FacebookEmailROSEMONT – Fresh off a weekend sweep on the road at then-No 18/18 Penn State continues to pile up the weekly accolades as junior Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl Russia) and sophomore Reese Laubach (San Jose Calif.) were named the B1G First and Third Stars of the week as announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning This marks the second weekly plaudit for both Sergeev and Laubach since the calendar flipped to 2025 it is also the second in three weeks for Laubach and the third of his career The Nittany Lions have had a weekly award winner in each of the past three weeks and have five since the New Year and eight overall 4) as two-time honorees while John Seifarth (Dec who was also given B1G First Star accolades on January 7 was dominate between the pipes on the weekend leading Penn State to just its seventh Big Ten series sweep on the road in program history Russia native stopped 64-of-66 shots against the Badgers while not allowing a single even-strength goal and posting a .970 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average for the weekend Sergeev stopped all 25 shots he faced in a 2-0 shutout on Friday night setting a new Penn State single-season shutout record while tying the career program record of four including a program-record 22 in the second period alone allowing just a pair of powerplay goals in a 6-2 victory on Saturday to complete the series sweep Sergeev has a 7-2-3 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average since returning from injury to start the second half His seven wins over that timeframe pace the Big Ten and are tied for the third most nationally while his save percentage is the second-best in the Big Ten during this current stretch Laubach registered a pair of multi-point efforts while scoring the game-winning goal in each game against Wisconsin and pacing the Big Ten with three goals over the weekend The sophomore notched his third multi-goal contest of the season on Saturday and now has eight multi-point games on the year including five of his last six games since returning from injury three weeks ago California native now has career-best marks across the board with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in 24 games as his 1.04 points per game is tied for eighth in the Big Ten The Nittany Lions return home to continue Big Ten play this weekend as Notre Dame visits Hockey Valley for a pair of crucial conference matchups on Friday and Saturday evening Full Big Ten Release For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey ticket page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sharks prospect and Bay Area native Reese Laubach joins Brodie Brazil on Tank Talk. Brodie Brazil sits down with Jimmy Schuldt to talk all things San Jose Barracuda playoffs. Brodie Brazil unpacks the odds, mechanics, and meaning of the NHL Draft Lottery. Brodie Brazil talks with forward Collin Graf about the SJ Barracuda's playoff run. Take a look back at the past few NHL Drafts and the Sharks stars who came from them. Brodie Brazil chats with Barracuda HC John McCarthy ahead of their first home playoff game. Brodie Brazil sits down with head coach Ryan Warsofsky to recap his first season at the helm. Marc-Edouard Vlasic sits down with Brodie Brazil for a State of the Sharks update. Brodie Brazil sits down with forward Will Smith on locker clean out day. Brodie Brazil sits down with Sharks Assistant General Manager Joe Will to talk Barracuda hockey Thank you, Sharks Territory, for making this season a FUN one. We can’t wait for what’s next! Brodie Brazil sits down with Barracuda goaltender Gabriel Carriere. Tim Grewal is growing the game and breaking barriers in the South Asian community. Brodie Brazil sits down with forward Tyler Toffoli for a State of the Sharks update. Get to know Sharks prospect, Quentin Musty in Tank Talk with Brodie Brazil. Brodie Brazil gets an end of season update from William Eklund. Warsofsky speaks at locker clean out on 4/18 Wennberg speaks at locker clean out on 4/17 Celebrini speaks at locker clean out on 4/17 Now, Laubach is playing a big role in a historic season for the Nittany Lions. Laubach, a sophomore forward, had 15 goals and 15 assists in 34 games this season and has helped Penn State reach the Frozen Four for the first time in its history. Laubach and the Nittany Lions take on the Boston University Terriers in the Frozen Four at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Laubach and Charlie Cerrato are tied for third in goals scored for Penn State with 15. Laubach is Penn State’s fifth-leading scorer. After playing for the San Jose Jr. Sharks in his club career, Laubach started playing for Northstar in 2020. He played for Northstar from 2020-22. Laubach is the No. 1 scorer in Northstar’s eight-year history as he has 165 points. He helped the Knights win two NAPHL Championships. “When COVID happened, Northstar kind of opened up the opportunity for me again, and I was able to take the opportunity, and that was probably the best decision of my life to go there,” Laubach said. After his two seasons with Northstar, Laubach, a 6-foot forward out of San Jose, California, who was drafted by the NHL’s San Jose Sharks with the 217th pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, played in the United States Hockey League for two seasons. He played for the Youngstown Phantoms and the Omaha Lancers in the USHL, scoring 11 goals and having 13 assists in 52 career games. In his freshman season for the Nittany Lions, Laubach scored 10 goals and had 12 assists in 35 games played. Penn State started the 2024–25 season with a 4-7 record but turned things around as 2024 turned to 2025. Penn State won 12 out of its last 14 games heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State defeated UConn 3-2 in overtime to punch its ticket to the Frozen Four. The Nittany Lions have a 22-13-3 record ahead of Thursday’s NCAA Division I Tournament semifinal against Boston (23-13-2). The winner of the Penn State-Boston semifinal takes on either Denver (31-11-1) or Western Michigan (32-7-1) in the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The national semifinals and national championship will be broadcast on ESPN2. It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Louise B. Laubach, 81, of Mifflinville, who passed away Monday evening, April 28, 2025, at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, following a brief illness. Born in Conyngham, April 3, 1944, she was the daughter of the late John T. and Rachael K. (Klinger) Beltz and spent the past 49 years in Mifflinville, after moving from Lime Ridge. Louise was a 1962 graduate of Black Creek Township High School and a 1966 graduate of Bloomsburg Teacher's College.  She was employed as a Math Teacher at Bloomsburg High School for over 30 years.  She was a member of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Conyngham. She was also a member of the Pennsylvania State Education Association.  Louise enjoyed going to the beach, taking vacations with her family, camping, music, and spending time with her grandchildren. She was preceded in death, in addition to her parents, by her loving husband Robert M. Laubach who passed away July 21, 2007. Surviving are her two children, Katharine "Katie" McWilliams and her husband Michael, Danville; and Kyle Laubach and his wife Nicole, Elysburg; two grandchildren, Robert McWilliams and Kayelle Laubach; two step-grandchildren, Weston and Rhiannon Marion, at home; a brother, James "Jim" Beltz and his wife Lynn, Charleston, SC; and several nieces and nephews. Her funeral will be held Monday, May 5, 2025, at 12 PM from Harman Funeral Homes & Crematory Inc. (East), 669 West Butler Drive, Drums. Burial will follow in Conyngham Union Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home on Monday morning from 11 AM until the time of the service. Online condolences can be entered, and more information is available at www.harmanfuneral.com. Tribute Archive This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page and member of the Great Falls Museum of Railroad History he was one of only a few people in Montana to have contacted every country in the world He was the son of Claude and Marjorie Laubach both deceased; brother to Dexter (deceased) and Dan; uncle to Lance An informal celebration of life potluck will be held at the Great Falls Museum of Railroad History at noon on Saturday To share condolences, click here to visit the O'Connor Funeral Home website Report a typo A site featuring work of Bellisario College students and related media This dialog contains the full navigation menu for bellisariostudentmedia.psu.edu Aiden Fink and Reese Laubach have been at Penn State they have never beaten Wisconsin – until this past weekend They were 0-6-0 all-time against the Badgers the Nittany Lions hit the road to take on the No 19 Badgers in Madison and were searching for the first win over Wisconsin in Fink and Laubach’s careers but Penn State upset and swept Wisconsin in 2-0 and 6-2 bouts “It’s something I’ve been waiting for for a long time now,” Laubach said The sophomores contributed to both goals in Game 1 – Laubach and Fink assisted each other’s goals Laubach netted goals in the second and third periods while Fink recorded a helper on Charlie Cerrato’s goal and scored one of his own almost three minutes later “You never want to get snowed in from getting back home on a Saturday night,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said if you’re going to do it after a sweep is probably a pretty good time to do it though – both Laubach and Fink have ties to Wisconsin Hastings left Minnesota State for the Wisconsin job and officially became the sixth Badgers coach in history on March 30 I decided that I was going to reopen my commitment,” Laubach said The San Jose Sharks prospect announced his commitment to Penn State on his Instagram about two months later Laubach has been all over the scoresheet – he was a part of last year’s storied Kid Line centering Fink and Matt DiMarsico his 25 points ties Cerrato for team second “As three of the youngest guys on the team no one really expects anything,” Laubach said It was a ton of fun playing with those guys Fink was committed to Wisconsin and announced his commitment to Penn State in April 2023 The Nashville Predators prospect has already left his mark on the program in a year and a half He leads the team in points with 41 and is tied with Minnesota’s Jimmy Snuggerud