Argus International (United States)

Drug‐facilitated crime (DFC) is a criminal act (e.g., assault, robbery, or sexual assault) in which the perpetrator uses drugs to impair the victim's ability to resist, remember, or recognize the crime being committed. Ethanol is commonly implicated in DFC casework, but limited data are published on other substances currently implicated in these crimes. DFC cases submitted to a large forensic reference laboratory between 2019 and 2023 were analyzed. Analytes and combinations were evaluated based on effect class. In total, 2371 blood samples and 5,041 urine samples were tested for common alcohols, GHB, and a variety of illicit and prescription medications. The most prevalent drug classes were cannabinoids (delta‐9‐THC/delta‐9‐THCCOOH), ethanol, and stimulants, with delta‐9 THC/metabolites being most prevalent in both matrices, followed closely by ethanol. The stimulant drug class's most prevalent analytes include methamphetamine, cocaine/cocaine metabolites, and amphetamine. Gamma‐hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and flunitrazepam were infrequently detected. Polydrug combination data showed similar trends to when substances were identified alone, specifically that ethanol, cannabinoids, or a stimulant were often found in combination. Sedating substances were more prevalent than stimulating substances, specifically benzodiazepines and antihistamines. Polydrug data support urine collection in DFC cases, as they identified analytes in 22% of cases with negative blood toxicology. Recent literature notes novel psychoactive substances, including designer benzodiazepines, being detected in DFC cases globally, and recommends their inclusion in comprehensive DFC scopes. It is imperative that the appropriate matrix, scope, and limitations be evaluated to accurately determine trends, and scopes are continuously updated to capture the ever‐changing drug market.

Relevance. One of the problematic issues in crop production remains the quality of sown seeds. Vegetable plants during the period of generative development are demanding to the conditions of light and heat supply, but the conditions of most regions of our country cannot meet these requirements. Post-harvest refinement and pre-treatment of seeds is also not carried out at the proper level. There are no reliable informative tools for analyzing seed quality. Employees of the FSBSI FSVC, Agrophysical Research Institute and Argus-Bio LLC are developing a method of digital morphometry of vegetable seeds.Methods. The material for the studies was the seeds of various samples of varieties of the genus Allium: Allium cristophii Trautv., Allium schoenoprasum L., Allium fistulosum L. Digital images of seeds were obtained using the HP Scanjet 200 tablet scanner, BMP, TIFF, JPG save file format, 600 DPI resolution. Morphometric analysis of digital scanned images of seeds was carried out on the basis of the Agrophysical Research Institute using the serial software Argus-BIO, manufactured by Argus Soft LLC, St. Petersburg.Results. Analysis of the color characteristics of seeds (values of color components according to the RGB model) Allium cristophii Trautv. revealed a statistically significant decrease in all color channels in the row from the lower tier – the upper, which is an indicator of different levels of maturity. Seeds of various samples of Allium schoenoprasum L. in size (projection area) varied significantly within the species from 2.39 to 3.06 mm2 , in shape they also turned out to be unaligned: elliptical with an elongation factor of 1.99 to 2.21 relative units. Analysis of morphometric parameters of seeds of varieties Allium fistulosum L. made it possible to distinguish the influence of natural and genetic factors on these parameters: the factor of the year had a significant effect (from 43.5% to 45.4%), the factor of the variety – from 39.5% to 43.2%, on the main morphometric parameters of seeds. So, a new approach to seed quality analysis is presented, which includes rapid digital morphometry, data modeling and their integration with standard ISTA tests.

Background: The relative importance of variables explaining sex-related differences in outcomes is scarcely explored in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We sought to implement and evaluate machine learning (ML) algorithms for the prediction of 1- and 3-year all-cause mortality in CRT patients. We also aimed to assess the sex-specific differences in predictors of mortality utilizing ML.Methods: Using a retrospective registry of 2,191 CRT patients, ML models were implemented in 6 partially overlapping patient subsets (all patients, females, or males with 1- or 3-year follow-up). Each cohort was randomly split into training (80%) and test sets (20%). After hyperparameter tuning in the training sets, the best performing algorithm was evaluated in the test sets. Model discrimination was quantified using the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUC). The most important predictors were identified using the permutation feature importances method.Results: Conditional inference random forest exhibited the best performance with AUCs of 0.728 (0.645–0.802) and 0.732 (0.681–0.784) for the prediction of 1- and 3-year mortality, respectively. Etiology of heart failure, NYHA class, left ventricular ejection fraction, and QRS morphology had higher predictive power, whereas hemoglobin was less important in females compared to males. The importance of atrial fibrillation and age increased, while the importance of serum creatinine decreased from 1- to 3-year follow-up in both sexes.Conclusions: Using ML techniques in combination with easily obtainable clinical features, our models effectively predicted 1- and 3-year all-cause mortality in CRT patients. Sex-specific patterns of predictors were identified, showing a dynamic variation over time.

