Accelerated Glacier Melt on Snow Dome, Mount Olympus, Washington, USA, due to Deposition of Black Carbon and Mineral Dust from Wildfire

Assessing the potential for black carbon (BC) and dust deposition to reduce albedo and accelerate glacier melt is of interest in Washington because snow and glacier melt are an important source of water resources, and glaciers are retreating. In August 2012 on Snow Dome, Mount Olympus, Washington, we measured snow surface spectral albedo and collected surface snow samples and a 7 m ice core. The snow and ice samples were analyzed for iron (Fe, used as a dust proxy) via inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry, total impurity content gravimetrically, BC using a single-particle soot photometer (SP2), and charcoal through microscopy. In the 2012 summer surface snow, BC (54 ± 50 μg/L), Fe (367±236 μg/L) and gravimetric impurity (35 ± 18 mg/L) concentrations were spatially variable, and measured broadband albedo varied between 0.67–0.74. BC and dust concentrations in the ice core 2011 summer horizon were a magnitude higher (BC = 3120 μg/L, Fe = 22000 μg/L, and gravimetric impurity = 1870 mg/L), corresponding to a modeled broadband albedo of 0.45 based on the measured BC and ravimetric impurity concentrations. The Big Hump forest fire is the likely source for the higher concentrations. Modeling constrained by measurements indicates that the all-sky 12 h daily mean radiative forcings in summer 2012 and 2011 range between 37–53Wm_2 and 112–149Wm_2, respectively, with the greater forcings in 2011 corresponding to a 29–38mm/d enhancement in snowmelt. The timing of the forest fire impurity deposition is coincident with an increase in observed discharge in the Hoh River, highlighting the potential for BC and dust deposition on glaciers from forest fires to accelerate melt

Diffusion of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training to Chinese Immigrants with Limited English Proficiency

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an effective intervention for prehospital cardiac arrest. Despite all available training opportunities for CPR, disparities exist in participation in CPR training, CPR knowledge, and receipt of bystander CPR for certain ethnic groups. We conducted five focus groups with Chinese immigrants who self-reported limited English proficiency (LEP). A bilingual facilitator conducted all the sessions. All discussions were taped, recorded, translated, and transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed by content analysis guided by the theory of diffusion. The majority of participants did not know of CPR and did not know where to get trained. Complexity of CPR procedure, advantages of calling 9-1-1, lack of confidence, and possible liability discourage LEP individuals to learn CPR. LEP individuals welcome simplified Hands-Only CPR and are willing to perform CPR with instruction from 9-1-1 operators. Expanding the current training to include Hands-Only CPR and dispatcher-assisted CPR may motivate Chinese LEP individuals to get trained for CPR

Political geographies of the object

This paper examines the role of objects in the constitution and exercise of state power, drawing on a close reading of the acclaimed HBO television series The Wire, an unconventional crime drama set and shot in Baltimore, Maryland. While political geography increasingly recognizes the prosaic and intimate practices of stateness, we argue that objects themselves are central to the production, organization, and performance of state power. Specifically, we analyze how three prominent objects on The Wire—wiretaps, cameras, and standardized tests—arrange and produce the conditions we understand as ‘stateness’. Drawing on object-oriented philosophy, we offer a methodology of power that suggests it is generalized force relations rather than specifically social relations that police a population—without, of course, ever being able to fully capture it. We conclude by suggesting The Wire itself is an object of force, and explore the implications of an object-oriented approach for understanding the nature of power, and for political geography more broadly

Fine-mapping of the HNF1B multicancer locus identifies candidate variants that mediate endometrial cancer risk.

Common variants in the hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 homeobox B (HNF1B) gene are associated with the risk of Type II diabetes and multiple cancers. Evidence to date indicates that cancer risk may be mediated via genetic or epigenetic effects on HNF1B gene expression. We previously found single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the HNF1B locus to be associated with endometrial cancer, and now report extensive fine-mapping and in silico and laboratory analyses of this locus. Analysis of 1184 genotyped and imputed SNPs in 6608 Caucasian cases and 37 925 controls, and 895 Asian cases and 1968 controls, revealed the best signal of association for SNP rs11263763 (P = 8.4 × 10(-14), odds ratio = 0.86, 95% confidence interval = 0.82-0.89), located within HNF1B intron 1. Haplotype analysis and conditional analyses provide no evidence of further independent endometrial cancer risk variants at this locus. SNP rs11263763 genotype was associated with HNF1B mRNA expression but not with HNF1B methylation in endometrial tumor samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Genetic analyses prioritized rs11263763 and four other SNPs in high-to-moderate linkage disequilibrium as the most likely causal SNPs. Three of these SNPs map to the extended HNF1B promoter based on chromatin marks extending from the minimal promoter region. Reporter assays demonstrated that this extended region reduces activity in combination with the minimal HNF1B promoter, and that the minor alleles of rs11263763 or rs8064454 are associated with decreased HNF1B promoter activity. Our findings provide evidence for a single signal associated with endometrial cancer risk at the HNF1B locus, and that risk is likely mediated via altered HNF1B gene expression

