In Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment (2021), Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein convincingly demonstrate the pervasiveness and harmfulness of unwanted internal variability or noise. Using examples from both public and private sectors to demonstrate the quality and limits of the judgments we make, they argue that, despite objections based on possible cost, difficulty, and dehumanization, the reduction of noise is imperative for the fairness and equitability of systems upon which we depend.

Physics teachers are sometimes asked to teach an astronomy course for non-majors. One can’t make that class dance and sing without the starry night, but on a brightly lit campus viewing deep sky objects may seem impossible. Hence instructors often opt for planetarium shows. However: 1) Planetariums aren’t the real thing. 2) People living in large swaths of the United States cannot access one. Nevertheless, thanks to binoculars and small wide-field telescopes, those who teach the heavens can provide both show and substance under light-polluted skies. This article presents a dozen “pitfalls” to avoid.

Forests in the western United States generally have increased in tree density since Euro-American settlement, particularly through increases in fire-sensitive species, such as spruces, firs, and junipers. Like most areas, the Black Hills region in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming was logged for forest products and underwent agricultural conversion before historical forests were documented. To supplement historical reconstructions and accounts, we compared tree composition and densities (diameters ≥12.7 cm at 1.37 m above ground height) from historical General Land Office (GLO) records (years 1878 to 1915) and current Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) tree surveys (years 2011 to 2016) in the Black Hills Highlands of South Dakota. For composition, ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa P. Lawson & C. Lawson) decreased from 95% to 86% of all trees, with a consequent increase specifically of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) from 1.5% to 6.7% of all trees. Ponderosa pine currently is smaller in mean diameter by 7.4 cm, while white spruce is larger in mean diameter by 2.4 cm than historically. When the 35% of historical survey points without recorded trees were excluded, historical tree densities indicated an overall forested structure of savannas and open woodlands with tree densities ranging from 66 trees ha–1 to 162 trees ha–1. However, historical forests of the Black Hills incorporated dense stands. Tree densities have increased two- to more than four-fold, to 311 trees ha–1 currently. These comparisons provide another source of information, paralleling changes documented in surface fire-dependent pine and oak forests throughout the United States, of transitions in forest composition and structure since Euro-American settlement.

Although many cancer prognoses have improved in the past 50 years due to advancements in treatments, there has been little improvement in therapies for small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). One promising avenue to improve treatment for SCLC is to understand its underlying genetic alterations that drive its formation, growth, and cellular heterogeneity. RB1 loss is one key driver of SCLC, and RB1 loss has been associated with an increase in pluripotency factors such as SOX2. SOX2 is highly expressed and amplified in SCLC and has been associated with SCLC growth. Using a genetically engineered mouse model, we have shown that Sox2 is required for efficient SCLC formation. Furthermore, genome-scale binding assays have indicated that SOX2 can regulate key SCLC pathways such as NEUROD1 and MYC. These data suggest that SOX2 can be associated with the switch of SCLC from an ASCL1 subtype to a NEUROD1 subtype. Understanding this genetic switch is key to understanding such processes as SCLC progression, cellular heterogeneity, and treatment resistance. IMPLICATIONS: Understanding the molecular mechanisms of SCLC initiation and development are key to opening new potential therapeutic options for this devastating disease.

In Innumeracy in the Wild (Oxford University Press, 2020), Ellen Peters, a researcher in decision science, persuasively argues that numeracy skills, numeric confidence, and our intuitive sense for numbers impact our lifelong outcomes in health and wellbeing. Peters draws from research and real-world examples to show how daily life for innumerate people is different from that of numerate people and makes practical recommendations on improving how we communicate numerical information.

After the southern part of an old-growth, mesic southern forest dominated by Fagus grandifolia and Acer saccharum in southwestern Michigan, USA, had been clearcut, it was converted to a pasture. In 1919 grazing ceased on the pasture, and it and the old-growth forest to the north were protected as a natural area, later named Warren Woods State Park. At that time the pasture began to develop into a second-growth forest from root and stump sprouts and seeds. In 2014, 2018, and 2019, the tree species composition of the old-growth and second-growth forest was studied to answer the following questions: (1) How, when, and from where did the current species of the second-growth forest arrive? (2) Is there any evidence that the second-growth forest is trending toward the composition of the old-growth forest? (3) If so, what changes are predicted to occur? Data show that the second-growth forest has become a hardwood forest dominated by A. rubrum, Liriodendron tulipifera, Prunus serotina, and Quercus rubra with a subcanopy of A. saccharum and F. grandifolia. Finally, size class frequency distributions of F. grandifolia and A. saccharum, but not of the current canopy dominants, indicate that the second-growth forest may be trending toward the composition and structure of the old-growth forest that preceded it. As it does, tree species richness and diversity will decrease as basal area increases.

