Contextualizing Problems to Student Interests at Scale in Intelligent Tutoring System Using Large Language Models

Contextualizing problems to align with student interests can significantly improve learning outcomes. However, this task often presents scalability challenges due to resource and time constraints. Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-4 offer potential solutions to these issues. This study explores the ability of GPT-4 in the contextualization of problems within CTAT, an intelligent tutoring system, aiming to increase student engagement and enhance learning outcomes. Through iterative prompt engineering, we achieved meaningful contextualization that preserved the difficulty and original intent of the problem, thereby not altering values or overcomplicating the questions. While our research highlights the potential of LLMs in educational settings, we acknowledge current limitations, particularly with geometry problems, and emphasize the need for ongoing evaluation and research. Future work includes systematic studies to measure the impact of this tool on students' learning outcomes and enhancements to handle a broader range of problems

Modifiable pathways for longevity:A Mendelian randomization analysis

Background: A variety of factors, including diet and lifestyle, obesity, physiology, metabolism, hormone levels, psychology, and inflammation, have been associated with longevity. The specific influences of these factors, however, are poorly understood. Here, possible causal relationships between putative modifiable risk factors and longevity are investigated. Methods: A random effects model was used to investigate the association between 25 putative risk factors and longevity. The study population comprised 11,262 long-lived subjects (≥90 years old, including 3484 individuals ≥99 years old) and 25,483 controls (≤60 years old), all of European ancestry. The data were obtained from the UK Biobank database. Genetic variations were used as instruments in two-sample Mendelian randomization to reduce bias. The odds ratios for genetically predicted SD unit increases were calculated for each putative risk factor. Egger regression was used to determine possible violations of the Mendelian randomization model. Results: Thirteen potential risk factors showed significant associations with longevity (≥90th) after correction for multiple testing. These included smoking initiation (OR:1.606; CI: 1.112–2.319) and educational attainment (OR:2.538, CI: 1.685–3.823) in the diet and lifestyle category, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (OR per SD increase: 0.518; CI: 0.438–0.614 for SBP and 0.620; CI 0.514–0.748 for DBP) and venous thromboembolism (OR:0.002; CI: 0.000–0.047) in the physiology category, obesity (OR: 0.874; CI: 0.796–0.960), BMI (OR per 1-SD increase: 0.691; CI: 0.628–0.760), and body size at age 10 (OR per 1-SD increase:0.728; CI: 0.595–0.890) in the obesity category, type 2 diabetes (T2D) (OR:0.854; CI: 0.816–0.894), LDL cholesterol (OR per 1-SD increase: 0.743; CI: 0.668–0.826), HDL cholesterol (OR per 1-SD increase: 1.243; CI: 1.112–1.390), total cholesterol (TC) (OR per 1-SD increase: 0.786; CI: 0.702–0.881), and triglycerides (TG) (OR per 1-SD increase: 0.865; CI: 0.749–0.998) in the metabolism category. Both longevity (≥90th) and super-longevity (≥99th), smoking initiation, body size at age 10, BMI, obesity, DBP, SBP, T2D, HDL, LDL, and TC were consistently associated with outcomes. The examination of underlying pathways found that BMI indirectly affected longevity through three pathways, namely, SBP, plasma lipids (HDL/TC/LDL), and T2D (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: BMI was found to significantly affect longevity through SBP, plasma lipid (HDL/TC/LDL), and T2D. Future strategies should focus on modifying BMI to improve health and longevity.</p

Effects of stigmata maydis on the methicillin resistant Staphylococus aureus biofilm formation

