18253 research outputs found
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DNA barcoding and metabarcoding reveal labeling accuracy and species substitution in squid and surimi from Los Angeles markets
No full textAccurate species identification of seafood remains a persistent challenge in local and global marketplaces. This is particularly true for processed products that obscure diagnostic features. Here, we conduct a dual-molecular investigation into frozen squid and imitation crab products sold at American, Asian, and Hispanic grocery stores in Los Angeles, California, to assess label integrity under current U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) guidance. Forty-eight squid samples from 13 retailers underwent DNA barcoding and yielded high percentage matches to 10 species across six genera. Despite broad labeling as ‘squid’, all samples matched FDA Acceptable Market Names with a 0 % mislabeling rate. In contrast, DNA metabarcoding of 43 imitation crab products revealed an average of six detected species per sample, with only 72 % of samples containing at least one package listed seafood ingredient. Gadus chalcogrammus (Alaska pollock) and Doryteuthis gahi (Patagonian squid) were the most frequently detected species, with the former often included as a listed ingredient and the latter never listed. 95 % of imitation crab products contained at least one undeclared species, including detection of endangered shark species and squid species prone to illegal fishing. Our results illustrate a high labeling fidelity for single species packaged squid, yet a discrepancy between legal labeling allowances and actual product composition for blended species surimi. Based on our findings, we encourage refining and the addition of routine DNA-based surveillance of blended seafood products to improve labeling credibility, consumer confidence, and supply chain integrity
Founder Worship, Effective Altruism, and Corporate Governance
No full textFounders are the heart of any startup. Oftentimes, they are given considerable latitude in managing a company, particularly if they are hailed as a visionary founder in a pathbreaking new industry. Additionally, it is assumed that underpinning their actions is the desire to do good. Unfortunately, sometimes this leads to what we term founder worship where the promise of the founder and the innovation may lead to perverse outcomes because too much control is ceded to the founder and there is a lack (or sometimes complete absence of) corporate governance. When unlimited control is coupled with do gooderism, which in this case was under the pretext of effective altruism, it can lead to disastrous consequences. This phenomenon of founder worship with do gooderism also exposes one of the shortcomings of private ordering. While private ordering in the venture capital setting allows for flexibility in when to implement corporate governance and other legal mechanisms, its very flexibility also may create loopholes for those founders who engage in unethical behavior and, in some cases, criminal behavior. This Article uses Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX as a case study on the dangers of founder worship, which are amplified by the do gooderism of effective altruism, and explores ways to mitigate the effects of such conduct
Teratogenic Effects of Serotonin Receptor 2B Disruption on the Migration and Cardiac Derivatives of the Cardiac Neural Crest
No full textBackground: Cardiac neural crest cells (cNCCs) are critical for heart development, and their disruption can result in congenital heart defects. Serotonin (5-HT) signaling, specifically via 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptors, regulates diverse physiological processes, including neural crest migration. This study investigates how modulation of 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptor activity impacts cNCC migration and the development of their derivatives, with relevance to serotonergic drug safety during pregnancy.
Methods
Chicken embryos at HH8 were treated with 50 μL of 20 μM 1-Methylpsilocin (1-MP), an inverse agonist of 5-HT2B and agonist of 5-HT2C, and collected at HH14 to assess cNCC migration. Embryos were pre-treated with SB242084, a selective 5-HT2C antagonist, to isolate receptor-specific contributions before 1-MP application. Phenotypic outcomes were assessed at HH32 and HH36 for structural heart defects.
Results
1-MP disrupted cNCC migration at HH14, evidenced by abnormal shortening of the circumpharyngeal neural crest (CirNCC) stream. Pre-treatment with SB242084 did not rescue the phenotype, implicating 5-HT2B as the primary driver, though potential contributions from 5-HT2C cannot be excluded. At HH32, 1-MP-treated embryos displayed gaps in the aorticopulmonary septum. By HH36, interventricular septal defects and delayed development further supported the role of 5-HT2B in cNCC migration and differentiation.
