cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Variable expressivity of familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC) due to a RET V804M (GTG-->ATG) mutation.

Abstract Background: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2) and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC) are autosomal dominantly inherited cancer syndromes that predispose to C-cell hyperplasia and MTC. MEN 2A and FMTC are caused by mutations in the RET proto-oncogene. Methods: We used a multiplex polymerase chain reaction-based assay to screen exons 10, 11, 13, and 14 of RET for mutations in 2 families with FMTC. We correlated mutation status with calcitonin and pathologic studies to determine genotype-phenotype correlations. Results: We identified a mutation in codon 804 in exon 14 (GTG→ATG; V804M) in both families. An 86-year-old person who was a gene carrier and other individuals over age 70 who were suspected by pedigree analysis to be gene carriers had no overt clinical evidence of MTC. Four of 21 patients who underwent a thyroidectomy also had papillary thyroid cancer. One individual in each family had metastatic MTC at age 30 and 32 years, and all 26 people having thyroidectomies had either MTC or C-cell hyperplasia, leading us to continue to recommend prophylactic thyroidectomy for all identified patients who were gene carriers. Conclusions: Because of active MTC in younger members of these families, including metastases, we have continued to advocate thyroid surgery in mutation-positive individuals. While DNA diagnosis of gene carriers and subsequent genetic counseling was relatively straightforward, the acceptance of surgical recommendations was more difficult for some individuals. These families demonstrate that the search for RET mutations should include exons 13, 14, 15, and 16 in patients whose studies in exons 10 and 11 are negative. (Surgery 2000;128:93-8)
Atheism and Freedom: A Response to Sartre and Baier

A few years ago I ran across a statement by Jean-Paul Sartre which seemed to imply that if there is a God, then there can be no human freedom. That thesis struck me as questionable, but at the time I did not pause to examine it. More recently I ran across a similar, more explicit statement by Kurt Baier, and I decided the time to pause had come. My knee-jerk response to Baier and I confess it was probably nothing more was, 'Why can't there be human freedom if there is a God? Indeed, can there be human freedom if there isn't a God?' The second of these questions has proved to be the more provocative to me, for the more I have thought about it, the more it has seemed to me that it is the atheist and not the theist who should be on the defensive about libertarianism, i.e. the position that human beings do act, that human actions are not determined, that we are the sole cause of our actions, and that all things remaining the same, we could have done otherwise. Indeed, the more I thought about that question Can there be human freedom if there is no God? the more convinced I became (and still am) that the atheist has no good reason for believing in libertarianism. Note: I am not saying that atheism is logically incompatible with libertarianism. Perhaps it is, but if it is, that is not yet obvious to me. Rather, I am saying that an atheist who believes in libertarianism must believe in it on the basis of faith and must hold this faith in opposition to the only type of evidence that is available to him. Hence, by denying the existence of God, Baier and Sartre do not make room for human freedom; they make belief in human freedom irrational. By contrast, I shall argue, the theist does have a good reason for believing that humans are free. Let's take separate looks at Baier and Sartre; then I shall summarize the substance of my position. In his I957 inaugural lecture, 'The Meaning of Life', delivered at Canberra University College in Australia, Baier stated that,
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia with del(7q) following untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The development of hematologic malignancy in the presence of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is rare. We present a case of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with del(7q) occurring in a patient with a 4-year history of untreated CLL. Application of flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry allowed for characterization of two distinct coexisting malignant cell populations. After undergoing induction and consolidation chemotherapy, the patient achieved complete remission of AML with the persistence of CLL. Allogeneic transplantation was pursued given his unfavorable cytogenetics. Subsequent matched unrelated donor allogeneic stem cell transplantation resulted in full engraftment and complete remission, with no evidence of AML or CLL. Due to a scarcity of reported cases, insight into treatment and prognosis in cases of concurrent AML and CLL is limited. However, prognosis seems dependent on the chemosensitivity of AML. CLL did not have a detrimental effect on treatment or transplant outcome in our case. This is the first reported case of concomitant de novo AML and CLL to undergo allogeneic transplantation. The patient remained in complete hematologic and cytogenetic remission of both malignancies over a year after transplantation.
Assessing regulatory change through legal requirements coverage modeling

Developing global markets offer companies new opportunities to manufacture and sell information technology (IT) products in ways unforeseen by current laws and regulations. This innovation leads to changing requirements due to changes in product features, laws, or the locality where the product is sold or manufactured. To help developers rationalize these changes, we introduce a preliminary framework and method that can be used by requirements engineers and their legal teams to identify relevant legal requirements and trace changes in requirements coverage. The framework includes a method to translate IT regulations into a legal requirements coverage model used to make coverage assertions about existing or planned IT systems. We evaluated the framework in a case study using three IT laws: California's Confidentiality of Medical Records Act, the U.S. Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and amendments from the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, and the India 2011 Information Technology Rules. Further, we demonstrate the framework using three scenarios: new product features are proposed; product-related services are outsourced abroad; and regulations change to address changes in the market.
On Properties of Networks of Neuron-Like Elements

