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The sucrose and Alanine (Ala) content in edamame beans significantly impacts the sweetness flavor of edamame-derived products as an important attribute to consumers' acceptance. Unlike grain-type soybeans, edamame beans are harvested as fresh beans at the R6 to R7 growth stages when beans are filled 80-90% of the pod capacity. The genetic basis of sucrose and Ala contents in fresh edamame beans may differ fromthose in dry seeds. To date, there is no report on the genetic basis of sucrose and Ala contents in the edamame beans. In this study, a genome-wide association study was conducted to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to sucrose and Ala levels in edamame beans using an association mapping panel of 189 edamame accessions genotyped with a SoySNP50K BeadChip. A total of 43 and 25 SNPs was associated with sucrose content and Ala content in the edamame beans, respectively. Four genes (Glyma.10g270800, Glyma.08g137500, Glyma.10g268500, and Glyma.18g193600) with known effects on the process of sucrose biosynthesis and 37 novel sucroserelated genes were characterized. Three genes (Gm17g070500, Glyma.14g201100 and Glyma.18g269600) with likely relevant effects in regulating Ala content and 22 novel Ala-related genes were identified. In addition, by summarizing the phenotypic data of edamame beans from three locations in two years, three PI accessions (PI 532469, PI 243551, and PI 407748) were selected as the high sucrose and high Ala parental lines for the perspective breeding of sweet edamame varieties. Thus, the beneficial alleles, candidate genes, and selected PI accessions identified in this study will be fundamental to develop edamame varieties with improved consumers' acceptance, and eventually promote edamame production as a specialty crop in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Lumbar discectomy is commonly performed for symptomatic lumbar disc herniation. We aimed to examine prescribing patterns and risk factors for chronic opioid use following lumbar discectomy. Methods: Using a private insurance claims database, patients were identified who underwent primary lumbar discectomy from 2010–2015 and had 1-year of continuous enrollment postoperatively. Patients were excluded with spinal fusion. The strength of opioid prescriptions was quantified using morphine milligram equivalents daily (MMED). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were built to examine risk factors associated with chronic postoperative opioid use. Results: A total of 5,315 patients were included in the study (mean age, 59 years; 50% female). 1,198 of patients (23%) used chronic opioids postoperatively. Chronic opioid use declined significantly from 27% in 2010 to 17% in 2015, p<0.001. In addition, there were significantly fewer patients receiving high and very high-dose opioid prescriptions from 2010–2015, p<0.001. The median duration that patients used opioids postoperatively was 211 days in 2010 (interquartile range [IQR], 29–356 days), and decreased significantly to 44 days (IQR, 10–294 days) in 2015. The strongest factors associated with chronic opioid use were preoperative opioid use (odds ratio [OR], 4.0), drug abuse (OR, 2.6), depression (OR, 1.6), surgery in the west (OR, 1.6) or south (OR, 1.6), anxiety (OR, 1.5), or 30-day readmission (OR, 1.4). Conclusion: Chronic opioid use following primary lumbar discectomy has declined from 2010–2015. A variety of factors are associated with chronic opioid use. Preoperative recognition of some of these risk factors may aid in perioperative management and counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive LC-ESI-MS/MS method for determination of isochlorogenic acid B in rat plasma was developed and validated in the present study. Plasma samples were prepared by a simple protein precipitation with methanol containing resveratrol as internal standard (IS). The chromatographic separation was performed on a Zorbax SB-C18 column (3.5 μm, 2.1 mm×100 mm, Agilent, USA) at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min using methanol/water containing 0.1% formic acid (v/v) as mobile phase. The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer equipped with Electronic Spray Ion by selected reaction monitoring (SRM) of the transitions at m/z 515.3→352.9 for isochlorogenic acid B and m/z 227.1→143.1 for IS, respectively. The calibration curve of the method was linear over the range of 5-2500 ng/mL (r2 = 0.9982). The intra- and inter-day precisions (R.S.D.%) were less than 12.46%, and the accuracy (R.E.%) was within ±5.80%. Isochlorogenic acid B was sufficiently stable under all relevant analytical conditions. The validated method was successfully applied to the plasma pharmacokinetic studies of isochlorogenic acid B in rats. It was found that isochlorogenic acid B had non-linear pharmacokinetic characteristics in rats within the dosage ranges from 5 to 20 mg/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Firearm violence and school shootings remain a significant public health problem. This study aimed to examine how publicly available data from all 50 states might improve our understanding of the situation, firearm type, and demographics surrounding school shootings. STUDY DESIGN: School shootings occurring in the US for 53 years ending in May 2022 were analyzed, using primary data files that were obtained from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security. Data analyzed included situation, injury, firearm type, and demographics of victims and shooters. We compared the ratio of fatalities per wounded after stratifying by type of weapon. Rates (among children) of school shooting victims, wounded, and fatalities per 1 million population were stratified by year and compared over time. RESULTS: A total of 2,056 school shooting incidents involving 3,083 victims were analyzed: 2,033 children, 5 to 17 years, and 1,050 adults, 18 to 74 years. Most victims (77%) and shooters (96%) were male individuals with a mean age of 18 and 19 years, respectively. Of the weapons identified, handguns, rifles, and shotguns accounted for 84%, 7%, and 4%, respectively. Rifles had a higher fatality-to-wounded ratio (0.45) compared with shooters using multiple weapons (0.41), handguns (0.35), and shotguns (0.30). Linear regression analysis identified a significant increase in the rate of school shooting victims (β = 0.02, p = 0.0003), wounded (β = 0.01, p = 0.026), and fatalities (β = 0.01, p = 0.0003) among children over time. CONCLUSIONS: Despite heightened public awareness, the incidence of school shooting victims, wounded, and fatalities among children has steadily and significantly increased over the past 53 years. Understanding the epidemic represents the first step in preventing continued firearm violence in our schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]