laser intensity to determine if this process was valid for aluminum. The low recrystallization temperature of aluminum was noted as a concern. Proceeding with our plan we treated aluminum samples at varying levels of laser power while using the same UNSM processing parameters. Hardness tests were conducted to determine the effect of the treatment, from this data a conclusive trend was difficult to identify. In looking into the effectiveness of this process on 3d printed material, we used a sample of 3d printed titanium provided to us by colleagues. We compared the effectiveness of LA-UNSM treatments on traditionally produced titanium to the 3d printed sample using the same processing parameters with each. These samples we compared with hardness tests and microscopic surface inspection to evaluate the roughness and hardness of the samples before and after processing. These results confirmed the effectiveness of LA-UNSM treatments on titanium materials as well as demonstrated the possibility to use this process on 3d printed surfaces. Our exploration of the effects of LA-UNSM processing on titanium, of conventional and 3d printed manufacture, shows the LA-UNSM process works on 3d printed material as well as on traditional manufactured surfaces. The investigation of the effects of LA-UNSM treatment on aluminum was less clear. There was an improvement of the surface hardness with treatment, but further investigation is required into the effect of the laser alone on the surfac

Impact of ICARDA Research on Australian Agriculture

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Checklists of Cucujidae, Laemophloeidae, and Silvanidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) from Iran

The Iranian fauna of Cucujidae, Laemophloeidae, and Silvanidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) are summarized in this paper. In total 2 species of Cucujidae (1 genus: Pediacus Shuckard), 6 species of Laemophloeidae (3 genera: Cryptolestes Ganglbauer, Laemophloeus Dejean, and Placonotus MacLeay) and 7 species of Silvanidae (6 genera: Uleiota Latreille, Psammoecus Latreille, Ahasverus Gozis, Nausibius Lentz, Oryzaephilus Ganglbauer, Psammoecus Latreille, and Silvanus Latreille) are listed in this paper. Synonymies and distribution data are given