Evaluation of Mercury Exposure Reduction through a Fish Consumption Advisory Program for Anishinaabe Tribal Members in Northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota

The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission has an extensive program to inform Anishinaabe tribal members from northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota who harvest and consume walleye about the health risks of consuming these fish, and to encourage harvest and consumption practices that reduce exposure to MeHg. We report here the results of a probabilistic analysis of exposure to methyl mercury (MeHg) among tribal members who consume walleye. The model predicts that the potential for greatest exposures to MeHg occur among women of child-bearing age and children who consume large walleye from lakes that contain heavily contaminated (MeHg concentration >0.5 mg/kg) fish. The analysis allows GLIFWC to evaluate, focus, and fine-tune its initiatives to protect the health of tribal members in ways that result in exposure and risk reduction for tribal harvesters, women of child-bearing age, and children, while maintaining important tribal lifeways, which include the harvest and consumption of walleye

Skeletal Muscle Fiber Adaptations Following Resistance Training Using Repetition Maximums or Relative Intensity

The purpose of the study was to compare the physiological responses of skeletal muscle to a resistance training (RT) program using repetition maximum (RM) or relative intensity (RISR). Fifteen well-trained males underwent RT 3 d·wk−1 for 10 weeks in either an RM group (n = 8) or RISR group (n = 7). The RM group achieved a relative maximum each day, while the RISR group trained based on percentages. The RM group exercised until muscular failure on each exercise, while the RISR group did not reach muscular failure throughout the intervention. Percutaneous needle biopsies of the vastus lateralis were obtained pre-post the training intervention, along with ultrasonography measures. Dependent variables were: Fiber type-specific cross-sectional area (CSA); anatomical CSA (ACSA); muscle thickness (MT); mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR); adenosine monophosphate protein kinase (AMPK); and myosin heavy chains (MHC) specific for type I (MHC1), type IIA (MHC2A), and type IIX (MHC2X). Mixed-design analysis of variance and effect size using Hedge’s g were used to assess within- and between-group alterations. RISR statistically increased type I CSA (p = 0.018, g = 0.56), type II CSA (p = 0.012, g = 0.81), ACSA (p = 0.002, g = 0.53), and MT (p \u3c 0.001, g = 1.47). RISR also yielded a significant mTOR reduction (p = 0.031, g = −1.40). Conversely, RM statistically increased only MT (p = 0.003, g = 0.80). Between-group effect sizes supported RISR for type I CSA (g = 0.48), type II CSA (g = 0.50), ACSA (g = 1.03), MT (g = 0.72), MHC2X (g = 0.31), MHC2A (g = 0.87), and MHC1 (g = 0.59); with all other effects being of trivial magnitude (g \u3c 0.20). Our results demonstrated greater adaptations in fiber size, whole-muscle size, and several key contractile proteins when using RISR compared to RM loading paradigms

MagneToRE: Mapping the 3-D Magnetic Structure of the Solar Wind Using a Large Constellation of Nanosatellites

Unlike the vast majority of astrophysical plasmas, the solar wind is accessible to spacecraft, which for decades have carried in-situ instruments for directly measuring its particles and fields. Though such measurements provide precise and detailed information, a single spacecraft on its own cannot disentangle spatial and temporal fluctuations. Even a modest constellation of in-situ spacecraft, though capable of characterizing fluctuations at one or more scales, cannot fully determine the plasma’s 3-D structure. We describe here a concept for a new mission, the Magnetic Topology Reconstruction Explorer (MagneToRE), that would comprise a large constellation of in-situ spacecraft and would, for the first time, enable 3-D maps to be reconstructed of the solar wind’s dynamic magnetic structure. Each of these nanosatellites would be based on the CubeSat form-factor and carry a compact fluxgate magnetometer. A larger spacecraft would deploy these smaller ones and also serve as their telemetry link to the ground and as a host for ancillary scientific instruments. Such an ambitious mission would be feasible under typical funding constraints thanks to advances in the miniaturization of spacecraft and instruments and breakthroughs in data science and machine learning

Neural Decision Boundaries for Maximal Information Transmission

We consider here how to separate multidimensional signals into two categories, such that the binary decision transmits the maximum possible information transmitted about those signals. Our motivation comes from the nervous system, where neurons process multidimensional signals into a binary sequence of responses (spikes). In a small noise limit, we derive a general equation for the decision boundary that locally relates its curvature to the probability distribution of inputs. We show that for Gaussian inputs the optimal boundaries are planar, but for non-Gaussian inputs the curvature is nonzero. As an example, we consider exponentially distributed inputs, which are known to approximate a variety of signals from natural environment.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Classical and revisionary theism on the divine as personal: a rapprochement?

