Identification and Characterization of Chemotherapy-Resistant High-Risk Neuroblastoma Persister Cells.

Relapse rates in high-risk neuroblastoma remain exceedingly high. The malignant cells that are responsible for relapse have not been identified, and mechanisms of therapy resistance remain poorly understood. In this study, we used single-nucleus RNA sequencing and bulk whole-genome sequencing to identify and characterize the residual malignant persister cells that survive chemotherapy from a cohort of 20 matched diagnosis and definitive surgery tumor samples from patients treated with high-risk neuroblastoma induction chemotherapy.

Pro-cycling team cyclist assignment for an upcoming race.

Professional bicycle racing is a popular sport that has attracted significant attention in recent years. The evolution and ubiquitous use of sensors allow cyclists to measure many metrics including power, heart rate, speed, cadence, and more in training and racing. In this paper we explore for the first time assignment of a subset of a team's cyclists to an upcoming race.

Epithelial cell-expressed type II IL-4 receptor mediates eosinophilic esophagitis.

Background: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, food-driven allergic disease, characterized by eosinophil-rich inflammation in the esophagus. The histopathological and clinical features of EoE have been attributed to overproduction of the type 2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13, which mediate profound alterations in the esophageal epithelium and neutralizing of their shared receptor component (IL-4Rα) with a human antibody drug (dupilumab) demonstrates clinical efficacy. Yet, the relative contribution of IL-4 and IL-13 and whether the type II IL-4 receptor (comprised of the IL-4Rα chain in association with IL-13Rα1) mediates this effect has not been determined.

Characteristics of step responses following varying magnitudes of unexpected lateral perturbations during standing among older people - a cross-sectional laboratory-based study.

Introduction: The inability to recover from unexpected lateral loss of balance may be particularly relevant to the problem of falling.

Aim: We aimed to explore whether different kinematic patterns and strategies occur in the first recovery step in single-step trials in which a single step was required to recover from a fall, and in multiple-step trials in which more than one step was required to recover from a fall. In addition, in the multiple-step trials, we examined kinematic patterns of balance recovery where extra steps were needed to recover balance.

Fucosylated Human Milk Oligosaccharide Foraging within the Species Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum Is Driven by Glycosyl Hydrolase Content and Specificity.

Human milk enriches members of the genus in the infant gut. One species, Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum, is found in the gastrointestinal tracts of adults and breastfed infants. In this study, B.

DoChaP: the domain change presenter.

Alternative splicing results in multiple transcripts of the same gene, possibly encoding for different protein isoforms with different domains. Whereas it is possible to manually determine the effect of alternative splicing on the domain composition for a single event, the process requires the tedious integration of several data sources; it is error prone and not feasible for genome-wide characterization of domains affected by differential splicing. To fulfill the need for an automated solution, we developed the Domain Change Presenter (DoChaP, https://dochap.

Supervisor-Worker Problems with an Application in Education.

In many e-learning settings, allowing students to choose which skills to practice encourages their motivation and contributes to learning. However, when given choice, students may prefer to practice skills that they already master, rather than practice skills they need to master. On the other hand, requiring students only to practice their required skills may reduce their motivation and lead to dropout.

Characteristics of upper-extremity reactions to sudden lateral loss of balance in persons with stroke.

Background: Upper-extremity reactions are part of a whole-body response to counterweight the falling center of mass after unexpected balance loss. Impairments in upper-extremity reactions due to unilateral hemiparesis may contribute to stroke survivors propensity for falling. We aimed to characterize upper-extremity (paretic and non-paretic sides) reactive movements in response to lateral balance perturbations in Persons with Stroke vs.

Development and piloting of a perturbation stationary bicycle robotic system that provides unexpected lateral perturbations during bicycling (the PerStBiRo system).

Background: Balance control, and specifically balance reactive responses that contribute to maintaining balance when balance is lost unexpectedly, is impaired in older people. This leads to an increased fall risk and injurious falls. Improving balance reactive responses is one of the goals in fall-prevention training programs.

The kinematics and strategies of recovery steps during lateral losses of balance in standing at different perturbation magnitudes in older adults with varying history of falls.

Background: Step-recovery responses are critical in preventing falls when balance is lost unexpectedly. We investigated the kinematics and strategies of balance recovery in older adults with a varying history of falls.

