We test whether the lower wages of obese employees result from employer discrimination using a novel empirical strategy. Using data from two nationally representative surveys from the US, we analyze the wages of individuals who are simultaneously self-employed and working for an employer. While lower productivity and customer discrimination against obese individuals may affect wages in both types of jobs, employer discrimination cannot affect the wages of solo entrepreneurs. Our estimates suggest that, even after controlling for productivity (proxied by their concurrent wage in self-employment), white women (men) who are obese earn 11.4% (9.7%) less than their healthy-weight counterparts in their paid employment jobs. We also find that white women (but not men) who are overweight earn 9.1% less than their healthy-weight counterparts. We do not find any evidence of significant bodyweight discrimination among black and Hispanic workers. These results suggest that white workers, especially white women, are likely to face bodyweight discrimination in their workplaces. We report the results for a series of robustness checks to rule out alternative explanations, such as reverse causality, differences in healthcare costs, and occupation-specific customer discrimination. Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women and, despite the undeniable improvements in the outcome of these patients obtained in the last decade, the discovery and the validation of new actionable molecular targets represent a priority. ESCAT permits to rank molecular alterations in different classes according to their evidence of actionability in a specific cancer type, assisting clinicians in their therapeutical decisions. selleck compound MAIN ERBB2, PIK3CA and germline BRCA1/2 alterations are biomarkers prospectively validated in BC, driving the selection of targeted therapies, and are therefore classified in the highest level of evidence (Ia). Agnostic biomarkers, namely microsatellite instability, NTRK fusions and high tumor mutational burden, demonstrated similar activity across different tumor types and are consequently ranked in tier Ic. In tier II are classified alterations that still need confirmatory prospective studies but for which evidence of efficacy is available. Somatic BRCA1/2 mutations, germline PALB2 mutations, HER2-low expression, ERBB2 mutations, PTEN deletions, AKT1 mutations, ESR1 resistance mutations satisfy the requirements to be classified in this tier. In tier III are ranked various molecular alterations for which there is evidence of actionability in other tumors (IIIa) or that have similar functional impact in the same gene or pathway of a tier I alteration, without clinical data (IIIb). In tier IV are listed the molecular alterations for which only preclinical studies are available. In this review we report the most relevant molecular targets in BC, ordered pursuant to their pathway and classified in concordance with ESCAT.In this review we report the most relevant molecular targets in BC, ordered pursuant to their pathway and classified in concordance with ESCAT.Root exudates play a crucial role in the symbiosis between leguminous plants and rhizobia. Our previous studies have shown that a fungal endophyte Phomopsis liquidambaris promotes peanut-rhizobia nodulation and nitrogen fixation, but the underlying mechanism are largely unknown. Here, we explore the role of peanut root exudates in Ph. liquidambaris-mediated nodulation enhancement. We first collected root exudates from Ph. liquidambaris-inoculated and un-inoculated peanuts and determined their effects on rhizobial growth, biofilm formation, chemotaxis, nodC gene expression, and peanut nodulation. Our results found a positive effect of Ph. liquidambaris-inoculated root exudates on these characteristics of rhizobia. Next, we compared the root exudates profile of Ph. liquidambaris-inoculated and un-inoculated plants and found that Ph. liquidambaris altered the concentrations of phenolic acids, flavonoids, organic acids and amino acids in root exudates. Furthermore, the rhizobial chemotaxis, growth and biofilm formation in response to the changed compounds at different concentrations showed that all of the test compounds induced rhizobial chemotactic behavior, and organic acids (citric acid and oxalic acid) and amino acid (glutamate, glycine and glutamine) at higher concentrations increased rhizobial growth and biofilm formation. Collectively, our results suggest that root exudates alterations contribute to Ph. liquidambaris-mediated peanut-rhizobia nodulation enhancement.Ultrasound based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) commonly uses surface-bonded piezoelectric wafer active transducers (PWaTs) for ultrasound wave generation and sensing. Both the electromechanical impedance (EMI) of the surface bonded PWaT and the ultrasound pitch-catch signal have been studied extensively for damage detection. However, these two signals were studied separately. The correlation between the EMI and the pitch-catch signal has not been studied in detail. In this paper, a broadband spectral analysis method is presented to analyze the influence of the EMI resonances on the fundamental symmetric (S0) pitch-catch signal. First, the broadband responses of the PWaT actuator and sensor are measured and analyzed in the time-frequency domain. The results clearly demonstrate that the S0 pitch-catch signal can deviate significantly from the excitation signal when the excitation frequency is above a threshold. Next, a simulation model was implemented to explain the observed distortions. The simulation model was first validated by adjusting the adhesive parameters to reproduce the experiment measurements. The resonant characteristics of the PWaT actuator and sensor were then analyzed separately. The study reveals that the S0 deviations are due to the resonances and anti-resonances of the PWaT EMI. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that the resonance characteristics of surface-bonded PWaTs are more complicated than previously known. The research framework presented in this paper lays the theoretical foundation for future more in-depth analysis of the PWaT resonances.