A simulation study comparing aberration detection algorithms for syndromic surveillance

BACKGROUND: The usefulness of syndromic surveillance for early outbreak detection depends in part on effective statistical aberration detection. However, few published studies have compared different detection algorithms on identical data. In the largest simulation study conducted to date, we compared the performance of six aberration detection algorithms on simulated outbreaks superimposed on authentic syndromic surveillance data. METHODS: We compared three control-chart-based statistics, two exponential weighted moving averages, and a generalized linear model. We simulated 310 unique outbreak signals, and added these to actual daily counts of four syndromes monitored by Public Health – Seattle and King County's syndromic surveillance system. We compared the sensitivity of the six algorithms at detecting these simulated outbreaks at a fixed alert rate of 0.01. RESULTS: Stratified by baseline or by outbreak distribution, duration, or size, the generalized linear model was more sensitive than the other algorithms and detected 54% (95% CI = 52%–56%) of the simulated epidemics when run at an alert rate of 0.01. However, all of the algorithms had poor sensitivity, particularly for outbreaks that did not begin with a surge of cases. CONCLUSION: When tested on county-level data aggregated across age groups, these algorithms often did not perform well in detecting signals other than large, rapid increases in case counts relative to baseline levels

A Common Variant at the 14q32 Endometrial Cancer Risk Locus Activates AKT1 through YY1 Binding.

A recent meta-analysis of multiple genome-wide association and follow-up endometrial cancer case-control datasets identified a novel genetic risk locus for this disease at chromosome 14q32.33. To prioritize the functional SNP(s) and target gene(s) at this locus, we employed an in silico fine-mapping approach using genotyped and imputed SNP data for 6,608 endometrial cancer cases and 37,925 controls of European ancestry. Association and functional analyses provide evidence that the best candidate causal SNP is rs2494737. Multiple experimental analyses show that SNP rs2494737 maps to a silencer element located within AKT1, a member of the PI3K/AKT/MTOR intracellular signaling pathway activated in endometrial tumors. The rs2494737 risk A allele creates a YY1 transcription factor-binding site and abrogates the silencer activity in luciferase assays, an effect mimicked by transfection of YY1 siRNA. Our findings suggest YY1 is a positive regulator of AKT1, mediating the stimulatory effects of rs2494737 increasing endometrial cancer risk. Identification of an endometrial cancer risk allele within a member of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, more commonly activated in tumors by somatic alterations, raises the possibility that well tolerated inhibitors targeting this pathway could be candidates for evaluation as chemopreventive agents in individuals at high risk of developing endometrial cancer.The QIMR Berghofer groups were supported by a Rio Tinto Ride to Conquer Cancer (RTCC)/Weekend to End Women's Cancers (WEWC) Grant and NHMRC project grants 1058415 to SLE and 1031333 to ABS. ABS is supported by an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (1061779). DFE is a Principal Research Fellow of CR-UK.This is the author accepted manuscript. It is currently under an indefinite embargo pending publication by Cell Press

Reconciling diverse mammalian pigmentation patterns with a fundamental mathematical model

Bands of colour extending laterally from the dorsal to ventral trunk are a common feature of mouse chimeras. These stripes were originally taken as evidence of the directed dorsoventral migration of melanoblasts (the embryonic precursors of melanocytes) as they colonize the developing skin. Depigmented 'belly spots' in mice with mutations in the receptor tyrosine kinase Kit are thought to represent a failure of this colonization, either due to impaired migration or proliferation. Tracing of single melanoblast clones, however, has revealed a diffuse distribution with high levels of axial mixing--hard to reconcile with directed migration. Here we construct an agent-based stochastic model calibrated by experimental measurements to investigate the formation of diffuse clones, chimeric stripes and belly spots. Our observations indicate that melanoblast colonization likely proceeds through a process of undirected migration, proliferation and tissue expansion, and that reduced proliferation is the cause of the belly spots in Kit mutants

Exploring gender and fear retrospectively:stories of women’s fear during the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ murders

The murder of 13 women in the North of England between 1975 and 1979 by Peter Sutcliffe who became known as the Yorkshire Ripper can be viewed as a significant criminal event due to the level of fear generated and the impact on local communities more generally. Drawing upon oral history interviews carried out with individuals living in Leeds at the time of the murders, this article explores women’s accounts of their fears from the time. This offers the opportunity to explore the gender/fear nexus from the unique perspective of a clearly defined object of fear situated within a specific spatial and historical setting. Findings revealed a range of anticipated fear-related emotions and practices which confirm popular ‘high-fear’ motifs; however, narrative analysis of interviews also highlighted more nuanced articulations of resistance and fearlessness based upon class, place and biographies of violence, as well as the way in which women drew upon fear/fearlessness in their overall construction of self. It is argued that using narrative approaches is a valuable means of uncovering the complexity of fear of crime and more specifically provides renewed insight onto women’s fear