The complexity and computational capacity of multi-layered, feedforward neural networks is examined. Neural networks for special purpose (structured) functions are examined from the perspective of circuit complexity. Known results in complexity theory are applied to the special instance of neural network circuits, and in particular, classes of functions that can be implemented in shallow circuits characterised. Some conclusions are also drawn about learning complexity, and some open problems raised. The dual problem of determining the computational capacity of a class of multi-layered networks with dynamics regulated by an algebraic Hamiltonian is considered. Formal results are presented on the storage capacities of programmed higher-order structures, and a tradeoff between ease of programming and capacity is shown. A precise determination is made of the static fixed point structure of random higher-order constructs, and phase-transitions (0-1 laws) are shown.
Study of substrate energy dissipation mechanism in in-phase and anti-phase micromachined vibratory gyroscopes

This paper analyzes energy dissipation mechanisms in in-phase and anti-phase actuated micromachined z-axis vibratory gyroscopes. The type of actuation is experimentally identified as the key factor to energy dissipation. For in-phase devices, dissipation through the die substrate is the dominant energy loss mechanism. This damping mechanism depends strongly on the die attachment method; rigid attachment increases Q-factor at the cost of reduced isolation of the MEMS device from package stresses and vibrations. In contrast, anti-phase operation suppresses dissipation through the die substrate while providing immunity to external vibrations. Higher Q-factors in anti-phase devices are explained by effective subtraction of stresses applied to the substrate during vibrations. Based on the experimental investigation and the developed analytical model for energy dissipation through the die substrate, the limiting Q-factor for in-phase devices is generally below 20 thousand, while Q-factors much higher than 100 thousand can be achieved with balanced anti-phase actuated gyroscopes.
Low-coherence enhanced backscattering: review of principles and applications for colon cancer screening

The phenomenon of enhanced backscattering (EBS) of light, also known as coherent backscattering (CBS) of light, has been the object of intensive investigation in nonbiological media over the last two decades. However, there have been only a few attempts to explore EBS for tissue characterization and diagnosis. We have recently made progress in the EBS measurements in tissue by taking advantage of low spatial coherence illumination, which has led us to the development of low-coherence enhanced backscattering (LEBS) spectroscopy. In this work, we review the current state of research on LEBS. After a brief discussion of the basic principle of EBS and LEBS, we present an overview of the unique features of LEBS for tissue characterization, and show that LEBS enables depth-selective spectroscopic assessment of mucosal tissue. Then, we demonstrate the potential of LEBS spectroscopy for predicting the risk of colon carcinogenesis and colonoscopy-free screening for colorectal cancer (CRC).
Zinc: Physiology and Health Effects

The biochemistry and physiology of Zn is summarized selectively giving attention to those aspects of this ubiquitous multitasked trace element that are most pertinent to human Zn homeostasis and the avoidance of the health effects of human Zn deficiency. Intracellular signaling, mammalian Zn transporters, and the interactions between them are of special importance in maintaining Zn homeostasis. Two Zn transporter families have major roles in Zn transport. The ZnT (solute-linked carrier (SLC30A)) proteins lower intracellular Zn by mediating Zn efflux from the cells or influx into intracellular vesicles. The ZIP family (SLC39a) promote Zn transport from the extracellular fluid or from intracellular vesicles into the cytoplasm. ZIP4 has a lead role in regulating Zn absorption, but its actions are linked to many of the ZIP and ZnT families of transporters as well as with metallothionein (MT) and with the metal-response element-binding transcription factor 1 (MTF1), an intracellular Zn sensor, characterized by erythematous skin lesions with onset in early to mid infancy. Other features of note are diarrhea and other GI features, psychological disturbance, alopecia, and, if not treated with Zn, a progressive downhill course and frequent infections. Zn deficiency has appropriately attracted special attention in young children trapped in impoverished communities with food insecurity and lack of diversity, including inadequate bioavailable Zn. Longitudinal growth failure and impaired immunity with frequent infections, especially diarrhea contributing to mortality, are among the effects of Zn deficiency. The most severe health effects of Zn deficiency occur in acrodermatitis enteropathica, an autosomal inherited defect of one of several polymorphisms of the SLC39A4 gene encoding the ZIP4 transporter. This disease is characterized by erythematous skin lesions with onset in early to mid infancy. Other frequent features are diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, nausea, alopecia, and psychological disturbance. If the severe Zn deficiency is not treated, there is characteristically a downhill course, with frequent infections attributable to multiple defects of the immune system, often with a fatal outcome in early childhood.
A Volume Formual for Medial Sections of Simplices