for second in the league behind Michigan State’s Isaac Howard with 43 Laubach said he and Fink went into last weekend craving a win “We went into this past weekend with each other knowing we were going to have a pretty big weekend and we wanted to beat these guys more than anything,” Laubach said Penn State returns to Hockey Valley this weekend for a series against Notre Dame it is riding on momentum and its new-found success “We’ve been down goals and games or whatever it is we’re really finding our groove and finding how to play together,” Laubach said Penn State and Notre Dame will drop the puck at 7 p.m Both games can be streamed on Big Ten Plus and CommRadio follow the CommRadio insiders Adrianna Gallucci (@agallucci17) Josh Bartosik (@Josh_Bartosik) and Giustino Racchini (@GRacchini) on X Adrianna Gallucci is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu or adriannagallucci@gmail.com. We’re one of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks working together with the Board of Governors to support a healthy economy Our job is to serve the American public — to serve you And our mission is to foster economic stability and strength Learn more about our bank  > We work to support a safe and sound financial system and foster an efficient and accessible payments system. We conduct research to support policymaking and thought leadership on issues important to the Federal Reserve and the Fifth District We also inform the public through our data and economic analysis Learn more about Economic Research  > We share research, data and resources and regularly engage regional leaders and policymakers to understand and address community‑specific economic issues. students and the public to enhance understanding of economics Learn more about our resources and educational programs.  > News Releases Speeches Media Advisories Our News Media Kit Contacts Events .st0{fill:none;stroke-width:1.5;stroke-miterlimit:10;} Publications Research Community Development Education Topics Careers Home / Publications / Research / Economic Brief / Economic Brief Archives Thomas A. Lubik and Paul Ho Policymakers can use estimates of the natural real rate of interest (denoted r*) to assess whether a specific policy stance corresponds to loose or tight monetary policy.However The range of estimates arises due to differences in model assumptions and the definition of r* in the context of each model.Understanding these subtleties can help policymakers better interpret the estimates and their implications for policy With inflation declining over the course of the year and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) seemingly in the process of normalizing policy a key question is: What is the natural real rate of interest (denoted r*) what models are used to estimate it and what the benefits and drawbacks are for these models while the current target range is 4.50 percent to 4.75 percent A proper calibration of the policy stance therefore requires knowledge of r* The challenge for policymakers is that r* cannot be measured directly from the data economists have developed a range of models to estimate r* using observed data We show three leading estimates in Figure 1 The wide range of estimates is striking in terms of both their levels and how volatile they are 0.8 percent and 1.8 percent for the second quarter of 2024 This presents a conundrum for policymakers: Which of these is most reliable And how should one act in the face of uncertainty about which model to choose The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond regularly publishes one of these estimates: the Lubik-Matthes Natural Rate of Interest. This r* estimate is based on an article by one of the authors of this Economic Brief (Thomas) and Christian Matthes The approach defines r* as the five-year-ahead forecast of the real interest rate based on a flexible statistical model one would expect that the effect of many temporary disturbances will fade The model forecast thus coincides with the real rate that the economy tends to converge toward in the absence of any additional disturbances going back to the original definition of the natural rate in Wicksell's analysis The flexibility of the model is a key feature of the approach. Not only are there minimal restrictions placed on how the variables co-move, but the volatility of the data and relationships across variables are allowed to vary over time. For example, this allows the model to adapt to the unprecedented fluctuations in the data at the onset of the pandemic in 2020 At the same time, the Lubik-Matthes model is purely statistical and nonstructural in the sense that the estimates are not easily connected to underlying economic relationships as described by macroeconomic theories. Moreover, its specification still forces the researcher to take a stance on how flexible the model is allowed to be. This requires the occasional recalibration of the model A prominent alternative approach to estimating r* is the Holston-Laubach-Williams model This model was developed by economists Kathryn Holston and it is updated regularly by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York The model uses more restrictions from economic theory and more closely resembles the macroeconomic models used by many central banks for policy analysis while still maintaining a good measure of statistical flexibility The underlying equations are based on how GDP inflation and interest rates interact in a workhorse class of macroeconomic models it provides substantially more structure on how r* should move with the data than the Lubik-Matthes model The economic structure allows one to interpret r* in the model as the interest rate that is consistent with output when it is at its potential which on average is consistent with the long-run productivity growth of the economy and stable inflation This provides more of an economic (rather than statistical) interpretation of r* unlike the Lubik-Matthes five-year-ahead forecast definition using a theoretical macroeconomic model in the estimation of r* adds information and therefore may yield a better estimate the additional structure can be a double-edged sword in that it also potentially adds to the gap between model and data: All macroeconomic models are simplifications of the complex web of interactions in the economy the Holston-Laubach-Williams model includes processes not directly observed in the data with some processes also lacking an interpretation consistent with the underlying economic model Their behavior could reflect an attempt to estimate a model whose restrictions do not exactly match the data r* in the Holston-Laubach-Williams model is explicitly defined as consisting of two components: trend productivity growth and a residual process Figure 2 shows how this decomposition accounts for the recent gap between the Lubik-Matthes and Holston-Laubach-Williams r* estimates the difference was primarily explained by the trend growth in the Holston-Laubach-Williams model as it accounted for most of the variation in r* much of the recent gap is driven by the residual process as the Lubik-Matthes r* is relatively close to the Holston-Laubach-Williams estimate of trend growth The connection with productivity growth follows from general economic reasoning. When trend productivity growth increases, r* should increase since firms expect greater returns to investments and are thus willing to pay higher rates of interest. For instance, firms might want to invest more to take advantage of expected future productivity gains from the development of AI Higher productivity of capital is therefore closely linked to higher real interest rates The residual process in the Holston-Laubach-Williams model likely captures features of the economic environment that are not included in the model and thus have no direct counterpart in the data. For instance, demographics or fiscal variables could be important determinants of the natural rate of interest This describes the idea that debt issued by the U.S government carries a lower interest rate than government debt from other developed countries because it is the world's safest security for foreign governments This premium has arguably been rising over the last several decades in line with lower rates of return on account of this convenience yield this pattern does not fully account for the earlier behavior of the residual process in the Holston-Laubach-Williams estimation the Johannsen-Mertens estimate of r* is substantially more stable than the two alternative estimates above remaining between 1.7 percent and 2.2 percent over the sample Should one then infer that the natural rate has not moved much over the past 40 years The answer depends on how r* is defined as an empirical concept and how economists can distinguish between transitory and persistent movements in the real rate While the Lubik-Matthes r* represents a five-year-ahead forecast the Johannsen-Mertens r* is the model's forecast of the real rate in the infinite future the Lubik-Matthes r* incorporates the effect of shocks that are persistent they still retain an effect after five years Figure 4 shows that this distinction was not important until after the Great Recession in 2007 when the real interest rate remained persistently low over a 12-year period The Johannsen-Mertens model allows a large degree of flexibility in the transitory component the economic structure of the Holston-Laubach-Williams model constrains transitory movements in the model variables even though r* also corresponds to a permanent component of the real interest rate the model assigns a greater share of the data fluctuations to the transitory component leaving the permanent component (and hence r*) more stable r* would tend to vary more over time in models that allow relatively less flexibility for temporary fluctuations as compared to persistent ones The goal of the analysis above is not to advocate for any one approach over the others policymakers do not need to choose any one estimate a careful comparison of the approaches allows policymakers to discern possible strengths and weaknesses of each approach acknowledging the range of estimates also provides a sense of the uncertainty that policymakers need to consider some informed judgement is required in deriving policy recommendations from model estimates of r* Delving into the details of a model can provide hints of whether it overstates or understates the level of r* one should acknowledge the uncertainty by constantly learning from the incoming data the response of prices and real variables can suggest how loose or tight monetary policy is it is nevertheless helpful to have a broad sense of where r* is or how it might be moving the models help policymakers form more coherent interpretations of the data evolution Paul Ho is a senior economist and Thomas A. Lubik is a senior advisor in the Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond See the 2024 article "The Productivity Puzzle: AI, Technology Adoption and the Workforce" by Erin Henry Pierre-Daniel Sarte and Jack Taylor for a discussion on recent patterns in trend productivity growth and how it relates to AI and other technological developments (November 2024) "Examining the Differences in r* Estimates." Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Brief This article may be photocopied or reprinted in its entirety and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and include the italicized statement below Views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond or the Federal Reserve System Receive a notification when Economic Brief is posted online By submitting this form you agree to the Bank's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Notice. you will need to confirm your request to receive email notifications from the Richmond Fed Please click the confirm subscription link in the email to activate your request If you do not receive a confirmation email check your junk or spam folder as the email may have been diverted You can unsubscribe at any time using the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email Subscribe to our other digital publications RC Balaban Having one player eclipse 1,000 yards in a season is an achievement But to have three players each reach the 1,000-yard milestone is something that'll live on for years to come The Poconos bore witness to history being made once again as East Stroudsburg South High School was the home of the next 1,000-yard trio: junior quarterback Ivan Laubach senior wide receiver Xzavier Pusateri and senior running back Charles Capers "I heard an expression from another coach on another team They called them the 'three-headed monster,'" head coach Matt Walters' said "To have those three just doing what they love to do and it's exciting to watch them on the sidelines on Friday." Each player will have his name on a banner once the season is over but not all paths to 1,000 yards are created equally This story will touch on the journey each player took en route to accomplishing this milestone from the high expectations to the sacrifice which will give a better understanding of how meaningful it is to have these accolades That meant teams had him at the top of their scouting report every game knowing that if they stopped or contained him Ability wasn't the issue for Capers — fans and opponents saw enough of him last year to know he was dangerous knowing defenses aimed to stop him and everyone else was secondary "That's what makes Charles leading the EPC in scoring and top-3 in rushing so special," Walters said "Every team we face knows they need to stop Charles Capers but we still believe in our offensive line and 24 in the back that he's going to make one guy miss and run by the rest of them." Capers' explosive runs became a norm during the season breaking at least a 30-yard run in all but two games running as though he embraces contact to gain a few extra yards More: Penn State football had a chance at the goal line vs Ohio State, and it slipped away South wasn't afraid to call a run play several times in a row because the team trusted Capers' ability to push through it You would see him accelerate once he got past the line of scrimmage often leaving opponents in the dust if he finds an opening That scene would play out every game in some way opposing defenses still had trouble bringing him down "He's shown time and time again that he just has the special ability to make plays happen," Walters said "When something doesn't look like it's there That's what makes a running back so special Laubach was the starter for last year's district playoff team as a sophomore quarterback the team's success had little to do with him as a signal-caller While it ultimately proved to be the best decision for the team to go with a wildcat offense this program has historically loved to throw the football and the 14 quarterbacks that have thrown for 1,000 yards since 1994 are a good sign of that who went through the growing pains of a young first-year starter who was stiff in the pocket with subpar arm strength forcing Walters' hand to essentially abandon the passing game turning into a lead blocker in the wildcat for the Cavaliers' playoff run he dedicated himself to improving his weaknesses and proving to everyone "I wanted to be a bigger part of the success," Laubach said That led to Laubach and Pusateri working together a lot over the summer and it shows with their connective play on the field But the junior and second-year starter took a serious leap showcasing the ability to hit guys in the flats which is a good one to have after lacking arm strength last season is not overthrowing receivers and hitting deep targets in stride More: Pocono area football playoff scores: North takes painful step against Bethlehem Catholic Now Laubach is less than 200 yards away from being the fifth player in school history to pass for 2,000 yards in a season and he's done so while earning the complete trust of his head coach "I wish everybody got to see the transformation that Ivan took from his sophomore year to now from the winter to the spring to the summer But just the growth he made from his sophomore to junior year is truly special What exactly did Pusateri have to sacrifice When the decision was made to switch to a wildcat offense was to block...and block...and block some more As great of a skill as blocking is for wideouts they are recruited for skills related to catching the ball there was nothing more than blocking that he could've put on film for his junior season excelling in that role to help his team get to the playoffs something the senior wideout wanted to accomplish after not making it as a sophomore More: Report card: Does Penn State football offense get an F vs. Ohio State? "When you think of Xzavier, you think of the ultimate team player, putting the team ahead of himself," Walters said. "Going into his junior year, with high expectations, and when we found that we had a lot of success running a football in a wildcat formation, you know, that kind of took Xzavier out of the game. "But when you turn on the film, you see how he was making big-time blocks, he was still getting two guys over him. And now it's finally his time to shine." Pusateri did more than shine: he lit up the stat sheet, recording 100 or more receiving yards in seven games this season, using short and intermediate routes while also showing he can take the top off the defense. Now Pusateri isn't just the newest 1,000-yard receiver; he also holds the school record for most receiving yards in a season and has 100 catches for his career. And to think he was relatively unknown coming into this year. Pusateri has received college interest as a receiver and defensive back, but he's proven he can produce as a pass catcher. Going into the district championship game, Pusateri sits at 1,104 receiving yards. Robert E. Laubach, 72, of Jersey Shore, passed away Monday, December 30, 2024 at UPMC Williamsport. Born June 20, 1952 in Jersey Shore, he was a son to the late Paul Laubach and the former Alverdia Fravel. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife, Debra Laubach; and siblings, Joanna Kneale, Carol, Ronald and James Laubach. Bob was an avid fisherman and hunter and also enjoyed going camping. He also enjoyed woodworking and working on cars. For 43 years, he worked at Hanson and retired in 2017. He is survived by his loving wife, the former Carole A. Henry; children, Bobbie Jo (Bryan) Breon, of Jersey Shore and Glen (Michelle) Laubach, of Jersey Shore, and Robert Laubach Jr.; step-children, Theresa (Jamie) Colvard, of Virginia and Tara (David) Robertson, of Georgia; siblings, Ken, Dan (Yvonne), Rick, Grace (Kevin) Wheeland, Steve and Beagle, all of Rauchtown, Don (Madeline), Rose Laubach and Wendy (Ward) Rhinehart, all of Loganton; 10 grandchildren; and 3 great-grand-children. In keeping with his wishes, there will be no services. Arrangements are entrusted to Frederick B. Welker Funeral Home, Jersey Shore. www.WelkerFuneralHome.com. Copyright © 2025 Sun-Gazette, LLC | https://www.sungazette.com | 252 W. Fourth Street, Williamsport, PA 17703 | 570-326-1551 Season: Skated in 35-of-36 games…Scored 10 goals with 12 assists for 22 points. Calif.) was named Big Ten Hockey’s Third Star of the Week for his performances against No 9/8 Ohio State over the weekend as announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning Laubach earns his second career Big Ten weekly award and first of the year joining Arsenii Sergeev (Jan 8) who were each honored by the conference earlier this season Laubach paced the Nittany Lions to a four-point weekend against the Buckeyes with a shootout win and overtime victory registering back-to-back multi-point efforts and finishing the series with one goal and a trio of assists Laubach notched a pair of helpers in a 6-6 tie and shootout win on Friday before registering the primary assist on the game opening goal on Saturday and capping off the weekend with the overtime game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory in front of a record-setting crowd of 6,604 on Saturday night OVERTIME UPSET IN HAPPY VALLEY ‼️Schoen sets up Laubach for a 3-2 win over No. 9 Ohio State 🔥#B1GHockey x @PennStateMHKY pic.twitter.com/9QaisMPbI1 California native missed the previous four games with an injury before returning this weekend and now stands tied for second on the team with 19 points in 20 games on nine goals and 10 assists just one goal and two assists shy of his freshman year totals The Nittany Lions continue Big Ten play this weekend with the first of back-to-back road series with a trip to Ann Arbor to battle the No 13/12 Michigan Wolverines on Friday and Saturday evening Saturday’s contest will air nationally on B1G Network Full Big Ten Release For more information on the 2024-25 season visit the men's hockey ticket page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 9 a.m The Crestwood Education Association congratulated Cooper Laubach