Flexible Set Research Articles

Protective Effects of [6]-Gingerol Against Chemical Carcinogens: Mechanistic Insights.

[6]-Gingerol from ginger has received considerable attention as a potential cancer therapeutic agent because of its chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects, as well as its safety. In the current study, we examined [6]-gingerol as a natural scavenger of nine ultimate chemical carcinogens to which we are frequently exposed: glycidamide, styrene oxide, aflatoxin B1 exo-8,9-epoxide, β-propiolactone, ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, 2-cyanoethylene oxide, chloroethylene oxide, and vinyl carbamate epoxide. To evaluate [6]-gingerol efficacy, we expanded our research with the examination of glutathione—the strongest natural scavenger in human cells. The corresponding activation free energies were calculated using Hartree-Fock method with three flexible basis sets and two implicit solvation models. According to our results, [6]-gingerol proves to be an extremely effective scavenger of chemical carcinogens of the epoxy type. On the other hand, with the exception of aflatoxin B1 exo-8,9-epoxide, glutathione represents a relatively poor scavenger, whose efficacy could be augmented by [6]-gingerol. Moreover, our quantum mechanical study of the alkylation reactions of chemical carcinogens with [6]-gingerol and glutathione provide valuable insights in the reaction mechanisms and the geometries of the corresponding transition states. Therefore, we strongly believe that our research forms a solid basis for further computational, experimental and clinical studies of anticarcinogenic properties of [6]-gingerol as well as for the development of novel chemoprophylactic dietary supplements. Finally, the obtained results also point to the applicability of quantum chemical methods to studies of alkylation reactions related to chemical carcinogenesis.

A design criterion for symmetric model discrimination based on flexible nominal sets

Experimental design applications for discriminating between models have been hampered by the assumption to know beforehand which model is the true one, which is counter to the very aim of the experiment. Previous approaches to alleviate this requirement were either symmetrizations of asymmetric techniques, or Bayesian, minimax, and sequential approaches. Here we present a genuinely symmetric criterion based on a linearized distance between mean‐value surfaces and the newly introduced tool of flexible nominal sets. We demonstrate the computational efficiency of the approach using the proposed criterion and provide a Monte‐Carlo evaluation of its discrimination performance on the basis of the likelihood ratio. An application for a pair of competing models in enzyme kinetics is given.

Experimental error assessment of laminar flame speed measurements for digital chemical kinetics databases

This paper focuses on the uncertainty sources in experimental techniques applied for laminar flame speed measurements. The work was motivated due to the necessity to develop flexible standard sets of the key experimental parameters and descriptors to be included in the machine-readable files of digitalized data repositories such as ReSpeTh, PriMe, CloudFlame, etc. Besides identifying and making the data findable through the associated parameterized descriptions, available information should be interoperable with numerical codes evaluating uncertainty of experimental data. These uncertainty boundaries are very important for interpreters of the data and for development of statistical methods applied for the kinetic model optimization. On this way, four most common used techniques – Heat Flux Method (HFM), Bunsen Flame Method (BFM), Spherical Flame Method (SFM) and Counter Flow Method (CFM) were analyzed. The possible sources of experimental uncertainties have been investigated using data published by different research groups. Respective principles and structures of the experimental uncertainty sources for each studied method have been described. The uncertainty sources, their parameters and descriptors have been classified and systematically summarized in a universal data set to be used in the XML files of digitalized data repositories.

Flexible Software-Defined Packet Processing Using Low-Area Hardware

Computer networks are in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) era. SDN brings a whole new set of flexibility and possibilities into the network. The data plane of forwarding devices can be programmed to provide functionality for any protocol, and to perform novel network testing, diagnostics, and troubleshooting. One of the most dominant hardware architectures for implementing the programmable data plane is the Reconfigurable Match Tables (RMT) architecture. RMT's innovative programmable architecture enables support of novel networking protocols. However, there are certain shortcomings associated with its architecture that limit its scalability and lead to an unnecessarily complex architecture. In this paper, we present the details of an alternative packet parser and Match-Action pipeline. The parser sustains tenfold throughput at an area increase of only 32 percent. The pipeline supports unlimited combination of tables at minimum possible cost and provides a new level of flexibility to programmable Match-Action packet processing by allowing custom depth for actions. In addition, it has more advanced field-referencing mechanisms. Despite these architectural enhancements, it has 31 percent less area compared to RMT architecture.

