Generative deep learning applied to biomechanics: creating an infinite number of realistic walking data for modelling and data augmentation purposes

Our work using generative deep learning models to generate synthetic human movement data to augment existing datasets was presented at the 9th World Congress of Biomechanics

Frequency comb vernier spectroscopy in the near infrared

We perform femtosecond frequency comb vernier spectroscopy in the near infrared with a femtosecond Er doped fiber laser, a scanning high-finesse cavity and an InGaAs camera. By utilizing the properties of a frequency comb and a scanning high-finesse cavity such spectroscopy provides broad spectral bandwidth, high spectral resolution, and high detection sensitivity on a short time scale. We achieved an absorption sensitivity of ~8E-8 cm-1Hz-1/2 corresponding to a detection limit of ~70 ppbv for acetylene, with a resolution of ~1.1 GHz in single images taken in 0.5 seconds and covering a frequency range of ~5 THz. These measurements have broad applications for sensing other greenhouse gases in this fingerprint near IR region with a simple apparatus.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Ibuprofen Ameliorates Fatigue- And Depressive-Like Behavior in Tumor-Bearing Mice

Aims: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is often accompanied by depressed mood, both of which reduce functional status and quality of life. Research suggests that increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines is associated with skeletal muscle wasting and depressive- and fatigue-like behaviors in rodents and cancer patients. We have previously shown that treatment with ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, preserved muscle mass in tumor-bearing mice. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine the behavioral effects of ibuprofen in a mouse model of CRF. Main methods: Mice were injected with colon-26 adenocarcinoma cells and treated with ibuprofen (10 mg/kg) in the drinking water. Depressive-like behavior was determined using the forced swim test (FST). Fatigue-like behaviors were determined using voluntary wheel running activity (VWRA) and grip strength. The hippocampus, gastrocnemius muscle, and serum were collected for cytokine analysis. Key findings: Tumor-bearing mice showed depressive-like behavior in the FST, which was not observed in mice treated with ibuprofen. VWRA and grip strength declined in tumor-bearing mice, and ibuprofen attenuated this decline. Tumor-bearing mice had decreased gastrocnemius muscle mass and increased expression of IL-6, MAFBx and MuRF mRNA, biomarkers of protein degradation, in the muscle. Expression of IL-1β and IL-6 was also increased in the hippocampus. Treatment with ibuprofen improved muscle mass and reduced cytokine expression in both the muscle and hippocampus of tumor-bearing mice. Significance: Ibuprofen treatment reduced skeletal muscle wasting, inflammation in the brain, and fatigue- and depressive-like behavior in tumor-bearing mice. Therefore, ibuprofen warrants evaluation as an adjuvant treatment for CRF

Fluoxetine Prevents the Development of Depressive-like Behavior in a Mouse Model of Cancer Related Fatigue

Cancer patients frequently suffer from fatigue, a complex syndrome associated with tiredness and depressed mood. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) can be present at the time of diagnosis, escalates during treatment, and can persist for years after treatment. CRF negatively influences quality of life, limits functional independence, and is associated with decreased survival in patients with incurable disease. We have previously shown that increased pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in the brain contributes to depressive- and fatigue-like behaviors in a mouse model of CRF. Inflammatory cytokines increase the activity of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), which competitively reduce serotonin synthesis. Reduced serotonin availability in the brain and increased production of alternative neuroactive metabolites of tryptophan are thought to contribute to the development of depression and fatigue. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), on brain cytokines and behavioral measures of fatigue and depression in tumor-bearing mice. Here we show that tumor growth increased brain expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and KMO. Treatment with fluoxetine had no effect on tumor growth, muscle wasting, fatigue behavior, or cytokine expression in the brain. Fluoxetine, however, reduced depressive-like behaviors in tumor bearing mice. In conclusion, our data confirm that increased brain expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines is associated with tumor-induced fatigue- and depressive-like behaviors. However, it is possible to separate the effects of tumor growth on mood and fatigue-like behaviors using SSRIs such as fluoxetine

Using Precision in STEM Language: A Qualitative Look

Teachers need to develop a variety of pedagogical strategies that can encourage precise and accurate communication - an extremely important 21st century skill. Precision with STEM oral language is essential. Emphasizing oral communication with precise language in combination with increased spatial skills with modeling can improve the chances of success in STEM courses and later in making STEM career choices. The participants were 14 middle and high school teachers who participated in a week of professional development (PD). The Aural/Spatial Interactions and Invariant Components of Vocabulary for STEM Content Area Specialists (AS-STEM) was administered to teacher groups to examine how STEM discourses influenced AS-STEM success. This study compared language differences among groups that were more versus less successful at representing unseen 3-D objects by drawing 2-D depictions from oral descriptions from peers. The groups that were more successful, able to produce more accurate depictions, used (a) language type merging that was more coherent and less frequent, (b) language precision that appeared to convey meaning effectively, and (c) validated shared meaning regularly and established these shared meanings efficiently. Thus, teachers who were able to merge language types using precision and jointly took ownership of the tasks were more successful. We trust that this work translates into practice through the awareness teachers had from participation in and discussion of the activities