Conclusion
These findings reveal that 5-HT2B receptor activity is critical for cNCC migration and heart development. They underscore the potential teratogenic risks of serotonergic drugs targeting 5-HT2B/5-HT2C receptors during pregnancy, with implications for drug safety and heart morphogenesis
Multimodal Search on a Line
No full textInspired by the diverse set of technologies used in underground object detection and imaging, we introduce a novel multimodal linear search problem whereby a single searcher starts at the origin and must find a target that can only be detected when the searcher moves through its location using the correct of p possible search modes. The target’s location, its distance d from the origin, and the correct search mode are all initially unknown to the searcher. We prove tight upper and lower bounds on the competitive ratio for this problem. Specifically, we show that when p is odd, the optimal competitive ratio is given by 2 p + 3 + p 8( p + 1), whereas when p is even, the optimal competitive ratio is given by c: the unique solution to ( c − 1) 4 − 4 p ( c + 1) 2 ( c − p − 1) = 0 in the interval 2 p + 1 + √ 8p, ∞ . This solution c has the explicit bounds 2 p+ 3+ p 8( p − 1) ≤ c ≤ 2 p+ 3+ √ 8 p. The optimal algorithms we propose require the searcher to move infinitesimal distances and change directions infinitely many times within finite intervals. To better suit practical applications, we also propose an approximation algorithm with a competitive ratio of c + ε (where c is the optimal competitive ratio and ε \u3e 0 is an arbitrarily small constant). This algorithm involves the searcher moving finite distances and changing directions a finite number of times within any finite interval
Newtonian Fractional-Dimension Gravity and the Mass-Dimension Field Equation
No full textWe resume our analysis of Newtonian Fractional-Dimension Gravity (NFDG), an alternative gravitational model which does not require the Dark Matter (DM) paradigm. We add three more galaxies (NGC 6946, NGC 3198, NGC 2841) to the catalog of those studied with NFDG methods. Once again, NFDG can successfully reproduce the observed rotation curves by using a variable fractional dimension D (R), as was done for nine other galaxies previously studied with these methods. In addition, we introduce a mass-dimension field equation for our model, which is capable of deriving the fractional mass-dimension Dm (R) from first principles, as opposed to the previous D (R) which was obtained simply by matching the experimental rotational velocity data for each galaxy. While the NFDG predictions computed with this new Dm (R) dimension are not as accurate as those based on the original D (R), they nevertheless confirm the validity of our fractional-dimension approach. Three previously studied galaxies (NGC 7814, NGC 6503, NGC 3741) were analyzed again with these new methods and their structure was confirmed to be free from any dark matter components
Capturing the World: Exhibition Trophies, Ethnography, and Displays of Imperial Power
Full text linkExhibition trophies have become invisible to most people reading about and looking at images of the great world’s fairs. This is not surprising; trophies have fallen out of our awareness because they, and the criticisms they provoked, have received surprisingly little scholarly attention. This article reveals not only this largely overlooked form, but also just how much cultural work they were doing and why so many people found them disturbing. Exhibition trophies became a solution to the nineteenth-century design problem of representing progress, imperial power, extractive superabundance, control of the natural world, and industrial capacity. Nineteenth-century exhibitors and collectors made trophies out of a wide array of commodities, animals, raw materials, manufactured goods, weapons, and “primitive” objects. But by carrying with them ancient connotations of high-minded victory and violence, exhibition trophies also inspired criticisms that got to the heart of modern forms of conquest. Divisive in the middle of the nineteenth century, trophies were ubiquitous by the turn of the twentieth. Meanwhile a new, rival way of displaying imperial power emerged that challenged ethnographic trophies in particular: the new science of anthropology. This article begins to recover this lost form and its implications—from disquiet to the acceptance of abundance (even overabundance) as a collective goal
More Than Money: Holistic Outcomes of Catholic Higher Education
No full textIn an era dominated by financial metrics and return-on-investment rhetoric, this study offers a counternarrative by examining the holistic outcomes of Catholic higher education. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of 2,000 college graduates, it compares alumni of Catholic and secular institutions across three domains: life satisfaction and personal fulfillment; civic engagement and community involvement; and ethical development. The findings reveal that graduates of Catholic colleges report higher life satisfaction, greater civic participation, and a stronger ethical orientation than their secular peers—patterns that persist across demographic subgroups. While Catholic colleges perform well on traditional financial indicators, their distinctive value lies in forming graduates equipped for meaningful lives shaped by purpose, compassion, and moral responsibility. These results underscore the formative power of Catholic education and provide empirical grounding for reframing public discourse on the value of college. Catholic institutions, the study concludes, offer not just credentials but formation of character and conscience.nce
It Might Even Horrify You
No full textThis thesis, submitted for the Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting, presents a gothic fairytale feature