To claim that the divine is a person or personal is, according to Richard Swinburne, ‘the most elementary claim of theism’ (1993, 101). I argue that, whether the classical theist’s concept of the divine as a person or personal is construed as an analogy or a metaphor, or a combination of the two, analysis necessitates qualification of that concept such that any differences between the classical theist’s concept of the divine as a person or personal and revisionary interpretations of that concept are merely superficial. Thus, either the classical theist has more in common with revisionary theism than he/she might care to admit, or classical theism is a multi-faceted position which encompasses interpretations which some might regard as revisionist. This article also explores and employs the use of a gender-neutral pronoun in talk about God

CDD: a Conserved Domain Database for protein classification

The Conserved Domain Database (CDD) is the protein classification component of NCBI's Entrez query and retrieval system. CDD is linked to other Entrez databases such as Proteins, Taxonomy and PubMed®, and can be accessed at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=cdd. CD-Search, which is available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdd/wrpsb.cgi, is a fast, interactive tool to identify conserved domains in new protein sequences. CD-Search results for protein sequences in Entrez are pre-computed to provide links between proteins and domain models, and computational annotation visible upon request. Protein–protein queries submitted to NCBI's BLAST search service at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST are scanned for the presence of conserved domains by default. While CDD started out as essentially a mirror of publicly available domain alignment collections, such as SMART, Pfam and COG, we have continued an effort to update, and in some cases replace these models with domain hierarchies curated at the NCBI. Here, we report on the progress of the curation effort and associated improvements in the functionality of the CDD information retrieval system

A Neurocomputational Model of Stimulus-Specific Adaptation to Oddball and Markov Sequences

Stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA) occurs when the spike rate of a neuron decreases with repetitions of the same stimulus, but recovers when a different stimulus is presented. It has been suggested that SSA in single auditory neurons may provide information to change detection mechanisms evident at other scales (e.g., mismatch negativity in the event related potential), and participate in the control of attention and the formation of auditory streams. This article presents a spiking-neuron model that accounts for SSA in terms of the convergence of depressing synapses that convey feature-specific inputs. The model is anatomically plausible, comprising just a few homogeneously connected populations, and does not require organised feature maps. The model is calibrated to match the SSA measured in the cortex of the awake rat, as reported in one study. The effect of frequency separation, deviant probability, repetition rate and duration upon SSA are investigated. With the same parameter set, the model generates responses consistent with a wide range of published data obtained in other auditory regions using other stimulus configurations, such as block, sequential and random stimuli. A new stimulus paradigm is introduced, which generalises the oddball concept to Markov chains, allowing the experimenter to vary the tone probabilities and the rate of switching independently. The model predicts greater SSA for higher rates of switching. Finally, the issue of whether rarity or novelty elicits SSA is addressed by comparing the responses of the model to deviants in the context of a sequence of a single standard or many standards. The results support the view that synaptic adaptation alone can explain almost all aspects of SSA reported to date, including its purported novelty component, and that non-trivial networks of depressing synapses can intensify this novelty response

Neuropsychological deficits associated with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure are not exacerbated by ADHD.

Neuropsychological functioning of individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or heavy prenatal alcohol exposure has been well documented independently. This study examined the interaction between both factors on cognitive performance in children

CDD: specific functional annotation with the Conserved Domain Database

NCBI's Conserved Domain Database (CDD) is a collection of multiple sequence alignments and derived database search models, which represent protein domains conserved in molecular evolution. The collection can be accessed at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdd/cdd.shtml, and is also part of NCBI's Entrez query and retrieval system, cross-linked to numerous other resources. CDD provides annotation of domain footprints and conserved functional sites on protein sequences. Precalculated domain annotation can be retrieved for protein sequences tracked in NCBI's Entrez system, and CDD's collection of models can be queried with novel protein sequences via the CD-Search service at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdd/wrpsb.cgi. Starting with the latest version of CDD, v2.14, information from redundant and homologous domain models is summarized at a superfamily level, and domain annotation on proteins is flagged as either ‘specific’ (identifying molecular function with high confidence) or as ‘non-specific’ (identifying superfamily membership only)