Modeling Radiation Belt Electrons With Information Theory Informed Neural Networks

An empirical model of radiation belt relativistic electrons (μ = 560–875 MeV G−1 and I = 0.088–0.14 RE G0.5) with average energy ∼1.3 MeV is developed. The model inputs solar wind parameters (velocity, density, interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) |B|, Bz, and By), magnetospheric state parameters (SYM-H and AL), and L*. The model outputs the radiation belt electron phase space density (PSD). The model is operational from L* = 3 to 6.5. The model is constructed with neural networks assisted by information theory. Information theory is used to select the most effective and relevant solar wind and magnetospheric input parameters plus their lag times based on their information transfer to the PSD. Based on the test set, the model prediction efficiency (PE) increases with increasing L*, ranging from −0.043 at L* = 3 to 0.76 at L* = 6.5. The model PE is near 0 at L* = 3–4 because at this L* range, the solar wind and magnetospheric parameters transfer little information to the PSD. Using solar wind observations at L1 and magnetospheric index (AL and SYM-H) models solely driven by solar wind, the radiation belt model can be used to forecast PSD 30–60 min ahead. This baseline model can potentially complement a class of empirical models that input data from low earth orbit (LEO)

Estimating the Contribution of Point Sources to Atmospheric Metals Using Single-particle Mass Spectrometry

Single-particle mass spectra were collected using an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS) during December of 2003 and February of 2004 at an industrially impacted location in East St. Louis, IL. Hourly integrated peak areas for twenty ions were evaluated for their suitability in representing metals/metalloids, particularly those reported in the US EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Of the initial twenty ions examined, six (Al, As, Cu, Hg, Ti, and V) were found to be unsuitable due to strong isobaric interferences with commonly observed organic fragments, and one (Be) was found to have no significant signal. The usability of three ions (Co, Cr, and Mn) was limited due to suspected isobaric interferences based on temporal comparisons with commonly observed organic fragments. The identity of the remaining ions (Sb, Ba, Cd, Ca, Fe, Ni, Pb, K, Se, and Zn) was substantiated by comparing their signals with the integrated hourly signals of one or more isotope ions. When compared with one-in-six day integrated elemental data as determined by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), the daily integrated ATOFMS signal for several metal ions revealed a semi-quantitative relationship between ATOFMS peak area and XRF concentrations, although in some cases comparison of these measurements were poor at low elemental concentrations/ion signals due to isobaric interferences. A method of estimating the impact of local point sources was developed using hourly integrated ATOFMS peak areas, and this method attributed as much as 85% of the concentration of individual metals observed at the study site to local point sources. Hourly surface wind data were used in conjunction with TRI facility emissions data to reveal likely point sources impacting metal concentrations at the study site and to illustrate the utility of using single-particle mass spectral data to characterize atmospheric metals and identify point sources

Severity of parkinsonism associated with environmental manganese exposure

BACKGROUND: Exposure to occupational manganese (Mn) is associated with neurotoxic brain injury, manifesting primarily as parkinsonism. The association between environmental Mn exposure and parkinsonism is unclear. To characterize the association between environmental Mn exposure and parkinsonism, we performed population-based sampling of residents older than 40 in Meyerton, South Africa (N = 621) in residential settlements adjacent to a large Mn smelter and in a comparable non-exposed settlement in Ethembalethu, South Africa (N = 95) in 2016-2020. METHODS: A movement disorders specialist examined all participants using the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale motor subsection part 3 (UPDRS3). Participants also completed an accelerometry-based kinematic test and a grooved pegboard test. We compared performance on the UPDRS3, grooved pegboard, and the accelerometry-based kinematic test between the settlements using linear regression, adjusting for covariates. We also measured airborne PM RESULTS: Mean PM CONCLUSIONS: Environmental airborne Mn exposures at levels substantially lower than current occupational exposure thresholds in the United States may be associated with clinical parkinsonism

Pain and Physical and Psychological Symptoms in Ambulatory HIV Patients in the Current Treatment Era