for being selected CEA Outstanding Junior of the Second Quarter on the secondary campus Cooper is the son of Christy and Scott Laubach His favorite subject in school is wood shop Cooper is a member of the varsity football team the varsity soccer team and the varsity lacrosse team He is also a member of Future Business Leaders of America playing guitar and hanging out with friends Postseason hockey is upon the Nittany Lions Penn State men’s hockey begins its run with a best-of-three series at Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals The series is highly important for Penn State’s chances of returning to the NCAA Tournament 14 PairWise ranking would qualify the Nittany Lions if the bracket was decided ahead of the Big Ten Tournament it’s close enough that a series win or loss could sway the rankings in either direction The Nittany Lions went 1-3 against the Wolverines this season with their lone victory being a 5-4 win in Ann Arbor’s Yost Ice Arena on January 31 that subpar record can be erased if they do certain things this weekend Head coach Guy Gadowsky has emphasized the importance of “playing complete games” throughout much of the season It’s something Penn State spent significant time working on during its December break and that has obviously paid off significantly down the stretch Gadowsky pointed out various times when the Nittany Lions would play well one period and then badly another If the Nittany Lions didn’t fix this and began playing their brand of hockey more consistently during games their NCAA Tournament odds would be in the gutter Another massive factor in Penn State’s success is goaltender Arsenii Sergeev After missing several weeks due to an injury he returned against Notre Dame in Chicago and has been playing terrific hockey since His final regular season statistics amount to a .918% save rate native impacts the team both on and off the ice They feel more confident playing in front of him while his competitiveness gives him an edge in any situation it’s hard not to like his team’s chances moving forward Hobey Baker candidate Aiden Fink is arguably the best player in the country as he’s second in the nation with 23 goals and 1.38 points per game But part of what’s helped him achieve these numbers are linemates Reese Laubach and Danny Dzhaniyev While Fink is a Nashville Predators prospect Laubach is with his native San Jose Sharks Laubach had 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points in the regular season which surpassed last season’s total by a fine margin despite playing in five fewer games while he also tallied 17 assists for 28 points The senior is one of 11 players who were on Penn State’s roster the last time it qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2023 but Fink needs to be the best player on the ice he can’t do it without Laubach’s and Dzhaniyev’s support The Nittany Lions believe they can beat anyone in the country Vibes and morale are especially important in the postseason and there’s no reason why it wouldn’t Nolan wrote for Onward State from 2021 until 2025. He mainly covered Penn State football, men’s hockey, and baseball, and he was also an associate editor. A Silver Spring, Maryland, native, Nolan is an avid D.C. sports and Liverpool fan. You can follow him on Twitter @nolan_wick or email him at [email protected] “What’s funny to me is that after spending so much time telling other people’s stories I conclude my time here by writing about my own.” Jacob Francis and Jayson Archer are each accused of leading violent hazing rituals against new members The rock band debuted its unreleased single “Easy Come Easy Go,” along with crowd favorites like “Gives You Hell” and “Dirty Little Secret.” Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" From left: Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center President Shaunda Liu Makaimoku Peacemaker Award Recipient Jennifer Zelko-Schlueter Meritorious Service Award Recipient Judge M Hawaiʻi County Bar Association President William B Hawaiʻi — Third Circuit Deputy Chief Judge M Kanani Laubach was honored by the Hawaiʻi County Bar Association with its Meritorious Service Award She received this recognition at the 2024 Kuʻikahi Mediation Center Annual Recognition Dinner & Auction on Nov This is the 19th year that Kuʻikahi Mediation Center and HCBA have partnered on this recognition and fundraising event Click here for the event program where you can read more about Judge Laubach and see remarks from Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald Third row from left:  Judge Jeffrey Ng and Judge Kimberly Tsuchiya For more information, contact the Communications and Community Relations Office at 808-539-4909 or via email at pao@courts.hawaii.gov Subscribe to the Hawai'i State Judiciary mailing list for email notification of press releases and other announcements eCourt Kokua: For access to Traffic cases; District Court and Family Court civil; Land Court and Tax Appeal Court; and appellate court case information Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Use  |  Accessibility Information  *The Hawaii Judiciary is not affiliated with Sustain Technologies which is a registered trademark of Sustain Technologies Powered by Tyler Hawaii AGENT: Eklund Had Successful Surgery, Out About 3 Months Game 2 Takeaways: Cuda Even Series, Ready for Rocky Mountain High Cardwell on How Golf Helps Him Get Over a Bad Hockey Game (+) SJHN Daily: Draft Lottery Drawing Live for 1st Time, Couture Talks End of Career With Seravalli Poturalski Talks Injury, KHL Rumor, Throws Askarov & Cagnoni ‘Under the Bus’ (+) Game 1 Takeaways: Veteran Eagles Exploit Immature Barracuda Debating Sharks’ Next Step With JD Young Scout’s Take on New Barracuda Goalie Matt Davis (+) Everything Sharks GM Mike Grier Said in His End-of-Season Availability (+) What’s Sharks’ Off-Season Direction? We React to Grier’s Exit Interview Grier Talks Sharks’ Free Agency Plans, Next Captain, 2025 Draft, Smith Plan & More Current Sharks Grier, Celebrini, Goodrow & More Talk Couture’s Impact (+) Marleau, Wilson, Clowe, Boyle & More Pay Tribute to Couture EMERGENCY PODCAST: Tribute to Couture, Who’s Sharks’ Next Captain? What’s Couture’s Legacy? What’s Next for Sharks? Brock Otten on Musty & Chernyshov’s Ceilings, Favorite 2025 Draft Prospects What Does Ex-Panthers Assistant GM Steve Werier Think of Sharks’ Rebuild? How Do NHL Scouts See Barracuda-Eagles Series? Their Predictions (+) What Details Is Giles Trying To Improve for Next Year? (+) Matt Davis on Why He Signed With Barracuda, Prejudice Against Smaller Goalies, Cousin Dillon Brooks (+) the San Jose Sharks 2022 seventh-rounder elected to decommit from Minnesota State University in favor of Penn State University After 10 goals and 22 points in 35 games as freshman Shark forward appears to have made the right call Laubach on Highs, Lows of Being a Sharks Fan the San Jose native lauded the Penn State coaching staff and his fellow freshman class Sharks’ improvement with alumni Devin Cooley and Macklin Celebrini making headlines playing for the San Jose Sharks: on his decision to decommit from Minnesota State in favor of Penn State: I changed from Minnesota State to Penn State with the coaching change back in May last year it’s the best decision I’ve made in a while but the group of guys there and the coach; I love it all So I’m super excited to go back next year They gave me a ton of opportunity coming in but I was given some opportunity and ran with it All our freshmen class took advantage of the opportunity we were given It turned out [to be a] pretty fun season for most of us Can’t say enough good [things] about it Come back here and do the best I can every year and then we’ll see what happens after college on if he knew about Celebrini while with the Jr Shark [under] 16s team here when he was playing [under] 14s and everyone knew he was going to be pretty unbelievable obviously went to Chicago [Steel] and lit it up and lit it up this year at [Boston University] so I can’t say I’m surprised It seems like it’s getting better every year on seeing Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau around as coaches: Those are the guys I looked up to growing up But it’s also pretty cool [from] a hockey perspective be on the ice with you and telling you what they did Jack Han Talks Toffoli’s Subtle Skills How Celebrini & Smith Will Transition to NHL Every dollar goes to the cost of getting to and from Sharks road games Click here to contribute to Sheng's travel pool! Enter your email address to get all of our articles delivered directly to your inbox Copyright © 2020 Open Dialogue LLC and National Hockey Now. In no way affiliated with the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League and Aly Laubach pose during their signing ceremony on Wednesday.Photo courtesy Freedom athletic department .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Kyle Craig | For lehighvalleylive.comFreedom High School seniors Aly Laubach and Maia D’Amico put pen to paper on Wednesday and cemented their college destinations Laubach will continue her field hockey career at Mercyhurst College D’Amico will play softball at Lehigh University Laubach was an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference first-team all-star during her junior and senior seasons while helping the Patriots to an 8-9-1 record in both campaigns who also competes in wrestling and softball has known she wanted to pursue college field hockey since middle school which made the jump from Division II to Division I this fall “I just love the environment; I love the coaching staff,” Laubach said of Mercyhurst in a video released by the Freedom athletic department The coaches were really supportive for me throughout this process D‘Amico was an EPC first-team selection at third base last spring for Freedom which reached the District 11 Class 6A final and earned a PIAA berth She admitted that her parents needed to convince her to try softball in her youth who is a member of the EPC’s Student Athlete Character Council is thankful she tried the sport and for the doors its opened That was definitely one of my biggest values in my recruiting process,” D’Amico said There’s going to be a time when I’m going to be out of softball so being prepared for the real world is also really important.” Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices the San Jose Sharks have a lot of prospects playing college hockey now the college scene is a little less exciting than it was last season for Sharks fans but it’s still something to keep an eye on The players in the NCAA may not be with the Sharks or Barracuda next season Here’s a look at how the Sharks’ draftees in the NCAA are doing through October and half of November Sophomore defenseman Eli Barnett has seen his ice time fall off this season with the Catamounts Barnett has played just five games this season less than half of the games the University of Vermont hockey team has played Barnett is a plus-three but has zero points so far This appears to be a challenging point in the young player’s development Reese Laubach is in his second season with the Penn State Nittany Lions and he just had a heck of a weekend The sophomore forward has 12 points in 11 games for his team It’s evenly split between goals and assists Reese Laubach hammers this one to tie it 2-2.🍎: Aiden Fink and Ben Schoen pic.twitter.com/OaCTiPJav1 Cameron Lund is one of the top scorers for Northeastern this season He had a four game scoring streak between Oct 26 and was named the Sharks Prospect of the Week on Oct 2022 draft pic Joey Muldowney has had a solid start to the season with the University of Connecticut The 20-year-old right winger shares the team lead with 10 points in 14 games for the Huskies At the start of the season, Eric Pohlkamp’s appeal was his ability to make a big hit and shoot from the point. It was one of the reasons he was the best defenseman at Bemidji State last season and earned a spot on Team USA for the World Junior Championship. That said, I’ll admit I was concerned when he moved up to a top tier hockey university in the University of Denver this season Silly me because he appears to be thriving Since arriving at the University of Denver Pohlkamp has earned NCHC Defenseman of the Week honors He’s logged 13 points in 14 games and has 51 shots on goal Eric Pohlkamp's blast from the 1st period is tonight's @Safeway Goal of the Game!#GoPios pic.twitter.com/L5wy4M13Mf Pohlkamp is among the top-scoring defensemen in the NCAA just a few points back of teammate and top 2024 draftee Zeev Buium Brandon Svoboda joined the Macklin Celebrini-less Boston University team this fall hoping to help fill some of the gap left by the exceptional fellow Sharks draft pick While Svoboda hasn’t put up the same numbers as Celebrini the freshman has been a good addition to the Terriers Svoboda has three goals in seven games with Boston University and is getting some buzz about a potential fourth-line role on Team USA’s World Junior Championship team Timofei Spitserov is a senior at the University of Vermont which means this is the decisive year for the young forward He’s played ten games for the Catamounts this season and has five points in those ten games Great cycle play from Zap & Spitserov as the Catamounts equalize!Watch Live on @ESPNplus at https://t.co/QYdyuYCZ31#802Hockey pic.twitter.com/Kukf92wOjJ Spitserov was drafted by 210th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft Cloudy with more rounds of showers and possibly some downpours or a t-storm As February comes to a close so does National Heart Month Caroline Laubach was this year's Survivor Honoree with the Lehigh Valley - Berks American Heart Association What happened to Laubach is hard to imagine Up until she was 18-years-old she was living a normal healthy life and starting her freshman year of college "Eventually got to the point where I wasn't able to keep food down "I was actually sleeping in my mom's bed and asking her to watch me fall asleep to see if I was breathing," said Laubach "They found that I was in end stage heart failure Laubach was rushed into emergency surgery to implant a temporary artificial heart pump known as an impella she was transferred to Penn Hospital where she learned her only hope of survival was a heart transplant I was on and off a ventilator a lot," said Laubach when your lungs suddenly fill with pulmonary fluid Laubach said there were times she thought she was going to die but Laubach once again got devastating health news doctors at Penn realized the first emergency surgery wasn't done correctly "They figured out that my impella that was placed into my heart was placed incorrectly so it was shearing my red blood cells in half and that's when they made the decision to put me on ECMO which is a machine that oxygenates and pumps your blood for you," said Laubach The machine can also cause paralysis or limb loss Laubach suffered a spinal stroke while on ECMO After the transplant she learned she was paralyzed from the waist down that she was finally discharged from the hospital and able to start her different life I had this overwhelming sense of 'Oh my gosh I am alive.' I had never seen the summertime look so green," she said while wiping away tears Laubach was warned that 20% of transplant patients get transplant lymphoma when you get told you have cancer," she said Thankfully her form of lymphoma could be treated with antibodies But she had what she calls two bouts with the cancer "I had about four inches of my small intestine removed 20% of my colon and my appendix taken out in April of 2023," she said She is now cancer free and moving forward with her life "I don't feel like I found my purpose," said Laubach "I feel like my purpose found me and I consider myself very lucky to have that." Laubach is now enrolled at Cedar Crest College Her goal is to eventually get her doctorate "I never had much of an interest in the medical community and all of that good stuff until after I had my transplant and I just feel like like I feel like that I'm on the right journey Email notifications are only sent once a day Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device Penn State men’s hockey forward Reese Laubach was named the Big Ten Third Star of the Week after his performances against No Laubach assisted two goals in the Nittany Lions’ thrilling 6-6 shootout win over the Buckeyes on Friday Laubach assisted senior Danny Dzhaniyev to give Penn State an early 1-0 lead The game went into overtime and with three minutes and 26 seconds left on the clock Laubach scored the game-winning goal in front of a record-setting crowd of 6,604 in the Pegula Ice Arena The San Jose native missed the previous four games with an injury before returning this weekend and now stands tied for second on the team with 19 points in 20 games The Nittany Lions return to action this weekend with a trip to Ann Arbor to battle the No 13 Michigan on Friday and Saturday evening majoring in Film Production and minoring in Photography He's a photographer but also enjoys writing If you ever want to see Dillon's work or what he's up to you can follow him on Twitter and/or Instagram @dillonstyles_ “Coming to Penn State was a leap of faith and I’m happy to say that I stuck the landing.” .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By PennLive staff reportsAnnie Laubach and and Elena Snyder each scored seven points as Susquehannock overcame a slow start to hold on for a 25-22 win over Lower Dauphin in a District 3 Class 5A playback game on Monday Fifth-seeded Susquehannock will travel to No 3 Northern York on Wednesday night to decide fifth and sixth place All four teams have already secured berths in the PIAA tournament Lower Dauphin jumped out to a six-point lead after one quarter Lower Dauphin’s Addy Misiolek led all scorers with 10 points and Avery Moran added eight in the losing effort • Sign up for PennLive’s daily high school sports newsletter Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site Ad Choices PA High School Football Report\nPennLive reporters break down everything you need to know about high school football in Pennsylvania. From the plays on the field to the stories off the field, we have you covered on everything football in the Keystone state. SARANAC LAKE — Local eighth graders Madi Laubach and Julia Walkow have spent years painting, collaging and sketching at the ADK ArtRise studios and in their bedrooms. Now, a sampling of their work can be seen by taking a walk down Main Street. The village’s Arts and Culture Advisory Board has been collaborating with local artists, realtors and property owners to fill vacant downtown storefronts with pop-up art installations. The windows of 70 Main St., which had previously been the home of the Bing Bang Boom video production studio, now has a collection of art from Laubach and Walkow. The windows are filled with landscapes, portraits, abstractions, “Alice in Wonderland”-themed collages, a painting of the “Harry’s House” album cover — which the two pointed out was hung upside down — and, in the back, a grotesque skin and blood canvas with real stitching on a wound. ADK ArtRise co-owner Julia Csanko is a member of the Saranac Lake village’s Arts and Culture Advisory Board. She’s known Laubach and Walkow since they began creating art at ArtRise when it opened four years ago and knew she wanted to get their work on display to make downtown look nicer. “It’s kind of surreal,” Walkow said. The idea that their art wouldn’t just be in a place where people had to seek it out — like a gallery — was exciting, she said. Laubach said she expected having this public display of their work would be nerve-wracking — but it isn’t. She doesn’t have to watch people looking at her art. She just knows it’s out there and people are enjoying it. It’s a “freeing” feeling, Laubach said. Most of the art was made in the ArtRise studios, some of it was made in their bedrooms. Laubach said she finds she has more motivation to create at the studios than at home. “This place, it’s made to make stuff,” Walkow said of ArtRise. Even passionate artists, they said, need to force themselves to create. “No matter what you make, if you’re proud of it, it’s good art,” Walkow said. She has a focus on drawing women, in detailed portraits and in abstract mirror-selfies. “I like telling stories, and I feel art is just another way to tell stories,” Walkow said. She’s also a prolific writer. In the windows, there are several portraits of characters she’s written novels about. One canvas is filled with lipstick prints, which Walkow created using actual makeup supplies as paint. It was an idea she said she got from the social media platform Pinterest, saying that with a bit of guilt at first, but then adding that she believes all art is collage — the act of combining existing ideas and concepts to create something new. “It’s kind of like making a collage of all the work around you,” Walkow said. Laubach enjoys depicting