Trees which are cospectral with non-treesfor the normalized Laplacian

For the normalized Laplacian matrix it is possible for graphs with differing number of edges to have the same spectrum. This leads to the potential for there to be a tree and a non-tree which share the same spectrum and a well-known example of this are star graphs with other complete bipartite graphs. Previous to this work, this was the known infinite family with this property. We construct more families of graphs with this property

The Valuation of an Equity-Linked Life Insurance Using the Theory of Indifference Pricing

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High-throughput Sequencing to Characterize the Microbial Diversity and Functional Properties of Cheese

Cheese is a fermented dairy product that is made from animal milk and is considered to be healthy food due to its available nutrients and potential probiotic characteristics. Since the microbes in the cheese matrix directly contribute to the quality and physicochemical properties of cheese, it is important to understand the microbial properties of cheese. The purpose of this study understands and compare the microbial compositions of different cheeses (Cheddar, Provolone, and Swiss) and cheese locations (core, rind, and mixed). The second research object was analyzed microbial community shift during Cheddar cheeses making. All the cheese samples produced at the Arbuthnot Dairy Center at Oregon State University were collected to determine the microbial community structure using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with the Illumina MiSeq platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA). To compare the microbial composition of different types of cheese, a total of 225 operational taxonomic units were identified from the 4,675,187 sequencing reads generated. Streptococcus was observed to be the most abundant organism in Provolone (72 to 85%) and Swiss (60 to 67%), whereas Lactococcus spp. were found to dominate Cheddar cheese (27 to 76%). Species richness varied significantly by cheese. According to alpha diversity analysis, porter-soaked Cheddar cheese exhibited the highest microbial richness, whereas smoked Provolone cheese showed the lowest. Rind regions of each cheese changed color through smoking and soaking for the beverage process. Also, the microbial diversity of the rind region was higher than the core region because smoking and soaking processes directly contacted the rind region of each cheese. The microbial communities of the samples clustered by cheese indicated that, within a given type of cheese, microbial compositions were very similar. Moreover, 34 operational taxonomic units were identified as biomarkers for different types of cheese through the linear discriminant analysis effect size method. Last, both carbohydrate and AA metabolites comprised more than 40% of the total functional annotated genes from 9 varieties of cheese samples. This study provides insight into the microbial composition of different types of cheese, as well as various locations within a cheese, which applies to its safety and sensory quality. As long as the microbial community shift during Cheddar cheese-making, a total of 773,821 sequencing reads and 271 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were acquired from 108 samples. Streptococcus and Lactococcus were observed as the most abundant ASVs in the cheese, which were used as the starter lactic acid bacteria (SLAB). Escherichia coli was detected in the raw milk, however, it was not detected after inoculating with SLAB. According to an alpha diversity analysis, SLAB inoculation decreased the microbial richness by inhibiting the growth of other bacteria present in the milk. A beta diversity analysis showed that microbial communities before the addition of SLAB, clustered together, as did the samples from cheese making and aging. Non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) were detected 15 weeks into aging for the June 6th and June 26th produced cheeses, and 17 weeks into aging for the cheese produced on April 26th. These NSLAB were identified as an unidentified group of Lactobacillaceae. This study characterizes the changes in the Cheddar cheese microbiome throughout production from raw milk to a six-month-aged final product

Why North Korean Refugees are Reluctant to Compete: The Roles of Cognitive Ability

The study compares the competitiveness of three Korean groups raised in different institutional environments: South Korea, North Korea, and China. Laboratory experiments reveal that North Korean refugees are less likely to participate in competitive tournaments than South Koreans and Korean-Chinese immigrants. Analysis using a choice model with probability weighting suggests that lower cognitive ability may lead to lower expected performance, more pessimistic beliefs, and greater aversion to competition

Theorems in Visual Art: Art and Math Teacher Collaboration toward Creative Leadership

