Exposure to ground-level ozone is a concern for both humans and vegetation, so accurate prediction of ozone time series is of great importance. However, conventional as well as emerging methods have deficiencies in predicting time series when a superposition of differently pronounced oscillations on various time scales is present. In this paper, we propose a meteorologically motivated filtering method of time series data, which can separate oscillation patterns, in combination with different multibranch neural networks. To avoid phase shifts introduced by using a causal filter, we combine past observation data with a climatological estimate about the future to be able to apply a noncausal filter in a forecast setting. In addition, the forecast in the form of the expected climatology provides some a priori information that can support the neural network to focus not merely on learning a climatological statistic. We apply this method to hourly data obtained from over 50 different monitoring stations in northern Germany situated in rural or suburban surroundings to generate a prediction for the daily maximum 8-hr average values of ground-level ozone 4 days into the future. The data preprocessing with time filters enables simpler neural networks such as fully connected networks as well as more sophisticated approaches such as convolutional and recurrent neural networks to better recognize long-term and short-term oscillation patterns like the seasonal cycle and thus leads to an improvement in the forecast skill, especially for a lead time of more than 48 hr, compared to persistence, climatological reference, and other reference models.

Background: A 19-month-old boy with recent Wilms tumor resection presented with ASIA B spinal cord injury secondary to rapid progression of a T12 epidural lesion suspicious for metastatic disease. Methods: The case is presented and the literature was reviewed for prior cases of Wilms tumor with spinal metastasis. Results: Emergent tumor debulking for spinal cord decompression via T11-L1 laminectomies with right T11-L1 facetectomies was performed. Allograft bone was placed to facilitate fusion. No direct connection to the renal tumor was appreciated on imaging or intra-operatively. There was no evidence of additional metastases. Pathology demonstrated similar histomorphology and immunohistochemical profile as the original left kidney tumor resection (Wilms tumor, favorable histology). Notably, no focal or diffuse anaplasia, or aggressive non-Wilms component such as clear cell sarcoma or rhabdoid tumor of the kidney, were identified. Treatment plan consisted of 25 Gy of radiation and 29 weeks of chemotherapy. At 6-weeks the patient had regained baseline lower extremity function with no bowel or bladder dysfunction. Conclusions: Spinal cord compression secondary to spinal metastasis of Wilms tumor in the absence of global metastatic disease is rare. Prompt identification, surgical decompression, and multimodality therapy is essential to prevent persistent neurological deficits.

Background: There is no objective way to measure the amount of manipulation and retraction of neural tissue by the surgeon. Our objective is to develop metrics quantifying dynamic retraction of cerebral tissue and the manipulation of instruments during a neurosurgical intervention. Methods: We trained a convolutional neural network to analyze microscopic footage of neurosurgical procedures and thereby generate metrics evaluating the surgeon’s dynamic retraction of brain tissue and the surgeon’s manipulation of the instruments themselves. U-Net image segmentation is used to output bounding polygons around cerebral parenchyma of interest, as well as the vascular structures and cranial nerves. Results: On the validation set, our network achieves a state of the art Intersection over Union (IoU) of 70.1% (Recall = 89%) and 74.3% (Recall = 91%) for surgical tools and biological structures respectively. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to evaluate dynamic retraction and tissue handling. Conclusions: We describe a semantic segmentation model for surgical instruments and intracranial structures to evaluate dynamic retraction of soft tissue and manipulation of instruments during a surgical procedure, while accounting for movement of the operative microscope. Using the intraoperative footage, this model can potentially provide the surgeon with objective feedback.