Let Sd be a d-dimensional simplex in Rd, and let H be an affine hyperplane of Rd. We say that H is a medial hyperplane of Sd if the distance between H and any vertex of Sd is the same constant. The intersection of Sd and a medial hyperplane is called a medial section of Sd. In this paper we give a simple formula for the (d-1)-volume of any medial section of Sd in terms of the lengths of the edges of Sd. This extends the result of Yetter from the three-dimensional case to arbitrary dimension. We also show that a generalization of the obtained formula measures the volume of the intersection of some analogously chosen "medial" affine subspace of Rd and the simplex.
Statewide Administration of the CRAFFT Screening Tool: Highlighting the Spectrum of Substance Use

Background: Adolescent alcohol and drug use in the United States are associated with negative consequences spanning multiple domains. Much of the public health surveillance of these behaviors relies on self-report survey data. These data frequently takes the form of frequency or prevalence data for specific substances, which may not provide a complete picture of use. Objectives: This study analyzes a state-level survey that includes the CRAFFT screening tool. The study's goal is to elucidate the spectrum of substance use severity across a large segment of substance-using adolescents attending schools in the state of Indiana and to assess the contribution of a variety of predictor variables to the variance between users falling into each category of use severity. Methods: Data were collected in 2011 from 168,801 adolescents, of whom 25,204 met the inclusion criteria for this study. The authors utilize multinomial logit analyses to highlight variables, including sociodemographic data, poly-drug use, and ris...
Applying Metropolis-Hastings-within-Gibbs algorithms for data detection in relay-based communication systems

When a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is applied to solve signal-processing problems, it is commonly implemented using Gibbs sampler. The implementation of Gibbs sampler requires the availability of full conditional probability density functions (pdfs) of all the parameters of interest of a problem. For some problems, however, the full conditional pdfs of all the parameters of interest are not readily available. In such cases, Metropolis-Hastings method can be incorporated within a Gibbs sampler to draw samples from the parameters whose full conditional pdf cannot be analytically determined. This paper demonstrates the application of such an algorithm, known as Metropolis-Hastings-within Gibbs, by considering the problem of joint data detection and channel estimation of a single-hop relay-based communication system. By formulating the signal model of the transmission process in alternative ways, we develop two algorithms for the problem. Moreover, simulation results of the two algorithms are provided to illustrate their effectiveness.
Patient perceptions and acceptance of routine emergency department HIV testing

In September 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published revised recommendations for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening in a number of health-care settings.1 Among these were recommendations that where the prevalence of HIV infection is greater than 0.1%, emergency department (ED) patients aged 13 to 64 years be offered an HIV test, regardless of their perceived risk. Since then, there has been a great deal of interest in and increasing federal support of the implementation of these recommendations as they affect EDs. For example, CDC has sponsored a number of workshops across the U.S. that bring together those with expertise in ED HIV screening with those who wish to implement the process in their own ED. Federal money is also being targeted to support expanded ED HIV testing. In September 2007, CDC awarded $35 million to support increased HIV testing, and much of this money will be used to finance EDs offering testing to high-risk populations. While slowly being introduced to EDs across the U.S., these recommendations have been criticized for not addressing patient concerns about the testing process.2 However, to date there has been little research on patients' perceptions, particularly by race/ethnicity. In this study, we analyzed by patient race/ethnicity the acceptance rates of the ED HIV test, perceptions of ED HIV testing, and reasons for not testing, to better understand factors that may be associated with ED test acceptance.
Commercial vehicle classification from spectrum parted linked image test-attributed synthetic aperture radar imagery

The primitive type attribute as recently reported in the spectrum parted linked image test algorithm is used for the first time in a 10-vehicle classification experiment. Attributed scattering centres (ASCs) from wideband polarimetric synthetic aperture radar imagery are surveyed and two highly complementary sets of attributes are compared in a nearest neighbour classifier. The classifier performance for each set of attributes is shown to be over 90% with 10° sub-apertures and 10 dB additive white Gaussian noise which had not been considered in earlier works. Using a common image formation and ASC extraction method to ensure that only the pixel attributes differed, two different sets of complementary attributes are compared under precisely the same conditions. In addition, the query sets of attributed images are formed from azimuth and elevation angles that are not in the set of training angles. The results show that the classifier performance degrades gracefully as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decreases below 10 dB and that the sensitivity to aspect angle is nearly the same for all vehicle classes as the SNR approaches 10 dB and above. The primary limitation of the approach is the use of wide-band, wide-aperture, and polarimetric radar data.
Proof-Carrying Code. Design and Implementation