Background Mastitis is an inflammatory reaction of the mammary gland tissue, which causes huge losses to dairy farms throughout the world. Staphylococcus aureus is the most frequent agent associated with this disease. Staphylococcus aureus isolates, which have the ability to form biofilms, usually lead to chronic mastitis in dairy cows. Moreover, methicillin resistance of the bacteria further complicates the treatment of this disease. Stigmata maydis (corn silk), a traditional Chinese medicine, possess many biological activities. Methods In this study, we performed antibacterial activity assays, biofilm formation assays and real-time reverse transcription PCR experiments to investigate the effect of stigmata maydis (corn silk) on biofilm formation and vancomycin susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from dairy cows with mastitis. Results In this study, the aqueous extracts of stigmata maydis inhibited the biofilm formation ability of MRSA strains and increased the vancomycin susceptibility of the strains under biofilm-cultured conditions. Conclusion This study proves that the aqueous extracts of stigmata maydis inhibit the biofilm formation ability of MRSA strains and increase the vancomycin susceptibility of the MRSA strains under biofilm-cultured conditions

Seed Germination Indicates Adaptive Transgenerational Plasticity in a Submerged Macrophyte

Adaptive transgenerational plasticity is an important evolutionary strategy in plants. We investigated the resource allocation strategy in sexual reproduction and performed an in situ seed germination experiment of Potamogeton maackianus to reveal their responses to different water depths. Later, we discussed the biased adaptability to the maternal habitat in this species. We found a positive correlation between sexual and asexual reproduction in water depths from 1.0 m to 3.0 m, such a correlation failed to occur in 4.0 m water depth. These results indicate that the trade-off between sexual and asexual reproduction should only be expected in a stressful habitat, where resource acquisition is limited. For trade-off between quantity and quality of sexual units in different water depths, P. maackianus tends to produce more but lower quality sexual reproductive units in shallow water, and fewer but higher quality sexual units are found in deep water. The total germination percentage of seeds of P. maackianus was relatively poor, less than 46.65% in all of the treatments. The maximum germination percentage of seeds from 1.0 m, 2.0 m, 3.0 m, and 4.0 m water depths are 14.4%, 17.75%, 25.51%, and 46.65%, respectively. Seeds with higher germination percentage were from deeper water depths. The most interesting result was that the maximum final germination percentage occurred only when treatment water depth was the same as collection water depth. Our result showed that the variations in germination characters of the studied species appear to be based partly on the effects of maternal environmental factors. Our findings proved the adaptive transgenerational plasticity in P. maackianus, which will play an important role in evolutionary response to the selection of water depths

The anti-biofilm effect of silver-nanoparticle-decorated quercetin nanoparticles on a multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli strain isolated from a dairy cow with mastitis

Background Escherichia coli is an important opportunistic pathogen that could cause inflammation of the udder in dairy cows resulting in reduced milk production and changes in milk composition and quality, and even death of dairy cows. Therefore, mastitis is the main health issue which leads to major economic losses on dairy farms. Antibiotics are routinely used for the treatment of bovine mastitis. The ability to form biofilm increases the antibiotic resistance of E. coli. Nanoparticles (NPs), a nanosized, safe, and highly cost-effective antibacterial agent, are potential biomedical tools. Given their antibacterial activities, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have a broad range of applications. Methods In this study, we performed antibacterial activity assays, biofilm formation assays, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) experiments, and real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) experiments to investigate the antibacterial and anti-biofilm effect of quercetin, Ag NPs, and Silver-nanoparticle-decorated quercetin nanoparticles (QA NPs) in E. coli strain ECDCM1. Results In this study, QA NPs, a composite material combining Ag NPs and the plant-derived drug component quercetin, exhibited stronger antibacterial and anti-biofilm properties in a multi-drug resistant E. coli strain isolated from a dairy cow with mastitis, compared to Ag NPs and Qe. Discussion This study provides evidence that QA NPs possess high antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities. They proved to be more effective than Ag NPs and Qe against the biofilm formation of a multi-drug resistant E. coli isolated from cows with mastitis. This suggests that QA NPs might be used as a potential antimicrobial agent in the treatment of bovine mastitis caused by E. coli

The genetic correlation and causal association between key factors that influence vascular calcification and cardiovascular disease incidence

