Look before You License: The Use of Public Sharing Websites in Building Co-Created Community Repositories

The legal aspects of building a co-created community repository (CCR) are explored through the examination of existing commercial web-based services. To determine whether commercial services offer a practicable option or a model for the creation of a CCR’s terms of service (TOS), we analyzed six websites. The TOS contain the rules under which content can be stored, accessed, shared, etc. This TOS assessment is based on the consideration of four attributes, applied in a legal context: functionality, integrity, provenance, and permanence. While many of the features of a successful CCR are found across the services, none possesses all of the required elements. Recommendations for preferable CCR TOS are offered

An Analysis of the Interactions Between Weather and Land Use on Midwestern Gamebird Populations Using Historical Data: A Preliminary Report

Concern surrounding species’ abilities to cope with a changing climate and variable land use presents opportunities to look forward toward solutions while investigating historical trends to assess the interaction of land use and weather. Uncertainty surrounding population responses to increased severity and frequency of severe weather associated with climate change presents challenges for making informed management decisions for a suite of already declining bird populations, including huntable populations of socially and economically important game birds, such as northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Historical data are a rich resource for developing a priori hypotheses and models predicting species’ responses to climate change and continued variation in land use. We are utilizing 30 years of historical data to model the responses of northern, ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), and wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) to land use change and weather within a gradient of land use and climate in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri. Mixed models incorporating agricultural acreages, relative abundances of gallinaceous birds from the annual Breeding Bird Survey, and historical precipitation and temperature data built at the county-level will illuminate broad scale trends and enable us to draw conclusions about future population responses. We are finding expected differences in population trends between states within a climatic gradient, and varied responses to temperature and precipitation among gallinaceous species, where different annual periods are more or less crucial for different species despite similar life history characteristics. We expect that further modeling will continue to elucidate critical thresholds for birds in the Great Plains in terms of weather and habitat, allowing us to make strong recommendations to managers preparing to deal with the implications of climate change

On Temporal References in Emergent Communication

As humans, we use linguistic elements referencing time, such as before or tomorrow, to easily share past experiences and future predictions. While temporal aspects of the language have been considered in computational linguistics, no such exploration has been done within the field of emergent communication. We research this gap, providing the first reported temporal vocabulary within emergent communication literature. Our experimental analysis shows that a different agent architecture is sufficient for the natural emergence of temporal references, and that no additional losses are necessary. Our readily transferable architectural insights provide the basis for the incorporation of temporal referencing into other emergent communication environments.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures. Code available at https://anonymous.4open.science/r/TRG-E137/README.m

Inductive queries for a drug designing robot scientist

It is increasingly clear that machine learning algorithms need to be integrated in an iterative scientific discovery loop, in which data is queried repeatedly by means of inductive queries and where the computer provides guidance to the experiments that are being performed. In this chapter, we summarise several key challenges in achieving this integration of machine learning and data mining algorithms in methods for the discovery of Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSARs). We introduce the concept of a robot scientist, in which all steps of the discovery process are automated; we discuss the representation of molecular data such that knowledge discovery tools can analyse it, and we discuss the adaptation of machine learning and data mining algorithms to guide QSAR experiments

Reaching the Hard to Reach: Empowering Community Members to Think Differently and Embrace Teens with Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Challenges During the Time of COVID

Being a teenager is hard, and COVID-19 has made these difficult years even harder. Over the past decade, U.S. teens report feeling increased pressure and stress and those working with this population see the result -- young people with mental health conditions, lack of resiliency skills and many with substance use disorder. The healthy coping mechanisms that used to contribute to mental wellness, like community connection, physical activity and the pursuit of creative outlets has been declining. These trends were happening even before COVID! Teens with mental health issues often develop substance use disorder. It has been said that the opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it is connection. As the COVID19 pandemic continues, so does the nation’s opioid epidemic. The AMA has expressed concern over the increasing number of reports from national, state and local media suggesting increases in opioid-related overdose deaths. Young people, many of whom were already challenged with mental health conditions are seeking connection and are not finding it because of the social distancing and school closures necessary because of this contagious virus. Those who specialize in behavioral health are warning that a tsunami is about to hit our country in the form of mental health needs. This surge in mental health conditions is predicted to last for years. Join us for a webinar that will shed some light on teen mental health and substance use disorders. Presenters Stephanie Briody, CEO of Behavioral Health Innovators and Michelle Muffet - Lipinski, Principal of Northshore Recovery High School will share their innovative initiatives and programs that are filling in the gaps in services for teens with mental health and substance use disorders. Learn how you can prepare for this surge in mental health challenges with examples of practices and programs that can be replicated in your community, and that provide the needed connection with teens who are hard to reach. Learning Objectives: Learn about the PASS program and RecoveryBuild Alternative Peer Groups (APG’s) and how these positive discipline interventions are working to address and treat substance use disorder and other mental health conditions. Learn about recent legislative initiatives that address mental health and substance use disorder. Learn about some virtual connection tools and games you can use to provide expressive therapy using the arts