Proof-Carrying Code (PCC) is a general mechanism for verifying that a code fragment can be executed safely on a host system. The key technical detail that makes PCC simple yet very powerful is that the code fragment is required to be accompanied by a detailed and precise explanation of why it satisfies the safety policy. This leaves the code receiver with the simple task of verifying that the explanation is correct and that it matches the code in question.
Representatives for Cosets

(1972). Representatives for Cosets. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 79, No. 8, pp. 886-890.
Studying the relationship between redox and cell growth using quantitative phase imaging(Conference Presentation)

Quantitative phase imaging has been used in the past to study the dry mass of cells and study cell growth under various treatment conditions. However, the relationship between cellular redox and growth rates has not yet been studied in this context. This study employed the recombinant Glrx-roGFP2 redox biosensor targeted to the mitochondrial matrix or cytosolic compartments of A549 lung epithelial carcinoma cells. The Glrx-roGFP2s biosensor consists of a modified GFP protein containing internal cysteine residues sensitive to the local redox environment. The formation/dissolution of sulfide bridges contorts the internal chromophore, dictating corresponding changes in florescence emission that provide direct measures of the local redox potential. Combining 2-channel florescent imaging of the redox sensor with quantitative phase imaging allowed observation of redox homeostasis alongside measurements of cellular mass during full cycles of cellular division. The results indicate that mitochondrial redox showed a stronger inverse correlation with cell growth than cytoplasmic redox states; although redox changes are restricted to a 5% range. We are now studying the relationship between mitochondrial redox and cell growth in an isogenic series of breast cell lines built upon the MCF-10A genetic background that vary both in malignancy and metastatic potential.
Protection of Panax Japonicus extract against acute alcoholic liver injury in mice

AIM: To investigate the protective effects of Panax Japonicus extract(PJE)on ethanol-induced liver injury in mice.METHODS: KM mice were randomly divided into five groups as below: normal control group,model group,PJE high-dose group,PJE low-dose group and silybin group.The levels of serum alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),and triglyceride(TG)were assayed.The activity of liver Superoxide Dismutase(SOD),Glutathione Peroxidase(GSH-Px) and malondialdehyde(MDA)content were measured,and liver histopathology was also examined.Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR) was applied to detect the mRNA expression of SOD1 and GPX1 gene.RESULTS:Compared with normal control group,the liver dysfunction and hepatic tissue damage as well as enhancement of lipid peroxidation in the model group,and the levels of ALT,AST,AST in serum were increased,the activity of SOD and GSH-Px in liver were decreased,and the content of MDA was increased,there were statistical difference(P0.05 or P0.01).Compared with the model group,the serum levels of ALT,AST and TG were decreased in the PJE high-dose group,PJE low-dose group and silybin group,and the activity of SOD and GSH-Px in liver were increased,the content of MDA was decreased;Moreover,the mRNA expressions of SOD1 and GPX1 in liver tissue increased marketly,there were statistical difference(P0.05 or P0.01).CONCLUSION: PJE has obvious protective effects on acute alcoholic liver injury in mice via attenuating hepatic lipid peroxidation,and the mechanism maybe up-regulate the mRNA expression of SOD1 and GPX1 gene.
Developing Adaptive Quantified-Self Applications Using DynaSense

There are a number of user-centric applications that use data from sensors in a personal area network. The heavy dependence of such applications on sensors means that if a sensor is not available (e.g. a user forgets to carry a sensor device), some applications might not work properly or even fail. However, the data generated from a sensor that is unavailable can be derived from other devices or a combination of sensors. Since it is impractical and ineffective for application developers to track all such scenarios, user applications generally cannot take advantage of the sensor rich environment of a prospective user. This paper introduces the design of DynaSense which is a middleware system that allows user applications to be agnostic to the data sources or sensors in use. DynaSense provides a unified approach for accessing data from various data sources, which can be sensors or compositions of other data sources. The middleware dynamically decides how to acquire data from available data sources, as well as how to deliver it to requesting user applications. We present the APIs that allow user applications to easily express their needs. We also present four case studies -- a heart rate monitoring application, a user behavior anomaly detection application, a calorie tracking application, and a sleep monitoring application -- to compare the development of these applications with and without DynaSense. These case studies show that DynaSense can effectively reduce the efforts of developers, in terms of the lines of code written.
Bile Duct Carcinoma

Bile duct carcinoma most often causes death by obstructing bile flow; relief of this obstruction extends survival. Options include passage of tubes through the tumor to maintain internal bile drainage, hepatic-enteric bypass, and percutaneous tube drainage. As experience with liver surgery has grown, the number of bile duct carcinomas that have been successfully resected has increased. Complete removal of the tumor produces more long-term survivors than other procedures, but most patients still succumb to their disease. Nevertheless, aggressive treatment to excise the lesion or bypass the biliary obstruction significantly improves quality and length of life for many patients.
Be Alert and Stay the Course: An Agent-Based Model Exploring Maritime Piracy Countermeasures

