Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods to assess the biological safety of an agent. The method involves contacting one or more test agents to a culture of C. elegans and analyzing the culture for meiotic disruption, wherein an increase in meiotic disruption of the C. elegans, indicates that the test agent(s) has reduced biological safety to mammals. An increase in meiotic disruption of the C. elegans also indicates a likelihood that the test agent is a reproductive toxicant in higher animals, such as humans. Also disclosed are methods to identifying disruptors of fat homeostasis in a mammal. The method involves contacting one or more test agents to a culture of C. elegans and analyzing the culture for fat content, wherein a change in the fat content, as compared to an appropriate control, indicates that the test agent(s) is a likely disruptor of mammalian fat homeostasis.

Abstract: Sound absorbing wall systems are disclosed that include a wallboard material and a soundproofing material adhered to the wallboard material. Also disclosed are methods for producing sound absorbing wall systems, one method including adhering a soundproofing material to a wallboard material. With the method, the soundproofing material adhered to the wallboard material can be directly installed in homes and/or buildings as wallboard.