A Feedfordward Adaptive Controller to Reduce the Imaging Time of Large-Sized Biological Samples with a SPM-Based Multiprobe Station

PubMed Central

Otero, Jorge; Guerrero, Hector; Gonzalez, Laura; Puig-Vidal, Manel

2012-01-01

The time required to image large samples is an important limiting factor in SPM-based systems. In multiprobe setups, especially when working with biological samples, this drawback can make impossible to conduct certain experiments. In this work, we present a feedfordward controller based on bang-bang and adaptive controls. The controls are based in the difference between the maximum speeds that can be used for imaging depending on the flatness of the sample zone. Topographic images of Escherichia coli bacteria samples were acquired using the implemented controllers. Results show that to go faster in the flat zones, rather than using a constant scanning speed for the whole image, speeds up the imaging process of large samples by up to a 4× factor. PMID:22368491

In vitro adaptation of Plasmodium falciparum reveal variations in cultivability.

PubMed

White, John; Mascarenhas, Anjali; Pereira, Ligia; Dash, Rashmi; Walke, Jayashri T; Gawas, Pooja; Sharma, Ambika; Manoharan, Suresh Kumar; Guler, Jennifer L; Maki, Jennifer N; Kumar, Ashwani; Mahanta, Jagadish; Valecha, Neena; Dubhashi, Nagesh; Vaz, Marina; Gomes, Edwin; Chery, Laura; Rathod, Pradipsinh K

2016-01-22

Culture-adapted Plasmodium falciparum parasites can offer deeper understanding of geographic variations in drug resistance, pathogenesis and immune evasion. To help ground population-based calculations and inferences from culture-adapted parasites, the complete range of parasites from a study area must be well represented in any collection. To this end, standardized adaptation methods and determinants of successful in vitro adaption were sought. Venous blood was collected from 33 P. falciparum-infected individuals at Goa Medical College and Hospital (Bambolim, Goa, India). Culture variables such as whole blood versus washed blood, heat-inactivated plasma versus Albumax, and different starting haematocrit levels were tested on fresh blood samples from patients. In vitro adaptation was considered successful when two four-fold or greater increases in parasitaemia were observed within, at most, 33 days of attempted culture. Subsequently, parasites from the same patients, which were originally cryopreserved following blood draw, were retested for adaptability for 45 days using identical host red blood cells (RBCs) and culture media. At a new endemic area research site, ~65% of tested patient samples, with varied patient history and clinical presentation, were successfully culture-adapted immediately after blood collection. Cultures set up at 1% haematocrit and 0.5% Albumax adapted most rapidly, but no single test condition was uniformly fatal to culture adaptation. Success was not limited by low patient parasitaemia nor by patient age. Some parasites emerged even after significant delays in sample processing and even after initiation of treatment with anti-malarials. When 'day 0' cryopreserved samples were retested in parallel many months later using identical host RBCs and media, speed to adaptation appeared to be an intrinsic property of the parasites collected from individual patients. Culture adaptation of P. falciparum in a field setting is formally shown to be robust. Parasites were found to have intrinsic variations in adaptability to culture conditions, with some lines requiring longer attempt periods for successful adaptation. Quantitative approaches described here can help describe phenotypic diversity of field parasite collections with precision. This is expected to improve population-based extrapolations of findings from field-derived fresh culture-adapted parasites to broader questions of public health importance.

Adaptation of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV) for Vietnam.

PubMed

Dang, Hoang-Minh; Weiss, Bahr; Pollack, Amie; Nguyen, Minh Cao

2012-12-01

Intelligence testing is used for many purposes including identification of children for proper educational placement (e.g., children with learning disabilities, or intellectually gifted students), and to guide education by identifying cognitive strengths and weaknesses so that teachers can adapt their instructional style to students' specific learning styles. Most of the research involving intelligence tests has been conducted in highly developed Western countries, yet the need for intelligence testing is as or even more important in developing countries. The present study, conducted through the Vietnam National University Clinical Psychology CRISP Center , focused on the cultural adaptation of the WISC-IV intelligence test for Vietnam. We report on (a) the adaptation process including the translation, cultural analysis and modifications involved in adaptation, (b) present results of two pilot studies, and (c) describe collection of the standardization sample and results of analyses with the standardization sample, with the goal of sharing our experience with other researchers who may be involved in or interested in adapting or developing IQ tests for non-Western, non-English speaking cultures.

Subjective wellbeing and income: Empirical patterns in the rural developing world.

PubMed

Reyes-García, Victoria; Babigumira, Ronnie; Pyhälä, Aili; Wunder, Sven; Zorondo-Rodríguez, Francisco; Angelsen, Arild

2016-04-01

A commonality in the economics of happiness literature is that absolute income matters more for the subjective wellbeing of people at low income levels. In this article, we use a large sample of people in rural areas of developing countries with relatively low income levels to test whether subjective wellbeing an increasing function of absolute income in our sample, and to analyze the existence of adaptation and social comparison effects on subjective wellbeing. Our sample includes 6973 rural households in 23 countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The average total income per adult equivalent in our sample was US$1555, whereas levels of subjective wellbeing resembled levels found in previous research using cross-country data. We find that, despite low levels of absolute income, levels of subjective wellbeing of our respondents resemble levels found in previous research using cross-country data. We also find remarkable similarities in many of the determinants of subjective wellbeing previously tested. Our data show that absolute income covariates with subjective wellbeing, but -as for richer samples- the magnitude of the association is lower once we control for adaptation and social comparison. Finally, our results suggest that social comparison has a stronger effect than adaptation in explaining the subjective wellbeing of our sample. Our findings highlight the importance of adaptation and social comparison even at low levels of absolute income.

Subjective wellbeing and income: Empirical patterns in the rural developing world

PubMed Central

Reyes-García, Victoria; Babigumira, Ronnie; Pyhälä, Aili; Wunder, Sven; Zorondo-Rodríguez, Francisco; Angelsen, Arild

2016-01-01

A commonality in the economics of happiness literature is that absolute income matters more for the subjective wellbeing of people at low income levels. In this article, we use a large sample of people in rural areas of developing countries with relatively low income levels to test whether subjective wellbeing an increasing function of absolute income in our sample, and to analyze the existence of adaptation and social comparison effects on subjective wellbeing. Our sample includes 6973 rural households in 23 countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The average total income per adult equivalent in our sample was US$1555, whereas levels of subjective wellbeing resembled levels found in previous research using cross-country data. We find that, despite low levels of absolute income, levels of subjective wellbeing of our respondents resemble levels found in previous research using cross-country data. We also find remarkable similarities in many of the determinants of subjective wellbeing previously tested. Our data show that absolute income covariates with subjective wellbeing, but -as for richer samples- the magnitude of the association is lower once we control for adaptation and social comparison. Finally, our results suggest that social comparison has a stronger effect than adaptation in explaining the subjective wellbeing of our sample. Our findings highlight the importance of adaptation and social comparison even at low levels of absolute income. PMID:27642259

Computational methods for efficient structural reliability and reliability sensitivity analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Y.-T.

1993-01-01

This paper presents recent developments in efficient structural reliability analysis methods. The paper proposes an efficient, adaptive importance sampling (AIS) method that can be used to compute reliability and reliability sensitivities. The AIS approach uses a sampling density that is proportional to the joint PDF of the random variables. Starting from an initial approximate failure domain, sampling proceeds adaptively and incrementally with the goal of reaching a sampling domain that is slightly greater than the failure domain to minimize over-sampling in the safe region. Several reliability sensitivity coefficients are proposed that can be computed directly and easily from the above AIS-based failure points. These probability sensitivities can be used for identifying key random variables and for adjusting design to achieve reliability-based objectives. The proposed AIS methodology is demonstrated using a turbine blade reliability analysis problem.

Optimal model-based sensorless adaptive optics for epifluorescence microscopy.

PubMed

Pozzi, Paolo; Soloviev, Oleg; Wilding, Dean; Vdovin, Gleb; Verhaegen, Michel

2018-01-01

We report on a universal sample-independent sensorless adaptive optics method, based on modal optimization of the second moment of the fluorescence emission from a point-like excitation. Our method employs a sample-independent precalibration, performed only once for the particular system, to establish the direct relation between the image quality and the aberration. The method is potentially applicable to any form of microscopy with epifluorescence detection, including the practically important case of incoherent fluorescence emission from a three dimensional object, through minor hardware modifications. We have applied the technique successfully to a widefield epifluorescence microscope and to a multiaperture confocal microscope.

An adaptive Bayesian inference algorithm to estimate the parameters of a hazardous atmospheric release

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajaona, Harizo; Septier, François; Armand, Patrick; Delignon, Yves; Olry, Christophe; Albergel, Armand; Moussafir, Jacques

2015-12-01

In the eventuality of an accidental or intentional atmospheric release, the reconstruction of the source term using measurements from a set of sensors is an important and challenging inverse problem. A rapid and accurate estimation of the source allows faster and more efficient action for first-response teams, in addition to providing better damage assessment. This paper presents a Bayesian probabilistic approach to estimate the location and the temporal emission profile of a pointwise source. The release rate is evaluated analytically by using a Gaussian assumption on its prior distribution, and is enhanced with a positivity constraint to improve the estimation. The source location is obtained by the means of an advanced iterative Monte-Carlo technique called Adaptive Multiple Importance Sampling (AMIS), which uses a recycling process at each iteration to accelerate its convergence. The proposed methodology is tested using synthetic and real concentration data in the framework of the Fusion Field Trials 2007 (FFT-07) experiment. The quality of the obtained results is comparable to those coming from the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm, a popular Bayesian method used for source estimation. Moreover, the adaptive processing of the AMIS provides a better sampling efficiency by reusing all the generated samples.

Advances in the Assessment of Wind Turbine Operating Extreme Loads via More Efficient Calculation Approaches

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Graf, Peter; Damiani, Rick R.; Dykes, Katherine

2017-01-09

A new adaptive stratified importance sampling (ASIS) method is proposed as an alternative approach for the calculation of the 50 year extreme load under operational conditions, as in design load case 1.1 of the the International Electrotechnical Commission design standard. ASIS combines elements of the binning and extrapolation technique, currently described by the standard, and of the importance sampling (IS) method to estimate load probability of exceedances (POEs). Whereas a Monte Carlo (MC) approach would lead to the sought level of POE with a daunting number of simulations, IS-based techniques are promising as they target the sampling of the inputmore » parameters on the parts of the distributions that are most responsible for the extreme loads, thus reducing the number of runs required. We compared the various methods on select load channels as output from FAST, an aero-hydro-servo-elastic tool for the design and analysis of wind turbines developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Our newly devised method, although still in its infancy in terms of tuning of the subparameters, is comparable to the others in terms of load estimation and its variance versus computational cost, and offers great promise going forward due to the incorporation of adaptivity into the already powerful importance sampling concept.« less

Social Daydreaming and Adjustment: An Experience-Sampling Study of Socio-Emotional Adaptation During a Life Transition

PubMed Central

Poerio, Giulia L.; Totterdell, Peter; Emerson, Lisa-Marie; Miles, Eleanor

2016-01-01

Estimates suggest that up to half of waking life is spent daydreaming; that is, engaged in thought that is independent of, and unrelated to, one’s current task. Emerging research indicates that daydreams are predominately social suggesting that daydreams may serve socio-emotional functions. Here we explore the functional role of social daydreaming for socio-emotional adjustment during an important and stressful life transition (the transition to university) using experience-sampling with 103 participants over 28 days. Over time, social daydreams increased in their positive characteristics and positive emotional outcomes; specifically, participants reported that their daydreams made them feel more socially connected and less lonely, and that the content of their daydreams became less fanciful and involved higher quality relationships. These characteristics then predicted less loneliness at the end of the study, which, in turn was associated with greater social adaptation to university. Feelings of connection resulting from social daydreams were also associated with less emotional inertia in participants who reported being less socially adapted to university. Findings indicate that social daydreaming is functional for promoting socio-emotional adjustment to an important life event. We highlight the need to consider the social content of stimulus-independent cognitions, their characteristics, and patterns of change, to specify how social thoughts enable socio-emotional adaptation. PMID:26834685

Adaptive sampling in research on risk-related behaviors.

PubMed

Thompson, Steven K; Collins, Linda M

2002-11-01

This article introduces adaptive sampling designs to substance use researchers. Adaptive sampling is particularly useful when the population of interest is rare, unevenly distributed, hidden, or hard to reach. Examples of such populations are injection drug users, individuals at high risk for HIV/AIDS, and young adolescents who are nicotine dependent. In conventional sampling, the sampling design is based entirely on a priori information, and is fixed before the study begins. By contrast, in adaptive sampling, the sampling design adapts based on observations made during the survey; for example, drug users may be asked to refer other drug users to the researcher. In the present article several adaptive sampling designs are discussed. Link-tracing designs such as snowball sampling, random walk methods, and network sampling are described, along with adaptive allocation and adaptive cluster sampling. It is stressed that special estimation procedures taking the sampling design into account are needed when adaptive sampling has been used. These procedures yield estimates that are considerably better than conventional estimates. For rare and clustered populations adaptive designs can give substantial gains in efficiency over conventional designs, and for hidden populations link-tracing and other adaptive procedures may provide the only practical way to obtain a sample large enough for the study objectives.

Some challenges with statistical inference in adaptive designs.

PubMed

Hung, H M James; Wang, Sue-Jane; Yang, Peiling

2014-01-01

Adaptive designs have generated a great deal of attention to clinical trial communities. The literature contains many statistical methods to deal with added statistical uncertainties concerning the adaptations. Increasingly encountered in regulatory applications are adaptive statistical information designs that allow modification of sample size or related statistical information and adaptive selection designs that allow selection of doses or patient populations during the course of a clinical trial. For adaptive statistical information designs, a few statistical testing methods are mathematically equivalent, as a number of articles have stipulated, but arguably there are large differences in their practical ramifications. We pinpoint some undesirable features of these methods in this work. For adaptive selection designs, the selection based on biomarker data for testing the correlated clinical endpoints may increase statistical uncertainty in terms of type I error probability, and most importantly the increased statistical uncertainty may be impossible to assess.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Attitudes Toward Suicide Questionnaire Among Healthcare personnel in Malaysia.

PubMed

Siau, Ching Sin; Wee, Lei-Hum; Ibrahim, Norhayati; Visvalingam, Uma; Wahab, Suzaily

2017-01-01

Understanding attitudes toward suicide, especially among healthcare personnel, is an important step in both suicide prevention and treatment. We document the adaptation process and establish the validity and reliability of the Attitudes Toward Suicide (ATTS) questionnaire among 262 healthcare personnel in 2 major public hospitals in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The findings indicate that healthcare personnel in Malaysia have unique constructs on suicide attitude, compared with the original study on a Western European sample. The adapted Malay ATTS questionnaire demonstrates adequate reliability and validity for use among healthcare personnel in Malaysia.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Attitudes Toward Suicide Questionnaire Among Healthcare personnel in Malaysia

PubMed Central

Siau, Ching Sin; Wee, Lei-Hum; Ibrahim, Norhayati; Visvalingam, Uma; Wahab, Suzaily

2017-01-01

Understanding attitudes toward suicide, especially among healthcare personnel, is an important step in both suicide prevention and treatment. We document the adaptation process and establish the validity and reliability of the Attitudes Toward Suicide (ATTS) questionnaire among 262 healthcare personnel in 2 major public hospitals in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The findings indicate that healthcare personnel in Malaysia have unique constructs on suicide attitude, compared with the original study on a Western European sample. The adapted Malay ATTS questionnaire demonstrates adequate reliability and validity for use among healthcare personnel in Malaysia. PMID:28486042

Smartphone based point-of-care detector of urine albumin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cmiel, Vratislav; Svoboda, Ondrej; Koscova, Pavlina; Provaznik, Ivo

2016-03-01

Albumin plays an important role in human body. Its changed level in urine may indicate serious kidney disorders. We present a new point-of-care solution for sensitive detection of urine albumin - the miniature optical adapter for iPhone with in-built optical filters and a sample slot. The adapter exploits smart-phone flash to generate excitation light and camera to measure the level of emitted light. Albumin Blue 580 is used as albumin reagent. The proposed light-weight adapter can be produced at low cost using a 3D printer. Thus, the miniaturized detector is easy to use out of lab.

Methodological issues with adaptation of clinical trial design.

PubMed

Hung, H M James; Wang, Sue-Jane; O'Neill, Robert T

2006-01-01

Adaptation of clinical trial design generates many issues that have not been resolved for practical applications, though statistical methodology has advanced greatly. This paper focuses on some methodological issues. In one type of adaptation such as sample size re-estimation, only the postulated value of a parameter for planning the trial size may be altered. In another type, the originally intended hypothesis for testing may be modified using the internal data accumulated at an interim time of the trial, such as changing the primary endpoint and dropping a treatment arm. For sample size re-estimation, we make a contrast between an adaptive test weighting the two-stage test statistics with the statistical information given by the original design and the original sample mean test with a properly corrected critical value. We point out the difficulty in planning a confirmatory trial based on the crude information generated by exploratory trials. In regards to selecting a primary endpoint, we argue that the selection process that allows switching from one endpoint to the other with the internal data of the trial is not very likely to gain a power advantage over the simple process of selecting one from the two endpoints by testing them with an equal split of alpha (Bonferroni adjustment). For dropping a treatment arm, distributing the remaining sample size of the discontinued arm to other treatment arms can substantially improve the statistical power of identifying a superior treatment arm in the design. A common difficult methodological issue is that of how to select an adaptation rule in the trial planning stage. Pre-specification of the adaptation rule is important for the practicality consideration. Changing the originally intended hypothesis for testing with the internal data generates great concerns to clinical trial researchers.

PlasFlow: predicting plasmid sequences in metagenomic data using genome signatures

PubMed Central

Lipinski, Leszek; Dziembowski, Andrzej

2018-01-01

Abstract Plasmids are mobile genetics elements that play an important role in the environmental adaptation of microorganisms. Although plasmids are usually analyzed in cultured microorganisms, there is a need for methods that allow for the analysis of pools of plasmids (plasmidomes) in environmental samples. To that end, several molecular biology and bioinformatics methods have been developed; however, they are limited to environments with low diversity and cannot recover large plasmids. Here, we present PlasFlow, a novel tool based on genomic signatures that employs a neural network approach for identification of bacterial plasmid sequences in environmental samples. PlasFlow can recover plasmid sequences from assembled metagenomes without any prior knowledge of the taxonomical or functional composition of samples with an accuracy up to 96%. It can also recover sequences of both circular and linear plasmids and can perform initial taxonomical classification of sequences. Compared to other currently available tools, PlasFlow demonstrated significantly better performance on test datasets. Analysis of two samples from heavy metal-contaminated microbial mats revealed that plasmids may constitute an important fraction of their metagenomes and carry genes involved in heavy-metal homeostasis, proving the pivotal role of plasmids in microorganism adaptation to environmental conditions. PMID:29346586

Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a nomadic yeast with no niche?

PubMed

Goddard, Matthew R; Greig, Duncan

2015-05-01

Different species are usually thought to have specific adaptations, which allow them to occupy different ecological niches. But recent neutral ecology theory suggests that species diversity can simply be the result of random sampling, due to finite population sizes and limited dispersal. Neutral models predict that species are not necessarily adapted to specific niches, but are functionally equivalent across a range of habitats. Here, we evaluate the ecology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, one of the most important microbial species in human history. The artificial collection, concentration and fermentation of large volumes of fruit for alcohol production produce an environment in which S. cerevisiae thrives, and therefore it is assumed that fruit is the ecological niche that S. cerevisiae inhabits and has adapted to. We find very little direct evidence that S. cerevisiae is adapted to fruit, or indeed to any other specific niche. We propose instead a neutral nomad model for S. cerevisiae, which we believe should be used as the starting hypothesis in attempting to unravel the ecology of this important microbe. © FEMS 2015.

Adaptive measurements of urban runoff quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Brandon P.; Kerkez, Branko

2016-11-01

An approach to adaptively measure runoff water quality dynamics is introduced, focusing specifically on characterizing the timing and magnitude of urban pollutographs. Rather than relying on a static schedule or flow-weighted sampling, which can miss important water quality dynamics if parameterized inadequately, novel Internet-enabled sensor nodes are used to autonomously adapt their measurement frequency to real-time weather forecasts and hydrologic conditions. This dynamic approach has the potential to significantly improve the use of constrained experimental resources, such as automated grab samplers, which continue to provide a strong alternative to sampling water quality dynamics when in situ sensors are not available. Compared to conventional flow-weighted or time-weighted sampling schemes, which rely on preset thresholds, a major benefit of the approach is the ability to dynamically adapt to features of an underlying hydrologic signal. A 28 km2 urban watershed was studied to characterize concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS) and total phosphorus. Water quality samples were autonomously triggered in response to features in the underlying hydrograph and real-time weather forecasts. The study watershed did not exhibit a strong first flush and intraevent concentration variability was driven by flow acceleration, wherein the largest loadings of TSS and total phosphorus corresponded with the steepest rising limbs of the storm hydrograph. The scalability of the proposed method is discussed in the context of larger sensor network deployments, as well the potential to improving control of urban water quality.

Adaptive sampling in behavioral surveys.

PubMed

Thompson, S K

1997-01-01

Studies of populations such as drug users encounter difficulties because the members of the populations are rare, hidden, or hard to reach. Conventionally designed large-scale surveys detect relatively few members of the populations so that estimates of population characteristics have high uncertainty. Ethnographic studies, on the other hand, reach suitable numbers of individuals only through the use of link-tracing, chain referral, or snowball sampling procedures that often leave the investigators unable to make inferences from their sample to the hidden population as a whole. In adaptive sampling, the procedure for selecting people or other units to be in the sample depends on variables of interest observed during the survey, so the design adapts to the population as encountered. For example, when self-reported drug use is found among members of the sample, sampling effort may be increased in nearby areas. Types of adaptive sampling designs include ordinary sequential sampling, adaptive allocation in stratified sampling, adaptive cluster sampling, and optimal model-based designs. Graph sampling refers to situations with nodes (for example, people) connected by edges (such as social links or geographic proximity). An initial sample of nodes or edges is selected and edges are subsequently followed to bring other nodes into the sample. Graph sampling designs include network sampling, snowball sampling, link-tracing, chain referral, and adaptive cluster sampling. A graph sampling design is adaptive if the decision to include linked nodes depends on variables of interest observed on nodes already in the sample. Adjustment methods for nonsampling errors such as imperfect detection of drug users in the sample apply to adaptive as well as conventional designs.

Selection for Earlier Flowering Crop Associated with Climatic Variations in the Sahel

PubMed Central

Vigouroux, Yves; Mariac, Cédric; De Mita, Stéphane; Pham, Jean-Louis; Gérard, Bruno; Kapran, Issoufou; Sagnard, Fabrice; Deu, Monique; Chantereau, Jacques; Ali, Abdou; Ndjeunga, Jupiter; Luong, Viviane; Thuillet, Anne-Céline; Saïdou, Abdoul-Aziz; Bezançon, Gilles

2011-01-01

Climate changes will have an impact on food production and will require costly adaptive responses. Adapting to a changing environment will be particularly challenging in sub-Saharan Africa where climate change is expected to have a major impact. However, one important phenomenon that is often overlooked and is poorly documented is the ability of agro-systems to rapidly adapt to environmental variations. Such an adaptation could proceed by the adoption of new varieties or by the adaptation of varieties to a changing environment. In this study, we analyzed these two processes in one of the driest agro-ecosystems in Africa, the Sahel. We performed a detailed study in Niger where pearl millet is the main crop and covers 65% of the cultivated area. To assess how the agro-system is responding to recent recurrent drought, we analyzed samples of pearl millet landraces collected in the same villages in 1976 and 2003 throughout the entire cultivated area of Niger. We studied phenological and morphological differences in the 1976 and 2003 collections by comparing them over three cropping seasons in a common garden experiment. We found no major changes in the main cultivated varieties or in their genetic diversity. However, we observed a significant shift in adaptive traits. Compared to the 1976 samples, samples collected in 2003 displayed a shorter lifecycle, and a reduction in plant and spike size. We also found that an early flowering allele at the PHYC locus increased in frequency between 1976 and 2003. The increase exceeded the effect of drift and sampling, suggesting a direct effect of selection for earliness on this gene. We conclude that recurrent drought can lead to selection for earlier flowering in a major Sahelian crop. Surprisingly, these results suggest that diffusion of crop varieties is not the main driver of short term adaptation to climatic variation. PMID:21573243

Adaptive control of turbulence intensity is accelerated by frugal flow sampling.

PubMed

Quinn, Daniel B; van Halder, Yous; Lentink, David

2017-11-01

The aerodynamic performance of vehicles and animals, as well as the productivity of turbines and energy harvesters, depends on the turbulence intensity of the incoming flow. Previous studies have pointed at the potential benefits of active closed-loop turbulence control. However, it is unclear what the minimal sensory and algorithmic requirements are for realizing this control. Here we show that very low-bandwidth anemometers record sufficient information for an adaptive control algorithm to converge quickly. Our online Newton-Raphson algorithm tunes the turbulence in a recirculating wind tunnel by taking readings from an anemometer in the test section. After starting at 9% turbulence intensity, the algorithm converges on values ranging from 10% to 45% in less than 12 iterations within 1% accuracy. By down-sampling our measurements, we show that very-low-bandwidth anemometers record sufficient information for convergence. Furthermore, down-sampling accelerates convergence by smoothing gradients in turbulence intensity. Our results explain why low-bandwidth anemometers in engineering and mechanoreceptors in biology may be sufficient for adaptive control of turbulence intensity. Finally, our analysis suggests that, if certain turbulent eddy sizes are more important to control than others, frugal adaptive control schemes can be particularly computationally effective for improving performance. © 2017 The Author(s).

Surface sampling techniques for 3D object inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shih, Chihhsiong S.; Gerhardt, Lester A.

1995-03-01

While the uniform sampling method is quite popular for pointwise measurement of manufactured parts, this paper proposes three novel sampling strategies which emphasize 3D non-uniform inspection capability. They are: (a) the adaptive sampling, (b) the local adjustment sampling, and (c) the finite element centroid sampling techniques. The adaptive sampling strategy is based on a recursive surface subdivision process. Two different approaches are described for this adaptive sampling strategy. One uses triangle patches while the other uses rectangle patches. Several real world objects were tested using these two algorithms. Preliminary results show that sample points are distributed more closely around edges, corners, and vertices as desired for many classes of objects. Adaptive sampling using triangle patches is shown to generally perform better than both uniform and adaptive sampling using rectangle patches. The local adjustment sampling strategy uses a set of predefined starting points and then finds the local optimum position of each nodal point. This method approximates the object by moving the points toward object edges and corners. In a hybrid approach, uniform points sets and non-uniform points sets, first preprocessed by the adaptive sampling algorithm on a real world object were then tested using the local adjustment sampling method. The results show that the initial point sets when preprocessed by adaptive sampling using triangle patches, are moved the least amount of distance by the subsequently applied local adjustment method, again showing the superiority of this method. The finite element sampling technique samples the centroids of the surface triangle meshes produced from the finite element method. The performance of this algorithm was compared to that of the adaptive sampling using triangular patches. The adaptive sampling with triangular patches was once again shown to be better on different classes of objects.

Monte Carlo sampling of Wigner functions and surface hopping quantum dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kube, Susanna; Lasser, Caroline; Weber, Marcus

2009-04-01

The article addresses the achievable accuracy for a Monte Carlo sampling of Wigner functions in combination with a surface hopping algorithm for non-adiabatic quantum dynamics. The approximation of Wigner functions is realized by an adaption of the Metropolis algorithm for real-valued functions with disconnected support. The integration, which is necessary for computing values of the Wigner function, uses importance sampling with a Gaussian weight function. The numerical experiments agree with theoretical considerations and show an error of 2-3%.

Boldness and its relation to psychopathic personality: Prototypicality analyses among forensic mental health, criminal justice, and layperson raters.

PubMed

Sörman, Karolina; Edens, John F; Smith, Shannon Toney; Clark, John W; Kristiansson, Marianne; Svensson, Olof

2016-06-01

Research on psychopathic personality has been dominated by a focus on criminality and social deviance, but some theoretical models argue that certain putatively adaptive features are important components of this construct. In 3 samples (forensic mental health practitioners, probation officers and a layperson community sample), we investigated adaptive traits as conceptualized in the Triarchic model of psychopathy (Patrick et al., 2009), specifically the relevance of boldness to construals of psychopathic personality. Participants completed prototypicality ratings of psychopathic traits, including 3 items created to tap components of boldness (Socially bold, Adventurous, Emotionally stable), and they also rated a series of attitudinal statements (e.g., perceived correlates of being psychopathic, moral judgments about psychopaths). The composite Boldness scale was rated as moderately to highly prototypical among forensic mental health practitioners and probation officers and positively associated with other theoretically relevant domains of psychopathy. Across samples, higher composite Boldness ratings predicted greater endorsement of adaptive traits (e.g., social skills) as characteristic of psychopathy. For the individual items, Socially bold was rated as highly prototypical and was associated with theoretically relevant correlates. Adventurous also was seen as prototypical, though to a lesser degree. Only forensic mental health practitioners endorsed Emotionally stable as characteristic of psychopathy. Our results provide partial support for the contention that the boldness concept is viewed as an important component of psychopathy, particularly among professionals who work directly with offender populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluation of individual quality of life among hemodialysis patients: nominated themes using SEIQoL-adapted.

PubMed

Matlabi, Hossein; Ahmadzadeh, Sharareh

2017-01-01

Quality of life (QoL) has become an important issue for patients with chronic renal failure diseases who are permanently undergoing hemodialysis. In this study, an adapted schedule for the evaluation of individual quality of life (SEIQoL-adapted) was used to evaluate QoL among hemodialysis patients, to explore their views about the most important aspects of life satisfaction. A multiple approach design and convenience sampling were applied to recruit 53 patients from a hemodialysis unit in Iran. Data were collected through structured interviews and then analyzed using conventional content analysis. A total score for QoL was calculated using scale guideline. The most important aspects of life were health, family, financial status, living conditions, leisure activities, relationships and socializing, religious and spiritual issues, medical knowledge, and therapies or treatments. The calculated mean QoL score was 66.2, indicating a relatively high life satisfaction. Males had higher QoL scores than females in both married and single groups. Moreover, the relationships between the QoL scores and education, job and marital status were not statistically significant. The SEIQoL-adapted revealed reasonable lay definitions of QoL in a group of patients following chronic renal failure. The patients' views of the aspects of life could be used by health policy makers, clinicians, and caregivers as a reliable guide to the most important priorities for treatment and medical interventions.

Adaptive control of theophylline therapy: importance of blood sampling times.

PubMed

D'Argenio, D Z; Khakmahd, K

1983-10-01

A two-observation protocol for estimating theophylline clearance during a constant-rate intravenous infusion is used to examine the importance of blood sampling schedules with regard to the information content of resulting concentration data. Guided by a theory for calculating maximally informative sample times, population simulations are used to assess the effect of specific sampling times on the precision of resulting clearance estimates and subsequent predictions of theophylline plasma concentrations. The simulations incorporated noise terms for intersubject variability, dosing errors, sample collection errors, and assay error. Clearance was estimated using Chiou's method, least squares, and a Bayesian estimation procedure. The results of these simulations suggest that clinically significant estimation and prediction errors may result when using the above two-point protocol for estimating theophylline clearance if the time separating the two blood samples is less than one population mean elimination half-life.

An unbiased adaptive sampling algorithm for the exploration of RNA mutational landscapes under evolutionary pressure.

PubMed

Waldispühl, Jérôme; Ponty, Yann

2011-11-01

The analysis of the relationship between sequences and structures (i.e., how mutations affect structures and reciprocally how structures influence mutations) is essential to decipher the principles driving molecular evolution, to infer the origins of genetic diseases, and to develop bioengineering applications such as the design of artificial molecules. Because their structures can be predicted from the sequence data only, RNA molecules provide a good framework to study this sequence-structure relationship. We recently introduced a suite of algorithms called RNAmutants which allows a complete exploration of RNA sequence-structure maps in polynomial time and space. Formally, RNAmutants takes an input sequence (or seed) to compute the Boltzmann-weighted ensembles of mutants with exactly k mutations, and sample mutations from these ensembles. However, this approach suffers from major limitations. Indeed, since the Boltzmann probabilities of the mutations depend of the free energy of the structures, RNAmutants has difficulties to sample mutant sequences with low G+C-contents. In this article, we introduce an unbiased adaptive sampling algorithm that enables RNAmutants to sample regions of the mutational landscape poorly covered by classical algorithms. We applied these methods to sample mutations with low G+C-contents. These adaptive sampling techniques can be easily adapted to explore other regions of the sequence and structural landscapes which are difficult to sample. Importantly, these algorithms come at a minimal computational cost. We demonstrate the insights offered by these techniques on studies of complete RNA sequence structures maps of sizes up to 40 nucleotides. Our results indicate that the G+C-content has a strong influence on the size and shape of the evolutionary accessible sequence and structural spaces. In particular, we show that low G+C-contents favor the apparition of internal loops and thus possibly the synthesis of tertiary structure motifs. On the other hand, high G+C-contents significantly reduce the size of the evolutionary accessible mutational landscapes.

Possible stimuli for strength and power adaptation : acute metabolic responses.

PubMed

Crewther, Blair; Cronin, John; Keogh, Justin

2006-01-01

The metabolic response to resistance exercise, in particular lactic acid or lactate, has a marked influence upon the muscular environment, which may enhance the training stimulus (e.g. motor unit activation, hormones or muscle damage) and thereby contribute to strength and power adaptation. Hypertrophy schemes have resulted in greater lactate responses (%) than neuronal and dynamic power schemes, suggesting possible metabolic-mediated changes in muscle growth. Factors such as age, sex, training experience and nutrition may also influence the lactate responses to resistance exercise and thereafter, muscular adaptation. Although the importance of the mechanical and hormonal stimulus to strength and power adaptation is well recognised, the contribution of the metabolic stimulus is largely unknown. Relatively few studies for example, have examined metabolic change across neuronal and dynamic power schemes, and not withstanding the fact that those mechanisms underpinning muscular adaptation, in relation to the metabolic stimulus, remain highly speculative. Inconsistent findings and methodological limitations within research (e.g. programme design, sampling period, number of samples) make interpretation further difficult. We contend that strength and power research needs to investigate those metabolic mechanisms likely to contribute to weight-training adaptation. Further research is also needed to examine the metabolic responses to different loading schemes, as well as interactions across age, sex and training status, so our understanding of how to optimise strength and power development is improved.

The Self-Adapting Focused Review System. Probability sampling of medical records to monitor utilization and quality of care.

PubMed

Ash, A; Schwartz, M; Payne, S M; Restuccia, J D

1990-11-01

Medical record review is increasing in importance as the need to identify and monitor utilization and quality of care problems grow. To conserve resources, reviews are usually performed on a subset of cases. If judgment is used to identify subgroups for review, this raises the following questions: How should subgroups be determined, particularly since the locus of problems can change over time? What standard of comparison should be used in interpreting rates of problems found in subgroups? How can population problem rates be estimated from observed subgroup rates? How can the bias be avoided that arises because reviewers know that selected cases are suspected of having problems? How can changes in problem rates over time be interpreted when evaluating intervention programs? Simple random sampling, an alternative to subgroup review, overcomes the problems implied by these questions but is inefficient. The Self-Adapting Focused Review System (SAFRS), introduced and described here, provides an adaptive approach to record selection that is based upon model-weighted probability sampling. It retains the desirable inferential properties of random sampling while allowing reviews to be concentrated on cases currently thought most likely to be problematic. Model development and evaluation are illustrated using hospital data to predict inappropriate admissions.

De novo transcriptome assembly and analysis of differential gene expression in response to drought in European beech

PubMed Central

Seifert, Sarah; Lübbe, Torben; Leuschner, Christoph; Finkeldey, Reiner

2017-01-01

Despite the ecological and economic importance of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) genomic resources of this species are still limited. This hampers an understanding of the molecular basis of adaptation to stress. Since beech will most likely be threatened by the consequences of climate change, an understanding of adaptive processes to climate change-related drought stress is of major importance. Here, we used RNA-seq to provide the first drought stress-related transcriptome of beech. In a drought stress trial with beech saplings, 50 samples were taken for RNA extraction at five points in time during a soil desiccation experiment. De novo transcriptome assembly and analysis of differential gene expression revealed 44,335 contigs, and 662 differentially expressed genes between the stress and normally watered control group. Gene expression was specific to the different time points, and only five genes were significantly differentially expressed between the stress and control group on all five sampling days. GO term enrichment showed that mostly genes involved in lipid- and homeostasis-related processes were upregulated, whereas genes involved in oxidative stress response were downregulated in the stressed seedlings. This study gives first insights into the genomic drought stress response of European beech, and provides new genetic resources for adaptation research in this species. PMID:28873454

Estimation and Selection via Absolute Penalized Convex Minimization And Its Multistage Adaptive Applications

PubMed Central

Huang, Jian; Zhang, Cun-Hui

2013-01-01

The ℓ1-penalized method, or the Lasso, has emerged as an important tool for the analysis of large data sets. Many important results have been obtained for the Lasso in linear regression which have led to a deeper understanding of high-dimensional statistical problems. In this article, we consider a class of weighted ℓ1-penalized estimators for convex loss functions of a general form, including the generalized linear models. We study the estimation, prediction, selection and sparsity properties of the weighted ℓ1-penalized estimator in sparse, high-dimensional settings where the number of predictors p can be much larger than the sample size n. Adaptive Lasso is considered as a special case. A multistage method is developed to approximate concave regularized estimation by applying an adaptive Lasso recursively. We provide prediction and estimation oracle inequalities for single- and multi-stage estimators, a general selection consistency theorem, and an upper bound for the dimension of the Lasso estimator. Important models including the linear regression, logistic regression and log-linear models are used throughout to illustrate the applications of the general results. PMID:24348100

Probabilistic inference using linear Gaussian importance sampling for hybrid Bayesian networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Wei; Chang, K. C.

2005-05-01

Probabilistic inference for Bayesian networks is in general NP-hard using either exact algorithms or approximate methods. However, for very complex networks, only the approximate methods such as stochastic sampling could be used to provide a solution given any time constraint. There are several simulation methods currently available. They include logic sampling (the first proposed stochastic method for Bayesian networks, the likelihood weighting algorithm) the most commonly used simulation method because of its simplicity and efficiency, the Markov blanket scoring method, and the importance sampling algorithm. In this paper, we first briefly review and compare these available simulation methods, then we propose an improved importance sampling algorithm called linear Gaussian importance sampling algorithm for general hybrid model (LGIS). LGIS is aimed for hybrid Bayesian networks consisting of both discrete and continuous random variables with arbitrary distributions. It uses linear function and Gaussian additive noise to approximate the true conditional probability distribution for continuous variable given both its parents and evidence in a Bayesian network. One of the most important features of the newly developed method is that it can adaptively learn the optimal important function from the previous samples. We test the inference performance of LGIS using a 16-node linear Gaussian model and a 6-node general hybrid model. The performance comparison with other well-known methods such as Junction tree (JT) and likelihood weighting (LW) shows that LGIS-GHM is very promising.

Time-Varying, Multi-Scale Adaptive System Reliability Analysis of Lifeline Infrastructure Networks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gearhart, Jared Lee; Kurtz, Nolan Scot

2014-09-01

The majority of current societal and economic needs world-wide are met by the existing networked, civil infrastructure. Because the cost of managing such infrastructure is high and increases with time, risk-informed decision making is essential for those with management responsibilities for these systems. To address such concerns, a methodology that accounts for new information, deterioration, component models, component importance, group importance, network reliability, hierarchical structure organization, and efficiency concerns has been developed. This methodology analyzes the use of new information through the lens of adaptive Importance Sampling for structural reliability problems. Deterioration, multi-scale bridge models, and time-variant component importance aremore » investigated for a specific network. Furthermore, both bridge and pipeline networks are studied for group and component importance, as well as for hierarchical structures in the context of specific networks. Efficiency is the primary driver throughout this study. With this risk-informed approach, those responsible for management can address deteriorating infrastructure networks in an organized manner.« less

Assessing Adolescents' Attachment Hierarchies: Differences across Developmental Periods and Associations with Individual Adaptation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenthal, Natalie L.; Kobak, Roger

2010-01-01

Adolescents' attachment hierarchies were assessed in a sample of 212 high school and 198 college students. The Important People Interview (IPI) differentiated attachment bonds from other supportive or affiliative relationships and indicated that adolescents show a hierarchical ordering of preferences for multiple attachment figures. Differences in…

Solving delay differential equations in S-ADAPT by method of steps.

PubMed

Bauer, Robert J; Mo, Gary; Krzyzanski, Wojciech

2013-09-01

S-ADAPT is a version of the ADAPT program that contains additional simulation and optimization abilities such as parametric population analysis. S-ADAPT utilizes LSODA to solve ordinary differential equations (ODEs), an algorithm designed for large dimension non-stiff and stiff problems. However, S-ADAPT does not have a solver for delay differential equations (DDEs). Our objective was to implement in S-ADAPT a DDE solver using the methods of steps. The method of steps allows one to solve virtually any DDE system by transforming it to an ODE system. The solver was validated for scalar linear DDEs with one delay and bolus and infusion inputs for which explicit analytic solutions were derived. Solutions of nonlinear DDE problems coded in S-ADAPT were validated by comparing them with ones obtained by the MATLAB DDE solver dde23. The estimation of parameters was tested on the MATLB simulated population pharmacodynamics data. The comparison of S-ADAPT generated solutions for DDE problems with the explicit solutions as well as MATLAB produced solutions which agreed to at least 7 significant digits. The population parameter estimates from using importance sampling expectation-maximization in S-ADAPT agreed with ones used to generate the data. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

On an adaptive preconditioned Crank-Nicolson MCMC algorithm for infinite dimensional Bayesian inference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Zixi; Yao, Zhewei; Li, Jinglai

2017-03-01

Many scientific and engineering problems require to perform Bayesian inference for unknowns of infinite dimension. In such problems, many standard Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms become arbitrary slow under the mesh refinement, which is referred to as being dimension dependent. To this end, a family of dimensional independent MCMC algorithms, known as the preconditioned Crank-Nicolson (pCN) methods, were proposed to sample the infinite dimensional parameters. In this work we develop an adaptive version of the pCN algorithm, where the covariance operator of the proposal distribution is adjusted based on sampling history to improve the simulation efficiency. We show that the proposed algorithm satisfies an important ergodicity condition under some mild assumptions. Finally we provide numerical examples to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.

Climate variables explain neutral and adaptive variation within salmonid metapopulations: The importance of replication in landscape genetics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hand, Brian K.; Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Wade, Alisa A.; Kovach, Ryan; Whited, Diane C.; Narum, Shawn R.; Matala, Andrew P.; Ackerman, Michael W.; Garner, B. A.; Kimball, John S; Stanford, Jack A.; Luikart, Gordon

2016-01-01

Understanding how environmental variation influences population genetic structure is important for conservation management because it can reveal how human stressors influence population connectivity, genetic diversity and persistence. We used riverscape genetics modelling to assess whether climatic and habitat variables were related to neutral and adaptive patterns of genetic differentiation (population-specific and pairwise FST) within five metapopulations (79 populations, 4583 individuals) of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Columbia River Basin, USA. Using 151 putatively neutral and 29 candidate adaptive SNP loci, we found that climate-related variables (winter precipitation, summer maximum temperature, winter highest 5% flow events and summer mean flow) best explained neutral and adaptive patterns of genetic differentiation within metapopulations, suggesting that climatic variation likely influences both demography (neutral variation) and local adaptation (adaptive variation). However, we did not observe consistent relationships between climate variables and FST across all metapopulations, underscoring the need for replication when extrapolating results from one scale to another (e.g. basin-wide to the metapopulation scale). Sensitivity analysis (leave-one-population-out) revealed consistent relationships between climate variables and FST within three metapopulations; however, these patterns were not consistent in two metapopulations likely due to small sample sizes (N = 10). These results provide correlative evidence that climatic variation has shaped the genetic structure of steelhead populations and highlight the need for replication and sensitivity analyses in land and riverscape genetics.

An adaptive two-stage sequential design for sampling rare and clustered populations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, J.A.; Salehi, M.M.; Moradi, M.; Bell, G.; Smith, D.R.

2008-01-01

How to design an efficient large-area survey continues to be an interesting question for ecologists. In sampling large areas, as is common in environmental studies, adaptive sampling can be efficient because it ensures survey effort is targeted to subareas of high interest. In two-stage sampling, higher density primary sample units are usually of more interest than lower density primary units when populations are rare and clustered. Two-stage sequential sampling has been suggested as a method for allocating second stage sample effort among primary units. Here, we suggest a modification: adaptive two-stage sequential sampling. In this method, the adaptive part of the allocation process means the design is more flexible in how much extra effort can be directed to higher-abundance primary units. We discuss how best to design an adaptive two-stage sequential sample. ?? 2008 The Society of Population Ecology and Springer.

Emergence of the virulence-associated PB2 E627K substitution in a fatal human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A(H7N7) infection as determined by Illumina ultra-deep sequencing.

PubMed

Jonges, Marcel; Welkers, Matthijs R A; Jeeninga, Rienk E; Meijer, Adam; Schneeberger, Peter; Fouchier, Ron A M; de Jong, Menno D; Koopmans, Marion

2014-02-01

Avian influenza viruses are capable of crossing the species barrier and infecting humans. Although evidence of human-to-human transmission of avian influenza viruses to date is limited, evolution of variants toward more-efficient human-to-human transmission could result in a new influenza virus pandemic. In both the avian influenza A(H5N1) and the recently emerging avian influenza A(H7N9) viruses, the polymerase basic 2 protein (PB2) E627K mutation appears to be of key importance for human adaptation. During a large influenza A(H7N7) virus outbreak in the Netherlands in 2003, the A(H7N7) virus isolated from a fatal human case contained the PB2 E627K mutation as well as a hemagglutinin (HA) K416R mutation. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether these mutations occurred in the avian or the human host by Illumina Ultra-Deep sequencing of three previously uninvestigated clinical samples obtained from the fatal case. In addition, we investigated three chicken samples, two of which were obtained from the source farm. Results showed that the PB2 E627K mutation was not present in any of the chicken samples tested. Surprisingly, the avian samples were characterized by the presence of influenza virus defective RNA segments, suggestive for the synthesis of defective interfering viruses during infection in poultry. In the human samples, the PB2 E627K mutation was identified with increasing frequency during infection. Our results strongly suggest that human adaptation marker PB2 E627K has emerged during virus infection of a single human host, emphasizing the importance of reducing human exposure to avian influenza viruses to reduce the likelihood of viral adaptation to humans.

An adaptive sampling method for variable-fidelity surrogate models using improved hierarchical kriging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Jiexiang; Zhou, Qi; Jiang, Ping; Shao, Xinyu; Xie, Tingli

2018-01-01

Variable-fidelity (VF) modelling methods have been widely used in complex engineering system design to mitigate the computational burden. Building a VF model generally includes two parts: design of experiments and metamodel construction. In this article, an adaptive sampling method based on improved hierarchical kriging (ASM-IHK) is proposed to refine the improved VF model. First, an improved hierarchical kriging model is developed as the metamodel, in which the low-fidelity model is varied through a polynomial response surface function to capture the characteristics of a high-fidelity model. Secondly, to reduce local approximation errors, an active learning strategy based on a sequential sampling method is introduced to make full use of the already required information on the current sampling points and to guide the sampling process of the high-fidelity model. Finally, two numerical examples and the modelling of the aerodynamic coefficient for an aircraft are provided to demonstrate the approximation capability of the proposed approach, as well as three other metamodelling methods and two sequential sampling methods. The results show that ASM-IHK provides a more accurate metamodel at the same simulation cost, which is very important in metamodel-based engineering design problems.

Emotional suppression and breast cancer: validation research on the Spanish Adaptation of the Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS).

PubMed

Durá, Estrella; Andreu, Yolanda; Galdón, Maria José; Ibáñez, Elena; Pérez, Sandra; Ferrando, Maite; Murgui, Sergio; Martínez, Paula

2010-05-01

Emotional suppression has played an important role in the research on psychosocial factors related to cancer. It has been argued to be an important psychological factor predicting worse psychosocial adjustment in people with cancer and it may mediate health outcomes. The reference instrument in the research on emotional suppression is the Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS). The present study analysed construct validity of a new Spanish adaptation of the CECS in a sample of 175 breast cancer patients. The results confirmed the proposal by Watson and Greer claiming that the CECS is composed of three subscales that measure different dimensions, but not independent, from emotional control. The present Spanish version of the CECS showed high internal consistency in each subseale as well as the total score. According to Derogatis (BSI-18) criteria, emotional suppression predicts clinically significant distress. In short, our results support the reliability, validity and utility of this Spanish adaptation of the CECS in clinical and research settings.

The Impact of Biosampling Procedures on Molecular Data Interpretation*

PubMed Central

Sköld, Karl; Alm, Henrik; Scholz, Birger

2013-01-01

The separation between biological and technical variation without extensive use of technical replicates is often challenging, particularly in the context of different forms of protein and peptide modifications. Biosampling procedures in the research laboratory are easier to conduct within a shorter time frame and under controlled conditions as compared with clinical sampling, with the latter often having issues of reproducibility. But is the research laboratory biosampling really less variable? Biosampling introduces within minutes rapid tissue-specific changes in the cellular microenvironment, thus inducing a range of different pathways associated with cell survival. Biosampling involves hypoxia and, depending on the circumstances, hypothermia, circumstances for which there are evolutionarily conserved defense strategies in the range of species and also are relevant for the range of biomedical conditions. It remains unclear to what extent such adaptive processes are reflected in different biosampling procedures or how important they are for the definition of sample quality. Lately, an increasing number of comparative studies on different biosampling approaches, post-mortem effects and pre-sampling biological state, have investigated such immediate early biosampling effects. Commonalities between biosampling effects and a range of ischemia/reperfusion- and hypometabolism/anoxia-associated biological phenomena indicate that even small variations in post-sampling time intervals are likely to introduce a set of nonrandom and tissue-specific effects of experimental importance (both in vivo and in vitro). This review integrates the information provided by these comparative studies and discusses how an adaptive biological perspective in biosampling procedures may be relevant for sample quality issues. PMID:23382104

Research on the adaptation of skeletal muscle to hypogravity: Past and future directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riley, D. A.; Ellis, S.

Our current understanding of hypogravity-induced atrophy of skeletal muscles is based primarily on studies comparing pre- and post-flight properties of muscles. Interpretations are necessarily qualified by the assumption that the stress of reentry and readjustment to terrestrial gravity do not alter the parameters being analyzed. The neuromuscular system is highly responsive to changes in functional demands and capable of rapid adaptation, making this assumption questionable. A reexamination of the changes in the connective tissue and synaptic terminals of soleus muscles from rats orbited in biosatellites and sampled postflight indicates that these structural alterations represent adaptative responses of the atrophic muscles to the increased workload of returning to 1 G, rather than hypogravity per se. The atrophy of weightlessness is postulated to result because muscles are both underloaded and used less often. Proper testing of this hypothesis requires quantitation of muscle function by monitoring electromyography, force output and length changes during the flight. Experiments conducted in space laboratories, like those being developed for the Space Shuttle, will avoid the complications of reentry before tissue sampling and allow time course studies of the rate of development of adaptive changes to zero gravity. Another area of great importance for future studies of muscle atrophy is inflight measurement of plasma levels of hormones and tissue receptor levels. Glucocorticoids, thyroid hormone and insulin exert dramatic regulatory influences on muscle structure. Prevention of neuromuscular atrophy becomes increasingly more important as spaceflights increase in duration. Definition of the atrophic mechanism is essential to developing means of preventing neuromuscular atrophy.

Gradient-free MCMC methods for dynamic causal modelling

DOE PAGES

Sengupta, Biswa; Friston, Karl J.; Penny, Will D.

2015-03-14

Here, we compare the performance of four gradient-free MCMC samplers (random walk Metropolis sampling, slice-sampling, adaptive MCMC sampling and population-based MCMC sampling with tempering) in terms of the number of independent samples they can produce per unit computational time. For the Bayesian inversion of a single-node neural mass model, both adaptive and population-based samplers are more efficient compared with random walk Metropolis sampler or slice-sampling; yet adaptive MCMC sampling is more promising in terms of compute time. Slice-sampling yields the highest number of independent samples from the target density -- albeit at almost 1000% increase in computational time, in comparisonmore » to the most efficient algorithm (i.e., the adaptive MCMC sampler).« less

Successful adaption of a forensic toxicological screening workflow employing nontargeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to water analysis.

PubMed

Steger, Julia; Arnhard, Kathrin; Haslacher, Sandra; Geiger, Klemens; Singer, Klaus; Schlapp, Michael; Pitterl, Florian; Oberacher, Herbert

2016-04-01

Forensic toxicology and environmental water analysis share the common interest and responsibility in ensuring comprehensive and reliable confirmation of drugs and pharmaceutical compounds in samples analyzed. Dealing with similar analytes, detection and identification techniques should be exchangeable between scientific disciplines. Herein, we demonstrate the successful adaption of a forensic toxicological screening workflow employing nontargeted LC/MS/MS under data-dependent acquisition control and subsequent database search to water analysis. The main modification involved processing of an increased sample volume with SPE (500 mL vs. 1-10 mL) to reach LODs in the low ng/L range. Tandem mass spectra acquired with a qTOF instrument were submitted to database search. The targeted data mining strategy was found to be sensitive and specific; automated search produced hardly any false results. To demonstrate the applicability of the adapted workflow to complex samples, 14 wastewater effluent samples collected on seven consecutive days at the local wastewater-treatment plant were analyzed. Of the 88,970 fragment ion mass spectra produced, 8.8% of spectra were successfully assigned to one of the 1040 reference compounds included in the database, and this enabled the identification of 51 compounds representing important illegal drugs, members of various pharmaceutical compound classes, and metabolites thereof. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Adaptation of ATI-R Scale to Turkish Samples: Validity and Reliability Analyses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tezci, Erdogan

2017-01-01

Teachers' teaching approaches have become an important issue in the search of quality in education and teaching because of their effect on students' learning. Improvements in teachers' knowledge and awareness of their own teaching approaches enable them to adopt teaching process in accordance with their students' learning styles. The Approaches to…

Bayesian Analysis for Exponential Random Graph Models Using the Adaptive Exchange Sampler.

PubMed

Jin, Ick Hoon; Yuan, Ying; Liang, Faming

2013-10-01

Exponential random graph models have been widely used in social network analysis. However, these models are extremely difficult to handle from a statistical viewpoint, because of the intractable normalizing constant and model degeneracy. In this paper, we consider a fully Bayesian analysis for exponential random graph models using the adaptive exchange sampler, which solves the intractable normalizing constant and model degeneracy issues encountered in Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations. The adaptive exchange sampler can be viewed as a MCMC extension of the exchange algorithm, and it generates auxiliary networks via an importance sampling procedure from an auxiliary Markov chain running in parallel. The convergence of this algorithm is established under mild conditions. The adaptive exchange sampler is illustrated using a few social networks, including the Florentine business network, molecule synthetic network, and dolphins network. The results indicate that the adaptive exchange algorithm can produce more accurate estimates than approximate exchange algorithms, while maintaining the same computational efficiency.

The New Weather Radar for America's Space Program in Florida: A Temperature Profile Adaptive Scan Strategy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carey, L. D.; Petersen, W. A.; Deierling, W.; Roeder, W. P.

2009-01-01

A new weather radar is being acquired for use in support of America s space program at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, NASA Kennedy Space Center, and Patrick AFB on the east coast of central Florida. This new radar replaces the modified WSR-74C at Patrick AFB that has been in use since 1984. The new radar is a Radtec TDR 43-250, which has Doppler and dual polarization capability. A new fixed scan strategy was designed to best support the space program. The fixed scan strategy represents a complex compromise between many competing factors and relies on climatological heights of various temperatures that are important for improved lightning forecasting and evaluation of Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (LCC), which are the weather rules to avoid lightning strikes to in-flight rockets. The 0 C to -20 C layer is vital since most generation of electric charge occurs within it and so it is critical in evaluating Lightning LCC and in forecasting lightning. These are two of the most important duties of 45 WS. While the fixed scan strategy that covers most of the climatological variation of the 0 C to -20 C levels with high resolution ensures that these critical temperatures are well covered most of the time, it also means that on any particular day the radar is spending precious time scanning at angles covering less important heights. The goal of this project is to develop a user-friendly, Interactive Data Language (IDL) computer program that will automatically generate optimized radar scan strategies that adapt to user input of the temperature profile and other important parameters. By using only the required scan angles output by the temperature profile adaptive scan strategy program, faster update times for volume scans and/or collection of more samples per gate for better data quality is possible, while maintaining high resolution at the critical temperature levels. The temperature profile adaptive technique will also take into account earth curvature and refraction when geo-locating the radar beam (i.e., beam height and arc distance), including non-standard refraction based on the user-input temperature profile. In addition to temperature profile adaptivity, this paper will also summarize the other requirements for this scan strategy program such as detection of low-level boundaries, detection of anvil clouds, reducing the Cone Of Silence, and allowing for times when deep convective clouds will not occur. The adaptive technique will be carefully compared to and benchmarked against the new fixed scan strategy. Specific environmental scenarios in which the adaptive scan strategy is able to optimize and improve coverage and resolution at critical heights, scan time, and/or sample numbers relative to the fixed scan strategy will be presented.

The technological influence on health professionals' care: translation and adaptation of scales1

PubMed Central

Almeida, Carlos Manuel Torres; Almeida, Filipe Nuno Alves dos Santos; Escola, Joaquim José Jacinto; Rodrigues, Vitor Manuel Costa Pereira

2016-01-01

Objectives: in this study, two research tools were validated to study the impact of technological influence on health professionals' care practice. Methods: the following methodological steps were taken: bibliographic review, selection of the scales, translation and cultural adaptation and analysis of psychometric properties. Results: the psychometric properties of the scale were assessed based on its application to a sample of 341 individuals (nurses, physicians, final-year nursing and medical students). The validity, reliability and internal consistency were tested. Two scales were found: Caring Attributes Questionnaire (adapted) with a Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of 0.647 and the Technological Influence Questionnaire (adapted) with an Alpha coefficient of 0.777. Conclusions: the scales are easy to apply and reveal reliable psychometric properties, an additional quality as they permit generalized studies on a theme as important as the impact of technological influence in health care. PMID:27143537

Convergent evolution and adaptation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa within patients with cystic fibrosis.

PubMed

Marvig, Rasmus Lykke; Sommer, Lea Mette; Molin, Søren; Johansen, Helle Krogh

2015-01-01

Little is known about how within-host evolution compares between genotypically different strains of the same pathogenic species. We sequenced the whole genomes of 474 longitudinally collected clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa sampled from 34 children and young individuals with cystic fibrosis. Our analysis of 36 P. aeruginosa lineages identified convergent molecular evolution in 52 genes. This list of genes suggests a role in host adaptation for remodeling of regulatory networks and central metabolism, acquisition of antibiotic resistance and loss of extracellular virulence factors. Furthermore, we find an ordered succession of mutations in key regulatory networks. Accordingly, mutations in downstream transcriptional regulators were contingent upon mutations in upstream regulators, suggesting that remodeling of regulatory networks might be important in adaptation. The characterization of genes involved in host adaptation may help in predicting bacterial evolution in patients with cystic fibrosis and in the design of future intervention strategies.

[Questionnaire to evaluate the importance of the family in nursing care. Validation of the Spanish version (FINC-NA)].

PubMed

Pascual Fernández, M C; Ignacio Cerro, M C; Cervantes Estévez, L; Jiménez Carrascosa, M A; Medina Torres, M; García Pozo, A M

2015-01-01

The nursing profession is focused on patient care, without forgetting that patients are part of a social group, the family. The aim of this study was the adaptation of the "Families' Importance in Nursing Care-Nurses' Attitudes" (FINC-NA) scale to the Spanish language and its validation. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out, using the bidirectional translation method for linguistic-cultural adaptation. It was applied to the nursing staff in the Paediatric Department of a University Hospital in Madrid. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version, reliability, internal consistence and construct validity were calculated. The sample consisted of 274 professionals. Cronbach´s Alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.864, oscillating between 0.888 and 0.769 in the subscales. The principal components factor analysis identified 4 factors, which explained 54.22% of total variance. The new instrument makes it possible to determine the importance nurses give to participation by family members and their attitude to involving the latter in patient care, and the possibility of involving them in planning. It has been adapted to the Spanish population with good psychometrics results and enough evidence for its use in this context.

Gradient-free MCMC methods for dynamic causal modelling.

PubMed

Sengupta, Biswa; Friston, Karl J; Penny, Will D

2015-05-15

In this technical note we compare the performance of four gradient-free MCMC samplers (random walk Metropolis sampling, slice-sampling, adaptive MCMC sampling and population-based MCMC sampling with tempering) in terms of the number of independent samples they can produce per unit computational time. For the Bayesian inversion of a single-node neural mass model, both adaptive and population-based samplers are more efficient compared with random walk Metropolis sampler or slice-sampling; yet adaptive MCMC sampling is more promising in terms of compute time. Slice-sampling yields the highest number of independent samples from the target density - albeit at almost 1000% increase in computational time, in comparison to the most efficient algorithm (i.e., the adaptive MCMC sampler). Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Structural system reliability calculation using a probabilistic fault tree analysis method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torng, T. Y.; Wu, Y.-T.; Millwater, H. R.

1992-01-01

The development of a new probabilistic fault tree analysis (PFTA) method for calculating structural system reliability is summarized. The proposed PFTA procedure includes: developing a fault tree to represent the complex structural system, constructing an approximation function for each bottom event, determining a dominant sampling sequence for all bottom events, and calculating the system reliability using an adaptive importance sampling method. PFTA is suitable for complicated structural problems that require computer-intensive computer calculations. A computer program has been developed to implement the PFTA.

Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in a French-Speaking Swiss Sample: Psychometric Properties and Relationships to Personality and Work Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossier, Jerome; Zecca, Gregory; Stauffer, Sarah D.; Maggiori, Christian; Dauwalder, Jean-Pierre

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) in a French-speaking Swiss sample and its relationship with personality dimensions and work engagement. The heterogeneous sample of 391 participants (M[subscript age] = 39.59, SD = 12.30) completed the CAAS-International and a short version…

Context-aware adaptive spelling in motor imagery BCI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perdikis, S.; Leeb, R.; Millán, J. d. R.

2016-06-01

Objective. This work presents a first motor imagery-based, adaptive brain-computer interface (BCI) speller, which is able to exploit application-derived context for improved, simultaneous classifier adaptation and spelling. Online spelling experiments with ten able-bodied users evaluate the ability of our scheme, first, to alleviate non-stationarity of brain signals for restoring the subject’s performances, second, to guide naive users into BCI control avoiding initial offline BCI calibration and, third, to outperform regular unsupervised adaptation. Approach. Our co-adaptive framework combines the BrainTree speller with smooth-batch linear discriminant analysis adaptation. The latter enjoys contextual assistance through BrainTree’s language model to improve online expectation-maximization maximum-likelihood estimation. Main results. Our results verify the possibility to restore single-sample classification and BCI command accuracy, as well as spelling speed for expert users. Most importantly, context-aware adaptation performs significantly better than its unsupervised equivalent and similar to the supervised one. Although no significant differences are found with respect to the state-of-the-art PMean approach, the proposed algorithm is shown to be advantageous for 30% of the users. Significance. We demonstrate the possibility to circumvent supervised BCI recalibration, saving time without compromising the adaptation quality. On the other hand, we show that this type of classifier adaptation is not as efficient for BCI training purposes.

Context-aware adaptive spelling in motor imagery BCI.

PubMed

Perdikis, S; Leeb, R; Millán, J D R

2016-06-01

This work presents a first motor imagery-based, adaptive brain-computer interface (BCI) speller, which is able to exploit application-derived context for improved, simultaneous classifier adaptation and spelling. Online spelling experiments with ten able-bodied users evaluate the ability of our scheme, first, to alleviate non-stationarity of brain signals for restoring the subject's performances, second, to guide naive users into BCI control avoiding initial offline BCI calibration and, third, to outperform regular unsupervised adaptation. Our co-adaptive framework combines the BrainTree speller with smooth-batch linear discriminant analysis adaptation. The latter enjoys contextual assistance through BrainTree's language model to improve online expectation-maximization maximum-likelihood estimation. Our results verify the possibility to restore single-sample classification and BCI command accuracy, as well as spelling speed for expert users. Most importantly, context-aware adaptation performs significantly better than its unsupervised equivalent and similar to the supervised one. Although no significant differences are found with respect to the state-of-the-art PMean approach, the proposed algorithm is shown to be advantageous for 30% of the users. We demonstrate the possibility to circumvent supervised BCI recalibration, saving time without compromising the adaptation quality. On the other hand, we show that this type of classifier adaptation is not as efficient for BCI training purposes.

[Adaptation and psychometric proprieties study for the Portuguese version of the Adolescent Coping Scale - Escala de Coping para Adolescentes].

PubMed

Guerreiro, Diogo Frasquilho; Cruz, Diana; Figueira, Maria Luísa; Sampaio, Daniel

2014-01-01

Coping is a psychological process that prompts the individual to adapt to stressful situations. The Adolescent Coping Scale is a widely used research and clinical tool. This study aimed to develop a Portuguese version of the Adolescent Coping Scale and to analyze the strategies and coping styles of young people in our sample. An anonymous questionnaire comprising the Adolescent Coping Scale was submitted and replied by 1 713 students (56% female, from 12 to 20 years, average age 16) The validity study of the scale included: principal component and reliability analysis; confirmatory analysis using structural equation modelling Subsequently, a gender comparison of both the strategies and the coping styles was conducted through independent samples t tests. The final structure of the Adolescent Coping Scale adaptation retained 70 items assessing 16 coping strategies grouped into three major styles. The scales showed good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha values between 0.63. and 0.86, with the exception of one dimension that as shown a value of 0.55) and the confirmatory model showed a good fit (goodness of fit index values between 0.94 e 0.96). Two coping strategies were eliminated on statistical grounds (insufficient saturations of items in the corresponding dimensions). We found that the style of coping focused on problem solving is the most used by youths from our sample, in both sexes. Females had higher mean values in non-productive coping style and reference to others. This adapted version has high similarity with the original scale, with expectable minor changes, given that coping is influenced by cultural, geographical and socio-economic variables. The present study represents an important part of the validation protocol Portuguese Adolescent Coping Scale, including its linguistic adaptation and its internal consistency and factor structure studies.

Brief report: Poor self-regulation as a predictor of individual differences in adaptive functioning in young children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Uljarević, Mirko; Hedley, Darren; Nevill, Rose; Evans, David W; Cai, Ru Ying; Butter, Eric; Mulick, James A

2018-04-06

The present study examined the link between poor self-regulation (measured by the child behavior checklist dysregulated profile [DP]) and core autism symptoms, as well as with developmental level, in a sample of 107 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 19-46 months. We further examined the utility of DP in predicting individual differences in adaptive functioning, relative to the influence of ASD severity, chronological age (CA), and developmental level. Poor self-regulation was unrelated to CA, developmental level, and severity of ADOS-2 restricted and repetitive behaviors, but was associated with lower ADOS-2 social affect severity. Hierarchical regression identified poor self-regulation as a unique independent predictor of adaptive behavior, with more severe dysregulation predicting poorer adaptive functioning. Results highlight the importance of early identification of deficits in self-regulation, and more specifically, of the utility of DP, when designing individually tailored treatments for young children with ASD. Autism Res 2018. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This study explored the relationship between poor self-regulation and age, verbal and non-verbal developmental level, severity of autism symptoms and adaptive functioning in 107 children with autism under 4 years of age. Poor self-regulation was unrelated to age, developmental level, and severity of restricted and repetitive behaviors but was associated with lower social affect severity. Importantly, more severe self-regulation deficits predicted poorer adaptive functioning. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Adaptive functioning and depressive symptoms in school-aged children.

PubMed

Chang, Hsiu-Ju; Zauszniewski, Jaclene A; Heinzer, Marjorie M; Musil, Carol M; Tsai, Wen-Che

2007-12-01

This paper is a report of a secondary data analysis to the hypothesis that a child's resourcefulness moderates the relationships between the primary female caregiver's variables (depressive symptoms and learned resourcefulness) and the child's outcomes (depressive symptoms and adaptive functioning). School-aged children between 10 and 12 years of age are at an important stage of development characterized by dramatic biological and psychosocial challenges. Maladaptive functioning and depressive symptoms increase markedly in this stage. To prevent long-term effects of depressive symptoms and impaired adaptive functioning, identifying moderators of the relationship between stress and these mental health indicators is critical. A secondary analysis was conducted in 2004 using the data obtained in 2000 from a community-based sample of 122 school students aged 10-12 years and their primary female caregivers in four suburban public schools in Northeastern Ohio. Instruments included the Self-Control Schedule, Beck Depression Inventory, the Children's version of the Self-Control Schedule, the Children's Community Living Skills Scale, and the Children's Depression Inventory. Children's resourcefulness significantly moderated the relationship between their female caregiver's depressive symptoms and their own adaptive functioning (P<0.01). Children's resourcefulness had a statistically significant impact on depressive symptoms and adaptive functioning (P<0.001). The key to reducing depressive symptoms and enhancing adaptive functioning among middle school children is to build their resourcefulness skills, especially in children whose female caregivers are depressed. This is an important role for school nurses.