Background: Serum calcium (Ca), vitamin D (VD), and vitamin K (VK) levels are key determinants of vascular calcification, which itself impacts cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The specific relationships between the levels of these different compounds and particular forms of CVD, however, remain to be fully defined. Objective: This study was designed to explore the associations between these serum levels and CVDs with the goal of identifying natural interventions capable of controlling vascular calcification and thereby protecting against CVD pathogenesis, extending the healthy lifespan of at-risk individuals.Methods: Linkage disequilibrium score (LDSC) regression and a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) framework were leveraged to systematically examine the causal interplay between these serum levels and nine forms of CVD, as well as longevity through the use of large publically accessible Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) datasets. The optimal concentrations of serum Ca and VD to lower CVD risk were examined through a restrictive cubic spline (RCS) approach.Results: After Bonferroni correction, the positive genetic correlations were observed between serum Ca levels and myocardial infarction (MI) (p = 1.356E–04), as well as coronary artery disease (CAD) (p = 3.601E–04). Negative genetic correlations were detected between levels of VD and CAD (p = 0.035), while elevated VK1 concentrations were causally associated with heart failure (HF) [odds ratios (OR) per 1-standard deviation (SD) increase: 1.044], large artery stroke (LAS) (OR per 1-SD increase: 1.172), and all stroke (AS) (OR per 1-SD increase: 1.041). Higher serum Ca concentrations (OR per 1-SD increase: 0.865) and VD levels (OR per 1-SD increase: 0.777) were causally associated with reduced odds of longevity. These findings remained consistent in sensitivity analyses, and serum Ca and VD concentrations of 2.376 mmol/L and 46.8 nmol/L, respectively, were associated with a lower CVD risk (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: Our findings support a genetic correlation between serum Ca and VD and CVD risk, and a causal relationship between VK1 levels and CVD risk. The optimal serum Ca (2.376 mmol/L) and VD levels (46.8 nmol/L) can reduce cardiovascular risk.</p

Littoral Slope, Water Depth and Alternative Response Strategies to Light Attenuation Shape the Distribution of Submerged Macrophytes in a Mesotrophic Lake

Light is a major limiting resource in aquatic ecosystems and numerous studies have investigated the response of submerged macrophytes to low light conditions. However, few studies have tested whether different light response strategies can also have consequences for macrophyte distribution along different littoral slopes in lakes, which are known to affect macrophyte biomass due to differences in drag forces and sediment characteristic. In this study, we tested (1) whether two macrophyte species of different growth forms (canopy-forming: Potamogeton maackianus, rosette-type: Vallisneria natans) differ in their response strategies to low light conditions and (2) how these responses influence their distribution along different basin slopes in the mesotrophic Lake Erhai, China. We hypothesized that the canopy-forming species responds to low light conditions at deeper sites by stem elongation while the rosette-type species increases its shoot chlorophyll content. As a consequence, P. maackianus should have a higher susceptibility to drag forces and thus prevail at sites with lower slopes. Sites with higher slopes should offer a niche for rosette-type species like V. natans that can better withstand drag forces. We surveyed the distribution and abundance of the two macrophyte species at 527 sampling points along 97 transects in Lake Erhai and measured their height, leaf and stem/rhizome biomass, and leaf chlorophyll a content at different water depths. Our results confirmed stem elongation as a strategy to low light conditions by the canopy-forming species P. maackianus, while V. natans produced more chlorophyll a per shoot biomass at deeper sites to tolerate shading. As hypothesized, these alternative response strategies to low light conditions resulted in a trade-off regarding the plants ability to grow at different basin slopes. P. maackianus was dominant at sites with low-moderate slope (0–4%) and low-moderate water depth (2–4 m), while sites with high basin slope (4–7%) combined with moderate-high water depth (3–5 m) were dominantly colonized by V. natans. The latter habitat thus represents a potential refuge for rosette-type macrophyte species that are often outcompeted when shading increases during eutrophication