Since its origin nearly forty centuries ago maritime piracy continues to threaten global trade, impacting thousands of merchant vessels each year. Increased security on board merchant ships as well as more costly military countermeasures have been deployed with great success around the Horn of Africa, yet the number of incidents occurring within the Gulf of Guinea have recently drastically increased. This paper will present an agent-based model (ABM) simulating merchant vessels sailing within an environment in which a number of pirates and Naval warships are present. Results demonstrate how ABMs can be used to explore the impact of various piracy countermeasures and discover potentially counter-intuitive consequences of different macro-level policies and micro-level decisions. Ultimately this work serves as a proof of concept for using ABMs to assess the efficacy of strategies for combatting maritime piracy and lays the foundation for future models to inform policy and tactics.
The Tipping Model and the Minimum Seed Problem

In a “tipping” model, each node in a social network, representing an individual, adopts a property or behavior if a certain number of his incoming neighbors currently exhibit the same. A key problem, with respect to this model, is to select an initial “seed” set from the network such that the entire network adopts any behavior given to the seed. In this chapter, we investigate the problem of identifying a seed set of minimum size—which is NP-hard. We provide exact and heuristic methods for solving this problem as well as a suite of results to not only demonstrate the utility of these methods, but provide insight into the dynamics of the tipping model also.
An eddy-viscosity limited algebraic stress model for shock-boundary-layer interaction

We present a μ t -limited explicit algebraic stress model for shock-wave-turbulent boundary-layer interactions based on an investigation of various two-equation turbulence models. The results of the κ-ω model, the shear stress transport (SST) model, and a quadratic explicit algebraic stress model are presented and analysed for the Delery channel bump, and the Bachalo and Johnson axisymmetric bump test cases. While the κ-ω model failed to give good predictions, the SST model proved reasonably successful in predicting strong interaction problems. The non-linear quadratic explicit algebraic stress model gave improved results (when compared with the original κ-ω model) for the channel bump test cases, but was not as good as the SST model. Inspired by this investigation, a model formulation is proposed in which Bradshaw's assumption for eddy-viscosity limiting (as used in the SST model) is applied to a quadratic explicit algebraic stress model. The QSST model further improves the SST model for strong shock-boundary-layer interactions
Biological Gender Differences in Students’ Errors on Mathematics Achievement Tests

This study investigated developmental gender differences in mathematics achievement, using the child and adolescent portion (ages 6-19 years) of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement–Third Edition (KTEA-3). Participants were divided into two age categories: 6 to 11 and 12 to 19. Error categories within the Math Concepts & Applications and Math Computation subtests of the KTEA-3 were factor analyzed and revealed five error factors. Multiple ANOVA of the error factor scores showed that, across both age categories, female and male mean scores were not significantly different across four error factors: math calculation, geometric concepts, basic math concepts, and addition. They were significantly different on the complex math problems error factor, with males performing better at the p < .05 significance level for the 6 to 11 age group and at the p < .001 significance level for the 12 to 19 age group. Implications in light of gender stereotype threat are discussed.
Professional Sporting Events and Firm-Level Economic Activity

This paper investigates the impact of professional sporting events on the daily revenue of a particular restaurant in Charlotte, NC. The daily data allow us to test for the impact of professional basketball and professional football games on daily revenues. For this particular firm, professional football games are associated with a net increase in daily revenues, regardless of game outcome; professional basketball games are not associated with increases in daily revenues. Using betting markets as a proxy for market expectations of game outcomes, the data suggest that NFL fans in Charlotte spend more after NFL home games regardless of outcome and regardless of expectations but that they spend less after unexpected losses on the road. This suggests that NFL fans reflect celebratory effects of home games and sore-loser effects of unexpected losses. In contrast, NBA fans reflect only sore-loser effects after unexpected losses at home. The mixed impacts of game outcomes on firm-level revenue suggest that mixed results using aggregate data might be partly caused by the outcomes of events.
TAKOTSUBO CARDIOMYOPATHY VERSUS APICAL INFARCTION IN PATIENTS WITH MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION AND NON-OBSTRUCTIVE CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE (MINOCA)

Background: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) may be considered a form of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive CAD (MINOCA). TC incidence has been reported as 0.3-1.2% of MI events. The proportion of MINOCA patients with TC has not been studied previously. Cardiac MRI helps determine underlying
DUSP11 – An RNA phosphatase that regulates host and viral non-coding RNAs in mammalian cells