Establishment and characterization of immortalized Gli-null mouse embryonic fibroblast cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is a conserved morphogenetic pathway which plays critical roles in embryonic development, with emerging evidence also supporting a role in healing and repair processes and tumorigenesis. The Gli family of transcription factors (Gli1, 2 and 3) mediate the Hedgehog morphogenetic signal by regulating the expression of downstream target genes. We previously characterized the individual and cooperative roles of the Gli proteins in Hh target gene regulation using a battery of primary embryonic fibroblasts from Gli null mice.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we describe the establishment of spontaneously immortalized mouse embryonic fibroblast (iMEF) cell lines lacking single and multiple Gli genes. These non-clonal cell lines recapitulate the unique ligand mediated transcriptional response of primary MEFs. While loss of Gli1 had no effect on target gene induction, Gli2 null cells demonstrated reduced target gene induction while Gli3 null cells exhibited elevated basal and ligand-induced expression. Target gene response in <it>Gli1</it>^-/-<it>2</it>^-/-iMEFs was severely reduced while <it>Gli2</it>^-/-<it>3</it>^-/-iMEFs were incapable of ligand-induced transcriptional response. However, we found that both <it>Gli1</it>^-/-<it>2</it>^-/-and <it>Gli2</it>^-/-<it>3</it>^-/-iMEFs exhibited robust leukotriene synthesis-dependent migration responses to Hh ligand, demonstrating that this response is not transcriptionally-dependent.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides fundamental characterizations of the transcriptional and non-transcriptional Hh responsiveness of a battery of Gli-null iMEFs. Moving forward, these cell lines should prove a valuable tool set to study the unique functional regulation of the Gli proteins in a Hh-responsive cell-type.</p

Hedgehog pathway responsiveness correlates with the presence of primary cilia on prostate stromal cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hedgehog (Hh) signaling from the urogenital sinus (UGS) epithelium to the surrounding mesenchyme plays a critical role in regulating ductal formation and growth during prostate development. The primary cilium, a feature of most interphase vertebrate cell types, serves as a required localization domain for Hh signaling transducing proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Immunostaining revealed the presence of primary cilia in mesenchymal cells of the developing prostate. Cell-based assays of a urongenital sinus mesenchymal cell line (UGSM-2) revealed that proliferation-limiting (serum starvation and/or confluence) growth conditions promoted cilia formation and correlated with pathway activation associated with accumulation of Smoothened in primary cilia. The prostate cancer cell lines PC-3, LNCaP, and 22RV1, previously shown to lack demonstrable autocrine Hh signaling capacity, did not exhibit primary cilia even under proliferation-limiting growth conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that paracrine Hedgehog signaling activity in the prostate is associated with the presence of primary cilia on stromal cells but that a role in autocrine Hh signaling remains speculative.</p

The Tabby cat locus maps to feline chromosome B1.

The Tabby markings of the domestic cat are unique coat patterns for which no causative candidate gene has been inferred from other mammals. In this study, a genome scan was performed on a large pedigree of cats that segregated for Tabby coat markings, specifically for the Abyssinian (Ta-) and blotched (tbtb) phenotypes. There was linkage between the Tabby locus and eight markers on cat chromosome B1. The most significant linkage was between marker FCA700 and Tabby (Z = 7.56, theta = 0.03). Two additional markers in the region supported linkage, although not with significant LOD scores. Pairwise analysis of the markers supported the published genetic map of the cat, although additional meioses are required to refine the region. The linked markers cover a 17-cM region and flank an evolutionary breakpoint, suggesting that the Tabby gene has a homologue on either human chromosome 4 or 8. Alternatively, Tabby could be a unique locus in cats