Prior Assignment Research Articles

Genomic Introgression Between Critically Endangered and Stable Species of Darwin's Tree Finches on the Galapagos Islands.

Natural hybridisation among rare or endangered species and stable congenerics is increasingly topical for the conservation of species-level diversity under anthropogenic impacts. Evidence for beneficial genes being introgressed into or selected for in hybrids raises concurrent questions about its evolutionary significance. In Darwin's tree finches on the island of Floreana (Galapagos Islands, Ecuador), the Critically Endangered medium tree finch (Camarhynchus pauper) undergoes introgression with the stable small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus), and hybrids regularly backcross with C. parvulus. Earlier studies in 2005-2013 documented an increase in the frequency of Camarhynchus hybridisation on Floreana using field-based and microsatellite data. With single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from the same Floreana tree finches sampled in 2005 and 2013 (n = 95), we examine genome-wide divergence across parental and hybrid birds and evidence for selection in hybrids. We found that just 18% of previously assigned hybrid birds based on microsatellites could be assigned to hybrids using SNPs. Over half of the previously assigned hybrids (63%) were reassigned to C. parvulus, though parental species showed concordance with prior assignments. Of 4869 private alleles found in hybrid birds, 348 were at a high frequency (≥ 0.30) that exceeded their parental species of origin 89%-96% of the time. For private alleles detected in both years (N = 536) between 11%-76% of alleles underwent a frequency increase and 13%-61% a frequency decrease between 2005 and 2013, which was sensitive to sampling effort. We identified 28 private alleles that were candidates under selection via local PCA and outlier tests. Alleles were annotated to genes associated with inflammation, immunity, brain function and development. We provide evidence that introgression among a critically endangered and stable species of Darwin's tree finch across years may aid in the retention of adaptive alleles and genetic diversity in birds threatened with extinction.

LONG-TERM ASSOCIATION OF DIABETES CONTROL WITH SELF-REPORTED VISION AND HEARING

Abstract Older adults with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for vision and hearing loss. We examined whether better control of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure, and weight was associated with better self-reported vision and hearing acuity among older adults with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity. The Look AHEAD Aging study administered a standardized questionnaire to N=1,008 individuals, mean (SD) age 77.8 (5.7) years, who had been enrolled in the Look AHEAD trial of intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI). We examined how mean levels of HbA1c, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and body mass index (BMI) over the prior 10 years were associated with markers of vision and hearing acuity, controlling for age, gender, and diabetes duration. Hearing and vision deficits were assessed by self-report of fair, poor, or worse abilities. Multisensory deficits were defined as reported deficits for both vision and hearing. Relatively better 10-year control of HbA1c was associated with less prevalent vision deficits (OR=0.72 per IQR lower HbA1c, p=0.002) and with less prevalent multisensory deficits (OR=0.65 per IQR lower HbA1c, p=0.002). Better 10-year SBP control was also associated with less prevalent vision deficits (OR=0.72 per IQR lower SBP, p=0.005). Prior random assignment to ILI and 10-year BMI levels were not associated with self-reported vision. HbA1c, SBP, BMI, and intervention assignment were not significantly associated with hearing acuity. Long-term control of HbA1c and SBP are important to maintaining vision in older individuals with type 2 diabetes. HbA1c control may also reduce the prevalence of multisensory deficits.