Background: Poorly-defined cases (PDCs) of focal epilepsy are cases with no/subtle MRI abnormalities or have abnormalities extending beyond the lesion visible on MRI. Here, we evaluated the utility of Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) MRI perfusion in PDCs of pediatric focal epilepsy. Methods: ASL MRI was obtained in 25 consecutive children presenting with poorly-defined focal epilepsy (20 MRI- positive, 5 MRI-negative). Qualitative visual inspection and quantitative analysis with asymmetry and Z-score maps were used to detect perfusion abnormalities. ASL results were compared to the hypothesized epileptogenic zone (EZ) derived from other clinical/imaging data and the resection zone in patients with Engel I/II outcome and >18 month follow-up. Results: Qualitative analysis revealed perfusion abnormalities in 17/25 total cases (68%), 17/20 MRI-positive cases (85%) and none of the MRI-negative cases. Quantitative analysis confirmed all cases with abnormalities on qualitative analysis, but found 1 additional true-positive and 4 false-positives. Concordance with the surgically-proven EZ was found in 10/11 cases qualitatively (sensitivity=91%, specificity=50%), and 11/11 cases quantitatively (sensitivity=100%, specificity=23%). Conclusions: ASL perfusion may support the hypothesized EZ, but has limited localization benefit in MRI-negative cases. Nevertheless, owing to its non-invasiveness and ease of acquisition, ASL could be a useful addition to the pre-surgical MRI evaluation of pediatric focal epilepsy.

Background: Cortical electrical stimulation (CES) may produce different motor responses according to the brain area stimulated. In this study, we describe a new motor response characterized by finger movements such as a person playing piano, which we named the Piano Player Hand (PPH) sign. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the CES results of 252 patients with drug-resistant epilepsy who underwent SEEG between January 2005 and December 2019 at the Grenoble-Alpes University Hospital. The patients’ characteristics, SEEG findings and CES parameters were extracted to find common clinical and anatomical features. Results: The PPH sign was identified 20 times from 12 patients, with stimulation of either the supplementary motor area (SMA), anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG), pre-SMA, middle frontal gyrus and anterior insula. It was obtained with high frequency stimulation, with intensity ranging from 0,7 to 3mA and mostly contralateral to the stimulation side (19/20). It was part of the ictal semiology of five patients. An afterdischarge was observed in five of the relevant CES. Conclusions: The PPH sign is a novel clinical sign, obtained mainly, but not exclusively, with CES of a small vicinity encompassing the SMA, pre-SMA and ACG. The PPH sign, when occurring ictally, may point to the premotor mesial frontal surface of the brain.

Animal and human data demonstrate independent relationships between fetal growth, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function (HPA-A) and adult cardiometabolic outcomes. While the association between fetal growth and adult cardiometabolic outcomes is well-established, the role of the HPA-A in these relationships is unclear. This study aims to determine whether HPA-A function mediates or moderates this relationship. Approximately 2900 pregnant women were recruited between 1989-1991 in the Raine Study. Detailed anthropometric data was collected at birth (per cent optimal birthweight [POBW]). The Trier Social Stress Test was administered to the offspring (Generation 2; Gen2) at 18 years; HPA-A responses were determined (reactive responders [RR], anticipatory responders [AR] and non-responders [NR]). Cardiometabolic parameters (BMI, systolic BP [sBP] and LDL cholesterol) were measured at 20 years. Regression modelling demonstrated linear associations between POBW and BMI and sBP; quadratic associations were observed for LDL cholesterol. For every 10% increase in POBW, there was a 0.54 unit increase in BMI (standard error [SE] 0.15) and a 0.65 unit decrease in sBP (SE 0.34). The interaction between participant’s fetal growth and HPA-A phenotype was strongest for sBP in young adulthood. Interactions for BMI and LDL-C were non-significant. Decomposition of the total effect revealed no causal evidence of mediation or moderation.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Through the Community Mini-Grant program, the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science Community Engagement and Research Core (CERC) provides a unique funding mechanism designed to empower community response by supporting local solutions to complex health issues facing central Appalachian Kentucky communities. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Four $2500 grants are awarded annually to Appalachian organizations to implement evidence-based programs responsive to community-identified priority health needs. The CERC also supports program implementation and evaluation by facilitating collaborations between the organizations, community practitioners, and academic researchers. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Since inception, grants have been awarded to 20 community organizations in 14 Appalachian counties. Health issues addressed have ranged from Alzheimers disease, cancer treatment and prevention, obesity, healthy lifestyle, and chronic disease management and prevention. Evidence-based programs have focused on improving health outcomes among older adults, caregivers, youth, children, women and infants, and families. Program outcomes have included immediate health benefits and long-term benefits resulting from community adoption of and ongoing financial support for programs. As example, results of an evidence-based educational program to improve diabetic foot assessment among clinicians in a large Appalachian healthcare network resulted in establishment of a traveling podiatrist program. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Community mini-grant recipients have successfully implemented projects that address the most significant health disparities in the region. Also of benefit are expanded partnerships that are foundational to the creation of new academic-community collaborations to address the challenging health issues of Appalachian populations in Kentucky.

