Quantitative Analysis Of Behavior Research Articles

Impact of structural flexibility in the adsorption of wheat and sunflower proteins at an air/water interface

Food transition requires the replacement in human diet of animal-based proteins by alternative sources of proteins including plant-based proteins. This calls for a detailed knowledge of the functional properties of plant-based proteins, including their surface activity. In this framework, we provide here a comparative study of the interfacial properties of two plant proteins, extracted respectively from wheat and sunflower. We combine time- and concentration-dependent measurements of the surface tension and the surface rheology, as measured with a pendant-drop set-up, and of the surface excess concentration, as measured by ellipsometry, of plant protein interfacial films. We demonstrate a time-concentration superposition principle for the surface pressure and surface excess concentration, showing that the kinetics for the building of the interfacial films is essentially governed by the diffusion of the proteins from the bulk to the interface. We find that the rheological and structural properties of the interfacial protein films show markedly different behaviors for the two classes of protein, which is encoded in the structural features of the individual proteins: wheat proteins are more surface active than sunflower proteins, are keen to compress and re-arrange at an air-water interface, whereas sunflower proteins do not. This work provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of the comparative interfacial behavior of flexible and rigid plant proteins extracted respectively from wheat and sunflower, and demonstrates that a combination of several experimental techniques is necessary to obtain insightful information on the interfacial properties of any species.

Integrated Behavioral, Genetic and Brain Circuit Visualization Methods to Unravel Functional Anatomy of Zebrafish Amygdala.

The mammalian amygdala is a complex forebrain structure consisting of a heterogeneous group of nuclei derived from the pallial and subpallial telencephalon. It plays a critical role in a broad range of behaviors such as emotion, cognition, and social behavior; within the amygdala each nucleus has a distinct role in these behavioral processes. Topological, hodological, molecular, and functional studies suggest the presence of an amygdala-like structure in the zebrafish brain. It has been suggested that the pallial amygdala homolog corresponds to the medial zone of the dorsal telencephalon (Dm) and the subpallial amygdala homolog corresponds to the nuclei in the ventral telencephalon located close to and topographically basal to Dm. However, these brain regions are broad and understanding the functional anatomy of the zebrafish amygdala requires investigating the role of specific populations of neurons in brain function and behavior. In zebrafish, the highly efficient Tol2 transposon-mediated transgenesis method together with the targeted gene expression by the Gal4-UAS system has been a powerful tool in labeling, visualizing, and manipulating the function of specific cell types in the brain. The transgenic resource combined with neuronal activity imaging, optogenetics, pharmacology, and quantitative behavioral analyses enables functional analyses of neuronal circuits. Here, we review earlier studies focused on teleost amygdala anatomy and function and discuss how the transgenic resource and tools can help unravel the functional anatomy of the zebrafish amygdala.

Flow-coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of frictional behaviors at the tool-workpiece interface during friction stir welding

Friction stir welding (FSW) has been applied to many fields including aerospace manufacturing and the railway industry. However, the interfacial friction behavior remains unclear due to the lack of reliable thermo-mechanical-flow-coupled analysis. In this study, the frictional behaviors, including the interfacial temperature, friction-induced heat generation, interfacial stick-slip state, and mass transfer during the FSW process of AA2024-T4 are elucidated based on experimental investigation and a novel three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. It is found that the temperature is heterogeneously distributed at the tool-workpiece interface which ranges from 380 to 431 °C. The heat generation contributed by the slipping friction is less than that contributed by deformation heating. This stems from the fact that friction-induced interfacial stick is presented over a large area of the tool-workpiece interface, while a significant slip occurs at the shoulder periphery and the middle of the pin end. As a result of the interfacial stick, a highly-localized high-velocity zone (HVZ) is formed within the vicinity of the tool-workpiece interface with nonnegligible vertical velocity. Fast mass transfer occurs within the HVZ in a maelstrom pattern; while relative slow mass transfer occurs in a straight-through pattern outside the HVZ. Moreover, the friction-induced temperature field and material flow field in the vicinity of the tool-workpiece interface during the FSW process are predicted by using numerical simulation and validated by the measured temperature and the observed weld macrograph. By using the state-of-the-art simulation approaches, this study provides a quantitative analysis of the friction behavior during FSW, which benefits an in-depth understanding of FSW and thus brings new design concepts.