Copyright holder is the National Art Education Association. All rights reserved.An artist and a mathematician meet. The authors of this article, one an art education professor and the other a mathematics professor, collaborated to conduct research as a team, examining perceptions of K-12 art teachers regarding art and math integration. Because of changes in education such as the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and the Every Student Succeeds Act, some educational policymakers, administrators, and teachers have expressed interest in integrated curricula (Davis, Sumara, & Luce-Kapler, 2008; Franco & Unrath, 2014; Wexler, 2014). Recent research supports the positive impact of visual art learning on students’ test scores. For example, research outcomes from the Turnaround Arts Initiative indicated that the schools participating in the arts initiative demonstrated a 22.55% improvement in math proficiency (Turnaround: Arts Creating Success in Schools, 2016). In this Advisory, we want to share what we have learned from our partnership and exploration of visual art and math integration to help art teachers collaborate actively and efficiently with math teachers in their schools. Our project started with real-world problems. As parents of school-age children, we shared our concerns about changes in the math curriculum based on the Common Core State Standards and the uncertain status of art education in the public school system in our state. Conversations about these issues led us to devise an interdisciplinary research project about art and math integration. Our collaboration enabled us to work together and expand our knowledge and understanding, sometimes beyond our comfort zone, and to find new ways of practicing our disciplines

Single-Cell Sequencing in Cancer: Recent Applications to Immunogenomics and Multi-omics Tools

Tumor heterogeneity, the cellular mosaic of multiple lineages arising from the process of clonal evolution, has continued to thwart multi-omics analyses using traditional bulk sequencing methods. The application of single-cell sequencing, in concert with existing genomics methods, has enabled high-resolution interrogation of the genome, transcriptome, epigenome, and proteome. Applied to cancers, these single-cell multi-omics methods bypass previous limitations on data resolution and have enabled a more nuanced understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of tumor progression, immune evasion, metastasis, and treatment resistance. This review details the growing number of novel single-cell multi-omics methods applied to tumors and further discusses recent discoveries emerging from these approaches, especially in regard to immunotherapy

Seek or Provide: Comparative Effects of Online Information Sharing on Seniors’ Quality of Life

Seniors’ social activities are critical in assuring their quality of life, and seniors’ quality of life (QoL) declines with the deterioration of their social activity. Social support from online social relationships has been considered to be important determinants of QoL, and is an important goal of the design of online health communities to support patient-centered e-health initiatives. In this study, we find that, rather than attempting to improve seniors’ quality of life through interventions and online community platforms that are designed directly to increase social interactions and focus on social relationship formation, it is more effective for such online health communities to be designed to facilitate information sharing. Information sharing may be an easy way for seniors to become familiar with the online environment and pave the way for subsequent online social relationships. This study investigated seniors’ online information sharing behaviors and the impacts on their quality of life. Survey data from 130 seniors was used to test our research model. Seniors’ online information seeking and provision indirectly affect their quality of life, and the relative importance of information seeking and information provision varies depending on the seniors’ perceived subjective age, i.e., cognitive age

Frequency-dependent gating of feedforward inhibition in thalamofrontal synapses

Thalamic recruitment of feedforward inhibition is known to enhance the fidelity of the receptive field by limiting the temporal window during which cortical neurons integrate excitatory inputs. Feedforward inhibition driven by the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus (MD) has been previously observed, but its physiological function and regulation remain unknown. Accumulating evidence suggests that elevated neuronal activity in the prefrontal cortex is required for the short-term storage of information. Furthermore, the elevated neuronal activity is supported by the reciprocal connectivity between the MD and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Therefore, detailed knowledge about the synaptic connections during high-frequency activity is critical for understanding the mechanism of short-term memory. In this study, we examined how feedforward inhibition of thalamofrontal connectivity is modulated by activity frequency. We observed greater short-term synaptic depression during disynaptic inhibition than in thalamic excitatory synapses during high-frequency activities. The strength of feedforward inhibition became weaker as the stimulation continued, which, in turn, enhanced the range of firing jitter in a frequency-dependent manner. We postulated that this phenomenon was primarily due to the increased failure rate of evoking action potentials in parvalbumin-expressing inhibitory neurons. These findings suggest that the MD-mPFC pathway is dynamically regulated by an excitatory-inhibitory balance in an activity-dependent manner. During low-frequency activities, excessive excitations are inhibited, and firing is restricted to a limited temporal range by the strong feedforward inhibition. However, during high-frequency activities, such as during short-term memory, the activity can be transferred in a broader temporal range due to the decreased feedforward inhibition. © 2020 The Author(s).1