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This paper presents findings from a survey of 34 food policy councils (FPCs) in California. The survey addressed organizational structure and functions, policy priorities and achievements, and the use of research or other information. We find that most FPCs have formed in recent years, operate with small budgets and limited or no staff, and function primarily to foster network relationships. FPCs rely on community-based knowledge more than academic research, suggesting an opportunity for Extension professionals to lend expertise. We conclude by identifying specific ways Extension professionals can support FPCs as they seek to enhance local and regional food systems.

The "guardrails" that President Biden and President Xi envisaged in Bali in November 2022 began to be emplaced at their November 2023 summit in Woodside, California. In-person, leader-led communication was deepened, reassurances exchanged, and practical--albeit modest--"deliverables" locked down on several fronts, including restarting mil-mil communications, cracking down on fentanyl precursors, addressing the national security harms of artificial intelligence (AI), and increased people-to-people exchanges. The establishment of numerous bilateral working groups will ensure an almost full plate of across-the-board consultations in 2024 as well as the means to troubleshoot irritants on short notice. As stabilizing as the Woodside summit was, it failed to deflect the US-PRC relationship from its larger overall trajectory of "selective decoupling" across a range of advanced technologies and frontier industries (microelectronics; quantum; AI; biomanufacturing; clean energy). Strategic trade controls and other competitive actions were doubled down upon. With a pivotal US presidential election looming in 2024, questions abound on the longer-term durability of a rehabilitating US-PRC relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a current lack of descriptive information on college students who gamble on the Internet. With the increasing popularity of Internet gambling, this study aimed to better understand the profile of Internet gamblers among a sample of college students. Of 909 students at the University of California-Los Angeles who completed an online survey, 8.1% reported gambling for money on the Internet at least once in their lifetime and 5.7% reported Internet gambling within the past year. Approximately one third of Internet gamblers were identified as either at-risk or probable pathological gamblers. Males were much more likely to gamble on the Internet compared to females. Those who gambled on the Internet gambled more frequently and were more likely to report indicators of potentially harmful lifestyles (e.g., drinking alcohol, smoking, using marijuana, using illicit drugs, and unhealthy body mass indices) compared to non-Internet gamblers and nongamblers. Poker, the predominant gambling activity, is discussed in terms of its role as the driving force behind Internet wagering among college students. (Contains 4 tables.)

Early exposure to embedded computing systems is crucial for students to be prepared for the embedded computing demands of today's world. However, exposure to systems knowledge often comes too late in the curriculum to stimulate students' interests and to provide a meaningful difference in how they direct their choice of electives for future education and careers. This paper describes an experience with integrating embedded computing systems education into high school and early undergraduate curricula to give students that needed early exposure. It provides assessment data that illustrates the success and limitations of the efforts described as well as the lessons they hold for a reform of the undergraduate curriculum and its impact on high school education. (Contains 3 figures.)

Purpose: Although minimally invasive (robotic or laparoscopic) abdominal sacrocolpopexy (MISC) has become the new gold standard for durable pelvic organ prolapse repair after the vaginal mesh controversy, current literature is limited. Our objective was to study reoperation for mesh complications after MISC. Materials and Methods: All women undergoing MISC in California from January 2012 to December 2018 were identified from Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data sets using appropriate ICD-9/10 (International Classification of Diseases 9th/10th Revision) and CPT® (Current Procedural Terminology) codes. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed to assess associations between patient demographics, surgical details and our primary outcomes: rates of reoperation for a mesh complication. Results: Of 12,189 women undergoing MISC 8,398 (68.9%) had concomitant hysterectomy. Total hysterectomy (TH) and supracervical hysterectomy (SCH) were performed in 5,027 (41.2%) and 3,371 (27.6%) cases, respectively. Reoperation rates for mesh complications were lower after SCH vs TH (overall: 0.7%, mean followup time 1,111 days vs 3.1%, mean followup time 1,095 days, p <0.001; subcohort with at least 4 years of followup: 2.1% vs 8.9%, p <0.001). Additionally, mesh complication rates were higher even if TH was performed remotely, as compared to concomitant SCH (5.2% vs 0.7%, p <0.001). The increased risk for reoperation due to mesh complications after TH was preserved on multivariable analysis (OR 4.20, 95% CI 2.72-6.50, p <0.001). Conclusions: Concomitant TH at time of MISC is associated with a significantly higher rate of mesh complication as compared to SCH. The increased risk of a mesh complication associated with TH is present even if the TH was performed prior to the MISC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-driving cars, presently under on road testing stage, contain software to drive the vehicle without intervention of a human driver. The two major competencies of this software are perception and planning. When any discrepancy is detected in any of these competencies, it causes "failure in operation" or "disengagement" i.e., control is handed over to human driver present as a back-up arrangement. In this paper, on-road testing data is considered for self-driving cars in California (USA) for eight manufacturers whose vehicles have been tested for at least 10,000 miles. The various reasons for reported disengagement or failure have been attributed to error in two software competencies of self-driving cars - perception competency or planning competency. The "number of miles driven" has been taken as a dependent parameter while cumulative failure due to perception or due to planning have been taken as an independent variable. The seven NHPP software reliability failure-count models have been compared to identify the best-fit model for number of miles driven against failure due to perception discrepancy and number of miles driven against failures due to planning discrepancy for the above-mentioned eight selfdriving car manufacturers. The type of debugging has been identified based on the nest fit model and future predicted values of the respective failures are estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with adults who are admitted to general medical-surgical wards, women who are admitted to labor and delivery services are at much lower risk of experiencing unexpected critical illness. Nonetheless, critical illness and other complications that put either the mother or fetus at risk do occur. One potential approach to prevention is to use automated early warning systems, such as those used for nonpregnant adults. Predictive models that use data extracted in real time from electronic records constitute the cornerstone of such systems. This article addresses several issues that are involved in the development of such predictive models: specification of temporal characteristics, choice of denominator, selection of outcomes for model calibration, potential uses of existing adult severity of illness scores, approaches to data processing, statistical considerations, validation, and options for instantiation. These have not been addressed explicitly in the obstetrics literature, which has focused on the use of manually assigned scores. In addition, this article provides some results from work in progress to develop 2 obstetric predictive models with the use of data from 262,071 women who were admitted to a labor and delivery service at 15 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals between 2010 and 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine if timely treatment within 60 min of confirmed diagnosis of severe maternal hypertension with antihypertensive medications was associated with reduction in severe maternal morbidity.Study Design: Medical records of women with severe hypertension (at least two severe blood pressures, systolic ≥160 mmHg and/or diastolic ≥110 mmHg, within 60 min) were accessed for timing of severe blood pressures, timing of treatment, and blood pressure response to treatment. Severe maternal morbidity was confirmed by multidisciplinary case review. We compared the incidence of severe maternal morbidity between women who received timely (within 60 min of diagnosis) vs. not-timely treatment.Results: Of 465 women with severe hypertension, 29 (6.2%) experienced severe maternal morbidity. Fifty-six percent of women received timely treatment, of whom 1.9% had severe maternal morbidity, compared with 6.4% of women who did not receive timely treatment (p = 0.02). Timely treatment was associated with a 72% reduction in relative risk of severe maternal morbidity (p = 0.02). No significant difference was seen in median pre-treatment systolic pressures (p = 0.20) between the groups.Conclusion: Antihypertensive treatment within 60 min of confirmed diagnosis of severe hypertension was associated with reduction in severe maternal morbidity. Our findings support current recommendations to treat all women with severe hypertension with antihypertensive medications in a timely fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the commencing of bankruptcy cases by nonprofit organizations and debtors of California for the purpose of liquidating its assets. The Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy case discusses the filling of bankruptcy petitions by business trust, corporations and unincorporated companies and also discusses the appointment of trustees for the cases of nonprofit debtor.

