Research on the Diagnosis of Students’ Cognitive Level Based on Deep Learning

In order to improve teaching quality and reduce students’ learning difficulty, this study introduces the concept of Teaching for the Ability (TFA) on the basis of traditional Internet teaching, uses big data to calculate students’ cognitive ability, and uses the evaluation results of students’ cognitive ability to drive the Internet learning scheme tailored for each student one by one. In the data validation analysis, it is found that the cognitive ability evaluation results made by the system directly affect the students’ final performance in the national unified graduation examination, and the education scheme for students with low cognitive ability is found in the data analysis.

The potential scarcity, or not, of polymeric overall water splitting photocatalysts

We perform a high-throughput computational screening of a set of 3240 conjugated alternating binary co-polymers and homo-polymers, in which we predict their ability to drive sacrificial hydrogen evolution and overall water splitting when illuminated with visible light. We use the outcome of this screening to analyse how common the ability to drive either reaction is for conjugated polymers loaded with suitable co-catalysts, and to suggest promising (co-)monomers for polymeric overall water splitting catalysts.

Driving Habits of Older Adults in Massachusetts: Variations by Sex, Age, Race, Income, Housing Density, and Health

Maintaining ability to drive is critical to independent living among older adults residing in suburban and rural communities. We administrated structured questionnaire about driving behaviors to 370 persons age 65 and older living in Central Massachusetts between 2018 and 2020. Of them, 307 were active drivers. Driving in the past year was strongly associated with being male, White race, higher income, non-urban resident, and good-to-excellent health. Advancing age was associated with lower frequency of driving, less miles driven, lower percentage of the day spent in transportation. Men and women drove with nearly equal frequency (~26 days/month), but men drove significantly more miles. Non-White drivers were significantly more likely to avoid driving out of town or in difficult conditions, even after controlling for age, sex, income, and density of residential area. In conclusion, driving behaviors differed significantly by age, sex, income, race, and housing density. Further investigation is warranted.

The potential scarcity, or not, of polymeric overall water splitting photocatalysts

We perform a high-throughput computational screening of a set of 3240 conjugated alternating binary co-polymers and homo-polymers, in which we predict their ability to drive sacrificial hydrogen evolution and overall water splitting when illuminated with visible light. We use the outcome of this screening to analyse how common the ability to drive either reaction is for conjugated polymers loaded with suitable co-catalysts, and to suggest promising (co-)monomers for polymeric overall water splitting catalysts.

Spatial and temporal control of expression with light-gated LOV-LexA

The ability to drive expression of exogenous genes in different tissues and cell types, under control of specific enhancers, has catapulted discovery in biology. While many enhancers drive expression broadly, several genetic tricks have been developed to obtain access to isolated cell types. However, studies of topographically organized neuropiles, such as the optic lobe in fruit flies, have raised the need for a system that can access subsets of cells within a single neuron type, a feat currently dependent on stochastic flip-out methods. To access the same subsets of cells consistently across flies, we developed LOV-LexA, a light-gated expression system based on the bacterial LexA transcription factor and the plant-derived LOV photosensitive domain. Expression of LOV-Lex in larval fat body as well as pupal and adult neurons enables spatial and temporal control of expression of transgenes under LexAop sequences with blue light. The LOV-LexA tool thus provides another layer of intersectional genetics, allowing for light-controlled genetic access to the same subsets of cells within an expression pattern across individual flies.

Distracted Driving and Driving Patterns in Older Drivers With Glaucoma

Limited research exists examining self-perceived vision and driving ability among individuals with glaucoma, and this study assessed the relationship between glaucoma, visual field, and visual acuity with driving capability. 137 individuals with glaucoma and 75 healthy controls were asked to evaluate self-rated vision, self-perceived driving ability, and self-perceived distracted driving. Visual acuity and visual field measurements were also obtained. Multivariable linear regressions were run to test each visual measure with driving outcomes. The average age was 72.2 years, 57.3% were male, and 72.5% were White. There were significant associations for a one-point increase in visual field and quality of corrected vision (RR = 1.06; 95% CI = 1.03–1.10), day vision (RR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.03–1.08), night vision (RR = 1.08; 95% CI = 1.05–1.13), visual acuity score and higher quality of corrected of vision (RR = .41; 95% CI = .22-.77), day vision (RR = .39; 95% CI=.22–.71), and night vision (RR = .41; 95% CI = .18–.94); visual acuity score and ability to drive safely compared to other drivers your age (RR = .53; 95% CI = .29–.96). Individuals with poorer visual acuity and visual fields rate their vision and ability to drive lower than those with better vision, and this information will allow clinicians to understand where to target interventions to enhance safe driving practices.