animals and landscapes, with a specialty in mixed media and collage — filling the pages of books with cut-outs of images, charms and ornate quilling. After years of being told to color inside the lines, Laubach said being older and having the freedom to color outside the lines feels great. Diving into that creativity is exciting to her. Walkow recently got to show the installation off to family visiting town. Laubach and Walkow’s work will be on display on Main Street for a couple more weeks. Csanko said the Arts and Culture Advisory Board plans to rotate work in the empty storefronts around town and that if an artist wants to get their work featured, to contact her at ArtRise. Those interested in purchasing any of Laubach and Walkow’s featured works can also contact ArtRise. The artists might be there, creating more art. TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake Town Board is set to hold a special meeting at 2 p.m. today at the town hall to ... SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake Department of Public Works will begin hydrant flushing on Monday in the Park ... Copyright © 2025 Adirondack Publishing Company | https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com | 54 Broadway, Saranac Lake, NY 12983 | 518-891-2600 Volume 9 - 2015 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2015.00023 We examined the role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in reward processing and the control of consummatory behavior Rats were trained in an operant licking procedure in which they received alternating access to solutions with relatively high and low levels of sucrose (20 and 4% Each level of sucrose was available for fixed intervals of 30 s over 30 min test sessions rats came to lick persistently when the high level of sucrose was available and suppressed licking when the low level of sucrose was available specifically the rostral part of the prelimbic area greatly reduced intake of the higher value fluid and only slightly increased intake of the lower value fluid the inactivations altered within-session patterns and microstructural measures of licking Rats licked equally for the high and low levels of sucrose at the beginning of the test sessions and “relearned” to reduce intake of the low value fluid over the test sessions Durations of licking bouts (clusters of licks with inter-lick intervals <0.5 s) were reduced for the high value fluid and there were many more brief licking bouts (<1 s) when the low value fluid was available These effects were verified using an alternative approach (optogenetic silencing using archaerhodopsin) and were distinct from inactivation of the ventral striatum Our findings suggest that the mPFC is crucial for the maintenance of persistent licking and the expression of learned feeding strategies our studies suggest that the mPFC is necessary for the maintenance of persistent licking and the expression of learned feeding strategies All experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee at The John B where the experimental studies were carried out and conform to guidelines for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (National Institutes of Health) Male Sprague-Dawley and Long Evans rats weighing between 350 and 375 g were purchased from Harlan Animals and were allowed 1 week to acclimate to their new environment with daily handling prior to training Food access was regulated for maintenance of 90% of their free access body weight by giving 18 g of rat chow a day in the evenings following experiments Rats weighed between 325 and 500 g at the time of testing A total of 20 rats were tested for effects of positive contrast and 24 rats were tested for effects of negative contrast Pharmacological inactivations were performed during the operant task in 27 rats and six of these rats were removed from the study due to improper cannula targeting Seven rats (not included in the operant study) were tested with pharmacological inactivation of the mPFC during sucrose consumption in home cage A total of 12 rats were used for optogenetic inactivation experiments and seven of these rats were removed from the study due to lack of viral expression and/or misalignment of the optic ferrule with the viral expression field All animals were trained in operant chambers containing a house lamp and enclosed within a sound-attenuating external chamber (ENV-008; Med Associates) Control of pumps and data acquisition was carried out using Med-PC version IV (Med Associates) Pierce Laboratory Instruments Shop) was used that permitted multiple solution lines to merge and be consumed at a single point The spout was located on one wall of the chamber at a height of 6.5 cm from the chamber floor and positioned horizontally The spout was positioned between two barriers that restricted the movement of animals while licking on the spout Two solution lines connected to 60ml syringes were used in these experiments Syringe plungers were driven by single speed syringe pumps (PHM-100; Med Associates) triggered by licks and delivered ~0.025 ml of fluid per activation Licks were detected and recorded optically via interruptions of an infrared beam between an emitter and detector placed directly in front of the licking spout Animals were placed within an operant box for 30 min sessions with continual access to the drinking spout Standard sessions consisted of shifts in the availability of the high value sucrose solution (20% sucrose wt/v) and low value sucrose solution (4% sucrose wt/v) over alternating thirty second epochs Licking on the spout triggered delivery of the solutions the current epoch would end and the alternate solution epoch would commence following the next lick Alternation between epochs continued until the 30 min session terminated Rats were tested for effects of positive and negative contrast in special sessions in which only the high or low value sucrose solution was provided Positive contrast was detected as an increase in the consumption of the high value sucrose in sessions with access to both the high and low values of sucrose compared to sessions with access only to the high value sucrose Negative contrast was detected as a reduction in the consumption of the low value sucrose in sessions with access to both the high and low values of sucrose compared to sessions with access to only the low value We compared lick counts and measures of licking microstructure (number of bouts inter-bout interval) during the 30 s epochs when rats would normally receive the high or low value sucrose and by averaging these measures across all task epochs we checked for potential changes in satiation using cumulative record plots of licking in each testing session Animals were provided 2–3 days of full food access prior to implantation of either guide cannulas or infusion of virus into mPFC followed by implantation of optic ferrules Animals were initially anesthetized with isoflurane (3.5% ~2 min) and injected intraperitoneally with ketamine (100 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) for deep anesthesia throughout the surgery supplemental doses of ketamine and xylazine were administered over the span of the surgeries The scalp was shaved and carprofen (10 mg/kg; Pfizer) was injected subcutaneously into the skin of the neck Animals were placed into a stereotaxic apparatus using ear bars and the scalp was covered in iodine for 1 min Iodine solution was wiped off the scalp and 0.3 ml of 2% lidocaine solution was injected subcutaneously along the midline A midsagittal incision through the skin covering the scalp was made to expose the surface of the skull and the positioning of the head within the stereotaxic apparatus was adjusted to ensure lambda and bregma were leveled into the same plane Four skull screws were placed caudally into the parietal skull bone plates for anchoring of implants to the head Single 26 gage guide cannulas with dummy cannulas (Plastics One) were implanted bilaterally into the prelimbic region of the mPFC [anteroposterior (AP) -4.0 from the surface of the brain at an angle of 12° from the midline] Four rats had bilaterial dual cannula targeting both rostral and caudal levels of the mPFC (AP -4.0 from the surface of the brain at an angle of 12° from the midline; this is the midpoint between the dual cannulas having a distance of 0.5 mm between the centers of each cannula) Cannulas targeted to ventral striatum were also implanted bilaterally (AP -5.5 from the surface of the brain at an angle of 22° from the midline) Guide cannulas were positioned 1 mm dorsal from the target brain structure due to using injection cannulas that extended 1 mm beyond the tip of the guide cannula Adeno-associated virus (AAV; serotype 9) plasmids containing archaerhodopsin (ArchT) and GFP driven under the ubiquitous CAG promoter (AAV-CAG-ArchT-GFP) were purchased from the University of North Carolina Vector Core (Chapel Hill Implanted optic ferrules (Prizmatix) had an optic fiber with a diameter of 400 μm and a numerical aperture (NA) of ~0.66 with a flat cut tip to focus light delivery to regions directly below the end of the ferrule 33 gage injection cannulas targeted only the rostral prelimbic cortex and 1 μl of virus was deposited at 0.1 μl/min using the same method described for infusion of drugs into the brain injection cannulas were left in place for an additional 5 min to allow for diffusion of the virus into the brain prior to being retracted Optic fibers were positioned 0.3 mm dorsal to the point of viral infusion After implantation of cannulas or ferrules the craniotomy was covered and cannulas initially secured using cyanoacrylate (Slo-Zap) and cyanoacrylate accelerator (Zip Kicker) The entire implant was then permanently affixed to the skull by methyl methacrylate dental cement (AM Systems) via the four implanted skull screws The skin surrounding the implants was cleaned animals were given the α2-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine (2 mg/ml at equal volumes of the xylazine used during the surgery) to counteract the xylazine used for chronic anesthesia To reduce any chances of infection the antibiotic enrofloxacin (23 mg/kg; Bayer) was given intraperitoneally when the animal began to move enrofloxacin was administered via the drinking water (70 mg/500 ml) throughout recovery Carprofen was also administered via the drinking water (25 mg/500 ml) for 2 days following surgery for pain management To prevent animals from pulling out dummy cannulas over the span of recovery