Utility of the Mayo-Portland adaptability inventory-4 for self-reported outcomes in a military sample with traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Kean, Jacob; Malec, James F; Cooper, Douglas B; Bowles, Amy O

2013-12-01

To investigate the psychometric properties of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-4 (MPAI-4) obtained by self-report in a large sample of active duty military personnel with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Consecutive cohort who completed the MPAI-4 as a part of a larger battery of clinical outcome measures at the time of intake to an outpatient brain injury clinic. Medical center. Consecutively referred sample of active duty military personnel (N=404) who suffered predominantly mild (n=355), but also moderate (n=37) and severe (n=12), TBI. Not applicable. MPAI-4 RESULTS: Initial factor analysis suggested 2 salient dimensions. In subsequent analysis, the ratio of the first and second eigenvalues (6.84:1) and parallel analysis indicated sufficient unidimensionality in 26 retained items. Iterative Rasch analysis resulted in the rescaling of the measure and the removal of 5 additional items for poor fit. The items of the final 21-item Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-military were locally independent, demonstrated monotonically increasing responses, adequately fit the item response model, and permitted the identification of nearly 5 statistically distinct levels of disability in the study population. Slight mistargeting of the population resulted in the global outcome, as measured by the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-military, tending to be less reflective of very mild levels of disability. These data collected in a relatively large sample of active duty service members with TBI provide insight into the ability of patients to self-report functional impairment and the distinct effects of military deployment on outcome, providing important guidance for the meaningful measurement of outcome in this population. Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adaptive web sampling.

PubMed

Thompson, Steven K

2006-12-01

A flexible class of adaptive sampling designs is introduced for sampling in network and spatial settings. In the designs, selections are made sequentially with a mixture distribution based on an active set that changes as the sampling progresses, using network or spatial relationships as well as sample values. The new designs have certain advantages compared with previously existing adaptive and link-tracing designs, including control over sample sizes and of the proportion of effort allocated to adaptive selections. Efficient inference involves averaging over sample paths consistent with the minimal sufficient statistic. A Markov chain resampling method makes the inference computationally feasible. The designs are evaluated in network and spatial settings using two empirical populations: a hidden human population at high risk for HIV/AIDS and an unevenly distributed bird population.

Introduction beyond a species range: a relationship between population origin, adaptive potential and plant performance.

PubMed

Volis, S; Ormanbekova, D; Yermekbayev, K; Song, M; Shulgina, I

2014-09-01

The adaptive potential of a population defines its importance for species survival in changing environmental conditions such as global climate change. Very few empirical studies have examined adaptive potential across species' ranges, namely, of edge vs core populations, and we are unaware of a study that has tested adaptive potential (namely, variation in adaptive traits) and measured performance of such populations in conditions not currently experienced by the species but expected in the future. Here we report the results of a Triticum dicoccoides population study that employed transplant experiments and analysis of quantitative trait variation. Two populations at the opposite edges of the species range (1) were locally adapted; (2) had lower adaptive potential (inferred from the extent of genetic quantitative trait variation) than the two core populations; and (3) were outperformed by the plants from the core population in the novel environment. The fact that plants from the species arid edge performed worse than plants from the more mesic core in extreme drought conditions beyond the present climatic envelope of the species implies that usage of peripheral populations for conservation purposes must be based on intensive sampling of among-population variation.

Adaptive Oceanographic Sampling in a Coastal Environment Using Autonomous Gliding Vehicles

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-08-01

cost autonomous vehicles with near-global range and modular sensor payload. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of adaptive sampling...environment. Secondary objectives include continued development of adaptive sampling strategies suitable for large fleets of slow-moving autonomous ... vehicles , and development and implementation of new oceanographic sensors and sampling methodologies. The main task completed was a complete redesign of

Adaptive polynomial chaos techniques for uncertainty quantification of a gas cooled fast reactor transient

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Perko, Z.; Gilli, L.; Lathouwers, D.

2013-07-01

Uncertainty quantification plays an increasingly important role in the nuclear community, especially with the rise of Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty methodologies. Sensitivity analysis, surrogate models, Monte Carlo sampling and several other techniques can be used to propagate input uncertainties. In recent years however polynomial chaos expansion has become a popular alternative providing high accuracy at affordable computational cost. This paper presents such polynomial chaos (PC) methods using adaptive sparse grids and adaptive basis set construction, together with an application to a Gas Cooled Fast Reactor transient. Comparison is made between a new sparse grid algorithm and the traditionally used techniquemore » proposed by Gerstner. An adaptive basis construction method is also introduced and is proved to be advantageous both from an accuracy and a computational point of view. As a demonstration the uncertainty quantification of a 50% loss of flow transient in the GFR2400 Gas Cooled Fast Reactor design was performed using the CATHARE code system. The results are compared to direct Monte Carlo sampling and show the superior convergence and high accuracy of the polynomial chaos expansion. Since PC techniques are easy to implement, they can offer an attractive alternative to traditional techniques for the uncertainty quantification of large scale problems. (authors)« less

Conceptual Abilities of Children with Mild Intellectual Disability: Analysis of Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gligorovic, Milica; Buha, Natasa

2013-01-01

Background: The ability to generate and flexibly change concepts is of great importance for the development of academic and adaptive skills. This paper analyses the conceptual reasoning ability of children with mild intellectual disability (MID) by their achievements on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Method: The sample consisted of 95…

Conjoint Analysis of Study Abroad Preferences: Key Attributes, Segments and Implications for Increasing Student Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garver, Michael S.; Divine, Richard L.

2008-01-01

An adaptive conjoint analysis was performed on the study abroad preferences of a sample of undergraduate college students. The results indicate that trip location, cost, and time spent abroad are the three most important determinants of student preference for different study abroad trip scenarios. The analysis also uncovered four different study…

Adaptive Learning and Risk Taking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denrell, Jerker

2007-01-01

Humans and animals learn from experience by reducing the probability of sampling alternatives with poor past outcomes. Using simulations, J. G. March (1996) illustrated how such adaptive sampling could lead to risk-averse as well as risk-seeking behavior. In this article, the author develops a formal theory of how adaptive sampling influences risk…

Definitions of homework, types of homework, and ratings of the importance of homework among psychologists with cognitive behavior therapy and psychoanalytic theoretical orientations.

PubMed

Kazantzis, Nikolaos; Dattilio, Frank M

2010-07-01

A random sample of 827 psychologists were surveyed to assess their definitions of homework, use of homework tasks, and perceived importance of homework. Theoretical orientation distinguished practitioners' responses. Cognitive-behavioral therapists defined homework as being closer to empirically supported therapy, whereas psychodynamic therapists rated homework as less characteristic of a process that embraces client responsibility and adaptive skills. Cognitive-behavior therapists did not limit their choices to activity-based tasks, and psychodynamic therapists reported using behavioral tasks "sometimes." Monitoring dreams and conscious thought were also used among the entire sample surveyed. Psychodynamic therapists rated homework as "somewhat" or "moderately" important, whereas cognitive-behavior therapists more often rated homework as "very important." Data suggest some homework may be common to different psychotherapeutic approaches. Findings are discussed in the context of recent theoretical work on homework in psychotherapy and recommendations for future research.

Robust online tracking via adaptive samples selection with saliency detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Jia; Chen, Xi; Zhu, QiuPing

2013-12-01

Online tracking has shown to be successful in tracking of previously unknown objects. However, there are two important factors which lead to drift problem of online tracking, the one is how to select the exact labeled samples even when the target locations are inaccurate, and the other is how to handle the confusors which have similar features with the target. In this article, we propose a robust online tracking algorithm with adaptive samples selection based on saliency detection to overcome the drift problem. To deal with the problem of degrading the classifiers using mis-aligned samples, we introduce the saliency detection method to our tracking problem. Saliency maps and the strong classifiers are combined to extract the most correct positive samples. Our approach employs a simple yet saliency detection algorithm based on image spectral residual analysis. Furthermore, instead of using the random patches as the negative samples, we propose a reasonable selection criterion, in which both the saliency confidence and similarity are considered with the benefits that confusors in the surrounding background are incorporated into the classifiers update process before the drift occurs. The tracking task is formulated as a binary classification via online boosting framework. Experiment results in several challenging video sequences demonstrate the accuracy and stability of our tracker.

A Structure-Adaptive Hybrid RBF-BP Classifier with an Optimized Learning Strategy

PubMed Central

Wen, Hui; Xie, Weixin; Pei, Jihong

2016-01-01

This paper presents a structure-adaptive hybrid RBF-BP (SAHRBF-BP) classifier with an optimized learning strategy. SAHRBF-BP is composed of a structure-adaptive RBF network and a BP network of cascade, where the number of RBF hidden nodes is adjusted adaptively according to the distribution of sample space, the adaptive RBF network is used for nonlinear kernel mapping and the BP network is used for nonlinear classification. The optimized learning strategy is as follows: firstly, a potential function is introduced into training sample space to adaptively determine the number of initial RBF hidden nodes and node parameters, and a form of heterogeneous samples repulsive force is designed to further optimize each generated RBF hidden node parameters, the optimized structure-adaptive RBF network is used for adaptively nonlinear mapping the sample space; then, according to the number of adaptively generated RBF hidden nodes, the number of subsequent BP input nodes can be determined, and the overall SAHRBF-BP classifier is built up; finally, different training sample sets are used to train the BP network parameters in SAHRBF-BP. Compared with other algorithms applied to different data sets, experiments show the superiority of SAHRBF-BP. Especially on most low dimensional and large number of data sets, the classification performance of SAHRBF-BP outperforms other training SLFNs algorithms. PMID:27792737

Salinity Is an Agent of Divergent Selection Driving Local Adaptation of Arabidopsis to Coastal Habitats1[OPEN

PubMed Central

Teres, Joana; Bomblies, Kirsten; Douglas, Alex; Salt, David E.

2015-01-01

Understanding the molecular mechanism of adaptive evolution in plants provides insights into the selective forces driving adaptation and the genetic basis of adaptive traits with agricultural value. The genomic resources available for Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) make it well suited to the rapid molecular dissection of adaptive processes. Although numerous potentially adaptive loci have been identified in Arabidopsis, the consequences of divergent selection and migration (both important aspects of the process of local adaptation) for Arabidopsis are not well understood. Here, we use a multiyear field-based reciprocal transplant experiment to detect local populations of Arabidopsis composed of multiple small stands of plants (demes) that are locally adapted to the coast and adjacent inland habitats in northeastern Spain. We identify fitness tradeoffs between plants from these different habitats when grown together in inland and coastal common gardens and also, under controlled conditions in soil excavated from coastal and inland sites. Plants from the coastal habitat also outperform those from inland when grown under high salinity, indicating local adaptation to soil salinity. Sodium can be toxic to plants, and we find its concentration to be elevated in soil and plants sampled at the coast. We conclude that the local adaptation that we observe between adjacent coastal and inland populations is caused by ongoing divergent selection driven by the differential salinity between coastal and inland soils. PMID:26034264

Lateral Coherence and Mixing in the Coastal Ocean: Adaptive Sampling using Gliders

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-30

Adaptive Sampling using Gliders R. Kipp Shearman Jonathan D. Nash James N. Moum John A. Barth College of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences Oregon State...persistent on O (3 day) timescales, so are ideally suited to be adaptively sampled by autonomous gliders that actively report both turbulent and...plan to deploy 4 AUV gliders to perform intensive, adaptive surveys. Newly-enhanced to measure turbulent mixing, water-column currents and dye

Lateral Coherence and Mixing in the Coastal Ocean: Adaptive Sampling using Gliders

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-30

Coherence and Mixing in the Coastal Ocean: Adaptive Sampling using Gliders R. Kipp Shearman Jonathan D. Nash James N. Moum John A. Barth College of...These structures evolve yet are often persistent on O (3 day) timescales, so are ideally suited to be adaptively sampled by autonomous gliders that...processes driving lateral dispersion, we plan to deploy 4 AUV gliders to perform intensive, adaptive surveys. Newly-enhanced to measure turbulent mixing

Two-stage sequential sampling: A neighborhood-free adaptive sampling procedure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Salehi, M.; Smith, D.R.

2005-01-01

Designing an efficient sampling scheme for a rare and clustered population is a challenging area of research. Adaptive cluster sampling, which has been shown to be viable for such a population, is based on sampling a neighborhood of units around a unit that meets a specified condition. However, the edge units produced by sampling neighborhoods have proven to limit the efficiency and applicability of adaptive cluster sampling. We propose a sampling design that is adaptive in the sense that the final sample depends on observed values, but it avoids the use of neighborhoods and the sampling of edge units. Unbiased estimators of population total and its variance are derived using Murthy's estimator. The modified two-stage sampling design is easy to implement and can be applied to a wider range of populations than adaptive cluster sampling. We evaluate the proposed sampling design by simulating sampling of two real biological populations and an artificial population for which the variable of interest took the value either 0 or 1 (e.g., indicating presence and absence of a rare event). We show that the proposed sampling design is more efficient than conventional sampling in nearly all cases. The approach used to derive estimators (Murthy's estimator) opens the door for unbiased estimators to be found for similar sequential sampling designs. ?? 2005 American Statistical Association and the International Biometric Society.

Small RNA Library Preparation Method for Next-Generation Sequencing Using Chemical Modifications to Prevent Adapter Dimer Formation.

PubMed

Shore, Sabrina; Henderson, Jordana M; Lebedev, Alexandre; Salcedo, Michelle P; Zon, Gerald; McCaffrey, Anton P; Paul, Natasha; Hogrefe, Richard I

2016-01-01

For most sample types, the automation of RNA and DNA sample preparation workflows enables high throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation. Greater adoption of small RNA (sRNA) sequencing has been hindered by high sample input requirements and inherent ligation side products formed during library preparation. These side products, known as adapter dimer, are very similar in size to the tagged library. Most sRNA library preparation strategies thus employ a gel purification step to isolate tagged library from adapter dimer contaminants. At very low sample inputs, adapter dimer side products dominate the reaction and limit the sensitivity of this technique. Here we address the need for improved specificity of sRNA library preparation workflows with a novel library preparation approach that uses modified adapters to suppress adapter dimer formation. This workflow allows for lower sample inputs and elimination of the gel purification step, which in turn allows for an automatable sRNA library preparation protocol.

Enhanced and effective conformational sampling of protein molecular systems for their free energy landscapes.

PubMed

Higo, Junichi; Ikebe, Jinzen; Kamiya, Narutoshi; Nakamura, Haruki

2012-03-01

Protein folding and protein-ligand docking have long persisted as important subjects in biophysics. Using multicanonical molecular dynamics (McMD) simulations with realistic expressions, i.e., all-atom protein models and an explicit solvent, free-energy landscapes have been computed for several systems, such as the folding of peptides/proteins composed of a few amino acids up to nearly 60 amino-acid residues, protein-ligand interactions, and coupled folding and binding of intrinsically disordered proteins. Recent progress in conformational sampling and its applications to biophysical systems are reviewed in this report, including descriptions of several outstanding studies. In addition, an algorithm and detailed procedures used for multicanonical sampling are presented along with the methodology of adaptive umbrella sampling. Both methods control the simulation so that low-probability regions along a reaction coordinate are sampled frequently. The reaction coordinate is the potential energy for multicanonical sampling and is a structural identifier for adaptive umbrella sampling. One might imagine that this probability control invariably enhances conformational transitions among distinct stable states, but this study examines the enhanced conformational sampling of a simple system and shows that reasonably well-controlled sampling slows the transitions. This slowing is induced by a rapid change of entropy along the reaction coordinate. We then provide a recipe to speed up the sampling by loosening the rapid change of entropy. Finally, we report all-atom McMD simulation results of various biophysical systems in an explicit solvent.

Autosomal and Mitochondrial Adaptation Following Admixture: A Case Study on the Honeybees of Reunion Island

PubMed Central

Wragg, David; Techer, Maéva Angélique; Canale-Tabet, Kamila; Basso, Benjamin; Bidanel, Jean-Pierre; Labarthe, Emmanuelle; Bouchez, Olivier; Le Conte, Yves; Clémencet, Johanna; Delatte, Hélène

2018-01-01

Abstract The honeybee population of the tropical Reunion Island is a genetic admixture of the Apis mellifera unicolor subspecies, originally described in Madagascar, and of European subspecies, mainly A. m. carnica and A. m. ligustica, regularly imported to the island since the late 19th century. We took advantage of this population to study genetic admixing of the tropical-adapted indigenous and temperate-adapted European genetic backgrounds. Whole genome sequencing of 30 workers and 6 males from Reunion, compared with samples from Europe, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rodrigues, and the Seychelles, revealed the Reunion honeybee population to be composed on an average of 53.2 ± 5.9% A. m. unicolor nuclear genomic background, the rest being mainly composed of A. m. carnica and to a lesser extent A. m. ligustica. In striking contrast to this, only 1 out of the 36 honeybees from Reunion had a mitochondrial genome of European origin, suggesting selection has favored the A. m. unicolor mitotype, which is possibly better adapted to the island’s bioclimate. Local ancestry was determined along the chromosomes for all Reunion samples, and a test for preferential selection for the A. m. unicolor or European background revealed 15 regions significantly associated with the A. m. unicolor lineage and 9 regions with the European lineage. Our results provide insights into the long-term consequences of introducing exotic specimen on the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of locally adapted populations. PMID:29202174

Collections of human biological samples for scientific purposes. Why do current regulation need to be clarified and how?

PubMed

Deplanque, Dominique; Birraux, Guillaume; Bertoye, Pierre-Henri; Postaire, Eric

2009-01-01

The collection of human biological samples is of major importance for future research in France and Europe. In recent years, new regulatory procedures have been designed to monitor these activities; but they are somewhat complex and some clarifications are needed. The law needs also to be amended. The definition of biobanking activities should be clarified, and regulatory procedures, including consultation of the Ethics Committee, declarations to the Ministry of Research and the protection of personal data, should be simplified. It is also of great importance to correctly define the modalities in which Biobanks are granted their authorisations. The role of Ethics Committees regarding the evaluation of information and the consent procedures should also be clarified, particularly when samples from children are used, or when the samples are used for genetic analyses. As well as scientific and public health aspects, the storage of human biological samples may also have important economic consequences. It is hence crucial to adapt the procedure for submitting patents, particularly when several public or private partners are working together. The possible changes to both French and European laws planned in the next months would be an ideal time to introduce these changes.

Academic Motivation Scale: adaptation and psychometric analyses for high school and college students.

PubMed

Stover, Juliana Beatriz; de la Iglesia, Guadalupe; Boubeta, Antonio Rial; Liporace, Mercedes Fernández

2012-01-01

The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS), supported in Self-Determination Theory, has been applied in recent decades as well in high school as in college education. Although several versions in Spanish are available, the underlying linguistic and cultural differences raise important issues when they are applied to Latin-American population. Consequently an adapted version of the AMS was developed, and its construct validity was analyzed in Argentine students. Results obtained on a sample that included 723 students from Buenos Aires (393 high school and 330 college students) verified adequate psychometric properties in this new version, solving some controversies regarded to its dimensionality.

Academic Motivation Scale: adaptation and psychometric analyses for high school and college students

PubMed Central

Stover, Juliana Beatriz; de la Iglesia, Guadalupe; Boubeta, Antonio Rial; Liporace, Mercedes Fernández

2012-01-01

The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS), supported in Self-Determination Theory, has been applied in recent decades as well in high school as in college education. Although several versions in Spanish are available, the underlying linguistic and cultural differences raise important issues when they are applied to Latin-American population. Consequently an adapted version of the AMS was developed, and its construct validity was analyzed in Argentine students. Results obtained on a sample that included 723 students from Buenos Aires (393 high school and 330 college students) verified adequate psychometric properties in this new version, solving some controversies regarded to its dimensionality. PMID:22888280

Systems and methods for self-synchronized digital sampling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Samson, Jr., John R. (Inventor)

2008-01-01

Systems and methods for self-synchronized data sampling are provided. In one embodiment, a system for capturing synchronous data samples is provided. The system includes an analog to digital converter adapted to capture signals from one or more sensors and convert the signals into a stream of digital data samples at a sampling frequency determined by a sampling control signal; and a synchronizer coupled to the analog to digital converter and adapted to receive a rotational frequency signal from a rotating machine, wherein the synchronizer is further adapted to generate the sampling control signal, and wherein the sampling control signal is based on the rotational frequency signal.

Variables Involved in Personal, Social and School Adjustment in a Sample of Preschool-Aged Children from Different Cultural Backgrounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calero, Maria Dolores; Fernandez-Parra, Antonio; Lopez-Rubio, Sonia; Carles, Rosario; Mata, Sara; Vives, Maria del Carmen; Navarro, Elena; Marquez, Jose

2013-01-01

The continuing incorporation of immigrant populations into the Spanish educational system poses an important challenge in that all participants must cooperate toward creating the best possible adaptation process at the academic level as well as on the personal and social levels. A number of different factors appear to influence children's…

A recurrence-weighted prediction algorithm for musical analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colucci, Renato; Leguizamon Cucunuba, Juan Sebastián; Lloyd, Simon

2018-03-01

Forecasting the future behaviour of a system using past data is an important topic. In this article we apply nonlinear time series analysis in the context of music, and present new algorithms for extending a sample of music, while maintaining characteristics similar to the original piece. By using ideas from ergodic theory, we adapt the classical prediction method of Lorenz analogues so as to take into account recurrence times, and demonstrate with examples, how the new algorithm can produce predictions with a high degree of similarity to the original sample.

Mouse EEG spike detection based on the adapted continuous wavelet transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tieng, Quang M.; Kharatishvili, Irina; Chen, Min; Reutens, David C.

2016-04-01

Objective. Electroencephalography (EEG) is an important tool in the diagnosis of epilepsy. Interictal spikes on EEG are used to monitor the development of epilepsy and the effects of drug therapy. EEG recordings are generally long and the data voluminous. Thus developing a sensitive and reliable automated algorithm for analyzing EEG data is necessary. Approach. A new algorithm for detecting and classifying interictal spikes in mouse EEG recordings is proposed, based on the adapted continuous wavelet transform (CWT). The construction of the adapted mother wavelet is founded on a template obtained from a sample comprising the first few minutes of an EEG data set. Main Result. The algorithm was tested with EEG data from a mouse model of epilepsy and experimental results showed that the algorithm could distinguish EEG spikes from other transient waveforms with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Significance. Differing from existing approaches, the proposed approach combines wavelet denoising, to isolate transient signals, with adapted CWT-based template matching, to detect true interictal spikes. Using the adapted wavelet constructed from a predefined template, the adapted CWT is calculated on small EEG segments to fit dynamical changes in the EEG recording.

Relationships between Adaptive Behaviours, Personal Factors, and Participation of Young Children.

PubMed

Killeen, Hazel; Shiel, Agnes; Law, Mary; O'Donovan, Donough J; Segurado, Ricardo; Anaby, Dana

2017-12-19

To examine the extent to which personal factors (age, socioeconomic grouping, and preterm birth) and adaptive behaviour explain the participation patterns of young children. 65 Children 2-5 years old with and without a history of preterm birth and no physical or intellectual disability were selected by convenience sampling from Galway University Hospital, Ireland. Interviews with parents were conducted using the Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System, Second Edition (ABAS-II) and the Assessment of Preschool Children's Participation (APCP). Linear regression models were used to identify associations between the ABAS-II scores, personal factors, and APCP scores for intensity and diversity of participation. Adaptive behaviour explained 21% of variance in intensity of play, 18% in intensity of Skill Development, 7% in intensity of Active Physical Recreation, and 6% in intensity of Social Activities controlling for age, preterm birth, and socioeconomic grouping. Age explained between 1% and 11% of variance in intensity of participation scores. Adapted behaviour (13%), Age (17%), and socioeconomic grouping (5%) explained a significant percentage of variance in diversity of participation controlling for the other variables.  Adaptive behaviour had a unique contribution to children's intensity and diversity of participation, suggesting its importance.

Aging and low back pain among exercise participants: a follow-up study with psychological adaptation factors.

PubMed

Wilks, Scott E; Kadivar, Zahra; Guillory, Stephen A; Isaza, Jorge

2009-01-01

This study is a follow-up to a study previously published in this journal that reported the moderating function of exercise exertion amid the relationship between age and low back pain (LBP) among consistent exercise participants. The current study analyzed factors of psychological adaptation as potential mediators within the age--LBP relationship. Measures of psychological adaptation included psychological vulnerability, avoidant coping, resilient coping, and perceived resilience. The sample reported slightly moderate psychological vulnerability; a moderate extent of avoidant coping and resilient coping; and high resilience. Age inversely correlated with psychological vulnerability and avoidance coping. LBP correlated inversely with avoidant coping. Avoidant coping positively mediated (enhanced) age's effect on LBP. Results from this follow-up analysis highlight the importance of understanding and testing psychological factors in models with age and a physical health outcome.

Development and Validation of a Behavioural Index for Adaptation to High Summer Temperatures among Urban Dwellers

PubMed Central

Valois, Pierre; Caron, Maxime; Carrier, Marie-Pier; Morin, Alexandre J. S.; Renaud, Jean-Sébastien; Jacob, Johann; Gosselin, Pierre

2017-01-01

One of the consequences of climate change is the growing number of extreme weather events, including heat waves, which have substantial impacts on the health of populations. From a public health standpoint, it is vital to ensure that people can adapt to high heat, particularly in cities where heat islands abound. Identifying indicators to include in a parsimonious index would help better differentiate individuals who adapt well to heat from those who do not adapt as well. This study aimed at developing and validating a summer heat adaptation index for residents of the 10 largest cities in the province of Québec, Canada. A sample of 2000 adults in 2015 and 1030 adults in 2016 completed a telephone questionnaire addressing their adoption (or non-adoption) of behaviours recommended by public health agencies to protect themselves during periods of high temperature, and their perceptions of how high summer heat affects their mental and physical health. Item analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, multiple correspondence analysis, measurement invariance analyses and criterion-validity analyses were used to develop a 12-behaviour heat adaptation index for distinguishing between individuals who adapt well to high temperatures and those who do not adapt as well. The results indicated that the measurement and the factor structure of the index were invariant (equivalent) across the two independent samples of participants who completed the questionnaire at different times one year apart, an important prerequisite for unambiguous interpretation of index scores across groups and over time. The results also showed that individuals who perceived more adverse effects on their physical or mental health adopted more preventive behaviours during periods of high temperatures and humidity conditions compared to those who felt lesser or no effects. This study thus presents support for the validity of the index that could be used in future studies to monitor preventive behaviours adoption during summer periods of high temperature. PMID:28754017

[Cross-cultural adaptation of the Quality of Life Index Spinal Cord Injury - Version III].

PubMed

Reis, Priscila Alencar Mendes; Carvalho, Zuila Maria de Figueiredo; Tirado Darder, Juan José; Oriá, Mônica Oliveira Batista; Studart, Rita Mônica Borges; Maniva, Samia Jardelle Costa de Freitas

2015-06-01

To translate and culturally adapt to Portuguese the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index Spinal Cord Injury - Version III and characterize the sample in relation to sociodemographic and clinical aspects. A methodological study with view to cross-cultural adaptation, following the particular steps of this method: initial translation, translation synthesis, back-translation (translation back to the original language), review by a committee of judges and pretest of the final version. The pretest was carried out with 30 patients with spinal cord injury. An index of 74 items divided into two parts (satisfaction/importance) was obtained. The criteria of semantic equivalence were evaluated as very adequate translation, higher than 87%, and vocabulary and were grammar higher than 86%. Idiomatic equivalence was higher than 74%, experimental greater than 78% and conceptual was greater than 70%. After cross-cultural adaptation, the instrument proved semantic, idiomatic, experimental and conceptual adequacy, in addition to helping the evaluation of the quality of life of people with spinal cord injury.

Effect of adaptation and pulp density on bioleaching of mine waste using indigenous acidophilic bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, K.; Kim, B.; Lee, D.; Choi, N.; Park, C.

2011-12-01

Adaptation to environment is a natural phenomena that takes place in many animals, plants and microorganisms. These adapted organisms achieve stronger applicability than unadapted organisms after habitation in a specific environment for a long time. In the biohydrometallurgical industry, adaptation to special environment conditions by selective culturing is the most popular method for improving bioleaching activity of strains-although that is time consuming. This study investigated the influence of the bioleaching efficiency of mine waste under batch experimental conditions (adaptation and pulp density) using the indigenous acidophilic bacteria collected from acid mine drainage in Go-seong and Yeon-hwa, Korea. We conducted the batch experiments at the influences of parameters, such as the adaptation of bacteria and pulp density of the mine waste. In the adaptation case, the value of pH in 1'st adaptation bacteria sample exhibited lower than in 2'nd adaptation bacteria sample. And the content of both Cu and Zn at 1'st adaptation bacteria sample appeared lower than at 2'nd adaptation bacteria sample. In the SEM analysis, the rod-shaped bacteria with 1μm in length were observed on the filter paper (pore size - 0.45μm). The results of pulp density experiments revealed that the content of both Cu and Zn increased with increasing pulp density, since the increment of pulp density resulted in the enhancement of bioleaching capacity.

A mixed signal ECG processing platform with an adaptive sampling ADC for portable monitoring applications.

PubMed

Kim, Hyejung; Van Hoof, Chris; Yazicioglu, Refet Firat

2011-01-01

This paper describes a mixed-signal ECG processing platform with an 12-bit ADC architecture that can adapt its sampling rate according to the input signals rate of change. This enables the sampling of ECG signals with significantly reduced data rate without loss of information. The presented adaptive sampling scheme reduces the ADC power consumption, enables the processing of ECG signals with lower power consumption, and reduces the power consumption of the radio while streaming the ECG signals. The test results show that running a CWT-based R peak detection algorithm using the adaptively sampled ECG signals consumes only 45.6 μW and it leads to 36% less overall system power consumption.

Relationships between optimism, educational environment, career adaptability and career motivation in nursing undergraduates: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Fang, Wenjie; Zhang, Yanting; Mei, Jiaojiao; Chai, Xiaohui; Fan, Xiuzhen

2018-06-01

For solving the problem of the abandonment of the career in nursing undergraduates, it is important to understand their motivation to choose nursing as a career and its associated personal and situational factors. To examine the relationships between optimism, educational environment, career adaptability, and career motivation in nursing undergraduates using the career construction model of adaptation. This study adopted a cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of 1060 nursing undergraduates from three universities completed questionnaires for measuring optimism, educational environment, career adaptability, and career motivation. Confirmatory factor analyses, descriptive analyses, comparison analyses, correlation analyses, and mediation analyses were performed accordingly. Nursing undergraduates' career motivation was positively correlated with their career adaptability (r = 0.41, P < 0.01), the educational environment (r = 0.60, P < 0.01), and optimism (r = 0.26, P < 0.01). In addition, the effects of optimism and educational environment on career motivation were partially mediated by career adaptability in nursing undergraduates. In nursing undergraduates, the educational environment had a relatively strong positive association with career motivation, while optimism had a weak one. Career adaptability played a mediating role in the relationships. Targeted interventions may improve nursing undergraduates' career motivation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ELF: An Extended-Lagrangian Free Energy Calculation Module for Multiple Molecular Dynamics Engines.

PubMed

Chen, Haochuan; Fu, Haohao; Shao, Xueguang; Chipot, Christophe; Cai, Wensheng

2018-06-18

Extended adaptive biasing force (eABF), a collective variable (CV)-based importance-sampling algorithm, has proven to be very robust and efficient compared with the original ABF algorithm. Its implementation in Colvars, a software addition to molecular dynamics (MD) engines, is, however, currently limited to NAMD and LAMMPS. To broaden the scope of eABF and its variants, like its generalized form (egABF), and make them available to other MD engines, e.g., GROMACS, AMBER, CP2K, and openMM, we present a PLUMED-based implementation, called extended-Lagrangian free energy calculation (ELF). This implementation can be used as a stand-alone gradient estimator for other CV-based sampling algorithms, such as temperature-accelerated MD (TAMD) and extended-Lagrangian metadynamics (MtD). ELF provides the end user with a convenient framework to help select the best-suited importance-sampling algorithm for a given application without any commitment to a particular MD engine.

Combining Genotype, Phenotype, and Environment to Infer Potential Candidate Genes.

PubMed

Talbot, Benoit; Chen, Ting-Wen; Zimmerman, Shawna; Joost, Stéphane; Eckert, Andrew J; Crow, Taylor M; Semizer-Cuming, Devrim; Seshadri, Chitra; Manel, Stéphanie

2017-03-01

Population genomic analysis can be an important tool in understanding local adaptation. Identification of potential adaptive loci in such analyses is usually based on the survey of a large genomic dataset in combination with environmental variables. Phenotypic data are less commonly incorporated into such studies, although combining a genome scan analysis with a phenotypic trait analysis can greatly improve the insights obtained from each analysis individually. Here, we aimed to identify loci potentially involved in adaptation to climate in 283 Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) samples from throughout the species' range in the southeastern United States. We analyzed associations between phenotypic, molecular, and environmental variables from datasets of 3082 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci and 3 categories of phenotypic traits (gene expression, metabolites, and whole-plant traits). We found only 6 SNP loci that displayed potential signals of local adaptation. Five of the 6 identified SNPs are linked to gene expression traits for lignin development, and 1 is linked with whole-plant traits. We subsequently compared the 6 candidate genes with environmental variables and found a high correlation in only 3 of them (R2 > 0.2). Our study highlights the need for a combination of genotypes, phenotypes, and environmental variables, and for an appropriate sampling scheme and study design, to improve confidence in the identification of potential candidate genes. © The American Genetic Association 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Microbial ecology measurement system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

The sensitivity and potential rapidity of the PIA test that was demonstrated during the feasibility study warranted continuing the effort to examine the possibility of adapting this test to an automated procedure that could be used during manned missions. The effort during this program has optimized the test conditions for two important respiratory pathogens, influenza virus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, developed a laboratory model automated detection system, and investigated a group antigen concept for virus detection. Preliminary tests on the handling of oropharygeal clinical samples for PIA testing were performed using the adenovirus system. The results obtained indicated that the PIA signal is reduced in positive samples and is increased in negative samples. Treatment with cysteine appeared to reduce nonspecific agglutination in negative samples but did not maintain the signal in positive samples.

Apparatus and method for handheld sampling

DOEpatents

Staab, Torsten A.

2005-09-20

The present invention includes an apparatus, and corresponding method, for taking a sample. The apparatus is built around a frame designed to be held in at least one hand. A sample media is used to secure the sample. A sample media adapter for securing the sample media is operated by a trigger mechanism connectively attached within the frame to the sample media adapter.

A sub-sampled approach to extremely low-dose STEM

DOE PAGES

Stevens, A.; Luzi, L.; Yang, H.; ...

2018-01-22

The inpainting of deliberately and randomly sub-sampled images offers a potential means to image specimens at a high resolution and under extremely low-dose conditions (≤1 e -/Å 2) using a scanning transmission electron microscope. We show that deliberate sub-sampling acquires images at least an order of magnitude faster than conventional low-dose methods for an equivalent electron dose. More importantly, when adaptive sub-sampling is implemented to acquire the images, there is a significant increase in the resolution and sensitivity which accompanies the increase in imaging speed. Lastly, we demonstrate the potential of this method for beam sensitive materials and in-situ observationsmore » by experimentally imaging the node distribution in a metal-organic framework.« less

A sub-sampled approach to extremely low-dose STEM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stevens, A.; Luzi, L.; Yang, H.

The inpainting of deliberately and randomly sub-sampled images offers a potential means to image specimens at a high resolution and under extremely low-dose conditions (≤1 e -/Å 2) using a scanning transmission electron microscope. We show that deliberate sub-sampling acquires images at least an order of magnitude faster than conventional low-dose methods for an equivalent electron dose. More importantly, when adaptive sub-sampling is implemented to acquire the images, there is a significant increase in the resolution and sensitivity which accompanies the increase in imaging speed. Lastly, we demonstrate the potential of this method for beam sensitive materials and in-situ observationsmore » by experimentally imaging the node distribution in a metal-organic framework.« less

Sampling procedures for inventory of commercial volume tree species in Amazon Forest.

PubMed

Netto, Sylvio P; Pelissari, Allan L; Cysneiros, Vinicius C; Bonazza, Marcelo; Sanquetta, Carlos R

2017-01-01

The spatial distribution of tropical tree species can affect the consistency of the estimators in commercial forest inventories, therefore, appropriate sampling procedures are required to survey species with different spatial patterns in the Amazon Forest. For this, the present study aims to evaluate the conventional sampling procedures and introduce the adaptive cluster sampling for volumetric inventories of Amazonian tree species, considering the hypotheses that the density, the spatial distribution and the zero-plots affect the consistency of the estimators, and that the adaptive cluster sampling allows to obtain more accurate volumetric estimation. We use data from a census carried out in Jamari National Forest, Brazil, where trees with diameters equal to or higher than 40 cm were measured in 1,355 plots. Species with different spatial patterns were selected and sampled with simple random sampling, systematic sampling, linear cluster sampling and adaptive cluster sampling, whereby the accuracy of the volumetric estimation and presence of zero-plots were evaluated. The sampling procedures applied to species were affected by the low density of trees and the large number of zero-plots, wherein the adaptive clusters allowed concentrating the sampling effort in plots with trees and, thus, agglutinating more representative samples to estimate the commercial volume.

Body proportions of circumpolar peoples as evidenced from skeletal data: Ipiutak and Tigara (Point Hope) versus Kodiak Island Inuit.

PubMed

Holliday, Trenton W; Hilton, Charles E

2010-06-01

Given the well-documented fact that human body proportions covary with climate (presumably due to the action of selection), one would expect that the Ipiutak and Tigara Inuit samples from Point Hope, Alaska, would be characterized by an extremely cold-adapted body shape. Comparison of the Point Hope Inuit samples to a large (n > 900) sample of European and European-derived, African and African-derived, and Native American skeletons (including Koniag Inuit from Kodiak Island, Alaska) confirms that the Point Hope Inuit evince a cold-adapted body form, but analyses also reveal some unexpected results. For example, one might suspect that the Point Hope samples would show a more cold-adapted body form than the Koniag, given their more extreme environment, but this is not the case. Additionally, univariate analyses seldom show the Inuit samples to be more cold-adapted in body shape than Europeans, and multivariate cluster analyses that include a myriad of body shape variables such as femoral head diameter, bi-iliac breadth, and limb segment lengths fail to effectively separate the Inuit samples from Europeans. In fact, in terms of body shape, the European and the Inuit samples tend to be cold-adapted and tend to be separated in multivariate space from the more tropically adapted Africans, especially those groups from south of the Sahara. Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Evaluation of single and two-stage adaptive sampling designs for estimation of density and abundance of freshwater mussels in a large river

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, D.R.; Rogala, J.T.; Gray, B.R.; Zigler, S.J.; Newton, T.J.

2011-01-01

Reliable estimates of abundance are needed to assess consequences of proposed habitat restoration and enhancement projects on freshwater mussels in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR). Although there is general guidance on sampling techniques for population assessment of freshwater mussels, the actual performance of sampling designs can depend critically on the population density and spatial distribution at the project site. To evaluate various sampling designs, we simulated sampling of populations, which varied in density and degree of spatial clustering. Because of logistics and costs of large river sampling and spatial clustering of freshwater mussels, we focused on adaptive and non-adaptive versions of single and two-stage sampling. The candidate designs performed similarly in terms of precision (CV) and probability of species detection for fixed sample size. Both CV and species detection were determined largely by density, spatial distribution and sample size. However, designs did differ in the rate that occupied quadrats were encountered. Occupied units had a higher probability of selection using adaptive designs than conventional designs. We used two measures of cost: sample size (i.e. number of quadrats) and distance travelled between the quadrats. Adaptive and two-stage designs tended to reduce distance between sampling units, and thus performed better when distance travelled was considered. Based on the comparisons, we provide general recommendations on the sampling designs for the freshwater mussels in the UMR, and presumably other large rivers.

RNAseq-based transcriptome comparison of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated from diverse fermentative environments.

PubMed

Ibáñez, Clara; Pérez-Torrado, Roberto; Morard, Miguel; Toft, Christina; Barrio, Eladio; Querol, Amparo

2017-09-18

Transcriptome analyses play a central role in unraveling the complexity of gene expression regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This species, one of the most important microorganisms for humans given its industrial applications, shows an astonishing degree of genetic and phenotypic variability among different strains adapted to specific environments. In order to gain novel insights into the Saccharomyces cerevisiae biology of strains adapted to different fermentative environments, we analyzed the whole transcriptome of three strains isolated from wine, flor wine or mezcal fermentations. An RNA-seq transcriptome comparison of the different yeasts in the samples obtained during synthetic must fermentation highlighted the differences observed in the genes that encode mannoproteins, and in those involved in aroma, sugar transport, glycerol and alcohol metabolism, which are important under alcoholic fermentation conditions. These differences were also observed in the physiology of the strains after mannoprotein and aroma determinations. This study offers an essential foundation for understanding how gene expression variations contribute to the fermentation differences of the strains adapted to unequal fermentative environments. Such knowledge is crucial to make improvements in fermentation processes and to define targets for the genetic improvement or selection of wine yeasts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Full-Genome Characterization and Genetic Evolution of West African Isolates of Bagaza Virus

PubMed Central

Faye, Oumar; Diagne, Moussa Moise; Fall, Gamou; Sembene, Mbacke; Sall, Amadou Alpha; Faye, Ousmane

2018-01-01

Bagaza virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, first isolated in 1966 in Central African Republic. It has currently been identified in mosquito pools collected in the field in West and Central Africa. Emergence in wild birds in Europe and serological evidence in encephalitis patients in India raise questions on its genetic evolution and the diversity of isolates circulating in Africa. To better understand genetic diversity and evolution of Bagaza virus, we describe the full-genome characterization of 11 West African isolates, sampled from 1988 to 2014. Parameters such as genetic distances, N-glycosylation patterns, recombination events, selective pressures, and its codon adaptation to human genes are assessed. Our study is noteworthy for the observation of N-glycosylation and recombination in Bagaza virus and provides insight into its Indian origin from the 13th century. Interestingly, evidence of Bagaza virus codon adaptation to human house-keeping genes is also observed to be higher than those of other flaviviruses well known in human infections. Genetic variations on genome of West African Bagaza virus could play an important role in generating diversity and may promote Bagaza virus adaptation to other vertebrates and become an important threat in human health. PMID:29652824

Full-Genome Characterization and Genetic Evolution of West African Isolates of Bagaza Virus.

PubMed

Faye, Martin; Faye, Oumar; Diagne, Moussa Moise; Fall, Gamou; Weidmann, Manfred; Sembene, Mbacke; Sall, Amadou Alpha; Faye, Ousmane

2018-04-13

Bagaza virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, first isolated in 1966 in Central African Republic. It has currently been identified in mosquito pools collected in the field in West and Central Africa. Emergence in wild birds in Europe and serological evidence in encephalitis patients in India raise questions on its genetic evolution and the diversity of isolates circulating in Africa. To better understand genetic diversity and evolution of Bagaza virus, we describe the full-genome characterization of 11 West African isolates, sampled from 1988 to 2014. Parameters such as genetic distances, N-glycosylation patterns, recombination events, selective pressures, and its codon adaptation to human genes are assessed. Our study is noteworthy for the observation of N-glycosylation and recombination in Bagaza virus and provides insight into its Indian origin from the 13th century. Interestingly, evidence of Bagaza virus codon adaptation to human house-keeping genes is also observed to be higher than those of other flaviviruses well known in human infections. Genetic variations on genome of West African Bagaza virus could play an important role in generating diversity and may promote Bagaza virus adaptation to other vertebrates and become an important threat in human health.

Design of telehealth trials--introducing adaptive approaches.

PubMed

Law, Lisa M; Wason, James M S

2014-12-01

The field of telehealth and telemedicine is expanding as the need to improve efficiency of health care becomes more pressing. The decision to implement a telehealth system is generally an expensive undertaking that impacts a large number of patients and other stakeholders. It is therefore extremely important that the decision is fully supported by accurate evaluation of telehealth interventions. Numerous reviews of telehealth have described the evidence base as inconsistent. In response they call for larger, more rigorously controlled trials, and trials which go beyond evaluation of clinical effectiveness alone. The aim of this paper is to discuss various ways in which evaluation of telehealth could be improved by the use of adaptive trial designs. We discuss various adaptive design options, such as sample size reviews and changing the study hypothesis to address uncertain parameters, group sequential trials and multi-arm multi-stage trials to improve efficiency, and enrichment designs to maximise the chances of obtaining clear evidence about the telehealth intervention. There is potential to address the flaws discussed in the telehealth literature through the adoption of adaptive approaches to trial design. Such designs could lead to improvements in efficiency, allow the evaluation of multiple telehealth interventions in a cost-effective way, or accurately assess a range of endpoints that are important in the overall success of a telehealth programme. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Sample rotating turntable kit for infrared spectrometers

DOEpatents

Eckels, Joel Del [Livermore, CA; Klunder, Gregory L [Oakland, CA

2008-03-04

An infrared spectrometer sample rotating turntable kit has a rotatable sample cup containing the sample. The infrared spectrometer has an infrared spectrometer probe for analyzing the sample and the rotatable sample cup is adapted to receive the infrared spectrometer probe. A reflectance standard is located in the rotatable sample cup. A sleeve is positioned proximate the sample cup and adapted to receive the probe. A rotator rotates the rotatable sample cup. A battery is connected to the rotator.

External Standards or Standard Addition? Selecting and Validating a Method of Standardization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harvey, David T.

2002-05-01

A common feature of many problem-based laboratories in analytical chemistry is a lengthy independent project involving the analysis of "real-world" samples. Students research the literature, adapting and developing a method suitable for their analyte, sample matrix, and problem scenario. Because these projects encompass the complete analytical process, students must consider issues such as obtaining a representative sample, selecting a method of analysis, developing a suitable standardization, validating results, and implementing appropriate quality assessment/quality control practices. Most textbooks and monographs suitable for an undergraduate course in analytical chemistry, however, provide only limited coverage of these important topics. The need for short laboratory experiments emphasizing important facets of method development, such as selecting a method of standardization, is evident. The experiment reported here, which is suitable for an introductory course in analytical chemistry, illustrates the importance of matrix effects when selecting a method of standardization. Students also learn how a spike recovery is used to validate an analytical method, and obtain a practical experience in the difference between performing an external standardization and a standard addition.

Adaptive Annealed Importance Sampling for Multimodal Posterior Exploration and Model Selection with Application to Extrasolar Planet Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Bin

2014-07-01

We describe an algorithm that can adaptively provide mixture summaries of multimodal posterior distributions. The parameter space of the involved posteriors ranges in size from a few dimensions to dozens of dimensions. This work was motivated by an astrophysical problem called extrasolar planet (exoplanet) detection, wherein the computation of stochastic integrals that are required for Bayesian model comparison is challenging. The difficulty comes from the highly nonlinear models that lead to multimodal posterior distributions. We resort to importance sampling (IS) to estimate the integrals, and thus translate the problem to be how to find a parametric approximation of the posterior. To capture the multimodal structure in the posterior, we initialize a mixture proposal distribution and then tailor its parameters elaborately to make it resemble the posterior to the greatest extent possible. We use the effective sample size (ESS) calculated based on the IS draws to measure the degree of approximation. The bigger the ESS is, the better the proposal resembles the posterior. A difficulty within this tailoring operation lies in the adjustment of the number of mixing components in the mixture proposal. Brute force methods just preset it as a large constant, which leads to an increase in the required computational resources. We provide an iterative delete/merge/add process, which works in tandem with an expectation-maximization step to tailor such a number online. The efficiency of our proposed method is tested via both simulation studies and real exoplanet data analysis.

Adaptation and colonization history affect the evolution of clines in two introduced species.

PubMed

Keller, Stephen R; Sowell, Dexter R; Neiman, Maurine; Wolfe, Lorne M; Taylor, Douglas R

2009-08-01

Phenotypic and genetic clines have long been synonymous with adaptive evolution. However, other processes (for example, migration, range expansion, invasion) may generate clines in traits or loci across geographical and environmental gradients. It is therefore important to distinguish between clines that represent adaptive evolution and those that result from selectively neutral demographic or genetic processes. We tested for the differentiation of phenotypic traits along environmental gradients using two species in the genus Silene, whilst statistically controlling for colonization history and founder effects. We sampled seed families from across the native and introduced ranges, genotyped individuals and estimated phenotypic differentiation in replicated common gardens. The results suggest that post-glacial expansion of S. vulgaris and S. latifolia involved both neutral and adaptive genetic differentiation (clines) of life history traits along major axes of environmental variation in Europe and North America. Phenotypic clines generally persisted when tested against the neutral expectation, although some clines disappeared (and one cline emerged) when the effects of genetic ancestry were statistically removed. Colonization history, estimated using genetic markers, is a useful null model for tests of adaptive trait divergence, especially during range expansion and invasion when selection and gene flow may not have reached equilibrium.

Examining a Sequential Mediation Model of Chinese University Students' Well-Being: A Career Construction Perspective.

PubMed

Zhuang, Mingke; She, Zhuolin; Cai, Zijun; Huang, Zheng; Xiang, Qian; Wang, Ping; Zhu, Fei

2018-01-01

Despite career construction theory attends to individual subjective career and provides a useful lens to study well-being, extant research has yielded limited insights into the mechanisms through which career construction variables influence individual well-being. To address this important gap, the present study examined a mediation model that links indicators of career adaptivity (big-five personality and approach/avoidance traits) to psychological well-being (psychological flourishing and life satisfaction) through career adaptability and in sequent meaning of life (presence of life meaning and search for life meaning) among a sample of Chinese university students ( N = 165). The results of a two-wave survey study showed that career adaptability and presence of life meaning mediated the effects of openness to experience, consciousness, approach trait, and avoidance trait on individual well-being in sequence. The results also showed that approach trait's effect on presence of meaning was partially mediated by career adaptability; career adaptability's effect on psychological flourishing was partially mediated by presence of meaning. These findings advance understanding of antecedents to individual well-being from a career construction perspective, and carry implications for career education and counseling practices.

An assessment of climate change impacts on maize yields in Hebei Province of China.

PubMed

Chen, Yongfu; Han, Xinru; Si, Wei; Wu, Zhigang; Chien, Hsiaoping; Okamoto, Katsuo

2017-03-01

The climate change impacts on maize yields are quantified in this paper using statistical models with panel data from 3731 farmers' observations across nine sample villages in Hebei Province of China. The marginal impacts of climate change and the simulated impacts on maize yields based on scenarios of Representative Concentration Pathways 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5 from the global climate models of Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate version 5 (MIROC5) and Meteorological Research Institute Coupled General Circulation Model version 3 (MRI-CGCM3) were then calculated, analyzed, and explained. The results indicate that, first, the most important finding was that climate change impacts on maize yields were significant and a 1°C warming or a 1mm decrease in precipitation resulted in a 150.255kg or a 1.941kg loss in maize yields per hectare, respectively. Second, villages with latitudes of less than 39.832 and longitudes of more than 114.839 in Hebei province suffered losses due to warm weather. Third, the simulated impacts for the full sample are all negative based on scenarios from MIROC5, and their magnitudes are more than those of MRI-CGCM3 are. Based on scenarios in the 2050s, the biggest loss for maize yields per hectare for the full sample accounts for about one-tenth of the mean maize yield from 2004 to 2010, and all of the villages are impacted. Hence, it is important to help farms adopt an adaptation strategy to tackle the risk of loss for maize yields from climate change, and it is necessary to develop agricultural synthesis services as a public adaptation policy at the village level to interact with the adaptation strategy at the farm level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global Analysis of the Fungal Microbiome in Cystic Fibrosis Patients Reveals Loss of Function of the Transcriptional Repressor Nrg1 as a Mechanism of Pathogen Adaptation

PubMed Central

Kim, Sang Hu; Clark, Shawn T.; Surendra, Anuradha; Copeland, Julia K.; Wang, Pauline W.; Ammar, Ron; Collins, Cathy; Tullis, D. Elizabeth; Nislow, Corey; Hwang, David M.; Guttman, David S.; Cowen, Leah E.

2015-01-01

The microbiome shapes diverse facets of human biology and disease, with the importance of fungi only beginning to be appreciated. Microbial communities infiltrate diverse anatomical sites as with the respiratory tract of healthy humans and those with diseases such as cystic fibrosis, where chronic colonization and infection lead to clinical decline. Although fungi are frequently recovered from cystic fibrosis patient sputum samples and have been associated with deterioration of lung function, understanding of species and population dynamics remains in its infancy. Here, we coupled high-throughput sequencing of the ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) with phenotypic and genotypic analyses of fungi from 89 sputum samples from 28 cystic fibrosis patients. Fungal communities defined by sequencing were concordant with those defined by culture-based analyses of 1,603 isolates from the same samples. Different patients harbored distinct fungal communities. There were detectable trends, however, including colonization with Candida and Aspergillus species, which was not perturbed by clinical exacerbation or treatment. We identified considerable inter- and intra-species phenotypic variation in traits important for host adaptation, including antifungal drug resistance and morphogenesis. While variation in drug resistance was largely between species, striking variation in morphogenesis emerged within Candida species. Filamentation was uncoupled from inducing cues in 28 Candida isolates recovered from six patients. The filamentous isolates were resistant to the filamentation-repressive effects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, implicating inter-kingdom interactions as the selective force. Genome sequencing revealed that all but one of the filamentous isolates harbored mutations in the transcriptional repressor NRG1; such mutations were necessary and sufficient for the filamentous phenotype. Six independent nrg1 mutations arose in Candida isolates from different patients, providing a poignant example of parallel evolution. Together, this combined clinical-genomic approach provides a high-resolution portrait of the fungal microbiome of cystic fibrosis patient lungs and identifies a genetic basis of pathogen adaptation. PMID:26588216

Global Analysis of the Fungal Microbiome in Cystic Fibrosis Patients Reveals Loss of Function of the Transcriptional Repressor Nrg1 as a Mechanism of Pathogen Adaptation.

PubMed

Kim, Sang Hu; Clark, Shawn T; Surendra, Anuradha; Copeland, Julia K; Wang, Pauline W; Ammar, Ron; Collins, Cathy; Tullis, D Elizabeth; Nislow, Corey; Hwang, David M; Guttman, David S; Cowen, Leah E

2015-11-01

The microbiome shapes diverse facets of human biology and disease, with the importance of fungi only beginning to be appreciated. Microbial communities infiltrate diverse anatomical sites as with the respiratory tract of healthy humans and those with diseases such as cystic fibrosis, where chronic colonization and infection lead to clinical decline. Although fungi are frequently recovered from cystic fibrosis patient sputum samples and have been associated with deterioration of lung function, understanding of species and population dynamics remains in its infancy. Here, we coupled high-throughput sequencing of the ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) with phenotypic and genotypic analyses of fungi from 89 sputum samples from 28 cystic fibrosis patients. Fungal communities defined by sequencing were concordant with those defined by culture-based analyses of 1,603 isolates from the same samples. Different patients harbored distinct fungal communities. There were detectable trends, however, including colonization with Candida and Aspergillus species, which was not perturbed by clinical exacerbation or treatment. We identified considerable inter- and intra-species phenotypic variation in traits important for host adaptation, including antifungal drug resistance and morphogenesis. While variation in drug resistance was largely between species, striking variation in morphogenesis emerged within Candida species. Filamentation was uncoupled from inducing cues in 28 Candida isolates recovered from six patients. The filamentous isolates were resistant to the filamentation-repressive effects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, implicating inter-kingdom interactions as the selective force. Genome sequencing revealed that all but one of the filamentous isolates harbored mutations in the transcriptional repressor NRG1; such mutations were necessary and sufficient for the filamentous phenotype. Six independent nrg1 mutations arose in Candida isolates from different patients, providing a poignant example of parallel evolution. Together, this combined clinical-genomic approach provides a high-resolution portrait of the fungal microbiome of cystic fibrosis patient lungs and identifies a genetic basis of pathogen adaptation.

How large a training set is needed to develop a classifier for microarray data?

PubMed

Dobbin, Kevin K; Zhao, Yingdong; Simon, Richard M

2008-01-01

A common goal of gene expression microarray studies is the development of a classifier that can be used to divide patients into groups with different prognoses, or with different expected responses to a therapy. These types of classifiers are developed on a training set, which is the set of samples used to train a classifier. The question of how many samples are needed in the training set to produce a good classifier from high-dimensional microarray data is challenging. We present a model-based approach to determining the sample size required to adequately train a classifier. It is shown that sample size can be determined from three quantities: standardized fold change, class prevalence, and number of genes or features on the arrays. Numerous examples and important experimental design issues are discussed. The method is adapted to address ex post facto determination of whether the size of a training set used to develop a classifier was adequate. An interactive web site for performing the sample size calculations is provided. We showed that sample size calculations for classifier development from high-dimensional microarray data are feasible, discussed numerous important considerations, and presented examples.

Reinforcement learning or active inference?

PubMed

Friston, Karl J; Daunizeau, Jean; Kiebel, Stefan J

2009-07-29

This paper questions the need for reinforcement learning or control theory when optimising behaviour. We show that it is fairly simple to teach an agent complicated and adaptive behaviours using a free-energy formulation of perception. In this formulation, agents adjust their internal states and sampling of the environment to minimize their free-energy. Such agents learn causal structure in the environment and sample it in an adaptive and self-supervised fashion. This results in behavioural policies that reproduce those optimised by reinforcement learning and dynamic programming. Critically, we do not need to invoke the notion of reward, value or utility. We illustrate these points by solving a benchmark problem in dynamic programming; namely the mountain-car problem, using active perception or inference under the free-energy principle. The ensuing proof-of-concept may be important because the free-energy formulation furnishes a unified account of both action and perception and may speak to a reappraisal of the role of dopamine in the brain.

Stochastic detection of enantiomers.

PubMed

Kang, Xiao-Feng; Cheley, Stephen; Guan, Xiyun; Bayley, Hagan

2006-08-23

The rapid quantification of the enantiomers of small chiral molecules is very important, notably in pharmacology. Here, we show that the enantiomers of drug molecules can be distinguished by stochastic sensing, a single-molecule detection technique. The sensing element is an engineered alpha-hemolysin protein pore, fitted with a beta-cyclodextrin adapter. By using the approach, the enantiomeric composition of samples of ibuprofen and thalidomide can be determined in less than 1 s.

Assessing Time Management Skills as an Important Aspect of Student Learning: The Construction and Evaluation of a Time Management Scale with Spanish High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia-Ros, Rafael; Perez-Gonzalez, Francisco; Hinojosa, Eugenia

2004-01-01

The main purpose of this study is to analyse the factorial structure, psychometric properties and predictive capacity for academic achievement of a scale designed to evaluate the time management skills of Spanish high school students. An adaptation of the Time Management Questionnaire was presented to two samples of 350 Spanish high school…

A comparison of moment-based methods of estimation for the log Pearson type 3 distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koutrouvelis, I. A.; Canavos, G. C.

2000-06-01

The log Pearson type 3 distribution is a very important model in statistical hydrology, especially for modeling annual flood series. In this paper we compare the various methods based on moments for estimating quantiles of this distribution. Besides the methods of direct and mixed moments which were found most successful in previous studies and the well-known indirect method of moments, we develop generalized direct moments and generalized mixed moments methods and a new method of adaptive mixed moments. The last method chooses the orders of two moments for the original observations by utilizing information contained in the sample itself. The results of Monte Carlo experiments demonstrated the superiority of this method in estimating flood events of high return periods when a large sample is available and in estimating flood events of low return periods regardless of the sample size. In addition, a comparison of simulation and asymptotic results shows that the adaptive method may be used for the construction of meaningful confidence intervals for design events based on the asymptotic theory even with small samples. The simulation results also point to the specific members of the class of generalized moments estimates which maintain small values for bias and/or mean square error.

Training complexity is not decisive factor for improving adaptation to visual sensory conflict.

PubMed

Yang, Yang; Pu, Fang; Li, Shuyu; Li, Yan; Li, Deyu; Fan, Yubo

2012-01-01

Ground-based preflight training utilizing unusual visual stimuli is useful for decreasing the susceptibility to space motion sickness (SMS). The effectiveness of the sensorimotor adaptation training is affected by the training tasks, but what kind of task is more effective remains unknown. Whether the complexity is the decisive factor to consider for designing the training and if other factors are more important need to be analyzed. The results from the analysis can help to optimize the preflight training tasks for astronauts. Twenty right-handed subjects were asked to draw the right path of 45° rotated maze before and after 30 min training. Subjects wore an up-down reversing prism spectacle in test and training sessions. Two training tasks were performed: drawing the right path of the horizontal maze (complex task but with different orientation feature) and drawing the L-shape lines (easy task with same orientation feature). The error rate and the executing time were measured during the test. Paired samples t test was used to compare the effects of the two training tasks. After each training, the error rate and the executing time were significantly decreased. However, the training effectiveness of the easy task was better as the test was finished more quickly and accurately. The complexity is not always the decisive factor for designing the adaptation training task, e.g. the orientation feature is more important in this study. In order to accelerate the adaptation and to counter SMS, the task for astronauts preflight adaptation training could be simple activities with the key features.

Correlation of proteome-wide changes with social immunity behaviors provides insight into resistance to the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, in the honey bee (Apis mellifera)

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Disease is a major factor driving the evolution of many organisms. In honey bees, selection for social behavioral responses is the primary adaptive process facilitating disease resistance. One such process, hygienic behavior, enables bees to resist multiple diseases, including the damaging parasitic mite Varroa destructor. The genetic elements and biochemical factors that drive the expression of these adaptations are currently unknown. Proteomics provides a tool to identify proteins that control behavioral processes, and these proteins can be used as biomarkers to aid identification of disease tolerant colonies. Results We sampled a large cohort of commercial queen lineages, recording overall mite infestation, hygiene, and the specific hygienic response to V. destructor. We performed proteome-wide correlation analyses in larval integument and adult antennae, identifying several proteins highly predictive of behavior and reduced hive infestation. In the larva, response to wounding was identified as a key adaptive process leading to reduced infestation, and chitin biosynthesis and immune responses appear to represent important disease resistant adaptations. The speed of hygienic behavior may be underpinned by changes in the antenna proteome, and chemosensory and neurological processes could also provide specificity for detection of V. destructor in antennae. Conclusions Our results provide, for the first time, some insight into how complex behavioural adaptations manifest in the proteome of honey bees. The most important biochemical correlations provide clues as to the underlying molecular mechanisms of social and innate immunity of honey bees. Such changes are indicative of potential divergence in processes controlling the hive-worker maturation. PMID:23021491

Correlation of proteome-wide changes with social immunity behaviors provides insight into resistance to the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, in the honey bee (Apis mellifera).

PubMed

Parker, Robert; Guarna, M Marta; Melathopoulos, Andony P; Moon, Kyung-Mee; White, Rick; Huxter, Elizabeth; Pernal, Stephen F; Foster, Leonard J

2012-06-29

Disease is a major factor driving the evolution of many organisms. In honey bees, selection for social behavioral responses is the primary adaptive process facilitating disease resistance. One such process, hygienic behavior, enables bees to resist multiple diseases, including the damaging parasitic mite Varroa destructor. The genetic elements and biochemical factors that drive the expression of these adaptations are currently unknown. Proteomics provides a tool to identify proteins that control behavioral processes, and these proteins can be used as biomarkers to aid identification of disease tolerant colonies. We sampled a large cohort of commercial queen lineages, recording overall mite infestation, hygiene, and the specific hygienic response to V. destructor. We performed proteome-wide correlation analyses in larval integument and adult antennae, identifying several proteins highly predictive of behavior and reduced hive infestation. In the larva, response to wounding was identified as a key adaptive process leading to reduced infestation, and chitin biosynthesis and immune responses appear to represent important disease resistant adaptations. The speed of hygienic behavior may be underpinned by changes in the antenna proteome, and chemosensory and neurological processes could also provide specificity for detection of V. destructor in antennae. Our results provide, for the first time, some insight into how complex behavioural adaptations manifest in the proteome of honey bees. The most important biochemical correlations provide clues as to the underlying molecular mechanisms of social and innate immunity of honey bees. Such changes are indicative of potential divergence in processes controlling the hive-worker maturation.

Statistical Inference for Data Adaptive Target Parameters.

PubMed

Hubbard, Alan E; Kherad-Pajouh, Sara; van der Laan, Mark J

2016-05-01

Consider one observes n i.i.d. copies of a random variable with a probability distribution that is known to be an element of a particular statistical model. In order to define our statistical target we partition the sample in V equal size sub-samples, and use this partitioning to define V splits in an estimation sample (one of the V subsamples) and corresponding complementary parameter-generating sample. For each of the V parameter-generating samples, we apply an algorithm that maps the sample to a statistical target parameter. We define our sample-split data adaptive statistical target parameter as the average of these V-sample specific target parameters. We present an estimator (and corresponding central limit theorem) of this type of data adaptive target parameter. This general methodology for generating data adaptive target parameters is demonstrated with a number of practical examples that highlight new opportunities for statistical learning from data. This new framework provides a rigorous statistical methodology for both exploratory and confirmatory analysis within the same data. Given that more research is becoming "data-driven", the theory developed within this paper provides a new impetus for a greater involvement of statistical inference into problems that are being increasingly addressed by clever, yet ad hoc pattern finding methods. To suggest such potential, and to verify the predictions of the theory, extensive simulation studies, along with a data analysis based on adaptively determined intervention rules are shown and give insight into how to structure such an approach. The results show that the data adaptive target parameter approach provides a general framework and resulting methodology for data-driven science.

Alemtuzumab: validation of a sensitive and simple enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

PubMed

Jilani, Iman; Keating, Michael; Giles, Francis J; O'Brien, Susan; Kantarjian, Hagop M; Albitar, Maher

2004-12-01

Alemtuzumab (MabCampath) is a humanized rat monoclonal antibody that targets the CD52 antigen. It has been approved for the treatment of patients with resistant chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Measuring plasma/serum levels of alemtuzumab is important for optimizing the dosing and scheduling of therapy; however, current assays in serum or plasma, based on the capture of alemtuzumab using CD52, are complicated and difficult to adapt for high throughput testing. We developed a simple sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure alemtuzumab that takes advantage of the remaining rat sequence in alemtuzumab. Using specific anti-rat immunoglobulin (Ig) antibodies (absorbed against human Ig), alemtuzumab levels were measured in the serum and plasma of patients treated with alemtuzumab. Levels were similar between plasma and serum samples, in fresh samples and samples stored at 4 degrees C for 24 h, but were significantly lower in samples stored at room temperature for 24h. The assay was successfully used to determine serum alemtuzumab pre- and post-treatment. This assay is simple and adaptable for high throughput testing, with a limit of detection of 0.05 microg/ml and a coefficient of variation of +/-12.5%. No false positivity was observed in >200 samples tested. This validated assay should help optimize the dosing and scheduling of alemtuzumab therapy. The underlying principles are also applicable to the measurement of other humanized antibodies using an appropriate anti-Ig.

Irregular and adaptive sampling for automatic geophysic measure systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avagnina, Davide; Lo Presti, Letizia; Mulassano, Paolo

2000-07-01

In this paper a sampling method, based on an irregular and adaptive strategy, is described. It can be used as automatic guide for rovers designed to explore terrestrial and planetary environments. Starting from the hypothesis that a explorative vehicle is equipped with a payload able to acquire measurements of interesting quantities, the method is able to detect objects of interest from measured points and to realize an adaptive sampling, while badly describing the not interesting background.

Method and apparatus for telemetry adaptive bandwidth compression

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graham, Olin L.

1987-01-01

Methods and apparatus are provided for automatic and/or manual adaptive bandwidth compression of telemetry. An adaptive sampler samples a video signal from a scanning sensor and generates a sequence of sampled fields. Each field and range rate information from the sensor are hence sequentially transmitted to and stored in a multiple and adaptive field storage means. The field storage means then, in response to an automatic or manual control signal, transfers the stored sampled field signals to a video monitor in a form for sequential or simultaneous display of a desired number of stored signal fields. The sampling ratio of the adaptive sample, the relative proportion of available communication bandwidth allocated respectively to transmitted data and video information, and the number of fields simultaneously displayed are manually or automatically selectively adjustable in functional relationship to each other and detected range rate. In one embodiment, when relatively little or no scene motion is detected, the control signal maximizes sampling ratio and causes simultaneous display of all stored fields, thus maximizing resolution and bandwidth available for data transmission. When increased scene motion is detected, the control signal is adjusted accordingly to cause display of fewer fields. If greater resolution is desired, the control signal is adjusted to increase the sampling ratio.

Correlates of depressive symptoms among North Korean refugees adapting to South Korean society: the moderating role of perceived discrimination.

PubMed

Um, Mee Young; Chi, Iris; Kim, Hee Jin; Palinkas, Lawrence A; Kim, Jae Yop

2015-04-01

Although the prevalence of depressive disorders among North Korean (NK) refugees living in South Korea has been reported to be twice the rate of their South Korean counterparts, little is known about the correlates of depressive symptoms among this population. Despite their escape from a politically and economically repressive setting, NK refugees continue to face multidimensional hardships during their adaptation process in South Korea, which can adversely affect their mental health. However, to our knowledge, no empirical research exists to date on depressive symptoms in the context of adaptation or perceived discrimination among NK refugees. To fill this gap, this study used a sample of 261 NK refugees in South Korea from the 2010 National Survey on Family Violence to examine associations between sociocultural adaptation, perceived discrimination, and depressive symptoms, as well as the moderation effect of discrimination on adaptation to depressive symptoms. We found that poor sociocultural adaptation and perception of discrimination were associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms. Perception of discrimination attenuated the association between better adaptation and fewer depressive symptoms, when compared to no perception of discrimination. These findings highlight the need to improve NK refugees' adaptation and integration as well as their psychological well-being in a culturally sensitive and comprehensive manner. They also underscore the importance of educating South Koreans to become accepting hosts who value diversity, yet in a homogeneous society. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamic Event Tree advancements and control logic improvements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alfonsi, Andrea; Rabiti, Cristian; Mandelli, Diego

The RAVEN code has been under development at the Idaho National Laboratory since 2012. Its main goal is to create a multi-purpose platform for the deploying of all the capabilities needed for Probabilistic Risk Assessment, uncertainty quantification, data mining analysis and optimization studies. RAVEN is currently equipped with three different sampling categories: Forward samplers (Monte Carlo, Latin Hyper Cube, Stratified, Grid Sampler, Factorials, etc.), Adaptive Samplers (Limit Surface search, Adaptive Polynomial Chaos, etc.) and Dynamic Event Tree (DET) samplers (Deterministic and Adaptive Dynamic Event Trees). The main subject of this document is to report the activities that have been donemore » in order to: start the migration of the RAVEN/RELAP-7 control logic system into MOOSE, and develop advanced dynamic sampling capabilities based on the Dynamic Event Tree approach. In order to provide to all MOOSE-based applications a control logic capability, in this Fiscal Year an initial migration activity has been initiated, moving the control logic system, designed for RELAP-7 by the RAVEN team, into the MOOSE framework. In this document, a brief explanation of what has been done is going to be reported. The second and most important subject of this report is about the development of a Dynamic Event Tree (DET) sampler named “Hybrid Dynamic Event Tree” (HDET) and its Adaptive variant “Adaptive Hybrid Dynamic Event Tree” (AHDET). As other authors have already reported, among the different types of uncertainties, it is possible to discern two principle types: aleatory and epistemic uncertainties. The classical Dynamic Event Tree is in charge of treating the first class (aleatory) uncertainties; the dependence of the probabilistic risk assessment and analysis on the epistemic uncertainties are treated by an initial Monte Carlo sampling (MCDET). From each Monte Carlo sample, a DET analysis is run (in total, N trees). The Monte Carlo employs a pre-sampling of the input space characterized by epistemic uncertainties. The consequent Dynamic Event Tree performs the exploration of the aleatory space. In the RAVEN code, a more general approach has been developed, not limiting the exploration of the epistemic space through a Monte Carlo method but using all the forward sampling strategies RAVEN currently employs. The user can combine a Latin Hyper Cube, Grid, Stratified and Monte Carlo sampling in order to explore the epistemic space, without any limitation. From this pre-sampling, the Dynamic Event Tree sampler starts its aleatory space exploration. As reported by the authors, the Dynamic Event Tree is a good fit to develop a goal-oriented sampling strategy. The DET is used to drive a Limit Surface search. The methodology that has been developed by the authors last year, performs a Limit Surface search in the aleatory space only. This report documents how this approach has been extended in order to consider the epistemic space interacting with the Hybrid Dynamic Event Tree methodology.« less

Adaptation of Laser Microdissection Technique for the Study of a Spontaneous Metastatic Mammary Carcinoma Mouse Model by NanoString Technologies

PubMed Central

Saylor, Karen L.; Anver, Miriam R.; Salomon, David S.; Golubeva, Yelena G.

