1,322 research outputs found
Software quality assurance plan for GCS
The software quality assurance (SQA) function for the Guidance and Control Software (GCS) project which is part of a software error studies research program is described. The SQA plan outlines all of the procedures, controls, and audits to be carried out by the SQA organization to ensure adherence to the policies, procedures, and standards for the GCS project
Melatonin Alters Age-Related Changes in Transcription Factors and Kinase Activation
Male mice were fed 40 ppm melatonin for 2 months prior to sacrifice at age 26 months, and compared with both 26 and 4 month-old untreated controls. The nuclear translocation of NF-κB increased with age in both brain and spleen and this was reversed by melatonin only in brain. Another transcription factor, AP-1 was increased with age in the spleen and not in brain and this could be blocked by melatonin treatment. The fraction of the active relative to the inactive form of several enabling kinases was compared. The proportion of activated ERK was elevated with age in brain and spleen but this change was unresponsive to melatonin. A similar age-related increase in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was also refractory to melatonin treatment. The cerebral melatonin M1 receptor decreased with age in brain but increased in spleen. The potentially beneficial nature of melatonin for the preservation of brain function with aging was suggested by the finding that an age-related decline in cortical synaptophysin levels was prevented by dietary melatonin
Principal Component Analysis with Noisy and/or Missing Data
We present a method for performing Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on
noisy datasets with missing values. Estimates of the measurement error are used
to weight the input data such that compared to classic PCA, the resulting
eigenvectors are more sensitive to the true underlying signal variations rather
than being pulled by heteroskedastic measurement noise. Missing data is simply
the limiting case of weight=0. The underlying algorithm is a noise weighted
Expectation Maximization (EM) PCA, which has additional benefits of
implementation speed and flexibility for smoothing eigenvectors to reduce the
noise contribution. We present applications of this method on simulated data
and QSO spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP; v2 with minor updates, mostly to
bibliograph
Reinterpretation and Long-Term Preservation of Data and Code
Careful preservation of experimental data, simulations, analysis products,
and theoretical work maximizes their long-term scientific return on investment
by enabling new analyses and reinterpretation of the results in the future. Key
infrastructure and technical developments needed for some high-value science
targets are not in scope for the operations program of the large experiments
and are often not effectively funded. Increasingly, the science goals of our
projects require contributions that span the boundaries between individual
experiments and surveys, and between the theoretical and experimental
communities. Furthermore, the computational requirements and technical
sophistication of this work is increasing. As a result, it is imperative that
the funding agencies create programs that can devote significant resources to
these efforts outside of the context of the operations of individual major
experiments, including smaller experiments and theory/simulation work. In this
Snowmass 2021 Computational Frontier topical group report (CompF7:
Reinterpretation and long-term preservation of data and code), we summarize the
current state of the field and make recommendations for the future.Comment: Snowmass 2021 Computational Frontier CompF7 Reinterpretation and
long-term preservation of data and code topical group repor
The effectiveness of emergency obstetric referral interventions in developing country settings : a systematic review
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Identification of a Deubiquitinating Enzyme as a Novel AGS3-Interacting Protein
Activator of G protein Signaling 3 (AGS3) is a receptor-independent G protein activator that has been implicated in multiple biological events such as brain development, neuroplasticity and addiction, cardiac function, Golgi structure/function, macroautophagy and metabolism. However, how AGS3 is regulated is little known. We demonstrate here that AGS3 interacts with a ubiquitin specific protease USP9x, and this interaction is at least partially mediated through the C-terminal G protein regulatory domain of AGS3. Knockdown of USP9x causes a moderate reduction in the level of AGS3. In contrast, overexpression of either USP9x or its deubiquitinating domain UCH increases the amount of AGS3, whereas expression of the mutant UCH domain that lacks deubiquitinating activity does not have the same effect. As previously observed in AGS3 knockdown cells, the localization of several marker proteins of the late Golgi compartments is disturbed in cells depleted of USP9x. Taken together, our study suggests that USP9x can modulate the level of a subpopulation of AGS3, and this modulation plays a role in regulating the structure of the late Golgi compartments. Finally, we have found that levels of AGS3 and USP9x are co-regulated in the prefrontal cortex of rats withdrawn from repeated cocaine treatment. In conjunction with the above data, this observation indicates a potential role of USP9X in the regulation of the AGS3 level during cocaine-induced neuroplasticity
A soluble model of evolution and extinction dynamics in a rugged fitness landscape
We consider a continuum version of a previously introduced and numerically
studied model of macroevolution (PRL 75, 2055, (1995)) in which agents evolve
by an optimization process in a rugged fitness landscape and die due to their
competitive interactions. We first formulate dynamical equations for the
fitness distribution and the survival probability. Secondly we analytically
derive the law which characterizes the life time distribution of
biological genera. Thirdly we discuss other dynamical properties of the model
such as the rate of extinction and conclude with a brief discussion.Comment: 6 pages LaTeX source with 2 figures. Submitted to PRL (Jan. 97
Upper limb prostheses: bridging the sensory gap
Replacing human hand function with prostheses goes far beyond only recreating muscle movement with feedforward motor control. Natural sensory feedback is pivotal for fine dexterous control and finding both engineering and surgical solutions to replace this complex biological function is imperative to achieve prosthetic hand function that matches the human hand. This review outlines the nature of the problems underlying sensory restitution, the engineering methods that attempt to address this deficit and the surgical techniques that have been developed to integrate advanced neural interfaces with biological systems. Currently, there is no single solution to restore sensory feedback. Rather, encouraging animal models and early human studies have demonstrated that some elements of sensation can be restored to improve prosthetic control. However, these techniques are limited to highly specialized institutions and much further work is required to reproduce the results achieved, with the goal of increasing availability of advanced closed loop prostheses that allow sensory feedback to inform more precise feedforward control movements and increase functionality
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