Publications by authors named "Michael Weeks"

The history of the decline of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is long and complex, but the status of the species since 1944, when the last widely accepted sighting in continental North America occurred, is particularly controversial. Reports of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers have continued, but none has reached the threshold of quality for general acceptance by ornithologists or the birdwatching public. In 2021, the U.

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Carbodiimide-fueled anhydride bond formation has been used to enhance the mechanical properties of permanently crosslinked polymer networks, giving materials that exhibit transitions from soft gels to covalently reinforced gels, eventually returning to the original soft gels. Temporary changes in mechanical properties result from a transient network of anhydride crosslinks, which eventually dissipate by hydrolysis. Over an order of magnitude increase in the storage modulus is possible through carbodiimide fueling.

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In this paper, we explore the use of the 4D discrete wavelet transform (DWT) on fMRI data. The data set comes from a study on schizophrenia. The compact support of the wavelet transform means that it keeps phenomenon localized in all 4 dimensions.

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The CARMEN Virtual Laboratory (VL) is a cloud-based platform which allows neuroscientists to store, share, develop, execute, reproduce and publicise their work. This paper describes new functionality in the CARMEN VL: an interactive publications repository. This new facility allows users to link data and software to publications.

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Rationale And Objectives: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) images can be reconstructed with thinner slice thickness on some modern multidetector-row computed tomography scanners without additional radiation. We hypothesized that the isotropic 0.5-mm CAC reconstruction outperforms the conventional 3.

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MDSCs are a heterogeneous group of myeloid cells that suppress T cell activity in cancer and autoimmune disease. The effect of MDSCs on B cell function is not clear. Using the CIA model of autoimmune disease, we found an increase in M-MDSCs in the periphery of WT mice with CIA compared with naïve mice.

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Hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) have regenerative properties that could aid the development of treatments for severe liver disease. To study how pressure influences HPC fate, a hydrostatic pressure-controlled cell culture chamber was developed. The design incorporates custom LabView scripting for enhanced pressure regulation and data acquisition.

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Background: During early development, neural circuits fire spontaneously, generating activity episodes with complex spatiotemporal patterns. Recordings of spontaneous activity have been made in many parts of the nervous system over the last 25 years, reporting developmental changes in activity patterns and the effects of various genetic perturbations.

Results: We present a curated repository of multielectrode array recordings of spontaneous activity in developing mouse and ferret retina.

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Milk is a complex colloidal system that responds to changes in temperature imposed during processing. Whilst much has been learned about the effects of temperature on milk, little is known about the dynamic response of casein micelles to changes in temperature. In this study, a comprehensive physico-chemical study of casein micelles in skim milk was performed between 10 and 40 °C.

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3D Computed Tomography (CT) provides noninvasive, low-radiation method of coronary artery calcium (CAC) measurement. Conventional CAC images are acquired on multidetector-row CT scanners without contrast, and reconstructed with 3 mm slice thickness. The calcium volume is quantified by registering voxels with attenuation values greater than or equal to 130 Hounsfield Unit (HU).

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The CARMEN platform allows neuroscientists to share data, metadata, services and workflows, and to execute these services and workflows remotely via a Web portal. This paper describes how we implemented a service-based infrastructure into the CARMEN Virtual Laboratory. A Software as a Service framework was developed to allow generic new and legacy code to be deployed as services on a heterogeneous execution framework.

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CCR2 is considered a proinflammatory mediator in many inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, mice lacking CCR2 develop exacerbated collagen-induced arthritis. To explore the underlying mechanism, we investigated whether autoimmune-associated Th17 cells were involved in the pathogenesis of the severe phenotype of autoimmune arthritis.

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Granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorbers are often the penultimate stage of surface water treatment and provide ideal habitats for invertebrates. Proliferation of chlorine-resistant invertebrates in GAC adsorbers may lead to their efflux into distribution systems, possibly resulting in contamination of customers' tap water. GAC adsorber sampling and laboratory experiments were undertaken to determine the effects of routine backwashing on GAC adsorber populations of the chlorine-resistant snail Potamopyrgus jenkinsi at a water treatment works.

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Objective: To reduce the use of restraint and seclusion with children and adolescents in psychiatric inpatient units by promoting a preventive, strength-based model of care.

Method: The State Mental Health Authority used data analysis, quality improvement strategies, regulatory oversight, and technical assistance to develop and implement system change over a 22-month period. No changes in regulation or policy were undertaken.

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Synopsis of recent research by authors named "Michael Weeks"

  • - Michael Weeks' recent research encompasses a range of topics, primarily focusing on biological systems, including the persistence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and its controversial status, as well as the roles of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in autoimmune diseases.
  • - His work also includes advancements in materials science, specifically the mechanical enhancement of polymer hydrogels through chemically fueled reinforcement techniques.
  • - Additionally, Weeks has contributed to developing digital platforms for neuroscience research, such as the CARMEN Virtual Laboratory, which facilitates data sharing and interactive scholarly publications in the field.