2016-01-01

Laser capture microdissection (LCM) of tissue is an established tool in medical research for collection of distinguished cell populations under direct microscopic visualization for molecular analysis. LCM samples have been successfully analyzed in a number of genomic and proteomic downstream molecular applications. However, LCM sample collection and preparation procedure has to be adapted to each downstream analysis platform. In this present manuscript we describe in detail the adaptation of LCM methodology for the collection and preparation of fresh frozen samples for NanoString analysis based on a study of a model of mouse mammary gland carcinoma and its lung metastasis. Our adaptation of LCM sample preparation and workflow to the requirements of the NanoString platform allowed acquiring samples with high RNA quality. The NanoString analysis of such samples provided sensitive detection of genes of interest and their associated molecular pathways. NanoString is a reliable gene expression analysis platform that can be effectively coupled with LCM. PMID:27077656

Recruiting hard-to-reach United States population sub-groups via adaptations of snowball sampling strategy

PubMed Central

Sadler, Georgia Robins; Lee, Hau-Chen; Seung-Hwan Lim, Rod; Fullerton, Judith

2011-01-01

Nurse researchers and educators often engage in outreach to narrowly defined populations. This article offers examples of how variations on the snowball sampling recruitment strategy can be applied in the creation of culturally appropriate, community-based information dissemination efforts related to recruitment to health education programs and research studies. Examples from the primary author’s program of research are provided to demonstrate how adaptations of snowball sampling can be effectively used in the recruitment of members of traditionally underserved or vulnerable populations. The adaptation of snowball sampling techniques, as described in this article, helped the authors to gain access to each of the more vulnerable population groups of interest. The use of culturally sensitive recruitment strategies is both appropriate and effective in enlisting the involvement of members of vulnerable populations. Adaptations of snowball sampling strategies should be considered when recruiting participants for education programs or subjects for research studies when recruitment of a population based sample is not essential. PMID:20727089

Recruitment of hard-to-reach population subgroups via adaptations of the snowball sampling strategy.

PubMed

Sadler, Georgia Robins; Lee, Hau-Chen; Lim, Rod Seung-Hwan; Fullerton, Judith

2010-09-01

Nurse researchers and educators often engage in outreach to narrowly defined populations. This article offers examples of how variations on the snowball sampling recruitment strategy can be applied in the creation of culturally appropriate, community-based information dissemination efforts related to recruitment to health education programs and research studies. Examples from the primary author's program of research are provided to demonstrate how adaptations of snowball sampling can be used effectively in the recruitment of members of traditionally underserved or vulnerable populations. The adaptation of snowball sampling techniques, as described in this article, helped the authors to gain access to each of the more-vulnerable population groups of interest. The use of culturally sensitive recruitment strategies is both appropriate and effective in enlisting the involvement of members of vulnerable populations. Adaptations of snowball sampling strategies should be considered when recruiting participants for education programs or for research studies when the recruitment of a population-based sample is not essential.

Mosquito populations dynamics associated with climate variations.

PubMed

Wilke, André Barretto Bruno; Medeiros-Sousa, Antônio Ralph; Ceretti-Junior, Walter; Marrelli, Mauro Toledo

2017-02-01

Mosquitoes are responsible for the transmission of numerous serious pathogens. Members of the Aedes and Culex genera, which include many important vectors of mosquito-borne diseases, are highly invasive and adapted to man-made environments. They are spread around the world involuntarily by humans and are highly adapted to urbanized environments, where they are exposed to climate-related abundance drivers. We investigated Culicidae fauna in two urban parks in the city of São Paulo to analyze the correlations between climatic variables and the population dynamics of mosquitoes in these urban areas. Mosquitoes were collected monthly over one year, and sampling sufficiency was evaluated after morphological identification of the specimens. The average monthly temperature and accumulated rainfall for the collection month and previous month were used to explain climate-related abundance drivers for the six most abundant species (Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, Aedes fluviatilis, Aedes scapularis, Culex nigripalpus and Culex quinquefasciatus) and then analyzed using generalized linear statistical models and the Akaike Information Criteria corrected for small samples (AICc). The strength of evidence in favor of each model was evaluated using Akaike weights, and the explanatory model power was measured by McFadden's Pseudo-R 2 . Associations between climate and mosquito abundance were found in both parks, indicating that predictive models based on climate variables can provide important information on mosquito population dynamics. We also found that this association is species-dependent. Urbanization processes increase the abundance of a few mosquito species that are well adapted to man-made environments and some of which are important vectors of pathogens. Predictive models for abundance based on climate variables may help elucidate the population dynamics of urban mosquitoes and their impact on the risk of disease transmission, allowing better predictive scenarios to be developed and supporting the implementation of vector mosquito control strategies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ten year rank-order stability of personality traits and disorders in a clinical sample

PubMed Central

Hopwood, Christopher J.; Morey, Leslie C.; Donnellan, M. Brent; Samuel, Douglas B.; Grilo, Carlos M.; McGlashan, Thomas H.; Shea, M. Tracie; Zanarini, Mary C.; Gunderson, John G.; Skodol, Andrew E.

2012-01-01

Objective To compare the 10-year retest stability of normal traits, pathological traits, and personality disorder dimensions in a clinical sample. Method Ten-year rank order stability estimates for the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality, and Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders were evaluated before and after correcting for test-retest dependability and internal consistency in a clinical sample (N = 266). Results Dependability corrected stability estimates were generally in the range of .60–.90 for traits and .25–.65 for personality disorders. Conclusions The relatively lower stability of personality disorder symptoms may indicate important differences between pathological behaviors and relatively more stable self-attributed traits and imply that a full understanding of personality and personality pathology needs to take both traits and symptoms into account. The Five-Factor Theory distinction between basic tendencies and characteristic adaptations provides a theoretical framework for the separation of traits and disorders in terms of stability in which traits reflect basic tendencies that are stable and pervasive across situations, whereas personality disorder symptoms reflect characteristic maladaptations that are a function of both basic tendencies and environmental dynamics. PMID:22812532

Effects of Chicken Litter Storage Time and Ammonia Content on Thermal Resistance of Desiccation-Adapted Salmonella spp.

PubMed

Chen, Zhao; Wang, Hongye; Ionita, Claudia; Luo, Feng; Jiang, Xiuping

2015-10-01

Broiler chicken litter was kept as a stacked heap on a poultry farm, and samples were collected up to 9 months of storage. Chicken litter inoculated with desiccation-adapted Salmonella cells was heat-treated at 75, 80, 85, and 150°C. Salmonella populations decreased in all these samples during heat treatment, and the inactivation rates became lower in chicken litter when storage time was extended from 0 to 6 months. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in thermal resistance of Salmonella in 6- and 9-month litter samples, indicating that a threshold for thermal resistance was reached after 6 months. Overall, the thermal resistance of Salmonella in chicken litter was affected by the storage time of the litter. The changes in some chemical, physical, and microbiological properties during storage could possibly contribute to this difference. Moisture and ammonia could be two of the most significant factors influencing the thermal resistance of Salmonella cells in chicken litter. Our results emphasize the importance of adjusting time and temperature conditions for heat processing chicken litter when it is removed from the chicken house at different time intervals. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effects of Chicken Litter Storage Time and Ammonia Content on Thermal Resistance of Desiccation-Adapted Salmonella spp.

PubMed Central

Chen, Zhao; Wang, Hongye; Ionita, Claudia; Luo, Feng

2015-01-01

Broiler chicken litter was kept as a stacked heap on a poultry farm, and samples were collected up to 9 months of storage. Chicken litter inoculated with desiccation-adapted Salmonella cells was heat-treated at 75, 80, 85, and 150°C. Salmonella populations decreased in all these samples during heat treatment, and the inactivation rates became lower in chicken litter when storage time was extended from 0 to 6 months. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in thermal resistance of Salmonella in 6- and 9-month litter samples, indicating that a threshold for thermal resistance was reached after 6 months. Overall, the thermal resistance of Salmonella in chicken litter was affected by the storage time of the litter. The changes in some chemical, physical, and microbiological properties during storage could possibly contribute to this difference. Moisture and ammonia could be two of the most significant factors influencing the thermal resistance of Salmonella cells in chicken litter. Our results emphasize the importance of adjusting time and temperature conditions for heat processing chicken litter when it is removed from the chicken house at different time intervals. PMID:26209673

Validating the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale: testing factor structure and measurement invariance across child gender and age in a Dutch sample.

PubMed

Koomen, Helma M Y; Verschueren, Karine; van Schooten, Erik; Jak, Suzanne; Pianta, Robert C

2012-04-01

The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is widely used to examine teachers' relationships with young students in terms of closeness, conflict, and dependency. This study aimed to verify the dimensional structure of the STRS with confirmatory factor analysis, test its measurement invariance across child gender and age, improve its measurement of the dependency construct, and extend its age range. Teachers completed a slightly adapted STRS for a Dutch sample of 2335 children aged 3 to 12. Overall, the 3-factor model showed an acceptable fit. Results indicated metric invariance across gender and age up to 8years. Scalar invariance generally did not hold. Lack of metric invariance at ages 8 to 12 primarily involved Conflict items, whereas scale differences across gender and age primarily involved Closeness items. The adapted Dependency scale showed strong invariance and higher internal consistencies than the original scale for this Dutch sample. Importantly, the revealed non-invariance for gender and age did not influence mean group comparisons. Copyright © 2011 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ten-year rank-order stability of personality traits and disorders in a clinical sample.

PubMed

Hopwood, Christopher J; Morey, Leslie C; Donnellan, M Brent; Samuel, Douglas B; Grilo, Carlos M; McGlashan, Thomas H; Shea, M Tracie; Zanarini, Mary C; Gunderson, John G; Skodol, Andrew E

2013-06-01

This study compares the 10-year retest stability of normal traits, pathological traits, and personality disorder dimensions in a clinical sample. Ten-year rank-order stability estimates for the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality, and Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders were evaluated before and after correcting for test-retest dependability and internal consistency in a clinical sample (N = 266). Dependability-corrected stability estimates were generally in the range of.60-.90 for traits and.25-.65 for personality disorders. The relatively lower stability of personality disorder symptoms may indicate important differences between pathological behaviors and relatively more stable self-attributed traits and imply that a full understanding of personality and personality pathology needs to take both traits and symptoms into account. The five-factor theory distinction between basic tendencies and characteristic adaptations provides a theoretical framework for the separation of traits and disorders in terms of stability in which traits reflect basic tendencies that are stable and pervasive across situations, whereas personality disorder symptoms reflect characteristic maladaptations that are a function of both basic tendencies and environmental dynamics. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Measuring family functioning in families with parental cancer: Reliability and validity of the German adaptation of the Family Assessment Device (FAD).

PubMed

Beierlein, Volker; Bultmann, Johanna Christine; Möller, Birgit; von Klitzing, Kai; Flechtner, Hans-Henning; Resch, Franz; Herzog, Wolfgang; Brähler, Elmar; Führer, Daniel; Romer, Georg; Koch, Uwe; Bergelt, Corinna

2017-02-01

The concept of family functioning is gaining importance in psycho-oncology research and health care services. The Family Assessment Device (FAD) is a well-established measure of family functioning. Psychometric properties inherent in the German 51-item adaptation of the FAD are examined in different samples of families with parental cancer. Acceptance, reliability, and validity of FAD scales are analysed in samples from different study settings (N=1701 cancer patients, N=261 partners, N=158 dependent adolescent children 11 to 18years old). Missing items in the FAD scales (acceptance) are rare for adults (<1.1%) and adolescent children (<4.4%). In samples of adults and older adolescents (15 to 18years), all FAD scales except for the Roles scale are significantly reliable (0.75≤Cronbach's α≤0.88). The scales correlate highly (0.46≤Pearson's r≤0.59) with the criterion satisfaction with family life (convergent validity), and have smaller correlations (0.16≤r≤0.49) with measures of emotional distress and subjective well-being (divergent validity). In most FAD scales, adults seeking family counselling report worse family functioning (0.24≤Cohen's d≤0.59) than adults in other samples with parental cancer (discriminative validity). Overall, the German 51-item adaptation of the FAD reveals good acceptance, reliability, and validity for cancer patients and their relatives. Particularly the scale General Functioning shows excellent psychometric properties. The FAD is suitable in the assessment of families with parental cancer for adults and adolescents older than 11years. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dimensions of stereotypical attitudes among older adults: Analysis of two countries.

PubMed

Helmes, Edward; Pachana, Nancy A

2016-11-01

Much research on attitudes towards older adults has used younger adults as participants and identified a range of negative attitudes towards older persons. Comparatively little literature has explored the attitudes of older adults themselves towards their own age cohort. The present study explicitly compared attitudes towards other older adults from samples of 195 older adults in Australia and 172 older Canadians. Attitudinal measures included the Aging Attitudes Questionnaire (assesses older adults' attitudes toward other older adults), Fraboni Scale of Ageism (assesses younger adults' attitudes toward older adults) and the Reactions to Aging Questionnaire (assesses attitudes toward one's own aging), as well as a scale measuring knowledge of aging, the Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Australia and Canada. Responses on the three attitudinal measures were subjected to principal components analysis. Two components emerged in both samples, one defined by the Reactions to Aging Questionnaire and Aging Attitudes Questionnaire scales and the second by the Fraboni Scale of Ageism scales. Regression analyses to ascertain prediction of scores on the Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Australia and Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Canada showed that only the Aging Attitudes Questionnaire scale for Physical Changes predicted scores on the Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Australia and no attitudes predicted Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Canada scores. It appears that older adults distinguish between their own aging and aging in others. Knowledge of aging appears to be predicted only by attitudes toward physical changes. Given increasing proportions of older adults in the population, as well as increasing access to aging information available to older cohorts, continued research on how older adults view themselves and the aging process is important, and will almost certainly continue to evolve over time. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; 16: 1226-1230. © 2015 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Model-Based Adaptive Event-Triggered Control of Strict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems.

PubMed

Li, Yuan-Xin; Yang, Guang-Hong

2018-04-01

This paper is concerned with the adaptive event-triggered control problem of nonlinear continuous-time systems in strict-feedback form. By using the event-sampled neural network (NN) to approximate the unknown nonlinear function, an adaptive model and an associated event-triggered controller are designed by exploiting the backstepping method. In the proposed method, the feedback signals and the NN weights are aperiodically updated only when the event-triggered condition is violated. A positive lower bound on the minimum intersample time is guaranteed to avoid accumulation point. The closed-loop stability of the resulting nonlinear impulsive dynamical system is rigorously proved via Lyapunov analysis under an adaptive event sampling condition. In comparing with the traditional adaptive backstepping design with a fixed sample period, the event-triggered method samples the state and updates the NN weights only when it is necessary. Therefore, the number of transmissions can be significantly reduced. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed control method.

A surrogate accelerated multicanonical Monte Carlo method for uncertainty quantification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Keyi; Li, Jinglai

2016-09-01

In this work we consider a class of uncertainty quantification problems where the system performance or reliability is characterized by a scalar parameter y. The performance parameter y is random due to the presence of various sources of uncertainty in the system, and our goal is to estimate the probability density function (PDF) of y. We propose to use the multicanonical Monte Carlo (MMC) method, a special type of adaptive importance sampling algorithms, to compute the PDF of interest. Moreover, we develop an adaptive algorithm to construct local Gaussian process surrogates to further accelerate the MMC iterations. With numerical examples we demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve several orders of magnitudes of speedup over the standard Monte Carlo methods.

Practical characteristics of adaptive design in phase 2 and 3 clinical trials.

PubMed

Sato, A; Shimura, M; Gosho, M

2018-04-01

Adaptive design methods are expected to be ethical, reflect real medical practice, increase the likelihood of research and development success and reduce the allocation of patients into ineffective treatment groups by the early termination of clinical trials. However, the comprehensive details regarding which types of clinical trials will include adaptive designs remain unclear. We examined the practical characteristics of adaptive design used in clinical trials. We conducted a literature search of adaptive design clinical trials published from 2012 to 2015 using PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, with common search terms related to adaptive design. We systematically assessed the types and characteristics of adaptive designs and disease areas employed in the adaptive design trials. Our survey identified 245 adaptive design clinical trials. The number of trials by the publication year increased from 2012 to 2013 and did not greatly change afterwards. The most frequently used adaptive design was group sequential design (n = 222, 90.6%), especially for neoplasm or cardiovascular disease trials. Among the other types of adaptive design, adaptive dose/treatment group selection (n = 21, 8.6%) and adaptive sample-size adjustment (n = 19, 7.8%) were frequently used. The adaptive randomization (n = 8, 3.3%) and adaptive seamless design (n = 6, 2.4%) were less frequent. Adaptive dose/treatment group selection and adaptive sample-size adjustment were frequently used (up to 23%) in "certain infectious and parasitic diseases," "diseases of nervous system," and "mental and behavioural disorders" in comparison with "neoplasms" (<6.6%). For "mental and behavioural disorders," adaptive randomization was used in two trials of eight trials in total (25%). Group sequential design and adaptive sample-size adjustment were used frequently in phase 3 trials or in trials where study phase was not specified, whereas the other types of adaptive designs were used more in phase 2 trials. Approximately 82% (202 of 245 trials) resulted in early termination at the interim analysis. Among the 202 trials, 132 (54% of 245 trials) had fewer randomized patients than initially planned. This result supports the motive to use adaptive design to make study durations shorter and include a smaller number of subjects. We found that adaptive designs have been applied to clinical trials in various therapeutic areas and interventions. The applications were frequently reported in neoplasm or cardiovascular clinical trials. The adaptive dose/treatment group selection and sample-size adjustment are increasingly common, and these adaptations generally follow the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) recommendations. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Adaptive Conditioning of Multiple-Point Geostatistical Facies Simulation to Flow Data with Facies Probability Maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khodabakhshi, M.; Jafarpour, B.

2013-12-01

Characterization of complex geologic patterns that create preferential flow paths in certain reservoir systems requires higher-order geostatistical modeling techniques. Multipoint statistics (MPS) provides a flexible grid-based approach for simulating such complex geologic patterns from a conceptual prior model known as a training image (TI). In this approach, a stationary TI that encodes the higher-order spatial statistics of the expected geologic patterns is used to represent the shape and connectivity of the underlying lithofacies. While MPS is quite powerful for describing complex geologic facies connectivity, the nonlinear and complex relation between the flow data and facies distribution makes flow data conditioning quite challenging. We propose an adaptive technique for conditioning facies simulation from a prior TI to nonlinear flow data. Non-adaptive strategies for conditioning facies simulation to flow data can involves many forward flow model solutions that can be computationally very demanding. To improve the conditioning efficiency, we develop an adaptive sampling approach through a data feedback mechanism based on the sampling history. In this approach, after a short period of sampling burn-in time where unconditional samples are generated and passed through an acceptance/rejection test, an ensemble of accepted samples is identified and used to generate a facies probability map. This facies probability map contains the common features of the accepted samples and provides conditioning information about facies occurrence in each grid block, which is used to guide the conditional facies simulation process. As the sampling progresses, the initial probability map is updated according to the collective information about the facies distribution in the chain of accepted samples to increase the acceptance rate and efficiency of the conditioning. This conditioning process can be viewed as an optimization approach where each new sample is proposed based on the sampling history to improve the data mismatch objective function. We extend the application of this adaptive conditioning approach to the case where multiple training images are proposed to describe the geologic scenario in a given formation. We discuss the advantages and limitations of the proposed adaptive conditioning scheme and use numerical experiments from fluvial channel formations to demonstrate its applicability and performance compared to non-adaptive conditioning techniques.

Adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies: Interactive effects during CBT for social anxiety disorder

PubMed Central

Aldao, Amelia; Jazaieri, Hooria; Goldin, Philippe R.; Gross, James J.

2014-01-01

There has been a increasing interest in understanding emotion regulation deficits in social anxiety disorder (SAD; e.g., Hofmann, Sawyer, Fang, & Asnaani, 2012). However, much remains to be understood about the patterns of associations among regulation strategies in the repertoire. Doing so is important in light of the growing recognition that people’s ability to flexibly implement strategies is associated with better mental health (e.g., Kashdan et al., 2014). Based on previous work (Aldao & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2012), we examined whether putatively adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies interacted with each other in the prediction of social anxiety symptoms in a sample of 71 participants undergoing CBT for SAD. We found that strategies interacted with each other and that this interaction was qualified by a three-way interaction with a contextual factor, namely treatment study phase. Consequently, these findings underscore the importance of modeling contextual factors when seeking to understand emotion regulation deficits in SAD. PMID:24742755

Practical guidelines for implementing adaptive optics in fluorescence microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilding, Dean; Pozzi, Paolo; Soloviev, Oleg; Vdovin, Gleb; Verhaegen, Michel

2018-02-01

In life sciences, interest in the microscopic imaging of increasingly complex three dimensional samples, such as cell spheroids, zebrafish embryos, and in vivo applications in small animals, is growing quickly. Due to the increasing complexity of samples, more and more life scientists are considering the implementation of adaptive optics in their experimental setups. While several approaches to adaptive optics in microscopy have been reported, it is often difficult and confusing for the microscopist to choose from the array of techniques and equipment. In this poster presentation we offer a small guide to adaptive optics providing general guidelines for successful adaptive optics implementation.

Adaptive Cluster Sampling for Forest Inventories

Treesearch

Francis A. Roesch

1993-01-01

Adaptive cluster sampling is shown to be a viable alternative for sampling forests when there are rare characteristics of the forest trees which are of interest and occur on clustered trees. The ideas of recent work in Thompson (1990) have been extended to the case in which the initial sample is selected with unequal probabilities. An example is given in which the...

Sampled-Data Kalman Filtering and Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation for Infinite-Dimensional Continuous-Time Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

mathematical frame- 1-6 work of linear algebra and functional analysis [122, 33], while Kalman-Bucy filtering [96, 32] is an especially important...Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology (AU), Wright- Patterson AFB, Ohio, March 2002. 85. Hoffman, Kenneth and Ray Kunze. Linear Algebra (Second Edition...Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology (AU), Wright- Patterson AFB, Ohio, December 1989. 189. Strang, Gilbert. Linear Algebra and Its Applications

Psychological and behavioral differences between low back pain populations: a comparative analysis of chiropractic, primary and secondary care patients.

PubMed

Eklund, Andreas; Bergström, Gunnar; Bodin, Lennart; Axén, Iben

2015-10-19

Psychological, behavioral and social factors have long been considered important in the development of persistent pain. Little is known about how chiropractic low back pain (LBP) patients compare to other LBP patients in terms of psychological/behavioral characteristics. In this cross-sectional study, the aim was to investigate patients with LBP as regards to psychosocial/behavioral characteristics by describing a chiropractic primary care population and comparing this sample to three other populations using the MPI-S instrument. Thus, four different samples were compared. A: Four hundred eighty subjects from chiropractic primary care clinics. B: One hundred twenty-eight subjects from a gainfully employed population (sick listed with high risk of developing chronicity). C: Two hundred seventy-three subjects from a secondary care rehabilitation clinic. D: Two hundred thirty-five subjects from secondary care clinics. The Swedish version of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI-S) was used to collect data. Subjects were classified using a cluster analytic strategy into three pre-defined subgroups (named adaptive copers, dysfunctional and interpersonally distressed). The data show statistically significant overall differences across samples for the subgroups based on psychological and behavioral characteristics. The cluster classifications placed (in terms of the proportions of the adaptive copers and dysfunctional subgroups) sample A between B and the two secondary care samples C and D. The chiropractic primary care sample was more affected by pain and worse off with regards to psychological and behavioral characteristics compared to the other primary care sample. Based on our findings from the MPI-S instrument the 4 samples may be considered statistically and clinically different. Sample A comes from an ongoing trial registered at clinical trials.gov; NCT01539863 , February 22, 2012.

The relationship between childhood trauma and the severity of adulthood depression and anxiety symptoms in a clinical sample: The mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies.

PubMed

Huh, Hyu Jung; Kim, Kyung Hee; Lee, Hee-Kyung; Chae, Jeong-Ho

2017-04-15

Childhood trauma is an important factor in adverse mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a hypothesized model describing a pathway of childhood trauma and its influence on psychiatric symptoms in patients with depressive disorder. In this model, childhood trauma was positively associated with current depression and anxiety symptoms, which were mediated by a cognitive emotional regulation strategy. Patients with depressive disorder (n=585, 266 men, 316 women) completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). We divided the cognitive emotion regulation strategies into adaptive and maladaptive strategies using a CERQ subscore. We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) and simple/multiple mediation analyses. The indirect effect of maladaptive strategies was significant in the relationship between overall childhood trauma and depression/anxiety severity, whereas the mediation effect of adaptive strategies was limited to depressive symptoms. With respect to specific types of trauma, maladaptive strategies mediated the association between emotional abuse and current depression/anxiety, while the mediation effect of adaptive strategies was limited to emotional neglect. This study's cross-sectional design does not allow establishment of causal relationships. Childhood trauma recall bias may be possible. These findings support the hypothesized model in which childhood trauma is associated with adulthood depression/anxiety symptoms in clinical samples, and mediated by emotion regulation strategies. These results suggest that cognitive emotion dysregulation is an important factor affecting depression/anxiety symptoms in patients with childhood trauma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Implementation of time-efficient adaptive sampling function design for improved undersampled MRI reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Jinhyeok; Kim, Hyeonjin

2016-12-01

To improve the efficacy of undersampled MRI, a method of designing adaptive sampling functions is proposed that is simple to implement on an MR scanner and yet effectively improves the performance of the sampling functions. An approximation of the energy distribution of an image (E-map) is estimated from highly undersampled k-space data acquired in a prescan and efficiently recycled in the main scan. An adaptive probability density function (PDF) is generated by combining the E-map with a modeled PDF. A set of candidate sampling functions are then prepared from the adaptive PDF, among which the one with maximum energy is selected as the final sampling function. To validate its computational efficiency, the proposed method was implemented on an MR scanner, and its robust performance in Fourier-transform (FT) MRI and compressed sensing (CS) MRI was tested by simulations and in a cherry tomato. The proposed method consistently outperforms the conventional modeled PDF approach for undersampling ratios of 0.2 or higher in both FT-MRI and CS-MRI. To fully benefit from undersampled MRI, it is preferable that the design of adaptive sampling functions be performed online immediately before the main scan. In this way, the proposed method may further improve the efficacy of the undersampled MRI.

Integrating diffusion maps with umbrella sampling: Application to alanine dipeptide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, Andrew L.; Panagiotopoulos, Athanassios Z.; Debenedetti, Pablo G.; Kevrekidis, Ioannis G.

2011-04-01

Nonlinear dimensionality reduction techniques can be applied to molecular simulation trajectories to systematically extract a small number of variables with which to parametrize the important dynamical motions of the system. For molecular systems exhibiting free energy barriers exceeding a few kBT, inadequate sampling of the barrier regions between stable or metastable basins can lead to a poor global characterization of the free energy landscape. We present an adaptation of a nonlinear dimensionality reduction technique known as the diffusion map that extends its applicability to biased umbrella sampling simulation trajectories in which restraining potentials are employed to drive the system into high free energy regions and improve sampling of phase space. We then propose a bootstrapped approach to iteratively discover good low-dimensional parametrizations by interleaving successive rounds of umbrella sampling and diffusion mapping, and we illustrate the technique through a study of alanine dipeptide in explicit solvent.

More adaptive versus less maladaptive coping: What is more predictive of symptom severity? Development of a new scale to investigate coping profiles across different psychopathological syndromes.

PubMed

Moritz, Steffen; Jahns, Anna Katharina; Schröder, Johanna; Berger, Thomas; Lincoln, Tania M; Klein, Jan Philipp; Göritz, Anja S

2016-02-01

Lack of adaptive and enhanced maladaptive coping with stress and negative emotions are implicated in many psychopathological disorders. We describe the development of a new scale to investigate the relative contribution of different coping styles to psychopathology in a large population sample. We hypothesized that the magnitude of the supposed positive correlation between maladaptive coping and psychopathology would be stronger than the supposed negative correlation between adaptive coping and psychopathology. We also examined whether distinct coping style patterns emerge for different psychopathological syndromes. A total of 2200 individuals from the general population participated in an online survey. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory revised (OCI-R) and the Paranoia Checklist were administered along with a novel instrument called Maladaptive and Adaptive Coping Styles (MAX) questionnaire. Participants were reassessed six months later. MAX consists of three dimensions representing adaptive coping, maladaptive coping and avoidance. Across all psychopathological syndromes, similar response patterns emerged. Maladaptive coping was more strongly related to psychopathology than adaptive coping both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The overall number of coping styles adopted by an individual predicted greater psychopathology. Mediation analysis suggests that a mild positive relationship between adaptive and certain maladaptive styles (emotional suppression) partially accounts for the attenuated relationship between adaptive coping and depressive symptoms. Results should be replicated in a clinical population. Results suggest that maladaptive and adaptive coping styles are not reciprocal. Reducing maladaptive coping seems to be more important for outcome than enhancing adaptive coping. The study supports transdiagnostic approaches advocating that maladaptive coping is a common factor across different psychopathologies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Incremental Validity of the Durand Adaptive Psychopathic Traits Questionnaire Above Self-Report Psychopathy Measures in Community Samples.

PubMed

Durand, Guillaume

2018-05-03

Although highly debated, the notion of the existence of an adaptive side to psychopathy is supported by some researchers. Currently, 2 instruments assessing psychopathic traits include an adaptive component, which might not cover the full spectrum of adaptive psychopathic traits. The Durand Adaptive Psychopathic Traits Questionnaire (DAPTQ; Durand, 2017 ) is a 41-item self-reported instrument assessing adaptive traits known to correlate with the psychopathic personality. In this study, I investigated in 2 samples (N = 263 and N = 262) the incremental validity of the DAPTQ over the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Short Form (PPI-SF) and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) using multiple criterion measures. Results showed that the DAPTQ significantly increased the predictive validity over the PPI-SF on 5 factors of the HEXACO. Additionally, the DAPTQ provided incremental validity over both the PPI-SF and the TriPM on measures of communication adaptability, perceived stress, and trait anxiety. Overall, these results support the validity of the DAPTQ in community samples. Directions for future studies to further validate the DAPTQ are discussed.

Flexible binding simulation by a novel and improved version of virtual-system coupled adaptive umbrella sampling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dasgupta, Bhaskar; Nakamura, Haruki; Higo, Junichi

2016-10-01

Virtual-system coupled adaptive umbrella sampling (VAUS) enhances sampling along a reaction coordinate by using a virtual degree of freedom. However, VAUS and regular adaptive umbrella sampling (AUS) methods are yet computationally expensive. To decrease the computational burden further, improvements of VAUS for all-atom explicit solvent simulation are presented here. The improvements include probability distribution calculation by a Markov approximation; parameterization of biasing forces by iterative polynomial fitting; and force scaling. These when applied to study Ala-pentapeptide dimerization in explicit solvent showed advantage over regular AUS. By using improved VAUS larger biological systems are amenable.

Survey of adaptive image coding techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Habibi, A.

1977-01-01

The general problem of image data compression is discussed briefly with attention given to the use of Karhunen-Loeve transforms, suboptimal systems, and block quantization. A survey is then conducted encompassing the four categories of adaptive systems: (1) adaptive transform coding (adaptive sampling, adaptive quantization, etc.), (2) adaptive predictive coding (adaptive delta modulation, adaptive DPCM encoding, etc.), (3) adaptive cluster coding (blob algorithms and the multispectral cluster coding technique), and (4) adaptive entropy coding.

Capturing heterogeneity: The role of a study area's extent for estimating mean throughfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimmermann, Alexander; Voss, Sebastian; Metzger, Johanna Clara; Hildebrandt, Anke; Zimmermann, Beate

2016-11-01

The selection of an appropriate spatial extent of a sampling plot is one among several important decisions involved in planning a throughfall sampling scheme. In fact, the choice of the extent may determine whether or not a study can adequately characterize the hydrological fluxes of the studied ecosystem. Previous attempts to optimize throughfall sampling schemes focused on the selection of an appropriate sample size, support, and sampling design, while comparatively little attention has been given to the role of the extent. In this contribution, we investigated the influence of the extent on the representativeness of mean throughfall estimates for three forest ecosystems of varying stand structure. Our study is based on virtual sampling of simulated throughfall fields. We derived these fields from throughfall data sampled in a simply structured forest (young tropical forest) and two heterogeneous forests (old tropical forest, unmanaged mixed European beech forest). We then sampled the simulated throughfall fields with three common extents and various sample sizes for a range of events and for accumulated data. Our findings suggest that the size of the study area should be carefully adapted to the complexity of the system under study and to the required temporal resolution of the throughfall data (i.e. event-based versus accumulated). Generally, event-based sampling in complex structured forests (conditions that favor comparatively long autocorrelations in throughfall) requires the largest extents. For event-based sampling, the choice of an appropriate extent can be as important as using an adequate sample size.

Self-adaptive enhanced sampling in the energy and trajectory spaces: accelerated thermodynamics and kinetic calculations.

PubMed

Gao, Yi Qin

2008-04-07

Here, we introduce a simple self-adaptive computational method to enhance the sampling in energy, configuration, and trajectory spaces. The method makes use of two strategies. It first uses a non-Boltzmann distribution method to enhance the sampling in the phase space, in particular, in the configuration space. The application of this method leads to a broad energy distribution in a large energy range and a quickly converged sampling of molecular configurations. In the second stage of simulations, the configuration space of the system is divided into a number of small regions according to preselected collective coordinates. An enhanced sampling of reactive transition paths is then performed in a self-adaptive fashion to accelerate kinetics calculations.

A sub-sampled approach to extremely low-dose STEM

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stevens, A.; Luzi, L.; Yang, H.

The inpainting of randomly sub-sampled images acquired by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is an attractive method for imaging under low-dose conditions (≤ 1 e -Å 2) without changing either the operation of the microscope or the physics of the imaging process. We show that 1) adaptive sub-sampling increases acquisition speed, resolution, and sensitivity; and 2) random (non-adaptive) sub-sampling is equivalent, but faster than, traditional low-dose techniques. Adaptive sub-sampling opens numerous possibilities for the analysis of beam sensitive materials and in-situ dynamic processes at the resolution limit of the aberration corrected microscope and is demonstrated here for the analysis ofmore » the node distribution in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).« less

Phylogeographic differentiation versus transcriptomic adaptation to warm temperatures in Zostera marina, a globally important seagrass.

PubMed

Jueterbock, A; Franssen, S U; Bergmann, N; Gu, J; Coyer, J A; Reusch, T B H; Bornberg-Bauer, E; Olsen, J L

2016-11-01

Populations distributed across a broad thermal cline are instrumental in addressing adaptation to increasing temperatures under global warming. Using a space-for-time substitution design, we tested for parallel adaptation to warm temperatures along two independent thermal clines in Zostera marina, the most widely distributed seagrass in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. A North-South pair of populations was sampled along the European and North American coasts and exposed to a simulated heatwave in a common-garden mesocosm. Transcriptomic responses under control, heat stress and recovery were recorded in 99 RNAseq libraries with ~13 000 uniquely annotated, expressed genes. We corrected for phylogenetic differentiation among populations to discriminate neutral from adaptive differentiation. The two southern populations recovered faster from heat stress and showed parallel transcriptomic differentiation, as compared with northern populations. Among 2389 differentially expressed genes, 21 exceeded neutral expectations and were likely involved in parallel adaptation to warm temperatures. However, the strongest differentiation following phylogenetic correction was between the three Atlantic populations and the Mediterranean population with 128 of 4711 differentially expressed genes exceeding neutral expectations. Although adaptation to warm temperatures is expected to reduce sensitivity to heatwaves, the continued resistance of seagrass to further anthropogenic stresses may be impaired by heat-induced downregulation of genes related to photosynthesis, pathogen defence and stress tolerance. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Public health adaptation to climate change in Canadian jurisdictions.

PubMed

Austin, Stephanie E; Ford, James D; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Araos, Malcolm; Parker, Stephen; Fleury, Manon D

2015-01-12

Climate change poses numerous risks to the health of Canadians. Extreme weather events, poor air quality, and food insecurity in northern regions are likely to increase along with the increasing incidence and range of infectious diseases. In this study we identify and characterize Canadian federal, provincial, territorial and municipal adaptation to these health risks based on publically available information. Federal health adaptation initiatives emphasize capacity building and gathering information to address general health, infectious disease and heat-related risks. Provincial and territorial adaptation is varied. Quebec is a leader in climate change adaptation, having a notably higher number of adaptation initiatives reported, addressing almost all risks posed by climate change in the province, and having implemented various adaptation types. Meanwhile, all other Canadian provinces and territories are in the early stages of health adaptation. Based on publically available information, reported adaptation also varies greatly by municipality. The six sampled Canadian regional health authorities (or equivalent) are not reporting any adaptation initiatives. We also find little relationship between the number of initiatives reported in the six sampled municipalities and their provinces, suggesting that municipalities are adapting (or not adapting) autonomously.

ADAPTIVE ANNEALED IMPORTANCE SAMPLING FOR MULTIMODAL POSTERIOR EXPLORATION AND MODEL SELECTION WITH APPLICATION TO EXTRASOLAR PLANET DETECTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Bin, E-mail: bins@ieee.org

2014-07-01

We describe an algorithm that can adaptively provide mixture summaries of multimodal posterior distributions. The parameter space of the involved posteriors ranges in size from a few dimensions to dozens of dimensions. This work was motivated by an astrophysical problem called extrasolar planet (exoplanet) detection, wherein the computation of stochastic integrals that are required for Bayesian model comparison is challenging. The difficulty comes from the highly nonlinear models that lead to multimodal posterior distributions. We resort to importance sampling (IS) to estimate the integrals, and thus translate the problem to be how to find a parametric approximation of the posterior.more » To capture the multimodal structure in the posterior, we initialize a mixture proposal distribution and then tailor its parameters elaborately to make it resemble the posterior to the greatest extent possible. We use the effective sample size (ESS) calculated based on the IS draws to measure the degree of approximation. The bigger the ESS is, the better the proposal resembles the posterior. A difficulty within this tailoring operation lies in the adjustment of the number of mixing components in the mixture proposal. Brute force methods just preset it as a large constant, which leads to an increase in the required computational resources. We provide an iterative delete/merge/add process, which works in tandem with an expectation-maximization step to tailor such a number online. The efficiency of our proposed method is tested via both simulation studies and real exoplanet data analysis.« less

An innovative approach for Predicting Farmers' Adaptive Behavior at the Large Watershed Scale: Implications for Water Quality and Crop Yields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valcu-Lisman, A. M.; Gassman, P. W.; Arritt, R. W.; Kling, C.; Arbuckle, J. G.; Roesch-McNally, G. E.; Panagopoulos, Y.

2017-12-01

Projected changes in the climatic patterns (higher temperatures, changes in extreme precipitation events, and higher levels of humidity) will affect agricultural cropping and management systems in major agricultural production areas. The concept of adaption to new climatic or economic conditions is an important aspect of the agricultural decision-making process. Adopting cover crops, reduced tillage, extending the drainage systems and adjusting crop management are only a few examples of adaptive actions. These actions can be easily implemented as long as they have private benefits (increased profits, reduced risk). However, each adaptive action has a different impact on water quality. Cover crops and no till usually have a positive impact on water quality, but increased tile drainage typically results in more degraded water quality due primarily to increased export of soluble nitrogen and phosphorus. The goal of this research is to determine the changes in water quality as well in crop yields as farmers undertake these adaptive measures. To answer this research question, we need to estimate the likelihood that these actions will occur, identify the agricultural areas where these actions are most likely to be implemented, and simulate the water quality impacts associated with each of these scenarios. We apply our modeling efforts to the whole Upper-Mississippi River Basin Basin (UMRB) and the Ohio-Tennessee River Basin (OTRB). These two areas are critical source regions for the re-occurring hypoxic zone in the gulf of Mexico. The likelihood of each adaptive agricultural action is estimated using data from a survey conducted in 2012. A large, representative sample of farmers in the Corn Belt was used in the survey to elicit behavioral intentions regarding three of the most important agricultural adaptation strategies (no-till, cover crops and tile drainage). We use these data to study the relationship between intent to adapt, farmer characteristics, farm characteristics, and weather characteristics, and to predict the probability of adoption for each action. Next, we use these estimated probabilities to create different scenarios for the two large scale-watersheds. Finally, we simulate the impact of these scenarios on water quality using calibrated UMRB and OTRB SWAT water quality models.

How student models of expertise and innovation impact the development of adaptive expertise in medicine.

PubMed

Mylopoulos, Maria; Regehr, Glenn

2009-02-01

The ability to innovate new solutions in response to daily workplace challenges is an important component of adaptive expertise. Exploring how to optimally develop this skill is therefore of paramount importance to education researchers. This is certainly no less true in health care, where optimal patient care is contingent on the continuous efforts of doctors and other health care workers to provide the best care to their patients through the development and incorporation of new knowledge. Medical education programmes must therefore foster the skills and attitudes necessary to engage future doctors in the systematic development of innovative problem solving. The aim of this paper is to describe the perceptions and experiences of medical students in their third and fourth years of training, and to explore their understanding of their development as adaptive experts. A sample of 25 medical students participated in individual 45-60-minute semi-structured interviews. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and entered into NVivo qualitative data analysis software to facilitate a thematic analysis. The analysis was both inductive, in that themes were generated from the data, and deductive, in that our data were meaningful when interpreted in the context of theories of adaptive expertise. Participants expressed a general belief that, as learners in the health care system, exerting any effort to be innovative was beyond the scope of their responsibilities. Generally, students suggested that innovative practice was the prerogative of experts and an outcome of expert development centred on the acquisition of knowledge and experience. Students' perceptions of themselves as having no responsibility to be innovative in their learning process have implications for their learning trajectories as adaptive experts.

Adaptations of the aging animal to exercise: role of daily supplementation with melatonin.

PubMed

Mendes, Caroline; Lopes, Ana Maria de Souza; do Amaral, Fernanda Gaspar; Peliciari-Garcia, Rodrigo A; Turati, Ariane de Oliveira; Hirabara, Sandro M; Scialfa Falcão, Julieta H; Cipolla-Neto, José

2013-10-01

The pineal gland, through melatonin, seems to be of fundamental importance in determining the metabolic adaptations of adipose and muscle tissues to physical training. Evidence shows that pinealectomized animals fail to develop adaptive metabolic changes in response to aerobic exercise and therefore do not exhibit the same performance as control-trained animals. The known prominent reduction in melatonin synthesis in aging animals led us to investigate the metabolic adaptations to physical training in aged animals with and without daily melatonin replacement. Male Wistar rats were assigned to four groups: sedentary control (SC), trained control (TC), sedentary treated with melatonin (SM), and trained treated with melatonin (TM). Melatonin supplementation lasted 16 wk, and the animals were subjected to exercise during the last 8 wk of the experiment. After euthanasia, samples of liver, muscle, and adipose tissues were collected for analysis. Trained animals treated with melatonin presented better results in the following parameters: glucose tolerance, physical capacity, citrate synthase activity, hepatic and muscular glycogen content, body weight, protein expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and protein kinase activated by adenosine monophosphate (AMPK) in the liver, as well as the protein expression of the glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) and AMPK in the muscle. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that melatonin supplementation in aging animals is of great importance for the required metabolic adaptations induced by aerobic exercise. Adequate levels of circulating melatonin are, therefore, necessary to improve energetic metabolism efficiency, reducing body weight and increasing insulin sensitivity. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Association of adaptive and maladaptive narcissism with personal burnout: findings from a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

VON KÄNEL, Roland; HERR, Raphael Manfred; VAN VIANEN, Annelies Elizabeth Maria; SCHMIDT, Burkhard

2017-01-01

Burnout is associated with poor mental and physical functioning and high costs for societies. Personality attributes may critically increase the risk of personal burnout. We specifically examined whether narcissism associates with personal burnout in a working population. We studied n=1,461 employees (mean age 41.3 ± 9.4 yr, 52% men) drawn from a random sample of a pharmaceutical company in Germany. All participants completed the personal burnout subscale of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory to assess maladaptive (entitlement/exploitativeness) and adaptive (leadership/authority) narcissism. In linear regression analysis, when mutually adjusting for the maladaptive and adaptive narcissism scales, higher adaptive narcissism was associated with lower burnout scores (ß=−0.04, p<0.05), whereas higher maladaptive narcissism was associated with higher burnout scores (ß=0.04, p<0.05). Additionally, younger age (ß=−0.07), female gender (ß=0.11), depressive symptoms (ß=0.42), sleep problems (ß=0.30), stress at work (ß=0.23) and at home (ß=0.09) were all independently associated with increased burnout scores (all p-values<0.01). Narcissistic personality attributes may play an important role in personal burnout. While maladaptive narcissism was associated with increased levels of burnout symptoms, adaptive narcissism was associated with fewer burnout symptoms. PMID:28123136

Association of adaptive and maladaptive narcissism with personal burnout: findings from a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

VON Känel, Roland; Herr, Raphael Manfred; VAN Vianen, Annelies Elizabeth Maria; Schmidt, Burkhard

2017-06-08

Burnout is associated with poor mental and physical functioning and high costs for societies. Personality attributes may critically increase the risk of personal burnout. We specifically examined whether narcissism associates with personal burnout in a working population. We studied n=1,461 employees (mean age 41.3 ± 9.4 yr, 52% men) drawn from a random sample of a pharmaceutical company in Germany. All participants completed the personal burnout subscale of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory to assess maladaptive (entitlement/exploitativeness) and adaptive (leadership/authority) narcissism. In linear regression analysis, when mutually adjusting for the maladaptive and adaptive narcissism scales, higher adaptive narcissism was associated with lower burnout scores (ß=-0.04, p<0.05), whereas higher maladaptive narcissism was associated with higher burnout scores (ß=0.04, p<0.05). Additionally, younger age (ß=-0.07), female gender (ß=0.11), depressive symptoms (ß=0.42), sleep problems (ß=0.30), stress at work (ß=0.23) and at home (ß=0.09) were all independently associated with increased burnout scores (all p-values<0.01). Narcissistic personality attributes may play an important role in personal burnout. While maladaptive narcissism was associated with increased levels of burnout symptoms, adaptive narcissism was associated with fewer burnout symptoms.

Laying the Groundwork for NCLEX Success: An Exploration of Adaptive Quizzing as an Examination Preparation Method.

PubMed

Cox-Davenport, Rebecca A; Phelan, Julia C

2015-05-01

First-time NCLEX-RN pass rates are an important indicator of nursing school success and quality. Nursing schools use different methods to anticipate NCLEX outcomes and help prevent student failure and possible threat to accreditation. This study evaluated the impact of a shift in NCLEX preparation policy at a BSN program in the southeast United States. The policy shifted from the use of predictor score thresholds to determine graduation eligibility to a more proactive remediation strategy involving adaptive quizzing. A descriptive correlational design evaluated the impact of an adaptive quizzing system designed to give students ongoing active practice and feedback and explored the relationship between predictor examinations and NCLEX success. Data from student usage of the system as well as scores on predictor tests were collected for three student cohorts. Results revealed a positive correlation between adaptive quizzing system usage and content mastery. Two of the 69 students in the sample did not pass the NCLEX. With so few students failing the NCLEX, predictability of any course variables could not be determined. The power of predictor examinations to predict NCLEX failure could also not be supported. The most consistent factor among students, however, was their content mastery level within the adaptive quizzing system. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Adaptive Role of Inversion Polymorphism of Drosophila subobscura in Lead Stressed Environment

PubMed Central

Kenig, Bojan; Kurbalija Novičić, Zorana; Patenković, Aleksandra; Stamenković-Radak, Marina; Anđelković, Marko

2015-01-01

Local adaptation to environmental stress at different levels of genetic polymorphism in various plants and animals has been documented through evolution of heavy metal tolerance. We used samples of Drosophila subobscura populations from two differently polluted environments to analyze the change of chromosomal inversion polymorphism as genetic marker during laboratory exposure to lead. Exposure to environmental contamination can affect the genetic content within a particular inversion and produce targets for selection in populations from different environments. The aims were to discover whether the inversion polymorphism is shaped by the local natural environments, and if lead as a selection pressure would cause adaptive divergence of two populations during the multigenerational laboratory experiment. The results showed that populations retain signatures from past contamination events, and that heavy metal pollution can cause adaptive changes in population. Differences in inversion polymorphism between the two populations increased over generations under lead contamination in the laboratory. The inversion polymorphism of population originating from the more polluted natural environment was more stable during the experiment, both under conditions with and without lead. Therefore, results showed that inversion polymorphism as a genetic marker reflects a strong signature of adaptation to the local environment, and that historical demographic events and selection are important for both prediction of evolutionary potential and long-term viability of natural populations. PMID:26102201

Adaptive Role of Inversion Polymorphism of Drosophila subobscura in Lead Stressed Environment.

PubMed

Kenig, Bojan; Kurbalija Novičić, Zorana; Patenković, Aleksandra; Stamenković-Radak, Marina; Anđelković, Marko

2015-01-01

Local adaptation to environmental stress at different levels of genetic polymorphism in various plants and animals has been documented through evolution of heavy metal tolerance. We used samples of Drosophila subobscura populations from two differently polluted environments to analyze the change of chromosomal inversion polymorphism as genetic marker during laboratory exposure to lead. Exposure to environmental contamination can affect the genetic content within a particular inversion and produce targets for selection in populations from different environments. The aims were to discover whether the inversion polymorphism is shaped by the local natural environments, and if lead as a selection pressure would cause adaptive divergence of two populations during the multigenerational laboratory experiment. The results showed that populations retain signatures from past contamination events, and that heavy metal pollution can cause adaptive changes in population. Differences in inversion polymorphism between the two populations increased over generations under lead contamination in the laboratory. The inversion polymorphism of population originating from the more polluted natural environment was more stable during the experiment, both under conditions with and without lead. Therefore, results showed that inversion polymorphism as a genetic marker reflects a strong signature of adaptation to the local environment, and that historical demographic events and selection are important for both prediction of evolutionary potential and long-term viability of natural populations.

Adaptation and Validation of the Brief Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS) in a Colombian Sample and Factorial Equivalence with the Spanish Version

PubMed Central

Sierra, Juan Carlos; Soler, Franklin

2016-01-01

Attitudes toward sexuality are a key variable for sexual health. It is really important for psychology and education to have adapted and validated questionnaires to evaluate these attitudes. Therefore, the objective of this research was to adapt, validate and calculate the equivalence of the Colombia Sexual Opinion Survey as compared to the same survey from Spain. To this end, a total of eight experts were consulted and 1,167 subjects from Colombia and Spain answered the Sexual Opinion Survey, the Sexual Assertiveness Scale, the Massachusetts General Hospital-Sexual Functioning Questionnaire, and the Sexuality Scale. The evaluation was conducted by online and the results show adequate qualitative and quantitative properties of the items, with adequate reliability and external validity and compliance with the strong invariance between the two countries. Consequently, the Colombia Sexual Opinion Survey is a valid and reliable scale and its scores can be compared with the ones from the Spain survey, with minimum bias. PMID:27627114

Transcultural adaptation into Spanish of the Induction Compliance Checklist for assessing children's behaviour during induction of anaesthesia.

PubMed

Jerez-Molina, Carmen; Lázaro-Alcay, Juan J; Ullán-de la Fuente, Ana M

2017-10-17

Cross-cultural adaptation into Spanish of the Induction Compliance Checklist (ICC) for assessing children's behaviour during induction of anaesthesia. A descriptive cross-sectional observational study was conducted on a sample of 81 children aged 2 to 12 years operated in an ambulatory surgery unit of a paediatric hospital in Barcelona. Adaptation by translation-back translation of the tool and analysis of the scale's validity and reliability. Face validity of the tool was guaranteed through a discussion group and inter-observer reliability was evaluated, obtaining an intraclass correlation index of r = 0.956. The ICC scale validated for the Spanish population can be an effective tool for the presurgical evaluation of activities carried out to minimise children's anxiety. The ICC is an easy-to-use scale completed by operating room staff in one minute and would provide important information about children's behaviour, specifically during induction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Improved antioxidative protection in winter swimmers.

PubMed

Siems, W G; Brenke, R; Sommerburg, O; Grune, T

1999-04-01

Adaptation to oxidative stress is an improved ability to resist the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species, resulting from pre-exposure to a lower dose. Changes in uric acid and glutathione levels during ice-bathing suggest that the intensive voluntary short-term cold exposure of winter swimming produces oxidative stress. We investigated whether the repeated oxidative stress in winter swimmers results in improved antioxidative adaptation. We obtained venous blood samples from winter swimmers and determined important components of the antioxidative defense system in the erythrocytes or blood plasma: reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH and GSSG), and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (Cat). The control group consisted of healthy people who had never participated in winter swimming. The baseline concentration of GSH and the activities of erythrocytic SOD and Cat, were higher in winter swimmers. We interpret this as an adaptative response to repeated oxidative stress, and postulate it as a new basic molecular mechanism of increased tolerance to environmental stress.

Evaluation of the maximum-likelihood adaptive neural system (MLANS) applications to noncooperative IFF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chernick, Julian A.; Perlovsky, Leonid I.; Tye, David M.

1994-06-01

This paper describes applications of maximum likelihood adaptive neural system (MLANS) to the characterization of clutter in IR images and to the identification of targets. The characterization of image clutter is needed to improve target detection and to enhance the ability to compare performance of different algorithms using diverse imagery data. Enhanced unambiguous IFF is important for fratricide reduction while automatic cueing and targeting is becoming an ever increasing part of operations. We utilized MLANS which is a parametric neural network that combines optimal statistical techniques with a model-based approach. This paper shows that MLANS outperforms classical classifiers, the quadratic classifier and the nearest neighbor classifier, because on the one hand it is not limited to the usual Gaussian distribution assumption and can adapt in real time to the image clutter distribution; on the other hand MLANS learns from fewer samples and is more robust than the nearest neighbor classifiers. Future research will address uncooperative IFF using fused IR and MMW data.

Whole-genome resequencing reveals world-wide ancestry and adaptive introgression events of domesticated cattle in East Asia.

PubMed

Chen, Ningbo; Cai, Yudong; Chen, Qiuming; Li, Ran; Wang, Kun; Huang, Yongzhen; Hu, Songmei; Huang, Shisheng; Zhang, Hucai; Zheng, Zhuqing; Song, Weining; Ma, Zhijie; Ma, Yun; Dang, Ruihua; Zhang, Zijing; Xu, Lei; Jia, Yutang; Liu, Shanzhai; Yue, Xiangpeng; Deng, Weidong; Zhang, Xiaoming; Sun, Zhouyong; Lan, Xianyong; Han, Jianlin; Chen, Hong; Bradley, Daniel G; Jiang, Yu; Lei, Chuzhao

2018-06-14

Cattle domestication and the complex histories of East Asian cattle breeds warrant further investigation. Through analysing the genomes of 49 modern breeds and eight East Asian ancient samples, worldwide cattle are consistently classified into five continental groups based on Y-chromosome haplotypes and autosomal variants. We find that East Asian cattle populations are mainly composed of three distinct ancestries, including an earlier East Asian taurine ancestry that reached China at least ~3.9 kya, a later introduced Eurasian taurine ancestry, and a novel Chinese indicine ancestry that diverged from Indian indicine approximately 36.6-49.6 kya. We also report historic introgression events that helped domestic cattle from southern China and the Tibetan Plateau achieve rapid adaptation by acquiring ~2.93% and ~1.22% of their genomes from banteng and yak, respectively. Our findings provide new insights into the evolutionary history of cattle and the importance of introgression in adaptation of cattle to new environmental challenges in East Asia.

Adaptation and Validation of the Brief Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS) in a Colombian Sample and Factorial Equivalence with the Spanish Version.

PubMed

Vallejo-Medina, Pablo; Marchal-Bertrand, Laurent; Gómez-Lugo, Mayra; Espada, José Pedro; Sierra, Juan Carlos; Soler, Franklin; Morales, Alexandra

2016-01-01

Attitudes toward sexuality are a key variable for sexual health. It is really important for psychology and education to have adapted and validated questionnaires to evaluate these attitudes. Therefore, the objective of this research was to adapt, validate and calculate the equivalence of the Colombia Sexual Opinion Survey as compared to the same survey from Spain. To this end, a total of eight experts were consulted and 1,167 subjects from Colombia and Spain answered the Sexual Opinion Survey, the Sexual Assertiveness Scale, the Massachusetts General Hospital-Sexual Functioning Questionnaire, and the Sexuality Scale. The evaluation was conducted by online and the results show adequate qualitative and quantitative properties of the items, with adequate reliability and external validity and compliance with the strong invariance between the two countries. Consequently, the Colombia Sexual Opinion Survey is a valid and reliable scale and its scores can be compared with the ones from the Spain survey, with minimum bias.

Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale for Colombian Nursing Professionals.

PubMed

Herrero-Hahn, Raquel; Rojas, Juan Guillermo; Ospina-Díaz, Juan Manuel; Montoya-Juárez, Rafael; Restrepo-Medrano, Juan Carlos; Hueso-Montoro, César

2017-03-01

The level of cultural self-efficacy indicates the degree of confidence nursing professionals possess for their ability to provide culturally competent care. Cultural adaptation and validation of the Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale was performed for nursing professionals in Colombia. A scale validation study was conducted. Cultural adaptation and validation of the Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale was performed using a sample of 190 nurses in Colombia, between September 2013 and April 2014. This sample was chosen via systematic random sampling from a finite population. The scale was culturally adapted. Cronbach's alpha for the revised scale was .978. Factor analysis revealed the existence of six factors grouped in three dimensions that explained 68% of the variance. The results demonstrated that the version of the Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale adapted to the Colombian context is a valid and reliable instrument for determining the level of cultural self-efficacy of nursing professionals.

Determination Of Ph Including Hemoglobin Correction

DOEpatents

Maynard, John D.; Hendee, Shonn P.; Rohrscheib, Mark R.; Nunez, David; Alam, M. Kathleen; Franke, James E.; Kemeny, Gabor J.

2005-09-13

Methods and apparatuses of determining the pH of a sample. A method can comprise determining an infrared spectrum of the sample, and determining the hemoglobin concentration of the sample. The hemoglobin concentration and the infrared spectrum can then be used to determine the pH of the sample. In some embodiments, the hemoglobin concentration can be used to select an model relating infrared spectra to pH that is applicable at the determined hemoglobin concentration. In other embodiments, a model relating hemoglobin concentration and infrared spectra to pH can be used. An apparatus according to the present invention can comprise an illumination system, adapted to supply radiation to a sample; a collection system, adapted to collect radiation expressed from the sample responsive to the incident radiation; and an analysis system, adapted to relate information about the incident radiation, the expressed radiation, and the hemoglobin concentration of the sample to pH.

Studying the Global Bifurcation Involving Wada Boundary Metamorphosis by a Method of Generalized Cell Mapping with Sampling-Adaptive Interpolation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiao-Ming; Jiang, Jun; Hong, Ling; Tang, Dafeng

In this paper, a new method of Generalized Cell Mapping with Sampling-Adaptive Interpolation (GCMSAI) is presented in order to enhance the efficiency of the computation of one-step probability transition matrix of the Generalized Cell Mapping method (GCM). Integrations with one mapping step are replaced by sampling-adaptive interpolations of third order. An explicit formula of interpolation error is derived for a sampling-adaptive control to switch on integrations for the accuracy of computations with GCMSAI. By applying the proposed method to a two-dimensional forced damped pendulum system, global bifurcations are investigated with observations of boundary metamorphoses including full to partial and partial to partial as well as the birth of fully Wada boundary. Moreover GCMSAI requires a computational time of one thirtieth up to one fiftieth compared to that of the previous GCM.

Fluid spatial dynamics of West Nile virus in the USA: Rapid spread in a permissive host environment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Di Giallonardo , Francesca; Geoghegan, Jemma L.; Docherty, Douglas E.; McLean, Robert G.; Zody, Michael C.; Qu, James; Yang, Xiao; Birren, Bruce W.; Malboeuf, Christine M.; Newman, R.; Ip, Hon S.; Holmes, Edward C.

2016-01-01

The introduction of West Nile virus (WNV) into North America in 1999 is a classical example of viral emergence in a new environment, with its subsequent dispersion across the continent having a major impact on local bird populations. Despite the importance of this epizootic, the pattern, dynamics and determinants of WNV spread in its natural hosts remain uncertain. In particular, it is unclear whether the virus encountered major barriers to transmission, or spread in an unconstrained manner, and if specific viral lineages were favored over others indicative of intrinsic differences in fitness. To address these key questions in WNV evolution and ecology we sequenced the complete genomes of approximately 300 avian isolates sampled across the USA between 2001-2012. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a relatively ‘star-like' tree structure, indicative of explosive viral spread in US, although with some replacement of viral genotypes through time. These data are striking in that viral sequences exhibit relatively limited clustering according to geographic region, particularly for those viruses sampled from birds, and no strong phylogenetic association with well sampled avian species. The genome sequence data analysed here also contain relatively little evidence for adaptive evolution, particularly on structural proteins, suggesting that most viral lineages are of similar fitness, and that WNV is well adapted to the ecology of mosquito vectors and diverse avian hosts in the USA. In sum, the molecular evolution of WNV in North America depicts a largely unfettered expansion within a permissive host and geographic population with little evidence of major adaptive barriers.

Bite force estimation and the fiber architecture of felid masticatory muscles.

PubMed

Hartstone-Rose, Adam; Perry, Jonathan M G; Morrow, Caroline J

2012-08-01

Increasingly, analyses of craniodental dietary adaptations take into account mechanical properties of foods. However, masticatory muscle fiber architecture has been described for relatively few lineages, even though an understanding of the scaling of this anatomy can yield important information about adaptations for stretch and strength in the masticatory system. Data on the mandibular adductors of 28 specimens from nine species of felids representing nearly the entire body size range of the family allow us to evaluate the influence of body size and diet on the masticatory apparatus within this lineage. Masticatory muscle masses scale isometrically, tending toward positive allometry, with body mass and jaw length. This allometry becomes significant when the independent variable is a geometric mean of cranial variables. For all three body size proxies, the physiological cross-sectional area and predicted bite forces scale with significant positive allometry. Average fiber lengths (FL) tend toward negative allometry though with wide confidence intervals resulting from substantial scatter. We believe that these FL residuals are affected by dietary signals within the sample; though the mechanical properties of felid diets are relatively similar across species, the most durophagous species in our sample (the jaguar) appears to have relatively higher force production capabilities. The more notable dietary trend in our sample is the relationship between FL and relative prey size: felid species that predominantly consume relatively small prey have short masticatory muscle fibers, and species that regularly consume relatively large prey have relatively long fibers. This suggests an adaptive signal related to gape. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Examining the impact of differential cultural adaptation with Latina/o immigrants exposed to adapted parent training interventions

PubMed Central

Parra-Cardona, J. Rubén; Bybee, Deborah; Sullivan, Cris M.; Domenech Rodríguez, Melanie M.; Dates, Brian; Tams, Lisa; Bernal, Guillermo

2016-01-01

Objective There is a dearth of empirical studies aimed at examining the impact of differential cultural adaptation of evidence-based clinical and prevention interventions. This prevention study consisted of a randomized controlled trial aimed at comparing the impact of two differentially culturally adapted versions of the evidence-based parenting intervention known as Parent Management Training, the Oregon Model (PMTOR). Method The sample consisted of 103 Latina/o immigrant families (190 individual parents). Each family was allocated to one of three conditions: (a) a culturally adapted PMTO (CA), (b) culturally adapted and enhanced PMTO (CE), and (c) a wait-list control. Measurements were implemented at baseline (T1), treatment completion (T2) and 6-month follow up (T3). Results Multi-level growth modeling analyses indicated statistically significant improvements on parenting skills for fathers and mothers (main effect) at 6-month follow-up in both adapted interventions, when compared to the control condition. With regards to parent-reported child behaviors, child internalizing behaviors were significantly lower for both parents in the CE intervention (main effect), compared with control at 6-month follow-up. No main effect was found for child externalizing behaviors. However, a Parent x Condition effect was found indicating a significant reduction of child externalizing behaviors for CE fathers compared to CA and control fathers at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Conclusion Present findings indicate the value of differential cultural adaptation research designs and the importance of examining effects for both mothers and fathers, particularly when culturally-focused and gender variables are considered for intervention design and implementation. PMID:28045288

Self-supervised online metric learning with low rank constraint for scene categorization.

PubMed

Cong, Yang; Liu, Ji; Yuan, Junsong; Luo, Jiebo

2013-08-01

Conventional visual recognition systems usually train an image classifier in a bath mode with all training data provided in advance. However, in many practical applications, only a small amount of training samples are available in the beginning and many more would come sequentially during online recognition. Because the image data characteristics could change over time, it is important for the classifier to adapt to the new data incrementally. In this paper, we present an online metric learning method to address the online scene recognition problem via adaptive similarity measurement. Given a number of labeled data followed by a sequential input of unseen testing samples, the similarity metric is learned to maximize the margin of the distance among different classes of samples. By considering the low rank constraint, our online metric learning model not only can provide competitive performance compared with the state-of-the-art methods, but also guarantees convergence. A bi-linear graph is also defined to model the pair-wise similarity, and an unseen sample is labeled depending on the graph-based label propagation, while the model can also self-update using the more confident new samples. With the ability of online learning, our methodology can well handle the large-scale streaming video data with the ability of incremental self-updating. We evaluate our model to online scene categorization and experiments on various benchmark datasets and comparisons with state-of-the-art methods demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithm.

Resolving occlusion and segmentation errors in multiple video object tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Hsu-Yung; Hwang, Jenq-Neng

2009-02-01

In this work, we propose a method to integrate the Kalman filter and adaptive particle sampling for multiple video object tracking. The proposed framework is able to detect occlusion and segmentation error cases and perform adaptive particle sampling for accurate measurement selection. Compared with traditional particle filter based tracking methods, the proposed method generates particles only when necessary. With the concept of adaptive particle sampling, we can avoid degeneracy problem because the sampling position and range are dynamically determined by parameters that are updated by Kalman filters. There is no need to spend time on processing particles with very small weights. The adaptive appearance for the occluded object refers to the prediction results of Kalman filters to determine the region that should be updated and avoids the problem of using inadequate information to update the appearance under occlusion cases. The experimental results have shown that a small number of particles are sufficient to achieve high positioning and scaling accuracy. Also, the employment of adaptive appearance substantially improves the positioning and scaling accuracy on the tracking results.

Adaptive Biasing Combined with Hamiltonian Replica Exchange to Improve Umbrella Sampling Free Energy Simulations.

PubMed

Zeller, Fabian; Zacharias, Martin

2014-02-11

The accurate calculation of potentials of mean force for ligand-receptor binding is one of the most important applications of molecular simulation techniques. Typically, the separation distance between ligand and receptor is chosen as a reaction coordinate along which a PMF can be calculated with the aid of umbrella sampling (US) techniques. In addition, restraints can be applied on the relative position and orientation of the partner molecules to reduce accessible phase space. An approach combining such phase space reduction with flattening of the free energy landscape and configurational exchanges has been developed, which significantly improves the convergence of PMF calculations in comparison with standard umbrella sampling. The free energy surface along the reaction coordinate is smoothened by iteratively adapting biasing potentials corresponding to previously calculated PMFs. Configurations are allowed to exchange between the umbrella simulation windows via the Hamiltonian replica exchange method. The application to a DNA molecule in complex with a minor groove binding ligand indicates significantly improved convergence and complete reversibility of the sampling along the pathway. The calculated binding free energy is in excellent agreement with experimental results. In contrast, the application of standard US resulted in large differences between PMFs calculated for association and dissociation pathways. The approach could be a useful alternative to standard US for computational studies on biomolecular recognition processes.

Latent profile analysis of sixth graders based on teacher ratings: Association with school dropout.