Explicating the Characteristics of STEM Teaching and Learning: A Metasynthesis

This metasynthesis focused on STEM teaching and learning practices in middle and high school classrooms and in informal settings. Research artifacts between 2005 and 2012 were examined. Fifty-eight unique artifacts were classified into four categories: reform-based teaching and learning, informal education, teacher factors, and technology use. Promising pedagogical reform-based practices included inquiry-based learning, engineering design, project-based learning, problem-based learning, and hands-on practices. The most common intervention identified was increasing teacher content knowledge. Even though STEM informal activities attempt to recruit underrepresented or low achieving students, the reality is that access to informal STEM activities is often based on students’ expressed high interest, prior academic achievement, teacher recommendation, time and travel availability and flexibility, and overall levels of ambition or motivation. Positive outcomes, due to technology, appeared to covary with other factors such as teacher content knowledge, the presence of campus support, or active engagement within a learning community

Tumor Growth Increases Neuroinflammation, Fatigue and Depressive-like Behavior Prior to Alterations in Muscle Function

Cancer patients frequently suffer from fatigue, a complex syndrome associated with loss of muscle mass, weakness, and depressed mood. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) can be present at the time of diagnosis, during treatment, and persists for years after treatment. CRF negatively influences quality of life, limits functional independence, and is associated with decreased survival in patients with incurable disease. Currently there are no effective treatments to reduce CRF. The aim of this study was to use a mouse model of tumor growth and discriminate between two main components of fatigue: loss of muscle mass/function and altered mood/motivation. Here we show that tumor growth increased fatigue- and depressive-like behaviors, and reduced body and muscle mass. Decreased voluntary wheel running activity (VWRA) and increased depressive-like behavior in the forced swim and sucrose preference tests were evident in tumor-bearing mice within the first two weeks of tumor growth and preceded the loss of body and muscle mass. At three weeks, tumor-bearing mice had reduced grip strength but this was not associated with altered expression of myosin isoforms or impaired contractile properties of muscles. These increases in fatigue and depressive-like behaviors were paralleled by increased expression of IL-1β mRNA in the cortex and hippocampus. Minocycline administration reduced tumor-induced expression of IL-1β in the brain, reduced depressive-like behavior, and improved grip strength without altering muscle mass. Taken together, these results indicate that neuroinflammation and depressed mood, rather than muscle wasting, contribute to decreased voluntary activity and precede major changes in muscle contractile properties with tumor growth

Cultivation possibilities of some common beans varieties under second crop conditions

This research was carried to determine the yield and yield components on some common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) varieties in 2017 and 2018 years, in Diyarbakir, southeast Anatolia of Turkey. In the experiment, Onceler-98, Karacasehir-90, Yunus-90, Akman-98, Goynuk-98, Aras-98, Terzibaba, Adabeyazi, Cihan and Noyanbey cultivars were used. Experiment was set up in randomized complete block design with three replications. Plots were 6 m length with five rows, the inter-row and intra-row spacing were 0.7 m and 0.10 m. Seeds were sown after wheat harvest as second crops. The differences among cultivars were significant for number of days of flowering and maturity, plant height, number of pods and seeds per plant, grain yield and 100 seed weight. Number of days to flowering ranged from 48.0 to 62.8; number of days to maturity ranged from 99.8 to 113.8. The number of pods and seeds per plant varied from 12.8 to 30.8, and 24.3 to 105.6, respectively. Grain yield ranged from 792.3 kg ha-1 (Cihan and Noyanbey) to 2709 kg ha-1 (Goynuk-98 and Onceler-98). In the experiment area, high heat temperature and high evaporation throughout July and August, negatively affected the blooming, pollination and fertilization on cultivars of dwarf and determinate plant habit types. Brushy type and late-maturing varieties should be preferred under second crop conditions

Steering a Fleet: Adaptation for Large-Scale, Workflow-Based Experiments

Experimental science is increasingly driven by instruments that produce vast volumes of data and thus a need to manage, compute, describe, and index this data. High performance and distributed computing provide the means of addressing the computing needs; however, in practice, the variety of actions required and the distributed set of resources involved, requires sophisticated "flows" defining the steps to be performed on data. As each scan or measurement is performed by an instrument, a new instance of the flow is initiated resulting in a "fleet" of concurrently running flows, with the overall goal to process all the data collected during a potentially long-running experiment. During the course of the experiment, each flow may need to adapt its execution due to changes in the environment, such as computational or storage resource availability, or based on the progress of the fleet as a whole such as completion or discovery of an intermediate result leading to a change in subsequent flow's behavior. We introduce a cloud-based decision engine, Braid, which flows consult during execution to query their run-time environment and coordinate with other flows within their fleet. Braid accepts streams of measurements taken from the run-time environment or from within flow runs which can then be statistically aggregated and compared to other streams to determine a strategy to guide flow execution. For example, queue lengths in execution environments can be used to direct a flow to run computations in one environment or another, or experiment progress as measured by individual flows can be aggregated to determine the progress and subsequent direction of the flows within a fleet. We describe Braid, its interface, implementation and performance characteristics. We further show through examples and experience modifying an existing scientific flow how Braid is used to make adaptable flows