Unlocking the mystery of the hard-to-sequence phage genome: PaP1 methylome and bacterial immunity

BACKGROUND: Whole-genome sequencing is an important method to understand the genetic information, gene function, biological characteristics and survival mechanisms of organisms. Sequencing large genomes is very simple at present. However, we encountered a hard-to-sequence genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage PaP1. Shotgun sequencing method failed to complete the sequence of this genome. RESULTS: After persevering for 10 years and going over three generations of sequencing techniques, we successfully completed the sequence of the PaP1 genome with a length of 91,715 bp. Single-molecule real-time sequencing results revealed that this genome contains 51 N-6-methyladenines and 152 N-4-methylcytosines. Three significant modified sequence motifs were predicted, but not all of the sites found in the genome were methylated in these motifs. Further investigations revealed a novel immune mechanism of bacteria, in which host bacteria can recognise and repel modified bases containing inserts in a large scale. This mechanism could be accounted for the failure of the shotgun method in PaP1 genome sequencing. This problem was resolved using the nfi(-) mutant of Escherichia coli DH5α as a host bacterium to construct a shotgun library. CONCLUSIONS: This work provided insights into the hard-to-sequence phage PaP1 genome and discovered a new mechanism of bacterial immunity. The methylome of phage PaP1 is responsible for the failure of shotgun sequencing and for bacterial immunity mediated by enzyme Endo V activity; this methylome also provides a valuable resource for future studies on PaP1 genome replication and modification, as well as on gene regulation and host interaction. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-803) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Joint population pharmacokinetic modeling of venlafaxine and O-desmethyl venlafaxine in healthy volunteers and patients to evaluate the impact of morbidity and concomitant medication

Introduction: Venlafaxine (VEN) is a widely used dual selective serotonin/noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor indicated for depression and anxiety. It undergoes first-pass metabolism to its active metabolite, O-desmethyl venlafaxine (ODV). The aim of the present study was to develop a joint population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model to characterize their pharmacokinetic characters simultaneously.Methods: Plasma concentrations with demographic and clinical data were derived from a bioequivalence study in 24 healthy subjects and a naturalistic TDM setting containing 127 psychiatric patients. A parent-metabolite PPK modeling was performed with NONMEM software using a non-linear mixed effect modeling approach. Goodness of fit plots and normalized prediction distribution error method were used for model validation.Results and conclusion: Concentrations of VEN and ODV were well described with a one-compartment model incorporating first-pass metabolism. The first-pass metabolism was modeled as a first-order conversion. The morbid state and concomitant amisulpride were identified as two significant covariates affecting the clearance of VEN and ODV, which may account for some of the variations in exposure. This model may contribute to the precision medication in clinical practice and may inspire other drugs with pre-system metabolism

LLMs as Workers in Human-Computational Algorithms? Replicating Crowdsourcing Pipelines with LLMs

LLMs have shown promise in replicating human-like behavior in crowdsourcing tasks that were previously thought to be exclusive to human abilities. However, current efforts focus mainly on simple atomic tasks. We explore whether LLMs can replicate more complex crowdsourcing pipelines. We find that modern LLMs can simulate some of crowdworkers' abilities in these "human computation algorithms," but the level of success is variable and influenced by requesters' understanding of LLM capabilities, the specific skills required for sub-tasks, and the optimal interaction modality for performing these sub-tasks. We reflect on human and LLMs' different sensitivities to instructions, stress the importance of enabling human-facing safeguards for LLMs, and discuss the potential of training humans and LLMs with complementary skill sets. Crucially, we show that replicating crowdsourcing pipelines offers a valuable platform to investigate (1) the relative strengths of LLMs on different tasks (by cross-comparing their performances on sub-tasks) and (2) LLMs' potential in complex tasks, where they can complete part of the tasks while leaving others to humans