Context HIV infection has become a manageable chronic disease. There are few studies of pain and symptoms in the current treatment era. Objectives The primary objective was to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for pain and physical and psychological symptoms in a population of ambulatory HIV patients. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study using the Brief Pain Inventory and the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale. Results We evaluated 156 individuals with a median age of 47.5 years (range 21–71), median time since HIV diagnosis of 11 years (range 3(interquartile range [IQR] 308–683). The majority (125, 80.6%) had an undetectable viral load. Seventy-six (48.7%) reported pain, of whom 39 (51.3%) had moderate to severe pain, and 43 (57.3%) had pain that caused moderate to severe interference with their lives. The median number of symptoms was eight (IQR 5–14.5) of 32 queried. In multivariable analyses, patients with psychiatric illness were 39.8% more likely to have pain (P Conclusion Pain and other physical and psychological symptoms were common among ambulatory HIV patients. Pain and symptoms were strongly associated with psychiatric illness and IV drug use. Future investigation should evaluate interventions that include psychiatric and substance abuse components for HIV patients with pain

Cost-effective targeting of conservation investments to reduce the northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone

A seasonally occurring summer hypoxic (low oxygen) zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico is the second largest in the world. Reductions in nutrients from agricultural cropland in its watershed are needed to reduce the hypoxic zone size to the national policy goal of 5,000 km2 (as a 5-y running average) set by the national Gulf of Mexico Task Force’s Action Plan. We develop an integrated assessment model linking the water quality effects of cropland conservation investment decisions on the more than 550 agricultural subwatersheds that deliver nutrients into the Gulf with a hypoxic zone model. We use this integrated assessment model to identify the most cost-effective subwatersheds to target for cropland conservation investments. We consider targeting of the location (which subwatersheds to treat) and the extent of conservation investment to undertake (how much cropland within a subwatershed to treat). We use process models to simulate the dynamics of the effects of cropland conservation investments on nutrient delivery to the Gulf and use an evolutionary algorithm to solve the optimization problem. Model results suggest that by targeting cropland conservation investments to the most cost-effective location and extent of coverage, the Action Plan goal of 5,000 km2 can be achieved at a cost of $2.7 billion annually. A large set of cost-hypoxia tradeoffs is developed, ranging from the baseline to the nontargeted adoption of the most aggressive cropland conservation investments in all subwatersheds (estimated to reduce the hypoxic zone to less than 3,000 km2 at a cost of$5.6 billion annually)

Re-evaluation of the diagnosis of porphyria cutanea tarda in Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort

OBJECTIVES: Two biographies of Admiral Francis Beaufort (1774-1857) have stated that, aged 20-25 years, he suffered from porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) that was 'cured' following severe blood loss during a naval skirmish. We have examined the evidence concerning the nature of his skin disease.  DESIGN: Primary records, most notably Beaufort's correspondence with his family, his journals and his father's diaries were sought out and analysed.  SETTING: This case report is discussed in the context of 18th-century naval medicine and concepts and treatment of skin disease.  RESULTS: The description of his lesions, their age of onset, their progression and response to treatment, particularly topical tar and associated features are quite inconsistent with a diagnosis of PCT. His mother, Mary Waller Beaufort (1739-1821), consulted Dr Robert Darwin in 1803 about a painful skin disease affecting her legs. Detailed description of the lesions and a contemporary diagnosis are not available but possible diagnoses include chronic psoriasis and stasis eczema.  CONCLUSIONS: A more tenable diagnosis is that Francis Beaufort had chronic plaque psoriasis remitted by bed rest and convalescence in the sunny Mediterranean climate with cessation of alcohol consumption and improved nutrition as well as topical and oral medications

Micro-elastometry on whole blood clots using actuated surface-attached posts (ASAPs)

We used magnetically actuatable micro-post arrays to measure blood clot elasticity for blood clotting diagnostics