Speed, spacing and synchrony: an exploratory, quantitative analysis of collective team behaviour in elite Rugby Union

Introduction: Rugby Union is a team-based activity, in which 15 individuals must perform cooperative movements and actions to coordinate effective attacking and defensive manoeuvres against an opposing team. Wearable Global Positioning Systems are often used to monitor the physical aspects of match play (e.g., distances and speeds of individual athletes), however, the positional coordinates can also be used to obtain objective metrics of cooperative behaviour, such as the spacing and synchrony of the players.

Quantitative Analysis of Human Behavior in Environmental Protection

Quantitative Analysis of Human Behavior in Environmental Protection

Social behavior: Using visual cues to guide dancing on the fly

Quantitative behavioral analysis of Drosophila courtship reveals that visual cues of a female's body influence which actions a male performs during courtship. These actions in turn influence female actions, producing a mutual synchronization of courtship between male and female flies.

Quantitative analysis of aging and detection of commercial 18650 lithium-ion battery under slight overcharging cycling

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in electric vehicles to solve the problems of greenhouse gas emission. However, overcharging occurs due to the inconsistency of lithium-ion batteries, malfunction of charge control and inappropriate battery management. In order to solve the safety and cycle life problems of batteries suffering slight overcharging, quantitative analysis of the aging behavior, aging mechanisms and detection of slight overcharging cycling are studied in this manuscript. The results indicate that the cycle life of battery decreases linearly and exponentially with the upper cut-off voltage increasing when capacity and resistance are used as the threshold of the end of life respectively. The batteries have tolerance to slight overcharging with voltage lower than 4.6 V. The generated gas is not the main aging mechanism. Loss of active material is the main aging mechanism when the batteries are cycled at 4.4 V. Charging stress is the key factor triggering the loss of active material. The main aging mechanism becomes to be loss of lithium with the increase of voltage and cycle number due to the electrolyte oxidation, reduction and lithium plating. The differential voltage, coulombic efficiency and fast resistance increase are used as warming parameters of slight overcharging cycling.

3227 – PARALLEL CLONAL AND MOLECULAR PROFILING OF HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELLS USING RNA BARCODING

Anucleate cells - platelets and erythrocytes - constitute over 95% of all hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) output, but the clonal dynamics of HSC contribution to these lineages remains largely unexplored. Here, we use lentiviral RNA cellular barcoding and transplantation of HSCs, combined with single-cell RNA-seq, for quantitative analysis of clonal behavior with a multi-lineage readout - for the first time including anucleate and nucleate lineages. We demonstrate that most HSCs steadily contribute to hematopoiesis, but acute platelet depletion shifts the output of multipotent HSCs to the exclusive production of platelets, with the additional emergence of new myeloid-biased clones. Currently, we investigate the longevity and differentiation potential of these clones. Our approach therefore enables comprehensive profiling of multi-lineage output and transcriptional heterogeneity of individual HSCs, giving insight into clonal dynamics in both steady state and under physiological stress. Anucleate cells - platelets and erythrocytes - constitute over 95% of all hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) output, but the clonal dynamics of HSC contribution to these lineages remains largely unexplored. Here, we use lentiviral RNA cellular barcoding and transplantation of HSCs, combined with single-cell RNA-seq, for quantitative analysis of clonal behavior with a multi-lineage readout - for the first time including anucleate and nucleate lineages. We demonstrate that most HSCs steadily contribute to hematopoiesis, but acute platelet depletion shifts the output of multipotent HSCs to the exclusive production of platelets, with the additional emergence of new myeloid-biased clones. Currently, we investigate the longevity and differentiation potential of these clones. Our approach therefore enables comprehensive profiling of multi-lineage output and transcriptional heterogeneity of individual HSCs, giving insight into clonal dynamics in both steady state and under physiological stress.