LATE-LIFE DISABILITY FOLLOWING THE ACTION FOR HEALTH IN DIABETES (LOOK AHEAD) TRIAL

Abstract The Look AHEAD trial intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) was associated with better mobility in adults with type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity. The objective of this study is to describe the post-intervention impact on disability in older adults. Disability was assessed using the Pepper Assessment Tool for Disability (PAT-D) at the first post-trial visit and three subsequent study visits during the observational phase. Disability was defined by self-reported responses ‘of a lot of difficulty’ or ‘unable to do’ on any item within the PAT-D subscales for Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADL), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), and mobility. Regression models using generalized estimating equations were used to examine the association between intervention assignment and BMI across post-trial visits with disability prevalence, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, CVD history, and repeated measures. The mean±SD age and BMI of participants (n=1299) at the first post-trial visit was 68.7±5.6 years and 34.4±6.1 kg/m2, 61% were female, 69% were White, 8% had CVD history at baseline, and 51% were assigned to ILI. Over a median 9 years of post-trial follow-up, disability increased in BADLs from 3.1% to 12.6%, IADLs from 3.5% to 22.7%, and mobility from 21.9% to 46.7%. Participants with a higher BMI (35+ vs. <30 kg/m2) had increased odds of disability in IADLs (OR [95% CI]: 2.0 [1.5-2.8]) and mobility (2.2 [1.7-2.9]). There was no association between prior assignment to ILI and disability (p≥0.78). In conclusion, we found clinically relevant differences in late-life disability by post-trial BMI status.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF AN INTENSIVE LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION ON NUTRITIONAL RISK IN OLDER ADULTS WITH DIABETES

Abstract Malnutrition is common in older adults and is associated with morbidity, mortality and decreased quality of life. We examined the post-intervention impact of the Look AHEAD intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) on nutritional risk – the presence of risk factors such as food insecurity, poor appetite, and low food intake which can lead to malnutrition – in older adults with type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity in the Look AHEAD Aging study (~9 years after the intervention was terminated). Nutritional risk scores (range 0-21) were calculated from the DETERMINE checklist, a 10-item questionnaire of factors linked to poor nutrition in older age, and categorized as low (0-2), moderate (3-5) and high (6+). Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the association between intervention assignment, post-intervention weight change, unintentional weight loss, and current BMI with nutritional risk adjusted for current age, sex, race/ethnicity, and education in 1032 participants. Forty percent of participants were at high nutritional risk and 48% at moderate nutritional risk. There was no association between prior assignment to ILI (p=0.65) or post-intervention weight loss or gain of ≥5% (p=0.09) and nutritional risk. However, unintentional weight loss of ≥10 lbs over the past year was associated with high nutritional risk (OR [95% CI]: 2.18 [1.16-4.09]) and current BMI of ≥30 kg/m2 was similarly associated with both moderate (1.62 [1.01-2.60]) and high (1.68 [1.03-2.74]) nutritional risk. In conclusion, current BMI and recent unintentional weight loss, but not past assignment to ILI or post-intervention weight loss/gain, were associated with nutritional risk.

Tufted wind-dispersed fagalean fruits, Pogonokarydion gen. nov., from the Upper Eocene Florissant Formation of Colorado, USA

Wind-dispersed comose fruits from the Late Eocene of Florissant, Colorado, USA, are recognized as a new genus of fagalean affinity. Pogonokarydion crassulum (Cockerell) gen. et comb. nov. disseminules consist of an ellipsoidal to circular nut bearing longitudinal ribs, a persistent epigynous perianth, paired styles, and a prominent tuft of straight hairs arising from the base, which we infer to be homologous with an involucre. Prior assignments to Juncus (Juncaceae) and Fagopsis (Fagaceae) are rejected and we argue for a position within the Fagales, likely within, or close to, the Betulaceae. Pogonokarydion co-occurred in the Florissant flora with other fagalean genera, including some still living today, like Quercus and Carya, and others now extinct like Fagopsis and Asterocarpinus.

Connectivity-Preserving Formation Control via Clique-Based Approach Without Prior Assignment

Connectivity-Preserving Formation Control via Clique-Based Approach Without Prior Assignment

Interpretability of bi-level variable selection methods.

Variable selection is usually performed to increase interpretability, as sparser models are easier to understand than full models. However, a focus on sparsity is not always suitable, for example, when features are related due to contextual similarities or high correlations. Here, it may be more appropriate to identify groups and their predictive members, a task that can be accomplished with bi-level selection procedures. To investigate whether such techniques lead to increased interpretability, group exponential LASSO (GEL), sparse group LASSO (SGL), composite minimax concave penalty (cMCP), and least absolute shrinkage, and selection operator (LASSO) as reference methods were used to select predictors in time-to-event, regression, and classification tasks in bootstrap samples from a cohort of 1001 patients. Different groupings based on prior knowledge, correlation structure, and random assignment were compared in terms of selection relevance, group consistency, and collinearity tolerance. The results show that bi-level selection methods are superior to LASSO in all criteria. The cMCP demonstrated superiority in selection relevance, while SGL was convincing in group consistency. An all-round capacity was achieved by GEL: the approach jointly selected correlated and content-related predictors while maintaining high selection relevance. This method seems recommendable when variables are grouped, and interpretation is of primary interest.