Using financial accounts: A central banking perspective

The development of financial accounts is high on the global policy agenda. These accounts have become an essential element of the SNA, drawing from the traditional description of real economic aggregates augmented to present information on financial flows and positions. Several steps have been taken in recent years to refine important aspects of this framework, with the goal of building “integrated sectoral financial accounts”. To this end, two areas of focus are important. One relates to collecting the statistics to “fill” standard economic accounts. Large data collections have been undertaken since the 2007–09 Great Financial Crisis to build better-quality, more comprehensive and flexible data sets. A second important issue is to highlight how these statistics can be useful and support public policy. These areas are of particular relevance for central banks. As producers, they have been highly involved in the statistical exercises launched to address the challenges highlighted by the 2007-09 crisis. As data users, they have an increasing demand for information in order to understand, and act on, the financial system in pursuing monetary and financial stability policy objectives; financial accounts represent a key opportunity to address these information needs.

Identifying Key Criteria for Quality Assessment of Landscape Architecture Projects

Abstract the question of quality of modified landscape is critical for the client and the users and depends on the quality of projects. After theoretical and empirical research, the paper proposes the framework for quality assessment criteria and corresponding indicators for assessing landscape architecture projects. By thorough analysis of the recent international research and design and implementation practices in Lithuania, the paper gives the flexible and universal set of environmental, socio-economic, and aesthetic quality criteria and relevant indicators in the context of sustainable performance.

The association between psychological capital, mental health and burnout among specialists working in autism centers in Pakistan

Introduction: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder which influences a child’s verbal, intellectual, and social parts of life. Professionals who han-dle children with autism face exceptional challenges as they come across hyperactiv-ity, self-injurious behavior, compulsive behavior, and frequent meltdowns. The present research was designed to find out the relationship between psychological capital, men-tal health, and burnout among the professionals working in Autism Centers in Lahore Pakistan. Furthermore, it also aimed to investigate the role of mental health as a media-tor between psychological capital and burnout. Methods: The correlational research design and non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. Participants of the study were Autism Therapist n = 150, including Behavior Therapist (n = 80), Speech Therapist (n = 40), and Special Educationist (n = 30) from 12 Autism centers in Lahore Pakistan. The research instru-ments included Psychological Capital Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire, and Teacher Burnout Inventory. Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses was conducted for predicting demographic characteristics, psychological capital, and mental health burn-out of professionals working with ASD.Results: Present study showed that a significant positive relationship exists between psychological capital and mental health. Negative relationship among psychological capi-tal and burnout was also found. It also revealed that the unsatisfactory working environ-ment of Autism therapist predicted the burnout. Conclusion: Social support in the work environment and supervision opportunities for trainees was key predictors of minimizing burnout and job satisfaction. A flexible environment and definite set of working hours is needed in every institute for positive well-being of the professionals working with children who have autism.

Flexible Robust Risk-Constrained Unit Commitment of Power System Incorporating Large Scale Wind Generation and Energy Storage

With the increasing penetration of wind power in the power systems, the uncertainties in wind power significantly challenge the reliable and economic operation of power systems. Recently, the worst scenario-based robust optimization approaches have been employed to manage the uncertainties in the unit commitment problem. To further improve the robustness and economic efficiency of power system operation, this article proposes a flexible robust risk-constrained unit commitment formulation, in which flexible reserve capacities of conventional generators and energy storage are allocated to cope with the uncertainty of wind power. The proposed model optimizes the unit commitment and dispatch solutions for the base case while guaranteeing that the flexible reserve capacity can be adaptively adjusted after wind generation realization. In contrast to the predefined uncertainty set in the conventional robust unit commitment, the proposed model constructs an adjustable and flexible uncertainty set via balancing the operational costs and the operational risk. The model establishes worst-case constraints to optimally allocate the flexible reserve capacity. The proposed model can be equivalently transformed into a single-level optimization problem using the strong duality theory. Numerical case studies on a modified standard test system demonstrate the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposed model.

Using machine learning to predict extreme events in the Hénon map.