Applications of operant demand to treatment selection I: Characterizing demand for evidence-based practices.

Various treatment approaches have been determined efficacious for improving child behavior outcomes. Despite a variety of evidence-based options, consumers often disregard empirically supported treatments to pursue alternatives that lack empirical support, such as 'fad' therapies. The choice to pursue therapies lacking empirical support has been considered a 'gamble' on therapeutic outcomes and this form of risky choice has historically been explained using various cognitive heuristics and biases. This report translates quantitative analyses from the Operant Demand Framework to characterize how caregivers of children with behavioral issues consume treatment services. The Operant Demand Framework is presented, its utility for characterizing patterns of treatment consumption is discussed, and a preliminary application of cross-price analyses of demand is performed to illustrate how various factors jointly influence treatment-related choice. Results indicated that caregivers endorsing interest in receiving behavioral parent training regularly pursued pseudoscientific alternatives as a functional substitute for an established therapy, despite explicit language stating a lack of evidence. These findings question the presumption of rationality in models of treatment choice and degree to which scientific evidence influences the consumption of therapies. This report concludes with a discussion of Consumer Behavior Analysis and how quantitative analyses of behavior can be used to better understand factors that enhance or detract from the dissemination of evidence-based practices.

Numerical and experimental investigation on hydraulic fracturing for offshore wind turbine rock-socketed pile foundation construction

Rock-socketed pile is one of the important foundation forms for offshore wind turbines, however, the construction of rock-socketed piles is very difficult. In this work, we propose to use hydraulic fracturing to pre-crack the rock foundation seabed around the piles to assist the construction of rock-socketed piles. Understanding the propagation mechanism of hydraulic fractures is the theoretical basis for hydraulic fracturing of rock seabed. Using mortar specimens containing single internal cracks and corresponding numerical simulations, hydraulic fracturing tests were carried out to study the influences of pre-existing crack characteristics and in situ stress on hydraulic fracture propagation behavior. The mortar specimens showed a tensile-shear failure mode under confining stress in hydraulic fracturing tests, and a macro-fracture penetrated the upper and lower ends of the specimens. Quantitative analysis of hydraulic fracture propagation behavior shows that under the comprehensive influences of the pre-existing crack angle and the stress, it is relatively easy to obtain good engineering results by selecting the pre-existing crack dip angle of 45°∼60° for directional hydraulic fracturing, and the increase of in-situ stress will improve the stability and deflection capacity of the cracks in the seabed.

Applied Quantitative Analysis of Behavior: What It Is, and Why We Care-Introduction to the Special Section.

Science evolves from prior approximations of its current form. Interest in changes in species over time was not a new concept when Darwin made his famous voyage to the Galapagos Islands; concern with speciation stretches back throughout the history of modern thought. Behavioral science also does and must evolve. Such change can be difficult, but it can also yield great dividends. The focus of the current special section is on a common mutation that appears to have emerged across these areas and the critical features that define an emerging research area-applied quantitative analysis of behavior (AQAB). In this introduction to the "Special Issue on Applications of Quantitative Methods," we will outline some of the common characteristics of research in this area, an exercise that will surely be outdated as the research area continues to progress. In doing so, we also describe how AQAB is relevant to theory, behavioral pharmacology, applied behavior analysis, and health behaviors. Finally, we provide a summary for the articles that appear in this special issue. The authors of these papers are all thinking outside the Skinner box, creating new tools and approaches, and testing them against relevant data. If we can keep up this evolution of methods and ideas, behavior analysis will regain its place at the head of the table!

Development of a New Approach for Low-Laser-Power Super-Resolution Fluorescence Imaging.

