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Despite increased awareness of the lack of gender equity in academia and a growing number of initiatives to address issues of diversity, change is slow, and inequalities remain. A major source of inequity is gender bias, which has a substantial negative impact on the careers, work-life balance, and mental health of underrepresented groups in science. Here, we argue that gender bias is not a single problem but manifests as a collection of distinct issues that impact researchers' lives. We disentangle these facets and propose concrete solutions that can be adopted by individuals, academic institutions, and society., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, temperature, and precipitation affect plant growth and evapotranspiration. However, the interactive effects of these factors are relatively unexplored, and it is important to consider their combined effects at geographic and temporal scales that are relevant to policymaking. Accordingly, we estimate how climate change would affect water requirements for irrigated corn ethanol production in key regions of the U.S. over a 40 year horizon. We used the geographic-information-system-based environmental policy integrated climate (GEPIC) model, coupled with temperature and precipitation predictions from five different general circulation models and atmospheric CO2 concentrations from the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios A2 emission scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to estimate changes in water requirements and yields for corn ethanol. Simulations infer that climate change would increase the evaporative water consumption of the 15 billion gallons per year of corn ethanol needed to comply with the Energy Independency and Security Act by 10%, from 94 to 102 trillion liters/year (tly), and the irrigation water consumption by 19%, from 10.22 to 12.18 tly. Furthermore, on average, irrigation rates would increase by 9%, while corn yields would decrease by 7%, even when the projected increased irrigation requirements were met. In the irrigation-intensive High Plains, this implies increased pressure for the stressed Ogallala Aquifer, which provides water to seven states and irrigates one-fourth of the grain produced in the U.S. In the Corn Belt and Great Lakes region, where more rainfall is projected, higher water requirements could be related to less frequent rainfall, suggesting a need for additional water catchment capacity. The projected increases in water intensity (i.e., the liters of water required during feedstock cultivation to produce 1 L of corn ethanol) because of climate change highlight the need to re-evaluate the corn ethanol elements of the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Objective: To describe euthyroid sick syndrome (ESS) and its different clinical variants in severe acute illness., Design: This prospective cohort study examined hormone results and outcome for patients admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU)., Methods: In this heterogeneous group of 108 patients from our ICU we analyzed the prevalence of ESS and its influence on mortality and sought to determine if any thyroid indicators had a prognostic value., Results: The prevalence of ESS was similar to that described by other authors (68.5% for ESS type I, 15.7% for type II and 1.9% for type III). Patients developed thyroid alterations on their third day of hospitalization and those with ESS type II had a higher mortality rate. The only thyroid indicator with prognostic value was a reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) value exceeding 0.61 ng/mL., Conclusion: Severe acute illness induced the thyroid alterations known as ESS. Type I had the highest prevalence, but type II was correlated with a higher mortality rate. The only thyroid indicator with a prognostic value was rT3.

The search for foam cells in the urinary sediment of patients with possible renal xanthogranulomatosis can constitute a harmless and useful diagnostic method for this frequently occurring renal disease, which previously has been diagnosed with certainty only by histological examination or biopsy. Of 5 cases studied the search was positive in 80 per cent.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the diagnostic usefulness of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in a large series of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) seen over a 1-year period. During 1986, ultrasonographically guided percutaneous FNAB was performed in 72 patients with suspected HCC. A final diagnosis of HCC was made in 58 patients. The presence or absence of HCC was ascertained by histological examination and/or by other diagnostic procedures (alpha 1-fetoprotein, computed tomography, arteriography) and by clinical follow-up (repeated ultrasonographic controls) and/or by surgery or necropsy. A total of 61 FNABs were carried out in these 58 patients. Only 42 (69%) of the 61 FNABs allowed the diagnosis of HCC. This moderate diagnostic sensitivity was not related to tumor size. Only one false positive result was observed in the non-HCC group. Therefore, the diagnostic specificity of FNAB for HCC was 93%, with a positive predictive value of 97% and a negative predictive value of 40%. These results show that FNAB is a useful diagnostic technique in patients with HCC. However, these data also show that there is a large proportion (31%) of subjects with false negative results. Therefore, we suggest that further efforts should be made to improve the diagnostic accuracy of this procedure.