PubMed

Orpinas, Pamela; Raczynski, Katherine; Peters, Jaclyn Wetherington; Colman, Laura; Bandalos, Deborah

2015-12-01

The goal of this study was to identify meaningful groups of sixth graders with common characteristics based on teacher ratings of assets and maladaptive behaviors, describe dropout rates for each group, and examine the validity of these groups using students' self-reports. The sample consisted of racially diverse students (n = 675) attending sixth grade in public schools in Northeast Georgia. The majority of the sample was randomly selected; a smaller group was identified by teachers as high risk for aggression. Based on teacher ratings of externalizing behaviors, internalizing problems, academic skills, leadership, and social assets, latent profile analysis yielded 7 classes that can be displayed along a continuum: Well-Adapted, Average, Average-Social Skills Deficit, Internalizing, Externalizing, Disruptive Behavior with School Problems, and Severe Problems. Dropout rate was lowest for the Well-adapted class (4%) and highest for the Severe Problems class (58%). However, students in the Average-Social Skills Deficit class did not follow the continuum, with a large proportion of students who abandoned high school (29%). The proportion of students identified by teachers as high in aggression consistently increased across the continuum from none in the Well-Adapted class to 84% in the Severe Problems class. Students' self-reports were generally consistent with the latent profile classes. Students in the Well-Adapted class reported low aggression, drug use, and delinquency, and high life satisfaction; self-reports went in the opposite direction for the Disruptive Behaviors with School Problems class. Results highlight the importance of early interventions to improve academic performance, reduce externalizing behaviors, and enhance social assets. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Deep learning with domain adaptation for accelerated projection-reconstruction MR.

PubMed

Han, Yoseob; Yoo, Jaejun; Kim, Hak Hee; Shin, Hee Jung; Sung, Kyunghyun; Ye, Jong Chul

2018-09-01

The radial k-space trajectory is a well-established sampling trajectory used in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging. However, the radial k-space trajectory requires a large number of radial lines for high-resolution reconstruction. Increasing the number of radial lines causes longer acquisition time, making it more difficult for routine clinical use. On the other hand, if we reduce the number of radial lines, streaking artifact patterns are unavoidable. To solve this problem, we propose a novel deep learning approach with domain adaptation to restore high-resolution MR images from under-sampled k-space data. The proposed deep network removes the streaking artifacts from the artifact corrupted images. To address the situation given the limited available data, we propose a domain adaptation scheme that employs a pre-trained network using a large number of X-ray computed tomography (CT) or synthesized radial MR datasets, which is then fine-tuned with only a few radial MR datasets. The proposed method outperforms existing compressed sensing algorithms, such as the total variation and PR-FOCUSS methods. In addition, the calculation time is several orders of magnitude faster than the total variation and PR-FOCUSS methods. Moreover, we found that pre-training using CT or MR data from similar organ data is more important than pre-training using data from the same modality for different organ. We demonstrate the possibility of a domain-adaptation when only a limited amount of MR data is available. The proposed method surpasses the existing compressed sensing algorithms in terms of the image quality and computation time. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

A comparison of adaptive sampling designs and binary spatial models: A simulation study using a census of Bromus inermis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Irvine, Kathryn M.; Thornton, Jamie; Backus, Vickie M.; Hohmann, Matthew G.; Lehnhoff, Erik A.; Maxwell, Bruce D.; Michels, Kurt; Rew, Lisa

2013-01-01

Commonly in environmental and ecological studies, species distribution data are recorded as presence or absence throughout a spatial domain of interest. Field based studies typically collect observations by sampling a subset of the spatial domain. We consider the effects of six different adaptive and two non-adaptive sampling designs and choice of three binary models on both predictions to unsampled locations and parameter estimation of the regression coefficients (species–environment relationships). Our simulation study is unique compared to others to date in that we virtually sample a true known spatial distribution of a nonindigenous plant species, Bromus inermis. The census of B. inermis provides a good example of a species distribution that is both sparsely (1.9 % prevalence) and patchily distributed. We find that modeling the spatial correlation using a random effect with an intrinsic Gaussian conditionally autoregressive prior distribution was equivalent or superior to Bayesian autologistic regression in terms of predicting to un-sampled areas when strip adaptive cluster sampling was used to survey B. inermis. However, inferences about the relationships between B. inermis presence and environmental predictors differed between the two spatial binary models. The strip adaptive cluster designs we investigate provided a significant advantage in terms of Markov chain Monte Carlo chain convergence when trying to model a sparsely distributed species across a large area. In general, there was little difference in the choice of neighborhood, although the adaptive king was preferred when transects were randomly placed throughout the spatial domain.

Adaptive Importance Sampling for Uniformly Recurrent Markov Chains

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-01-01

the National Science Foundation (NSF- DMS-0072004, NSF-ECS-9979250) and the Army Research Office (DAAD19-00-1-0549, DAAD19-02-1-0425). †Research of this...author supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF- DMS-0103669). Report Documentation Page Form ApprovedOMB No. 0704-0188 Public...Appl., 20:213—229, 1985. [2] S. Asmussen. Risk theory in a Markovian environment. Scand. Acturial J., pages 69—100, 1989. [3] S. Asmussen, R

Probabilistic methods for rotordynamics analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Y.-T.; Torng, T. Y.; Millwater, H. R.; Fossum, A. F.; Rheinfurth, M. H.

1991-01-01

This paper summarizes the development of the methods and a computer program to compute the probability of instability of dynamic systems that can be represented by a system of second-order ordinary linear differential equations. Two instability criteria based upon the eigenvalues or Routh-Hurwitz test functions are investigated. Computational methods based on a fast probability integration concept and an efficient adaptive importance sampling method are proposed to perform efficient probabilistic analysis. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the methods.

Don't worry, be happy: The role of positive emotionality and adaptive emotion regulation strategies for youth depressive symptoms.

PubMed

Van Beveren, Marie-Lotte; Harding, Kaitlin; Beyers, Wim; Braet, Caroline

2018-03-01

Low positive emotionality (PE) represents a temperamental vulnerability to depression in youth. Until now, little research has examined the mechanisms linking PE to depressive symptoms. Starting from integrated cognitive-affective models of depression, we aimed to study adaptive emotion regulation (ER) as a key underlying mechanism in the temperament-depression relationship. This study investigated whether adaptive ER strategies mediate the association between PE and depressive symptoms in a large community-based sample of youth, using a cross-sectional design. Participants were 1,655 youth (54% girls; 7-16 years, M = 11.41, SD = 1.88) who filled out a set of questionnaires assessing temperament, adaptive ER strategies, and depressive symptoms. Results revealed that low PE was significantly related to higher depressive symptoms among youth and that a lack of total adaptive ER abilities mediated this relationship. More specifically, the infrequent use of problem-solving appeared to be of significant importance. Problems in positive refocusing and a deficient use of forgetting mediated the relationships between low PE and high negative emotionality (NE) in predicting depressive symptoms. Reappraisal and distraction were not significant mediators. Results highlight the need to account for temperamental PE and adaptive ER strategies when studying youth depression. The findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding on the differential role of temperamental risk factors for developing depressive symptoms at an early stage and advocate for greater attention to adaptive ER strategies. Clinical interventions for youth depression may be improved by incorporating adaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies and enhancing positive emotions. Youth low in positive emotionality (PE) may especially benefit from learning adaptive ER skills. Clinical practitioners should focus on alleviating negative emotions and enhancing positive emotions, especially among youth low in PE. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

[Strengthening the capacity of reference in response to violence in society and within the family].

PubMed

Suess, G J

2003-05-01

Results of longitudinal studies in developmental psychology have shown the importance of protective factors especially within high risk samples for adaptive development as they serve as puffers against many risks. An outstanding protective factor is a secure parent-child attachment relationship. This article outlines the different ways how attachment relationships can serve as protective mechanisms and especially how disorganized attachment relationships are leading to maladaptation and hostile attitudes and behaviors. In doing so it underscores the special importance of attachment experiences in early infancy. The concept of attachment relationship is described as opposed to the bonding concept with regard to its implications for practice. One of the first is to intervene early. In the final part the evidence based early intervention program "STEEP" is described as an application of attachment research on a poverty sample and as a response to violence.

Identifying Early Childhood Personality Dimensions Using the California Child Q-Set and Prospective Associations With Behavioral and Psychosocial Development.

PubMed

Wilson, Sylia; Schalet, Benjamin D; Hicks, Brian M; Zucker, Robert A

2013-08-01

The present study used an empirical, "bottom-up" approach to delineate the structure of the California Child Q-Set (CCQ), a comprehensive set of personality descriptors, in a sample of 373 preschool-aged children. This approach yielded two broad trait dimensions, Adaptive Socialization (emotional stability, compliance, intelligence) and Anxious Inhibition (emotional/behavioral introversion). Results demonstrate the value of using empirical derivation to investigate the structure of personality in young children, speak to the importance of early-evident personality traits for adaptive development, and are consistent with a growing body of evidence indicating that personality structure in young children is similar, but not identical to, that in adults, suggesting a model of broad personality dimensions in childhood that evolve into narrower traits in adulthood.

Fast converging minimum probability of error neural network receivers for DS-CDMA communications.

PubMed

Matyjas, John D; Psaromiligkos, Ioannis N; Batalama, Stella N; Medley, Michael J

2004-03-01

We consider a multilayer perceptron neural network (NN) receiver architecture for the recovery of the information bits of a direct-sequence code-division-multiple-access (DS-CDMA) user. We develop a fast converging adaptive training algorithm that minimizes the bit-error rate (BER) at the output of the receiver. The adaptive algorithm has three key features: i) it incorporates the BER, i.e., the ultimate performance evaluation measure, directly into the learning process, ii) it utilizes constraints that are derived from the properties of the optimum single-user decision boundary for additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) multiple-access channels, and iii) it embeds importance sampling (IS) principles directly into the receiver optimization process. Simulation studies illustrate the BER performance of the proposed scheme.

Stress and family quality of life in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: parent gender and the double ABCX model.

PubMed

McStay, Rebecca L; Trembath, David; Dissanayake, Cheryl

2014-12-01

Past research has supported the utility of the Double ABCX model of family adaptation for parents raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). What remains unclear is the impact of family-related variables on outcomes in both mothers and fathers within the same family. We explored the potential predictors of maternal and paternal stress and family quality of life in an Australian sample of 196 parents of children with ASD aged 3-16 years. Using a cross-sectional design, parents completed questionnaires assessing factors within the Double ABCX model attributed to family adaptation. Findings provide further evidence of the negative impact of child externalising behaviours and highlight the importance of family sense of coherence on positive parental outcomes.

Analysis of Student Satisfaction in The Process of Teaching and Learning Using Importance Performance Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sembiring, P.; Sembiring, S.; Tarigan, G.; Sembiring, OD

2017-12-01

This study aims to determine the level of student satisfaction in the learning process at the University of Sumatra Utara, Indonesia. The sample size of the study consisted 1204 students. Students’ response measured through questionnaires an adapted on a 5-point likert scale and interviews directly to the respondent. SERVQUAL method used to measure the quality of service with five dimensions of service characteristics, namely, physical evidence, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and concern. The result of Importance Performance Analysis reveals that six services attributes must be corrected by policy maker of University Sumatera Utara. The quality of service is still considered low by students.

Comparative Evolution of an Archetypal Adaptive Radiation: Innovation and Opportunity in Anolis Lizards.

PubMed

Poe, Steven; de Oca, Adrián Nieto-Montes; Torres-Carvajal, Omar; de Queiroz, Kevin; Velasco, Julián A; Truett, Brad; Gray, Levi N; Ryan, Mason J; Köhler, Gunther; Ayala-Varela, Fernando; Latella, Ian

2018-06-01

Adaptive radiation is a widely recognized pattern of evolution wherein substantial phenotypic change accompanies rapid speciation. Adaptive radiation may be triggered by environmental opportunities resulting from dispersal to new areas or via the evolution of traits, called key innovations, that allow for invasion of new niches. Species sampling is a known source of bias in many comparative analyses, yet classic adaptive radiations have not been studied comparatively with comprehensively sampled phylogenies. In this study, we use unprecedented comprehensive phylogenetic sampling of Anolis lizard species to examine comparative evolution in this well-studied adaptive radiation. We compare adaptive radiation models within Anolis and in the Anolis clade and a potential sister lineage, the Corytophanidae. We find evidence for island (i.e., opportunity) effects and no evidence for trait (i.e., key innovation) effects causing accelerated body size evolution within Anolis. However, island effects are scale dependent: when Anolis and Corytophanidae are analyzed together, no island effect is evident. We find no evidence for an island effect on speciation rate and tenuous evidence for greater speciation rate due to trait effects. These results suggest the need for precision in treatments of classic adaptive radiations such as Anolis and further refinement of the concept of adaptive radiation.

An efficient method and device for transfer of semisolid materials into solid-state NMR spectroscopy rotors.

PubMed

Hisao, Grant S; Harland, Michael A; Brown, Robert A; Berthold, Deborah A; Wilson, Thomas E; Rienstra, Chad M

2016-04-01

The study of mass-limited biological samples by magic angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR spectroscopy critically relies upon the high-yield transfer of material from a biological preparation into the MAS rotor. This issue is particularly important for maintaining biological activity and hydration of semi-solid samples such as membrane proteins in lipid bilayers, pharmaceutical formulations, microcrystalline proteins and protein fibrils. Here we present protocols and designs for rotor-packing devices specifically suited for packing hydrated samples into Pencil-style 1.6 mm, 3.2 mm standard, and 3.2 mm limited speed MAS rotors. The devices are modular and therefore readily adaptable to other rotor and/or ultracentrifugation tube geometries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Traffic-Adaptive, Flow-Specific Medium Access for Wireless Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

hybrid, contention and non-contention schemes are shown to be special cases. This work also compares the energy efficiency of centralized and distributed...solutions and proposes an energy efficient version of traffic-adaptive CWS-MAC that includes an adaptive sleep cycle coordinated through the use of...preamble sampling. A preamble sampling probability parameter is introduced to manage the trade-off between energy efficiency and throughput and delay

An experimental adaptive radar MTI filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Y. H.; Cooling, J. E.

The theoretical and practical features of a self-adaptive filter designed to remove clutter noise from a radar signal are described. The hardware employs an 8-bit microprocessor/fast hardware multiplier combination along with analog-digital and digital-analog interfaces. The software here is implemented in assembler language. It is assumed that there is little overlap between the signal and the noise spectra and that the noise power is much greater than that of the signal. It is noted that one of the most important factors to be considered when designing digital filters is the quantization noise. This works to degrade the steady state performance from that of the ideal (infinite word length) filter. The principal limitation of the filter described here is its low sampling rate (1.72 kHz), due mainly to the time spent on the multiplication routines. The methods discussed here, however, are general and can be applied to both traditional and more complex radar MTI systems, provided that the filter sampling frequency is increased. Dedicated VLSI signal processors are seen as holding considerable promise.

Microplastic-associated bacterial assemblages in the intertidal zone of the Yangtze Estuary.

PubMed

Jiang, Peilin; Zhao, Shiye; Zhu, Lixin; Li, Daoji

2018-05-15

Plastic trash is common in oceans. Terrestrial and marine ecosystem interactions occur in the intertidal zone where accumulation of plastic frequently occurs. However, knowledge of the plastic-associated microbial community (the plastisphere) in the intertidal zone is scanty. We used high-throughput sequencing to profile the bacterial communities attached to microplastic samples from intertidal locations around the Yangtze estuary in China. The structure and composition of plastisphere communities varied significantly among the locations. We found the taxonomic composition on microplastic samples was related to their sedimentary and aquatic origins. Correlation network analysis was used to identify keystone bacterial genera (e.g. Rhodobacterales, Sphingomonadales and Rhizobiales), which represented important microbial associations within the plastisphere community. Other species (i.e. potential pathogens) were considered as hitchhikers in the plastic attached microbial communities. Metabolic pathway analysis suggested adaptations of these bacterial assemblages to the plastic surface-colonization lifestyle. These adaptations included reduced "cell motility" and greater "xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism." The findings illustrate the diverse microbial assemblages that occur on microplastic and increase our understanding of plastisphere ecology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel multi-scale adaptive sampling-based approach for energy saving in leak detection for WSN-based water pipelines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saqib, Najam us; Faizan Mysorewala, Muhammad; Cheded, Lahouari

2017-12-01

In this paper, we propose a novel monitoring strategy for a wireless sensor networks (WSNs)-based water pipeline network. Our strategy uses a multi-pronged approach to reduce energy consumption based on the use of two types of vibration sensors and pressure sensors, all having different energy levels, and a hierarchical adaptive sampling mechanism to determine the sampling frequency. The sampling rate of the sensors is adjusted according to the bandwidth of the vibration signal being monitored by using a wavelet-based adaptive thresholding scheme that calculates the new sampling frequency for the following cycle. In this multimodal sensing scheme, the duty-cycling approach is used for all sensors to reduce the sampling instances, such that the high-energy, high-precision (HE-HP) vibration sensors have low duty cycles, and the low-energy, low-precision (LE-LP) vibration sensors have high duty cycles. The low duty-cycling (HE-HP) vibration sensor adjusts the sampling frequency of the high duty-cycling (LE-LP) vibration sensor. The simulated test bed considered here consists of a water pipeline network which uses pressure and vibration sensors, with the latter having different energy consumptions and precision levels, at various locations in the network. This is all the more useful for energy conservation for extended monitoring. It is shown that by using the novel features of our proposed scheme, a significant reduction in energy consumption is achieved and the leak is effectively detected by the sensor node that is closest to it. Finally, both the total energy consumed by monitoring as well as the time to detect the leak by a WSN node are computed, and show the superiority of our proposed hierarchical adaptive sampling algorithm over a non-adaptive sampling approach.

Influence of sampling window size and orientation on parafoveal cone packing density

PubMed Central

Lombardo, Marco; Serrao, Sebastiano; Ducoli, Pietro; Lombardo, Giuseppe

2013-01-01

We assessed the agreement between sampling windows of different size and orientation on packing density estimates in images of the parafoveal cone mosaic acquired using a flood-illumination adaptive optics retinal camera. Horizontal and vertical oriented sampling windows of different size (320x160 µm, 160x80 µm and 80x40 µm) were selected in two retinal locations along the horizontal meridian in one eye of ten subjects. At each location, cone density tended to decline with decreasing sampling area. Although the differences in cone density estimates were not statistically significant, Bland-Altman plots showed that the agreement between cone density estimated within the different sampling window conditions was moderate. The percentage of the preferred packing arrangements of cones by Voronoi tiles was slightly affected by window size and orientation. The results illustrated the high importance of specifying the size and orientation of the sampling window used to derive cone metric estimates to facilitate comparison of different studies. PMID:24009995

Forensic Comparison of Soil Samples Using Nondestructive Elemental Analysis.

PubMed

Uitdehaag, Stefan; Wiarda, Wim; Donders, Timme; Kuiper, Irene

2017-07-01

Soil can play an important role in forensic cases in linking suspects or objects to a crime scene by comparing samples from the crime scene with samples derived from items. This study uses an adapted ED-XRF analysis (sieving instead of grinding to prevent destruction of microfossils) to produce elemental composition data of 20 elements. Different data processing techniques and statistical distances were evaluated using data from 50 samples and the log-LR cost (C llr ). The best performing combination, Canberra distance, relative data, and square root values, is used to construct a discriminative model. Examples of the spatial resolution of the method in crime scenes are shown for three locations, and sampling strategy is discussed. Twelve test cases were analyzed, and results showed that the method is applicable. The study shows how the combination of an analysis technique, a database, and a discriminative model can be used to compare multiple soil samples quickly. © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Insights on Antioxidant Assays for Biological Samples Based on the Reduction of Copper Complexes—The Importance of Analytical Conditions

PubMed Central

Marques, Sara S.; Magalhães, Luís M.; Tóth, Ildikó V.; Segundo, Marcela A.

2014-01-01

Total antioxidant capacity assays are recognized as instrumental to establish antioxidant status of biological samples, however the varying experimental conditions result in conclusions that may not be transposable to other settings. After selection of the complexing agent, reagent addition order, buffer type and concentration, copper reducing assays were adapted to a high-throughput scheme and validated using model biological antioxidant compounds of ascorbic acid, Trolox (a soluble analogue of vitamin E), uric acid and glutathione. A critical comparison was made based on real samples including NIST-909c human serum certified sample, and five study samples. The validated method provided linear range up to 100 µM Trolox, (limit of detection 2.3 µM; limit of quantification 7.7 µM) with recovery results above 85% and precision <5%. The validated developed method with an increased sensitivity is a sound choice for assessment of TAC in serum samples. PMID:24968275

The minimum information required for a glycomics experiment (MIRAGE) project: sample preparation guidelines for reliable reporting of glycomics datasets.

PubMed

Struwe, Weston B; Agravat, Sanjay; Aoki-Kinoshita, Kiyoko F; Campbell, Matthew P; Costello, Catherine E; Dell, Anne; Ten Feizi; Haslam, Stuart M; Karlsson, Niclas G; Khoo, Kay-Hooi; Kolarich, Daniel; Liu, Yan; McBride, Ryan; Novotny, Milos V; Packer, Nicolle H; Paulson, James C; Rapp, Erdmann; Ranzinger, Rene; Rudd, Pauline M; Smith, David F; Tiemeyer, Michael; Wells, Lance; York, William S; Zaia, Joseph; Kettner, Carsten

2016-09-01

The minimum information required for a glycomics experiment (MIRAGE) project was established in 2011 to provide guidelines to aid in data reporting from all types of experiments in glycomics research including mass spectrometry (MS), liquid chromatography, glycan arrays, data handling and sample preparation. MIRAGE is a concerted effort of the wider glycomics community that considers the adaptation of reporting guidelines as an important step towards critical evaluation and dissemination of datasets as well as broadening of experimental techniques worldwide. The MIRAGE Commission published reporting guidelines for MS data and here we outline guidelines for sample preparation. The sample preparation guidelines include all aspects of sample generation, purification and modification from biological and/or synthetic carbohydrate material. The application of MIRAGE sample preparation guidelines will lead to improved recording of experimental protocols and reporting of understandable and reproducible glycomics datasets. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Examining a Sequential Mediation Model of Chinese University Students’ Well-Being: A Career Construction Perspective

PubMed Central

Zhuang, Mingke; She, Zhuolin; Cai, Zijun; Huang, Zheng; Xiang, Qian; Wang, Ping; Zhu, Fei

2018-01-01

Despite career construction theory attends to individual subjective career and provides a useful lens to study well-being, extant research has yielded limited insights into the mechanisms through which career construction variables influence individual well-being. To address this important gap, the present study examined a mediation model that links indicators of career adaptivity (big-five personality and approach/avoidance traits) to psychological well-being (psychological flourishing and life satisfaction) through career adaptability and in sequent meaning of life (presence of life meaning and search for life meaning) among a sample of Chinese university students (N = 165). The results of a two-wave survey study showed that career adaptability and presence of life meaning mediated the effects of openness to experience, consciousness, approach trait, and avoidance trait on individual well-being in sequence. The results also showed that approach trait’s effect on presence of meaning was partially mediated by career adaptability; career adaptability’s effect on psychological flourishing was partially mediated by presence of meaning. These findings advance understanding of antecedents to individual well-being from a career construction perspective, and carry implications for career education and counseling practices. PMID:29743876

Needle Steering in Biological Tissue using Ultrasound-based Online Curvature Estimation

PubMed Central

Moreira, Pedro; Patil, Sachin; Alterovitz, Ron; Misra, Sarthak

2014-01-01

Percutaneous needle insertions are commonly performed for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Accurate placement of the needle tip is important to the success of many needle procedures. The current needle steering systems depend on needle-tissue-specific data, such as maximum curvature, that is unavailable prior to an interventional procedure. In this paper, we present a novel three-dimensional adaptive steering method for flexible bevel-tipped needles that is capable of performing accurate tip placement without previous knowledge about needle curvature. The method steers the needle by integrating duty-cycled needle steering, online curvature estimation, ultrasound-based needle tracking, and sampling-based motion planning. The needle curvature estimation is performed online and used to adapt the path and duty cycling. We evaluated the method using experiments in a homogenous gelatin phantom, a two-layer gelatin phantom, and a biological tissue phantom composed of a gelatin layer and in vitro chicken tissue. In all experiments, virtual obstacles and targets move in order to represent the disturbances that might occur due to tissue deformation and physiological processes. The average targeting error using our new adaptive method is 40% lower than using the conventional non-adaptive duty-cycled needle steering method. PMID:26229729

Predicting Length of Stay in Intensive Care Units after Cardiac Surgery: Comparison of Artificial Neural Networks and Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy System.

PubMed

Maharlou, Hamidreza; Niakan Kalhori, Sharareh R; Shahbazi, Shahrbanoo; Ravangard, Ramin

2018-04-01

Accurate prediction of patients' length of stay is highly important. This study compared the performance of artificial neural network and adaptive neuro-fuzzy system algorithms to predict patients' length of stay in intensive care units (ICU) after cardiac surgery. A cross-sectional, analytical, and applied study was conducted. The required data were collected from 311 cardiac patients admitted to intensive care units after surgery at three hospitals of Shiraz, Iran, through a non-random convenience sampling method during the second quarter of 2016. Following the initial processing of influential factors, models were created and evaluated. The results showed that the adaptive neuro-fuzzy algorithm (with mean squared error [MSE] = 7 and R = 0.88) resulted in the creation of a more precise model than the artificial neural network (with MSE = 21 and R = 0.60). The adaptive neuro-fuzzy algorithm produces a more accurate model as it applies both the capabilities of a neural network architecture and experts' knowledge as a hybrid algorithm. It identifies nonlinear components, yielding remarkable results for prediction the length of stay, which is a useful calculation output to support ICU management, enabling higher quality of administration and cost reduction.

Adaptation to the deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: Insights from the transcriptomes of Alvinocaris longirostris in both environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui, Min; Cheng, Jiao; Sha, Zhongli

2018-05-01

Alvinocaris longirostris Kikuchi and Ohta, 1995 is one of the few species co-distributed in deep-sea hydrothermal vent and cold seep environments. We performed the transcriptome analysis for A. longirostris and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between samples from the Iheya North hydrothermal vent (HV) and a methane seep in the South China Sea (MS). From the 57,801 annotated unigenes, multi-copies of enzyme family members for eliminating toxic xenobiotics were isolated and seven putatively duplicated gene clusters of cytochrome P450s were discovered, which may contribute to adaptation to the harsh conditions. Eight single amino acid substitutions of a Rhodopsin gene with low expression in two deep-sea alvinocaridid species were positively selected when compared with shallow water shrimps, which may be the result of adaptation to the dim-light environment in deep sea. 408 DEGs were identified with 53 and 355 up-regulated in HV and MS, respectively. Various genes associated with sulfur metabolism, detoxification and mitochondria were included, revealing different mechanisms of adaptation to the two types of extreme environments. All results are expected to serve as important basis for the further study.

AN ADAPTIVE RADIATION OF FROGS IN A SOUTHEAST ASIAN ISLAND ARCHIPELAGO

PubMed Central

Blackburn, David C; Siler, Cameron D; Diesmos, Arvin C; McGuire, Jimmy A; Cannatella, David C; Brown, Rafe M

2013-01-01

Living amphibians exhibit a diversity of ecologies, life histories, and species-rich lineages that offers opportunities for studies of adaptive radiation. We characterize a diverse clade of frogs (Kaloula, Microhylidae) in the Philippine island archipelago as an example of an adaptive radiation into three primary habitat specialists or ecotypes. We use a novel phylogenetic estimate for this clade to evaluate the tempo of lineage accumulation and morphological diversification. Because species-level phylogenetic estimates for Philippine Kaloula are lacking, we employ dense population sampling to determine the appropriate evolutionary lineages for diversification analyses. We explicitly take phylogenetic uncertainty into account when calculating diversification and disparification statistics and fitting models of diversification. Following dispersal to the Philippines from Southeast Asia, Kaloula radiated rapidly into several well-supported clades. Morphological variation within Kaloula is partly explained by ecotype and accumulated at high levels during this radiation, including within ecotypes. We pinpoint an axis of morphospace related directly to climbing and digging behaviors and find patterns of phenotypic evolution suggestive of ecological opportunity with partitioning into distinct habitat specialists. We conclude by discussing the components of phenotypic diversity that are likely important in amphibian adaptive radiations. PMID:24033172

The brain dynamics of rapid perceptual adaptation to adverse listening conditions.

PubMed

Erb, Julia; Henry, Molly J; Eisner, Frank; Obleser, Jonas

2013-06-26

Listeners show a remarkable ability to quickly adjust to degraded speech input. Here, we aimed to identify the neural mechanisms of such short-term perceptual adaptation. In a sparse-sampling, cardiac-gated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquisition, human listeners heard and repeated back 4-band-vocoded sentences (in which the temporal envelope of the acoustic signal is preserved, while spectral information is highly degraded). Clear-speech trials were included as baseline. An additional fMRI experiment on amplitude modulation rate discrimination quantified the convergence of neural mechanisms that subserve coping with challenging listening conditions for speech and non-speech. First, the degraded speech task revealed an "executive" network (comprising the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex), parts of which were also activated in the non-speech discrimination task. Second, trial-by-trial fluctuations in successful comprehension of degraded speech drove hemodynamic signal change in classic "language" areas (bilateral temporal cortices). Third, as listeners perceptually adapted to degraded speech, downregulation in a cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuit was observable. The present data highlight differential upregulation and downregulation in auditory-language and executive networks, respectively, with important subcortical contributions when successfully adapting to a challenging listening situation.

Polish Version of the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS-Poland).

PubMed

Jaśkiewicz, Michał; Besta, Tomasz

2016-11-04

The characteristics of built environments are the subject of intense consideration in the search for solutions to promote wellbeing and a higher quality of life among the inhabitants of cities. Walkability, defined as the extent to which the built environment is friendly to living and fulfilling the needs of the area, has become an important concept in sustainable urban design, public health and environmental psychology. This study systematically adapted the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) for Poland, and evaluated the construct validity aspects of the adapted version among Polish adults. A total sample of 783 participants from a TriCity (Trójmiasto) agglomeration completed the adapted version of the NEWS. Smaller extracted samples of the participants also completed wellbeing related scales, including self-efficacy, local identity and distance to city centre measures. It was expected that various districts of Gdańsk would differ in terms of walkability. The confirmatory factor analysis showed satisfactory goodness-of-fit statistics and factor loadings corresponding to the proposed original factor structure. According to the predictions, the NEWS subscales correlated with the self-efficacy, local identity and wellbeing related measures. In addition, the comparisons between the neighbourhoods of Gdańsk also showed a predictable pattern of results. Overall, the NEWS demonstrated satisfactory measurement properties, and may be useful in the evaluation of the built environment in Poland.

Community-Based Adaptation To A Changing Climate

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This resource discusses how climate change is affecting community services, presents sample adaptation strategies, gives examples of successful community adaptation actions, and provides links to other key federal resources.

Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in Canadian Jurisdictions

PubMed Central

Austin, Stephanie E.; Ford, James D.; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Araos, Malcolm; Parker, Stephen; Fleury, Manon D.

2015-01-01

Climate change poses numerous risks to the health of Canadians. Extreme weather events, poor air quality, and food insecurity in northern regions are likely to increase along with the increasing incidence and range of infectious diseases. In this study we identify and characterize Canadian federal, provincial, territorial and municipal adaptation to these health risks based on publically available information. Federal health adaptation initiatives emphasize capacity building and gathering information to address general health, infectious disease and heat-related risks. Provincial and territorial adaptation is varied. Quebec is a leader in climate change adaptation, having a notably higher number of adaptation initiatives reported, addressing almost all risks posed by climate change in the province, and having implemented various adaptation types. Meanwhile, all other Canadian provinces and territories are in the early stages of health adaptation. Based on publically available information, reported adaptation also varies greatly by municipality. The six sampled Canadian regional health authorities (or equivalent) are not reporting any adaptation initiatives. We also find little relationship between the number of initiatives reported in the six sampled municipalities and their provinces, suggesting that municipalities are adapting (or not adapting) autonomously. PMID:25588156

Lossless Compression of Data into Fixed-Length Packets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kiely, Aaron B.; Klimesh, Matthew A.

2009-01-01

A computer program effects lossless compression of data samples from a one-dimensional source into fixed-length data packets. The software makes use of adaptive prediction: it exploits the data structure in such a way as to increase the efficiency of compression beyond that otherwise achievable. Adaptive linear filtering is used to predict each sample value based on past sample values. The difference between predicted and actual sample values is encoded using a Golomb code.

Automatic classification of schizophrenia using resting-state functional language network via an adaptive learning algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Maohu; Jie, Nanfeng; Jiang, Tianzi

2014-03-01

A reliable and precise classification of schizophrenia is significant for its diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a novel tool increasingly used in schizophrenia research. Recent advances in statistical learning theory have led to applying pattern classification algorithms to access the diagnostic value of functional brain networks, discovered from resting state fMRI data. The aim of this study was to propose an adaptive learning algorithm to distinguish schizophrenia patients from normal controls using resting-state functional language network. Furthermore, here the classification of schizophrenia was regarded as a sample selection problem where a sparse subset of samples was chosen from the labeled training set. Using these selected samples, which we call informative vectors, a classifier for the clinic diagnosis of schizophrenia was established. We experimentally demonstrated that the proposed algorithm incorporating resting-state functional language network achieved 83.6% leaveone- out accuracy on resting-state fMRI data of 27 schizophrenia patients and 28 normal controls. In contrast with KNearest- Neighbor (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and l1-norm, our method yielded better classification performance. Moreover, our results suggested that a dysfunction of resting-state functional language network plays an important role in the clinic diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Successful aging in Spanish older adults: the role of psychosocial resources.

PubMed

Dumitrache, Cristina G; Rubio, Laura; Cordón-Pozo, Eulogio

2018-05-25

ABSTRACTBackground:Psychological and social resources such as extraversion, optimism, social support, or social networks contribute to adaptation and to successful aging. Building on assumptions derived from successful aging and from the developmental adaptation models, this study aims to analyze the joint impact of different psychosocial resources, such as personality, social relations, health, and socio-demographic characteristics on life satisfaction in a group of people aged 65 years-old and older from Spain. A cross-sectional survey using non-proportional quota sampling was carried out. The sample comprised 406 community-dwelling older adults (M = 74.88, SD = 6.75). In order to collect the data, face-to-face interviews were individually conducted. A structural equation model (SEM) was carried out using the PLS software. The results of the SEM model showed that, within this sample, psychosocial variables explain 47.4% of the variance in life satisfaction. Social relations and personality, specifically optimism, were strongly related with life satisfaction, while health status and socio-demographic characteristics were modestly associated with life satisfaction. Findings support the view that psychosocial resources are important for successful aging and therefore should be included in successful aging models. Furthermore, interventions aimed at fostering successful aging should take into account the role of psychosocial variables.

Towards a system level understanding of non-model organisms sampled from the environment: a network biology approach.

PubMed

Williams, Tim D; Turan, Nil; Diab, Amer M; Wu, Huifeng; Mackenzie, Carolynn; Bartie, Katie L; Hrydziuszko, Olga; Lyons, Brett P; Stentiford, Grant D; Herbert, John M; Abraham, Joseph K; Katsiadaki, Ioanna; Leaver, Michael J; Taggart, John B; George, Stephen G; Viant, Mark R; Chipman, Kevin J; Falciani, Francesco

2011-08-01

The acquisition and analysis of datasets including multi-level omics and physiology from non-model species, sampled from field populations, is a formidable challenge, which so far has prevented the application of systems biology approaches. If successful, these could contribute enormously to improving our understanding of how populations of living organisms adapt to environmental stressors relating to, for example, pollution and climate. Here we describe the first application of a network inference approach integrating transcriptional, metabolic and phenotypic information representative of wild populations of the European flounder fish, sampled at seven estuarine locations in northern Europe with different degrees and profiles of chemical contaminants. We identified network modules, whose activity was predictive of environmental exposure and represented a link between molecular and morphometric indices. These sub-networks represented both known and candidate novel adverse outcome pathways representative of several aspects of human liver pathophysiology such as liver hyperplasia, fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. At the molecular level these pathways were linked to TNF alpha, TGF beta, PDGF, AGT and VEGF signalling. More generally, this pioneering study has important implications as it can be applied to model molecular mechanisms of compensatory adaptation to a wide range of scenarios in wild populations.

Towards a System Level Understanding of Non-Model Organisms Sampled from the Environment: A Network Biology Approach

PubMed Central

Williams, Tim D.; Turan, Nil; Diab, Amer M.; Wu, Huifeng; Mackenzie, Carolynn; Bartie, Katie L.; Hrydziuszko, Olga; Lyons, Brett P.; Stentiford, Grant D.; Herbert, John M.; Abraham, Joseph K.; Katsiadaki, Ioanna; Leaver, Michael J.; Taggart, John B.; George, Stephen G.; Viant, Mark R.; Chipman, Kevin J.; Falciani, Francesco

2011-01-01

The acquisition and analysis of datasets including multi-level omics and physiology from non-model species, sampled from field populations, is a formidable challenge, which so far has prevented the application of systems biology approaches. If successful, these could contribute enormously to improving our understanding of how populations of living organisms adapt to environmental stressors relating to, for example, pollution and climate. Here we describe the first application of a network inference approach integrating transcriptional, metabolic and phenotypic information representative of wild populations of the European flounder fish, sampled at seven estuarine locations in northern Europe with different degrees and profiles of chemical contaminants. We identified network modules, whose activity was predictive of environmental exposure and represented a link between molecular and morphometric indices. These sub-networks represented both known and candidate novel adverse outcome pathways representative of several aspects of human liver pathophysiology such as liver hyperplasia, fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. At the molecular level these pathways were linked to TNF alpha, TGF beta, PDGF, AGT and VEGF signalling. More generally, this pioneering study has important implications as it can be applied to model molecular mechanisms of compensatory adaptation to a wide range of scenarios in wild populations. PMID:21901081

Rain sampling device

DOEpatents

Nelson, D.A.; Tomich, S.D.; Glover, D.W.; Allen, E.V.; Hales, J.M.; Dana, M.T.

1991-05-14

The present invention constitutes a rain sampling device adapted for independent operation at locations remote from the user which allows rainfall to be sampled in accordance with any schedule desired by the user. The rain sampling device includes a mechanism for directing wet precipitation into a chamber, a chamber for temporarily holding the precipitation during the process of collection, a valve mechanism for controllably releasing samples of the precipitation from the chamber, a means for distributing the samples released from the holding chamber into vessels adapted for permanently retaining these samples, and an electrical mechanism for regulating the operation of the device. 11 figures.

Rain sampling device

DOEpatents

Nelson, Danny A.; Tomich, Stanley D.; Glover, Donald W.; Allen, Errol V.; Hales, Jeremy M.; Dana, Marshall T.

1991-01-01

The present invention constitutes a rain sampling device adapted for independent operation at locations remote from the user which allows rainfall to be sampled in accordance with any schedule desired by the user. The rain sampling device includes a mechanism for directing wet precipitation into a chamber, a chamber for temporarily holding the precipitation during the process of collection, a valve mechanism for controllably releasing samples of said precipitation from said chamber, a means for distributing the samples released from the holding chamber into vessels adapted for permanently retaining these samples, and an electrical mechanism for regulating the operation of the device.

Effects of Calibration Sample Size and Item Bank Size on Ability Estimation in Computerized Adaptive Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahin, Alper; Weiss, David J.

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the effects of calibration sample size and item bank size on examinee ability estimation in computerized adaptive testing (CAT). For this purpose, a 500-item bank pre-calibrated using the three-parameter logistic model with 10,000 examinees was simulated. Calibration samples of varying sizes (150, 250, 350, 500,…

Risk and protective factors for suicidal ideation among Taiwanese adolescents.

PubMed

Wang, Ruey-Hsia; Lai, Hsiao-Jung; Hsu, Hsiu-Yueh; Hsu, Min-Tao

2011-01-01

: Suicide is the ninth leading cause of death in adolescents aged 15-19 years in Taiwan. Suicidal ideation is an important predictor of committing suicide among adolescents. : The aim of this study was to examine the important risk factors, the protective factors, and the role of protective factors on the relationship of risk factors to suicidal ideation among Taiwanese adolescents aged 15-19 years. : By adopting a cross-sectional study, senior high school students (n = 577) aged 15-19 years in southern Taiwan were recruited for this study. An anonymous self-reported questionnaire was used to collect demographic characteristics, risk factors, protective factors, and suicidal ideation of the sample. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to identify the important risk and protective factors and the interaction between risk and protective factors on suicidal ideation. : Nearly 18% (n = 101) of the participants reported having suicidal ideation during the past 12 months. Gender (female; odds ratio [OR] = 4.23), life stress (OR = 1.03), depression (OR = 3.44), peer suicidal ideation (OR = 4.15), and bullying victimization (OR = 1.81) were important risk factors of suicidal ideation among the targeted sample. In addition, self-esteem (OR = 0.92) and emotional adaptation (OR = 0.88) were important protective factors of suicidal ideation. Self-esteem and emotional adaptation were not used to moderate the negative effects of life stress, depression, perceived peer suicidal ideation, and bullying victimization on suicidal ideation. The final model explained 40.6% of the total variance in suicidal ideation and correctly predicted 86.1% of participants with suicidal ideation. : Suicidal ideation prevention programs should be targeted to female adolescents. School-based efforts that provide adolescents with self-esteem enhancement, emotional regulation skills training, positive peer norms for life, coping skills for managing stress and depression, and antibullying programs might help reduce the suicidal ideation of adolescents.

An experimental SMI adaptive antenna array simulator for weak interfering signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dilsavor, Ronald S.; Gupta, Inder J.

1991-01-01

An experimental sample matrix inversion (SMI) adaptive antenna array for suppressing weak interfering signals is described. The experimental adaptive array uses a modified SMI algorithm to increase the interference suppression. In the modified SMI algorithm, the sample covariance matrix is redefined to reduce the effect of thermal noise on the weights of an adaptive array. This is accomplished by subtracting a fraction of the smallest eigenvalue of the original covariance matrix from its diagonal entries. The test results obtained using the experimental system are compared with theoretical results. The two show a good agreement.

SMI adaptive antenna arrays for weak interfering signals. [Sample Matrix Inversion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, Inder J.

1986-01-01

The performance of adaptive antenna arrays in the presence of weak interfering signals (below thermal noise) is studied. It is shown that a conventional adaptive antenna array sample matrix inversion (SMI) algorithm is unable to suppress such interfering signals. To overcome this problem, the SMI algorithm is modified. In the modified algorithm, the covariance matrix is redefined such that the effect of thermal noise on the weights of adaptive arrays is reduced. Thus, the weights are dictated by relatively weak signals. It is shown that the modified algorithm provides the desired interference protection.

Embedding clinical interventions into observational studies

PubMed Central

Newman, Anne B.; Avilés-Santa, M. Larissa; Anderson, Garnet; Heiss, Gerardo; Howard, Wm. James; Krucoff, Mitchell; Kuller, Lewis H.; Lewis, Cora E.; Robinson, Jennifer G.; Taylor, Herman; Treviño, Roberto P.; Weintraub, William

2017-01-01

Novel approaches to observational studies and clinical trials could improve the cost-effectiveness and speed of translation of research. Hybrid designs that combine elements of clinical trials with observational registries or cohort studies should be considered as part of a long-term strategy to transform clinical trials and epidemiology, adapting to the opportunities of big data and the challenges of constrained budgets. Important considerations include study aims, timing, breadth and depth of the existing infrastructure that can be leveraged, participant burden, likely participation rate and available sample size in the cohort, required sample size for the trial, and investigator expertise. Community engagement and stakeholder (including study participants) support are essential for these efforts to succeed. PMID:26611435

Study of a MEMS-based Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor with adjustable pupil sampling for astronomical adaptive optics.

PubMed

Baranec, Christoph; Dekany, Richard

2008-10-01

We introduce a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor for adaptive optics that enables dynamic control of the spatial sampling of an incoming wavefront using a segmented mirror microelectrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device. Unlike a conventional lenslet array, subapertures are defined by either segments or groups of segments of a mirror array, with the ability to change spatial pupil sampling arbitrarily by redefining the segment grouping. Control over the spatial sampling of the wavefront allows for the minimization of wavefront reconstruction error for different intensities of guide source and different atmospheric conditions, which in turn maximizes an adaptive optics system's delivered Strehl ratio. Requirements for the MEMS devices needed in this Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor are also presented.

Evolutionary Quantitative Genomics of Populus trichocarpa

PubMed Central

McKown, Athena D.; La Mantia, Jonathan; Guy, Robert D.; Ingvarsson, Pär K.; Hamelin, Richard; Mansfield, Shawn D.; Ehlting, Jürgen; Douglas, Carl J.; El-Kassaby, Yousry A.

2015-01-01

Forest trees generally show high levels of local adaptation and efforts focusing on understanding adaptation to climate will be crucial for species survival and management. Here, we address fundamental questions regarding the molecular basis of adaptation in undomesticated forest tree populations to past climatic environments by employing an integrative quantitative genetics and landscape genomics approach. Using this comprehensive approach, we studied the molecular basis of climate adaptation in 433 Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood) genotypes originating across western North America. Variation in 74 field-assessed traits (growth, ecophysiology, phenology, leaf stomata, wood, and disease resistance) was investigated for signatures of selection (comparing Q ST -F ST) using clustering of individuals by climate of origin (temperature and precipitation). 29,354 SNPs were investigated employing three different outlier detection methods and marker-inferred relatedness was estimated to obtain the narrow-sense estimate of population differentiation in wild populations. In addition, we compared our results with previously assessed selection of candidate SNPs using the 25 topographical units (drainages) across the P. trichocarpa sampling range as population groupings. Narrow-sense Q ST for 53% of distinct field traits was significantly divergent from expectations of neutrality (indicating adaptive trait variation); 2,855 SNPs showed signals of diversifying selection and of these, 118 SNPs (within 81 genes) were associated with adaptive traits (based on significant Q ST). Many SNPs were putatively pleiotropic for functionally uncorrelated adaptive traits, such as autumn phenology, height, and disease resistance. Evolutionary quantitative genomics in P. trichocarpa provides an enhanced understanding regarding the molecular basis of climate-driven selection in forest trees and we highlight that important loci underlying adaptive trait variation also show relationship to climate of origin. We consider our approach the most comprehensive, as it uncovers the molecular mechanisms of adaptation using multiple methods and tests. We also provide a detailed outline of the required analyses for studying adaptation to the environment in a population genomics context to better understand the species’ potential adaptive capacity to future climatic scenarios. PMID:26599762

Elucidation of miRNAs-Mediated Responses to Low Nitrogen Stress by Deep Sequencing of Two Soybean Genotypes

PubMed Central

Wang, Yejian; Zhang, Chanjuan; Hao, Qinnan; Sha, Aihua; Zhou, Rong; Zhou, Xinan; Yuan, Longping

2013-01-01

Nitrogen (N) is a major limiting factor in crop production, and plant adaptive responses to low N are involved in many post-transcriptional regulation. Recent studies indicate that miRNAs play important roles in adaptive responses. However, miRNAs in soybean adaptive responses to N limitation have been not reported. We constructed sixteen libraries to identify low N-responsive miRNAs on a genome-wide scale using samples from 2 different genotypes (low N sensitive and low N tolerant) subjected to various periods of low nitrogen stress. Using high-throughput sequencing technology (Illumina-Solexa), we identified 362 known miRNAs variants belonging to 158 families and 90 new miRNAs belonging to 55 families. Among these known miRNAs variants, almost 50% were not different from annotated miRNAs in miRBase. Analyses of their expression patterns showed 150 known miRNAs variants as well as 2 novel miRNAs with differential expressions. These differentially expressed miRNAs between the two soybean genotypes were compared and classified into three groups based on their expression patterns. Predicted targets of these miRNAs were involved in various metabolic and regulatory pathways such as protein degradation, carbohydrate metabolism, hormone signaling pathway, and cellular transport. These findings suggest that miRNAs play important roles in soybean response to low N and contribute to the understanding of the genetic basis of differences in adaptive responses to N limitation between the two soybean genotypes. Our study provides basis for expounding the complex gene regulatory network of these miRNAs. PMID:23861762

Post-partum depression in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo: validation of a concept using a mixed-methods cross-cultural approach.

PubMed

Bass, Judith K; Ryder, Robert W; Lammers, Marie-Christine; Mukaba, Thibaut N; Bolton, Paul A

2008-12-01

To determine if a post-partum depression syndrome exists among mothers in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, by adapting and validating standard screening instruments. Using qualitative interviewing techniques, we interviewed a convenience sample of 80 women living in a large peri-urban community to better understand local conceptions of mental illness. We used this information to adapt two standard depression screeners, the Edinburgh Post-partum Depression Scale and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. In a subsequent quantitative study, we identified another 133 women with and without the local depression syndrome and used this information to validate the adapted screening instruments. Based on the qualitative data, we found a local syndrome that closely approximates the Western model of major depressive disorder. The women we interviewed, representative of the local populace, considered this an important syndrome among new mothers because it negatively affects women and their young children. Women (n = 41) identified as suffering from this syndrome had statistically significantly higher depression severity scores on both adapted screeners than women identified as not having this syndrome (n = 20; P < 0.0001). When it is unclear or unknown if Western models of psychopathology are appropriate for use in the local context, these models must be validated to ensure cross-cultural applicability. Using a mixed-methods approach we found a local syndrome similar to depression and validated instruments to screen for this disorder. As the importance of compromised mental health in developing world populations becomes recognized, the methods described in this report will be useful more widely.

Anomalies in the detection of change: When changes in sample size are mistaken for changes in proportions.

PubMed

Fiedler, Klaus; Kareev, Yaakov; Avrahami, Judith; Beier, Susanne; Kutzner, Florian; Hütter, Mandy

2016-01-01

Detecting changes, in performance, sales, markets, risks, social relations, or public opinions, constitutes an important adaptive function. In a sequential paradigm devised to investigate detection of change, every trial provides a sample of binary outcomes (e.g., correct vs. incorrect student responses). Participants have to decide whether the proportion of a focal feature (e.g., correct responses) in the population from which the sample is drawn has decreased, remained constant, or increased. Strong and persistent anomalies in change detection arise when changes in proportional quantities vary orthogonally to changes in absolute sample size. Proportional increases are readily detected and nonchanges are erroneously perceived as increases when absolute sample size increases. Conversely, decreasing sample size facilitates the correct detection of proportional decreases and the erroneous perception of nonchanges as decreases. These anomalies are however confined to experienced samples of elementary raw events from which proportions have to be inferred inductively. They disappear when sample proportions are described as percentages in a normalized probability format. To explain these challenging findings, it is essential to understand the inductive-learning constraints imposed on decisions from experience.

Distinguishing ferritin from apoferritin using magnetic force microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nocera, Tanya M.; Zeng, Yuzhi; Agarwal, Gunjan

2014-11-01

Estimating the amount of iron-replete ferritin versus iron-deficient apoferritin proteins is important in biomedical and nanotechnology applications. This work introduces a simple and novel approach to quantify ferritin by using magnetic force microscopy (MFM). We demonstrate how high magnetic moment probes enhance the magnitude of MFM signal, thus enabling accurate quantitative estimation of ferritin content in ferritin/apoferritin mixtures in vitro. We envisage MFM could be adapted to accurately determine ferritin content in protein mixtures or in small aliquots of clinical samples.

Signatures of polygenic adaptation associated with climate across the range of a threatened fish species with high genetic connectivity.

PubMed

Harrisson, Katherine A; Amish, Stephen J; Pavlova, Alexandra; Narum, Shawn R; Telonis-Scott, Marina; Rourke, Meaghan L; Lyon, Jarod; Tonkin, Zeb; Gilligan, Dean M; Ingram, Brett A; Lintermans, Mark; Gan, Han Ming; Austin, Christopher M; Luikart, Gordon; Sunnucks, Paul

2017-11-01

Adaptive differences across species' ranges can have important implications for population persistence and conservation management decisions. Despite advances in genomic technologies, detecting adaptive variation in natural populations remains challenging. Key challenges in gene-environment association studies involve distinguishing the effects of drift from those of selection and identifying subtle signatures of polygenic adaptation. We used paired-end restriction site-associated DNA sequencing data (6,605 biallelic single nucleotide polymorphisms; SNPs) to examine population structure and test for signatures of adaptation across the geographic range of an iconic Australian endemic freshwater fish species, the Murray cod Maccullochella peelii. Two univariate gene-association methods identified 61 genomic regions associated with climate variation. We also tested for subtle signatures of polygenic adaptation using a multivariate method (redundancy analysis; RDA). The RDA analysis suggested that climate (temperature- and precipitation-related variables) and geography had similar magnitudes of effect in shaping the distribution of SNP genotypes across the sampled range of Murray cod. Although there was poor agreement among the candidate SNPs identified by the univariate methods, the top 5% of SNPs contributing to significant RDA axes included 67% of the SNPs identified by univariate methods. We discuss the potential implications of our findings for the management of Murray cod and other species generally, particularly in relation to informing conservation actions such as translocations to improve evolutionary resilience of natural populations. Our results highlight the value of using a combination of different approaches, including polygenic methods, when testing for signatures of adaptation in landscape genomic studies. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Focusing Resource Allocation-Wellbeing as a Tool for Prioritizing Interventions for Communities at Risk

PubMed Central

Hogan, Anthony; Tanton, Robert; Lockie, Stewart; May, Sarah

2013-01-01

Objective: This study examined whether a wellbeing approach to resilience and adaptation would provide practical insights for prioritizing support to communities experiencing environmental and socio-economic stressors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey, based on a purposive sample of 2,196 stakeholders (landholders, hobby farmers, town resident and change agents) from three irrigation-dependent communities in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin. Respondents’ adaptive capacity and wellbeing (individual and collective adaptive capacity, subjective wellbeing, social support, community connectivity, community leadership, in the context of known life stressors) were examined using chi-square, comparison of mean scores, hierarchical regression and factor-cluster analysis. Results: Statistically significant correlations (p < 0.05) were observed between individual (0.331) and collective (0.318) adaptive capacity and wellbeing. Taking into account respondents’ self-assessed health and socio-economic circumstances, perceptions of individual (15%) and collective adaptive capacity (10%) as well as community connectivity (13%) were associated with wellbeing (R2 = 0.36; F (9, 2099) = 132.9; p < 0.001). Cluster analysis found that 11% of respondents were particularly vulnerable, reporting below average scores on all indicators, with 56% of these reporting below threshold scores on subjective wellbeing. Conclusions: Addressing the capacity of individuals to work with others and to adapt to change, serve as important strategies in maintaining wellbeing in communities under stress. The human impacts of exogenous stressors appear to manifest themselves in poorer health outcomes; addressing primary stressors may in turn aid wellbeing. Longitudinal studies are indicated to verify these findings. Wellbeing may serve as a useful and parsimonious proxy measure for resilience and adaptive capacity. PMID:23924885

Accurate Biomass Estimation via Bayesian Adaptive Sampling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wheeler, Kevin R.; Knuth, Kevin H.; Castle, Joseph P.; Lvov, Nikolay

2005-01-01

The following concepts were introduced: a) Bayesian adaptive sampling for solving biomass estimation; b) Characterization of MISR Rahman model parameters conditioned upon MODIS landcover. c) Rigorous non-parametric Bayesian approach to analytic mixture model determination. d) Unique U.S. asset for science product validation and verification.

An Energy Efficient Adaptive Sampling Algorithm in a Sensor Network for Automated Water Quality Monitoring.

PubMed

Shu, Tongxin; Xia, Min; Chen, Jiahong; Silva, Clarence de

2017-11-05

Power management is crucial in the monitoring of a remote environment, especially when long-term monitoring is needed. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind may be harvested to sustain a monitoring system. However, without proper power management, equipment within the monitoring system may become nonfunctional and, as a consequence, the data or events captured during the monitoring process will become inaccurate as well. This paper develops and applies a novel adaptive sampling algorithm for power management in the automated monitoring of the quality of water in an extensive and remote aquatic environment. Based on the data collected on line using sensor nodes, a data-driven adaptive sampling algorithm (DDASA) is developed for improving the power efficiency while ensuring the accuracy of sampled data. The developed algorithm is evaluated using two distinct key parameters, which are dissolved oxygen (DO) and turbidity. It is found that by dynamically changing the sampling frequency, the battery lifetime can be effectively prolonged while maintaining a required level of sampling accuracy. According to the simulation results, compared to a fixed sampling rate, approximately 30.66% of the battery energy can be saved for three months of continuous water quality monitoring. Using the same dataset to compare with a traditional adaptive sampling algorithm (ASA), while achieving around the same Normalized Mean Error (NME), DDASA is superior in saving 5.31% more battery energy.

An Energy Efficient Adaptive Sampling Algorithm in a Sensor Network for Automated Water Quality Monitoring

PubMed Central

Shu, Tongxin; Xia, Min; Chen, Jiahong; de Silva, Clarence

2017-01-01

Power management is crucial in the monitoring of a remote environment, especially when long-term monitoring is needed. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind may be harvested to sustain a monitoring system. However, without proper power management, equipment within the monitoring system may become nonfunctional and, as a consequence, the data or events captured during the monitoring process will become inaccurate as well. This paper develops and applies a novel adaptive sampling algorithm for power management in the automated monitoring of the quality of water in an extensive and remote aquatic environment. Based on the data collected on line using sensor nodes, a data-driven adaptive sampling algorithm (DDASA) is developed for improving the power efficiency while ensuring the accuracy of sampled data. The developed algorithm is evaluated using two distinct key parameters, which are dissolved oxygen (DO) and turbidity. It is found that by dynamically changing the sampling frequency, the battery lifetime can be effectively prolonged while maintaining a required level of sampling accuracy. According to the simulation results, compared to a fixed sampling rate, approximately 30.66% of the battery energy can be saved for three months of continuous water quality monitoring. Using the same dataset to compare with a traditional adaptive sampling algorithm (ASA), while achieving around the same Normalized Mean Error (NME), DDASA is superior in saving 5.31% more battery energy. PMID:29113087

Spatial adaptive sampling in multiscale simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rouet-Leduc, Bertrand; Barros, Kipton; Cieren, Emmanuel; Elango, Venmugil; Junghans, Christoph; Lookman, Turab; Mohd-Yusof, Jamaludin; Pavel, Robert S.; Rivera, Axel Y.; Roehm, Dominic; McPherson, Allen L.; Germann, Timothy C.

2014-07-01

In a common approach to multiscale simulation, an incomplete set of macroscale equations must be supplemented with constitutive data provided by fine-scale simulation. Collecting statistics from these fine-scale simulations is typically the overwhelming computational cost. We reduce this cost by interpolating the results of fine-scale simulation over the spatial domain of the macro-solver. Unlike previous adaptive sampling strategies, we do not interpolate on the potentially very high dimensional space of inputs to the fine-scale simulation. Our approach is local in space and time, avoids the need for a central database, and is designed to parallelize well on large computer clusters. To demonstrate our method, we simulate one-dimensional elastodynamic shock propagation using the Heterogeneous Multiscale Method (HMM); we find that spatial adaptive sampling requires only ≈ 50 ×N0.14 fine-scale simulations to reconstruct the stress field at all N grid points. Related multiscale approaches, such as Equation Free methods, may also benefit from spatial adaptive sampling.

Differential face-network adaptation in children, adolescents and adults.

PubMed

Cohen Kadosh, Kathrin; Johnson, Mark H; Henson, Richard N A; Dick, Frederic; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne

2013-04-01

Faces are complex social stimuli, which can be processed both at the categorical and the individual level. Behavioral studies have shown that children take more than a decade of exposure and training to become proficient at processing faces at the individual level. The neurodevelopmental trajectories for different aspects of face-processing are still poorly understood. In this study, we used an fMR-adaptation design to investigate differential processing of three face aspects (identity, expression and gaze) in children, adolescents and adults. We found that, while all three tasks showed some overlap in activation patterns, there was a significant age effect in the occipital and temporal lobes and the inferior frontal gyrus. More importantly, the degree of adaptation differed across the three age groups in the inferior occipital gyrus, a core face processing area that has been shown in previous studies to be both integral and necessary for individual-level face processing. In the younger children, adaptation in this region seemed to suggest the use of a predominantly featural processing strategy, whereas adaptation effects in the adults exhibited a more strategic pattern that depended on the task. Interestingly, our sample of adolescents did not exhibit any differential adaptation effects; possibly reflecting increased heterogeneity in processing strategies in this age group. Our results support the notion that, in line with improving behavioral face-processing abilities, core face-responsive regions develop throughout the first two decades of life. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evidence of presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in bovine tissue samples by multiplex PCR: possible relevance to reverse zoonosis.

PubMed

Mittal, M; Chakravarti, S; Sharma, V; Sanjeeth, B S; Churamani, C P; Kanwar, N S

2014-04-01

Bovine tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium bovis, remains one of the most important zoonotic health concerns worldwide. The transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from humans to animals also occurs especially in countries where there is close interaction of humans with the animals. In the present study, thirty bovine lung tissue autopsy samples from an organized dairy farm located in North India were screened for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex by smear microscopy, histopathological findings and PCR. Differential diagnosis of M. tuberculosis and M. bovis was made based on the deletion of mce-3 operon in M. bovis. The present study found eight of these samples positive for M. tuberculosis by multiplex PCR. Sequencing was performed on two PCR-positive representative samples and on annotation, and BLAST analysis confirmed the presence of gene fragment specific to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The presence of M. tuberculosis in all the positive samples raises the possibility of human-to-cattle transmission and possible adaptation of this organism in bovine tissues. This study accentuates the importance of screening and differential diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in humans and livestock for adopting effective TB control and eradication programmes. © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Examining the impact of differential cultural adaptation with Latina/o immigrants exposed to adapted parent training interventions.

PubMed

Parra-Cardona, J Rubén; Bybee, Deborah; Sullivan, Cris M; Rodríguez, Melanie M Domenech; Dates, Brian; Tams, Lisa; Bernal, Guillermo

2017-01-01

There is a dearth of empirical studies aimed at examining the impact of differential cultural adaptation of evidence-based clinical and prevention interventions. This prevention study consisted of a randomized controlled trial aimed at comparing the impact of 2 differentially culturally adapted versions of the evidence-based parenting intervention known as Parent Management Training, the Oregon Model (PMTOR). The sample consisted of 103 Latina/o immigrant families (190 individual parents). Each family was allocated to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) a culturally adapted PMTO (CA), (b) culturally adapted and enhanced PMTO (CE), and (c) a wait-list control. Measurements were implemented at baseline (T1), treatment completion (T2) and 6-month follow up (T3). Multilevel growth modeling analyses indicated statistically significant improvements on parenting skills for fathers and mothers (main effect) at 6-month follow-up in both adapted interventions, when compared with the control condition. With regard to parent-reported child behaviors, child internalizing behaviors were significantly lower for both parents in the CE intervention (main effect), compared with control at 6-month follow-up. No main effect was found for child externalizing behaviors. However, a Parent × Condition effect was found indicating a significant reduction of child externalizing behaviors for CE fathers compared with CA and control fathers at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Present findings indicate the value of differential cultural adaptation research designs and the importance of examining effects for both mothers and fathers, particularly when culturally focused and gender variables are considered for intervention design and implementation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A Fast, Efficient Domain Adaptation Technique for Cross-Domain Electroencephalography(EEG)-Based Emotion Recognition

PubMed Central

Chai, Xin; Wang, Qisong; Zhao, Yongping; Li, Yongqiang; Liu, Dan; Liu, Xin; Bai, Ou

2017-01-01

Electroencephalography (EEG)-based emotion recognition is an important element in psychiatric health diagnosis for patients. However, the underlying EEG sensor signals are always non-stationary if they are sampled from different experimental sessions or subjects. This results in the deterioration of the classification performance. Domain adaptation methods offer an effective way to reduce the discrepancy of marginal distribution. However, for EEG sensor signals, both marginal and conditional distributions may be mismatched. In addition, the existing domain adaptation strategies always require a high level of additional computation. To address this problem, a novel strategy named adaptive subspace feature matching (ASFM) is proposed in this paper in order to integrate both the marginal and conditional distributions within a unified framework (without any labeled samples from target subjects). Specifically, we develop a linear transformation function which matches the marginal distributions of the source and target subspaces without a regularization term. This significantly decreases the time complexity of our domain adaptation procedure. As a result, both marginal and conditional distribution discrepancies between the source domain and unlabeled target domain can be reduced, and logistic regression (LR) can be applied to the new source domain in order to train a classifier for use in the target domain, since the aligned source domain follows a distribution which is similar to that of the target domain. We compare our ASFM method with six typical approaches using a public EEG dataset with three affective states: positive, neutral, and negative. Both offline and online evaluations were performed. The subject-to-subject offline experimental results demonstrate that our component achieves a mean accuracy and standard deviation of 80.46% and 6.84%, respectively, as compared with a state-of-the-art method, the subspace alignment auto-encoder (SAAE), which achieves values of 77.88% and 7.33% on average, respectively. For the online analysis, the average classification accuracy and standard deviation of ASFM in the subject-to-subject evaluation for all the 15 subjects in a dataset was 75.11% and 7.65%, respectively, gaining a significant performance improvement compared to the best baseline LR which achieves 56.38% and 7.48%, respectively. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method relative to state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, computational efficiency of the proposed ASFM method is much better than standard domain adaptation; if the numbers of training samples and test samples are controlled within certain range, it is suitable for real-time classification. It can be concluded that ASFM is a useful and effective tool for decreasing domain discrepancy and reducing performance degradation across subjects and sessions in the field of EEG-based emotion recognition. PMID:28467371

A Fast, Efficient Domain Adaptation Technique for Cross-Domain Electroencephalography(EEG)-Based Emotion Recognition.

PubMed

Chai, Xin; Wang, Qisong; Zhao, Yongping; Li, Yongqiang; Liu, Dan; Liu, Xin; Bai, Ou

2017-05-03

Electroencephalography (EEG)-based emotion recognition is an important element in psychiatric health diagnosis for patients. However, the underlying EEG sensor signals are always non-stationary if they are sampled from different experimental sessions or subjects. This results in the deterioration of the classification performance. Domain adaptation methods offer an effective way to reduce the discrepancy of marginal distribution. However, for EEG sensor signals, both marginal and conditional distributions may be mismatched. In addition, the existing domain adaptation strategies always require a high level of additional computation. To address this problem, a novel strategy named adaptive subspace feature matching (ASFM) is proposed in this paper in order to integrate both the marginal and conditional distributions within a unified framework (without any labeled samples from target subjects). Specifically, we develop a linear transformation function which matches the marginal distributions of the source and target subspaces without a regularization term. This significantly decreases the time complexity of our domain adaptation procedure. As a result, both marginal and conditional distribution discrepancies between the source domain and unlabeled target domain can be reduced, and logistic regression (LR) can be applied to the new source domain in order to train a classifier for use in the target domain, since the aligned source domain follows a distribution which is similar to that of the target domain. We compare our ASFM method with six typical approaches using a public EEG dataset with three affective states: positive, neutral, and negative. Both offline and online evaluations were performed. The subject-to-subject offline experimental results demonstrate that our component achieves a mean accuracy and standard deviation of 80.46% and 6.84%, respectively, as compared with a state-of-the-art method, the subspace alignment auto-encoder (SAAE), which achieves values of 77.88% and 7.33% on average, respectively. For the online analysis, the average classification accuracy and standard deviation of ASFM in the subject-to-subject evaluation for all the 15 subjects in a dataset was 75.11% and 7.65%, respectively, gaining a significant performance improvement compared to the best baseline LR which achieves 56.38% and 7.48%, respectively. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method relative to state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, computational efficiency of the proposed ASFM method is much better than standard domain adaptation; if the numbers of training samples and test samples are controlled within certain range, it is suitable for real-time classification. It can be concluded that ASFM is a useful and effective tool for decreasing domain discrepancy and reducing performance degradation across subjects and sessions in the field of EEG-based emotion recognition.

Application of the CIEMAT-NIST method to plastic scintillation microspheres.

PubMed

Tarancón, A; Barrera, J; Santiago, L M; Bagán, H; García, J F

2015-04-01

An adaptation of the MICELLE2 code was used to apply the CIEMAT-NIST tracing method to the activity calculation for radioactive solutions of pure beta emitters of different energies using plastic scintillation microspheres (PSm) and (3)H as a tracing radionuclide. Particle quenching, very important in measurements with PSm, was computed with PENELOPE using geometries formed by a heterogeneous mixture of polystyrene microspheres and water. The results obtained with PENELOPE were adapted to be included in MICELLE2, which is capable of including the energy losses due to particle quenching in the computation of the detection efficiency. The activity calculation of (63)Ni, (14)C, (36)Cl and (90)Sr/(90)Y solutions was performed with deviations of 8.8%, 1.9%, 1.4% and 2.1%, respectively. Of the different parameters evaluated, those with the greatest impact on the activity calculation are, in order of importance, the energy of the radionuclide, the degree of quenching of the sample and the packing fraction of the geometry used in the computation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A qualitative review of immigrant women's experiences of maternal adaptation in South Korea.

PubMed

Song, Ju-Eun; Ahn, Jeong-Ah; Kim, Tiffany; Roh, Eun Ha

2016-08-01

to synthesise the evidence of immigrant women's experiences of maternal adaptation in Korea. eligible studies were identified by searching MEDLINE, CINAHL, and the Korean electronic databases. Qualitative research studies, published in English and Korean addressing maternal adaptation experiences of immigrant women by marriage in Korea, were considered in the review. The suitability of the quality of articles was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute's Critical Appraisal Checklist. Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria for data analysis. Authors, purpose of the study, study design, theoretical framework, population (nationality and sample size), data collection (setting and method), and main study findings were extracted and summarised in a data extraction form for further narrative analysis and synthesis. A qualitative systematic review was performed by means of thematic synthesis. the literature search identified 7,628 articles, of which 15 studies, published between 2009 and 2014, were evaluated in the systematic review. Two overarching categories including five themes were identified in the qualitative studies related to maternal adaptation experiences; 'Experiences of motherhood transition' and 'Experiences of child-rearing'. these findings demonstrate the importance of understanding and improving maternal adaptation of immigrant women living in Korea. This can be achieved by enhancing social support, providing culturally sensitive maternal healthcare services, and expanding opportunities for immigrant women in education, job training, and economic independence. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gratitude and Drug Misuse: Role of Coping as Mediator.

