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Background: Delayed time from collection to centrifugation may cause erroneously high lactate levels in vitro (from continued blood cell metabolism under anaerobic conditions in the collection tube) if not collected in appropriate collection devices, consequently increasing the risk for inappropriate patient care or harm. We undertook a study to determine the turnaround time for lactate testing in a tertiary care setting and also performed short- and long-term lactate stability studies in blood collected in sodium fluoride/potassium oxalate (NaF/KOx) collection tubes. Methods: The hospital lab information system was mined for 6 months to determine patient samples that may have exceeded the time from collection-to-receival in lab of 15-min. Lactate stability was evaluated in unspun NaF/KOx collection tubes at 15 min intervals for to 2 h; and separately at 2, 6, 12, 24, and 48-h post-collection. Results: A total of 8,929 plasma samples were collected in 6 months, and 1/3 were not received in the lab within 15 min from collection. In NaF/KOx additive, lactate levels had minor increases over 2 h, and incremental increases at an average rate of 0.0035 mmol/L/h over 48 h with maximum increase of 9.8% at 48 h. However, the average change across all time points were within local allowable performance goals (at ≤4 mmol/L ± 0.5 mmol/L; at >4 mmol/L ± 12%). Conclusion: A small proportion of lactate specimens may experience delay in processing. Although lactate levels may incrementally increase over 48-h at room temperature in unspun NaF/KOx collection tubes, the changes may not be clinically impactful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenobarbital (PB) is an archetypal substance used as a mouse hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) promotor in established experimental protocols. Our previous results showed CAR is the essential factor for PB induced HCC promotion. Subsequent studies suggested Gadd45β, which is induced by PB through CAR activation, is collaborating with CAR to repress TNF-α induced cell death. Here, we used Gadd45β null mice (Gadd45β KO) treated with N-diethylnitrosamine (DEN) at 5 weeks of age and kept the mice with PB supplemented drinking water from 7 to 57 weeks old. Compared with wild type mice, Gadd45β KO mice developed no HCC in the PB treated group. Increases in liver weight were more prominent in wild type mice than KO mice. Microarray analysis of mRNA derived from mouse livers found multiple genes specifically up or down regulated in wild type mice but not null mice in DEN + PB groups. Further qPCR analysis confirmed two genes, Tgfbr2 and irisin/Fndc5, were up-regulated in PB treated wild type mice but no significant increase was observed in Gadd45β KO mice. We focused on these two genes because previous reports showed that hepatic Irisin/Fndc5 expression was significantly higher in HCC patients and that irisin binds to TGF-β receptor complex that includes TGFBR2 subunit. Our results revealed irisin peptide in cell culture media increased the growth rate of mouse hepatocyte-derived AML12 cells. Microarray analysis revealed that irisinregulated genes in AML12 cells showed a significant association with the genes in the TGF-β pathway. Expression of irisin/Fndc5 and Tgfbr2 induced growth of human HCC cell line HepG2. Thus, Gadd45β plays an indispensable role in mouse HCC development regulating the irisin/Fndc5 and Tgfbr2 genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although at one level Jean-Pierre Jeunets "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain" is a sweet, attractive film about a young Parisian doing good deeds, it also offers a compelling analysis of the role of technology in our modern lives. The film paints a world where machines and a mechanistic worldview are appealing because humans have a desire to control their destinies but threatening because humans value freedom. The work of French social theorist Jacques Ellul is especially useful in analyzing these facets of the film as technology and freedom were consistent themes in his various books on the modern milieu. (Contains 16 notes.)