The 2007 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP, 2007) presents the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, Version 2 (UCERF 2). This model comprises a time-independent (Poisson-process) earthquake rate model, developed jointly with the National Seismic Hazard Mapping Program and a time-dependent earthquake-probability model, based on recent earthquake rates and stress-renewal statistics conditioned on the date of last event. The models were developed from updated statewide earthquake catalogs and fault deformation databases using a uniform methodology across all regions and implemented in the modular, extensible Open Seismic Hazard Analysis framework. The rate model satisfies integrating measures of deformation across the plate-boundary zone and is consistent with historical seismicity data. An overprediction of earthquake rates found at intermediate magnitudes (6.5 ≤ M ≤ 7.0) in previous models has been reduced to within the 95% confidence bounds of the historical earthquake catalog. A logic tree with 480 branches represents the epistemic uncertainties of the full time-dependent model. The mean UCERF 2 time-dependent probability of one or more M ≤ 6.7 earthquakes in the California region during the next 30 yr is 99.7%; this probability decreases to 46% for M ≤ 7.5 and to 4.5% for M ≤ 8.0. These probabilities do not include the Cascadia subduction zone, largely north of California, for which the estimated 30 yr, M ≤ 8.0 time-dependent probability is 10%. The M ≤ 6.7 probabilities on major strike-slip faults are consistent with the WGCEP (2003) study in the San Francisco Bay Area and the WGCEP (1995) study in southern California, except for significantly lower estimates along the San Jacinto and Elsinore faults, owing to provisions for larger multisegment ruptures. Important model limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), being a leguminous, highly fibrous and proteinaceous plant, has always been one of the top choices for forage production, but has high cost of irrigation in many dry and warm areas such as California and Arizona. Thus, a reduction of irrigation by using the higher water use efficiency (WUE) varieties can help the growers in reducing the cost and is critical for sustainable agriculture production. WUE is closely related to water loss through transpiring stomata. Alfalfa exhibits high density of stomata on both abaxial and adaxial surfaces. The objective of this study is to examine whether WUE can be improved by manipulating stomatal density in alfalfa. We hypothesize that there is a variation in stomatal density among alfalfa genotypes which may be genetically controlled by the genes as in Arabidopsis. After examining stomatal density in 11 different alfalfa genotypes, we indeed found that variations in stomatal densities among genotypes exist. Our next step is to examine the effect of stomatal density on WUE among selected genotypes varying in stomatal density. Finally, we will examine whether expression of several candidate genes is correlated with stomatal density in alfalfa. Ultimately our goal is to optimize stomatal density in alfalfa to improve WUE without reduction of biomass production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the United States, >45,000 adolescent and young adult (AYA) women are diagnosed with cancer annually. Reproductive issues are critically important to AYA cancer survivors, but insufficient information is available to address their concerns. The AYA Horizon Study was initiated to contribute high-quality, contemporary evidence on reproductive outcomes for female cancer survivors in the United States., Methods: The study cohort includes women diagnosed with lymphoma, breast, melanoma, thyroid, or gynecologic cancer (the five most common cancers among women ages 15-39 years) at three study sites: the state of North Carolina and the Kaiser Permanente health systems in Northern and Southern California. Detailed information on cancer treatment, fertility procedures, and pregnancy (e.g., miscarriage, live birth) and birth (e.g., birth weight, gestational length) outcomes are leveraged from state cancer registries, health system databases and administrative insurance claims, national data on assisted reproductive technology procedures, vital records, and survey data., Results: We identified a cohort of 11,072 female AYA cancer survivors that includes >1,200 African American women, >1,400 Asian women, >1,600 Medicaid enrollees, and >2,500 Hispanic women using existing data sources. Active response to the survey component was low overall ( N = 1,679), and notably lower among minority groups compared with non-Hispanic white women., Conclusions: Passive data collection through linkage reduces participant burden and prevents systematic cohort attrition or potential selection biases that can occur with active participation requirements., Impact: The AYA Horizon study will inform survivorship planning as fertility and parenthood gain increasing recognition as key aspects of high-quality cancer care., (©2021 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Objective: The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the use of temporary epicardial pacing wires to diagnose and treat early postoperative arrhythmias in pediatric cardiac surgical patients and (2) to determine the predictive factors for the need of pacing wires for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes., Methods: We collected preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative data in a prospective, observational format from patients undergoing pediatric cardiac surgery between August 2010 and January 2011 at a single academic children's hospital., Results: A total of 157 patients met the inclusion criteria during the study period. Of these 157 patients, pacing wires were placed in 127 (81%). Pacing wires were used in 25 patients (19.6%) for diagnostic purposes, 26 patients (20.4%) for therapeutic purposes, 15 patients (11.8%) for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and 36 patients (28.3%) for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Need for cardioversion in the operating room, presence of 2 or more intracardiac catheters, severely reduced ventricular ejection fraction, and elevated serum lactate level at the time of operating room discharge were found to be independent predictors for the use of pacing wires. The only complication noted in the cohort was a skin infection at a pacing wire insertion site in 1 patient. A permanent pacemaker was required in 8 (6.2%) of all patients with temporary pacing wires., Conclusions: Our data support the use of temporary epicardial pacing wires in approximately 30% of children after congenital heart surgery. We found the need for cardioversion in the operating room, presence of 2 or more intracardiac catheters, severely reduced ventricular ejection fraction, and high serum lactate level at the time of discharge from the operating room to be independent predictors of the use of pacing wires in the early postoperative period., (Copyright © 2012 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)