INTRODUCTION:
Data on the safety of waterbirth in the United States are lacking.
METHODS:
We used data from the Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project, birth years 2004 to 2009. We compared outcomes of neonates born underwater waterbirth (n = 6534), neonates not born underwater nonwaterbirth (n = 10,290),...
Multiple stressors are currently threatening honey bee health, including pests and pathogens. Among honey bee pathogens, Nosema ceranae is a microsporidian found parasitizing the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) relatively recently. Honey bee colonies are fed pollen or protein substitute during pollen dearth to boost colony growth and immunity against...
Xylona heveae has only been isolated as an endophyte of rubber trees. In an effort to understand the genetic basis of endophytism, we compared the genome contents of X. heveae and 36 other Ascomycota with diverse lifestyles and nutritional modes. We focused on genes that are known to be important...
The decline in Barents Sea ice has been implicated in forcing the “warm-Arctic cold-Siberian” (WACS) anomaly pattern via enhanced turbulent heat flux (THF). This study investigates interannual variability in winter [December–February (DJF)] Barents Sea THF and its relationship to Barents Sea ice and the large-scale atmospheric flow. ERA-Interim and observational...
Introduction: To study the health status of 200 G6PD enzyme-deficient Sarawak newborns, we compared their birth records to those of non-deficients in terms of low birth weight (LBW). To characterize ethnic groups, we analysed newborns in terms of LBW and G6PD population frequency.
Methods: For this retrospective study, health records...
From the 1860s into the 1920s Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925) was a staunch advocate of Darwinian evolution and of science education in the U. S. and likewise for several years in Japan. He had a major impact on the American public’s understanding of evolution, both before and after he became...
Background:
Myxozoans are metazoan parasites whose traditional spore morphology-based taxonomy conflicts DNA based phylogenies. Freshwater species of the genus Hoferellus are parasites of the excretory system, with several members infecting food and ornamental fish species, as well as amphibians. This study aims to increase our understanding of their molecular diversity...
Context:
As climate warms, changes in the carbon (C) balance of arctic tundra will play an important role in the global C balance. The C balance of tundra is tightly coupled to the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles because soil organic matter is the principal source of plant-available nutrients...
People who become homeless for the first time in late life are a growing but understudied population. This study draws on administrative data from one shelter (N = 1,214 first-time homeless) to assess the extent to which age is related to shelter stay and, to examine psychosocial factors that may...
People who become homeless for the first time in late life are a growing but understudied population. This study draws on administrative data from one shelter (N = 1,214 first-time homeless) to assess the extent to which age is related to shelter stay and, to examine psychosocial factors that may...
Following a four-year period of writing, member comment, and multiple revisions, the AFS Position Paper and Policy on Mining and Fossil Fuel Extraction was approved unanimously by the membership at the Society's annual business meeting August 19, 2015, in Portland, Oregon. The entire document can be read at fisheries.org/policy_statements; a...
Interannual variation in precipitation totals is a critical factor governing the year-to-year availability of water resources, yet the connection between interannual precipitation variability and underlying event- and season-scale precipitation variability remains unclear. In this study, tropical and midlatitude precipitation characteristics derived from extensive station records and high-frequency satellite observations were...
We investigated the thermal stability of a new ternary amorphous metal thin film, Ta₂.₄Ni₂.₂Si, and assessed its suitability as a Cu diffusion barrier for semiconductor device applications. Transmission electron microscopy was coupled with atom probe tomography to provide a detailed understanding of the atomic-scale evolution of both structure and composition...
Evidence of shifting dominance among major forest disturbance agent classes regionally to globally has been emerging in the literature. For example, climate-related stress and secondary stressors on forests (e.g., insect and disease, fire) have dramatically increased since the turn of the century globally, while harvest rates in the western US...
Phellinus sulphurascens (previously the Douglas-fir form of Phellinus weirii) is an important native pathogen causing laminated root rot in forests of western North America. Visual crown symptoms, or attacks by bark or ambrosia beetles appear only during advanced stages of the disease with extensive infection in the lower bole. Ethanol...
Determining how the frequency, severity, and extent of forest fires are changing in response to changes in management and climate is a key concern in many regions where fire is an important natural disturbance. In the USA the only national-scale fire severity classification uses satellite image change-detection to produce maps...
Many carbon nanotube (CNT) applications require precisely controlled chemical functionalization that is minimally disruptive to electrical performance. A promising approach is the generation of sp³ hybridized carbon atoms in the sp²-bonded lattice. We have investigated the possibility of using a carboxylic acid functionalized diazonium reagent to introduce a defined number...
The northern portion of the Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) is one of the least anthropogenically modified regions on earth and remains in many respects a frontier area to science. Rivers crossing the northern PCTR, which is also an international boundary region between British Columbia, Canada and Alaska, USA, deliver...
Premise of research. A large pollen cone cluster attached to a cunninghamioid twig and surrounded by leaves has been identified from Eocene calcium carbonate marine concretions from the Appian Way locality on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The cluster preserves 18 cones but probably bore at least 24 pollen cones...
Studies of anthropogenic impacts on wildlife may produce inconclusive or biased results if they fail to account for natural sources of variation in breeding performance and do not use probabilistic sampling at a scale functional for management. We used stratified random sampling and generalized linear mixed models to test hypotheses...
BACKGROUND: The relationship between arsenic and birth weight is not well understood.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the causal relationship between prenatal arsenic exposure and birth weight considering the potential mediation effects of gestational age (GA) and maternal weight gain (MWG) during pregnancy using structural equation models (SEMs).
METHODS: A prospectively enrolled...
Determining the causes of vegetation change in arid and semi-arid environments can be difficult and may involve multiple factors, including disturbance, inter-annual climatic variation, soils, effects from years past and interactions between these factors. Theoretical models describing vegetation change in these systems have generally focused on a single aspect as...
Prescribed fire can release herbaceous forages from woody plant competition thus promoting increased forage plant production, vigor, and accessibility. Prescribe fire also consumes standing litter thereby improving forage quality and palatability. Consequently, prescribed fire is commonly considered an effective tool for manipulating livestock distribution on rangelands. Efficacy of this tool...
There is continuing interest in the trend of costs associated with pollution abatement activities. We specify an environmental production technology to model the joint production of good and bad outputs. The joint production model calculates pollution abatement costs and identifies changes in these costs associated with: (1) technical change, (2)...
A mid-20th century prisoners' rights revolution gave American prisoners unprecedented access to courts for exercising newly elaborated constitutional rights. The result was a tide of litigation brought by inmates and subsequent remedial court orders requiring corrections officials to improve conditions of confinement. It was in this context of aggressive judicial...