PubMed

Leung, Chi-Ching; Tong, Eddie M W

2017-12-06

Positive emotions, such as gratitude has been found to be beneficial to both physical and mental well-being but so far, drug misuse research has yet to identify important emotive predictors related to drug use. This study aimed to examine the relationship between gratitude and drug use among a group of drug misusers. It was hypothesized that greater dispositional gratitude was associated with lesser drug use through greater use of adaptive coping methods and lesser use of maladaptive coping methods. This study utilized a cross-sectional design to examine the relationship between gratitude, coping, and drug use among a sample of drug misusers (N = 105) at a drug rehabilitation center. Participants completed the gratitude questionnaire (GQ-6), the joy subscale of the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale (DPES), the Brief COPE, and a questionnaire on their drug use. Data were collected in 2015. Mediation analysis supported the hypothesis and found that adaptive coping mediated the relationship between gratitude and drug use. However, mediation was not found for maladaptive coping. Additional analysis found that adaptive coping as a mediator was not found for joy. Results suggested that gratitude has utility in reducing drug use through the use of more adaptive coping strategies and this relationship was not simply due to positive affect. Interventions targeting drug use behavior could consider introducing gratitude to increase adaptive coping abilities to reduce drug use.

Multilevel processes and cultural adaptation: Examples from past and present small-scale societies.

PubMed

Reyes-García, V; Balbo, A L; Gomez-Baggethun, E; Gueze, M; Mesoudi, A; Richerson, P; Rubio-Campillo, X; Ruiz-Mallén, I; Shennan, S

2016-12-01

Cultural adaptation has become central in the context of accelerated global change with authors increasingly acknowledging the importance of understanding multilevel processes that operate as adaptation takes place. We explore the importance of multilevel processes in explaining cultural adaptation by describing how processes leading to cultural (mis)adaptation are linked through a complex nested hierarchy, where the lower levels combine into new units with new organizations, functions, and emergent properties or collective behaviours. After a brief review of the concept of "cultural adaptation" from the perspective of cultural evolutionary theory and resilience theory, the core of the paper is constructed around the exploration of multilevel processes occurring at the temporal, spatial, social and political scales. We do so by examining small-scale societies' case studies. In each section, we discuss the importance of the selected scale for understanding cultural adaptation and then present an example that illustrates how multilevel processes in the selected scale help explain observed patterns in the cultural adaptive process. We end the paper discussing the potential of modelling and computer simulation for studying multilevel processes in cultural adaptation.

In vitro fermentation pattern of D-tagatose is affected by adaptation of the microbiota from the gastrointestinal tract of pigs.

PubMed

Laerke, H N; Jensen, B B; Højsgaard, S

2000-07-01

Knowledge of the fermentation pattern of D-tagatose is important for the assessment of energy value and compliance of D-tagatose. In vitro fermentation experiments with pig intestinal contents and bacteria harvested from the gastrointestinal tract of pigs were used to investigate the degradation of D-tagatose and the formation of fermentation products. Two groups of eight pigs were fed either a control diet containing 150 g/kg sucrose or a diet which had 100 g/kg of the sucrose replaced by D-tagatose. After 18 d the pigs were killed and the gastrointestinal contents collected for in vitro studies. No microbial fermentation of D-tagatose occurred in the stomach or in the small intestine, whereas the sugar was fermented in the cecum and colon. Formate, acetate, propionate, butyrate, valerate, caproate and some heptanoate were produced by the microbial fermentation of D-tagatose by gut microbiota. Hydrogen and methane were also produced. The population of D-tagatose-degrading bacteria in fecal samples and the capacity of bacteria from the hindgut to degrade D-tagatose were higher in the pigs adapted to D-tagatose compared with unadapted pigs. In unadapted pigs, the major fermentation product from D-tagatose was acetic acid. Much more butyric and valeric acids were produced from D-tagatose by bacterial slurries of tagatose-adapted pigs compared with unadapted pigs; this was especially the case for samples from the colon. We conclude that D-tagatose is not fermented in the upper gastrointestinal tract, and the ability of the large intestinal microbiota to ferment D-tagatose is dependent on adaptation.

The Adaptive Biasing Force Method: Everything You Always Wanted To Know but Were Afraid To Ask

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

In the host of numerical schemes devised to calculate free energy differences by way of geometric transformations, the adaptive biasing force algorithm has emerged as a promising route to map complex free-energy landscapes. It relies upon the simple concept that as a simulation progresses, a continuously updated biasing force is added to the equations of motion, such that in the long-time limit it yields a Hamiltonian devoid of an average force acting along the transition coordinate of interest. This means that sampling proceeds uniformly on a flat free-energy surface, thus providing reliable free-energy estimates. Much of the appeal of the algorithm to the practitioner is in its physically intuitive underlying ideas and the absence of any requirements for prior knowledge about free-energy landscapes. Since its inception in 2001, the adaptive biasing force scheme has been the subject of considerable attention, from in-depth mathematical analysis of convergence properties to novel developments and extensions. The method has also been successfully applied to many challenging problems in chemistry and biology. In this contribution, the method is presented in a comprehensive, self-contained fashion, discussing with a critical eye its properties, applicability, and inherent limitations, as well as introducing novel extensions. Through free-energy calculations of prototypical molecular systems, many methodological aspects are examined, from stratification strategies to overcoming the so-called hidden barriers in orthogonal space, relevant not only to the adaptive biasing force algorithm but also to other importance-sampling schemes. On the basis of the discussions in this paper, a number of good practices for improving the efficiency and reliability of the computed free-energy differences are proposed. PMID:25247823

A scale self-adapting segmentation approach and knowledge transfer for automatically updating land use/cover change databases using high spatial resolution images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhihua; Yang, Xiaomei; Lu, Chen; Yang, Fengshuo

2018-07-01

Automatic updating of land use/cover change (LUCC) databases using high spatial resolution images (HSRI) is important for environmental monitoring and policy making, especially for coastal areas that connect the land and coast and that tend to change frequently. Many object-based change detection methods are proposed, especially those combining historical LUCC with HSRI. However, the scale parameter(s) segmenting the serial temporal images, which directly determines the average object size, is hard to choose without experts' intervention. And the samples transferred from historical LUCC also need experts' intervention to avoid insufficient or wrong samples. With respect to the scale parameter(s) choosing, a Scale Self-Adapting Segmentation (SSAS) approach based on the exponential sampling of a scale parameter and location of the local maximum of a weighted local variance was proposed to determine the scale selection problem when segmenting images constrained by LUCC for detecting changes. With respect to the samples transferring, Knowledge Transfer (KT), a classifier trained on historical images with LUCC and applied in the classification of updated images, was also proposed. Comparison experiments were conducted in a coastal area of Zhujiang, China, using SPOT 5 images acquired in 2005 and 2010. The results reveal that (1) SSAS can segment images more effectively without intervention of experts. (2) KT can also reach the maximum accuracy of samples transfer without experts' intervention. Strategy SSAS + KT would be a good choice if the temporal historical image and LUCC match, and the historical image and updated image are obtained from the same resource.

Associations between Positive Parenting Practices and Child Externalizing Behavior in Underserved Latino Immigrant Families

PubMed Central

Holtrop, Kendal; Smith, Sharde' Mcneil; Scott, Jenna C.

2015-01-01

This study examined whether five specific parenting practices (i.e., monitoring, discipline, skill encouragement, problem solving, and positive involvement) were associated with reduced child externalizing behaviors among a sample of Latino immigrant families. It utilized baseline data from 83 Latino couples with children participating in a larger randomized controlled trial of a culturally adapted parenting intervention. Results reveal that monitoring, discipline, skill encouragement, and problem solving each made independent contributions to the prediction of child externalizing behavior, although not all in the expected direction. Further analyses examining mothers and fathers separately suggest that mother-reported monitoring and father-reported discipline practices uniquely contributed to these findings. These results may have important implications for prevention and clinical intervention efforts with Latino immigrant families, including the cultural adaptation and implementation of parenting interventions with this underserved population. PMID:25287585

Identifying Early Childhood Personality Dimensions Using the California Child Q-Set and Prospective Associations With Behavioral and Psychosocial Development

PubMed Central

Wilson, Sylia; Schalet, Benjamin D.; Hicks, Brian M.; Zucker, Robert A.

2013-01-01

The present study used an empirical, “bottom-up” approach to delineate the structure of the California Child Q-Set (CCQ), a comprehensive set of personality descriptors, in a sample of 373 preschool-aged children. This approach yielded two broad trait dimensions, Adaptive Socialization (emotional stability, compliance, intelligence) and Anxious Inhibition (emotional/behavioral introversion). Results demonstrate the value of using empirical derivation to investigate the structure of personality in young children, speak to the importance of early-evident personality traits for adaptive development, and are consistent with a growing body of evidence indicating that personality structure in young children is similar, but not identical to, that in adults, suggesting a model of broad personality dimensions in childhood that evolve into narrower traits in adulthood. PMID:24223448

Brief Report: IQ Split Predicts Social Symptoms and Communication Abilities in High-Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Wallace, Gregory L.; Sokoloff, Jennifer L.; Kenworthy, Lauren

2011-01-01

We investigated the relationship of discrepancies between VIQ and NVIQ (IQ split) to autism symptoms and adaptive behavior in a sample of high-functioning (mean FSIQ = 98.5) school-age children with autism spectrum disorders divided into three groups: discrepantly high VIQ (n = 18); discrepantly high NVIQ (n = 24); and equivalent VIQ and NVIQ (n = 36). Discrepantly high VIQ and NVIQ were associated with autism social symptoms but not communication symptoms or repetitive behaviors. Higher VIQ and NVIQ were associated with better adaptive communication but not socialization or Daily Living Skills. IQ discrepancy may be an important phenotypic marker in autism. Although better verbal abilities are associated with better functional outcomes in autism, discrepantly high VIQ in high-functioning children may also be associated with social difficulties. PMID:19572193

Haptic adaptation to slant: No transfer between exploration modes

PubMed Central

van Dam, Loes C. J.; Plaisier, Myrthe A.; Glowania, Catharina; Ernst, Marc O.

2016-01-01

Human touch is an inherently active sense: to estimate an object’s shape humans often move their hand across its surface. This way the object is sampled both in a serial (sampling different parts of the object across time) and parallel fashion (sampling using different parts of the hand simultaneously). Both the serial (moving a single finger) and parallel (static contact with the entire hand) exploration modes provide reliable and similar global shape information, suggesting the possibility that this information is shared early in the sensory cortex. In contrast, we here show the opposite. Using an adaptation-and-transfer paradigm, a change in haptic perception was induced by slant-adaptation using either the serial or parallel exploration mode. A unified shape-based coding would predict that this would equally affect perception using other exploration modes. However, we found that adaptation-induced perceptual changes did not transfer between exploration modes. Instead, serial and parallel exploration components adapted simultaneously, but to different kinaesthetic aspects of exploration behaviour rather than object-shape per se. These results indicate that a potential combination of information from different exploration modes can only occur at down-stream cortical processing stages, at which adaptation is no longer effective. PMID:27698392

Culture adaptation of malaria parasites selects for convergent loss-of-function mutants.

PubMed

Claessens, Antoine; Affara, Muna; Assefa, Samuel A; Kwiatkowski, Dominic P; Conway, David J

2017-01-24

Cultured human pathogens may differ significantly from source populations. To investigate the genetic basis of laboratory adaptation in malaria parasites, clinical Plasmodium falciparum isolates were sampled from patients and cultured in vitro for up to three months. Genome sequence analysis was performed on multiple culture time point samples from six monoclonal isolates, and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variants emerging over time were detected. Out of a total of five positively selected SNPs, four represented nonsense mutations resulting in stop codons, three of these in a single ApiAP2 transcription factor gene, and one in SRPK1. To survey further for nonsense mutants associated with culture, genome sequences of eleven long-term laboratory-adapted parasite strains were examined, revealing four independently acquired nonsense mutations in two other ApiAP2 genes, and five in Epac. No mutants of these genes exist in a large database of parasite sequences from uncultured clinical samples. This implicates putative master regulator genes in which multiple independent stop codon mutations have convergently led to culture adaptation, affecting most laboratory lines of P. falciparum. Understanding the adaptive processes should guide development of experimental models, which could include targeted gene disruption to adapt fastidious malaria parasite species to culture.

Adaptation study of the Turkish version of the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS-T).

PubMed

Arcan, K; Karanci, A N

2015-03-01

This study aimed to adapt and to test the validity and the reliability of the Turkish version of the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS-T) that was developed by Raylu and Oei (Addiction 99(6):757-769, 2004a). The significance of erroneous cognitions in the development and the maintenance of gambling problems, the importance of promoting gambling research in different cultures, and the limited information about the gambling individuals in Turkey due to limited gambling research interest inspired the present study. The sample consisted of 354 voluntary male participants who were above age 17 and betting on sports and horse races selected through convenience sampling in betting terminals. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis following the original scale's five factor structure indicated a good fit for the data. The analyses were carried out with 21 items due to relatively inadequate psychometric properties of two GRCS-T items. Correlational analyses and group comparison tests supported the concurrent and the criterion validity of the GRCS-T. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole scale was 0.84 whereas the coefficients ranged between 0.52 and 0.78 for the subscales of GRCS-T. The findings suggesting that GRCS-T is a valid and reliable instrument to identify gambling cognitions in Turkish samples are discussed considering the possible influence of the sample make-up and cultural texture within the limitations of the present study and in the light of the relevant literature.

Identification of Hot Moments and Hot Spots for Real-Time Adaptive Control of Multi-scale Environmental Sensor Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wietsma, T.; Minsker, B. S.

2012-12-01

Increased sensor throughput combined with decreasing hardware costs has led to a disruptive growth in data volume. This disruption, popularly termed "the data deluge," has placed new demands for cyberinfrastructure and information technology skills among researchers in many academic fields, including the environmental sciences. Adaptive sampling has been well established as an effective means of improving network resource efficiency (energy, bandwidth) without sacrificing sample set quality relative to traditional uniform sampling. However, using adaptive sampling for the explicit purpose of improving resolution over events -- situations displaying intermittent dynamics and unique hydrogeological signatures -- is relatively new. In this paper, we define hot spots and hot moments in terms of sensor signal activity as measured through discrete Fourier analysis. Following this frequency-based approach, we apply the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem, a fundamental contribution from signal processing that led to the field of information theory, for analysis of uni- and multivariate environmental signal data. In the scope of multi-scale environmental sensor networks, we present several sampling control algorithms, derived from the Nyquist-Shannon theorem, that operate at local (field sensor), regional (base station for aggregation of field sensor data), and global (Cloud-based, computationally intensive models) scales. Evaluated over soil moisture data, results indicate significantly greater sample density during precipitation events while reducing overall sample volume. Using these algorithms as indicators rather than control mechanisms, we also discuss opportunities for spatio-temporal modeling as a tool for planning/modifying sensor network deployments. Locally adaptive model based on Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem Pareto frontiers for local, regional, and global models relative to uniform sampling. Objectives are (1) overall sampling efficiency and (2) sampling efficiency during hot moments as identified using heuristic approach.

A multilevel analysis to explain self-reported adverse health effects and adaptation to urban heat: a cross-sectional survey in the deprived areas of 9 Canadian cities.

PubMed

Bélanger, Diane; Abdous, Belkacem; Valois, Pierre; Gosselin, Pierre; Sidi, Elhadji A Laouan

2016-02-12

This study identifies the characteristics and perceptions related to the individual, the dwelling and the neighbourhood of residence associated with the prevalence of self-reported adverse health impacts and an adaptation index when it is very hot and humid in summer in the most disadvantaged sectors of the nine most populous cities of Québec, Canada, in 2011. The study uses a cross-sectional design and a stratified representative sample; 3485 people (individual-level) were interviewed in their residence. They lived in 1647 buildings (building-level) in 87 most materially and socially disadvantaged census dissemination areas (DA-level). Multilevel analysis was used to perform 3-level models nested one in the other to examine individual impacts as well as the adaptation index. For the prevalence of impacts, which is 46 %, the logistic model includes 13 individual-level indicators (including air conditioning and the adaptation index) and 1 building-level indicator. For the adaptation index, with values ranging from -3 to +3, the linear model has 10 individual-level indicators, 1 building-level indicator and 2 DA-level indicators. Of all these indicators, 9 were associated to the prevalence of impacts only and 8 to the adaptation index only. This 3-level analysis shows the differential importance of the characteristics of residents, buildings and their surroundings on self-reported adverse health impacts and on adaptation (other than air conditioning) under hot and humid summer conditions. It also identifies indicators specific to impacts or adaptation. People with negative health impacts from heat rely more on adaptation strategies while low physical activity and good dwelling/building insulation lead to lower adaptation. Better neighbourhood walkability favors adaptations other than air conditioning. Thus, adaptation to heat in these neighbourhoods seems reactive rather than preventive. These first multi-level insights pave the way for the development of a theoretical framework of the process from heat exposure to impacts and adaptation for research, surveillance and public health interventions at all relevant levels.

Adaptive Importance Sampling for Control and Inference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kappen, H. J.; Ruiz, H. C.

2016-03-01

Path integral (PI) control problems are a restricted class of non-linear control problems that can be solved formally as a Feynman-Kac PI and can be estimated using Monte Carlo sampling. In this contribution we review PI control theory in the finite horizon case. We subsequently focus on the problem how to compute and represent control solutions. We review the most commonly used methods in robotics and control. Within the PI theory, the question of how to compute becomes the question of importance sampling. Efficient importance samplers are state feedback controllers and the use of these requires an efficient representation. Learning and representing effective state-feedback controllers for non-linear stochastic control problems is a very challenging, and largely unsolved, problem. We show how to learn and represent such controllers using ideas from the cross entropy method. We derive a gradient descent method that allows to learn feed-back controllers using an arbitrary parametrisation. We refer to this method as the path integral cross entropy method or PICE. We illustrate this method for some simple examples. The PI control methods can be used to estimate the posterior distribution in latent state models. In neuroscience these problems arise when estimating connectivity from neural recording data using EM. We demonstrate the PI control method as an accurate alternative to particle filtering.

Strategies for informed sample size reduction in adaptive controlled clinical trials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arandjelović, Ognjen

2017-12-01

Clinical trial adaptation refers to any adjustment of the trial protocol after the onset of the trial. The main goal is to make the process of introducing new medical interventions to patients more efficient. The principal challenge, which is an outstanding research problem, is to be found in the question of how adaptation should be performed so as to minimize the chance of distorting the outcome of the trial. In this paper, we propose a novel method for achieving this. Unlike most of the previously published work, our approach focuses on trial adaptation by sample size adjustment, i.e. by reducing the number of trial participants in a statistically informed manner. Our key idea is to select the sample subset for removal in a manner which minimizes the associated loss of information. We formalize this notion and describe three algorithms which approach the problem in different ways, respectively, using (i) repeated random draws, (ii) a genetic algorithm, and (iii) what we term pair-wise sample compatibilities. Experiments on simulated data demonstrate the effectiveness of all three approaches, with a consistently superior performance exhibited by the pair-wise sample compatibilities-based method.

A Bayesian sequential design with adaptive randomization for 2-sided hypothesis test.

PubMed

Yu, Qingzhao; Zhu, Lin; Zhu, Han

2017-11-01

Bayesian sequential and adaptive randomization designs are gaining popularity in clinical trials thanks to their potentials to reduce the number of required participants and save resources. We propose a Bayesian sequential design with adaptive randomization rates so as to more efficiently attribute newly recruited patients to different treatment arms. In this paper, we consider 2-arm clinical trials. Patients are allocated to the 2 arms with a randomization rate to achieve minimum variance for the test statistic. Algorithms are presented to calculate the optimal randomization rate, critical values, and power for the proposed design. Sensitivity analysis is implemented to check the influence on design by changing the prior distributions. Simulation studies are applied to compare the proposed method and traditional methods in terms of power and actual sample sizes. Simulations show that, when total sample size is fixed, the proposed design can obtain greater power and/or cost smaller actual sample size than the traditional Bayesian sequential design. Finally, we apply the proposed method to a real data set and compare the results with the Bayesian sequential design without adaptive randomization in terms of sample sizes. The proposed method can further reduce required sample size. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Medical image classification using spatial adjacent histogram based on adaptive local binary patterns.

PubMed

Liu, Dong; Wang, Shengsheng; Huang, Dezhi; Deng, Gang; Zeng, Fantao; Chen, Huiling

2016-05-01

Medical image recognition is an important task in both computer vision and computational biology. In the field of medical image classification, representing an image based on local binary patterns (LBP) descriptor has become popular. However, most existing LBP-based methods encode the binary patterns in a fixed neighborhood radius and ignore the spatial relationships among local patterns. The ignoring of the spatial relationships in the LBP will cause a poor performance in the process of capturing discriminative features for complex samples, such as medical images obtained by microscope. To address this problem, in this paper we propose a novel method to improve local binary patterns by assigning an adaptive neighborhood radius for each pixel. Based on these adaptive local binary patterns, we further propose a spatial adjacent histogram strategy to encode the micro-structures for image representation. An extensive set of evaluations are performed on four medical datasets which show that the proposed method significantly improves standard LBP and compares favorably with several other prevailing approaches. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Landscape genetics, adaptive diversity and population structure in Phaseolus vulgaris.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Monica; Rau, Domenico; Bitocchi, Elena; Bellucci, Elisa; Biagetti, Eleonora; Carboni, Andrea; Gepts, Paul; Nanni, Laura; Papa, Roberto; Attene, Giovanna

2016-03-01

Here we studied the organization of genetic variation of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in its centres of domestication. We used 131 single nucleotide polymorphisms to investigate 417 wild common bean accessions and a representative sample of 160 domesticated genotypes, including Mesoamerican and Andean genotypes, for a total of 577 accessions. By analysing the genetic spatial patterns of the wild common bean, we documented the existence of several genetic groups and the occurrence of variable degrees of diversity in Mesoamerica and the Andes. Moreover, using a landscape genetics approach, we demonstrated that both demographic processes and selection for adaptation were responsible for the observed genetic structure. We showed that the study of correlations between markers and ecological variables at a continental scale can help in identifying local adaptation genes. We also located putative areas of common bean domestication in Mesoamerica, in the Oaxaca Valley, and the Andes, in southern Bolivia-northern Argentina. These observations are of paramount importance for the conservation and exploitation of the genetic diversity preserved within this species and other plant genetic resources. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

Cultural Adaptation and Reliability of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) for Nurses in Brazil 1

PubMed Central

Pereira, Fernanda Maria Vieira; Lam, Simon Ching; Gir, Elucir

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective: this study aimed to carry of the cultural adaptation and to evaluate the reliability of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) for nurses in Brazil. Method: the adaptation process entailed translation, consensus among judges, back-translation, semantic validation and pretest. The reliability was evaluated by internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) and stability (test-retest). The instrument was administered to a sample group of 300 nurses who worked in a large hospital located in the city of São Paulo/SP, Brazil. Results: through the semantic validation, the items from the scale were considered understandable and deemed important for the nurse´s clinical practice. The CSPS Brazilian Portuguese version (CSPS-PB) revealed excellent interpretability. The Cronbach`s alpha was 0.61 and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.85. Conclusion: the initial study showed that CSPS-PB is appropriate to assess compliance with standard precautions among nurses in Brazil. The reliability was considered acceptable. Furhter study is necessary to evaluate its comprehensive psychometric properties. PMID:28301030

Spiritual activities as a resistance resource for women with human immunodeficiency virus.

PubMed

Sowell, R; Moneyham, L; Hennessy, M; Guillory, J; Demi, A; Seals, B

2000-01-01

Few studies have investigated the role that spiritual activities play in the adaptational outcomes of women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. To examine the role of spiritual activities as a resource that may reduce the negative effects of disease-related stressors on the adaptational outcomes in HIV-infected women. A theoretically based causal model was tested to examine the role of spiritual activities as a moderator of the impact of HIV-related stressors (functional impairment, work impairment, and HIV-related symptoms) on two stress-related adaptational outcomes (emotional distress and quality of life), using a clinic-based sample of 184 HIV-positive women. Findings indicated that as spiritual activities increased, emotional distress decreased even when adjustments were made for HIV-related stressors. A positive relationship between spiritual activities and quality of life was found, which approached significance. Findings showed that HIV-related stressors have a significant negative effect on both emotional distress and quality of life. The findings support the hypothesis that spiritual activities are an important psychological resource accounting for individual variability in adjustment to the stressors associated with HIV disease.

Adaptive and Innate Immune Responsiveness to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Exposed Asymptomatic Children and Children with Previous Clinical Lyme Borreliosis

PubMed Central

Skogman, Barbro H.; Hellberg, Sandra; Ekerfelt, Christina; Jenmalm, Maria C.; Forsberg, Pia; Ludvigsson, Johnny; Bergström, Sven; Ernerudh, Jan

2012-01-01

Why some individuals develop clinical manifestations in Lyme borreliosis (LB) while others remain asymptomatic is largely unknown. Therefore, we wanted to investigate adaptive and innate immune responsiveness to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in exposed Borrelia-antibody-positive asymptomatic children (n = 20), children with previous clinical LB (n = 24), and controls (n = 20). Blood samples were analyzed for Borrelia-specific interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-17 secretion by ELISPOT and Borrelia-induced IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12(p70), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) secretion by Luminex. We found no significant differences in cytokine secretion between groups, but a tendency towards an increased spontaneous secretion of IL-6 was found among children with previous clinical LB. In conclusion, the adaptive or innate immune responsiveness to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was similar in Borrelia-exposed asymptomatic children and children with previous clinical LB. Thus, the immunological mechanisms of importance for eradicating the spirochete effectively without developing clinical manifestations of LB remain unknown. PMID:22190976

Evidences of local adaptation in quantitative traits in Prosopis alba (Leguminosae).

PubMed

Bessega, C; Pometti, C; Ewens, M; Saidman, B O; Vilardi, J C

2015-02-01

Signals of selection on quantitative traits can be detected by the comparison between the genetic differentiation of molecular (neutral) markers and quantitative traits, by multivariate extensions of the same model and by the observation of the additive covariance among relatives. We studied, by three different tests, signals of occurrence of selection in Prosopis alba populations over 15 quantitative traits: three economically important life history traits: height, basal diameter and biomass, 11 leaf morphology traits that may be related with heat-tolerance and physiological responses and spine length that is very important from silvicultural purposes. We analyzed 172 G1-generation trees growing in a common garden belonging to 32 open pollinated families from eight sampling sites in Argentina. The multivariate phenotypes differ significantly among origins, and the highest differentiation corresponded to foliar traits. Molecular genetic markers (SSR) exhibited significant differentiation and allowed us to provide convincing evidence that natural selection is responsible for the patterns of morphological differentiation. The heterogeneous selection over phenotypic traits observed suggested different optima in each population and has important implications for gene resource management. The results suggest that the adaptive significance of traits should be considered together with population provenance in breeding program as a crucial point prior to any selecting program, especially in Prosopis where the first steps are under development.

Math Anxiety Assessment with the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale: Applicability and Usefulness: Insights from the Polish Adaptation

PubMed Central

Cipora, Krzysztof; Szczygieł, Monika; Willmes, Klaus; Nuerk, Hans-Christoph

2015-01-01

Math anxiety has an important impact on mathematical development and performance. However, although math anxiety is supposed to be a transcultural trait, assessment instruments are scarce and are validated mainly for Western cultures so far. Therefore, we aimed at examining the transcultural generality of math anxiety by a thorough investigation of the validity of math anxiety assessment in Eastern Europe. We investigated the validity and reliability of a Polish adaptation of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS), known to have very good psychometric characteristics in its original, American-English version as well as in its Italian and Iranian adaptations. We also observed high reliability, both for internal consistency and test-retest stability of the AMAS in the Polish sample. The results also show very good construct, convergent and discriminant validity: The factorial structure in Polish adult participants (n = 857) was very similar to the one previously found in other samples; AMAS scores correlated moderately in expected directions with state and trait anxiety, self-assessed math achievement and skill as well temperamental traits of emotional reactivity, briskness, endurance, and perseverance. Average scores obtained by participants as well as gender differences and correlations with external measures were also similar across cultures. Beyond the cultural comparison, we used path model analyses to show that math anxiety relates to math grades and self-competence when controlling for trait anxiety. The current study shows transcultural validity of math anxiety assessment with the AMAS. PMID:26648893

Math Anxiety Assessment with the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale: Applicability and Usefulness: Insights from the Polish Adaptation.

PubMed

Cipora, Krzysztof; Szczygieł, Monika; Willmes, Klaus; Nuerk, Hans-Christoph

2015-01-01

Math anxiety has an important impact on mathematical development and performance. However, although math anxiety is supposed to be a transcultural trait, assessment instruments are scarce and are validated mainly for Western cultures so far. Therefore, we aimed at examining the transcultural generality of math anxiety by a thorough investigation of the validity of math anxiety assessment in Eastern Europe. We investigated the validity and reliability of a Polish adaptation of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS), known to have very good psychometric characteristics in its original, American-English version as well as in its Italian and Iranian adaptations. We also observed high reliability, both for internal consistency and test-retest stability of the AMAS in the Polish sample. The results also show very good construct, convergent and discriminant validity: The factorial structure in Polish adult participants (n = 857) was very similar to the one previously found in other samples; AMAS scores correlated moderately in expected directions with state and trait anxiety, self-assessed math achievement and skill as well temperamental traits of emotional reactivity, briskness, endurance, and perseverance. Average scores obtained by participants as well as gender differences and correlations with external measures were also similar across cultures. Beyond the cultural comparison, we used path model analyses to show that math anxiety relates to math grades and self-competence when controlling for trait anxiety. The current study shows transcultural validity of math anxiety assessment with the AMAS.

Adaptively Parameterized Tomography of the Western Hellenic Subduction Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, S. E.; Papadopoulos, G. A.

2017-12-01

The Hellenic subduction zone (HSZ) is the most seismically active region in Europe and plays a major role in the active tectonics of the eastern Mediterranean. This complicated environment has the potential to generate both large magnitude (M > 8) earthquakes and tsunamis. Situated above the western end of the HSZ, Greece faces a high risk from these geologic hazards, and characterizing this risk requires detailed understanding of the geodynamic processes occurring in this area. However, despite previous investigations, the kinematics of the HSZ are still controversial. Regional tomographic studies have yielded important information about the shallow seismic structure of the HSZ, but these models only image down to 150 km depth within small geographic areas. Deeper structure is constrained by global tomographic models but with coarser resolution ( 200-300 km). Additionally, current tomographic models focused on the HSZ were generated with regularly-spaced gridding, and this type of parameterization often over-emphasizes poorly sampled regions of the model or under-represents small-scale structure. Therefore, we are developing a new, high-resolution image of the mantle structure beneath the western HSZ using an adaptively parameterized seismic tomography approach. By combining multiple, regional travel-time datasets in the context of a global model, with adaptable gridding based on the sampling density of high-frequency data, this method generates a composite model of mantle structure that is being used to better characterize geodynamic processes within the HSZ, thereby allowing for improved hazard assessment. Preliminary results will be shown.

An adapted isolation procedure reveals Photobacterium spp. as common spoilers on modified atmosphere packaged meats.

PubMed

Hilgarth, M; Fuertes-Pèrez, S; Ehrmann, M; Vogel, R F

2018-04-01

The genus Photobacterium comprises species of marine bacteria, commonly found in open-ocean and deep-sea environments. Some species (e.g. Photobacterium phosphoreum) are associated with fish spoilage. Recently, culture-independent studies have drawn attention to the presence of photobacteria on meat. This study employed a comparative isolation approach of Photobacterium spp. and aimed to develop an adapted isolation procedure for recovery from food samples, as demonstrated for different meats: Marine broth is used for resuspending and dilution of food samples, followed by aerobic cultivation on marine broth agar supplemented with meat extract and vancomycin at 15°C for 72 h. Identification of spoilage-associated microbiota was carried out via Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry using a database supplemented with additional mass spectrometry profiles of Photobacterium spp. This study provides evidence for the common abundance of multiple Photobacterium species in relevant quantities on various modified atmosphere packaged meats. Photobacterium carnosum was predominant on beef and chicken, while Photobacterium iliopiscarium represented the major species on pork and Photobacterium phosphoreum on salmon, respectively. This study demonstrates highly frequent isolation of multiple photobacteria (Photobacterium carnosum, Photobacterium phosphoreum, and Photobacterium iliopiscarium) from different modified-atmosphere packaged spoiled and unspoiled meats using an adapted isolation procedure. The abundance of photobacteria in high numbers provides evidence for the hitherto neglected importance and relevance of Photobacterium spp. to meat spoilage. © 2018 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Interactions Between Snow-Adapted Organisms, Minerals and Snow in a Mars-Analog Environment, and Implications for the Possible Formation of Mineral Biosignatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hausrath, E.; Bartlett, C. L.; Garcia, A. H.; Tschauner, O. D.; Murray, A. E.; Raymond, J. A.

2015-12-01

Increasing evidence suggests that icy environments on bodies such as Mars, Europa, and Enceladus may be important potential habitats in our solar system. Life in icy environments faces many challenges, including water limitation, temperature extremes, and nutrient limitation. Understanding how life has adapted to withstand these challenges on Earth may help understand potential life on other icy worlds, and understanding the interactions of such life with minerals may help shed light on the detection of possible mineral biosignatures. Snow environments, being particularly nutrient limited, may require specific adaptations by the microbiota living there. Previous observations have suggested that associated minerals and microorganisms play an important role in snow algae micronutrient acquisition. Here, in order to interpret micronutrient uptake by snow algae, and potential formation of mineral biosignatures, we present observations of interactions between snow algae and associated microorganisms and minerals in both natural, Mars-analog environments, and laboratory experiments. Samples of snow, dust, snow algae, and microorganisms were collected from Mount Anderson Ridge, CA. Some samples were DAPI-stained and analyzed by epifluorescent microscopy, and others were freeze-dried and examined by scanning electron microscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Xenic cultures of the snow alga Chloromonas brevispina were also grown under Fe-limiting conditions with and without the Fe-containing mineral nontronite to determine impacts of the mineral on algal growth. Observations from epifluorescent microscopy show bacteria closely associated with the snow algae, consistent with a potential role in micronutrient acquisition. Particles are also present on the algal cell walls, and synchrotron-XRD and XRF observations indicate that they are Fe-rich, and may therefore be a micronutrient source. Laboratory experiments indicated enhanced algal growth in the presence of nontronite, as well as a close physical association between the snow alga and mineral surfaces. We are presently examining the role of minerals and microorganisms in nutrient acquisition, and attempting to identify mineral biosignatures.

Words that describe chronic musculoskeletal pain: implications for assessing pain quality across cultures.

PubMed

Sharma, Saurab; Pathak, Anupa; Jensen, Mark P

2016-01-01

People from different cultures who speak different languages may experience pain differently. This possible variability has important implications for evaluating the validity of pain quality measures that are directly translated into different languages without cultural adaptations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of language and culture on the validity of pain quality measures by comparing the words that individuals with chronic pain from Nepal use to describe their pain with those used by patients from the USA. A total of 101 individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain in Nepal were asked to describe their pain. The rates of the different pain descriptor domains and phrases used by the Nepali sample were then compared to the published rates of descriptors used by patients from the USA. The content validity of commonly used measures for assessing pain quality was then evaluated. While there was some similarity between patients from Nepal and the USA in how they describe pain, there were also important differences, especially in how pain quality was described. For example, many patients from Nepal used metaphors to describe their pain. Also, the patients from Nepal often used a category of pain descriptor - which describes a physical state - not used by patients from the USA. Only the original McGill Pain Questionnaire was found to have content validity for assessing pain quality in patients from Nepal, although other existing pain quality measures could be adapted to be content valid by adding one or two additional descriptors, depending on the measure in question. The findings indicate that direct translations of measures that are developed using samples of patients from one country or culture are not necessarily content valid for use in other countries or cultures; some adaptations may be required in order for such measures to be most useful in new language and culture.

The Crow Creek Site (39BF11) Massacre: A Preliminary Report,

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-02-01

components are typical of the Plains Village 13 pattern. This adaptation Is presumed to be a hybrid resulting from the diffusion of the Northwestern...Plains hunting tribes’ adaptation with that of the Eastern Woodland people (Lehmer 1971:65). The sub- sistence pattern is based on hunting and horticulture...sample, apparently most of the sample is partially decayed organic matter, very little or no charcoal present, few gastropod shells present in sample

Kinetic solvers with adaptive mesh in phase space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arslanbekov, Robert R.; Kolobov, Vladimir I.; Frolova, Anna A.

2013-12-01

An adaptive mesh in phase space (AMPS) methodology has been developed for solving multidimensional kinetic equations by the discrete velocity method. A Cartesian mesh for both configuration (r) and velocity (v) spaces is produced using a “tree of trees” (ToT) data structure. The r mesh is automatically generated around embedded boundaries, and is dynamically adapted to local solution properties. The v mesh is created on-the-fly in each r cell. Mappings between neighboring v-space trees is implemented for the advection operator in r space. We have developed algorithms for solving the full Boltzmann and linear Boltzmann equations with AMPS. Several recent innovations were used to calculate the discrete Boltzmann collision integral with dynamically adaptive v mesh: the importance sampling, multipoint projection, and variance reduction methods. We have developed an efficient algorithm for calculating the linear Boltzmann collision integral for elastic and inelastic collisions of hot light particles in a Lorentz gas. Our AMPS technique has been demonstrated for simulations of hypersonic rarefied gas flows, ion and electron kinetics in weakly ionized plasma, radiation and light-particle transport through thin films, and electron streaming in semiconductors. We have shown that AMPS allows minimizing the number of cells in phase space to reduce the computational cost and memory usage for solving challenging kinetic problems.

Adaptive handling of Rayleigh and Raman scatter of fluorescence data based on evaluation of the degree of spectral overlap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yingtian; Liu, Chao; Wang, Xiaoping; Zhao, Dongdong

2018-06-01

At present the general scatter handling methods are unsatisfactory when scatter and fluorescence seriously overlap in excitation emission matrix. In this study, an adaptive method for scatter handling of fluorescence data is proposed. Firstly, the Raman scatter was corrected by subtracting the baseline of deionized water which was collected in each experiment to adapt to the intensity fluctuations. Then, the degrees of spectral overlap between Rayleigh scatter and fluorescence were classified into three categories based on the distance between the spectral peaks. The corresponding algorithms, including setting to zero, fitting on single or both sides, were implemented after the evaluation of the degree of overlap for individual emission spectra. The proposed method minimized the number of fitting and interpolation processes, which reduced complexity, saved time, avoided overfitting, and most importantly assured the authenticity of data. Furthermore, the effectiveness of this procedure on the subsequent PARAFAC analysis was assessed and compared to Delaunay interpolation by conducting experiments with four typical organic chemicals and real water samples. Using this method, we conducted long-term monitoring of tap water and river water near a dyeing and printing plant. This method can be used for improving adaptability and accuracy in the scatter handling of fluorescence data.

Adaptation of brain functional and structural networks in aging.

PubMed

Lee, Annie; Ratnarajah, Nagulan; Tuan, Ta Anh; Chen, Shen-Hsing Annabel; Qiu, Anqi

2015-01-01

The human brain, especially the prefrontal cortex (PFC), is functionally and anatomically reorganized in order to adapt to neuronal challenges in aging. This study employed structural MRI, resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI), and examined the functional and structural reorganization of the PFC in aging using a Chinese sample of 173 subjects aged from 21 years and above. We found age-related increases in the structural connectivity between the PFC and posterior brain regions. Such findings were partially mediated by age-related increases in the structural connectivity of the occipital lobe within the posterior brain. Based on our findings, it is thought that the PFC reorganization in aging could be partly due to the adaptation to age-related changes in the structural reorganization of the posterior brain. This thus supports the idea derived from task-based fMRI that the PFC reorganization in aging may be adapted to the need of compensation for resolving less distinctive stimulus information from the posterior brain regions. In addition, we found that the structural connectivity of the PFC with the temporal lobe was fully mediated by the temporal cortical thickness, suggesting that the brain morphology plays an important role in the functional and structural reorganization with aging.

Estimating least-developed countries' vulnerability to climate-related extreme events over the next 50 years.

PubMed

Patt, Anthony G; Tadross, Mark; Nussbaumer, Patrick; Asante, Kwabena; Metzger, Marc; Rafael, Jose; Goujon, Anne; Brundrit, Geoff

2010-01-26

When will least developed countries be most vulnerable to climate change, given the influence of projected socio-economic development? The question is important, not least because current levels of international assistance to support adaptation lag more than an order of magnitude below what analysts estimate to be needed, and scaling up support could take many years. In this paper, we examine this question using an empirically derived model of human losses to climate-related extreme events, as an indicator of vulnerability and the need for adaptation assistance. We develop a set of 50-year scenarios for these losses in one country, Mozambique, using high-resolution climate projections, and then extend the results to a sample of 23 least-developed countries. Our approach takes into account both potential changes in countries' exposure to climatic extreme events, and socio-economic development trends that influence countries' own adaptive capacities. Our results suggest that the effects of socio-economic development trends may begin to offset rising climate exposure in the second quarter of the century, and that it is in the period between now and then that vulnerability will rise most quickly. This implies an urgency to the need for international assistance to finance adaptation.

Estimating least-developed countries’ vulnerability to climate-related extreme events over the next 50 years

PubMed Central

Patt, Anthony G.; Tadross, Mark; Nussbaumer, Patrick; Asante, Kwabena; Metzger, Marc; Rafael, Jose; Goujon, Anne; Brundrit, Geoff

2010-01-01

When will least developed countries be most vulnerable to climate change, given the influence of projected socio-economic development? The question is important, not least because current levels of international assistance to support adaptation lag more than an order of magnitude below what analysts estimate to be needed, and scaling up support could take many years. In this paper, we examine this question using an empirically derived model of human losses to climate-related extreme events, as an indicator of vulnerability and the need for adaptation assistance. We develop a set of 50-year scenarios for these losses in one country, Mozambique, using high-resolution climate projections, and then extend the results to a sample of 23 least-developed countries. Our approach takes into account both potential changes in countries’ exposure to climatic extreme events, and socio-economic development trends that influence countries’ own adaptive capacities. Our results suggest that the effects of socio-economic development trends may begin to offset rising climate exposure in the second quarter of the century, and that it is in the period between now and then that vulnerability will rise most quickly. This implies an urgency to the need for international assistance to finance adaptation. PMID:20080585

Kinetic solvers with adaptive mesh in phase space.

PubMed

Arslanbekov, Robert R; Kolobov, Vladimir I; Frolova, Anna A

2013-12-01

An adaptive mesh in phase space (AMPS) methodology has been developed for solving multidimensional kinetic equations by the discrete velocity method. A Cartesian mesh for both configuration (r) and velocity (v) spaces is produced using a "tree of trees" (ToT) data structure. The r mesh is automatically generated around embedded boundaries, and is dynamically adapted to local solution properties. The v mesh is created on-the-fly in each r cell. Mappings between neighboring v-space trees is implemented for the advection operator in r space. We have developed algorithms for solving the full Boltzmann and linear Boltzmann equations with AMPS. Several recent innovations were used to calculate the discrete Boltzmann collision integral with dynamically adaptive v mesh: the importance sampling, multipoint projection, and variance reduction methods. We have developed an efficient algorithm for calculating the linear Boltzmann collision integral for elastic and inelastic collisions of hot light particles in a Lorentz gas. Our AMPS technique has been demonstrated for simulations of hypersonic rarefied gas flows, ion and electron kinetics in weakly ionized plasma, radiation and light-particle transport through thin films, and electron streaming in semiconductors. We have shown that AMPS allows minimizing the number of cells in phase space to reduce the computational cost and memory usage for solving challenging kinetic problems.

An adaptive radiation of frogs in a southeast Asian island archipelago.

PubMed

Blackburn, David C; Siler, Cameron D; Diesmos, Arvin C; McGuire, Jimmy A; Cannatella, David C; Brown, Rafe M

2013-09-01

Living amphibians exhibit a diversity of ecologies, life histories, and species-rich lineages that offers opportunities for studies of adaptive radiation. We characterize a diverse clade of frogs (Kaloula, Microhylidae) in the Philippine island archipelago as an example of an adaptive radiation into three primary habitat specialists or ecotypes. We use a novel phylogenetic estimate for this clade to evaluate the tempo of lineage accumulation and morphological diversification. Because species-level phylogenetic estimates for Philippine Kaloula are lacking, we employ dense population sampling to determine the appropriate evolutionary lineages for diversification analyses. We explicitly take phylogenetic uncertainty into account when calculating diversification and disparification statistics and fitting models of diversification. Following dispersal to the Philippines from Southeast Asia, Kaloula radiated rapidly into several well-supported clades. Morphological variation within Kaloula is partly explained by ecotype and accumulated at high levels during this radiation, including within ecotypes. We pinpoint an axis of morphospace related directly to climbing and digging behaviors and find patterns of phenotypic evolution suggestive of ecological opportunity with partitioning into distinct habitat specialists. We conclude by discussing the components of phenotypic diversity that are likely important in amphibian adaptive radiations. © 2013 The Authors. Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Multilevel processes and cultural adaptation: Examples from past and present small-scale societies

PubMed Central

Reyes-García, V.; Balbo, A. L.; Gomez-Baggethun, E.; Gueze, M.; Mesoudi, A.; Richerson, P.; Rubio-Campillo, X.; Ruiz-Mallén, I.; Shennan, S.

2016-01-01

Cultural adaptation has become central in the context of accelerated global change with authors increasingly acknowledging the importance of understanding multilevel processes that operate as adaptation takes place. We explore the importance of multilevel processes in explaining cultural adaptation by describing how processes leading to cultural (mis)adaptation are linked through a complex nested hierarchy, where the lower levels combine into new units with new organizations, functions, and emergent properties or collective behaviours. After a brief review of the concept of “cultural adaptation” from the perspective of cultural evolutionary theory and resilience theory, the core of the paper is constructed around the exploration of multilevel processes occurring at the temporal, spatial, social and political scales. We do so by examining small-scale societies’ case studies. In each section, we discuss the importance of the selected scale for understanding cultural adaptation and then present an example that illustrates how multilevel processes in the selected scale help explain observed patterns in the cultural adaptive process. We end the paper discussing the potential of modelling and computer simulation for studying multilevel processes in cultural adaptation. PMID:27774109

Differences in pain, function and coping in Multidimensional Pain Inventory subgroups of chronic back pain: a one-group pretest-posttest study.

PubMed

Verra, Martin L; Angst, Felix; Staal, J Bart; Brioschi, Roberto; Lehmann, Susanne; Aeschlimann, André; de Bie, Rob A

2011-06-30

Patients with non-specific back pain are not a homogeneous group but heterogeneous with regard to their bio-psycho-social impairments. This study examined a sample of 173 highly disabled patients with chronic back pain to find out how the three subgroups based on the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) differed in their response to an inpatient pain management program. Subgroup classification was conducted by cluster analysis using MPI subscale scores at entry into the program. At program entry and at discharge after four weeks, participants completed the MPI, the MOS Short Form-36 (SF-36), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ). Pairwise analyses of the score changes of the mentioned outcomes of the three MPI subgroups were performed using the Mann-Whitney-U-test for significance. Cluster analysis identified three MPI subgroups in this highly disabled sample: a dysfunctional, interpersonally distressed and an adaptive copers subgroup. The dysfunctional subgroup (29% of the sample) showed the highest level of depression in SF-36 mental health (33.4 ± 13.9), the interpersonally distressed subgroup (35% of the sample) a modest level of depression (46.8 ± 20.4), and the adaptive copers subgroup (32% of the sample) the lowest level of depression (57.8 ± 19.1). Significant differences in pain reduction and improvement of mental health and coping were observed across the three MPI subgroups, i.e. the effect sizes for MPI pain reduction were: 0.84 (0.44-1.24) for the dysfunctional subgroup, 1.22 (0.86-1.58) for the adaptive copers subgroup, and 0.53 (0.24-0.81) for the interpersonally distressed subgroup (p = 0.006 for pairwise comparison). Significant score changes between subgroups concerning activities and physical functioning could not be identified. MPI subgroup classification showed significant differences in score changes for pain, mental health and coping. These findings underscore the importance of assessing individual differences to understand how patients adjust to chronic back pain.

Maternal Infancy Predictors of School Adaptation of Low-Income Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaefer, Earl S.; Edgerton, Marianna

An analysis of longitudinal data on a sample of low-income mothers and children was conducted to identify maternal characteristics during pregnancy and infancy that predict child school adaptation during kindergarten. The sample consisted of low-income mothers recruited while receiving prenatal services from public health clinics. The children,…

Embedding clinical interventions into observational studies.

PubMed

Newman, Anne B; Avilés-Santa, M Larissa; Anderson, Garnet; Heiss, Gerardo; Howard, Wm James; Krucoff, Mitchell; Kuller, Lewis H; Lewis, Cora E; Robinson, Jennifer G; Taylor, Herman; Treviño, Roberto P; Weintraub, William

2016-01-01

Novel approaches to observational studies and clinical trials could improve the cost-effectiveness and speed of translation of research. Hybrid designs that combine elements of clinical trials with observational registries or cohort studies should be considered as part of a long-term strategy to transform clinical trials and epidemiology, adapting to the opportunities of big data and the challenges of constrained budgets. Important considerations include study aims, timing, breadth and depth of the existing infrastructure that can be leveraged, participant burden, likely participation rate and available sample size in the cohort, required sample size for the trial, and investigator expertise. Community engagement and stakeholder (including study participants) support are essential for these efforts to succeed. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Surface tension determination using liquid sample micromirror property

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hošek, Jan

2007-05-01

This paper presents an application of adaptive optics principle onto small sample of liquid surface tension measurement. The principle of experimental method devised by Ferguson (1924) is based on measurement of pressure difference across a liquid sample placed into small diameter capillary on condition of one flat meniscus of the liquid sample. Planarity or curvature radius of the capillary tip meniscus has to be measured and controlled, in order to fulfill this condition during measurement. Two different optical set-ups using liquid meniscus micromirror property are presented and its suitability for meniscus profile determination is compared. Meniscus radius optical measurement, data processing and control algorithm of the adaptive micromirror profile set are presented too. The presented adaptive optics system can be used for focal length control of microsystems based on liquid micromirrors or microlenses with long focal distances especially.

Universal digital high-resolution melt: a novel approach to broad-based profiling of heterogeneous biological samples.

PubMed

Fraley, Stephanie I; Hardick, Justin; Masek, Billie J; Jo Masek, Billie; Athamanolap, Pornpat; Rothman, Richard E; Gaydos, Charlotte A; Carroll, Karen C; Wakefield, Teresa; Wang, Tza-Huei; Yang, Samuel

2013-10-01

Comprehensive profiling of nucleic acids in genetically heterogeneous samples is important for clinical and basic research applications. Universal digital high-resolution melt (U-dHRM) is a new approach to broad-based PCR diagnostics and profiling technologies that can overcome issues of poor sensitivity due to contaminating nucleic acids and poor specificity due to primer or probe hybridization inaccuracies for single nucleotide variations. The U-dHRM approach uses broad-based primers or ligated adapter sequences to universally amplify all nucleic acid molecules in a heterogeneous sample, which have been partitioned, as in digital PCR. Extensive assay optimization enables direct sequence identification by algorithm-based matching of melt curve shape and Tm to a database of known sequence-specific melt curves. We show that single-molecule detection and single nucleotide sensitivity is possible. The feasibility and utility of U-dHRM is demonstrated through detection of bacteria associated with polymicrobial blood infection and microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with host response to infection. U-dHRM using broad-based 16S rRNA gene primers demonstrates universal single cell detection of bacterial pathogens, even in the presence of larger amounts of contaminating bacteria; U-dHRM using universally adapted Lethal-7 miRNAs in a heterogeneous mixture showcases the single copy sensitivity and single nucleotide specificity of this approach.

Contemporary evolution of plant reproductive strategies under global change is revealed by stored seeds.

PubMed

Thomann, M; Imbert, E; Engstrand, R C; Cheptou, P-O

2015-04-01

Global change is expected to impose new selection pressures on natural populations. Phenotypic responses, such as earlier phenology in response to climate warming, have been repeatedly observed in the field. The recent pollinator decline is also expected to change selection on reproductive traits in flowering plants. However, it remains unclear whether short-term adaptation of plant reproductive strategies occurs in response to global change. In this study, we report the evolution of some important reproductive traits of the annual self-incompatible weed Centaurea cyanus. In a common garden experiment, we germinated stored seeds, sampled 18 years apart from the same location, in a region where warmer springs and indices of pollinator decline have been reported. Compared to the ancestral population (1992), our results showed that plants of the descendant population (2010) flowered earlier and also produced larger capitula with longer receptivity and a larger floral display. QST -FST comparisons indicated that natural selection has likely contributed to the evolution of some of the traits investigated. Lower FST within temporal samples than among spatial samples further suggests a limited role of gene flow from neighbouring populations. We therefore propose that trait shifts could partly be due to adaptation to global change. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

How bandwidth selection algorithms impact exploratory data analysis using kernel density estimation.

PubMed

Harpole, Jared K; Woods, Carol M; Rodebaugh, Thomas L; Levinson, Cheri A; Lenze, Eric J

2014-09-01

Exploratory data analysis (EDA) can reveal important features of underlying distributions, and these features often have an impact on inferences and conclusions drawn from data. Graphical analysis is central to EDA, and graphical representations of distributions often benefit from smoothing. A viable method of estimating and graphing the underlying density in EDA is kernel density estimation (KDE). This article provides an introduction to KDE and examines alternative methods for specifying the smoothing bandwidth in terms of their ability to recover the true density. We also illustrate the comparison and use of KDE methods with 2 empirical examples. Simulations were carried out in which we compared 8 bandwidth selection methods (Sheather-Jones plug-in [SJDP], normal rule of thumb, Silverman's rule of thumb, least squares cross-validation, biased cross-validation, and 3 adaptive kernel estimators) using 5 true density shapes (standard normal, positively skewed, bimodal, skewed bimodal, and standard lognormal) and 9 sample sizes (15, 25, 50, 75, 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000). Results indicate that, overall, SJDP outperformed all methods. However, for smaller sample sizes (25 to 100) either biased cross-validation or Silverman's rule of thumb was recommended, and for larger sample sizes the adaptive kernel estimator with SJDP was recommended. Information is provided about implementing the recommendations in the R computing language. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Robust Design of Sheet Metal Forming Process Based on Kriging Metamodel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yanmin

2011-08-01

Nowadays, sheet metal forming processes design is not a trivial task due to the complex issues to be taken into account (conflicting design goals, complex shapes forming and so on). Optimization methods have also been widely applied in sheet metal forming. Therefore, proper design methods to reduce time and costs have to be developed mostly based on computer aided procedures. At the same time, the existence of variations during manufacturing processes significantly may influence final product quality, rendering non-robust optimal solutions. In this paper, a small size of design of experiments is conducted to investigate how a stochastic behavior of noise factors affects drawing quality. The finite element software (LS_DYNA) is used to simulate the complex sheet metal stamping processes. The Kriging metamodel is adopted to map the relation between input process parameters and part quality. Robust design models for sheet metal forming process integrate adaptive importance sampling with Kriging model, in order to minimize impact of the variations and achieve reliable process parameters. In the adaptive sample, an improved criterion is used to provide direction in which additional training samples can be added to better the Kriging model. Nonlinear functions as test functions and a square stamping example (NUMISHEET'93) are employed to verify the proposed method. Final results indicate application feasibility of the aforesaid method proposed for multi-response robust design.

Texture-adaptive hyperspectral video acquisition system with a spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Xiaojing; Feng, Jiao; Wang, Yongjin

2014-10-01

We present a new hybrid camera system based on spatial light modulator (SLM) to capture texture-adaptive high-resolution hyperspectral video. The hybrid camera system records a hyperspectral video with low spatial resolution using a gray camera and a high-spatial resolution video using a RGB camera. The hyperspectral video is subsampled by the SLM. The subsampled points can be adaptively selected according to the texture characteristic of the scene by combining with digital imaging analysis and computational processing. In this paper, we propose an adaptive sampling method utilizing texture segmentation and wavelet transform (WT). We also demonstrate the effectiveness of the sampled pattern on the SLM with the proposed method.

Identification of solid state fermentation degree with FT-NIR spectroscopy: Comparison of wavelength variable selection methods of CARS and SCARS.

PubMed

Jiang, Hui; Zhang, Hang; Chen, Quansheng; Mei, Congli; Liu, Guohai

2015-01-01

The use of wavelength variable selection before partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) for qualitative identification of solid state fermentation degree by FT-NIR spectroscopy technique was investigated in this study. Two wavelength variable selection methods including competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and stability competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (SCARS) were employed to select the important wavelengths. PLS-DA was applied to calibrate identified model using selected wavelength variables by CARS and SCARS for identification of solid state fermentation degree. Experimental results showed that the number of selected wavelength variables by CARS and SCARS were 58 and 47, respectively, from the 1557 original wavelength variables. Compared with the results of full-spectrum PLS-DA, the two wavelength variable selection methods both could enhance the performance of identified models. Meanwhile, compared with CARS-PLS-DA model, the SCARS-PLS-DA model achieved better results with the identification rate of 91.43% in the validation process. The overall results sufficiently demonstrate the PLS-DA model constructed using selected wavelength variables by a proper wavelength variable method can be more accurate identification of solid state fermentation degree. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A complete system for head tracking using motion-based particle filter and randomly perturbed active contour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouaynaya, N.; Schonfeld, Dan

2005-03-01

Many real world applications in computer and multimedia such as augmented reality and environmental imaging require an elastic accurate contour around a tracked object. In the first part of the paper we introduce a novel tracking algorithm that combines a motion estimation technique with the Bayesian Importance Sampling framework. We use Adaptive Block Matching (ABM) as the motion estimation technique. We construct the proposal density from the estimated motion vector. The resulting algorithm requires a small number of particles for efficient tracking. The tracking is adaptive to different categories of motion even with a poor a priori knowledge of the system dynamics. Particulary off-line learning is not needed. A parametric representation of the object is used for tracking purposes. In the second part of the paper, we refine the tracking output from a parametric sample to an elastic contour around the object. We use a 1D active contour model based on a dynamic programming scheme to refine the output of the tracker. To improve the convergence of the active contour, we perform the optimization over a set of randomly perturbed initial conditions. Our experiments are applied to head tracking. We report promising tracking results in complex environments.

Identification of solid state fermentation degree with FT-NIR spectroscopy: Comparison of wavelength variable selection methods of CARS and SCARS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Hui; Zhang, Hang; Chen, Quansheng; Mei, Congli; Liu, Guohai

2015-10-01

The use of wavelength variable selection before partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) for qualitative identification of solid state fermentation degree by FT-NIR spectroscopy technique was investigated in this study. Two wavelength variable selection methods including competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and stability competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (SCARS) were employed to select the important wavelengths. PLS-DA was applied to calibrate identified model using selected wavelength variables by CARS and SCARS for identification of solid state fermentation degree. Experimental results showed that the number of selected wavelength variables by CARS and SCARS were 58 and 47, respectively, from the 1557 original wavelength variables. Compared with the results of full-spectrum PLS-DA, the two wavelength variable selection methods both could enhance the performance of identified models. Meanwhile, compared with CARS-PLS-DA model, the SCARS-PLS-DA model achieved better results with the identification rate of 91.43% in the validation process. The overall results sufficiently demonstrate the PLS-DA model constructed using selected wavelength variables by a proper wavelength variable method can be more accurate identification of solid state fermentation degree.

Resource seeking strategies of zoosporic true fungi in heterogeneous soil habitats at the microscale level

PubMed Central

Gleason, Frank H.; Crawford, John W.; Neuhauser, Sigrid; Henderson, Linda E.; Lilje, Osu

2012-01-01

Zoosporic true fungi have frequently been identified in samples from soil and freshwater ecosystems using baiting and molecular techniques. In fact some species can be components of the dominant groups of microorganisms in particular soil habitats. Yet these microorganisms have not yet been directly observed growing in soil ecosystems. Significant physical characteristics and features of the three-dimensional structures of soils which impact microorganisms at the microscale level are discussed. A thorough knowledge of soil structures is important for studying the distribution of assemblages of these fungi and understanding their ecological roles along spatial and temporal gradients. A number of specific adaptations and resource seeking strategies possibly give these fungi advantages over other groups of microorganisms in soil ecosystems. These include chemotactic zoospores, mechanisms for adhesion to substrates, rhizoids which can penetrate substrates in small spaces, structures which are resistant to environmental extremes, rapid growth rates and simple nutritional requirements. These adaptations are discussed in the context of the characteristics of soils ecosystems. Recent advances in instrumentation have led to the development of new and more precise methods for studying microorganisms in three-dimensional space. New molecular techniques have made identification of microbes possible in environmental samples. PMID:22308003

76 FR 56491 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Adapting the Eye: An...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-13

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice: 7580] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Adapting the Eye: An Archive of the British in India, 1770-1830'' Summary: Notice is hereby... objects to be included in the exhibition ``Adapting the Eye: An Archive of the British in India, 1770-1830...

Adaptability: An Important Capacity for Effective Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collie, Rebecca J.; Martin, Andrew J.

2016-01-01

A defining feature of teaching work is that it involves novelty, change, and uncertainty on a daily basis. Being able to respond effectively to this change is known as adaptability. In this article, we discuss the importance of adaptability for teachers and their healthy and effective functioning in the workplace. We discuss approaches for…

Inhibitory control and adaptive behaviour in children with mild intellectual disability.

PubMed

Gligorović, M; Buha Ðurović, N

2014-03-01

Inhibitory control, as one of the basic mechanisms of executive functions, is extremely important for adaptive behaviour. The relation between inhibitory control and adaptive behaviour is the most obvious in cases of behavioural disorders and psychopathology. Considering the lack of studies on this relation in children with disabilities, the aim of our research is to determine the relation between inhibitory control and adaptive behaviour in children with mild intellectual disability. The sample consists of 53 children with mild intellectual disability. Selection criteria were: IQ between 50 and 70, age between 10 and 14, absence of bilingualism, and with no medical history of neurological impairment, genetic and/or emotional problems. Modified Day-Night version of the Stroop task, and Go-no-Go Tapping task were used for the assessment of inhibitory control. Data on adaptive behaviour were obtained by applying the first part of AAMR (American Association on Mental Retardation) Adaptive Behaviour Scale-School, Second Edition (ABS-S:2). Significant relationships were determined between some aspects of inhibitory control and the most of assessed domains of adaptive behaviour. Inhibitory control measures, as a unitary inhibition model, significantly predict results on Independent Functioning, Economic Activity, Speech and Language Development, and Number and Times domains of the ABS-S:2. Inhibitory control, assessed by second part of the Stroop task, proved to be a significant factor in practical (Independent Functioning) and conceptual (Economic Activity, Speech and Language Development, and Numbers and Time) adaptive skills. The first part of the Stroop task, as a measure of selective attention, proved to be a significant factor in language and numerical demands, along with second one. Inhibitory control through motor responses proved to be a significant factor in independent functioning, economic activities, language and self-direction skills. We can conclude that inhibitory control represents a significant developmental factor of different adaptive behaviour domains in children with mild intellectual disability. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, MENCAP & IASSIDD.

Genomic signatures of adaptation to wine biological ageing conditions in biofilm-forming flor yeasts.

PubMed

Coi, A L; Bigey, F; Mallet, S; Marsit, S; Zara, G; Gladieux, P; Galeote, V; Budroni, M; Dequin, S; Legras, J L

2017-04-01

The molecular and evolutionary processes underlying fungal domestication remain largely unknown despite the importance of fungi to bioindustry and for comparative adaptation genomics in eukaryotes. Wine fermentation and biological ageing are performed by strains of S. cerevisiae with, respectively, pelagic fermentative growth on glucose and biofilm aerobic growth utilizing ethanol. Here, we use environmental samples of wine and flor yeasts to investigate the genomic basis of yeast adaptation to contrasted anthropogenic environments. Phylogenetic inference and population structure analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphisms revealed a group of flor yeasts separated from wine yeasts. A combination of methods revealed several highly differentiated regions between wine and flor yeasts, and analyses using codon-substitution models for detecting molecular adaptation identified sites under positive selection in the high-affinity transporter gene ZRT1. The cross-population composite likelihood ratio revealed selective sweeps at three regions, including in the hexose transporter gene HXT7, the yapsin gene YPS6 and the membrane protein coding gene MTS27. Our analyses also revealed that the biological ageing environment has led to the accumulation of numerous mutations in proteins from several networks, including Flo11 regulation and divalent metal transport. Together, our findings suggest that the tuning of FLO11 expression and zinc transport networks are a distinctive feature of the genetic changes underlying the domestication of flor yeasts. Our study highlights the multiplicity of genomic changes underlying yeast adaptation to man-made habitats and reveals that flor/wine yeast lineage can serve as a useful model for studying the genomics of adaptive divergence. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Adapting a successful inquiry-based immersion program to create an Authentic, Hands- on, Field based Curriculum in Environmental Science at Barnard College

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenna, T. C.; Pfirman, S.; Mailloux, B. J.; Martin, S.; Kelsey, R.; Bower, P.

2008-12-01

Adapting a successful inquiry-based immersion program to create an Authentic, Hands-on, Field based Curriculum in Environmental Science at Barnard College T. C. Kenna, S. Pfirman, B. J. Mailloux, M. Stute, R. Kelsey, and P. Bower By adapting a successful inquiry-based immersion program (SEA semester) to the typical college format of classes, we are improving the technical and quantitative skills of undergraduate women and minorities in environmental science and improving their critical thinking and problem-solving by exposing our students to open-ended real-world environmental issues. Our approach uses the Hudson River Estuary as a natural laboratory. In a series of hands-on inquiry-based activities, students use advanced equipment to collect data and samples. Each class session introduces new analytical and data analysis techniques. All classes have the connecting theme of the river. Working with real data is open-ended. Our major findings as indicated by surveys as well as journaling throughout the semester are that the field- based experience significantly contributed to student learning and engagement. Journaling responses indicated that nearly all students discussed the importance and excitement of an authentic research experience. Some students were frustrated with data irregularities, uncertainty in methods and data, and the general challenge of a curriculum with inherent ambiguity. The majority were satisfied with the aims of the course to provide an integrative experience. All students demonstrated transfer of learned skills. This project has had a significant impact on our undergraduate female students: several students have pursued senior thesis projects stemming from grant activities, stating that the field activities were the highlight of their semester. Some students love the experience and want more. Others decide that they want to pursue a different career. All learn how science is conducted and have a better foundation to understand concepts such as sampling, uncertainty, and variability, which are important to many fields. Many of the hands-on curricular activities have been adapted and used with a variety of student, teacher, and faculty groups. Faculty participants in our River Summer program (www.riversummer.org) see earth system science in a way that would be hard to replicate without the hands-on experience. Faculty participants are encouraged to adapt our activities to their own classroom. We are in the process of assembling many of our hands-on field-based activities as fully exportable curricular elements to further increase impacts.

A comprehensive evaluation of various sensitivity analysis methods: A case study with a hydrological model

DOE PAGES

Gan, Yanjun; Duan, Qingyun; Gong, Wei; ...

2014-01-01

Sensitivity analysis (SA) is a commonly used approach for identifying important parameters that dominate model behaviors. We use a newly developed software package, a Problem Solving environment for Uncertainty Analysis and Design Exploration (PSUADE), to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of ten widely used SA methods, including seven qualitative and three quantitative ones. All SA methods are tested using a variety of sampling techniques to screen out the most sensitive (i.e., important) parameters from the insensitive ones. The Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting (SAC-SMA) model, which has thirteen tunable parameters, is used for illustration. The South Branch Potomac River basin nearmore » Springfield, West Virginia in the U.S. is chosen as the study area. The key findings from this study are: (1) For qualitative SA methods, Correlation Analysis (CA), Regression Analysis (RA), and Gaussian Process (GP) screening methods are shown to be not effective in this example. Morris One-At-a-Time (MOAT) screening is the most efficient, needing only 280 samples to identify the most important parameters, but it is the least robust method. Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), Delta Test (DT) and Sum-Of-Trees (SOT) screening methods need about 400–600 samples for the same purpose. Monte Carlo (MC), Orthogonal Array (OA) and Orthogonal Array based Latin Hypercube (OALH) are appropriate sampling techniques for them; (2) For quantitative SA methods, at least 2777 samples are needed for Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test (FAST) to identity parameter main effect. McKay method needs about 360 samples to evaluate the main effect, more than 1000 samples to assess the two-way interaction effect. OALH and LPτ (LPTAU) sampling techniques are more appropriate for McKay method. For the Sobol' method, the minimum samples needed are 1050 to compute the first-order and total sensitivity indices correctly. These comparisons show that qualitative SA methods are more efficient but less accurate and robust than quantitative ones.« less

Adaptive optics in spinning disk microscopy: improved contrast and brightness by a simple and fast method.

PubMed

Fraisier, V; Clouvel, G; Jasaitis, A; Dimitrov, A; Piolot, T; Salamero, J

2015-09-01

Multiconfocal microscopy gives a good compromise between fast imaging and reasonable resolution. However, the low intensity of live fluorescent emitters is a major limitation to this technique. Aberrations induced by the optical setup, especially the mismatch of the refractive index and the biological sample itself, distort the point spread function and further reduce the amount of detected photons. Altogether, this leads to impaired image quality, preventing accurate analysis of molecular processes in biological samples and imaging deep in the sample. The amount of detected fluorescence can be improved with adaptive optics. Here, we used a compact adaptive optics module (adaptive optics box for sectioning optical microscopy), which was specifically designed for spinning disk confocal microscopy. The module overcomes undesired anomalies by correcting for most of the aberrations in confocal imaging. Existing aberration detection methods require prior illumination, which bleaches the sample. To avoid multiple exposures of the sample, we established an experimental model describing the depth dependence of major aberrations. This model allows us to correct for those aberrations when performing a z-stack, gradually increasing the amplitude of the correction with depth. It does not require illumination of the sample for aberration detection, thus minimizing photobleaching and phototoxicity. With this model, we improved both signal-to-background ratio and image contrast. Here, we present comparative studies on a variety of biological samples. © 2015 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2015 Royal Microscopical Society.