Abstract. 1. Interactions between wind and trees control energy exchanges between the atmosphere and forest canopies. This energy exchange can lead to the widespread damage of trees and wind is a key disturbance agent in many of the world’s forests. However, most research on this topic has focused on conifer plantations, where risk management is economically important, rather than broadleaf forests, which dominate the forest carbon cycle. This study brings together all available tree motion time-series data to systematically evaluate the factors influencing tree responses to wind loading, including data from both broadleaf and coniferous trees in forests and open environments. 2. We found that the two most descriptive features of tree motion were: (a) the fundamental frequency, which is a measure of the speed at which a tree sways and is strongly related to tree height, and (b) the slope of the power spectrum, which is related to the efficiency of energy transfer from wind to trees. Intriguingly, the slope of the power spectrum was found to remain constant from medium to high wind speeds for all trees in this study. This suggests that, contrary to some predictions, damping or amplification mechanisms do not change dramatically at high wind speeds and therefore wind damage risk is related, relatively simply, to wind speed. 3. Conifers from forests were distinct from broadleaves in terms of their response to wind loading. Specifically, the fundamental frequency of forest conifers was related to their size according to the cantilever beam model (i.e. vertically distributed mass), whereas broadleaves were better approximated by the simple pendulum model (i.e. dominated by the crown). Forest conifers also had a steeper slope of the power spectrum. We interpret these finding as being strongly related to tree architecture, i.e. conifers generally have a simple shape due to their apical dominance, whereas broadleaves exhibit a much wider range of architectures with more dominant crowns.

The largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis is a Critically Endangered, once widespread shark-like ray. The species is now extinct or severely depleted in many former parts of its range and is protected in some other range states where populations persist. The likelihood of collecting substantial new biological information is now low. Here, we review all available life history information on size, age and growth, reproductive biology, and demography as a resource for population assessment and demographic modelling. We also revisit a subset of historical data from the 1970s to examine the maternal size-litter size relationship. All available information on life history is derived from the Indo-West Pacific (i.e. northern Australia) and the Western Atlantic (i.e. Lake Nicaragua-Río San Juan system in Central America) subpopulations. P. pristis reaches a maximum size of at least 705 cm total length (TL), size-at-birth is 72-90 cm TL, female size-at-maturity is reached by 300 cm TL, male size-at-maturity is 280-300 cm TL, age-at-maturity is 8-10 yr, longevity is 30-36 yr, litter size range is 1-20 (mean of 7.3 in Lake Nicaragua), and reproductive periodicity is suspected to be biennial in Lake Nicaragua (Western Atlantic) but annual in Australia (Indo-West Pacific). There was a weak relationship between litter size and maternal size in Lake Nicaragua, and lifetime reproductive output for an individual female from Lake Nicaragua was estimated as 73 pups. Future demographic models should aim to capture the variability and uncertainty in life history parameters for P. pristis and we encourage a conservative approach to any application for conservation and management.

AimsThe PREPARE‐MVR study (PRediction of Early PostoperAtive Right vEntricular failure in Mitral Valve Replacement/Repair patients) sought to investigate the alterations of right ventricular (RV) contraction pattern in patients undergoing mitral valve replacement/repair (MVR) and to explore the associations between pre‐operative RV mechanics and early post‐operative RV dysfunction (RVD).Methods and resultsWe prospectively enrolled 42 patients (63 ± 11 years, 69% men) undergoing open‐heart MVR. Transthoracic three‐dimensional (3D) echocardiography was performed pre‐operatively, at intensive care unit discharge, and 6 months after surgery. The 3D model of the RV was reconstructed, and RV ejection fraction (RVEF) was calculated. We decomposed the motion of the ventricle to compute longitudinal ejection fraction (LEF) and radial ejection fraction (REF). Pulmonary artery catheterization was performed to monitor RV stroke work index (RVSWi). RVEF was slightly decreased after MVR [52 (50–55) vs. 51 (46–54)%; P = 0.001], whereas RV contraction pattern changed notably. Before MVR, the longitudinal shortening was the main contributor to global systolic RV function [LEF/RVEF vs. REF/RVEF; 0.53 (0.47–0.58) vs. 0.33 (0.22–0.42); P < 0.001]. Post‐operatively, the radial motion became dominant [0.33 (0.28–0.43) vs. 0.46 (0.37–0.51); P = 0.004]. However, this shift was temporary as 6 months later the two components contributed equally to global RV function [0.44 (0.38–0.50) vs. 0.41 (0.36–0.49); P = 0.775]. Pre‐operative LEF was an independent predictor of post‐operative RVD defined as RVSWi < 300 mmHg⋅mL/m2 [OR = 1.33 (95% CI: 1.08–1.77), P < 0.05].ConclusionsMVR induces a significant shift in the RV mechanical pattern. Advanced indices of RV mechanics are associated with invasively measured parameters of RV contractility and may predict post‐operative RVD.

A Roman-Period bloomery smelting site had been excavated in the Lahn valley at Wetzlar-Dalheim in central Germany during 2006–2012. The production unit consisted of a big rectangular workshop pit with 13 slag pit-furnaces, two waste dumps and a small sunken hut. The stratigraphical sequence, along with abundant pottery and small finds, allows the dating of short-lived smelting activity to a time slot around the third quarter of the first century AD. As a first series of radiocarbon measurements from in-slag charcoal samples resulted in a bewildering date range from the Iron Age right back into the Neolithic, a second dating series has been undertaken. This time exclusively charcoal samples taken from the bottom of the furnace pits have been analysed. The resulting dates fit to the archaeologically derived dating. It is clear that the 14C content of the in-slag charcoal samples must have been altered already during the process in antiquity. With none of the analysed dates younger than the archaeologically fixed date of the bloomery production unit, it is obvious that a contamination with fossil carbon must have taken place. The wide and inconsistent date range suggests that fossil carbon has entered the metallurgical system within the furnace in an uncontrollable manner. The observed phenomenon has wide implications for other metallurgical sites with high temperature processes under strongly reducing conditions. Charcoal samples from such sites, especially from inside slags, might be contaminated to an unpredictable degree and produce seemingly older dates. A first review of previously published data series calls for a reconsideration of the reliability of radiocarbon dates from metallurgical slags.