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Mitochondrial Genome Analysis of the Late Bronze Age Andronovo Population in Central Tianshan, Xinjiang
Full text linkThe Andronovo culture, which originated from the Sintashta culture, played a significant role in the migration of populations across the Eurasian Steppe. The Tianshan Mountains, situated at the eastern end of Eurasian Steppe, became the main distribution area of Andronovo culture in Xinjiang during the Late Bronze Age. To investigate the genetic structure, genetic diversity, and possible migration routes of the Late Bronze Age Andronovo population, we conducted mitochondrial genome analysis on 12 individuals excavated from the Shihuyao Cemetery in the central Tianshan region of Xinjiang. The results reveal that the Shihuyao population exhibited high genetic diversity and a close genetic affinity with Western Steppe cultural populations, particularly the Sintashta cultural population. Meanwhile, the presence of the South Asian lineage M2c, as well as the Eastern Eurasian lineages C1e and Z1, indicates genetic linkages among the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex populations, the Northern Eurasian populations/indigenous populations, and the Andronovo culture populations. Our findings enhance the understanding of the Andronovo culture’s spread in central Tianshan and its impact on the genetic structure of local populations
Children’s Television, Happy Endings, and Values: A Case Study of the Preschool Series Momonster
No full textThe themes presented in children’s television episodes frequently embody values that are often mirrored or shaped by how these episodes conclude, especially through the incorporation of happy endings. This research centers on the Spanish preschool series Momonster, aired on Clan TV and designed for all audiences. Adopting a textual analysis framework, this study classifies ending types and values, scrutinizing them within the context of the narrative structure with the aim of elucidating the narrative traits that characterize children’s series on public television
A Comparative Study and Its Implications for Alzheimer’s and Cardiovascular Disease
No full textThe apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele is a major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular risk. This study analyzes the distribution of APOE alleles in 143 patients from a Mexican population based in Mexico City. The ε3 allele was the most prevalent (82.9%), followed by ε4 (12.5%) and ε2 (4.5%). Notably, the APOE 3/4 genotype, associated with increased risk for Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease, was observed in 21.0% of the cohort, while the APOE 4/4 genotype, representing the highest genetic risk for both conditions, was rare (2.1%). The APOE 2/2 genotype, linked to type III dysbetalipoproteinemia, was absent in this population. These findings align with global trends but highlight unique aspects of the Mexican population, such as the lower prevalence of APOE4 compared with Northern European and African populations. This study underscores the importance of population-specific genetic screening for personalized medicine, particularly in managing Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular risks. The results provide valuable insights into the genetic landscape of APOE in Mexico City, contributing to the growing body of knowledge on APOE allele distribution and its implications for disease prevention and management in Latin America
Age-Friendly Technology Toolkit
Full text linkA toolkit created for older people who are interested in connecting through technology. Content is based on recommendations from older adults who partnered on a project to increase digital inclusion
A Curse on Sleeping Beauty: Rose Terry Cooke’s Antebellum Fairy Tale
No full textRose Terry Cooke’s fantastical short story “Maya, the Princess” (1858), I argue, allegorizes the nineteenth-century courtship while critiquing the popular fairy-tale form. Maya’s quest for domestic stability functions as a correction of Basile’s and the Grimms’ masculine presentations of the tale of Sleeping Beauty. Instead of passively awaiting a lustful prince, Cooke’s princess must find a domestic home that will negate the curse of her sensually charged magical “Spark.” This ideological reversal showcases Cooke’s investment in the Victorian angel in the house while also providing a warning about the many pitfalls prospective brides faced on the antebellum marriage market
Interaction Of The Regulatory Subunit Of Ribonucleotide Reductase With Minichromosome Maintenance Complexes Regulate Cell Growth
No full textWe discovered a novel interaction between ribonucleotide reductase subunit 1 (R1) and the catalytic minichromosome maintenance proteins (MCM4/6/7) by in vitro binding and co-immunoprecipiation in various mammalian cell lines. We observed that R1 colocalizes with MCM4/6/7 in mitotic cells, and in non-mitotic cells, R1 only co-localizes with MCM7 in the cytosol. When R1 expression is inducibly knocked down in the presence of dNTPs, we see a decline in MCM7 expression and reduced cell proliferation. We surmise that there are two R1-MCM complexes: a cytoplasmic R1-MCM7 complex and an M-phase associated R1-MCM4/6/7 complex. Our work has demonstrated that R1 stabilizes MCM7 which underscores a secondary R1 function that is independent of its role in ribonucleotide reductase
Scalable Methods For Monte Carlo Tree Search