The development of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy over the past decade has drastically improved the resolution of light microscopy to ∼10 nm. Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) can be used to achieve subdiffraction-limit resolution by sequentially imaging and localizing individual fluorophores. In principle, the super-resolution of STORM can be obtained by high-accuracy localization of photoswitchable fluorophores, which require fast photoswitching and bright fluorescence intensity from a single emitter. It is known that the switching rate of photoswitchable fluorophores depends on the laser power─a high laser power being required for the enhancement of imaging resolution. However, high laser power is usually harmful to biological specimens and limits the imaging time because of its photobleaching effects and high phototoxicity. In this study, we attempted to overcome this problem by improving the STORM resolution at a lower laser power. Through the quantitative analysis of the photoswitching behavior of single fluorophores under different laser power conditions, we developed a new approach to achieve super-resolution fluorescence images at a laser power 10 times lower than had previously been reported. This approach is expected to play an increasingly significant role in super-resolution imaging of power-sensitive samples.

Analysis of collective team behaviour: sub-elite female rugby 7s

Introduction: Current technology enables the capture of a player’s location on the field using computer vision technologies, providing insight into the complex, non-linear interactions between individuals that are responsible for team-level formations and collective movement that emerge without apparent central control. Self-organisation and emergent behaviour has been widely studied in biological systems and can be observed in the impressive displays of ‘flocking’ and ‘shoaling’/’schooling’ behaviour seen in species such as fish and birds. Studies of pedestrian movement have also demonstrated emergent collective behaviour and this provides a basis to study the development of collective behaviours that are embedded within the movement of individuals in team-based sport. This study performs a preliminary analysis, using techniques previously applied to biological systems, to study collective movement in Rugby 7s. Methods: Two segments of gameplay from a game of Rugby sevens were selected for analysis; one in which a try was scored (Play 1) and one which ended in a foul (Play 2). The player positions were recorded semi-autonomously using the Channel and Spatial Reliability Tracker (CSRT) algorithm implemented in OpenCV, and then transformed to a metre based coordinate system. Location was recorded every 3 frames from 30 fps video resulting in 222 records (~22 seconds) for play 1 and 624 records (~62 seconds) for play 2. Two collective motion order parameters, Polarisation (Op) and Rotation (Or) were calculated. Polarisation measures the consensus in movement direction between all team members, whereas rotation measures the tendency of the team to rotate about the team centre in a consistent sense (clockwise or anticlockwise). Results: Order parameters follow consistent trends in response to game events, such as passing through multiple players and tackling. Play 2 provides multiple examples of successful tackles which differ in group order from the unsuccessful attempt that allowed a break in Play 1, resulting in a try. Discussion: By using tools from biological systems we can quantify the coordination of team members and compare this to performance outcomes. The plays studied demonstrated different collective movement patterns, which resulted in either a positive or negative outcome. Rigorous quantitative analysis of collective team behaviour will help practitioners in tactical and technical training design for improved performance outcomes. Conflict of interest statement: My co-authors and I acknowledge that we have no conflict of interest of relevance to the submission of this abstract.

Further Analysis of Advanced Quantitative Methods and Supplemental Interpretative Aids with Single-Case Experimental Designs.

Reliable and accurate visual analysis of graphically depicted behavioral data acquired using single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) is integral to behavior-analytic research and practice. Researchers have developed a range of techniques to increase reliable and objective visual inspection of SCED data including visual interpretive guides, statistical techniques, and nonstatistical quantitative methods to objectify the visual-analytic interpretation of data to guide clinicians, and ensure a replicable data interpretation process in research. These structured data analytic practices are now more frequently used by behavior analysts and the subject of considerable research within the field of quantitative methods and behavior analysis. First, there are contemporaneous analytic methods that have preliminary support with simulated datasets, but have not been thoroughly examined with nonsimulated clinical datasets. There are a number of relatively new techniques that have preliminary support (e.g., fail-safe k), but require additional research. Other analytic methods (e.g., dual-criteria and conservative dual criteria) have more extensive support, but have infrequently been compared against other analytic methods. Across three studies, we examine how these methods corresponded to clinical outcomes (and one another) for the purpose of replicating and extending extant literature in this area. Implications and recommendations for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

Sarc-Graph: Automated segmentation, tracking, and analysis of sarcomeres in hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.