The Effect of the Prior Teacher on Value-Added

Abstract We show that teachers' value-added (‘VA’) depend on the VA of the teachers that preceded them. To do so, we use administrative data from North Carolina and find that a one-standard deviation increase in last grade's mean teacher VA causes a 0.08σ decrease in teacher VA. Controlling for prior teacher assignment eliminates this bias. Under a benchmark policy that releases teachers in the bottom five percent of the VA distribution, thirty-two percent of teachers are incorrectly released using traditional techniques. Our results highlight the importance of incorporating dynamic features of education production into the estimation of teacher quality.

Analysis and optimization for non-orthogonal pilot sequence sets in massive MIMO systems

Analysis and optimization for non-orthogonal pilot sequence sets in massive MIMO systems

Self-regulation of peer feedback quality aspects through different dimensions of experience within prior peer feedback assignments

Self-regulation of peer feedback quality aspects through different dimensions of experience within prior peer feedback assignments

Universal Design for Learning and Direct Instruction in a Special Education Practicum

The Instructional Planning Project (IPP) assignment is set in an online practicum course for graduate students in a high incidence special education teacher preparation program. The IPP assignment is the culminating assignment in a sixteen-week long course. The course provides students with a lesson plan template, for a reading or math lesson, that integrates direct instruction and Universal Design for Learning. The template is used for the major IPP assignment as well as for prior lesson plan assignments. Detailed instructions and a rubric are provided on Canvas, the learning management system, for the IPP assignment, where practicum students infuse Universal Design for Learning principles into a direct instruction lesson.

Treatment with Galcanezumab in Patients with Episodic Migraine: Results from the Open-Label Phase of the PERSIST Study (P10-12.006)

<h3>Objective:</h3> To assess efficacy and safety of galcanezumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to calcitonin gene-related peptide, in adult patients with episodic migraine. <h3>Background:</h3> Migraine is a neurological disorder with high disease burden and unmet clinical need. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> This was a phase 3, double-blind (DB), randomized, placebo-controlled, 3-month study with a 3-month open-label extension (OLE). Eligible patients with episodic migraine were randomized to monthly subcutaneous injections of placebo (N=259) or galcanezumab 120mg with a 240mg loading dose (N=261). Patients entering OLE received galcanezumab 120mg/month. Efficacy measures included number of monthly migraine headache days (MHDs), ≥50% reduction in monthly MHDs, and Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire Role Function-Restrictive (MSQ-RFR) domain score. Change from baseline in continuous and categorical measures was analyzed using mixed model repeated measures analysis and generalized linear mixed models, respectively. OLE results are reported by prior DB treatment assignment. <h3>Results:</h3> Of the patients who completed DB treatment, 484 (99.4%) entered OLE, with 96.3% completing Month 6. From a baseline of 8.23 monthly MHDs at the beginning of DB, patients at month 6 in the prior placebo and galcanezumab groups had a mean change of −4.56 and −4.62, respectively. At Month 6, the percentage of patients with ≥50% response was 67.2% and 70.9%, respectively. Of the 142 galcanezumab-treated patients with ≥50% response at Month 3, 66.2% maintained that response throughout OLE. At Month 6, patient functioning on the 100-point MSQ-RFR increased from baseline by 24.9 and 23.7 points, respectively. The common (&gt;2%) treatment-emergent adverse events were injection site reaction (3.3%), upper respiratory tract infection (2.7%), and injection site pruritus (2.5%) during the OLE. Three patients (0.6%) discontinued due to an adverse event. There were no clinically meaningful changes in any safety parameters. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> Galcanezumab was effective, safe, and well tolerated during the PERSIST open-label extension in patients with episodic migraine. <b>Disclosure:</b> Prof. Yu has nothing to disclose. Prof. Zhou has nothing to disclose. Dr. Zhuang has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Eli Lilly. Miss Liu has nothing to disclose. Ms. Qian has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Eli Lilly.