No full textMonte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) is a versatile and adaptive heuristic tree-search algo-rithm, designed to uncover near-optimal actions by iteratively exploring decision-making points. Through its unique balance of exploration and exploitation, MCTS progressively constructs a search tree by gathering samples during each iteration, ultimately guiding the search towards regions of the decision space that yield higher rewards. This adaptability and efficiency have positioned MCTS as a leading technique within the realm of game theory, where it has demonstrated exceptional success in solving complex decision-making problems such as those found in Go, Chess, and other strategic games. In addition to its notable application in gaming, MCTS has proven its capability to ad- dress broader, more complex problems. Specifically, MCTS has shown significant promise when applied to NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems, which are central to many industrial and research applications. These include problems such as the Job-Shop Schedul- ing Problem (JSSP) and the Weighted Set-Cover Problem (WSCP), both of which require intelligent exploration of vast solution spaces to identify near-optimal solutions within reasonable timeframes. Given the increasing demand for solving larger and more complex problems, MCTS has been extended for distributed-memory parallel platforms, a crucial step in enabling scalability across high-performance computing systems. However, the adoption of MCTS in distributed-memory environments introduces two primary challenges: (1) the consid- erable communication overhead that arises from coordinating parallel processes, and (2) the difficulty in maintaining an even computational load across all processes to avoid bot- tlenecks and inefficiencies. In this work, we introduce a novel distributed-memory parallel MCTS algorithm, termed Parallel Partial-Backpropagation MCTS (PPB-MCTS). The primary innovation of PPB-MCTS lies in its approach to minimizing communication overhead while enhancing performance in combinatorial optimization contexts. Our algorithm leverages a technique known as partial backpropagation, which reduces the frequency and size of data transmitted be- tween processes by sending only essential backpropagation messages, rather than full state information. This minimizes the communication overhead without sacrificing the accuracy of the search. To address the load-balancing challenge, we introduce a shared transposition table, enabling parallel processes to share information regarding explored states. This strategy not only ensures that computational work is distributed more evenly across processes, but also reduces redundant computations, thereby improving the overall efficiency of the algorithm. Moreover, our approach addresses the issue of duplicate states in distributed-memory environments. As is common in sequential MCTS, duplicate states can cause the search tree to evolve into a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), complicating the search process. We adapt techniques from sequential MCTS to manage duplicate states effectively in a parallel context, thus preserving the integrity of the search structure and preventing unnecessary computational overhead. We evaluate the effectiveness of PPB-MCTS through an extensive experimental study, focusing on the Job-Shop Scheduling Problem (JSSP) and the Weighted Set-Cover Prob- lem (WSCP). Both problems are well-known for their computational difficulty and are commonly used as benchmarks for evaluating combinatorial optimization algorithms. The experiments are conducted on a large cluster of computers, each equipped with multiple cores, allowing us to fully test the scalability and efficiency of our approach. The empirical results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm significantly outper- forms existing distributed-memory parallel MCTS algorithms, particularly in terms of scal- ability and load balancing. As the number of processes increases, PPB-MCTS maintains high rollout efficiency and improves the distribution of computational load, leading to faster convergence to high-quality solutions. This performance improvement makes PPB- MCTS a valuable tool for solving large-scale NP-hard problems in both research and indus- try
Glucose Sensor Insertion Induces Inflammation Through Extracellular Trap Formation
No full textAdvancements in transdermal glucose sensor systems have revolutionized diabetes care by enhancing glycemic control, which reduces the risk of subsequent microvascular and macrovascular complications. However, post-device implantation tissue reactions are inevitable. It is often speculated that the biocompatibility of the implanted material dictates the intensity and severity of the tissue reaction to these devices. Our data contradict this hypothesis as we demonstrated that the process of device insertion itself initiates an inflammatory response through neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation (NETosis) to an otherwise biocompatible sensor coating. Mouse studies demonstrated that acute inflammation primes the device surface for NETosis. Two weeks following sensor insertion in swine, regression in neovascularization in the sensor’s vicinity is apparent, while NETosis significantly decreased. Chronic inflammation, fibrosis, and granulation tissue were observed three days post-insertion in swine. These findings suggest that the trauma of sensor insertion initiates NETosis. Future strategies designed to optimize device performance and longevity must mitigate pro-inflammatory factors arising from the device insertion site’s tissue reactions