Dual-specificity phosphatase 11 (DUSP11) is a conserved protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) in metazoans. The cellular substrates and physiologic activities of DUSP11 remain largely unknown. In nematodes, DUSP11 is required for normal development and RNA interference against endogenous RNAs (endo-RNAi) via molecular mechanisms that are not well understood. However, mammals lack analogous endo-RNAi pathways and consequently, a role for DUSP11 in mammalian RNA silencing was unanticipated. Recent work from our laboratory demonstrated that DUSP11 activity alters the silencing potential of noncanonical viral miRNAs in mammalian cells. Our studies further uncovered direct cellular substrates of DUSP11 and suggest that DUSP11 is part of regulatory pathway that controls the abundance of select triphosphorylated noncoding RNAs. Here, we highlight recent findings and present new data that advance understanding of mammalian DUSP11 during gene silencing and discuss the emerging biological activities of DUSP11 in mammalian cells.
Prediction of Lake-Effect Snow Using Convection-Allowing Ensemble Forecasts and Regional Data Assimilation

AbstractLake-effect snow (LES) is a cold-season mesoscale convective phenomenon that can lead to significant snowfall rates and accumulations in the Great Lakes region of the United States. While limited-area numerical weather prediction models have shown skill in prediction of warm-season convective storms, forecasting the sharp nature of LES precipitation timing, intensity, and location is difficult because of model error and initial and boundary condition uncertainties. Ensemble forecasting can incorporate and quantify some sources of forecast error, but ensemble design must be considered. This study examines the relative contributions of forecast uncertainties to LES forecast error using a regional convection-allowing data assimilation and ensemble prediction system. Ensembles are developed using various methods of perturbations to simulate a long-lived and high-precipitation LES event in December 2013, and forecast performance is evaluated using observations including those from the Ontario Winter La...
Contribution of amygdala CRF neurons to chronic pain

We investigated the role of amygdala corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons in the perturbations of descending pain inhibition caused by neuropathic pain. Forced swim increased the tail-flick response latency in uninjured mice, a phenomenon known as stress-induced analgesia (SIA) but did not change the tail-flick response latency in mice with neuropathic pain caused by sciatic nerve constriction. Neuropathic pain also increased the expression of CRF in the central amygdala (CeAmy) and ΔFosB in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Next, we injected the CeAmy of CRF-cre mice with cre activated AAV-DREADD (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) vectors. Activation of CRF neurons by DREADD/Gq did not affect the impaired SIA but inhibition of CRF neurons by DREADD/Gi restored SIA and decreased allodynia in mice with neuropathic pain. The possible downstream circuitry involved in the regulation of SIA was investigated by combined injections of retrograde cre-virus (CAV2-cre) into the locus ceruleus (LC) and cre activated AAV-diphtheria toxin (AAV-FLEX-DTX) virus into the CeAmy. The viral injections were followed by a sciatic nerve constriction ipsilateral or contralateral to the injections. Ablation of amygdala projections to the LC on the side of injury but not on the opposite side, completely restored SIA, decreased allodynia and decreased ΔFosB expression in the spinal cord in mice with neuropathic pain. The possible lateralization of SIA impairment to the side of injury was confirmed by an experiment in which unilateral inhibition of the LC decreased SIA even in uninjured mice. The current view in the field of pain research attributes the process of pain chronification to abnormal functioning of descending pain inhibition. Our results demonstrate that the continuous activity of CRF neurons brought about by persistent pain leads to impaired SIA, which is a symptom of dysregulation of descending pain inhibition. Therefore, an over-activation of amygdala CRF neurons is very likely an important contributing factor for pain chronification.
UPLC-MS/MS assay of riluzole in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF): Application in samples from spinal cord injured patients.

Abstract In the present study, a sensitive and robust LC–MS/MS method has been developed and validated for the quantification of riluzole in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in clinical samples from patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Riluzole and its labeled internal standard (IS) were isolated from plasma and CSF by liquid–liquid extraction using ethyl acetate. Riluzole ( m / z 235 → 166) and IS ( m / z 238 → 169) were detected by electrospray ionization (ESI) using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in a positive mode. The assay was linear in the concentration range of 0.5 (LLOQ, signal/noise ratio > 10)–800 ng/ml in plasma, and 1.0 (LLOQ)–800 ng/ml in CSF samples. The intra- and inter-day accuracy in plasma were 94.2–110.0% and 97.8–102.0%, respectively, and those in CSF were 87.6–105.1% and 91.9–98.8%, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision were 2.2–7.2% and 4.0–9.1%, respectively, in plasma, and 1.4–14.1% and 2.6–11.5%, respectively in CSF. Matrix effect was negligible from both matrices with signal percentages of 97.6–100.6% in plasma and 99.4–106.4% in CSF. The recoveries were >75% in plasma, >84% in CSF with low protein (53.9 mg/dl), and >68% in CSF with high protein (348.2 mg/dl). This method was successfully applied to quantify riluzole concentrations in plasma and CSF from patients with SCI.
State–space mark–recapture estimates reveal a recent decline in abundance of North Atlantic right whales