and re-initiation of behavioral experiments Kwick-Cast silicon sealant (WPI) was spread over the dummy cannula caps to secure them to their guide cannulas Animals were allowed to recover from surgery for 1 week while having free access to food and water Animals were monitored and weighed daily throughout recovery Regulated access to food was reinstated several days prior to behavioral testing All animals recovered within one or two test sessions after inactivation and showed equivalent intake and licking behavior to the PBS control sessions Drug delivery was carried out via a 33 gage injection cannula (Plastics One) connected to fine bore (0.38 ID) polythene tubing filled with mineral oil that was lightly colored pink with 0.5% Oil RedO (Sigma; O0625) The tubing was connected to a 10-μl Hamilton syringe (Hamilton) and the injection needle was then back filled with drug Drug was injected at 0.25 μl/min using a microsyringe pump (KD Scientific) and confirmed visually by marking the interface between the pink mineral oil and the infused solution before and after activation of the pumps animals were initially sedated with isoflurane (3.5% for 3 mins) and injected intraperitoneally with 1ml of Euthasol The animals were transcardially perfused first with 200 ml cold saline solution followed by 200 ml of cold 4% paraformaldehyde Brains were extracted and placed into 4% paraformaldehyde containing 20% sucrose and 20% glycerol Brains were cut to 100 μm thick slices in the frontal plane For experiments using fluorescent material half of the acquired slices were mounted to slides using Vectashield fluorescent mounting medium containing DAPI (Vector Labs) and the other half were Nissl stained via treatment with thionin only Nissl stained slices were mounted to slides from brain not using some form of fluorescent material Imaging of slices was done on a Motic BA400 microscope Visualization of fluorescence material in brains was provided for by a Photofluor fluorescent light source using DAPI Images were acquired using Bioquant V8.40.20 software All data were analyzed using custom-built scripts in Matlab version R2012b (Mathworks) and statistics were performed in R x64 ver. 2.15.1 using R-Studio ver. 0.97.2372. Bouts of licks were detected using custom Matlab code provided by Dr. Ranier Gutierrez, as used previously in Gutierrez et al. (2006) and Horst and Laubach (2013) bouts were defined as having at least three licks within 300 ms and with an inter-bout interval of 0.5 s or longer Lick counts and bout durations were significantly correlated (r = 0.835) over all rats tested used in other drug infusion studies that are not reported in the present manuscript were presented with calibrated drinking tubes containing 20 and 4% sucrose (w/v) for a period of 5 min in their home cages Volumes consumed were noted over a series of 9 days rats were tested 1 h after a control infusion procedure (light anesthesia via isoflurane over a period of ~12 min) they were tested 1 h after an infusion of muscimol (as in the operant studies above) One rat showed a lack of evidence for drug infusion and another rat did not consume any fluid during the control or muscimol test sessions These animals were removed from the data summaries for home-cage testing reported below having a stable (6–7 Hz) intra-bout lick rate that is independent of the relative sucrose concentration Modulation of intake was implemented through adjustments in bout duration (A) Rats licked on a single spout and received access to solutions containing relatively high (20% The two fluids were presented in alternating 30-s epochs at the same spout (B) Animals consumed sucrose by emitting bouts of licks Key measures of licking “microstructure” are indicated Rats learned to actively suppress licking for the low value (4%) sucrose solution while gradually increasing intake for the high value (20%) sucrose solution across the first five sessions of the task Rats achieved asymptotic levels of licking over four to seven daily training sessions. They came to lick persistently when 20% sucrose was available and emitted many fewer licks when 4% sucrose was available (Figure 1C) A two-factor repeated measures ANOVA with factors for training session and sucrose concentration found that there was a significant change in mean lick count per epoch [F(3,238) = 27.87 total number of licks per session [F(3,238) = 34.13 The significant interaction between training session and sucrose concentration led us to perform single-factor ANOVAs on the measures of licking for each of the sucrose levels Intake of the low value solution was relatively stable and did not decrease significantly over days [mean licks per epoch: F(3,136) = 1.33 p > 0.3; total number of licks per session: F(3,136) = 0.45 p > 0.2; duration of licking bouts: F(3,136) = 1.71 There was a significant increase in mean licks per epoch [F(3,136) = 23.36 total number of licks per session [F(3,136) = 26.35 and duration of licking bouts [F(3,135) = 6.609 p < 0.001] when the higher value solution was available Reward contrast effects were revealed by testing rats with only one level of sucrose in a given behavioral session Contrast effects were apparent both in terms of lick counts and the average duration of licking bouts (A) Negative contrast was evident as rats (N = 24) consumed more of the low value solution when it was presented alone compared to the standard sessions with alternating access to the two levels of sucrose (B) Positive contrast was evident as rats (N = 20) consumed less of the high value solution when it was presented alone compared to the sessions with alternating access to the two levels of sucrose To study the role of mPFC in the regulation of intake, pharmacological methods for reversible inactivation were used to inactivate the mPFC during the operant licking task. Twenty-one infusions of 1 μl muscimol (1 μg/μl) or fluorescent conjugated muscimol (5 μg/μl) were made in 17 rats. Figure 3A depicts the estimated placement of all mPFC cannulas Fourteen of the rats had bilateral cannulas located in the rostral mPFC (+4.2 mm AP) Nine of these rats had both cannulas clearly centered in the prelimbic cortex (area 32) Four of these rats also received a second pair of cannulas in the more caudal mPFC (+2.7 mm AP) Three rats had single bilateral cannulas at an intermediate location (+3.7 mm AP) Effects of reversibly inactivating the mPFC in the operant licking task (A) Coronal depiction of infusion sites for muscimol within the mPFC Sites at 3.7 mm A/P were considered to be in the rostral mPFC area Nine of these sites were clearly within the prelimbic area Sites at 2.7 mm were considered to be in the caudal mPFC area Dual cannula located in both rostral (red) and caudal (blue) mPFC are included as well (B) Temporal patterns of licking were dramatically altered by inactivation of mPFC Top: Licking for 20% sucrose following infusion of PBS vehicle occurred in sustained bouts Bottom: Licking following inactivation of mPFC with muscimol (Musc) was associated with reduced bout durations and reduced overall licking (C) Inactivation of mPFC decreased licking and the duration of licking bouts for the higher value fluid and reduced the ratios of licking for the higher-to-lower value fluids (a measure of incentive contrast) Inactivation of mPFC also reduced the incentive contrast properties (aka subjective or relative value) of the liquid sucrose. To measure these effects, we calculated the ratios of lick counts and bout durations for when the high and low value sucrose was available. Inactivation of mPFC decreased these ratios for lick counts [t(20) = 3.87, p < 0.001] and bout durations [t(20) = 2.53, p < 0.05; Figure 3C These effects cannot be explained by an impairment in sucrose intake due to mPFC inactivation as a separate cohort of five rats were tested with mPFC inactivation during sucrose intake in the home cage There was no effect of the inactivation on the volume of sucrose that was consumed The rats drank 9.5 ± 3.3 ml of liquid sucrose in control sessions and 9.5 ± 1.9 ml in inactivation sessions These results suggest that inactivation of the rostral mPFC reduced persistent licking for sucrose value sucrose was also reduced following inactivation (E) There was no change in the number of licking bouts for the high value sucrose more bouts were emitted when the low value fluid was available and the rostral mPFC was inactivated the rats remained engaged in the task for a significantly longer duration before cessation of intake in the inactivation sessions [PBS: 1094 s; Muscimol: 1559 s; paired t-test: t(8) = 5.72 A simple interpretation of these findings is that inactivation of the mPFC altered sensorimotor aspects of licking which may underlie the effects of inactivation on measures of incentive contrast FIGURE 5. Effects of inactivation on measures of licking variability. (A) Inactivation of the rostral mPFC increased the median inter-lick interval [ILI; paired t-test: t(7) = -2.66, p < 0.04), defined as the time between pairs of licks, in 8 rats with muscimol infused into the rostral mPFC (see Figure 3A) (B) Inactivation also increased the inter-quartile range [t(7) = -4.09 (C) There was no consistent effect of inactivation on another measure of variability defined as the variance divided by the mean near 1 is typical for a random (Poisson) time series; (D) The fraction of non-bout licks (isolated licks and lick pairs) increased with inactivation [t(7) = -3.00 This finding is further support for the idea that the rats were less able to persistently lick with the rostral mPFC inactivated as found in the experimental group (N = 5) and when either misaligned (or non-expressing) in the control group (N = 7) The tips of the optic ferrules delivered green light (520 nm) from a 100 mW LED source The LED system was calibrated to deliver ~10 mW from the tips of the bilaterally implanted optic fibers Optogenetic perturbation of the rostral mPFC prevents persistent licking (A) Fluorescent GFP expression driven by the non-specific CAG promoter showed evidence for transduction of archaerhodopsin (ArchT) in the rostral mPFC of experimental rats Control rats either did not show proper alignment of viral field with implanted ferrules or showed no viral expression (B) Transient perturbation of the rostral mPFC in experimental rats via LED activation consistently decreased licking and bout duration There was no consistent change in licking by LED in control rats (C) Transient perturbation of