The Effect of Different Training Regimens on Improved Sound Frequency Discrimination in Wistar Rats

Rat subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The rats were presented with differing patterns of target and non-target frequencies, with the target remaining constant between groups while the non-target varied between groups. The rats were rewarded with food for successful bar presses while the target tone was playing, and no reinforcement was delivered for presses that occurred during the non-target tone. The groups were labeled as Control, Rapid, and Gradual. The control group experienced a silence in the place of non-target tone, while the rapid and gradual groups received the same tone in the beginning, but the rate of tone change differed throughout the training process. The test phase involved all three groups experiencing a multitude of different tones, with correct versus incorrect responses monitored. Researchers hypothesized that the rats that received the intensive training provided by the gradual method would exhibit a greater attunement in discriminative ability when compared to both the rapid and control groups

Springsheds of the Santa Fe River Basin

Powerpoint presentation (PDF has 45 pages.

The QAOA gets stuck starting from a good classical string

The Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) is designed to maximize a cost function over bit strings. While the initial state is traditionally a superposition over all strings, it is natural to try expediting the QAOA: first use a classical algorithm to produce some good string, and then run the ordinary QAOA starting in the computational basis state associated with that string. Here we report numerical experiments that this method of initializing the QAOA fails dramatically, exhibiting little to no improvement of the cost function. We investigate criteria for the rare instances in which there is any improvement at all, and we provide a statistical argument for the more typical case of no improvement. The statistical argument holds for any string that locally mimics the thermal ensemble at the appropriate temperature. Our numerical experiments indicate this property holds for typical good strings. We emphasize that our negative results only apply to our simple incarnation of the warm-start QAOA and may not apply to other approaches in the literature. We hope that our theoretical analysis will inform future algorithm design.Comment: 26 pages, 1 figure, 6 table

How Position of Reading Questions Affects the Reading Comprehension of High and Low Ability Readers

This study investigates the optimum placement of reading questions in textbooks. Is it better to have reading questions embedded in chapters or placed at the end of chapters? One independent variable is reading question placement (embedded vs. end). Another independent variable is reading comprehension ability (higher vs. lower). Participants read a chapter from a statistics book, listened to stories as a distractor task, and then answered three types of questions about the statistics chapter. The dependent variable is the percent correct for each question type. Target questions tested the same content as a previous reading question. Related questions tested similar content. Non-target questions tested unrelated content. We will analyze our data with three 2 x 2 factorial ANOVAs. We expect embedded questions will help lower-ability readers on target and related questions. Further, embedded questions will hurt the performance of higher-ability readers on non-target questions. Higher and lower comprehenders differ in their ability to suppress irrelevant information. Embedded questions facilitate suppression processes by highlighting specific content in the reading. However, for high comprehenders who already suppress irrelevant information effectively, embedded questions may lead to “over suppression,” causing non-target information to be processed less well

IgG light chain-independent secretion of heavy chain dimers: consequence for therapeutic antibody production and design

Rodent monoclonal antibodies with specificity towards important biological targets are developed for therapeutic use by a process of humanisation. This process involves the creation of molecules, which retain the specificity of the rodent antibody but contain predominantly human coding sequence. Here we show that some humanised heavy chains can fold, form dimers and be secreted even in the absence of light chain. Quality control of recombinant antibody assembly in vivo is thought to rely upon folding of the heavy chain CH1 domain. This domain acts as a switch for secretion, only folding upon interaction with the light chain CL domain. We show that the secreted heavy-chain dimers contain folded CH1 domains and contribute to the heterogeneity of antibody species secreted during the expression of therapeutic antibodies. This subversion of the normal quality control process is dependent upon the heavy chain variable domain, is prevalent with engineered antibodies and can occur when only the Fab fragments are expressed. This discovery will impact on the efficient production of both humanised antibodies as well as the design of novel antibody formats

Self-interest And Public Interest: The Motivations Of Political Actors

Self-Interest and Public Interest in Western Politics showed that the public, politicians, and bureaucrats are often public spirited. But this does not invalidate public-choice theory. Public-choice theory is an ideal type, not a claim that self-interest explains all political behavior. Instead, public-choice theory is useful in creating rules and institutions that guard against the worst case, which would be universal self-interestedness in politics. In contrast, the public-interest hypothesis is neither a comprehensive explanation of political behavior nor a sound basis for institutional design

Is the digital rectal exam any good as a prostate cancer screening test?

© The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/There is no shortage of references in popular culture to the prostate examination, with many a laugh built on the punchline of the finger up the bum. Interestingly, while cervical, breast, or bowel screening share barriers to uptake around the intimacy of the examination, ‘ick-factor’, or cultural taboos, they have never become comedy tropes — reflecting the uniquely emasculating perception of the rectal examination.Peer reviewe