A better fundamental understanding of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) has the potential to advance applications ranging from drug discovery to cardiac repair. Automated quantitative analysis of beating hiPSC-CMs is an important and fast developing component of the hiPSC-CM research pipeline. Here we introduce "Sarc-Graph," a computational framework to segment, track, and analyze sarcomeres in fluorescently tagged hiPSC-CMs. Our framework includes functions to segment z-discs and sarcomeres, track z-discs and sarcomeres in beating cells, and perform automated spatiotemporal analysis and data visualization. In addition to reporting good performance for sarcomere segmentation and tracking with little to no parameter tuning and a short runtime, we introduce two novel analysis approaches. First, we construct spatial graphs where z-discs correspond to nodes and sarcomeres correspond to edges. This makes measuring the network distance between each sarcomere (i.e., the number of connecting sarcomeres separating each sarcomere pair) straightforward. Second, we treat tracked and segmented components as fiducial markers and use them to compute the approximate deformation gradient of the entire tracked population. This represents a new quantitative descriptor of hiPSC-CM function. We showcase and validate our approach with both synthetic and experimental movies of beating hiPSC-CMs. By publishing Sarc-Graph, we aim to make automated quantitative analysis of hiPSC-CM behavior more accessible to the broader research community.

Determining the variation in premaxillary and dentary bone morphology that may underlie beak shape between two pure layer lines

Beak treatment is an effective method of reducing the damage inflicted by severe feather pecking (SFP) but there is significant pressure to eliminate these treatments and rely solely on alternative strategies. Substantial variation in beak shape exists within non-beak treated layer flocks and beak shape appears to be heritable. There is the potential to use this pre-existing variation and genetically select for hens whose beak shapes are less apt to cause damage during SFP. To do this, we must first understand the range of phenotypes that exist for both the external beak shape and the bones that provide its structure. The objective of this study was to determine the variation in premaxillary (within the top beak) and dentary (within the bottom beak) bone morphology that exists in 2 non-beak treated pure White Leghorn layer lines using geometric morphometrics to analyze radiographs. Lateral head radiographs were taken of 825 hens and the premaxillary and dentary bones were landmarked. Landmark coordinates were standardized by Procrustes superimposition and the covariation was analyzed by principal components analysis and multivariate regression using Geomorph (an R package). Three principal components (PCs) explained 85% of total premaxillary bone shape variation and showed that the shape ranged from long and narrow with pointed bone tips to short and wide with more curved tips. Two PCs explained 81% of total dentary bone shape variation. PC1 described the dentary bone length and width and PC2 explained the angle between the bone tip and its articular process. For both bones, shape was significantly associated with bone size and differed significantly between the two lines. Bone size accounted for 42% of the total shape variation for both bones. Together, the results showed a range of phenotypic variation in premaxillary and dentary bone shape, which in turn may influence beak shape. These bone phenotypes will guide further quantitative genetic and behavioral analyses that will help identify which beaks shapes cause the least damage when birds engage in SFP.

3D and 4D Tumorigenesis Model for the Quantitative Analysis of Cancer Cell Behavior and Screening for Anticancer Drugs.

Cancer cells from cell lines and tumor biopsy tissue undergo aggregation and aggregate coalescence when dispersed in a 3D Matrigel™ matrix. Coalescence is a dynamic process mediated by a subset of cells within the population of cancer cells. In contrast, non-tumorigenic cells from normal cell lines and normal tissues do not aggregate or coalesce, nor do they possess the motile cell types that orchestrate coalescence of cancer cells. Therefore, coalescence is a cancer cell-specific phenotype that may drive tumor growth in vivo, especially in cases of field cancerization. Here, we describe a simple 3D tumorigenesis model that takes advantage of the coalescence capabilities of cancer cells and uses this feature as the basis for a screen for treatments that inhibit tumorigenesis. The screen is especially useful in testing monoclonal antibodies that target cell-cell interactions, cell-matrix interactions, cell adhesion molecules, cell surface receptors, and general cell surface markers. The model can also be used for 2D imaging in a 96-well plate for rapid screening and is adaptable for 3D high-resolution assessment. In the latter case, we show how the 3D model can be optically sectioned with differential interference contrast (DIC) optics, then reconstructed in 4D and quantitatively analyzed by computer-assisted methods, or, alternatively, imaged with confocal microscopy for 4D quantitative analysis of cancer cell interactions with normal cells within the tumor microenvironment. We demonstrate reconstructions and quantitative analyses using the advanced image analysis software J3D-DIAS 4.2, in order to illustrate the types of detailed phenotypic characterizations that have proven useful. Other software packages may be able to perform similar types of analyses.