Long-range structure of [formula omitted] state

Long-range structure of [formula omitted] state

Clumped and oxygen isotope sclerochronology methods tested in the bivalve Lucina pensylvanica

Clumped and oxygen isotope sclerochronology methods tested in the bivalve Lucina pensylvanica

Prior Art Research in the Capstone Design Experience: A Case Study of Redesigned Online and In-person Instruction

Exploration of "prior art"—the state of a technology’s development, as manifested in literature, documentation, and artifacts—has many benefits for engineering students. It expands their understanding of the design problem, reveals a range of possible solutions, and develops research skills important to professional practice. While prior art often includes patents and research literature, it can include any type of publication or document. This paper presents an innovative approach to a prior art review assignment in the capstone course for mechanical, electrical, and biomedical engineering students at the University of Vermont (UVM). The assignment and accompanying instruction were redesigned in 2018–2019 to address several issues that limited students' ability to do the required work to a high standard. Foundational knowledge about key publication types and research skills was "flipped" into a set of online tutorials; the class session was converted from a lecture to an interactive workshop-style presentation; research consultations with an engineering librarian were tailored to team projects; and the assignment deliverables were redesigned to incorporate more reflection about the process of engaging with prior art. This multifaceted approach involves a substantial amount of preparation. However, assessment showed significant returns on the investment that includes improved knowledge of types of engineering publication, demonstrated use of advanced research practices, and insightful reflections on the role of prior art in design thinking.

Prior Art Research in the Capstone Design Experience: A Case Study of Redesigned Online and In-person Instruction

Exploration of "prior art"—the state of a technology’s development, as manifested in literature, documentation, and artifacts—has many benefits for engineering students. It expands their understanding of the design problem, reveals a range of possible solutions, and develops research skills important to professional practice. While prior art often includes patents and research literature, it can include any type of publication or document. This paper presents an innovative approach to a prior art review assignment in the capstone course for mechanical, electrical, and biomedical engineering students at the University of Vermont (UVM). The assignment and accompanying instruction were redesigned in 2018–2019 to address several issues that limited students' ability to do the required work to a high standard. Foundational knowledge about key publication types and research skills was "flipped" into a set of online tutorials; the class session was converted from a lecture to an interactive workshop-style presentation; research consultations with an engineering librarian were tailored to team projects; and the assignment deliverables were redesigned to incorporate more reflection about the process of engaging with prior art. This multifaceted approach involves a substantial amount of preparation. However, assessment showed significant returns on the investment that includes improved knowledge of types of engineering publication, demonstrated use of advanced research practices, and insightful reflections on the role of prior art in design thinking.

Investigating the negative bias towards artificial intelligence: Effects of prior assignment of AI-authorship on the aesthetic appreciation of abstract paintings

• Human-declared vs. AI-declared authorship of abstract paintings negatively influences aesthetic appreciation towards AI. • The use of abstract paintings attenuates the overall negative bias in the appreciation of AI-declared artworks. • Negative bias towards an AI-declared abstract artwork emerges when it is implicitly compared to a human-declared one. • Electrophysiological activity indicates that participants spontaneously compare two paintings even with no explicit request. • A priori available information about the authorship of an artwork is a key factor in aesthetic evaluation and appreciation.

