The strong polycation poly(dimethyldiallylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) was noncovalently immobilized on fused-silica capillaries. The stability and efficiency of the adsorbed coating was studied as a function of polymer molecular weight and coating ionic strength. By monitoring the electroosmotic flow on PDADMAC-coated capillaries, we found that optimal surface coverage is achieved using high molecular weight polycations at high ionic strength. Such capillaries can be used to elute positively charged proteins. In this study, true protein mobilities were obtained by (1) extrapolation of effective mobility to desired conditions and (2) theoretical calculation from the Henry function. By comparing apparent protein mobility with true protein mobility, we demonstrated that the protein−polycationic capillary surface interaction could enhance the selectivity of the silica capillary for separation of BSA and β-lactoglobulin.

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Climate change is already being felt on local levels, with historical records from the State of Indiana (USA) revealing warmer winters, and more extreme precipitation events.To refine our understanding of climate change impacts on human health, we conducted a state-level assessment of future climate change impacts on human health using outputs from advanced climate model projections for this century. Future projections show a steep increase in extreme heat events, leading to greater potential vulnerability to heat disasters for Indiana communities. Additionally, a 2-to 4-fold increase in days with "uncomfortable night" conditions by the end of the century will strongly impact the cardiopulmonary health of more vulnerable populations (i.e., elderly, those with pre-existing conditions, children, and those with inadequate access to cooling).Continued trends for warmer winters and more flooding suggest a much greater risk for the expansion and virulence of a number of vector-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, West Nile Virus, and "tropical" diseases for which the mosquito vectors will thrive.Higher temperatures will also drive more frequent and severe harmful algal blooms in lakes and reservoirs, with implications for human and animal health. Food systems will

The paper explores how paid and unpaid labor history over the life course influence women's cardiovascular disease. U.S. women comprise about 50% of the paid workforce and perform the majority of unpaid labor. However, the influence of women's work on their health is under-researched. Our sample was drawn from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, a cohort of post-menopausal women in the U.S. aged 50-79 at recruitment. Women were categorized into five groups according to paid labor history: worked in paid jobs consistently throughout adult life; left the workforce early; entered the workforce later; discontinuous work history; never worked outside the home. Live birth history (none, at least one, missing) served as a proxy for unpaid labor in prime age. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratio of CVD associated with different paid work histories. We then assessed the effect of unpaid labor on the relation between paid labor and CVD. Paid labor participation was not associated with CVD risk among women without unpaid labor after adjusting for age, education, and birth cohort.Among those with unpaid demands, leaving the workforce early or having discontinuous work history was protective. In this U.S. sample, the association between paid work participation history and CVD risk depends on the presence of unpaid labor. Our results demonstrate the necessity of including work -paid and unpaid -in consideration of women's health.

The modified Bayesian-Frequentist test of Berger, Brown and Wolpert (1994) is considered here in the context of normal hypothesis testing. We focus attention on the testing of a precise null hypothesis versus a composite alternative, either the one-sided or the two-sided type. We study the properties of the corresponding modified Bayesian-Frequentist test and in particular the large-sample behavior of its no decision region under two different classes of prior distributions, viz., the shifted conjugate class and a domain-restricted noninformative class. It is shown that under these prior classes, the size of the no-decision region of the test is rather small, compared to the relevant sample size. A lower bound on the conditional probability of the type I error is also provided.