A method of determining where to target surveillance efforts in heterogeneous epidemiological systems

PubMed Central

van den Bosch, Frank; Gottwald, Timothy R.; Alonso Chavez, Vasthi

2017-01-01

The spread of pathogens into new environments poses a considerable threat to human, animal, and plant health, and by extension, human and animal wellbeing, ecosystem function, and agricultural productivity, worldwide. Early detection through effective surveillance is a key strategy to reduce the risk of their establishment. Whilst it is well established that statistical and economic considerations are of vital importance when planning surveillance efforts, it is also important to consider epidemiological characteristics of the pathogen in question—including heterogeneities within the epidemiological system itself. One of the most pronounced realisations of this heterogeneity is seen in the case of vector-borne pathogens, which spread between ‘hosts’ and ‘vectors’—with each group possessing distinct epidemiological characteristics. As a result, an important question when planning surveillance for emerging vector-borne pathogens is where to place sampling resources in order to detect the pathogen as early as possible. We answer this question by developing a statistical function which describes the probability distributions of the prevalences of infection at first detection in both hosts and vectors. We also show how this method can be adapted in order to maximise the probability of early detection of an emerging pathogen within imposed sample size and/or cost constraints, and demonstrate its application using two simple models of vector-borne citrus pathogens. Under the assumption of a linear cost function, we find that sampling costs are generally minimised when either hosts or vectors, but not both, are sampled. PMID:28846676

Effects of a Closed Space Environment on Gene Expression in Hair Follicles of Astronauts in the International Space Station

PubMed Central

Terada, Masahiro; Seki, Masaya; Takahashi, Rika; Yamada, Shin; Higashibata, Akira; Majima, Hideyuki J.; Sudoh, Masamichi; Mukai, Chiaki; Ishioka, Noriaki

2016-01-01

Adaptation to the space environment can sometimes pose physiological problems to International Space Station (ISS) astronauts after their return to earth. Therefore, it is important to develop healthcare technologies for astronauts. In this study, we examined the feasibility of using hair follicles, a readily obtained sample, to assess gene expression changes in response to spaceflight adaptation. In order to investigate the gene expression changes in human hair follicles during spaceflight, hair follicles of 10 astronauts were analyzed by microarray and real time qPCR analyses. We found that spaceflight alters human hair follicle gene expression. The degree of changes in gene expression was found to vary among individuals. In some astronauts, genes related to hair growth such as FGF18, ANGPTL7 and COMP were upregulated during flight, suggesting that spaceflight inhibits cell proliferation in hair follicles. PMID:27029003

Non-periodic multi-slit masking for a single counter rotating 2-disc chopper and channeling guides for high resolution and high intensity neutron TOF spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartkowiak, M.; Hofmann, T.; Stüßer, N.

2017-02-01

Energy resolution is an important design goal for time-of-flight instruments and neutron spectroscopy. For high-resolution applications, it is required that the burst times of choppers be short, going down to the μs-range. To produce short pulses while maintaining high neutron flux, we propose beam masks with more than two slits on a counter-rotating 2-disc chopper, behind specially adapted focusing multi-channel guides. A novel non-regular arrangement of the slits ensures that the beam opens only once per chopper cycle, when the masks are congruently aligned. Additionally, beam splitting and intensity focusing by guides before and after the chopper position provide high intensities even for small samples. Phase-space analysis and Monte Carlo simulations on examples of four-slit masks with adapted guide geometries show the potential of the proposed setup.

Associations between positive parenting practices and child externalizing behavior in underserved Latino immigrant families.

PubMed

Holtrop, Kendal; McNeil Smith, Sharde'; Scott, Jenna C

2015-06-01

This study examined whether five specific parenting practices (i.e., monitoring, discipline, skill encouragement, problem solving, and positive involvement) were associated with reduced child externalizing behaviors among a sample of Latino immigrant families. It utilized baseline data from 83 Latino couples with children participating in a larger randomized controlled trial of a culturally adapted parenting intervention. Results reveal that monitoring, discipline, skill encouragement, and problem solving each made independent contributions to the prediction of child externalizing behavior, although not all in the expected direction. Further analyses examining mothers and fathers separately suggest that mother-reported monitoring and father-reported discipline practices uniquely contributed to these findings. These results may have important implications for prevention and clinical intervention efforts with Latino immigrant families, including the cultural adaptation and implementation of parenting interventions with this underserved population. © 2014 Family Process Institute.

Variable diameter CO₂ laser ring-cutting system adapted to a zoom microscope for applications on polymer tapes.

PubMed

Förster, Erik; Bohnert, Patrick; Kraus, Matthias; Kilper, Roland; Müller, Ute; Buchmann, Martin; Brunner, Robert

2016-11-20

This paper presents the conception and implementation of a variable diameter ring-cutting system for a CO₂ laser with a working wavelength of 10.6 μm. The laser-cutting system is adapted to an observation zoom microscope for combined use and is applicable for the extraction of small circular areas from polymer films, such as forensic adhesive tapes in a single shot. As an important characteristic for our application, the variable diameter ring-cutting system provides telecentricity in the target area. Ring diameters are continuously tunable between 500 μm and 2 mm. A minimum width of less than 20 μm was found for the ring profile edge. The basic characteristics of the system, including telecentricity, were experimentally evaluated and demonstrated by cutting experiments on different polymer tapes and further exemplary samples.

Effects of a Closed Space Environment on Gene Expression in Hair Follicles of Astronauts in the International Space Station.

PubMed

Terada, Masahiro; Seki, Masaya; Takahashi, Rika; Yamada, Shin; Higashibata, Akira; Majima, Hideyuki J; Sudoh, Masamichi; Mukai, Chiaki; Ishioka, Noriaki

2016-01-01

Adaptation to the space environment can sometimes pose physiological problems to International Space Station (ISS) astronauts after their return to earth. Therefore, it is important to develop healthcare technologies for astronauts. In this study, we examined the feasibility of using hair follicles, a readily obtained sample, to assess gene expression changes in response to spaceflight adaptation. In order to investigate the gene expression changes in human hair follicles during spaceflight, hair follicles of 10 astronauts were analyzed by microarray and real time qPCR analyses. We found that spaceflight alters human hair follicle gene expression. The degree of changes in gene expression was found to vary among individuals. In some astronauts, genes related to hair growth such as FGF18, ANGPTL7 and COMP were upregulated during flight, suggesting that spaceflight inhibits cell proliferation in hair follicles.

Under-sampling trajectory design for compressed sensing based DCE-MRI.

PubMed

Liu, Duan-duan; Liang, Dong; Zhang, Na; Liu, Xin; Zhang, Yuan-ting

2013-01-01

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) needs high temporal and spatial resolution to accurately estimate quantitative parameters and characterize tumor vasculature. Compressed Sensing (CS) has the potential to accomplish this mutual importance. However, the randomness in CS under-sampling trajectory designed using the traditional variable density (VD) scheme may translate to uncertainty in kinetic parameter estimation when high reduction factors are used. Therefore, accurate parameter estimation using VD scheme usually needs multiple adjustments on parameters of Probability Density Function (PDF), and multiple reconstructions even with fixed PDF, which is inapplicable for DCE-MRI. In this paper, an under-sampling trajectory design which is robust to the change on PDF parameters and randomness with fixed PDF is studied. The strategy is to adaptively segment k-space into low-and high frequency domain, and only apply VD scheme in high-frequency domain. Simulation results demonstrate high accuracy and robustness comparing to VD design.

A weighted sampling algorithm for the design of RNA sequences with targeted secondary structure and nucleotide distribution.

PubMed

Reinharz, Vladimir; Ponty, Yann; Waldispühl, Jérôme

2013-07-01

The design of RNA sequences folding into predefined secondary structures is a milestone for many synthetic biology and gene therapy studies. Most of the current software uses similar local search strategies (i.e. a random seed is progressively adapted to acquire the desired folding properties) and more importantly do not allow the user to control explicitly the nucleotide distribution such as the GC-content in their sequences. However, the latter is an important criterion for large-scale applications as it could presumably be used to design sequences with better transcription rates and/or structural plasticity. In this article, we introduce IncaRNAtion, a novel algorithm to design RNA sequences folding into target secondary structures with a predefined nucleotide distribution. IncaRNAtion uses a global sampling approach and weighted sampling techniques. We show that our approach is fast (i.e. running time comparable or better than local search methods), seedless (we remove the bias of the seed in local search heuristics) and successfully generates high-quality sequences (i.e. thermodynamically stable) for any GC-content. To complete this study, we develop a hybrid method combining our global sampling approach with local search strategies. Remarkably, our glocal methodology overcomes both local and global approaches for sampling sequences with a specific GC-content and target structure. IncaRNAtion is available at csb.cs.mcgill.ca/incarnation/. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Adapting Depression and Anxiety Questionnaire for Children into Turkish: Reliability and Validity Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ay, Ismail; Secer, Ismail; Simsek, Mustafa Kerim

2017-01-01

Purpose of this study is to adapt anxiety and depression questionnaire for children into Turkish culture and to analyze the psychometric characteristics of it on clinical and nonclinical samples separately. The study is a descriptive survey research. The study was conducted on two different sample groups, clinical and nonclinical. The clinical…

The Emotions of Socialization-Related Learning: Understanding Workplace Adaptation as a Learning Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reio, Thomas G., Jr.

The influence of selected discrete emotions on socialization-related learning and perception of workplace adaptation was examined in an exploratory study. Data were collected from 233 service workers in 4 small and medium-sized companies in metropolitan Washington, D.C. The sample members' average age was 32.5 years, and the sample's racial makeup…

Adaptive frequency-domain equalization in digital coherent optical receivers.

PubMed

Faruk, Md Saifuddin; Kikuchi, Kazuro

2011-06-20

We propose a novel frequency-domain adaptive equalizer in digital coherent optical receivers, which can reduce computational complexity of the conventional time-domain adaptive equalizer based on finite-impulse-response (FIR) filters. The proposed equalizer can operate on the input sequence sampled by free-running analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) at the rate of two samples per symbol; therefore, the arbitrary initial sampling phase of ADCs can be adjusted so that the best symbol-spaced sequence is produced. The equalizer can also be configured in the butterfly structure, which enables demultiplexing of polarization tributaries apart from equalization of linear transmission impairments. The performance of the proposed equalization scheme is verified by 40-Gbits/s dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) transmission experiments.

Translation, Adaptation, and Preliminary Validation of the Female Sexual Function Index into Spanish (Colombia).

PubMed

Vallejo-Medina, Pablo; Pérez-Durán, Claudia; Saavedra-Roa, Alejandro

2018-04-01

The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) subjectively explores the dimensions of female sexual functioning. This research undertook to adapt and validate the FSFI to Spanish language in a Colombian sample. To this effect, this study was conducted in two steps, namely: (1) cultural adaptation of the scale with the collaboration of seven experts; and (2) preliminary validation of the scale in a sample of 925 participants. Reliability indices were appropriate in this sample, and external validity in relation to other measures showed significant relationships. Findings suggest that the FSFI is reliable and valid in Spanish for a Colombian population. Further research is needed to establish the test-retest reliability and discriminant validity of this Spanish version.

Adaptive enhanced sampling with a path-variable for the simulation of protein folding and aggregation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter, Emanuel K.

2017-12-01

In this article, we present a novel adaptive enhanced sampling molecular dynamics (MD) method for the accelerated simulation of protein folding and aggregation. We introduce a path-variable L based on the un-biased momenta p and displacements dq for the definition of the bias s applied to the system and derive 3 algorithms: general adaptive bias MD, adaptive path-sampling, and a hybrid method which combines the first 2 methodologies. Through the analysis of the correlations between the bias and the un-biased gradient in the system, we find that the hybrid methodology leads to an improved force correlation and acceleration in the sampling of the phase space. We apply our method on SPC/E water, where we find a conservation of the average water structure. We then use our method to sample dialanine and the folding of TrpCage, where we find a good agreement with simulation data reported in the literature. Finally, we apply our methodologies on the initial stages of aggregation of a hexamer of Alzheimer's amyloid β fragment 25-35 (Aβ 25-35) and find that transitions within the hexameric aggregate are dominated by entropic barriers, while we speculate that especially the conformation entropy plays a major role in the formation of the fibril as a rate limiting factor.

Adaptive enhanced sampling with a path-variable for the simulation of protein folding and aggregation.

PubMed

Peter, Emanuel K

2017-12-07

In this article, we present a novel adaptive enhanced sampling molecular dynamics (MD) method for the accelerated simulation of protein folding and aggregation. We introduce a path-variable L based on the un-biased momenta p and displacements dq for the definition of the bias s applied to the system and derive 3 algorithms: general adaptive bias MD, adaptive path-sampling, and a hybrid method which combines the first 2 methodologies. Through the analysis of the correlations between the bias and the un-biased gradient in the system, we find that the hybrid methodology leads to an improved force correlation and acceleration in the sampling of the phase space. We apply our method on SPC/E water, where we find a conservation of the average water structure. We then use our method to sample dialanine and the folding of TrpCage, where we find a good agreement with simulation data reported in the literature. Finally, we apply our methodologies on the initial stages of aggregation of a hexamer of Alzheimer's amyloid β fragment 25-35 (Aβ 25-35) and find that transitions within the hexameric aggregate are dominated by entropic barriers, while we speculate that especially the conformation entropy plays a major role in the formation of the fibril as a rate limiting factor.

Adaptive Neural Network-Based Event-Triggered Control of Single-Input Single-Output Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems.

PubMed

Sahoo, Avimanyu; Xu, Hao; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

2016-01-01

This paper presents a novel adaptive neural network (NN) control of single-input and single-output uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems under event sampled NN inputs. In this control scheme, the feedback signals are transmitted, and the NN weights are tuned in an aperiodic manner at the event sampled instants. After reviewing the NN approximation property with event sampled inputs, an adaptive state estimator (SE), consisting of linearly parameterized NNs, is utilized to approximate the unknown system dynamics in an event sampled context. The SE is viewed as a model and its approximated dynamics and the state vector, during any two events, are utilized for the event-triggered controller design. An adaptive event-trigger condition is derived by using both the estimated NN weights and a dead-zone operator to determine the event sampling instants. This condition both facilitates the NN approximation and reduces the transmission of feedback signals. The ultimate boundedness of both the NN weight estimation error and the system state vector is demonstrated through the Lyapunov approach. As expected, during an initial online learning phase, events are observed more frequently. Over time with the convergence of the NN weights, the inter-event times increase, thereby lowering the number of triggered events. These claims are illustrated through the simulation results.

Adaptation: paradigm for the gut and an academic career.

PubMed

Warner, Brad W

2013-01-01

Adaptation is an important compensatory response to environmental cues resulting in enhanced survival. In the gut, the abrupt loss of intestinal length is characterized by increased rates of enterocyte proliferation and apoptosis and culminates in adaptive villus and crypt growth. In the development of an academic pediatric surgical career, adaptation is also an important compensatory response to survive the ever changing research, clinical, and economic environment. The ability to adapt in both situations is critical for patients and a legacy of pediatric surgical contributions to advance our knowledge of multiple conditions and diseases. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing Adolescents’ Attachment Hierarchies: Differences Across Developmental Periods and Associations With Individual Adaptation

PubMed Central

Rosenthal, Natalie L.; Kobak, Roger

2012-01-01

Adolescents’ attachment hierarchies were assessed in a sample of 212 high school and 198 college students. The Important People Interview (IPI) differentiated attachment bonds from other supportive or affiliative relationships and indicated that adolescents show a hierarchical ordering of preferences for multiple attachment figures. Differences in the composition and structure of adolescents’ attachment hierarchies were found between the early high school (9th and 10th grades), later high school (11th and 12th grades), and college samples. In the college sample, romantic partners were placed in higher positions in adolescents’ hierarchies, fathers were placed in lower positions, and the structure of adolescents’ hierarchies were less differentiated than in the high school samples. Individual differences in the composition of adolescents’ hierarchies were associated with adjustment outcomes. Friends’ placement in higher positions and fathers’ exclusion from or placement in quaternary positions was associated with increased behavior problems. Findings demonstrate that the IPI provides a measure of adolescents’ attachment hierarchies that is sensitive to developmental stage and individual differences. PMID:22545000

Establishing an academic biobank in a resource-challenged environment.

PubMed

Soo, Cassandra Claire; Mukomana, Freedom; Hazelhurst, Scott; Ramsay, Michele

2017-05-24

Past practices of informal sample collections and spreadsheets for data and sample management fall short of best-practice models for biobanking, and are neither cost effective nor efficient to adequately serve the needs of large research studies. The biobank of the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience serves as a bioresource for institutional, national and international research collaborations. It provides high-quality human biospecimens from African populations, secure data and sample curation and storage, as well as monitored sample handling and management processes, to promote both non-communicable and infectious-disease research. Best-practice guidelines have been adapted to align with a low-resource setting and have been instrumental in the development of a quality-management system, including standard operating procedures and a quality-control regimen. Here, we provide a summary of 10 important considerations for initiating and establishing an academic research biobank in a low-resource setting. These include addressing ethical, legal, technical, accreditation and/or certification concerns and financial sustainability.

Establishing an academic biobank in a resource-challenged environment

PubMed Central

Soo, C C; Mukomana, F; Hazelhurst, S; Ramsay, M

2018-01-01

Past practices of informal sample collections and spreadsheets for data and sample management fall short of best-practice models for biobanking, and are neither cost effective nor efficient to adequately serve the needs of large research studies. The biobank of the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience serves as a bioresource for institutional, national and international research collaborations. It provides high-quality human biospecimens from African populations, secure data and sample curation and storage, as well as monitored sample handling and management processes, to promote both non-communicable and infectious-disease research. Best-practice guidelines have been adapted to align with a low-resource setting and have been instrumental in the development of a quality-management system, including standard operating procedures and a quality-control regimen. Here, we provide a summary of 10 important considerations for initiating and establishing an academic research biobank in a low-resource setting. These include addressing ethical, legal, technical, accreditation and/or certification concerns and financial sustainability. PMID:28604319

Some problems of human adaptation and ecology under the aspect of general pathology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaznacheyev, V. P.

1980-01-01

The main problems of human adaptation at the level of the body and the population in connection with the features of current morbidity of the population and certain demographic processes are analyzed. The concepts of health and adaptation of the individual and human populations are determined. The importance of the anthropo-ecological approach to the investigation of the adaptation process of human populations is demonstrated. Certain features of the etiopathogenesis of diseases are considered in connection with the population-ecological regularities of human adaptation. The importance of research on general pathology aspects of adaptation and the ecology of man for planning, and organization of public health protection is discussed.

Genetic depletion at adaptive but not neutral loci in an endangered bird species.

PubMed

Hartmann, Stefanie A; Schaefer, H Martin; Segelbacher, Gernot

2014-12-01

Many endangered species suffer from the loss of genetic diversity, but some populations may be able to thrive even if genetically depleted. To investigate the underlying genetic processes of population bottlenecks, we apply an innovative approach for assessing genetic diversity in the last known population of the endangered Pale-headed Brushfinch (Atlapetes pallidiceps) in Ecuador. First, we measure genetic diversity at eleven neutral microsatellite loci and adaptive SNP variation in five Toll-like receptor (TLR) immune system genes. Bottleneck tests confirm genetic drift as the main force shaping genetic diversity in this species and indicate a 99 % reduction in population size dating back several hundred years. Second, we compare contemporary microsatellite diversity with historic museum samples of A. pallidiceps, finding no change in genetic diversity. Third, we compare genetic diversity in the Pale-headed Brushfinch with two co-occurring-related brushfinch species (Atlapetes latinuchus, Buarremon torquatus), finding a reduction of up to 91% diversity in the immune system genes but not in microsatellites. High TLR diversity is linked to decreased survival probabilities in A. pallidiceps. Low TLR diversity is thus probably an adaptation to the specific selection regime within its currently very restricted distribution (approximately 200 ha), but could severely restrict the adaptive potential of the species in the long run. Our study illustrates the importance of investigating both neutral and adaptive markers to assess the effect of population bottlenecks and for recommending specific management plans in endangered species. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Role of Item Feedback in Self-Adapted Testing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roos, Linda L.; And Others

1997-01-01

The importance of item feedback in self-adapted testing was studied by comparing feedback and no feedback conditions for computerized adaptive tests and self-adapted tests taken by 363 college students. Results indicate that item feedback is not necessary to realize score differences between self-adapted and computerized adaptive testing. (SLD)

Deterministic and reliability based optimization of integrated thermal protection system composite panel using adaptive sampling techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ravishankar, Bharani

Conventional space vehicles have thermal protection systems (TPS) that provide protection to an underlying structure that carries the flight loads. In an attempt to save weight, there is interest in an integrated TPS (ITPS) that combines the structural function and the TPS function. This has weight saving potential, but complicates the design of the ITPS that now has both thermal and structural failure modes. The main objectives of this dissertation was to optimally design the ITPS subjected to thermal and mechanical loads through deterministic and reliability based optimization. The optimization of the ITPS structure requires computationally expensive finite element analyses of 3D ITPS (solid) model. To reduce the computational expenses involved in the structural analysis, finite element based homogenization method was employed, homogenizing the 3D ITPS model to a 2D orthotropic plate. However it was found that homogenization was applicable only for panels that are much larger than the characteristic dimensions of the repeating unit cell in the ITPS panel. Hence a single unit cell was used for the optimization process to reduce the computational cost. Deterministic and probabilistic optimization of the ITPS panel required evaluation of failure constraints at various design points. This further demands computationally expensive finite element analyses which was replaced by efficient, low fidelity surrogate models. In an optimization process, it is important to represent the constraints accurately to find the optimum design. Instead of building global surrogate models using large number of designs, the computational resources were directed towards target regions near constraint boundaries for accurate representation of constraints using adaptive sampling strategies. Efficient Global Reliability Analyses (EGRA) facilitates sequentially sampling of design points around the region of interest in the design space. EGRA was applied to the response surface construction of the failure constraints in the deterministic and reliability based optimization of the ITPS panel. It was shown that using adaptive sampling, the number of designs required to find the optimum were reduced drastically, while improving the accuracy. System reliability of ITPS was estimated using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) based method. Separable Monte Carlo method was employed that allowed separable sampling of the random variables to predict the probability of failure accurately. The reliability analysis considered uncertainties in the geometry, material properties, loading conditions of the panel and error in finite element modeling. These uncertainties further increased the computational cost of MCS techniques which was also reduced by employing surrogate models. In order to estimate the error in the probability of failure estimate, bootstrapping method was applied. This research work thus demonstrates optimization of the ITPS composite panel with multiple failure modes and large number of uncertainties using adaptive sampling techniques.

High-throughput adaptive sampling for whole-slide histopathology image analysis (HASHI) via convolutional neural networks: Application to invasive breast cancer detection.

PubMed

Cruz-Roa, Angel; Gilmore, Hannah; Basavanhally, Ajay; Feldman, Michael; Ganesan, Shridar; Shih, Natalie; Tomaszewski, John; Madabhushi, Anant; González, Fabio

2018-01-01

Precise detection of invasive cancer on whole-slide images (WSI) is a critical first step in digital pathology tasks of diagnosis and grading. Convolutional neural network (CNN) is the most popular representation learning method for computer vision tasks, which have been successfully applied in digital pathology, including tumor and mitosis detection. However, CNNs are typically only tenable with relatively small image sizes (200 × 200 pixels). Only recently, Fully convolutional networks (FCN) are able to deal with larger image sizes (500 × 500 pixels) for semantic segmentation. Hence, the direct application of CNNs to WSI is not computationally feasible because for a WSI, a CNN would require billions or trillions of parameters. To alleviate this issue, this paper presents a novel method, High-throughput Adaptive Sampling for whole-slide Histopathology Image analysis (HASHI), which involves: i) a new efficient adaptive sampling method based on probability gradient and quasi-Monte Carlo sampling, and, ii) a powerful representation learning classifier based on CNNs. We applied HASHI to automated detection of invasive breast cancer on WSI. HASHI was trained and validated using three different data cohorts involving near 500 cases and then independently tested on 195 studies from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The results show that (1) the adaptive sampling method is an effective strategy to deal with WSI without compromising prediction accuracy by obtaining comparative results of a dense sampling (∼6 million of samples in 24 hours) with far fewer samples (∼2,000 samples in 1 minute), and (2) on an independent test dataset, HASHI is effective and robust to data from multiple sites, scanners, and platforms, achieving an average Dice coefficient of 76%.

Maximum type 1 error rate inflation in multiarmed clinical trials with adaptive interim sample size modifications.

PubMed

Graf, Alexandra C; Bauer, Peter; Glimm, Ekkehard; Koenig, Franz

2014-07-01

Sample size modifications in the interim analyses of an adaptive design can inflate the type 1 error rate, if test statistics and critical boundaries are used in the final analysis as if no modification had been made. While this is already true for designs with an overall change of the sample size in a balanced treatment-control comparison, the inflation can be much larger if in addition a modification of allocation ratios is allowed as well. In this paper, we investigate adaptive designs with several treatment arms compared to a single common control group. Regarding modifications, we consider treatment arm selection as well as modifications of overall sample size and allocation ratios. The inflation is quantified for two approaches: a naive procedure that ignores not only all modifications, but also the multiplicity issue arising from the many-to-one comparison, and a Dunnett procedure that ignores modifications, but adjusts for the initially started multiple treatments. The maximum inflation of the type 1 error rate for such types of design can be calculated by searching for the "worst case" scenarios, that are sample size adaptation rules in the interim analysis that lead to the largest conditional type 1 error rate in any point of the sample space. To show the most extreme inflation, we initially assume unconstrained second stage sample size modifications leading to a large inflation of the type 1 error rate. Furthermore, we investigate the inflation when putting constraints on the second stage sample sizes. It turns out that, for example fixing the sample size of the control group, leads to designs controlling the type 1 error rate. © 2014 The Author. Biometrical Journal published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

High-throughput adaptive sampling for whole-slide histopathology image analysis (HASHI) via convolutional neural networks: Application to invasive breast cancer detection

PubMed Central

Gilmore, Hannah; Basavanhally, Ajay; Feldman, Michael; Ganesan, Shridar; Shih, Natalie; Tomaszewski, John; Madabhushi, Anant; González, Fabio

2018-01-01

Precise detection of invasive cancer on whole-slide images (WSI) is a critical first step in digital pathology tasks of diagnosis and grading. Convolutional neural network (CNN) is the most popular representation learning method for computer vision tasks, which have been successfully applied in digital pathology, including tumor and mitosis detection. However, CNNs are typically only tenable with relatively small image sizes (200 × 200 pixels). Only recently, Fully convolutional networks (FCN) are able to deal with larger image sizes (500 × 500 pixels) for semantic segmentation. Hence, the direct application of CNNs to WSI is not computationally feasible because for a WSI, a CNN would require billions or trillions of parameters. To alleviate this issue, this paper presents a novel method, High-throughput Adaptive Sampling for whole-slide Histopathology Image analysis (HASHI), which involves: i) a new efficient adaptive sampling method based on probability gradient and quasi-Monte Carlo sampling, and, ii) a powerful representation learning classifier based on CNNs. We applied HASHI to automated detection of invasive breast cancer on WSI. HASHI was trained and validated using three different data cohorts involving near 500 cases and then independently tested on 195 studies from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The results show that (1) the adaptive sampling method is an effective strategy to deal with WSI without compromising prediction accuracy by obtaining comparative results of a dense sampling (∼6 million of samples in 24 hours) with far fewer samples (∼2,000 samples in 1 minute), and (2) on an independent test dataset, HASHI is effective and robust to data from multiple sites, scanners, and platforms, achieving an average Dice coefficient of 76%. PMID:29795581

A practical guide to environmental association analysis in landscape genomics.

PubMed

Rellstab, Christian; Gugerli, Felix; Eckert, Andrew J; Hancock, Angela M; Holderegger, Rolf

2015-09-01

Landscape genomics is an emerging research field that aims to identify the environmental factors that shape adaptive genetic variation and the gene variants that drive local adaptation. Its development has been facilitated by next-generation sequencing, which allows for screening thousands to millions of single nucleotide polymorphisms in many individuals and populations at reasonable costs. In parallel, data sets describing environmental factors have greatly improved and increasingly become publicly accessible. Accordingly, numerous analytical methods for environmental association studies have been developed. Environmental association analysis identifies genetic variants associated with particular environmental factors and has the potential to uncover adaptive patterns that are not discovered by traditional tests for the detection of outlier loci based on population genetic differentiation. We review methods for conducting environmental association analysis including categorical tests, logistic regressions, matrix correlations, general linear models and mixed effects models. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches, provide a list of dedicated software packages and their specific properties, and stress the importance of incorporating neutral genetic structure in the analysis. We also touch on additional important aspects such as sampling design, environmental data preparation, pooled and reduced-representation sequencing, candidate-gene approaches, linearity of allele-environment associations and the combination of environmental association analyses with traditional outlier detection tests. We conclude by summarizing expected future directions in the field, such as the extension of statistical approaches, environmental association analysis for ecological gene annotation, and the need for replication and post hoc validation studies. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Applying item response theory and computer adaptive testing: the challenges for health outcomes assessment.

PubMed

Fayers, Peter M

2007-01-01

We review the papers presented at the NCI/DIA conference, to identify areas of controversy and uncertainty, and to highlight those aspects of item response theory (IRT) and computer adaptive testing (CAT) that require theoretical or empirical research in order to justify their application to patient reported outcomes (PROs). IRT and CAT offer exciting potential for the development of a new generation of PRO instruments. However, most of the research into these techniques has been in non-healthcare settings, notably in education. Educational tests are very different from PRO instruments, and consequently problematic issues arise when adapting IRT and CAT to healthcare research. Clinical scales differ appreciably from educational tests, and symptoms have characteristics distinctly different from examination questions. This affects the transferring of IRT technology. Particular areas of concern when applying IRT to PROs include inadequate software, difficulties in selecting models and communicating results, insufficient testing of local independence and other assumptions, and a need of guidelines for estimating sample size requirements. Similar concerns apply to differential item functioning (DIF), which is an important application of IRT. Multidimensional IRT is likely to be advantageous only for closely related PRO dimensions. Although IRT and CAT provide appreciable potential benefits, there is a need for circumspection. Not all PRO scales are necessarily appropriate targets for this methodology. Traditional psychometric methods, and especially qualitative methods, continue to have an important role alongside IRT. Research should be funded to address the specific concerns that have been identified.

A semisupervised support vector regression method to estimate biophysical parameters from remotely sensed images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castelletti, Davide; Demir, Begüm; Bruzzone, Lorenzo

2014-10-01

This paper presents a novel semisupervised learning (SSL) technique defined in the context of ɛ-insensitive support vector regression (SVR) to estimate biophysical parameters from remotely sensed images. The proposed SSL method aims to mitigate the problems of small-sized biased training sets without collecting any additional samples with reference measures. This is achieved on the basis of two consecutive steps. The first step is devoted to inject additional priors information in the learning phase of the SVR in order to adapt the importance of each training sample according to distribution of the unlabeled samples. To this end, a weight is initially associated to each training sample based on a novel strategy that defines higher weights for the samples located in the high density regions of the feature space while giving reduced weights to those that fall into the low density regions of the feature space. Then, in order to exploit different weights for training samples in the learning phase of the SVR, we introduce a weighted SVR (WSVR) algorithm. The second step is devoted to jointly exploit labeled and informative unlabeled samples for further improving the definition of the WSVR learning function. To this end, the most informative unlabeled samples that have an expected accurate target values are initially selected according to a novel strategy that relies on the distribution of the unlabeled samples in the feature space and on the WSVR function estimated at the first step. Then, we introduce a restructured WSVR algorithm that jointly uses labeled and unlabeled samples in the learning phase of the WSVR algorithm and tunes their importance by different values of regularization parameters. Experimental results obtained for the estimation of single-tree stem volume show the effectiveness of the proposed SSL method.

Technology transfer for adaptation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biagini, Bonizella; Kuhl, Laura; Gallagher, Kelly Sims; Ortiz, Claudia

2014-09-01

Technology alone will not be able to solve adaptation challenges, but it is likely to play an important role. As a result of the role of technology in adaptation and the importance of international collaboration for climate change, technology transfer for adaptation is a critical but understudied issue. Through an analysis of Global Environment Facility-managed adaptation projects, we find there is significantly more technology transfer occurring in adaptation projects than might be expected given the pessimistic rhetoric surrounding technology transfer for adaptation. Most projects focused on demonstration and early deployment/niche formation for existing technologies rather than earlier stages of innovation, which is understandable considering the pilot nature of the projects. Key challenges for the transfer process, including technology selection and appropriateness under climate change, markets and access to technology, and diffusion strategies are discussed in more detail.

Inference from Samples of DNA Sequences Using a Two-Locus Model

PubMed Central

Griffiths, Robert C.

2011-01-01

Abstract Performing inference on contemporary samples of DNA sequence data is an important and challenging task. Computationally intensive methods such as importance sampling (IS) are attractive because they make full use of the available data, but in the presence of recombination the large state space of genealogies can be prohibitive. In this article, we make progress by developing an efficient IS proposal distribution for a two-locus model of sequence data. We show that the proposal developed here leads to much greater efficiency, outperforming existing IS methods that could be adapted to this model. Among several possible applications, the algorithm can be used to find maximum likelihood estimates for mutation and crossover rates, and to perform ancestral inference. We illustrate the method on previously reported sequence data covering two loci either side of the well-studied TAP2 recombination hotspot. The two loci are themselves largely non-recombining, so we obtain a gene tree at each locus and are able to infer in detail the effect of the hotspot on their joint ancestry. We summarize this joint ancestry by introducing the gene graph, a summary of the well-known ancestral recombination graph. PMID:21210733

Variation of saponin contents and physiological status in Quillaja saponaria under different environmental conditions.

PubMed

Grandón, Angélica S; Espinosa, B Miguel; Ríos, Darcy L; Sánchez, O Manuel; Sáez, C Katia; Hernández, S Víctor; Becerra, A José

2013-12-01

Quillaja saponaria (Quillay), an evergreen tree found in Chile, is one of the main sources of saponins. Quillaja saponins have hypocholesterolaemic, anticarcinogenic, antioxidant and pesticidal properties, and are used as adjuvants for vaccines. Samples of Quillay growing at three zones in O'Higgins Region, Chile (Coastal, Central and Mountain zones) were analyzed for content of saponins and physiological status. The results revealed differences in the content of saponins depending on the zone of sample collection. The highest contents were found in samples from the Mountain zone, where the highest saponin contents were accompanied by the lowest foliar nitrogen contents, the highest antioxidant activity and the highest carotenoid contents. The results suggest a physiological and adaptive mechanism of saponins in plants to survive under unfavourable environmental conditions. The results have important implications for a theoretical basis for the design of a reasonable harvest, to avoid the cost of poor quality material, and also to provide a sustainable use and conservation of this important species. Further research on the effects of stress will improve our understanding of the saponins production and their physiological functions in plants, whereas they have generally been studied for their biological and chemical applications.

Adaptive classifier for steel strip surface defects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Mingming; Li, Guangyao; Xie, Li; Xiao, Mang; Yi, Li

2017-01-01

Surface defects detection system has been receiving increased attention as its precision, speed and less cost. One of the most challenges is reacting to accuracy deterioration with time as aged equipment and changed processes. These variables will make a tiny change to the real world model but a big impact on the classification result. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive classifier with a Bayes kernel (BYEC) which update the model with small sample to it adaptive for accuracy deterioration. Firstly, abundant features were introduced to cover lots of information about the defects. Secondly, we constructed a series of SVMs with the random subspace of the features. Then, a Bayes classifier was trained as an evolutionary kernel to fuse the results from base SVMs. Finally, we proposed the method to update the Bayes evolutionary kernel. The proposed algorithm is experimentally compared with different algorithms, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can be updated with small sample and fit the changed model well. Robustness, low requirement for samples and adaptive is presented in the experiment.

Distributed database kriging for adaptive sampling (D²KAS)

DOE PAGES

Roehm, Dominic; Pavel, Robert S.; Barros, Kipton; ...

2015-03-18

We present an adaptive sampling method supplemented by a distributed database and a prediction method for multiscale simulations using the Heterogeneous Multiscale Method. A finite-volume scheme integrates the macro-scale conservation laws for elastodynamics, which are closed by momentum and energy fluxes evaluated at the micro-scale. In the original approach, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are launched for every macro-scale volume element. Our adaptive sampling scheme replaces a large fraction of costly micro-scale MD simulations with fast table lookup and prediction. The cloud database Redis provides the plain table lookup, and with locality aware hashing we gather input data for our predictionmore » scheme. For the latter we use kriging, which estimates an unknown value and its uncertainty (error) at a specific location in parameter space by using weighted averages of the neighboring points. We find that our adaptive scheme significantly improves simulation performance by a factor of 2.5 to 25, while retaining high accuracy for various choices of the algorithm parameters.« less

A modified method for COD determination of solid waste, using a commercial COD kit and an adapted disposable weighing support.

PubMed

André, L; Pauss, A; Ribeiro, T

2017-03-01

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) is an essential parameter in waste management, particularly when monitoring wet anaerobic digestion processes. An adapted method to determine COD was developed for solid waste (total solids >15%). This method used commercial COD tubes and did not require sample dilution. A homemade plastic weighing support was used to transfer the solid sample into COD tubes. Potassium hydrogen phthalate and glucose used as standards showed an excellent repeatability. A small underestimation of the theoretical COD value (standard values around 5% lower than theoretical values) was also observed, mainly due to the intrinsic COD of the weighing support and to measurement uncertainties. The adapted COD method was tested using various solid wastes in the range of 1-8 mg COD , determining the COD of dried and ground cellulose, cattle manure, straw and a mixed-substrate sample. This new adapted method could be used to monitor and design dry anaerobic digestion processes.

Adaptation of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire in a Spanish sample of athletes.

PubMed

Arce, Constantino; De Francisco, Cristina; Andrade, Elena; Seoane, Gloria; Raedeke, Thomas

2012-11-01

In this paper, we offer a general version of the Spanish adaptation of Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) designed to measure the syndrome of burnout in athletes of different sports. In previous works, the Spanish version of ABQ was administered to different samples of soccer players. Its psychometric properties were appropriate and similar to the findings in original ABQ. The purpose of this study was to examine the generalization to others sports of the Spanish adaptation. We started from this adaptation, but we included three alternative statements (one for each dimension of the questionnaire), and we replaced the word "soccer" with the word "sport". An 18-item version was administered to a sample of 487 athletes aged 13 and 29 years old. Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the factor structure, but two items modification were necessary in order to obtain a good overall fit of the model. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the questionnaire were satisfactory.

Using Bayesian Adaptive Trial Designs for Comparative Effectiveness Research: A Virtual Trial Execution.

PubMed

Luce, Bryan R; Connor, Jason T; Broglio, Kristine R; Mullins, C Daniel; Ishak, K Jack; Saunders, Elijah; Davis, Barry R

2016-09-20

Bayesian and adaptive clinical trial designs offer the potential for more efficient processes that result in lower sample sizes and shorter trial durations than traditional designs. To explore the use and potential benefits of Bayesian adaptive clinical trial designs in comparative effectiveness research. Virtual execution of ALLHAT (Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial) as if it had been done according to a Bayesian adaptive trial design. Comparative effectiveness trial of antihypertensive medications. Patient data sampled from the more than 42 000 patients enrolled in ALLHAT with publicly available data. Number of patients randomly assigned between groups, trial duration, observed numbers of events, and overall trial results and conclusions. The Bayesian adaptive approach and original design yielded similar overall trial conclusions. The Bayesian adaptive trial randomly assigned more patients to the better-performing group and would probably have ended slightly earlier. This virtual trial execution required limited resampling of ALLHAT patients for inclusion in RE-ADAPT (REsearch in ADAptive methods for Pragmatic Trials). Involvement of a data monitoring committee and other trial logistics were not considered. In a comparative effectiveness research trial, Bayesian adaptive trial designs are a feasible approach and potentially generate earlier results and allocate more patients to better-performing groups. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Benthic foraminiferal micro-ecology and the geochemical environments they sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobsen, Brittani; Loubere, Paul; Yavorska, Iryna; Klitgaard-Kristensen, Dorthe; Jernas, Patrycja

2010-05-01

Benthic foraminifera inhabit, and are adapted to, microenvironments ranging from within the water column to centimeters into the sediments. These influence the geochemistry of the foraminiferal shell, and the paleoceanographic tracers we extract from that geochemistry. For a number of proxies it is important to know what geochemical environments the foraminifera are calcifying in, and whether species are consistent in the habitats they select for calcification. We examine these issues by sampling pore water chemistry and living species distributions on the microscale that the foraminifera themselves experience. We maintained cores from the Norwegian margin under in-situ conditions while measuring oxygen microprofiles and small scale sampling for foraminifera using rose Bengal and cell tracker green staining. In addition we sampled cores for porosity and pore water carbon isotopes using two extraction techniques so as to measure isotope profiles and degree of sediment irrigation via infaunal structures. The primary forcing variable we examined was changing labile organic carbon flux to the seabed. Under moderate to higher fluxes we found evidence for extensive bio-irrigation which influenced the composition of pore waters and microhabitats available to foraminifera. Macro-meiofaunal burrows and tubes produced a mosaic of pore water geochemical conditions rather than smooth gradients from the sediment-water interface. We found species adapted to particular conditions living at various subsurface depths, where their preferred conditions existed. We also found evidence that foraminiferal species responded to larger organism activities (feeding activities) and products (fecal deposits). It appears that taxa select for particular conditions rather than simply living at specific subsurface depths, recording whatever geochemistry happens to exist at that level.

Random Photon Absorption Model Elucidates How Early Gain Control in Fly Photoreceptors Arises from Quantal Sampling

PubMed Central

Song, Zhuoyi; Zhou, Yu; Juusola, Mikko

2016-01-01

Many diurnal photoreceptors encode vast real-world light changes effectively, but how this performance originates from photon sampling is unclear. A 4-module biophysically-realistic fly photoreceptor model, in which information capture is limited by the number of its sampling units (microvilli) and their photon-hit recovery time (refractoriness), can accurately simulate real recordings and their information content. However, sublinear summation in quantum bump production (quantum-gain-nonlinearity) may also cause adaptation by reducing the bump/photon gain when multiple photons hit the same microvillus simultaneously. Here, we use a Random Photon Absorption Model (RandPAM), which is the 1st module of the 4-module fly photoreceptor model, to quantify the contribution of quantum-gain-nonlinearity in light adaptation. We show how quantum-gain-nonlinearity already results from photon sampling alone. In the extreme case, when two or more simultaneous photon-hits reduce to a single sublinear value, quantum-gain-nonlinearity is preset before the phototransduction reactions adapt the quantum bump waveform. However, the contribution of quantum-gain-nonlinearity in light adaptation depends upon the likelihood of multi-photon-hits, which is strictly determined by the number of microvilli and light intensity. Specifically, its contribution to light-adaptation is marginal (≤ 1%) in fly photoreceptors with many thousands of microvilli, because the probability of simultaneous multi-photon-hits on any one microvillus is low even during daylight conditions. However, in cells with fewer sampling units, the impact of quantum-gain-nonlinearity increases with brightening light. PMID:27445779

Low bit-rate image compression via adaptive down-sampling and constrained least squares upconversion.

PubMed

Wu, Xiaolin; Zhang, Xiangjun; Wang, Xiaohan

2009-03-01

Recently, many researchers started to challenge a long-standing practice of digital photography: oversampling followed by compression and pursuing more intelligent sparse sampling techniques. In this paper, we propose a practical approach of uniform down sampling in image space and yet making the sampling adaptive by spatially varying, directional low-pass prefiltering. The resulting down-sampled prefiltered image remains a conventional square sample grid, and, thus, it can be compressed and transmitted without any change to current image coding standards and systems. The decoder first decompresses the low-resolution image and then upconverts it to the original resolution in a constrained least squares restoration process, using a 2-D piecewise autoregressive model and the knowledge of directional low-pass prefiltering. The proposed compression approach of collaborative adaptive down-sampling and upconversion (CADU) outperforms JPEG 2000 in PSNR measure at low to medium bit rates and achieves superior visual quality, as well. The superior low bit-rate performance of the CADU approach seems to suggest that oversampling not only wastes hardware resources and energy, and it could be counterproductive to image quality given a tight bit budget.

Using continuous in-situ measurements to adaptively trigger urban storm water samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, B. P.; Kerkez, B.

2015-12-01

Until cost-effective in-situ sensors are available for biological parameters, nutrients and metals, automated samplers will continue to be the primary source of reliable water quality measurements. Given limited samples bottles, however, autosamplers often obscure insights on nutrient sources and biogeochemical processes which would otherwise be captured using a continuous sampling approach. To that end, we evaluate the efficacy a novel method to measure first-flush nutrient dynamics in flashy, urban watersheds. Our approach reduces the number of samples required to capture water quality dynamics by leveraging an internet-connected sensor node, which is equipped with a suite of continuous in-situ sensors and an automated sampler. To capture both the initial baseflow as well as storm concentrations, a cloud-hosted adaptive algorithm analyzes the high-resolution sensor data along with local weather forecasts to optimize a sampling schedule. The method was tested in a highly developed urban catchment in Ann Arbor, Michigan and collected samples of nitrate, phosphorus, and suspended solids throughout several storm events. Results indicate that the watershed does not exhibit first flush dynamics, a behavior that would have been obscured when using a non-adaptive sampling approach.

Uncertainty, learning, and the optimal management of wildlife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, B.K.

2001-01-01

Wildlife management is limited by uncontrolled and often unrecognized environmental variation, by limited capabilities to observe and control animal populations, and by a lack of understanding about the biological processes driving population dynamics. In this paper I describe a comprehensive framework for management that includes multiple models and likelihood values to account for structural uncertainty, along with stochastic factors to account for environmental variation, random sampling, and partial controllability. Adaptive optimization is developed in terms of the optimal control of incompletely understood populations, with the expected value of perfect information measuring the potential for improving control through learning. The framework for optimal adaptive control is generalized by including partial observability and non-adaptive, sample-based updating of model likelihoods. Passive adaptive management is derived as a special case of constrained adaptive optimization, representing a potentially efficient suboptimal alternative that nonetheless accounts for structural uncertainty.

Action Enhances Acoustic Cues for 3-D Target Localization by Echolocating Bats

PubMed Central

Wohlgemuth, Melville J.

2016-01-01

Under natural conditions, animals encounter a barrage of sensory information from which they must select and interpret biologically relevant signals. Active sensing can facilitate this process by engaging motor systems in the sampling of sensory information. The echolocating bat serves as an excellent model to investigate the coupling between action and sensing because it adaptively controls both the acoustic signals used to probe the environment and movements to receive echoes at the auditory periphery. We report here that the echolocating bat controls the features of its sonar vocalizations in tandem with the positioning of the outer ears to maximize acoustic cues for target detection and localization. The bat’s adaptive control of sonar vocalizations and ear positioning occurs on a millisecond timescale to capture spatial information from arriving echoes, as well as on a longer timescale to track target movement. Our results demonstrate that purposeful control over sonar sound production and reception can serve to improve acoustic cues for localization tasks. This finding also highlights the general importance of movement to sensory processing across animal species. Finally, our discoveries point to important parallels between spatial perception by echolocation and vision. PMID:27608186

20-GFLOPS QR processor on a Xilinx Virtex-E FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walke, Richard L.; Smith, Robert W. M.; Lightbody, Gaye

2000-11-01

Adaptive beamforming can play an important role in sensor array systems in countering directional interference. In high-sample rate systems, such as radar and comms, the calculation of adaptive weights is a very computational task that requires highly parallel solutions. For systems where low power consumption and volume are important the only viable implementation is as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). However, the rapid advancement of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology is enabling highly credible re-programmable solutions. In this paper we present the implementation of a scalable linear array processor for weight calculation using QR decomposition. We employ floating-point arithmetic with mantissa size optimized to the target application to minimize component size, and implement them as relationally placed macros (RPMs) on Xilinx Virtex FPGAs to achieve predictable dense layout and high-speed operation. We present results that show that 20GFLOPS of sustained computation on a single XCV3200E-8 Virtex-E FPGA is possible. We also describe the parameterized implementation of the floating-point operators and QR-processor, and the design methodology that enables us to rapidly generate complex FPGA implementations using the industry standard hardware description language VHDL.

Activity and adaptation of nitrilotriacetate (NTA)-degrading bacteria: field and laboratory studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McFeters, G. A.; Egli, T.; Wilberg, E.; Alder, A.; Schneider, R.; Suozzi, M.; Giger, W.

1990-01-01

Adaptation of bacterial activity for the degradation of nitrilotriacetate (NTA) was studied using natural sediment samples and an NTA-degrading bacterium (strain ATCC 29600). Sediment samples from a river with persistent levels of NTA had much higher NTA-degradative activity than comparable samples from a less contaminated control site. When sediment from the control site was exposed to high levels of NTA a 5 day lag preceded an abrupt increase in NTA degradation while strain 29600 colonized on sand and grown in the absence of NTA became induced within eight hours. The induction of strain 29600 was compared between bacteria in suspension and cells attached to sand. The sand-associated bacteria became induced 4 to 5 h before the planktonic suspension and displayed over threefold greater specific activity. Suspensions of strain 29600 became adapted within 8 h when placed in membrane diffusion chambers that were immersed within a municipal wastewater reactor containing NTA. These findings support the concept that induction is a part of the process of bacterial adaptation to degrade NTA and sand-associated bacteria can adapt more quickly to and have a greater degradative activity for NTA than planktonic cells.

The Application of Adaptive Behaviour Models: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Price, Jessica A.; Morris, Zoe A.; Costello, Shane

2018-01-01

Adaptive behaviour has been viewed broadly as an individual’s ability to meet the standards of social responsibilities and independence; however, this definition has been a source of debate amongst researchers and clinicians. Based on the rich history and the importance of the construct of adaptive behaviour, the current study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the application of adaptive behaviour models to assessment tools, through a systematic review. A plethora of assessment measures for adaptive behaviour have been developed in order to adequately assess the construct; however, it appears that the only definition on which authors seem to agree is that adaptive behaviour is what adaptive behaviour scales measure. The importance of the construct for diagnosis, intervention and planning has been highlighted throughout the literature. It is recommended that researchers and clinicians critically review what measures of adaptive behaviour they are utilising and it is suggested that the definition and theory is revisited. PMID:29342927

Psychometric Properties of the Adapted Skillstreaming Checklist for High-Functioning Children with ASD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopata, Christopher; Rodgers, Jonathan D.; Donnelly, James P.; Thomeer, Marcus L.; McDonald, Christin A.; Volker, Martin A.

2017-01-01

This study examined the reliability and criterion-related validity of parent ratings on the Adapted Skillstreaming Checklist (ASC) for a sample of 275 high-functioning children, ages 6-12 years, with ASD. Internal consistency for the total sample was 0.92. For two subsamples, test-retest reliability was very good at the 6-week and good at the…

Interactive effects of body-size structure and adaptive foraging on food-web stability.

PubMed

Heckmann, Lotta; Drossel, Barbara; Brose, Ulrich; Guill, Christian

2012-03-01

Body-size structure of food webs and adaptive foraging of consumers are two of the dominant concepts of our understanding how natural ecosystems maintain their stability and diversity. The interplay of these two processes, however, is a critically important yet unresolved issue. To fill this gap in our knowledge of ecosystem stability, we investigate dynamic random and niche model food webs to evaluate the proportion of persistent species. We show that stronger body-size structures and faster adaptation stabilise these food webs. Body-size structures yield stabilising configurations of interaction strength distributions across food webs, and adaptive foraging emphasises links to resources closer to the base. Moreover, both mechanisms combined have a cumulative effect. Most importantly, unstructured random webs evolve via adaptive foraging into stable size-structured food webs. This offers a mechanistic explanation of how size structure adaptively emerges in complex food webs, thus building a novel bridge between these two important stabilising mechanisms. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Climate Change: From Science to Practice.

PubMed

Wheeler, Nicola; Watts, Nick

2018-03-01

Climate change poses a significant threat to human health. Understanding how climate science can be translated into public health practice is an essential first step in enabling robust adaptation and improving resiliency to climate change. Recent research highlights the importance of iterative approaches to public health adaptation to climate change, enabling uncertainties of health impacts and barriers to adaptation to be accounted for. There are still significant barriers to adaptation, which are context-specific and thus present unique challenges to public health practice. The implementation of flexible adaptation approaches, using frameworks targeted for public health, is key to ensuring robust adaptation to climate change in public health practice. The BRACE framework provides an excellent approach for health adaptation to climate change. Combining this with the insights provided and by the adaptation pathways approach allows for more deliberate accounting of long-term uncertainties. The mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into public health practice and planning is important in facilitating this approach and overcoming the significant barriers to effective adaptation. Yet, the immediate and future limits to adaptation provide clear justification for urgent and accelerated efforts to mitigate climate change.

Nonlinear discrete-time multirate adaptive control of non-linear vibrations of smart beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgiou, Georgios; Foutsitzi, Georgia A.; Stavroulakis, Georgios E.

2018-06-01

The nonlinear adaptive digital control of a smart piezoelectric beam is considered. It is shown that in the case of a sampled-data context, a multirate control strategy provides an appropriate framework in order to achieve vibration regulation, ensuring the stability of the whole control system. Under parametric uncertainties in the model parameters (damping ratios, frequencies, levels of non linearities and cross coupling, control input parameters), the scheme is completed with an adaptation law deduced from hyperstability concepts. This results in the asymptotic satisfaction of the control objectives at the sampling instants. Simulation results are presented.

Adaptive Sensing of Time Series with Application to Remote Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, David R.; Cabrol, Nathalie A.; Furlong, Michael; Hardgrove, Craig; Low, Bryan K. H.; Moersch, Jeffrey; Wettergreen, David

2013-01-01

We address the problem of adaptive informationoptimal data collection in time series. Here a remote sensor or explorer agent throttles its sampling rate in order to track anomalous events while obeying constraints on time and power. This problem is challenging because the agent has limited visibility -- all collected datapoints lie in the past, but its resource allocation decisions require predicting far into the future. Our solution is to continually fit a Gaussian process model to the latest data and optimize the sampling plan on line to maximize information gain. We compare the performance characteristics of stationary and nonstationary Gaussian process models. We also describe an application based on geologic analysis during planetary rover exploration. Here adaptive sampling can improve coverage of localized anomalies and potentially benefit mission science yield of long autonomous traverses.

An Adaptive Defect Weighted Sampling Algorithm to Design Pseudoknotted RNA Secondary Structures

PubMed Central

Zandi, Kasra; Butler, Gregory; Kharma, Nawwaf

2016-01-01

Computational design of RNA sequences that fold into targeted secondary structures has many applications in biomedicine, nanotechnology and synthetic biology. An RNA molecule is made of different types of secondary structure elements and an important RNA element named pseudoknot plays a key role in stabilizing the functional form of the molecule. However, due to the computational complexities associated with characterizing pseudoknotted RNA structures, most of the existing RNA sequence designer algorithms generally ignore this important structural element and therefore limit their applications. In this paper we present a new algorithm to design RNA sequences for pseudoknotted secondary structures. We use NUPACK as the folding algorithm to compute the equilibrium characteristics of the pseudoknotted RNAs, and describe a new adaptive defect weighted sampling algorithm named Enzymer to design low ensemble defect RNA sequences for targeted secondary structures including pseudoknots. We used a biological data set of 201 pseudoknotted structures from the Pseudobase library to benchmark the performance of our algorithm. We compared the quality characteristics of the RNA sequences we designed by Enzymer with the results obtained from the state of the art MODENA and antaRNA. Our results show our method succeeds more frequently than MODENA and antaRNA do, and generates sequences that have lower ensemble defect, lower probability defect and higher thermostability. Finally by using Enzymer and by constraining the design to a naturally occurring and highly conserved Hammerhead motif, we designed 8 sequences for a pseudoknotted cis-acting Hammerhead ribozyme. Enzymer is available for download at https://bitbucket.org/casraz/enzymer. PMID:27499762

International Postgraduate Students' Cross-Cultural Adaptation in Malaysia: Antecedents and Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shafaei, Azadeh; Razak, Nordin Abd

2016-01-01

This study develops and empirically tests a conceptual model capturing the factors impacting students' cross-cultural adaptation and the outcomes resulting from such adaption. Data were obtained from a sample of international postgraduate students from six Malaysian public universities using a structured questionnaire. Structural equation…

Adaptability: Conceptual and Empirical Perspectives on Responses to Change, Novelty and Uncertainty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Andrew J.; Nejad, Harry; Colmar, Susan; Liem, Gregory Arief D.

2012-01-01

Adaptability is proposed as individuals' capacity to constructively regulate psycho-behavioral functions in response to new, changing, and/or uncertain circumstances, conditions and situations. The present investigation explored the internal and external validity of an hypothesised adaptability scale. The sample comprised 2,731 high school…

Childhood Epilepsy and Asthma: Family Strengths Associated with Child Adaptation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austin, Joan Kessner

This study aimed to describe demographic, seizure, and family characteristics associated with good and poor adaptation to childhood epilepsy and contrast them with demographic, asthma, and family characteristics associated with good and poor adaptation to childhood asthma. Children with asthma were selected as a comparison sample because epilepsy…

Fourth Graders Make Inventions Using SCAMPER and Animal Adaptation Ideas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hussain, Mahjabeen; Carignan, Anastasia

2016-01-01

This study explores to what extent the SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Rearrange) technique combined with animal adaptation ideas learned through form and function analogy activities can help fourth graders generate creative ideas while augmenting their inventiveness. The sample consisted of 24…

The Relationship between Spirituality, Religiousness, and Career Adaptability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duffy, Ryan D.; Blustein, David L.

2005-01-01

The present study examined the relationship between spirituality, religiousness, and career adaptability using a sample of undergraduate students (N=144). We proposed that higher levels of religiousness and spirituality would predict higher levels of career adaptability, defined in this study by career decision self-efficacy and career choice…

An efficient adaptive sampling strategy for global surrogate modeling with applications in multiphase flow simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mo, S.; Lu, D.; Shi, X.; Zhang, G.; Ye, M.; Wu, J.

2016-12-01

Surrogate models have shown remarkable computational efficiency in hydrological simulations involving design space exploration, sensitivity analysis, uncertainty quantification, etc. The central task of constructing a global surrogate models is to achieve a prescribed approximation accuracy with as few original model executions as possible, which requires a good design strategy to optimize the distribution of data points in the parameter domains and an effective stopping criterion to automatically terminate the design process when desired approximation accuracy is achieved. This study proposes a novel adaptive sampling strategy, which starts from a small number of initial samples and adaptively selects additional samples by balancing the collection in unexplored regions and refinement in interesting areas. We define an efficient and effective evaluation metric basing on Taylor expansion to select the most promising potential samples from candidate points, and propose a robust stopping criterion basing on the approximation accuracy at new points to guarantee the achievement of desired accuracy. The numerical results of several benchmark analytical functions indicate that the proposed approach is more computationally efficient and robust than the widely used maximin distance design and two other well-known adaptive sampling strategies. The application to two complicated multiphase flow problems further demonstrates the efficiency and effectiveness of our method in constructing global surrogate models for high-dimensional and highly nonlinear problems. Acknowledgements: This work was financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China grants No. 41030746 and 41172206.

Adaptive adjustment of the randomization ratio using historical control data

PubMed Central

Hobbs, Brian P.; Carlin, Bradley P.; Sargent, Daniel J.

2013-01-01

Background Prospective trial design often occurs in the presence of “acceptable” [1] historical control data. Typically this data is only utilized for treatment comparison in a posteriori retrospective analysis to estimate population-averaged effects in a random-effects meta-analysis. Purpose We propose and investigate an adaptive trial design in the context of an actual randomized controlled colorectal cancer trial. This trial, originally reported by Goldberg et al. [2], succeeded a similar trial reported by Saltz et al. [3], and used a control therapy identical to that tested (and found beneficial) in the Saltz trial. Methods The proposed trial implements an adaptive randomization procedure for allocating patients aimed at balancing total information (concurrent and historical) among the study arms. This is accomplished by assigning more patients to receive the novel therapy in the absence of strong evidence for heterogeneity among the concurrent and historical controls. Allocation probabilities adapt as a function of the effective historical sample size (EHSS) characterizing relative informativeness defined in the context of a piecewise exponential model for evaluating time to disease progression. Commensurate priors [4] are utilized to assess historical and concurrent heterogeneity at interim analyses and to borrow strength from the historical data in the final analysis. The adaptive trial’s frequentist properties are simulated using the actual patient-level historical control data from the Saltz trial and the actual enrollment dates for patients enrolled into the Goldberg trial. Results Assessing concurrent and historical heterogeneity at interim analyses and balancing total information with the adaptive randomization procedure leads to trials that on average assign more new patients to the novel treatment when the historical controls are unbiased or slightly biased compared to the concurrent controls. Large magnitudes of bias lead to approximately equal allocation of patients among the treatment arms. Using the proposed commensurate prior model to borrow strength from the historical data, after balancing total information with the adaptive randomization procedure, provides admissible estimators of the novel treatment effect with desirable bias-variance trade-offs. Limitations Adaptive randomization methods in general are sensitive to population drift and more suitable for trials that initiate with gradual enrollment. Balancing information among study arms in time-to-event analyses is difficult in the presence of informative right-censoring. Conclusions The proposed design could prove important in trials that follow recent evaluations of a control therapy. Efficient use of the historical controls is especially important in contexts where reliance on pre-existing information is unavoidable because the control therapy is exceptionally hazardous, expensive, or the disease is rare. PMID:23690095

Adaptive adjustment of the randomization ratio using historical control data.

PubMed

Hobbs, Brian P; Carlin, Bradley P; Sargent, Daniel J

2013-01-01

Prospective trial design often occurs in the presence of 'acceptable' historical control data. Typically, these data are only utilized for treatment comparison in a posteriori retrospective analysis to estimate population-averaged effects in a random-effects meta-analysis. We propose and investigate an adaptive trial design in the context of an actual randomized controlled colorectal cancer trial. This trial, originally reported by Goldberg et al., succeeded a similar trial reported by Saltz et al., and used a control therapy identical to that tested (and found beneficial) in the Saltz trial. The proposed trial implements an adaptive randomization procedure for allocating patients aimed at balancing total information (concurrent and historical) among the study arms. This is accomplished by assigning more patients to receive the novel therapy in the absence of strong evidence for heterogeneity among the concurrent and historical controls. Allocation probabilities adapt as a function of the effective historical sample size (EHSS), characterizing relative informativeness defined in the context of a piecewise exponential model for evaluating time to disease progression. Commensurate priors are utilized to assess historical and concurrent heterogeneity at interim analyses and to borrow strength from the historical data in the final analysis. The adaptive trial's frequentist properties are simulated using the actual patient-level historical control data from the Saltz trial and the actual enrollment dates for patients enrolled into the Goldberg trial. Assessing concurrent and historical heterogeneity at interim analyses and balancing total information with the adaptive randomization procedure lead to trials that on average assign more new patients to the novel treatment when the historical controls are unbiased or slightly biased compared to the concurrent controls. Large magnitudes of bias lead to approximately equal allocation of patients among the treatment arms. Using the proposed commensurate prior model to borrow strength from the historical data, after balancing total information with the adaptive randomization procedure, provides admissible estimators of the novel treatment effect with desirable bias-variance trade-offs. Adaptive randomization methods in general are sensitive to population drift and more suitable for trials that initiate with gradual enrollment. Balancing information among study arms in time-to-event analyses is difficult in the presence of informative right-censoring. The proposed design could prove important in trials that follow recent evaluations of a control therapy. Efficient use of the historical controls is especially important in contexts where reliance on preexisting information is unavoidable because the control therapy is exceptionally hazardous, expensive, or the disease is rare.

Adaptation of the Information and Support Needs Questionnaire into Turkish to use in women with primary relatives with breast cancer.

PubMed

Tokkaya, Sedefnur; Karayurt, Ozgül

2010-01-01

Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer among women in Turkey. Because of the high incidence of breast cancer, many women have family members who have experienced breast cancer. The aim of this study was to test the validity and reliability of the Information and Support Needs Questionnaire (ISNQ) for Turkish women, which was originally developed for use in women with primary relatives who had breast cancer. The study sample included 97 women whose primary female relatives had breast cancer. Data were collected with a Demographic Questionnaire and the ISNQ. The ISNQ was developed by Chalmers et al and was composed of 2 scales: the Importance Scale and the Needs Met Scale. Linguistic validity, translation, back translation, and content validity were tested with expert opinions. Item-to-total correlation scores ranged from 0.22 to 0.72 on the Importance Scale and from 0.23 to 0.60 on the Needs Met Scale. Cronbach alpha coefficients were.81 and.83 on the Importance Scale and the Needs Met Scale. The ISNQ, adapted into Turkish, was found to have sufficient validity and reliability. The questionnaire can be used to determine information and support needs of women whose primary relatives have breast cancer. Nurses and other health professionals can conduct interventions directed toward meeting information and support needs of women whose primary relatives have breast cancer.

Exploration of the psychological impact and adaptation to cardiac events in South Asians in the UK: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

Bhattacharyya, Mimi; Stevenson, Fiona; Walters, Kate

2016-01-01

Objective There is little research on how different ethnic groups adapt after an acute cardiac event. This qualitative study explores between-ethnicity and within-ethnicity variation in adaptation, and the psychological impact of an acute cardiac event among UK South Asian and white British people. Setting We purposively sampled people by ethnic group from general practices in London who had a new myocardial infarction, angina or acute arrhythmia in the preceding 18 months. Participants We conducted 28 semistructured interviews for exploring the psychological symptoms, experiences and adaptations following a cardiac event among South Asians (Indian and Bangladeshi) in comparison to white British people. Data were analysed using a thematic ‘framework’ approach. Results Findings showed heterogeneity in experiences of the cardiac event and its subsequent psychological and physical impact. Adaptation to the event related predominantly to life circumstances, personal attitudes and employment status. Anxiety and low mood symptoms were common sequelae, especially in the Bangladeshi group. Indian men tended to normalise symptoms and the cardiac event, and reported less negative mood symptoms than other groups. Fear of physical exertion, particularly heavy lifting, persisted across the groups. Some people across all ethnic groups indicated the need for more psychological therapy postcardiac event. Socioeconomic circumstances, age and prior work status appeared to be more important in relation to adaptation after a cardiac event than ethnic status. Conclusions Heterogeneity in views and experiences related to the socioeconomic background, age and work status of the participants along with some cultural influences. Rehabilitation programmes should be flexibly tailored for individuals in particular and where relevant, specific support should be provided for returning to work. PMID:27401355

Sex differences in parent-reported executive functioning and adaptive behavior in children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

White, Emily I; Wallace, Gregory L; Bascom, Julia; Armour, Anna C; Register-Brown, Kelly; Popal, Haroon S; Ratto, Allison B; Martin, Alex; Kenworthy, Lauren

2017-10-01

This study is the largest to date examining executive function and adaptive skills in females with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Its primary aim was to utilize parent ratings of real-world executive functioning and adaptive behavior to better understand whether females with ASD differ from males with ASD in these areas of everyday functioning. We compared 79 females with ASD to 158 males with ASD (ages 7-18) who were statistically matched on age, IQ, and level of ADHD or ASD traits. All participants were assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and a subset (56 females and 130 males) also received the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). Females were rated by parents as having greater problems with executive function on the BRIEF. Parents also rated females as exhibiting more difficulties than males on the Daily Living Skills domain of the VABS. There was a correlation between increased global EF difficulty and decreased adaptive ability in both males and females. Our results indicate relative weaknesses for females compared to males diagnosed with ASD on executive function and daily living skills. These differences occur in the absence of sex differences in our sample in age, IQ, clinician ratings of core ASD symptomatology, parent ratings of ADHD symptoms, and parent-reported social and communication adaptive skills on the VABS. These findings indicate specific liabilities in real world EF and daily living skills for females with ASD and have important implications for targeting their treatments. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1653-1662. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Bayesian comparative effectiveness trial in action: developing a platform for multisite study adaptive randomization.

PubMed

Brown, Alexandra R; Gajewski, Byron J; Aaronson, Lauren S; Mudaranthakam, Dinesh Pal; Hunt, Suzanne L; Berry, Scott M; Quintana, Melanie; Pasnoor, Mamatha; Dimachkie, Mazen M; Jawdat, Omar; Herbelin, Laura; Barohn, Richard J

2016-08-31

In the last few decades, the number of trials using Bayesian methods has grown rapidly. Publications prior to 1990 included only three clinical trials that used Bayesian methods, but that number quickly jumped to 19 in the 1990s and to 99 from 2000 to 2012. While this literature provides many examples of Bayesian Adaptive Designs (BAD), none of the papers that are available walks the reader through the detailed process of conducting a BAD. This paper fills that gap by describing the BAD process used for one comparative effectiveness trial (Patient Assisted Intervention for Neuropathy: Comparison of Treatment in Real Life Situations) that can be generalized for use by others. A BAD was chosen with efficiency in mind. Response-adaptive randomization allows the potential for substantially smaller sample sizes, and can provide faster conclusions about which treatment or treatments are most effective. An Internet-based electronic data capture tool, which features a randomization module, facilitated data capture across study sites and an in-house computation software program was developed to implement the response-adaptive randomization. A process for adapting randomization with minimal interruption to study sites was developed. A new randomization table can be generated quickly and can be seamlessly integrated in the data capture tool with minimal interruption to study sites. This manuscript is the first to detail the technical process used to evaluate a multisite comparative effectiveness trial using adaptive randomization. An important opportunity for the application of Bayesian trials is in comparative effectiveness trials. The specific case study presented in this paper can be used as a model for conducting future clinical trials using a combination of statistical software and a web-based application. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02260388 , registered on 6 October 2014.

Adaptive probabilistic collocation based Kalman filter for unsaturated flow problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Man, J.; Li, W.; Zeng, L.; Wu, L.

2015-12-01

The ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) has gained popularity in hydrological data assimilation problems. As a Monte Carlo based method, a relatively large ensemble size is usually required to guarantee the accuracy. As an alternative approach, the probabilistic collocation based Kalman filter (PCKF) employs the Polynomial Chaos to approximate the original system. In this way, the sampling error can be reduced. However, PCKF suffers from the so called "cure of dimensionality". When the system nonlinearity is strong and number of parameters is large, PCKF is even more computationally expensive than EnKF. Motivated by recent developments in uncertainty quantification, we propose a restart adaptive probabilistic collocation based Kalman filter (RAPCKF) for data assimilation in unsaturated flow problem. During the implementation of RAPCKF, the important parameters are identified and active PCE basis functions are adaptively selected. The "restart" technology is used to alleviate the inconsistency between model parameters and states. The performance of RAPCKF is tested by unsaturated flow numerical cases. It is shown that RAPCKF is more efficient than EnKF with the same computational cost. Compared with the traditional PCKF, the RAPCKF is more applicable in strongly nonlinear and high dimensional problems.