Inertial Measurement of Head Tilt in Rodents: Principles and Applications to Vestibular Research.

Inertial sensors are increasingly used in rodent research, in particular for estimating head orientation relative to gravity, or head tilt. Despite this growing interest, the accuracy of tilt estimates computed from rodent head inertial data has never been assessed. Using readily available inertial measurement units mounted onto the head of freely moving rats, we benchmarked a set of tilt estimation methods against concurrent 3D optical motion capture. We show that, while low-pass filtered head acceleration signals only provided reliable tilt estimates in static conditions, sensor calibration combined with an appropriate choice of orientation filter and parameters could yield average tilt estimation errors below during movement. We then illustrate an application of inertial head tilt measurements in a preclinical rat model of unilateral vestibular lesion and propose a set of metrics describing the severity of associated postural and motor symptoms and the time course of recovery. We conclude that headborne inertial sensors are an attractive tool for quantitative rodent behavioral analysis in general and for the study of vestibulo-postural functions in particular.

Nanoparticle-Induced Disorder at Complex Liquid-Liquid Interfaces: Effects of Curvature and Compositional Synergy on Functional Surfaces.

The self-assembly of surfactant monolayers at interfaces plays a sweeping role in tasks ranging from household cleaning to the regulation of the respiratory system. The synergy between different nanoscale species at an interface can yield assemblies with exceptional properties, which enhance or modulate their function. However, understanding the mechanisms underlying coassembly, as well as the effects of intermolecular interactions at an interface, remains an emerging and challenging field of study. Herein, we study the interactions of gold nanoparticles striped with hydrophobic and hydrophilic ligands with phospholipids at a liquid-liquid interface and the resulting surface-bound complexes. We show that these nanoparticles, which are themselves minimally surface active, have a direct concentration-dependent effect on the rapid reduction of tension for assembling phospholipids at the interface, implying molecular coassembly. Through the use of sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy, we reveal that nanoparticles impart structural disorder to the lipid molecular layers, which is related to the increased volumes that amphiphiles can sample at the curved surface of a particle. The results strongly suggest that hydrophobic and electrostatic attractions imparted by nanoparticle functionalization drive lipid-nanoparticle complex assembly at the interface, which synergistically aids lipid adsorption even when lipids and nanoparticles approach the interface from opposite phases. The use of tensiometric and spectroscopic analyses reveals a physical picture of the system at the nanoscale, allowing for a quantitative analysis of the intermolecular behavior that can be extended to other systems.

Fast tuning of posture control by visual feedback underlies gaze stabilization in walking Drosophila

SummaryLocomotion requires a balance between mechanical stability and movement flexibility to achieve behavioral goals despite noisy neuromuscular systems, but rarely is it considered how this balance is orchestrated. We combined virtual reality tools with quantitative analysis of behavior to examine how Drosophila uses self-generated visual information (reafferent visual feedback) to control gaze during exploratory walking. We found that flies execute distinct motor programs coordinated across the body to maximize gaze stability. However, the presence of inherent variability in leg placement relative to the body jeopardizes fine control of gaze due to posture-stabilizing adjustments that lead to unintended changes in course direction. Surprisingly, whereas visual feedback is dispensable for head-body coordination, we found that self-generated visual signals tune postural reflexes to rapidly prevent turns rather than to promote compensatory rotations, a long-standing idea for visually guided course control. Together, these findings support a model in which visual feedback orchestrates the interplay between posture and gaze stability in a manner that is both goal dependent and motor-context specific.