MoDALAS: addressing assurance for learning-enabled autonomous systems in the face of uncertainty.

Increasingly, safety-critical systems include artificial intelligence and machine learning components (i.e., learning-enabled components (LECs)).

Generation of LexA enhancer-trap lines in Drosophila by an international scholastic network.

Conditional gene regulation in Drosophila through binary expression systems like the LexA-LexAop system provides a superb tool for investigating gene and tissue function. To increase the availability of defined LexA enhancer trap insertions, we present molecular, genetic, and tissue expression studies of 301 novel Stan-X LexA enhancer traps derived from mobilization of the index SX4 line. This includes insertions into distinct loci on the X, II, and III chromosomes that were not previously associated with enhancer traps or targeted LexA constructs, an insertion into ptc, and seventeen insertions into natural transposons.

The Effectiveness of Dance Therapy as an Adjunct to Rehabilitation of Adults With a Physical Disability.

To determine the added benefit on participants' mobility and participation of a 12-week dance therapy (DT) intervention combined with usual physical rehabilitation for adults with varied physical disabilities. Their appreciation of DT was also explored. We conducted a quasi-experimental study pre-post test with a nonequivalent control group and repeated measurements pre, post, and at a 3-month follow-up.

Exploring Bipedal Hopping through Computational Evolution.

Bipedal hopping is an efficient form of locomotion, yet it remains relatively rare in the natural world. Previous research has suggested that the tail balances the angular momentum of the legs to produce steady state bipedal hopping. In this study, we employ a 3D physics simulation engine to optimize gaits for an animat whose control and morphological characteristics are subject to computational evolution, which emulates properties of natural evolution.

Effect of aerobic exercise on cognition in younger adults: A randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To determine efficacy of aerobic exercise for cognitive function in younger healthy adults.

Methods: In a randomized, parallel-group, observer-masked, community-based clinical trial, 132 cognitively normal individuals aged 20-67 with below median aerobic capacity were randomly assigned to one of two 6-month, 4-times-weekly conditions: aerobic exercise and stretching/toning. Efficacy measures included aerobic capacity; cognitive function in several domains (executive function, episodic memory, processing speed, language, and attention), everyday function, body mass index (BMI), and cortical thickness.

Preference option randomized design (PORD) for comparative effectiveness research: Statistical power for testing comparative effect, preference effect, selection effect, intent-to-treat effect, and overall effect.

Comparative effectiveness research trials in real-world settings may require participants to choose between preferred intervention options. A randomized clinical trial with parallel experimental and control arms is straightforward and regarded as a gold standard design, but by design it forces and anticipates the participants to comply with a randomly assigned intervention regardless of their preference. Therefore, the randomized clinical trial may impose impractical limitations when planning comparative effectiveness research trials.

The Association of Cigarette Smoking With High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.

Objective: Evidence from both laboratory and observational studies suggests that acute and chronic smoking leads to reduced high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), a measure of cardiac vagal regulation. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to study the effect of smoking on concurrent HF-HRV in a trial measuring the effects of hostility reduction and compared 24-hour HF-HRV in smokers and nonsmokers.

Method: Ambulatory electrocardiogram data were collected before randomization from 149 healthy individuals with high hostility levels (20-45 years, body mass index ≤ 32 kg/m) and paired with concurrent EMA ratings of smoking and physical position during waking hours.

Wild, connected, and diverse: building a more resilient system of protected areas.

Current systems of conservation reserves may be insufficient to sustain biodiversity in the face of climate change and habitat losses. Consequently, calls have been made to protect Earth's remaining wildlands and complete the system of protected areas by establishing conservation reserves that (1) better represent ecosystems, (2) increase connectivity to facilitate biota movement in response to stressors including climate change, and (3) promote species persistence within intact landscapes. Using geospatial data, we conducted an assessment for expanding protected areas within the contiguous United States to include the least human-modified wildlands, establish a connected network, and better represent ecosystem diversity and hotspots of biodiversity.

Evolution of Joint-Level Control for Quadrupedal Locomotion.

We investigate a hierarchical approach to robot control inspired by joint-level control in animals. The method combines a high-level controller, consisting of an artificial neural network (ANN), with joint-level controllers based on digital muscles. In the digital muscle model (DMM), morphological and control aspects of joints evolve concurrently, emulating the musculoskeletal system of natural organisms.

Rehabilitation in the real-life environment of a shopping mall.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore how shopping malls could be used during rehabilitation and to identify the facilitators and barriers to their use.

Method: Two focus groups, conducted with 15 rehabilitation professionals from various disciplines and working with people with disabilities of all ages were structured around two topics: (i) The usage of malls for rehabilitation and (ii) Factors that facilitate or limit rehabilitation professionals' use of the mall as an environment for clinical assessment and/or intervention.