SU-E-J-81: Adaptive Radiotherapy for IMRT Head & Neck Patient in AKUH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yousuf, A; Qureshi, B; Qadir, A

2015-06-15

Purpose: In this study we proposed Adaptive radiotherapy for IMRT patients which will brought an additional dimension to the management of patients with H&N cancer in Aga Khan University Hospital. Methods: In this study 5 Head and Neck (H&N) patients plan where selected, who’s Re-CT were done during the course of their treatment, they were simulated with IMRT technique to learn the consequence of anatomical changes that may occur during the treatment, as they are more dramatic changes can occur as compare to conventional treatment. All the organ at risk were drawn according RTOG guidelines and doses were checked asmore » per NCCN guidelines. Results: The reduction in size of Planning target volume (PTV) is more than 20% in all the cases which leads to 3 to 5 % overdose to normal tissues and Organ at Risk. Conclusion: Through this study we would like to emphasis the importance of Adaptive Radiotherapy practice in all IMRT (H&N) patients, although prospective studies are required with larger sample sizes to address the safety and the clinical effect of such approaches on patient outcome, also one need to develop protocols before implementation of this technique in practice.« less

Personality and risk perception in transport.

PubMed

Fyhri, Aslak; Backer-Grøndahl, Agathe

2012-11-01

Within research on individual variations in risk perception, personality has been suggested as one important factor. In the present study, personality traits (44 items from the Big Five inventory) were investigated in relation to risk perception in transport and transport behavioural adaptations. In a sample of 312 participants, we found that the personality trait 'emotional stability versus neuroticism' was negatively correlated with risk perception (operationalised as "thinking about the possibility") of an accident (-0.38) and an unpleasant incident, such as crime, violence, robbery (-0.25). 'Agreeableness' was also negatively related to risk perception, however first and foremost in relation to perceived risk for unpleasant incidents on transport modes in which one interacts with other people (0.25). Moreover, regression analyses showed that 'emotional stability' was a significant predictor of behavioural adaptations on bus. Regression analyses explained between 17 and 26 percent of variance in behavioural adaptations. The results show that different groups of people vary systematically in their perception of risk in transport. Furthermore, these differences are manifest as a difference in risk-preventive behaviour at a strategic level, i.e. as decisions about avoiding risky situations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ensemble based adaptive over-sampling method for imbalanced data learning in computer aided detection of microaneurysm.

PubMed

Ren, Fulong; Cao, Peng; Li, Wei; Zhao, Dazhe; Zaiane, Osmar

2017-01-01

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a progressive disease, and its detection at an early stage is crucial for saving a patient's vision. An automated screening system for DR can help in reduce the chances of complete blindness due to DR along with lowering the work load on ophthalmologists. Among the earliest signs of DR are microaneurysms (MAs). However, current schemes for MA detection appear to report many false positives because detection algorithms have high sensitivity. Inevitably some non-MAs structures are labeled as MAs in the initial MAs identification step. This is a typical "class imbalance problem". Class imbalanced data has detrimental effects on the performance of conventional classifiers. In this work, we propose an ensemble based adaptive over-sampling algorithm for overcoming the class imbalance problem in the false positive reduction, and we use Boosting, Bagging, Random subspace as the ensemble framework to improve microaneurysm detection. The ensemble based over-sampling methods we proposed combine the strength of adaptive over-sampling and ensemble. The objective of the amalgamation of ensemble and adaptive over-sampling is to reduce the induction biases introduced from imbalanced data and to enhance the generalization classification performance of extreme learning machines (ELM). Experimental results show that our ASOBoost method has higher area under the ROC curve (AUC) and G-mean values than many existing class imbalance learning methods. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maternal Identity Formation in a Military Sample: A Longitudinal Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-08

effective interventions. Successful interventions to assist military wives with maternal adaptation and role adjustment will be possible with a greater 7...maternal identity formation and role adaptation. Despite the obvious need for focused interventions to assist women with maternal identity formation and...pregnancies tended to be unwanted and remain unwanted even in late gestation . In her sample, the women describing the greatest number of unplanned

Molecular and physiological evidence of genetic assimilation to high CO2 in the marine nitrogen fixer Trichodesmium.

PubMed

Walworth, Nathan G; Lee, Michael D; Fu, Fei-Xue; Hutchins, David A; Webb, Eric A

2016-11-22

Most investigations of biogeochemically important microbes have focused on plastic (short-term) phenotypic responses in the absence of genetic change, whereas few have investigated adaptive (long-term) responses. However, no studies to date have investigated the molecular progression underlying the transition from plasticity to adaptation under elevated CO 2 for a marine nitrogen-fixer. To address this gap, we cultured the globally important cyanobacterium Trichodesmium at both low and high CO 2 for 4.5 y, followed by reciprocal transplantation experiments to test for adaptation. Intriguingly, fitness actually increased in all high-CO 2 adapted cell lines in the ancestral environment upon reciprocal transplantation. By leveraging coordinated phenotypic and transcriptomic profiles, we identified expression changes and pathway enrichments that rapidly responded to elevated CO 2 and were maintained upon adaptation, providing strong evidence for genetic assimilation. These candidate genes and pathways included those involved in photosystems, transcriptional regulation, cell signaling, carbon/nitrogen storage, and energy metabolism. Conversely, significant changes in specific sigma factor expression were only observed upon adaptation. These data reveal genetic assimilation as a potentially adaptive response of Trichodesmium and importantly elucidate underlying metabolic pathways paralleling the fixation of the plastic phenotype upon adaptation, thereby contributing to the few available data demonstrating genetic assimilation in microbial photoautotrophs. These molecular insights are thus critical for identifying pathways under selection as drivers in plasticity and adaptation.

Functional genetic divergence in high CO2 adapted Emiliania huxleyi populations.

PubMed

Lohbeck, Kai T; Riebesell, Ulf; Collins, Sinéad; Reusch, Thorsten B H

2013-07-01

Predicting the impacts of environmental change on marine organisms, food webs, and biogeochemical cycles presently relies almost exclusively on short-term physiological studies, while the possibility of adaptive evolution is often ignored. Here, we assess adaptive evolution in the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi, a well-established model species in biological oceanography, in response to ocean acidification. We previously demonstrated that this globally important marine phytoplankton species adapts within 500 generations to elevated CO2 . After 750 and 1000 generations, no further fitness increase occurred, and we observed phenotypic convergence between replicate populations. We then exposed adapted populations to two novel environments to investigate whether or not the underlying basis for high CO2 -adaptation involves functional genetic divergence, assuming that different novel mutations become apparent via divergent pleiotropic effects. The novel environment "high light" did not reveal such genetic divergence whereas growth in a low-salinity environment revealed strong pleiotropic effects in high CO2 adapted populations, indicating divergent genetic bases for adaptation to high CO2 . This suggests that pleiotropy plays an important role in adaptation of natural E. huxleyi populations to ocean acidification. Our study highlights the potential mutual benefits for oceanography and evolutionary biology of using ecologically important marine phytoplankton for microbial evolution experiments. © 2012 The Author(s). Evolution © 2012 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

A Novel Approach to Adaptive Flow Separation Control

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-03

particular, it considers control of flow separation over a NACA-0025 airfoil using microjet actuators and develops Adaptive Sampling Based Model...Predictive Control ( Adaptive SBMPC), a novel approach to Nonlinear Model Predictive Control that applies the Minimal Resource Allocation Network...Distribution Unlimited UU UU UU UU 03-09-2016 1-May-2013 30-Apr-2016 Final Report: A Novel Approach to Adaptive Flow Separation Control The views, opinions

The effect of creative problem solving on students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muin, A.; Hanifah, S. H.; Diwidian, F.

2018-01-01

This research was conducted to analyse the effect of creative problem solving (CPS) learning model on the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning. The method used in this study was a quasi-experimental with randomized post-test only control group design. Samples were taken as many as two classes by cluster random sampling technique consisting of experimental class (CPS) as many as 40 students and control class (conventional) as many as 40 students. Based on the result of hypothesis testing with the t-test at the significance level of 5%, it was obtained that significance level of 0.0000 is less than α = 0.05. This shows that the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning skills who were taught by CPS model were higher than the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning skills of those who were taught by conventional model. The result of this research showed that the most prominent aspect of adaptive reasoning that could be developed through a CPS was inductive intuitive. Two aspects of adaptive reasoning, which were inductive intuitive and deductive intuitive, were mostly balanced. The different between inductive intuitive and deductive intuitive aspect was not too big. CPS model can develop student mathematical adaptive reasoning skills. CPS model can facilitate development of mathematical adaptive reasoning skills thoroughly.

Quality based approach for adaptive face recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abboud, Ali J.; Sellahewa, Harin; Jassim, Sabah A.

2009-05-01

Recent advances in biometric technology have pushed towards more robust and reliable systems. We aim to build systems that have low recognition errors and are less affected by variation in recording conditions. Recognition errors are often attributed to the usage of low quality biometric samples. Hence, there is a need to develop new intelligent techniques and strategies to automatically measure/quantify the quality of biometric image samples and if necessary restore image quality according to the need of the intended application. In this paper, we present no-reference image quality measures in the spatial domain that have impact on face recognition. The first is called symmetrical adaptive local quality index (SALQI) and the second is called middle halve (MH). Also, an adaptive strategy has been developed to select the best way to restore the image quality, called symmetrical adaptive histogram equalization (SAHE). The main benefits of using quality measures for adaptive strategy are: (1) avoidance of excessive unnecessary enhancement procedures that may cause undesired artifacts, and (2) reduced computational complexity which is essential for real time applications. We test the success of the proposed measures and adaptive approach for a wavelet-based face recognition system that uses the nearest neighborhood classifier. We shall demonstrate noticeable improvements in the performance of adaptive face recognition system over the corresponding non-adaptive scheme.

Evidence of genomic adaptation to climate in Eucalyptus microcarpa: Implications for adaptive potential to projected climate change.

PubMed

Jordan, Rebecca; Hoffmann, Ary A; Dillon, Shannon K; Prober, Suzanne M

2017-11-01

Understanding whether populations can adapt in situ or whether interventions are required is of key importance for biodiversity management under climate change. Landscape genomics is becoming an increasingly important and powerful tool for rapid assessments of climate adaptation, especially in long-lived species such as trees. We investigated climate adaptation in Eucalyptus microcarpa using the DArTseq genomic approach. A combination of F ST outlier and environmental association analyses were performed using >4200 genomewide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 26 populations spanning climate gradients in southeastern Australia. Eighty-one SNPs were identified as putatively adaptive, based on significance in F ST outlier tests and significant associations with one or more climate variables related to temperature (70/81), aridity (37/81) or precipitation (35/81). Adaptive SNPs were located on all 11 chromosomes, with no particular region associated with individual climate variables. Climate adaptation appeared to be characterized by subtle shifts in allele frequencies, with no consistent fixed differences identified. Based on these associations, we predict adaptation under projected changes in climate will include a suite of shifts in allele frequencies. Whether this can occur sufficiently rapidly through natural selection within populations, or would benefit from assisted gene migration, requires further evaluation. In some populations, the absence or predicted increases to near fixation of particular adaptive alleles hint at potential limits to adaptive capacity. Together, these results reinforce the importance of standing genetic variation at the geographic level for maintaining species' evolutionary potential. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Influence of different seasons during late gestation on Holstein cows' colostrum and postnatal adaptive capability of their calves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trifković, Julijana; Jovanović, Ljubomir; Đurić, Miloje; Stevanović-Đorđević, Snežana; Milanović, Svetlana; Lazarević, Miodrag; Sladojević, Željko; Kirovski, Danijela

2018-06-01

Season may affect calves' thermal comfort and behavior, but the data related to the overall influence of seasonal variations on dams' colostrum and postnatal adaptive capability of calves are limited. The aim of this study was to measure the effects of a 49-day-long low air temperature (LAT) season (5.20 ± 0.46 °C mean air temperature) and a 53-day-long high air temperature (HAT) season (27.40 ± 0.39 °C mean air temperature) on dams' colostrum quality and physiological, biochemical, hormonal, and oxidative stress parameters of their calves during the first 7 days of life. The dams' colostrum was sampled at 2, 14, and 26 h after calving, before feeding of their calves. Calves' blood samples were taken before the first colostrum intake and on days 1, 2, 3, and 7 of life. Calves' physiological parameters were measured on days 0 and 7. HAT season significantly reduced the quality of dams' colostrum. The ingestion of the low-quality colostrum, combined with the thermal discomfort during HAT season, probably provoked impaired physiological, biochemical, hormonal, and oxidative stress parameters in samples taken from the post-colostral calves. Additionally, intravenous glucose tolerance test was performed on day 7, which suggested an enhanced insulin response in HAT season calves. This study highlights the importance of adequate supporting strategies for the care of the late gestation cows and postnatal calves during the HAT season.

Classifier transfer with data selection strategies for online support vector machine classification with class imbalance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krell, Mario Michael; Wilshusen, Nils; Seeland, Anett; Kim, Su Kyoung

2017-04-01

Objective. Classifier transfers usually come with dataset shifts. To overcome dataset shifts in practical applications, we consider the limitations in computational resources in this paper for the adaptation of batch learning algorithms, like the support vector machine (SVM). Approach. We focus on data selection strategies which limit the size of the stored training data by different inclusion, exclusion, and further dataset manipulation criteria like handling class imbalance with two new approaches. We provide a comparison of the strategies with linear SVMs on several synthetic datasets with different data shifts as well as on different transfer settings with electroencephalographic (EEG) data. Main results. For the synthetic data, adding only misclassified samples performed astoundingly well. Here, balancing criteria were very important when the other criteria were not well chosen. For the transfer setups, the results show that the best strategy depends on the intensity of the drift during the transfer. Adding all and removing the oldest samples results in the best performance, whereas for smaller drifts, it can be sufficient to only add samples near the decision boundary of the SVM which reduces processing resources. Significance. For brain-computer interfaces based on EEG data, models trained on data from a calibration session, a previous recording session, or even from a recording session with another subject are used. We show, that by using the right combination of data selection criteria, it is possible to adapt the SVM classifier to overcome the performance drop from the transfer.

Influence of different seasons during late gestation on Holstein cows' colostrum and postnatal adaptive capability of their calves.

PubMed

Trifković, Julijana; Jovanović, Ljubomir; Đurić, Miloje; Stevanović-Đorđević, Snežana; Milanović, Svetlana; Lazarević, Miodrag; Sladojević, Željko; Kirovski, Danijela

2018-06-01

Season may affect calves' thermal comfort and behavior, but the data related to the overall influence of seasonal variations on dams' colostrum and postnatal adaptive capability of calves are limited. The aim of this study was to measure the effects of a 49-day-long low air temperature (LAT) season (5.20 ± 0.46 °C mean air temperature) and a 53-day-long high air temperature (HAT) season (27.40 ± 0.39 °C mean air temperature) on dams' colostrum quality and physiological, biochemical, hormonal, and oxidative stress parameters of their calves during the first 7 days of life. The dams' colostrum was sampled at 2, 14, and 26 h after calving, before feeding of their calves. Calves' blood samples were taken before the first colostrum intake and on days 1, 2, 3, and 7 of life. Calves' physiological parameters were measured on days 0 and 7. HAT season significantly reduced the quality of dams' colostrum. The ingestion of the low-quality colostrum, combined with the thermal discomfort during HAT season, probably provoked impaired physiological, biochemical, hormonal, and oxidative stress parameters in samples taken from the post-colostral calves. Additionally, intravenous glucose tolerance test was performed on day 7, which suggested an enhanced insulin response in HAT season calves. This study highlights the importance of adequate supporting strategies for the care of the late gestation cows and postnatal calves during the HAT season.

Influence of different seasons during late gestation on Holstein cows' colostrum and postnatal adaptive capability of their calves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trifković, Julijana; Jovanović, Ljubomir; Đurić, Miloje; Stevanović-Đorđević, Snežana; Milanović, Svetlana; Lazarević, Miodrag; Sladojević, Željko; Kirovski, Danijela

2018-02-01

Season may affect calves' thermal comfort and behavior, but the data related to the overall influence of seasonal variations on dams' colostrum and postnatal adaptive capability of calves are limited. The aim of this study was to measure the effects of a 49-day-long low air temperature (LAT) season (5.20 ± 0.46 °C mean air temperature) and a 53-day-long high air temperature (HAT) season (27.40 ± 0.39 °C mean air temperature) on dams' colostrum quality and physiological, biochemical, hormonal, and oxidative stress parameters of their calves during the first 7 days of life. The dams' colostrum was sampled at 2, 14, and 26 h after calving, before feeding of their calves. Calves' blood samples were taken before the first colostrum intake and on days 1, 2, 3, and 7 of life. Calves' physiological parameters were measured on days 0 and 7. HAT season significantly reduced the quality of dams' colostrum. The ingestion of the low-quality colostrum, combined with the thermal discomfort during HAT season, probably provoked impaired physiological, biochemical, hormonal, and oxidative stress parameters in samples taken from the post-colostral calves. Additionally, intravenous glucose tolerance test was performed on day 7, which suggested an enhanced insulin response in HAT season calves. This study highlights the importance of adequate supporting strategies for the care of the late gestation cows and postnatal calves during the HAT season.

Adaptation of G-TAG Software for Validating Touch-and-Go Comet Surface Sampling Design Methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandic, Milan; Acikmese, Behcet; Blackmore, Lars

2011-01-01

The G-TAG software tool was developed under the R&TD on Integrated Autonomous Guidance, Navigation, and Control for Comet Sample Return, and represents a novel, multi-body dynamics simulation software tool for studying TAG sampling. The G-TAG multi-body simulation tool provides a simulation environment in which a Touch-and-Go (TAG) sampling event can be extensively tested. TAG sampling requires the spacecraft to descend to the surface, contact the surface with a sampling collection device, and then to ascend to a safe altitude. The TAG event lasts only a few seconds but is mission-critical with potentially high risk. Consequently, there is a need for the TAG event to be well characterized and studied by simulation and analysis in order for the proposal teams to converge on a reliable spacecraft design. This adaptation of the G-TAG tool was developed to support the Comet Odyssey proposal effort, and is specifically focused to address comet sample return missions. In this application, the spacecraft descends to and samples from the surface of a comet. Performance of the spacecraft during TAG is assessed based on survivability and sample collection performance. For the adaptation of the G-TAG simulation tool to comet scenarios, models are developed that accurately describe the properties of the spacecraft, approach trajectories, and descent velocities, as well as the models of the external forces and torques acting on the spacecraft. The adapted models of the spacecraft, descent profiles, and external sampling forces/torques were more sophisticated and customized for comets than those available in the basic G-TAG simulation tool. Scenarios implemented include the study of variations in requirements, spacecraft design (size, locations, etc. of the spacecraft components), and the environment (surface properties, slope, disturbances, etc.). The simulations, along with their visual representations using G-View, contributed to the Comet Odyssey New Frontiers proposal effort by indicating problems and/or benefits of different approaches and designs.

Adaptation and Validation of the Sexual Assertiveness Scale (SAS) in a Sample of Male Drug Users.

PubMed

Vallejo-Medina, Pablo; Sierra, Juan Carlos

2015-04-21

The aim of the present study was to adapt and validate the Sexual Assertiveness Scale (SAS) in a sample of male drug users. A sample of 326 male drug users and 322 non-clinical males was selected by cluster sampling and convenience sampling, respectively. Results showed that the scale had good psychometric properties and adequate internal consistency reliability (Initiation = .66, Refusal = .74 and STD-P = .79). An evaluation of the invariance showed strong factor equivalence between both samples. A high and moderate effect of Differential Item Functioning was only found in items 1 and 14 (∆R 2 Nagelkerke = .076 and .037, respectively). We strongly recommend not using item 1 if the goal is to compare the scores of both groups, otherwise the comparison will be biased. Correlations obtained between the CSFQ-14 and the safe sex ratio and the SAS subscales were significant (CI = 95%) and indicated good concurrent validity. Scores of male drug users were similar to those of non-clinical males. Therefore, the adaptation of the SAS to drug users provides enough guarantees for reliable and valid use in both clinical practice and research, although care should be taken with item 1.

Genomics of local adaptation with gene flow.

PubMed

Tigano, Anna; Friesen, Vicki L

2016-05-01

Gene flow is a fundamental evolutionary force in adaptation that is especially important to understand as humans are rapidly changing both the natural environment and natural levels of gene flow. Theory proposes a multifaceted role for gene flow in adaptation, but it focuses mainly on the disruptive effect that gene flow has on adaptation when selection is not strong enough to prevent the loss of locally adapted alleles. The role of gene flow in adaptation is now better understood due to the recent development of both genomic models of adaptive evolution and genomic techniques, which both point to the importance of genetic architecture in the origin and maintenance of adaptation with gene flow. In this review, we discuss three main topics on the genomics of adaptation with gene flow. First, we investigate selection on migration and gene flow. Second, we discuss the three potential sources of adaptive variation in relation to the role of gene flow in the origin of adaptation. Third, we explain how local adaptation is maintained despite gene flow: we provide a synthesis of recent genomic models of adaptation, discuss the genomic mechanisms and review empirical studies on the genomics of adaptation with gene flow. Despite predictions on the disruptive effect of gene flow in adaptation, an increasing number of studies show that gene flow can promote adaptation, that local adaptations can be maintained despite high gene flow, and that genetic architecture plays a fundamental role in the origin and maintenance of local adaptation with gene flow. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Signatures of selection for environmental adaptation and zebu × taurine hybrid fitness in East African shorthorn zebu

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The East African Shorthorn Zebu (EASZ) cattle are ancient hybrid between Asian zebu × African taurine cattle preferred by local farmers due to their adaptability to the African environment. The genetic controls of these adaptabilities are not clearly understood yet. Here, we genotyped 92 EASZ sample...

Regulation Of Nf=kb And Mnsod In Low Dose Radiation Induced Adaptive Protection Of Mouse And Human Skin Cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jian Li

2012-11-07

A sampling of publications resulting from this grant is provided. One is on the subject of NF-κB-Mediated HER2 Overexpression in Radiation-Adaptive Resistance. Another is on NF-κB-mediated adaptive resistance to ionizing radiation.

The Psychological Well-Being and Sociocultural Adaptation of Short-Term International Students in Ireland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Reilly, Aileen; Ryan, Dermot; Hickey, Tina

2010-01-01

This article reports on an empirical study of the psychosocial adaptation of international students in Ireland. Using measures of social support, loneliness, stress, psychological well-being, and sociocultural adaptation, data were obtained from international students and a comparison sample of Irish students. The study found that, although…

Factors Influencing Students' Adaptability in School: A Production Function Model and Multilevel Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Du, Ping

2008-01-01

This study used sampling survey data from rural elementary schools in western China to analyze school adaptability, which is the representative noncognitive development of rural elementary students. It also investigated factors influencing the school adaptability of elementary school students at an individual and school level by using production…

An adaptive least-squares global sensitivity method and application to a plasma-coupled combustion prediction with parametric correlation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Kunkun; Massa, Luca; Wang, Jonathan; Freund, Jonathan B.

2018-05-01

We introduce an efficient non-intrusive surrogate-based methodology for global sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification. Modified covariance-based sensitivity indices (mCov-SI) are defined for outputs that reflect correlated effects. The overall approach is applied to simulations of a complex plasma-coupled combustion system with disparate uncertain parameters in sub-models for chemical kinetics and a laser-induced breakdown ignition seed. The surrogate is based on an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) expansion, such as widely used in statistics, with orthogonal polynomials representing the ANOVA subspaces and a polynomial dimensional decomposition (PDD) representing its multi-dimensional components. The coefficients of the PDD expansion are obtained using a least-squares regression, which both avoids the direct computation of high-dimensional integrals and affords an attractive flexibility in choosing sampling points. This facilitates importance sampling using a Bayesian calibrated posterior distribution, which is fast and thus particularly advantageous in common practical cases, such as our large-scale demonstration, for which the asymptotic convergence properties of polynomial expansions cannot be realized due to computation expense. Effort, instead, is focused on efficient finite-resolution sampling. Standard covariance-based sensitivity indices (Cov-SI) are employed to account for correlation of the uncertain parameters. Magnitude of Cov-SI is unfortunately unbounded, which can produce extremely large indices that limit their utility. Alternatively, mCov-SI are then proposed in order to bound this magnitude ∈ [ 0 , 1 ]. The polynomial expansion is coupled with an adaptive ANOVA strategy to provide an accurate surrogate as the union of several low-dimensional spaces, avoiding the typical computational cost of a high-dimensional expansion. It is also adaptively simplified according to the relative contribution of the different polynomials to the total variance. The approach is demonstrated for a laser-induced turbulent combustion simulation model, which includes parameters with correlated effects.

Home-field advantage? evidence of local adaptation among plants, soil, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi through meta-analysis.

PubMed

Rúa, Megan A; Antoninka, Anita; Antunes, Pedro M; Chaudhary, V Bala; Gehring, Catherine; Lamit, Louis J; Piculell, Bridget J; Bever, James D; Zabinski, Cathy; Meadow, James F; Lajeunesse, Marc J; Milligan, Brook G; Karst, Justine; Hoeksema, Jason D

2016-06-10

Local adaptation, the differential success of genotypes in their native versus foreign environment, arises from various evolutionary processes, but the importance of concurrent abiotic and biotic factors as drivers of local adaptation has only recently been investigated. Local adaptation to biotic interactions may be particularly important for plants, as they associate with microbial symbionts that can significantly affect their fitness and may enable rapid evolution. The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is ideal for investigations of local adaptation because it is globally widespread among most plant taxa and can significantly affect plant growth and fitness. Using meta-analysis on 1170 studies (from 139 papers), we investigated the potential for local adaptation to shape plant growth responses to arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation. The magnitude and direction for mean effect size of mycorrhizal inoculation on host biomass depended on the geographic origin of the soil and symbiotic partners. Sympatric combinations of plants, AM fungi, and soil yielded large increases in host biomass compared to when all three components were allopatric. The origin of either the fungi or the plant relative to the soil was important for explaining the effect of AM inoculation on plant biomass. If plant and soil were sympatric but allopatric to the fungus, the positive effect of AM inoculation was much greater than when all three components were allopatric, suggesting potential local adaptation of the plant to the soil; however, if fungus and soil were sympatric (but allopatric to the plant) the effect of AM inoculation was indistinct from that of any allopatric combinations, indicating maladaptation of the fungus to the soil. This study underscores the potential to detect local adaptation for mycorrhizal relationships across a broad swath of the literature. Geographic origin of plants relative to the origin of AM fungal communities and soil is important for describing the effect of mycorrhizal inoculation on plant biomass, suggesting that local adaptation represents a powerful factor for the establishment of novel combinations of fungi, plants, and soils. These results highlight the need for subsequent investigations of local adaptation in the mycorrhizal symbiosis and emphasize the importance of routinely considering the origin of plant, soil, and fungal components.

On-line estimation of error covariance parameters for atmospheric data assimilation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dee, Dick P.

1995-01-01

A simple scheme is presented for on-line estimation of covariance parameters in statistical data assimilation systems. The scheme is based on a maximum-likelihood approach in which estimates are produced on the basis of a single batch of simultaneous observations. Simple-sample covariance estimation is reasonable as long as the number of available observations exceeds the number of tunable parameters by two or three orders of magnitude. Not much is known at present about model error associated with actual forecast systems. Our scheme can be used to estimate some important statistical model error parameters such as regionally averaged variances or characteristic correlation length scales. The advantage of the single-sample approach is that it does not rely on any assumptions about the temporal behavior of the covariance parameters: time-dependent parameter estimates can be continuously adjusted on the basis of current observations. This is of practical importance since it is likely to be the case that both model error and observation error strongly depend on the actual state of the atmosphere. The single-sample estimation scheme can be incorporated into any four-dimensional statistical data assimilation system that involves explicit calculation of forecast error covariances, including optimal interpolation (OI) and the simplified Kalman filter (SKF). The computational cost of the scheme is high but not prohibitive; on-line estimation of one or two covariance parameters in each analysis box of an operational bozed-OI system is currently feasible. A number of numerical experiments performed with an adaptive SKF and an adaptive version of OI, using a linear two-dimensional shallow-water model and artificially generated model error are described. The performance of the nonadaptive versions of these methods turns out to depend rather strongly on correct specification of model error parameters. These parameters are estimated under a variety of conditions, including uniformly distributed model error and time-dependent model error statistics.

Returning ex-patriot Chinese to Guangdong, China, increase the risk for local transmission of Zika virus.

PubMed

Sun, Jiufeng; Wu, De; Zhong, Haojie; Guan, Dawei; Zhang, Huan; Tan, Qiqi; Zhou, Huiqiong; Zhang, Meng; Ning, Dan; Zhang, Baohuan; Ke, Changwen; Song, Tie; Lin, Jinyan; Zhang, Yonghui; Koopmans, Marion; Gao, George F

2017-10-01

Fast expansion and linkage to microcephaly and Guillain Barre syndrome have made Zika virus (ZIKV) track attention of global health authority concerns. The epidemiology, virological characteristics and genetic evolution of introduced ZIKV to Guangdong, China, were investigated. Analyses of the epidemiological characteristics and genetic diversity of ZIKV isolates were performed. A total of twenty-eight confirmed ZIKV infection cases were imported into China in 2016, of which 19 were imported into Guangdong, China from Venezuela (16), the Samoa Islands (1), Suriname (1) and Guatemala (1). Serial sampling studies of the cases indicated longer shedding times of ZIKV particles from urine and saliva samples than from serum and conjunctiva swab samples. Seven ZIKV strains were successfully isolated from serum, urine and conjunctiva swab samples using cell culture and neonatal mouse injection methods. Genomic analysis indicated that all viruses belonged to the Asian lineage but had different evolutionary transmission routes with different geographic origins. The molecular clock phylogenetic analysis of the ZIKV genomes indicated independent local transmission that appeared to have been previously established in Venezuela and Samoa. Additionally, we found 7 unique non-synonymous mutations in the genomes of ZIKV that were imported to China. The mutations may indicate that ZIKV has undergone independent evolutionary history not caused by sudden adaptation to Chinese hosts. The increasing number of ex-patriot Chinese returning from ZIKV hyper-endemic areas to Guangdong combined with the presence of a variety of Aedes species indicate the potential for autochthonous transmission of ZIKV in Guangdong. Copyright © 2017 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated working distance adjustment for a handheld OCT-Laryngoscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donner, Sabine; Bleeker, Sebastian; Ripken, Tammo; Krueger, Alexander

2014-03-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique which enables diagnosis of vocal cord tissue structure by non-contact optical biopsies rather than invasive tissue biopsies. For diagnosis on awake patients OCT was adapted to a rigid indirect laryngoscope. The working distance must match the probe-sample distance, which varies from patient to patient. Therefore the endoscopic OCT sample arm has a variable working distance of 40 mm to 80 mm. The current axial position is identified by automated working distance adjustments based on image processing. The OCT reference plane and the focal plane of the sample arm are moved according to position errors. Repeated position adjustment during the whole diagnostic procedure keeps the tissue sample at the optimal axial position. The auto focus identifies and adjusts the working distance within the range of 50 mm within a maximum time of 2.7 s. Continuous image stabilisation reduces axial sample movement within the sampling depth for handheld OCT scanning. Rapid autofocus reduces the duration of the diagnostic procedure and axial position stabilisation eases the use of the OCT laryngoscope. Therefore this work is an important step towards the integration of OCT into indirect laryngoscopes.

An Intrinsic Algorithm for Parallel Poisson Disk Sampling on Arbitrary Surfaces.

PubMed

Ying, Xiang; Xin, Shi-Qing; Sun, Qian; He, Ying

2013-03-08

Poisson disk sampling plays an important role in a variety of visual computing, due to its useful statistical property in distribution and the absence of aliasing artifacts. While many effective techniques have been proposed to generate Poisson disk distribution in Euclidean space, relatively few work has been reported to the surface counterpart. This paper presents an intrinsic algorithm for parallel Poisson disk sampling on arbitrary surfaces. We propose a new technique for parallelizing the dart throwing. Rather than the conventional approaches that explicitly partition the spatial domain to generate the samples in parallel, our approach assigns each sample candidate a random and unique priority that is unbiased with regard to the distribution. Hence, multiple threads can process the candidates simultaneously and resolve conflicts by checking the given priority values. It is worth noting that our algorithm is accurate as the generated Poisson disks are uniformly and randomly distributed without bias. Our method is intrinsic in that all the computations are based on the intrinsic metric and are independent of the embedding space. This intrinsic feature allows us to generate Poisson disk distributions on arbitrary surfaces. Furthermore, by manipulating the spatially varying density function, we can obtain adaptive sampling easily.

Modeling and enhanced sampling of molecular systems with smooth and nonlinear data-driven collective variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hashemian, Behrooz; Millán, Daniel; Arroyo, Marino

2013-12-01

Collective variables (CVs) are low-dimensional representations of the state of a complex system, which help us rationalize molecular conformations and sample free energy landscapes with molecular dynamics simulations. Given their importance, there is need for systematic methods that effectively identify CVs for complex systems. In recent years, nonlinear manifold learning has shown its ability to automatically characterize molecular collective behavior. Unfortunately, these methods fail to provide a differentiable function mapping high-dimensional configurations to their low-dimensional representation, as required in enhanced sampling methods. We introduce a methodology that, starting from an ensemble representative of molecular flexibility, builds smooth and nonlinear data-driven collective variables (SandCV) from the output of nonlinear manifold learning algorithms. We demonstrate the method with a standard benchmark molecule, alanine dipeptide, and show how it can be non-intrusively combined with off-the-shelf enhanced sampling methods, here the adaptive biasing force method. We illustrate how enhanced sampling simulations with SandCV can explore regions that were poorly sampled in the original molecular ensemble. We further explore the transferability of SandCV from a simpler system, alanine dipeptide in vacuum, to a more complex system, alanine dipeptide in explicit water.

Modeling and enhanced sampling of molecular systems with smooth and nonlinear data-driven collective variables.

PubMed

Hashemian, Behrooz; Millán, Daniel; Arroyo, Marino

2013-12-07

Collective variables (CVs) are low-dimensional representations of the state of a complex system, which help us rationalize molecular conformations and sample free energy landscapes with molecular dynamics simulations. Given their importance, there is need for systematic methods that effectively identify CVs for complex systems. In recent years, nonlinear manifold learning has shown its ability to automatically characterize molecular collective behavior. Unfortunately, these methods fail to provide a differentiable function mapping high-dimensional configurations to their low-dimensional representation, as required in enhanced sampling methods. We introduce a methodology that, starting from an ensemble representative of molecular flexibility, builds smooth and nonlinear data-driven collective variables (SandCV) from the output of nonlinear manifold learning algorithms. We demonstrate the method with a standard benchmark molecule, alanine dipeptide, and show how it can be non-intrusively combined with off-the-shelf enhanced sampling methods, here the adaptive biasing force method. We illustrate how enhanced sampling simulations with SandCV can explore regions that were poorly sampled in the original molecular ensemble. We further explore the transferability of SandCV from a simpler system, alanine dipeptide in vacuum, to a more complex system, alanine dipeptide in explicit water.

Multivariate adaptive regression splines analysis to predict biomarkers of spontaneous preterm birth.

PubMed

Menon, Ramkumar; Bhat, Geeta; Saade, George R; Spratt, Heidi

2014-04-01

To develop classification models of demographic/clinical factors and biomarker data from spontaneous preterm birth in African Americans and Caucasians. Secondary analysis of biomarker data using multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS), a supervised machine learning algorithm method. Analysis of data on 36 biomarkers from 191 women was reduced by MARS to develop predictive models for preterm birth in African Americans and Caucasians. Maternal plasma, cord plasma collected at admission for preterm or term labor and amniotic fluid at delivery. Data were partitioned into training and testing sets. Variable importance, a relative indicator (0-100%) and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) characterized results. Multivariate adaptive regression splines generated models for combined and racially stratified biomarker data. Clinical and demographic data did not contribute to the model. Racial stratification of data produced distinct models in all three compartments. In African Americans maternal plasma samples IL-1RA, TNF-α, angiopoietin 2, TNFRI, IL-5, MIP1α, IL-1β and TGF-α modeled preterm birth (AUC train: 0.98, AUC test: 0.86). In Caucasians TNFR1, ICAM-1 and IL-1RA contributed to the model (AUC train: 0.84, AUC test: 0.68). African Americans cord plasma samples produced IL-12P70, IL-8 (AUC train: 0.82, AUC test: 0.66). Cord plasma in Caucasians modeled IGFII, PDGFBB, TGF-β1 , IL-12P70, and TIMP1 (AUC train: 0.99, AUC test: 0.82). Amniotic fluid in African Americans modeled FasL, TNFRII, RANTES, KGF, IGFI (AUC train: 0.95, AUC test: 0.89) and in Caucasians, TNF-α, MCP3, TGF-β3 , TNFR1 and angiopoietin 2 (AUC train: 0.94 AUC test: 0.79). Multivariate adaptive regression splines models multiple biomarkers associated with preterm birth and demonstrated racial disparity. © 2014 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Increased fire frequency promotes stronger spatial genetic structure and natural selection at regional and local scales in Pinus halepensis Mill

PubMed Central

González-Martínez, Santiago C.; Navascués, Miguel; Burgarella, Concetta; Mosca, Elena; Lorenzo, Zaida; Zabal-Aguirre, Mario; Vendramin, Giovanni G.; Verdú, Miguel; Pausas, Juli G.

2017-01-01

Background and Aims The recurrence of wildfires is predicted to increase due to global climate change, resulting in severe impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Recurrent fires can drive plant adaptation and reduce genetic diversity; however, the underlying population genetic processes have not been studied in detail. In this study, the neutral and adaptive evolutionary effects of contrasting fire regimes were examined in the keystone tree species Pinus halepensis Mill. (Aleppo pine), a fire-adapted conifer. The genetic diversity, demographic history and spatial genetic structure were assessed at local (within-population) and regional scales for populations exposed to different crown fire frequencies. Methods Eight natural P. halepensis stands were sampled in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, five of them in a region exposed to frequent crown fires (HiFi) and three of them in an adjacent region with a low frequency of crown fires (LoFi). Samples were genotyped at nine neutral simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and at 251 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from coding regions, some of them potentially important for fire adaptation. Key Results Fire regime had no effects on genetic diversity or demographic history. Three high-differentiation outlier SNPs were identified between HiFi and LoFi stands, suggesting fire-related selection at the regional scale. At the local scale, fine-scale spatial genetic structure (SGS) was overall weak as expected for a wind-pollinated and wind-dispersed tree species. HiFi stands displayed a stronger SGS than LoFi stands at SNPs, which probably reflected the simultaneous post-fire recruitment of co-dispersed related seeds. SNPs with exceptionally strong SGS, a proxy for microenvironmental selection, were only reliably identified under the HiFi regime. Conclusions An increasing fire frequency as predicted due to global change can promote increased SGS with stronger family structures and alter natural selection in P. halepensis and in plants with similar life history traits. PMID:28159988

The Roles of General and Technology-Related Parenting in Managing Youth Screen Time

PubMed Central

Sanders, Wesley; Parent, Justin; Forehand, Rex; Lafko, Nicole

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of two types of parenting practices -- general adaptive parenting and technology-related strategies – with youth screen time. It was hypothesized that technology-related parenting focused on behavioral control would relate directly to screen time and serve to link general parenting to screen time. Participants were 615 parents drawn from three community samples of families with children across three development stages: young childhood (3 – 7 yrs.; n = 210), middle childhood (8 – 12 yrs.; n = 200), and adolescents (13 – 17 yrs.; n = 205). Using structural equation modeling, general adaptive parenting was not related to child screen time but was positively related to technology-related parenting strategies for all three samples. For the young and, to some extent middle, childhood samples, but not for the adolescent sample, general adaptive parenting was positively linked to youth screen time through technology-related parenting strategies. PMID:26751759

Calcium content and high calcium adaptation of plants in karst areas of southwestern Hunan, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Xiaocong; Deng, Xiangwen; Xiang, Wenhua; Lei, Pifeng; Ouyang, Shuai; Wen, Hongfang; Chen, Liang

2018-05-01

Rocky desertification is a major ecological problem of land degradation in karst areas. In these areas, the high soil calcium (Ca) content has become an important environmental factor that can affect the restoration of vegetation. Consequently, the screening of plant species that can adapt to high Ca soil environments is a critical step in vegetation restoration. In this study, three grades of rocky desertification sample areas were selected in karst areas of southwestern Hunan, China (LRD: light rocky desertification; MRD: moderate rocky desertification; and IRD: intense rocky desertification). Each grade of these sample areas had three sample plots in different slope positions, each of which had four small quadrats (one in rocky-side areas, three in non-rocky-side areas). We measured the Ca content of leaves, branches, and roots from 41 plant species, as well as soil total Ca (TCa) and exchangeable Ca (ECa) at depths of 0-15, 15-30, and 30-45 cm in each small quadrat. The results showed that the soil Ca2+ content in rocky-side areas was significantly higher than that in non-rocky-side areas (p < 0.05). The mean soil TCa and ECa content increased gradually along with the grade of rocky desertification, in the order IRD > MRD > LRD. For all plant functional groups, the plant Ca content of aboveground parts was significantly higher than that of the belowground parts (p < 0.05). The soil ECa content had significant effects on plant Ca content of the belowground parts but had no significant effects on plant Ca content of the aboveground parts. Of the 41 plant species that were sampled, 17 were found to be dominant (important value > 1). The differences in Ca2+ content between the aboveground and belowground parts of the 17 dominant species were calculated, and their correlations with soil ECa content were analyzed. The results showed that these 17 species can be divided into three categories: Ca-indifferent plants, high-Ca plants, and low-Ca plants. These findings provide a vital theoretical basis and practical guide for vegetation restoration and ecosystem reconstruction in rocky desertification areas.

The adaptation of non-western and Muslim immigrant adolescents in the Netherlands: An immigrant paradox?

PubMed

Van Geel, Mitch; Vedder, Paul

2010-10-01

This article addresses the possible existence of an immigrant paradox in a sample of immigrant adolescents attending vocational schools in the Netherlands. An immigrant paradox is the finding that first generation immigrants show a more positive pattern of adaptation than nationals despite poorer economic conditions. Second generation immigrants regress to the nationals in terms of adaptation. A sample of 152 first generation immigrant adolescents, 285 second generation immigrant adolescents and 406 national adolescents completed self-reports about socio-economic status, psychological problems, behavioral problems and self-esteem. The results supported the existence of an immigrant paradox in this sample. This indicates that further assimilation among immigrant adolescents does not necessarily lead to increased well being. © 2010 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2010 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Accounting for local adaptation in ectomycorrhizas: a call to track geographical origin of plants, fungi, and soils in experiments.

PubMed

Rúa, Megan A; Lamit, Louis J; Gehring, Catherine; Antunes, Pedro M; Hoeksema, Jason D; Zabinski, Cathy; Karst, Justine; Burns, Cole; Woods, Michaela J

2018-02-01

Local adaptation, the differential success of genotypes in their native versus foreign environments, can influence ecological and evolutionary processes, yet its importance is difficult to estimate because it has not been widely studied, particularly in the context of interspecific interactions. Interactions between ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi and their host plants could serve as model system for investigations of local adaptation because they are widespread and affect plant responses to both biotic and abiotic selection pressures. Furthermore, because EM fungi cycle nutrients and mediate energy flow into food webs, their local adaptation may be critical in sustaining ecological function. Despite their ecological importance and an extensive literature on their relationships with plants, the vast majority of experiments on EM symbioses fail to report critical information needed to assess local adaptation: the geographic origin of the plant, fungal inocula, and soil substrate used in the experiment. These omissions limit the utility of such studies and restrict our understanding of EM ecology and evolution. Here, we illustrate the potential importance of local adaptation in EM relationships and call for consistent reporting of the geographic origin of plant, soil, and fungi as an important step towards a better understanding of the ecology and evolution of EM symbioses.

Importance of adaptation and genotype × environment interactions in tropical beef breeding systems.

PubMed

Burrow, H M

2012-05-01

This paper examines the relative importance of productive and adaptive traits in beef breeding systems based on Bos taurus and tropically adapted breeds across temperate and (sub)tropical environments. In the (sub)tropics, differences that exist between breeds in temperate environments are masked by the effects of environmental stressors. Hence in tropical environments, breeds are best categorised into breed types to compare their performance across environments. Because of the presence of environmental stressors, there are more sources of genetic variation in tropical breeding programmes. It is therefore necessary to examine the genetic basis of productive and adaptive traits for breeding programmes in those environments. This paper reviews the heritabilities and genetic relationships between economically important productive and adaptive traits relevant to (sub)tropical breeding programmes. It is concluded that it is possible to simultaneously genetically improve productive and adaptive traits in tropically adapted breeds of beef cattle grazed in tropical environments without serious detrimental consequences for either adaptation or production. However, breed-specific parameters are required for genetic evaluations. The paper also reviews the magnitude of genotype × environment (G × E) interactions impacting on production and adaptation of cattle, where 'genotype' is defined as breed (within a crossbreeding system), sire within breed (in a within-breed selection programme) or associations between economically important traits and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs - within a marker-assisted selection programme). It is concluded that re-ranking of breeds across environments is best managed by the use of the breed type(s) best suited to the particular production environment. Re-ranking of sires across environments is apparent in poorly adapted breed types across extreme tropical and temperate environments or where breeding animals are selected in a temperate environment for use in the (sub)tropics. However, G × E interactions are unlikely to be of major importance in tropically adapted beef cattle grazed in either temperate or (sub)tropical environments, although sex × environment interactions may provide new opportunities for differentially selecting to simultaneously improve steer performance in benign environments and female performance in harsher environments. Early evidence suggests that re-ranking of SNPs occurs across temperate and tropical environments, although their magnitude is still to be confirmed in well-designed experiments. The major limitation to genetic improvement of beef cattle over the next decade is likely to be a deficiency of large numbers of accurately recorded phenotypes for most productive and adaptive traits and, in particular, for difficult-to-measure adaptive traits such as resistance to disease and environmental stressors.

A cost-effective high-throughput metabarcoding approach powerful enough to genotype ~44 000 year-old rodent remains from Northern Africa.

PubMed

Guimaraes, S; Pruvost, M; Daligault, J; Stoetzel, E; Bennett, E A; Côté, N M-L; Nicolas, V; Lalis, A; Denys, C; Geigl, E-M; Grange, T

2017-05-01

We present a cost-effective metabarcoding approach, aMPlex Torrent, which relies on an improved multiplex PCR adapted to highly degraded DNA, combining barcoding and next-generation sequencing to simultaneously analyse many heterogeneous samples. We demonstrate the strength of these improvements by generating a phylochronology through the genotyping of ancient rodent remains from a Moroccan cave whose stratigraphy covers the last 120 000 years. Rodents are important for epidemiology, agronomy and ecological investigations and can act as bioindicators for human- and/or climate-induced environmental changes. Efficient and reliable genotyping of ancient rodent remains has the potential to deliver valuable phylogenetic and paleoecological information. The analysis of multiple ancient skeletal remains of very small size with poor DNA preservation, however, requires a sensitive high-throughput method to generate sufficient data. We show this approach to be particularly adapted at accessing this otherwise difficult taxonomic and genetic resource. As a highly scalable, lower cost and less labour-intensive alternative to targeted sequence capture approaches, we propose the aMPlex Torrent strategy to be a useful tool for the genetic analysis of multiple degraded samples in studies involving ecology, archaeology, conservation and evolutionary biology. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Examining Potential Boundary Bias Effects in Kernel Smoothing on Equating: An Introduction for the Adaptive and Epanechnikov Kernels.

PubMed

Cid, Jaime A; von Davier, Alina A

2015-05-01

Test equating is a method of making the test scores from different test forms of the same assessment comparable. In the equating process, an important step involves continuizing the discrete score distributions. In traditional observed-score equating, this step is achieved using linear interpolation (or an unscaled uniform kernel). In the kernel equating (KE) process, this continuization process involves Gaussian kernel smoothing. It has been suggested that the choice of bandwidth in kernel smoothing controls the trade-off between variance and bias. In the literature on estimating density functions using kernels, it has also been suggested that the weight of the kernel depends on the sample size, and therefore, the resulting continuous distribution exhibits bias at the endpoints, where the samples are usually smaller. The purpose of this article is (a) to explore the potential effects of atypical scores (spikes) at the extreme ends (high and low) on the KE method in distributions with different degrees of asymmetry using the randomly equivalent groups equating design (Study I), and (b) to introduce the Epanechnikov and adaptive kernels as potential alternative approaches to reducing boundary bias in smoothing (Study II). The beta-binomial model is used to simulate observed scores reflecting a range of different skewed shapes.

Low Field Squid MRI Devices, Components and Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hahn, Inseob (Inventor); Penanen, Konstantin I. (Inventor); Eom, Byeong H. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

Low field SQUID MRI devices, components and methods are disclosed. They include a portable low field (SQUID)-based MRI instrument and a portable low field SQUID-based MRI system to be operated under a bed where a subject is adapted to be located. Also disclosed is a method of distributing wires on an image encoding coil system adapted to be used with an NMR or MRI device for analyzing a sample or subject and a second order superconducting gradiometer adapted to be used with a low field SQUID-based MRI device as a sensing component for an MRI signal related to a subject or sample.

Low Field Squid MRI Devices, Components and Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Penanen, Konstantin I. (Inventor); Eom, Byeong H. (Inventor); Hahn, Inseob (Inventor)

2014-01-01

Low field SQUID MRI devices, components and methods are disclosed. They include a portable low field (SQUID)-based MRI instrument and a portable low field SQUID-based MRI system to be operated under a bed where a subject is adapted to be located. Also disclosed is a method of distributing wires on an image encoding coil system adapted to be used with an NMR or MRI device for analyzing a sample or subject and a second order superconducting gradiometer adapted to be used with a low field SQUID-based MRI device as a sensing component for an MRI signal related to a subject or sample.

Speckle imaging through turbulent atmosphere based on adaptable pupil segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loktev, Mikhail; Soloviev, Oleg; Savenko, Svyatoslav; Vdovin, Gleb

2011-07-01

We report on the first results to our knowledge obtained with adaptable multiaperture imaging through turbulence on a horizontal atmospheric path. We show that the resolution can be improved by adaptively matching the size of the subaperture to the characteristic size of the turbulence. Further improvement is achieved by the deconvolution of a number of subimages registered simultaneously through multiple subapertures. Different implementations of multiaperture geometry, including pupil multiplication, pupil image sampling, and a plenoptic telescope, are considered. Resolution improvement has been demonstrated on a ˜550m horizontal turbulent path, using a combination of aperture sampling, speckle image processing, and, optionally, frame selection.

Low field SQUID MRI devices, components and methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Penanen, Konstantin I. (Inventor); Eom, Byeong H. (Inventor); Hahn, Inseob (Inventor)

2011-01-01

Low field SQUID MRI devices, components and methods are disclosed. They include a portable low field (SQUID)-based MRI instrument and a portable low field SQUID-based MRI system to be operated under a bed where a subject is adapted to be located. Also disclosed is a method of distributing wires on an image encoding coil system adapted to be used with an NMR or MRI device for analyzing a sample or subject and a second order superconducting gradiometer adapted to be used with a low field SQUID-based MRI device as a sensing component for an MRI signal related to a subject or sample.

Low field SQUID MRI devices, components and methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Penanen, Konstantin I. (Inventor); Eom, Byeong H (Inventor); Hahn, Inseob (Inventor)

2010-01-01

Low field SQUID MRI devices, components and methods are disclosed. They include a portable low field (SQUID)-based MRI instrument and a portable low field SQUID-based MRI system to be operated under a bed where a subject is adapted to be located. Also disclosed is a method of distributing wires on an image encoding coil system adapted to be used with an NMR or MRI device for analyzing a sample or subject and a second order superconducting gradiometer adapted to be used with a low field SQUID-based MRI device as a sensing component for an MRI signal related to a subject or sample.

The effects of sample size on population genomic analyses--implications for the tests of neutrality.

PubMed

Subramanian, Sankar

2016-02-20

One of the fundamental measures of molecular genetic variation is the Watterson's estimator (θ), which is based on the number of segregating sites. The estimation of θ is unbiased only under neutrality and constant population growth. It is well known that the estimation of θ is biased when these assumptions are violated. However, the effects of sample size in modulating the bias was not well appreciated. We examined this issue in detail based on large-scale exome data and robust simulations. Our investigation revealed that sample size appreciably influences θ estimation and this effect was much higher for constrained genomic regions than that of neutral regions. For instance, θ estimated for synonymous sites using 512 human exomes was 1.9 times higher than that obtained using 16 exomes. However, this difference was 2.5 times for the nonsynonymous sites of the same data. We observed a positive correlation between the rate of increase in θ estimates (with respect to the sample size) and the magnitude of selection pressure. For example, θ estimated for the nonsynonymous sites of highly constrained genes (dN/dS < 0.1) using 512 exomes was 3.6 times higher than that estimated using 16 exomes. In contrast this difference was only 2 times for the less constrained genes (dN/dS > 0.9). The results of this study reveal the extent of underestimation owing to small sample sizes and thus emphasize the importance of sample size in estimating a number of population genomic parameters. Our results have serious implications for neutrality tests such as Tajima D, Fu-Li D and those based on the McDonald and Kreitman test: Neutrality Index and the fraction of adaptive substitutions. For instance, use of 16 exomes produced 2.4 times higher proportion of adaptive substitutions compared to that obtained using 512 exomes (24% vs 10 %).

MPLEx: a Robust and Universal Protocol for Single-Sample Integrative Proteomic, Metabolomic, and Lipidomic Analyses

PubMed Central

Nakayasu, Ernesto S.; Nicora, Carrie D.; Sims, Amy C.; Burnum-Johnson, Kristin E.; Kim, Young-Mo; Kyle, Jennifer E.; Matzke, Melissa M.; Shukla, Anil K.; Chu, Rosalie K.; Schepmoes, Athena A.; Jacobs, Jon M.; Baric, Ralph S.; Webb-Robertson, Bobbie-Jo; Smith, Richard D.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Integrative multi-omics analyses can empower more effective investigation and complete understanding of complex biological systems. Despite recent advances in a range of omics analyses, multi-omic measurements of the same sample are still challenging and current methods have not been well evaluated in terms of reproducibility and broad applicability. Here we adapted a solvent-based method, widely applied for extracting lipids and metabolites, to add proteomics to mass spectrometry-based multi-omics measurements. The metabolite, protein, and lipid extraction (MPLEx) protocol proved to be robust and applicable to a diverse set of sample types, including cell cultures, microbial communities, and tissues. To illustrate the utility of this protocol, an integrative multi-omics analysis was performed using a lung epithelial cell line infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, which showed the impact of this virus on the host glycolytic pathway and also suggested a role for lipids during infection. The MPLEx method is a simple, fast, and robust protocol that can be applied for integrative multi-omic measurements from diverse sample types (e.g., environmental, in vitro, and clinical). IMPORTANCE In systems biology studies, the integration of multiple omics measurements (i.e., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics) has been shown to provide a more complete and informative view of biological pathways. Thus, the prospect of extracting different types of molecules (e.g., DNAs, RNAs, proteins, and metabolites) and performing multiple omics measurements on single samples is very attractive, but such studies are challenging due to the fact that the extraction conditions differ according to the molecule type. Here, we adapted an organic solvent-based extraction method that demonstrated broad applicability and robustness, which enabled comprehensive proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics analyses from the same sample. Author Video: An author video summary of this article is available. PMID:27822525

The Impact of Coping Flexibility on the Risk of Depressive Symptoms

PubMed Central

Kato, Tsukasa

2015-01-01

Objective According to the dual-process theory, coping flexibility is defined as the ability to produce and implement a new coping strategy in place of an ineffective coping strategy. Specifically, coping flexibility includes two processes: evaluation coping and adaptive coping. Evaluation coping refers to sensitivity to feedback about the efficacy of a coping strategy, and adaptive coping involves the willingness to implement alternative coping strategies. The coping flexibility hypothesis (CFH) postulates that more flexible coping will be associated with more adaptive outcomes; importantly, there are numerous theories and studies that support the CFH. The main purpose of this study was to test the CFH based on dual-process theory. Methods A total of 1,770 Japanese college students participated and, completed a set of questionnaires that measured coping flexibility (evaluation coping and adaptive coping) and depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were measured via the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results The proportions of women and men who reported depressive symptoms were 58.69% (95% CIs [55.74, 61.66]) and 54.17% (95% CIs [50.37, 57.95]), respectively when a cut-off score of 16 on the CES-D was used. A multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that evaluation coping (OR = 0.86, 95% CIs [0.83, 0.0.89]) and adaptive coping (OR = 0.91, 95% CIs [0.88, 0.93]) were significantly associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Conclusion The results of the present study indicated that the CFH based on dual-process theory was supported in a Japanese sample. PMID:26011626

Cultural adaptation of the Latin American version of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI) (v 3.0) for use in Spain.

PubMed

Navarro-Mateu, Fernando; Morán-Sánchez, Inés; Alonso, Jordi; Tormo, Ma José; Pujalte, Ma Luisa; Garriga, Ascensión; Aguilar-Gaxiola, Sergio; Navarro, Carmen

2013-01-01

To develop a Spanish version of the WHO-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI) applicable to Spain, through cultural adaptation of its most recent Latin American (LA v 20.0) version. A 1-week training course on the WHO-CIDI was provided by certified trainers. An expert panel reviewed the LA version, identified words or expressions that needed to be adapted to the cultural or linguistic norms for Spain, and proposed alternative expressions that were agreed on through consensus. The entire process was supervised and approved by a member of the WHO-CIDI Editorial Committee. The changes were incorporated into a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) format and the feasibility and administration time were pilot tested in a convenience sample of 32 volunteers. A total of 372 questions were slightly modified (almost 7% of approximately 5000 questions in the survey) and incorporated into the CAPI version of the WHO-CIDI. Most of the changes were minor - but important - linguistic adaptations, and others were related to specific Spanish institutions and currency. In the pilot study, the instrument's mean completion administration time was 2h and 10min, with an interquartile range from 1.5 to nearly 3h. All the changes made were tested and officially approved. The Latin American version of the WHO-CIDI was successfully adapted and pilot-tested in its computerized format and is now ready for use in Spain. Copyright © 2012 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Iterative learning-based decentralized adaptive tracker for large-scale systems: a digital redesign approach.

PubMed

Tsai, Jason Sheng-Hong; Du, Yan-Yi; Huang, Pei-Hsiang; Guo, Shu-Mei; Shieh, Leang-San; Chen, Yuhua

2011-07-01

In this paper, a digital redesign methodology of the iterative learning-based decentralized adaptive tracker is proposed to improve the dynamic performance of sampled-data linear large-scale control systems consisting of N interconnected multi-input multi-output subsystems, so that the system output will follow any trajectory which may not be presented by the analytic reference model initially. To overcome the interference of each sub-system and simplify the controller design, the proposed model reference decentralized adaptive control scheme constructs a decoupled well-designed reference model first. Then, according to the well-designed model, this paper develops a digital decentralized adaptive tracker based on the optimal analog control and prediction-based digital redesign technique for the sampled-data large-scale coupling system. In order to enhance the tracking performance of the digital tracker at specified sampling instants, we apply the iterative learning control (ILC) to train the control input via continual learning. As a result, the proposed iterative learning-based decentralized adaptive tracker not only has robust closed-loop decoupled property but also possesses good tracking performance at both transient and steady state. Besides, evolutionary programming is applied to search for a good learning gain to speed up the learning process of ILC. Copyright © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An intrinsic algorithm for parallel Poisson disk sampling on arbitrary surfaces.

PubMed

Ying, Xiang; Xin, Shi-Qing; Sun, Qian; He, Ying

2013-09-01

Poisson disk sampling has excellent spatial and spectral properties, and plays an important role in a variety of visual computing. Although many promising algorithms have been proposed for multidimensional sampling in euclidean space, very few studies have been reported with regard to the problem of generating Poisson disks on surfaces due to the complicated nature of the surface. This paper presents an intrinsic algorithm for parallel Poisson disk sampling on arbitrary surfaces. In sharp contrast to the conventional parallel approaches, our method neither partitions the given surface into small patches nor uses any spatial data structure to maintain the voids in the sampling domain. Instead, our approach assigns each sample candidate a random and unique priority that is unbiased with regard to the distribution. Hence, multiple threads can process the candidates simultaneously and resolve conflicts by checking the given priority values. Our algorithm guarantees that the generated Poisson disks are uniformly and randomly distributed without bias. It is worth noting that our method is intrinsic and independent of the embedding space. This intrinsic feature allows us to generate Poisson disk patterns on arbitrary surfaces in IR(n). To our knowledge, this is the first intrinsic, parallel, and accurate algorithm for surface Poisson disk sampling. Furthermore, by manipulating the spatially varying density function, we can obtain adaptive sampling easily.

Accelerated Adaptive Integration Method

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Conformational changes that occur upon ligand binding may be too slow to observe on the time scales routinely accessible using molecular dynamics simulations. The adaptive integration method (AIM) leverages the notion that when a ligand is either fully coupled or decoupled, according to λ, barrier heights may change, making some conformational transitions more accessible at certain λ values. AIM adaptively changes the value of λ in a single simulation so that conformations sampled at one value of λ seed the conformational space sampled at another λ value. Adapting the value of λ throughout a simulation, however, does not resolve issues in sampling when barriers remain high regardless of the λ value. In this work, we introduce a new method, called Accelerated AIM (AcclAIM), in which the potential energy function is flattened at intermediate values of λ, promoting the exploration of conformational space as the ligand is decoupled from its receptor. We show, with both a simple model system (Bromocyclohexane) and the more complex biomolecule Thrombin, that AcclAIM is a promising approach to overcome high barriers in the calculation of free energies, without the need for any statistical reweighting or additional processors. PMID:24780083

The Parent Version of the Preschool Social Skills Rating System: Psychometric Analysis and Adaptation with a German Preschool Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hess, Markus; Scheithauer, Herbert; Kleiber, Dieter; Wille, Nora; Erhart, Michael; Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike

2014-01-01

The Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) developed by Gresham and Elliott (1990) is a multirater, norm-referenced instrument measuring social skills and adaptive behavior in preschool children. The aims of the present study were (a) to test the factorial structure of the Parent Form of the SSRS for the first time with a German preschool sample (391…

ADAPTIVE METHODS FOR STOCHASTIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS VIA NATURAL EMBEDDINGS AND REJECTION SAMPLING WITH MEMORY.

PubMed

Rackauckas, Christopher; Nie, Qing

2017-01-01

Adaptive time-stepping with high-order embedded Runge-Kutta pairs and rejection sampling provides efficient approaches for solving differential equations. While many such methods exist for solving deterministic systems, little progress has been made for stochastic variants. One challenge in developing adaptive methods for stochastic differential equations (SDEs) is the construction of embedded schemes with direct error estimates. We present a new class of embedded stochastic Runge-Kutta (SRK) methods with strong order 1.5 which have a natural embedding of strong order 1.0 methods. This allows for the derivation of an error estimate which requires no additional function evaluations. Next we derive a general method to reject the time steps without losing information about the future Brownian path termed Rejection Sampling with Memory (RSwM). This method utilizes a stack data structure to do rejection sampling, costing only a few floating point calculations. We show numerically that the methods generate statistically-correct and tolerance-controlled solutions. Lastly, we show that this form of adaptivity can be applied to systems of equations, and demonstrate that it solves a stiff biological model 12.28x faster than common fixed timestep algorithms. Our approach only requires the solution to a bridging problem and thus lends itself to natural generalizations beyond SDEs.

ADAPTIVE METHODS FOR STOCHASTIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS VIA NATURAL EMBEDDINGS AND REJECTION SAMPLING WITH MEMORY

PubMed Central

Rackauckas, Christopher

2017-01-01

Adaptive time-stepping with high-order embedded Runge-Kutta pairs and rejection sampling provides efficient approaches for solving differential equations. While many such methods exist for solving deterministic systems, little progress has been made for stochastic variants. One challenge in developing adaptive methods for stochastic differential equations (SDEs) is the construction of embedded schemes with direct error estimates. We present a new class of embedded stochastic Runge-Kutta (SRK) methods with strong order 1.5 which have a natural embedding of strong order 1.0 methods. This allows for the derivation of an error estimate which requires no additional function evaluations. Next we derive a general method to reject the time steps without losing information about the future Brownian path termed Rejection Sampling with Memory (RSwM). This method utilizes a stack data structure to do rejection sampling, costing only a few floating point calculations. We show numerically that the methods generate statistically-correct and tolerance-controlled solutions. Lastly, we show that this form of adaptivity can be applied to systems of equations, and demonstrate that it solves a stiff biological model 12.28x faster than common fixed timestep algorithms. Our approach only requires the solution to a bridging problem and thus lends itself to natural generalizations beyond SDEs. PMID:29527134

An internal pilot design for prospective cancer screening trials with unknown disease prevalence.

PubMed

Brinton, John T; Ringham, Brandy M; Glueck, Deborah H

2015-10-13

For studies that compare the diagnostic accuracy of two screening tests, the sample size depends on the prevalence of disease in the study population, and on the variance of the outcome. Both parameters may be unknown during the design stage, which makes finding an accurate sample size difficult. To solve this problem, we propose adapting an internal pilot design. In this adapted design, researchers will accrue some percentage of the planned sample size, then estimate both the disease prevalence and the variances of the screening tests. The updated estimates of the disease prevalence and variance are used to conduct a more accurate power and sample size calculation. We demonstrate that in large samples, the adapted internal pilot design produces no Type I inflation. For small samples (N less than 50), we introduce a novel adjustment of the critical value to control the Type I error rate. We apply the method to two proposed prospective cancer screening studies: 1) a small oral cancer screening study in individuals with Fanconi anemia and 2) a large oral cancer screening trial. Conducting an internal pilot study without adjusting the critical value can cause Type I error rate inflation in small samples, but not in large samples. An internal pilot approach usually achieves goal power and, for most studies with sample size greater than 50, requires no Type I error correction. Further, we have provided a flexible and accurate approach to bound Type I error below a goal level for studies with small sample size.

Fluid Spatial Dynamics of West Nile Virus in the United States: Rapid Spread in a Permissive Host Environment.

PubMed

Di Giallonardo, Francesca; Geoghegan, Jemma L; Docherty, Douglas E; McLean, Robert G; Zody, Michael C; Qu, James; Yang, Xiao; Birren, Bruce W; Malboeuf, Christine M; Newman, Ruchi M; Ip, Hon S; Holmes, Edward C

2016-01-15

The introduction of West Nile virus (WNV) into North America in 1999 is a classic example of viral emergence in a new environment, with its subsequent dispersion across the continent having a major impact on local bird populations. Despite the importance of this epizootic, the pattern, dynamics, and determinants of WNV spread in its natural hosts remain uncertain. In particular, it is unclear whether the virus encountered major barriers to transmission, or spread in an unconstrained manner, and if specific viral lineages were favored over others indicative of intrinsic differences in fitness. To address these key questions in WNV evolution and ecology, we sequenced the complete genomes of approximately 300 avian isolates sampled across the United States between 2001 and 2012. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a relatively star-like tree structure, indicative of explosive viral spread in the United States, although with some replacement of viral genotypes through time. These data are striking in that viral sequences exhibit relatively limited clustering according to geographic region, particularly for those viruses sampled from birds, and no strong phylogenetic association with well-sampled avian species. The genome sequence data analyzed here also contain relatively little evidence for adaptive evolution, particularly of structural proteins, suggesting that most viral lineages are of similar fitness and that WNV is well adapted to the ecology of mosquito vectors and diverse avian hosts in the United States. In sum, the molecular evolution of WNV in North America depicts a largely unfettered expansion within a permissive host and geographic population with little evidence of major adaptive barriers. How viruses spread in new host and geographic environments is central to understanding the emergence and evolution of novel infectious diseases and for predicting their likely impact. The emergence of the vector-borne West Nile virus (WNV) in North America in 1999 represents a classic example of this process. Using approximately 300 new viral genomes sampled from wild birds, we show that WNV experienced an explosive spread with little geographical or host constraints within birds and relatively low levels of adaptive evolution. From its introduction into the state of New York, WNV spread across the United States, reaching California and Florida within 4 years, a migration that is clearly reflected in our genomic sequence data, and with a general absence of distinct geographical clusters of bird viruses. However, some geographically distinct viral lineages were found to circulate in mosquitoes, likely reflecting their limited long-distance movement compared to avian species. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Genome and Transcriptome Analyses Provide Insight into the Euryhaline Adaptation Mechanism of Crassostrea gigas

PubMed Central

Zhang, Linlin; Li, Chunyan; Li, Li; She, Zhicai; Huang, Baoyu; Zhang, Guofan

2013-01-01

Background The Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, has developed special mechanisms to regulate its osmotic balance to adapt to fluctuations of salinities in coastal zones. To understand the oyster’s euryhaline adaptation, we analyzed salt stress effectors metabolism pathways under different salinities (salt 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 for 7 days) using transcriptome data, physiology experiment and quantitative real-time PCR. Results Transcriptome data uncovered 189, 480, 207 and 80 marker genes for monitoring physiology status of oysters and the environment conditions. Three known salt stress effectors (involving ion channels, aquaporins and free amino acids) were examined. The analysis of ion channels and aquaporins indicated that 7 days long-term salt stress inhibited voltage-gated Na+/K+ channel and aquaporin but increased calcium-activated K+ channel and Ca2+ channel. As the most important category of osmotic stress effector, we analyzed the oyster FAAs metabolism pathways (including taurine, glycine, alanine, beta-alanine, proline and arginine) and explained FAAs functional mechanism for oyster low salinity adaptation. FAAs metabolism key enzyme genes displayed expression differentiation in low salinity adapted individuals comparing with control which further indicated that FAAs played important roles for oyster salinity adaptation. A global metabolic pathway analysis (iPath) of oyster expanded genes displayed a co-expansion of FAAs metabolism in C. gigas compared with seven other species, suggesting oyster’s powerful ability regarding FAAs metabolism, allowing it to adapt to fluctuating salinities, which may be one important mechanism underlying euryhaline adaption in oyster. Additionally, using transcriptome data analysis, we uncovered salt stress transduction networks in C. gigas. Conclusions Our results represented oyster salt stress effectors functional mechanisms under salt stress conditions and explained the expansion of FAAs metabolism pathways as the most important effectors for oyster euryhaline adaptation. This study was the first to explain oyster euryhaline adaptation at a genome-wide scale in C. gigas. PMID:23554902

Stochastic, adaptive sampling of information by microvilli in fly photoreceptors.

