Cloud Storage Providers (CSPs) offer geographically dispersed data stores providing several storage classes with different prices. A vital problem faced by application providers is how to exploit price differences across data stores to minimize monetary cost of applications that include hot-spot objects that are accessed frequently and cold-spot objects that are often accessed far less. This mo...

Abstract: Mercury is considered one of the most toxic elements for plants and animals. Nevertheless, in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, whitening creams containing mercury have been manufactured and purchased despite their confirmed health risks. Due to mass distribution, this can be considered a global public health issue. In Mexico, these products are widely available in pharmacies, ...

In March 2012, a Salvadoran-American boy aged 7 years living in Maryland developed three slightly painful, well-demarcated, flat, gray-brown patches on his torso. A dermatologist in Washington, DC, suspected a fixed drug eruption (an erythema multiforme-like adverse drug reaction that occurs in the same location each time the person uses a particular medication). The child had recently taken a ...

Climate change is causing winters to become milder (less cold and shorter). Recent studies of overwintering ectotherms have suggested that warmer winters increase metabolism and decrease winter survival and subsequent fecundity. Energetic constraints (insufficient energy stores) have been hypothesized as the cause of winter mortality but have not been tested explicitly. Thus, alternative source...

The effect of the diving response on alveolar gas exchange was investigated in 15 subjects. During steady-state exercise (80 W) on a cycle ergometer, the subjects performed 40-s apneas in air and 40-s apneas with face immersion in cold (10 degrees C) water. Heart rate decreased and blood pressure increased during apneas, and the responses were augmented by face immersion. Oxygen uptake from the...

The link between iron intake as well as body iron stores and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been contentiously debated, and the epidemiologic evidence is inconsistent. We aimed to quantitatively summarize the literature on the association between dietary iron intake/body iron stores and CHD risk by conducting a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. PubMed was used to find studies publi...

The extreme anoxia-tolerance of freshwater turtles under cold conditions is well documented, but little is known about their cardiac performance in such situations. Using chronic catheterization techniques, we measured systemic cardiac power output (PO(sys)), systemic cardiac output (Q(.)(sys)), heart rate (fh), systemic stroke volume (V(s,sys)), systemic resistance (R(sys)) and mean arterial p...