Methods: In a laboratory study, 51 non-fallers (NFs), 20 one-time fallers (OFs), and 12 recurrent-fallers (RFs) were exposed to random right/left unannounced underfoot perturbations in standing of increasing magnitude.

Characteristics of First Recovery Step Response following Unexpected Loss of Balance during Walking: A Dynamic Approach.

Introduction: Many falls in older adults occur during walking and result in lateral falls. The ability to perform a recovery step after balance perturbation determines whether a fall will occur.

Aim: To investigate age-related changes in first recovery step kinematics and kinematic adaptations over a wide range of lateral perturbation magnitudes while walking.

Insufficient Balance Recovery Following Unannounced External Perturbations in Persons With Stroke.

. Persons with stroke (PwS) are at increased risk of falls, especially toward the paretic side, increasing the probability of a hip fracture. The ability to recover from unexpected loss of balance is a critical factor in fall prevention.

Effects of Perturbation-Based Balance Training in Subacute Persons With Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Reactive balance responses are critical for fall prevention. Perturbation-based balance training (PBBT) has shown a positive effect in reducing the risk of falls among older adults and persons with Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To explore the effect of a short-term PBBT on reactive balance responses, performance-based measures of balance and gait and balance confidence.

Comparing RGB-D Sensors for Close Range Outdoor Agricultural Phenotyping.

Phenotyping is the task of measuring plant attributes for analyzing the current state of the plant. In agriculture, phenotyping can be used to make decisions concerning the management of crops, such as the watering policy, or whether to spray for a certain pest. Currently, large scale phenotyping in fields is typically done using manual labor, which is a costly, low throughput process.

Using Deep Learning for Image-Based Potato Tuber Disease Detection.

Many plant diseases have distinct visual symptoms, which can be used to identify and classify them correctly. This article presents a potato disease classification algorithm that leverages these distinct appearances and advances in computer vision made possible by deep learning. The algorithm uses a deep convolutional neural network, training it to classify the tubers into five classes: namely, four disease classes and a healthy potato class.

The inter-observer reliability and agreement of lateral balance recovery responses in older and younger adults.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the inter-observer reliability and agreement of balance recovery responses, step and multiple-steps thresholds, and kinematic parameters of stepping responses. Older and younger adults were exposed to 36 progressively challenging right and left unannounced surface translations during quiet standing. Subjects were instructed to "react naturally".

Validity of the microsoft kinect system in assessment of compensatory stepping behavior during standing and treadmill walking.

Background: Rapid compensatory stepping plays an important role in preventing falls when balance is lost; however, these responses cannot be accurately quantified in the clinic. The Microsoft Kinect™ system provides real-time anatomical landmark position data in three dimensions (3D), which may bridge this gap.

Methods: Compensatory stepping reactions were evoked in 8 young adults by a sudden platform horizontal motion on which the subject stood or walked on a treadmill.

Validating bifidobacterial species and subspecies identity in commercial probiotic products.

Background: The ingestion of probiotics to attempt to improve health is increasingly common; however, quality control of some commercial products can be limited. Clinical practice is shifting toward the routine use of probiotics to aid in prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants, and probiotic administration to term infants is increasingly common to treat colic and/or prevent atopic disease. Since bifidobacteria dominate the feces of healthy breast-fed infants, they are often included in infant-targeted probiotics.

Task-based decomposition of factored POMDPs.

Recently, partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDP) solvers have shown the ability to scale up significantly using domain structure, such as factored representations. In many domains, the agent is required to complete a set of independent tasks. We propose to decompose a factored POMDP into a set of restricted POMDPs over subsets of task relevant state variables.

Evaluating point-based POMDP solvers on multicore machines.

Recent scaling up of partially observable Markov decision process solvers toward realistic applications is largely due to point-based methods which quickly provide approximate solutions for midsized problems. New multicore machines offer an opportunity to scale up to larger domains. These machines support parallel execution and can speed up existing algorithms considerably.

Prioritizing point-based POMDP solvers.

Recent scaling up of partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) solvers toward realistic applications is largely due to point-based methods that quickly converge to an approximate solution for medium-sized domains. These algorithms compute a value function for a finite reachable set of belief points, using backup operations. Point-based algorithms differ on the selection of the set of belief points and on the order by which backup operations are executed on the selected belief points.