Dialectics and difference: against Harvey's dialectical post-Marxism

David Harvey`s recent book, Justice, nature and the geography of difference (JNGD), engages with a central philosophical debate that continues to dominate human geography: the tension between the radical Marxist project of recent decades and the apparently disempowering relativism and `play of difference' of postmodern thought. In this book, Harvey continues to argue for a revised `post-Marxist' approach in human geography which remains based on Hegelian-Marxian principles of dialectical thought. This article develops a critique of that stance, drawing on the work of Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. I argue that dialectical thinking, as well as Harvey's version of `post-Marxism', has been undermined by the wide-ranging `post-' critique. I suggest that Harvey has failed to appreciate the full force of this critique and the implications it has for `post-Marxist' ontology and epistemology. I argue that `post-Marxism', along with much contemporary human geography, is constrained by an inflexible ontology which excessively prioritizes space in the theory produced, and which implements inflexible concepts. Instead, using the insights of several `post-' writers, I contend there is a need to develop an ontology of `context' leading to the production of `contextual theories'. Such theories utilize flexible concepts in a multilayered understanding of ontology and epistemology. I compare how an approach which produces a `contextual theory' might lead to more politically empowering theory than `post-Marxism' with reference to one of Harvey's case studies in JNGD

Mutations in KCTD1 Cause Scalp-Ear-Nipple Syndrome

Scalp-ear-nipple (SEN) syndrome is a rare, autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by cutis aplasia of the scalp; minor anomalies of the external ears, digits, and nails; and malformations of the breast. We used linkage analysis and exome sequencing of a multiplex family affected by SEN syndrome to identify potassium-channel tetramerization-domain-containing 1 (KCTD1) mutations that cause SEN syndrome. Evaluation of a total of ten families affected by SEN syndrome revealed KCTD1 missense mutations in each family tested. All of the mutations occurred in a KCTD1 region encoding a highly conserved bric-a-brac, tram track, and broad complex (BTB) domain that is required for transcriptional repressor activity. KCTD1 inhibits the transactivation of the transcription factor AP-2 alpha (TFAP2A) via its BTB domain, and mutations in TFAP2A cause cutis aplasia in individuals with branchiooculofacial syndrome (BOFS), suggesting a potential overlap in the pathogenesis of SEN syndrome and BOFS. the identification of KCTD1 mutations in SEN syndrome reveals a role for this BTB-domain-containing transcriptional repressor during ectodermal development.National Institutes of Health National Human Genome Research InstituteLife Sciences Discovery FundWashington Research FoundationMassachusetts Gen Hosp, Cutaneous Biol Res Ctr, Charlestown, MA 02129 USAUniv Washington, Dept Pediat, Seattle, WA 98195 USAUniv Washington, Dept Genome Sci, Seattle, WA 98195 USAUniv Western Sydney Macarthur, Sch Med, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, AustraliaGenet Learning Disabil Serv, Newcastle, NSW 2298, AustraliaJohns Hopkins Univ, Sch Med, McKusick Nathans Inst Genet Med, Baltimore, MD 21205 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Morphol & Genet, Clin Genet Ctr, BR-04021001 São Paulo, BrazilPontificia Univ Catolica Parana, Dept Internal Med, BR-1155 Curitiba, Parana, BrazilWestern Gen Hosp, South East Scotland Clin Genet Serv, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, Midlothian, ScotlandUniv Florence, Dept Genet & Mol Med, I-50132 Florence, ItalyHop Necker Enfants Malad, Dept Genet, INSERM, U781, F-75015 Paris, FranceUniv Paris Descartes Sorbonne Paris Cite, Inst Imagine, F-75015 Paris, FranceHop Cote Nacre, CHU Caen, Serv Genet, F-14033 Caen 9, FranceUniv Connecticut, Ctr Hlth, Dept Reconstruct Sci, Farmington, CT 06030 USABoston Childrens Hosp, Dept Plast & Oral Surg, Boston, MA 02115 USATreuman Katz Ctr Pediat Bioeth, Seattle Childrens Res Inst, Seattle, WA 98101 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Morphol & Genet, Clin Genet Ctr, BR-04021001 São Paulo, BrazilNational Institutes of Health National Human Genome Research Institute: 1U54HG006493National Institutes of Health National Human Genome Research Institute: 1RC2HG005608National Institutes of Health National Human Genome Research Institute: 5RO1HG004316Life Sciences Discovery Fund: 2065508Life Sciences Discovery Fund: 0905001Web of Scienc