Results: The thematic analysis revealed that shopping malls were used to achieve several rehabilitation goals targeting physical and cognitive skills, psychological health and socialization.

Resource abundance and the critical transition to cooperation.

Cooperation is abundant in nature, occurring at all levels of biological complexity. Yet cooperation is continually threatened by subversion from noncooperating cheaters. Previous studies have shown that cooperation can nevertheless be maintained when the benefits that cooperation provides to relatives outweigh the associated costs.

Vagally-mediated heart rate variability and indices of well-being: Results of a nationally representative study.

Objective: High frequency (HF) heart rate variability (HRV) has long been accepted as an index of cardiac vagal control. Recent studies report relationships between HF-HRV and indices of positive and negative affect, personality traits and well-being but these studies generally are based on small and selective samples.

Method: These relationships were examined using data from 967 participants in the second Midlife in the U.

Identifying Corridors among Large Protected Areas in the United States.

Conservation scientists emphasize the importance of maintaining a connected network of protected areas to prevent ecosystems and populations from becoming isolated, reduce the risk of extinction, and ultimately sustain biodiversity. Keeping protected areas connected in a network is increasingly recognized as a conservation priority in the current era of rapid climate change. Models that identify suitable linkages between core areas have been used to prioritize potentially important corridors for maintaining functional connectivity.

Linking Daily Stress Processes and Laboratory-Based Heart Rate Variability in a National Sample of Midlife and Older Adults.

Objective: This study evaluates the associations between people's trait-like patterns of stress in daily life (stressor frequency, perceived stressor severity, affective reactivity to stressors, and negative affect) and laboratory-assessed heart rate variability (HRV).

Methods: Data were collected from 909 participants aged 35 to 85 years in the Midlife in the United States Study. Participants reported negative affect and minor stressful events during telephone interviews on 8 consecutive evenings.

The Effect of Hostility Reduction on Autonomic Control of the Heart and Vasculature: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: Hostility is associated with coronary artery disease. One candidate mechanism may be autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation. In this study, we report the effect of cognitive behavioral treatment on ANS regulation.

Evolutionary multiobjective design of a flexible caudal fin for robotic fish.

Robotic fish accomplish swimming by deforming their bodies or other fin-like appendages. As an emerging class of embedded computing system, robotic fish are anticipated to play an important role in environmental monitoring, inspection of underwater structures, tracking of hazardous wastes and oil spills, and the study of live fish behaviors. While integration of flexible materials (into the fins and/or body) holds the promise of improved swimming performance (in terms of both speed and maneuverability) for these robots, such components also introduce significant design challenges due to the complex material mechanics and hydrodynamic interactions.

Vagal Recovery From Cognitive Challenge Moderates Age-Related Deficits in Executive Functioning.

Decline in executive functioning (EF) is a hallmark of cognitive aging. We have previously reported that faster vagal recovery from cognitive challenge is associated with better EF. This study examined the association between vagal recovery from cognitive challenge and age-related differences in EF among 817 participants in the Midlife in the U.

Beat-to-beat heart rate and blood pressure variability and hypertensive disease in pregnancy.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between heart rate and/or blood pressure variability, measured at 28 weeks' gestation, and the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension or preeclampsia.

Study Design: Secondary analysis of data from a prospectively enrolled cohort of 385 active military women in whom spectral analysis of continuous heart rate and variability was measured at 28 weeks' gestation. The primary outcome was the predictive value of spectral analysis of heart rate and blood pressure for hypertensive diseases of pregnancy.

Feasibility of delivering a dance intervention for subacute stroke in a rehabilitation hospital setting.

Dance can be a promising treatment intervention used in rehabilitation for individuals with disabilities to address physical, cognitive and psychological impairments. The aim of this pilot study was to determine the feasibility of a modified dance intervention as an adjunct therapy designed for people with subacute stroke, in a rehabilitation setting. Using a descriptive qualitative study design, a biweekly 45-min dance intervention was offered to individuals with a subacute stroke followed in a rehabilitation hospital, over 4 weeks.

Heart rate variability predicts levels of inflammatory markers: Evidence for the vagal anti-inflammatory pathway.

Evidence from numerous animal models shows that vagal activity regulates inflammatory responses by decreasing cytokine release. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a reliable index of cardiac vagal regulation and should be inversely related to levels of inflammatory markers. Inflammation is also regulated by sympathetic inputs, but only one previous paper controlled for this.

A longitudinal study of depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbances as a symptom cluster in women with breast cancer.

Context: Depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbances have been identified as a symptom cluster among breast cancer patients. However, few longitudinal studies have examined the temporal relations between these symptoms surrounding diagnosis and treatment.

Objectives: The present study investigated the co-occurrence of and interrelations between nonsomatic depressive symptoms, fatigue, and sleep disturbances in breast cancer patients at three time points: before, after, and six to eight months following adjuvant chemotherapy treatment.