North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis Muller 1776) present an interesting problem for abundance and trend estimation in marine wildlife conservation. They are long lived, individually identifiable, highly mobile, and one of the rarest of cetaceans. Individuals are annually resighted at different rates, primarily due to varying stay durations among several principal habitats within a large geographic range. To date, characterizations of abundance have been produced that use simple accounting procedures with differing assumptions about mortality. To better characterize changing abundance of North Atlantic right whales between 1990 and 2015, we adapted a state-space formulation with Jolly-Seber assumptions about population entry (birth and immigration) to individual resighting histories and fit it using empirical Bayes methodology. This hierarchical model included accommodation for the effect of the substantial individual capture heterogeneity. Estimates from this approach were only slightly higher than published accounting procedures, except for the most recent years (when recapture rates had declined substantially). North Atlantic right whales' abundance increased at about 2.8% per annum from median point estimates of 270 individuals in 1990 to 483 in 2010, and then declined to 2015, when the final estimate was 458 individuals (95% credible intervals 444-471). The probability that the population's trajectory post-2010 was a decline was estimated at 99.99%. Of special concern was the finding that reduced survival rates of adult females relative to adult males have produced diverging abundance trends between sexes. Despite constraints in recent years, both biological (whales' distribution changing) and logistical (fewer resources available to collect individual photo-identifications), it is still possible to detect this relatively recent, small change in the population's trajectory. This is thanks to the massive dataset of individual North Atlantic right whale identifications accrued over the past three decades. Photo-identification data provide biological information that allows more informed inference on the status of this species.
Navigation Assistance for Individuals with Visual Impairments in Indoor Environments

Canes or service dogs in indoor environments are unable to provide spatial information to the Individuals with Visual Impairments (IVIs) to make them independent. An indoor navigation assistance system can provide information on the presence of any obstacles in their vicinity, the distance of separation and their direction of motion (in case of mobile objects) w.r.t the IVIs. In this paper, we attempt to address the above objective by designing a novel time-efficient algorithm where a smart-glass is employed to spot an obstacle (stationary or mobile) in indoor environment using the inbuilt camera and inertial sensors. The system is implemented and tested extensively in indoor settings.
Doing Things Differently: Exploring Drugging Victims’ Behavioral Changes and Risk of Recurring Victimization

Hindelang, Gottfredson, and Garafalo offered the “once bitten, twice shy” hypothesis, which posits that, after experiencing victimization, individuals will make changes to their lifestyles to preve...
Positron emission tomography in Parkinson's disease: insights into impulsivity

This study reviews previous studies that employ positron emission tomography (PET) imaging assessments in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with and without Impulsive Compulsive Behaviours (ICB). This begins with a summary of the potential benefits and limitations of commonly utilized ligands, specifically D2/3 receptor and dopamine transporter ligands. Since previous findings emphasize the role of the ventral striatum in the manifestation of ICBs, this study attempts to relate these imaging findings to changes in behaviour, especially emphasizing work performed in substance abuse and addiction. Next, it reviews how increasing disease duration in PD can influence dopamine receptor expression, with an emphasis on differential striatal and extra-striatal changes that occur along the course of PD. Finally, it focuses on how extra-striatal changes, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, and anterior cingulate, may influence the proficiency of behavioural regulation in PD. The discussion emphasizes the interaction of disease and medication effects on network-wide changes that occur in PD, and how these changes may result in behavioural dysregulation.
Virtual humans: transforming mHealth for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

The use of virtual humans (VHs) in mHealth to manage health conversations, ranging from screening and education to changing attitudes and behaviors that reduce risk and increase treatment compliance, and treatment itself, holds tremendous potential to cost-effectively transform world-wide healthcare as we know it.
Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios

We investigated whether inferences about harbor seal (Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758) whisker shed status and growth rates based on whisker morphology could improve dietary time series from whisker ...
Simultaneous enhancement of strength and ductility in an AlCoCrFeNi2.1 eutectic high-entropy alloy via friction stir processing

Abstract Lamellar eutectic structure of as-cast AlCoCrFeNi2.1 was tailored by friction stir processing (FSP). During FSP, lamellar B2 phase was broken into ultrafine-grained particles, with dissolution of Cr-rich precipitates in B2 and formation of Al-rich precipitates in FCC (L12). Dynamic recrystallization of FCC/L12 and B2 reduced grain size to less than ∼0.5 μm. The combined effect of microstructural evolution in the processed region improved the ultimate tensile strength from ∼1000 MPa to 1360 MPa, the ductility from ∼6.5% to 10%, and the microhardness from ∼300 HV0.2 to 450 HV0.2.
Adipose Tissue Macrophages in Obesity, Inflammation, and Cancer