Three effective medium theories (Maxwell-Garnett Theory, MGT; Bruggeman Effective Medium Theory, BEMT; and Coherent Model Approximation, CMA) are applied to predict magnetic susceptibility of polymer-magnetic particle composites and composite resonant frequency. Predictions are compared to the measurement of multi-crystalline magnetic particulate-polymer composites. Particulates had aspect ratios near unity; bulk low frequency susceptibilities ranged from 27 to 1000 s and particle volume fractions were between 5% and 100%. Emphasis was placed on CMA and BEMT. BEMT was selected for incorporation of a scaling function relating demagnetization with particulate concentration. The scaled model is scaled effective medium theory (ScEMT). Percolation theory and micromagnetic computations were applied to guide the choice of scaling function parameters. Experimental support of scale model physics was taken from measurements of magnetic sphere clustering in two dimensions. Scaling function constants and power laws were determined by numerical fits to one set of high susceptibility, Ni0.24 Zn0.65 Cu0.07 Fe2.04O4 particle composites. The parameters of the scaling function were held constant and then applied to predict magnetic parameters in other composites. These included Fe, Fe-Ni, Ni0.34 Zn0.65Fe2.0O4, Mn0.53Zn0.4Fe2.06O4, NiMn0.02Fe2O4, and Fe3O4. ScEMT predictions and measurement were in good agreement. When combined with Snoek's law, the combined model improved predictions of resonant frequency in composites and relaxation frequency predictions are in progress. Overall, ScEMT shows improved accuracy for calculating low frequency susceptibility and composite resonant frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megadroughts are multidecadal periods of aridity more persistent than most droughts during the instrumental period. Paleoclimate evidence suggests that megadroughts occur in many parts of the world, including North America, Central America, western Europe, eastern Asia, and northern Africa. It remains unclear to what extent such megadroughts require external forcing or whether they can arise from internal climate variability alone. A novel statistical–dynamical approach is used to evaluate the possibility that such events arise solely as a function of interannual tropical sea surface temperature (SST) variations. A statistical emulator of tropical SST variations is constructed by using an empirical moving‐blocks bootstrap approach that randomly samples multiyear sequences of the observational SST record. This approach preserves the power spectrum, seasonal cycle, and spatial pattern of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) but removes longer timescale fluctuations embedded in the observational record. These resampled SST anomalies are then used to force an atmospheric model (the Community Atmosphere Model Version 5). As megadroughts emerge in this run, they should, therefore, be solely a consequence of La Niña sequences combined with internal atmospheric variability and persistence driven by soil moisture storage and other land‐surface processes. We indeed find that megadroughts in this simulation have an amplitude‐duration rate that is generally indistinguishable from the rate documented in paleoclimate records of the western United States. Our findings support the idea that megadroughts may occur randomly when the unforced climate system evolves freely over a sufficiently long period of time, implying that an unforced unusual but statistically plausible series of La Niña events may be sufficient to generate megadrought. Key Points: Low‐frequency variability in the tropical Pacific is not critical for producing megadroughts in the US SouthwestA hybrid modeling approach confirms the statistically significant occurrence of megadrought in the SWUS similar to paleoclimate recordsA statistically plausible series of La Niña events may be sufficient to generate megadrought [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Handmaid's Tale is a novel by Margaret Atwood that has won numerous awards for its frightful dystopian imagery. It was recently adapted for series television, an adaptation that has led some to see beyond the confines of the printed word. Columnists for a number of newspapers and magazines have suggested the television series provides insights into contemporary politics and religion. This study examines the way these essayists wrestled with various interpretations of the show. Some writers based their fearful reaction to the show on the Trump administration. Others, though, scoffed at this interpretation and seemed to enjoy doing so. In this study I examine how these dissonant interpretations might raise very good questions about how scholars think about media, religion, and fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three effective medium theories (Maxwell-Garnett, MGT; Bruggeman, BEMT; Coherent Model Approximation, CMA) are often applied to predict dielectric or magnetic susceptibility of polymer-magnetic particle composites. Measured composite susceptibility data for multi-crystalline magnetic particulate aspect ratios near unity and bulk low frequency susceptibilities ranging from 10s to 1000s were used to evaluate EMT model accuracies. Composite volume fractions varied from 5 to 100%. Each theory was evaluated against measured data with emphasis placed on CMA and BEMT. BEMT was selected for incorporation of a scaling function relating demagnetization factors with particulate fraction. The scaled model is