Forecasting Accessory Demand in the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry seeks effective ways to forecast consumer demand to avoid overstocking, waste, underproduction, and employee underperformance. Modeling future demand for vehicles is standard, however parts & accessories are a significant subset of overall automotive revenue. There is no industry standard for predicting the quantity of accessories sold or revenue. This paper seeks to use the best industry forecasting methods and research practices to build a predictive model that forecasts vehicle accessory sales. The time-series forecasting model utilizes Toyota Motor Corporation data in a first attempt to predict accessory sales

Sex Differences in rt-PA Utilization at Hospitals Treating Stroke: The National Inpatient Sample.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Sex and race disparities in recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) use have been reported. We sought to explore sex and race differences in the utilization of rt-PA at primary stroke centers (PSCs) compared to non-PSCs across the US. METHODS: Data from the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS) 2004-2010 was utilized to assess sex differences in treatment for ischemic stroke in PSCs compared to non-PSCs. RESULTS: There were 304,152 hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of ischemic stroke between 2004 and 2010 in the analysis: 75,160 (24.7%) patients were evaluated at a PSC. A little over half of the patients evaluated at PSCs were female (53.8%). A lower proportion of women than men received rt-PA at both PSCs (6.8 vs. 7.5%, p \u3c 0.001) and non-PSCs (2.3 vs. 2.8%, p \u3c 0.001). After adjustment for potential confounders the odds of being treated with rt-PA remained lower for women regardless of presentation to a PSC (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.81-0.94) or non-PSC (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.82-0.94). After stratifying by sex and race, the lowest absolute treatment rates were observed in black women (4.4% at PSC, 1.9% at non-PSC). The odds of treatment, relative to white men, was however lowest for white women (PSC OR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.78-0.93; non-PSC OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.75-0.85). In the multivariable model, sex did not modify the effect of PSC certification on rt-PA utilization (p-value for interaction = 0.58). CONCLUSION: Women are less likely to receive rt-PA than men at both PSCs and non-PSCs. Absolute treatment rates are lowest in black women, although the relative difference in men and women was greatest for white women

Multicystic adenomatoid hamartoma of the pancreas

Multicystic adenomatoid hamartoma is an extremely rare tumor of the pancreas, with only 4 other cases reported in the literature. We report a case of a 4-year old boy who presented with an 8 month history of abdominal pain, steatorrhea, and failure to thrive. Work-up showed severe pancreatic insufficiency and a large, multiseptated, cystic mass originating from the head of the pancreas and compressing the duodenum. The child underwent a classic pancreaticoduodenectomy with portal vein reconstruction. He tolerated the procedure well and has been seen in follow-up

No evidence of BRCA2 mutations in chromosome 13q-linked Utah high-risk prostate cancer pedigrees

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Germline mutations in the <it>BRCA2 </it>gene have been suggested to account for about 5% of familial prostate cancer; mutations have been reported in 2% of early onset (i.e., ≤ 55 years) prostate cancer cases and a segregating founder mutation has been identified in Iceland (999del5). However, the role of <it>BRCA2 </it>in high risk prostate cancer pedigrees remains unclear.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We examined the potential involvement of <it>BRCA2 </it>in a set offive high-risk prostate cancer pedigrees in which all prostate cases were no more distantly related than two meioses from another case, and the resulting cluster contained at least four prostate cancer cases. We selected these five pedigrees from a larger dataset of 59 high-risk prostate cancer pedigrees analyzed in a genome-wide linkage screen. Selected pedigrees showed at least nominal linkage evidence to the <it>BRCA2 </it>region on chromosome 13q. We mutation screened all coding regions and intron/exon boundaries of the <it>BRCA2 </it>gene in the youngest prostate cancer case who carried the linked 13q segregating haplotype, as well as in a distantly related haplotype carrier to confirm any segregation. We observed no known protein truncating <it>BRCA2 </it>deleterious mutations. We identified one non-segregating <it>BRCA2 </it>variant of uncertain significance, one non-segregating intronic variant not previously reported, and a number of polymorphisms.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this set of high-risk prostate cancer pedigrees with at least nominal linkage evidence to <it>BRCA2</it>, we saw no evidence for segregating <it>BRCA2 </it>protein truncating mutations in heritable prostate cancer.</p

fMRI of Monkey Visual Cortex

While functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is now used widely for demonstrating neural activity-related signals associated with perceptual, motor, and cognitive processes in humans, to date this technique has not been developed for use with nonhuman primates. fMRI in monkeys offers a potentially valuable experimental approach for investigating brain function, which will complement and aid existing techniques such as electrophysiology and the behavioral analysis of the effects of brain lesions. There are, however, a number of significant technical challenges involved in using fMRI with monkeys. Here, we describe the procedures by which we have overcome these challenges to carry out successful fMRI experiments in an alert monkey, and we present the first evidence of activity-related fMRI signals from monkey cerebral cortex

Design, Integration, Certification and Testing of the Orion Crew Module Propulsion System

The Orion Crew Module Propulsion Reaction Control System is currently complete and ready for flight as part of the Orion program's first flight test, Exploration Flight Test One (EFT-1). As part of the first article design, build, test, and integration effort, several key lessons learned have been noted and are planned for incorporation into the next build of the system. This paper provides an overview of those lessons learned and a status on the Orion propulsion system progress to date

Mapping evaporative water loss in desert passerines reveals an expanding threat of lethal dehydration

Extreme high environmental temperatures produce a variety of consequences for wildlife, including mass die-offs. Heat waves are increasing in frequency, intensity, and extent, and are projected to increase further under climate change. However, the spatial and temporal dynamics of die-off risk are poorly understood. Here, we examine the effects of heat waves on evaporative water loss (EWL) and survival in five desert passerine birds across the southwestern United States using a combination of physiological data, mechanistically informed models, and hourly geospatial temperature data. We ask how rates of EWL vary with temperature across species; how frequently, over what areas, and how rapidly lethal dehydration occurs; how EWL and die-off risk vary with body mass; and how die-off risk is affected by climate warming. We find that smaller-bodied passerines are subject to higher rates of mass-specific EWL than larger-bodied counterparts and thus encounter potentially lethal conditions much more frequently, over shorter daily intervals, and over larger geographic areas. Warming by 4 °C greatly expands the extent, frequency, and intensity of dehydration risk, and introduces new threats for larger passerine birds, particularly those with limited geographic ranges. Our models reveal that increasing air temperatures and heat wave occurrence will potentially have important impacts on the water balance, daily activity, and geographic distribution of arid-zone birds. Impacts may be exacerbated by chronic effects and interactions with other environmental changes. This work underscores the importance of acute risks of high temperatures, particularly for small-bodied species, and suggests conservation of thermal refugia and water sources