Machine Learning (ML) inspired algorithms provide a flexible set of tools for analyzing and forecasting chaotic dynamical systems. We analyze here the performance of one algorithm for the prediction of extreme events in the two-dimensional Hénon map at the classical parameters. The task is to determine whether a trajectory will exceed a threshold after a set number of time steps into the future. This task has a geometric interpretation within the dynamics of the Hénon map, which we use to gauge the performance of the neural networks that are used in this work. We analyze the dependence of the success rate of the ML models on the prediction time T, the number of training samples NT, and the size of the network Np. We observe that in order to maintain a certain accuracy, NT∝exp⁡(2hT) and Np∝exp⁡(hT), where h is the topological entropy. Similar relations between the intrinsic chaotic properties of the dynamics and ML parameters might be observable in other systems as well.

Improved chemistry restraints for crystallographic refinement by integrating the Amber force field into Phenix.

The refinement of biomolecular crystallographic models relies on geometric restraints to help to address the paucity of experimental data typical in these experiments. Limitations in these restraints can degrade the quality of the resulting atomic models. Here, an integration of the full all-atom Amber molecular-dynamics force field into Phenix crystallographic refinement is presented, which enables more complete modeling of biomolecular chemistry. The advantages of the force field include a carefully derived set of torsion-angle potentials, an extensive and flexible set of atom types, Lennard-Jones treatment of nonbonded interactions and a full treatment of crystalline electrostatics. The new combined method was tested against conventional geometry restraints for over 22 000 protein structures. Structures refined with the new method show substantially improved model quality. On average, Ramachandran and rotamer scores are somewhat better, clashscores and MolProbity scores are significantly improved, and the modeling of electrostatics leads to structures that exhibit more, and more correct, hydrogen bonds than those refined using traditional geometry restraints. In general it is found that model improvements are greatest at lower resolutions, prompting plans to add the Amber target function to real-space refinement for use in electron cryo-microscopy. This work opens the door to the future development of more advanced applications such as Amber-based ensemble refinement, quantum-mechanical representation of active sites and improved geometric restraints for simulated annealing.

Dynamic MouselabWEB: Individualized Information Display Matrixes

This paper introduces Dynamic MouselabWEB, a computerized process tracing tool that was designed to create flexible decision-making settings that are similar to real life. While Dynamic MouselabWEB is an extension of MouselabWEB, it differs in that it creates individualized information display matrixes (IDMs) rather than presenting predetermined IDMs, so participants decide on the attributes and alternatives before the decision task. This structure can improve the involvement of decision-makers in the decision process and it gives researchers a chance to observe decision-making behaviors and to explore new decision-making strategies when the decision task has only the decision-makers’ important attributes and appealing alternatives. In order to measure the effect of this dynamic structure, two groups of students worked on job selection tasks, one in the Dynamic MouselabWEB program (n = 32) and one in the traditional MouselabWEB program (n = 20). Results indicate a significant difference between the decision-making behaviors of these two groups. The students who chose a job on Dynamic MouselabWEB were informed more and they spent more time on task than the other group; in other words, they were involved more in the decision process.

Flexible responses to stage-specific offspring threats.

When caring for their young, parents must compensate for threats to offspring survival in a manner that maximizes their lifetime reproductive success. In birds, parents respond to offspring threats by altering reproductive strategies throughout the breeding attempt. Because altered reproductive strategies are costly, when threats to offspring are limited, parents should exhibit a limited response. However, it is unclear if response to offspring threat is the result of an integrated set of correlated changes throughout the breeding attempt or if responses are a flexible set of dissociable changes that are stage‐specific. We test these hypotheses in a system where house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) compete for nesting cavities with Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) by usurping and destroying their nests during the early stage of the breeding attempt (the egg stage). Due to the specificity of the house wren threat, we can test whether parental responses to an offspring threat show flexibility and stage specificity or if parental strategies are an integrated and persistent response. We monitored nests in a natural population to compare life history traits of chickadees nesting in boxes that were in the presence of house wrens to chickadees nesting in boxes that did not overlap with house wrens. Carolina chickadees that nested near house wrens laid significantly smaller clutch sizes (early change in reproductive strategy) but did not alter nestling provisioning or nestling stage length (late change in reproductive strategy), suggesting that chickadees respond in a flexible and stage‐specific manner to the threat of house wrens. By responding only when a threat is highest, parents minimize the cost of antithreat responses. Our study suggests that parents can respond in subtle and nuanced ways to offspring threats in the environment and specifically alter reproductive behaviors at the appropriate stage.