The chronic low-grade inflammation induced by obesity is a key connection between obesity and disease. It is now understood that the supporting stromal cells in adipose tissue contribute to this inflammatory response in significant ways. Of these, adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) are major effectors of inflammation in hypertrophic adipose tissue. However, we now know that ATMs are diverse in their phenotypes and have functions that may contribute directly and indirectly to impact cancer risk. This review will summarize our current understanding of the phenotypic diversity in ATMs and how this is altered in obesity. The potential role that ATMs play in breast and ovarian cancer pathogenesis will also be discussed given the close association between adipose tissue and these cancer types.
Coloring Weight Stigma: On Race, Colorism, Weight Stigma, and the Failure of Additive Intersectionality:

America’s obsession with obesity has spawned increasing amounts of research examining how body size shapes social outcomes. Generally, body size negatively correlates with these outcomes, with larger people suffering lower self-esteem, marriage rates, and wages. However, these outcomes are unevenly distributed among racial groups, as black people counterintuitively seem robust to many of the ravages of weight discrimination. Understanding why black people do not suffer a “double burden” where weight is concerned has baffled social scientists using basic models of intersectionality to explain outcomes. The author attempts to deepen understanding of intersectionality and the structure of race in the United States by examining the combined effect of body size and skin tone or color on individual income for black Americans. The author finds that light-skinned black Americans suffer an obesity income penalty similar to white Americans, whereas medium- and dark-skinned black Americans seem to suffer no obesity ...
Parallel copying in dislocation copying: evidence from Cantonese

Cantonese exhibits dislocation copying, a phenomenon whereby some syntactic material in a canonical sentence is repeated after the sentence particle. This paper demonstrates that the familiar Move-and-Elide analysis does not readily accommodate the structural properties of dislocation copying. Instead, the derivation of dislocation copying involves the formation of parallel Ā-chains. The apparent copying character of dislocation copying, accordingly, is the result of neither Move-and-Elide nor spell-out of multiple chain links, both prevalent mechanisms for yielding repetition. The current proposal sheds a fresh light on an ill-understood area of Cantonese syntax with regard to dislocation in general, and lends additional support to utilizing parallel chains in grammar as a syntactic means of yielding repetition.
Minimally invasive spine surgery in dogs: Evaluation of the safety and feasibility of a thoracolumbar approach to the spinal cord.

OBJECTIVE To describe the safety and feasibility of a minimally invasive spine surgery technique to access the thoracolumbar vertebral canal in dogs. STUDY DESIGN Prospective study. ANIMALS Six healthy research dogs. METHODS Dogs were placed under anesthesia for MRI to evaluate vertebral column and spinal cord integrity. Minimally invasive surgery was performed at multiple sites. Access to the vertebral canal was achieved by means of foraminotomy, discectomy, and lateral minicorpectomy by using minimally invasive access and a surgical microscope. Sequential neurological examinations, pressure algometry pain quantification, and creatine kinase levels were evaluated before and after surgery for 7 days. Magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and histopathology were performed on day 6 postoperatively after animals were humanely killed to evaluate the impact of surgery on spinal cord, muscles, and bone. RESULTS The vertebral canal was successfully accessed, and the ventral aspect of the spinal cord was identified at all sites. No neurological deterioration was observed. Postoperative pain was not different compared with baseline except in one dog on the day after surgery. CONCLUSION Minimally invasive spine surgery was a safe and feasible technique to access the thoracolumbar vertebral canal and the ventral aspect of the spinal cord in dogs. Findings supported postoperative pain benefits. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Minimally invasive spine surgery is a valid surgical technique to access the thoracolumbar vertebral canal at single or multiple sites in dogs.
Parental Concerns about Child and Adolescent Caffeinated Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake and Perceived Barriers to Reducing Consumption

Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption contributes to obesity and chronic disease. SSB intake in children and adolescents remains well above recommendations and reducing intake is challenging. In addition to high sugar content, SSBs are the predominant source of caffeine among youth. However, whether caffeine in SSBs presents unique barriers to reducing consumption is unknown. Herein, we examine parental concerns about child caffeinated-SSB (CSSB) intake and describe parent-reported barriers to lowering their child's consumption. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 parents of children and adolescents 8-17 years of age. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded using Nvivo™, and key themes were identified. Most parents expressed concern about child CSSB consumption, primarily with regard to dietary (e.g., excess sugar), health (e.g., obesity, diabetes) and/or behavioral (e.g., hyperactivity) consequences of frequent intake. Several key barriers to CSSB restriction were reported, encompassing six emergent themes: widespread availability and accessibility; child non-compliance when asked not to drink CSSBs; peer and cultural influences; negative child response to CSSB restriction; family eating behaviors; and, child preferences for CSSBs versus other beverages. Consideration of these barriers, along with the development of novel approaches to address these challenges, will likely bolster success in interventions aimed at reducing CSSB intake among children and adolescents.