Analysis of Orientia tsutsugamushi promoter activity

ABSTRACT Orientia tsutsugamushi is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes scrub typhus, a potentially fatal rickettsiosis, and for which no genetic tools exist. Critical to addressing this technical gap is to identify promoters for driving expression of antibiotic resistance and fluorescence reporter genes in O. tsutsugamushi. Such promoters would need to be highly conserved among strains, expressed throughout infection, and exhibit strong activity. We examined the untranslated regions upstream of O. tsutsugamushi genes encoding outer membrane protein A (ompA), 22-kDa type-specific antigen (tsa22) and tsa56. The bacterium transcribed all three during infection of monocytic, endothelial and epithelial cells. Examination of the upstream noncoding regions revealed putative ribosome binding sites, one set of predicted −10 and −35 sequences for ompA and two sets of −10 and −35 sequences for tsa22 and tsa56. Comparison of these regions among geographically diverse O. tsutsugamushi patient isolates revealed nucleotide identities ranging from 84.8 to 100.0%. Upon examination of the candidates for the ability to drive green fluorescence protein expression in Escherichia coli, varying activities were observed with one of the tsa22 promoters being the strongest. Identification and validation of O. tsutsugamushi promoters is an initial key step toward genetically manipulating this important pathogen.

“I Drive Well, the Problem is the Other Driver”: A Study About the Self-Assessment of the Ability to Drive

This study aims to verify the self-evaluation that people make about their ability to drive and investigate whether there is a difference between self-evaluation and evaluation about their friends’ abilities. To this end, 151 people answered three different questionnaires, one questionnaire about driving abilities (self-evaluation and evaluation of friends), the Driver’s Behavior Questionnaire and a socio-demographic questionnaire The sample consisted of 50.3% of males with a mean age of 25.32 years (sd = 1.66). As a result, self-evaluation was positively correlated with age, evaluation of friend, weekly driving hours, Common Violations, and Aggressive Violations. In addition, there was significant difference between evaluation by sex: males carry out self-assessments in a more positive way. It was also found that people evaluate themselves better than they evaluate their friends. From this research, it is possible to think the target audience that would most benefit from an intervention to reduce self-evaluation, that is, men, people over 24 years old, and people who have more driving experience.

Mutations in SIX1 Associated with Branchio-oto-Renal Syndrome (BOR) Differentially Affect Otic Expression of Putative Target Genes

Several single-nucleotide mutations in SIX1 underlie branchio-otic/branchio-oto-renal (BOR) syndrome, but the clinical literature has not been able to correlate different variants with specific phenotypes. We previously assessed whether variants in either the cofactor binding domain (V17E, R110W) or the DNA binding domain (W122R, Y129C) might differentially affect early embryonic gene expression, and found that each variant had a different combination of effects on neural crest and placode gene expression. Since the otic vesicle gives rise to the inner ear, which is consistently affected in BOR, herein we focused on whether the variants differentially affected the otic expression of genes previously found to be likely Six1 targets. We found that V17E, which does not bind Eya cofactors, was as effective as wild-type Six1 in reducing most otic target genes, whereas R110W, W122R and Y129C, which bind Eya, were significantly less effective. Notably, V17E reduced the otic expression of prdm1, whereas R110W, W122R and Y129C expanded it. Since each mutant has defective transcriptional activity but differs in their ability to interact with Eya cofactors, we propose that altered cofactor interactions at the mutated sites differentially interfere with their ability to drive otic gene expression, and these differences may contribute to patient phenotype variability.

Ultrafast Light Targeting for High-Throughput Precise Control of Neuronal Networks

Understanding how specific sets of neurons fire and wire together during cognitive-relevant activity is one of the most pressing questions in neuroscience. Two-photon, single-cell resolution optogenetics based on holographic light-targeting approaches enables accurate spatio-temporal control of individual or multiple neurons. Yet, currently, the ability to drive asynchronous activity in distinct cells is critically limited to a few milliseconds and the achievable number of targets to several dozens. In order to expand the capability of single-cell optogenetics, we introduce an approach capable of ultra-fast sequential light targeting (FLiT), based on switching temporally focused beams between holograms at kHz rates. We demonstrate serial-parallel photostimulation strategies capable of multi-cell sub-millisecond temporal control and many-fold expansion of the number of activated cells. This approach will be important for experiments that require rapid and precise cell stimulation with defined spatio-temporal activity patterns and optical control of large neuronal ensembles.