the rostral mPFC in experimental rats via LED activation consistently decreased licking in epochs with LED on relative to epochs with LED off The optogenetic perturbation of rostral mPFC in experimental rats also reduced the duration of licking bouts There was no significant change in the number of bouts initiated with the LED activated (D) The ability to lick within bouts was not affected as there was no significant change in the ILI histogram of licking during epochs between epochs with the LED on and the LED off These results were obtained in five rats in which there was anatomical evidence (GFP fluorescence) for transduction of ArchT and alignment of the GFP marker for ArchT and the tips of the optic fibers Seven rats had either a lack of GFP labeling or a mismatch between the GFP marker and the optic fibers None of these rats showed any effects of LED activation on licking counts [t(6) = 1.658; p > 0.1] or bout duration [t(6) = 1.723; p > 0.1] there were no differences in licking between the first training session and the muscimol inactivation sessions in the well trained rats [20% sucrose (naïve vs These findings suggest that inactivation of the rostral mPFC blocked the expression of the learned within-session licking patterns Within-session dynamics following inactivation of the rostral mPFC (A) Epoch-by-epoch summary of mean lick counts and bout durations Dark and gray lines represent access to the high- and low-value sucrose solutions Naive animals begin consumption of high and low sucrose at the same level and inhibit consumption of low-value sucrose within the first day of training sessions that followed PBS infusions showed high lick rates and long licking bouts during access to the high value solution and low lick rates with short bout durations during access to the low value solution (C) Sessions that followed inactivation by muscimol were associated with equal initial intake of both the low and high value solutions and an eventual suppression of licking for the low-value fluid This pattern of intake is comparable to consumption when animals are naïve in the first day of training (D) In recovery sessions (day after inactivation) (E) Comparison of licking in the inactivation sessions and the first day of training (naïve animals) showed no significant difference in either lick counts or bout durations we have characterized the affected area from these infusions as being in the ventral striatum and not the core of the nucleus accumbens.) Infusions of vehicle and muscimol were also performed in ventral striatum (A) Infusion sites were located in the nucleus accumbens core inactivations in ventral striatum led to an increase in lick count for the high value (20%) sucrose solution The number of licks for the low value (4%) sucrose solution also increased during muscimol inactivation of ventral striatum (C) There was no change in bout duration for the high or low value sucrose solution with muscimol inactivations of ventral striatum Inactivation of ventral striatum led to a significant increase in total licking over sessions for both the high and low levels of sucrose (Figure 8B). There was a 49% increase in the number of licks for the high-value sucrose [t(5) = 2.900, p < 0.04) and a 76% increase in the number of licks for the low-value sucrose [t(5) = 3.328, p< 0.03]. No significant effects were found for the microstructural measures of licking (Figure 8C) These findings suggest that the ventral striatum has an inhibitory role in the control of sucrose consumption Inactivating the ventral striatum led to increased overall consumption especially for the lower value fluid these findings suggest that there is a regional specialization for the control of orolingual behavior within the mPFC (rostral not caudal) and between the mPFC and ventral striatum but did not reduce total licking in the operant task and did not reduce fluid consumption in testing sessions done in the home cage These results suggest that the net effect of inactivating the mPFC on sucrose consumption in the incentive contrast task is not inhibitory rats fail to express previously learned freezing behaviors at the beginning of the testing sessions but are able to learn to freeze to a stimulus during sessions with mPFC inactivated An interpretation based on incentive contrast effects alone is therefore not sufficient to explain the behavioral effects of mPFC inactivation They simply failed to follow the learned rule for solving the task No published study has directly compared projections from the mPFC and ventral striatum to these feeding centers in the hypothalamus This seems to be a crucial missing piece of the puzzle for understanding how these brain areas contribute to the control of food consumption Study design: MP and ML; Pilot studies: BL and ML; Data collection: MP and DW; Development of code for data analysis: MP and ML; Data analysis: MP and LA; Data interpretation: MP and two grants from the Klarman Family Foundation to ML The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest Support for this research was from NSF grant 1121147 The experimental studies were carried out when ML The authors would like to thank Dr Marcelo Caetano (Universidade Federal do ABC) for developing the behavioral protocol and Ms Cassidy White (formerly employed by American University) and Ms Linda Harenberg (currently enrolled at the Heidelberg University School of Medicine) for technical support We would also like to thank Dr Bradley Wetzell and two reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript Organization of visceral and limbic connections in the insular cortex of the rat Imaging the spread of reversible brain inactivations using fluorescent muscimol Hyperphagia induced by GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition of the nucleus accumbens shell: dependence on intact neural output from the central amygdaloid region Inhibition and impulsivity: behavioral and neural basis of response control Feeding induced by GABA(A) receptor stimulation within the nucleus accumbens shell: regional mapping and characterization of macronutrient and taste preference Shifts in magnitude of reward and contrast effects in instrumental and selective learning: a 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Front. Integr. Neurosci. 9:23. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2015.00023 Copyright © 2015 Parent, Amarante, Liu, Weikum and Laubach. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Mark Laubach, Department of Biology and Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016-8007, USAbWFyay5sYXViYWNoQGFtZXJpY2FuLmVkdQ== Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish South Dakota − Volunteers with the Canton Fire Department are helping those near Christmas Lake in Canton bag and pile sand bags around their homes as waters continue to rise according to resident and city volunteer Laurel Laubach Laubach has been using social media to help spread the word and organize part of the effort for those in need in the town of more than 3,000 She said about 15 to 20 homes have had sandbags placed around them thanks to dozens of people within the city who have spent the last few hours helping She's a retired EMS volunteer for the last 20 years and her husband Nate Laubach is the chief of the Canton Fire Department "(We're) just trying to sand bag to save people's houses," she said Thursday night as she walked the streets in a bright yellow rain jacket and rain boots past residents standing outside their homes recalling the last time severe flooding happened in the city The waters rose right next to her house then though today she lives out in the country on higher ground Laubach had posted on Facebook earlier in the day Thursday about the flood in a community page recalling the clean-up and sandbags used then That's when a resident reached out and said they thought some might be needed this time with the area under a flood watch and the rest of the county until 7 a.m according to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office this time asking for volunteers to start bagging at Tri-State Ready Mix And she called the wrestling teams and coaches who showed up in force to start bagging and getting bags to homes as they waited for the firefighters to join about 40 to 50 people were out filling sandbags and about 60 more were placing them at various homes "The community really has rallied together," she said "People brought trailers and filled the trailers." she wasn't sure whether any residents had decided to evacuate especially with more rain expected through the day Friday and at least one household has it in their kitchen More: Live updates: LCSO reports flooding over roads. Sioux Falls under flood watch until Saturday. But the community turnout is no surprise to residents especially those who recall the flood from 2014 who has grown up in Canton and lived six blocks from where she does now she said as she stood outside her garage at the cul de sac near the intersection of North Bartlett Street and West Second Street Her son launched a fishing line into the water out front but that didn't deter him from practicing his cast as surrounding neighbors tried to clear street drains with rakes and shovels sometimes wading knee high in the overflow from the moderate flooding at Beaver Creek and water running down from the north and we got lots of water in our basement," said Baldwin who works for the Sioux Valley News in town and how neighbors were helping neighbors that was familiar Thursday night though there was no damage to her home as of yet somebody's always there to help," she said The city of Canton could see more than another inch of rain by noon Friday with stronger to severe storms expected Friday night into Saturday morning That's made some residents nervous or tell each other jokingly to not mention the word "rain" anymore in the near future She urged those watching things unfold outside the city to consider how they may decide to help and not make matters worse as residents clean up She urged people not to drive through mud or flooded roads in a way that would hinder support she hopes there's nothing to talk about Friday and that the rain won't be as bad as predicted She said she thinks the city will be in for a long weekend "I am just so proud of this community," Laubach said "I posted one Facebook post and that many people show up to help and they’re excited to work It’s amazing to live in a community that is still willing to help each other."