ScEMT. Percolation theory and micromagnetic computations were applied as guides in choice of scaling function numerical parameters. Experimental support of scale model physics was taken from measurements of magnetic sphere clustering in two dimensions. Scaling function parameters were determined by a numerical fit to one set of NiZnCuFerrite particle composites. The parameters of the scaling function were held constant and then applied to predict magnetic parameters in others. Those composites incorporated: Fe, Fe-Ni, Ni.34 Zn.65 ferrites; Mn.53 Zn.41 ferrites; NiMn.02 ferrites and Fe3O4. Scaled effective model, ScEMT, and measurement were in good agreement. When combined with Snoek's law, the combined model improved predictions of resonant frequency in composites and relaxation frequency predictions are in progress. Overall, ScEMT shows improved accuracy for calculating low frequency susceptibility and also composite resonant frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study represents an attempt to better understand how religion fits into the discourse between filmmakers and critics who review their work. The author uses the thought of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu—specifically, his notions of cultural capital and consecration—to analyze mainstream reviewers' responses to the motion pictures of Alex and Stephen Kendrick, two brothers who have endeavoured to make mainstream films that "communicate the gospel without compromise." In analyzing reviews of the Kendricks' five "faith-based" films, a consistent pattern of comments from the reviewers is evident, a pattern that expresses negativity toward the brothers' aesthetic, social, and theological choices. Also apparent, though, is an ongoing conversation in which the filmmakers seem to recognize the importance of listening to reviewers, even if the filmmakers have not toned down their message. Reviewer comments for War Room, a film whose budget and box office success have pushed it into the mainstream in spite of its very religious content, show that the filmmakers not only appear aware of the concerns expressed by critics but also persist in their attachment to religious filmic content that may not appeal to secular critics who, in Bourdieu's terms, have a high level of "cultural capital." With Bourdieu's work in mind, the study suggests that many of the disagreements between the filmmakers and reviewers have as much to do with religion, class, and taste as they do aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The estrogen sulfotransferase SULT1E1 sulfates and inactivates estrogen, which is reactivated via desulfation by steroid sulfatase, thus regulating estrogen homeostasis. Phenobarbital (PB), a clinical sedative, activates Sult1e1 gene transcription in mouse livers. Here, the molecular mechanism by which the nuclear receptors CAR, which is targeted by PB, and RORα communicate through phosphorylation to regulate Sult1e1 activation has been studied. RORα, a basal activity repressor of the Sult1e1 promoter, becomes phosphorylated at serine 100 and converts to an activator of the Sult1e1 promoter in response to PB. CAR regulates both the RORα phosphorylation and conversion. Our findings suggest that PB signals CAR to communicate with RORα via serine 100 phosphorylation, converting RORα from transcription repressor to activator of the Sult1e1 gene and inducing SULT1E1 expression in mouse livers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017 Nike, Inc. announced the launch of a new product, a pro hijab. Journalistic coverage of this event allows for analysis of how news reporters balance their view of religion with predispositions to cover other important elements, such as women in sport, and the growth of corporate power. Through a critical discourse analysis, the researcher discovered reporters did not manifest strong Islamophobia or patriarchy in their coverage and that they rarely questioned Nike's corporate power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the Watonwan River tributary system to the upper Mississippi River basin (UMR), and the fluvial systems to which it drains, are listed as impaired under the United States Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water Act303(d) and/or by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. In addition, eutrophic conditions and excessive sedimentation rates exist in Lake Pepin, a riverine lake to which the UMR drains. Thus, understanding the hydrogeomorphic change throughout the UMR is vital in order to establish appropriate efforts to mitigate environmental hazards downstream. This study attempts to evaluate hydrogeomorphic change at the watershed scale in the Watonwan River watershed between 1855 and the near present. Historical plat maps, digital elevation models (DEMs), aerial images, soil/topographic characteristics, land-use change, and field surveys are analyzed. Surficial hydrologic features digitized from historical plat maps are compared with contemporary stream networks extracted from high-resolution DEMs. Scale effects are investigated using multi-resolution (1 m, 3 m, 8.5 m, and 30 m) DEMs, with 8.5 m DEMs being ideal for watershed scale analysis, and 1-3 m DEMs being ideal for subwatershed analysis. There has been a substantial hydrogeomorphic change in the watershed since 1855, but most significantly, we interpret that the highest rates of erosion occur in the eastern watershed, where knickzone propagation has produced substantial relief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]