PubMed

Song, Zhuoyi; Postma, Marten; Billings, Stephen A; Coca, Daniel; Hardie, Roger C; Juusola, Mikko

2012-08-07

In fly photoreceptors, light is focused onto a photosensitive waveguide, the rhabdomere, consisting of tens of thousands of microvilli. Each microvillus is capable of generating elementary responses, quantum bumps, in response to single photons using a stochastically operating phototransduction cascade. Whereas much is known about the cascade reactions, less is known about how the concerted action of the microvilli population encodes light changes into neural information and how the ultrastructure and biochemical machinery of photoreceptors of flies and other insects evolved in relation to the information sampling and processing they perform. We generated biophysically realistic fly photoreceptor models, which accurately simulate the encoding of visual information. By comparing stochastic simulations with single cell recordings from Drosophila photoreceptors, we show how adaptive sampling by 30,000 microvilli captures the temporal structure of natural contrast changes. Following each bump, individual microvilli are rendered briefly (~100-200 ms) refractory, thereby reducing quantum efficiency with increasing intensity. The refractory period opposes saturation, dynamically and stochastically adjusting availability of microvilli (bump production rate: sample rate), whereas intracellular calcium and voltage adapt bump amplitude and waveform (sample size). These adapting sampling principles result in robust encoding of natural light changes, which both approximates perceptual contrast constancy and enhances novel events under different light conditions, and predict information processing across a range of species with different visual ecologies. These results clarify why fly photoreceptors are structured the way they are and function as they do, linking sensory information to sensory evolution and revealing benefits of stochasticity for neural information processing. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stochastic, Adaptive Sampling of Information by Microvilli in Fly Photoreceptors

PubMed Central

Song, Zhuoyi; Postma, Marten; Billings, Stephen A.; Coca, Daniel; Hardie, Roger C.; Juusola, Mikko

2012-01-01

Summary Background In fly photoreceptors, light is focused onto a photosensitive waveguide, the rhabdomere, consisting of tens of thousands of microvilli. Each microvillus is capable of generating elementary responses, quantum bumps, in response to single photons using a stochastically operating phototransduction cascade. Whereas much is known about the cascade reactions, less is known about how the concerted action of the microvilli population encodes light changes into neural information and how the ultrastructure and biochemical machinery of photoreceptors of flies and other insects evolved in relation to the information sampling and processing they perform. Results We generated biophysically realistic fly photoreceptor models, which accurately simulate the encoding of visual information. By comparing stochastic simulations with single cell recordings from Drosophila photoreceptors, we show how adaptive sampling by 30,000 microvilli captures the temporal structure of natural contrast changes. Following each bump, individual microvilli are rendered briefly (∼100–200 ms) refractory, thereby reducing quantum efficiency with increasing intensity. The refractory period opposes saturation, dynamically and stochastically adjusting availability of microvilli (bump production rate: sample rate), whereas intracellular calcium and voltage adapt bump amplitude and waveform (sample size). These adapting sampling principles result in robust encoding of natural light changes, which both approximates perceptual contrast constancy and enhances novel events under different light conditions, and predict information processing across a range of species with different visual ecologies. Conclusions These results clarify why fly photoreceptors are structured the way they are and function as they do, linking sensory information to sensory evolution and revealing benefits of stochasticity for neural information processing. PMID:22704990

Associations between risk perception, spontaneous adaptation behavior to heat waves and heatstroke in Guangdong province, China

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background In many parts of the world, including in China, extreme heat events or heat waves are likely to increase in intensity, frequency, and duration in light of climate change in the next decades. Risk perception and adaptation behaviors are two important components in reducing the health impacts of heat waves, but little is known about their relationships in China. This study aimed to examine the associations between risk perception to heat waves, adaptation behaviors, and heatstroke among the public in Guangdong province, China. Methods A total of 2,183 adult participants were selected using a four-stage sampling method in Guangdong province. From September to November of 2010 each subject was interviewed at home by a well-trained investigator using a structured questionnaire. The information collected included socio-demographic characteristics, risk perception and spontaneous adaptation behaviors during heat wave periods, and heatstroke experience in the last year. Chi-square tests and unconditional logistic regression models were employed to analyze the data. Results This study found that 14.8%, 65.3% and 19.9% of participants perceived heat waves as a low, moderate or high health risk, respectively. About 99.1% participants employed at least one spontaneous adaptation behavior, and 26.2%, 51.2% and 22.6% respondents employed <4, 4–7, and >7 adaptation behaviors during heat waves, respectively. Individuals with moderate (OR=2.93, 95% CI: 1.38-6.22) or high (OR=10.58, 95% CI: 4.74-23.63) risk perception experienced more heatstroke in the past year than others. Drinking more water and wearing light clothes in urban areas, while decreasing activity as well as wearing light clothes in rural areas were negatively associated with heatstroke. Individuals with high risk perception and employing <4 adaptation behaviors during heat waves had the highest risks of heatstroke (OR=47.46, 95% CI: 12.82-175.73). Conclusions There is a large room for improving health risk perception and adaptation capacity to heat waves among the public of Guangdong province. People with higher risk perception and fewer adaptation behaviors during heat waves may be more vulnerable to heat waves. PMID:24088302

Associations between risk perception, spontaneous adaptation behavior to heat waves and heatstroke in Guangdong province, China.

PubMed

Liu, Tao; Xu, Yan Jun; Zhang, Yong Hui; Yan, Qing Hua; Song, Xiu Ling; Xie, Hui Yan; Luo, Yuan; Rutherford, Shannon; Chu, Cordia; Lin, Hua Liang; Ma, Wen Jun

2013-10-02

In many parts of the world, including in China, extreme heat events or heat waves are likely to increase in intensity, frequency, and duration in light of climate change in the next decades. Risk perception and adaptation behaviors are two important components in reducing the health impacts of heat waves, but little is known about their relationships in China. This study aimed to examine the associations between risk perception to heat waves, adaptation behaviors, and heatstroke among the public in Guangdong province, China. A total of 2,183 adult participants were selected using a four-stage sampling method in Guangdong province. From September to November of 2010 each subject was interviewed at home by a well-trained investigator using a structured questionnaire. The information collected included socio-demographic characteristics, risk perception and spontaneous adaptation behaviors during heat wave periods, and heatstroke experience in the last year. Chi-square tests and unconditional logistic regression models were employed to analyze the data. This study found that 14.8%, 65.3% and 19.9% of participants perceived heat waves as a low, moderate or high health risk, respectively. About 99.1% participants employed at least one spontaneous adaptation behavior, and 26.2%, 51.2% and 22.6% respondents employed <4, 4-7, and >7 adaptation behaviors during heat waves, respectively. Individuals with moderate (OR=2.93, 95% CI: 1.38-6.22) or high (OR=10.58, 95% CI: 4.74-23.63) risk perception experienced more heatstroke in the past year than others. Drinking more water and wearing light clothes in urban areas, while decreasing activity as well as wearing light clothes in rural areas were negatively associated with heatstroke. Individuals with high risk perception and employing <4 adaptation behaviors during heat waves had the highest risks of heatstroke (OR=47.46, 95% CI: 12.82-175.73). There is a large room for improving health risk perception and adaptation capacity to heat waves among the public of Guangdong province. People with higher risk perception and fewer adaptation behaviors during heat waves may be more vulnerable to heat waves.

Effects of cognitive control training on the dynamics of (mal)adaptive emotion regulation in daily life.

PubMed

Hoorelbeke, Kristof; Koster, Ernst H W; Demeyer, Ineke; Loeys, Tom; Vanderhasselt, Marie-Anne

2016-10-01

Cognitive control plays a key role in both adaptive emotion regulation, such as positive reappraisal, and maladaptive emotion regulation, such as rumination, with both strategies playing a major role in resilience and well-being. As a result, cognitive control training (CCT) targeting working memory functioning may have the potential to reduce maladaptive emotion regulation and increase adaptive emotion regulation. The current study explored the effects of CCT on positive reappraisal ability in a lab context, and deployment and efficacy of positive appraisal and rumination in daily life. A sample of undergraduates (n = 83) was allocated to CCT or an active control condition, performing 10 online training sessions over a period of 14 days. Effects on regulation of affective states in daily life were assessed using experience sampling over a 7-day posttraining period. Results revealed a positive association between baseline cognitive control and self-reported use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies, whereas maladaptive emotion regulation strategies showed a negative association. CCT showed transfer to working memory functioning on the dual n-back task. Overall, effects of CCT on emotion regulation were limited to reducing deployment of rumination in low positive affective states. However, we did not find beneficial effects on indicators of adaptive emotion regulation. These findings are in line with previous studies targeting maladaptive emotion regulation but suggest limited use in enhancing adaptive emotion regulation in a healthy sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluation of Dried Urine Spot Method to Screen Cotinine among Tobacco Dependents: An Exploratory Study.

PubMed

Jain, Raka; Quraishi, Rizwana; Verma, Arpita

2017-01-01

Assessment of cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine in body fluids, is an important approach for validating the self-report among tobacco users. Adaptation of assays on dried urine spots (DUSs) has advantages of ease of collection, transportation, minimal invasiveness, and requirement of small volume. The aim of the present study was to develop an efficient method for testing cotinine in DUSs and evaluating its clinical applicability. This involved optimization of conditions for detection, recovery, and stability of cotinine from dried urine, spotted on filter paper. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used for screening, whereas confirmation was done by gas chromatography. For clinical applicability, urine samples of tobacco users were tested. Water was found to be a suitable extracting solvent as compared to carbonate-bicarbonate buffer (pH 9.2) and saline. Screening was achieved by two punches taken from a 20 μl (diameter 1.3 cm) spotted urine samples, and confirmation was achieved by five complete circles each of 20 μl sample volume. The recovery was found to be 97% in water. Limit of detection for the method was found to be 100 ng/ml. No signs of significant degradation were found under all storage conditions. All the urine samples of tobacco users were found to be positive by a conventional method as well as DUSs, and the method proved to be efficient. DUS samples are a useful alternative for biological monitoring of recent nicotine use, especially in developing countries where sample logistics could be an important concern.

Radiological image presentation requires consideration of human adaptation characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Connell, N. M.; Toomey, R. J.; McEntee, M.; Ryan, J.; Stowe, J.; Adams, A.; Brennan, P. C.

2008-03-01

Visualisation of anatomical or pathological image data is highly dependent on the eye's ability to discriminate between image brightnesses and this is best achieved when these data are presented to the viewer at luminance levels to which the eye is adapted. Current ambient light recommendations are often linked to overall monitor luminance but this relies on specific regions of interest matching overall monitor brightness. The current work investigates the luminances of specific regions of interest within three image-types: postero-anterior (PA) chest; PA wrist; computerised tomography (CT) of the head. Luminance levels were measured within the hilar region and peripheral lung distal radius and supra-ventricular grey matter. For each image type average monitor luminances were calculated with a calibrated photometer at ambient light levels of 0, 100 and 400 lux. Thirty samples of each image-type were employed, resulting in a total of over 6,000 measurements. Results demonstrate that average monitor luminances varied from clinically-significant values by up to a factor of 4, 2 and 6 for chest, wrist and CT head images respectively. Values for the thoracic hilum and wrist were higher and for the peripheral lung and CT brain lower than overall monitor levels. The ambient light level had no impact on the results. The results demonstrate that clinically important radiological information for common radiological examinations is not being presented to the viewer in a way that facilitates optimised visual adaptation and subsequent interpretation. The importance of image-processing algorithms focussing on clinically-significant anatomical regions instead of radiographic projections is highlighted.

Temperature-stress resistance and tolerance along a latitudinal cline in North American Arabidopsis lyrata.

PubMed

Wos, Guillaume; Willi, Yvonne

2015-01-01

The study of latitudinal gradients can yield important insights into adaptation to temperature stress. Two strategies are available: resistance by limiting damage, or tolerance by reducing the fitness consequences of damage. Here we studied latitudinal variation in resistance and tolerance to frost and heat and tested the prediction of a trade-off between the two strategies and their costliness. We raised plants of replicate maternal seed families from eight populations of North American Arabidopsis lyrata collected along a latitudinal gradient in climate chambers and exposed them repeatedly to either frost or heat stress, while a set of control plants grew under standard conditions. When control plants reached maximum rosette size, leaf samples were exposed to frost and heat stress, and electrolyte leakage (PEL) was measured and treated as an estimate of resistance. Difference in maximum rosette size between stressed and control plants was used as an estimate of tolerance. Northern populations were more frost resistant, and less heat resistant and less heat tolerant, but-unexpectedly-they were also less frost tolerant. Negative genetic correlations between resistance and tolerance to the same and different thermal stress were generally not significant, indicating only weak trade-offs. However, tolerance to frost was consistently accompanied by small size under control conditions, which may explain the non-adaptive latitudinal pattern for frost tolerance. Our results suggest that adaptation to frost and heat is not constrained by trade-offs between them. But the cost of frost tolerance in terms of plant size reduction may be important for the limits of species distributions and climate niches.

Dynamics of Copy Number Variation in Host Races of the Pea Aphid

PubMed Central

Duvaux, Ludovic; Geissmann, Quentin; Gharbi, Karim; Zhou, Jing-Jiang; Ferrari, Julia; Smadja, Carole M.; Butlin, Roger K.

2015-01-01

Copy number variation (CNV) makes a major contribution to overall genetic variation and is suspected to play an important role in adaptation. However, aside from a few model species, the extent of CNV in natural populations has seldom been investigated. Here, we report on CNV in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, a powerful system for studying the genetic architecture of host-plant adaptation and speciation thanks to multiple host races forming a continuum of genetic divergence. Recent studies have highlighted the potential importance of chemosensory genes, including the gustatory and olfactory receptor gene families (Gr and Or, respectively), in the process of host race formation. We used targeted resequencing to achieve a very high depth of coverage, and thereby revealed the extent of CNV of 434 genes, including 150 chemosensory genes, in 104 individuals distributed across eight host races of the pea aphid. We found that CNV was widespread in our global sample, with a significantly higher occurrence in multigene families, especially in Ors. We also observed a decrease in the gene probability of being completely duplicated or deleted (CDD) with increase in coding sequence length. Genes with CDD variants were usually more polymorphic for copy number, especially in the P450 gene family where toxin resistance may be related to gene dosage. We found that Gr were overrepresented among genes discriminating host races, as were CDD genes and pseudogenes. Our observations shed new light on CNV dynamics and are consistent with CNV playing a role in both local adaptation and speciation. PMID:25234705

Cultural adaptation of an evidence-based nursing intervention to improve medication adherence among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in China.

PubMed

Williams, Ann B; Wang, Honghong; Burgess, Jane; Li, Xianhong; Danvers, Karina

2013-04-01

Adapting nursing interventions to suit the needs and culture of a new population (cultural adaptation) is an important early step in the process of implementation and dissemination. While the need for cultural adaptation is widely accepted, research-based strategies for doing so are not well articulated. Non-adherence to medications for chronic disease is a global problem and cultural adaptation of existing evidence-based interventions could be useful. This paper aims to describe the cultural adaptation of an evidence-based nursing intervention to improve medication adherence among people living with HIV/AIDS and to offer recommendations for adaptation of interventions across cultures and borders. SITE: The intervention, which demonstrated efficacy in a randomized controlled trial in North America, was adapted for the cultural and social context of Hunan Province, in south central China. The adaptation process was undertaken by intervention stakeholders including the original intervention study team, the proposed adaptation team, and members of a Community Advisory Board, including people living with HIV/AIDS, family members, and health care workers at the target clinical sites. The adaptation process was driven by quantitative and qualitative data describing the new population and context and was guided by principles for cultural adaptation drawn from prevention science research. The primary adaptation to the intervention was the inclusion of family members in intervention activities, in response to the cultural and social importance of the family in rural China. In a pilot test of the adapted intervention, self-reported medication adherence improved significantly in the group receiving the intervention compared to the control group (p=0.01). Recommendations for cultural adaptation of nursing interventions include (1) involve stakeholders from the beginning; (2) assess the population, need, and context; (3) evaluate the intervention to be adapted with attention to details of the original studies that demonstrated efficacy; (4) compare important elements of the original intervention with those of the proposed new population and context to identify primary points for adaptation; (5) explicitly identify sources of tension between intervention fidelity and cultural adaptive needs; (6) document the process of adaptation, pilot the adapted intervention, and evaluate its effectiveness before moving to dissemination and implementation on a large scale. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deterministic alternatives to the full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo method for strongly correlated systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tubman, Norm; Whaley, Birgitta

The development of exponential scaling methods has seen great progress in tackling larger systems than previously thought possible. One such technique, full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo, allows exact diagonalization through stochastically sampling of determinants. The method derives its utility from the information in the matrix elements of the Hamiltonian, together with a stochastic projected wave function, which are used to explore the important parts of Hilbert space. However, a stochastic representation of the wave function is not required to search Hilbert space efficiently and new deterministic approaches have recently been shown to efficiently find the important parts of determinant space. We shall discuss the technique of Adaptive Sampling Configuration Interaction (ASCI) and the related heat-bath Configuration Interaction approach for ground state and excited state simulations. We will present several applications for strongly correlated Hamiltonians. This work was supported through the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research and Basic Energy Sciences.

Developing an Instructional Material Using a Concept Cartoon Adapted to the 5E Model: A Sample of Teaching Erosion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birisci, Salih; Metin, Mustafa

2010-01-01

Using different instructional materials adapted within the constructivist learning theory will enhance students' conceptual understanding. From this point of view, an instructional instrument using a concept cartoon adapted with 5E model has developed and introduced in this study. The study has some deficiencies in investigating students'…

Preparing Adapted Physical Educators to Teach Students with Autism: Current Practices and Future Directions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Healy, Sean; Judge, Joann P.; Block, Martin E.; Kwon, Eun Hye

2016-01-01

For many students with autism spectrum disorder, physical education is the responsibility of an adapted physical education specialist. In this study, we examined the training focused on teaching students with autism spectrum disorder received by a sample of 106 adapted physical education specialists. Competencies necessary on a course to train…

The influence of taekwondo training on school-life adaptation and exercise value in the United States

PubMed Central

Cho, Ik Rae; Park, Hyo Joo; Lee, Taek Kyun

2018-01-01

Previous experience has shown that school-based taekwondo training in the United States (US) results in many beneficial effect sregarding school education and the physical health of the adolescent participants; of especial significance, the training plays an important role in terms of exercise value and school-life adaptation. To explore this overall effect, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 401 adolescents over the age of 10 years. The survey comprisesa total of 29 questions that consist of 17 exercise-value-related questions (general, moral, and status) and 12 questions that are related to school-life adaptation (adaptation to teachers, adaptation to academic activities, adaptation to rule compliance, and adaptation to school activities). The survey results show that taekwondo training affects school-life adaptation by helping to improve student morality and by bolstering the students compliance with school rules during their schooling. The exercise value of taekwondo training is considered a necessity for US adolescents due to the corresponding educational aspects; in particular, the training plays a very important role in the maintenance of amenable student-teacher and student-peer relationships. From the previously mentioned findings, and if taekwondo teachers train their students carefully with educational missions in mind, it is expected that taekwondo training will play a very important role in the cultivation of anappropriate education value among US adolescents. PMID:29740554

The influence of taekwondo training on school-life adaptation and exercise value in the United States.

PubMed

Cho, Ik Rae; Park, Hyo Joo; Lee, Taek Kyun

2018-04-01

Previous experience has shown that school-based taekwondo training in the United States (US) results in many beneficial effect sregarding school education and the physical health of the adolescent participants; of especial significance, the training plays an important role in terms of exercise value and school-life adaptation. To explore this overall effect, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 401 adolescents over the age of 10 years. The survey comprisesa total of 29 questions that consist of 17 exercise-value-related questions (general, moral, and status) and 12 questions that are related to school-life adaptation (adaptation to teachers, adaptation to academic activities, adaptation to rule compliance, and adaptation to school activities). The survey results show that taekwondo training affects school-life adaptation by helping to improve student morality and by bolstering the students compliance with school rules during their schooling. The exercise value of taekwondo training is considered a necessity for US adolescents due to the corresponding educational aspects; in particular, the training plays a very important role in the maintenance of amenable student-teacher and student-peer relationships. From the previously mentioned findings, and if taekwondo teachers train their students carefully with educational missions in mind, it is expected that taekwondo training will play a very important role in the cultivation of anappropriate education value among US adolescents.

Nutrition and training adaptations in aquatic sports.

PubMed

Mujika, Iñigo; Stellingwerff, Trent; Tipton, Kevin

2014-08-01

The adaptive response to training is determined by the combination of the intensity, volume, and frequency of the training. Various periodized approaches to training are used by aquatic sports athletes to achieve performance peaks. Nutritional support to optimize training adaptations should take periodization into consideration; that is, nutrition should also be periodized to optimally support training and facilitate adaptations. Moreover, other aspects of training (e.g., overload training, tapering and detraining) should be considered when making nutrition recommendations for aquatic athletes. There is evidence, albeit not in aquatic sports, that restricting carbohydrate availability may enhance some training adaptations. More research needs to be performed, particularly in aquatic sports, to determine the optimal strategy for periodizing carbohydrate intake to optimize adaptations. Protein nutrition is an important consideration for optimal training adaptations. Factors other than the total amount of daily protein intake should be considered. For instance, the type of protein, timing and pattern of protein intake and the amount of protein ingested at any one time influence the metabolic response to protein ingestion. Body mass and composition are important for aquatic sport athletes in relation to power-to-mass and for aesthetic reasons. Protein may be particularly important for athletes desiring to maintain muscle while losing body mass. Nutritional supplements, such as b-alanine and sodium bicarbonate, may have particular usefulness for aquatic athletes' training adaptation.

The Role of Career Adaptabilities for Mid-Career Changers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Alan; Bimrose, Jenny; Barnes, Sally-Anne; Hughes, Deirdre

2012-01-01

Career adaptability is mediated by personality factors and socio-psychological processes, with learning playing an important role. Using a five-fold career adapt-abilities competency framework (defined here as control, curiosity, commitment, confidence and concern), which was developed from the international quantitative study that is the focus of…

One Teacher's Instructional Adaptations and Her Students' Reflections on the Adaptations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsons, Seth A.; Vaughn, Margaret

2016-01-01

Currently, much debate exists nationally regarding how to define and measure teacher effectiveness. Educators and researchers agree that adaptability is an important aspect of teacher effectiveness. Teachers must adapt their instruction to navigate the complexity of classroom instruction. However, little research has specifically examined teacher…

TRAJECTORIES OF ACCULTURATION AND ENCULTURATION IN RELATION TO HEAVY EPISODIC DRINKING AND MARIJUANA USE IN A SAMPLE OF MEXICAN AMERICAN SERIOUS JUVENILE OFFENDERS

PubMed Central

Losoya, Sandra H.; Knight, George P.; Chassin, Laurie; Little, Michelle; Vargas-Chanes, Delfino; Mauricio, Anne; Piquero, Alex

2009-01-01

This study examines the longitudinal relations of multiple dimensions of acculturation and enculturation to heavy episodic drinking and marijuana use in a sample of 300 male, Mexican-American, serious juvenile offenders. We track trajectories between ages 15 and 20 and also consider the effects of participants’ time spent residing in supervised settings during these years. Results showed some (although not entirely consistent) support for the hypothesis that bicultural adaptation is most functional in terms of lowered substance use involvement. The current findings demonstrate the importance of examining these relations longitudinally and among multiple dimensions of acculturation and enculturation, and they call into question simple models that suggest that greater acculturation is associated with greater substance use among Mexican-American adolescents. PMID:20198119

On the importance of distinguishing shame from guilt: Relations to problematic alcohol and drug use

PubMed Central

Dearing, Ronda L.; Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June Price

2011-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that shame-proneness (the tendency to feel bad about the self) relates to a variety of life problems, whereas guilt-proneness (the tendency to feel bad about a specific behavior) is more likely to be adaptive. The current analyses sought to clarify the relations of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness to substance use problems in three samples with differing levels of alcohol and drug problem severity: college undergraduates (Study 1 N =235, Study 2 N =249) and jail inmates (Study 3 N =332). Across samples, shame-proneness was generally positively correlated with substance use problems, whereas guilt-proneness was inversely related (or unrelated) to substance use problems. Results suggest that shame and guilt should be considered separately in the prevention and treatment of substance misuse. PMID:16022935

Rapid evolution in insect pests: the importance of space and time in population genomics studies.

PubMed

Pélissié, Benjamin; Crossley, Michael S; Cohen, Zachary Paul; Schoville, Sean D

2018-04-01

Pest species in agroecosystems often exhibit patterns of rapid evolution to environmental and human-imposed selection pressures. Although the role of adaptive processes is well accepted, few insect pests have been studied in detail and most research has focused on selection at insecticide resistance candidate genes. Emerging genomic datasets provide opportunities to detect and quantify selection in insect pest populations, and address long-standing questions about mechanisms underlying rapid evolutionary change. We examine the strengths of recent studies that stratify population samples both in space (along environmental gradients and comparing ancestral vs. derived populations) and in time (using chronological sampling, museum specimens and comparative phylogenomics), resulting in critical insights on evolutionary processes, and providing new directions for studying pests in agroecosystems. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adaptive Sampling of Time Series During Remote Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, David R.

2012-01-01

This work deals with the challenge of online adaptive data collection in a time series. A remote sensor or explorer agent adapts its rate of data collection in order to track anomalous events while obeying constraints on time and power. This problem is challenging because the agent has limited visibility (all its datapoints lie in the past) and limited control (it can only decide when to collect its next datapoint). This problem is treated from an information-theoretic perspective, fitting a probabilistic model to collected data and optimizing the future sampling strategy to maximize information gain. The performance characteristics of stationary and nonstationary Gaussian process models are compared. Self-throttling sensors could benefit environmental sensor networks and monitoring as well as robotic exploration. Explorer agents can improve performance by adjusting their data collection rate, preserving scarce power or bandwidth resources during uninteresting times while fully covering anomalous events of interest. For example, a remote earthquake sensor could conserve power by limiting its measurements during normal conditions and increasing its cadence during rare earthquake events. A similar capability could improve sensor platforms traversing a fixed trajectory, such as an exploration rover transect or a deep space flyby. These agents can adapt observation times to improve sample coverage during moments of rapid change. An adaptive sampling approach couples sensor autonomy, instrument interpretation, and sampling. The challenge is addressed as an active learning problem, which already has extensive theoretical treatment in the statistics and machine learning literature. A statistical Gaussian process (GP) model is employed to guide sample decisions that maximize information gain. Nonsta tion - ary (e.g., time-varying) covariance relationships permit the system to represent and track local anomalies, in contrast with current GP approaches. Most common GP models are stationary, e.g., the covariance relationships are time-invariant. In such cases, information gain is independent of previously collected data, and the optimal solution can always be computed in advance. Information-optimal sampling of a stationary GP time series thus reduces to even spacing, and such models are not appropriate for tracking localized anomalies. Additionally, GP model inference can be computationally expensive.

Adaptation of Methanogenic Inocula to Anaerobic Digestion of Maize Silage

PubMed Central

Wojcieszak, Martyna; Pyzik, Adam; Poszytek, Krzysztof; Krawczyk, Pawel S.; Sobczak, Adam; Lipinski, Leszek; Roubinek, Otton; Palige, Jacek; Sklodowska, Aleksandra; Drewniak, Lukasz

2017-01-01

A well-balanced microbial consortium is crucial for efficient biogas production. In turn, one of a major factor that influence on the structure of anaerobic digestion (AD) consortium is a source of microorganisms which are used as an inoculum. This study evaluated the influence of inoculum sources (with various origin) on adaptation of a biogas community and the efficiency of the biomethanization of maize silage. As initial inocula for AD of maize silage the samples from: (i) an agricultural biogas plant (ABP) which utilizes maize silage as a main substrate, (ii) cattle slurry (CS), which contain elevated levels of lignocelluloses materials, and (iii) raw sewage sludge (RSS) with low content of plant origin materials were used. The adaptation of methanogenic consortia was monitored during a series of passages, and the functionality of the adapted consortia was verified through start-up operation of AD in two-stage reactors. During the first stages of the adaptation phase, methanogenic consortia occurred very slowly, and only after several passages did the microbial community adapts to allow production of biogas with high methane content. The ABP consortium revealed highest biogas production in the adaptation and in the start-up process. The biodiversity dynamics monitored during adaptation and start-up process showed that community profile changed in a similar direction in three studied consortia. Native communities were very distinct to each other, while at the end of the Phase II of the start-up process microbial diversity profile was similar in all consortia. All adopted bacterial communities were dominated by representatives of Porphyromonadaceae, Rikenellaceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Synergistaceae. A shift from low acetate-preferring acetoclastic Methanosaetaceae (ABP and RSS) and/or hydrogenotrophic Archaea, e.g., Methanomicrobiaceae (CS) prevailing in the inoculum samples to larger populations of high acetate-preferring acetoclastic Methanosarcinaceae was observed by the end of the experiment. As a result, three independent, functional communities that syntrophically produced methane from acetate (primarily) and H2/CO2, methanol and methylamines were adapted. This study provides new insights into the specific process by which different inocula sampled from typical methanogenic environments that are commonly used to initiate industrial installations gradually adapted to allow biogas production from maize silage. PMID:29033919

How to measure heat capacity of metals at 10s to 100s of GPa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geballe, Z. M.; Townley, A.; Jeanloz, R.

2014-12-01

Adapting methods of calorimetry to the diamond-anvil cell can provide important new information for understanding planetary interiors. Here we show that heat capacity of metals can be measured to the 10-100 GPa range by using AC electrical heating inside diamond anvil cells. Frequencies of f ≈ 1-100 MHz must be used to contain the heat within the sample of interest, as evidenced by numerical and physical models of heat flow: f > DinsCins2/(Csamdsam)2, where Dins is the thermal diffusivity of the insulation, Cins and Csam are specific heat capacities of insulation and metal sample, and dsam is sample thickness. Heat must be deposited uniformly (e.g. skin depth > sample thickness) for the most accurate and unambiguous measurements, thereby allowing measurement of the energetics of pre-melting, melting and partial melting of metals, including iron and its alloys. In principle, high-pressure calorimetry can be used to independently determine melting at high pressures, and also to quantify latent heats of fusion, thereby revealing the density of liquid metals at Earth core conditions.

Optimal Asset Distribution for Environmental Assessment and Forecasting Based on Observations, Adaptive Sampling, and Numerical Prediction

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-30

and Forecasting Based on Observations, Adaptive Sampling, and Numerical Prediction Steven R. Ramp Soliton Ocean Services, Inc. 691 Country Club... Soliton Ocean Services, Inc,691 Country Club Drive,Monterey,CA,93924 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S...shortwave. The results show that the incoming shortwave radiation was the dominant term, even when averaged over the dark hours, which accounts

Impact of learning adaptability and time management disposition on study engagement among Chinese baccalaureate nursing students.

PubMed

Liu, Jing-Ying; Liu, Yan-Hui; Yang, Ji-Peng

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among study engagement, learning adaptability, and time management disposition in a sample of Chinese baccalaureate nursing students. A convenient sample of 467 baccalaureate nursing students was surveyed in two universities in Tianjin, China. Students completed a questionnaire that included their demographic information, Chinese Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student Questionnaire, Learning Adaptability Scale, and Adolescence Time Management Disposition Scale. One-way analysis of variance tests were used to assess the relationship between certain characteristics of baccalaureate nursing students. Pearson correlation was performed to test the correlation among study engagement, learning adaptability, and time management disposition. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to explore the mediating role of time management disposition. The results revealed that study engagement (F = 7.20, P < .01) and learning adaptability (F = 4.41, P < .01) differed across grade groups. Learning adaptability (r = 0.382, P < .01) and time management disposition (r = 0.741, P < .01) were positively related with study engagement. Time management disposition had a partially mediating effect on the relationship between study engagement and learning adaptability. The findings implicate that educators should not only promote interventions to increase engagement of baccalaureate nursing students but also focus on development, investment in adaptability, and time management. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pupil-segmentation-based adaptive optics for microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Na; Milkie, Daniel E.; Betzig, Eric

2011-03-01

Inhomogeneous optical properties of biological samples make it difficult to obtain diffraction-limited resolution in depth. Correcting the sample-induced optical aberrations needs adaptive optics (AO). However, the direct wavefront-sensing approach commonly used in astronomy is not suitable for most biological samples due to their strong scattering of light. We developed an image-based AO approach that is insensitive to sample scattering. By comparing images of the sample taken with different segments of the pupil illuminated, local tilt in the wavefront is measured from image shift. The aberrated wavefront is then obtained either by measuring the local phase directly using interference or with phase reconstruction algorithms similar to those used in astronomical AO. We implemented this pupil-segmentation-based approach in a two-photon fluorescence microscope and demonstrated that diffraction-limited resolution can be recovered from nonbiological and biological samples.

Reversible Cryopreservation of Living Cells Using an Electron Microscopy Cryo-Fixation Method.

PubMed

Huebinger, Jan; Han, Hong-Mei; Grabenbauer, Markus

2016-01-01

Rapid cooling of aqueous solutions is a useful approach for two important biological applications: (I) cryopreservation of cells and tissues for long-term storage, and (II) cryofixation for ultrastructural investigations by electron and cryo-electron microscopy. Usually, both approaches are very different in methodology. Here we show that a novel, fast and easy to use cryofixation technique called self-pressurized rapid freezing (SPRF) is-after some adaptations-also a useful and versatile technique for cryopreservation. Sealed metal tubes with high thermal diffusivity containing the samples are plunged into liquid cryogen. Internal pressure builds up reducing ice crystal formation and therefore supporting reversible cryopreservation through vitrification of cells. After rapid rewarming of pressurized samples, viability rates of > 90% can be reached, comparable to best-performing of the established rapid cooling devices tested. In addition, the small SPRF tubes allow for space-saving sample storage and the sealed containers prevent contamination from or into the cryogen during freezing, storage, or thawing.

Comprehensive profiling and marker identification in non-volatile citrus oil residues by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance.

PubMed

Marti, Guillaume; Boccard, Julien; Mehl, Florence; Debrus, Benjamin; Marcourt, Laurence; Merle, Philippe; Delort, Estelle; Baroux, Lucie; Sommer, Horst; Rudaz, Serge; Wolfender, Jean-Luc

2014-05-01

The detailed characterization of cold-pressed lemon oils (CPLOs) is of great importance for the flavor and fragrance (F&F) industry. Since a control of authenticity by standard analytical techniques can be bypassed using elaborated adulterated oils to pretend a higher quality, a combination of advanced orthogonal methods has been developed. The present study describes a combined metabolomic approach based on UHPLC-TOF-MS profiling and (1)H NMR fingerprinting to highlight metabolite differences on a set of representative samples used in the F&F industry. A new protocol was set up and adapted to the use of CPLO residues. Multivariate analysis based on both fingerprinting methods showed significant chemical variations between Argentinian and Italian samples. Discriminating markers identified in mixtures belong to furocoumarins, flavonoids, terpenoids and fatty acids. Quantitative NMR revealed low citropten and high bergamottin content in Italian samples. The developed metabolomic approach applied to CPLO residues gives some new perspectives for authenticity assessment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the role of dimensionality and sample size for unstructured and structured covariance matrix estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morgera, S. D.; Cooper, D. B.

1976-01-01

The experimental observation that a surprisingly small sample size vis-a-vis dimension is needed to achieve good signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) performance with an adaptive predetection filter is explained. The adaptive filter requires estimates as obtained by a recursive stochastic algorithm of the inverse of the filter input data covariance matrix. The SIR performance with sample size is compared for the situations where the covariance matrix estimates are of unstructured (generalized) form and of structured (finite Toeplitz) form; the latter case is consistent with weak stationarity of the input data stochastic process.

Latino immigrants, depressive symptoms, and cognitive behavioral therapy: A systematic review.

PubMed

Pineros-Leano, Maria; Liechty, Janet M; Piedra, Lissette M

2017-01-15

In order to address the needs of the growing Latino immigrant population, this study aimed to systematically review peer-reviewed articles of intervention studies that used cognitive behavioral therapy to treat depressive symptoms among Latino immigrants in the U.S. We searched PsycINFO, PubMed, and Medline databases from January 1995 through July 2016 as part of a registered review protocol (PROSPERO) following PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion criteria were intervention studies that used cognitive behavioral techniques to treat depressive symptoms among a predominantly U.S. Latino immigrant sample -- or subsample with disaggregated results, and the use of standardized measures of depression. We used the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute quality assessment tools for systematic reviews to assess risk of bias. We identified 11 studies that met inclusion criteria. Nine of the included studies reported a reduction of depressive symptoms. Each study used a least one cultural adaptation to deliver the intervention. Using an existing content model, cultural adaptations were categorized as (a) cognitive-informational adaptations, (b) affective-motivational adaptations, and (c) environmental adaptations. Heterogeneity of articles in terms of sample size, cultural adaptations, methodological rigor, and setting limited comparability of effectiveness across studies. Culturally adapted CBT to address depressive symptoms among Latino immigrants appears promising but further research is needed. The most commonly used cultural adaptations included language, inclusion of migration experience, and adjusting for literacy level. Study design elements and adaptations were often responsive to geographic characteristics and available resources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Problems in the process of adapting to change among the family caregivers of elderly people with dementia].

PubMed

Moreno-Cámara, Sara; Palomino-Moral, Pedro Ángel; Moral-Fernández, Lourdes; Frías-Osuna, Antonio; Del-Pino-Casado, Rafael

2016-01-01

To identify and analyse problems in adapting to change among the family caregivers of relatives with dementia. Qualitative study based on the methodology of Charmaz's Constructivist Grounded Theory. Seven focus groups were conducted in different primary health care centres in the province of Jaen (Spain). Eighty-two primary family caregivers of relatives with dementia participated by purposeful maximum variation sampling and theoretical sampling. Triangulation analysis was carried out to increase internal validity. We obtained three main categories: 'Changing Care', 'Problems in the process of adapting to change' and 'Facilitators of the process of adapting to change'. Family caregivers perform their role in a context characterized by personal change, both in the person receiving the care and in the social and cultural context. The challenge of adaptation lies in the balance between the problems that hamper adaptation of the caregiver to new situations of care and the factors that facilitate the caregiver role. The adaptation of family caregivers to caring for a person with dementia is hindered by the lack of formal support and under-diagnosis of dementia. The adaptation process could be improved by strengthening formal support in the early stages of care to reduce the stress of family caregivers who must teach themselves about their task and by interventions adapted to each phase in the development of the caregiver role. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Adaptive vehicle motion estimation and prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Liang; Thorpe, Chuck E.

1999-01-01

Accurate motion estimation and reliable maneuver prediction enable an automated car to react quickly and correctly to the rapid maneuvers of the other vehicles, and so allow safe and efficient navigation. In this paper, we present a car tracking system which provides motion estimation, maneuver prediction and detection of the tracked car. The three strategies employed - adaptive motion modeling, adaptive data sampling, and adaptive model switching probabilities - result in an adaptive interacting multiple model algorithm (AIMM). The experimental results on simulated and real data demonstrate that our tracking system is reliable, flexible, and robust. The adaptive tracking makes the system intelligent and useful in various autonomous driving tasks.

The unconscious pursuit of emotion regulation: Implications for psychological health

PubMed Central

Hopp, Henrik; Troy, Allison S.; Mauss, Iris B.

2012-01-01

Because of the central involvement of emotion regulation in psychological health and the role that implicit (largely unconscious) processes appear to play in emotion regulation, implicit emotion-regulatory processes should play a vital role in psychological health. We hypothesised that implicitly valuing emotion regulation translates into better psychological health in individuals who use adaptive emotion-regulation strategies. A community sample of 222 individuals (56% women) who had recently experienced a stressful life event completed an implicit measure of emotion regulation valuing (ER-IAT) and reported on their habitual use of an important adaptive emotion-regulation strategy: cognitive reappraisal. We measured three domains of psychological health: well-being, depressive symptoms, and social adjustment. As hypothesised, individuals who implicitly valued emotion regulation exhibited greater levels of psychological health, but only when they were high in cognitive reappraisal use. These findings suggest that salutary effects of unconscious emotion-regulation processes depend on its interplay with conscious emotion-regulation processes. PMID:21432692

Stress coping strategies, spirituality, social support and posttraumatic growth in a Polish sample of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

PubMed

Rzeszutek, Marcin; Oniszczenko, Włodzimierz; Kwiatkowska, Brygida

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to explore the level of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and its relationship to the level of stress coping strategies, spirituality and social support among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients (n = 250). The level of PTG was measured by the Polish adaptation of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Stress coping strategies were evaluated by the Polish adaptation of the Mini-COPE Inventory. Spirituality was measured by the Self-Description Questionnaire. Social support was assessed with the Berlin Social Support Scales. Stress coping strategies (return to religion, acceptance), spirituality and social support (need for support) were significantly related to the level of PTG among participants. Despite evidence of a beneficial relationship between PTG and the course of RA, little empirical attention has been paid to the factors associated with PTG among this patient group. Given the substantial health-related benefits associated with PTG among RA patients, it is important to further explore the phenomena of PTG among RA patients.

A worldwide survey of genome sequence variation provides insight into the evolutionary history of the honeybee Apis mellifera.

PubMed

Wallberg, Andreas; Han, Fan; Wellhagen, Gustaf; Dahle, Bjørn; Kawata, Masakado; Haddad, Nizar; Simões, Zilá Luz Paulino; Allsopp, Mike H; Kandemir, Irfan; De la Rúa, Pilar; Pirk, Christian W; Webster, Matthew T

2014-10-01

The honeybee Apis mellifera has major ecological and economic importance. We analyze patterns of genetic variation at 8.3 million SNPs, identified by sequencing 140 honeybee genomes from a worldwide sample of 14 populations at a combined total depth of 634×. These data provide insight into the evolutionary history and genetic basis of local adaptation in this species. We find evidence that population sizes have fluctuated greatly, mirroring historical fluctuations in climate, although contemporary populations have high genetic diversity, indicating the absence of domestication bottlenecks. Levels of genetic variation are strongly shaped by natural selection and are highly correlated with patterns of gene expression and DNA methylation. We identify genomic signatures of local adaptation, which are enriched in genes expressed in workers and in immune system- and sperm motility-related genes that might underlie geographic variation in reproduction, dispersal and disease resistance. This study provides a framework for future investigations into responses to pathogens and climate change in honeybees.

Expanding and Adapting the Protean Career Management Scale for University Students (PCMS-U).

PubMed

Liberato Borges, Ludmila F; De Andrade, Alexsandro L; Ziebell de Oliveira, Manoela; Guerra, Valeschka Martins

2015-12-28

Many changes in the socioeconomic scenario led to the emergence of different models of career guidance, among which the protean career stands out. This model works with the prospect of a career that is self-directed and aligned with personal values, with important propositions for both professionals and students entering the work market. In the Brazilian scenario, however, there is a lack of appropriate measures to evaluate protean aspects among college students without work experience. Thus, the present study aimed at adapting and validating the attitudes towards the Protean Career Scale to this population. The sample consisted of 902 students aging from 18 to 30 years old (M = 22.52; SD = 6.53) attending 34 different undergraduate courses. Exploratory and confirmatory analysis attested the two-dimensional nature of the scale structure. The reliability indexes were satisfactory: over .65. The correlation between the protean models and factors such as personality, values, and locus of control provided adequate evidence of the measure's predictive validity (p < .05).

Calibration model maintenance in melamine resin production: Integrating drift detection, smart sample selection and model adaptation.

PubMed

Nikzad-Langerodi, Ramin; Lughofer, Edwin; Cernuda, Carlos; Reischer, Thomas; Kantner, Wolfgang; Pawliczek, Marcin; Brandstetter, Markus

2018-07-12

The physico-chemical properties of Melamine Formaldehyde (MF) based thermosets are largely influenced by the degree of polymerization (DP) in the underlying resin. On-line supervision of the turbidity point by means of vibrational spectroscopy has recently emerged as a promising technique to monitor the DP of MF resins. However, spectroscopic determination of the DP relies on chemometric models, which are usually sensitive to drifts caused by instrumental and/or sample-associated changes occurring over time. In order to detect the time point when drifts start causing prediction bias, we here explore a universal drift detector based on a faded version of the Page-Hinkley (PH) statistic, which we test in three data streams from an industrial MF resin production process. We employ committee disagreement (CD), computed as the variance of model predictions from an ensemble of partial least squares (PLS) models, as a measure for sample-wise prediction uncertainty and use the PH statistic to detect changes in this quantity. We further explore supervised and unsupervised strategies for (semi-)automatic model adaptation upon detection of a drift. For the former, manual reference measurements are requested whenever statistical thresholds on Hotelling's T 2 and/or Q-Residuals are violated. Models are subsequently re-calibrated using weighted partial least squares in order to increase the influence of newer samples, which increases the flexibility when adapting to new (drifted) states. Unsupervised model adaptation is carried out exploiting the dual antecedent-consequent structure of a recently developed fuzzy systems variant of PLS termed FLEXFIS-PLS. In particular, antecedent parts are updated while maintaining the internal structure of the local linear predictors (i.e. the consequents). We found improved drift detection capability of the CD compared to Hotelling's T 2 and Q-Residuals when used in combination with the proposed PH test. Furthermore, we found that active selection of samples by active learning (AL) used for subsequent model adaptation is advantageous compared to passive (random) selection in case that a drift leads to persistent prediction bias allowing more rapid adaptation at lower reference measurement rates. Fully unsupervised adaptation using FLEXFIS-PLS could improve predictive accuracy significantly for light drifts but was not able to fully compensate for prediction bias in case of significant lack of fit w.r.t. the latent variable space. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Climate adaptation policy, science and practice - Lessons for communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, Johanna

2017-04-01

In climate change adaptation research, policy, and practice, institutional culture produces distinct conceptualizations of adaptation, which in turn affect how adaptation work is undertaken. This study examines institutional culture as the four domains of norms, values, knowledge, and beliefs that are held by adaptation scientists, policy- and decision-makers, and practitioners in Western Canada. Based on 31 semi-structured interviews, this article traces the ways in which these four domains interact, intersect, converge, and diverge among scientists, policy- and decision-makers, and practitioners. By exploring the knowledge, backgrounds, goals, approaches, assumptions, and behaviours of people working in adaptation, these interviews map the ways in which institutional culture shapes adaptation work being carried out by local, provincial, and federal governments, nongovernmental organizations, and an international community of scientists (including Canadian scientists). Findings suggest that institutional culture both limits and enables adaptation actions for these actors in important ways, significantly influencing how climate change adaptation is being planned for, and carried out on the ground. As a result, this paper asserts that there is an urgent need to better understand the role that institutional culture plays in order to advance climate change adaptation, both now and in the future. Important lessons for communicating about climate science, climate impacts and adaptation will be presented.

Genomic adaptation of admixed dairy cattle in East Africa

PubMed Central

Kim, Eui-Soo; Rothschild, Max F.

2014-01-01

Dairy cattle in East Africa imported from the U.S. and Europe have been adapted to new environments. In small local farms, cattle have generally been maintained by crossbreeding that could increase survivability under a severe environment. Eventually, genomic ancestry of a specific breed will be nearly fixed in genomic regions of local breeds or crossbreds when it is advantageous for survival or production in harsh environments. To examine this situation, 25 Friesians and 162 local cattle produced by crossbreeding of dairy breeds in Kenya were sampled and genotyped using 50K SNPs. Using principal component analysis (PCA), the admixed local cattle were found to consist of several imported breeds, including Guernsey, Norwegian Red, and Holstein. To infer the influence of parental breeds on genomic regions, local ancestry mapping was performed based on the similarity of haplotypes. As a consequence, it appears that no genomic region has been under the complete influence of a specific parental breed. Nonetheless, the ancestry of Holstein-Friesians was substantial in most genomic regions (>80%). Furthermore, we examined the frequency of the most common haplotypes from parental breeds that have changed substantially in Kenyan crossbreds during admixture. The frequency of these haplotypes from parental breeds, which were likely to be selected in temperate regions, has deviated considerably from expected frequency in 11 genomic regions. Additionally, extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH) based methods were applied to identify the regions responding to recent selection in crossbreds, called candidate regions, resulting in seven regions that appeared to be affected by Holstein-Friesians. However, some signatures of selection were less dependent on Holsteins-Friesians, suggesting evidence of adaptation in East Africa. The analysis of local ancestry is a useful approach to understand the detailed genomic structure and may reveal regions of the genome required for specialized adaptation when combined with methods for searching for the recent changes of haplotype frequency in an admixed population. PMID:25566325

Speckle imaging through turbulent atmosphere based on adaptable pupil segmentation.

PubMed

Loktev, Mikhail; Soloviev, Oleg; Savenko, Svyatoslav; Vdovin, Gleb

2011-07-15

We report on the first results to our knowledge obtained with adaptable multiaperture imaging through turbulence on a horizontal atmospheric path. We show that the resolution can be improved by adaptively matching the size of the subaperture to the characteristic size of the turbulence. Further improvement is achieved by the deconvolution of a number of subimages registered simultaneously through multiple subapertures. Different implementations of multiaperture geometry, including pupil multiplication, pupil image sampling, and a plenoptic telescope, are considered. Resolution improvement has been demonstrated on a ∼550 m horizontal turbulent path, using a combination of aperture sampling, speckle image processing, and, optionally, frame selection. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Adaptive Caching Concept

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-10

This diagram, superimposed on a photo of Martian landscape, illustrates a concept called "adaptive caching," which is in development for NASA's 2020 Mars rover mission. In addition to the investigations that the Mars 2020 rover will conduct on Mars, the rover will collect carefully selected samples of Mars rock and soil and cache them to be available for possible return to Earth if a Mars sample-return mission is scheduled and flown. Each sample will be stored in a sealed tube. Adaptive caching would result in a set of samples, up to the maximum number of tubes carried on the rover, being placed on the surface at the discretion of the mission operators. The tubes holding the collected samples would not go into a surrounding container. In this illustration, green dots indicate "regions of interest," where samples might be collected. The green diamond indicates one region of interest serving as the depot for the cache. The green X at upper right represents the landing site. The solid black line indicates the rover's route during its prime mission, and the dashed black line indicates its route during an extension of the mission. The base image is a portion of the "Everest Panorama" taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit at the top of Husband Hill in 2005. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19150

Digital gene expression analysis with sample multiplexing and PCR duplicate detection: A straightforward protocol.

PubMed

Rozenberg, Andrey; Leese, Florian; Weiss, Linda C; Tollrian, Ralph

2016-01-01

Tag-Seq is a high-throughput approach used for discovering SNPs and characterizing gene expression. In comparison to RNA-Seq, Tag-Seq eases data processing and allows detection of rare mRNA species using only one tag per transcript molecule. However, reduced library complexity raises the issue of PCR duplicates, which distort gene expression levels. Here we present a novel Tag-Seq protocol that uses the least biased methods for RNA library preparation combined with a novel approach for joint PCR template and sample labeling. In our protocol, input RNA is fragmented by hydrolysis, and poly(A)-bearing RNAs are selected and directly ligated to mixed DNA-RNA P5 adapters. The P5 adapters contain i5 barcodes composed of sample-specific (moderately) degenerate base regions (mDBRs), which later allow detection of PCR duplicates. The P7 adapter is attached via reverse transcription with individual i7 barcodes added during the amplification step. The resulting libraries can be sequenced on an Illumina sequencer. After sample demultiplexing and PCR duplicate removal with a free software tool we designed, the data are ready for downstream analysis. Our protocol was tested on RNA samples from predator-induced and control Daphnia microcrustaceans.

Proteogenomic Analysis of a Thermophilic Bacterial Consortium Adapted to Deconstruct Switchgrass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

D'haeseleer, Patrik; Gladden, John M.; Allgaier, Martin

2013-07-19

Thermophilic bacteria are a potential source of enzymes for the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass. However, the complement of proteins used to deconstruct biomass and the specific roles of different microbial groups in thermophilic biomass deconstruction are not well-explored. Here we report on the metagenomic and proteogenomic analyses of a compost-derived bacterial consortium adapted to switchgrass at elevated temperature with high levels of glycoside hydrolase activities. Near-complete genomes were reconstructed for the most abundant populations, which included composite genomes for populations closely related to sequenced strains of Thermus thermophilus and Rhodothermus marinus, and for novel populations that are related to thermophilicmore » Paenibacilli and an uncultivated subdivision of the littlestudied Gemmatimonadetes phylum. Partial genomes were also reconstructed for a number of lower abundance thermophilic Chloroflexi populations. Identification of genes for lignocellulose processing and metabolic reconstructions suggested Rhodothermus, Paenibacillus and Gemmatimonadetes as key groups for deconstructing biomass, and Thermus as a group that may primarily metabolize low molecular weight compounds. Mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of the consortium was used to identify .3000 proteins in fractionated samples from the cultures, and confirmed the importance of Paenibacillus and Gemmatimonadetes to biomass deconstruction. These studies also indicate that there are unexplored proteins with important roles in bacterial lignocellulose deconstruction.« less

Fast Identification of Biological Pathways Associated with a Quantitative Trait Using Group Lasso with Overlaps

PubMed Central

Silver, Matt; Montana, Giovanni

2012-01-01

Where causal SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) tend to accumulate within biological pathways, the incorporation of prior pathways information into a statistical model is expected to increase the power to detect true associations in a genetic association study. Most existing pathways-based methods rely on marginal SNP statistics and do not fully exploit the dependence patterns among SNPs within pathways. We use a sparse regression model, with SNPs grouped into pathways, to identify causal pathways associated with a quantitative trait. Notable features of our “pathways group lasso with adaptive weights” (P-GLAW) algorithm include the incorporation of all pathways in a single regression model, an adaptive pathway weighting procedure that accounts for factors biasing pathway selection, and the use of a bootstrap sampling procedure for the ranking of important pathways. P-GLAW takes account of the presence of overlapping pathways and uses a novel combination of techniques to optimise model estimation, making it fast to run, even on whole genome datasets. In a comparison study with an alternative pathways method based on univariate SNP statistics, our method demonstrates high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of important pathways, showing the greatest relative gains in performance where marginal SNP effect sizes are small. PMID:22499682

Adaptation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) to dental students.

PubMed

Laurence, Brian; Bertera, Elizabeth M; Feimster, Tawana; Hollander, Roberta; Stroman, Carolyn

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to adapt the twenty-six-item Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) developed for medical students for use among dental students and to test the psychometric properties of the modified instrument. The sample consisted of 250 students (an 80.1 percent response rate) in years D1 to D4 at a dental school in Washington, DC. The mean age of participants was 26.6 years with a range from twenty-one to forty-two years. Slightly more than half of the participants were female (52.4 percent) and were African American or of African descent (51.7 percent). Principal components analysis was used to test the psychometric properties of the instrument. The index that resulted measured both positive and negative attitudes toward learning communications skills. The final twenty-four-item scale had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.87), and the study obtained four important factors-Learning, Importance, Quality, and Success-that explained a significant portion of the variance (49.1 percent). Stratified analysis by demographic variables suggested that there may be gender and ethnic differences in the students' attitudes towards learning communication skills. The authors conclude that the CSAS modified for dental students, or DCSAS, is a useful tool to assess attitudes towards learning communication skills among dental students.

The Madeira Archipelago As a Significant Source of Marine-Derived Actinomycete Diversity with Anticancer and Antimicrobial Potential

PubMed Central

Prieto-Davó, Alejandra; Dias, Tiago; Gomes, Sofia E.; Rodrigues, Sara; Parera-Valadez, Yessica; Borralho, Pedro M.; Pereira, Florbela; Rodrigues, Cecilia M. P.; Santos-Sanches, Ilda; Gaudêncio, Susana P.

2016-01-01

Marine-derived actinomycetes have demonstrated an ability to produce novel compounds with medically relevant biological activity. Studying the diversity and biogeographical patterns of marine actinomycetes offers an opportunity to identify genera that are under environmental pressures, which may drive adaptations that yield specific biosynthetic capabilities. The present study describes research efforts to explore regions of the Atlantic Ocean, specifically around the Madeira Archipelago, where knowledge of the indigenous actinomycete diversity is scarce. A total of 400 actinomycetes were isolated, sequenced, and screened for antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The three most abundant genera identified were Streptomyces, Actinomadura, and Micromonospora. Phylogenetic analyses of the marine OTUs isolated indicated that the Madeira Archipelago is a new source of actinomycetes adapted to life in the ocean. Phylogenetic differences between offshore (>100 m from shore) and nearshore (< 100 m from shore) populations illustrates the importance of sampling offshore in order to isolate new and diverse bacterial strains. Novel phylotypes from chemically rich marine actinomycete groups like MAR4 and the genus Salinispora were isolated. Anticancer and antimicrobial assays identified Streptomyces, Micromonospora, and Salinispora as the most biologically active genera. This study illustrates the importance of bioprospecting efforts at unexplored regions of the ocean to recover bacterial strains with the potential to produce novel and interesting chemistry. PMID:27774089

Predicting Career Adaptability through Self-Esteem and Social Support: A Research on Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ataç, Lale Oral; Dirik, Deniz; Tetik, Hilmiye Türesin

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between career adaptability and self-esteem, and analyze the moderating role of social support in this relationship on a sample of 313 young adults. The results of the study confirm that career adaptability is significantly predicted by self-esteem. Moreover, findings suggest that (1)…

Scholarly Research on Educational Adaptation of Social Media: Is There Evidence of Publication Bias?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piotrowski, Chris

2015-01-01

The sizeable majority of research findings on educational adaptation of social media (SM) is based on college student samples. A cursory review of the extant literature on the educational use of SM appears to convey an uncritical spirit regarding adaptations of modern Web 2.0 technology. This article examines the issue of whether "publication…

Teachers' Pedagogical Competence in Adapting Curricula for Children with Learning Difficulties (LD) in Primary Schools in Ghana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhassan, Abdul-Razak Kuyini; Abosi, Chigorom Okechukwu

2017-01-01

Ghana education service (GES) has not achieved much in curriculum adaption to address the needs of children with disability. The aim of this study is to investigate teachers' pedagogical competence (TPC) in curriculum adaptation to include children with LD in primary schools. Mixed-Method Design Strategy involving 387 sampled teachers was used.…

Evolutionary genetics of plant adaptation.

PubMed

Anderson, Jill T; Willis, John H; Mitchell-Olds, Thomas

2011-07-01

Plants provide unique opportunities to study the mechanistic basis and evolutionary processes of adaptation to diverse environmental conditions. Complementary laboratory and field experiments are important for testing hypotheses reflecting long-term ecological and evolutionary history. For example, these approaches can infer whether local adaptation results from genetic tradeoffs (antagonistic pleiotropy), where native alleles are best adapted to local conditions, or if local adaptation is caused by conditional neutrality at many loci, where alleles show fitness differences in one environment, but not in a contrasting environment. Ecological genetics in natural populations of perennial or outcrossing plants can also differ substantially from model systems. In this review of the evolutionary genetics of plant adaptation, we emphasize the importance of field studies for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of model and nonmodel systems, highlight a key life history trait (flowering time) and discuss emerging conservation issues. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The biogeochemical structuring role of horizontal stirring: Lagrangian perspectives on iron delivery downstream of the Kerguelen Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

d'Ovidio, F.; Della Penna, A.; Trull, T. W.; Nencioli, F.; Pujol, M.-I.; Rio, M.-H.; Park, Y.-H.; Cotté, C.; Zhou, M.; Blain, S.

2015-10-01

Field campaigns are instrumental in providing ground truth for understanding and modeling global ocean biogeochemical budgets. A survey however can only inspect a fraction of the global oceans, typically a region hundreds of kilometers wide for a temporal window of the order of (at most) several weeks. This spatiotemporal domain is also the one in which the mesoscale activity induces through horizontal stirring a strong variability in the biogeochemical tracers, with ephemeral, local contrasts which can easily mask the regional and seasonal gradients. Therefore, whenever local in situ measures are used to infer larger-scale budgets, one faces the challenge of identifying the mesoscale structuring effect, if not simply to filter it out. In the case of the KEOPS2 investigation of biogeochemical responses to natural iron fertilization, this problem was tackled by designing an adaptive sampling strategy based on regionally optimized multisatellite products analyzed in real time by specifically designed Lagrangian diagnostics. This strategy identified the different mesoscale and stirring structures present in the region and tracked the dynamical frontiers among them. It also enabled back trajectories for the ship-sampled stations to be estimated, providing important insights into the timing and pathways of iron supply, which were explored further using a model based on first-order iron removal. This context was essential for the interpretation of the field results. The mesoscale circulation-based strategy was also validated post-cruise by comparing the Lagrangian maps derived from satellites with the patterns of more than one hundred drifters, including some adaptively released during KEOPS2 and a subsequent research voyage. The KEOPS2 strategy was adapted to the specific biogeochemical characteristics of the region, but its principles are general and will be useful for future in situ biogeochemical surveys.

The biogeochemical structuring role of horizontal stirring: Lagrangian perspectives on iron delivery downstream of the Kerguelen plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

d'Ovidio, F.; Della Penna, A.; Trull, T. W.; Nencioli, F.; Pujol, I.; Rio, M. H.; Park, Y.-H.; Cotté, C.; Zhou, M.; Blain, S.

2015-01-01

Field campaigns are instrumental in providing ground truth for understanding and modelling global ocean biogeochemical budgets. A survey however can only inspect a fraction of the global oceans, typically a region 100s km wide for a temporal window of the order of (at most) several weeks. This spatiotemporal domain is also the one in which the mesoscale activity induces through horizontal stirring a strong variability in the biogeochemical tracers, with ephemeral, local contrasts which can easily mask the regional and seasonal gradients. Therefore, whenever local in-situ measures are used to infer larger scale budgets one faces the challenge of identifying the mesoscale structuring effect, if not simply to filter it out. In the case of the KEOPS2 investigation of biogeochemical responses to natural iron fertilization, this problem was tackled by designing an adaptive sampling strategy based on regionally-optimized multisatellite products analyzed in real time by specifically designed Lagrangian diagnostics. This strategy identified the different mesoscale and stirring structures present in the region and tracked the dynamical frontiers among them. It also enabled back-trajectories for the ship sampled stations to be estimated, providing important insights into the timing and pathways of iron supply, which were explored further using model based on first order iron removal. This context was essential for the interpretation of the field results. The mesoscale circulation based strategy was also validated post-cruise by comparing the Lagrangian maps derived from satellite with the patterns of more than one hundred drifters adaptively released during KEOPS2 and a subsequent research voyage. The KEOPS2 strategy was adapted to the specific biogeochemical characteristics of the region, but its principles are general and will be useful for future in-situ biogeochemical surveys.

Improved Discovery of Molecular Interactions in Genome-Scale Data with Adaptive Model-Based Normalization

PubMed Central

Brown, Patrick O.

2013-01-01

Background High throughput molecular-interaction studies using immunoprecipitations (IP) or affinity purifications are powerful and widely used in biology research. One of many important applications of this method is to identify the set of RNAs that interact with a particular RNA-binding protein (RBP). Here, the unique statistical challenge presented is to delineate a specific set of RNAs that are enriched in one sample relative to another, typically a specific IP compared to a non-specific control to model background. The choice of normalization procedure critically impacts the number of RNAs that will be identified as interacting with an RBP at a given significance threshold – yet existing normalization methods make assumptions that are often fundamentally inaccurate when applied to IP enrichment data. Methods In this paper, we present a new normalization methodology that is specifically designed for identifying enriched RNA or DNA sequences in an IP. The normalization (called adaptive or AD normalization) uses a basic model of the IP experiment and is not a variant of mean, quantile, or other methodology previously proposed. The approach is evaluated statistically and tested with simulated and empirical data. Results and Conclusions The adaptive (AD) normalization method results in a greatly increased range in the number of enriched RNAs identified, fewer false positives, and overall better concordance with independent biological evidence, for the RBPs we analyzed, compared to median normalization. The approach is also applicable to the study of pairwise RNA, DNA and protein interactions such as the analysis of transcription factors via chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) or any other experiments where samples from two conditions, one of which contains an enriched subset of the other, are studied. PMID:23349766

Child and family characteristics associated with age of diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder in a tertiary care setting.

PubMed

Bickel, Julie; Bridgemohan, Carolyn; Sideridis, Georgios; Huntington, Noelle

2015-01-01

To identify child and family characteristics associated with age of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a tertiary care setting using objective, standardized assessments ensuring diagnostic validity and timing. The authors conducted a chart review of children who received their initial ASD diagnosis from 2007 to 2011. Child variables included gender, birth order, cognitive functioning, and for children ≤36 months, language and adaptive assessments. Family variables included insurance, maternal age, maternal education, sibling or family member with ASD, and number of children in the house. Primary outcome was age of ASD diagnosis. The authors ran multiple regression models evaluating the impact of child and family variables on the total sample and on the subsample of children ≤36 months. Median age of diagnosis was 2.9 years (range, 15 mo-13.8 yr; n = 591). In the total sample, significant predictors of earlier age of diagnosis were later birth order, higher maternal education, fewer children in the house, and a sibling with ASD. In a separate analysis of children ≤36 months of age (n = 315) with additional data for language and adaptive assessments, significant predictors of younger age of diagnosis were higher cognitive and adaptive functioning, lower receptive and expressive language, and having a sibling with ASD. This study suggests that both family and child characteristics play an important role in the early identification of ASD and that predictive variables may vary based on a child's age. Future research should help to elucidate this finding so that screening measures and policies aimed at early identification can target the most predictive factors.

Keck Adaptive Optics Imaging of Nearby Young Stars: Detection of Close Multiple Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandeker, Alexis; Jayawardhana, Ray; Najita, Joan

2003-10-01

Using adaptive optics on the Keck II 10 m telescope on Mauna Kea, we have surveyed 24 of the nearest young stars known in search of close companions. Our sample includes members of the MBM 12 and TW Hydrae young associations and the classical T Tauri binary UY Aurigae in the Taurus star-forming region. We present relative photometry and accurate astrometry for 10 close multiple systems. The multiplicity frequency in the TW Hydrae and MBM 12 groups are high in comparison to other young regions, although the significance of this result is low because of the small number statistics. We resolve S18 into a triple system, including a tight 63 mas (projected separation of 17 AU at a distance of 275 pc) binary, for the first time, with a hierarchical configuration reminiscent of VW Chamaeleontis and T Tauri. Another tight binary in our sample-TWA 5Aab (54 mas or 3 AU at 55 pc)-offers the prospect of dynamical mass measurement using astrometric observations within a few years and thus could be important for testing pre-main-sequence evolutionary models. Our observations confirm with 9 σ confidence that the brown dwarf TWA 5B is bound to TWA 5A. We find that the flux ratio of UY Aur has changed dramatically, by more than a magnitude in the H band, possibly as a result of variable extinction. With the smaller flux difference, the system may once again become detectable as an optical binary, as it was at the time of its discovery in 1944. Taken together, our results demonstrate that adaptive optics on large telescopes is a powerful tool for detecting tight companions and thus exploring the frequency and configurations of close multiple systems.

Evolution of the MIDTAL microarray: the adaption and testing of oligonucleotide 18S and 28S rDNA probes and evaluation of subsequent microarray generations with Prymnesium spp. cultures and field samples.

PubMed

McCoy, Gary R; Touzet, Nicolas; Fleming, Gerard T A; Raine, Robin

2015-07-01

The toxic microalgal species Prymnesium parvum and Prymnesium polylepis are responsible for numerous fish kills causing economic stress on the aquaculture industry and, through the consumption of contaminated shellfish, can potentially impact on human health. Monitoring of toxic phytoplankton is traditionally carried out by light microscopy. However, molecular methods of identification and quantification are becoming more common place. This study documents the optimisation of the novel Microarrays for the Detection of Toxic Algae (MIDTAL) microarray from its initial stages to the final commercial version now available from Microbia Environnement (France). Existing oligonucleotide probes used in whole-cell fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) for Prymnesium species from higher group probes to species-level probes were adapted and tested on the first-generation microarray. The combination and interaction of numerous other probes specific for a whole range of phytoplankton taxa also spotted on the chip surface caused high cross reactivity, resulting in false-positive results on the microarray. The probe sequences were extended for the subsequent second-generation microarray, and further adaptations of the hybridisation protocol and incubation temperatures significantly reduced false-positive readings from the first to the second-generation chip, thereby increasing the specificity of the MIDTAL microarray. Additional refinement of the subsequent third-generation microarray protocols with the addition of a poly-T amino linker to the 5' end of each probe further enhanced the microarray performance but also highlighted the importance of optimising RNA labelling efficiency when testing with natural seawater samples from Killary Harbour, Ireland.

The continuous Wagon Wheel Illusion depends on, but is not identical to neuronal adaptation.

PubMed

VanRullen, Rufin

2007-07-01

The occurrence of perceived reversed motion while observers view a continuous, periodically moving stimulus (a bistable phenomenon coined the "continuous Wagon Wheel Illusion" or "c-WWI") has been taken as evidence that some aspects of motion perception rely on discrete sampling of visual information. Alternative accounts rely on the possibility of a motion aftereffect that may become visible even while the adapting stimulus is present. Here I show that motion adaptation might be necessary, but is not sufficient to explain the illusion. When local adaptation is prevented by slowly drifting the moving wheel across the retina, the c-WWI illusion tends to decrease, as do other bistable percepts (e.g. binocular rivalry). However, the strength of the c-WWI and that of adaptation (as measured by either the static or flicker motion aftereffects) are not directly related: although the c-WWI decreases with increasing eccentricity, the aftereffects actually intensify concurrently. A similar dissociation can be induced by manipulating stimulus contrast. This indicates that the c-WWI may be enabled by, but is not equivalent to, local motion adaptation - and that other factors such as discrete sampling may be involved in its generation.