Tannin Basic Building Blocks as Potential Scavengers of Chemical Carcinogens: A Computational Study.

Tannins are natural compounds that have historically been used in the tanning of leather. In the scientific literature, one finds many reports of their possible beneficial health effects, although these are not always unequivocally confirmed. In order to gain a better insight into their proposed anticancer potential, we studied the scavenging capacity of the basic tannin building blocks against various chemical carcinogens of the epoxy type. The reactivity of gallic acid, ellagic acid, and epicathechin was examined using quantum mechanical calculations at the Hartree-Fock level of theory in conjunction with flexible basis sets and implicit solvation models. The monomeric tannin building blocks exhibited significant scavenging potential, with epicatechin presenting the best scavenger, thus encouraging and guiding future experimental studies of their anticarcinogenic properties.

ShinyBN: an online application for interactive Bayesian network inference and visualization

BackgroundHigh-throughput technologies have brought tremendous changes to biological domains, and the resulting high-dimensional data has also posed enormous challenges to computational science. A Bayesian network is a probabilistic graphical model represented by a directed acyclic graph, which provides concise semantics to describe the relationship between entities and has an independence assumption that is suitable for sparse omics data. Bayesian networks have been broadly used in biomedical research fields, including disease risk assessment and prognostic prediction. However, the inference and visualization of Bayesian networks are unfriendly to the users lacking programming skills.ResultsWe developed an R/Shiny application, shinyBN, which is an online graphical user interface to facilitate the inference and visualization of Bayesian networks. shinyBN supports multiple types of input and provides flexible settings for network rendering and inference. For output, users can download network plots, prediction results and external validation results in publication-ready high-resolution figures.ConclusionOur user-friendly application (shinyBN) provides users with an easy method for Bayesian network modeling, inference and visualization via mouse clicks. shinyBN can be used in the R environment or online and is compatible with three major operating systems, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS. shinyBN is deployed at https://jiajin.shinyapps.io/shinyBN/. Source codes and the manual are freely available at https://github.com/JiajinChen/shinyBN.

Cross-cultural flexibility: Validation of the traditional Mandarin, simplified Mandarin, and Japanese translations of the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory

Drawing from Eastern ideologies including Buddhism and Taoism and grounded in Relational Frame Theory, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) promotes wellbeing by helping individuals alter the function of internal experiences, encouraging them to engage in a psychologically flexible set of skills in response to unwanted thoughts, feelings, and experiences (representing the Hexaflex model: awareness of the present moment, acceptance, self-as-context, defusion, contact with values, committed action) rather than engaging in rigid and inflexible responses (inattentive unawareness, experiential avoidance, self-as-content, fusion, lack of contact with values, inaction). Recent work developed the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI), offering a method of assessing and tracking all 12 dimensions of the Hexaflex model separately. Given ACT's conceptual ties to Eastern ideologies, the current study sought to develop translations of the MPFI in three Asian languages (traditional Mandarin, simplified Mandarin, and Japanese): (1) to allow for the scale's clinical use in those languages and (2) to allow clinical researchers to examine ACT mechanisms in non-English speaking populations. Toward that end, 2091 respondents (69% female, M = 32.4 years old, SD = 10.2 years) from 5 cultural groups across 4 countries and 4 languages completed a 30–35 min online survey. Confirmatory Factor Analyses supported the measurement invariance and factor structure of the MPFI across all cultural groups and languages, the MPFI subscales demonstrated excellent internal consistencies across all languages, and the subscales continued to show convergent patterns of correlation with indices of wellbeing and psychological distress across all languages. Implications will be discussed.

Golay complementary sets with large zero odd-periodic correlation zones

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>Golay complementary sets (GCSs) are widely used in different communication systems, i.e., GCSs could be used in OFDM systems to control peak-to-mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR). In this paper, inspired by the work on GCSs with large zero correlation zone given by Chen et al in 2018, we investigate the relationship between GCSs and zero odd-periodic correlation zone (ZOCZ) sequence sets, and present GCSs with flexible sequence set sizes, sequence lengths, large ZOCZ and low PMEPR. Those proposed sequences could be applied in OFDM system for synchronization.