The usefulness of telescoping plugged catheter (TPC) together with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in the same bronchoscopic act in the diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates was studied in 113 fiberoptic bronchoscopic examinations performed on 96 immunocompromised patients. The TPC cultures detected pulmonary bacterial infections in 25 (22 percent) cases but showed a high frequency of false positive results (12 microorganisms, 27 percent). Bronchoalveolar lavage had an overall diagnostic yield of 49 percent (53 of 113 cases). Combining TPC and BAL diagnostic values, 78 of 113 pulmonary infiltrates (69 percent) were diagnosed. The results obtained by both techniques allowed us to modify the treatment in 35 (31 percent) cases. Combined, TPC and BAL show a good diagnostic yield in immunocompromised patients with pulmonary infiltrates. Both techniques should be performed as the first approach in the evaluation of these patients, and be done in the same bronchoscopic procedure.

A group of two hundred and sixty women, most of them young, with histologic diagnosis of CIN located at the exocervix, has been treated by means of CO2 laser vaporization. The entire transformation zone and a minimum of 10 mm at the base of cervical canal was vaporized to a depth of 6-7 mm. Of the treated group, 239 patients (114 CIN I, 78 SIN II and 47 CIN III), were followed for a mean of 19 months. The failure rate of a single treatment was 8.8% for CIN I, 11.5% for CIN II and 12.7% for CIN III. These results are in agreement with world Literature The majority of failures, diagnosed within the first year of follow-up were small areas of CIN I-II located around the squamo-columnar junction, and only two CIN III were detected. No evidence of CIN was observed after a second treatment. No case of invasive cancer has been detected. Fertility was not affected by the treatment. It is concluded that CO2 laser vaporization is a safe and effective method for treatment of CIN. Patient selection, proper technique, close follow-up and adequate treatment of failures are essential to this end.

The present investigation was aimed to assess the usefulness of biliary agents scintigraphy in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to ascertain the relationship between the uptake of these agents and the degree of HCC differentiation. Forty-four patients with this hepatic cancer were included in the study. Liver scans were performed 20 min and 3 hr after the administration of 99mTc diisopropyliminodiacetic acid (DISIDA). DISIDA scintigraphy could not be assessed in six cases. In 16 (42%) out of the remaining 38 patients, the tumor exhibited equal or greater radioactivity uptake than the surrounding liver. In six out of these 16 patients, tumor uptake was apparent in the early and delayed hepatic scans, while in the other ten subjects radioactivity uptake by the HCC could only be detected in the 3-hr delayed scans. In the remaining 22 patients, HCC appeared as a cold area. Tumor location by this technique did not differ from that observed by 99mTc-sulfur colloid scan or ultrasound. DISIDA uptake was significantly related to tumor differentiation: 70% of those well differentiated tumors exhibited DISIDA uptake, whereas it was found in only 30% of those moderately differentiated and in none of those poorly differentiated (p less than 0.05). These results show that DISIDA scintigraphy can be useful in the diagnosis of HCC. Since its sensitivity is related to the degree of tumor differentiation, it may be indicated when aspiration cytology is unable to distinguish between well differentiated HCC and reactive changes due to hepatic cirrhosis.

The Ca1 antibody was used in an immunohistochemical procedure on smears of cells from 40 patients with malignant pleural effusion. The control group consisted of 25 benign pleural effusions with a high percentage of reactive mesothelial cells. The Ca1 Mc Ab was positive in 19 (79%) of the 24 pleural effusions with positive malignant cytology. In all the benign cases the Ca1 Mc Ab was negative (100% specificity). The Ca1 Mc Ab detected malignant mesothelial cells in two cases and was negative with reactive mesothelial cells and other nucleated cells present in the pleural effusion. We conclude that the Ca1 antibody offers a useful diagnostic method for malignant pleural effusions, when the morphological interpretation is doubtful.