Adaptive iterated local search for the parallel row ordering problem

This study addresses the parallel row ordering problem (PROP), which aims at arranging a number of facilities along two parallel rows in a plant. The PROP assumes prior assignment of facilities, i.e. some specific facilities should be allocated to one row, and the remaining facilities to the other row. The objective of the problem is to determine the ordering of the facilities on the rows so as to minimize a cost function. The problem has several applications (e.g. flexible manufacturing systems design) and is NP-Hard. We present a solution approach based on Iterated Local Search (ILS) that departs from its standard implementation. The proposed ILS algorithm is adaptive, alternating periods of intensification and diversification. Moreover, the ILS algorithm utilizes a technique to speed up the calculation of the problem objective function. The proposed algorithm improves on the best-known values for 34 out of 100 instances in the literature; and reaches the best-known value of the remaining 66 instances. While no methods in the literature have undertaken instances with more than 70 facilities, the proposed algorithm can efficiently handle much larger instances containing between 250 and 300 facilities. • An Adaptive Iterated Local Search (AILS) algorithm is proposed for the PROP. • AILS auto-regulates intensification, diversification and intensity of perturbation. • A technique was used to speed up the calculation of neighborhood move gains. • AILS improves on previous best solutions for 34 out of 100 tested instances. • The AILS algorithm can efficiently handle problems with up to 300 facilities.

Exploiting Expert Knowledge for Assigning Firms to Industries: A Novel Deep Learning Method

Industry assignment, which assigns firms to industries according to a predefined industry classification system (ICS), is fundamental to a large number of critical business practices, ranging from operations and strategic decision-making by firms to economic analyses by government agencies. Three types of expert knowledge are essential to effective industry assignment: definition-based knowledge (i.e., expert definitions of each industry), structure-based knowledge (i.e., structural relationships among industries as specified in an ICS), and assignment-based knowledge (i.e., prior firm-industry assignments performed by domain experts). Existing industry assignment methods utilize only assignment-based knowledge to learn a model that classifies unassigned firms to industries, overlooking definition-based and structure-based knowledge. Moreover, these methods only consider which industry a firm has been assigned to, ignoring the time-specificity of assignment-based knowledge, i.e., when the assignment occurs. To address the limitations of existing methods, we propose a novel deep learning-based method that not only seamlessly integrates the three types of knowledge for industry assignment but also takes the time-specificity of assignment-based knowledge into account. Methodologically, our method features two innovations: dynamic industry representation and hierarchical assignment. The former represents an industry as a sequence of time-specific vectors by integrating the three types of knowledge through our proposed temporal and spatial aggregation mechanisms. The latter takes industry and firm representations as inputs, computes the probability of assigning a firm to different industries, and assigns the firm to the industry with the highest probability. We conduct extensive evaluations with two widely used ICSs and demonstrate the superiority of our method over prevalent existing methods.

Investigation into the effect of mixtures comprising related people on non-donor likelihood ratios, and potential practises to mitigate providing misleading opinions

The interpretation of mixtures containing related individuals can be difficult due to allele sharing between the contributors. Challenges include the assignment of the number of contributors (NoC) to the mixture with the under assignment of NoC resulting in false exclusions of true donors. Non-donating relatives of the true contributors to mixtures of close relatives can result in likelihood ratios supporting their adventitious inclusion within the mixture. We examine the effect of non-donor likelihood ratios on mixtures of first order relatives. Mixtures of full siblings and parent-child were created by mixing the DNA from known family members in vitro, or by in silico simulation. Mixtures were interpreted using the probabilistic genotyping software STRmix™ and likelihood ratios were assigned for the true donors and non-donors who were either further relatives of the true donors or unrelated to the true donors. The two donor balanced mixtures deconvoluted straightforwardly when analysed as NoC = 2 giving approximately the experimental design 1:1 ratio. When analysed as NoC = 3 a very large number of non-donor genotypes produced LRs close to 1 including many instances of adventitious support. The in vitro three donor balanced mixtures proved difficult to assign as NoC = 3 by a blind examination of the profile. It is likely that many of these would be misassigned as NoC = 2. The analysis of the in vitro and in silico mixtures assuming NoC = 3 with no use of a conditioning profile or with the use of a conditioning profile but without informed priors on the mixture proportions (Mx priors) was ineffective. If the profile can be assigned as NoC = 3 then assignment of the Mx priors is straightforward. This analysis gave no false exclusions. Adventitious support did happen for relatives with high allele sharing. Adventitious support was not observed for any unrelated non-donors. The analysis of the three-person mixtures as NoC = 2 produced many false exclusions and fewer instances of adventitious support. The three donor unbalanced mixtures could all be assigned as NoC= 3. Analysis without Mx priors produced an alternate genotype explanation.