It is widely recognized that dizygotic twinning (DZT) runs in families, but estimates of heritability from twin and family data are remarkably scarce and vary considerably. Here, we traced seven large, sometimes historical, multigeneration pedigrees from West Africans, fin de siècle French Jews, Canadians (two pedigrees), and the French royal family, in which twin births were recorded. We estimated heritability of twinning (of all types) as zygosity information was not available, diluting the true DZT heritability by a third or so. The estimates in the range 8−20% are remarkably consistent across time (8−19 generations) and ethnicities and also consistent with twin and family estimates.

A trackway and burrows of a small rodent-sized bounding mammal (attributed to the Cape gerbil, Gerbilliscus afra) and a traceway of a large arachnid (spider) from the Pleistocene Waenhuiskrans Formation represent two biological groups not previously reported from this track-rich dune facies, which is widely distributed along the Cape south coast of South Africa. This may be due to biases against the preservation of small tracks. Trackways of hopping or bounding rodent-sized mammals are rare in the fossil record, occurring at only two known Mesozoic sites and three Cenozoic sites. Where these occur in dune facies, they are commonly associated with arachnid and other arthropod surface trails. The arachnid trace fossils commonly include the spider traceway Octopodichnus, known from the Permian to Recent, which is also the temporal range of the eponymous Octopodichnus ichnofacies. The abundance of small-mammal tracks associated with dune ichnofaunas led to the naming of the late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Chelichnus ichnofacies, which is largely co-extensive with the Octopodichnus ichnofacies at this time. However, the recognition of similar mammal–arthropod dune facies assemblages in the Cenozoic requires adjusting our understanding of their distribution in space and time, and extends the known distribution of dune ichnofacies.

Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) tolerance to dicamba and several other herbicides is due to cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated metabolism and is conferred by a single gene (Nsf1). Tolerance varies by CYP genotypic class, with hybrids homozygous for functional CYP (Nsf1Nsf1) being the most tolerant and hybrids homozygous for mutant CYP alleles (nsf1nsf1) being the least tolerant. The herbicide safener cyprosulfamide (CSA) increases tolerance to dicamba by stimulating the expression of several CYPs. However, the extent to which CSA improves the tolerance of different sweet corn CYP genotypic classes to dicamba is poorly understood. Additionally, the effect of growth stage on sweet corn sensitivity to dicamba is inadequately described. The objective of this work was to quantify the significance of application timing, formulation, and CYP genotypic class on sweet corn response to dicamba. Hybrids representing each of the three CYP genotypes (Nsf1Nsf1, Nsf1nsf1, nsf1nsf1), were treated with dicamba or dicamba + CSA at one of three growth stages: V3, V6, or V9. Across all timings, the nsf1nsf1 hybrid was the least tolerant to dicamba, displaying 16% higher crop injury levels 2 wk after treatment and 2,130 kg ha−1 lower ear mass yields compared with the Nsf1Nsf1 hybrid. The V9 growth stage was the most susceptible time for dicamba injury regardless of genotypic class, with 1.89 and 1,750 kg ha−1 lower ear mass yields compared with the V3 and V6 application timings, respectively. The addition of CSA to dicamba V9 applications reduced the injury from dicamba for all three genotypic classes; however, it did not eliminate the injury. The use of Nsf1Nsf1 or Nsf1nsf1 sweet corn hybrids along with herbicide safeners will reduce the frequency and severity of injury from dicamba and other CYP-metabolized herbicides.

Heterodox economic approaches such as Austrian economics and market process analysis rely upon a less formalistic approach to rationality than neoclassical frameworks. We argue such looser formalism provides a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary engagement to investigating and understanding social institutions, outcomes and complex phenomenon. This introduction briefly summarizes the contents of this invited issue as effective examples of such interdisciplinarity.