Management of Potential Data on Websites for Communicating Research in Education Issue

This research is concentrated in the increasing of education issue studies using the management of potential data on Websites for Communicating Research in the field of Education. This research relates with several web sites, i.e: https://puspendik.kemdikbud.go.id/hasil-un/, and https://dapo.dikdasmen.kemdikbud.go.id/sekolah/ Furthermore, this research is also purposed in order to elucidate the potentials and challenges of internet data for education to demonstrate a selection of relevant literature so that a wide spectrum of topics can be reached. A part of this data represents a large and increasing part of everyday life which sometimes could not be measured. The data used are a timely data which are potentially following a factual process, moreover they typically involve large numbers of observations, and they allow for flexible conceptual forms and experimental settings. In this paper, the data that are gained will be managed such that some academic articles are produced. Some data at the Internet had successfully been applied to a very wide range of detecting education issues (e.g. spatial analysis for relation a number of male and female students and score of mathematics and foreign languages test), we review the current literature attempts to incorporate the Internet data into the mainstream of scholarly empirical research in our research and guide the reader through this Special Issue. We provide some insights and a brief overview of the current state of research.

Exploring food choice and flexibility practices among staff and residents at care homes in Denmark

AbstractWith a growing number of people reaching older age, the need for care provided in long-term care institutions is increasing. Although the goal is to deliver person-centred care that includes choice and flexibility opportunities, pre-scheduled mealtimes and set menus are still used. The aim was to explore how food choice and flexibility practices were perceived and performed by residents and staff at three care homes in Denmark. Three food journey interviews with eight residents (aged 83–96) and three focus groups with 12 people from the care and kitchen staff were conducted. Food choice and flexibility practices were mainly performed informally and selectively by the staff, and through personal practices by the residents, implying that many residents were excluded from food choice and flexibility opportunities. However, food choice and flexibility practices were also inhibited by the staff's time pressure and unfamiliarity with choice possibilities, and by the politeness of the residents. Our findings suggest that food choice and flexibility practices must be understood and performed broadly, and include various ways of listening and responding to the residents’ needs and preferences. The study highlighted the importance of incorporating the essential embodied knowledge and emotional know-how, inherent in food choice and flexibility practices, into formal and inclusive strategies concerning how to think and act in relation to the food and meal situation.

Behavioral characterization of dup15q syndrome: Toward meaningful endpoints for clinical trials.

Duplication of 15q11.2-q13.1 (dup15q syndrome) is one of the most common copy number variations associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). As with many neurogenetic conditions, accurate behavioral assessment is challenging due to the level of impairment and heterogeneity across individuals. Large-scale phenotyping studies are necessary to inform future clinical trials in this and similar ID syndromes. This study assessed developmental and behavioral characteristics in a large cohort of children with dup15q syndrome, and examined differences based on genetic subtype and epilepsy status. Participants included 62 children (2.5-18 years). Across individuals, there was a wide range of abilities. Although adaptive behavior was strongly associated with cognitive ability, adaptive abilities were higher than cognitive scores. Measures of ASD symptoms were associated with cognitive ability, while parent report of challenging behavior was not. Both genetic subtype and epilepsy were related to degree of impairment across cognitive, language, motor, and adaptive domains. Children with isodicentric duplications and epilepsy showed the greatest impairment, while children with interstitial duplications showed the least. On average, participants with epilepsy experienced seizures over 53% of their lives, and half of children with epilepsy had infantile spasms. Parents of children with isodicentric duplications reported more concerns regarding challenging behaviors. Future trials in ID syndromes should employ a flexible set of assessments, allowing each participant to receive assessments that capture their skills. Multiple sources of information should be considered, and the impact of language and cognitive ability should be taken into consideration when interpreting results.

Natural gas system dispatch accounting for electricity side flexibility

The increasing use of gas-fired power plants requires a more thorough consideration of the interdependencies between power and gas systems. Ideally, these systems should be dispatched in a fully coordinated manner. However, they are generally operated as separate entities and it may not be possible to share complete information regarding the internal variables and constraints of each network. To overcome this limitation, we propose an inter-system flexibility set as a proxy to provide information about the power system to the gas network, so that actions taken in the gas network, such as load shedding, retain feasibility in the power system.