Lewis, Michael Anthony. 2017. Social Workers Count: Numbers and Social Issues. 2019. New York: Oxford University Press. 223 pp. ISBN 978-019046713-5 The numeracy movement, although largely birthed within the mathematics community, is an outside-the-box endeavor which has always sought to break down or at least transgress traditional disciplinary boundaries. Michael Anthony Lewis’s book is a testament that this effort is succeeding. Lewis is a social worker and sociologist with an impressive resume, author of Economics for Social Workers, co-editor of The Ethics and Economics of the Basic Income Guarantee, and member of the faculty at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and the City University of New York Graduate Center. Although explicitly targeted to social work students and professionals, the nine chapters here provide a good quantitative literacy education accessible to the general public and include a great many of the topics one would find in a "standard" quantitative literacy text written by a mathematician. The examples, despite being rooted in social work, are interesting and relevant to those outside that discipline, and speak to Lewis’s breadth of knowledge and the skill of being able to make connections between different types of knowledge and evidence that is inherent in being a numerate person.

A high-fat diet (HFD) and loss of endogenous estrogens increases the risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) and insulin resistance. Although exercise is known to prevent and manage insulin resistance, the cellular mechanisms remain largely unknown, especially in the context of a combined HFD and endogenous estrogen loss via ovariectomy (OVX). This study uses female Wistar rats to assess the effect of diet, endogenous estrogens, an exercise on insulin resistance, serum hormones, hepatic AMPK, hepatic regulators of fat metabolism, and expression of signaling molecules of the brain reward pathway. The combination of the HFD/OVX increased the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), the glucose-insulin (G-I) index, and the serum adiponectin and leptin values, and exercise decreased these factors. The combination of the HFD/OVX decreased hepatic pAMPK, and exercise restored hepatic pAMPK, an important regulator of fat and glucose metabolism. Furthermore, consumption of the HFD by rats with intact ovaries (and endogenous estrogens) did not result in these drastic changes compared to intact rats fed a standard diet, suggesting that the presence of estrogens provides whole body benefits. Additionally, the HFD decreased the hepatic protein expression of acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FAS), two proteins involved in de novo lipid synthesis and increased the hepatic protein expression of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), a protein involved in fat storage. Finally, exercise increased mRNA expression of the dopamine D2 receptor and tyrosine hydroxylase in the dopaminergic neuron cell body region of the ventral tegmental area, which is a key component of the brain reward pathway. Overall, this study demonstrates that exercise prevents insulin resistance even when a HFD is combined with OVX, despite hepatic changes in ACC, FAS, and LPL.

Anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty is the gold standard shoulder replacement procedure for patients with an intact rotator cuff and sufficient glenoid bone to accommodate prosthetic glenoid implant and offers reliable patient satisfaction, excellent implant longevity, and a low incidence of complications. Disparity exists in the literature regarding rehabilitation strategies following anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty. This article presents a consensus statement from experts in the field on rehabilitation following anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty. The goal of this consensus statement is to provide a current evidence-based foundation to inform the rehabilitation process after anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty. These guidelines apply to anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (replacement of the humeral head and glenoid), hemiarthroplasty (replacing only the humeral head), and hemiarthroplasty with glenoid reaming or resurfacing. The consensus statement integrates an extensive literature review, as well as survey results of the practice patterns of members of the American Society of Shoulder and Elbow Therapists and the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons. Three stages of recovery are proposed, which initially protect and then gradually load soft tissue affected by the surgical procedure, such as the subscapularis, for optimal patient outcomes. The proposed guidelines should be used in collaboration with surgeon preferences and patient-specific factors.

Apoptosis is a complex process involving many different molecules that eventually leads to the programmed death of a cell. Ceramides are believed to function as a second messenger in this process; however, the full involvement of ceramides is under investigation. We are investigating a connection between airborne particulate matter and neurodegenerative processes, including cell death. The primary mission of our research is to better understand how ceramide levels change during apoptosis induced by exposure to diesel exhaust particulate matter (DEP). To track the changing levels of ceramides we performed total lipid extractions on our cell cultures at various timepoints after exposure to DEP. As we gain more understanding on this role of ceramides in apoptosis, we hope to make connections between Alzheimer’s disease and incorrectly functioning ceramide signaling networks. Our current results have indicated a change in ceramide levels during apoptosis at a long timepoint and we continue to work to understand how the ceramide signaling route works.Support or Funding InformationResearch reported in this publication was supported by grant number P20GM103443.